As soon as FN-2187 had opened the door for her, she was greeted by yet another unfamiliar face. The man in front of her looked battered and broken – and yet, he had one of the most determined looks in his eyes she had ever seen on any man. He was resolute in his wanting to escape this hellish place, and he was right. He looked about as ready as she felt. She had said her goodbye to Ben, although somewhat cryptically. It was all she could think of to say, and she hoped it would be enough. Enough of a promise that she would one day come back to help him.

"Ben Solo is a part of you, Kylo Ren. I hope I can help you remember that someday."

Her heart clenched as she remembered the shocked and betrayed look he had given her right after uttering those last few words – eyes wide in disbelief and resentment at her sentiment. It was as though he knew what she was going to do, Kylo Ren knew what she was going to do. Instead of stopping her, though, he had elected to turn away from her. Ben Solo was allowing her to leave. That was what she hoped, anyway. It was what they needed if this plan was going to succeed.

The man she did not know nodded at her, acknowledging her presence and their new found partnership in this austere endeavour. She looked at FN, who stood tall, as though ready for battle, but the sweat on his brow exposed his nervousness. She could not blame him for his anxiety; after all, he was betraying everything he had ever known.

"We need to get to the main hangar – we should be able to hijack a ship from there. I'll make it look like I'm escorting you guys under orders, and as soon as we make sure no one is really paying attention, we make a break for it. Understood?" He said, a slight tremor evident in his voice.

After both of them confirmed the plan, FN-2187 put his helmet on once more, resuming his now temporary role of the loyal Stormtrooper. He led them down the hallway, down a few flights of stairs before once more resuming a brisk pace down a long corridor. All the while, he kept his blaster gun at the ready – Cara was not sure if it was merely for show, or if it was a precaution should they run into anyone. She desperately hoped it was the first option.

After another few minutes of walking, FN started slowing down, the other man next to her mimicking his movements as the sounds of the hangar greeted their ears. The sounds of metal on metal, clanging, beeping, shouting, could all be heard. She had never given much thought to how many obstacles they would have to face. She had been so preoccupied with even just making the decision to leave with FN-2187 and his new companion that she had barely comprehended just how hard it would be to escape. It sounded as though there were many officers of the First Order in there, just waiting to take the three of them down should they suspect anything. The thought was terrifying, and suddenly she could feel sweat form on her own brow as she finally understood the severity of their situation. What if they were captured again? What would Kylo Ren do to her then, to all of them?

"You guys ready?" FN-2187 asked, his grip tightening around his blaster gun. The gesture reminded her of Kylo, of Ben, and in that moment she could not tell if she felt guilty or relieved to finally be getting this entire ordeal over with. The other man looked at her, smiling slightly as though to comfort her, and she appreciated the gesture and reciprocated with a smile of her own. In response, he winked at her, and she could not help the slight chuckle that escaped her lips. He seemed to be just as friendly and charming as he was determined to get out of here. Cara liked him already.

"Alright, get in front of me. Remember, I'm escorting you, so try not to look so suspicious, and you know, look a little terrified." FN stood behind them, taking a moment or two to collect himself before taking a deep breath and pushing the front of his blaster into Cara's back, signalling her to start walking. She swallowed visibly, trying to steel her nerves. None of them had any idea what was waiting for them in there. She just hoped that everything would go as smoothly as it possibly could.

They walked into the hangar together, avoiding eye contact wherever it was necessary and taking in their surroundings to catch sight of any possible threats to their plan. So far, it seemed to be going effortlessly. Unconventionally so, it seemed. Cara had a feeling something was going to happen that would make all of this worthless. Soon.

"Stay calm, Stay calm." She heard from behind her, FN-2187's familiar voice whispering as he continued to push them both forward.

"I am calm." The other man said, the first time she heard his voice. As dire as their situations seemed at the moment, there was a playful yet wilful tone to his voice that immediately put her at ease.

"I was talking to myself." Her friend said in response, and she could feel the shaking of his blaster gun against her back. It was harder for her to stay calm now she knew that her friend definitely was not. No amount of words from the friendly voice of a stranger would be able to put her at ease now.

FN directed them a little to the left, and she finally realized which ship they were headed for. It was a Special Forces TIE fighter, not unlike the ones she had often seen flying past her little window during the time she had been locked in her cell. She had seen replicas of them, sure, and she had seen it shooting off into the galaxy thousands of miles away, but she had never seen one up close before. She could appreciate its design, stealthy and deadly. Turning her gaze away from the ship, she noticed that there were no techs nor maintenance workers or guards posted by the ship. It made sense, she thought to herself. Who in their right mind would attempt such a scheme anyway?

