Hey guys! So I'm officially a college student, yay! I moved in yesterday and I have orientation the rest of the week until next week which is when classes start. Surprisingly I have a lot of downtime so I decided to post this new chapter now instead of the middle of the night. Other than that, nothing new to report, so let's get to it!

I'd like to thank Tempofugi for favoriting and following this story, along with favoriting me and following me. Thanks so much, seeing all four of those from the same person is just awesome, I must be doing something right! Also, I was looking through some of my notifications from awhile ago and I noticed that quite a few of you guys had either favorited or followed this while I was on my hiatus. I apologize for not mentioning you guys, but I wanted to thank every single one of you for taking the time to do that while I wasn't posting, it really motivated to get back on here.

TheKyloFanatic- I'm glad to hear that you liked how Rey handled everything when they took Kylo away, I really wanted to show how strong she had become with her training and how she was fully capable of defeating the rebels on her own. It's good to hear that you like Rey and Austin's relationship, everyone needs someone to watch their back during battle and in real life, it helps even more when that someone is one of your closest friends. And you'll definitely be seeing a lot of that kind of relationship with the rest of her friends in the upcoming chapters. Hopefully this chapter doesn't make you any more worried about Kylo, but I can't make any promises. Thanks again so much for the review!

Well that's about it, let's dive back in.

Chapter 40

Rey stood, staring at her master, for what felt like ages. She could feel the warm tears slowly coming down her face, and they didn't show any signs of slowing down. It took JK shaking her and almost yelling at her to get her to come back to reality. "Commander! Commander, can you hear me?!" Rey took in a deep breath, trying her best to regain her composure, or whatever enabled her to move.

"I hear you JK. You can stop yelling now." He nodded his head and slowly backed away from her. It was only now that she had realised that he had removed his helmet, he had fiery red hair and green eyes, not very common around the First Order, except for Hux.

"Are you alright sir?" The question caught her off guard, she wasn't really expecting him to ask her about her being upset.

"If you call this," she pointed to the tears coming down her face, "alright. Then yeah, I'm perfectly fine." She couldn't help but chuckle at her comment, at least she was able to make herself laugh. "I'm sorry for the whole standing in shock and crying JK. In case you haven't noticed I care a lot about my master, and seeing him like this just kind of set something off."

"It's quite alright sir, I understand."

"Thank you. Hopefully the tears will stop before we get back. I can't look like this in front of Hux, he'll mock me for months."

"That sure sounds like the General." He cracked a small smile at her, trying to cheer her up. It worked, seeing as she smiled back.

"Yeah, it sure does." Rey sighed as she once again looked down at Kylo. "How bad is it?"

"Really bad. It seems as if one of the blood vessels leading to his heart was hit and it burst open. He's in really bad shape. The blood started to seep through the bandage that I had given him, then it went through his clothing. I had to remove his tunic to try and get it under control."

"Is he going to be able to make it back to the Finalizer?"

"I don't know. But if we don't leave soon, all hope can be thrown out the window."

"That's not good, that's really not good. What am I going to do? I can't lose him." More tears began to roll down her face as she thought about losing him forever.

"I'll try to do as much as I can for now. But I could use your help in getting him to stay still. As you've just witnessed, anytime I try and clean the wound so I could put a bacta patch on it, he jerks around and knocks me across the floor. Do you think you can manage to keep him still?"

"I can try, but I don't know how long I'll be able to hold him for, he's much stronger than me."

"As long as he doesn't jerk me around, I can get the job done. And try to see if you can remove his helmet, I tried to take it off but couldn't figure it out. I figured you'd know how to do it."

"Yeah sure. Just tell me when to hold him down."

"Sounds good, you can go over to him now. I need to find the bacta patch."

"Okay." As JK was looking amongst his supplies, Rey made her way to Kylo. She tried her best not to look at the wound, it only made her concern grow for him. She slowly knelt down behind his head and sat on her knees, edging as close to him as she could.

