Five: Turned

Rey didn't bother with pleasantries. Her blaster took aim at the man she presumed was General Hux given his air of self-importance. "You're going to pay for what you've done to him."

His hand deftly signaled for his troops to hold steady while his eyebrows inclined, a look of forced bafflement etching across his pale brow. "Surely even a sand flea from Jakku realizes when she's outnumbered?"

She ignored the jab, flicking off the safety on the blaster. "I only need one shot."

"An empty threat if I ever heard one."

Rey hiked her own brow, tilting her head to the side in challenge, and lied: "Snoke underestimated me too."

The general's lips settled in a frown that made him look even more severe than his uniform could manage alone. One finger of his raised hand curled ever so slightly. Six blasters shifted targets to point at the man still seated behind her.

His message was clear. Even if she could eliminate Hux with a shot between the eyes, his underlings would riddle Ben with blaster beams in the same breath. Rey immediately relaxed her stance, hand and weapon turning up in surrender.

"Kick it over," Hux demanded, voice supercilious.

Complying with the order, Rey lowered the blaster to the ground and used the side of her boot to kick her only weapon out of reach.

The sneer on Hux's faced widened as he gave his next directive: "Search her. Be thorough."

Two troopers stepped forward from the front line to carry out the order. Rey could see a vibroscanner hanging from each of their belts, but they made no move to use the devices which could effortlessly detect concealed weapons and tracking tech. They reached for her stolen armor instead, disengaging the snaps and locks so they could remove it piece-by-piece.

Rey tensed as the linked chest and back piece was yanked away and added to the pile of wrist guards, boots, shin, and thigh plates. She knew better than to fight back against the demeaning act; that's what Hux wanted: a reaction he could punish.

She'd endured enough of Unkar Plutt's bullish thugs during her life to know when stoicism offered the best defense.

At last, she stood before the room in only her cropped pants, breast band, and arm wraps. The stormtrooper who had removed her leg accoutrements returned, intending to now go over her body with his hands, despite glaring evidence she'd hidden nothing else beneath the armor.

"Don't touch her!" Ben's roar made more than one white suit shift back from its menace. The sound echoed, rumbling off the walls of the chamber.

The emotion radiating off of him thrummed through Rey, filling the part of her mind he'd attempted to vacate while imprisoned under Hux's decree. It felt like a hot gust of wind rushing past her, threading under and through her clothes, heating the skin beneath. The sensation reminded Rey of her home planet, but it wasn't the memory of Jakku's environment she'd been missing: it was Ben.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back to keep Hux from thinking he'd broken her down by having her armor stripped away. Rey turned slightly to see Ben attempting to stand.

"Don't," she said. "Save your strength."

Though his voice had been restored, Ben's shaking legs and unsteady movements proved he needed more time to physically recover. He collapsed back to the ground just as half of the guards surrounded him in a circular formation, blasters at the ready.

From a few feet away, Hux watched the exchange with mild interest, surely wondering what weaknesses he could exploit next. Rey tried to use the Force to see if she could discover the thoughts behind his calculating stare, but the other minds in the room interfered and left her feeling scrambled.

"What is it about you that stirs such passion in Ren?" Hux asked, stepping forward to circle around her as though inspecting her for peculiarities. "You're nothing much on the eyes."

Though far from naked, his once-over left her feeling exposed. Her voice hardened. "Release him."

"Do you intend to make a deal?" The whine of his voice grated against her ears. "I'm afraid I'm not amenable to negotiations."

"It's not a request," she informed him.

He scoffed, pausing at her side. "It's difficult to decipher whether you're impressively bold or simply stupid. In either case, you're in no position to make demands."

"I'm more valuable to you." Rey kept her tone even, unemotional. When haggling, it paid to stay calm and stick to the facts. The Blobfish had taught her that.

Hux's gaze scanned down to look at Ben. He smiled and rolled his eyes back to her as he resumed his measured orbit. "And how did you arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion?"

"You only set bait when you're trying to trap a larger predator."

He laughed, eyes lighting with genuine humor. "You are a curiosity. I'll give you that."

Stopping behind her, Hux fondled a lock of hair with an odd gentleness that made her hackles spike against the back of her neck. Leaning in, he drew in a deep breath before allowing her hair to fall and dust against her bare shoulder.

Disgust scrunched up his nose. "But no amount of washing could erase the stench that reeks from muck like you." He bent toward her again, lowering his voice so only she could hear his whisper. "You're as worthless as the trash you shovel."

Had he simply insulted her appearance, Rey could have continued to resist her impulses to lash out, but he'd aimed too low by trying to make her doubt her self-worth.

At one time, she may have agreed with him. She'd come from nothing—a child born to drunkards and sold into near-slavery on a junk planet—yet she'd survived everything her brief, harsh life had thrown at her. Hauling scrap may not have been a glamorous life, but it had made her strong. The desert may have tanned her skin, but it had toughened it too. She'd spent years taking apart discarded skeletons of the dead Empire; the things they considered garbage had taught her all she knew about ships and machinery.

