Author note: This chapter was posted a few weeks ago, but I was unhappy with it and decided to pull it down, flesh it out/make some changes, and post it again. This time, there's much more dialogue between Rey and Kylo, and the planet has been changed to the single-biome desert planet it likely is.

AIRSTRIKE IMPOSSIBLE

- chapter four -

Some small, fragile truce had been struck, following the sharing of a water flask. Fragile, in that neither would turn their back on the other.

Kylo Ren took the lead a step ahead of Rey, who kept one hand firm on the crossguard lightsaber at her belt. Collateral.

She wasn't sure what to make of Kylo's presence at her side. Since the Battle of Crait she'd sensed him from time to time. The feather soft brush of his conscience against hers - a fragile thing that would peter out before she could think whether it should be broken or preserved. The echo of his rage - brittle and savage. The melancholic ache of his loneliness. And a tangled volley of emotions she had no wish to put a name to.

Now, she only knew that for all his volatile intensity and allegiance to the darkside, the Force had whispered in her mind; urging her to seek him out. There were unspoken things - hurtful, hateful things - that lay like poisoned barbs between them. But for the time being, they were meant to be sharing this liminal space. She was sure of it.

What that signified, she had no inclination to explore. The only tangible surety was that this ceasefire between them couldn't last.

They sought the same thing, after all.

Slowly the landscape changed as the tumble of desert foothills ascended towards the steep rocky mountain range. Rey wondered how Kylo could be so familiar with which direction to take, when he hadn't once stopped to refer to a holomap.

"How do you know where to find this…"

"Weapon?" Kylo finished with the twist of a smile that grew as she scowled in return.

"I'm the Supreme Leader, remember?" It was a statement rather than a boast, though it rankled Rey all the same. "The real enigma is, how did the moth-eaten collection of outlaws you call the Resistance learn of it?"

"Surely you don't think me naïve enough to share our sources?"

"Perhaps you should," he snorted, "clearly your intel is unreliable if you've come to this outer rim dustball with no idea of where to look."

"The problem isn't that our intel was unreliable," Rey said after several moments of silent reflection, "it was incomplete. Our source was silenced before they could pass on all they knew. We had to act fast with what we had."

"So you just came here in the hope the Force would lead you to the right location like some great cosmic homing beacon?" Kylo stopped and turned, regarding her with a level of amusement that made her flush with indignation.

"Something like that," she replied tersely, meeting his gaze with a savage glare.

"The Force doesn't work that way," he stated, turning away.

"It has so far, hasn't it?"

The darksider stopped in his tracks, staring into the distance before turning to confront her again.

"You think the Force has brought us together?" he asked incredulously. "The Light and the Dark, rising to meet some greater threat to the galaxy…" an eyebrow rose with exaggerated scepticism. "Together?"

"Of course not," she said brusquely, resting against a slab of rock, "that would require one of us to concede to the other."

"But you believe this will happen, don't you? You can admit it." Tone softened, Kylo held her gaze; his eyes wide and doe-like in a way that made Rey's own narrow with suspicion.

"No."

"Yes! Admit it!" Stalking closer, Kylo's intensity loomed as if it held its own shadow. "You've come to this planet on little more than a hunch, and now recent circumstances - orchestrated by you by the way - have led us both to wander this same dry slice of paradise with little to rely on but ourselves. And dare I say, each other!"

"I orchestrated nothing!" Rey protested, "the Resistance simply saw an opportunity to decommission your starfighter's weaponry system and -"

"Now you're changing the subject," he interrupted, holding up one hand. The hint of a smile twitched his lips as he paused to put further thought into his theory. "You believe the Force compels me to lead you to a relic we both seek. And you believe it will be you the Force favours when it comes time for one of us to leave the planet with it in hand."

"You said the Force doesn't work that way, but you're wrong." Rey said suddenly, redirecting the conversation to his earlier statement. "I can feel something here. The deeper we trek into this mountain. Don't you?"

