Rey awoke, groggy from lack of sleep, to a patch of strong sunlight burning its way across the bed. She squinted at the spot, watching the dust motes dance in the shaft of light, before rolling onto her back and stretching.

Kylo Ren was nowhere to be seen. His garments that been strewn across the floor alongside hers were gone. She could feel him in the Force, knew he hadn't left the planet but didn't know where he'd gone.

Rey curled slowly onto one side, feeling the ache in her muscles - first the obvious ones, then ones she hadn't known she had. Despite herself, a smile stretched across her face and she buried her face in the pillow, laughing at the ridiculousness of this. Her laughter slowed and she breathed in the scent of him on the bed clothes, surprised to find her pulse quicken at the recognition of it. She knew she needed to get moving, to get back to the ship and her mission and the Resistance, but she felt languid, like she wanted to lie there forever remembering it.

Certain details felt seared on her memory and kept flashing in her mind's eye despite her efforts to motivate herself to move. How closely he'd watched her as he'd driven her wild with his long fingers in her sex, his lip curling slightly with satisfaction at the noises he'd drawn from her. The feeling of his prickly stubble against her neck and breasts, her inner thighs. The urgent, tight curling in her low belly as she'd awakened him in the night and climbed astride him and let him pull her roughly down to his body until she'd come so hard that her toes had flexed until the arch of her foot cramped.

She had to force herself to put these tactile memories whose sensations she could still summon just by thinking about them into a box, and pull her still-damp clothes on. A further thought slowly occurred to her that nagged, and she had a harder time stuffing it away. She couldn't even tell why it bothered her, but here it was.

She had willingly given herself to him, her enemy. Her decision had been free, and as he'd rightly pointed out, there was a first time for everything. But it was obvious in hindsight from his deftness, his quietly assured movements, his confident domination of her, that he was far from a beginner. While he'd excused his initial roughness with her as over-eagerness, a by-product of having gone too long without, she suddenly doubted him. Why should she trust him? She was tying her hair back again when a deep wave of unease overcame her. What if he had merely used her to persuade her to the Dark Side for his own purposes?

Back at the ship, Chewie howled long and low to see the sight of her. I thought you'd been captured again! I was about to send out a distress signal.

"I know, I'm sorry," Rey hoped her voice sounded convincing. "It just took a lot longer than I thought it would. Did you get the load?"

Chewie nodded as Rey sank into the copilot's seat beside him and watched him mutely as he powered up the craft and set the navigational equipment. Once they'd reached the hyperlane and made the jump, she asked, "Everything went as planned?"

Had to haggle for it a bit, go to a few different places. Some of them were asking too many questions.

She inclined her head in silent agreement and crossed her arms. "It's enough to … how long will it last, do you suppose?" She immediately regretted implying she'd like to return.

Depends, Chewie shrugged.

The gentle side-to-side wallowing of the craft at lightspeed lulled her, and she felt intensely tired all of a sudden. Standing, she said, "I'm not feeling well, I'm going to go lie down."

The Wookie looked carefully at her for a moment before responding. I'll be back when we clear this bit of traffic, ok?

Rey lay her head on her arms at the table in the tiny galley and breathed deeply. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, but the thought of the rations aboard the freighter sickened her uneasy stomach even further. Her gut was churning with the thoughts of what she'd done and what it might mean. The spot that was his presence was growing dimmer with the distance put between them, but already she could feel how much more strongly she was aware of him. Leia's warning haunted her now: it probably won't get stronger unless you interact directly with each other, which you won't need to for this mission.

She lifted her head when she heard Chewie's muffled feet approaching and shuffled over as he tucked his giant frame in next to her at the table. She replaced her head, looking in his direction, as he palmed her hair with his hairy mitt. His glittering black eyes studied her carefully and he cocked his head a few times as though about to speak, then reconsidering it.

Finally he asked, Did it go ok for you?

Rey nodded, her cheek pulling where it lay against her forearm. "He's there."

