Eleven:

Clinging to the shadows, Ben managed to stay in the relatively poorly lit maintenance tunnels and out of sight as he headed to the nearest exit point to the interrogation cell. He had to get off the ship and to Dathomir as soon as was possible because she was in danger. That much was obvious through the Bond that had miraculously opened for a few moments to give him hope once more...but had caused him more fear. Snoke was there-and, coward that he was, he feared facing his old Master. The fact that even a small use of the force had drained him so badly was profoundly disturbing because he would need to be at his strongest to even hope to survive but another, more pragmatic, part of him reminded Ben that even that small gesture had been a triumph.

Though it really didn't feel like it, he conceded.

The problem was the darkness, the old familiar calls of pain and fear and panic. The anger at how he had been treated, then and now and the siren call to vengeance. Every panel and bolt of this ship reminded him of the monster he had been and the echoes in the Force were like a drilling buzzing through his mind constantly. But Rey had believed in him, had expended some of her own life force to save him and for her-and for himself-he forced the blackness down once more.

"Ben?"

His head snapped around and he peered at the opposite wall…

...he saw her, standing on a shattered plateau, a roiling blood-red sky framing her and jagged mountains edging the horizon. Her eyes were wide with anxiety until she saw him and he felt warmth blossom in his chest as her expression grew relieved. He rose and walked towards her, staring into her face, seeing her nose scrunch as she saw his face.

"Ben? What…?" she asked, concern flooding through the Bond. He shook his head to reassure her.

"It's nothing," he reassured her, his lips curling in the slightest hint of a smile. He hadn't really smiled for years and the action was unfamiliar. Her brow furrowed and she raised a hand to touch his face, the sensation light and tender. He had expected her hand to go through his flesh but she felt as real and solid as he was, the callouses on her fingers just discernible.

"It doesn't look like nothing," she commented and he found himself smiling more obviously at her concern. She was dead, a disembodied Force ghost and she was worried about a few bruises? "I felt your pain."

His smile faded and he nodded.

"It was inevitable," he admitted. "I was the monster you called me. I ruled by fear, not through loyalty. Even the Knights of Ren turned on me." He sighed. "Where are you?" She shook her head.

"This was where I was led," she admitted. "Master Yoda and Master Luke told me this was a Dark stronghold, a place where evil reigns…"

"You are on Dathomir," he said, his eyes flicking over her surroundings. "Where's Snoke?" She shuddered.

"He vanished," she admitted. "But I know he'll be back. He wants to return-and he needs me to do it." Ben gave a weary nod.

"I should have known that he would try,' he confessed, raising a hand hesitantly hover over, then touch her face. He found himself smiling as she looked up into his eyes.

"Ben...I think it's him or me," she told him, her tone concerned. "He said to come back, it would need what I could not give, what my friends couldn't offer and a sacrifice that no one could complete."

He knows, Ben realised with a sinking sensation in his chest and then saw her expression change. She had felt his anxiety surge through the Bond. "Stay away from him, Rey. Flee if you have to. He is too powerful to face alone." She gave a wry smile.

"So how are we bonded again?" she asked him, staring into his eyes-those eyes that had always betrayed his pain and vulnerability, even when he was the darkest of monsters. "I saw you-but I couldn't hear you, couldn't feel you...until just now…"

"I think...something has been trying to control our connection," he said haltingly. "Snoke claims he forged the Bond: if so, he would have the ability to influence it. But he cannot break it, Rey. We are a dyad in the Force, two that are one. He may have had a hand at the beginning but what we have is far more powerful than he is now. If he approaches again, reach for me. Use me as your shield."

"Ben-that will put you in danger," she argued and her eyes looked stricken. "It could kill you while I am already…" She bit her lip.

"Rey, you weren't meant to die," he told her, his urgency suddenly feverish. "I know it. I feel it. I should have been allowed to spend my life to bring you back...but I couldn't. This may be my only chance to atone. So many people have died because of me: Dad, Mom, Luke, you...and I cannot let you pay for my crimes. You stopped the Emperor. I helped kill worlds. The Galaxy needs Rey the last Jedi: I'm not sure it needs Kylo Ren or Ben Solo." She sighed and moved closer, almost resting against him. Her hand rested on his chest.

