"Finn! This way!" They'd skirted around the Stormtroopers by heading out into the bright light of the snowy fields that surround the center of the base. She can sense them, somewhere, still hunting for them, but she knows they're well enough past them when she trudges back into the cavernous reaches of the central base. This was where it all would happen. They'd blow this place to the skies and escape, ending the supercharged weapon and a good portion of the First Order with it.

And that includes Kylo Ren. She still can't quite fathom what had happened there. One moment she'd been strapped to that interrogation table and the next she was seeing thoughts that weren't her own, feelings that she couldn't begin to understand. She'd seen him, Kylo Ren, bowing in supplication to the destroyed mask that she somehow recognized as Darth Vader's, saw his impossibly young and almost too pretty face as he whispered to the burned-out husk. You will never be as strong as Darth Vader. The words had come tumbling out of her mouth before she could even think of saying them, and then he'd pulled back, his breathing as ragged as her own, and disappeared in a swirl of black.

They can end him and for a moment that bothers her. Her breath hitches and she shakes her head to clear the strange visions that are still there, just behind her eyes. Is he still there, somewhere inside her mind?

Shaking her head, she leans over the railing. Chewbacca strides out on a lower level, glancing up at them briefly before continuing to scan the area. Han is not with him and she finds her eyes quickly taking in the large open cavern around them.

Finn lets out a gasp next to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Kylo Ren," he whispers in her ear, as if she doesn't know exactly who he is, as if she hadn't woken up with his watching her behind that mask not that long ago.

She shrugs Finn's hand off and leans just a little further forward. There is Han. She holds her breath, hoping he will escape Kylo Ren's notice as the tall figure strides away from him on the all too narrow walkway.

But no, that would not be the Han Solo way, would it? Han turns his head to watch as Kylo Ren's long strides take him rapidly away from him. He watches him for a moment and then she sees it: the moment Han makes the decision to follow the other man instead of retreating. He takes a step, then another, and then he's on the same walkway that Kylo Ren is walking heavily across.

She hates that walkway. She'd seen similar on the downed destroyers of the Empire. Long, thin, no railing to protect those who walk on it. Just seeing it from so far up above makes her dizzy and a little ill.

Kylo Ren doesn't seem to notice his presence. She finds she wants to shout to Han, tell him to run, but the words are choked up somewhere inside her throat. They don't get out. And then it's Han who is shouting something. She can't quite make it out, but she's sure it's Ren and then Kylo Ren does indeed stop. No, he doesn't just stop. He draws up short like he's hit the end of a tether and pauses, one hand coming up to touch the lightsaber she can see strapped to his hip.

There's a dark, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She doesn't want Han to face down Kylo Ren. You feel like he's the father you never had. He was right about that much at least. Right about more than she would like him to be. She can't quite fathom why she came to see Han Solo that way, nor why she did so quickly. He's been nothing more than legend to her, a myth. The great Han Solo who helped defeat the Empire, take down Darth Vader, ended the terror reign of Jabba the Hutt, and did the Kessel run in less than fourteen (twelve, she hears in her head and half-smiles) parsecs. Yet he wanted her…her…to join his crew and she felt such a connection to him that she left Jakku, left her dreams of finding her parents behind in pursuit of something she still can't quite understand.

And here he is, facing down the enemy, keeping them all safe, like the father she's always wanted. She can almost feel Kylo Ren's creeping into her mind, like ants racing behind her eyes, digging in with light feet to find all her long-hidden secrets. Secrets she doesn't understand. And really, there's so little she understands about the world, about human motivation. Her entire life has revolved around getting enough food to eat to stay alive and keeping the constant hope that her family would return for her.

They didn't.

And a part of her knows they're never going to.

But it's what has kept her going all these years. It's hard to let go of that, even when faced with the infinite possibilities that Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon might offer her.

After a moment, Kylo Ren turns on his heel, far more gracefully than she would have expected from him, but there's something lithe about his movements, a panther stalking his prey. His gaze, as far as she can tell, is entirely focused on Han. He doesn't notice her and Finn, so far above him. He doesn't notice Chewbacca standing guard on one of the balconies below.

He stops after taking a couple steps toward Han and says something. She can hear the rumble of his voice through the mask, but the words are unintelligible. Han takes a couple steps toward him and shouts something.

Kylo Ren stares at him. For a moment it looks like the world has frozen, as if the Force has swooped in and stopped all motion, all sense of time. Everything stretches out around them. And then he reaches up and removes the mask.