Maybe she'd started as a nobody from nowhere, but she'd made herself into Rey of the Resistance, Jedi apprentice.

Hux had no time to react to her explosive rage. Rey swung around, full force, to plant a fist in his face. His neck snapped to the side violently, pulling him to the ground. Rey shouted in attack as she pounced, straddling his chest and using her thighs to clamp his arms at his sides. Without their protection, Rey's battery of punches landed with the satisfying crunch of bones.

Her victory was short-lived. A jolt of electricity pressed between her shoulder blades, stunning her instantly. The voltage was so powerful it made her tongue tingle and her ears ring. Stormtroopers on either side of Rey took hold of her beneath her armpits, hauling her away from the general. In the near distance, she heard Ben screaming her name. Hanging limp and numb between the two guards, only Rey's eyes felt alert and responsive.

Hux shoved off the stormtrooper foolish enough to offer him assistance. A red handprint smeared against the trooper's white chest plate courtesy of the gush of blood flowing from Hux's crooked nose and split lip.

The corners of Rey's mouth twitched; on the inside, she smiled with smug satisfaction to see her handiwork.

Hux finally managed to stand, righting his uniform. As he rearranged his garments, Rey noticed the saber hidden by his hip-flap. Could he have been so stupid to bring it with him?

Blood stained his teeth when he spoke. "You're even more reckless than he is." He nodded in Ben's direction in an unspoken signal. "Well, tempers are infectious things."

The group standing over Ben transformed into vultures picking apart a carcass. Some clawed at his clothing, holding him in place; others kicked the soft tissue of his stomach and sides. A sickening methodology characterized their attack—they'd clearly carried out similar orders before, perhaps many times.

Rey waded through the haze of her mind, panic helping to lift the fog. Her lips formed two words: "Stop it!"

Hux ignored her plea. He unclipped the lightsaber from his waist, rotating it in consideration. "It's time for the Jedi to die," Hux declared. "They are a blight. One I will wipe from existence."

The general crossed over to the prone figure, igniting the red saber—its crackling beams seemed to burn more brightly, fed by Hux's dark intentions. He raised it above his head.

Rey's mind screamed, calling the weapon to her as she had done on the Supremacy. It ripped free of Hux's grasp, but didn't reach her hand. Instead, it clattered to the floor halfway between them, her thoughts still too jumbled to sustain the beckoning.

Hux pivoted on the heel of his polished boot, eyes narrowed into livid slits. He strode toward her, picking up the lightsaber on the way. When he reached her, the hilt of the weapon met her temple in a fluid, brutal hit.

Rey could feel blood pour from the gash, warm and slick. She sagged even more in the arms of the two troopers at her sides. A whimper escaped her as she grit her teeth against the splitting pain in her head.

Hux brought the saber beneath her chin, tilting her head up to deliver his next cruelty. "I was willing to kill him quickly. With that nonsense, you've ensured that he'll die painfully."

The six guards standing around Ben returned to their onslaught, the ferocity of their kicks and stomps even greater than before. Each blow drew another gasp, yelp, or bellow of pain from their victim. Rey could feel their hate seething from beneath their armor and filling the room with the tang of iron mixed with the salt and musk of sweat.

Their loathing washed over her like a bucket of near-boiling water: it burned, but left her feeling more awake than ever, skin tight, airways clear, blood pumping. Her hate and anger grew in response to the energies of those around her until it surpassed all else. At the edge of her despair and desperation to save Ben and herself, Rey encountered what she'd previously buried: the darkness.

There was no small amount of danger in turning to it now. Rey had seen what the dark side had done to Ben Solo when he'd been exploited and corrupted by Snoke. Leia, Luke, and other members of the Resistance had told her not to use it; in their eyes, the dark side could only bring suffering and destruction.

But when harnessing that power could save them, what choice did she have?

Latching on to the new fuel source, Rey used her insight to explore the minds of the room, looking for the weakest link. Maybe her luck had changed, because the trooper on her right proved the most soft-minded. She had used a mind trick once before, though not to the extent she now planned. If she could manipulate him into carrying out her order, maybe she and Ben—whose cries of agony had, alarmingly, ceased—could make it out of this alive.

Rey lifted her head to look into the triangular, black eyes of the man's helmet. "Kill them," she ordered in a quiet, clear voice.

Resistance pushed back against the murderous deed, and Rey knew she hadn't committed fully enough to the dark. Her eyes rolled up, shielded by twitching lids as she searched deep inside herself to accept the sinister tendencies lying dormant within her soul.

Her second enunciation came forth in a measured, confident tone: "Kill them all."

This time, she crushed whatever mental defense had been constructed to fend her off.

The stormtrooper dropped her arm while he lifted and fired his blaster simultaneously. His shots hit their targets with surprising accuracy while the other guards, caught by surprise, struggled to lift their own weapons before being brought down by Rey's puppet.

Five troopers dropped to the ground in quick succession. Each eliminated threat sang through Rey's body, easing her aches and pains. By the time her trooper succumbed to a hail of plasma blasts, Rey had already extricated herself from her other captor and reached out for Kylo's lightsaber once more. This time, the saber soared out of Hux's grip and into her waiting hand, smacking it with a welcome familiarity.

