A/N: Hey all! This is the G writing prompt for the ABCs! This story is going to have 7 parts to it. I'm making up a planet to fit the storyline here... so bear with me! Hope you enjoy! R&R!

GREY

Chapter 1: Grey

She was a part of the Resistance. He was a part of the First Order. Both were on opposite sides. Neither was willing to compromise. The First Order had their sense of peace and justice in the galaxy. The Resistance had other ideas. The First Order was oppressive and sought peace through submission and obedience and loyalty. The Resistance acknowledged that these were people and their lives and happiness hanging in the balance of all they fought for. Both were opposites with seemingly nothing in common. Except their dyad. Ben Solo, turned Kylo Ren, fought for the First Order. Having a strained beginning in all of this, his mind was easily manipulated by Snoke. He was twisted to the dark side without any consideration of himself. He felt this was his only option. Rey, a nobody from Jakku, fought for the Resistance. She never really felt like she had a purpose in the galaxy. Until she was given one. To defeat the First Order and bring about the restoration of the Jedi.

Both were so misled...

Neither of them knew what it truly meant to live in peace. Rey had to fight for her life on the unforgiving desert planet of Jakku, wondering every day if she would even have food or water. Ben had to fight to stay alive and not let his emotions get the better of him. He fought to have some place in all of this. To have his calling answered by someone, anyone.

Everything was black... or white. There was no grey between them. They couldn't agree on anything. Neither would compromise. Neither would yield to the other, for fear of one compromise would lead to the other and it was a slippery slope from there. That they would lose who they were if they compromised to their enemy. But they weren't enemies. They were far from enemies. This bond that they had between them was their only grey with each other. The only thing in the universe that they shared. That they wanted to learn more about. Together. The only grey that they both knew.

They wanted to be able to explore this together. But their opposing sides made that rather difficult. He couldn't go to the Resistance because of everything he'd done. He would surely be tried and found guilty and put to death. He wouldn't go there just to die. No, he wanted to live. He wanted to learn more about her. Likewise, she couldn't go to the First Order, even if he promised her safety. She would be used as a bargaining chip against him. She would constantly be attacked. Snoke would target her. He couldn't let Snoke get to her, like he got to him. That was no life. For either of them. They were both stuck on a path that they couldn't leave to join the other. Another grey area.

The ranks in the First Order were getting sketchy. He didn't feel safe here anymore. Given, he was stronger than Hux and the troopers, but when they outnumbered him a million to one, he didn't like those odds. If Hux got a wild hair up his rear, which Ben was sure was coming sooner rather than later, Hux could easily order his demise. Ben's restlessness intensified as Hux continued to push him to his limits. He grew even more indignant when Ben put him in his place. Glares intensified. Murderous intent started to show through his icy blue hues. All of it made Ben's skin crawl. He could tell that Hux was getting too big of a head, and that thought terrified him. He didn't want Hux to destroy Rey, nor did he want her injured. And he knew that if Hux continued to grow even more indignant with him, Hux would make sure he got his way. He hated the force. He hated anything to do with it and even deemed it sorcery. So the fact that Ben was a force user really set Hux on edge against him and want to eradicate him that much more.

Ben sensed the increasingly evident fury associated with the First Order. He had to get out. He had to find a way to cripple it from the inside. He had to keep them away from Rey at all costs. And the more she thwarted their efforts, the more the First Order and Snoke demanded her head on a silver platter. The thought of that happening made his blood boil. He hated that. He hated Hux calling for it. The bloodthirsty ginger would get his one day. And Ben hoped he was the one to end the red-headed menace. As he scanned the data pads in his quarters, he glared at the screen that held the relic he was about to depart for. He'd been found out by Hux, who alerted Snoke to his intentions to obtain the artifact. So, he had to tell Snoke it was for the First Order. Something that would grant them more power. So annoying...

He rose from his seat and stalked through the halls, mask in place as he glared at the troopers that passed by him. These stupid people. Everyone was following the orders of a mad man. He only sought power. He had tricked Ben into wanting power. The power that wouldn't do him any good. His steps faltered for a moment when he felt the wobble of their bond probing at his consciousness. He grit his teeth and slammed his defenses down. He didn't need to be distracted right now. He jumped in his Silencer and plugged in coordinates, taking off quickly to make his way to the relic. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be the only one heading for it...

