Fighting a war cost money.

Lots and lots of money.

And when you needed the kind of funds required to fight against the defacto ruling power of the galaxy, you had to brush elbows with people who, quite frankly, turned your stomach.

Rey scowled at her hair. It had been cut short so that he barely reached her jaw line and colored a shade of lavender that Rose swore complemented her eyes. It was close to what Admiral Holdo had worn, only without the dainty halo embellishment. That would have been too much like wearing a crown.

"Do you think if you glare at your reflection long enough the dress will change?"

She sighed and looked over at Finn. "Why do I have to wear this damn thing again?"

"Because Leia said so."

Yes, Leia said so. She also said that though powerful, wealthy men claimed they wanted to be in the company of powerful, accomplished women, they still wanted women to look elegant, beautiful and in need of protection. So, Jedi or no Jedi, Rey had to wear this clinging shift of some mid-night blue material with a shimmering effect that made it look as though she was wearing a starlit sky.

And, for the record, dress shoes sucked.

She tugged at the bodice with no success. It was designed to make the most of her modest bust, meaning it was cut far too low for comfort. If she had to fight she would probably fall out. Wouldn't that be one for the headlines: The Empress Rey giving the galaxy a peep show.

She couldn't even carry a blaster under the skirt of this damn thing.

Rey took another breath and let it out slowly. "I look like a whore."

"Uh… no. As a soldier, I've seen plenty of whores. That's not what they look like."

"Isn't it the same thing? I'm flashing skin and expected to smile and flirt to get men to open their bank accounts to us."

"Only in this case, you don't have to go any further than that. Trust me, none of these guys will have the balls to try and see what's under that skirt. They're too afraid of you."

"Thanks. That's actually… comforting, strangely enough." She turned away form her reflection and was going to put the damn shoes back on, but paused. "What do you mean you've seen plenty of whores?"

It was hard to tell with Finn blushed, but he definitely blushed. "Uh… well… even Storm Troopers get shore leave. And… you gotta let off steam. So, if you aren't like Poe and just charm a girl's pants off, you pay for it." She continued to look at him in disbelief and he shrugged. "It's that or take care of yourself."

She flashed back to Kylo reclining against an unseen surface, his eyes dark, pupils blown, his hand pistoning up and down the erect leng…

She shut the door on that image least it somehow draw her 'dear husband' back to her side. Instead, she decided to give a little of what she'd been taken for the past few weeks. "So, all the Storm Troopers enjoyed the attentions of professionals?"

Finn bristled. "Not just us. Officers, too. More than a few had a mistress on one world while they had their perfect wife on another."

Rey blinked. "Really? That's horrible!" She pondered this for a moment. "What about Ky…" She bit her tongue, but Finn caught it.

"Yeah, him, too. I wasn't his wing man, and I didn't spend time with him on leave or anything. I just heard things."

"What… what sort of things?"

He grimaced, clearly not wanting to talk about this. "He liked redheads."

"Redheads?" Rey's hand lifted subconsciously to her new look. "Is that why you argued so hard against that color when we were trying to put together the disguise."

"Yeah. No need to give the man anything more to obsess over."

"What else did you hear?"

Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Kriff, Rey! I don't know. I heard he liked them…" He seemed at a loss for words so instead he held his hands out from his chest in a semi cupping shape.

"So he likes redheads with huge breasts." Pretty much the opposite of what she was. "Well, I must be a stunning disappointment. If he thinks I'm getting augmentation surgery he's lost what's left of his mind."

Finn groaned and only followed as she swept from the room.

The party, she supposed, was tasteful and quite entertaining. If you were into that sort of thing. Something about these people rubbed her the wrong way. Oh, she suspected that some of them were decent enough, but too many felt…wrong. Her senses detected greed, avarice and lust in abundance. These weren't people who believed in freedom for freedom's sake. They were….

They were….

