Chapter Text
“I’m fairly certain that I should have them both put down before they wake.”
Despite how confident he sounded about this, General Hux did not look inclined to perform any more murders on that particular day. In the cramped cargo hold of the ship hurtling through light speed, he looked about as disposed to move as the other three passengers did. He, however, was the only completely uninjured one. Any blood on his hands that day would be the blood of others, both physical and metaphorical. His greatest complaint was how little room there was left now that he’d taken Kylo Ren along with the Resistance fighters he’d been grappling with.
He’d found them all, as good as dead, when he arrived. In a moment of foolishness, he collected two more strays than he’d been sent for, and took no time in regretting it.
“Is that an order, sir?” The only other passenger in the hold spoke, pausing in his duty. It was a Stormtrooper who’d been assigned to perform some hasty treatment on the massive shoulder and facial injuries Kylo Ren was currently bleeding out from, and though every ‘trooper was well versed in emergency first aid, this kind of injury was something altogether out of his scope of ability. He’d probably have felt better shooting the lot of them right in their temple, than trying to save the man’s arm.
General Hux let the thought stew for a moment too long, pressing the nail of his thumb to his lips while he considered it with superficial amusement. That same hand waved the ‘trooper away, along with the shake of his head.
“Get back to your duties, soldier.” He commanded, rewarded with a sharp ‘yes sir’ in response.
The other male was also dying, though no one was tending to his grievous injuries. It felt wasteful - he knew the man would be killed the moment Supreme Leader Snoke was made aware of his presence. The girl was simply knocked out, suffering only from minor scrapes and lacerations. Kylo Ren had hardly laid a finger on her.
Curious.
He sat on a crate, his back crouched with an uncharacteristic slump. His hand rested on his knee, and the other held a cigarette between two fingers, watching it burn away without ever bringing it to his lips.
He thought that quite a brilliant metaphor, indeed.
“Is she hurt?”
His eyes pulled away from the burn of his cigarette to look up at Kylo Ren, who hadn’t moved from the cot he laid in and had no business being awake in his physical state. General Hux scoffed at the question, finally standing up and straightening out his back with a stretch.
“Worry about yourself. Haven’t you noticed? She’s done quite a number on you.”
The cigarette was placed on his lips, finally taking a long and satisfying drag. It was the perfect excuse to really look at Kylo Ren’s injuries, and by the time he exhaled the puff of smoke into the air, one thing was made clear to him.
“You’re going to lose that arm.”
“Answer the question.”
The man could hardly open his eyes, and yet he was so viciously focused on one thing that Hux wondered if he could even be bothered to feel his own pain. Would the rush of it come tumbling back, once he knew how safe she really was?
Hux was suddenly very interested in finding out.
“She’s perfectly fine. Whole, unlike you. I wouldn’t have guessed she was even in a battle if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Quite the spectacle, from a distance. Was it just as interesting up close?”
He watched as the man turned his head, and waited for some recognition of pain. When he saw nothing, he felt cheated. Perhaps he’d felt it all along, after all. But without his mask, General Hux expected the man to be as easy to read as he always was.
He saw nothing in that lifeless face.
“The Supreme Leader wants her.” Kylo Ren muttered as a belated explanation for his interest, before he closed his eyes and feigned sleep. This was not news to General Hux - he’d heard the command just before leaving Snoke’s cavern, but he still found himself doubting that to be the only reason why a dying man wished to know if his killer was still alive beside him.
So he turned to the girl instead, confident enough in her sedation to lean in and take a good look at her face.
“Oh, Scavenger.” He muttered, his head tilting to one side. “How something so small and peaceful has come to ruin us all.”
“She’s ruined nothing.” He heard the snarl in Kylo Ren’s voice, but did not turn towards it. “The Resistance will still be crushed. This changes nothing.”
