Ben had laid awake next to Rey for most of the night, trying to put together the pieces of what a life with her aboard the Supremacy would look like. To have her present and committed to him was exhilarating. Considering the constant danger she was under here was terrifying. He equally dreaded the moment when she would have to witness the kind of brutality and force he was required to use to maintain control over the First Order. Since the strength of their bond had flourished, it had become impossible for Ben to harness the kind of rage that had simmered constantly beneath his skin as Snoke's apprentice. Without intending to, Ben had allowed Rey to become his conscience, and he valued her estimation of him far more than his own vice grip on the central command of the First Order.

Though he'd tried to be careful to not wake her, she finally stirred an hour before he'd planned to wake her. Ben? What's troubling you?

Ben tried to pull his anxiety away from her consciousness. I'm just restless. I'm sorry to have woken you.

Rey turned in his arms and burrowed closer into his warmth. You're worried?

Ben settled her closer to his side and stroked a hand down her spine. I'm trying to figure out the balance between who I'm supposed to be, who I've become, and how to keep you safe in the space in between.

Rey probed Ben's consciousness gently, and he allowed her to taste the nature of his concerns. Rey sighed. She rose on an elbow and looked down into Ben's eyes. I know you will still have to be Kylo Ren here. Rey laid her hand across his face and stroked his cheek with her thumb. I know you will sometimes have to be hard and cruel, but I came anyway. I never thought that this would be easy.

Ben tightened his grip around her waist. He searched her eyes, hoping she could understand. I'm not sure I can be Kylo Ren for them and Ben Solo for you. I'm worried there's not enough of Kylo left to make this work. You also need to know . . . in order for you to be safe here, they are going to have to fear you for yourself, separate from me.

Rey drew back. I didn't think . . .

I know. There will have to be some kind of display of your own power very soon, or you won't survive long. Without an anchor on the Falcon, I'm not sure I could send you back. We have to make this work. You're going to have to draw on your darkness, and you will have to learn to keep your true emotions tightly in check, for both our sakes.

Rey laid her head back on Ben's shoulder, now awake and tense.

Do you wish you'd not come?

The black ceiling of Ben's quarters was indistinguishable from the shadows; infinite darkness, receding relentlessly. What was life like here, with nothing but death to look forward to, advancement possible only through violence and death? I wish this didn't have to be our reality, but I'd rather face this with you than risk you dying alone. She glanced up to meet his gaze. This place between us—this is home. Whatever that means, now there's two of us. You're not going to have to bear this alone anymore.

When Ben kissed her, his gratitude flooded their bond. Rey wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kisses with fervor. This time, when their comingled desire rose between them, Ben was different. Gone was the shame in the wanting, and his desire flowed hot and frank through their bond without hesitation. Ben neither asked nor demanded. Now, when he touched Rey, the tenderness remained, but beneath it was the confidence and certainty of a man that readily took what was his because he knew it was offered freely.

Ben could feel through her touch and her thoughts that Rey had abandoned any doubts. He saw the certainty in her eyes, and felt the steel in her will, and knew that whatever was to come next, she accepted that his fate and hers were the same. Just as they found solace and pleasure in one another, she was willing to lie down in his grave with him, if that was where their path would lead.

When they rose to meet the storm that was about to break over them, it was with silent determination and a sense of mutual defiance. Before they left his quarters, Ben pressed Rey against him, taking the last breath of her scent that he would be able to risk for many hours. Though he'd tried to tamp down his reaction, he had found the sight of her in the black padawan's robes evocative, equally beautiful and deadly, and he knew she could feel his pleasure seeping through their bond.

Rey stepped back, her hands clasped in his, and when she looked up at him, her eyes blazed with resolve. We will not fall today. Not today, and not for many years to come. Rey squeezed his fingers. I won't permit it.

Ben nodded wordlessly and turned to face the door that stood between their sanctuary and the threats crouched and waiting beyond. Ben started to reach inside himself for the mask of Kylo Ren, but realized that he didn't need it.

Kylo Ren had been fuelled by hate and misery, motivated by fear and aspiration, his days spent negotiating between a jealous rival and a harsh master. Ben Solo stood defiantly in his place now. Unlike the empty husk that was Kylo Ren, Ben possessed something of real value that he would die for. Ben felt his power, now augmented by and nearly indistinguishable from Rey's, unfurl around and between them. This was who they were together, and Ben Solo wouldn't hesitate to cut down anything that threatened them. Kylo Ren may have been terrifying. Ben Solo and Rey-Okan, inextricably joined mind and body, heart and soul, would be the unrestrained embodiment of the will of the Force itself. Ben Solo didn't need rage. He had certainty.

