Her boots thumped loudly on the floor of the ship as she paced a backroom on the luxury cruiser, her unhappiness shown in her tightly knit brows as she glared at the metal floor. There were too many unknowns to factor into their current problem; Poe was stuck on the ship, the First Order was following waiting to destroy it, their strange group was currently making their way to the infiltrate the First Order who she'd built an uneasy alliance with again, there would be no fixing this with Ren, and Eris needed to decide if Poe was worth the sacrifice.
But there was a thought that came in the voice of her husband that said this was right. There was no one else in the lonely expanse of the universe she knew how to listen to more than him. Playing with the ring that hung from her neck her pacing drew to a slow end and she was left in the center of the room with a deep frown as she sighed heavily deciding to listen to him again.
"Even dead you're still a pain in the ass," she muttered resigning herself to doing this.
Scouring the shipments of weapons the dealer she'd killed on Canto Bight never lived to sell she came up with a blaster rifle, a pistol, and a jetpack. She liked the options the pack would give her more than the practicality of it, but she fastened it over her chest like a silver plate of armor leaving the turquoise dress draped down her legs like an elegant curtain. Her dagger was stuck in the neck of a guard on a planet that would be looking for her now, she huffed bitterly at the loss not finding anything to replace it.
She stumbled upon a small box with a symbol she recognized to mean prototype and she opened it to find two metal pieces with a distinctive curve she vaguely recognized. Rolling them in her hand her mind caught up to the familiarity of their shape and she fit them in the curve behind her ear wondering if they were a type of comm link. A fine needle prick had her flinching as a thin film formed around her face and darkened so she couldn't see. There were two wide oblong circles in front of her eyes and after several long black seconds they finally opened as the technology recognized its new host and adapted the vision and ventilation system to suit her particular species.
A rush of air filled her nose and she breathed in the purest air her lungs had ever known as she looked at the room around her within the blue tented lens seeing vague calculations between objects. Lifting the rifle she watched the system pick up the weapon and lock onto where she was aiming, with the flick of her eyes she could change the target and it gave instructions in the form of coordinates on how to best aim to hit it.
Satisfied she reached a curious hand to the piece stuck behind her ear finding a small button that carved a fissure in the center of the helmet as it pulled apart and retracted. "Keeping this," she said to herself with a sly smile as she hooked the rifle to her belt.
She turned to make her way back to the others to go over their plan because she wouldn't, nor could she, be involved without giving them away. But a hand fastened around her waist pulling her against a firm musty chest, her eyes were sharp as knives as she looked at DJ's cock-sure expression. He had an arm around her back holding her there and his other hand held hers tight in his as he stepped forward forcing her back with a measured gentleness. "I don't dance," she stated bluntly unamused.
After speaking with the young two sulking up in the pilot's chair he'd made his way back here curious as to where she'd gone. He'd watched her with open infatuation as she calmly explored the cabin, that she didn't panic with the mask. This steady unmovable woman.
"I never asked," was his soft reply before he suddenly spun her, finding she was stiff and unbending. He'd make her bend.
She hadn't danced in years and the only reason she had then was because Cal loved it. She could almost imagine it was his hand on her back, his broad chest against hers, his kind brown eyes – she could even see the way they'd shine with daring mischief. But she blinked and the mischief she saw was in a pair of muddy dark eyes on a weathered foreign face that had her releasing a pained disappointed breath.
He swayed her gently, feeling a looseness in her hips that came with having done this before. For a moment so brief he might've imagined it he'd seen a melancholy vulnerability in the depths of her strange colored eyes. He didn't have to know her to know what the man's ring around her neck meant that fit like a glove on the hand of her stormy disposition.
Without warning he tightened the arm around her back and dipped her low leaving her arms to come around his shoulders to keep from falling as he got a hand behind her knee forcing her leg up, holding it against his waist. His fingertips ghosted the soft expanse of her thigh to find the gunbelt she wore. "Taking things that d-d-don't belong to you, bad girl," he tsked before pulling her upright, still holding her leg to his side. "whose side are you on?"
She shoved him back with strong hands seeing him first catch himself before he chuckled at her, clearly enjoying himself. "My own," was her short answer.
