A/N: For day 4 of Reylo Week. Title comes from the Twenty One Pilots song of the same name. Thank you for reading!

At first, he doesn't know who is walking out of the old Rebel base. Skywalker, probably; the man claims that he does not enjoy playing the role of hero, but that is the greatest lie he has ever told. And if not Skywalker, then perhaps his mother, there to appeal to the last remnants of her son lingering inside the monster of Kylo Ren.

He is not expecting it to be her.

An all-too-familiar rage begins to burn in his veins. How dare she? How dare she torture him like this? She'd claimed that she would help him – that she would stand by his side if he turned away from the dark – so he had done it. He had murdered Snoke, fighting by her side to free them from the First Order for good.

But she had betrayed him. She refused to give him a chance, even though that's what she had promised to do. She had abandoned him.

Just like everyone else.

Gritting his teeth, he almost lets Hux give the command to kill her where she stands. Watching her fall now in front of her precious Resistance would satisfy the darkness clouding his mind and heart. Still, he knows that it would break him more than it would help. He needs her. He needs her more than the air he breathes – more than the salvation she offers. Why can't she see that?

Then, she takes a step forward – and reaches out to him with her right hand, a cruel mirror of his plea in the throne room.

He barely holds back a scream.

At Hux's questioning look, he grabs his lightsaber, heading for the ship's exit. "I'll go meet her myself," he growls.

"Supreme Leader," Hux begins, "do not let your emotions impair your – "

Ben does not give him the chance to finish, slamming the general into the wall without even a backward glance.

No one else tries to stop him.

His cloak billows out behind him in the harsh wind as he stalks towards her. Leaving only a few feet of space between them, he stops, feeling a vicious satisfaction – and yet a painful tug at his heart – at the flicker of fear in her eyes when he does.

You should be scared of me.

She flinches as the thought fills her mind, and he almost smiles.

So the bond still works.

"Have you come to save my soul?" he sneers.

She lifts her head defiantly. "You'd have to show me that you have a soul left to save."

He looks pointedly at her outstretched hand. "Then how did you think you could stop me?"

She sighs, slowly letting her hand fall back to her side. "I was hoping we could make a deal."

He scoffs. "What does the Rebel scum have that I could possibly want?"

"Me."

He instantly freezes, his mind going completely blank for one moment. She cannot possibly mean that. She hates him; she must. If she were not repulsed by the creature he has become, why would she keep running from him?

"I know you told them I killed Snoke," she continues. "And I know that you're the new Supreme Leader, so the decisions are up to you now." She takes a deep breath, steeling herself for her next words. "If you agree to let the Resistance live, I will join you, even if that means being your prisoner. No matter where you go or what you do, I will stay at your side."

He tamps down the traitorous spark of hope in his heart. Liar.

He ignites his lightsaber, waiting a heartbeat for her to reach for hers – his grandfather's – before he remembers the way it tore in two only a few hours ago. How are they supposed to settle this if she can't even fight back? He cannot strike her when she is defenseless.

"I'm not lying!" she exclaims, taking another step towards him. "I swear to you, Ben, I wouldn't do that." She looks at him pleadingly. "Besides; how could I lie to you, with our minds still linked? If you don't believe me, look. Look inside my mind."

He doesn't think twice before he reaches out, winding the Force through her thoughts. It is much easier to do when she is not resisting. If anything, she is helping him search faster, clearing a path to her deepest thoughts.

She isn't lying.

It's a startling revelation. He is so used to being lied to that he cannot decide what to do next.

While he flounders in her mind for a moment, her thoughts flash before him. The Resistance has no escape; the only entrance and exit is the massive door behind her. They would be destroyed within minutes of his attack. To save the people that have become her family, she had decided to do what no one else could: make a deal with the devil.

The flicker of hope returns, burning stronger now. Does that mean that you'll –

She answers his unfinished question with a memory, gently tugging him back before he leaves her mind completely.

It's a memory of him. He is seeing himself through her eyes in Snoke's throne room, seeing every detail that he tried to hide – the way his hand shook when he reached out to her; the desperation in his eyes; the aching loneliness in his voice when he whispered, Please.

Ben recoils from the scene. He does not want to relive the pain and betrayal of this moment. Still, Rey holds him there, whispering, Wait.

Staring at his own hand, he feels her emotions tumbling inside her – disappointment, sadness, hurt…but beneath it all, an overwhelming sense of longing. She is so tired of being alone, just like him. It would be easy to take his hand and stay with him, traveling to beautiful planets and bringing change beyond her wildest dreams.

But she hardens her breaking heart. She cannot let the people she loves die.

I still can't, she murmurs as the image slowly fades, returning them both to the present. "This is why I am here," she continues aloud. "If you promise to spare them – to leave them alive and free – I will stay with you."

He should not agree to this. Not when he finally has them cornered, and he can kill his past for good. It would be sheer stupidity to leave them be.

Kylo Ren would refuse.

But Ben Solo has always been lonely. He wants this – wants her – more than he has wanted anything else in his life. Together, they would be invincible.

Ben Solo says yes.