Work Text:
Rey adjusted the hood of her clock around her face after being bumped into on the streets of Coruscant.
The person, a big angry Twi man told her to watch her step before being placated by Poe that she didn’t mean to run into him and that they were sorry and just a bit lost and could he please point them in the direction of their destination?
Reluctantly the Twi did before shooting Rey a dirty glance and then continued on his way.
She removed her hand from off of her lightsaber hidden beneath her cloak.
It felt odd to be out in the open and away from the rebel base. But she had been starting to feel very useless and had volunteered to come on this mission. Poe did guilt trip her quite a bit beforehand though.
The plan was to meet with an individual who had been in touch with the First Order’s alleged spy and had some useful information for them. However this character had insisted that they meet in person and had hinted that some negotiations would have to take place first. Hence Rey coming along. “I need someone to watch my back in there,” Poe had told her. “Someone skilled in case things get ugly.”
They arrived at the rendezvous point, a middle class club nestled between shops in the shadows of the sky scraping structures.
“Follow me, stay cool, and don’t buy anything,” Poe instructed, his eyes already scoping out the brightly lit establishment. He looked over his shoulder, “and let me do the talking.”
Rey nodded and followed closely behind him.
Screens ran along every inch of the walls in the club, broadcasting an array of entertainment. On the wall across the room from the entrance was the bar where droids and multiple limbed individuals made glowing drinks. To her right were tables where people gambled and to her left were doors which seemed to lead to private rooms where people drank and talked. Rey suddenly felt very drab. Around her everyone was well-dressed and well-painted. She definitely didn’t fit in the city.
Poe led her to the bar where he got the attention of one of the tenders. “I’m looking for a Kai Ahfed. He here?”
Barely looking up from the five drinks he was making the tender pointed with two hands towards one of the private rooms. “The one in the far corner,” he instructed with half a mind.
Poe thanked him and glanced at Rey to make sure she was behind him before striding over to the small chamber and pushing aside the curtain, exposing the occupant.
Sitting on a long couch with his feet on a table covered in drinks was a man with pale skin and purple hair. His lips were green and spread into a sharp-toothed grin when they came in.
“Ah,” he breathed, removing his feet from the table and leaning forward on his thighs. “The Resistance.”
“Appreciate if you were a bit more quiet about that,” Poe said with a strained smile.
“Apologies,” the man replied flippantly. He gestured to the couch across from him. “Please, sit.”
Rey and Poe both did.
Sprawled in his chair he seemed to eye them both hungrily. “Well. Hello. I’m Kai Afhed if you hadn’t already guessed, or that is what I will go by while we’re here and it doesn’t really matter who you are, is it? So let’s begin.”
“Let’s begin,” Poe agreed. “Apparently you have a nice piece of information for us?”
“Do I ever,” Kai replied with a sharp-toothed smile, holding up a small silver drive with his pointer and middle finger.
“And we’ve got something for you,” Poe said, reaching into his coat to pull out a small bag and placed it on the table. “125 credits.”
His grin not leaving his face, Kai glanced down at the pouch and back to them. “No.”
“No?” Rey repeated incredulously.
Kai’s eyes trained on her. “She speaks! And that’s right, gorgeous. No.”
Poe ghosted a hand over Rey before commanding Kai’s attention. “What are you looking to get in particular?”
Kai’s eyes ran almost licentiously over Poe before hovering over his midsection. “Well that blaster is pretty nice. Throw that in along with 300 more credits and we might have a deal.”
Rey bit her lip. That was Poe’s favorite blaster.
Poe pulled it out of his holster, considering it a moment more before placing it on the table.
“As for the money,” he began, reaching into his coat again, “we’ve got this.” He held up what looked like a small red cube.
“And what is ‘this’?” Kai asked, bored.
Poe placed the cube on the table and tapped it. Immediately the cube began to move, rolling on the table until bit by bit it had reassembled itself into a spider.
Another green grin split across Kai’s face as he stooped down to the spider’s level.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“This droid is probably worth more than 300 credits,” Poe declared. “Undetectable to scanners, and small enough to crawl through ships to get to power sources or to glean data and information.”
Kai looked from the spider to Poe.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Resistance,” he said with a grin before shaking hands with both of them. “Now to seal this deal,” he grabbed an oblong glass pitcher and filled three glasses with the glowing contents. Somehow though, each glass ended up with a different color.
Poe hesitated, glancing at Rey before grabbing the glowing blue one. Kai snatched the pink which left Rey with the green. Kai raised his glass to both of them before throwing it back.
Rey raised hers to her lips.
“Have you ever drank before?” she heard Poe mutter to her before she downed the entire glowing liquid.
She was sinking. Being enveloped in the sands of Jakkuu, except she felt no fear, no panic. The world seemed to melt around her. Only the beautiful things remained.
