A/N: A big thanks to SirenBanshee. You are one amazing beta!

xXxXxXx

"Have I tried?" Rogue answered with a snort. "More than once. Obviously, it didn't work." There was bitterness in his voice.

"What did you try?" Kylo asked.

Another snort. "I tried looking for it, for that feeling of the Force. I remember it so well."

Sadness flowed through the bond, coming from Rey at the melancholy in Rogue's voice. Kylo echoed it.

"I tried convincing myself that I never did let go of the Force, that it's still there," Rogue continued. "Such an illusion is quickly broken when the Force still doesn't answer, isn't it? I tried imagining what would have happened, what my life would have been like if I'd hid it better, hid it all the way through my training. But I can't. I can't believe any different than that I would have ended up dead because anything else would mean I made the wrong decision. Nothing worked. It's gone."

"What did you do to cut yourself off?" Rey asked.

Rogue looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"When you say you cut it off, how did you do it? You must have some imagery of it? Did you cut it in two? Did you scoop it up and throw it away? What did you do?"

Kylo looked at her, wondering what she was thinking. Rogue had a pensive look on his face.

"I...shut the door on it?" he answered, sounding uncertain. "Yes, I locked it out."

"Are you sure he's disconnected?" Rey asked Kylo through the bond.

"What are you thinking?"

"What if he's like Quicksilver and the Force is merely hiding from him? You knew Quicksilver was still connected because he'd unconsciously continued to use the Force. Rogue doesn't, but maybe the Force is still there?"

Kylo looked at Rogue, contemplating.

"Then why hasn't he been able to reconnect himself?" Kylo asked.

"Does he still know where the door is?"

Kylo threw Rey a disbelieving look but she merely shrugged at him.

"I got lost in the ships on Jakku all the time," she said. "I always found my way out, but seldom did I use the same route."

"Huh," Kylo said out loud.

"Care to enlighten me?" Rogue grumbled, obviously not pleased to have been left out of the conversation that so obviously involved him.

"Have you tried opening the door again?" Kylo asked.

"What door?"

"The one you locked the Force behind."

Rogue gave him a blank look. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, thinking.

"No," he said eventually, slightly stretching the word.

"Do you know where it is in your mind?"

"I'm supposed to know where a nonexistent door is hiding in my mind?" Rogue said, disbelieving.

Rey chuckled slightly at his words. Kylo merely shook his head.

"Let's get started," he said. "I'll touch your temple and enter your mind. Don't do anything; don't offer up that memory until I ask you to think of it. Remember not to resist even though it will feel strange."

Rogue nodded and closed his eyes, preparing himself. Kylo smiled at Rey and, as they'd discussed before, they shut down their bond. They'd theorised that, given how much their presence had influenced one another when they'd been training with the Guard, their connection might be downright dangerous in this situation.

With the block thoroughly in place, Kylo reached out for Rogue's temple. He sunk into Rogue's mind, in the space between memories, and stretched out his senses. Rogue's mind was peculiar, all sharp edges and soft, swirling mist. Kylo couldn't sense the Force though, so he asked Rogue to start the memory.

He found himself in one of the bedrooms of Base Z. A much younger Rogue was sitting on his bed, his face pained but determined. Kylo watched as young Rogue closed his eyes and pinched his brow in concentration. Then, he let out a sad, tormented cry and fell backwards. He stared at the wall, breathing heavily, a hand clutched to his chest. Pain was written clearly all over his face until he closed his eyes and the memory faded away.

"I did it late at night because I didn't know what the consequences would be. I fell asleep after."

Kylo hummed. "Can you start the memory again?"

Once the image of young Rogue appeared again, Kylo stepped up to him and touched his temple. The pull of falling into a mind in a mind was as disorienting as it had been those few times before. He didn't, however, see a strand of light that was the Force. He didn't see much at all.

It was dark all around, with the sense that he should be seeing something but was only just failing to. Like too weak stars that flickered right on the edge of what one could perceive. Then, everything around him seemed to compress. Kylo managed to worm his way out of the compression, his surroundings becoming lighter without really doing so, and the darkness he'd been in compressing into something that resembled the streak of a ship jumping into lightspeed. It got sucked into what seemed to be a doorway, which then slammed shut.

