Archive of Our Own

"We have a new mission for you, if you're interested," Rose said.

Rey looked up at her from the X-wing part she was working on.

"Oh?" Rey asked. It was a relief to hear. Along with ship repairs, she had been spending a lot of time studying the Jedi texts and training, and she knew that some of the Resistance was resentful. Poe, for one, had been trying to get her to fly missions with his squad. "What is the mission?"

"To infiltrate the First Order and bring back Armitage Hux's cat," said Rose.

Rey blinked and set down her spanner. That was not what she had been expecting. "Can you... explain that further?"

"Hux risked his life to pass information to the Resistance, and risked his life again when he defected,” Rose said, her voice full of emotion. “All of his information has been good. Thanks to him, we may be able to reunite children who were taken for the Stormtrooper program with their parents. Finn thinks that some of the older troopers should be able to break free, too, like he did."

"That's amazing," Rey said, and meant it. "But I don't understand how the mission relates—"

"Hux had a pet cat named Millicent. When he defected, he had to leave her behind. He misses her, and well...you've escaped First Order ships twice. If anyone can get Millicent back, you can,” Rose said. Her eyes were full of hopeful expectation.

"Leia's approved this mission?" Rey asked slowly.

"Yes," said Rose. "She wants to talk to you, too, of course."

Rey looked down at her part, then back at Rose. "You sound...personally concerned about Hux. I mean, I know you're his handler..." Hux had kept to himself since coming to Ajan Kloss, and Rey knew that Rose had spent a lot of time with him.

Was Rose blushing? "Well, it's, I mean—"

"I'm not judging," Rey added hastily. How could she? Even now part of her was hoping she would see Kylo during the mission. If she took the mission. Besides, many members of the Resistance were former Imperial officers, or fugitives from the wrath of the criminal syndicates.

"Well, I'm not his handler anymore, because he's not a spy anymore," said Rose. "So if I want to be with him, if he wants that...it's okay now."

Rey nodded. "Umm, one more thing..."

"Yes?" Rose asked.

"What - what's a cat?"

*

Kylo stared at the plant on his desk. Green, heart-shaped leaves trailed out of a black six-sided pot. Some representative of a First Order-affiliated planet had given it to him. He didn't remember the person or the world, but he liked the plant more than he expected to. Some part of him wondered if that was the Scavenger, a bit of her personality rubbing off on him. Maybe that's why he had kept the thing around. It was a plant nicknamed "Sith Ivy", because it could practically grow in the dark. A droid watered it occasionally, and that was it.

It was, however, poisonous to cats. So far Millicent had stayed in Kylo's bedroom, but he wasn't willing to take a chance. The office, typical of First Order efficiency, adjoined Kylo's personal quarters. (Or was it typical, thought Kylo scornfully, of the way the First Order expected work to be one's life?)

The plant needed to go elsewhere. Maybe to one of his officers. Allegiant General Pryde was a logical choice, as the highest ranking one. However, Kylo could already imagine Pryde asking how a potted plant would contribute to restoring the former glory of the Empire, so that was a nonstarter.

Kylo hadn't thought he would ever miss Hux, or have any good opinions about him, but he found he had one. Hux had been, or had very least had seemed, committed to the First Order as it was and as it could be-committed to the future, not stuck in the past. Kylo hadn't realized how valuable that was until he had spent more time with Pryde.

Of course, it turned out Hux was a traitor.

But still, he had found an adorable cat. And now Kylo was taking care of her.

As if on cue, Millicent meowed and scratched at the door to his office. Kylo smiled in spite of himself. “On my way,” he said.

He opened the door and picked her up, ignoring the fur she shed on his black clothing. She purred and nuzzled his arm, then started wiggling like she wanted to be set down again. He did so, and she made a little chirping sound, walking a few steps back into the bedroom, then looking back at him. She walked over toward the closet where he kept her toys. She wanted to play, he realized.

“Just let me take care of something, and I will,” Kylo said, as if she could understand him. He shut the door again and called for one of his personal droids. Bellava Parnadee could have the plant. She'd complimented his repaired helmet, and had recently won some victories with ground forces too.

He had a different being to take care of now.

*

A week later, Rey met with Leia and Rose as they made final preparations for the mission to rescue Millicent, who apparently was a being fairly similar to the tookas that Rey was more familiar with from the Holonet. (She had never seen a tooka in person, either.)

The briefing room was designed to accommodate an entire squadron of X-wing pilots, but instead only contained the three of them and a table with some unfamiliar objects.

