Finn led Kylo Ren down the corridors, holding onto his elbow, walking with a sense of purpose but not so briskly as to draw attention. Inside his helmet, he was muttering to himself- keep calm, the plan will work, this is working, and why was he saving this man? Finn had not understood the situation when Poe had told them that Rey had left with Kylo Ren; apparently, it was out of choice. After everything Kylo had done, torturing Poe, nearly killing him and killing Han, Finn couldn't understand why she was with him, why they were rescuing him.
"I can hear you," Kylo whispered out the side of his mouth through gritted teeth to Finn.
Finn picked up the pace slightly, ignoring him, "Keep walking," he said sternly, gripping Kylo's arm a little tighter.
"You there," a Commander was walking towards them. Finn abruptly halted, as did Kylo and next to him, Jakub and Rey did the same. "Where are you taking these prisoners?"
"Emergency procedure, Commander. We're taking the prisoners to an escape shuttle to board another ship."
"The escape pods have launched it's a full system failure; go to hangar twelve and be quick about it."
"Yes, Commander".
The Commander rushed past them, and Finn and the others continued, not far now, to the maintenance hangar, and then they'd be safe; there were a few more turns and corridors. Troops of stormtroopers were marching in different directions. Officers and commanders were frantically trying to fix the issues. Finally, they turned into the maintenance hangar, but as they did so, blasts sounded behind them. It couldn't be easy, just once.
-X-
Rose stood on the boarding ramp of the Falcon, nervously looking around the hangar, her hacking device still in her hands. Since the alarms had gone off, Rose had to continue controlling systems to avoid the sirens being turned off. She could hear the commotion before she saw it. Shouts and blaster fire, and then she saw two troopers- that had to be Jakub and Finn because Rey and Kylo Ren were with them. Rey and Kylo were fending off blaster shots with their sabers, and Jakub and Finn were blasting back.
One of the troopers shouted to her, "Get inside, start taking off!"
Finn. She dashed inside, yelling down the corridors as she did so to Chewie. "We've got trouble. Start to take off."
-X-
Finn ran towards the boarding ramp, occasionally turning to continue blasting. Rey was close behind him, and then Jakub. Kylo was the furthest behind, and as he turned to join them, he was hit by a blaster in the shoulder. Rey started to run back towards him as Finn blasted the troopers entering the hangar to help protect them. Kylo was moving faster now but not enough, and as he tried to defend himself from the blaster shots, another caught him near the ribs, and he spun onto his back onto the boarding ramp.
"Jakub!" Rey yelled, "Help me!"
Jakub went to Kylo, pulled his arm over his head, and dragged him up. "Force be damned, you're heavy," he cursed as he heaved him into the ship.
"Let's go, let's go, close the main hatch!" Finn yelled towards the cockpit.
Rey was now on the boarding ramp, standing in front of Jakub and Kylo, defending them from any further injuries while walking backwards. Finn stood next to her, blasting anything that moved.
"Let's go, punch it!" he yelled again.
The main hatchway was closing slowly, so the ship was defending them more and more, and then finally, it shut. Behind the closed door, Finn could hear the barrage of fire harmlessly hitting the exterior of the freighter, and he allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief. The low-pitched rumble of the engines of the Falcon became a deafening roar as the ship left the hangar and spun around fast before jumping straight to light speed. Finn removed his helmet, and before he could do anything else, Rey had him in a tight hug, "You came for me. Again! Thank you! Thank you!"
Finn held her against him, his best friend, "Anytime."
Finn could sense Rose's presence at his side. He withdrew his hold on Rey, and she immediately turned and embraced Rose.
"Rose, that was incredible, the alarms, just brilliant!"
"Don't forget the escape pods too!" Rose replied animatedly.
Finn smiled at the two women as they embraced, pulled apart to speak excitedly, and hugged again. They were both so technically minded; he loved that they had that bond. Finn's affectionate gaze was disrupted, however, by a giant wall of fur as it strode purposefully past him directly to where Jakub was holding up Kylo Ren, who was clutching his side. Finn watched as Jakub disengaged his hold from Kylo, sensing an air of urgency in Chewie's approach that did not include him. Kylo froze on the spot, apprehension washing over his features as the Wookie, without even a howl or grunt, extended his arm, grabbed Kylo around the neck, picked him up off the floor and slammed him into the wall, bellowing at him. His roars were bloodcurdling as he held Kylo in a ferocious grip. Everyone was now staring at the scene before them in shock until Maz hurried in, "Chewbacca!" she yelled.
Rey's shock broke, and she immediately went to Chewie's arm, trying to loosen his grip on Kylo's neck. "Chewie, stop, stop!"
Kylo was struggling to breathe while both hands held Chewie's giant hand on his neck, his feet struggling to acquire a footing as he was held just off the floor.
"Chewbacca, you put Han Solo's son down. Now!" Maz demanded while tapping him on the leg in a lambasting manner.
Chewie thrust his face closer to Kylo's while maintaining his grip on him and barked one more time, then let go and stepped back. Kylo fell onto all fours, coughing. Rey bent at his side and gently touched his shoulder, but he forcefully shrugged her off. Grasping his ribs with one hand, he stood up, standing as straight as he could manage, his neck red from where Chewie had held him. He was almost panting, but the struggling to breathe now seemed more emotional than from physical exertion. Chewie proceeded to growl and bawl at him, a sequence which Finn assumed was a sentence of some sort. Really must work on my Wookie. Rey stood at Kylo's side; her face had fallen, and her eyes had gone glassy. Han, Chewie was talking about Han, and he could see from Kylo's similar expression that he understood everything Chewie had said.
Kylo's jaw was tense, and he was breathing hard.
"I know. I'm sorry. I'd take it back if I could, but I can't." In between each short statement, Kylo gave a laboured pant, his shoulders rising and falling quickly, his head shaking slightly, "I can't."
Looking at him, Finn thought he appeared genuine in his distress. Chewie yipped at Kylo and then retreated to the cockpit. Maz nodded at Kylo and then followed Chewie to the cockpit. Everyone else stood staring at Kylo. Rey took a step towards him but halted as he raised the hand, not holding onto his ribs. Giving her a crestfallen look, he turned and went down the corridor opposite the cockpit.
Finn took this opportunity, "Rey, what is he doing here? What is going on? You're acting as if you care for him?"
Rey looked down at the floor, sighing, "I can't explain it, and you wouldn't understand if I told you". Now, raising her head, she looked at Finn entreatingly. "Know that he's not what you think, not anymore. Trust me. Please."
Rose took Finn's hand, a gesture he knew was begging him not to say what he was thinking, which was what?
"Of course, Rey," Rose answered. The hand gesture had a secondary purpose, Finn's mutual agreement, albeit under duress.
-X-
Rey found Ben sitting on the floor of the forward hold, leaning against the wall, elbows on raised knees, holding his head, his hands clenching his hair. She knew he'd heard her coming or sensed her presence; she stood for a moment, looking down at him. She could feel the air around him taut as his feelings threatened to overwhelm him. She sat down next to him, she didn't touch him, and she didn't say anything. Slowly, Rey could feel the tension around them reduce, and eventually, Ben released his grasp on his head and tilted his head up to the ceiling of the forward hold, resting it on the wall. Finally, not looking at her, he spoke.
