Glitter and Gold
Chapter 28
34 ABY – Jakku
As he watched Vex cross the dunes to help the villagers, Poe couldn't help but feel a strange sense of fear. She was going to face those Stormtroopers alone. He knew she could handle herself, knew she had powers beyond his imagination, but he still feared for her. She'd said he would have to leave without her. What did she know that Poe didn't?
Reluctantly, Poe climbed into the cockpit of his X-wing, keeping his eyes fixed in Vex's direction. "STOP!" her voice carried over the sand, as she threw a hand out. Every. Single. Stormtrooper. Froze.
Poe stood in his seat, eyes widening in wonder as Vex yelled for the villagers to run. Whatever he'd expected, it hadn't been this. The Stormtroopers were held still by Vex's power, exactly as he'd been once or twice. He never thought she could do it with so many people. His heart swelled with pride.
Until he saw the approaching ship. "Shit! Fuck!" he cursed, scrambling out of the seat with a blaster in hand. There was no way Vex could hold off any more of them. "BB-8!" Poe called as he hit the sand. Just a moment later, the droid Vex had built for him hit the sand too.
From his pocket, Poe drew the data stick, holding it out to the droid. "You take this! It's safer with you than it is me! You get as far away from here as you can! You hear me?" he ordered, dropping it into a slot BB-8 pushed out.
The droid chirped out a series of questions, clearly worried. "I'll come back for you! We'll be alright! I have to help Vex!" Poe assured the droid. "Go! What you're carrying is the hope of the resistance!"
With his droid safely escaping, Poe hefted up his blaster and ran over the dune to hide behind one of the large crates on the outskirts of the village. All breath left his body when he saw the dark, hooded figure standing before Vex.
Kylo Ren. The father of Vex's son, and Snoke's instrument. Just because he'd helped Vex escape before, didn't mean he would today. "Fuck!" Poe cursed again, banging a hand against the crate. He didn't think there was any way out of this one. It would take a miracle to get Vex out of this one, and Poe had to think about Anakin, too. He couldn't just rashly throw his life away anymore.
Before he could blink, Kylo Ren had drawn his lightsaber and attacked Vex, forcing her to drop her control of the Stormtroopers in order to defend herself. Violet and red lightsabers danced, reflecting off the armor of the Stormtroopers. Vex managed to barely block each of Ren's blows, but it was clear she was tiring – slowing with each strike, while Ren's blows only came harder and faster.
While watching the fight felt like a century – helpless to aid Vex as he was, but it only lasted a few moments. Ren's lightsaber arced up across Vex's body – cutting her from hip to shoulder. The violet saber spun out of her grip, landing in the sand, extinguished.
Poe's legs went weak beneath him the moment he heard her cry of pain. "Vex," he breathed, watching her fall. "No," he muttered, gripping his blaster tighter to creep around the crate to approach.
Kylo Ren dropped to his knees at Vex's side, pressing two fingers to her forehead. She went limp. "No!" Poe cried again. Ren rose to his feet, Vex's unconscious body thrown over his shoulder. He aimed his blaster at the Jedi Killer's back, rage creeping up his throat.
The moment Poe squeezed the trigger, Ren turned to face him, one hand thrown up. The bolt of energy was frozen in the air between them. Poe's jaw dropped open in horror, the blaster falling from his grip. Two Stormtroopers jogged over, slamming a fist or two in Poe's stomach before dragging him towards Ren.
Kylo Ren handed Vex over to one of his troopers, "Put her on my ship. Alert me if she begins to wake," he ordered, a haunting voice emitting from his helmet. How had Vex ever stood him?
"Vex!" Poe cried. "No!"
He was kicked down to his knees at Kylo Ren's feet. "And who are you?" Ren mused, folding his arms behind his back. Poe glared up at him, lips thinning into a frown. "The old man gave you the map, didn't he?" he considered, pacing back and forth a few steps. "Search him!" Ren ordered.
The Stormtroopers roughly handled Poe before pushing him back down to the ground. "Nothing, sir," one of them said.
Ren let out a noise of annoyance. "Bring him on board," he instructed, turning on his heel to march aboard his ship.
Good, Poe thought. A chance to save Vex, as slim as it was.
Everything Vex had told him about the First Order and interrogation was true.
They'd tortured him. First, it'd been a Stormtrooper. Then an officer with ginger-hair that had thrown the most ungraceful fit when Poe had given them nothing. If Vex was right, Kylo Ren would be the next to interrogate him.
Poe both feared and welcomed it equally – he wanted to question Ren about Vex. Perhaps, if the Jedi Killer had any love left for Vex inside of him, he'd help her and Poe escape. God, what a fantasy.
It was only because of Vex that Poe had gotten through the first two rounds of interrogation. He'd been so out of his mind with worry for her that it overwhelmed everything else. Even the pain, even his survival instinct. The pain of the torture was nearly enough to break him, but the thought of Vex that steadied him.