Rose pulled up schematics on the large screen at the front of the room. “This is the Star Destroyer Steadfast. It's the flagship of Allegiant General Pryde, who now commands all of the First Order military. It's where Hux defected from, and where Kylo Ren has made his headquarters as well.”

As always, Rey tried to keep her face a neutral mask when Kylo was mentioned. Was Leia looking at her? She looked at Rose instead and the schematics scrolling past on the screen.

“Here are the officers' quarters,” Rose said. “This is the last known location of Millicent, although being a cat she could have easily snuck into somewhere else. According to Hux, she was popular with all of the staff who knew about her, so there's a good chance someone would have adopted her, probably someone who worked with Hux closely.”

“I'm wondering if—if Kylo Ren would have adopted her,” said Leia. She sounded like she wanted to say a different name. For a moment, her eyes were distant, as if she was lost in a memory. Then she shook her head. “So you will need to be careful, of course.”

“Of course,” Rey said. They were discussing sending her onto a huge enemy ship entirely alone. The need for caution was obvious. “So, how am I going to get onto this ship, anyway?”

“That's easy enough,” Leia said. “They need interns.”

Rey stared. “They need...what?”

“Interns, apparently,” Rose said. “They do low-level jobs around the ship, especially in administration. It's supposed to be an easier way to get an “in” into the civilian staff of the First Order. No one pays much attention to the interns, either.”

“Still, don't you think someone would recognize me?” Rey asked. “I mean, I must be on some surveillance footage somewhere.”

“We'll give you a disguise that should work well enough,” Rose said. “Curiosity isn't exactly rewarded in the First Order. And we have other supplies for you as well.” She gestured to the table. “These are Millicent's favorite cat treats—luckily it's a common enough brand out here in the Outer Rim. And this is a backpack with a collapsible bit with airholes that will fold out into a carrier for Millicent.”

“How easy will it be to catch Millicent and put her in the carrier when I find her?” Rey asked.

“It's not expected to be easy, no. But that's why you have the treats,” said Rose.

Rey blinked. This whole mission was completely absurd. As the Resistance's Jedi, she was outside of its military hierarchy. In fact, her role in its structure was not entirely clear. She could just say “no, thank you,” and walk away.

But of course she wouldn't. She'd seen herself how useful Hux's intelligence had been, and she couldn't blame him for wanting his pet back. She was the only one of them with a half-decent chance of succeeding at this.

And if she was secretly excited about seeing Ben—no, Kylo—again, in spite of everything – well, she'd just keep that to herself.

*

In spite of Rose and Leia's assurances, Rey hadn't expected getting hired as a First Order intern to actually be easy. She had been fully prepared to deploy a mind trick or two when she talked to the recruiter on board the Steadfast.

Instead, the recruiter barely checked her (forged) credentials or asked her any questions at all. Apparently they were desperate for interns. She overheard people talking in hushed voices about some sort of incident that had happened last week. She didn't hear any details, but Rey tried not to worry too much. She could handle herself, right? That was why she was here, on this mission, all alone...

It turned out her fellow interns weren't a terribly curious bunch, either. No one seemed to examine her very closely, or scrutinize her blond wig and large glasses. She introduced herself as Kira and no one batted an eye.

"So basically, we get drinks to the officers, wrangle mouse droids, make posters...all the jobs that aren't military or done by droids, and that other people don't want to do," said Gavyn, one of the interns. With his pale skin and red hair, he looked like he could be Hux's cousin, but a cousin who had clearly spent his life glaring at printers, not commanding things.

"That's it?" Rey asked.

"I mean, pretty much,” Gavyn said. He sighed. “Make sure you print the posters the correct way, or we'll all never hear the end of it. And sometimes the officers just want people to talk to. It's more pleasant with some than others. Allegiant General Pryde is really nasty if you mess up his caf order. You'll get a long lecture on how you're not living up to the glory of the old Empire. Of course, you might get a lecture on the glory of the old Empire no matter what."

"General Parnadee has the best war stories," said another intern, whose nametag said Zala. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. "And if you ever want to learn more about tactics, maybe rise in the ranks, she loves to talk about military history and dissect the battles of the Clone Wars."

"If you'd been hired earlier, I would have warned you about Admiral Lorne," said a third intern. Tannor, Rey read on his nametag, mentally matching up names and faces and hoping she would remember. "He was the biggest asshole of them all."

"Was?" Rey asked.

"Yep. This intern who was here last week was supposed to bring him and some other commanders their blue milk order. I heard from an aide on the bridge that that intern, Randy I think his name was, smashed his skull with his mind or something when Lorne yelled at him."

