Trudgen
I'd volunteered for guard duty, willing to give my brothers their well-deserved rest.
I just couldn't sleep. Too much had happened in the past few days, everything had changed. And, the solace helped me process.
I had the honor of calling Kylo my brother-in-arms and my friend, and I swore an oath to him as the Master of Ren, as well as Supreme Leader.
As Hux had said in that throne room, Snoke had raped and tortured Kylo for years, in an attempt to eradicate the Light.
It hadn't worked.
But, I knew it wouldn't.
I'd fought next to Kylo for nearly a decade, and I'd seen the best and the worst of him.
I'd seen him kill an enemy and then vomit his guts up on the battlefield. I'd seen how his path to the dark tormented him. I'd heard him screaming in his sleep at night.
These things were never, and would never be discussed. But, Kylo never had it in him to be what Snoke needed him to be. Maybe it was his fathers heart, maybe it was his uncle's spirit, but, I'd always known that it was because buried under all that resentment and rage, his mother had raised a good man.
I'd known Kylo was a good man, but seeing him abandon his efforts all together, to go back to the light, was something I'd never thought I'd see.
And, the fact that he was mated was equally shocking.
In the past few days, I'd seen them together. Seen the way he looked at her. Seen them speak and laugh and yell and fight.
And, anyone who couldn't see that Kylo loved her was obviously blind.
I'd seen for myself as soon as he put himself between us and her on Naboo, that he was a changed man.
I wasn't sure what that meant for me and the other Knights, but it was clear that with us wasn't where he was meant to be.
It was with her. It's always been with her.
Movement in the room behind me drew my attention, and I looked, nearly jumping out of my skin when I found Rey behind me in the hallway leading to her room.
She was in her hospital gown, her hair down and unkempt, and her eyes were vacant, as if she was seeing everything and nothing at the same time.
She'd ripped her IV out, and streaks of blood snaked down her arm, leaving a droplet trail on the white tile floor behind her.
She did not look up as she walked passed me, and I averted my eyes when I saw that the back of her gown was partially undone.
"My lady." I called, stepping in front of her.
She stopped, and tried to step around me, but I moved to block.
"If there's something that you need, ma'am, I'd be happy to get it for you." I told her.
She did not respond.
"Alright, I'll call for a nurse, and she'll get you back to bed" I offered.
She shook her head and tried to step around me again.
And, again, I blocked.
'You're not well." I reminded her. You need to get back to bed."
She shook her head again, and brought both of her hands up to cover her temples. She let out a quivering breath. "They won't stop." She whispered.
I felt my eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "What won't?"
She looked up, her pleading eyes locking with mine. "You don't hear them?"
"I-uh…." I stammered, then listened. The buzz of the overhead light, the beep of a Holter monitor down the hall, and otherwise deafening silence. "No, I don't hear anything."
"They're screaming at me." She said. "They're scared." Two tears streaked down either side of her face. "They keep begging me to help them."
She wiped at her eyes, and sobbed into her hands.
I remembered that Hux had injected her with a hallucinogenic, and that she was most likely experiencing an effect of that. "Ok, I'll call the nurse-"
"No!" She hissed. "They'll just give me a sedative to shut me up." Her dark eyes were pleading. "I'm not crazy."
I nodded. "Right, because that's totally not how you're acting right now."
She set her jaw and let out an irritated huff. "Ok," She said, evenly. "You can either get out of my way, or I can get you out of my way."
She didn't look like much. She was maybe ninety-five pounds with her boots on, which she in-fact didn't have on, I noticed. But, she was the last Jedi trained by Luke Skywalker himself, I wasn't too proud to admit that she was more powerful than I was.
Not that I would fight her. I wasn't stupid. The oath I swore to her mate extended to her. I was honor bound to protect her with my life.
I sure as shit wasn't going to stand aside to let her wander around the ship with half of her ass hanging out.
I thought about trying to explain that to Kylo and shuddered.
But, I'd seen first hand how stubborn and determined she was. And, unless I threw her over my shoulder and carried her back to her room, I wasn't going to stop her.
I thought about trying to explain that to Kylo and couldn't decide which would be worse.
"I'll go with you." I offered.
She looked me up and down. "Go with me?"
I nodded. "If that's ok."
"So that you can report back to Ben about how quickly my mental health has deteriorated?" She asked, flatly.