She looked at the other two as they climbed up to the entry hatch, which conveniently, was already open and waiting for them. She could see the awe in her new acquaintance's gaze as he stared at the ship now looming over them. It was easy to tell that he was keen to fly this kind of ship – as a pilot, she figured he relished any challenge that was laid before him when it came to flying.

Her partners climbed in, settling themselves into their respective roles as FN sat down behind the weapons control and their new pilot friend sat down in his seat. She opted to stand watch, crouching behind the ship as both men figured out how to control the TIE Fighter. He may be the best pilot in the galaxy, but that did not mean he automatically knew how everything worked in every ship.

A few agonizingly long moments later, FN-2187 signalled Cara to come back in. She stumbled inside just as the pilot began to lift the ship, and for a brief minute, she thought their plan would actually work, elation working its way into her heart as the ship slowly rose further from the ground. Happiness had infiltrated her thoughts too soon, however, as only a mere few second later the ship was careened backwards, the hatch door freezing in mid-close as their escape vessel hit the wall beside them with enormous violence. Cara fell, hitting her back against the ships admittedly spotless interior as FN's and Cara's pilot friend tried to gain enough momentum so that the cable would snap. She could already see a massive crowd of Stormtroopers assembling, following orders and shooting their blasters towards the three escapees as they attempted to stop them from fleeing. She hoped it was futile, but the hatch door was still open and she could barely get a grip on herself as another shock went through the ship due to the tether cable below them. FN-2187 was firing at random, trying to hold the First Order off so as to give their now slightly frantic pilot more time to get them out of there. The tether cable was holding strong, and each shot from a blaster below them shook the ship with more force than any of them would have liked. This entire operation will have been for nothing if they did not get out of there soon enough. The First Order had more than enough firepower to shoot them down, if necessary.

She wondered if Kylo Ren was down there, if he was watching the commotion, if he knew that she was also on board. She wondered if Ben Solo was worried about her, worried that she would get hurt during this attempt to escape. She wondered if Kylo Ren would allow him to care.

The ship careened forwards once more, another shot from a blaster hitting them right underneath FN-2187's seat. The entire ship shook, rather violently, and Cara thought for sure that this was the end of their plan. She had finally managed to get herself up, simultaneously wanting to see the commotion in the hangar and afraid to look through the glass and not see the person she selfishly wished would be there.

Her curiosity got the best of her though, as it always did, and amidst the plethora of white armour she saw him, his black robes billowing behind him, lightsaber unsheathed as he marched through his troops in order to gain a better view of what was happening. Her breath caught in her throat, an emotion that she could not pin down wafting through her as their stolen TIE Fighter shuddered once more with the oncoming onslaught from the troopers down below. She looked towards her friends, her partners, beads of sweat streaming down their faces and looks of utter confusion, fear and resentment gracing their features. She wanted them to escape so badly – FN had risked so much for her and became her friend in a place where she never thought she would even come across the concept friendship; and the pilot, even though she had only known him for the time span of thirty minutes, deserved this too. He had suffered on this ship, as much as she had in the beginning, and she remembered all too well how weak and useless she had felt after her sessions with her masked captor, before she was aware of who he really was.

Both of the men in front of her had everything to lose if they remained there. She still had something to gain.

In a split second decision, she yelled at her friend that she was going to try to buy them some time. At first, she feared he may not have heard her, but his friendly and familiar eyes signalled to her that he understood. He smiled, a slight smile that betrayed how saddened he was to have to leave her here and how thankful he was for her sacrifice. She nodded at him, understanding. She truly hoped that she would see him again one day. Both of them.

Right before another blaster shot hit the underside of the ship, she jumped out of the half-open hatch, which was still frozen in position after the entire battle had started. It was a higher jump than expected, and she had not accounted for the height at which her new pilot friend had already lifted the ship as she crashed onto the floor and onto her already injured arm. The gash from Kylo's lightsaber wound once more began to burn incessantly, and she screamed out in pain as she felt something in her underarm snap. Squeezing her eyes shut, the sounds of firing guns and explosions almost faded away as the pain threatened to overtake her. She knew that she had to make her presence known though, at least to Kylo Ren. She hoped that he would care enough to call off his troopers so long as she was in harm's way. It would buy her friends enough time. She looked at the tether cable, and she could tell that it was about to snap free from its steel hinges. They just needed a few more seconds. That was all.