"Randy—you mean Kylo Ren," Gavyn said. Rey tried hard to keep her expression neutral, wondering if she was going to have to use mind tricks after all. "He was definitely Kylo Ren."

"You met the Supreme Leader?" asked Rey, trying to sound like a starstruck fan. As opposed to what she really was, which was...complicated. But definitely not starstruck.

"Well, yes. He said he was an intern, but we all knew,” Gavyn said.

"He asked me if I thought Rey would take his hand the next time he offered,” Zala said. “He was so intense. How was I supposed to know? How was I supposed to care?"

Rey tried not to freeze. She tried not to blush. She tried to focus on keeping her emotions steady, but she really hadn't gotten the hang of Jedi meditation yet.

Kylo was still thinking of her? He still wanted her to take his hand? That was...a surprise. And not an unpleasant one.

"And he aggressed me!" said Tannor, saving her from needing to respond. "And broke all our printers! We haven't set up the replacements yet."

That was familiar territory at least. "I could set them up," Rey said. “I know my way around machines.” They couldn't have been worse than some of the junk she had got back to working order on Jakku.

“Really?” Gavyn asked, like she was offering the interns a buffet of the best sweets in the Galaxy.

“Sure,” Rey said.

*

Rey had spent literally as long as she could remember among the remnants of the old Empire's technology. She had disassembled far more complicated machines than these printers by the time she was ten years old, and in worse working conditions as well.

Still, she had to admit there was something peculiarly awful about them. Compared to the tech she had grown up taking apart, these seemed cheap, like a bad copy made with worse parts.

Awful or not, she got them set up, she got them running, and then got them running again after they all jammed in their first ten minutes of operation.

“That's it, we're buying you drinks at the next intern party!” Gavyn said.

Rey wondered how soon that would be. After all, was only here until she could get Hux's cat and leave.

But she also couldn't be caught in the process, so she might be here a while. “Can't wait!” she said.

*

After the printers were once more chugging along, Rey turned to the thick binder that was the First Order's style manual. There were rules for everything—colors, sizes of text, margins, what could and couldn't be done with the First Order's symbol. There was a lot about the proper placement on banners, uniforms, and military vehicles. By the time Rey had gone through it, she had a dozen ideas of rebellion and subtle sabotage by means of design.

But as entertaining as they were to imagine, that wasn't why she was here. She was here to find Hux's cat. One tiny animal, on an immense Star Destroyer.

All life was connected to the Force, but that didn't mean she could pick out one organism on a ship this size. Besides, if she opened herself up to the Force, there was always the chance that Kylo could sense her.

The bond between her and Kylo had often seemed to have a mind of its own. She'd never believed that it had been caused by Snoke—not when it persisted after his death, more glorious than ever as they had fought the guards in the throne room. She'd felt Snoke's slimy touch in her mind, and still shuddered when she remembered it. Her bond with Kylo was nothing like that—when he had told her she wasn't alone, it had sung with all the beauty and vibrance of the Force in balance.

And when she'd seen him as the Falcon left Crait, she'd slammed the bond closed and kept it closed, still feeling the sting of his betrayal on the Supremacy and afterwards. Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised, but it hurt to feel him choose the First Order over her.

In the months since, she'd occasionally gotten feelings and impressions through the bond, always fleeting. Once, she'd seen him standing in the corner of the room, and she'd closed the bond as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the longing she still felt.

She'd felt it from him too, even in the brief glimpses she got. The truth was, he seemed miserable. Terribly lonely, although that had lessened just a little in the last month. Maybe Leia's instincts that he had adopted Milicent were correct.

Now on board the Steadfast, Rey kept her end of the bond carefully closed. It was far too dangerous to do otherwise. But even so, she sensed him sometimes, a distant hidden presence, and even after everything part of her still wanted to reach out.

But she didn't, of course.

*

A week passed. Between her work setting up the printers (and then repairing them at least once a day), and the way her posters always fit the First Order's styles guides perfectly, Rey got a reputation as the most technical intern.

This meant that people kept bringing her more and more office equipment to fix. On one hand, she didn't mind. She did all her repair work in the intern office, which was probably the safest place she could have been on the ship. The only people who spent much time there were the interns themselves, and none of the officers that passed through seemed to suspect anything about her or want to give her any trouble, not when she was making their jobs easier. She liked repairing machines and found the process calming.