And for a moment she's back in that room, back in that chair, and he's hovering over her. Close, but never touching, gloved hand near her face, dark eyes unreadable as he watches her. He's impossibly young, unblemished. She's not sure what she expected when he took off the mask, but this is not it. He barely seems older than her, and his long, unsmiling face is both a welcome surprise and a complete terror at the same time.

It's the normalcy of his face that is somehow terrifying. Because if he can fall, so can she. So can anyone.

She has no idea what she's watching now, as he bares his face again. He doesn't wait to speak this time, doesn't wait for Han to be surprised at what he sees. There are words tumbling out of his mouth that she can't hear, but still she watches like it's some sort of holodrama playing out in front of them. Finn grabs at her, his hand just a little too tight on her upper arm. She glances over at him, meets his wide eyes. "I don't know," she says in answer to the question she can see there.

The two men below them move closer together. Kylo Ren's hand is hovering over his lightsaber as he takes strides toward the smaller man further down the all too narrow walkway. "Snoke is using you for your power," Han calls out. This she hears, loud and clear.

Kylo Ren flinches and she can see his mouth move, can see the word No clearly on those expressive lips.

She flinches with him, can almost feel the harshness of his breathing inside her own chest, mouths the word with him.

"Rey?" Finn whispers next to her.

She reaches out a hand to steady herself, touches Finn's shoulder briefly before gripping the railing. She doesn't know what to say, cannot even begin to understand what is going on at that moment.

More words are spoken and she feels something. Pain, anguish, terror. She can barely breathe for the sensations flowing through her. Chewbacca down below seems as transfixed as they are.

And then Kylo Ren pulls out his lightsaber.

She lets out a gasp.

"He's going to kill him," Finn says and his voice is frantic in her ear. He's clawing at her with one hand, and she can see him scrambling for his blaster. It won't do any good. Not at this distance. Chewbacca has a chance with his bowcaster, but up where they are?

"There's nothing we can do from here," she hisses at Finn. "And he has the Force." She reaches out and pushes Finn's hand away from his blaster.

They need to wait for whatever happens next.

She doesn't know why. Or even what they're waiting for.

But she knows this. Somehow. They have to wait. She's good at waiting. She's been waiting her whole life.

Down below, there is still a conversation going on. Kylo Ren drops the mask to the walk. It hits hard and she's surprised at the way the sound echoes through the large chamber. A moment later, one of his booted feet collides with it and it goes careening down into the darkness below. What…

The hand holding his lightsaber turns it suddenly, directly toward Han, and she sucks in a breath. Finn lets out a soft curse and she'd glance his way, but she doesn't want to take her eyes off the two men below her. When Finn reaches out and takes her hand, she doesn't even pull away, instead squeezing his fingers far tighter than is probably comfortable.

"It's too late." Kylo Ren's voice travels up to her, his lips moving slightly out of sync with the words as they hit her ears.

And then she's there.

She can see Han, can see the shine in his eyes, can feel him fighting for dominance over the lightsaber. Kylo's hand is her hand and his eyes are her eyes and she hears Han say "It's never too late. Come home. We miss you."

"Home," Kylo says and she speaks the word along with him. He shudders, and she finds that she wants to scoff at the word, though it's always been one she's cherished in ways only one who's never had a true home can. She doesn't know if it's her heart or Kylo Ren's heart that feels both heavy and light at the thought of home.

Han reaches up and touches Kylo's face and he allows it and Rey is forced quite suddenly out of his mind. She sputters for a moment as she watches Kylo release the lightsaber. Han is left holding it and even from that distance she can see his shoulders relax, just slightly. She only realizes in that moment just how tense Han had been.

And even while Han seems to be breathing a sigh of relief, holding tight to the lightsaber that Kylo has passed off to him, Kylo himself looks tenser than ever. He draws himself up to his full height, slowly, one gloved hand opening and closing as if he'd lost a part of himself when he passed off the lightsaber to the other man. There are words said. She can see their mouths moving, but cannot hear them. And then Han Solo is embracing him and the world twists around her, as if she's just entered another reality.

This man froze her with the Force, captured her, interrogated her.

And Han is embracing him, a smile softening the lines of his face.

Kylo doesn't move, doesn't wrap his arms around Han. He stands there, almost awkwardly bent, as the older man reaches up to embrace him.

"What the hell?" Finn says next her and all she can do is nod in agreement.

What the hell, indeed.

Han pulls away from Kylo and looks around. Chewbacca lets out a soft roar and Han nods at him. They both move almost as one, Kylo walking behind Han.