"You have endured such conflict, such pain," she murmured. "But I always felt the light within you, Ben. And there is such courage, such selflessness in your heart. You just have to believe in it." He gently touched her face once more and looked into her eyes.

"Believe it for me," he murmured. "And I will give everything I have to bring you back. There are so many people who love you, Rey. Everything you survived, everything you did won the victory. You have earned your second chance." She gave a small nod.

"You came for me once before, Ben," she reminded him. "I trust you. But remember-this time you don't have to do it all alone."

His hand sank through thin air and he was alone in the dim maintenance corridor, his breaths suddenly shuddering through his body. Quietly, he bowed his head and rested his hand against the wall panel. Seeing Rey had been the biggest relief of his life, a vindication of everything he had done so far. Now, he had to steal a fighter and get off this ship…

He turned and found himself face to face with a pair of stormtroopers, their blasters levelled at him. He sighed and the weapon fell from his hand. Then he turned and his hand slashed up, the power of the Force slamming the men back, their weapons skittering away. Ducking to grab his blaster, and gritting his teeth at the sharp pain suddenly boring through his skull. He turned to run when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey-wait, Ren!" He stiffened as one of the sprawled shapes hauled his helmet off and Finn glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, shocked. Poe dragged his helmet off and scrambled to his feet.

"Rescuing you!" he snarked.

"Oh, that was a kriffing fantastic use of my efforts to get you safely away!" Ben growled. He felt like a lightsaber was being driven slowly through his head. Finn frowned.

"You okay?" he asked, his tone concerned. Nodding curtly, Ben turned away.

"I presume you had a plan?" he asked shortly. The pain was really blinding. But connecting with Rey had been as easy as breathing. So why was even a simple use of the Force so excruciating? "Not just having a kriffing chat until they find us and then getting captured again."

"Someone's snarky," Poe commented.

Someone's head is exploding, Ben thought grumpily. Finn pulled his helmet back on.

"He is right, though," he said. "The longer we're stationary, the more likely they are to find us," The pilot jammed his helmet back on.

"I can see why you defected," he grumbled. "I already hate this uniform and I've only just put it on." Then he gestured. "Gimme the blaster." Ben glared at him.

"No."

"Can you explain to him, Finn?" Poe asked in exasperation as Finn stared at him.

"Why me?" he asked incredulously and then turned to Ben. "If you are unarmed, we can pretend you're a prisoner…"

"And this is doing wonders for my image," Ben found himself muttering. "Kylo Ren captured by...well, everybody." Unexpectedly, Poe clapped him on the shoulder.

"You know, I could get to like the sarcasm," he commented. "Don't worry. We won't hand you over to anyone. But it may throw them off if we look like a prisoner transfer."

"That's been cliched for decades," Ben commented. "I recall my father once telling me about how he rescued my mother…" Poe clapped him on the shoulder again.

"That's why it will work-because no one would ever expect it," he said brashly and took station at Ben's other side. Uncomfortable but unable to muster any good objections, he reluctantly handed over his blaster and allowed them to place binders around his wrists-though unfastened. Finn glanced up into the taller man's face.

"Don't worry," he assured the prisoner. "We've got this all worked out."

Immediately, alarms sounded and Ben found himself shoved forward.

"And that's our cue to leave," Poe said as they accelerated to a fast walk along the passage. Every sense on edge, he suddenly realised Finn was still inspecting him closely even as they escaped.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you use the Force to…?" His hand made a swirling motion.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Do I need to explain?" Ben asked. Suddenly, he was feeling exhausted and in pain, weary to his very bones. He just wanted to get away and escape this constant reminders of everything he had done, everything he had been in this place.