She gritted her teeth and forced her eyes to open, using the strength left in her shaking legs to get up and make her way down the steps back to the floor. She called out to Kylo in her mind, anything to get him to sense her presence. She suspected that he was somewhat tuned into her at all times; she hoped her suspicion was correct.

A shot from a blaster went right over her head as she made her way further down the steps, each movement allowing for another pulse of agony through her arm. She pushed on, and finally she got her wish, just as she was about to arrive at the bottom step and she heard his voice.

"STOP!" Kylo Ren shouted, and all the troopers surrounding him suddenly lowered their weapons, their confusion evident as they all looked at one another.

Her breathing was shallow, and it was taking all of her strength not to close her eyes and let go as she stood on the final step. She did not move a muscle, afraid that any movement on her part would once more scare them all into continuing their battle.

Mercifully, she heard the twang of the cable snapping, and she was able to catch a glimpse of FN-2187 right before the stolen TIE Fighter shot off into the galaxy, other ships on its heels. She remained where she was, desperately listening to any signs that they had failed, or that they had not gotten away. There was nothing more she could do now. She just prayed that they could make it back to safety. To a new home.

She was snapped out of her stupor as she felt an angry hand clamp around her shoulder, right above the arm that had just recently been broken. She yelled out in agony, seeing spots in her vision as whoever it was that had grabbed her dragged her through the army of Stormtroopers out into the corridor. He threw her down on the floor against the wall, and she was thankful that she had landed on her good arm before she recognized the bottom of his billowing black robes and registered who it was that had dragged her out of there. Kylo Ren.

She looked up at him, her vision still slightly blurry as her body once more tried to readjust to the pain she currently found herself in. She noticed that he had retracted his lightsaber, his mask still on, as he crouched down in front of her to confront her at eye-level.

"Did you truly think you can betray me and I would not find out?" He whispered, his voice sounding immeasurably menacing through the distorter in his mask. Cara was frightened, truly frightened of him for the first time in a long while. She knew how cold his eyes must be right now, how much hate must be in them. Even through the mask, she could feel his hardened stare on her.

"You understood my goodbye." She said softly, mustering all of her strength just to respond. She was tired, and scared, and all she wanted to do was close her eyes and go to sleep.

"It was not as cryptic as you may like to believe."

She wanted him to take off his mask – she wanted him to confront her, see the anger in his eyes. That way, at least, she would know what was in store for her. What he was thinking, now that she had tried to leave him.

"Did you truly think it would be that easy to leave? That I would just forget that you had deceived me? That I would let that go?"

"Would you have come to find me if I had succeeded?"

He said nothing, and his lack of response was the only answer she needed. Deep down, she knew he would have come to look for her. His intentions had he found her however, were now the question that would remain unanswered.

"Why did you want to leave?" He asked instead, curiosity laced in his voice. She could not tell whether he asked because he truly did not want her to leave, or because he thought she was senseless for trying. She decided to answer as earnestly as she could – in a strange way, she felt he deserved the truth.

"I thought it may help. To realize what you could miss – would miss."

"What makes you think I would miss you? You are not as important to me as you have led yourself to believe."

"I know that is not true. That is enough for me."

He stood up, tearing his gaze away from her moisture filled eyes, fearing that he would say something that would betray how chaotic his thoughts were, how much he was affecting her.

"So you would have left, because you thought it would help me?"

"Yes." She did not have the energy to expand on her answer.

"And yet you sacrificed your freedom so that your two companions,' he practically spat the word, 'could have a fair chance at escaping."

"Yes. They deserved it."

"And you did not?"

"I have nothing else to lose."

He remained silent, pacing in front of her so as to be able to order his thoughts. He had one final question for her, and yet, for some reason, he was afraid to ask it. Afraid of her answer. Afraid of what it would mean for him.

"Do you still think that you can help me now that you are once more trapped here?"

She did not answer immediately, and he noticed that her eyes had fallen closed as she slumped against the wall. He thought she would not reply, his need for a response to his question burning inside of him as he moved towards her to pick her up. He would bring her back to her cell. That was all he was obligated to do right now.

She sensed that he had moved closer to her as she felt his warm presence hovering above her, his cloak billowing over her legs as he leant down towards her. With the last of her strength, she answered him, somehow understanding just how desperate he was to know what she would say.

"I hope so."

A/N: Thanks again for all the new lovely reviews, and thank you to the readers who review often, they always make me smile! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will try to have the next one up as soon as I can.