X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Ben frowned as he looked upon the purple atmosphere of the Unknown Region planet of Aleria. He had never even heard of this planet... But then again, a lot of the Unknown Region planets were often unheard of, having not been explored. He pulled through the atmosphere and realized that it was an odd planet. All the greenery was purple and the water was green. He checked the information on this planet and quickly read through everything that was available. "Aleria. Uknown Region. Jungle planet. Capital city is Da'Kir. Little to no inhabitants. Native species-" Ben quirked a brow. "Calgari?" he questioned as he started to search through the files on the species. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. Why was there nothing!? He growled and punched his control system, regretting it as soon as he did. The panel flipped through image after image as he hit a button with a huff. He would just have to deal with them like they are hostile. Cut them down if they showed opposition. Easy.

His eyes fluttered over more information about Aleria. "Air breathable. Mild to moderate environmental danger. Proceed with caution." Ben sighed in aggravation as he landed his shuttle in a clearing. He sat still for a few moments, thinking about how he would approach this. He grabbed the holocron with the coordinates of the artifact, debating his next move. What would he do if she were here, too? He needed that relic. He needed to overthrow Snoke and the First Order. While he wasn't exactly welcome at the Resistance, at least they would be safe. She would be safe. If he could just destroy this monstrosity that would stop at nothing to destroy what little hope the galaxy had for peace... then maybe... just maybe... they had a chance.

He shook his head in frustration. She'd already voiced how she felt about him. He was a monster. He killed his father. Right in front of her. He thought that was the sacrifice he needed to make to gain more power within the Knights of Ren and the dark side alike. But it was a trap. It did nothing to help his power. It only succeeded in festering his rage and disappointment. In himself. In his will power. In his family.

He growled as he exited his shuttle and looked around, saber in hand as he fired up the holocron that would lead him to the relic he was seeking. He needed to find it before she did. He needed to find it before the Resistance found out about it, too. If they had it, his chances of destroying the First Order were as good as dead. He stormed off in the direction of the relic. His black boots were a sharp contrast against the lilac foliage at his feet. The trees trunks were a dark blue color with lilac leaves. He wrinkled his nose at his surroundings. It was too... colorful. It seemed unnatural. All of it did. It was all weird. It was humid, that was for sure. He had barely set off from his TIE and he was already starting to sweat. He hated jungles. They were full of wildlife and humidity. He hated jungles. Especially this one.

He looked at the holocron again and frowned when he recognized another Force signature. He glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting to see the source, but saw nothing. She was here. He glared behind him before turning back around and increasing his pace. He had to hurry if he was going to be successful. He heard a beep from his communicator and rolled his eyes. "What?" he hissed at the thing, knowing who was on the other side of it.

"Have you found the relic?" Armitage Hux's voice came from the other side, as impudent as usual. It ground on his nerves. All he wanted to do was send the Force through to the other side and choke the menace.

"I will let you know when I find it. Stop distracting me," he hissed as he hung up their communication. Stupid red-headed idiot. He wanted to kill that man so badly he could taste it. To watch the life drain from his paler than normal face would give Ben such great joy!

But would it really?

His face grew pensive as he continued to trudge through the jungle. He was trying to eradicate the First Order, not become more like it. The First Order was perfectly fine killing all those who got in their way. All those who were against their cause. They had the Sith mentality: if you weren't with them, you were their enemy. The First Order wasn't Sith, but they dealt in absolutes. There was no such thing as a grey area with the First Order. Everything was black or white. Much like him. Everything he knew was either black or white. He wanted grey. He wanted to not deal with absolutes anymore. He wanted something different. He needed something different. This life wasn't working for him. He should never have let Snoke get in his head. He should never had let Snoke manipulate him.

But if he hadn't...

His step faltered as his mind went to the scavenger nobody from Jakku that made him start to reconsider his life course. Rey. The brunette Force-sensitive woman that forged a dyad in the Force with him. The woman that invaded his thoughts at ungodly hours of the night and day. At the most inopportune times. "Ben!" He blinked several times, as if trying to right himself as he almost tripped over an uplifted root at his feet. He regained his composure, setting his hand on a dark blue tree trunk for stability. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her standing there, staring at him curiously. "Ben, where are you?" she asked as she approached him.

He remained where he was as he straightened himself and turned just a hair to look at her through his sweat-matted hair. "Where are you?" he countered, eyeing her suspiciously. Why did she want to know? Was that concern he sensed? Was it just hope that he felt that? No, it was real. It was a tangible concern that she felt for him. It rolled off of her in waves through their bond.

"Aleria. In the Unknown Regions." She stopped short of him, taking in his appearance. "Judging by your appearance... so are you." His eyes met hers again and he shrugged. "Why are you here, Ben? Are you looking for-" She cut herself off as she ducked suddenly. Her face showed concern as she looked behind her, then her side of the bond went quiet.

