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Chapter Text

Hux sighed as he tapped his stylus against the data pad absentmindedly. His eyes were focused on some far away object outside the window. The weather on Exegol was atrocious, nothing but lightning storms for months on end. It almost made him miss his home planet of Arkanis, where it did nothing but rain.

Almost.

At least on Arkanis one could go outside. From what Hux could remember of it, anyway. He had been brought to Exegol at the age of five, ripped away from the only life he knew by an absentee father who suddenly decided to take an interest in his offspring.

“You're to serve the Emperor,” his father had said, though Hux had known nothing about an Emperor or the wider galaxy into which he was suddenly thrust.

At the age of eight he was introduced to a young boy who was to be the Crown Prince, the heir to the empire. At first Hux was excited to have another child to play with. But after one too many misadventures, Brendol and the Prince's caregivers had had enough.

While the Prince merely received a severe reprimand, Hux was beaten black and blue by his father. His left eye was swollen shut for a week, and it took a further two weeks for the swelling to fully go away.

The old maid in the kitchen had taken pity upon him. She tended to his wounds and would sneak him food when Brendol further punished his son by denying him adequate nourishment. She was Hux's only real friend.

For a long time, Hux resented the Prince. Though it was no fault of his, whenever the Prince got into trouble, Hux was the one who was punished. The Prince could do no wrong. Hux, on the other hand, could do no right. No matter how hard he tried, Brendol was never happy with him.

Several times he wished the Prince would just go back to wherever he had come from. Sometimes he wished that he could go back to Arkanis to be with the mother he could hardly remember. Other days he wished he could just walk out into one of the many electrical storms that plagued Exegol and not come back.

“Child, you can't do that,” the old kitchen maid had told him late one night, while tending to his latest collection of wounds Brendol had drunkenly given him.

“Why not?”

'It's your job to help guide the Prince, be a friend to him.”

“I don't even like him.”

“I know, child. But he needs a friend. Someone who will look out for him in this dark place.”

Hux sighed. He knew she was right.

“Sir?”

The prince needed someone who would protect him from the evil and darkness of Exegol.

“Sir?”

Hux's attention snapped back to the present moment and he turned to look at the person speaking to him.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

“Yes, sorry. What were you saying, Mitaka?”

“Preparations for next week's engagement announcement party for the Prince and Princess are on schedule.”

“Very good,” Hux nodded at his assistant before turning to look out the window again.

Kriff, Exegol was a terrible place.

“A visual inspection is scheduled for today, should we go now, or...?”

“Hmm? Oh yes. Now would be preferable.” But as the man turned to follow Mitaka, he bumped into something. Or rather, someone bumped into him.

“Oh, my lord, I am so sorry!”

When Hux looked down at the owner of the mousy voice, he expected to find one of the scullery maids or one of the many apprentices who were training to be man-servants to the higher ups. Someone who clearly didn't know their place, or who he was.

Instead, he found one of the Princess's hand maidens, on her hands and knees, frantically trying to pick up the laundry she had dropped when she ran into him.

“You should be more careful,” he scolded her gruffly, irritated at the interruption.

“Yes my lord, I'm so sorry my lord,” she said as she looked up at him quickly before resuming her retrieval of her mistress's belongings.

Hux let out a sharp sigh through his nose, before kneeling to help the girl. “You really ought to use the servants hallways for such things.”

“Yes my lord, of course. I'm sorry. The servants hallways are busy today with the preparations for the engagement party. I thought it would be faster to go this way. I'm sorry, my lord.”

“Don't worry about it,” he gruffed as they both reached for the same nightgown. When her fingers lightly brushed against his, Hux found himself hesitating. He looked the girl in the eyes and found a pair of chocolate brown orbs staring back at him. They were glistening with un-shed tears.

In a split second the moment was over. The girl snatched the nightgown from where it lay on the floor and tossed it unceremoniously into the laundry basket she'd been carrying. Then with haste, she stood. Basket in hand, she bowed quickly to him and took off down the hall.

Hux stood, watching as she made a hasty retreat. She was gone before he could say anything.

“Who was that,” he asked Mitaka. “I've never seen her before.”

“I believe she's one of the girls in the Princess's inner circle.”

“Really? They follow her everywhere.”

“In fairness, sir, they do usually keep their faces downward.”

“True.”

“Shall we go inspect the ballroom now?”

“Yes, of course.” Hux nodded to his assistant, but as he turned to lead the way, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

The glint of light off of something.

He glanced down at the floor and saw a crescent moon shaped pendant lying on the floor. He picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands. The fine woven cord that held the medallion had broken in half, likely from years of slowly being worn down.

“Does that belong to the Princess?” Mitaka asked, leaning over to get a look.

“I don't think so,” Hux mumbled as he looked back in the direction the girl had gone.

“Stupid! I'm so kriffing stupid!”

“Rose, stop! You'll hurt yourself.”

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!”

Rose sat on the end of her bunk, hitting herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand. Her best friend reached up and grabbed her hands forcefully to stop her from hurting herself. The feelings of the warmth of her friend's hand caused Rose to let out a sob.

“What happened? Please tell me what happened.”

“I made such a big mistake, Kay!”

“Does it have to do with this basket of the Princess' laundry?”

Rose nodded, tears falling from her face. “I was running the Princess' laundry down to the sub-level this morning.”

“Nothing wrong with that. It's part of our duties.” Kaydel soothed as she wiped away Rose's tears with her sleeve.

“But the servants halls are so busy this week with the preparations for the engagement, and her ladyship needed me back right away. You know how she doesn't trust any of the citadel maids to handle her 'private matters'.”

Kaydel nodded. “Of course. I certainly wouldn't want one of those gossips handling my basics.”

“I was rushing through one of the main hallways. I thought if I took one of the back passages, it would be okay. Kay, I...”

“What happened? Did the Emperor catch you?”

“No, though I wish he had.”

“Was it his Lordship, the Prince?”

“No, but it might as well have been,” Rose sobbed. “Kay, I ran into Hux. Like, literally ran into the Crown Prince's right hand. The laundry went everywhere. You know how severe he is. It's bad enough he caught me in the hallway. But with our Ladyship's laundry? Oh Kay, I'm in so much trouble.”

Kaydel pulled Rose into a hug for reassurance. Hux indeed had a reputation around the palace for being more harsh in his punishments than the Emperor. Though he was the Prince's right hand, the man essentially ran the palace in its day to day operations. Nothing happened among the servants that he didn't know about. It was difficult to keep gossip from him.

The rumour about him was that, once, when he and the Prince were young men, he had ordered a servant hung out a window by their feet for so much as addressing the Prince incorrectly. New servants were quickly told to remain as far away from him as possible, lest they slip up. It was said, the only person he was actually had a semi-friendly relationship with, was not the Prince himself. Rather, the old kitchen maid, Maz.

Though it fairness, she didn't take bantha shit from anyone. She had been in the Emperor's employment for so long, she had the hard earned respect of the rest of the staff, and even those who lived in the palace. It was said even the Emperor himself would listen to old Maz, and that she was the only one who could make him laugh.

“Oh no! Oh no, oh no. No, no, no, no!”

Kaydel leaned back to look at her friend. “What? What's wrong?”

Rose looked at her friend in a panic, her hand at the base of her neck. “My pendant. It's gone!”

“Surely it's around here somewhere. Come on, I'll help you look for it.”

The two handmaidens pulled their small quarters apart, tossing their thin mattresses, threadbare blankets and lumpy pillows all over. What furniture they did have was pulled out and looked under and behind. They even dumped out the basket of the Princess's laundry.

After two hours of looking, the woman sat, surrounded by their mess, defeated.

“It's gone, Kay.”

“I did tell you to replace that cord, it was way too frayed.”

“I know...” Rose groaned as she hung her head in frustration. “It was a gift from my parents, my sister has a matching one, and I...Oh no.”

Kaydel glanced over at her friend in time to see the colour drain from her face.

“Kay, the hallway. I must have lost it in the hallway!”

“That means...”

Both women exchanged a grimace.

“Oh Rose...”

Exegol truly was a wretched place.

Two days later, Hux sat at the desk in his office. In his hand he held the lost pendant, turning it over and over in his fingers absentmindedly. For something so precious to be lost, it tugged on long forgotten feelings for him. The rumours about his heart being made from stone were mostly true, after all.

Whenever someone new arrived on Exegol to serve the Emperor, they were stripped of whatever meagre belongings they had brought with them. Uniforms and all necessities were provided upon arrival at the end of the galaxy. It was the Emperor's way of trying to cleanse people of their personal identity to maintain their loyalty to him.

It had happened to himself when he first arrived.

It had happened to the Prince when he arrived.

It even happened to the Princesses upon her arrival, though perhaps to a lesser degree as she was the Emperor's granddaughter.

He held the crescent moon up to the light. It was made from Haysian smelt, he'd learned yesterday. The etchings on it were delicate, no doubt made by a highly skilled craftsman. A rare and precious item indeed. For it to have escaped the clutches of the Emperor, baffled him.

The cord the medallion had been attached to lay, frayed and broken, on his desk. Hux let out a huff. If he was going to return the pendant to the girl, he would at least return it in proper order. Allowing it to be returned in such a state seemed...inappropriate.

“Mitaka,” He barked into the intercom that connected to his assistant's desk in the antechamber.

“Yes, sir?” Came the static reply.

“Do we have any spacers leather on hand?”

“I believe we do.”

“Fetch me some. I don't need much, an arm length should suffice.”

“Right away, sir.”

It didn't take long for his assistant to return with the fabric.

Hux pulled the vibroblade from it's sheath on the side of his knee high boots. Using the needle sharp tip, he carefully cut three thin strips of the leather, each about half a centimeter in width.

“Will that be strong enough?” Mitaka asked as he watched Hux weaving the lengths of leather together.

“Spacers leather is one of the strongest types of leather around. I've heard rumours that it can even be used as armour. If this doesn't hold the girls pendant, nothing short of beskar will.”

Hux slipped the medallion onto its new woven cord and tied the ends off. Then, he reached into his desk and pulled out an Onderon silk handkerchief. It had been a gift from the visiting ambassador, which, after his departure, Hux had promptly stuffed into his desk, leaving it unused for its intended purpose.