Chewie seemed to deflate a bit at the news. And he's… is he… alright?

Rey closed her eyes gently. "Uh huh," was all she said.

Are you? Chewie's warbling tone belied his concern for her.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she didn't trust it to be stronger. "I did more than was strictly required, but yes."

I know, Chewbacca patted her shoulder. I can smell him on you.

Rey sat up sharply. "You can't tell them," she began, but he cut her off.

It's not my place to. You did what they asked, and it was a stupid plan anyway. Just… be careful. He's dangerous, you know that.

"I know," she conceded. "I do know."


Rey and Chewie sat side-by-side at the head of the long conference table in Central, half-filled glasses of water waiting in front of them. The top Resistance brass were spread around the large table, a few empty seats between some of them. Rey recognized a few of them, and was surprised to see Dr. Ixx take a seat at the opposite end of the table. They locked eyes for a moment before Dr. Ixx looked away with a slight smile.

General Organa stood and brought the debriefing to order. "Fellow fighters, thank you for attending today to review this mission. First, a word of thanks to our willing operatives for their service is in order," she nodded at them in recognition, "I invite the leadership council now to ask questions of Chewbacca and Rey."

"Thank you, General, and thank you both for your bravery and willingness to carry on the work of the Resistance," Admiral Ackbar's gruff voice rang out clearly. Rey had always thought his head looked like some kind of undersea creature, and she had to suppress a smile in the face of his heartfelt thanks. "Chewbacca, would you like to start off with a summary of your findings on the supply of bacta and procurement efforts?"

Of course, Chewie nodded vigorously. Bacta production seems surprisingly unhindered by galactic conditions, but that may be due to fewer First Order operations being carried out at the moment. They remain a prime competitor in the market, but their overall demand is greatly diminished at the moment following the Starkiller incident…

Rey let her mind drift as Chewbacca gave his opinions on the relative supply of life-saving goo in the galaxy and what it had taken to secure their load. Various personnel had questions, but none of it pertained directly to her. A dark cloud on the horizon caught her attention through the window at the top of the room and she blinked her eyes into the slight cooling breeze created by the fans at the apex of the ceiling. She shifted uncomfortably on the wooden chair, moving her weight from side to side as the pressure became unbearable on the bruises on her rear. She had to concentrate on keeping a straight face when she noticed a faint throbbing between her legs at her memory of how the bruises had gotten there.

"... your mission go?"

Rey snapped back to attention and noticed that all eyes were on her. The entire table looked at her expectantly, and she had been daydreaming through the question.

"My mission," she cleared her throat to bide time and took a long sip of water. "My mission was a success," she said weakly. "I can confirm Kylo Ren was on Thyferra, as intelligence sources reported."

There was an unexpectedly long silence as the table digested this.

"What makes you certain it was him," Admiral Statura's voice cut the thick air. His stylus was poised over his holopad for notes.

"Well," Rey said carefully, "I am able to detect his presence in the Force, and I could feel it strongly even upon arriving on the planet. Also, I recognized him from a distance from having been… held captive by him on Starkiller Base in close quarters." She glanced at Dr. Ixx, who looked down at her hands in her lap. "And," she continued, "The individual I saw had a scar on his face consistent with one Kylo Ren would've had after our battle on Starkiller."

"Where is Kylo Ren hiding on Thyferra," Statura continued to press her.

"I traced the target to a room in a housing block in Xucphra City, the type of unit workers in the processing plants seemed to inhabit," Rey replied, her voice gaining strength as she wove the lie. "I didn't want to get closer, I hope you'll understand that."

She felt Chewbacca shift slightly next to her and caught Leia's glance at the movement, but Rey stared straight ahead.

Dr. Ixx looked up out of the top of her eyes, her head still inclined but with an eyebrow raised. The other members of the council looked anywhere but at Rey. She wasn't sure how to interpret their non-reactions to her news.

"Well," General Organa said finally. She pursed her lips and looked from person to person. "Do we think this finding warrants further investigation?"