They were only wanting someone to stop the formation of a new Empire. They didn't want the smothering totalitarianism of the past because an efficient government would not be as ready to turn a blind eye to their less savory practices. In spite of trying to shut them out, she caught glimpses of various desires and acts of debauchery that turned her stomach. The corpulent man with the red and gold sash had sex slaves that couldn't be much older than fifteen. He kept them secured in his personal chambers within his estate, naked and wearing nothing but a gold collar encrusted with jewels that was fastened to the wall. The skeletal woman win all black trafficked in narcotics and profited from addiction and death. The seemingly happy couple on the other side of the room enjoyed luring young people into their bedchambers and subjecting them to horrible pain They never killed them and paid them well for their time, but they always left them scarred.

Did Leia know from what kind of people they were asking assistance? Surely not. Surely the general had too much self respect for that. If they worked with these people then whatever government they put into place after they won would feel indebted to continue and turn a blind eye to their deeds.

"Rey?" Poe was gazing at her in concern. "You okay, Honey?"

She swallowed. "I… I'm just exhausted. You think I've been here long enough?"

They had been there for a while. She'd spoken to and danced with most of the unattached men here and some of the married ones. She'd deflected advances and dodged questions. Her least favorite ones being about her 'marriage'.

"Who cares. I'll cover for you with the general if it's a problem."

"Thanks, Poe." She patted his shoulder affectionately and made her way out of the ballroom and to the lift that took her back to her floor of the hotel. Most of the Resistance was here on this floor. The rooms had been provided to them. She thought that it was somewhat foolish to put them in all in the same place given that there were so few of their number remaining.

She placed her hand on the scanner and the door slid open, allowing her to escape into the quiet of her hotel room.

XXXXXXXXXX

He felt the force bond tug open and looked up from where he'd been perusing reports, his half-eaten lunch forgotten. His brows rose when he saw her.

"What did you do to your hair?"

Rey stopped, spotted him and narrowed her eyes. "Someone thought it would be a bright idea to put my face everywhere so I had to make some changes."

"Purple?"

"Someone else strongly advised against red."

"I happen to like red hair."

She smirked. "Yeah, that was the major point behind his recommendations."

They must have some thorough spies, then, if they were good enough to pick up on his predilections. He tilted his head to one side and studied the dress. "Definitely not a maiden's style this time. Where are you hiding your light saber?"

"I don't have a light saber any longer. We broke it, remember?"

"Your blaster, then?"

"In this scrap of a dress? You can barely hide your underwear. I can't even wear a bra in this damn thing." She scowled down at herself in disgust. Clearly not his mother's doing, then. Leia would never have given her a dress that made her feel so uncomfortable.

Wait.

What?

"You're not armed?!" He had to have misinterpreted that. "What the hell were you thinking?!" He got up from his seat in a powerful motion, managing to knock over his caff and not giving a damn. He slapped the flexi onto the table and marched over towards her. "Damn it, Rey! You can't walk around without a weapon of any kind! At least tell me that my mother made sure you had an armed escort!"

She blinked up at him and took a couple of steps back, looking mystified by his anger. "I had Poe and Finn with me!"

Unbelievable! He wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her head. "The hot shot and the traitor! Lovely! Why don't you just put a massive target over your head so our enemies can find you more easily?!"

"Don't raise your voice to me! And what do you mean 'our' enemies? This so-called marriage is all in your head, Kylo!"

He snarled, fists balling up as he took another stalking step towards her. "It's in both of our heads, Rey, in case you have forgotten."

She was about to bite back when she paused and looked over her shoulder.

"What? What is it?"

She didn't answer, but instead turned away from him. The damn dress barely had a back as well as practically no front. Definitely not one of his mother's selections. She never allowed that much skin to show, unless some lust-addled Hutt forced her into a slave's outfit.

"I'm sorry, but I think you must be lost. These are my rooms." Her voice was calm but firm. He couldn't see who she was talking to, but it clearly wasn't one of her friends.

Kylo folded his arms and watched, waiting for her to get rid of the interloper so they could continue their perfectly reasonable discussion.

"Then you must be confused. I didn't issue an invitation. In fact, I'm not even sure how you got the code for the door."