Carefully he wrapped the pendant in the silk and tied it off to avoid having the item slip out in transit. Then, he held it out to Mitaka.

“Sir?”

“Take it. Return it to the girl for me.”

“Oh. Oh no, sir. I can't do that.”

“Why ever not?”

“I, um...We're not allowed in the girls dormitories, especially those who serve the Princess so closely. The ladies in waiting are closely guarded by the Praetorian Guard at all times. Some of them are even dressed as a the ladies in waiting to help them blend in.”

Hux rolled his eyes, irritated. “Can't you give it to one of the guards to give to the girl?”

“No. That is frowned upon.”

“Fine, I'll give it to her the next time we see the Princess. When will that be?”

“We have a rehearsal for the engagement party tomorrow afternoon. She should be in attendance.”

“Very well, we'll return it to her tomorrow and be done with all of this nonsense.”

“My lady? My lady? My lady, it's time to rise. We must prepare you for tonight's rehearsal” Rose said gently as she pulled back the curtains in the Princess's chambers. The dull daylight of Exegol filled the room as the Princess groaned and rolled over in bed.

Rose sighed. She had served the Princess as her lady in waiting since the girl's arrival on Exegol at the age of five. As she and Kaydel were one of the few young girls on the planet at the time, they were automatically assigned the duty. At first, the Princess had been antagonistic towards Rose, trying her best to avoid her. But after being caught by the Emperor himself in an attempt to stow away on a cargo ship, the Princess was confined to her quarters within the palace. Granted, her quarters consisted of a large number of rooms, but the Praetorian Guards had still been assigned to watch her every move after the incident.

That afternoon Rose had stumbled upon the Princess crying quietly in a wardrobe. After a bit of coaxing, Rose had pulled the truth of the events from the girl and decided in that moment to do her best to look out for the girl. Like so many who were brought to Exegol, the Princess had been young when she was pulled from what world she knew. When she came of age, she was to be married to the Prince, a man she'd never even met. It was little wonder that she was upset all the time.

Promising not to tell the Emperor how she'd found the Princess in such a state helped to establish their bond. Eventually, the pair became friends. Or as much as any princess and lady in waiting can be friends.

Gently, Rose shook the Princess awake. “My lady, you must rise. You don't wish to endure your grandfather's wrath should you be late.”

Another groan came from under the blanket.

“Just a few more minutes, Rose,” came the muffled reply.

“Very well. I'll go prepare your bath. But you must be up by the time I return.”

“Fine...”

When Rose returned a while later, the Princess was sitting on the edge of her bed, her long hair askew in every which direction. No matter what Rose and Kay tried, the girl's hair would simply not be tamed. Rose slipped the Princess's favourite robe over her shoulders before leading her to the bath.

After soaking for half an hour, Kay, Rose, and the Princess returned to her chambers.

“We must get you dressed, my lady.”

“Very well,” she sighed as she sat at her dressing table. “I still don't see what the point of all this is.”

“The unification of two Sith houses, of course.”

“I get that, but why me? Just because I'm the Emperor's only grandchild, doesn't mean it needs to be me who marries some old relic.”

“The Prince isn't old.” Kay replied, as she brushed out the Princess's hair.

“He's ten years older than me. He might as well be an old relic.”

“He's the grandson of Darth Vader, your grandfather's own apprentice. He's strong with the dark side of the Force. It's a good union to show strength to the other Sith houses.”

“I suppose.”

When Rose moved over to the dress form to smooth the creases out of the carefully selected dress, the Princess's eyes followed her.

“Rose, what happened to your pendant?”

“I, um, the cord it's attached to is badly frayed, my lady. I've taken it off to mend it,” Rose fibbed, wanting desperately to hide the fact that she'd lost it.

The Princess narrowed her eyes at Rose, but said nothing more about it. Like the Prince, she too was strongly connected to the Force. Rose suspected that the Princess knew she was lying but chose not to say anything. She was clever like that.

Too clever.

That afternoon, Hux stood with the Prince and a Sith priest in the ballroom of the palace. As the Prince had no real friends, Hux had been chosen to be witness to the wedding. As right hand of the Prince, it was his right.

“Ah, it's so uncomfortable.” The Prince mumbled, tugging on the high collar of his jacket.

“Leave it alone,” Hux replied, elbowing the man in the side after receiving a cross look from the priest. “You want to make a good impression on her Ladyship.”

“It's not like it matters, she already hates me. And I don't exactly like her either.”

“True.”

Their first impressions of each other hadn't exactly gone accordingly. The Princess, had been mere girl of five, and the Prince, a moody teenager ten years her senior when they were first introduced. Fifteen years later and they had hardly spent any time together. Now they were expected to get married.

What a strange world they had all been born into.

Maz had once told Hux stories about life before the Empire when the galaxy was overseen by the Galactic Republic and the Senate. Citizens lived in relative peace, able to choose their own destiny, she had said. People were free to do be who they wanted to be, go where they pleased.

Then the civil war came between the Separatists and Republic.

No one knew it at the time, but those dark times were only the beginning...

Hux shook his head, pulling himself back to the present. Now was not the time to reminisce about the childhood stories Maz had filled his head during the late nights in the kitchen.

He cast a glance to the Sith priest, who was mumbling something into the large book he was holding. To him, it was a strange sight to behold. So many people were drawn to this imaginary thing that supposedly connected everything in the galaxy together. They believed in it with every fibre of their being. Those lucky enough were able to wield the Force like a weapon. Hux had never understood the Sith or the Force, having not been blessed with the gift, as it was often referred to.

Another thing his father had beaten him for.

Just as he let out an irritated sigh and elbowed the Prince again to stop fidgeting, the grand doors to the ballroom opened. Between them stood the Princess in a beautiful flowing dress of shimmering grey, gold, and black. The light, gauzy material gave the illusion she was floating as she walked towards them, flanked on either side by her two most trusted handmaidens.

One of them, was her.

Hux felt his breath hitch slightly at the sight before him.

Like the Princess, the handmaidens wore a gauzy black and gold dress that gave them the illusion that they were part of the massive train the Princess pulled behind her. Yet it somehow also looked effortless.

As the Princess took her place in front of the Prince, Hux watched as the two handmaidens fanned the train of her dress out around her, as well as the trains of their own dresses.

“We are gathered here today in preparation for the union between these two Sith houses,” the old Sith priest spoke after everyone had settled. “In two weeks time, the House of Vader and House of Palpatine will be united into one. Do you, Princess Reylina Palpatine, Heir to the House of Palpatine and all it's holdings, enter into this union willingly?”

The Princess took a deep breath, perhaps to still her nerves Hux thought, before nodding her assent.

“I do.”

The Priest then turned to the Prince.

“And do you, Prince Kylo Ren, Heir to the House of Vader, all its holdings and titles, Heir Apparent to the Empire, the Crown Prince of the Dark, do you enter into this union willingly?”

The Prince fidgeted, flexing his gloved hands as he did. The creaking sound of fresh leather filled the silence.

“I do.”

The Priest snapped his old book shut with satisfaction. “Then let it be said that the Crown Prince and Princess shall, from this day forth be committed to each other, their union, and the Empire. In two weeks time, we shall gather to witness the formal union of these two people under the sacred matrimony of the Sith Eternal.”

The Priest smiled in satisfaction, while the Princess found something interesting to look at on the floor and the Prince tugged again at the collar of his robes. It was no hidden secret that they had been chosen for each other at a young age and this 'union' was not being entered into willingly by either party.

“Now,” the Priest continued, “once the formal ceremony is over and you're declared married, you, Princess shall take his Lordship's hand as you turn to make your exit.”
The Prince held his hand up and with great reluctance, the Princess lightly placed her hand on top of his.

“Yes, just like that. Now, turn, and slowly make your way back towards the doors.”

Slowly and stiffly, the pair walked down the small set of stairs and towards the door. Though the ballroom was empty of visitors now, in a fortnight it would be filled with those loyal to the Emperor and those wishing to curry his favour.

“Now, you two, do the same.” The Priest motioned to Hux and Rose.

“Excuse me?” Hux looked from the girl to the Priest and back again. She looked terrified at the thought of having to take his hand. He couldn't blame her, he was well aware of his reputation and the rumours about him in the palace.

When the Priest refused to budge, Hux relented and held up his hand.

“Go on, my dear. Take his hand.” The Priest urged.

With trembling fingers, she placed her silk gloved hand lightly on the top of his. Her touch was so light, he could hardly feel it through is own leather gloves. As he slowly lead her away from the alter, he placed his other hand on top of hers.

“Don't worry,” he said so only she could hear. “Contrary to the rumours, I don't bite.”

Her head whipped up to look at him in shock and he let the slightest of smiles soften his face.

“Good, good,” the Priest said from across the room. “Now for you two, wait...where's the other man?”

“What do you mean,” the Prince asked.

“There must be three of you on each side. Find one more man for the ceremony.” The Priest stormed off through one of the hidden doors behind the alter.

The Prince let out a growl of dissatisfaction as he pulled his hand away from the Princess before storming off to his quarters.

The girl on his arm pulled away to tend to the Princess before Hux could say anything. In a moment, they were gone.

“How can I be expected to marry a brute such as him? He can't even stand the sight of me. And he's the one who's disfigured with that scar across his face!”

Rose and Kaydel tried to help the Princess from her dress.

“I should just run away to Jakku again.”

Rose grimaced at what the reaction of the Emperor would be.

“Now, now,” Kaydel tried to soothe. “The Emperor just wants what's best for you and your future.”

“Sure, even though I'm his direct descendent and hold just as much land and titles as he does, that brute of a moof-milker is the one who will actually inherit what should be rightfully mine.”

The Princess sat with a huff on the end of her bed. A few minutes of silence passed between them as Rose sat beside her to help unpin her hair to prepare it for the evening's banquet.

A quiet sob escaped from the Princess as Rose and Kaydel exchanged looks.

“I just...I don't know if I can go through with it,” she said so quietly, no one was even certain the words had been spoken.

Kaydel sat on the opposite side of the Princess and the three sat in a group hug.

After a few minutes, a knock came at the door.