When Ben stepped through the door of his quarters, he let go of his fear, and once and for all, he let go of Kylo Ren.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Rey followed Ben out of his quarters, her senses prickling painfully. To enhance both of their Force acuity, they had decided to try leaving the barrier between their minds down completely. It would allow Rey to orient herself within the floating continent that was the Supremacy, and she'd have the advantage of being instantly familiar with any officer that addressed them.

Ben was still sorting out how he was going to explain her presence and integrate her into the crew. Since the official story regarding Snoke's death was that she had murdered him, it was going to be difficult to rationalize bringing the Snoke's murderer back aboard. Further, he was unsure how widely Hux had spread his doubts that Rey had dispatched Snoke, the entire Praetorian Guard, and Kylo Ren on her own. He sincerely hoped that the Force would provide its own answer, sooner rather than later.

When Ben led Rey into the Supreme Leader's audience chamber, she hesitated for a moment before following him, a foreboding welling up in her. Ben felt it and turned.

Don't be afraid.

Rey glanced at the empty throne and around the chamber. When she had left this place, it had been in shambles, sparks cascading from the ceiling, blood and entrails spattered on the red panels concealing the windows. Rey had had to watch her footing, as the already glassy floor had become slick with blood, and she had nearly tripped on an arm that one of them had severed from one of the Praetorians. She remembered the stench distinctly, the copper of blood, the ammonia of urine, the sweet stench of roasted flesh and singed hair. She'd had to shower several times before she could get the smell out of her hair and scrubbed the blood and gore from beneath her nails. Rey realized that she'd been breathing shallowly through her mouth in anticipation of the stench, and she forced herself to take a deep breath. She was relieved to smell only the astringent odor that pervaded the rest of the ship.

I guess that's why everything on a First Order ship is all black smooth surfaces and smells so nauseatingly clean.

Ben shrugged nonchalantly. There are an enormous number of men with extremely few acceptable outlets for their violent tendencies and sexual urges on a dreadnaught. Things . . . happen. The design certainly takes upkeep and efficiency into account.

Ben climbed the steps of the dais and looked down at the throne with distaste. When he looked at it, all he could think of were the many hours he had spent cowering below it in either fear or pain. Even if it wasn't far outsized for him, with Snoke standing nearly a foot taller than Ben when he was at his prime, Ben would be damned before he sat in it. Further, he'd not have Rey on the floor at his feet nor standing at his shoulder while he sat. With a flick of his hand, Ben lifted the throne from the dais, and he sent it to the edge of the chamber into the shadows where he need not look at it for now.

What should I do?

Ben sighed inwardly. Snoke always made me kneel at his feet. Vader was said to have stood at his master's shoulder while he also sat on a throne. I think it will be adequate if you just stand beside me.

Rey ascended the steps. Here?

Yes.

Do you expect me to call you 'master'? Ben could feel her derision, but it was tinged with real fear that that would be precisely what he would want.

I'd really rather you didn't. When Ben felt her relief, he continued, I'm surprised you would have to— he snapped his head up. Hux is coming.

Rey stepped closer to Ben, just behind his shoulder. She made a conscious effort to wipe her face and her mine clear.

Pull your hood up. It will give you a few more minutes to compose your face.

Rey flipped her hood over her eyes, and had barely enough time to fold her hands before her before the doors to the audience chamber opened and Hux strode through.

As he strode across the bridge leading to the throne room proper, Hux's step and smirk faltered when he saw the second black robed figure behind Kylo Ren. Rey felt Ben's amusement and she could feel that his lips quivered in a repressed smile.

It was worth you coming all this way just for that.

Rey didn't respond; she was too nervous about Hux's reaction when he saw her. She noticed that Hux's steps had slowed, and he did not approach with the same confident swagger of moments earlier. When he arrived at the foot of the dais, she could feel Hux's eyes boring into the shadows beneath her hood for as long as he dared, trying to discern whose face was concealed there.

"General Hux."

"Supreme Leader." Hux's eyes snapped back to Ben. "I was unaware you had brought a . . . guest with you when you returned."

"I didn't. My apprentice arrived after I did by other means."

Hux was flustered. "I didn't approve a shuttle landing—"

"As I said, my apprentice arrived by other means, which are not your concern." Ben lifted a brow and cocked his head subtly, as though to ask Hux if he really wanted to pursue the matter further. Hux took a deep breath, and though his color had already started to rise, he made a visible effort to push down his annoyance with Kylo Ren. "I have summoned you here for the express purpose of answering for your treason."

"My treason! It was not I who murdered—" Hux's face twisted in anger. He balled his fists and placed his foot on the bottom step of the dais as though to ascend and challenge Kylo Ren personally.