Her hands were shaking as she reached down towards his helmet. They slowly grazed the sides of the cool surface until she found the locking mechanisms she was looking for. She pushed them up and heard the familiar sound of the faceplate unlocking as it moved up. Before removing his helmet, she gently placed his head on her lap so he'd have something soft to lay on as she removed it. She was careful not to jerk his head around as she slowly took off the helmet and placed it beside her. She was afraid to look down at his face, but the urge to do so outweighed her fear.

His face was completely expressionless, almost as if he were asleep. She was glad to see that nothing happened to his face, the only blemish being the scar that she had given him. She moved bits of his black hair away so she could fully see his face. She couldn't help but to subtly caress his cheek, once again feeling the warmth radiating off of him. A small smile began to spread as she continued to look down at him. The voice of JK interrupted her as he approached him.

"Huh, so that's what he looks like." She looked up at him, still smiling from seeing his face again.

"Not what you thought he'd look like, is it?"

"Not in the slightest. I was expecting someone with scars everywhere or some bad burn or something. You know, to have a reason to wear the helmet."

"Yeah, that's what I first thought too. But if he didn't wear the helmet, nobody would be afraid of him, would they?"

"That's true. It certainly does make him more menacing."

"But trust me when I say this, helmet or not, he's still the same man that strikes fear in his enemies. And you do not, under any circumstance, want to get on his bad side."

"Duly noted. Now let's say I get to work to at least try to stabilize him. You're gonna want to hold him steady now." Rey nodded her head and put Kylo's head back down on the floor and then moved to his other side. She placed one hand near his shoulder and the other on his stomach, making sure that she had a good hold to try and keep him steady. She nodded her head to JK to indicate that she was ready, he nodded in return and began to clean the wound again.

So far Kylo hadn't jerked about yet, but once JK made a quick swipe over the wound he began to arch his back again. Rey put as much force into her hold as she could and she managed to keep him somewhat under control. But JK wasn't done and as he continued to prep him for the bacta patch Kylo jerked again, this time adding in a growl of pain.

Rey closed her eyes and tried her best to access their connection, she knew that he wouldn't respond, but the least she could do was try to calm him down and encourage him. "Relax, Kylo. Just relax. You're being treated for a wound, just sit tight and it will be over soon. I'm right beside you, I'm not going anywhere."

As she opened her eyes she could see that her plan had worked, he'd heard her and had calmed down, remaining completely still as JK placed the bacta patch on him. Once he felt that it was secure enough for the time being, he sighed and leaned away from Kylo. Rey took this as her cue to do the same.

"Nice work Commander. I don't know what you did, but it worked."

"Thanks. Will this be enough to get him to the Finalizer alive?"

"It should, but I wouldn't count on the bleeding to stop. It will eventually start to seep through, it's all up to the medics on board the ship now."

"Thanks for everything JK, I knew that I left him in good hands."

"Just doing my job. I'll stay with him until we get back, make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Thank you, Jack." Confusion crossed his face as he looked at her. Did he just hear her right? Did she just call him Jack?

"I'm afraid I don't understand. Did you just call me Jack?"

"Yeah, it's your new name. I gave one to every member of my squad, and since you're frequently assigned to us, I figured that you deserved one as well."

"Really? Are you serious?"

"Yup. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! Thank you Commander, thank you so much."

"Anytime. But remember it's for us only."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Before Rey could respond her comm went off and she immediately answered it.

"Yeah?" Austin's voice was soon heard through the small device.

"Everyone is accounted for and we're ready to leave whenever you are."

"Thank you Austin. Tell everyone to start up their ships, we leave immediately."

"Yes sir. Oh, before I forget, did you tell him?"

"Yeah, I told him. JK is now to be called Jack." She looked up at him and saw the smile begin to form on his face.

"That's great! I'll see you both when we land." The conversation ended and Rey began to stand up.

"I have to prepare the ship to leave, if anything happens, come get me." Jack nodded his head and Rey left for the cockpit. She quickly wiped all traces of her tears away as she entered the cockpit, erasing any signs of weakness. The troopers around her noticed that she'd come back and waited for their orders. "Is the ship ready to leave?"

"Yes sir." The trooper closest to the controls was the one who answered and he turned to face her.

"Good, start her up. We're leaving now."