The three women exchanged looks, both curious and afraid of who it might be. Few people were allowed to enter the inner palace where the Princess's quarters were, let along be allowed to knock on the door to her private chambers.

The knock came again, a little more aggressively this time.

Rose stood to answer the door, motioning for the Princess to remain where she was. Slowly she opened the heavy durasteel door.

“My Lord!” She stammered in surprise as the Prince pushed the door open all the way and barged his way into the Princess's room. Behind him, in the hallway, stood Hux, his usually pale complexion flush with colour. He's gaze met Rose's before he glanced away at the floor.

“How dare you barge your way into my quarters! This is an unacceptable invasion of my privacy and space. Kay, call the guards!” The Princess shouted at the sudden intrusion at what she considered her sanctuary.

“My Lady, please. There is-ish no need for ssssuch rudenesss.” The Prince slurred as he struggled to maintain his composure. Rose noticed his face too was flushed. Perhaps more so than Hux's. Awkwardly, the Prince fell to one knee, and when Hux did nothing to pick him up, the thought occurred to Rose that perhaps this invasion was almost intentional. She glanced over at Hux who had entered the room, but only just. He stood in the door frame, holding onto it in such a way that it looked like it was the only thing holding him up.

They were drunk!

“My Lord, I really don't think this is a good idea,” Hux mumbled as he staggered after the Prince.

After the awkward rehearsal ceremony, he had found the Prince deep in a bottle of Corellian brandy. So deep, in fact, that Hux suspected the Prince was looking for answers at the bottom of it.

“How am I to marry someone like her? She's just a girl!”

“She may be, but she's your equal in all things.”

The Prince slouched deeper into his chair as Hux sat across from him and poured himself a glass. He wasn't one to drink, but sometimes the situation called for it.

“She's just a child!” The Prince spat.

“Technically, she's of age.”

A mumbled reply is all Hux got in return.

“Honestly, you really ought to apologize to her.”

“Why? Why should I? I'm the Crown Prince.”

“Be that as it may, you're still stealing her inheritance.”

“It's not like I wanted to. Do you remember when we were boys and we'd terrorize the palace staff?”

Hux nodded, taking a deep swig of his drink.

“Those were the days. Carefree, we didn't have to worry about duty or honour or what the elders wished of us.”

Hux leaned back in his chair, allowing him an uncharacteristic slouch. He would admit the Prince did have a point. Their youth had been full of adventures and misadventures. Despite the punishments he had endured, a part of Hux wished he could go back to those days. As they had been the only children in the palace at the time, their bond ran deep. At a young age, Hux had pledged himself to the Prince to serve him.

Even as young men, when they were sent away to Mustafar for military training, their bond only grew deeper. There wasn't much Hux wouldn't do for the Prince. If asked to, he would lay down his life for the future Emperor.

And yet, there were still the rare moments he found himself longing for something else. Somewhere else.

Hux poured himself another glass of the brandy, while the Prince prattled on about days past. Then another. And another.

Before either man knew it, five bottles of expensive Corellian brandy lay around them devoid of their contents. The Prince stumbled to his feet, swaying slightly as he did.

“I ssshould go talk to her.”

“What? No. Don't do that.”

“You can't ssstop me.”

He stood to stop the Prince, but the man was out the door before he could stop him. Hux stub bled through the labyrinth hallways after the Prince. Both men were unusually tall, but the longer legs of the Prince meant he was always just a few steps ahead of Hux, just outside of his reach.

“My Lord, I really don't think this is a good idea. She doesn't want to see you.”

“Nonsense,” the Prince stumbled past the Praetorian Guards. “Who doesn't want to see me? I'm the Crown Prince!”

They arrived at the Princess's quarters quicker than Hux would have liked. Not allowing the guards to announce him, the Prince knocked loudly on her door. When no answer came, he knocked louder and harder.

“My Lord, she doesn't –“

The heavy durasteel door creaked open just enough for Hux to see who had opened the door. But before he could say anything, the Prince had his hand on the door and slammed it open. Hux cringed at the sight of the three women recoiling at the sudden intrusion.

The Prince unceremoniously shoved his way past Rose and into the room as the Princess protested against his actions. He kneeled awkwardly before her, spouting some nonsense about how she was being rude for calling the guards and that he only wished to speak with her.

But before he could apologize, the Princess stood. Raising her hand, she used the Force to send the Prince tumbling backwards out the door and into the hallway where he landed with a thump against the far wall.

Two Praetorian Guards appeared and picked the Prince up off the floor to take him back to his apartments. When the Princess then turned her gaze to Hux, he caught sight of her puffy eyes.

She had been crying, no doubt over the Prince's earlier rudeness and the situation she found herself in.

“What do you want?” She snapped at him.

Quickly Hux bowed his respect. “Apologies, my Lady. I tried to stop him.” Before he turned to take his leave, his eyes caught Rose's. He had hoped to take a moment to speak with her and return her mended pendant to her. He felt its weight of it in the inner breast pocket of his greatcoat.

Instead, he bowed again and took his leave.

“I'm going to kill him,” he mumbled once he was out of earshot.

That evening, the ballroom was filled with visitors attending the engagement announcement. Hux sat to the left of the Prince at the head table, his head throbbing from the earlier drinking. He had consumed enough wine at dinner to look polite but touched only water after that. He was angry at the Prince for doing something so foolish. He was angry with himself for not trying harder to stop it.

The rash actions of the Prince had made them both look stupid. Hux was just thankful that more people had not been present to witness how he got the bump on the back of his head.

“It was just a drunken stumble,” he had told his valet, which, if Hux was honest, wasn't a complete lie. He just left out the part where he had been pushed into the wall by the woman he was supposed to marry in a fortnight.

As the engagement party speeches dragged on, Hux found himself tuning everyone out. He absentmindedly swirled the drink in his glass until someone behind him cleared their throat. When he snapped his attention back to his surroundings, he saw that everyone at their table was standing.

It was time for the dance.

As tradition, the couple to be would dance first, before being joined by those selected as witness to their union. He took his place on the side of the dance floor with Mitaka beside him and Rose and Kaydel across from him. The Prince and Princess took their place in the centre of the floor and a hush fell upon the room.

The dance had been choreographed and practised for weeks, though this was the first time they'd be dancing it together. Every time the Prince had rehearsed, Hux was the stand in for the Princess.

The pair raised their right hands to each other, not quite touching, staring daggers at each other while the music began. The opening stance, as it were.

Their movements began slowly, deliberately. One could tell by watching that they were simply going through the steps they had rehearsed, separately. That chemistry between dance partners was lacking and it showed.

But the Emperor on his throne behind the head table didn't seem to notice. The man was too old to properly see the food in front of him, let alone what was happening across the room. Though Hux suspected the old man could sense what was happening through his connection with the Force, he chose not to act upon it.

It didn't patter if the Prince and Princess didn't actually like each other, their union was what was more important.

As the music came to a climax and died off, the Emperor applauded and cheered from where he sat. Clearly he was satisfied with the acting of his heir and granddaughter.

“More, more! And more wine!” he croaked from his throne.

That was their que.

Hux and Mitaka, Rose and Kaydel, stepped forward from where they stood on the edges of the dance floor. Mitaka had been tapped to be the third man the Sith Priest had demanded earlier. One of Hux's formal uniforms had been hastily altered by the head seamstress to fit the shorter man.

As Rose stood before him, he had a chance to finally get a good look at her. Her chocolate brown eyes stared up at him, wide. No doubt the earlier incident with the Prince had done nothing to endear her to him in any way.

She was a petite woman, but as he took her into his arms for their dance, he felt how soft she truly was. With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her across the dance floor, never breaking eye contact with her. When she stumbled over the footing, he held her firmly so she wouldn't embarrass herself. When she stepped on his feet by mistake, he held his sabacc face, so she wouldn't feel bad that it had, in fact, hurt.

When the music reached its crescendo, he held her tightly as he lowered her into a dip. After a moment, he pulled her upright and they bowed to each other.

Hux allowed a faint smile to cross his face, but when he looked at her, her eyes were full of tears.

Rose let out a small cry, before running off.

“Haha, what did you do to the girl, Hux? Scare her off with your scowl?” Someone shouted at him.

Hux turned to face the man who'd hurled such an insult at him, his teeth bared in a snarl.

“At least I don't insult my wife and shame her in public, General Pryde. I don't get karked like a kowakian and embarrass her. Live up to your name for once,” he hissed at the old drunken General.

A few low 'oooohs' filled the room.

He wasn't wrong, and everyone knew it, though no one spoke it.

Hux swept from the room to seek out Rose, leaving the General the laughing stock of the guests.

Rose stood on one of the balconies attached to the ballroom of the palace. It was a rare night on Exegol when there was no lightning and it was oddly peaceful. Despite the warm air, Rose still shivered.

The idea that she'd danced with with him...

When the Princess had first told Rose a few weeks before that she'd be dancing with Hux, she had tried to talk her way out of it. The man was a brute.

And yet...

The way he'd held her had been so gentle. When she'd stumbled over her own feet, he didn't let her fall on her backside. He didn't flinch when she'd stepped on his foot. He held her gaze the entire time and she'd almost forgotten to be nervous.

He had been too kind to her.

“My lady?”

Startled, Rose turned around quickly. Before her stood Hux, and she was afraid. Had she embarrassed him? Was he here to punish her?

“My-My lord,” she stammered, “I'm so sorry. I'm not a very good dancer, and –“

“Are you alright?”

She looked at him, confused.

“Are you alright?” He asked again.

“I am, yes.” She tightened her grip on the shawl, and turned slightly away from him, afraid of his retribution.

“It's just that you left in such a hurry, I was concerned for you. I know the Princess cares deeply for her handmaidens, so I just...” he cleared his throat and pulled something from his pocket. “I wanted to return this to you also.”

Rose tentatively reached for the folded piece of fabric in his outstretched hand.

“What is it?”
“It's yours. I believe you dropped it the other day when we bumped into each other, and I wanted to make sure it was returned to you.”

Rose looked from him to the square of fabric. Carefully, she unfolded the object, only to discover her pendant, repaired and cleaned.

“Oh...”

“I didn't trust anyone else with this. I had a feeling it was important to you.”