Kylo stared. At least Rogue had remembered correctly in that he'd shut the door on the Force. He hadn't, however, shut the Force out. Kylo continued to study the bunker that was only barely visible in the non-existent light. Rogue had shut the Force into a prison. Rey had been right.

With a jolt, he was slammed back into his own mind. He winced slightly.

"Sir?" Rogue asked.

"Your memory ended," Kylo answered, "so there was nothing for me to hold onto and I got thrown out. It's okay." He sighed and rubbed his temples a bit more before opening his eyes. "It would seem Rey was right; you still have the Force."

Rogue glanced from him to Rey and back with wide eyes. "I don't," he said. "I can't reach it."

"Exactly," Kylo answered. "You can't reach it. But it's still there. We just have to find the bunker you've locked it into."

"Bunker?" Rogue asked, confused.

"The door you remember isn't one that leads outside of your mind. It's one that leads to a hidden bunker within your mind. Like a prison where you would put the memories you don't want to remember. Locked away and hidden so you don't have to think about them. You did the same with the Force. You locked it away and hid it, in a bunker."

"So, all these years," Rogue said, something vulnerable in his voice. "I could have gotten the Force back had I known about that bunker?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Given that you hid it away from yourself and the Force is probably strengthening that final command, the odds of you finding it on your own are slim."

"But you can find it?"

"Hopefully, now that I know what it looks and feels like."

"I'm such an idiot," Rogue muttered.

"You're not," Kylo said. "Ask Quicksilver about his reconnection."

"Why?"

"I won't tell."

"Of course not." There was a moment of silence where Rogue looked at his hands. "Now what?" he asked.

"I enter your mind again, without looking at your memories, and start searching for that bunker. Are you up for it?"

"Yes."

"They get buried," Rey spoke up.

"Buried?" Kylo asked.

"Over time, everything gets buried," she said. "That bunker of his might not be visible anymore."

"It might be buried," Kylo echoed. "I see."

He nodded at Rey and turned back to Rogue. Like before, he lifted his hand to touch Rogue's temple and fell into his mind.

"Is there a way for me to help search?" Rogue asked, sounding eager.

"Let me try some things first," Kylo answered.

He sent out a ripple of the Force through Rogue's mind, trying to detect if there was an echo or an answer anywhere. The perpetual mist and jagged edges, however, dampened and distorted the wave, making it utterly useless. He then sent out more specific probes, not of the Force but of his own mind, trying to find irregularities in the structure of Rogue's mind. It didn't take him long to realise that part of this landscape was Rogue's personality, but part had also come into existence exactly to prevent probes such as Kylo's from detecting anything. Rogue's determination must have been great indeed to create such a defense.

Kylo pondered for a moment.

"Can you think of the memory without starting it?" he asked.

There was a sudden sensation of being sucked a distance without really moving. Kylo could sense the semi-activated memory nearby and hummed in acknowledgement. Concentrating, he cast a web over the surrounding area, not one with the intention to probe, but one with the intention to monitor.

"Think about the door you used to shut out the Force, without starting that memory. Just the image of that door."

Something flickered at the edge of his awareness, then died down.

"Stop thinking about it for a moment, then start again. Warn me beforehand."

He could feel Rogue's skepticism but didn't elaborate further.

"Now," Rogue said.

Again, there was a flicker at the edge of Kylo's awareness. He moved towards it, shrunk his net to a smaller area and intensified its sensitivity.

"Do it again," he ordered.

"Sir, what-"

"Again," Kylo interrupted.

With a sigh, Rogue acquiesced. Fully prepared this time, Kylo used the flicker as a homing beacon. Once he thought he was close enough, he sent out another ripple of the Force. Something pulsed in answer. He jabbed at the pulse and it answered with a roar. The mist around him was blown away and he noticed a soft, rounded edge among the jagged ones.

"Do you see this?" Kylo asked Rogue.

"Yes."

"The rest is up to you," Kylo continued. "I won't be digging in your mind. I will stay here to stabilise the position, but you are the one who will have to dig up the bunker and open the door."

Rogue swore and Kylo snorted but didn't comment on it.