"Yes sir." Rey sat in the pilot's seat and once the ship was up and running, wasted no time in getting them off the ground. The sound of the other ships leaving the planet's surface soon followed and within moments they were encased in the darkness that was space. Once they were far away enough from the planet, Rey gave the order to set the coordinates for the Finalizer. She quickly commed Austin to tell him to do the same.

As she waited for the coordinates to be set she slumped down into her seat and let out a deep sigh. She was not looking forward to telling Snoke what happened, Hux she could deal with, but Snoke could easily kill her if he got too upset with her. A sudden beeping went off that brought her from her thoughts, signaling that the coordinates were locked and that they could make the jump to lightspeed.

Rey immediately sat up and initiated the jump. After several minutes of silence she instructed one of the troopers to pilot the ship while she went to the back. Judging by the fact that Jack hadn't come to get her, Kylo must be doing fine. But she still wanted to be with him until they landed, she had no doubt that she would get drawn away from him and wouldn't be able to accompany him to the med bay.

As she approached the back she saw that Kylo was still in the same position that she'd left him in, but Jack was sitting up against the wall, and he looked exhausted. He noticed her come in and moved to get up but she motioned for him to sit down as she went next to him. "How's he doing?"

"Good. He's stable for now. I take it we made the jump to lightspeed?"

"Yeah, we should be arriving soon. You look exhausted."

"Glad to hear that I look the same way that I feel." A small smirk appeared on his face, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

"You should rest, try and get rid of that exhaustion. I'll watch him."

"With all do respect sir, I'm perfectly fine. I'm just a little tired."

"Jack, I'll make it an order if I have to. Now go lay down, I'll wake you if anything happens."

"Thank you sir." He positioned himself against the ground and used one of the tarps to cover him, while using his arm as a makeshift pillow. Before he put his head down, Rey spoke up.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"You can call me Rey." A small smile appeared on his face and she returned it as she watched him put his head down to get some rest. It was only a matter of minutes until she heard him softly snoring, falling asleep easily.

Rey shifted and looked at Kylo once more. It was so strange to see him so still, it was almost unnatural. Her gaze shifted to his helmet and she noticed how banged up and dirty it was from the battle. She got up off the floor and made her way towards it, she didn't know what she was doing, it was as if her body had a mind of its own. As she picked up the helmet it was just starting to occur to her that it was quite heavy, she didn't know how he managed to wear this constantly.

She closely examined it, not really looking for anything in particular, she just wanted to get a nice close up look of it. As she turned it around to look at it from the back, she paused. Without even thinking about it she put it on and the faceplate immediately came down.

The helmet was far too big for her and it moved a little bit when she moved her head. The weight caught her off guard and she swayed a little bit, trying to regain her balance. Once she felt that she could stand straight she looked out of the eye holes, they were bigger than she thought they'd be and she could see quite a bit of her surroundings very clearly. The inside was cushioned so that Kylo wouldn't involuntarily hurt his head during battle, and she had to admit, it was pretty comfortable.

She considered trying to speak, just to see how it sounded. She looked around her to see that nobody was around and softly spoke her name. "Rey Kenobi." The sound that emitted startled her. It wasn't the same sound as when Kylo wore it, it was deeper than her normal voice, but you could still somehow tell it was a female who was speaking as it was a slightly higher pitch than a normal man's voice.

She wore the helmet for a few more minutes before deciding it was time to take it off. As she removed it from her head she was blinded by the bright lighting of the room, it took her a few seconds for her eyes to get adjusted again. When she was able to see again she set the helmet back down on the floor and sat next to Kylo.

She could see that Jack had been right about the blood, it had begun to seep through the bacta patch, pretty soon it will be completely covered in it. She figured that they would be arriving shortly and decided not to wake up Jack, Kylo would be fine until they landed.

As Rey watched over her master, she began to take his hand into hers and lightly stroked it. She knew that he probably couldn't even tell it was happening, but it made her feel better knowing that she could somehow still hold onto him when he couldn't.

She sat in that position for several minutes until a soft murmur could be heard. At first Rey thought that it had come from Jack, that he was talking in his sleep. But after two minutes of staring at him, he didn't even flinch, then she heard it again. She still had her eyes locked on Jack, he still hadn't made any indication that he had spoke, which left only one person left in the room.

