A/N: Well, I absolutely did not anticipate updating again so soon, but some chapters just write themselves.
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From their most recent communication through their Force bond, Rey had expected to have to fight her way through wave after wave of stormtroopers. She had anticipated having to barge onto the Bridge, cut her way through any officers who resisted, and drag Ben back to the Falcon where they could make their escape.

She had been prepared to stage an elaborate, possibly suicidal rescue mission.

She had not counted on overhearing of the mutiny that had already taken place.

Rey had many questions as to how and why Anya had known where the Supreme Leader's personal landing pad was but, given the time restraints on her mission, had decided to wait and make inquiries later.

Rey had made no comment when Anya had already been aboard the Falcon, seemingly awaiting her presence. Anya was strong in the Force and had likely felt Rey's intentions even before Rey herself had fully decided to throw caution to the wind and sneak onto the First Order's main starship and spirit away their leader.

The only words the two women had spoken had been to decide on their plan: Anya would remain on the Falcon and do her best to keep up a Force illusion so they remained as covert as possible. Rey would seek out Ben and do whatever was needed to get him to leave with her.

Needless to say, the plan had many flaws.

Rey had been surprised when Anya had unclipped one of the lightsabers on her belt and passed it to her with the command that she come back safely. The long, thin handle felt vastly different from the other two lightsabers Rey had wielded. Igniting the saber, she almost dropped the weapon in shock as twin yellow blades burst out from both ends of the handle. Now this was a weapon she could use.

Dread had coiled in her stomach as she crouched in the shadows blanketing the threshold of the long hallway she had just exited. Three elite stormtroopers had stood nearby, loudly praising the success of the mutiny spearheaded by Captain Phasma. Though their masks muffled their voices, Rey heard enough of their words to piece together what had occured.

Many of the highest ranking officers had become wary of the Supreme Leader and his unpredictable outbursts. His temper and power in the Force feared, though hardly understood, Captain Phasma, along with the majority of the officers on the Bridge, had been part of a coup.

Ben had not resisted.

While stealthily making her way down to the detention level, darting from one patch of shadows to the next, nudging a few stormtrooper's minds with the Force so they forgot seeing her, Rey shifted through all of the possible reasons why Ben had not resisted.

Perhaps there had been too many mutineers.

Maybe the soldiers had caught him off guard.

But no reason she came up with would explain why Ben had allowed himself to be captured. He was the type of person who would fight to the bitter end, taking down scores of enemies with him.

He was not the type of person to roll over. It just wasn't in his nature.

Rey was only slightly concerned that the Force trail she was following to him was much duller than it should have been - it made sense that his captors would have found a way to restrain his connection to the Force. Otherwise, the entire ship would likely be split apart by the potency of his rage.

Upon reaching his cell door, she imagined him pacing angrily behind it, eager to break free and deal out revenge on those who had opposed him.

Glib comment about him needing to be rescued prepared, Rey slashed the keypad with the lightsaber Anya had loaned her, disengaging the lock.

She had frozen in the doorway, wishing she could take back her cheeky comment as she stared at the broken man kneeling before her.

Now, crouched down in front of him, emotions waged war deep within her soul.

Ben's mind had been fractured in so many places. On the surface, memories had twisted together to form indistinguishable loops. Reaching out through the Force, Rey gently prodded at the edges of his consciousness, silently requesting permission to delve a little deeper. The immediacy with which he responded surprised her. In the past, he had been resistant when she had tried to enter his mind. Even when their connection had strengthened he had always seemed determined to keep his innermost thoughts hidden from her prying mind.

There was no resistance this time.

Hesitating only a moment, Rey spread her consciousness further into Ben's mind. Surveying the extensive mental damage with all the expertise of a scavenger, Rey began shifting through Ben's most recent memories, attempting to return some semblance of order. Puffs of vapid smoke floated around his consciousness - Rey stayed clear of those, feeling the pull of the dark side radiating from deep within.

His mind was in shambles. Tatters of thought drifted disjointedly, refusing to mesh together to form any real, coherent images.

Snoke would pay for this - somehow, someway. Rey swore it to herself.

As the Force swept back through Ben, vibrating with energy, Rey followed the path it cut through the battlefield of his mind into a deeper part of his consciousness.

"Sorry." The word echoed down through their Force connection. "It's a bit of a mess."

Rey couldn't help but smile as his deep, tried, voice sounded within her mind. "It's okay," she responded fondly. "We'll figure it out. Together."

Ben hummed in response, seeming content merely to let her wander, to let her light and warmth wash over his wounded consciousness.

