It takes every ounce of energy, strength, and cunning she has to wrest herself from his grasp.
She yells to them and begins racing towards them. Kylo Ren yanks her back with the chain. She turns around, grabs onto the chain, and attempts to pull it out of his hand.
His strength is greater than hers and she is pulled towards him.
Suddenly, Kylo Ren doubles back, a small explosion in his abdomen— his face goes wide with surprise and his body falls limply into the snow. Rey’s heart stops.
She turns to see Poe standing fifty feet away with the bowcaster. Finn right behind him. Rey turns back to see Kylo Ren’s face contorted in agony.
Help me, Rey… he calls out, weakly.
Rey pauses in the snow. Finds herself unable to decide between Kylo Ren and her old friends.
But the decision has been made for her.
She turns back towards the Falcon and sees Poe and Finn staring at her. There is a palpable sense of betrayal on their faces and in their body language. She senses them turn their backs on her.
The simple act of turning back to Kylo Ren… her concern when he was shot. It’s a betrayal to them, she realizes.
She springs towards them through the snow and the trees. “Poe! Finn! Wait for me!”
They board the ship. It lights up. Rey keeps running.
The ship rises into the air. Rey runs beneath it, holding her arms in the air. “Wait for me! Don’t leave me…”
The ship takes off and BLASTS into the atmosphere.
Rey falls to her knees in the snow. She is taken back to the memory of her family leaving her behind on Jakku. Taking off and never coming back… Poe and Finn were never coming back.
Her friends left without her. It hits her like a punch to the gut. They think she betrayed them. And maybe she did. They suffered… being tortured, languishing in prison cells while she… While she fucked Kylo Ren. The man who caused all their suffering.
She shivers. Of course they left without her. They suffered and what did she do? She allowed Kylo Ren to use her body for his own pleasure. How could this have happened? Despair sets in her heart as she watches the last speck of light that was the Millennium Falcon.
She lays down in the snow. Intending to die on Starkiller Base when it exploded.
A black shuttle hovers in the air. Kylo Ren’s shuttle. It hovers in front of her. The hatch opens and settles down into the snow.
General Hux emerges, heading straight for Rey.
Rey gets up weakly and starts to run away. General Hux runs after her and tackles her to the ground. He grabs at the leash that still hangs from the collar around her neck. He starts pulling her towards the shuttle.
Rey! I’m sorry about this. We have to go. NOW.
Rey resists, digging her heels into the snow. “No! Let me die here!”
Hux grabs her arm and puts his shoulder into her torso and LIFTS her off the ground. “I don’t have time for this!” He carries her over his shoulder and runs to the shuttle.
She kicks and punches at him, but he’s stronger than he looks. He makes it onto the ship.
The hatch closes behind them. Hux throws her down next to where Kylo Ren lays unconscious on the floor of the shuttle. Hux leaves, shouting orders to the crew, and heads to the cockpit.
Captain Phasma hovers over an Kylo Ren. It is chaos on the small shuttle as a medic droid works frantically to stop Kylo Ren’s bleeding.
Kylo Ren opens his eyes to stare at Rey. Rey looks back horrified. Kylo reaches out to her. “Rey… stay with me…” He finds the end of the leash, which is draped over the shuttle floor. He wraps the leash around his fist.
As Rey despairs, Kylo Ren feels triumph. An unexpected success — separating her from her friends. Before Captain Phasma collected him, he saw them leave without her. Saw her stranded in the snow, despairing. He felt sad for the pain she was in… but he was pleased. Because now he could kill them without worrying about alienating her too much.
Then he passes out into unconsciousness.
The shuttle BLASTS out of the atmosphere. As the shuttle hurtles through space, Starkiller Base implodes in on itself, collapsing into a ball of fire.
Ren, you have to let the girl go. Hux grabs at the chain in Kylo’s hand and begins prying it from his fingers. Rey tries to huddle out of the way, as far as the chain will allow. Kylo Ren lay on an operating table in the medic bay of the small Starship they traveled in. They switched from Kylo Ren’s small shuttle to a bigger one as they traveled to Moraband.
Sedate him, Hux orders the droid.
No! Kylo Ren smacks the droid away. “I want to stay awake.”
Exasperated, Hux says, “Kylo Ren. Supreme Leader Snoke has entrusted me with your personal well being. I don’t intend to let him down.” Hux succeeds in prying the chain out of Kylo Ren’s hand and throws it away from Kylo’s grasp.
Hux grabs the sedative needle from the droid. “Hold him down,” he orders the attendant stormtrooper. Kylo Ren protests and tries to fight as Hux holds his arm down and plunges the needle into his vein.
I hope you don’t make a habit of this, Ren, Hux says sharply. “You’re a terrible patient.”
Stay away from her, is the last thing Kylo Ren manages to say before the sedative hits him and he passes out.
The medical room goes silent. A light whirring begins as the medical droids begin their healing process on Kylo’s unconscious form.
Hux turns to Rey. Rey squats down against the wall, as far from Kylo Ren as the room will allow. She stands up, alarmed, as Hux moves towards her slowly. Hux puts his hands up in a surrender motion.
He moves towards her slowly— trying no to alarm her, but Rey thinks he moves like a predator. “Rey, I am going to remove the chain. Will you allow me to do this?”
Rey’s expression is suspicious, guarded. Her body language defensive.
I just want to take it off, so you can be free of it. Okay?
Rey nods.
Hux steps forward. He stands too close. Rey stiffens, but stays still, staring at his chest and his neck, a mere two inches from her face.
He never should have put this on you… Hux mutters. “Barbaric.”
Rey can smell a very faint cologne, or something that smells very masculine. She closes her eyes to relax herself, but that only makes her more aware of his closeness. He reaches around her and handles the collar delicately. Rey inhales sharply when his fingers touch her neck.
Hux pulls away and looks down at her, his face questioning, curious. He unclips the chain and it drops to the ground. Then he continues moving the collar, investigating it. Rey tries not to shudder whenever he touches her neck, uncomfortable with his proximity.
Hux sighs and steps back. “I can’t take it off. Kylo Ren has to do it.”
Rey’s face falls. Disappointed.
He’s not going to be awake for a few hours. I’m starving. Would you eat with me? Hux asks politely.
Rey’s stomach is growling. She hadn’t eaten since morning. Kylo wouldn’t let her out of his grasp while he was transported to the medical bay. She hesitates because this is General Hux. General of the First Order. The enemy of the resistance.
I don’t know… Rey says, desperately wanting food.
Hux nods. “I understand your hesitation. I’m your enemy. You’re a prisoner here.”