His "torture buddy" is odd.

Odd for many reasons.

The first being that she eats like a starving man who has no idea where his next meal is going to come from. Which, Poe supposes, makes sense given Rey's personal history. But if there's one thing the Resistance isn't lacking in, it's food portions.

The second being that she's a Force user. Which, okay. Had come in handy on Crait when this Jedi girl had saved their asses by lifting all those bloody rocks. But sometimes Poe will catch her staring off into space, as if she's seeing or hearing or sensing things that no one else can. "It's just Force stuff," Finn had explained to him once. But every time Poe Dameron catches Rey mumbling to herself as she walks through the hallways of this abandoned base they're holed up in, he can't help but be glad that he's normal.

The third being that, for someone who is such a terrible liar, Rey lies often. Well, more then often. She lies all the time. To him.

And normally Poe Dameron can't stand liars. But, as well as being able to sniff out mistruths, Poe can read people pretty well. And while Rey lies boldly to his face, her dishonesty does not come from a malicious place.

Which makes Rey of Jakku, Poe Dameron's "torture buddy", the most interesting person in the Resistance.

The first big lie comes barely two weeks after their escape from Crait. They'd only just landed on a backwater planet in the Outer Rim, and everyone is more then happy to no longer be cramped in the Millennium Falcon together.

That's when the WANTED FOR THE MURDER OF SUPREME LEADER SNOKE bounties started showing up all over the HoloNet. Bounties for Rey. Rey, who has an admittedly adorable smile, is oddly protective of the porgs that had nested on the Falcon, and lets Rose braid her hair during breakfast. Rey, who apparently killed Snoke.

The idea is laughable, and Poe knows that there's no way it's true.

But he still has to ask.

They're in the mess hall eating dinner, him and Finn, Rose, Rey, and Connix. Rey finishes her meal first and is slouching in her seat, patiently waiting for the rest of her friends to finish eating. Poe watches as the Jedi's eyes flick around the room several times, as if taking inventory of everyone there, as if there might be someone amongst them that shouldn't be.

Yes, his torture buddy is definitely odd.

"So," Poe begins, chewing through his vegloaf without really bothering to taste it. Food is meant to be consumed for fuel, nothing more. "I'm sure you heard about the price that's currently on your head, Rey."

She doesn't flush or go pale. But she does focus on him, eyes narrowing a little. And maybe she sits up a little straighter.

Finn claps her on the shoulder, grinning. "A million credits!" His chest puffs out with pride. "For being the coolest girl in the galaxy."

Neither Finn nor Rey notice the way Rose's face falls ever so slightly at these words. And Poe wants to shake his head at just…at how young they all are, really. Because Rose is obviously head over heels for Finn, and Finn obviously reciprocates but is a guy and therefore says stupid shit. And Rey… Rey exists in her own little world most of the time.

Rey's smile at Finn's words is brief, and she glances at him quickly before looking back down at her empty plate.

Poe leans forward slightly, lowering his voice and grabbing Rey's attention again. "How'd you do it?"

Her gaze flicks up and meets his. She visibly swallows. "I gutted him with my lightsaber," she answers matter-of-factly. "Split him in two."

Finn lets out a low, appreciative whistle.

Poe smiles at her, catching the way Rey's face is beginning to shine with sweat. "How did you overcome his mind games?"

She looks thrown for a moment. "Mind games?" she asks, nonchalant.

Poe lets out a humorless laugh. "You told me you were tortured by Kylo Ren on Starkiller. That he invaded your mind like he did mine. Didn't Snoke teach him that? He was his master."

Ah. Now she's going pale. She nods sharply and glances to the side, a muscle in her cheek jumping. She's annoyed.

"So, how did you get around that?" Poe props his chin in his hand, feeling relaxed and nonplussed.

Rey shrugs one shoulder and wow, she really cannot lie. "I don't remember. I try to block out that encounter." She's trying to evade the conversation by feigning loss of memory. A solid tactic.

"And how did you get past Kylo Ren?" Poe continues, not willing to let her off the hook just yet. "Surely he didn't let you just strut off the Supremacy after you murdered his master."

Rey's whole body has gone stiff.

Interesting.

"I said," she grits out, and Poe is briefly surprised at how hostile she's suddenly become, "that I don't remember." Then she gets off the bench in a hurry, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she marches out of the mess hall.