"General, with all due respect," Dr. Ixx finally broke her silence, "We all… miss Ben. But... this mission seems self-serving at best, and in my professional opinion, it seems against Rey's best interests to put her in any kind of further contact with a person who has caused her emotional and physical distress. Do we really think the First Order seems capable of mounting a considerable bacta shortage?"

"Why wouldn't they be?" a grey-haired gentleman Rey didn't know spoke up. "Their goal is to overthrow the Republic, I don't think we should count this possibility out over-" he frowned at Rey with mock apology, "- one individual's feelings. We're at war here."

Dr. Ixx bristled at this characterization of her opinion. "Lieutenant, that's a lot of supposition about the motivations of an organization we know to be back on its heels at the moment."

"I motion we-as an organization- should keep closer tabs on Kylo Ren's movements, and see what develops," Admiral Statura tried to interject some rationality into what was quickly becoming a heated argument. "We have concrete intel that he was most recently on Thyferra, thanks to Rey. I say we track him, and see if he makes contact with known First Order operatives. If not, well… we should track him anyway, but at least we'll know it's not another Bacta War on our hands."

The energy in the room felt taut to Rey, like a thread pulled too tight. It seemed her lie had made him a target, but she didn't see how the truth would make things better, so she sat on her palms and sighed.

"Does anyone second Admiral Statura's motion?" General Organa asked. "I should recuse myself from voting, since it would appear some parties feel my personal views are clouding my judgement."

Dr. Ixx looked down and didn't rise to the barb. There was an interminable silence.

Finally, Admiral Ackbar raised his hand. "I'll second."

"Thank you, Admiral," the general nodded. "All in favor, a show of hands, please?"

Hands went up around the table: Statura, Ackbar, the grey-haired lieutenant, and two others whose names Rey didn't know.

"And all opposed?"

Dr. Ixx's was the lone hand raised.

"Thank you," General Organa concluded. "Let the minutes show that by a vote of five to one, with one council member abstaining, the council has voted to undertake surveillance on Kylo Ren. We'll meet further to discuss the spec out the operation. Did anyone have any further questions for today's briefing?"

Heads shook around the table and Rey met Dr. Ixx's steady, sad gaze evenly.

"Then I think we're adjourned," the general concluded. "Thank you all for attending."


"Rey-bey!" Testor lept off the bed and threw her arms around Rey when she entered their room, as though they'd been apart for months instead of only mere days. "It was lonely without you! I wanna hear all about it- if you can tell me, of course."

Rey smiled broadly at her roommate's unbridled enthusiasm. "Sorry I was gone, did I miss anything good here?"

Jessika flopped back onto her own bed with her arms behind her head and her legs crossed at her ankles. "Around here? Please. Standard stuff! Fly, drink, get dry-humped awkwardly by your coworkers. You know the drill."

Rey laughed, her shoulders shaking and feeling a little dizzy at the release of all the tension she'd been holding in for the last several days. "Anyone new this time?"

Jessika smirked. "A lot of them were asking if I knew where you were."

Rey blushed and turned away to the dark corner of the room where her wardrobe was. "Oh, yeah…?"

"Yeah, girl!" Testor laughed. "You know you could have your pick of the litter here, right?"

Rey glanced shyly over her shoulder as she started undressing. "You think? Who would that even be?"

Her roommate shrugged, her long, dark hair cascading over her shoulders and chest. "I'm telling you, whoever you wanted- you've got that mysterious, outsider new-girl thing still tying them in all kinds of knots."

Rey looked away and took a deep breath, her smile fading from her lips as she pulled down her pants and bracing herself for the inevitable.

"Rey, what in the stars happened to your ass?!" Jessika bounded off the bed to examine her behind more closely. "Is that someone's…. hand prints? I hope you kicked him in the balls!"

Rey shook her head wordlessly.

"Look at me, you little scavenger," Testor chuckled, "How did that get there? You know I expect full dets."

