She knew this ship. She'd travelled on it when she was sick with misery and hopelessness. She was not afraid now, only anxious. He was on that ship. She could feel his presence, radiating warmth like the heating core on Hoth. She was trying to move towards him, but whenever she felt certain that she was close, she would round a bend and find herself staring at another dead end.

She could also sense that time was passing and that with each second, she came closer to waking up a million light years from where he was, and her anxiety soon turned to panic. Every time she opened a door, expecting to find him there, she found another corridor, and each corridor looked the same as the last, and no matter which direction she chose, there were only dead ends. A blank wall where there should be none.

She wasn't even sure how long she'd been running through those hallways when a realization struck her—the ship was empty. There were no crewmen, or Stormtroopers, just the echo of her footsteps. The ship was a trap!

The walls were closing in on her and she knew what would come next—the air vent.

Not this time! Not again!

She drew her light saber and screaming, began to slash the walls as they contracted around her. Sparks flew and metal groaned as it bent. Wildly, she swung the blade again and again, kicking the walls even in fierce determination that she would not be trapped.

In one last desperate move, she raised her blade over her head and stabbed it into the wall, tearing it down with all her strength—

And the wall gave way, tearing easily as though made of paper, before falling away.

Kylo Ren stood before her. His broad shoulders sloped as though he were exhausted and his head bent forward so that she could not see his face. He paid her no mind, his attention being focused on something he clasped loosely in his hand.

Panting heavily, she took a step closer.

He closed his fist tightly and glanced up, but not at her, at something she could not see.

"Kylo…" she called, still breathing heavily after fighting her way through the walls. "Please, look at me, please!"

If she'd been given time to think—if she were not terrified of waking up, or if her heart were not thudding distractingly in her ears—she might have demanded that he spare the Resistance base on Hoth, or begged to know why he seemed intent on their destruction.

Desperation, however, has a way of distilling one's foremost concern, separating it from logic and ego.

"Why did you leave me there?" she asked, her voice breaking as she called out. "On Korriban… I thought... you made me believe that you needed me—even if it was only to be your apprentice, but I… I believed you. I believed you when you said your only goal was to destroy Snoke, but then… you left me there. I was dying and you… you left me there—"

Kylo Ren closed his eyes and held his clenched fist to his forehead as though his head pained him.

"I don't understand!" she screamed. "Why can't you see me?"

He sighed and turned away from her. He was leaving! Walking away from her again!

"No, don't!" she shouted "STOP!"

She made to run after him, but at her first step, her foot sunk into the floor as though it had suddenly liquefied, and as she struggled, still trying to get to him, she sunk deeper and deeper as he walked further away. He would not stop. Chewie growled in her ear.

Rey gasped and sat up in her chair, shocked fully awake at the controls of the Falcon.

In the chair beside her, Chewie growled low again.

"S-sorry," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and blinking hard a few times. "I was only going to close my eyes for a minute."

The wookie nodded, and for a moment, Rey thought that perhaps he didn't notice the sweat on her forehead or the way she was trying to stealthily quiet her breathing by inhaling slowly through her nose, but then he glanced over his shoulder, as though checking to make sure they were alone, and leaned slightly towards her.

His voice was little more than a low rumble in his chest.

"No," she answered quickly. "Not a vision. Just a dream. A bad dream… at least, I think it was. To be honest, I don't know the difference anymore."

Chewie nodded slowly and returned his attention to the controls, but not before she noted the concerned narrowing of his eyes. It made her think of the look which had passed between Finn and Master Luke.

"Chewie… if you knew something… about Hoth… or about Kylo Ren… something I don't know, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?" she asked.

He gave a short, annoyed moan at this.

"No, the correct answer would be: Of course, Rey! Friends don't keep secrets from each other!" she corrected him.

He growled and waved one hand, and then his voice rose an octave in a series of short purrs.

"I'm not keeping secrets!" she snapped. "I didn't tell you because you never asked. Nobody has asked, not even Luke. You all just assume!"

Chewie's mouth closed firmly at this, but he gave her a side-eyed glance. When he spoke again, his cry was softer. Rey sighed and slumped in her chair.

"I don't know how to answer that," she admitted. "Sometimes I think that nobody asks because they already know I can't answer that." She thought for a moment before attempting to answer. "He's… not unaffected by what he's done. I know that doesn't mean much, but… if he feels something close to guilt for all the evil that he has done, that has to mean… I don't know, Chewie. Sometimes, I would start to believe that I could see the good in him. He protected me more than once when we fought together. At times, he could even be… gentle. I would start to believe that I could see the light building in him. On Korriban, I really believed he would come back to us, but now… the more time passes, the more I start to think Master Luke is right. Kylo tricked me into believing that I could save him, so that he could use me."

