**Last time on WO: Rey is deeper in the darkness. Ben is desperate. And they're back in the med center.**

It was late by the time the doctor had cleaned out her wound, settled into the bacta, and worked to get the right level of sedation for Rey. Luke, Leia and Han had left in the middle of it to discuss strategy but Ben had no patience or brain power for that right now. He stared at the slow rise and fall of Rey's chest and wondered how it had come to this. He tried to shove down his guilt and worry- he wasn't sure if any of his feelings went into Rey but he didn't want to add anything negative. He focused on how much he loved her, how happy she made him and for good measure how beautiful he thought she was-how much he wanted to kiss her.

Her shields were still like durasteel to him, even sedated. He pushed in as much light as he could, hoping that it would find some crack through to her. But the barrier around her signature, and the place where their bond usually connected was still dark. He hated to think how deeply the sith was in her head-whispering to her, manipulating her. He thought back and wondered where he could have helped her more, strengthening her shields, but sigh in defeat. He'd been doing it his whole life and he had still failed so badly at it, that he'd sucked her light out and left her vulnerable.

Rey was usually so full of light, a survivor and a fighter, so he had to believe that she could overcome this. He would watch for any change in the bond and try to send emotions through the bond, or send her his thoughts. He feared though that they might have to move up their trip to Onderon and destroy these relics and the power of the sith over the both of them. Luke wanted to keep studying, probably keep practicing the shields to realize an illusion and how to break out of it. But the time for research was probably at its end. And Ben was afraid of how opening himself the way he had that morning had disastrous consequences. He trusted Luke, he did, but what if he tried again and it only made Rey worse?

Ben sighed, knowing there were no good answers. His perspective was skewed so he would follow what Luke wanted to do. At least to a certain extent. He wasn't waiting long, unless by some miracle, Rey woke up herself again. He knew it was a bad idea, but he wanted to lower the sedation in the morning and see how she was. He despised seeing her like this. It reminded him so much of their first days in the academy. At least then he was learning how their bond worked, he could feel what she was feeling, and she would accept healing.

He glanced at her mangled hands and felt the pinprick of tears at the corner of his eyes. He furiously wiped at his eyes when he heard the swoosh of the door sliding open. The doctor gave him a thin smile and walked hesitantly to the side of Rey's bed. He wasn't sure if she was afraid of him or Rey. Maybe some combinations. "Just do what you need to do," Ben snarled. The doctor jumped a bit, but otherwise kept her face composed.

"She hasn't shown any signs of waking up?"

"No. She hasn't moved," Ben answered, trying to temper his tone. He glanced out the window and saw the first signs of daylight. "Don't give her anymore."

"But…" the doctor protested. She was lifting Rey's hands from the basin and examined them critically.

"I said no. She is my bondmate, and I will defend her."

"She might wake in pain," the doctor ventured. "The bacta takes time, and her hands still look like they would be classified as second degree."

"Give her pain meds, but no more sedation then," he snapped. He knew he was taking out his frustration on the doctor, but he didn't have it in him to be guilty about anything else.

"Should I send in some droids? To help if she…" the doctor trailed off. She had no doubt heard about when Rey woke the last time.

"Fine." He just wished she would finish and shut up. His head hurt and it was hard to keep up the more positive thoughts for Rey when there was someone else there. At least someone who didn't care for her personally, rather than as someone to heal and send on their way. He wouldn't mind actually if his parents and uncle came. That was a sign of how much Rey had brought them all together. Ben's resentment and pain of what he felt was their indifference and distance when he was a child was melting away. Rey helped him to remember how much they were really there and the ways they showed him love even to this day.

The doctor finally turned to go, but paused and met Ben's eyes. "Should I let them bring the medicine? In case she isn't… herself?"

Ben considered and nodded. He knew that her reactions yesterday weren't a good indication that today would go any better. But Ben felt like he was failing her, but just keeping her sedated. If he could just… Well, he wasn't sure. But something had to be able to reach her, right? When the sith influenced him, it was never this intense, and he would usually react and then the darkness would burn itself out as he was able to shield himself again.

The door opened again and Ben jumped up, the doctor was on his last nerve. "What do you want now," Ben said, his voice low.

"How is she?" Leia asked, ignoring his son's outburst. The doctor was in the hallway as they came through and had informed them of Ben's wishes. Several droids had followed them in and stood spaced around the room. They so unsubtly held syringes full of sedatives and Ben wanted to smash them against the wall, but he clenched his fists. He remembered that he needed to keep calm, and send all of that to Rey, just in case.

"No change. Her hands are slowly healing. What are we going to do? I know you have a plan?"

But in the moment's distraction, Ben missed Rey coming to a waking state. He went flying and he heard Rey scream. "It hurts. What did you do to me?"

Ben struggled to his feet, he'd hit the wall hard. If he had time to really consider, he might feel embarrassed being bested by a girl. No matter how strong. He braced himself, a rush of power, ready to block her. She was rocking on the bed, her hands pressed to her ears. Ben saw his family were frozen in place and he waved his hand, breaking through the shield. Rey's attention was divided, so while it took effort, not as much as it could have. They seemed uninjured, so he kept walking towards Rey. He went slowly, afraid to startle her. He still couldn't feel anything through the bond, and it was maddening.