The problem was everyone appreciated her technical skills so much that no one wanted her running menial errands, so she still hadn't made it up to where the senior officers worked. And although apparently Kylo had briefly pretended to be an intern named Randy, that had been short-lived and he hadn't come to see the interns since.

Somehow, she had to get herself on caf delivery duty.

And then the next morning, as if the Force had heard her, she got her chance. Zala walked in holding her datapad, her face completely white. “We got a caf order—from Kylo Ren. The Supreme Leader never orders caf.”

“I'll take care of it,” Rey said, hoping she sounded suitably nervous but resigned.

“I—you—” Zala sputtered.

“Sounds good to me,” Gavyn said quickly, walking into the office behind her.

Zala sent the order to Rey's datapad. “Good luck, Kira,” she said to her.

“Thanks,” said Rey. The other interns waved to her solemnly, looking like they thought they would never see her again.

Her backpack secure on her back, Rey went to the canteen to get the caf order, then up the turbolift to the floor where the senior officers' offices and quarters were. She breathed and listened to the Force, but still tried to keep the bond between her and Kylo closed.

She had a bad feeling about this. Was the caf order a coincidence, or had Kylo somehow sensed her? But no, that couldn't be true. Could it?

The turbolift door opened, and Rey walked out into a hallway that looked basically like every other hallway on the Steadfast. She'd memorized the maps of this floor and the adjoining floors, and knew every turn between Kylo's office and the nearest escape pods.

Kylo's office was the middle door in the hallway. She knocked on the door, then stepped back. She took a deep breath.

The door opened, and suddenly Rey stood face to face with Kylo, with no helmet between them. He was there, in all his presence, and some tiny part of her noticed that his hands were ungloved as well. She tried not to remember a hand reaching for her over a fire...

“I brought—your caf—” she managed to say, trying to push away the surge of emotions she felt through the Force. And from the Force as well, as if it was rejoicing now that they were near each other again.

“Rey—” he said, and the bond opened.

It ached and it felt so good. Rey had missed this, and here she was standing with her heart open to Kylo Ren in the middle of a hallway on the Steadfast with her ridiculous intern outfit on and a backpack on her back, holding a plain iced caf.

And then there was a yowling sound from somewhere behind Kylo, and a blur of orange fur ran past him and off down the Star Destroyer's hallway.

“Millicent!” Kylo bellowed, and took off running after her.

*

Barely a breath later, Rey followed, still clutching the caf. She smelled the bitter liquid that splashed onto her hands through the straw as she chased Kylo and Millicent.

Stormtroopers and officers alike dove out of their way. Two officers holding datapads turned on their heels and walked the other direction. Rey saw them out of the corner of her eye as she kept up the chase.

The Force flared in warning to Rey's left and she saw Millicent turn down a smaller hallway she might have missed otherwise. Kylo skidded, then turned. Rey was right behind him now, with Millicent still well ahead.

There was no point in hiding from Kylo in the Force anymore. She couldn't bear to close the bond again. It meant they could sense each other's intentions, but it also meant they moved together as they chased Millicent, like they were on the same side and not competing.

Perhaps that was for the best. There were so many places that Millicent could hide, and so many ways she could get into trouble on a Star Destroyer. If both of them were chasing her, hopefully it meant a better chance that they would find her and she would be safe.

Rey had seen this hallway on the blueprints—some kind of service corridor that she hadn't paid much attention to as it didn't lead to anywhere that seemed useful. Clearly she hadn't been considering how a cat would see it.

There was barely enough room for them to run side by side. Here and there the smooth wall paneling found in the larger hallways gave ways to sections of exposed cabling, pipes, and wires. Rey restrained her curiosity and kept running.

They followed Millicent around another corner, and then quickly came to a halt. The end of the hallway was a docking station for mouse droids, and Millicent sat next to them as if she was surveying them or proudly showing off what she had caught. She licked one paw, staring at Rey and Kylo the whole time.

Both of them stood frozen in the hallway, as if neither of them wanted to startle her again, or each other. They caught their breath, and Rey realized they were breathing in unison. It was like they were allies again, even if briefly, the way it had felt in the fight with Snoke's guards.

But Rey was on a mission. She reached into a pocket and Kylo's head snapped toward her.

“Cat treats,” she said, holding up the pouch. Kylo exhaled.

Rey had miscalculated, though. Between the caf and the cat treats, her hands were full. “Here,” she said to Kylo, and offered him the caf. He took it, seemingly on reflex.

It was her chance. She crouched down, holding the cat treats out to Millicent. Millicent took a step toward Rey, sniffed, but didn't come any closer.