"Not now," Finn conceded. "But be ready." They swiftly took a turbolift down about ten decks and then the trio found themselves in front of a bank of escape pods. Ben's head snapped around and he stared at his companions.

"You're not serious?" he asked them, his tone incredulous. "We'll be shot out of the sky…"

"About that…" Poe said and then shoved him forward. Ben was tall and powerfully built but the push took him off guard so he stumbled forward and landed on his knees in the pod-and before he could move, he found himself ejected.

"NO!"

Did the idiots understand what they had done? On the Finalizer, there was the hope of stealing a ship and heading for Dathomir as soon as he could but now, he would have to persuade Finn, Poe and Chewie to come-and risk their lives on a quest that he more and more had a bad feeling about. He shrugged the binders off and scrambled into the seat, then rested his hands flat back against the outer skin of the escape pod. He quietly lifted his chin and closed his eyes, reaching out beyond the bounds of his skull and trying to feel the Force flowing around him. The Force was always thinner in space, the attenuation of the life force between its blazing clusters on worlds and in spaceships mingled with the few hardy organisms that could cling to existence in the lonely airless cold. The patterns weaved and shifted as lives began and ended, as peace and violence, joy and fear and love swirled and changed by the minute.

And above, there was the Finalizer, the ventral guns swinging round to target the escape pod. He could feel the flow of power through the systems, charging the batteries as they prepared to target him-and the other helpless escape pod that had launched, Within, he could feel the minds of Poe and Finn...Finn who was also Force sensitive. How had he missed that? But then, the First Order had wanted to crush all Force Users save those they owned and destroy any competition rather than nurture others out there. He hadn't been looking either and all his attention had been on Rey-and guarding his back against those who were looking to undermine and assassinate him. And he had been drugged and unable to analyse anything, until now.

His head was throbbing again and he wondered if this was going to carry on forever or if he would finally be able to use the powers he had earned through so many sacrifices without such pain. The initial lock wasn't on him at all but on the closer pod. Taking a deep breath and stretching out with all his strength, he nudged them aside using the Force just as the guns fired. The blast missed by inches.

"Too close," he grunted to himself, his vision blurring. He felt as weak as he had when Palpatine drained Rey and him down on Exegol, almost every ounce of his strength gone. Then he slammed his head back against the back of the seat and arched his back, rolling his own pod sideways. The next blast was too close, filling the viewing port with brilliance and momentarily blinding him. His vision took a lot longer to come back than he was expecting but he was already sensing the next blast and used the Force to slam both pods onto diverging trajectories, the next blasts missing the pods by a slimmer margin.

They were both rolling now, a sensation that only became problematic when he looked through the viewport and realised they were heading directly for Andaku's atmosphere. Once they entered the clouds, they would be committed to land and the planet was under the Finalizer's thumb. His head snapped up and he realised he wasn't going to be in time as another blast lanced at the other pod.

A battered Corellian freighter arched round and the energy boiled off the shields as it intercepted the shot. He could feel Poe and Finn exult in relief as their rescue finally arrived: as he watched, a net shot out and captured the pod, hauling it into the hold. His eyes widened as he recognised the Falcon and he sagged for a second, almost spent-and then his head snapped up. Gritting his teeth and stretching his strength to its limits, he deflected the next blast that was aimed to destroy him. He could feel the energy almost searing his own skin, his body shaking with the effort of diverting it harmlessly away. He had fought battles, slain scores with nothing but his lightsaber and his own strength for a fraction of the effort-but he had done what he had planned. Rey's friends were safe.

The cannon was swinging round again and this time, he knew he wouldn't have the strength to stop the shot. Bowing his head in resignation, he reached out for her.

"I'm sorry, Rey," he murmured.

Then he found himself wrenched sideways as an energy net wrapped around his pod and he was hauled out of range by the Falcon. He slumped forward onto the padded floor of the pod and gave a sigh as they swiftly hauled him into the hold and the door slammed. Immediately, they went to lightspeed and he managed a small smile. He felt her presence, like a gentle wash of sunshine just before everything faded to black.