Fifteen:

Tamini was smaller than expected, a blue-skinned alien in a scarlet toga with a bulky bag strapped over her back who only reached Poe's waist. Her big yellow eyes stared ahead, the lids blinking side to side over the bulbous green pupils as she walked swiftly along the tube-like walkway towards the dock where the Millennium Falcon was waiting. Finn and Chewie were holding supplies which the Wookiee had gathered while they negotiated for the healer with the odious and very demanding Kolb. Her hairless head tilted as she glanced up at the three shapes accompanying her.

"So this man…he Force Sensitive?" she asked. Absently, Poe nodded.

"Yeah-you could say that," he admitted, walking ahead. Tamini frowned, her pointed teeth gleaming in the harsh lights. She had dealt with humanoids for decades and had a wealth of practical experience in dealing with humanoids-including non-verbal language.

"What mean?" she asked, her translator removing any emotion from her tone.

"Yeah-he uses the Force," Finn added, pausing and frowning. He glanced back over his shoulder and then back along the corridor. Chewie gave a low growl as Poe paused.

"Finn…?" he asked. The former stormtrooper shook his head.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this."Poe rolled his eyes.

"Well that ain't good, buddy," he commented and accelerated. Tamini glanced from man to man, her expression concerned.

"Should I be worried?" she asked softly but Poe flashed her a quick grin.

"We promised Kolb you'd be safe, Healer Tamini and I can guarantee that you will be safe," he said with absolute confidence. On pain of death and our very own bounties. Yeah, well done, Poe!

"And yet what you said makes no sense," Tamini murmured. "What happened to your friend? I cannot help him if you don't give me all the information I need…" They walked along the corridor in silence for a few moments.

"He was meditating…and then…he was struck down," Finn explained, his brow furrowed. Tamini inspected him, blinking rapidly.

"Is he Jedi?" she asked as Finn and Poe shared a swift look.

"Not really," Poe murmured. "Pretty much the opposite…"

"Sith?" The healer had stopped.

"Don't think so…quite…" Poe admitted as the healer stared down the corridor and then back behind them. There was a whine and then, with terrible slowness, an explosion blossomed just beyond the bulkhead behind them.

"KRIFF!" Finn snapped as alarms sounded and a rash of red lights erupted across the partially-corroded panel on the wall. Muttering under his breath, he turned and sprinted for the distant docking bay as Poe turned, then lifted the healer and ran for it as well, heading off after the shambling Chewie. There were cracks appearing in the corridor and he could hear the muted hiss of a slight leak of gas from the atmosphere out into the icy cold beyond. A glance to the right through the plasticlere of the windows revealed the white pinhole jets as their air began to vent. He glanced over his shoulder as the bulkhead sealed behind them, shutting them off from the main body of Kineva Station. "What was that?"

"An explosion!" Poe quipped, accelerating. Chewie was already through the last bulkhead and moving with surprising rapidity up the ramp into the Falcon. Another explosion, much closer had Finn and Poe stumbling and they stared in horror as the corridor behind them shredded. Finn scrambled to the bulkhead and slammed his hand onto the panel as the suction of vacuum began to tug at them. The echoing slam of the bulkhead had them all gasping as Tamini made a shrill sound of distress.

"We need to get out of here," Finn muttered as they sprinted to the Falcon. The engines were already starting and as he raised the ramp, Poe was already running to the cockpit. The little healer gave a small trill.

"What name of your not Jedi-not Sith?" she asked as there was a shudder and the docking bay exploded. Finn and Tamini found themselves on the ground, clouds of smoke billowing around them.

"Um…Ben Solo," Finn said after an awkward pause. "POE! We need to get out of here!"