Gathering her strength, Rey pushed all the peace, all the hope, and all the clear, bright threads of the Force she could muster through their Force bond, watching in satisfaction as a few of the clouds of smoke evaporated.

Leaving their connection wide open so that the two of them could easily communicate, Rey retreated her consciousness back into her own self.

She noted with pride that Ben looked a bit healthier now than when she had first broken into his cell. Faint color had returned to his cheeks and his eyes no longer lacked their familiar spark.

"Are you really here?" He stared at her in awe, barely blinking, as if he worried she would vanish any second.

"I am," she answered.

Slowly, she reached for his hands, being careful to avoid touching the red, exposed flesh of his wrists.

The instant her skin made contact with his, thousands of stars exploded in her mind.

Pushing away the thrilling sensation, Rey forced her mind to stay focused on her task. "We need to get out of here. Can you stand?"

Dazed, Ben nodded.

Bracing herself against the edge of the cot, Rey stood, pulling Ben up with her. He staggered a bit, but retained his footing which Rey took as a good sign.

"Are you hurt?" Cursing herself inwardly for asking such a stupid question, she quickly added, "Physically, I mean. Can you fight?"

"I'll live." The weariness in his mental tone furthered Rey's suspicions about his actual physical state, but they didn't have time to argue the point so she didn't press.

Reaching down to her belt, Rey's hand wrapped around a familiar piece of cool metal. "Here," she said, holding his lightsaber out to him. "I confiscated it from a stormtrooper," she explained when he shot her a questioning glance. "I figured you'd want it back, not torn apart for scraps."

"I do prefer it in one piece." He replied, grasping the hilt firmly in his right hand.

"Was that a joke?" She asked, crossing the threshold of the cell.

"No. It doesn't work well if it's broken."

His confusion tickled at Rey's mind across their connection, causing her to smile. "We'll have to work on your sense of humor."

Exiting the hall of cells, Rey kept her pace steady, trusting Ben to be able to keep up with her. "We just have to make it down to your hanger bay," she said, stepping over the bodies of stormtroopers who had been foolish enough to get in her path when she had made her way down to the detention level.

"You leave a lot of bodies behind for someone not wanting to draw attention to themselves." Ben commented, pride drifting over into Rey's consciousness as Ben pushed the bodies aside with the Force, easily clearing the path in front of them.

"They tried to stop me," she responded, feeling an odd flutter in her stomach at the strange compliment.

Keeping her emotions and thoughts in check was harder than Rey had anticipated. But there was no way she was going to close her connection with Ben again, not when she had just gotten him back.

Though they clearly needed to have a discussion about boundaries at some point.

"Do you have a plan for getting back down to the hanger bay?" Ben questioned as they neared a more public area of the ship. "I can't exactly sneak around anywhere."

"I hadn't really thought about it," Rey replied, worriedly chewing at her bottom lip. "Guess we'll just have to fight our way out."

"You want to fight our way through thousands of soldiers?"

"Well," she answered, "all of your soldiers want to kill you. That doesn't exactly work out well for us."

"Not all of them. Just the majority."

Clearing his throat, Ben brushed past her, intercepting a couple of low-ranking officers. Upon seeing him, their eyes grew wide and frightened, though neither reached for a weapon. "Inform the commanding officers to gather on the Bridge. I have a mutiny to end." Both men nodded hastily and jumped to do his bidding.

"You should rest your voice," Rey said as the men ran off down the long hallway, "it sounds awful."

"Being choked will do that, I suppose." He mentally responded, following her suggestion.

"Choked?" Rey repeated, anger pushing aside all reason. "By who?"

He glanced down at her, face impossible to read. Through their connection, Rey was able to feel his concern. Concern for her. "It's nothing."

She wanted to push, to ask about Snoke. To demand answers about what was going on. To understand why he had tried to keep his predicament hidden from her.

But they needed to focus on escaping.

Grabbing his hand again, Rey moved quickly down the hallway, hoping that fear of the Supreme Leader would be enough to keep anyone from stopping them. "Elevator?"

"Yes."

Though soldiers and stormtroopers glanced their way - sometimes openly staring at the odd pair - no one made any move to impede their progress even after the elevator opened onto the correct floor.

Rey wondered what the soldiers thought was going on. Hadn't there just been a mutiny? Why wasn't anyone trying to stop them?

"Why are you disappointed that we aren't fighting for our lives?" Ben questioned, a hint of amusement slipping through.

"Shut up," she muttered eloquently.