Rey finally manages to tear her eyes away from the scene below her as the world around them darkens.

"We have to get out of here," Finn mutters. "The weapon." He points at the darkening sun and that's when she realizes that someone has started the first phase of the weapon. Again. It's destroying this sun, taking all its energy. Soon it will take out another planet, another system, destroying the last hideout of the Resistance. Leia, Poe, BB8, all those she had met so briefly and not had a chance to get to know will be wiped out like so much chattel unless the bombs they've planted do the work they're supposed to.

They've all been laid out where they need them to be and they'll soon go off, taking the weapon – and the planet – with them.

Han looks up briefly at them, his eyes finding hers. Rey nods.

Kylo doesn't look anywhere but right in front of him, following tensely at Han Solo's heels. Of his own accord, she notes. He's not in chains. He's following, like some sort of dog put to heel.

Rey turns to follow Finn. Finn, her only friend. He's the only thing that makes sense in this world that's suddenly gone so topsy-turvy.

The race to the Falcon is one that Rey barely remembers after it happens. She hears the first of the bombs go off before she's out of the building. They've planted enough to take out the weapon that the small planet had become. It will destabilize everything, leading to complete destruction. It's dead anyway, the natives either removed or enslaved. It's a terrible loss of life, to be sure and a part of her wonders how many of those left behind are like Finn, forced into a life that they never wanted, torn away from family and given designations, not names.

Finn got out.

They never will.

It's not something she's entirely comfortable with, but she knows this is war and innocent people are going to die no matter how much she tries to prevent it. All she can do now is get off the planet and work toward making a better life for herself and those still alive.

They race over the snowy ground and this time she does let Finn take her hand. It's not comfort she needs, so much as just being connected to someone. She can hear more bombs going off behind her and the ground shakes beneath her feet. More than once she almost tumbles to the ground, only Finn's hand keeping her on her feet and moving.

He's like a rock at that moment, rolling steadily downhill, determined and fierce. All she can do is follow him to their final destination: the Falcon. Han will be there. Chewbacca will too.

And Kylo Ren.

That makes her hesitate for a moment.

"Rey!" Finn shouts as her hand slips out of his. She careens after him. She'll have to sort out her feelings on that after they're safely off the planet. Those last few minutes are almost a blur as she pushes herself well past her usual endurance. The ground beneath her feet is shifting, but it's not the shifting of the Jakku desert. It's hard, but constantly moving. Almost as soon as she gets her feet under her, the ground tilts and moves. She can hear the sounds of trees being torn from the ground, tossed about like so much garbage, and she didn't know that all that green could become so dangerous so fast.

She keeps running.

What choice does she have?

Stay on the disintegrating planet, face down the Stormtroopers. Or race back to the Falcon and face down Kylo Ren and whatever he had done to her. She can still feel him there, pressing into her mind, can still see those dark eyes and that large gloved hand…

There are lights up ahead. She can hear Finn shouting her name and pointing.

Almost there.

With one last burst of energy, she races out of the trees. And it's there. The landing lights on, the door lowered. She can see Han standing there. Chewbacca stands behind him and bellows at them as they come into sight.

"I told you they'd make it!" Han is shouting.

Off to his left stands Kylo Ren, a silent specter. She can't see his eyes in the dark, can only make out his tall black-clad form as she approaches Han and the Falcon.

"Come on. We need to blow this place!" Han says and Chewbacca roars his agreement.

Finn draws up short just before stepping onto the ship. There's a moment there, where he stares at Kylo Ren and she can see his lips tightening. "I'm not going anywhere with him."

Kylo says nothing. He shifts from one foot to the other. His hands, still gloved, are clenched together tight in front of him. Han glances at him for a moment. "Just get on the ship, Finn. I'm not leaving you behind."

"But…"

"We don't have time for this," Rey bursts out with. She turns to Finn. "We'll sort it out later. Come on, Finn." As she walks past Kylo Ren, she narrows her eyes at him.

He won't meet her eyes, instead turning his head carefully to the side as she continues past him.

Han is right behind them, rushing toward the cockpit with Chewbacca at his heels. Kylo strides on and for just half a second he looks like the arrogant figure she'd seen on the walkway so far below her. And then he turns away and throws himself into one of the seats behind Han, arms crossed over his chest.

Rey doesn't know what to make of this, why he's there. Finn gives her a look, hard and cold, but she can see the confusion and worry and exhaustion behind it. She nods and follows him out of the cockpit.

Han will get them off the planet. She has no doubt of it. But there are explanations that need to be had. They deserve that much at least.