"On it!" the former pilot shouted as the freighter lifted. The doors of the docking bay remained stubbornly closed. "Though a hand with the doors would be a help…" Helping the healer to the crew rest area, Finn gestured in the direction of the cabin where they had laid the unconscious Kylo Ren before scrambling down to the belly gun, automatically powering up and blasting away at the firmly shut doors. There was a whoop from the cockpit up ahead and the ship lurched forward, swooping out into the inky void-and meeting a barrage of shots from a heavily armed and definitely unofficial spacecraft that swooped by.

"We're under attack!" Finn yelled.

"I never would have noticed!" Poe retorted as Chewie gave a yowl. "Yeah, yeah-I know," he added. Finn adjusted the guns and targeted the ship as Poe swooped them round and spiralled down towards the gas giant.

"They're following!" Finn shouted, blasting back. The shots bounced off heavy deflector shields.

"Maybe we should see what they want?" Poe shouted and opened a channel. "Can I help you?" Blasts from heavy lasers bracketed the Millennium Falcon. There was a crackle on the line.

"Hand over Kylo Ren!" a voice grated. Poe groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Can I put you on hold?" he shot back. "We have a ticketing system. You are currently number ninety three on the list!" Another shot shot the ship as the healer gave a wail and scrambled into the cockpit.

"You must call Kolb!" she hissed, her eyes flickering with anger. "You brought me here on false pretences." Poe glanced over at the furious alien.

"Take a seat!" he advised her. "Kinda busy right now."

"Would not have agreed to help war criminal!" she hissed. "He should be left to die…if he had not already escaped."

"He what?" Poe snapped, stealing a glance at the furious alien. "He wasn't in any fit state to escape…" Then his eyes widened. "BB8! Buddy?"

There was a pause and then a very shaky beep. Followed by another stream of distinctly unhappy beeps.

Chewbacca gave an answering yowl.

"Well that isn't good," Poe muttered.

"WHAT?" Finn yelled as another shot hit them. He fired back and the attacking ship lost an engine with a violent explosion.

"He says Ren didn't escape-because he was still asleep when some aliens came and took him," he said.

oOo

His head was pounding and his senses seemed to be stuffed with cotton wool but he was conscious and back in the real world. Somehow, Rey had heard him, been able to reach him and he was free…for now. He was under no illusions that he had to go back there if he wanted to free her and get her back-but he needed more information. And he knew where he could find it…if only he could get out of the mess he was currently in.

The last thing he properly remembered was meditating, concentrating on expanding his senses and allowing the Force to wash through him, embracing the eddies and currents and connecting with the energy of life and death, light and dark. The final encounter with Emperor Palpatine-Darth Sidious-had sharpened everything into crystal focus. Neither he nor Rey were dark or light but a mixture, a balance of both and their unique dyad had enabled them to somehow use that balance to defeat the Sith and end the war.

He groaned as his head pounded. He wasn't sure how accessible the Force would be to him in his current state but the effects of the drug were wearing off and if he hadn't done something irreparable to himself with the attack while he was meditating, he should be able to break free. Slowly, he lifted his head and peered into the gloom.

He was in some sort of a cargo bin, a space barely large enough for his frame, even with his hands chained behind his back and legs chained at the ankle. The air smelled stale and thin and there were a few stray rays of light seeping through the joints on the lid of the bin. His neck was forced forward by the cramped position and there was an iron collar around his neck. Every muscle was cramping. He was shivering because the bin was cold and he was aware of blood dried on his face. In fact, everything seemed to be designed to irritate him, jabbing at the knot of anger that had been carefully suppressed deep in his gut. But every additional indignity made it harder and harder to resist the call to the darkness, the dull familiarity of anger and rage, of the power to crush and destroy and spread around the pain and hatred he was feeling…

No!