He frowned as he looked at the ground. He reached out, probing her consciousness. He felt a wavering disturbance. She was alert. High alert. Adrenaline. Fighting. Danger. His eyes shot open. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to help her. He gritted his teeth. He couldn't. If he wanted to save her, he needed to find that relic before she did. With obvious reluctance, he turned and kept walking, his hand sliding off of the dark blue bark,which had turned purple under his heated, gloved hand. Some blue stuck to his glove as he continued to walk, not thinking anything of it. He was close, he realized, as he the holocron's beeping started to pick up in pitch and pace. His eyes scanned the area and saw that there was an Aztec-style pyramid in the middle of the jungle. He frowned. Why were important things always in temples?!

Cursing under his breath, he let the Force disperse around him as he tried to sense any threats. Any other signatures but hers. She was alone. No one else was there. No danger. No threat. He did pick up some lifeforms miles away, but he figured they were all right. They weren't anything significant. He made his way to the temple and ducked inside, igniting his light saber for light. He looked around quietly and saw cobwebs and stirred up dust from his boots. He gazed down at the stairs under his feet. They were leading down... Some led up and the others led down. He wondered where he should start... He closed his eyes and let his senses be guided by the Force. Where was this thing? Surely, it put off a Force signature. He expanded his senses a little further and his eyes shot open a moment later. Down. He needed to go down.

Without a second thought, he descended the stairs carefully. No telling what decided to take up residence in this temple. Though he didn't sense anything, that didn't mean nothing was there. He'd learned to stay extra cautious. He continued to descend the steps, quickly and quietly. He grew fed up with the sheer amount of steps that he had to traverse. He heard rumbling and felt the ground beneath his feet start to shake. He grabbed onto the wall for support, almost dropping his saber in the process. He looked up above him. The ceiling was spilling sand and debris, but otherwise, it seemed stable. He wondered if there was something happening on the surface...

Refusing to be even more distracted, he continued to descend until his senses told him to stop. He made it to the floor he was looking for and cautiously started to look around. Where was this thing? Surely, it was hidden. He felt himself getting closer and closer. He closed his eyes and felt a warmth start to engulf him. A familiar warmth. One that was soothing and frightening at the same time. The light that he'd become so fond of. Her light. His eyes shot open as he opened his eyes to see her standing before him. Her hand was on the relic, inspecting it with awe before he realized that she'd beaten him to it. His glare turned hard as he held out his hand to her. "Give it to me." His voice held a command to it, as if he had reverted back to commanding troopers at the First Order.

She glared harshly at him. "Why do you need this, Ben? What do you plan on doing with it?" He remained silent as he kept his hand out, waiting for the receipt he knew would never come. She held it close to her. The small triangular relic that pulsed red and blue. His eyes flickered down to it for a moment before finding her face again. "Do you plan on killing more people?" she hissed at him, saber still ignited as she started to shift her stance, feeling the anger rising in him quickly.

"Give it to me, Rey."

"No! I won't let you kill more innocent people because of your lust for power!" she growled at him.

Ben had enough. He swung his light saber at her and she parried. He continued to strike at her, using his strength against her weaker from to wear her down quickly. He needed to get that relic! Her life depended on it, as well as his. Her eyes widened, as if he had broadcast that thought to her through their bond. He glared at her, the sheer determination in his steely gaze unnerving her a bit. When she pushed him off of her, she stumbled backwards, but caught her footing just in time to block another downward swing of his. She grunted as she felt her body bending backwards as he pushed on. He didn't want to harm her, but he needed that relic. And she clearly didn't want to give it to him, so he had to take it. By any means necessary.

She gritted her teeth before pushing him off again, tapping into the force this time to help her push him back a few steps while she regained herself. He skidded to a halt and glared over at her. "Give me the relic," he said again, his voice devoid of emotion, feeling the darkness within him swelling and urging him to attack her. To hurt her. He fought against it. He didn't want that. He didn't want to harm her or kill her. That wasn't his goal, nor would it ever be. Her goal, on the other hand, seemed to not matter if he got hurt or not. He couldn't read her all that well. She had gotten better at schooling her mind so he couldn't see in it. He swung his blade as he held out his hand again to her, watching her panting from the exhaustion.

"I won't!"

He sighed in annoyance. "Stop holding on to what you believe is right! You don't know what's going on here!" he hissed at her.