Damn, she was quick.
"Uh, no." I lied, trying to think of another excuse. "It's so that….we can, uh-"
She rolled her eyes. "Save it." She walked passed me. "Just keep up."
"Great." I sighed. "Could we get you some clothes? Or a robe?"
She was able to Force-convince a nurse to give her some scrubs and a pair of socks, and I put my helmet on before we left the infirmary.
"I think they're being kept on the Starboard side-" She said, looking over at me and gasped.
"What?" I asked, urgently.
"Why the hell do you have that on?" She demanded.
I reached up and straightened the faceplate. "So that people will ask fewer questions." I told her.
"Because they'll be too busy laughing?" She asked, looking forward again.
I snorted. "No. It's menacing." I insisted. "And intimidating."
"But, we're not going into battle." She pointed out. "It might cause people to ask more questions. Like, 'why is there one knight walking around with a member of the medical staff?' "
I raised an eyebrow, not that she could see. "Medical staff?"
"I totally look like someone from the medical staff." She argued.
"You literally look like you're going to keel over at any moment." I let her know. "So, if they ask any questions, it would be 'why is that one knight walking around with that psych patient?' "
She growled in frustration. "I am not a psych patient!" And stormed off.
I had to jog to catch up with her, and when I did, I sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. You can't help your psychotic breakdown and I'm not being supportive"
She stopped immediately and turned to face me, her cheeks red. "What did you just say to me?" She seethed.
"I'm sorry." I said again.
Her face darkened. "You telling me that I'm in the middle of a psychotic breakdown, that was an apology?"
I nodded. And, it was a sincere apology at that.
She sighed and turned back around, continuing on her way. "I guess that apologizing isn't something that's taught at the School of Ren."
"Don't be ridiculous. " I told her. "There is no such thing as a school of Ren."
We continued on, stopping only long enough for Rey to listen to...whatever it was she was hearing, and then turn this way or that down corridors and through entryways.
"What are we looking for, exactly?" I wanted to know.
"I'll know when I see it." Was the only answer she gave me.
She grew more frail as time went on, and stopped, gripping a door frame for support.
We were deep into the Starboard side of the ship, further than I'd ever been. Further than I knew existed.
It was completely unremarkable, with grey walls and doors, and fluorescent lights overhead.
But Rey continued forward, past the doors.
"I can call Ap'lek. '' I told her. "I'll ask him to bring a cart, so that you don't have to walk back to the infirmary."
She ignored me completely, and stopped in front of nothing, looking at a blank piece of wall.
"If we go back now, maybe no one will have noticed you gone." I tried to reason, stepping close to her.
She put her hands on the wall, and pushed, grunting with the effort.
"There's nothing there." I said. "Stop."
She closed her eyes, and I stared on in amazement as the wall opened up, revealing a hidden hallway.
Rey did not hesitate to go in.
"Hey, no! Wait!" I called.
She stopped in front of a door, and waved her hand in front of it.
The lock disengaged.
"Take off your helmet." She said.
"We don't know what's in there." I argued. "It could be rath'tars."
"If it is rath'tars, the helmet won't save you." She pointed out. "Take it off."
I gritted my teeth together and obeyed, and the door opened in front of her.
My jaw fell slack as several eyes turned up to us and I stared at the faces of children.
Dozens of them.
Locked in a room without even a nanny droid.
One, a young boy, lit up with a huge smile when he saw Rey. "You came!"
She knelt down, and the boy rushed forward, crashing into her arms and wrapping his own around her.
"Of course I came." She said into his hair. "I told you I would."
"What is this?" I breathed.
Rey pulled away from the boy. "They're Force sensitives. Taken by Hux for his Stormtrooper training."
"And they were talking to you?"
She nodded. "I don't fully understand it. Maybe the poison weakened my mind enough to where I could hear them."
Holy kriffing hell. She wasn't crazy.
The Force shuddered, and I heard Rey gasp. Several children screamed as they felt it as well.
"What was that?" I demanded.
"That," She said, wincing. "Was Ben."
Ben. Kylo. Who'd just woken up and noticed that his sick and injured mate wasn't next to him.
I let out a low groan. "Fuck."
Rey cast me a furious gaze. "Really, Trudgen?" She scolded. "In front of the children?"