This wasn't right. "Who is there with you, Rey?"

She didn't answer him but kept facing the other person. "Baron, you've had too much to drink. You should probably make your way to your own rooms."

Was Baron the other person's name or his title? It could go either way.

His scowl deepened when he saw her take a step back, one hand extended. "I do not believe we are well enough acquainted to be using given names. I want you to leave."

That did it. "Give him his name, Rey." It was an order, and she didn't take well to him ordering her around. The slight stiffening in her shoulders told him she was perfectly able to hear him, still.

Her voice grew more firm. "You will leave this room at once." He could feel the Force in her words as she tried to make the intruder leave. It had been the first thing she'd ever tried deliberately, going on pure instinct out of fear, and it should now be as second nature to her. But the slight jolt he sensed in her told him that it hadn't worked. The strong minded could not be easily manipulated.

"Give. Me. His. Name." He would find the man. He would find him and cut him apart, piece by piece.

"I don't need your help to forget Kylo Ren. You wouldn't be able to do that no matter how hard you tried." She made a twisting motion as though pulling away. "Do not touch me." Her words were like a whip.

Into hundreds of tiny pieces.

"Trakill, you will leave this room now and I will forget you were ever here!" Apparently the unseen attacker couldn't take the hint, because Kylo saw the fabric of the skirt bunch at one side as though taken into someone's fist, an attempt made to pull the sorry excuse for a dress aside. He saw Rey's body tense, her instincts making her prepare to strike physically.

The motion caused the fabric of her dress to rip with an echoing sound.

The scene before him suddenly sharpened into clear, unspoiled focus.

A hotel room, nicely appointed in the traditional style of the core worlds. The sky dark outside the window. A tall, broad shouldered man with a too-pinched face and lust glazed eyes gripping his Rey only to have the heel of her hand come up to strike against his chin with enough force that he was knocked back.

The fabric of the dress tore further. His fingers had not released with the blow.

"You uppity bitch!" He let go of her and wiped the blood from his mouth before turning his glare her way. "I'll teach you some ma…"

'Baron Trakill' froze, his eyes going wide as he stared at the massive figure now standing behind his would-be conquest. Kylo knew this man. He was from a long line of wealth and frequently spent far too much money on activities that were far beneath his strong and honorable Rey.

Kylo felt his lips pull back form his teeth in a predatory snarl.

Rey twisted, looking back and up, her eyes wide. "Oh kriff!" Jedi or not, she wasn't stupid. She saw his expression and knew in an instant that this would not go well. "Kylo, it's all right. I've got this."

"No." His voice was cold. Even he thought it was cold. "I've got this."

His hand came up with a claw like motion and lifted the shocked man from the floor. He was aware of Rey's relatively slight weight as she wrapped both her arms around his one and tried to pull it down. "Kylo! Stop! You don't need to!"

But he did. He really did. This pathetic worm had thought to force himself on Rey. To put his hands on her and try to take what she had yet to give to anyone. Had dared to think that he had any place touching her.

With a single, sharp move of his hand there was a loud crack as the man's neck snapped. Only then did Ren allow him to drop to the floor.

Rey stared wide eyed at the would-be rapist, but it wasn't the killing that had her rattled. Kylo knew what was disturbing her. He shouldn't have been able to do this. Shouldn't have been able to interact with anyone other than her.

He shouldn't have been this strong.

He met her eyes, wanting to pull her to him and devour her, but holding back because he didn't want to remind her of the filth now lying dead at her feet. He kept his eyes on hers, knowing that if he lowered them and saw the ripped dress now baring her breasts and the finger marks from where that thing had grabbed her, he would lose what little control he had of his temper.

So he kept his eyes on hers and waited. Waited until the full weight of what his being here like this meant.

Her jaw dropped, her breath picking up. "You're in the Kitari system, aboard the Absolution."

His lips turned up in a slow, victorious smile, because if she could tell that about him, she knew he could now see the same about her. Their now mature Bond glowed in their minds, clear and perfect and telling them both everything they needed to know in spite of being light years apart.

"Found you."