A/N: Hello all! So, we're making excellent time in terms of my self-set deadline. I've only got maybe five chapters planned out, though I may extend them if I can. Thank you to all of my followers, favoriters (not a word) and most importantly, reviewers. Happy reading!
Rey now has a constant guard over her room, as well as an additional medical droid to watch her every move, an obvious precaution after her latest adventure. She's decided against visiting Kylo again— she thinks they have enough information to communicate through Finn and Poe now. Besides, the security of her hospital room has usurped that of even Kylo's.
The procedures the head medical droid does on her arm and other various parts of her body are almost constant. It's hard for Rey to think through the sometimes blinding pain.
She loses track of time, but when the med droid informs her that it's been ten hours since her capture, she has no choice but to believe it, despite having previous altercations with it. When it offers her water for the first time in hours, she gratefully accepts it, and gulps it down with purpose. When she finishes, the medical droid informs her that she is to have a particularly heinous surgical procedure on her back.
"You will have to lie completely still for the procedure, Miss, or something could go very wrong."
Rey makes sure to glare daggers at the droid before responding. "I won't be able to. Surely you should know that, after performing numerous procedures on my arms and head. What'll it be doing, anyway?"
"Relocating your spine."
She cringes at the name. "That's terrible."
"It has to be done, Miss."
I doubt I would've noticed my spine was Forced up in the first place if you hadn't.
Before she knows what she's saying, she mutters, "Fine. But I recommend you drug me first, or that 'very wrong' incident will be on your record."
She feels a needle being injected to her arm, and welcomes the black.
It's sunset on Jakku, not unlike most sunsets on the desolate planet. Two figures disrupt the pink and orange light, and nothing more. One's taller than the other, but is hunched over something. Rey rushes to join them.
She's nearly five feet from them before she truly sees who they are.
Snoke and Luke! Force! What're they doing on Jakku, of all places?
"You believe this was hers?"
"I know it was." Luke replies.
Rey peeks over his shoulder, accepting the strange reality that neither masters seem to see, or even sense her. They're holding up her Rebel pilot doll, something Rey remembers crafting herself when she had just arrived on the desert planet.
"And you're sure she'd come back to it? With Kylo Ren, my apprentice, in tow? Unlikely." Snoke snarls.
"Not according to her old owner, Plutt. He seemed to think that she'd come back with the Falcon and apologize or something. I can't be sure, though— he talks strangely." Luke says.
Unkar Plutt said that? He couldn't be more wrong.
"I think you're starting to lose your credibility, Skywalker."
Luke throws a hand to his chest. "Me?"
"I don't see any other inversely credible Skywalkers around here, do you?"
Ah, Luke, you'd better get out of there quick.
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Next, I think we should go to Crait—"
No!
"That old Kyber mine? Not a chance. I specifically told my apprentice to stay away from that planet—"
"Can't you just trust me for a standard day, Snoke? They're there. I can sense it this time."
"You thought you could sense them here when you convinced me to come to this junkyard in the first place!" Snoke roars. Luke begins to back up slowly, though their ship seems to be in the opposite direction.
Please don't go to Crait! We have enough problems as it is without you showing up.
"Skywalker, I know of your plans. I am aware that there is a Resistance base on the planet you speak of, and plan to eliminate it, but finding my apprentice has proved more pressing. You will not tempt me to fall into your trap!" Snoke cries maniacally. Rey cringes. What a nutcase.
But Luke keeps his cool, somehow. "If that's how you want it, then, I suppose our alliance must end."
Snoke smiles evilly, and Rey swears she can see Luke twitch slightly, however microscopic. "So be it." Snoke concludes. Despite his ancient features, he strides to his ship with surprising ease. Luke follows, and Rey notices his hand clench on his Lightsaber as he draws near his newfound enemy.
"Don't think this is the end, Snoke."
"Quite the opposite, Skywalker. I think this may just be the beginning."
The ramp to the transport begins to close slowly, steam rising from the metallic joints straining. Snoke's grotesque features curve into a laugh once more as he utters five deadly words:
"See you on Crait, Skywalker."
Rey screams.
"Procedure completed." The medical droid hovers over Rey, causing her vision to double. She nods sleepily.
"Yeah... great. Thanks."
"Are you feeling okay, Miss?" The droid asks, clearly surprised about her lack of hostility.
"Ah, no, not really." Rey replies honestly.
"Was it because of the procedure?"
"No, no. Not at all. Just...just a strange dream."
"Do you need more pain medication? Because—"
"No, thanks."
"Is there anything I could do for you? Anything at all?" The droid inquires, obviously feeling inclined to repay the act of kindness.
"Well, actually, now that you mention it... you could ask Finn and Poe to come in here." Rey allows.
"How could they even be a team in the first place?" Poe cries frantically, when the two friends have left the hospital room.
"I dunno, but it's not good. 'See you on Crait'? Could you think of anything more ominous? Oh, Force, Poe, what do we do? We've got to warn someone— but then they'll ask how we know, and we can't do that to Rey..."
Poe hurriedly shoves Finn into a maintenance elevator, punches a few buttons, and cringes as the lift drops without warning, sending him crashing into the wall.
"They must really care about their Force users to do such a thing." Finn notes. Poe can only nod: he's soaked in sweat.
"Hey, where're we going, anyway?" Finn inquires after another moment of silence.
"We're going where Rey told us to go. Kylo needs to know, if he's really helping us now." The words sound hard for Poe to get out.
Finn chokes on air. "I don't think I'm going to be able to look at the Nerfherder, let alone have a civilized conversation with him."
Poe shrugs. "The guards'll only give us five minutes, anyway. It won't seem like long. We've got to do this. For Rey."
Silence. Poe glances over to Finn, who's pointedly staring down the elevator buttons.