But he smiled wagging a finger before touching the metal cuff on her wrist from being chained that she wore like a bracelet. "Easy enough to get off," he suggested with a brow poised in obvious intent. He pulled a scanner from his pocket and ran it over the chain activating the chip that'd been placed there by an incredibly annoying pilot. DJ pressed a button and a small pale holo revealed a very familiar symbol. "Under Resistance protection, seems like you have a few sides." They stood a few feet apart staring the other down, her with clear mistrust and him with obvious interest. If she weren't otherwise attached they'd make a good pair, he thought to himself again.
He stepped back allowing more space to breathe between them. It was clear there was someone she cared for no matter how hard she tried to convince herself she didn't, and that care is why she was going along with this foolish mission. He pulled something from his pocket and offered it to her, she watched him with a brow cocked like a loaded weapon not taking her eyes from his. "For your troubles," he said opening his hand to reveal the gleaming credit chips he'd pilfered from a compartment in the ship. "And to congratulate you on your engagement, as brief-f-f as it was."
His eyes gleamed with amused knowing and hers narrowed in understanding. "Were you watching me or him?" she asked wondering how she hadn't noticed him. A target was one thing but she always scanned the area around her, looking for any eyes that stayed on her too long with too much thought.
"Men like him are ab-b-bundant. But you," he said letting his gaze stray from her face to take in her tall muscular form and lovely coloring, "you're rare." Her response to this was a bored stare and a heavy sigh before she stepped forward and reached into his pocket taking the two stacks of credits he had stored there. "Whoever you're doing this for, are th-th-they worth your freedom?" he asked seeing her eyes harden to something almost dangerous as she subtly squared her shoulders ready to lunge. "You're like me, Erissss," his stutter drew out the s in her name like an intimate hiss. "You fight for yourself, but whoever that boy is on the other end of line stole that from you. All it took was to hear he was in trouble and your feet moved first, they still are. So I wonder, is he worth giving that up?"
For several silent moments she stood breathing in steady deep breaths as she glowered, but on one particularly long inhale she sighed heavily as she stored the credits in the pocket of the pack strapped to her chest. Her eyes flicked to the small gold plate on his hat that bore two words, Don't Join. "Yeah, DJ?" She saw the flash of his smile at her catching on. "You're right we are alike, so I know the first whiff of a bigger payout you'll hand those kids over without second thought. And if he didn't matter to someone that matters to me I'd probably do the same. But he does so I'm only gonna say this once: when you get us in and I walk away I'll kill you the next time I'll see you. No warning, I see your face and I'll blow it off."
He nodded accepting that, knowing in some way she was being generous out of nothing more than her own interest in him. Gently reaching for her hand he brought her knuckles to his mouth pressing a soft kiss to her skin. "To what might have been," he bid her fondly, holding her steady gaze with his own.
The look they shared which held a distinct knowing and a vague threat was how Finn found them, seeing Eris pull her hand out of his grasp as he turned almost irritably to the boy. "We're here," he told him, waiting as DJ passed before turning back to Eris. "He reminds me of you," Finn said in a way he tried to be unaccusing, but his tone was a little too firm and his eyes too hard.
"I know," was her quiet agreement. "You're on your own in there, you need to figure it out. We'll meet at the escape pods, they're gonna know I'm flying out."
He was quick to nod glad they had an out that didn't involve them counting on DJ or being shot down. "They're right about you," he told her. "Rey and Poe, what they say." He made to clap her on the arm, a friendly gesture, but she smacked his hand away. It almost made him laugh from the familiarity of it, but he held her gaze and they shared a small nod before he headed back to the bridge.
Eris slowly made her way after him, picking up another blaster pistol on the way, still looking for a dagger to replace the one she'd left behind. She felt the ship decelerate as they arrived just outside of the Supremacy's radar. Moving to the window by the exit hatch to assess the damage that'd already been done to the Raddus, the likelihood Poe was even gonna make it, Eris paused at the sight of a familiar ship hovering just behind them out of sight.
