"You'd better have a good plan," Obi-Wan grumbles. Finally, Ben has snapped out of his trance and let the ghosts in. They wasted no time in expressing their disapproval with his reckless course of action. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Ben opens his mouth to reply, but is cut off when Rey wakes with a start. She swings her head left and right, struggling to take in her surroundings. "Where am I?" she demands.

Ben stands up, ignoring the protests of his knees. He doesn't know how long he's held that position. "You're my guest."

"Where are the others?"

"Han Solo? FN-2187?" He walks around her, seeking to release his frenetic energy through his pacing. It never occurs to him that he's circling her like a predator his prey. "I have no idea where any of them are. Not even the droid." He pauses, gleaming a prevalent thought in her mind. "You still want to kill me."

Rey scowls. "That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask." She truly doesn't know who he is. She refuses to accept the memories she doesn't have, and it pains him.

"I was never a creature to you, cousin." Ben removes his helmet. "We used to be the best of friends."

Her eyes widen in surprise and disbelief. Them? Cousins? A ten year age difference isn't unheard of, but now she's wondering why he never came for her if they were really family. All that time, waiting for parents who wouldn't come, and here was a cousin who knew who she was and where she was. It can't be - no one who claimed to share her blood would ever be so cruel as to leave a child like her behind. "I don't know what you're talking about." She doesn't want to know what he's talking about.

"You've been a scavenger on Jakku ever since you were four. Your mother is dead, and your father is in hiding. My mother is your father's twin sister. Ergo, we are cousins." Realization dawns on her face before being quickly shut down by distrust. She refuses to accept a single word he says. "If you'd let me show you -"

She flinches at his raised hand, shrinking as her mental wall adds another row of bricks. He probes gently, only to be stopped by a stormy, dark cloud. No, Ben thinks, no, it can't possibly -

He crams his way in, breaking down the walls with enough force to make her cry. He has to root out the darkness, preventing it from taking hold. The very fact she was considering killing him spoke volumes. "You're so lonely," Ben whispers, stepping closer. "So afraid to leave..."

He sees Ahch-To in her mind, though Luke isn't present. She has seen the map - perhaps Anakin had even showed her Luke's location. The landscape morphs into a face. "And Han Solo. You feel like he's the father you never had. He would've made you proud, even if he was never there.

"I have to say, though, your real father - my uncle - was an altogether better influence than mine." Kylo smiles sadly. "No wonder you turned out so much better than me."

Rey cringes, shaking her head furiously. "Get out of my head!"

"I know you've seen the map. The missing piece of your father's puzzle. I know where he is. We can go to him. Together," Ben says. She doesn't believe him. He presses back into her mind with fervor. "Rey, please - listen to me. Now that you've regained your powers, you and I can end this war -"

"I won't give you anything," Rey snarls. She slams back with full force, pushing him out of her mind and back into his. It feels as though a spear rips through his skull, splitting his head open. Ben can't bite back the scream.

He fights back, but won't win - he knows this immediately. Pent up for fifteen years, her powers need an outlet - she'll find it through tearing Ben's mind apart. She dredges up his memories, ones he isn't strong enough to bury.

A loving hug with Seka and Qebru, turned into his cradling of their corpses after he'd killed them. Poe's gentle first kiss, tentative and sweet, then Poe's head slamming into the interrogation chair like the one Rey is strapped to. Han's goodbye to a ten year-old Ben, and then - no, that's not a memory - Han's face framed in red, his hand reaching up to touch Ben's cheek -

Go! Anakin thunders. He surges up through Ben and against Rey, forcing her out. Ben's head rings with emptiness, and Obi-Wan shoves him out the door. He stumbles, whimpering pathetically straight into a pair of arms.

"Ren?" Hux says, running his hands up and down Ben's arms. "Are... are you all right? What happened?" He looks at the closed doors to Kylo's quarters. "Ren, what happened? Is it the scavenger girl?"

"She's stronger than I realized, I - I got in over my head, Hux, she..." He struggles to get his breathing under control, allowing Hux to hold him to his chest. "I need to tell the Supreme Leader."

"I was about to collect you," Hux whispers into his hair, threading his fingers through his locks. Ben won't forget that Hux has the blood of trillions on remorseless hands, but he needs now to be held. "The Supreme Leader has demanded an audience, now that we have the girl and the map."

"I'm afraid we will not be getting it out of her any time soon," Kylo gasps. It doesn't take him long to get ready, collecting himself in an impromptu meditation. Whatever Rey did, it'll leave scars. It was messy, and altogether too esoteric for his liking. Ben is fractured, barely able to hold himself together. It's better to be Kylo for the time being, at least until Ben Organa-Solo is fully healed. The person as a whole doesn't agree with this, but Ben's safety comes first.

