AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing!

EDIT: CRAP, I accidentally posted this chapter with the ending cut off (I NEED to remember to save the last part of the document before uploading it.) Here's the COMPLETE chapter.

Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"

Chapter 38

They took holos of Ben from every angle, they made him strip naked to measure and weigh him and make sure he wasn't smuggling anything into the prison, then they made him bend over so they could examine his intimate areas (did they seriously think he had somehow fit a lightsaber up his ass?). When he could finally dress again, it wasn't in his own clothes – it was in a stiff, weird-smelling gray prison uniform. Would they burn his old clothes now? Maybe Renda's patchwork on his shirt would go to waste.

All the while there were guards pointing blasters at him from every direction, encircling him with blasters. No doubt Commander Dameron had told them about how he could block blasterbolts with the Force – maybe they were hoping that he wouldn't be able to stop so many at once. Truthfully, he didn't know if he could, but he wasn't about to find out.

Finally the guards escorted him down the long, lonely gray halls. They did give him back the datapad with the medical information, but only after examining it and making sure it couldn't connect to the HoloNet and didn't contain any explosives. Now, however, he could hardly grip it in his sweat-drenched hands. He found he only had the strength of mind to look at the concrete floor as the guards poked him with their blasters, forcing him to walk on.

And there it was.

The cell.

In one swift motion, two guards shoved him in while another activated a red forcefield, barring him from the outside world. None of them said anything as they walked away, leaving him alone to take in his surroundings. A bunk taking up one wall, a toilet against the wall across from it, a sink next to the toilet, all bathed in the eerie red light from the forcefield. No windows.

He sat on the bunk, his stomach flipping, the datapad shaking in his hands. There didn't seem to be any cellmates . . . of course he wouldn't have any cellmates, they wouldn't want to endanger other inmates by putting them in the same cell as Kylo Ren.

Maybe he wouldn't be allowed out of the cell at all.

With that thought, he nearly dropped the datapad. He barely gained enough presence of mind to put it down next to him before the spasms started. Once, twice, three times his legs involuntarily kicked out as his breath shortened so much that his lungs hurt. He wrapped his arms around his chest as if trying to hug himself, but it was only a moment before his hands started shaking, his fingers digging up and down into his flesh to the point of pain despite the prison shirt.

"You're alone," a silent voice pressed into his mind.

"N-no," he moaned out loud even though he knew no one was actually talking to him. "The dyad . . ."

"She wants to split the dyad. She wants to leave you alone."

He flopped down on the bunk, his knees rising to his chest and his arms wrapping around them, his entire body reduced to a trembling ball. Alone, alone, alone . . . the word rattled in his head, draining all warmth from his being. Alone . . . alone . . . alone . . .

"Rey?" he whispered like a frightened child even though he knew he couldn't will her to appear. "Rey? Please . . . I need you."

But of course there was nothing.

"Rey . . . Mom, Dad? Are you there? Can you hear me?" he choked out, his throat getting scratchy. "Mom, Dad, please, I know you're out there!"

"You're alone. You DESERVE to be alone!"

The silent words and the truth they represented filled his eyes with tears, blurring his surroundings. "Mom, Dad, please!" Why did they visit him in the coma but not here? "P-please . . ." He closed his eyes, fiercely trying to imagine that he was lying in bed between his parents, sandwiched in their embrace, his father's heartbeat thumping against his ear, their warmth protecting him from the nightmares.

"They're dead. They're dead because of YOU!"

A scream pushed its way out of his mouth. "Mom, Dad, please!" he cried. "Help me, please!"

Silence.

. . .

"Ben?"

His mind was foggy, hardly registering that something soft was resting on his head, his eyelids feeling stuck together for a few moments before he had to remind himself that he had to stretch them to get them to open. When they finally did open, he had to blink the world into focus and rub the specks out of his eyes before realizing that Rey was standing over him, her hand on his head.

"Rey!" he gasped, flying into a sitting position and throwing his arms around her. For one glorious moment, he thought prison was only a dream, but the artificially clean smell of his prison uniform brought reality back.

"Ben, are you all right?" she asked, cradling his head in her hands. "You were calling for your parents in your sleep."

"What? I fell asleep?" But now that she mentioned it, he had some fuzzy memory of being lost in some dark place, desperately looking for his parents.

"Yes."

"What time is it now?"

"I don't know exactly – late afternoon." She kissed the top of his head. "Ben, I'm so, so sorry . . ."

"Don't apologize!" he interrupted, burying his face in her chest and breathing in her scent. "I'm here because of what I did."

Rey swallowed, running her finger under his chin and coaxing him to look up at her. "Are they . . . are they treating you all right?"

Ben shrugged. "I don't know yet. I haven't seen anyone since they put me in the cell." He figured he didn't need to mention the embarrassing body-scan – that was likely standard procedure for all prisoners.

"I'll visit you," said Rey. "In person, I promise."

Ben shrugged again. "I think I like this better. They probably won't let us touch when you visit in person."

A slight, sad snicker escaped Rey's mouth. "Well this is one thing no one can stop."

Ben squeezed her tighter, wishing again that they could just remain in the embrace. In Rey's arms, he could almost forget where he was.

"Oh!" Rey suddenly exclaimed. "D-O, I almost forgot! He wanted to be here when we linked so I could give him back to you!"

The thought of seeing that sweet little droid again almost perked him up, but he stopped himself from being too relieved. "No, don't get him, he shouldn't be in prison."

"He doesn't have to be," said Rey. "We can pass him back and forth when we link so he doesn't have to spend all his time there."

Pass him back and forth – well, that didn't sound like it would be too hard on him and it would mean that he could still spend time in freedom – but just as he was about to give his approval, she vanished, leaving his arms embracing only empty air.

He was alone once again.