Rose was keeping them drifting forward while DJ worked on slicing through their shields so they could sneak in unnoticed, but Eris dropped to her knees craning her neck to see the Millennium Falcon. She stayed on her knees several moments as she circled the multiple possibilities of whether Rey was on the Falcon or Snoke's ship, whether Luke was with her or if it was just him in there, but she could feel it in her bones Rey was on that ship.
Eris already had the door open and was outside of their small ship when the other three made their way to her after landing. Finn looked up from the man she'd knocked out, whose blood was pooling under his head and so the very faint rise and fall of his chest had Finn releasing a relieved breath.
"Change of plans," she told him as the three pulled on First Order uniforms.
"You can't change the plan at the last minute," Rose hissed furiously. "Our escape depends on you."
Eris held up a hand and listened hearing voices at the other end of the hall first get louder and then grow faint as they turned another corner. "You're leaving without me."
"What?" Finn cried knowing it was suicide to stay. Poe would too, and he'd be livid seeing anyone who let her do this.
"There's something else I have to do, take my chance to leave. Or die here, I don't care." Without waiting for any of them to respond, feeling DJ's heavy eyes that saw too much weighing on her – he had to know someone she wanted was on this ship.
But she wasn't thinking that now, not the Resistance, not Poe, not Kylo, all she was thinking about was Rey. She stalked through the sleek black halls like she owned them, her head held high, her hair still pulled back though the braid was beginning to unravel, and the train of her dress fluttered behind her revealing her long violet legs.
The sight of her wasn't a terrible surprise but it was unwanted and General Hux sighed horribly aggrieved at having to deal with her. "Don't think the timing of this has gone unnoticed," he warned her. She'd sided with the rebel scum once there was no reason not to think she was doing it again.
He'd have her killed if he could, the only thing keeping her alive was the word of a boy with pleading eyes. It carved a wry smile on Eris' proud face as she pulled a holo out of her dress to show the target dead. "As promised."
Taking a moment to calm himself with a deep breath he folded his hands behind his back as a level of arrogance she knew too well filled his sickly pale face. She should've sent that to them from Canto Bight, they then would've wired her the credits, this conversation should not be happening and certainly not in person. She was involved, he would prove it, and Kylo Ren would be forced to kill her once and for all. "There are more important things at hand, as I'm sure you know. You'll receive the payment later."
She wasn't getting paid for this one, that was fine. "It's too bad I wasn't on the Raddus," she said in a voice thick like syrup as she brushed past him, "imagine how useful I would've been then." She saw the way he ground his jaw. "Where is he?"
"Busy," he answered knowing who she meant.
Her eyes narrowed into sharp slits and she stepped back. "Fine, I'll find him myself." Turning on her heel she marched away from him hearing his angry curses she was leaving behind. She wasn't looking for Kylo but she had a feeling she'd find Rey with him, which meant he'd taken her to Snoke. That made things more complicated, impossible maybe Eris wasn't sure yet.
She'd never seen Snoke but she'd heard of him and his power, she needed to move faster than he could stop her. After six years she knew how quick Kylo was in stopping a blaster, at sensing what was coming. Her feet drew to a slow stop as her thoughts caught up to a plan, granted the likeliest outcome was her dead and the smallest chance was actually killing Snoke, but it was a chance and if Rey had taught her anything it was how to ignore the dangers of hope.
Hurrying through the base Eris found the armory and pilfered a couple grenades, and finally a replacement for the dagger she'd lost in the form of a vibroknife. Getting what she needed she made her way to the hallway beside Snoke's room and snuck into the ventilation system. It was a tiring climb that ended in a lethal fall she tried and failed not to think about, but with sweat beading on her brow and the back of her neck she made it to the top and pressed the button behind her ear for the helmet so she could breathe as she climbed into space to stand on the outside of the ship.
It was a harrowingly beautiful view, the innumerable stars dancing unaware of the deaths they were witnessing as the First Order fired on the small escape ships heading to a near planet. There was an ache in her chest at the thought of who was on one of those ships and whether they'd make it. But she stored that grief for a later time, there were things that needed to be done now.