“It is...my parents gave it to me when I was little. My sister has a matching one just like it. It's all I have left of them.” She looked up at him again, her eyes filling with unshed tears. Rose turned the necklace over and over in her hands, conflicted. Of course she was overjoyed to have her necklace returned to her, but was finding it difficult to reconcile who had repaired it and returned it to her.

“May I?”

She handed the necklace to him and turned around. Carefully, Hux slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp. Rose shivered slightly at his light touch on the back of her neck.

“I used spacers leather for the cord. Its highly durable, so you won't have any issues with it falling off next time you bump into an unsuspecting person.”

When Rose turned around to face him, he was suddenly much closer to her than she'd thought. She watched as his eyes moved between the necklace, her eyes, and her lips.

“Thank you, my lord. I don't know what I would have done without it, and –“

Hux carefully reached up and brushed away the tears from her eyes. His hand remained on her cheek.

“You shouldn't cry. I don't like seeing you upset,” his words were barely a whisper.

Slowly, Hux leaned down and placed his lips on hers.

Rose didn't resist when he nudged her up against the wall. His other hand went to her face, before slowly trailing down and finding its way to the small of her back. Hux pulled her closer as his tongue found its way into her mouth.

Rose had been kissed before. She, like many of the other handmaidens had fooled around with some of the servants, even though it was forbidden.

But this...this was different.

Hux kissed her like he wanted to devour her. Yet he was so gentle. He didn't push her any further than she felt comfortable.

When he tried to pull away, Rose found her hand on the lapel of his greatcoat, pulling him back.

She liked the attention, even if her feelings were conflicted.

After a few more moments, Hux broke off the kiss and nuzzled into the side of her neck. He kissed her gently just below her ear.

But when Rose tried to lean into his touch, he stopped and lightly rested his forehead on her shoulder.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

When he stood back again, his face looked pained. His ginger eyebrows were knitted together. Before she could say anything, Hux turned and walked back into the palace.

Chapter Text

Three days later

“Sir, if I may say, you look like bantha shit.”

“Thank you for that astute observation, Mitaka.”

“Should I bring you some caf?”

“No, the reports will suffice.” Hux mumbled as he stood, watching the lightning out the window of his office.

His assistant saluted, then left the room.

The annoying part, Hux knew, was that Mitaka was right. He did look like bantha shit. He had hardly slept in three days and was developing dark circles under his eyes. But he couldn't stop thinking about her. Rose had felt so soft in his arms as he'd kissed her. She had tasted faintly of the wine they'd been drinking at dinner. When he returned to his quarters that night, he had shamelessly thought of her while in the refresher. What it might feel like to...

No.

He couldn't think that way about her.

It was strictly forbidden for the Princess's handmaidens to have intimate relations, though it was a well known secret they liked to sneak around when they had the chance. Still, he didn't want to compromise her position within the palace. It was an honourable position she held and if anyone found out...

Hux rubbed the bridge of his nose, irritated at his own actions. The blood would not stop rushing to certain body parts. As much as he hated it, he would just have to visit a pleasure house on Cantonica. It was a bit of a journey to get there, and they might be more expensive, but at least they were clean and the women attractive.

He'd find himself a cute girl and ride her for a few days. Then he'd pay her and send her on her way. No fuss, no emotions. Just a business transaction. He needed to get his carnal needs out of his system so he could return to his full duties.

But as he found his resolve, a light knock came at the door.

“I'm fine, Mitaka. You can leave the reports on my desk,” he snapped.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, my lord.” came the quiet reply. That was not Mitaka's voice.

Hux turned to find Rose standing in the doorway, her hands clutching to the piece of silk her necklace had been in.

“Rose...”

“I'm sorry, you're busy. I'll come back later.”

As she turned to go, Hux rushed around his desk, reaching for her. His resolve to go to Cantonica gone.

“No, wait. Please.” He grabbed her by the arm, before realizing he was holding her too tightly and let go.

“I, ah, just wanted to return this,” she held out the piece of silk to him.

Hux looked at it, but handed it back to her. “You can keep it. I have no need for it.”

“About the other day...”

“I wanted to apologize for that. I should not have forced myself on you like that. It was inappropriate.” He cleared his throat and looked at the floor, trying to hide the fact that he really wanted to do it again.

“Actually, my lord,” tentatively Rose reached forward and lightly placed her hand on his chest. “The truth is...I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.”

Hux's eyes snapped up to hers. Before he even realized what he was doing, he took her face in both his hands and kissed her.

Deeply.

Passionately.

At first Rose was ridged in his arms, no doubt from the shock of his sudden actions. But as he backed her into a wall, she softened in his arms. She gently wrapped her arms around him, running her hands up and down his back. The gentle sensation of her scratching at his back caused Hux to groan. It was a delightful feeling.

After a moment, he pulled away from their kiss and leaned his forehead against hers.

“I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, either,” he whispered.

“Then it seems we're both of the same mind,” Rose reached up to cup his cheek. The warmth of her touch drove Hux crazy. He leaned into her hand momentarily, then turned his head to kiss her hand.

“Rose,” his voice hoarse. “We shouldn't...”

“But I want to.”

He glanced down at her, her big chocolate eyes staring back up at him. Hux knew in that moment there was no going back. The point of no return was when he kissed her on the balcony.

He kissed her again, forcefully, as he fumbled to lift her skirts. His hand found the delicate place between her legs. He was surprised to find she had already soaked through her basics. Her nub was swollen with blood and ripe to be touched.

The feeling of his hand against her cunt caused Rose to moan louder than she'd intended.

“You must be quiet,” Hux hissed as he put his hand over her mouth. “Mitaka is right outside the door. If we're caught, we'll be done for.”

Rose nodded her understanding, but it was a difficult request. The more he rubbed the more she wanted to scream. He pulled the gusset of her basics to the side and slid his middle and ring finger inside of her.

She whimpered in pleasure.

“You're so wet.”

“You did this to me.”

“I know just how to fix it,” he curled his fingers, brushing against a sensitive area. It left Rose seeing stars.

Just as quickly as it had begun, it ended. Hux pulled his hand out from under her skirts and turned her around to face the wall. He lifted her skirts over her hips and yanked her basics down to her knees. She heard the clink of his belt unlatching, followed by the zip sound of his fly being undone. A moment later, she felt his hard cock pushing up against her bare flesh. He rubbed it against her a few times, before lining himself up with her cunt.

“Wait!” she whispered louder than she'd intended, her hand reaching back to stop him. “Not there. You...you have to use the other one.”

Hux looked at her for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “We get, ugh...We get inspected periodically to ensure our chastity is in tact. It's the Emperor's order. If you put it there instead, then they won't find out.”

He took a deep breath to still his anger. How dare they subject the handmaidens to such treatment. They were innocent people brought to this world to serve the Empire against their will. To be subjected to such cruelty and humiliation...it made him growl.

“It's okay,” Rose's voice brought him back to the present. “It's okay to do it there. How do you think we get away with it? They can't check that spot.”

“If you're sure...”

Rose nodded her consent.

Hux rubbed his cock along the opening of her slits to collect some of her moisture on him. Then he gently rubbed some of it around her opening. Carefully he lined himself up and thrust forward. When Rose cried out, his hand clamped around her mouth to silence her.

“You must be quiet, Rose. Bite my hand if you need to, but you must be quiet.”

She nodded and braced herself against the wall. Hux's other arm snaked around her waste, pulling her closer and forcing himself deeper inside her. She let out a small whimper.

“You must tell me if it becomes too much for you to bear.” he whispered in her ear as he began thrusting inside of her. As he did, he took her earlobe into his mouth and began suckling on it.

Rose let out a little sigh of pleasure.

Hux increased his tempo, holding her tightly to him. It wasn't long before he could feel his climax coming. Rose could sense it too, as she arched her back in a way that made it more pleasurable for him. What sent him over the edge, was when she bit down on his hand. The strange mix of pleasure and pain triggered his orgasm, and it was one of the most intense ones he'd ever felt.

He stood there, his forehead resting on the back of her shoulders as he tried to catch his breath. After a few moments he released his grip on her hips and pulled himself out of her. When Rose reached to pull up her basics, he stopped her.

Without a word, he picked her up and deposited her on the edge of his desk. Hux folded her skirts out of the way, then knelt on the floor in front of her. He leaned in and took a long, slow lick of her cunt.

Rose shuddered at the feeling.

Hux was pleased to find she was somehow wetter than she'd been before and the delicate nub was still sensitive. He tucked her legs over his shoulders and took both her wrists in his hands. His tongue flicked at her nub and she squirmed under his touch. It wasn't going to take him long to finish her off.

To slow down her climax, Hux dipped his tongue inside her cunt.

Kriff, she tasted good. He could feel himself getting hard again.

“Please...” he heard her quietly moan as she tried to reposition herself for better friction.

Hux chuckled as he kissed her inner thigh. “So impatient. Very well, if you insist.” He dove in, attacking her nub with gusto.

Rose let out an extended whimper and a deep sigh in her attempt to keep quiet. A few moments later, Hux felt her pull hard against his hands, indicating she was about to orgasm. He suckled on her nub as she fell over the edge. Once the initial rush had passed, he stood and pulled her into his arms. He held her close, rubbing her back as she came down from the high.

Rose nuzzled into his chest and the pair remained in a silent contentment.

It was a few days later before Rose saw Hux again. The Prince and Princess were meeting to discuss final details for their wedding.

And it wasn't going well.

The pair were bickering over table decorations and how many Empire banners to have hanging on the walls. The Princess thought them garish and only wanted one hanging on the wall behind the table where her grandfather, the Emperor, would sit.

The Prince, on the other hand, wanted several on each wall. He wanted the logo splashed on every piece of decoration he could possibly have it on. It was his grandfather, after all, who had created the Empire.

“With the help of my Grandfather!” She spat back in his face.

Rose sighed and cast a careful glance to Hux. He was standing there, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. He seemed just as unimpressed with the bickering as everyone else in the room. Even the Sith priest had subtly backed away from the couple to discuss something with his assistant. Rose really wondered how the pair would rule the galaxy if they couldn't even stand to be in the same room together.