Kylo looked at the caf, took a sip, then set it down. He stayed crouched as well. “It's okay, Millicent,” he said in a quiet voice. “Come here, and we can go back home.”

Rey shook the bag of treats. Millicent walked closer then, and closer. She was now on Rey's side of the hallway, not Kylo's, although there wasn't much space between them.

Rey saw her chance. She lunged forward but tripped on a mouse droid that suddenly left its docking station.

She used the Force to catch herself and was unhurt, but Millicent dodged out of her way toward Kylo instead. He scooped her up into his arms, and his relief shone through the Force.

Rey stood up, and faced him and Millicent. The cat glared at Rey, as if daring Rey to grab her.

Well, that could have gone better.

But Kylo didn't move, or even speak. Instead, he looked at Rey—at her lips—the way he had in the elevator on the Supremacy, his Force signature raw with longing.

Oh, she knew that feeling. She looked into his warm golden-brown eyes and remembered the way he had told her she wasn't alone.

She took one step closer, Millicent still a ball of suspicion between them.

“Supreme Leader,” called a voice further down the hallway.

Kylo's expression turned hard and cold instantly, a mask back in place even though he wore no helmet. “Officer Kandia,” he said.

“One of my subordinates said you were running down the hall,” said Kandia. “I came to see if there was an emergency.” She pointedly glanced at Millicent, and then at Rey.

“No emergency,” said Kylo. “I will meet with you later today.”

Kandia heard it for the dismissal it clearly was, turned neatly, and walked away from them.

“We'll discuss this in my office, intern,” Kylo growled. Rey hoped it was just for Kandia's benefit. “Bring the caf.”

Rey had a role to play. She brought the caf. Kylo brought the cat, still curled up in his arms and glaring at Rey.

Kandia was nowhere to be seen when they emerged from the hallway. Kylo strode back toward his office, and Rey followed. What else was she going to do? After all, he had Millicent.

The office door closed. They stood facing each other, neither reaching for a weapon, although she could clearly see the lightsaber on his belt. Her own, newly repaired, was carefully concealed in her intern outfit. After a tense moment, Kylo turned his back on Rey and sat down behind his enormous desk, making sure Millicent wasn't jostled as he did so.

His chair was huge as well, and he somehow still managed to make it look small. He took a small box from his pocket and set it on the desk, pushing the button.

Rey flinched.

“It's a silence field,” said Kylo. “Covers this office.” He sat back in his chair. Millicent squirmed, and he let her go. She ran to a corner of the room and started batting at a crinkled-up piece of foil that seemed to be there for that purpose.

Rey tensed, considering trying to pick her up and run out of the room.

Behind her, the door locked audibly.

“Please don't,” said Kylo, sounding more tired than angry.

She turned back to him and tried to glare like Millicent. The bond wasn't quite as open as it had been, but the Force still swirled around them, full of longing.

She was still holding the caf. She set it down on his desk. Immediately, Millicent jumped onto the desk and crouched next to the cup, her tail swishing back and forth.

“You've been here for a week,” he said. “Why did you come here? At this point, I doubt it's to take my hand and reign as my Dark Empress, as much as I might wish.”

She shook her head. Then she thought about what he said. “Wait—you knew I was here?” she asked. She shifted on her feet, considering the room and Kylo. There was a closed door behind him. She knew from the floorplans that she studied that it eventually led to an exit, although she would have to go through his bedroom first. She didn't want to think about that particular room too hard.

“You shine in the Force,” Kylo said, awe in his voice. “I knew as soon as you approached the Steadfast. The only others who might have noticed were the Knights of Ren. Which is why they aren't here—I sent them to the edge of the Outer Rim to look for Sith artifacts.”

Rey blinked at him. “So wait—did you order a caf on purpose, so I would bring it to you?”

“Yes,” said Kylo, like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Like it was the most ordinary thing in the world for them to be in this room and simply talk. “I had hoped you would come up to this deck sooner with a coffee order, but my intelligence officers heard that you were kept busy fixing all the broken office equipment. Still, I figured if it was for me directly, you were likely to go yourself.”

“Yes,” said Rey. The Force was still a subtle undercurrent between them, a connection, not a warning.

“And you came here with cat treats,” Kylo said. “Was your mission really just for Millicent? Are you trying to bring her back to that traitor?”

His voice rose. This was the Kylo that Rey had first known. But under the anger, there was such sadness.

Rose and Leia had prepared for this possibility. Once they had done what they could with the intelligence Hux had brought with him, they no longer tried to keep his presence in the Resistance a secret. In fact, they had created a holonet broadcast showing him with the Resistance, hoping to urge more members of the First Order to defect.

