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Chapter 2: Escape

Rey's brown eyes met Hux's green ones, and in that instant he realized she was not the one to stop the blast. The blaster in his hand started shaking just like the red bolt poised between them, and Rey looked behind him as a figure rose from the throne room floor.

Was this Kylo, or Ben?

Keeping the lightsaber ignited, Rey slowly picked herself up, unable to calm the jitters that were racing through her system. Was this Ben from the elevator, or Kylo from a few minutes before? Who had pleaded with her to join him?

Hux turned, blaster still in hand, and faced Kylo Ren as he stood to his full height, his eyes burning with the same malice he had directed to Snoke when Rey was on her knees in front of him. This was Kylo, not Ben; his eyes were hard and merciless, and his every step made the room quake. Fury radiated off of his broad shoulders, and Hux instinctively stepped back as Kylo came closer.

Kylo's hands were empty but fisted, and Rey had a moment where she feared he would rip the lightsaber from her hands and use it to destroy Hux.

Instead, he reached out, and Rey watched open-mouthed as Hux dropped the blaster and starting clawing at his throat, gasping for air, his toes desperately trying to brush the floor-

"Welcome to your throne room, Supreme Leader Hux." Kylo snarled. "There isn't a better welcome you could have had."

"Ben, don't- don't kill him." Rey said, now on her feet, lightsaber still in hand. "He's more useful alive than dead."

Rey stepped over the dead guard so that she was standing to Hux's right, not in between him and Kylo, but in front of him; she used the force to snatch the blaster from the floor and kept it aimed on the general as he writhed, his face turning from red to blue.

"Ben, please." Rey pressed, turning off the lightsaber and tucking it into her tunic. "Ben, let me."

He wasn't making eye contact with her, and she could almost hear his teeth grinding as he focused his energy on Hux and the blast that still hung in midair behind them.

Rey glanced out the window, watching the last remaining Resistance escape pods as they made their way to the planet below.

She could not make him do anything; it had to be his decision.

Always.

Rey came to Ben's side, keeping the blaster pointed in Hux's direction, and laid one hand on his shoulder.

His eyes flickered to hers and back to Hux, whose kicks were growing fewer and farther between.

"Ben. Stop, please."

She squeezed his shoulder.

Hux crashed to the ground as the blaster shot simultaneously imbedded itself into the floor, and Rey allowed herself to take a deep breath.

"Thank you, Ben."

"More useful alive than dead?" His eyes were fixed on her again, and she could see the anger starting to melt away, like the exhaustion of the day was catching up to him and forcing him to pick where he directed his attention.

"Trust me, Ben."

Behind her, Hux's gasps had turned to hacks, and the man was starting to get breath in his lungs again. Ben raised one eyebrow, as if he was daring Rey to attempt her ridiculous plan where he couldn't kill the mewling waste of a human being.

"I will take care of him. Do you trust me?"

Ben nodded, and Rey squared her shoulders, turned to Hux, and kept the blaster fixed on him.

"Get up."

She could feel Ben smirking behind her as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Hux was still blue in the face; it suited him better than his normal shade of pasty white.

"I order you to get up!" Rey shot just to the right of his face, startling the general and forcing him to look up at her.

She shot again, and Hux shakily rose to his feet.

"Walk." She ordered, gesturing to the windows with the blaster.

His thin mouth curved into a sneer. "You think you can-"

"You will walk when she tells you to walk." Ben rumbled behind her, and Hux suddenly stiffened; Ben was surely applying pressure somewhere on the general.

Snoke's slumped upper half suddenly fell to the floor; for a moment, all three people froze, as if afraid the Supreme Leader would rise up again.

He didn't move.

Instead, Rey came behind Hux, pressing the blaster into his back, guiding him to the hologram projector. As soon as they stood in front of it, the machine whirred to life, and in a moment Hux was starting at a reflection of himself.

It did not improve his mood.

Rey poured all the authority her slim body had into her voice. "You will announce the First Order's surrender to the Resistance, and Snoke's death, to your fleet, the Resistance, and the First Order's allies."

"I will do no such thing-!"