The moment his foot touched the step, Rey lunged forward, her hand outstretched, and silenced him. She lifted her hand subtly so that the heels of his boots left the immaculate floor, and with the snap of her wrist, she slid him back from the dais several paces. Rey placed him firmly back on his feet, but warned acidly, "You forget yourself, General."

Have you ever done that before?

No, but I had an excellent teacher.

Ben hummed softly in approval through their bond. Can you hold him there? When Ben heard Rey's hum of assent, he continued, Just put enough pressure on him that he knows you're there. It takes a lot of control; try not to push him.

Hux narrowed his eyes and tried in earnest now to see into the shadows beneath Rey's hood. "I'm surprised that after allowing that filthy scavenger from Jakku—"

Take your hood down.

Rey didn't have to be told. By the time Hux's tongue touched the word 'scavenger', her fingers had already found its edge.

"—I'd not have believed that you would let another woman—" Hux's mouth hung open when Rey's face emerged from the shadows.

Ben's voice had reached a deep growl. "You were saying, General Hux?"

Hux looked between apprentice and master warily. "You!"

Rey lifted her chin a fraction of an inch, and she gazed down at Hux dispassionately. With their bond wide open, she could feel Ben's consciousness wrapped around hers. His confidence helped to keep her own nervousness and anxiety at bay sufficiently to mimic the same serenity she had seen Kylo Ren display.

"It's really thanks to you, General Hux, that I have chosen an apprentice so quickly. Who else has shown such promise and displayed such power besides Rey-Okan?"

Hux glanced between the two of them and cocked a brow. "No doubt, her talent will flourish under your guidance."

"Unlike some of my subordinates, her loyalty has been unfaltering." Hux snorted quietly, but Ben let it pass. For now. "What is the timetable for the conquest of Urobos Prime?"

Hux took a steadying breath. "We are having difficulty calibrating our sensors to match the harmonics of the shield. It is only a matter of time before we have locked on to their algorithm and are able to predict the oscillations of each tier of the shield."

"When that occurs, will the entire fleet be mobilized to move forward with the attack?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader." Though his tone was civil, Rey could tell that the words were bile on Hux's tongue.

"Keep me informed of your progress. I am deeply disappointed in your blatant efforts to misinform me in the time I was away from the Supremacy."

Hux was barely able to suppress his smirk. "Supreme Leader, you asked that all communiqués be routed directly to you—"

"I received all but the ones that mattered the most."

Ben descended the dais two steps, and Rey felt Hux start to shuffle back. She tightened her fist beneath the long sleeves of her robe, and his feet were unable to leave the floor. Hux glared at her, certain that it was Rey and not Kylo Ren who was restraining him.

"I understand that this transition has been difficult for you, General Hux, but my patience is nearly at an end. If you continue to displease me, I will allow my eager young apprentice to continue to practice her skills upon you." Hux glared at Rey with unveiled malice, but Ben continued evenly, "What she lacks in control, I'm sure you will agree she makes up for in sheer power."

Drop him.

Rey crushed Hux to the ground with adequate force that she heard an audible crack. Rey withdrew her power so hard that it almost rebounded into her physically.

Ben! I think I broke one of his ribs! What do I do?

Nothing. The medidroids will patch him up in a matter of minutes. It's barely a scratch. Ben returned his attention to Hux. "I expect that from this point forward, you will restrict your activities to the boundaries of your rank."

Ben descended the dais, and began making his way across the bridge. As Rey followed in his wake, Hux murmured, "Eager indeed," and sneered insinuatingly up at Rey as she passed. Rey flicked down two fingers and slammed Hux's face into the floor, breaking his nose.

Was that an adequate show of power for the day? Rey didn't like the way it felt to use the Force to cause pain, though she knew by hurting Hux a little today, she'd dissuade him from doing worse to her later.

More than adequate. Believe me, it's much more pleasant to learn to use the Dark Side this way than when you are forced to hurt someone you care for. Rey quailed when he referred to her using the Dark Side. Ben continued gently, Even Jedi must learn to use the Force for combat. It was part of my training with Skywalker, but his methods were much less practical. You can't always depend upon having your weapon. You will have to learn to use whatever is at hand, even if it means turning an opponent's own body against them. The more you read the Jedi texts, you will see that their methods drew much from the Dark Side, even if they didn't want to admit it. They often confused their personal intentions with the manifestation of the Force.

Ben waited for her to catch him up before he stepped into the corridor. When she reached him, Rey glanced up into his face, drawing her brows down and wrinkling her nose. Surely, there are other ways you can teach me to control the Force without actually hurting people.

Ben laid a hand in the small of her back to comfort her. Of course, but there's no substitute for practical application.