Rey was about to say something, or nothing—she wasn't quite sure, actually. And then there was a knock on the door.

“Leader Ren,” said someone from the other side of the door. His voice was extremely dignified and his accent was Coruscanti. “I have a serious matter to discuss.”

Rey looked at Kylo. He sighed quietly, held his finger to his lips, then put on his helmet. It was covered with a network of red lines, like it had been shattered and put back together.

“Come in, Allegiant General,” Kylo said, his voice now modified, and the door opened.

A man walked through the door in an impeccable uniform, holding some sort of stick that he tapped against his boots as he walked. Rey recognized Allegiant General Pryde from the holos the other interns had shown her.

He came to attention in front of Kylo's desk. “Leader Ren,” he said again. “I must register a complaint about your treatment of the Supreme Council.”

“Yes?” said Kylo. Even, or maybe especially, through the helmet, he sounded bored.

“It’s about your distribution of gifts, Supreme Leader,” said the Allegiant General. “I saw that you had given Bellava Parnadee a potted plant.” His tone was almost petulant. He glanced toward Rey and started. “And why is there an intern here?” he asked, sounding offended.

“She was bringing me caf,” Kylo said, sounding even more bored. He gestured toward the desk, where Millicent was reaching for the half-full cup of caf with a tentative paw.

“She could overhear something classified,” sniffed Pryde. “And then that creature is on your desk. Leader Ren, I am trying to help you uphold the standards and dignity of the First Order, the worthy heir to Emperor Palpatine's—”

Rey's fellow interns had warned her about Pryde's lectures, and now she was experiencing one. Millicent seemed to have no patience for it either. It was at that exact moment that she batted a paw at the iced caf, knocking it toward Pryde and his starched, pristine uniform.

Act like an intern—Rey moved on pure instinct, attempting to steady the cup and snatch it out of Millicent's way. But Pryde moved at the same moment, and Rey crashed into him. The caf splashed all over her khaki First Order logo vest. It was cold, and she staggered back into Pryde again with the shock of it. She righted herself, managing not to hold onto the Allegiant General, but her blond wig slipped in the process. It momentarily hung off of one ear, then fell to the floor, dragging her glasses half off her face as well.

Everyone was frozen for a moment.

Pryde leaned closer, peering at her face. He pointed a finger at her. “You! You're the Last Jedi! Supreme Leader, you have been harboring a Jedi as an intern! Who knows what damage she's already caused.”

“I just fixed printers!” Rey shouted, refusing to break character even though she had been found out. “And made signs! Correct signs!” She reached for the Force, trying to steady her breathing. Maybe she could try a Jedi mind trick on Pryde before this escalated any further.

“Leader Ren!” Pryde said. “Did you or did you not know the Last Jedi had infiltrated the First Order?” He was reaching for his blaster. The escalation was here.

The Force surged. Rey reached for her lightsaber at the same time as a humming sound filled the air. A blade of scarlet light cut through Pryde as Kylo leapt to put himself between her and the Allegiant General, now suddenly deceased.

The lightsaber turned off. The halves of Pryde slumped to the ground. It reminded Rey of the throne room on the Supremacy. But this time, they were alone in the office. There was silence.

Kylo turned to her. After a moment, he took off his helmet and dropped on the desk. Millicent batted at it a couple of times, then jumped onto Kylo's chair and sat there like she belonged there.

Rey looked back at Kylo. His eyes were wide with concern as he stared at her. “You're safe?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Rey. Her clothes were wet and she smelled like caf, but that hardly seemed worth mentioning.

His shoulders dropped in an exhale, and he glanced over his shoulder at Pryde. “I'll tell them he was a traitor,” he muttered, talking more to himself than to her. “Promote Parnadee. Why not? I already gave her the plant after all...And no one else knows about you. I had the silence field on too. Nothing has to change.”

He sounded miserable, not triumphant, and his Force signature was full of loneliness.

“Or...” said Rey quietly, hoping for a different outcome than the last time they had stood in a room with a fallen enemy nearby. “Or you could come back with me. And Millicent.”

As if she recognized her name, Millicent meowed. Kylo stilled, looking stricken.

The Force flowed delicately around her and Kylo, embracing them. But no, that wasn't the right name. Not really. Not for the man who stood before Rey, looking at her with warm brown eyes filled with desperation and longing. “Ben,” Rey whispered, slowly reaching for his face, giving him time to back away.

