tw: assault, mentions of trauma/past abuse, mentions of forced abortion

Rey

The Force crackled like heat lightning, making the hair on my arms stand on end, and my stomach twisted into knots. Or, was it the realization of what I'd done, what I was about to do that had my guts churning?

I couldn't think about that, not one or the other. I couldn't think about the look of betrayal in Vic's eyes, or the desperate plea in his voice. I couldn't think about the panic and the rage that coursed through the air around me, or the unmistakable need I felt to go back to Kylo, to fall at his feet and beg his forgiveness. I couldn't think about the fractures my actions had no doubt put in his trust, or the worry and grief I felt through the Bond we shared.

But, I also couldn't think about the man that I was marching toward, about the three months of hell he'd subjected me to. I couldn't think about the beatings I'd received for trying to get away from him, or the lies he had told every time he'd dragged me back. That Kylo wasn't coming for me, that Kylo wouldn't want me, that I was used and broken beyond repair. In my darkest moments, I'd believed him, and the possibility that he may have been right still kept me awake at night.

I had a plan. A plan that I'd been plotting and profecting since the moment I'd looked up in that tent in the desert and saw Vic. A plan that Ushar had unwittingly been training me for since our lessons resumed. A plan that would work, if I just kept my head.

I moved as quickly and as silently as I could, pausing in doorways to look inside offices and conference rooms before moving on. I turned a corner, stopping to look in an empty, darkened room, when I was violently shoved from behind. I lurched forward, nearly losing my balance, and had no time to recover before I was pulled back, a hand going around to clamp over my mouth.

Not that I could scream. His scent filled my nose, cold terror sluicing through me. My plan, my purpose, the rage and resolve that had driven me here, it was all gone now, and I was frozen, unable to move.

"I knew you couldn't stay away." He breathed, his breath hot in my ear.

His voice, the deep baritone that radiated through me, had my stomach rolling, threatening to empty.

"And, you even brought Kylo and his Knights." He said, and lovingly stroked his knuckles down my cheek. "You're such a good girl."

Every part of me screamed to move, to run, to fight, but my body would not budge, would not follow my commands. My heart pounded so frantically in my chest both sides of my throat throbbed as cold sweat beaded at my temple.

His hand vanished from over my mouth and he roughly spun me to face him, catching my arms in his iron grip. The face that haunted my nightmares and flashbacks stared back at me and I whimpered, my knees going weak. He held me up, held me against him, revulsion clawing everywhere his body made contact with mine.

"My father has said that before he dies, he's going to kill Kylo for what he did to Armitage." Zaugustus said, soothing back the tiny wisps of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail. "He refused to attack Mustafar as long as you were on it, because he wouldn't risk the baby." His lip curled in disgust as he looked down between us to my protruding belly. "And, if he's right, if the baby is Armitage's," The silver blade of a knife I hadn't known he held glinted as he held it up. "It will be heir apparent."

He lunged, quicker than I could react, but bright white light erupted out of me, throwing him back.

'Rey!' I heard Kylo scream through the Bond. 'Rey, what happened? Where are you?' He must have felt the surge of Force energy. I ignored him.

Across the room, Zaugustus laughed, low and cruel. "Don't think I forgot about your power, Killer." He said, reaching into his pocket. "In fact, I brought a friend of yours." He held up his hand, and a Force suppression collar dangled from his pointer finger.

At the sight of it, the memory of the weight of it around my neck, what was frozen inside me thawed, then began to burn. The fear that still coursed through me clarified, sharpened, and I blew out a breath, readying myself.

"You're gonna fight me?" He threw his head back, his mocking laugh sounding like a crows caw.

I did not answer, did not relax my stance, and I did not take my eyes off of him.

"I don't want to hurt you." He crooned, walking toward me. He stopped an arms length away, looked me up and down. "But, that doesn't mean I won't." He swung, putting the entire force of his body into the punch, but I blocked, and drove my fist up, into his nose. He grunted, staggering back a step, and brought a hand up to wipe his upper lip. His fingertips came back red with blood, and he cast me a searing, furious glare before he launched at me. Fear had me hesitating for a second, maybe a second and a half, but it was enough for the back of his hand to connect with my right cheek, and my feet went out from under me.

I landed on the carpeted floor, pain making my vision wobble. He was immediately there, hoisting me up, but I grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and yanked him toward me, thrusting my head forward in a headbutt that landed on his chin. He howled, dropping me, and I brought a knee up, into his groin, then shoved off of him and ran.

In the middle of the dark room, sat a long, rectangular conference table with several office chairs. I fell to my knees and crawled under it, realizing when I went to hide that it was exceedingly more difficult with my belly. I heard his footsteps approach, watched his legs and feet as he walked toward the table.

"You know it isn't something I can risk." He said, a slight growl of frustration in his voice. "The old bastard finally acknowledged me as his eldest son, and finally made me heir." An office chair careened backwards as he kicked it away. "But, if the baby is Armitage's, it will be legitimate." Another chair crashed against the wall. "And, it will take what is rightfully mine." His footsteps paused, then started again. "You were smart to hide it from me." He said. "Because, if I had known, I would have cut it out just to watch my fathers last hope for an heir die." He rounded the far end of the table, and I shot out from under it, running as fast as I could for the door.

