Chapter Text
The wedding ring felt heavy on Finn’s finger.
“Yes, I’m here to see my husband,” he said again. This was the fourth checkpoint, and the fourth time he was incredulously quizzed as soon as the guards checked his permit. He raised the hand with the ring.
It might have been formed out of some random piece of metal via telekinesis, and by a very drunken Force user at that, but Kylo had done a good job with it. After thorough polishing it looked very official. Rey had been so awkward when she offered him the bottle of polish.
It had been her peace offering. Poe’s had been to fly him to this New Republic high-security prison hidden in an out-of-the-way nebula. Rey would have come, too, but she didn’t have the necessary security clearance. Being the Jedi hope of the galaxy meant little to bureaucrats.
“There is no mistake, I’m speaking of Kylo Ren,” he added when they continued to linger over the permit.
Finn didn’t begrudge the guards their incredulity. Infamous crimes aside, he doubted Ren was the kind of compliant prisoner who made you think yes, this is the kind of guy someone would want to marry.
He was led down more tunnels and through another check, and then it was Finn’s turn to be shocked, for, “are you letting me enter his cell?!”
The two guards accompanying him exchanged a look, before the tall Twi’lek turned to him. “We have the ysalamiri positioned perfectly around his cell. We can’t provide the same arrangement in a meeting room on such short notice, or guarantee for a safe transport.”
He read hostility between the lines, and understood. Of course. He was Ren’s husband. In their eyes it made him complicit in his crimes. And he should probably stop looking terrified of being reunited with his beloved spouse.
Only… As he was ushered through the double door system, Finn’s heart kept pounding ever faster.
The first time he had run into Kylo Ren, the man had drunkenly married him.
The last time he had run into Kylo Ren, he had hacked up Finn’s back, nearly killing him and leaving him injured for months.
There was a distinct downward spiral to their encounters. Finn wasn’t keen to explore the next logical step.
Finn had been fine with the idea of talking to him through a transparisteel wall. He hadn’t counted on being locked in with him.
A lifetime of military discipline made him walk through the door anyway.
Kylo’s cell was a large enough room, though Finn figured it would be very small if you were never allowed to leave it, with oddly rounded edges, the walls a dull rust-red. Three steps took you down into the cell. Finn lingered on the top stair even after the door had closed behind him. The hiss of it sealing shut had sounded very final to his ears.
Ren sat on his cot, hunched over, hands folded between his knees. He raised his head to face Finn, and there was a moment of disorientation in which Finn couldn’t believe it was actually him.
The black hair on his chin and upper lip looked far too scruffy to fit into Finn’s picture of a First Order leader. It changed his face a lot, though he couldn’t put his finger on the how, or why, or what. Mostly, he just looked very different from the monster in the snow that had been all chalky-white face, black robes and madness in his eyes.
Finn hadn’t recognized that madman he fought on Starkiller, he might as well have been a complete stranger. But this scraggly man in the cell? He, Finn realized, might turn out to be just as much of a stranger, and it made his stomach churn with unease. It wasn’t until now that he understood how much he’d been counting on Vega’s familiarity.
“They told me you would come. I decided not to believe them till I saw you with my own eyes.” He didn’t sound like the man who had yelled traitor at him, or snarled and spat like some rabid animal.
Finn felt some of the tension seep out of him. Maybe his first impression had been wrong. This bearded man in grey prison overalls reminded Finn more of his Vega lover than his Starkiller would-be killer. He might be capable of more kindness than cruelty.
“Yeah. I’m here.” He looked down at the tips of his shoes, and could feel the tips of his ears begin to burn. He decided to venture two steps closer.
“You can walk,” Ren noted. There was something distinctly not-friendly creeping into his amiable tone of voice. It sent a warning prickle down Finn’s spine. “I didn’t think you would ever walk again.” He let a heartbeat pass. “If I had known you would recover, I would have stabbed you in the heart like Han Solo.”
to be continued…