Seeing the hanger bay hallway straight ahead, Rey surged forward with a burst of energy.

Only to be firmly held back.

"Stop." Ben's voice sounded in her head as he pulled her back behind a large pile of shipping crates. "I sense someone up ahead."

Rey crouched down, tightening her hold on her borrowed lightsaber. "Can we get around them?" She mentally asked, reaching out tentatively with the Force to try and sense her enemies as Anya had taught her. "Or do we have to fight?"

"It's Phasma." Ben replied, his burst of anger taking Rey off guard. "We fight."

Boldly stepping around the stack of crates, Ben ignited his lightsaber and stalked toward the stormtroopers blocking their escape route.

Unwilling to let him fight alone, Rey scrambled to follow suit.

"Ah, I had heard you broke out of your cage." Phasma's robotic tone echoed along the width of the hallway. "I do hope you'll put up a fight this time," the woman continued, eying the red saber, "it would make it all the more gratifying when we throw you back in your cell."

"You can try," Rey responded, confidently twirling the double-bladed lightsaber, "but you'll fail."

"Egging her on, really?"

Rey ignored the comment, keeping her gaze locked onto the captain and her elite guards. So these were the soldiers who had led the mutiny - they would pay for their insubordination.

Compared to the last time they had fought together, the battle went much quicker. The first stormtroopers who opened fire had their blaster bolts redirected into their chests by a simple flick of Ben's lightsaber. Before the other troopers could fire, Rey had ducked in among them, slashing the soldiers apart with her new weapon.

Captain Phasma herself held out the longest.

Keeping her distance, the captain fired round after round of bolts in Ben's direction, though he deflected all of them with ease. Realizing the futile nature of her assault, Phasma dropped her blaster rifle and unsheathed her chrome vibroblade. Rey met the captain's direct attack first, not anticipating that the vibroblade would be able to withstand a hit from her lightsaber.

As such, Rey overreached, her defenses coming up a hair too slow.

The blade nicked her left side, leaving a shallow, bloody gash. Inhaling sharply from the pain, Rey tried to retreat and regain her position, but Phasma followed, bombarding Rey's defenses with a flurry of offensive strikes.

Rey's limbs quickly grew heavy as she parried each blow. Her breath came in spurts, much too fast and heavy to be considered normal.

The pain in her side exploded, forcing her to stagger backwards out of the way of the incoming blade.

Phasma advanced again and Rey imagined the captain was smirking beneath her helmet. The vibroblade came down again in an overhanded thrust.

Before Rey could react, a flash of red came out of nowhere, catching the blade in midair. Ben stood between her and Phasma, his back ridgid with determination. Using his brute strength combined with the raging power of the Force Rey felt flowing through their connection, Ben swept the captain's blade to the side before beginning his own offensive strike.

Unable to withstand the ferocity of his attack, Phasma backed away. But Ben didn't allow her to get far. Before the captain had taken more than three steps, he was upon her again, his red saber a blur of energy.

A sharp thud echoed down the corridor as Captain Phasma's head - still hidden under her chrome helmet - was severed from her body and fell to the floor.

Feeling the danger had passed, Rey flipped off her lightsaber.

Suddenly dizzy, she stumbled forward. A pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders, halting her forward momentum. "You've been poisoned." Ben's concern swept over her, deescalating her own panic at the situation.

His mind was too fragile - she had to be careful what emotions of hers she allowed him to feel.

"I'll be alright," she murmured.

By sheer force of will, she inched away from the protective warmth drifting off of Ben. Out of habit, she began erecting a wall between their force connection. Her only thought being to keep Ben's unstable mind safe from her own tumultuous emotions.

But when his mind reared in panic at the loss of connection, she lowered the wall again.

"Ship." She muttered, too weary to form full sentences.

Keeping most of her emotions locked away proved almost as draining as the poison that coursed through her veins. But she had not come this far just to lose him again.

Straightening, she pressed a hand against her side to staunch the flow of blood. Thankfully, the cut hadn't gone too deep. Just deep enough for the poison to take effect.

"Don't worry about the other soldiers," Ben whispered in her mind, trying to distract both of them from the raging emotions drifting unchecked between their consciousnesses. "They couldn't decide who to help: The Supreme Leader or Phasma. They'll all too afraid to attack now. We have just enough time to leave before they figure out that they actually want me dead."

With slow, measured steps, Rey made the long trek back down the hallway to where Anya and the Falcon waited. Herself injured, Ben appearing stable though he was anything but, was not how she had expected to return.