A quiet clearing of someone's throat brought Rose back to the moment. Looking in the direction of the sound, she found Hux. In his outstretched hand he held a glass of wine, offering it to her.

She took it and nodded in silent thanks, while he took a long drink from the glass in his other hand. The Prince and Hux had grown up together, she'd learned. She had little doubt that Hux had been witness to many of the Prince's tantrums over the years.

“Meet me later tonight,” Hux whispered in her ear. Rose looked up at him, surprised he'd be so brazen in front of other. He'd leaned down to her height so she could feel his breath tickling her ear. There was a spark of mischief in his green eyes as they flicked from her eyes to her lips.

She nodded once, and he slipped something into her hand. Before Rose could look at it, the Princess called her over.

“Yes milady?” she asked, slipping the object into her pocket.

“We're leaving. I can't stand to be in the same room as such a boorish man.”

Rose nodded and as they made for the exit, she could feel Hux's eyes on her.

That evening as she sat on her cot, she remembered the object in her pocket. She fished it out, but hardly had time to look at it before the Princess rang the bell for her assistance.

“You called for me, my lady?” Rose asked, sticking her head inside the Princess's quarters.

“Hmm? Oh, yes.”

“Are you alright?” Rose approached the Princess, who sat at her vanity, watching her.

“I suppose,” she sighed.

The silence sat heavily in the air.

“Rose,” the Princess asked as she turned in her chair. “If you could do anything, anything at all, with your life, what would it be?”

Surprised by the question, Rose sat on the tuffet beside the Princess. “I've never really thought about it. I came here when I was so young. I was probably too young to really know what I wanted to do.”

“I'm not happy here. All I want is to be free. I just want one decision in my life to be mine, and mine alone. I don't want to have to marry Kylo, just because our Grandfathers did the things they did. Please, Rose,” the Princess took Rose's hands in hers. “Please, I just want to have one adventure, one experience before I have to marry him.”

Rose so desperately wanted to protest, to tell the Princess that it was a bad idea. But seeing the look in the young woman's eyes made her heart break. How many times had she too longed for something else?

“My lady, you're to be wed in a week's time.”

“Please, Rose.” The Princess squeezed Rose's hands for emphasis. “Please...”

“What do you mean, 'they're gone'?” The Prince roared at Kaydel.

“I-I'm sorry, my lord,” she stammered. “I went to find the Princess this morning, and –“

“I don't care about that!” He shouted at the poor girl while pushing everything off his desk with rage.

Kaydel flinched, wringing her hands together.

“Is she at least with someone?” Hux calmly asked while Mitaka tried to sooth the lady's maid.

“Ye-yes. I believe Rose went with her. I cannot find her anywhere.”

“The Princess trusts Rose with her life, my lord. She's in safe hands.” Hux added.

“She's with a lady's maid! She is not in safe hands, Hux. She isn't safe until she's home.” The Prince reached for his cloak.

“My lord, surely you don't intend to follow them!” Kaydel cried.

The Prince swung around on her, his hand raised to strike the girl. Kaydel cowered, but when the blow failed to strike, she glanced up. Hux had grabbed the Prince's wrist to stop him.

“She is just the messenger, my lord.” Hux's voice was low and he spoke deliberately. “If you intend to bring the Princess home yourself, I will accompany you.”

Something silent passed between the two men that Kaydel couldn't understand. She had witnessed Hux's fury before, but it had never been directed at his Lordship.

“Very well,” The Prince said, his dark eyes locked on Hux's. “Be ready to go within the hour.” He pulled his wrist loose and stormed off.

Hux let out a snort, and with an eye roll he turned to Kaydel. “Are you hurt?”

“No, my lord.”

He nodded to Mitaka to tend to Kaydel, before heading to his quarters.

So that was why she didn't come last night, he thought while locking this door behind him. He had become concerned that perhaps they'd been found out. Hux had spent much of the night pacing his office. When Mitaka's frantic knocking on his door in the early hours roused him, he didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep.

Outside his office had stood a worried Mitaka and Kaydel. The Princess had vanished sometime in the night, and Rose along with her.

At least they appeared to have vanished together.

Pulling a small go bag from his closet, Hux ground his teeth. As of yet, there were no clues where they could have gone. The galaxy was a large place. If one wanted to disappear, it wouldn't be difficult. The Princess had made it more than known she didn't want to army the Prince. She wasn't wrong in calling him a boor.

He threw a change of clothes into his go bag and straightened his uniform. There was no time to change into a fresh one, it would have to do. Hux put his greatcoat across his shoulders and reached into the pockets for his leather gloves. His fingertips brushed up against something.

The stone...

He pulled the object from his pocket, a small kyber crystal that had broken in half.

“Rose...”

She had the other half. He'd slipped it to her the day before during the meeting. Two halves of the same whole part. He had to get her back, to keep her safe. Even if they could never be together, he would shield her from the wrath of those they served.

Rose raised a hand to shield her face from the bright Naboo sun. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt it on her face. It was warm and inviting.

She let out a content sigh.

“Come on, Rose! Let's go check out the market!” The Princess grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along.

“My lady, I really don't think we should --”

“Oh stop being such a womp rat stuck in the mud, Rose. We're here to have fun. Plus, there's so many people, we'll blend in. No one will notice us.”

Rose groaned, knowing full well the Princess was right. Dressed as inconspicuously as possible, with the hoods of their cloaks pulled over their faces, they wove their way through the bustling Theed marketplace. The sight of pure joy on the Princess's face brought a measure of happiness to Rose, even if she knew what awaited them once they returned home.

When they had slipped unnoticed into the hangar the night before, the captain of the Praetorian guard had blocked their path to the small ship they intended to steal. The captain was an imposing woman, standing the same height as his highness the Crown Prince. Fortunately for the Princess and Rose, the captain had a soft spot for them both and had agreed to give the women a head start on their escape before alerting the rest of the palace in the morning.

“Oh Rose, you really must try this meiloorun. It's truly delicious,” the Princess declared as she handed a slice over to Rose.

Rose nibbled at the slice of fruit, agreeing that it was delicious. She paid the vendor for a few more pieces of the fruit and put them in her satchel. When she turned to follow the Princess, however, Rose walked smack into the broad chest of a person and fell flat on her behind.

“Rose, are you alright?” The Princess asked, as she knelt to help her up.

“Yes, I'm fine.” She looked up to apologize to the person she had walked into, and found herself looking at a familiar stern, and unimpressed face. “Captain Phasma...” Rose could feel all the colour drain from her face.

Dressed as a common merchant, the captain reached down to help Rose to her feet. “I'm pleased to see you're both alright. I hope you've had your fun, because I'm here with the Prince.”

“How did you find us so easily?” the Princess asked. “We scrambled our signature settings.”

The captain levelled a look at the Princess. “You forget who taught you such skills. Besides, a quick search on your personal data pad revealed your extensive searching for information on Naboo, Theed in particular. I promised to allow you a head start, I never said anything about not coming to find you.”

The Princess looked deeply offended that her personal data pad had been breached in such a way.

“Well, I'm not ready to return.” She said, folding her arms in a huff.

The captain sighed and ushered the two young women into a small alley way.

“My lady,” the captain said, firmly. “This can go one of two ways. Either you come with me now, and I can smooth things over with the Prince, because you know how his temper is. Or I can leave you to be found by him. His rage is already off the charts.”

At the far end of the market, the sound of crashing carts and people yelling could be heard. Rose didn't need to be a force user to know it was the Crown Prince.

“What is your choice, Princess? You're out of time.” The captain stamped her staff on the cobblestone to get the Princess's attention.

The Crown Princess's mouth gaped open, but no words came out.

“Where is she?!” the Prince roared, closer now.

The Princess looked from Rose to the Captain. Quickly she turned and bolted.

“Dank farrik!” The captain cursed and took off after the Princess.

Rose moved to follow the Princess and captain, but as she did, rough hands grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled her back. The fiery eyes of the Crown Prince stared back at her when she looked to see who was manhandling her.

“My-my lord!”

“Where is she?” he growled at her, his voice frighteningly calm.

“She went that way, Captain Phasma is perusing her.”

Without any concern for her well being, the Prince tossed Rose aside and followed in the direction she had pointed. As Rose stumbled, she braced herself to hit the rough stone ground.

Instead, she found herself caught by warm arms that embraced her.

“Are you okay?”

When she looked up, soft familiar green eyes looked back at her.

“My lord! Please, let me explain,” she started.

Hux held up a finger to silence her. “It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe.” He kissed her softly on the temple. “We should get you back to the ship.”

The trip from Exegol to Naboo had been a tense one for Hux. A quick investigation of the Princess's room by Kaydel had revealed that the she had dug up a lot of information on Naboo. It seemed like as good of a place as any to start their search.

It was fortunate that the palace was a place full of secrets. The Emperor had yet to find out his granddaughter was missing. Again. It was Hux's suggestion that they keep it that way for as long as possible.

Everyone agreed.

It didn't take long for everyone to meet in the hangar as ordered. The Prince was interrogating the Captain of the Guard. She was one of the few people he couldn't use his size as an intimidation ta tic on. Her face was passive as the Prince yelled at her.

“I saw them last night during my routine checks of the area. I had dissuaded them from continuing their plan and suggested they return to bed. They said they would, but obviously such was not the case,” she said casually while examining her nails.

The Prince was red in the face. Never before had he been so disrespected.

Hux had always admired the Captain's unflappable personality. Nothing seemed to get under her skin and she went about her business with a quiet efficiency. Those who served under her had a great respect for her skills as a leader. He also knew that she had a soft spot for the Princess and suspected she knew more than she was letting on.

“Why didn't you report it when you saw them?” The Prince shouted.

“Because, as I stated, I watched them leave the hangar. I figured they'd return to the Princess's quarters, or perhaps steal away to the kitchens for a late night snack.”

The Prince opened his mouth to shout at her some more, but the Captain forcefully stamped her staff on the ground to get his attention.

“My lord,” she began calmly. “No amount of shouting at me, or anyone else, will bring her back. If we're to locate her, calmer heads will prevail.”

He growled at her, but said nothing further. The Prince knew she had a point and the Captain was one of the few people he allowed to address him in such a direct manner.