"I do," he admitted quietly. After a beat.

She held Kylo's gaze for several moments, and wondered who would be the first to elaborate.

"But what if I'm not leading you to an old relic at all?" Kylo continued, clearly reluctant to drop his musings, "what if I'm simply leading you up this mountain, so that I might throw you off it? Leaving me free to continue my mission, alone and unhampered by the likes of a half-starved desert rat such as your-"

"You're right. Of course. Clearly it's not some Force-fuelled fate that brought us together, but rather the profound enjoyment of each other's company." Rey quipped dryly, taking a swig from the water flask before handing it to him. "And because of that, you won't dare throw me off a mountain."

Something raw and unfettered broke through the careful control of Kylo's expression then. She blinked away from his gaze; alarm rising as a heated flush worked its way beneath her skin in answer to it. It seemed suddenly that her words had only served to throw herself further into a depth she couldn't tread. Wouldn't tread.

Taking a deep breath, Rey forced her tone to harden. "We journey together, purely because I still have your lightsaber clipped on my belt. And after what happened to Luke's, you won't risk breaking yet another one by trying to take it from me."

She paused then, watching the way the darksider's eyes flicked from her face to her belt. And how his fingers flexed as if considering his options.

"We both want the relic, yes," she continued quickly, hands sliding to both hilts, "and once we find it, you'll have to choose which you want to keep. Because you're not leaving with both."

"But I will have both," he stated flatly. Eyes cold. The fragile camaraderie dissolving in one volatile instant.

"Well, good luck with that." Inwardly Rey kicked herself, wishing she could have held her tongue - and that camaraderie - a little longer.

"You forget, Jedi ," the word hissed through Kylo's teeth in a flare of anger. He turned and continued on their path before throwing over his shoulder, "at some point, you'll need to sleep."

The ever-forking paths through the foothills eventually led into a singular thread. They followed it in uneasy silence. Tracing their way between high rock pillars that jutted towards the sky; blocking the last vestiges of sunlight so that the narrow shuttered landscape was cast in a heavy gloom.

Ignoring the chill and bone-weary exhaustion that leadened her body, Rey pressed onwards. The decision to rest uneasily until dawn or blunder through the darkness was one she would rather stave off for as long as possible. Neither option was appealing, with the mercurial 'Supreme Leader' Kylo Ren at her side.

"It would be wise to rest for the night." The darksider interrupted Rey's musings as if reading them. She recoiled at the thought.

"No," she increased her pace, gritting her teeth against the aching protest of her legs. "I don't have time to waste on rest."

"Ah yes, you'll be eager to get back to the traitor," he said cooly, "and the thief."

Was that jealousy that pulled Kylo's lips into a sneer as he turned his head away? Ridiculous, Rey told herself. He was baiting her. Hoping she might give away something he could use against the Resistance. Who had helped her. How many of the Resistance remained. She gritted her teeth and gave away nothing.

But, after all, she couldn't help herself from one small satisfaction. "Yes. I am."

It was, she told herself hotly, vehemently satisfying to let Kylo know she had no intention of remaining at his side for much longer. Not after his ridiculous outburst proved to remind her of how unstable he was. She could only feel a burning shame at how easily she'd allowed herself to forget.

Silence. Thick and brooding. Fell between them once more.

"Two chemlights. Six ration bars. Make that four, now. I suppose. And we'll need to refill that flask before long."

Rey bit her lip as she buckled her satchel and slung it back over her shoulder. Swallowed the anxiety that pressed upon her at the thought of having to share what little food she had. By this time tomorrow, she reminded herself, she'd be back onboard the Falcon. Eating something more palatable than a ration bar.

Knowing this still didn't quell the fear of being forced to go hungry. Perhaps nothing ever would.

Kylo met her inventory with careful silence and neutral expression. Nothing to indicate he could sense her concerns. Perhaps, she thought, her face wasn't as easy to read as his. She wasn't sure - had never much studied her own reflection. Or perhaps - and this option was the more likely one she was sure - he just didn't care.

