Kylo opens the door to the interrogation room to find the traitor strapped into the chair he once held Poe in, held Rey in, unconscious.
Kylo uses the Force to snap FN-2187 out of it. Finn. Chosen from the letters that were part of his stormtrooper identity?
Don't—
Get out, he hisses even as his stomach undulates and he has to breath through his mouth to stymie the nausea.
No.
"Oh, shit," is the first thing Finn says—or really, slurs. "Not you."
She's quiet, but she's still in his mind, and he could block her, but he doesn't have the energy or the willpower. She's weakening you. The bond is weakening you.
Kylo sits back on the table. "Welcome back, FN-2187."
"The name's Finn."
My name is Kylo Ren!
Maybe, he thinks. They have more in common that they realize.
But he isn't so sure he really is Kylo Ren, and as he studies Finn, without needing to plunge into his mind, Ben is quite sure Finn is Finn.
You don't have to be this.
"Captain Phasma seemed to think we might get some useful information from you."
"Give it your best shot." There's fear in the creases riddling Finn's brow, but defiance too. Kylo respects him for it.
She still loves you.
Come home. We miss you.
Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.
Kylo leans closer, heart pounding. Even as he stretches out his hand, he doesn't know which side to which he'll fall.
And then he feels the small snap of energy from Finn's head and withdraws.
"I'm too intimidating?" Finn tries to boast.
Finn has the Force. The energy stirs just beneath the surface, far less potent than Rey's, but still—there.
Finn has the Force? Rey interrupts, sounding giddy.
Kylo swallows. Untrained, he doubts Finn will be able to resist him. Of course, he once thought the same about Rey.
Rey's laughing. Kylo scowls.
Finn scowls back at him, even though he can't see Kylo under his mask.
He can still do this. Finn might not be as strong as Rey was.
Kylo presses in, ever so slightly. He sees the stormtrooper's heart—sees a little boy cowering before General Hux's father, huddling with his friends as the man rants and raves with a vicious veneer, sees Rey…
Kylo retreats before he can go further. With a swipe of his hand, Ben sends Finn back into unconsciousness and strides out of the room.
Thank you, comes her voice.
I'll help you, he snarls.
You will?
But you'll have to help me, too.
With what?
He doesn't get to respond before Phasma marches up to him. "What did you get from him?"
"He's much too injured," Ben lies. "Give him a few hours with a medical droid, and I'll try again."
The captain cocks her head. "All right, then."
"Snoke informed you about General Hux?"
"Yes." Phasma falls into step beside him. Every passing stormtrooper straightens as they stalk by. "I never liked the man, but I must admit this offense of his surprises me. The General has always been a man of control."
"Control, yes, but suspicion also. And jealousy," Kylo adds. He knows Hux suspects the truth: that his usefulness to Snoke might run out at any time. And Kylo sees the same look in Hux's eyes that he sees in Snoke's eyes, except without the accompanying years of experience, without the guidance of the Force: he wants to rule. He wants order, and he wants it to be his order.
"He puts his own interests above those of the First Order." Phasma turns and faces Kylo, and he feels her unspoken words. Rather like you.
"And you?" Kylo asks silkily. Because they both know whatever information Finn can give them, it still makes little sense for Phasma to have brought him back as a prisoner.
She resumes walking. "My troops are the best, Ren. They always have been. FN-2187, despite his occasional displays of empathy, showed much promise. I want to know where he went wrong, so that we can fix it."
Of course he was among the best. He has the Force, Kylo realizes.
Did the Light call to Finn, halting him from firing on the villagers back on Jakku, the same way the Light whispered to Kylo then, preventing him from killing Finn on the spot?
"Hux may not see the value in learning about every single stormtrooper, but I do, Ren. It makes them better soldiers."
Kylo nods under his helmet and steps away from her.
Traitor!
His own voice screams in his mind. Who is he, without the First Order? Surely not a part of the Resistance. Who will he serve then? Himself? That sounds empty, and the sheer nothingness grabs hi, drags him down to drown as he slams his lightsaber into the wall, anything to stop the numbness.
I want to be free of this pain.
This nothing gnaws worse than pain.
We're not done yet.
It's just us now. Han Solo can't save you.
He can help Rey save her friend now, though.
You are nothing.
Kylo kicks at his grandfather's helmet. "Liar!" he screams at the inanimate object, dead and burned.
Han Solo can't save you.
"Poe, wake up," Rey hisses, shaking the pilot awake. "Poe, come on!" She clamps her hand over his mouth as he tries to yell. "Shh!"
"What are you doing?" he says, voice muffled by her hand.