He was quicker, of course, catching my ponytail in an iron grip and yanking me back. I screamed, clawing at his eyes, his face, trying to pry his hand free to no avail.

REY!! Kylo screamed down the Bond. He was close, I realized, my knees nearly going weak with relief. Then, he, as well as the Bond faded as the suppression collar clicked into place around my neck. I screamed again, my skin burning as I felt my abilities deplete into nothing. Zaugustus threw me to the floor, and I lay there, panting.

What had I done? What was I thinking, facing him alone? And now, because of my arrogance and my drive for vengeance, I was back to what Vicrul had saved me from all those months ago.

No. This was different. I was different. Months ago, I was broken, beaten, starving and unable to fight back. My mind drifted back to the months Vic and I spent training.

"People will underestimate you." He'd said, his linen wrapped hands up as I landed a series of one-two punches. "But, you have to expect that, and use it to your advantage."

I was not weak. I was not helpless. My power in the Force wasn't the only thing that made me strong because Vic had trained me. And, he'd taught me well.

Zaugustus grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to my feet. My hand balled into a tight fist, and I sent it with every ounce of strength I had right into his jaw. He staggered back, but I was there, driving my other fist into his stomach. His breath whooshed out of him as he doubled over and I grabbed two fistfuls of multi-colored hair, shoving his head down as I brought my knee up to meet with his already bleeding nose. Bone snapped, and he howled in pain, falling to his knees in front of me. I hit him again, and again, and when he fell onto his back, I unleashed myself in a fury of blows that had him gasping for air, choking on the blood from his broken nose.

I grabbed his hand, and caught the key that dangled from a thin chain around his wrist, then used it to unlock the collar.

WHERE ARE YOU? Kylo's mind roared as my abilities returned to me.

'I'm in a conference room,' I told him. 'I'm not sure which, but I'm alright.'

That did nothing to calm him.

On the floor at my feet, Zaugustus weezed out a laugh. "You know you won't stop me." He spat out a mouthful of blood. "Not unless you kill me." He laughed again. "And, you can't kill me. Not like this. You don't have it in you."

I cocked my head to the side, my brow furrowing. "The plan was never to kill you."

He stopped, the smile fading from his bloody face.

"I have something that you gave me." I told him. "And, I don't want it anymore." My power wrapped around his mind, digging in. He went rigid, true terror in his wide blue eyes as I paralyzed his body. His mind ran in all different directions all at once as panic crept in, his skin growing slick as he tried to break my hold.

Vic wasn't the only Knight who'd trained me.

"Three months of fear." I said, sending every moment of my torment into his mind. "Of pain." I sent the agony of every beating I'd endured, and he choked on a pained moan. "Of grief." Every night spent crying, every second of hopelessness, of misery, of longing for the husband he had kept me from, I sent into his mind. "Of mending what you broke." I whispered, tears I hadn't known were there streaking down my face. Three months of panic attacks, of nightmares, of reliving what he'd done.

He stopped fighting, his body going lax. But, his mind spiraled, confused and lost in a mass of chaos that it could never recover from. It shut down, sealing itself in what I could only assume was a defense mechanism, with me still inside.

A chill slithered up my spine. Ushar hadn't shown me how to invade someone's mind. He'd only done it to me out of necessity to inspect my mental barriers until they were sufficient. And now, I was locked in Zaugustus's mind with no idea of how to get out. I tried to retreat, but the hold my power had was too strong, too deep. Cold sweat beaded at my temple, my pulse racing, and something took hold of me, pulling me back, pulling me out.

My power retracted, my mind snapping back to myself almost painfully, my thoughts solely my own again. I swayed, spent and reeling.

I crashed into something solid and warm, and it kept me upright, steadying me. I blinked my eyes open to see that it was Kylo who held me, his face livid. He brought a trembling hand up to lightly caress the side of my face that I realized then was throbbing, accompanied by a quickly worsening headache. He was speaking to me, calling my name, his voice lost in the fog in my head, and had to repeat himself several times before I could comprehend what he was saying. Are you hurt?

I numbly shook my head.

Then, another inquiry, just as urgent. Was the baby alright? The baby. His baby. Our baby.

I tried to nod, but my eyes focused on the body on the floor behind him. Ushar knelt next to it, his shadows whispering around him. Not a body, I realized, he was alive, and awake, his wide blue eyes seeing nothing and everything all at once as he muttered incoherently.

Reality slammed into me, and I remembered where I was, and what I'd done. Tears stung my eyes as the full weight of it settled over me, and I looked up, to find that Kylo's face had softened, his warm brown eyes giving me sympathy and understanding that I didn't deserve.

A sob broke out of me, and he folded me against his chest, holding me to him as I began to weep. I cried and cried, and he held me, rocking gently as my tears soaked his shirt.