A few minutes later Kaydel ran into the hangar with a bag in her hands. No doubt filled with a change of clothes for the Princess. Not allowing her a moment to recover, the Prince's hand reached out and grabbed her by the back of her neck and forcefully pushed her onto the ship before following.

Hux, Mitaka, and the Captain boarded the ship behind him.

“How was this allowed to happen?” The Prince huffed once the ship had cleared the atmosphere and made the jump to light-speed.

“Perhaps, my lord, if you had been a bit nicer to her, she wouldn't have run off.” The Captain said casually.

Everyone glanced between the Prince and Captain, afraid a fight would break out.

“How long until Naboo?” he asked instead.

“It'll be a few hours.”

“Get me when we drop out of hyperspace.” He stormed off to a small room, no doubt to meditate, the pneumatic door slamming behind him.

Hux merely rolled his eyes. Petulant child.

Then he turned to Kaydel, who seemed to wither under his gaze. “You said you suspect she went to Theed?”

“Ye-yes, my lord.”

Hux hummed as he pulled up a holomap of the city. “You know the Princess and Rose the best. Where do you think they'd be?”

Kaydel was silent for a few moments as her eyes scanned the map. She zoomed in and out a few times before deciding upon a location. “Here, the market is the best place. The Princess has often expressed her desire to have a normal life, and it would be easy to blend in.”

Hux nodded, seeming to agree.

A few hours later, the ship descended into the hangar in Theed. Kaydel and Mitaka remained with the ship. To Hux's eternal annoyance, the Prince stormed off in a rage. At least he was headed in the correct direction.

It didn't take long for the Captain to locate Rose and the Princess. Even in plain clothes, they still stood out. Their robes were still too opulent. Hux considered it a miracle they hadn't yet been the target of thieves.

When they arrived back at the ship, Kaydel pulled Rose into a fierce hug. It was clear she had been crying.

“Come Rose, lets get you cleaned up.” Kaydel said, ushering Rose into the back. Rose cast a glance back at Hux, but said nothing and allowed herself to be led away.

“You should be careful, sir.” Mitaka said, not looking up from his datapad.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Of course not. Forget I mentioned it.”

Hux hummed his acknowledgement as he settled into an uncomfortable silence. Mitaka had noticed his growing affection for Rose. Had anyone else noticed? He trusted Mitaka, but that only went so far. Everyone had a price, and for the right amount of credits, it wasn't hard to get the information one wanted.

Just as Rose and Kaydel emerged from the small room in the back of the ship, the Captain returned, quickly followed by an enraged Prince and a very upset Princess.

It was obvious by the way he held her upper arm, the Prince was giving her a severe bruise.

“Let go of me!” she shouted, pulling herself free. “How dare you manhandle me in such a way!”

“Maybe if you hadn't run off like a child, I wouldn't have to. Honestly, Princess, you need a leash.”

It happened so quickly.

The Princess slapped the Prince, squarely across the face. He stood there, just as shocked as everyone else.

The Princess stepped up to him and squared her shoulders. Her fingertips began to crackle with lightning.

Before the Prince could catch his bearings, Hux lunged in to grab him, restraining his arms in a bear hug. The Captain stepped between the Princess and Prince.

If the full force of their powers were to clash...

Well, there wouldn't be enough of anyone left to fill a jewellery box.

“Lock them in the back room. I'll deal with them when we return home,” he ordered before pulling free of Hux's grasp and storming off to the cockpit.

The Captain ushered Rose, Kaydel, and the Princess into the back room as instructed.

The flight home passed in complete silence, except for the muffled crying coming from the back room. It pained Hux to not be able to comfort Rose, but he had to maintain his sabacc face. If it were to become known he had feelings for the handmaiden, the knowledge would be used against both of them.

When they arrived back on Exegol, a group of armed guards waited for them. The Princess was escorted to see her grandfather. Rose and Kaydel were taken away to the detention block. Hux was about to protest and order the guards to release them, but the faintest touch from Mitaka held him back.

He was dying on the inside, not being able to protect her from what he knew was coming.

“You can't...” Mitaka whispered so quietly, Hux was sure he imagined it.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that a faint knock came at Hux's office door. He had spent the entire rest of the day pacing like a caged loth wolf in his office, chewing the inside of his cheek raw.

He opened the door just enough to see Mitaka in the dark hallway. Beside him stood a cloaked figure who was quickly ushered into the room before Mitaka silently nodded and left. Hux locked the door, then turned to the hooded figure.

Tentatively, he reached out to pull the hood away and was horrified by what stood in front of him.

Rose's beautiful face had been marred by whatever had happened to her. Her bottom lip was swollen and split. Her left cheek was green and blue with bruising.

It was clear that more than the interrogation droid had been used.

Hux growled, enraged at himself for not stopping what had happened.

“It's fine, please don't worry about me,” Rose said quietly, sensing his anger.

“No, it's not. I shouldn't have allowed this to happen. I should have--”

“No, you can't!” Rose's voice was hoarse from screaming. “If they find out...”

“Damn the consequences, Rose. I can protect you. I can keep you safe,” he smoothed some stray hairs from her face. “I care too much about you.”

“They'll use that against you.”

He pulled her into a gentle embrace so at to not hurt her bruising. “I don't care.”

“You're too important. There are those who would move against you if they knew about us.”

Hux leaned back just enough to take her in. Here was this beautiful, broken woman. She should be mad at him, raging at him. Instead she cared more about what happened to him. He took her face gently into his hands and kissed her forehead.

“You're the one who's too important,” he whispered.

Rose leaned up to kiss him, but pulled back hissing after a moment.

Realizing it was her split lip, Hux scooped her up and deposited her on his desk. He rummaged through one of the drawers for a moment, before finding what he was looking for.

A small bottle of bacta.

He carefully applied it to her split lip, and her bruised cheek.

“Take the cloak off.”

“What? No.”

“Rose, I need to make sure you're okay.”

“Hux, please, I--”

But it was too late. He pulled the string that held the cloak on her shoulders and it pooled around her on the desk.

Her clothes had been ripped to shreds and she was covered in cuts and lacerations.

“I didn't want you to see...” she mumbled, pulling the cloak back over her shoulders, hiding herself from him.

Hux could feel his blood beginning to boil. “Rose...please never hide anything from me,” he managed to get out calmly, but he felt anything but. Gently, he pulled the cloak from her shoulders again, so he could fully asses her injuries.

Her dress was barely hanging on. Some of it looked like it had stuck to her skin while the blood dried. He flexed his hands, trying to contain his anger. The last thing she needed was him to fly off the handle.

Quietly he set about cleaning her wounds with the bacta. He wasn't sure if it would be enough, but for now it would do. She shuddered under his touch.

“Rose, I need you to hold still while I...” he glanced up at her from where he knelt cleaning her legs. She wasn't shaking because she was cold, she was quietly sobbing.

“I'm so sorry,” she mumbled between sobs.

“What? Why?” he stood to wipe her tears away.

“I've caused you nothing but trouble since we met.”

“How could you say that?”
“Because it's true.”

“It's not.”

She looked up at him from where she sat on his desk, confused.

“Rose, ever since you ran into me that morning, you're all I've thought about. I didn't think it was possible, but you've made me feel something again.” He closed his eyes and put his forehead to hers.

“People say you have a stone for a heart.”

“They're not wrong. I know I have a reputation, and there's truth to it. But, ever since you stumbled into my life...it's like the veil has been lifted. I see clearly now just how wrong all of this is. We were never given the choice in how our lives went. The Emperor says it's something about destiny, but that's bantha shit. We should be free to feel, to...to love...”

He pulled back slightly and kissed the tears that had pooled on her cheeks.

“Hux...”

“Rose, you're all I want in this life. We could leave this place. Go somewhere they can't find us.”

“They'll follow us...”
“I don't care. So long as we're together.” As lightly as he could, he kissed her on the lips. When he tried to pull away, she followed.

Rose's eyebrows knitted together, clearly at the discomfort of her split lip. Despite that, she pulled Hux towards her, kissing him desperately.

When he did pull away, he put his forehead to hers. It was wrong to take advantage of her current situation

“Please...” she sobbed quietly. “I just...want to feel something.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, his voice barely audible.

When he felt her nod against his forehead, he pushed his lips hard against hers. Rose let out a small cry of discomfort, but it didn't stop her from slipping her tongue in his mouth.

“You have to tell me if it becomes too much for you,” Hux managed to get out between aggressive kisses.

“I promise.”

Hux smirked, knowing she was lying to him. Instead of arguing with her, he scooped her up into his arms and walked them both over to the wall behind his desk. Rose wrapped her legs around his hips for support as he leaned her into the wall.

“I've got you,” he said before burying his face in her cleavage.

Rose leaned her head back as far as the wall would allow. Her torn dress allowed for easy access to her ample chest, which Hux had taken full advantage of. As he teased one of her nipples, he felt Rose shift slightly so she was grinding on his growing bulge.

He chuckled into her cleavage. Kriff, it felt good. Hux snaked a hand around her bottom and ran his fingers along her cunt. Even though her basics, he could feel how wet she'd become already.

“Ahh, Hux...”

“Shh, Rose. No one can hear us.” He gently scolded her as he teased her clit.

“So mean,” she whimpered as she squirmed in his arms.

Hux chuckled again as he lifted her up onto his shoulders, her legs around his head. Carefully he pulled the gusset of her basics to one side and flicked at her clit with his tongue. “Mean, you say?”

“Ngh...”

“Then maybe I shouldn't be doing this,” he whispered as he slid two fingers into her, curling them forward and hitting that mysterious spot women had.

“Hux!” she let out, almost hissing his name. Rose's hand flew to his scalp, digging her nails in. It hurt, but he didn't care. It wouldn't hurt as much as losing her and never being able to touch her like this again.

Hux suckled on her clit. It was truly delicious and soft.

“Hux, I...” she squirmed against his touch.

“I've got you, I wont let you fall.” He could tell she was close by the way her insides began to spasm and clench around his fingers.

It seemed to happen all at once.

He heard her head thunk against the wall at the same time the grip on his scalp tightened. Her thighs also tightened their grip on his head, holding him in place.