Creeping her way across the top of the ship she crouched low crawling over the surface, the magnets in her boots keeping her anchored as she drug herself along. When she was over his chambers she pulled the knife from the hilt strapped to her thigh and began cutting a hole only big enough for her to jump through. She held the severed metal for a moment as she steadied herself, when she pulled it up there wasn't gonna be a lot of time before they realized she was there and her plan hinged on catching them unaware. The bombs were a distraction, something to get Snoke's immediate focus off of her as she dropped down, the blaster was another distraction, the knife she'd throw, something was bound to hit him, or at the very least it'd be enough of a chance for Rey to run.
Taking a last breath Eris held it a moment before releasing it, releasing herself knowing there was a good chance she was about to die. "I'll see you soon my love."
She opened her eyes and pulled up the metal slab, but there was a mark blinking a warning in her mask and she looked up seeing the Raddus had turned toward the Supremacy and was preparing to jump into hyperspace. Understanding what whoever had been left manning the ship was doing Eris dropped the metal and reached for the knife. "Shit," she muttered bringing the blade down through the outside of the ship and braced herself for the impact.
The force of it had Eris flying back, her blade carving a path as her boots struggled to hold on. Her body hit an outer structure catching her and she sat there stunned for a moment as her lungs tried to remember how to breathe. She coughed as she sat up with a hand to her trembling chest seeing she'd fallen several feet. When she finally caught her breath she dragged herself back to the hole. It was a slaughter beneath her and it gave her great pause as she looked from Snoke's severed body to the dead guards, to both Kylo and Rey lying in unconscious heaps.
The loud clanging of metal shot Rey awake and she sucked in air as she gaped up at the masked figure kneeling over her with a strong purple-tinted leg on either side of her. Rey released a shaking breath as she sat up throwing her arms around Eris' middle burying her face in the calm of her heart.
It wasn't so much like finding a missing puzzle piece but more like realizing she'd been trying to put it in wrong, and with a heavy sigh Eris fell to her knees gathering the girl in her arms. "I tried to save him," Rey told her, her voice thick and broken.
"I know," Eris said knowing Rey would be the only one naïve enough to try, or maybe it was kindness Eris didn't know. "And it's not your fault." She pulled back to see Rey's face, hit the button to retract the mask so Rey could see hers, saw Rey's nod as Eris reached a hand to wipe her warm cheeks. "We need to be leaving."
Rey took Eris' hand letting the other woman help her up wondering too many things to even care how Eris had found her. They needed to find a ship so they could get back to where Chewy was waiting so they could help what was left of the Resistance. Standing at the door Rey turned looking for Eris because she was better at these things, but Rey turned and watched with wide eyes as Eris knelt beside Kylo tucking something in his pocket. "You care for him," she said when Eris made her way to her.
"Before you he was my only friend," Eris admitted, as she would only ever admit to this girl who had become one half of her. She wouldn't admit he'd pulled her out of the ship his men had shot down, or that he'd taken the time to get her husband's ring so she'd have some part of him left, and she'd never admit he'd been the first thing she'd woken to with his sad regretful eyes, but she could admit they'd been friends.
But that was then, she could never come back now and she wished part of her didn't mourn that. Looking at Rey, at her red eyes, feeling her hand holding fast to hers Eris didn't think she'd mourn long. "I like your hair."
A small smile curled on Rey's mouth, it didn't stay long but it did the trick. "I like your dress." It was as close as either one would come to admitting they thought the other beautiful.
Releasing a breath of a laugh Eris squeezed her hand before letting go. "Stay close," she said pressing the button to open the doors. She scanned either side of the hallway before snaking around the corner and darting down the hall with Rey close behind her, watching her back.
They were almost to Snoke's escape ship when Rey grabbed Eris' arm forcing her to stop. "Someone's there," Rey told her pointing to the entrance to a hall they were about to cross in front of.
"How many?" Eris asked pulling the rifle from her belt and getting herself into position.
Rey was quiet a moment as she focused only catching one heartbeat. "Just one."
With a curt nod Eris took a breath before lunging into the opening and drawing aim with the figure ambling slowly down the hall toward them. Rey watched Eris' first freeze before recognition filled her face melting her severe expression revealing a sad desperate woman Rey had only ever felt in her. With the rifle still held steady in her hands, her aim set level with the center of his chest, Eris asked in a voice too soft to hear, "Cal?"