Kylo had slept in many odd places since the royal family fell, since he lost Reyna. For the first year after, he had let himself drift from orphanage to orphanage, sleeping curled up alongside other children, none of them the lost princess (even though he wasn't looking then- no, not at all. He moved through that first year a ghost, numb and unaware of much else besides how his footsteps would ring hollowly in the streets, how the cold air would always find the holes in his socks and gloves.)

When he had the nerve to return to the palace, he had tried to curl himself back into his old bed in the servants' quarters, but the mattress felt lumpier, and so he had wandered the halls again, before settling in one of the bedrooms upstairs. He made sure that it wasn't one of the royal bedrooms, sinking into the mattress and contemplating the odd mix of luxury and poverty he found himself in.

He had slept in many odd places, but never intentionally besides another person until this train ride, when that beggar girl rolled over in her sleep to lean against his shoulder, muttering something about that bastard Kylo being cuter than she expected. The train jostled him slightly, shaking him gentler than he had been when in service at the palace, when one of the cooks would sometimes aim a well-placed kick to his ribs if he didn't get up from his cot fast enough.

He hadn't been fully awake until this moment, by any stretch. He had just let his eyes crack open for a moment, to see the bench opposite of him to be lacking Poe or Finn, to see early morning light slipping through the window, all gray and barely yellow, just bright enough to hurt his eyes. The thing that woke him was the bundle of warmth beside him, and it wasn't until she shifted closer, sighing and smelling too sweet despite her acrid breath (he blamed the vodka and how she hadn't paced herself with water for the smell), and suddenly Kylo, the man with almost every answer, didn't know what to do.

The night before was a bit hazy in his memory—he blamed that again on the vodka, and how he hadn't touched the stuff in years, not until he had to wrestle the bottle out of Rey's hands in the dining car, taking a swig (or five) before returning it to the disgruntled looking porter. They should have sobered up before returning to the compartment, and Kylo had considered making the girl walk the length of the dining car with him a few times to make sure she was sure-footed enough to get back to their companions…but then she had stumbled into his arms and obstinately insisted that he carry her. And maybe it was the late hour or the fact that he had never been able to say 'no' to Reyna in their previous lives at the palace, but he ended up hoisting her up into his arms anyways.

He tried not to think about how a few of the other passengers had smiled at them as he had stumbled his way back to their compartment, how one old crone had asked if they were newlyweds, especially as he tried to extract himself from Rey's grip. Kylo was glad that she hadn't been awake for that question, though he did wonder if she actually had been, remembering the sleepy smirk she seemed to give in response, the look having made him nearly teeter and fall, his heart pounding.

Still, he had half a mind to settle back into his seat, ignore the girl cuddled up to him, but then the train lurched forward again, and his stomach intuitively sank. Outside their door, the conductor's bellow carried down the corridor, confirming the fear that had a cold sweat break across his skin: "Military inspection!"

He had seen these enough when pickpocketing people at the train station in St. Petersberg—it wasn't so much as an inspection as a raid, where the contraband was people. People who were unceremoniously thrown off and then dragged away, never to be seen again. And he wasn't a stupid man—if there was a military inspection on this train, at this hour, chances were, it was because of his group.

Of course.

Still, he turned to Rey, trying to shake her awake as gently but as quickly as he could, using one hand instead of two. "Rey. Reyna. Sweetheart. Her highness. Pain in my ass. C'mon, wake up."

Kylo winced to himself as she continued to snooze, her snore almost mocking him as it droned on. He rolled his eyes, bringing both of his arms up to bracket hers as he shook her again. For a moment, he wondered how the girl woke up usually—if it was gentle, a stirring followed by a yawn and blurry blinking, or if she started up, practically pounced awake, like he did after one of his many nightmares. Nightmares…which he didn't have last night. He shook his head at himself, cursing under his breath for wasting this time thinking when at any moment, soldiers could be pounding at their door.

"Rey, c'mon, girl. Let's get up." She still didn't stir, and Kylo hummed to himself, a thought flickering to the forefront of his mind, an inspiration. "Rey, if you don't get up, I'm taking your breakfast."

He supposed that he could count it as a success, considering how she jolted in his arms, her hand coming up to smack him in the nose as she gasped awake. "You wouldn't dare, Anna!" She blinked at him blurrily, harrumphing at him grumpily. "You're not Anna."

"No, but I think you broke my nose." Kylo muttered back, cupping a hand over his face as if to guard himself from further harm. Rey opened her mouth, probably to say something acrid and clever (the girl seemed to have a one-liner for every occasion), but he shook his head, pressed a finger to her lips for a moment to silence her. "We gotta go."

"Go? Are we already in France?" Rey shrunk back from his touch, ignoring how warm the press of his finger had been against her lips. She nearly turned away, snuggled back into the seat when Kylo shook his head again, his hand catching her shoulder before she could sink back into the cushions. Her limbs felt heavy, like she had slept fitfully, like she had actually had been regaining all of the rest she had neglected in the orphanage. And yet, she felt more alert now, watching Kylo's head jerk away from her, as if listening for heavy footfalls or gunfire, and she found herself doing the same. Outside the door, there was only a growing murmur of voices and soft shuffling—nothing to worry about at the present.

