Author's note: You've got to remember, this is not canon-compliant with The Last Jedi. This is an alternate universe, canon divergent after The Force Awakens.
Finn had hoped he would be able get something out of Kylo Ren the easy way, but now he and Poe were late to the briefing with nothing to show for it.
They entered just as the Intelligence officer, a woman who had irridescant blue tattoes where her eyebrows should have been, finished her report, "So in conclusion, any one of these seventeen sites could be the location of the antivirals, and of course, we now know that we can't trust the labels, even if we do find a likely shipment."
The meeting had no formal seating arrangement. Beings clustered around the holodisplay in the middle, seated or standing. As the woman talked, Finn noticed that everyone was sneaking glances at Rey, who was in the back with Chewbacca, again. Only this time, no one else wanted to stand near her. She was seated in a hoverchair from the infirmary, following the strict orders to keep weight off her leg while it healed. Her arm was in a sling and her leg in a bacta cast. Surprisingly, the blaster wound had given her more trouble than the lightsaber one.
"Thank you for the update, Lieutenant Xaa," General Organa said warmly, "Now, Commander Dameron, you're just in time. Please report on the prisoner."
"There is nothing to report. We have appraised him of the situation and he gave us nothing." Poe paused, then asked, "Permission to conduct a more thorough interrogation?"
Poe meant torture. Finn didn't agree.
Leia pursed her lips. While she took her time to answer, half a dozen people started shouting.
Finally, Leia raised her hands for silence. "I'm too close to this issue to make a decision," she said. "I'll allow some discussion - one at a time - but ultimately, I'll leave the choice in the hands of Admiral Akbar."
Akbar nodded in acknowledgement. Finn was still getting used to the Mon Calimari leader. His First Order conditioning told him that non-humans were inferior and unintelligent. It was nice to be proven wrong in this regard, but still jarring on occasion.
The Intelligence Commander - Osga-something - raised his hand, "Permission to speak, ma'am?" This man would have fit well into the First Order hierarchy. He unsettled Finn much more Admiral Akbar.
"Granted," Leia replied.
"As I understand it, the situation is more complicated than our usual prisoner-with-information scenario. We have a resource not usually available." He looked pointedly at Rey.
"I don't know what you're suggesting, but I don't like it," a communications officer Finn didn't know well piped up, "I mean, how do we know we can trust her? She could be sending the First Order our plans right now with her mind or -"
Poe interrupted, "Tanith, for that to happen, we would have to actually have a plan."
"Right," the Intelligence Commander cut in, "Which is why the girl should get Ren to tell us where they're hiding the medicine, so we can -"
"And how exactly would you propose she do that?" Leia asked, pointedly.
"Well, you know what they say, you catch more mynochs with good cables than a zap-trap, so... you know."
Leia raised one eyebrow.
"Alright," continued Osga-whatever, "we take the girl, dress her up in something less... utilitarian and send her to visit the prisoner. We'll make sure she has the necessary injections afterward to prevent -"
Finn had heard enough and was about to defend Rey's honor, but General Organa beat him to the punch. Not literally - Finn was actually going to punch the man, but all the General needed to do was speak. "Commander Osgatai, if you're going to make such a stupid suggestion, at least have the balls to describe it accurately. If I understand you correctly, you want to dress Rey up in something skimpy and send her to have sex with the prisoner? In the hopes that, what, he'll yell out the correct coordinates in the middle of it? That's not how sex works." A few people in room chuckled nervously. Finn probably would have laughed outright, had his best friend not been the subject of this awkward exchange. "Perhaps you were suggesting she ask for the location as payment before she does anything?"
By now Osgatai was red in the face, sputtering, either in anger or embarassment, Finn couldn't tell. Probably a bit of both.
"After we save Mygeeto," the General continued, "I will be conducting a thorough investigation of everything you've asked your operatives to do, but for now, all of your decisions will require the approval of Lieutenant Xaa."
Osgatai clenched his jaw in anger but said, "Yes, ma'am."
The General continued, "Does anyone else have an idea?"
Master Skywalker walked out of the shadows - Finn hadn't realized he was there. He'd had heard that Skywalker started out a just a regular guy, so he really hoped, for Rey's sake, that the creepy mysticism was a side effect of his time as a hermit, not the Jedi training itself.
The Jedi said, "I think we're ignoring a possibility here. If Kylo Ren could be turned back to the light, he would give us the information of his own accord. Not to mention, he'd be a powerful ally in our fight against the First Order." He stared pointedly at Rey. That seemed to be a common thread in this meeting.
This comment seemed to be the last straw for her. Finn watched Rey tense up, and then she all-but-shouted, "Alright, lets get a few things clear: First, anything you want me to do, ask me to do it; don't talk about me like I'm not here. Second, yes, Kylo Ren and I had a physical relationship, but most of what you all are imagining did not happen. Some of those things are not, er - physically possible - for humans." Rey was blushing, "If you could, er, stop thinking about them so loudly in my presence, that would be great. And finally," she stood up shakily, "It is not my job to save him. What do you expect, that I'll bat my eyelashes a few times and turn him back into a good little Jedi? If his decision to be good is based on our relationship, what happens if we have a fight and he goes back to the dark? Suddenly you'll blame me for every bad thing he does. Look, I want him to make better choices, every bit as much as you do, but it's not my job to save him. Even if I wanted to, I don't think i could. He has to make that decision for himself."
With that, she sat back down and whirred away on the hoverchair, as dramatically as she could manage. The effect was considerably dimmed by the fact that it was difficult to steer one-handed, so she sort of haltingly zig-zagged her way to the door. Rey did activate the door control behind her with the Force, so Finn gave her props for that.
Author's Note:
Rey's assertion that it's not her job to save Kylo Ren has been planned from the beginning, as commentary on the expectation from many fans that Rey's romantic relationship with Kylo Ren can somehow pull him back to the light. I think the 'good girl changing the bad guy' trope is dangerous as it leads to real-life abusive relationships. I have to say, I'm incredibly glad that a.) Rey did not turn Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi and b.) she did not compromise her friends or her principles for a relationship. (And also that this doesn't mean he can't be redeemed, just that his redemption arc will be about something bigger than a pretty face.)
And on a lighter note, this didn't fit in the story, but R2D2 runs the betting pool on everyone's personal lives on base. He doesn't do it for the credits (though BB-8 definitely has some good ideas about what a droid can do with currency,) rather he's motivated by the fact that it drives C-3PO nuts. He's ecstatic that Rey is causing so much drama. It hasn't been this interesting since the "will Leia and Han make out in the middle of a meeting or kill each other first" betting pool on Hoth.