Amias takes Iberis's hands, undoing the handcuffs, while she stares out at the stars. The escape pod is small and cramped, and she has her knees drawn up to her chest. Amias has ripped off his hat and jacket, throwing them on the floor, scowling at the First order emblem on his jacket while he returns to the pilot seat.
"Where are we going?" Iberis asks him quietly, her eyes still glued to the stars.
"D'qar. The Rebel base is there," Amias replies as he leans back, shutting his eyes and trying to not think about the slaughter of the New Republic system.
"Why did you change allegiance?" Iberis pushes, glancing down at the crumpled grey coat on the steel ground.
"The destruction of the New Republic. It was an evil act," Amais responds, angrily.
"The First Order has always been evil. You should have known that" Iberis spits back at him. Amias does not answer her anymore, instead, his hands begin to tremble. They sit, in silence, after that. Iberis has tried to sleep, but the constant pain in her body makes her shake. She holds her cast as she tries to find a comfortable position for her burns. Amias throws a glance back at her, but Iberis's mind is far away. These days, Ben remains on her mind. Her feelings for him are so mixed. On one hand, she despises him for keeping her prisoner. On another, she is desperate to see her old friend again.
And Iberis does not forget the fact that he threw himself into an incinerator to get her back. She also can't forget the feeling of his body against hers, and his hands tangled in her hair as he pulled her against his body. Iberis sighs heavily before shifting her weight and trying to sit comfortably.
"You'll need to offer me as a prisoner. I'll tell them whatever they want," Amias informs her as he leans back, but a beeping noise makes him jump. The screen shows an incoming ship, but Iberis can't make out the shape of it. It is coming in quickly, and before Amias can react, a sudden heavy force makes their pod jolt. The jolt causes Amias to crash onto the control board, and the man lets out a roar before an unprompted voice comes through the speaker.
"Did you really think you could take her away from me- and live?"
The sound of Ben's voice makes Iberis perk up from her seat. Ben's voice sounds low and absolutely furious. Iberis begins breathing heavily as she forces herself to crawl off the chair, over to the communicator. Amias shoves her back with one hand, before snorting. "What are you going to do, Kylo Ren? I'm not going back," Amais answers as he pushes the ship farther. It won't reach D'qar in time, and it seems to be caught in a tractor beam, from Ben's small command ship.
"I don't care what happens to you, I just want her," Ben spits from his command deck. The frigate he is on is small, with only a minimal crew in the engineering room and some on the command deck.
In the escape pod, Amias glances down to a button on the control panel, a dim green light emitting from it. Iberis knows exactly what it is, many of the First Order escape pods are equipped with them; a self destruct override, to avoid capture.
Iberis's eyes widen as she sees Amias's hand creep towards the button. She throws herself forward onto his chair, crying out as her body makes contact with the stiff chair. "No, don't touch that!" Iberis screams before Amias grabs her shoulder again, shoving her to the ground harshly.
"What are you doing?" Ben growls again from the communicator, but Amias is shaking his head harshly before looking at Iberis with tears flooding his eyes.
"It's the only way," Amias chokes out, while he uses his foot to keep her pressed to the ground. Iberis screams again, a loud, bloody scream that ripples through Ben's command deck, which makes him quiver with anger and forces him to act quickly.
Before Amias can hit the button, a force slams into the small escape pod, causing both Amias and Iberis to go flying into the control panel. Iberis uses her free hand to punch Amias in the jaw, making sure he isn't close to the button. She desperately grabs the communicator as Amias crashes to the ground, stunned by the blow.
"He's trying to hit the destruct button!" Iberis screams into the communicator, but Amias has crawled back. He seems almost crazed as he grabs Iberis, trying to drag her away from the button in desperation. He curls his fist and punches her in the throat, making her gag and choke, but she still puts her body over the button as Amias screams at her.
"Ben, he w-won't, s-stop," Iberis gurgles out. Ben grabs his saber, lashing out against the wall and screaming.
