Had she not been utterly drunk, he would have let her deal with things on her own, however he was still surprised she was able to walk straight in her boots. He put his helmet on his head, rolling his eyes as he did so, and then followed her out of the little shack while throwing his cowl up over his head.

As his feet crunched in the snow, he looked up to see maybe a dozen men, all heavily armed far beyond the normal commoner would be. With a wary eye, he stood behind Emma, hand on his lightsaber in case they raised any trouble. Oh if only she hadn't drank half a bottle of whatever it was, maybe she could handle it on her own.

"Hello boys," Emma said, withdrawing a sword and pointing it at them before sticking the blade into the snow. Kylo hung his head, letting out an audible groan. She was going to get herself killed.

The leader of the little pack spoke in a tongue he hadn't heard of, and he watched as she spoke back in the same language. They went back and forth, angrily getting louder and louder with each exchange of words.

"Oi! I know you speak the common tongue, if you're going to talk about him in front of his face, at least say it so he can hear you," she said, throwing out an arm. She could feel anger radiating off of him from the few feet he stood away from her.

"Don't you twist my words, you filthy rat!" their leader screamed over the distance between them.

"What did he say?" Kylo muttered under his breath, only to be shushed by Emma with the wave of her hand. He was getting rather impatient. There were still Resistance ships scouring the planet for them both and this was no time to be out in the open picking a fight with thugs.

"Don't worry about it," she said, shooting him a look over her shoulder. She turned back to the men in front of them. "Look, I know I took that job, but we all know the old man didn't deserve to have a hit put out for his life," she called out, now reasoning with them.

"He owed us money! He's a criminal who refuses to pay his debts-"

"You mean money he's paid you five times over? Tell me Vestra, do you really think I'm in the business of killing people who don't deserve it? He lost his kids for gods sakes, and you're a band of thugs who like to take advantage of the little people. Of course I was going to side with him," she said calmly.

The native went back to speaking his first tongue and the mood took a turn, and Emma seemed far too calm for how vicious this person was to her.

Vestra, or so he was called, pulled out what looked to be like a blaster and started waving it around wildly. Emma's words only seemed like she was taunting him, egging him on. Kylo watched, and it was almost like time slowed down as the man screamed at her and her final words, and fired a shot in her direction.

She didn't even flinch. She didn't even make an attempt to block the blast. She just stood there, leaning against her sword that was stuck into the ground. The beam came to a stop just inches away from her neck and she smirked. She turned to see Kylo with his hand outstretched, keeping the beam from getting any closer to her. She leaned away from it, smirking as she did so. "Thank you deary," she said, causing Kylo to falter as he let the beam go, it exploding in the snow behind her. His jaw clenched as he pulled his fists together.

The men before them stood in a stunned silence, watching as her sudden cocky behavior turned dark and menacing. The smirk faded from her face, and was instead replaced with dark eyes and a harsh snarl. Kylo even watched, almost like he was in awe as the aura around her went from childish to ominous in mere seconds. He took a step back, wanting to watch now instead of intervene.

She threw her arms out, the hilts of her light sabers snapping in her hands with little effort. She crossed her arms in front of her, almost like she was showing off as she pressed another button and the hilts extended, almost to the point where they were as long as her forearms. The bright red blades erupted, casting her face in a red glow.

Vestra sent a flurry of blasts towards her, making her jump into action. She deflected, the blade of her lightsaber sizzling as the beams simply disintegrated with a flick of her wrist as the blade spun in front of her, creating a shield to protect her. As fast as her blades were, she was unable to deflect all of them, and a blast hit her directly in the shoulder, causing her to recoil and clutch at the wound. The blast was powerful enough it left a hole in her clothes and a nasty burn deep into her shoulder. Vestra's men charged at her, weapons drawn as she twirled one of her sabers in her hand.

She cut through them so easily, it was like she never left her Force abilities to rot once she found her rhythm. Her lightsabers in her hands made her feel complete again. A stab in the shoulder, a slice through the back, it was so easy to find her rhythm again. Her foot slipped in the snow and she recovered by using the spin to take a man's leg off before piercing through his chest as he lay on the ground.

She was far more skilled than he originally thought, and Kylo was almost impressed. Her pacing was good, her form almost exquisite and polished like she had impeccable control. She'd even throw in little flares, her own style into her taught ways like small steps to add to her power behind her blows, small twirls of her blade to make it all the more deadly.

She was showing off, and he felt almost certain that it was for him. She was finally given a chance to stretch her Force abilities, and she was enjoying every minute of it. He was fascinated, only thinking of her potential should she let herself loose without the alcohol coursing through her system.

