Chapter 3

Kylo Ren struggled to control his wrath towards Hux as he watched Rey sleep off the anesthesia on a white cot within a floor-to-ceiling barred cage in his room. The red-headed man had been entirely too clever of late. He had requested Kylo Ren's assistance on a political mission to secure funds for the First Order, and in Kylo's absence, had installed this gift, as Hux put it.

It had only been three days since Kylo Ren had told Rey he would leave not force his presence on her, and now she was locked up like some kind of pet ten feet from his own bed. He had half a mind to set her free and damn the consequences, but he could not forget how dangerous she was to the First Order, and as Hux had made very clear, there was no one else equal to be her jailer.

Kylo felt her presence brighten before he saw her finger twitch. He had already been waiting five minutes for her to rouse. Hux hadn't dared remove the IV keeping her unconscious until Kylo had returned.

How was he going to explain this to her? Should he even try? It was not like she would forgive him, especially if she realized what Hux had in mind for her when putting her here.

She moaned and opened her eyes. Whoever had installed her had left her on her back, face tilted towards his bed, which he now sat on. Her eyes immediately narrowed as she took in the bars, and then met his own eyes on the other side. Her eyes shot open, and panic exploded from her through the force. He winced inwardly, but kept his expression still and his voice silent as he leaned forward.

"What…" Rey slurred. She clenched her eyes shut and opened them again, and Kylo sensed that she was struggling to fight the sedative. She blinked a few times, and he felt her reach out into the force and allow it to clear away the cobwebs in her mind and body from the drugs. She breathed in deeply, and her panic calmed. When she gained control of herself, she sat up, swung her legs over the side of the cot, and met his gaze again. "This is not our bond."

He shook his head.

"Explain."

His lip curled up at the authoritative tone of her order. It was just a minute ago she had been nearly mad with fear. She would have made an amazing empress. "You and several of your Resistance friends were captured by the First Order aboard a submarine on Mon Cala. I'm told that they lifted the entire submarine out of the ocean with a tractor beam and then drilled a hole into it to fill the vessel with some form of sleeping gas. There were neither fatalities nor injuries of note."

"Everyone on the submarine was captured?" Rey asked.

Kylo nodded. He did not have to tell her that the number included both his mother and her friend FN-2187.

"Where are they?"

"Imprisoned and undergoing interrogations, except for you and my mother. The interrogations are… not kind, but they leave no permanent damage, and I have requested that their injuries be treated after." He did not bother to tell her that they were also currently spread across several ships and planetside bases to discourage rescue.

Rey frowned. "I won't thank you for sparing me."

He sat upright and shrugged. "You were spared because I cannot interrogate you without putting the First Order and myself at risk."

"And your mother?" Rey asked.

Kylo narrowed his eyes at Rey. "She's my mother." He had thought Leia Organa had died in the space outside Crait. He would not risk losing her again, knowing that she had, at the moment of her likely death, feared for him and still desired to be family with him. That was another hope he could not extinguish, though he had not dared face his mother directly since he had murdered his father.

Rey's features softened at his reason for not putting his mother through interrogation, but they hardened again with her next question. "Why am I here? These are your private quarters, are they not?"

Kylo took a slow, deep breath before responding. "They are. Your power makes you difficult to contain. Normal holding cells would only delay your escape. Our only options were this, death, or a medically-induced coma."

"You could free me," she countered, narrowing her eyes.

"You know I can't," he said. She fell silent. He counted to twenty and decided to move on to practical matters. "These conditions are not ideal for either of us, but I will do what I can to make your stay a pleasant one. I apologize for the lack of a refresher within the cage. Hux had… different plans in mind when he put you here. I have already ordered that they modify your cell to include both a refresher and a privacy screen." He glared at the reminder of how depraved and perverted Hux had been in setting this up.

Rey looked at him curiously. "This wasn't your idea?"

He shook his head. "I don't see that there's a better option where you are not helping the Resistance, but I did not want to become your jailor. And before you plot to steal my lightsaber or otherwise kill me, know that Hux has numerous fail-safes to ensure your death if I die or am otherwise incapacitated, and he will not have the same reservations that I have against destroying your friends."

Rey's disappointment was palpable, and he smirked at how predictable she was in that regard, at least.

"Let me know if there's anything you need. I will release you when I am here so that you may have some freedom. I must return you to your cell before leaving, however, due to the limitations of the installed fail-safes. If you do not cooperate, you will find yourself subdued and denied this privilege in the future."

She nodded. Kylo went to the cage and unlocked the door using a voice command combined with retinal and palm scans. He opened it and stepped away. When his back was towards her, she spoke again. "You mentioned that Hux had different plans in mind. What were they?"

Kylo froze with apprehension. Though she had questioned him regarding how she had come to be here, he knew he had already lost the companionship they had briefly found before Snoke's death. He may as well have her hatred. Furthermore, while he did not doubt his self-control, he knew that seeing her disgust would be a healthy reminder of what he could never have. "Hux wants me to sleep with you."

He heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her and felt the flood of fear wash through her and then dissipate hesitantly. "You won't force me," she said with feigned bravo.

She actually feared he might rape her. Kylo trembled with disgust at both the idea and her lack of faith in him.

"Of course not," he said harshly. He may be a monster, but he was not that kind of monster. Mortification swept through her at his response, and he sighed, relieved that she realized how ridiculous her question had been.

An awkward silence passed between them during which she made no effort to leave the cage she had been put in.

"I'll be working in my private office through that door," he said and gestured. "The outer door should be the only locked door. You may do what you like within my quarters. Feel free to borrow some clothes from my closet and use the refresher while I'm working. I've ordered some fresh clothes for you, but I don't know when they will arrive. If you need anything else, let me know."

"Kylo," she said. He paused, feeling both victory and dismay that she used the name he had chosen instead of Ben now. "I don't want to be left alone."

Kylo looked sharply to where she stood just inside the cage exit. Did she want to drive him mad? She couldn't possible want him to stay. "What do you desire?" he asked, and he felt his rage at being teased lacing his words.

Rey retreated a step and looked down, as if thinking. "A friend. Here. Either Leia Organa or Finn."

Kylo stared at her darkly. "I'll see what I can do."

He stepped inside his office, closed the door, and yelled out his rage and pain, sweeping the well-stacked papers off his desk and throwing his chair against the wall before slumping to the floor against his desk. What had Hux been thinking, putting her here with him?

He sighed and started righting the mess of fallen papers with the force before standing and righting the chair himself. He sat down and started going through the stack of invoices, requests, and all the other little annoying things that needed approval within the First Order. He also had Rey's request to deal with.

He grabbed his com. "Send General Hux to my quarters." He had much to say to his second in command.

This version was my 4th attempt at this chapter. Hope I did a decent job of showing a little of what Rey was feeling without Kylo catching on.

Also, if you didn't know, the official novelization of The Last Jedi is out. I read it today. You won't get much reylo insight from it, but it's still pretty awesome. Check it out.

And as always, please review.