012. IF YOU DON'T STAB ME, I WON'T STAB YOU

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"Would you stop looking at me like that?!"

Kylo Ren quickly raised his arms in defense, but his incredulous expression had yet to change. He still hadn't adjusted to the last thing she had said to him. Even more so, he found it hard to believe that she had helped him escape; furthermore, that she planned to help him overthrow Seth so he could take back his rightful place as the Supreme Leader.

"You still have that stupid look on your face," she frowned.

"Well, I find it hard to believe—"

She quickly interrupted him as she shoved him behind a pile of crates and placed her hand over his mouth, "Shush!"

A pair of troopers walked past unaware of their presence.

"I don't think they saw us."

His response was muffled displeasure.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized, withdrew her hand, and made certain to distance herself from him.

He dusted himself off and stood, "Was that necessary?"

"Do you want to be locked up again?"

"It had clearly been a misunderstanding," he insisted.

"That's not the way the Supreme Leader had made it sound."

He raised an eyebrow, "What exactly did he say to you?"

Although she had been pretty talkative since they had been reunited, granted most of what she said had been insults, she shut down completely. Her expression darkened and her eyes drooped to the floor. But a second later, she had perked back up and acted as if he had never asked the question to begin with.

"Which way?"

"What did he say?"

"Which way?" she repeated her question in the same manner that he had, but between grit teeth.

"Whatever it was, it clearly bothered you."

She turned to glare at him, "Look, Ben, we're not friends. You don't just get to walk back into my life and act like nothing happened. So don't expect me to open up to you like when we were younger. I'm not on your side and I'm not watching your back. If someone were to drop a building on you, I'd step back and watch it happen."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means!" she snapped in a harsh whisper.

He opened his mouth to retort, but again she pushed her hand into his face to shush him. He quickly brushed it aside and prepared to retort, but stopped when she pointed out the pair of guards walking toward them. He frowned, but looked around to find a place to remain hidden. Noticing a storage closet nearby, he unlocked the door and grabbed Evangeline's hand. She looked up surprised and released a quiet complaint of displeasure, but he ignored it and pulled her into the closet behind him. He quickly closed the door and hoped that they hadn't been spotted.

The room was dark, damp, and cramped. Clearly used for storing the janitorial supplies. How degrading. They remained silent as a pair of footsteps could be heard just outside the closet door.

"I thought for sure I had heard something."

"Probably just a mouse droid."

As soon as the sound of the footsteps receded, Evangeline pushed him aside and exited the storage unit. He then followed after her and took the lead as they proceeded toward their original goal. He was forced to raise an eyebrow though once they arrived since they had encountered guards at every location but the Supreme Leader's chambers. Without hesitation, Evangeline approached the keypad that kept the chambers locked. She outstretched her hands, popping her knuckles, to which he winced with displeasure at the sound. She then played around with a few of the controls before a series of beeps were heard and the doors opened.

"Ladies first," Evangeline stated smugly as she motioned for him to enter.

He rolled his eyes but entered the room anyway. She followed and quietly closed the doors behind them. The chambers were much larger than he'd anticipated. Despite being the Supreme Leader himself, he had never made an effort to move from his quarters into his former master's. There had always been something unsettling about moving into the chambers belonging to the person he had killed. He didn't consider himself superstitious, but he knew that the force was peculiar when it came to life and death. He'd rather not take any chances.

"How come this wasn't your room, Supreme Leader?" she asked, but he knew she was mocking him.

"I never got around to it," he lied.

She looked unconvinced. He quickly turned away and began searching for his crossguard hilt. She too let the matter be and started to search for her own saber. Or at least he assumed that's what she was doing.

"You know," she broke the silence with a soft chuckle, "the last time we did something like this it didn't end well."

He was forced to relive the moment that she referred to as he remembered sneaking down the old temple halls past curfew. Of course they were much younger then, she had hardly been big enough to wield her saber. Yet, she had insisted on seeing the meteor shower from the balcony. Of course, it didn't help that they had been caught red-handed with stolen packages of sweets from the commissary. His uncle certainly hadn't been easy on them either once he found them.

A soft smile formed on his face, "You felt awful that we stole those treats."

She rolled her eyes, "While you were only upset that we had gotten caught and were put on dish duty for the next week."

"A harsh punishment for a couple of kids in my opinion."

"Yeah," her expression shifted, "a lot of things changed."

He felt the need to try and explain his side of the story, but his tongue didn't cooperate and he remained silent. Without another word, she went back to searching. He followed her example, but childhood memories distracted him as they sat at the front of his mind.