Rey ignited the lightsaber so it hummed just behind his head, burning a few tendrils of hair. The pasty general stiffened as he caught a whiff of the acrid smell.

"You will announce your resignation from your post as well."

Hux stood in front of the projector, his lips white from how tightly they were pressed together.

"The more you cooperate, the more the Resistance will have reason to give you mercy."

Hux's hands were shaking, but he tentatively reached forward, straightened his shoulders, and stared into the projector.

Rey moved to the side, so that she would not be in the hologram, and so that the blaster and the lightsaber would be in his peripheral vision as he spoke to the universe.

A vein that ran down his forehead was bulging out of his pale skin.

"This is General Hux of the First Order."

She was glad to hear a waver in his voice; she was not expecting his eyes to be so unfocused, like he was staring at something far beyond them.

"Our beloved Supreme Leader is dead; the Supremacy is also lost. I hereby announce a complete surrender to the Resistance, and my resignation as General. All forces of the First Order must return to the nearest base and await further instructions. The terms of the treaty will be broadcasted shortly. Thank you."

Rey glanced from him to Ben, his arms still folded, his face blank.

The hologram ended, and Hux collapsed.

"Were you mind controlling him?" Rey stared at the crumpled leader at her feet.

"No."

Rey squinted her eyes at Ben, turning off the lightsaber and tucking it into her tunic.

"You were doing something."

Ben shrugged. "I may have reminded him how we could always kill him here and now."

Rey snorted. "And made him pass out, just like you made me in the woods."

"A minor detail." His eyes were still fixed on her, and she could tell by that she was talking to Ben, not Kylo. "I can teach you how."

"But for the moment, we need to get off of this ship." Rey kneeled down next to Hux and ripped off two parts of his tunic, using one to gag him and the other to bind his hands together. "Is there a tie fighter or a hanger close by that would have something we could use?"

While she was looking at Hux, Ben reached out, and the lightsaber flew from Rey's side to his hand; Rey felt the tug but decided to continue her work.

She didn't want him to have that lightsaber. She didn't want it in his hands; why? Frowning, she finished the knot behind Hux's head. Was it the color? She wanted to protect him from any association with the Dark Side? Was it what he had done with that lightsaber?

She would have to find an excuse to use it again.

"Snoke's ship is the closest."

The lightsaber was humming, but Rey knew he would not use it against her; Ben was with her, not Kylo.

"Do you know how to pilot it?"

She glanced up, finishing her work with Hux, and Ben's look told her the answer. He was holding one of the Red Guard's tunics, and the makeshift bag was holding something lopsided but round-ish. A helmet, perhaps? Maybe he took souvenirs; she decided not to focus her energy on answering the question.

Ben tucked his lightsaber back into his tunic, red bag in hand, as Rey finished her last knot

"Lead the way, then."

That moment, the power through the entire throne room flickered, and Rey instinctively moved closer to Ben. He knew the Supremacy better than anyone else, she imagined, and she used the force to pick up Hux and carry him along behind her.

He reached out and offered her his other hand; Rey took it without thinking, and the two dashed out of the burning room, into the elevator, and through the collapsing ship. The hallways were surprisingly empty, filled only with the blaring alarm and flashing red lights urging the troops to evacuate.

If they came to a main hanger, would they have to fight for a ship? Would stormtroopers be panicking for a way off of the doomed Supremacy? Would Ben be able to simply command one for them?

Instead, Ben pulled her through a narrow doorway, tucked down a nondescript hallway, and into a private hanger holding only one ship. The hatch was already open and waiting, and as they boarded the sleek black ship, the lights in the Supremacy completely cut out, replaced only by the minimal red emergency lights.

Rey dumped Hux in a storage container near the door and closed it while Ben rushed to the controls, flipping on lights and warming up the engine as Rey joined him.

Plug in your coordinates first.

Rey instantly grabbed the locator device and plugged in the coordinates for Crait; she would update the exact location once they were able to signal to Chewie or the Resistance.

They shot out of the Supremacy just as the emergency lights went black, and Rey couldn't help but whoop with pleasure as they burst into open space, nothing but stars and a white planet ahead of them.

She turned, grinning from ear to ear, to smile at Ben.

His blank face looked straight ahead.