Nononononononononononononononono…

Rey had believed in him, ever since Ahch-To. Ever since the Bond revealed his true self to her. Ever since they touched. Ever since the visions…and she had died knowing she had won. She had turned him to the light and he could not betray her by succumbing once more…

But a little hint of anger may be the key…

Arching his back, he tugged against the shackles and the pain as they bit into his wrists did the rest, allowing him to sense the Force, driving the power through the metal and prizing the locks apart. The relief was almost instantaneous as they fell away, landing almost silently on his feet. He spent a few moments moving his hands and trying to uncramp his hands before repeating the trick and quietly unfastening the shackles around his ankles. And then he scrunched as far down as he could, craning his neck and listening, using the Force to check that there were no crew wandering nearby. But they were all in the cockpit, flying the ship through hyperspace on their way to wherever. Struggling in the cramped space, he managed to bring his arms up and grasp the collar, prising the collar apart as well before he silently lifted the lid from the bin and achingly stretched his tall form.

The lights were harsh and the atmosphere was definitely thinner than optimal but he managed to stumble up to his feet and stretch, then slowly turned towards the cockpit where he could sense the crew. Locking onto their minds, he could sense their watchfulness as they checked their course.

He took three steps before a scarifying electric current surged through him and dropped to the deck, unconscious once more.

oOo

The Falcon was definitely getting the worst of the battle as two other ships joined in. All were a mishmash of parts, bolt-ons to older freighters or repurposed fighters or remnants of old worlds and older battles. The common factor was that they were all armed to the teeth, far more than would be expected from their appearance. All were demanding that Kylo Ren was handed over immediately in between trying to blast the Falcon to atoms.

"Bounty Hunters," Poe grumbled, rolling to allow Finn another chance to blast the third and smallest ship away. Finn was a good gunner and Poe and Chewie were solid pilots but the bounty hunters were determined and reckless, trying to weaken the ship and immobilise her to allow them to board her. Tamini had reluctantly gone to retrieve the droid and BB8 had rolled into the cockpit, beeping unhappily and explaining what had happened.

"Four guys, eh?" Poe murmured as his droid had run through the chain of events. "And they blasted off shortly before we returned." He rolled his eyes. "Boy, good news travels fast." He glanced over at the Wookiee. "Any chance we can track the vector they jumped?" Muttering to himself as a series of irritated growls, Chewie nodded and punched in the coordinates. "Not that it won't be another disaster and…why are we chasing after Ren anyway?"

BB8 gave a series of beeps and Finn blasted the smallest ship apart.

"You think Rey wouldn't?" he muttered. Chewie growled.

"You know wherever they're taking him, it will be harder to get in than the First Order's flagship," Poe admitted but suddenly Finn smiled, blasting away again.

"Unless we join in," he said suddenly.

"WHAT? They're all attacking us because they think we have him…" Poe shouted. Finn grinned.

"First we lose these guys and then we follow the guys who have taken Ren and join in the people wanting to pay for him," Finn suggested.

"As long as we don't get ourselves killed first," the pilot shouted back as they were bracketed by another couple of ships. And then another two ships appeared, one another hodgepodge of rejected parts from a junkyard and the second a sleek vessel that whipped round and without hesitation, fired on the other newcomer.

"What the Kriff?" Finn exclaimed as the ship threw a tight bank and bracketed the largest ship.

"Might have known you'd need my help, Dameron," a female voice said smugly.

"Zorii?" Poe gasped as he rolled the Falcon and Finn blasted away at the largest ship, this time causing the shields to almost collapse. "ZORII! It's good to hear you again. Why are you here?"

"Rose thought you may need the help," the woman said briskly, engaging the other ship. "She seemed to think all those bounties would engage some unsavoury characters to come and chance their luck."

"Can't think why," Finn muttered.

"They've got Ren," Poe revealed.

"What? Then why?" Zorri spat over the comm.

"Some other they," Poe clarified as he orbited Hraxis. "They snatched him while we were getting medical aid."

"Any idea where they're going?" she asked. Poe shrugged.

"We have a vector and maybe Rose and the Resistance can get us a bead on where they have taken him," he suggested. "Once we get rid of these guys." In her cockpit, Zorri nodded.

"Follow my lead," she said confidently. Poe rolled his eyes.

"You know, we'll never hear the last of this," he grumbled.