Rey thought that she must have been going crazy, Kylo was in no position to be conscious, talking was certainly out of the question, unless he didn't even know that he was doing it. Making sure that she'd actually heard him, she leaned her head very close to his, practically hovering over him, and waited for him to speak once more.

After waiting for several minutes her neck was beginning to cramp and she figured that it wasn't going to happen again. But just as she had begun to pull away, he spoke again, this time she could clearly hear what he was saying. "Rey." It was her name, he was saying her name when he didn't know it.

Tears began to fill her eyes again as she placed her free hand on his cheek, she bent down and gently kissed his forehead, letting him know that she was with him. She stayed in that position for awhile until she heard someone come into the room and clear their throat.

"Ahem, uh sir?" Tears could still be seen on her face, so she didn't turn around. She straightened and dropped her hand from Kylo's face.

"Yes? What is it trooper?"

"We've arrived back at the Finalizer and are preparing to jump out of hyperspace."

"Good. Alert all ships and immediately make the jump."

"Yes sir. Do you want to be at the controls?"

"No, that's alright. You boys are perfectly capable of landing it, you don't need me."

"Yes sir." Rey waited for him to leave before she stood up. She wiped the tears off her face and went over towards Jack. She knelt down beside him and gently shook him, he didn't register right away and Rey didn't stop until he did. All of a sudden his arm popped up and began to search against the floor for something.

"Ugh, where's that damn snooze button." Rey couldn't help but laugh at him, at least she got his attention.

"Haha, alright Jack get up. We're home." Hearing her voice must have alerted him in some way and he instantly sat up. Before he could say anything, the ship lurched forward, signaling the jump out of hyperspace and their arrival back at the Finalizer. It took a little bit for Jack to get his bearings, once he did Rey helped him get up.

"Thanks for the wake up call."

"Anytime."

"He did okay?"

"Yeah. You were right about the blood, it began to seep through the bacta patch. But I figured since we were almost back it would be best to just leave it alone."

"Good call. Let me have a look at it." Rey watched as he looked over Kylo, nodding his head when his examination was complete. "A significant amount of blood has seeped through, almost the whole patch is covered. But it seemed to have stabilized him as I hoped it would, he'll be given proper care when the medics take him."

"That's good to hear. Do you need help unloading him?"

"Yeah, he's pretty heavy." All of a sudden the ship began to descend signaling their landing in the hangar. Within seconds it touched the ground and the door opened to let them out. Rey and Jack began to lift him up, Jack grabbing his legs and Rey grabbing his shoulders.

They proceeded to slowly make their way towards the door when four troopers with a gurney suddenly appeared in the doorway. "We're here to collect Ren and take him to the med bay." Rey and Jack stopped and before Jack could say anything he looked at Rey, seeking her approval. She nodded her head, signaling that it was okay for them to take him and he nodded in understanding. He turned his head back to the troopers and gave them his answer.

"He's all yours, we'll set him down for you." The two carefully put Kylo down on the gurney and watched as he was taken off the ship. Before leaving Jack looked once more at Rey, who had a crestfallen look on her face. "Are you alright Rey?"

"I'll manage."

"You gonna get that scratch taken care of?"

"Yeah, I'll get that done later. I have other things to focus on."

"Like General Hux?"

"Exactly. I'll meet you outside, I want to get something." Jack nodded his head and left the ship. Rey waited until he was gone before she went in the back of the ship. She looked at Kylo's helmet and grabbed it, not wanting to leave it behind. As she exited the ship she saw that Austin was talking to Jack, the two noticed her come out and waited for her to approach them.

"You went back for the helmet." Jack had spoken and he had a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I couldn't just leave it. Austin can you take it back to my room?"

"Sure. Here's the total count of the wounded and dead." He gave her a datapad and she completed the exchange by giving him the helmet.

"Thanks, is there anything else?"

"Yeah, Hux is waiting for you on the bridge."

"Well then, I better not keep him waiting."

Well what do you guys think? I hope that you enjoyed it. Please feel free to review.

I'll see you guys in the next chapter, bye!