A/N: Hello again! I didn't post yesterday because I had a lot of stuff to do, and I'm really stressed right now, but here it is. I know I left off with a really scary cliffhanger last time, so the rest of the A/N is at the bottom. Happy reading!
Of course Kylo's been in court before.
Since he became Kylo Ren, whenever captured by the government systems of various planets, their protocol was to trial him. He'd sat through countless of them, planning his escape in his mind while they shamelessly ridiculed him for crimes of the First Order, most of which he didn't even partake in. Never in these experiences had the verdict mattered to him, and he supposes it shouldn't now—after all, they do have a plan—but it does. He doesn't know why. Maybe it's because it involves people he actually cares about, or maybe because it's taking place in the very courtroom where he'd stood from the outside as a little boy, his breath fogging up the glass wallsx watching So-and-So get convicted.
It's Rey who brings him back. Her hand is clenching and unclenching, and he has a feeling it's not intentional. He wonders if he should try to mentally contact her, but Mothma speaks again.
"—guilty as charged."
Kylo's stomach drops to the ground. How could he have even hoped? He wasn't usually a hopeful person, but here he was, hoping that maybe a jury full of Resistance pilots will excuse him for murder and treason.
Rey gives his hand a squeeze. Kylo knows she's disappointed, too, and she probably would've marched right up to the judge's stand and demand a retrial if they didn't have a plan.
Right—the plan! What am I doing?
He awkwardly lets go of Rey's hand, and she doesn't protest— the plan is still on. Rose is standing, petrified, plastered against a very uncomfortable Finn, and Poe is having a morose discussion with the General up on the judge's stand. They're counting on me.
He begins to back away, eyeing the judge stand and wondering if the jury has blasters. He doubts it.
He needs a distraction, he decides. He wonders how to achieve one, and if it would be alright to initiate a Force choke on one (if not all) of the jury members. He decides Rey likely wouldn't mind as long as he keeps them alive, and Rose would enjoy the show (and probably defend him because of it if Rey got angry later).
He's just choosing his victim when a wailing, creaking sound rocks the courtroom. The jury, Poe, the General, and even Mothma look around nervously. All thought of a Force choke is temporarily forgotten.
Finn mutters, "What the-?"
And then all of the glass in the courtroom explodes.
Rose and Rey cry out in shock, raising their arms in the air to protect themselves from the dangerous shards. Kylo does the same a few seconds late— he feels cuts forming on his arms and head. Mothma is screaming. Poe is nowhere to be seen.
Rey seems to come to her senses first. "RUN!" She shrieks, charging down the levitating steps and down the defendant's stand. Rose follows suit, Finn not far behind. The former Stormtrooper just manages something that sounds suspiciously like, "Let's go, Ren," but Kylo decides that's impossible: the two have a grudge not even Rey as a mutual friend could fix.
Still, he dashes after Finn as if he did say it. Mothma and the jury are too distracted, and sirens are blaring already. Kylo and Finn catch up to Rey just as she's turning a corner from the destroyed courtroom, now not a room at all— its only walls have shattered.
"Now what do we do? Where's the Falcon?" She asks, before adding: "Holy Sith, where's Poe?"
The cement walls are beginning to crack, now, too. Anakin is just making his way out of the courtroom, eyes wide. "I didn't know Force ghosts could pull off something of this scale!" He gushes to Kylo.
"They can't. It's Snoke." He responds flatly. Anakin looks crestfallen.
"Poe? Poe!" Finn's calling now, but even as he does this he's following Rey and Rose's lead as they begin for the hangar— and for the Falcon.
"Will the Falcon even be in here?" Rose's yelling over the noise.
"Yeah, Luke took it to get off Ach-To," Kylo says. Rose nods nervously. Kylo wonders if she's ever seen this much action, but doubts it: he's never seen this much action.
They bump into Poe five minutes into the sprint. Poe gives a little shout, blaster raised, but shortly after embraces Rey and Rose, mumbling something about needing to get the General out of the collapsing room. They're about to leave again when another girl dashes up, introduces herself hurriedly as Paige Tico when blasters point her way, and hugs Rose quickly before running away again. "My sister," Rose explains, and Rey gives her a sympathetic smile.
Then footsteps patter against the cracked floor ("Pilots!" Poe gasps), and they're off again. Shortly after, Anakin disintegrates and BB-8 barrels around the corner, met by an overjoyed Poe and an invitation to escape on the Falcon. The droid agrees.
Kylo loses track of time— he's gotten used to the exhausting sprinting, the ducking as parts of the ceiling cave, the occasional encounter with Resistance members (who are strategically placed unconscious by Kylo). He's estimating it's been about twenty minutes, and that the courtroom was designed to be as far as possible away from the hangar to prevent criminals from escaping.
Well, we're doing just that, and we're making pretty good time, too.
"There!" Poe yells. The Falcon is parked in the hangar, gangplank down, almost begging to be flown.
"Somebody open the hangar door. We're going to need to make this quick so Snoke doesn't get in here." Rey orders. Finn volunteers when no one else does, Poe patting him on the back when he does so, and the group splits apart.
Rey is so out of breath, she can't believe she hasn't collapsed already. That said, she does so on the gangplank to the Falcon, having spent her very last bit of energy.