Very interesting.

They've been on this base three months when she tells him the second big lie.

Three months filled with meetings with Leia, training sessions with Finn, and stolen moments of warmth and pleasure with Connix.

Poe is walking along a lonely corridor, head low as he thinks through the mission Leia has just assigned for him. He'll finally be allowed to leave this forsaken planet and do something—

"You are useless."

Poe lifts his head. He's about to pass the door leading into the workshop, and Rey's voice echoes out of it, causing him to soften his steps.

That's another thing that's odd about his torture buddy. She talks to herself when she thinks no one else is around. Not that talking to one's self is bad; Poe gives himself pep talks all the time. But Rey carries out actual conversations with a being who is decidedly not there.

Poe creeps into the doorway, watching as Rey sits at a worktable, back toward him.

"If all you're going to do is criticize me, then you can fuck off," she snaps at empty air.

There's a silent pause and Rey leans back over what Poe can only assume are the two halves of her broken saber. She's suddenly shaking her head, grabbing a tool and throwing it at literally nothing.

"It's not—I didn't do that to be funny." Rey sounds annoyed with whatever imaginary friend she's conversing with. "You're a pest. Don't you have better things to do then to stand around and ogle at me?"

And then her cheeks turn bright red.

This Jedi is so, so odd.

Rey ducks her head a little, and the next time she speaks her voice is very soft. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that." Another pause, and then she sighs. "I don't care if you think it's true. You just confuse me."

And Poe, who will freely admit that he's a nosy asshole, decides its time to make his presence known. "Who are you talking to?"

Rey whips around, eyes wide and a little frightened. "Poe?! How long have you been standing there?"

Poe shrugs, leaning against the doorframe and giving the Jedi a small smile. "Communing with the Force?"

Rey stares at him for a long moment before she glances at the corner of the room. It's empty. "I wasn't speaking to anyone," she says coolly. "Just talking to myself."

What a terrible, terrible liar.

Poe smiles, nods. "Yeah?"

She takes a sharp breath, eyes going wide with sudden alarm. "Don't—"

Something shoves him. Just a little. Just enough to make him stumble backward a couple of feet. And then it's gone, and when Poe refocuses he finds Rey visibly wincing.

She scrambles to her feet. "Sorry, I—Sorry." She's biting her bottom lip, looking immensely guilty and uncomfortable. She takes a deep, shaky breath as Poe brushes nonexistent dust off his pants. "I'm still leaning how to control the Force. It just—" she makes a pushing moment with her palms "—it comes out sometimes. I can't help it."

More lies. Lies half assed and filled with panic. Like she's trying to protect a secret.

"Of course." And he smiles at her again, because Poe Dameron knows he has one hell of a charming smile. And even though she's not interested in him like that, she relaxes a little at his nonchalance over the situation. He looks at the corner of the room again. Still empty.

But it hadn't been. Not to her. Poe is certain of it.

He straightens his jacket and chucks Rey underneath her chin. "Don't lose too much sleep over that saber."

She nods, biting her bottom lip. "Will do."

He's halfway down the hallway when he hears her close the door with a solid thunk.

It all clicks into place a month later, when a legion of stormtroopers descend on them. They'd been warned by an ally about an hour before the attack and had managed to gather all their members as well as their essential supplies into the Falcon and freshly donated shuttles. They'd been practicing these drills for months now in case this ever happened, after all.

Everyone is present and accounted for. Everyone except Rey.

And they can't leave her, not the last Jedi. Leia won't stand for it, and neither will Finn. Or anyone else for that matter.

But when the First Order razes through their base, the place they'd all been sleeping in mere hours before, Poe is beginning to mull over what he might have to say in order to convince Leia to leave his torture buddy behind.

Her life is not worth the lives of five of Poe's best men. Surely the General knows this—

There's a pounding of heavy footsteps coming up the ramp from outside of the Falcon. Finn rushes to open the door, Poe at his heels.

"Be prepared to take off in thirty seconds!" Poe shouts to Chewbacca, who roars back an affirmative.

Except it's not just Rey waiting for them on the other side of the door.

It's an unconscious Rey cradled in the arms of Kylo Ren, who is covered in blood that is not his own.

A/N:

Just a short story because I missed writing Kylo Ren. Except one, possibly two more installments. If you liked let me know?