If I die like this, at least I die happy...

After a few moments he felt her relax and he lowered her back down so her legs wrapped around his own hips again. Rose was breathing hard, her chest heaving against his. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.

As she did, Hux pulled himself from his uniform trousers and carefully slid himself inside of her back-end.

Rose let out a small gasp of pleasure before relaxing into his arms.

Slowly, Hux began thrusting into her. Using the wall for support, he bucked against her hips as he pushed himself deeper into her. To avoid either of them making any noise, he kissed her hard.

It didn't take him long to finish, much to his chagrin. The way he had gotten her off earlier had nearly been his own undoing. He would have to make it up to her later.

Carefully he withdrew himself and put Rose back on the floor. He smoothed some of her hair from her face.

Rose glanced towards the door, then back at him.

“Stay.”

It was more a command than a question.

“I can protect you from the consequences if we're discovered.”

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Hux placed the lightest of kisses to her forehead before covering her again with the cloak she had arrived with. He draped his own greatcoat across his shoulders before taking Rose by the hand.

He pulled her down one of the narrow corridors that led to his quarters, stopping only once to talk to one of the sentries on night patrol.

Hux held his breath, hoping his jacket and the shadows were enough to hide Rose's figure behind him.

“Of course, sir. Have a good evening,” the sentry said before moving on this his patrol. The guard didn't seem to notice Rose, but Hux didn't want to take the chance. He hurried them along to his quarters where he locked the door behind them once they entered. He dimmed the bright lights so as not to blind Rose, but also to hide how spartan his quarters were. Despite the large size, it was sparsely decorated. He noticed that it lacked the warmth he knew the quarters in the lower levels had. Durasteel, while practical, didn't lend itself to a romantic atmosphere.

“I'm sorry,” he said, “it's probably not what you were expecting for someone so close to the Prince,” he said as he turned to her.

“It's fine,” she said, looking up at him. Rose stood before him, her arms awkwardly hugging her torso. The cloak, dress, and even her basics lay pooled on the floor around her feet.

Had it been possible, Hux's jaw would have hit the floor. It was the first time he had seen her as naked as the day she was born.

She was beautiful.

In an uncharacteristic move, he threw his greatcoat on the floor before unbuttoning his uniform. After a moment, it too joined his jacket in a heap on the floor. He reached for the buckle on his belt, but soft hands stopped him.

“There's something I want to do,” Rose said as she slowly began to undo his belt, followed by the button on his trousers.

Falling to her knees, she pulled him free from his trousers and slowly began sliding her hand up and down his length.

“Rose, ahh...” he groaned.

“Shh,” she scolded him with a giggle. “We can't have anyone hearing us.”

Hux let out a strained chuckle at his own words being used against him. But it was short lived. His eyes rolled back in his head as Rose took him in her mouth. The warm, soft feeling of her mouth was almost too much for him to bear. The way her tongue teased the end of member had him seeing stars.

Sure, other women had done the same for him during his visits to Cantonica, but they lacked the same passion Rose had. For those women, it was a business transaction. It didn't need to be mind blowing, just good enough to get paid.

He silently begged his legs not to give out.

“Rose...” he managed to groan. Out of instinct, his hand went to her head, but he resisted the urge to force himself deep into her mouth.

He wasn't a complete monster.

It really didn't take her long to get him off. Between one hand on the base of his shaft, the other on his balls, and her mouth enveloping the rest...

Just as his orgasm hit, he tried to pull himself from her mouth to spare her what he felt was the indignity of having him dribbling down her chin.

But Rose held him firm, not allowing him to escape.

When he regained his composure a moment later, he glanced down at her. The sight of her on her knees, his seed having dripped from her chin to his chest sent what little bit of blood that was left in his head to other places.

Hux scooped her up and tossed her onto his cot. Rose landed with a soft thud, giggling, as he shed what was left of his uniform. He climbed on top of her.

“That was...”

“What? What was it?” she looked up at him, eyes mischievous.

He leaned down and licked his seed from her chest. He made sure to pay special attention to her nipples, which had gone hard under his touch. His hand snaked between her legs, teasing her clit.

“You're still so wet.”

Hux dipped his head between her legs again. What he was doing was treasonous. But he didn't care. If he was going to be put to death for fucking one of the Princess's handmaidens, so be it. It was selfish, he knew, because Rose at best, was in danger of the same fate. At worst, well, he'd burn the universe down if anyone hurt her. Assuming he survived his own punishments.

Rose was so wet, it was soaking the sheets of his cot. He teased her perineum with the tip of his tongue before gently licking her anus.

She shivered under his ministrations.

“Oh...ahh...Hux,” she moaned.

In an effort to keep her quiet, he again placed a hand over her mouth. With his other, he slid two fingers into her cunt, curling them forward on the sensitive spot he'd found earlier. He slid a third finger into her behind, and continued licking at her clit.

He probed her, gently at first, then more aggressively as she thrashed around under him. When both hands gripped his scalp, he knew she was on the verge of orgasm.

He hadn't expected her to bite him.

Hux flinched at the pain in his finger. Despite her clamping down as her orgasm deepened, he maintained his pace. It wasn't until Rose twisted and rolled away from him that he withdrew and allowed her to relax.

He kissed her gently while she tried to catch her breath and covered them both with the blanket. Rose nuzzled into him and he put his arms around her, holding her close After a few minutes he was certain she had fallen asleep. In the morning he would make sure her wounds would get the proper attention they needed.

Then he would find a way to get her out of here. For her own safety, Rose had to leave. Ideally, he wanted to go with her. It was easier, however, for Rose to go on her own. Given his status, it would be difficult for him to also disappear.

Rose was right, they would be followed. They would be brought back to the castle before being beaten and tortured.

Still...

There had to be a way.

Hux's hand slid under the pillow they were sharing and found what he was searching for: A beskar dagger.

A botched assassination attempt when he was a young man taught him to never be unarmed, even in his sleep.

But now, it was especially important. He would lay his life down for her if needed.

And so, sleep took Hux with one arm holding Rose close to him, the other tightly gripping his concealed dagger.

Chapter Text

It was early the next morning when Mitaka lightly knocked on the door. The durasteel door opened just enough for him to see Rose and Hux standing on the other side. Rose still wore the cloak he'd given her only a few hours before. Fortunately, due to her short stature, it dragged along the floor. It covered her so completely, no one would know she wasn't wearing her dress from the night before.

Not that there had been much left of it.

When Mitaka had gone to the detention level to find her, he was shocked at the extent of her injuries. Though he had only known her personally for a couple of weeks, he had grown fond of Rose. Her bright, bubbly personality was a small oasis of joy on this otherwise soul-sucking planet. His heart broke at the sight of her, lying limp on the interrogation chair.

He pulled his own cloak off his shoulders and wrapped her in it, preserving her modesty as much as he could. Then, instead of returning her to her own quarters as he'd been instructed by the chief interrogator, he took her to Hux.

Despite his warnings, Mitaka knew that Hux had developed feelings for the girl. He had seen the way his superior had looked at her when they returned from Naboo. The man had been gutted, knowing what was coming for her and was powerless to stop it.

Mitaka didn't envy him in the slightest. Hux was stuck between beskar and durasteel. Between duty and the man he served, or the woman he seemed to love.

As they stepped into the dark corridor, Hux kissed Rose on the forehead before pulling the hood over her head to hide her face.

There was a look in his eyes that Mitaka couldn't place. It was both soft and fierce and Mitaka suspected that in the days to come, all their lives were going to be upended.

“Take her to her quarters, make sure no one sees you,” Hux ordered.

Mitaka nodded. He put his arm around Rose and guided her away from where he knew she really wanted to be.

The wedding between the Crown Prince and Princess was still a week away, and Rose had spent two of those days undergoing intense treatment for her wounds in the medical wing. The Princess had taken no pity upon seeing Rose and ordered the chief medical officer to ensure she was fully healed for the wedding.

The welts and bruising were gone. The cuts and lacerations now just scars that would easily be covered by makeup. When Rose looked at herself in the mirror she could see she was healed, but every time there was a loud sound, however, she would jump.

Physically she was fine, emotionally she'd become a shattered wreck. It was affecting her work.

The Prince's temper had become even more foul since their return from Naboo. Every time they meet for last minute wedding preparations, Rose would jump at the slightest shout.

Never in her life had anxiety been a problem for Rose. But now she would shake like a leaf any time the Prince so much as cast a glance in her direction.

She suspected he blamed her for the Naboo incident. It was Rose's sworn duty to keep the Princess safe, and to keep her in line. She'd failed in her duties, the chief interrogator had that made that much clear.

Even Kaydel had remarked on the apparent change to Rose's demeanour. When the Princess started calling on Kaydel more than Rose, it only served to reinforce Rose's suspicion that something was happening. Though was exactly it was, she wasn't sure.

Hux had been the only one to listen to her without dismissing her. Despite how dangerous it was for both of them, he insisted on continuing to see her. No matter how many times she protested, Hux continued repeating he would keep her safe.

The truth of the matter was that she felt safe in his arms. It was the only place where she felt she could relax. His touch would ease away her anxiety.

But when they were apart, the dark thoughts would creep in, and Rose wondered if he too would drop her the first chance he got to save his own skin, if someone discovered their relationship.

Even though it was the only home Rose had really known, Exegol was an awful place. Backstabbing was common practice for self-preservation.

Rose hated it.

Maybe Hux was right: maybe they should attempt to escape.

Two nights before the wedding

Kaydel was rushed off her feet. Ever since Rose had taken the Princess to Naboo, the Princess seemed to be relying more on her, than Rose. Kaydel hadn't been privy to any conversations between the Princess and her grandfather upon their return, but something had clearly been said. Rose seemed to have been cast aside and Kaydel was now the preferred handmaiden.

She tried to tell herself it was so Rose could take time to heal her wounds, but a tiny voice in her head told her that wasn't true. No one was ever given time off to rest on Exegol.

Another voice, in the deep, dark part of her heart, told her to take advantage of the situation.

Kaydel had always been second kloo horn to Rose, and she was tired of being in the shadows. Now seemed like the prime opportunity to prove that she was worthy of the position she'd been granted.

But Rose is your friend...