"Besides, we're going to be spending months with the guy. We've got to start somewhere." Poe says confidently. "How's this for an opening statement: 'Hey, Kylo! So, we're not in here for small talk because, you know, we don't Forcing like you, but Rey wanted us to tell you that Luke and Snoke have broken up their alliance and are coming to attack us. Thanks, bye!'"
Finn's now laughing at the elevator buttons, though he still tries to hide it. Poe grins.
The elevator comes to the detention block at a screeching halt. It takes all of Poe's willpower not to crash to the floor, and Finn looks the same way. Poe gathers himself back up again after he's sure the elevator isn't moving anywhere in the near future, and steps out with as much pride as he can muster, Finn right behind. They stride down the hallway with purpose, Poe's head turning only to nod at various guards and pilots along the way.
Eventually, they stop at the only occupied cell, one heavily guarded after Rey's most recent escapade.
"Now, remember, we've got to do this with authority. They're going to suspect us if we don't have a logical reason." Poe says nervously, glancing around for onlookers.
"We could be informants for the trial. Oh, Force, I can't believe we're doing this!" Finn exclaims.
"Informants. Right." Poe chooses to ignore the second part of Finn's reply.
I am now an informant for Ren's trial. That is my job. Nothing more.
Oh, hello, Dameron.
Poe yelps with surprise, causing Finn to jump behind him. Force, not again! It can't be happening again. How can Ren get into my head so easily?
He marches up to a guard, says, "We're informants for Ren's upcoming trial," and suddenly, they're in. The guard reminds them that they only have five minutes, but Poe knows that's all they'll need.
He needs to pull Finn inside of the cell with him, and Poe's only left to wonder what the guards think of the situation. When the door finally closes (and Finn lets out an almost undetectable whimper), Poe turns to face the Dark Knight.
"Rey made us come here!" Finn shouts, before Poe can get anything out. Ren looks up, the shadow of a smirk on his scarred face.
"Of course she did. I'd hardly think you're here for your health." Ren says thinly. "What did she want you to tell me?"
Poe's only heard his real voice twice before recently— and both times, they were in his mind. He's disappointed to find that he recognizes it from the one in his head. So I wasn't imagining it.
Poe's surprised Ren hasn't attacked the both of them yet— after all, they've got to be numbers one and two on his Most Wanted list. However, he seems to be strangely calm. It offsets Poe more than an outright attack would've.
Poe forces his expression to neutralize, and wishes he could tell Finn to do the same— he wants to send a message of alliance. We're going to be sharing a ship in a few days, anyway.
"She...she had a procedure." Poe decides to break it to him slowly, to avoid any unnecessary violence. He's still unsure to how major the news is, and wonders how Ren will perceive it.
"Go on." Ren prompts when silence occurs.
"Right. Um... she had a vision during the procedure." Poe continues, deciding the word vision sounds more accurate in the situation, rather than the dream Rey described it as.
Ren sits forward, his head rested on his folded hands. His dark eyes scan over Poe, making him shift uncomfortably. Poe doesn't know how to put Rey's message into words. Her exact words were, Snoke and Luke— Poe, they broke up! They're coming. Snoke's going to destroy the base, Luke's going to destroy our plan, and Snoke's going to destroy the base and our plan! He'll capture us, he'll torture us— okay, wait, I need you to tell Kylo that, okay? Tell him they're on Jakku but are advancing fast.
"I can always read your mind, but I can't say it'll be the most enjoyable experience." Ren offers when more silence ensues. Poe hears a faint "No!" in Finn's direction, and sighs.
"Fine. What else's there to say?" He shrugs, pretending to act unconcerned. "Snoke and Luke broke up, and they're on their way here." Poe explains, mentally butchering Rey's tale to deliver a more suitable message. He hopes Ren gets the picture and lets them out.
Ren stands up abruptly from his bed, his already pale face paler. He advances towards Poe, and Poe thinks he's going to hit him, but Ren falls short about two feet.
"You're serious?" He asks, a newfound tremor in his normally steady voice.
"Well, that's what she said, I wouldn't—"
"You have to warn someone! This could destroy the entire base in mere hours!" He shouts, before quickly receding to a calmer expression when the guards look their way.
"Wait? I'm confused. Why did Snoke and Luke form together in the first place? Why—" Poe starts, but Ren's not listening.
"Your questions aren't my top priority, Dameron, shocking as it may be. Listen to me. You need to get someone and warn them that Snoke's coming. Do you hear me?" Ren's never looked more solemn in his life, and Poe realizes he's actually serious in helping them escape. It's not one big ploy.
Finn's already motioning to the guards to let them out, and Poe turns to leave, relieved it's over. But before he can, a hand grabs his shoulder. He spins around, alarmed.
Ren's face is unreadable.
"Is she okay?"
Poe's stomach does a double-turn as he realizes who he's talking about.
"She's fine. Trust me," he replies, trying to keep a straight face. Ren nods and lets go of him, turning back around to resume sitting on the bed, Poe guesses.
But as the cell door closes, as they remove themselves from the gathering of pilots asking about the Dark Knight, and Finn begins praising Poe on his bravery, Poe's mind is spinning.
He now knows why Ren joined the Gray Jedi, too, and it's not unlike the very reason he and Finn did in the first place.
The thought that he's somehow found something in common with the Nerfherder is enough to make Poe smile despite himself, and despite and the sense of impending doom Rey's message has set. Finn smiles back, though Poe doubts it's for the same reason.
"We've got to find the General."
A/N: Ta-daaa! So, I've been struggling with some writers' block, so if I don't post tomorrow it's just because I haven't written enough to provide a substantial chapter. Sorry about that. It's a really intense part of the story, so I'm trying to do it right. Please leave a review if you can, and may the Force be with you!