As his last man fell to her blade, the man named Vestra decided to run for his life. As he turned on his heels and headed up the steep hill surrounding the town, Emma twirled her saber in her hand, drew her arm back, and threw her lightsaber like a spear, piercing the chest of the fleeing man. The man hit the ground, and with an outstretched hand Emma called her blade back to her hand.

She exhaled loudly. She clicked the buttons on the hilts, the blades retracting and she returned her sabers to her belt, the extended grips still visible and swirling an odd blackish red from the Kyber crystals glow inside. She headed up the hill, dragging her feet in the snow.

"So, are you going to offer me a job?" she said, picking up guns and weapons and throwing them far out of reach of the thugs just in case she hadn't brutally murdered them all and one managed to miraculously survive.

Kylo cocked his head and watched with furrowed brows as she reached the top of the hill and turned to face him. He was almost floored, how she seemed to read his mind.

"Have you retaken your Gray oath?" he asked, able to find his voice before she made it to the top of the hill.

"I've been away from the power of the Force for a long time. I'm not going to do anything regarding oaths for a long time. What, is the First Order too good for mercenaries?" she said, putting a hand on her hip and sticking another one of her swords in the ground to lean on.

"The First Order has a network of intelligent spies. Why would we need you?" he said, his voice manipulator making his words sound a lot more harsh than he intended them to.

"Do you need a reason besides Force sensitive?" she said, almost sarcastically so as she crossed her ankles.

"Even as a Gray, you decide to do the bidding of the Dark Side?" He couldn't grasp onto her plan. He knew she was up to something, why else would she try to impress upon him to such a great length? She destroyed her reputation on her home planet for a chance to work for the First Order. She had to have some other motive, and no matter how hard he pressed, she wouldn't cave.

"I said I was a Gray Jedi. I never said I was one of the good ones; matter of fact I'm no where close to being one of the good ones," she said with a wicked smirk. "Not only that, but your so called 'master' doesn't want me to tag along. He must know something I don't, and I want to find out."

"You would be toying with a god then," he said.

"It's always fun playing games with higher beings," she chuckled, pulling her sword out of the snow and putting it back in it's sheath.

He had to admire her will at least, even though she was absolutely manic. After letting her go out into the wild, he was starting to see her true colors; she was absolutely insane and by no means anywhere close to stable, and he was loving every minute of it when she wasn't driving him up the wall.

He didn't have time to speak to her before she turned around, apparently startled by something behind her. He watched closely as her body went from relaxed to tense.

"Run!"

She started running at top speed down the hill after giving her warning, but it still happened so fast that it gave him little time to process. A high pitched noise got closer to them, and Emma barreled into him, sending him running in the same direction she was without further question.

The destroyed little bar not far behind them was hit with a beam from an X-Wing, and the explosion sent them flying.

The two hit the ground hard, rolling in the snow to a stop as the X-Wing that shot at them pulled up it's nose away from the ground and the fiery explosion. As Kylo hit the ground and rolled, his mind went blank, save for three little words.

She saved him.

Why?

When he came to a stop, his lungs were on fire as he realized the wind had been knocked from him. He coughed as he hoisted himself off the ground, trying to catch his breath as he clutched his side. He looked to his right, not seeing Emma anywhere in his sight. His heart was in his throat now as he scrambled in the loose snow, searching frantically for the woman who saved his life. He threw off his helmet, knowing that realistically, their odds of getting out of this predicament alive were slim to none, especially if he was now to face the Resistance alone, or at least until his men realized something was wrong.

He didn't understand. Normally the Resistance liked to show off their fire power, flaunt how skilled they were but always backed away when he was involved. He knew his mother was behind them, and even after all he'd done to her, she still had a weak spot for him. She could never kill her own blood, apparently until now.

This was the first time in a while where he wasn't calm and collected as he normally was. His emotions were flying out of control; he was angry mostly, but there were still emotions in his chest he didn't exactly know how to deal with, let alone had he experienced before. When the realization hit that they attacked one of his kind, his shoulders broadened. They weren't going to get away with this.

"Emma!" he screamed as another explosion went off. He ducked out of instinct, and then turned to see her little hut had gone up in flames. That's when he realized this wasn't a search and rescue mission. This was seek and destroy.

He looked to his left, and to his relief he saw her sprawled out in the snow on her back. When he realized very quickly that she wasn't moving, he ran as fast as the snow allowed him, falling to his knees as he got to her side. He picked her head up from the snow, hoping she was just knocked unconscious and not dead.

