Chapter Text
Rey felt him.
Even before she was fully awake.
His power and aggression bubbling like lava. Full of bloodlust.
Kylo Ren - He was near.
She hardly noticed the rough stone floor or the cold, moist air around her. Automatically she reached out for her lightsaber through the Force, calling it to her hand in an attempt to defend herself, but it wasn't there. She felt nothing but cold stone, the transparasteel walls and the anger of Kylo Ren.
Rey’s eyes opened as she tried to move off the ground.
She stopped mid-motion, grunting in pain, only to fall back down on the floor. Her head hurt, and so did her shoulder.
Her last memory was of a sea of stormtroopers, followed by something hitting her hard from behind, causing her to fall to the ground and drop her lightsaber.
Rey tried feeling around her shoulder. It was burning hot.
She was in no condition to fight him head-on. Her heart beat loudly in her ears as she searched the darkness surrounding her. He was furious, probably because of everything that happened the last time they saw each other - the Battle of Crait. If he really wanted to kill her, she didn't intend to go down easy.
"Where are you?" She demanded.
Then she finally noticed the shadow on the prison wall.
He was sitting but somehow seemed even bigger than normal. His eyes reflected the dim light of a single lamp, hanging to the right.
Rey slowly raised her upper body from the floor. Staring, in disbelief.
Kylo’s hair and half his face were smothered in dried blood.
Stripped of the countless layers of clothing he normally wore, there were only his trousers, his boots, and a mostly ripped-apart undershirt left, revealing countless bruises, burns, and cuts. No one had bothered treating any of his wounds.
"Hello, Scavenger." He sneered.
"Ben..." Rey uttered, but she never got to finish the sentence, as he stopped her with the darkest, most deadly glare she had ever seen.
"Don't you dare call me that." His voice left no space for arguments.
"What happened to you?" Rey didn't understand. Wasn't she a prisoner of the First Order? Kylo Ren should be their Supreme Leader by now.
Kylo didn't reply, didn't blink. Their connection was flooded with his dark anger.
She discovered the heavy chains around his wrists. He was just as much of a prisoner as her. Injured and unable to move even an inch.
A flash. A memory of their hands reaching out across the galaxy, touching for barely a second.
Them, together, fighting side by side.
Rey heard his words, as a distant echo in her mind: "we can rule together!"
After the Battle of Crait, she had learned to shut him out of her consciousness. But the memories, his face and his words, would not let go of her.
"What is going on?" She asked, trying not to feel sorry for him.
Suddenly it occurred to her, that it might hurt him to talk. She hesitated for a second, then dropped her mental shield, reaching out to him through their bond.
"Get out of my head. Scavenger." Kylo growled.
What happened to you? She asked silently, ignoring his demand. He was far too weak to throw her out.
Lacking other ammunition, he tossed his memories and emotions at her like energy bolts. Violent rage, bloodthirst, and pain. She saw an insane fight. His red lightsaber flashing wildly around him. Blaster shots and injection projectiles raining down on him. The First Order had turned against him. Attacking him with full force and - correctly - blamed him for the murder of the Supreme Leader.
Frustration and anger from his own weakness, topped with the bitter taste of betrayal.
You are not weak, she said, in an attempt to comfort him.
His eyes grew darker. Piercing her with contempt.
They needed to work together like they had fighting Snoke’s guards.
Are you crazy? Don't you feel the power of this place? Kylo was reading her mind.
Yes, she felt it. A dark energy emitting from the floor. As if the wet stone was absorbing her strength with every attempt to use the Force. It was just as aggressive and violent as the darkness emitting from Kylo.
What are you doing? He asked when she struggled to cross her legs and sit straight in the meditation position.
Shss... was her only answer, as she reached out to the Force.
Rey felt his disgust, Skywalker's favorite fighting style he mocked, but she ignored him.
Disregarding the constant throbbing in her head, she reached out.
As she did, she immediately felt how the pull at her mental connection to the Force intensified.
She let her senses explore their prison. The stone. The transparasteel surrounding them. The insects living around them in the cell.
Kylo...
The dark energy was practically bleeding his mental power down through the floor. In comparison, the pull she felt from the floor was that of an impatient child. This was not a prison meant for her. Someone had gone to great lengths to make sure that Kylo Ren wouldn't escape.
It made sense.
Rey knew better than anyone just how powerful Kylo Ren really was.
Seeing him so tied down and beaten, made her chest grow tighter. She wanted to help him, to ease the pain, and she let her power flow in his direction.
-
Kylo gasped. He had been hit by an incredible force that drowned his senses and emptyed his mind.
Rey collapsed on the stone floor and he lost consciousness.