Tears were streaming down her face and she was whispering over and over that it hurt. Ben sat gently on the bed and pulled her to him.

"What hurts Rey?" he whispered.

She didn't even seem to register his presence. Her body started trembling and she screamed again. She clawed at her arms and face, seeming to shrink into herself.

"Shh, Rey. I'm here," Ben tried to hold her arms gently away from her body. It was breaking his heart to see her hurting herself, especially when he knew the extent of damage to her hands. There was blood dripping from her hands and he couldn't tell if the blood smeared on her face and arms was from new injuries or her burns being taxed.

Luke, Leia and Han stayed back, hoping that she was coming back to herself and that Ben could help her do it. They all flinched when she howled in pain again. He took her hands in one of his and wrapped the other around her, trying to give some comfort. She wrenched her hands from his and started hitting at his chest. They weren't very forceful and when Leia moved, Ben shook his head, waving her away. Rey stopped and suddenly arched her back, so hard that Ben lost his grip on her. She still hadn't stopped screaming but it changed pitch. She was laying half on him, so he took her back in his arms.

"No!" She growled and crawled out of his lap and moved as far back on the bed as she could. "It burns, it hurts. I should have listened," she said.

Ben wasn't sure what she was feeling or hearing but it couldn't be good. She screamed and writhed like she was being tortured. And as much he hated it, he wasn't sure that the darkness was in control. He scooted closer to her and tried to push healing and love into her. Her shields seemed to pulse and Ben didn't feel it bounce back to him, so he thought that maybe it would help.

She started banging her head against the headboard and he could see blood seeping out of her nose and ears. It scared him, just like it had yesterday. He had no clue what was causing it but he was sure it wasn't good.

"Mom?" he pleaded, his voice cracking. "Do it," his voice was low and Leia barely heard him over Rey's screaming. Rey deflated and slumped to the side. Ben moved up the bed, and put her head in his lap. Leia had wanted to step in before she did, or else have the droids help her but Luke put her hand on her shoulder and shook his head. He was hoping that Ben could break through to her. He hated that Rey had turned all of the violence in on herself rather than hurting others but he didn't know if that was a sign that she was fighting the darkness. He could only hope. But he wouldn't go against Ben, and had just begun to wonder if the sith wasn't the one torturing her, rather than her saying that her hands hurt or burned.

"So. The plan?" Ben said wearily.

"I say that we get off planet and blow some stuff up," Han said, sliding down the wall. Ben winced when he heard him. His voice cracking and hoarse, and Ben couldn't help but feel guilty for that too. If he'd caught up with Rey sooner, she wouldn't be burned and she wouldn't have choked his dad. Or maybe if he'd given in some to her advances but not let it turn into sex? Or if he would have had more control of his own mind and hadn't ciphered her light.

"Blowing stuff up and stealing things isn't the only way to accomplish goals, Han." Leia looked just as tired as everyone else but she kept most of the bite out of her tone.

Luke gave a dry chuckle. "Well, to be fair, that was the meat of our plan. Blow up some trees and such to distract them and then Ben and I go in and steal the artifacts."

"Do we go now though?" Leia asked.

"And if we do, what about Rey?" Ben said, stroking the hair out of her face.

"Let's give it until this evening. Maybe we can lighten the sdeation again, and see what she's like. Ideally, we would want her full had a good point about the Aki Aki being likely to come more willingly if there was someone injured. But it would also require someone with her at all times to make sure she doesn't wake up," Luke said. He scratched his eyebrow and turned to assess Ben "Would you be able to focus on what we'd be doing if Rey was there but unconscious? These traps could be life or death. And before you really answer, remember we don't know much about these bonds, if you die, she very well could too."

Luke knew him too well, it seemed. Ben had been about to say yes, because he would do anything to save Rey, and bring her back to the light. But if he got hurt or died, he hadn't really considered what that would do to Rey. He cleared his throat and nodded. "I am as ready as I can be. I know I need to be careful and alert for her. Besides, if it gets worse, do we really have a choice?"

Luke kept his eyes on his nephew for a few long moments before nodding. "I suppose not. She's dangerous. To herself, but everyone around her. She's powerful but untrained. That could end horribly. And the reverse is true, if she dies, what will happen to you?"

Ben didn't speak it but his mind went to a dark place. I wouldn't want to live without her. He busied himself by getting her hands back into the bowls of bacta, unable to meet the eye of his family. "Hey," he said as an afterthought as they were leaving. "Did you ever get in touch with Shara and Poe?"

"No," Leia said. She turned from the door and walked back over to Ben and Rey. "But I can try again. They would be a big help, actually. I could stay with Rey and they could help with the distraction phase. Besides we would have even more issues if we had to extract you guys with such a small crew on the Falcon." She put her hand on Ben's shoulders and squeezed. Then quietly to him "Try to get some sleep. You need to be full strength."

Ben nodded, and couldn't help but agree with her. He felt so run down, achy and tired down to the bone. He needed to keep feeding light and positivity, most of all strength to her whenever it may be able to bleed into the bond. He eyes the awkward position Rey had to be in to keep her hands in the bacta pools and tried to figure out how to sleep while keeping contact with her. He finally propped her up with a pillow, and snuggled into her stomach. He was slightly under the table that held the bacta, but he had enough clearance. He threw an arm over her and fell asleep taking in her scent, and mentally stroking their bond.