Take My Heart When You Go - A Reylo/Westworld AU

Paint It Black

Author's Note: Chapter title inspired by the song 'Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones - as used in Season 1, Episode 1 of Westworld.

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The sun barely peeked out from behind the mountains. The sky had bled from fire orange to deep violet by the time Rey arrived back at Hope Farms. She led her horse down to the corral, removing the saddlebag from her mount before sending him inside to greet his dappled companion. Chewie trotted up to her from the porch of the house, tail wagging as she rubbed a hand through his dusty fur. The wooden door creaked shut behind her as she entered the farmhouse.

"I'm home!" She called out as she hung the saddlebag on a hook near the door. A dark brown duster jacket and a black hat hung on the hook beside the bag. There was a sharp thud from within the kitchen. Rey entered to find her husband in the process of skinning a rabbit for tonight's dinner.

"Rabbit again?" She asks. Ben doesn't reply. "You didn't stay in town." Rey continues softly as she watches her husband expertly slice the fur from the rabbits body. "You didn't wait."

"Had to get back to fix the coop. Don't need the coyotes getting in again." Ben grumbled as he slapped the pelt of the rabbit on the table. Rey just nods in understanding. She moves quietly to take the pelt outside to hang to dry. The chickens occasionally cluck contently from inside their coop. Cicadas buzz in the trees. A coyotes howl pierces the air as Rey walks back inside.

Rey pulls a cooking pot from a cabinet and places it on the stove as she prepares water to boil for tonight's stew. "You need to go hunting." She says to Ben as she hands him vegetables to cut once he's done with the rabbit meat.

"I know." Ben says, slightly agitated as he sets his knife down on the table. He runs a hand through his hair. "It's just..."

He trails off, but he needn't finish. His wife knows why.

They continue to prepare their dinner in tandem. They eat in silence. The only sounds heard are the scraping of utensils and the muted mush of chewing. A sudden bark outside from Chewie startles them. Utensils pause as they turn their attention towards the front of the house. Chewie angrily barks three more times before a single shot from a gun echoes outside and the barking ceases.

"Come out Solo!" Calls out a deep, raspy voice. "We know you're in there!"

Ben's chair scrapes noisily across the kitchen floor as he pushes back from the table. He is up in a flash, hurrying to the fireplace and grabbing his rifle off the mantle.

"Ben! No!" Rey shouts after him as he stomps across the house towards the front door. He checks the barrel of the gun before cocking it loudly back into place. He swings the front door wide open and steps out onto the porch. There are two men and a tall woman mounted on horseback awaiting them outside. All three of them are armed. The moonlight glints off of a shining gold gun wielded by a man as wicked as the devil himself.

"You're a hard man to find, Ben Solo." Croaks the man with the golden gun. He is old, dressed all in black, riding atop an equally dark horse. From underneath his dark hat, his heavily scarred face twists into an ugly smirk.

"Get the fuck out of here Snoke." Ben growls as he aims his rifle at the man. "I told you before, I'm done with you! The crimes. The killing. The First Order. All of it! I'm done!"

"That's where you're wrong, Ben." Sneers the red haired man on Snoke's right. "You can't escape the First Order. You owe your life to Leader Snoke. You are a traitor! And you know what we do with traitors."

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For a moment, Ben recalls a time when he rode alongside the First Order. A time when he was Snokes right hand man. A time when he was rebellious and had nothing to live for.