Falling for the Order

The Masked

You jolt awake. Your head ringing, eyes heavy and stinging every time the cool air hits them. You shut them.

Your jaw aches from where Mug struck you. Going to lift your hand to rub the area you realise you can't. Your arms and legs are bound down. You're in the upright position. Your back pressed against something cold and hard. Interrogation chair.

You eye the room. It's dark. The walls shiny, as is the floor. Thoughts invading your head. Trying to remember how you got here. And where here is exactly.

At the corner of your eye you notice something shift. You draw your eyes to the movement. Settled in the corner of the room is Kylo. Sitting patiently, hood drawn off his head and mask directed your way.

You try to hide the quiver that ripples through you. You mustn't be afraid. Don't let him see you weak.

You trail his presence from ground up with your eyes. His fingers tapping against his thigh.

"Comfortable?"

His voice is modified under the mask. He doesn't sound like the scared boy he once was, but more a man extruding wrath.

You huff. "I could use a pillow."

He's silent. It fills the room. Trapping every particle of air. His head tilts to the side.

"It's been a long time." His fingers still tapping against his thigh.

"So you remember who I am."

You're offered a slight nod from him. "How brave you've become," he pauses, tilting his head the other way. "Stronger. Nothing like the girl I once knew."

Memories of a girl cram your head. A girl long gone. A girl who died in the fire Kylo started. She was smaller than the other kids, nothing but skin and bone. Laughed at by people she considered her friends. She was you.

You shift under his gaze, biting the inside of your cheek. "Something far worse has happened to you."

Silence.

"Do they still call you Zero?" He asks. A name you haven't heard since infancy. A name the other students at the temple would call you, always being the last to hit the targets scoring zero points. He's pulling your strings, but you won't allow yourself to become undone.

"No, they don't." You don't skip a beat. "And I'm guessing they don't call you Ben anymore either."

His fingers stop tapping.

He stands from his seat, showcasing the immensity of him. Broad shoulders and towering height wrapped in nothing but black robes.

He takes a step toward you. Wishing you still had a knife in your boot.

"No, they don't." He takes another step, hidden eyes never drawing there attention elsewhere but on you.

"Why were you on Jakku?" He questions, his fingers start tapping again.

You swallow. "The same reason you were."

"The map?"

You nod. "The Resistance is looking for it. As well as their allies."

He heaves a distorted snicker. "Ah, their allies," He rolls his shoulders, rounding the chair, circling you. You keep your eyes forward. "I heard you've been spending your days on Takodana. Following orders from that little Jawa lady."

How does he know that? Maybe he caught Lera as well. Gone to Takodana himself. Goodness knows what length he would have gone to to get this information.