Poe had thought he'd known pain. He'd been in fights, gotten shot before. But torture was entirely unlike all other pain, he'd realized. Torture was the sadistic use of pain in order to force someone to do what they wanted in order to end the pain. Pain wasn't the goal. It was merely the instrument.
His first two interrogators had gleefully inflicted pain to try and coax out the location of Skywalker's map. They'd both failed, so now Poe knew to expect another to follow them. Kylo Ren.
Vex had promised there would be none of her gentleness, should Poe ever be captured. He believed her now. Not that he hadn't truly before, it simply hadn't been real to him then.
But now it was. And Poe had to prepare himself for even worse pain. More agony, and hope that Kylo Ren wouldn't be able to pull his secrets from his mind. Poe would be using Vex's mind trick to hide away his information, and he only hoped it'd be enough. He left small details of the mission at the forefront of his mind, and tucked the rest away, hopefully hidden beneath everything else. A locked box in his mind.
The door behind Poe slid open, filling the quiet room with heavy footsteps. He craned his neck to see behind him, wincing at the stiffness in his neck and shoulders. "I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board," came that haunting voice, before he appeared before Poe.
"Comfortable?" the man in a mask questioned.
"Not really," Poe said.
"I'm impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map," Kylo Ren remarked.
"Might want to rethink your technique," Poe retorted.
Kylo Ren threw out his hand, and agony erupted in Poe's brain. It was nothing like the prickle of discomfort he'd felt when Vex had invaded his mind. It was like someone had slammed a pickaxe into his skull, sending reverberations of pain throughout Poe's whole body. He threw his head back against the metal rest behind him, as if that would provide some sort of relief.
"Where is it?" Ren demanded.
"The Resistance will not be intimidated by you," Poe managed through gritted teeth.
Kylo Ren tilted his head to the side, his gloved fingers stiffening – exerting another wave of intense pain throughout the other man's body. "Where. Is. It?"
Unable to hold it in any longer, Poe let out a scream of pain. He strained against the restraints, his mind plunged into chaos, a mess of agony, confusion, and fear.
A choked laugh left Kylo Ren's helmet, distorted into an otherworldly noise. "You fool," he hissed, stepping closer. He ripped off the helmet, revealing his face to Poe. A momentary lapse of the torture lent Poe clarity – and confusion. "Vex's little mind trick," Kylo Ren said, watching as Poe's expression contort in horror.
"You really thought you could hide it from me," the Jedi Killer growled, a strange look of almost glee crossing his features. "I was Vex's first student. I know to look for such a clever distraction," he informed Poe.
His words sounded like jealousy to Poe. Outrage that Poe'd thought he could trick him. Poe forced himself to focus on the greater concern. If Kylo Ren had breached his flimsy defense, then he already knew what he wanted. His best chance would be to throw Kylo Ren off balance.
"Then you know I'm the only one who knows where your son is," Poe said suddenly.
The gamble worked. The look that crossed Kylo Ren's face was nothing less than confusion. His eyes blew wide, his brows drawing down low. But the moment passed, and his surprise gave way to rage. "What do you know of my son?" he demanded in a deadly tone, his hand raising.
Poe closed his eyes against the sudden onslaught of pain, like thousands of knives stabbing into him. "Vex entrusted the secret to me when she hid him. Only I know where to find Anakin when it's time. When it's safe," he explained.
Kylo Ren simply stared at him, his expression unreadable. Poe opened his eyes after a moment, when Ren hadn't responded. "Is Anakin safe, where he is?" he questioned, after a tense silence.
The response surprised Poe for a moment. He didn't ask where Anakin was. But then again, this was the man who'd helped Vex escape the First Order, resigning himself to the idea that he'd never see her, or his child ever again. A monster as he was, Kylo Ren was showing him vulnerability in this moment.
"Yes," Poe answered resolutely. Kylo Ren nodded, lips thinning. He replaced his helmet, and stepped away, leaving before Poe had even gotten to ask about Vex. "Wait!"
His heavy steps paused, beside Poe. He craned his head to look at Ren. "Vex told me you loved each other. Why are you doing this to her? Taking Vex back to him when you promised to protect her," Poe questioned, anger entering his voice.
"You presume much, Poe Dameron,"
Poe scoffed. "Of all the things Vex told me about you, she was certain that you would never betray her," he bit out.
A distorted growl left Ren's helmet as he turned to face Poe. "You understand nothing. I am protecting my family now, as I have always done," Kylo Ren snarled, fingers reaching out to close around Poe's throat.
Poe gasped for air as the other man's hand tightened around his airway for several dangerous moments. And then it was suddenly gone. "You have great luck today, Dameron," Ren commented, stepping away. "For all that you try to infuriate me, you hold my son's safety," his heavy footsteps headed towards the door, a relief from Poe's torture.
"Wait! What about Vex?!" Poe demanded, craning his stiff body around to try to get a glimpse of the man behind him.
"She is of your concern no longer."
Review, Please.
Thanks to my reviewers last chapter - Guest and Mstngsali1!
Thoughts?
Much love, Suz Singer.