Hux splutters in disbelief. "She's just a child. She bested you?"

Kylo remains silent until he reaches the Supreme Leader, whose gaze is heavy with disappointment. He knows.

"The scavenger girl resisted you?" Snoke hisses. For some reason, His accusatory tone provokes Kylo more than Hux's did. It must be the lack of self-preservation that Ben had always pinned to him.

"She's strong with the Force, untrained, but stronger than she knows," Kylo protests. Hux senses his agitation, and it's his turn to provide mental comfort.

"And the droid?"

Kylo hesitates. Ben had been reckless, so swept up by reckless passion that he hadn't bothered to get a back-up in the case that Rey rejected him - which she just did. He opens his mouth to speak, but Hux steps forward instead.

"I believed it was no longer valuable to us," he says. Kylo stares at him, eyes wide. Years ago, Hux would've never taken the fall for him, no matter how much time they'd spent in each other's company. "The girl was all we needed. As a result, the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already. It was my fault, Supreme Leader."

Snoke's rage is palpable, fervent. Hux steels himself, and Ben musters enough power to put up a temporary shield around his mind. Still piecing himself together after Rey's assault, he can't promise that the wall will be strong.

"Never," snarls Snoke, "in your career have I ever seen you so careless, general. The Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker."

With no further retribution forthcoming, Ben withdraws to lick his wounds. "We have their location," Kylo interjects. "We tracked their reconnaissance ship to the Ileenium system."

Snoke eyes him, already-mangled face twisting into a deeper scowl. "Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon."

What? No. That wasn't what he meant - how could he ever save them from Starkiller? Eager to appease the Supreme Leader, he'd doomed the Resistance. He had to try again, had to change His mind. "Supreme Leader, I can get the map form the girl. I just need your guidance."

Snoke doesn't look any closer to reneging on His command. At His nod, Hux marches off, briefly pausing to look at Kylo. Snoke leans back in His chair, steepling His bony fingers. "If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me." Without further ado, the hologram promptly dissipates.

Rather than following Snoke's orders, Kylo instead follows Hux to Starkiller. If you can hear me, he sends to the ghosts, you have to get Rey out. The Supreme Leader is aware of her powers. He wants her.

Already done.

Hux gives him a worried look. Kylo Ren has never shown his face to anyone but him and the Supreme Leader. Kylo suspects that Phasma knows that he is human, but as far as everyone else is concerned, Kylo Ren might well be a droid. Hux doesn't comment on his missing accessory.

Kylo feels Ben resurfacing, and is almost too relieved to switch off personas. Kylo is often draining in his incessant anger, but the conflict within Ben leaves a frequent desire for escape. Ben blinks, adjusting his control. Holding multiple identities was a dangerous game, and while he was able to compartmentalize Kylo and Ben's idiosyncrasies, Rey's brutality had left him rattled and winded, the barriers of separation in his mind broken and allowing shelved thoughts to mingle wildly.

He can only watch as Hux gives the command to start charging up Starkiller, inputting the target coordinates. Ben needs to warn them, fast, but he doesn't know if they can evacuate the entire system before Starkiller fires. He isn't privy to the information vital to the escape - the numbers of the Resistance or their ships and capability. Even if he were able to warn them, there's no guarantee everyone would make it out of the destruction alive.

But wait - he's not the only turncoat they have. FN-2187 had been on Takodana with Ben's father and BB-8. With Rapier Squadron's timely rescue, he must've gotten back to D'Qar and was helping them mount an offensive against the First Order.

His parents have dealt with Death Stars before. They'll know what to do.

"Lord Ren, sir," Rodinon calls, and is startled when both Hux and Kylo turn to look. "The scavenger girl has escaped."

I knew it was a mistake, having her moved, Hux thinks. Kylo rounds on him - he'd wanted her on the Finalizer in the event of an escape. If she somehow was rid of her restraints, she'd have nowhere to go. There was no FN-2187 to provide cover. "You did what?" Kylo snaps.

Hux says nothing, only looks at him expressionlessly.

The sensation of a ship's engine roaring hits him. Anakin is trying to tell him something. Fury crackling in every fiber of his body, Kylo stalks toward Rodinon, shouldering past him when the bewildered officer fails to move out of the way. "Put every hanger on lockdown. She's going to try to steal a ship to escape."

(Something's coming, something's coming, something's coming.)

A ship lands on the planet, having broken through the shields. It holds three presences - two human, one alien. The alien has fur, the ship carries explosives, and is a freighter. Ben inhales sharply, turning to look at the sun being absorbed by Starkiller. Hux is still watching him, eyes now hinting at curiosity and apprehensiveness.

"He's here," Kylo Ren says. "Han Solo."