"Finn's alive."
Poe's eyes widen, and for the first time, the shimmer of sorrow dies away. "How would you—"
"I'll tell you once we're on the Falcon."
"Wait, what?" Poe blinks.
"I need a copilot."
"What for?"
"We're going to rescue him, obviously." Rey swallows. "He didn't leave me in the First Order's hands. I can't leave him, either."
Poe glances over his shoulder. "Aren't we waking up Luke and the General? Chewie?"
Rey shakes her head. "It has to be us." She frowns. "And BB-8. We can take BB-8. I'll explain once we're on board."
"No offense, but I barely know you. How—"
"Just trust me, please! For Finn?" Rey knows those last two words are all it will take. Poe struggles to his feet, following her onto the legendary ship. He beckons for BB-8 to join, and silently, the droid rolls up the ramp.
"Wow," Poe says in awe as he looks all around the Falcon, studying the hologame table, the bunk, heading towards the cockpit. Rey closes the ramp behind them.
"Now," Poe says as he settles in the pilot's chair. "Will you—"
"You're in my seat," Rey says and points to the co-pilot's chair.
"Right." Poe moves. "What is going on? How can you be so sure he's alive?"
"The Force." Rey flips several switches.
"Just… the Force?" Poe sounds skeptical.
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Rey allows as the Millennium Falcon begins to lift off. BB-8 whirs curiously. Below them, she hears shouts. I'm so sorry, Luke.
As they zip out of the planet, Rey admits: "Kylo Ren told me."
Poe doesn't do anything for a moment. Slowly he turns to her, his jaw hovering open and his eyes popping. "What? The what?"
"Have you ever heard of a Force bond?"
"No, but—" Poe struggles to find the words. "It doesn't sound good!"
"Well, it can be kind of a pain," Rey agrees.
Indeed, Kylo adds dryly.
"But it's also useful. Neither of us wanted it at first, but—"
"Are you tellin' me you're Force bonded to Kylo Ren? That egomaniac murderer who had me beaten and then fucked with my mind?" Poe gapes at her.
She shrugs.
"Oh my—" Poe swallows. "Does Luke know?"
Rey shakes her head. "I was afraid he'd react like you're reacting."
"Like I'm—the man tortured me, Rey!"
Bastard, Rey thinks, and she feels Kylo's guilt.
I take no pleasure from it.
You still did it. "He tried to torture me as well," she says.
"Oh, that makes everything better," Poe says sarcastically.
"He's going to help Finn escape."
"After he tortures him!"
I won't!
"He says he won't," Rey reports.
Poe shakes his head rapidly. "You're actually crazy. She's actually crazy, BB-8," Poe says, turning to the droid, who stings him. "BB-8! Why'd you do that?"
"Thank you, BB-8," Rey says.
"Okay," Poe says, holding his knee as if the sting still hurts. "Assuming this is all accurate and you're not crazy—ow, dammit, BB-8! You're supposed to be my droid! Stop—ow!—what makes you think you can trust him?"
BB-8 withdraws its silver arm, purring at Rey as if to ask if she's proud of it. Rey pats it on the head.
"Because when we're able to stroll through each others minds on a whim, you kind of get to know a person," Rey returns.
You feel like you know me? Ben asks, his voice almost timid.
In some ways.
"Besides," Rey says. "We need to get Finn back. If you help me for no other reason—help me for Finn."
Poe studies her and nods. "That, I'll do."
How close are you? he asks Rey. He's lingering in Finn's interrogation room again, unable to torture him, unable to leave without making Finn scream.
Give us another day, and we'll be in position.
That's not enough time!
Finn stares at him without flinching. Kylo stretches out his hand again, and all he sees in Finn's mind is Rey. And he sees the moment Finn decided he couldn't kill for the First Order, the fear Finn felt when he himself, Kylo Ren, spotted him on Jakku, the relief and confusion when he didn't kill the stormtrooper. The way Finn felt different, hopeless that he would ever fit in, ever really belong. Finn groans.
Kylo withdraws and knocks Finn unconscious. Give me your location.
I can get the coordinates—
No, not that location! He huffs. Luke's. I need it to tell them, or else neither of us are getting out of here alive.
They'll kill Finn as soon as you have it!
Not without my orders. Phasma doesn't have that authority. Kylo clenches his fist. I'll tell them I want to keep him for my own purposes. Questions about his family. They'll believe it.
Your mother is still there, Ben. After trying to protect her—
She's much too smart to stay wherever Luke is for long, and she won't leave him there. She doesn't answer, and Ben feels her mistrust, her hesitation. Dammit, please, Rey!