Pilots shouted at them on the way, some going as far as to chase after them, but Kylo yelled, "It's okay! Keep going!", and so she did. But now, laying down on her face, she can't even bring herself to walk to the main room. She senses two presences crouch over her, and hears Rose say, "It's okay, Poe. She's had an extremely long day. Go fire up the engines." A pause, then, "NOW!" Footsteps up the gangplank.
She hears blasters, then angry voices and braces herself for impact, but in a few seconds, it's as if they're underwater: she can still hear them and their blaster shots, but she can't make out what they're saying. Rose's "Whoa! Nice!", however, is perfectly clear.
"We don't have much time. Go tell Dameron to hurry. I'll get Rey." Kylo responds.
What'd he do to make them sound like that?
She feels herself being lifted gently, carried into the main living area, and set down on the bench she remembers Chewie himself lay on when she and Han had just met.
"The hangar doors are opening! Finn'd better get his rear end over here!" Poe calls, presumably from the cockpit.
"Great! Will somebody get some water or something to pour on Rey? She's still unconscious, but Snoke didn't do anything." Kylo replies. His voice is closer.
"I got some!" Rose cries. Hurried footsteps.
"Thanks."
"Yeah. Here's Finn, Poe. Kylo, could you stop... whatever you're doing with the ship... for a second?"
"You mean the Force barrier? Sure." So that's what it is.
Pounding on a metal grate. Someone out of breath.
"I'm here. What's wrong with Rey?"
"She went unconscious on the gangplank. Give her some space, Finn, I'm about to pour some water on her."
"Okay. Come on, Rose."
"No, I want to—"
"ROSE! YOU CAN SHOOT, RIGHT?!"
"Poe?! What the Force? You know I can't!"
"I can!"
"Get on it, then, Finn! Goodness Force!"
"What, are they attacking?"
"Yeah! Also, Snoke's not far from the entrance to the hangar. This is going to be tight."
Suddenly, icy cold needles pierce Rey's skin, spilling down her neck and face. She screams, sitting upright and tweaking her neck in the process.
"Holy Force! What the-?" She gasps.
"Hey, you're okay. You didn't miss much. Hey, can you help us pilot?" Kylo asks, holding an empty cup. Oh.
"Uh... yeah. Let's go." She says, wiping off the majority of what she now sees is water on her face.
She leads the way to the cockpit, where Poe is frantically blocking messages from the Resistance, attempting to break the security code, and firing the secondary compactor—all at once.
"Need some help, Dameron?" Kylo asks, and, without waiting for an answer, slides into the copilot's seat, and begins flicking switches. Rey doesn't really see why she's needed, but sticks around anyway.
They move as one: when one leans over to flick a switch or enter a code, the other moves to make room seconds before the first even begins. They speak in half-finished sentences, interrupting each other while never missing a beat. At one point, they switch languages entirely, switching to maybe binary—or something like that. They don't even look at each other. Abruptly, Rey finds herself decidedly believing that Poe is Force sensitive— no one could've pulled that off otherwise.
Eventually, she gives up trying to "help", and joins Rose on the curved couch. She barely looks up. She looks a little green, in Rey's opinion.
"Are you worried about Paige?" She asks.
"Yeah."
"She'll be fine. She may be trialed, but she doesn't know anything. She can't possibly be convicted with no knowledge of our plan."
"I suppose." Rose sighs, head in hands. "I can't believe we're going this. We're not even off the ground, and I regret it already."
"I know. It's totally crazy." Rey agrees.
A pause.
"You can leave now. If you want. I can't, obviously, but you could if you'd like." Rey offers halfheartedly.
"I know what I signed up for." She replies firmly.
The Falcon jolts forward. Rey hears Poe cheer jubilantly from the cockpit. Rose clutches the side of the couch anxiously. Rey rises to climb down and check on Finn, who's been mysteriously silent on the comm.
He's frozen to his seat.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks.
"I-I've never seen him in the flesh before. I mean... I've heard stories from my friends back at the First Order, but..."
Rey rolls her eyes. "You'd think you'd have gotten over the fact that you've seen Kylo in the flesh already."
He breaks his trance to stare at her, confused.
"Kylo? No, I'm not talking about Kylo. I'm talking about him." And he points.
Though the hangar door is only halfway open, Supreme Leader Snoke has entered.
A/N: So, before you yell at me for a cliffhanger, let me say something first: We legitimately have THREE CHAPTERS REMAINING. Can you believe it?! I'm honestly really proud of myself. Yay! Okay, NOW you can yell at me for a cliffhanger (though I'd save your voice to yell at Rian Johnson when he drops the biggest cliffhanger in the galaxy with The Last Jedi). If you were confused by that dialogue, sorry— it was my way of expressing the confusion felt on the Falcon. If you couldn't match up lines with voices, my bad. I tried to make it clear. Make sure to review, follow, etc. Shoutout to Star for reviewing again! Thanks for supporting the idea— I've been thinking about it for awhile and honestly it would be CRAZY if that happened in IX— kind of a grand finale, you know? I know it's not going to happen, but I can dream.
NattyJane— Thank you so much! I'm very flattered. Don't feel limited to my fanfiction, though: there are plenty of others that I personally read that are just as (if not more!) good.
May the Force be with you, guys! We're almost there! By the way, is anyone going to the premiere? I'm jealous...