He didn't. Instead he stepped closer, and she cupped his cheek in her hand. He gave a tiny shudder, like it had been a long time since he had been touched. His skin was warm. At the touch, the Force hummed in approval like it too was a cat.

“Rey,” Ben said, his voice husky. He was looking at her lips again.

Rey put an arm around his shoulders, and he leaned into her. And she kissed him, softly at first, and then more intensely as he returned the kiss eagerly. The Force sang around them.

Eventually the kiss ended and they separated, but they didn't move too far away. Ben rested his forehead on hers.

She'd let herself imagine something like this, once. Leaving Ahch-to on the Falcon, on her way to the Supremacy, she'd briefly wondered what Ben's lips would feel like, what it would be like to feel his whole body hugging her instead of the barest brush of fingers through the Force.

It was magnificent. It was far better than she could imagine. His hand found her face, and just like that, they were kissing again.

*

Alone in his office, Ben had planned for contingency after contingency. Sometimes, when he was especially lonely, he'd imagined Rey there with him. He wasn't sure it was always his imagination, either. He'd seen her in the room once or twice, the Force rushing in his ears like a waterfall, and then she'd been gone and he'd had no way to reach her. Except for the barest hints of emotions and presence, the bond stayed stubbornly closed.

And then, a week ago, she'd suddenly arrived. She was here, on his ship, and she'd stayed away from him. The only information he could get without drawing attention to her and therefore further endangering her was that there was a new intern who was very good with machines.

He'd felt a strange sort of pride at that. That was her, his Scavenger. Of course she was brilliant with equipment. He'd waited, knowing that sooner or later she would finally come face him—and she hadn't. There had been no reports of sabotage. She had just been—interning.

He had waited for a whole week, yearning for her more each day, hoping for her safety in a way completely unsuited to his sworn enemy. She'd been so close. And now she was here. Not yelling at him or fighting, but here in his arms, kissing him. Her lips were the best thing he had ever felt. He could have never planned for this, but now it was the only thing he wanted.

Fear rose up in him, the old fear, in spite of the stubborn sparks of light and hope now flaring in his heart. He stopped kissing Rey and put a little distance between their lips.“I could really come back? Come home? After-”

Rey pulled him close and nodded against his shoulder. “Yes,” she said. “Your mother even said—”

His breath caught in his throat in hope.

“When I was about to leave on the mission,” she continued. “The last thing she said to me before I got in the shuttle was, 'I know you can bring home Millicent. What I'm really hoping, though, is that you'll bring home my son as well.'”

*

Ben buried his head in Rey's shoulder, roiling emotions bare in the Force. He took a deep breath, and his presence became calmer, more certain. He kissed her again, and his face broke out into a wide grin. She'd never seen him smile like that. She'd never seen him smile at all.

She caressed his cheek. He had dimples.

“Yes,” he said, like he had been waiting to say this for years. “I'll come home with you.”

“And Millicent,” Rey said.

“Yeah, and Millicent,” Ben said. “But we should hurry. Sooner or later someone will want to talk to me.”

“Then I should...” Rey said. She gestured to her fallen wig.

“I've got a mirror in my quarters,” said Ben. “And we can get to a shuttle from there.”

Rey fixed her wig and put on her glasses looking in Ben's mirror, trying not to be too distracted by the bed that was also in the room. From what she could sense in the Force and the redness of Ben's ears, he felt the same way.

“Soon,” she whispered, and he blushed more. “When we're home safe.”

“Home,” he murmured, and the lust in his Force signature was replaced with a more wistful longing.

“Yes,” Rey said. “You can be home there too.”

They kissed again, more briefly this time but no less passionately. And then Rey checked again to make sure her wig was straight and her glasses were on securely. She was bringing Ben, and he was bringing Millicent. There was nothing else she needed to worry about on this ship.

Millicent had followed them into the bedroom. “Come here, sweetie,” Ben said. She gave a little mrr and walked closer. He scooped her up carefully into his arms.

Rey had the carrier backpack open and cat treats in her hand, and together they managed to get her inside, although not without some yowling. She quieted once Ben held the backpack. He put on his helmet and they were ready to go.

Before they opened the door that would lead to the corridor and the shuttle bay, Ben took out his datapad. He typed for a bit, then turned off the datapad with a grin and tucked it away in a pocket in his tunic.

“That should keep them busy and out of our way,” he said. “I promoted Parnadee, Griss, and Engel, and called for an inspection of all units in an hour. No one will pay any attention to us —they'll be too busy scrambling.”