She activated it and sliced through the armor of the guard on her left, turning just in time to block two blaster bolts aimed at her side and head.

Rey turned her attention to the remaining figures standing over Ben's inert body. She leaped over him, swinging a wide arc down and across, taking out two more opponents with one stroke. The others didn't stand any more of a chance, falling to her blood-red blade like the trees that had collapsed on Starkiller Base as the planet split in two.

The only one left was Hux.

She'd saved him for last on purpose, collecting all the panic and anguish from the dying souls before turning to unleash her vengeance on the general. He'd lost his composure, shaking with rage and fear.

"You underestimated me," Rey reminded him, voice tinged by the pride that accompanied victory. "I warned you not to."

With a roar, she extended her right arm—locking at the elbow—and clenched her fingers into a claw. She visualized her grip surrounding Hux's throat and squeezing down on his windpipe, cutting off his air supply. He choked in a satisfying way, but it wasn't enough for Rey, who tilted her arm up just slightly, lifting him from the floor to his tiptoes.

"Mer—cy," he cried, breathless and struggling against the invisible hand that strangled him.

"Ready to make a deal now?" she questioned darkly.

"Yes!" Hux wheezed.

"Stop the war."

"I can't st—" Her arm rose more, dragging him up to dangle in midair. "Yes. Fine."

She wondered how far she could push his desperation to live. "Make me Supreme Leader."

He glared at her over his hands which still clung to his throat, trying to break her hold. Rey squeezed the answer out of him. "All will hail your name."

Her body vibrated with anger. She could imagine no worse fate than leading an oppressive regime. She hadn't accepted Ben's offer after he'd killed the previous Supreme Leader; having it offered to her on a platter made no difference.

"Promise me everything I desire," she said, still toying with him even though her arm fatigued. The power she felt running through her produced a delicious taste at the back of her throat.

"Any-thing," Hux's voice strained. His lips had started turning blue.

His weakness and self-serving attitude disgusted her. "I want every soul the First Order slaughtered to hear your final, sputtering breath," she ground out.

"Rey. . ."

His voice didn't reach her ears, but filled her head, speaking to her through their bond. Rey's hold relaxed minutely, allowing Hux to draw in a precious breath. She glanced behind her to see Ben still sprawled out on the ground. He had to be conscious to communicate with her, though she couldn't tell if his eyes were open from this distance.

Don't do this, Ben continued. Let him go.

"It's no less than he deserves," Rey countered, tightening her grasp once again. Her fingers tingled with Hux's racing pulse and choking coughs. Killing him would mean an end to the suffering of entire star systems.

You're right. His voice sounded much closer, just behind her although his body still hadn't moved. She could feel heat spread across her back as though he were standing flush against her, whispering in her ear, A wise man once told me that striking an opponent down in anger makes them haunt you.

Rey knew he spoke of Luke Skywalker, of Crait. That didn't mean she wished to take the advice of a dead Jedi Master—not when she could disrupt the imbalance of power between the Resistance and the First Order by taking one life.

"The war. ." she began, unsure why tears coated her voice or when she'd begun to shake with fear instead of loathing.

Will go on even if he dies, Ben finished gently. You know that.

"I can't stop it," Rey confessed, speaking of the darkness still flowing through her. "It's like it has control of me."

The comforting heat shifted from her back to skim up her arm and rest against her raised hand. It pressed down, as if threading his fingers through hers and helping her release her hold. You showed me there was still light in the corners of my heart, Ben stated. Now it's my turn.

Rey closed her eyes, allowing herself to be enveloped by the warmth of the light he projected through their bond. She'd been overcome by the violence of the dark side, basking in the white-hot energy; this was the soft breath of the Jakku sunrise returning heat to the freezing desert nights: rejuvenating, freeing.

She threw Hux back, putting as much distance between herself and temptation as possible. He hit the opposite wall before slumping to the ground, unconscious and unmoving.

Ben's presence had disappeared in her mind. Rey crossed over to him, kneeling at his side. The energies of the fallen soldiers still lingered in the room, giving Rey what she needed to replenish herself as she healed his new injuries. The light spreading from her fingertips carried a gray undertone instead of its typical white coloring.

He stirred beneath her hands, groaning as he regained all of his faculties. "You're getting better at this than I anticipated."

"Maybe I could teach you after this is all over," Rey returned, smiling to see him upright and alert.

"I'd rather abstain from any new afflictions for a little while," Ben said, standing with her help. He still needed to lean against her to walk steadily.

Together they hobbled to the sliding doors, eager to leave the carnage and the painful memories the torture chamber contained. From the map Finn had drawn, Rey knew they weren't far from a hangar full of escape pods.

Rey smiled. "I can live with that."

This was originally supposed to be the end of this fic, but I think an epilogue is in order. I'm in the midst of the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology deadlines, so don't expect an update next week. Hopefully I'll have something the following week. Thanks for reading!