Wisely, Chewie gave no reply to this, and left Rey to her thoughts. When he at last left to catch a few hours of rest in the bunks, it was with a stern warning not to close her eyes 'for a few minutes' again. Rey smiled weakly and nodded her agreement, and for the next few hours, she piloted them toward Ka'vec with the image of Kylo Ren's retreating form as her constant companion.

Rey stood and stretched, her back cracking in relief as she yawned. They had set down once again at the outskirts of the city. Beyond the cockpit, the mud plains stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun was setting behind them, and dusk had given some color to the wide expanse of gray.

She called out for Master Luke as she strode from the cockpit, but it was Finn's voice she heard as she approached the ramp—though she couldn't make out his words. He spoke in low tones, barely above a whisper.

Intentionally, she made her footsteps ring out louder, and the conversation stopped. When she reached them, Finn flashed her a wide grin, though she was quick to notice, he avoided eye contact.

"Almost dark," she greeted them. "There's a few cloaks back in the hold—should help us blend in with this crowd."

"You two go on ahead," Master Luke ordered. "I'll see if I can reach Leia and check in. I won't be long. TRY and stay out of trouble for once?"

"Of course," Rey agreed, giving him her most insincere smile.

Rey waited for Finn at the bottom of the ramp, pulling her cloak tight against the chill in the night air. It had rained recently, for the ground squelched beneath her boots as she paced and her nose stung when she breathed through it. She would have to remember to wash her boots when she returned. She knew from experience how quickly the rain on Ka'vec could eat through fabric.

Finn raced down the ramp, fastening his cloak as he ran. He stopped when he reached her and held the fabric open so that she could see that he wore his blaster at his side.

"Good," she approved, and then led the way to the city gates.

The outlaw town of Ka'vec only came alive when the sun went down. There were other ships parked closer to the gates, and still more were setting down. Even outside the wall, they could hear the voices and the music which carried from the Night District.

Finn walked casually with his hood thrown back and his expression full of curiosity. He had far fewer opportunities to leave the base than she did, and he appeared to be enjoying himself. Yet beneath that, she could sense his tension, like a tightly wound metal coil. If she prodded him even a little, the truth would doubtless burst free.

She was considering questioning him. She was certain that without Master Luke watching over his shoulder, Finn would break relatively easy. Perhaps that was what was causing some of Finn's nervous energy—the fear that she would ask.

Chewie had said that he did not feel like he had to know everything—that he had enough trust in his friends to believe that what they kept to themselves, they kept for good reason. She did not have so stoic a view on the matter. Guilt was the only thing keeping her quiet.

Together they passed through the gates and fell in with a large group of similarly cloaked figures, all moving toward the Night District. The music was louder now. Strains of songs leaked from open doorways mingling together in a discordant tune.

They reached the first lane strung with red and purple lights and with a practiced eye, Rey sized up their surroundings. There were many humans, but she also counted Zygerrians, Trandoshans, Rodians, and even a small group of Hutts accompanied by two scantily-clad Twi'lek girls, among them. They moved leisurely, laughed loudly and called to one another as groups moved from club to club—many of them moved drunkenly. In the darkest spots, far from the glowing lights, there were spice dealers, and she could smell the products of their trade in the air—the pungent smoke of Marcan Herb and the chemical burn of glittersteim. These odors blended with the smoke from food carts and the combination made her slightly nauseous. She glanced at Finn to catch his reaction and almost laughed.

His eyes were huge and his mouth hung slightly open.

"We… we have time to… I mean… there's no rule against eating when you're on a mission right?" he asked, taking a few mesmerized steps towards a food stall selling long skewers of grilled meat. I mean, we've been on rations for… for…"

"Yes, but you'd better wait for Master Luke. He gets grumpy if you get food without him… well, grumpi-er" she amended.

"Right," Finn agreed, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the roasting spit. "So what are we looking for?"

"The brothel is off the main square just ahead," she said nodding in its direction. "There's a scarlet banner over the door. Last time, it was morning, and I went in through a window above the alleyway, but at this hour… well, I assume those rooms would be in use. They don't allow female patrons."

"So what you mean to say is, I'm on my own," Finn realized.

"Just until you find out if she's there or not. There's a tavern just beside it where I'll wait for you. If she's there, come out and we'll wait for Master Luke. If she isn't we'll get food and figure out where to go next."