But General Hux did not share this particular fervor of opinion. Starkiller had been his design, and his pride, for the majority of it’s creation. He’d watched the inaugural discharge with a sense of pride, clouded over by a well hidden sense of terror. The beast of a weapon had snuffed out entire planets with the breath of a single word, uttered from his lips. And it had been ripped out from under him by a handful of x-wings and a bag of explosives. A pathetic show of force, and it was all they’d needed to tear his life’s work asunder. That, and her. Her.
He pressed his cigarette to those lips, and inhaled deeply once more. There was a shudder breaking through him, causing him to exhale too quickly, all at once.
“I beg to differ.” He muttered, a sense of loss suddenly deepening his voice. He finally returned to Kylo Ren’s cot, reaching over to check on the shoddy dressing the ‘trooper attempted. He peeled away the layer of cloth, bending closer to get a better look at just how mangled his face was. A flicker of anguish followed, passing his face for a moment before it disappeared.
“I’ve tolerated your presence for a very long time, Ren.” He murmured, his voice quiet to keep their conversation private. “Because you, like Starkiller, were a symbol. You were supposed to be invincible. Do you understand that? Can you even comprehend the importance of that symbol to the entirety of the First Order?”
He dropped the dressing, and pressed down on it. Kylo Ren seethed as the pain of his injury burned with dissent.
“And now look at you. Look at how far you’ve fallen. The Resistance has taken much more than just a weapon from the First Order, tonight. They’ve managed a victory that I fear will cripple us in ways that you, a mere pawn, will never understand.”
He felt the first tightenings of a choke hold take him, wrapping tight around his neck. Had the dark force user been at full strength, or even a fraction of his normal health, Hux knew he would be dead. Instead, he felt the pressure as an annoyance, and nothing more.
The cigarette was brought to his lips, and he sucked in a tight, painful drag, before blowing it gently in Kylo Ren’s face. “Come now. Let’s stop playing these coy little games.” He managed to wheeze out, despite how little oxygen he was able to suck in with every tight breath. “I tire of all of this.”
The choke hold was released, and Kylo Ren’s head turned away from General Hux while he sucked in ragged inhales and waited for the ringing in his ears to stop. “Thank you.” He grunted, straightening up to rub his neck. As he did so, he continued to observe, as he always did. He caught the bob of the other man’s neck as he swallowed, and shoved down emotions. He understood now why his eyes were closed - but upon closer inspection, it was clear that had not stopped the tears from escaping.
The Resistance had taken much from the First Order that night. But it was Kylo Ren who’d stolen from himself - and there was no giving back all he’d lost.
General Hux was startled by the pang of pity that clenched at his chest. It only served to upset him further - to feel pity for the man who was meant to be invincible. It was just another reminder of their overall failure. He felt lost, for the first time in his life.
It was an excruciating feeling.
He backed away from Kylo Ren, returning to Rey’s cot. She laid on the makeshift pillow, her expression unburdened and soft, and he wondered what it felt like to sleep like that. He wondered if she thought herself a hero, tonight.
She, who’d conquered all.
He reached out and palmed away the hair that stuck with sweat against her face. There was an admiration growing there, in the absence of his own personal pride. One had to admire your enemy, when they did such a thorough job of destroying your dreams.
“Do you think she’ll join us?” Hux whispered, confident that Ren could hear him. He heard the shift of movement behind him, but he made no move to stop what he was doing, despite how unnecessary his touch against her skin was now.
“Yes.” Ren’s voice was ragged, but solemn. Hux thought he could understand why. “The Supreme Leader will turn her to our side. She will be our ally, or she will die.”
General Hux let out a soft, thoughtful hum. Perhaps things weren’t as frustratingly hopeless as they seemed, after all. He wasn’t sure he was ready to put his faith in another force user, since all of them had disappointed him so far. But when he took his hand away from her face, and watched her brow furrow with unconscious determination, he felt a stirring that gave him promise.
“I hope she lives.” He admitted, without shame. “She could be all we need. Greater than Starkiller, even. Greater than you, Kylo Ren.”
His head turned to look at the knight, and found his eyes open, with tightly contracted pupils flickering between them both. And in that expression, Hux realized he found no disagreement.
That was the most promising sign of all.