Another update because I have no self control.
I am flattered that anyone likes this story. Thank you for the comments. I used to write a lot of toxic Glee fanfic and this feels like a return to my earlier writing style.
Rey is processing the meaning of his sentence when Rose comes bounding through the front door.
"Let's go," she pulls at Rey and Kylo's hand slides off her shoulder.
"Is he really coming to the base?"
Rey stares hard at Kylo and there is a silent question behind her gaze.
"Yes. Yes, he is," she turns to Rose, "he is defecting from the Order. I've confirmed it."
Kylo knows Rose does not believe it.
She glares at him like he is absolute filth.
Rey strides across the room and begins shoving a bookshelf to the side. A small escape door appears and leads to a narrow tunnel.
"We won't make it past the flagship and TIE fighters," Rey slings a bag over her shoulder. "If we move fast I can get us to the falcon. I've outrun the Order before. Ben?"
She expects him to follow.
Rose snorts and starts down the tunnel.
"Right behind you." His voice is deep and steady as he watches Rey disappear after Rose.
He wills his body to fucking move.
He simply stands and waits.
Kylo hears the march of stormtroopers as they clamber through the forest. A message from his Knight informs him they are ready to apprehend the scavenger.
Where are you Ben?
He hears her query through their link.
Are you okay?
Her rising panic.
Do you need help?
She worries that he has been captured.
Kylo walks listlessly down the stairs and through the trees as stormtroopers fan out around him.
He walks onto a ship not unlike the one he first carried her onto.
Ben. Please...why aren't you following? Where are you?
Kylo waits until the ship rises into the air and he signals for it to dock at the flagship.
Then he responds.
Flagship. The throne room.
Dread - her dread - fills the force between them.
I'm coming. I won't leave you.
Adrenaline pumps through his veins and he feels a little too hot under his layers of clothing. Surely she comes for him knowing she walks into a death trap?
It is so like her to be sacrificial.
Kylo rolls his shoulders and reality sets in.
She is coming willingly and he hasn't had to lay a hand on her.
Well.
He did, and it was more than a hand.
Images of her beneath him flash through his mind.
The mess he left between her thighs.
The way she entrusted her body and heart to him.
He is vile.
The minutes feel like hours as he tries to wait patiently.
"Supreme Leader," a silk voice greets Kylo and a single Knight falls into step with him in the dark shining corridor.
"I have received news that the scavenger has been detained. She is under the impression that you are in need of…saving." The Knight fails to hide the incredulous tilt in his tone.
Kylo feels him hesitate. He isn't finished.
"It was a challenge to follow your orders and restrain her without causing injury. Zain is dead."
Kylo halts his pace.
She has killed a Knight in her attempt to rescue him.
He is impressed.
"Bring her to me. Unharmed and unbound. Leave the saber."
Kylo continues down the hall alone and enters the throne room. The only announcement of his arrival is the descent of absolute silence amongst his guards. He sits draped across the grand chair he rules from, frozen from anticipation that she will be here soon.
Kylo feels relief that his moment of weakness in the forest - when he thought of letting her go - does not sabotage his hard work.
A faint scuffle travels through the walls and the doors open.
His remaining Knights drag her forward and the wide doors close with an echo.
Rey stands still in the center of the room as the Knights flank around Kylo's throne.
Low chuckles reverberate throughout the chamber.
They come from the throats of his Knights.
Cold, humiliating laughter.
She is quite the sight, drenched in sweat, her hair an absolute mess, her eyes completely focused on him.
"Ben!"
Rey rushes across the room but stops halfway as her mind grapples with her surroundings.
"Ben…" she starts again, her eyes frantic as they dart from the Knights to him and back again.
"What - what is all this?" Her lower lip quivers as words slowly make their way out of her mouth.
"Who...what...is there a Supreme Leader?"
Kylo remains sitting. His smirk is triumphant.
"This is the throne room of the Supreme Leader. It's over, Rey. You don't have to run. We don't have to fight anymore. We don't have to struggle against our connection," he can't keep the insistent edge from his voice.
Her mouth opens and closes.
"You…you gave me your word," she says. Rey staggers backwards and he feels her mind swirling, her breaths shallow.
More laughter.
Kylo raises his hand and it stops.
Guilt that he has no right to feel rises in him.
As if in a trance Rey's hand reaches for her lightsaber. She tries to respond as she normally does in this kind of situation. Blindly she gropes at her waist but comes up empty handed. In her shock she can't seem to remember that her lightsaber rests on her other hip.
Kylo doesn't like watching her break down like this.
He looks down at her and his eyes narrow in contemplation. After a moment, he rises slowly from the chair and moves with purpose across the room. His eyes never leave hers, and by the time he stops in front of her, her head is tipped back in order to gaze up at his face.
"You're not surrendering," her features buckle slightly before she speaks.
"I am not," he confirms.
"You…" she struggles to get the words out, "...you lied to me. About everything."
Her voice is small and she wraps her arms around her body.
Nausea swirls unrestrained in Kylo's stomach as he senses her grief and regret.
She is not supposed to feel regret.
"Not everything," he responds through gritted teeth.
Rey stays silent, staring at him, her wide eyes becoming glossy with tears.
"I'm...so stupid," she chokes out.
Kylo feels unease radiating from his Knights.
The raw intimacy they witness between the two force users makes them uncomfortable.
"You're not stupid," Kylo knows it's a mistake when he braces his hands around her waist.
"No," she convulses violently and jumps back. A bit of fire returns to her voice when she speaks.
"Don't fucking touch me." She is seething and hot tears run down her cheeks.
She continues.
"Did you get what you want out of this? Were you laughing the whole time? Was it just an amusement for you to fuck me before you kill me?"
No, no, no.
Kylo blinks back the foreign stinging sensation in his eyes.
He knew she would be upset but he never wanted to break her heart.
But he can see it in her eyes.
The damage he has caused - Kylo can't take the anguish written across her face.
"Bind her and take her to my personal chambers," he bellows loudly to hide the tremor in his throat.
The Knights close in and Rey spits directly in Kylo's face.
The Knights are harsh when they push her to her knees and snap binders around her wrists.
One of them hands Kylo her lightsaber.
Kylo does not tell her that he won't hurt her - she will not believe him.
He won't force himself on her. He wants her enthusiastic like before. He wants her to look at him with the same soft stare, wants to hear her needy breathless voice whimpering his name.
Kylo needs her to understand she is his now.
don't worry guys our girl will rally.
this chap is probs peak angst.
feel free to prompt me! this story just flows out and I like knowing what you want to read.
updates will be slower since i'll be spending 2 weeks with my in laws .