And in fact, when they emerged into the hallway no one was there. There were sounds of frantic movement and marching feet in nearby hallways, but no one approached Rey and Ben.

The shuttle bay was guarded by two stormtroopers who frantically moved out of the way as Ben walked toward them. They didn't seem to notice Rey at all, or Millicent for that matter. The First Order really didn't reward curiosity—or Ben had intimidated a lot of people in the past. Probably both.

But something new could begin now, if they could just get out of here.

The shuttle ramp descended and they walked in, and Ben began preparing it for takeoff. He didn't rush, acting like everything about this was perfectly routine. Rey knew that his casual demeanor was necessary and would avoid suspicion—she'd practiced such things herself. Still, she felt like she would jump out of her skin. So she took a deep breath and focused on the Force instead.

The hatch locked and the life support cycled on. Everything was ready. Ben settled himself in the pilot's seat and Rey settled herself in the co-pilot's. After a moment, Ben handed her Millicent's carrier. “Now, behave,” he told the cat, and Millicent meowed.

Rey focused on the Force and Ben's presence as the shuttle bay's doors opened. The shuttle's engines ignited and they flew out. Rey's heart jumped into her throat as a squadron of TIE fighters flew past, but they continued on their way, clearly patrolling or practicing maneuvers that had nothing to do with the shuttle passing by them.

They flew quickly away from the Steadfast, and soon Ben pulled the lever and the starlines of hyperspace filled the viewscreen.

They had escaped.

*

They came out of hyperspace outside of the Ajara system, a ways from Ajan Kloss. Rey activated the binary beacon she wore camouflaged as an anklet, hidden under her intern trousers. “Now they know we're nearby. And they won't shoot when they see a First Order shuttle approaching,” Rey said.

“Perfect,” said Ben. He took out his datapad. “And I have some goodies for the Resistance here on this. Lots of useful data. The tracking chip just happened to get broken the last time I threw it across the room—too bad it was never fixed.”

“Too bad,” agreed Rey, matching Ben's sarcastic tone. “I could have done something about that. I mean, Kira the Intern could have, at least.”

Ben laughed. Rey remembered she was still wearing the wig and glasses, and she took them off. “I won't be needing these anymore,” she said.

Following Rey's directions, Ben brought the shuttle down on the outskirts of the base’s landing field. They both reached for Millicent’s carrier at the same time, and then Rey gestured to Ben that he should take it.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked, as the shuttle’s ramp descended.

Ben turned to her. “Barely,” he said, with a little laugh. “But yes, I am.”

She kissed him soundly, and Millicent yowled where they held her between them. “Okay, okay,” Rey said. “Let’s get you home.”

They walked through the jungle toward the base. Rey kept herself open to the Force, sensitive to the slightest warning.

Leia and Rose were waiting for her signal and would have spread the word, so she wasn’t surprised that when they walked into the open area between the main base buildings, there were people waiting for them.

Rose was at the front of the group, and she broke into a broad grin. “You did it!” she said. She turned around and called behind her, “Armie, she did it! Rey brought Millicent home.”

She hadn’t mentioned Ben, and when Rey saw the expression on “Armie’s” face, she thought she knew why. His face twisted from a soft smile to a scowl when he saw who was holding the carrier. “Ren!” he almost growled. “You stole my cat!” He started running toward Ben.

He shouldn’t be armed, but Rey didn’t want to take any chances. She lifted a hand and froze him in place with the Force.

“I brought her home!” Ben said, his own voice close to a growl. He stepped forward, offering the backpack containing Millicent. “And my name’s Ben!” He took another step forward to where Rey still held Hux frozen. Next to Hux, Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out a taser, holding it meaningfully by her side.

Toward the back of the crowd people moved aside. General Leia appeared on Rose’s other side, and made a sharp downward gesture. “Stand down, everyone!”

Rose put away the taser and Rey released her Force hold on Hux. Hux took a couple of steps backward.

There was absolute silence, and then with a cry Leia ran forward and hugged Ben tightly, Millicent’s carrier still held between them. They separated long enough for Leia to take the carrier and gently hand it to Hux, and then she hugged her son again. “Welcome home,” Rey heard her say, sounding close to tears. Rey’s own eyes teared up, too.

Rose and Hux were still standing nearby. Hux opened the carrier and gently lifted Millicent out, holding her close. She purred, a rumbly noise that carried over the sounds of the base and the jungle.

He held Millicent out to Rose, with the most uncertain expression Rey had ever seen on his face. “So do you...uh...do you like cats?”