"The same promise as before applies," he said. "If any memory becomes visible while you dig this up, it stays between us."

"Do you think I can just blow it up?" Rogue asked, materialising next to the rounded edge.

"Do you want to risk damaging your mind?"

"I guess not. What do you think buried this thing?"

"Whatever you threw on top of it."

"I'm not going to like digging it up, am I?"

"Presumably not."

Rogue swore again. Kylo made himself comfortable, settling in his role as nothing more than a stabiliser. Rogue muttered something but Kylo ignored it.

"You're not going to answer?"

"Consider me no longer here."

A breath of silence. "Great," Rogue said, before muttering under his breath some more.

Kylo was not sure how long he held Rogue's mind in place while Rogue himself dug out the bunker. At first, Rogue grit his teeth throughout the process but, after a while, the flashes of memories started to get to him and tears rolled down his cheeks. There were moments where he stopped working and stared into nothing for a while, and moments where he flew in a rage and dug like a madman. Kylo let it all pass by him as if it didn't happen at all.

Eventually, the door of the bunker was freed, even though the bunker itself still wasn't entirely visible.

"Now what?" Rogue asked.

"You open the door."

Rogue's attention turned to him. "That simple?"

"Why not?"

"I've been trying to do this for years."

"You can't open a door that you don't know exists."

"But…"

"Open the door, Rogue."

"It's just-"

"Open the door."

"I don't know-"

"Rogue of Ren! Open the door!"

Rogue jerked forward. As soon as his hand touched the surface of the door, cracks appeared. With an explosion of light, for the second time that day, Kylo was thrown back into his own mind.

Rubbing his temples, Kylo forced his eyes open. In front of him, Rogue looked like he was sitting in the middle of a storm, his loose clothing whipping as if in a gale. He was smiling. Not grinning, not smirking, but truly smiling. It looked so radiant that Kylo could do nothing but return that smile, even though Rogue still had his eyes closed and couldn't see it.

Eventually, the wind died down and Rogue blinked his eyes open. "It's back," he whispered. "It's back."

"Don't reach for it," Kylo quickly interjected as he felt Rogue's intent to do just that.

"You have got to be kidding," Rogue exclaimed, his head snapping up. "After all this time, it's back, and I'm not even allowed to touch it?"

"You are no longer the boy you were then," Kylo said. "It won't react in the same way."

"You're here."

"With a pounding headache," Kylo dryly answered. "Although I appreciate your confidence."

Rey walked over on silent feet and sat down beside Kylo, placing a hand on his thigh.

"I'm here," she told him through their newly opened bond. "I don't think he'll turn Dark. He's too happy to have it back."

"Maybe exactly that will be the problem. What if he surrenders himself to it?"

Rey hummed. "Then Phasma can knock him out, physically."

Kylo barked a laugh. "It seems you have a backer in Rey," he said. "She's willing to monitor you while you get reacquainted with the Force. However, you will do exactly as I say. If I tell you to let go, you will let go. If not-" He waved at Phasma to come closer. "-Phasma will knock you out."

Phasma's baton deployed and she didn't need to take off her helmet for Kylo to know she was smirking, enjoying the prospect.

"Do you understand?" he added to Rogue.

"Yes," Rogue answered eagerly.

As such, Kylo started his usual explanation of Light and Dark, and talked Rogue through feeling for both sides while Rey monitored the Force Rogue was using. As she'd predicted, Rogue wasn't seduced by the Dark, despite the almost salacious grin while he made contact with it. When Rogue finally let go of the Force, he sagged a little.

"You need to rest," Kylo said, barely able to keep his eyes open from the pain throbbing behind them. He saw Rey rub her own forehead and felt bad for it. "I need a painkiller," he added.

"Matt has fetched one, sir," Phasma said. "He is waiting with it behind the door. Shall I ask him inside?"

"I'll tell him to come in," Rogue said, not waiting for Kylo's answer. He gave a seated greeting. "Thank you, Supreme Leader," he added. "For returning to me what I had lost."

Kylo hummed in recognition, his eyes now fully closed. Rogue left, muttering to Matt as he walked out. Grateful, Kylo accepted the pill and the glass of water that was pressed in his hands moments later, then leaned against Rey until the painkiller kicked in.