Snapping a chemlight to activate the phosphorescent within its clear tube, Rey threw a ration bar in his direction - before she could change her mind. The other, she tore open with her teeth. Ate half of the gritty, moist bar without tasting it. Took a swig from the flask. Stalled. Stalled.

Stalled the inevitable conversation she could sense readying for another round.

"We can go no further until sunrise."

There it was, Rey sighed inwardly.

"Speak for yourself," she ignored the pull of aching muscles as she pushed herself to stand. "I've rested enough."

"You're practically dead on your feet." Kylo rose to intercept her. "And you have no idea what's out there in the darkness."

"You mean to tell me there's something worse than you?"

"We'll rest here," he continued tightly, ignoring her retort with clenched jaw. "A few hours at least - "

"No. I'm leaving now." Rey moved to step past him. He moved to block.

"Why? Is it what I said before?" Kylo ducked his head slightly, catching Rey's gaze with his own. "I was just -"

"Behaving like an ass because you couldn't get your own way?" Rey finished sweetly, "Yes. I noticed. And I must thank you for it, actually. I'd almost been at risk of finding you tolerable."

"Come on. Rey." Her name slipped over his lips like a plea. "There's no sense in stumbling off a cliff just for spite. I can take the first watch."

"No." Obstinate, despite the logic of his argument, she sidestepped to her left.

He moved to his right.

"Or you can, if you prefer." His hands rose to grip her by the shoulders. And fell away just as awkwardly.

Surprised, Rey studied Kylo's face, searching for a clue of his motives. Beneath the chemlight's steady glow, he was all shadows and sharp angles. Determination had set his soft eyes hard as flint. His full lips pressed into a thin, serious line.

It was easier, Rey decided, to see him reflected in torchlight. Easier to remember who he was - rather than who she may have wanted him to be.

"What I prefer," she began in a slow, tempered voice, "is for you to get out of my way."

The darksider regarded her for several moments longer. Nothing but an eye-twitch to give away the array of emotions waging war beneath the surface of his poker-faced stare.

"Suit yourself." He snapped at last, stepping to one side. "You won't find it alone. You'll need me."

Rey snorted. Wondered if Kylo was trying to reassure her or himself. "I think you'll find I won't."

Stepping past him, Rey swept the chemlight before her to gauge her surroundings. To the left, a sheer tumbled cliff face formed a natural blockade. To the right, the thread of their path continued. Unhampered by Kylo's protests, she stepped towards the path and continued her ascension of the rocky mountainside. Alone.

Kylo dug his gloved fingers uselessly into his palms until the scuff of Rey's footsteps faded. Rage pushed a flush of heat to his skin and twisted his stomach into knots. He wanted to call his saber to his hand and decimate his surroundings. To let fly the darkness within him until exhaustion drove him to his knees.

His fingers twitched with the effort to hold himself together, and he curled his fists tighter.

Tighter.

Until his nails bit into the leather and his rage, restrained and impotent, smashed a useless rhythm against his chest with every heartbeat.

Slowly, slowly, Kylo talked himself down from his furor. Reminded himself that it had always been his destiny to walk alone. As it had been so for his grandfather.

Besides, he'd never planned to accompany the scavenger through to the end. They both had every intention to leave this planet with the same object in their possession. And realistically, only one could succeed.

Strategically, it made more sense to let the girl wander lost and alone. Better for him if she should stumble through a network of useless trails until thirst and exhaustion overcame her. Her comrades would rescue her soon enough.

Or they wouldn't.

Either way, he would be long gone and celebrating his success.

Except.

Except for one thing.

Kylo groaned and sank to his knees.

Except that he'd let her go. With his damned saber still at her side.

tbc

Chapter end note: Like it? Hate it? Interested in reading more? Please leave a comment and let me know if you think it worth continuing! (Or not?)