Despite herself, she shivered and let herself fall silent, Kylo's words both hushing and soothing:

"It's just a military inspection, but after that run-in at the palace, we should probably hide, don't you think?" He could have almost cried with relief as she nodded solemnly, catching himself before he could press a kiss to her forehead, as if she was the lost princess. As if she was his. "Okay, sweetheart. Grab your bag and let's go."

Kylo had always found that it was difficult to be stealthy, especially when there seemed to be an ever-growing crowd in a small space. His manners, learned from the days in the palace, had always dictated that he was invisible in everyone's sight except for other servants, and despite the decade he had to unlearn it, he always slipped back into it, tensing up at the crush of people outside the compartment door, all but blocking the corridor and subsequent gangways. And yet, with Rey's hand clasped in his, with her pulling him along, her glances back at him almost caring, he seemed to move quicker, almost more confidently. He pretended that he didn't notice how hard she was squeezing his hand, how chipper she sounded as she pardoned and excused their way through the crowd, the slight bite of cold wind nipping at their hands as they crossed the first gangway.

Suddenly, Rey froze, her hand almost stuck to train car's door handle. Kylo peered down at her and then over her head, through the door's small window. He didn't know what made her freeze, but the flash of military medals had him cursing and he dropped Rey's hand.

"Put this on and keep your head down," he hissed at the gust of wind that swept down his back as he yanked off his coat and dropped it over Rey's head. He swiped a hand over the grease and dirt covered floor, wiping it across his face, his moles and freckles, gathering her closer to his chest and pulling her back as the door burst open, a few soldiers trailing past them without a second look. Kylo held his breath still, keeping his eyes trained on his feet as he shuffled Rey forward and into the train car.

He jolted when he felt a hand settle over his, but it was only Rey's small one finding his again, but as he saw the shiny black boots of an officer approaching them, he understood why. This was out of necessity, not because she wanted to. Kylo bit the inside of his cheek as the officer bumped into him and he kept his eyes down.

"Where are you off to, citizen?" Kylo froze at the voice, daring to peek up for a moment to see the red hair that he'd forever associate with the voice. Of course, the leading officer for this damn inspection was the boy who gave him a concussion a decade ago on the worst night of his life. Grimacing, he kept his gaze rooted on the man's boots, trying to think of an excuse as he glanced at Rey, how she cradled her bag close to her stomach.

"To the dining car, sir. My wife is pregnant and sick. The porter promised us some bread for the morning to ease her nausea. It's our first." He smiled almost apologetically at the officer, pulling Rey closer, grateful that her face was still hidden by the makeshift hood of his coat. He still didn't look up, praying to whatever god there was that his feeble attempts at a disguise were enough, his neck hurting by how long he had been keeping his gaze down.

If the man had been suspicious, he looked thoroughly chastened, if not a bit curious, stepping aside without a word, just a curt nod. Kylo hoped that his relieved exhale wasn't too loud as he pushed Rey forward, not daring to look back. He was sure the man's eyes were still on them, and so he kept his arm slung tightly around the girl.

As soon as they cleared the gangway, Rey looked up at him, her face relaxing and coloring. Kylo wondered if she had gone pale during that small brush with authority, and then he heard her murmur, "That was the man who caught me and Finn at the station when we first tried to get papers."

"Yeah? That fucker gave me a goose egg on the back of my head when…when the palace fell." Rey's face clouded dark when he muttered that, and he squeezed her hand, as if to tell her to cheer up.

"I'm sorry." He hated how her words almost forced him to still, to steady himself. He glanced back at her, feeling the tumult of anguish and confusion threatening to break out across his brow and he shook his head slowly.

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault." They stood on the passenger car's threshold for a moment, staring at each other. Kylo watched Rey draw in a breath and open her mouth, and he was almost anxious to hear what she would say.

The door flew open before Rey's lips could utter anything, and Poe bashfully grinned at the two of them. "So glad you could join us. And that neither of you killed the other."

Behind him, Finn harrumphed, skirting past the two conmen and to Rey, gathering her up and leading her a pace or two away to look her over. Kylo bit his cheek again as the doctor unceremoniously dumped his coat onto the floor and replaced it with his own.

As Kylo stooped down to collect his coat, ignoring the bile coating his throat (it was fine that she was wearing someone else's coat; besides, he wanted his back sooner than later), Poe nudged him carefully. "So, Kylo…old buddy, old pal…"

"What the fuck is it, Dameron?"

Poe almost seemed to gulp, keeping his voice low and his eyes trained on their travelling companions as he muttered, "What if I told you the good doctor may have picked up on our plan?"