Rey glared back. "I don't need to hear your twisted ideology!" she hissed as she lunged at him. He deflected and spun to the side, grabbing her wrist and wrenching it behind her, making her drop her saber. The touch alone made her eyes widen as some images were projected into her head. Images that weren't her own thoughts. His thoughts? She saw him sitting in his quarters, scanning data pads and thinking about ways to overthrow the First Order. He blocks her out of his mind then as she gasped and stiffened in his hold. "Ben-"

"Give me the relic, Rey," he said gently, his saber forgotten as it was hooked to his belt. He used his now free hand to place his hand on the relic that was being held so tightly against her smaller body. She almost let him have it, but the ground started to shake and sway more violently this time. He released her as he tried to catch his balance. She fell to her knees before looking up at him to see him glaring at nothing in particular. She got to her feet and summoned her saber to her hand before taking off running as fast as she could. "Rey, wait!" he called, taking off after her, up the dozens of flights of stairs, fighting the rumbling ground and the loud booms from above them. When they got to the entrance, they looked around and saw a Destroyer and a Resistance ship locked in battle. Blasts peppered the ground around them, tearing up the dirt and making their steps uneasy. He cursed under his breath as he opened his communication device. "HUX!" he hissed into the communicator.

"Ah... Ren. Good to see you're still alive-"

"What do you think you're doing, Hux?!"

There was a brief, calculated pause on the other end. "The rebel scum met us above this planet so we engaged, as per Supreme Leader Snoke's order. Is there a problem?" he asked with a sickeningly sweet and fake concern.

Ben's eyes held such hatred that he almost couldn't contain himself. "Did you neglect to tell Snoke that I am down here for his relic? Are you trying to kill me!?"

Rey watched as the conversation became even more evident that Hux was indeed trying to get rid of Ben. She frowned, but still cradled the relic close to her. A laugh came from the other side of the communicator. "Oh, most certainly not, Ren. That would be a huge misfortune..." His voice was anything but sincere. Ben could tell he was indeed trying to kill him, just by the utter glee in his voice.

"Call off the attack, Hux," he ordered, his voice hard as he glared at the communicator in his hand.

"I think not, Ren. You see... Supreme Leader Snoke was the one who ordered this barrage. He said, and I quote, 'Eradicate our enemies. Kylo Ren isn't back yet and we can't afford to wait for him.' So, you see, I cannot go against the Supreme Leader. That would be... treason." The implication was heavy as Ben's eyes widened at Hux's accusation. Ben gripped the communicator harshly in his hand to where it shattered into a dozen pieces.

Rey jumped at the snap of the device. She opened her mouth to say something, but another boom, closer this time shook the ground beneath their feet, knocking her off balance and into him, who caught her by her shoulders. She looked up at him as she straightened. "Rey!"

She picked up her own communicator this time. "Finn! What's going on!?"

"We were trying to have a ship ready in case you needed us and the First Order showed up! Our ground troops that were sent to recover you were ambushed by some natives... They didn't make it, Rey."

Rey swallowed hard before letting her eyes survey their surroundings. "Finn... retreat now. The First Order won't stop until they've killed you all. Please just leave me here and come back for me later. I'll be ok."

"But, Rey! Isn't Kylo Ren there!? You most certainly won't be-"

"I'm. Fine. Finn." She made sure to enunciate to him as she glanced up at Ben. "It's ok. Retreat for now. Tell Leia what's going on. Regroup and come back for me later. I'll keep the communicator on. Ok?"

Finn was silent on the other end for a long moment, as if debating what she was saying. He knew there was no way he could convince her otherwise, so he sighed. "Ok. Rey... be careful."

"I will, Finn... You too." When the end went silent, she looked up at Ben, lips pressed into a thin line. "Ben-"

Leaves and branches snapped in his peripheral. He grabbed her hand and yanked her back into the temple just as arrows started to fly through the air. Another rumble closer this time, sent the entire entrance of the temple down in a rubble, blocking them in. The sudden topple forced the two down the first flight of stairs and off of their feet. Ben landed on his back and Rey landed on her stomach, the relic bouncing off in the darkness. He supported himself on his elbows, glancing over at Rey in the darkness to see if she was ok. Once she started to move, he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked around and saw a torch over on the wall. He ignited his saber and lit it on fire to give them some light. Once there was light, he extinguished his saber. Now that he could see her face, he saw a scratch on her cheek from where she fell, but other than that, she seemed fine. She hoisted herself to her knees and frowned at him, realizing the predicament they were both in. "It seems..."

"We're trapped for now," he finished as their eyes met. His relayed caution, hers showed something akin to caution mixed with interest. Rey shifted to cross her legs in front of her. She held out her hand to him as a sign of a truce. He looked at it for a moment before slipping his glove off and letting their hands touch, hers closing around his and his around hers.

Together, they said, "Truce."

Finally... a grey area.