"Right," Finn nodded. "Right so I…"

"You go in there and ask if they still have a girl named Amalia. I don't know, say you've 'had her before' and you really appreciate her skills or some sort of nonsense like that," Rey hissed.

"Right. Right…" Finn continued to nod.

"Go!" she snapped.

Before he could say 'right' again, she gave him a push that started him walking and then veered off to cross the square to the tavern. She waited until she saw Finn stumble inside, and then ducked beneath the awning of the bar to claim a seat at a street table with a good view.

Immediately, a large Zygerrian with gray, furry ears and long, bony projections framing his chin, showed his fangs and growled at her.

"What do you think you're doing sitting here?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

Rey turned to throw a quick glance at the other faces seated around the table. Besides the grey-furred Zygerrian, there was another with red fur, two other men who looked to be human—one of these wore a patch over his eye and his face was heavily scarred, and a sharp-toothed Twi'lek man with his hood pulled low over his eyes. They were an unsavory-looking group as she had ever seen.

"It doesn't matter," she said quickly, waving one hand slowly at them.

"It doesn't matter," the red-furred one repeated.

"I'm no one," she said.

"She's no one," growled the man with the eye patch.

Rey turned her attention back to the door of the brothel.

"Anyhow," Grey Fur continued the conversation she had interrupted, "Daryus said they took three ships and spaced the cargo—called it 'unlicensed goods'.

"That's nothing!" Eye patch countered. "They caught up to Urk'ma in Hutt Space while he was carrying a 200 head cargo and fined him more than the damn ship was worth—in HUTT SPACE!"

"They gone too far when they did that!" the other man agreed.

"Too right they did," Eye patch confirmed.

Rey scowled, realizing she'd chosen a table of slavers to blend in with.

"And I heard tell they brought down a Hutt ship over Tattoine!" Eye patch continued. "Don't know whose idea that was, but whoever's pulling the strings of the First Order ain't got quite the smarts old Snoke had. Even the Republic left the Hutts alone for the most part."

"The Hutts are backing the Resistance efforts now because of that incident," Grey Fur said in a low growling voice.

"I heard that, as well," the robed Twi'lek spoke at last. "I can't say I think it wise.'

"That's because you're not thinking long term. Last time those rebels brought the Empire down, didn't they? And who benefitted? The Hutts, if you remember. They backed both sides, of course, but when them Rebels took over, they left the Hutts more or less alone—"

"While they decimated the Zygerrian Slave Trade," Red Fur hissed, interrupting eye patch.

"Which is why you get on the winning side early this time," Eye Patch shrugged. "They got Darth Vader's girl running things and she's hard smart about fightin' dirty. Urk'ma sent her two of his own ships and fifteen men besides."

"Daryus did the same, right after they spaced his cargo," Grey fur agreed. "They wouldn't take slaves though."

"They will if the First Order starts hounding them again. I heard—" Here Eye Patch leaned in and dropped his voice to a low whisper. "The whole band of 'em is holed up on Nal Hutta, 'cept for Vader's girl and a few of her people, and they're stockpiling weapons and fighting men at a right high pace. They've got no shortage of allies with the First Order pushing new trade regulations and tariffs. And I even hear tell… they got themselves another Jedi."

"If we could be guaranteed the same deal as the Hutts—" Grey Fur began.

"Too right you could. They're still at a spot where they NEED things, supplies and such. The Zygerrians get in now, I'll bet the motherlode they'll leave Outer Rim to police itself when everything's said and done."

Grey Fur laughed gruffly.

"Well… it bears thinking on anyhow."

"Perhaps," the Twi'lek nodded thoughtfully.

Inside, Rey felt a boiling rage. These were bad men, dealing in the slave trade and planning to exploit the Resistance to fill their pocketbooks. General Organa would never ally herself with ones such as these! And their silly notions about the Resistance growing rapidly, she wanted to laugh about that more than anything. The First Order was destroying them week after week.

She tried to ignore them as they continued speaking, watching the door intently as though she could will Finn to appear in it, but then the conversation caught her attention again.

"—600 credits for something like two bits of Resurrection Dust," Eye Patch was saying.

Rey turned her head so fast she almost cracked her neck.

"Ah, but he won't say where he got it," the Twi'lek scoffed.

"They never do, but I know this one. He's got connections. REAL connections. He's got himself a nephew training with Knights of Ren—I swear it. They're looking for slaves."

"I don't believe it!" Grey Fur rolled his eyes.

"True. It's true. He says if I can get 300 heads—and it has to be a good mix of species and sex at that—he'll pay in dust."