Kylo didn't have the chance to blink, let alone process his partner's words when, with a roar, the baggage car's back end splintered, the car torn asunder from the rest of the train. And yet, he watched them grow smaller in the distance, his ears finally picking up on the fact that the previously stagnant locomotive was now hurtling down the track, with them at its mercy. Yet again, his stomach sank, and he knew that even if he was stupid enough to check for the train's engineer, he'd find it futile, seeing that the general had been in the company of the train's engineer.

Not for the first time, Kylo wondered if he should start believing in magic or curses. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if someone—probably him—had been cursed with bad luck.

The man wasn't sure who or what he was glaring at now, his mind simply trying to comprehend how many things could go wrong all at once when Rey slipped up next to him and Poe, casually tossing them a few bags. "These looked the softest, which I figured is the more important criteria for what we're about to do," she explained, Finn standing beside her, his lips pressed in a firm, unhappy line.

"Excuse me?" Poe sputtered next to Kylo, the taller man glancing behind Rey to see the loading door to the car thrown open, the snow-driven landscape seemingly whipping past them. He knew what the orphan girl was going to suggest, and he braced himself for it all the same:

"I'm pretty sure that it's clear that this is our stop, don't you?" Despite the circumstances, Rey forced a smile, linking one hand with Kylo, the other hand gathering her bag (as well as a few extra, the man noted, trying not to smirk). She nodded at the open door, and Kylo wondered if he had gone completely insane, hesitantly stepping up to the door with the girl. She was going to be the reason he died, he was sure.

"On the count of three?" He asked weakly, and Rey smiled indulgently before shaking her head. "Now!"

The snow didn't hurt as much as Kylo expected, which he was grateful for. What did hurt was Rey landing on his legs, and he couldn't suppress the curse that flew from his lips. Next to him, Rey was laughing (perhaps out of relief, perhaps out of pure insanity—he resolved himself never to ask) and whooping as she watched Poe and Finn follow their lead, their shouts muffled in the snow now.

"Are you okay?" Kylo blinked up at Rey, wondering when her attention had landed back on him, and he felt his mouth go dry. Before he could nod, take her hand, get hoisted up, they heard Poe's yell.

"Holy shit, that could have been us!" Following the direction of his pointing finger, the group watched, dumbstruck, as the savaged train attempted to cross a bridge—and failed, the bridge slowly crumbling underneath it.

"That settles it. No more trains. Ever. I'm done with trains." Finn muttered darkly, and Poe shrugged at Rey and Kylo as they trudged to join them. For the moment, it seemed that the doctor had forgotten about his discovery, but Kylo knew that it would come up later, and he wondered if he should offer him a share of the money, or merely beg him to say nothing to Rey.

He pushed it aside, turning to look at Rey instead, his lips closing in a small smirk. "If I didn't know better, princess, I'd think that you're starting to like me."

"What?" Rey's mouth dropped open despite herself, her hands stilling instead of brushing the rest of the snow off her dress, her teeth chattering slightly. With her reddening cheeks, she did almost remind Kylo of a princess out of some fairytale. Not his princess, of course—but one nonetheless.

"Admit it, sweetheart—you wanted to hold my hand when we jumped. You must like me just a bit more than you want to admit."

Rey considered him for a moment, listening to Poe and Finn murmur quietly to each other, checking one another for injury. She leaned towards Kylo, wondering if her heart was pounding from adrenaline or from his smug little smirk. She tried not to think of how close he had held her on the train, how she had wanted to bury her nose into his coat, how it felt like she had come back to her senses when Finn had traded Kylo's coat for his own—and how she wanted the taller man's coat around her shoulders again.

Coming closer to him, she bit her lip, looking at him through her eyelashes, wondering if his Adam's apple bobbed slightly with a gulp as he watched her. "Maybe you're not completely wrong. But can I tell you a secret, Kylo?"

He grinned back at her, leaning closer. "Of course you can, princess."

She simpered at him, leaning closer still as she stage-whispered: "I only held your hand so that if I fell under the wheels, I'd drag you with me."

Rey tried to quell her smile as Kylo threw his head back and laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. She didn't notice how Finn's worried eyes followed her and Kylo, how he chewed his lip, trying to decide if he would take the money that Poe had offered to split with him if they made it to Paris with Rey in tow.

Far beyond their sight, hidden in some dark corner of the world, Snoke cursed and seethed, watching the little princess laugh. Even with his little imps' destruction and Hux's interference, the little bitch had gotten away. This wouldn't do.

Scowling to himself, the sorcerer forced himself to relax, his face smoothing into a disgusting smile. "Very well, Reyna. Enjoy your little victory. I'll see you in your dreams. You can't run then, can you, my dear?"

With a growl, Snoke let himself slip into the night's ether. In due time, he would have her in his grasp, at his mercy. Until then, he had to content himself with punishing another, and he let his mouth curl up into a smirk at the thought of torturing the poor general named Hux. It was just another price to be paid for his incompetence.