"Found it!" he turned to see her hold up two hilts triumphantly.

"I managed to find the crystals," he responded as he approached.

He handed her one before holding out his hand expectantly. She began to offer him the crossguard, but quickly withdrew. He looked up confused before noting that she refused to meet his eyes. Instead, she stared down at the hilt with terror plastered to her face. He knew immediately what she'd been thinking about. He couldn't remember every detail, but while connected to that machine he'd been able to see the night he left Luke's Jedi Order from her eyes. Looking at her now, he could only see that little girl: afraid and alone.

"Eva?"

Her eyes widened as she quickly looked up at him. The fear immediately shifted to rage as she backed away from him. She ignited her saber and the purple light reflected off the walls. She continued to back away and seemed to threaten him with her eyes.

"Don't call me that!" she seethed.

"Hand me my hilt," he stretched out his hand again but quickly retracted as she swung the blade.

"Stay back!"

"The guards could come in at any moment," he remained calm, "You can't handle them on your own. You'll need my help."

"No!" she shook her head violently, "I—I don't need you anymore. I don't want you in my life anymore!"

"The lightsaber, Evangeline," he commanded, but laughed as she stood in front of him defensively, "Come now, you don't want to do this."

She remained silent, but it was clear she didn't plan to stand down. He sighed and rolled his eyes. With a quick motion of his hand, his lightsaber was ripped from her grip and returned. Fear returned to her eyes, but he knew she was trying to block it out. He shook his head and began to walk toward her.

"Stop playing games," he instructed, "you won't win."

Much to his surprise, he was thrust backward and collided with some miscellaneous piece of furniture. He shook his head to clear his disorientation and stood. However, he was again shoved further away from her.

"Would you cut that out?!" he shouted as he stood.

She was breathing heavily, but from exhaustion rather than anger. He knew she wouldn't be able to deal another blow much less defend herself if she exerted any more of her energy. He stepped around the furniture he had been thrown over and approached her. He noted her improper stance as she held her saber up in defense. Form had always been something she had struggled with. He could remember the countless amount of times that he had tried to help by correcting her, but she never listened. A trait that she certainly hadn't outgrown. He ignited his own blade.

"If you are—" he cut himself off.

"Ben," an unknown voice whispered.

He turned to find the source.

"Do you hear it too?" he heard Evangeline ask.

He turned back around, "Calling to you?"

She nodded her head. Her lightsaber turned off and she walked past him as if nothing had gone wrong. Another trait that hadn't changed: her curiosity. It often landed her in trouble and himself alongside her, but he too wished to know the source.

"Ben," the whisper called his name again.

Although he had no idea where to look, Evangeline walked to the back of the room with no hesitation. He followed close behind and stopped when they stood before one of the power cells that had operated the machine that they had both been hooked up to earlier. He noticed her shudder as they approached it. The power cell hummed in a low tone as it contained the glowing violet energy within.

"It's calling to me, Ben..." she whispered, frightened, "What do I do?"

"Touch," the whispers responded and he wasn't sure if they were talking to him or her.

She looked at him expectantly so he responded, "We should leave it be."

"A wise decision."

Both Evangeline and Ben turned around to face the source of the new voice. Seth stood before them with a displeased expression on his face.

"At first," Seth spoke again, "I thought you may have reconsidered my offer."

Ben raised an eyebrow before he realized that he was talking to Evangeline.

"Then I realized you had another motive," Seth noted as he eyed their lightsaber hilts.

Kylo Ren ignited his saber, drawing attention to himself, "I decided that I wanted my title back."

"Did she offer to help you?" Seth grinned, clearly amused, "Pitiful."

His lip twitched and his patience ran out as he swung his blade before charging at Seth. His attacks were easily deflected and it only took a minute for him to be placed on his heels on the defense. Seth's attacks were clean and precise, something he hadn't had to deal with before. Furthermore, his footwork and form were quick making it difficult to predict how to block each strike. He was quickly losing this battle.

Just as he thought the fight was finished, Seth's attention was pulled aside for a second. He stood to take advantage of this, but Seth thrust out his arm and sent him sprawling across the room. He landed hard against the wall. Without the protection of his helmet, his head also smashed against the wall. His ears rang; furthermore, he was dazed and losing consciousness fast. The last thing he saw before the darkness closed in was the silent screams of Evangeline and Seth as they clung to the power cell while streams of electricity sparked and lit up the room.