She coughed, gasping for air as he lifted her head and a wave of relief washed over him. He checked over her quickly, seeing no wounds or blood. Their chances of getting out of this alive were getting stronger. Bright blue eyes stared back at him, however this wasn't the time for sentiment. He forced himself to look away after their eyes locked, and as he stood up, he helped her to her feet.

"Who are these people?" she asked, coughing as she stood up. They watched as the two ships circled, searching for them in the heavy smoke.

"Resistance," Kylo said simply, picking his helmet off the ground and forcing it back over his head. He was getting sloppy, letting his emotions get out of control. He straightened his back, and threw his hood over his head. "These are the ones who I said found you. Apparently they are refusing to play nice, which is highly unusual."

"Great, so now what do we do about it?" she said, almost rolling her eyes at his overly detailed answer. She reached her hand out, calling out to her other sword still stuck in the ground over by the burning building. It snapped to her hand, and she sheathed it with a quick motion.

"My men will soon realize something has gone awry if they haven't yet discovered it. We wait it out until then," he said, withdrawing his lightsaber from his belt and turning it on.

"What, no plan of attack?" she said, her voice going higher as she reached for her sabers as well.

"I have a plan," he said, exiting the safe haven they had under the smoke of the burning building.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes so far into her skull she just about gave herself a headache. "Men," she mumbled, following him out into the open.

No sooner than when they hit open air, the sounds of blasters rang out as an X-Wing took aim at them. With a swift move of his hand, Kylo sent the beams of plasma careening off course, exploding into the snow far away from where he and Emma were standing. He extended a hand, index finger pointing directly at the air craft heading right towards him. Emma watched as its wings dipped, and then with a powerful push of his hand, the craft nose dived straight into the snowbanks and exploding into an impressive amount of flames.

He was incredibly strong, she had to give him that.

Another two X-Wings erupted from the trees, zooming along close enough to the ground that if she reached up as they passed over, she could touch the belly of the ship.

"We can't stay out in the open for much longer. Two humans against three jets isn't exactly in our favor," she yelled over the roar of the ships passing over as she went to Kylo's side. They watched as the three jets suddenly got in a formation, looped across the sky and headed back around and lined up.

Kylo put out an arm, forcing her to stand behind him as the three jets got closer to them. He reached out with his hand, and as the jets fired he curled his fingers.

Explosions went off all around them, however a shield kept them from being utterly destroyed. Emma flinched as they were surrounded by a ball of fire that would have consumed them if not for Ren's bubble of a shield. She stared at him, shocked.

That's a Jedi trick.

As the fire roared around them, she watched Kylo intently, suddenly flooded with questions. He had just as many secrets and ghosts in his shadows as she did. She watched as the fire slowly faded, and she could see the X-Wings coming back around for another pass. She stepped forward, putting a hand on his arm and forcing him to lower his guard.

"We need. To go," she said firmly as the wind suddenly blew hair in her face. She knew if she let Kylo have his fun, the more pilots would end up dead and the more chances they had to make a mistake. He recoiled from her touch, almost snatching his arm from her grasp and twirling his lightsaber like it was a nervous tick. They both sheathed their sabers, and though she started heading for the treeline, Kylo stayed put.

She pulled his arm, much to his resistance as she ran for the treeline while the X-Wings were still far enough away that they couldn't be seen. Before they even made it to the tree line, the high pitched whine of TIE-Fighters got closer at an alarming rate, erupting over the tree tops with a flurry of missile fire just as they got to the open field. They stumbled as the ground shook as more explosions went off, and Kylo pulled Emma's arm towards the direction of his landing ship, which was a good distance away. The giant wings of his ship unfolded as the hatch released, and they made a run for it.

A pilot must have spotted them, because their casual run became a full on sprint towards safety as rockets fired, following them all the way towards his ship and only ceasing when one of the TIE-Fighter pilots crashed his ship deliberately into the X-Wing.

They made it to the ship relatively unharmed as a ball of fire erupted in the sky above them, and the moment their feet hit the metal floor of the ship, the hatch slammed closed, and they took off without any other mishaps.

Kylo pulled his helmet off, panting for breath as he hunched against the wall of his ship. Emma collapsed on the cool metal floor, breathing heavily as she closed her eyes and rolled on her back, ignoring her swords awkwardly digging into her back through the sheathes.

"Well that was fun," she said, completely out of breath as she sat up, hunching her shoulders.

"You're hired," Kylo said, still breathing hard as he sat on the floor next to her.