"Really?" A sour tone was evident in Ben's voice as his eyes locked on the Falcon. "You brought that ship?"

Rey scoffed in reply. "Just be grateful we came to save you."

Rey carefully made her way up the gangplank, doing her best to ignore the stabbing pain in her side every time she moved. Ben begrudgingly followed behind her, though she had a sneaking suspicion that he was only willing to board his father's ship out of concern for her welfare.

"We?"

"Yeah. Can you not sense her?" Rey pressed the button to close the door.

"Anya!" She called out, moving further into the ship, "We need to get out of here - now!"

"Anya?" Ben frowned. "What is Anya doing here?"

Before she could respond, Rey felt the Falcon lurch beneath her feet as the ship took off. Stumbling, Rey just barely managed to catch herself from falling by throwing her hand up to grab a safety strap dangling from the ceiling. Ben made no move to steady himself, apparently keeping himself upright by use of the Force. She would really have to learn that trick.

His eyes traced the length of her right arm, stopping as they landed on her hand covered in her own blood. Anger burned brightly within him.

"You should sit down." He said, moving toward her even as the ship jumped to lightspeed. Though the jump jolted her, he again seemed unaffected.

"You're poisoned. We need to leach it out. We need-" Rey watched, helpless, as his eyes glazed over. She felt his mental state slip, teetering on the edge of a chasm that led somewhere she did not want him to disappear to.

"Ben?" Shoving her own pain and weariness aside, Rey bolted forward, catching him just as he started to fall. Panic gripped her, wild and tangible. Whatever had kept Snoke blocked out from his former apprentice's mind was fading.

"Anya!" Rey screamed, not knowing what to do. "I need help!"

Hearing Rey's yell of terror, Anya burst from the cockpit, scanning the room for danger. Immediately spotting them on the floor, she ran over to assist. "Let's get him to the bed." She said, using the Force to help take most of the weight as the two women transferred Ben's unconscious form to one of the low cots lining the wall.

Rey gritted her teeth against the wave of nausea and pain stemming from her poisoned wound. Seeing Anya's curious glance her way, she waved off the woman's concern. "It's just a scrap. The tip of the blade was poisoned, but I don't think it's too bad."

"Poisoned?" Anya turned to her after Ben had been secured on the cot. "Let me see."

"It's not priority." Rey insisted.

"You can't help him if you're dead because you were too stubborn to properly treat your wound." Anya countered.

Relenting, Rey sat down heavily in the chair closest to the cot, unwilling to take her eyes off of Ben for even a second. Lifting the edge of her shirt, Rey suppressed a groan as the fabric peeled away from her bloody skin.

Unconcerned with the blood, Anya used her fingers to inspect the length and depth of the injury. It was then that Rey remembered Anya mentioning she had been a healer for a few years. "You were lucky the blade didn't pierce any deeper - else you would be bleeding out right now." Placing her palm over the wound, Anya breathed in deeply.

Rey gasped in shock as a foul, black liquid seeped out of her wound, dissipating as soon as it made contact with the air. She felt the Force flow around her in patterns she had never envisioned. Rey watched, captivated, as her skin slowly sewed itself back together, leaving only the faintest, pink scar where her wound had been.

"How did you do that?" She asked, amazed.

"Jedi healing powers," Anya explained, removing her hand. "Any number of things are possible through the Force, you just have to know how to ask it to move."

Anya glanced over at the unconscious Supreme Leader of the First Order - former leader now, I guess, Rey thought with a satisfied smirk. "What happened?"

"Snoke infected his mind, like I thought," Rey responded. "It's-" she paused, unsure how to convey the magnitude of destruction she had viewed in Ben's mind. "It's not good."

Noticing the thoughtful look on Anya's face, Rey pressed, "The sooner we get back to the Resistance, the better."

"Oh," Anya said, standing, "we aren't going back to the Resistance."

Alarm bells rang in Rey's head and she reached for the lightsaber Anya had let her borrow. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"The Resistance can't help him, Rey." Anya patiently explained. "I've set an autopilot course for a different destination."

"Where are we going?" Rey stood, lightsaber in hand, ready to be ignited.

Anya glanced warily at the lightsaber, though she made no move to take hold of her own. "We're going to Korriban."

"Why?" Rey questioned hotly, "What's on Korriban?"

Anya sighed, "The only people who you can count on to help save him. The Knights of Ren."
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A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, and reviewed. Please keep the reviews coming: I love hearing your thoughts!
And, yes, I am so happy to finally be able to write Rey and Ben actually together in the same chapter.