Ahch-To.
Ahch-To. Kylo exhales. Okay, then. He strides from the room, Finn unharmed, to deliver the news to Captain Phasma. He orders her to contact Snoke.
"You don't wish to do it yourself, sir?" Her helmet cocks to the side.
"No, Captain."
"And the traitor?"
"I may have further use of him." As Kylo predicted, Phasma doesn't protest.
"He may provide the clues to any weaknesses in General Hux's program, sir."
This surprises Kylo. Is she actually trying to persuade him to keep Finn alive? Kylo stalks away from her without responding.
He's in love with you, Kylo tells Rey as he enters his chambers and stares at an empty helmet that's never spoken to him.
He feels her surprise. He is not. He barely knows me. We're friends. We care about each other.
He cares about you enough to risk everything for you, Ben argues with her. That's love, isn't it?
Are you trying to tell me I should love him? she retorts.
No. He doesn't want her to love him, but Kylo's careful to block that from her. He doesn't even fully understand these spasms of jealousy himself. But Finn—what Kylo saw in his mind was pure, and good, and as much as Kylo's scream of "traitor!" echoes, loyal.
He smirks as he imagines a stormtrooper and the scavenger. Both Force users.
Stop it! Rey snaps. Someone else fills her mind, and Kylo grasps the image. The pilot?
He loves Finn, too, she reminds him.
You'd sacrifice your own happiness for theirs?
Rey sounds scared. I don't know if loving Finn would make me happy.
"Well, this is just great," Luke says sarcastically. R2 whirs.
Chewie throws a rock into the sea.
Leia stares up at the sky that's starting to glow blue with dawn. Why would they leave? It doesn't make sense. Not from Rey. Not from Poe Dameron.
"Did the Dark Side—" Luke stops himself as Leia glares at him.
"That is not going to help!"
"But it could have—"
Leia waves her arms. "How, Luke? She's been with you this past month, training on an island with a Jedi temple! The first Jedi temple!"
R2 bleeps.
"What is it?" Luke snaps.
R2 bleeps and blips.
"Rescue—Finn? I thought you said he was—" Luke looks to Leia.
"It doesn't make any sense for them to keep him alive," she offers.
R2 insists that BB-8 told it that Rey and Poe went to rescue him.
"The Force told her?" Luke stares at the droid, at Leia. "That's news to me."
"Don't Force visions exist? Maybe Rey has a penchant for them," Leia suggests. "Did BB-8 tell you where they were going, by any chance, R2?"
R2 replies in the negative.
Leia kicks a stone herself. Why hadn't Rey told her? Why didn't Rey want anyone coming with her except Poe? And is Finn actually alive, or is it a trap?
Chewie comes over, roaring his own suggestion.
"That's not a bad idea," Leia tells him.
"What?" Luke asks.
Leia grabs her brother's arm, hauling him upright. "You're coming with us. You're leaving the island."
Luke blinks. "What for?"
"We need to talk to Maz Kanata."
"What should be done to him?" Snoke's voice, throaty and cold, floats through the air. Kylo stiffens.
He feels Rey in his mind, and he doesn't want to push her out even though he knows it would be safest for him, for the First Order, for her even. But this is the first time he's faced Snoke when he knows he plans to betray him, when the firm belief that what he's doing is right, the belief that's kept his heart beating all these years, is gone.
Rey. Helping her is right. Or maybe not, not if the First Order is right, and Kylo's not sure they're not, but maybe things are more gray than they seem. But if he's wrong to do this, he's wrong, and Kylo sees Han Solo falling away, spiraling down into a void and all the while knowing he shouldn't have done it, that shouldn't have happened, even as the conviction pulsing through his veins insisted it had to.
"What is your opinion, Supreme Leader?" Kylo asks.
"You are going to complete your training, Kylo Ren. The decision is yours."
Rey is silent, but present, and Kylo realizes she knows exactly the feelings he's experiencing. She, too, stood on the edge of killing someone she loathed—him. He remembers staring up at her, torn apart with blue shock and red pain, and thinking only of his father.
And she didn't do it, and the earth opened up.
"Killing him may demoralize our troops," Kylo says, adding a note of disdain to his tone. His preference for a clone army is no secret. "His loyalty is still with the First Order."
"You looked inside his mind?"
"Yes," he lies again. It's partially true, though—Hux craves the success of the First Order. The only difference is Hux wants to be the success of the First Order. "I will deliver him to you for punishment. Then, perhaps, he can redeem himself."
Snoke leans closer, hologram waffling. "Indeed."
The hologram vanishes. Ben wilts in relief.