Their pod suddenly docks, making both of them crash to the floor. Amais looks terrified before kicking Iberis off the control board, in one last desperate attempt to initiate the self-destruct sequence. But, he is stopped once again. It seems like mere seconds before the hatch door is seemingly ripped off its hinges, and Ben comes storming in, his hand raised. He grabs Amias, lifting the physician off the ground, before slamming him against the metal wall. There's a deafening crack as Amias's ribs break. His hand tightens around the physician's throat before he glances at Iberis on the ground, who is curled into a ball, with new bruises forming on her throat. She looks up at him, with blood starting to stream down her face, and his anger only grows.
A horrible, loud choking noise fills the air, breaking through Iberis's fingers, despite the fact she now has them pressed against her ears. The choking noises soon fade, instead, there's an awful crunch, followed by a loud thud.
Iberis again feels too weak to look at Amias's corpse. Ben has tossed the body and now kneels next to her, pushing her hair away from her throat. His gloved hand trembles slightly, as he then plucks his glove off and lays his hand on her cheek. Iberis reaches up with her hand and places it timidly over his.
"Stop… Disappearing," Ben says quietly, and Iberis doubts she was even meant to hear the words.
Ben carefully pulls the woman into his arms and walks off the pod. His barren crew stands at the bottom of the ramp, staring quizzically at the sight. "Get rid of it," Ben growls.
He carries Iberis not to the prison cell, but instead to his personal quarters. He lays the woman on his stiff bed, before reaching for a medical kit. Ben takes out a syringe, with a mysterious gold substance in it. He clutches her thigh, before rolling her over, she is on her stomach. He stabs the syringe into her thigh, causing her to moan. Almost instantaneously, new energy seemingly courses through her veins and her eyes pop open wide, as much of her pain seems to diminish entirely.
Iberis sits up, so quickly, Ben has to duck away so she doesn't hit her head off his mask. He takes a step back before taking a seat on the white table, staring at the woman, who is looking around with renewed energy.
"W-what d-did you give m-me?" She asks, her voice still cracking and raspy from Amias's punch.
Ben shrugs as he stands, once again, and goes to look at her damaged throat. The bruise is getting worse. "Just some medicine," He mumbles as his thumb runs down her skin, making her shiver.
Finally, Iberis reaches up, resting her hand on his helmet. "T-take it o-off," she rasps out, barely audible and cracked. She looks at him with an intense expression. "I w-want to s-see Ben. My B-ben," she chokes out.
Ben doesn't fight her this time. He doesn't know why the argument dies in his throat, but it does. He takes the mask off, letting it drop to the ground with a loud slam. Seeing his face offered her a small sense of familiarity and safety, despite where she is. She breathes out heavily before placing her hand on his chin, running his thumb over the small scar on his chin from when they fell out of a tree when they were young.
Iberis doesn't know where her next words come from, maybe whatever medicine he gave her, but she puts her hand on the back of his neck and pulls him closer to her, so his breath is tickling her face. Ben doesn't react, his hazel eyes are searching her face to see what she does next.
Heat rose from Iberis's stomach as she stares at Ben, her heart skipping a beat as she decides her next move. When she crashes her lips into his, he doesn't pull away. It shocked her, the feeling of his foreign lips on hers, but he takes his thumb and pushes it against her jaw to make her lips part for him. Ben's hand curls into the back of her head, wrapping his fingers around her braids. His other hand goes to her thigh, and he lifts her easily so she can wrap her legs around his waist.
Once the medicine wears off, Iberiis going to feel every single bit of her injuries. But right now, all she feels is him, and for once, she forgets about the fighting, the war, and the carnage. It was selfish of her to do that, and the medicine makes her feel almost primal. Ben is still her enemy. And truly, she knows this is an undoubtedly stupid decision. But as soon as the medicine entered her bloodstream, she craved every single bit of him. It's like it was a truth serum and brought out her desires which she had hidden far, far away.
Ben flips her over, so she is now on top of him as he drops to the bed, his hand cradling bottom and he pulls her closer to him, as he breaks free of her lips and goes to her neck, delicately kissing the forming bruises. Ben knows this is a mistake; that she is his prisoner, but she is intoxicating to him.
"Mine," Ben growls into her neck, making a raspy moan rip out of Iberis's lips.
They both know this is a mistake. But, that fact disappears out of both of their minds, quickly.