"We've got 50 head on board even as we speak. Mandolarians, mostly, but a few mixes and unknowns as well," Red Fur was quick to offer.

"I might be interested," Eye Patch grinned.

It was at that moment that Finn chose to stagger back through the doorway of the brothel. He stopped in the middle of the square and looked around as if confused.

Rey stood and hurried over to him.

"Well?" she asked.

"Good… GOOD NEWS!" he said a little too loudly. He wrapped his arm roughly around her shoulder.

"Finn are you… drunk?" Rey demanded.

"No!" he said quickly, and then frowned and seemed to think about it for a minute. She raised one eyebrow.

"Yes," he corrected, nodding very seriously.

"How is that even possible?" she hissed. "You've barely left my sight!"

"Oh, met a nice fellow in there, a really nice fellow. He bought me a drink… no… TWO drinks… maybe it was three. They were very small drinks. He says… lemme think about this, it was important—"

"The girl?" she reminded him.

"Right. He says the girl with the dark hair and eyes has got her own rooms now. She only sees a few clients these days and only in her own rooms, and that's near the terrace by the… East Gate? No! WEST Gate. 'West is best'—I kept saying that so I'd remember. Can we get some of those meat sticks?"

"Not right now!" she snapped, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the square. "We came in through the West Gate, if we head back that way, we should run into Master Luke."

Master Luke, however, appeared to be taking his time. They reached the west gate and the terraced housing block just inside the wall without seeing him.

"Sit here," Rey ordered, pointing to a low retaining wall. She eyed the row of tall, tapering, housing units with unconcealed annoyance. They were marked with deep-seat windows in the shape of crescent moons and circles, and lights burned behind most of them. It might take all night to find the girl, as the area outside was devoid of friendly people to ask directions from.

Rey drew a deep breath and closed her eyes, attempting to enter a meditative state.

"Lead me," she whispered.

She felt nothing.

"To where?" Finn asked.

"Stop talking," Rey ordered, opening her eyes to study the buildings again.

"That is what… what I've been trying to do all day," he complained. "You don't know how hard it is! Luke says if I talk, then it could mean the end of the Resistance!"

Rey stiffened, clenching one fist, but then forced herself to continue to appear distracted by her mission.

"Master Luke wouldn't say that," she soothed, "You're mistaken."

"Am not! He said if you knew- what I can't say—if you knew all that stuff, then the plan doesn't work!"

"Oh that!" she scoffed. "He told me all about that on the ship. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Noooo," he chuckled. "Now you're being sneaky, and that's not like you! Ever since Kylo Ren tried to turn you dark… ever since then, I've been real careful. We all have. Didn't matter. First Order kept coming, blowing up our bases and then we'd have to start again. DIdn't matter how careful we were. Nobody blames you, you know. You can't help it. He's in your head."

"What do you mean? He's not in my head. He used to be, but that's… that's gone now. Since I came back, that's gone."

"No it's not. He's been using it to find us, every time we move bases. Don't feel bad. We know you're not doing it on purpose. That's why we took you to Hoth. It's not the real base, but the First Order thinks it is and when they get there… BOOM!" Finn laughed.

Rey was shaking. She couldn't help it.

"Boom," she repeated in a choked voice.

"Oh no, I think that's… that's what I wasn't supposed to say… wasn't it?" Finn mused.

A door slammed across the street as a man pulled up his hood and left a housing building. A moment later a familiar scent assailed her nose. It was sickeningly sweet and made her feel a second or two of dizziness.

"Wait here," she ordered, slipping away from Finn who likely hadn't even heard her.

Even in the midst of such a horrific discovery, she still had a mission to complete. What did it matter that they had all lied to her? That she had been used as bait? If it furthered the cause of the Resistance- but then accepting slave soldiers from Zygerrian traders and other help from Hutt crime lords would further it as well, wouldn't it? Shouldn't there be a line drawn somewhere? And how could Kylo Ren use her to track the Resistance when she had tried every way possible to reach him through the Force and could not?

The door was unlocked. Feeling for the hilt of her light saber, she opened it and slipped through.

She found herself staring at a wide, unevenly-spaced, spiraling staircase that rose up to where the ceiling tapered to a point. There were doors off the stairway at odd intervals, and none seemed to be the same shape or size. The smell of incense was stronger here.

She began to climb. It wasn't long before she was able to ascertain where the smell was coming from. She stopped before a tall narrow door with an oddly shaped iron handle, and unsheathed the hilt of her light saber.

Rey crouched, readying herself, and knocked.