"It's complicated," Rey tried, but broke off. She slowly pulled her nightshirt over her head and took down her hair. Testor backed up a couple steps and perched expectantly on the edge of her bed, hands beneath her thighs. Rey suddenly wished desperately that she were Jessika instead of herself: sunny, worldly, brash.

"I saw a person- a man- I haven't seen in awhile, someone who's been… on my mind a lot," she tried.

"Oooooh," Testor's eyes lit up and her mouth pursed into an 'o' shape. "Is this unrequited love? You've been pining for this man for awhile, it sounds like."

Rey laid gently on her side, facing her roommate and considering the question. "Mmmmm, I don't know that I would characterize it as unrequited," she said at last. "More like… untested, and I wouldn't say it had anything to do with love."

"Oh, wow," Testor nodded vigorously. "So just a hot fuck, then. Good for you!" She grinned knowingly at Rey. "Seems like it got a little rough- was it good, though? Like good-rough, not scary-rough?"

Rey chuckled then, not knowing how to describe it at all without giving herself away. "Ummmm, yeah, I guess you could say it was good-rough? It wasn't worse than anything I ever experienced on Jakku, let's put it that way."

Jessika huffed out a lungful of air and laughed again. "Damn. Yeah, damn, this is pretty much the last thing I expected to have you come back in here with. You left me alone with these laser-brains to go have hot, rough sex with your mystery boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Rey shot back, her smile falling from her lips. "It's not like that, I don't know if I'll ever see him again."

Testor wasn't exactly smiling anymore, but she was still hanging on Rey's every word. "So, what…. Does he have someone else or something?"

"I don't know," Rey admitted. "I don't think so, but I don't actually know."

Testor stared at her like her head was on backwards. "Are you kidding? How did you leave it? 'Call me anytime you feel like spanking me black-and-blue, and maybe we can hook up in neutral space'?"

Rey shifted onto her back uneasily. "No no, I just meant… I think maybe it meant more to me than it did to him, that's all."

"Rey-bey," Testor's tone softened markedly, and she moved to sitting next to Rey on her bed. "I was just kidding around, you know that, right? It sounds like you have it bad for this weirdo, whoever he is, and you're afraid he doesn't really like you back."

She closed her eyes gently when she felt the hot sting of tears welling in them. She nodded silently, her vocal cords suddenly stinging around a knot of tension that had been hiding there for days. Wordlessly, Testor lay beside her and threw her arm over Rey's own, across her torso. The human contact from her roommate felt so different than….

"You know what I think?" Testor ventured, propping her head up on one hand, looking earnestly at Rey. "I think you need to move on, just find another guy to rub up on you a bit and make you feel like he wants to be there as much as you do." Her fingers brushed a loose lock of Rey's hair from her forehead. "You know you're really pretty, right? I wasn't kidding when I said you could have your pick of the guys here. I wish you could see the way they look at you. I mean, you can fly, and fix things, and you've got this whole... innocent-but-tough thing going for you… They're into it, trust me. Men want to be saved as much as do the saving themselves."

Rey studied Jessika carefully. "You think so?"

"I know so," Jessika nodded confidently. "Come out with us tomorrow, bat your eyes at them, make a crude joke or two, and maybe…. wear your hair down for once," she chuckled. "It'll give 'em something to think about hanging onto, you know?"

Rey bit her lips and nodded. "I'll try."

"Try? Try!? You know what Master Yoda said, right? 'There is no try.'" Jessika's eyes lit up. "'Do, or do not. There is no try.' Rey, I know you've got this."

"Okay!" Rey laughed then, brushing the tears from her cheeks. "Alright, I'll come, I'll make an effort."

Testor nodded once more, then pecked Rey lightly on her cheek. "I'm glad, I think you'll feel better. Even if you just suck his face off for awhile, it'll be better."

"Thanks," Rey replied. "I really appreciate it- everything you've done, I hope you know that."

"Of course," Testor rolled away and bounced back into her own bunk. "Lights out?"

"Lights out," Rey replied.