She fell back in her chair, facing skyward. The lights above were incredible, how had she not noticed them before? They looked like falling rain, every shade of blue hurtling gently towards her, except she felt no moisture on her face.
She floated to her feet. Was she using the Force? How easily it came to her. She drifted away from the corner alcove where they had sat and made her way to the main room, her head lolling and shaking with each step she took. Her mouth was slack and her hands limp at her side as she slid one foot in front of the other. She looked skyward again. The rain had been joined with every color she could think of. Pinks and greens and purples enveloped the room. Her eyes began to burn.
With great effort she wrenched her face away from the ceiling and looked straight ahead, blinking heavily.
Darkness.
Bursts of color.
Nothing.
Brightness.
Barren blackness.
An approaching blurry figure.
Familiar murk.
The figure was closer. And recognizable. Shouldering his way through the bodies that drifted through the room like asteroids was Kylo Ren.
She gasped and felt a shiver go through her body when his eyes met hers. She felt a burst of panic. She needed to run.
“Rey?” She heard him call through the crowd. She took a step back. It was like walking through mud, viscous and slow.
“Rey.” His voice broke through her muddled thoughts, waking her halfway from her dreamlike state. He stood directly in front of her, looking down at her frozen frame. The flashing lights above and around them caught the glint in his dark hair and eyes, turning them every color imaginable. His face was somber and his gaze upon her was searching.
Was this a result of their connection? Was he really here? Some distant, sleepy voice asked in the back of her mind.
The lights in the club faded from the coolness of blue to a hot red and an unbidden vision of his furious saber tore through her mind. Adrenaline coursed through her body at honey dripping speed hissing at her to escape.
She managed to take two steps away and shoulder her way through the crowd.
“Rey, don’t run,” he called to her.
She had glued her eyes to the ground, straining with all of her might to keep one foot in front of the other.
She felt strong hands grip her upper arms to prevent her from crashing into their owner.
She looked up. He had found her again.
She struggled in vain against his grasp. His hands were the gentlest vices she had ever felt.
You know I can take whatever I want, came the memory of his sweetly poisonous voice. Her hands found purchase in his shirt, intent on throwing him off of her but she only managed to pull him closer.
His hair brushed her cheek. She bore her teeth.
“I hate you,” she hissed.
“But you need me,” he replied in that same saccharine voice. “I am the only one who truly knows who you are.”
His breath caressed her face. Then his hand.
“Rey. We’re connected. In more ways than one,” he whispered, his eyes half closed and his face nearly brushing hers.
Like a light being switched on or a saber being unsheathed, a burst of hot rage licked through Rey’s body, evoking a scream to erupt from her throat. With that rage she found the will and strength to force Kylo Ren back until he was pushed against the wall. His hair fanned around him as he looked down at her, breathing heavily. A smirk danced across his lips as he regarded her.
“I’m going to kill you,” she promised through her teeth.
“Will you be able to?” He asked almost blissfully. Had he gone mad?
She felt her stomach lurch. The lights were brighter. The two of them had moved to the ceiling now.
Now they were standing eye to eye. His gentle expression morphed into one of passion as he suddenly grabbed her face, cradling it in her hands.
She tried to struggle.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he assured her. “I never have wanted to.”
Her fingers were still knotted in his shirt. She felt the warmth of his skin underneath.
“We belong together, Rey. We’ll never be rid of one another.” His gaze pierced hers. “And you know it.”
Fury coursed through her.
She wanted to end him.
She reached up and grabbed a handful of his dark, silky hair as their lips crashed together.
The burning volcanos of Dathomir.
The relief of water running down her dry throat.
The alleviation of panic after finding a lost precious item.
The warm sun on Jakku.
All of these thoughts crossed her mind as they stood pressed completely together. She pulled him closer, clawing at him.
Kicking him down in the forest, branding him across his face forever.
Spitting curses at him from across the galaxy.
Abandoning him in the throne room.
Please, she had heard him say, hands outstretched as flames had danced around them. It all had torn her in half and she had been limping on ever since.
Damn him.
She bit his lip and she heard a growl rumble up from his throat as he gripped her tighter.
She wanted to run her blade through him right now.
She wanted to push him away, rejecting him, and run far away while he watched.
She wanted to stay and have him by her side forever.
She wanted to scream.
Perhaps she had. Her throat ached and she pulled away from him to breathe. They were on the ground again. She looked skyward at the lights. His lips roughly traced down her neck.
“Don’t leave again, Rey,” he whispered in her ear. “Stay. Stay with me. Please.”
She felt the hot anger slip out of her as if it were a toxin. Replacing it was something else. The lights above her blurred as salty tears ran down her cheeks.
“Stay.”
“I can’t,” she whispered with a trembling mouth, fresh realization gripping her mercilessly.
Then the room went dark.