The eternal debate raged within Kaydel as she walked the darkened corridors of the palace. She'd been having problems sleeping since the Naboo incident. Rose had become incredibly jumpy and it kept her up most nights.

As she rounded one of the corners, the doors to one of the offices at the end of the hall opened and two figures stepped out. Kaydel didn't think much of it until the light from the office illuminated the shorter person's face.

It was Rose.

And she was with Armitage Hux.

Kaydel felt her eyes go wide as she watched Hux take Rose's face gently in his hands and kiss her passionately. Rose seemed to be kissing him back.

It was not a one-sided affair.

Kaydel wanted to yell at them, to run down the hall and push them apart. Their relationship was strictly forbidden.

And yet...something kept her rooted to the spot where she stood, watching them. After a moment, they broke apart and Hux lifted the hood of Rose's cloak over her head. He said something to her and Rose appeared to reluctantly leave.

Kaydel ducked behind the corner she had just come around to avoid being spotted. She clutched at her chest, torn.

Yes, Rose was her friend. Her only friend in this wretched place.

However, evidence of their illicit affair would give Kaydel the boost she needed to solidify her position.

But Rose is your friend...

The day before the wedding, the palace was hive of activity. Guests had begun arriving from across the galaxy. Leaders from all the important planets and systems had been called upon to attend the wedding of Reylina Palpatine and Kylo Ren. Those unable to send an adequate delegation, had sent gifts.

The hangar was full of shipping containers and pallets of gifts for the future emperor and empress. The sycophants were only here because the Emperor had mandated it, and they were trying to curry favour with their future leaders.

Kylo Ren had been a somewhat controversial person to choose as his heir, when Palpatine had a direct heir. People felt that he lacked the discipline that the Princess had. But such opinions had been kept to mere whispers in back alleyways, lest one lose their head.

It was common knowledge that Palpatine had spies and secret enforcers everywhere. When Darth Vader hadn't taken the rebellion seriously, Palpatine sent his best agents to infiltrate the organization. Though the rebellion had early success with their destruction of the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine's careful scheming turned the tide in favour of the Empire.

Luke Skywalker, a key figure in the rebellion, had been killed by Darth Vader during the Battle of Endor. Despite being Vader's son, the man felt no affection for his own kin and tossed his son into the reactor core of the rebuilt Death Star.

Leia Organa was forced underground where the rebellion simmered until it fizzled out.

Or so the story went.

Years later, when Kylo Ren arrived on Exegol, it was revealed he was the grandchild of Darth Vader, the son of deceased rebellion leaders Leia Organa and Han Solo. Palpatine spun this as a positive, that Kylo was destined for great and terrible things. He was the future of the Empire. Palpatine ensured that any memories the boy might have had of the rebellion were purged from his mind and that he was loyal to the Empire. The boy was moulded into the perfect Empire citizen and became a beacon around which people could gather. Kylo trained under the best generals the Empire had to offer and was declared the Heir Apparent, the Crown Prince of the Empire.

For the first ten years, things went smoothly.

Until the discovery of Reylina Palpatine.

The discovery of a direct heir threw a bit of a spanner into the works for the Emperor. The Generals and Shadow Council were divided on who the future leader should be. After much debate, it was decided that once the girl became of age, the pair would marry. No one could argue the legitimacy of either claim if they were married and shared power.

Finally, after years of waiting, the fateful day was upon the Empire.

Kylo Ren and Reylina Palpatine were to finally marry.

Wedding Day

Hux awoke early, as he often did. In the far corner of his quarters, his dress uniform hung. The golden thread of his hard won aiguillette and epaulettes glinted in the early morning light. His medals sat, neatly arranged in a box on his desk along with his ribbon bars. At some point in the night someone had delivered his dress boots, freshly polished.

At one point in his life, Hux considered it an honour to wear his dress uniform, proudly displaying his accomplishments.

Now, however, it just reminded him of how trapped he really was.

Releasing his grip on his beskar dagger, he slowly rose from his cot and went into the fresher. The motion detection lights snapped on, momentarily blinding him. He squinted at his reflection in the mirror.

The face looking back at him was tired. Dark circles had formed under his eyes.

He sighed.

Hux stripped off his sleeping clothes and stepped into the shower. One of the few privileges his rank afforded him were showers with real water. On the good days, it was hot.

This morning it was lukewarm. With so many visitors to Exegol, all the delegations were fighting for the same scarce resource of hot water to bathe in.

Hux stood under the water, eyes closed, letting it pelt him in the face. His thoughts drifted to Rose and her absence from his bed. It felt wrong to wake up without her there.

“Rose, you're all I want in this life. We could leave this place. Go somewhere they can't find us.”

“They'll follow us...”
“I don't care. So long as we're together.”

“Sir? Sir, we need to get you ready,” Mitaka's voice came from the other side of the door. He was knocking loud enough to wake the dead.

Hux grunted his reply before quickly washing up. The water in the shower had long since run cold.

Rose had awoken before the sun. Despite recent events, she was still the Princess's handmaiden, and it was her duty to get her ready.

After making sure the bath was hot enough, she poured several vials of scented oils into the water. Even if the Princess and Prince hated each other, Rose would do her best to make sure the Princess was presentable for her first night with the Prince.

“My lady? My lady, it's time for you to get up.” Rose said quietly, drawing back the heavy curtains.

The Princess grunted her displeasure at having been awoke earlier than usual.

“My lady, it is your wedding day, we must get you ready. Kaydel will be here shortly with your breakfast, and then we must get you into the bath.” Carefully Rose pulled back the covers on the Princess had pulled over her face.

“Must I marry him?”

“Yes, my lady. I'm afraid you must. You've been arguing about it with your grandfather for years. You know he's refused to relent.”

“Ugh,” the Princess grunted as she sat up. In the far corner of her room, her wedding dress sat on the dress form. It was a champagne tulle fabric from Coruscant that had been hand embroidered with several pounds of beads and kyber crystals. On her night stand sat the jewellery she would wear. A tiara made from the finest gold with tear drop pearls from Mon Cala, with a necklace and earrings to match.

Kaydel and Rose's dresses sat beside hers. Floor length chiffon dresses from Corellia, in the planet's signature smoke grey, with delicate gold embroidery around the hems of the long sleeves. They would both be wearing matching gold necklaces to subtly match the Princess.

The Princess ate the breakfast Kaydel brought her without protest before heading to her bath where she soaked in sullen silence for an hour.

After Kaydel forced her from the cold water, she sat at her vanity table, while she was poked and prodded by the makeup expert her grandfather had paid for.

“You will have the best of the best,” he had said.

After the makeup artist moved on to Kaydel, the hair stylist worked her hair into an elegant pair of waterfall braids that ended in a low bun. It would be the perfect pedestal for her tiara to sit.

The Princess glanced over at where Rose sat. The makeup artist was having a difficult time covering her scars.

Had what Kaydel told her really been true? That she saw Rose coming out of Armitage Hux's office? It didn't seem likely. They had been spending a lot of time together due to the wedding. They were dance partners at the reception. Perhaps they had been practicing so as not to embarrass themselves.

The idea of someone as kind hearted as Rose sneaking around with someone as cruel and self-serving as Armitage Hux was preposterous.

Right?

Hux stood at the entrance to the grand ballroom of the palace, tugging at the colas of his uniform. It was tight and uncomfortable. The medals on his chest clinked awkwardly as he walked. To his right, the Crown Prince stood, fussing with his own dress uniform. The only person to have a larger set of ribbon bars and a more elaborate aiguillette than himself, was the Crown Prince. His lightsaber hung at his hip. On the top of his dark hair was the crown he'd been given when he had officially been sworn in as Crown Prince. It had been forged out of black nyix from the Unknown Regions. Several kyber crystals had been set in it, as well as rare blue crystals that had originally been mined on Alderaan before its destruction.

On his other side stood Mitaka in his own dress uniform. Though he had fewer accolades, he still wore them proudly.

They looked absurd.

A group of servants busied themselves with making sure the wedding party looked perfect. No hair was out of place, no speck of lint or dust on their uniforms.

Hux wanted nothing more than to turn heel and walk away. Instead, he elbowed the Prince to stop fussing, as was his duty.

The Prince cast Hux a glare, just as the double doors of the ballroom opened. The Sith priest announced their entry by name and rank as they walked down the aisle. They stopped at the alter, each taking the sacrament from the priest, though Hux was loathe to do so.

After what felt like an eternity of having everyone staring at them, the doors swung open again, and the Sith priest announced the arrival of the Crown Princess and her handmaidens. The Princess was taller than both Rose and Kaydel, so it took a moment before Hux could fully see Rose.

Somehow she was even more beautiful than she had been at the rehearsal. Her dark, smokey grey dress was accented with delicate gold thread work.

As they arrived at the altar and took the sacrament, Hux noticed Rose's necklace. A thin, delicate gold chain sat around her neck, on it hung the small piece of kyber crystal he had given her.

When had that happened?

“Citizens,” the old Sith priest announced as best as he could. “Please rise for our esteemed leader, our Emperor, Sheev Palpatine.”

As all the attendees rose, the double doors swung open for a third time, and the old Emperor slowly made his way down the aisle. He too stopped at the altar to accept the sacrament, before having the priest kiss his signet ring. Then he turned, and all the members of the wedding party kissed his ring before he sat on his throne.

The priest motioned for everyone to sit.

“Beloved citizens of this great Empire, bear witness as our Crown Prince, Heir Apparent, Kylo Ren, and our Crown Princess, Reylina Palpatine, unite in holy matrimony, in this, the most sacred of Sith rituals.”

The Princess handed her flowers to Kaydel, not Rose, Hux noticed, before kneeling at the altar beside Kylo Ren. Hux suspected this would be the longest they had ever spent beside each other without screaming obscenities. How the Empire was expected to survive when they couldn't even fake getting along was beyond Hux's capability of thinking.

As the Sith priest droned on in an ancient language he didn't understand, Hux felt his mind wandering. What would it be like to be married, to come home every day to the same person?

Could someone like him have that?

Of course.

But not with Rose.

“Do you, Reylina Palpatine, Crown Princess of the Empire, take this man in matrimony? To serve faithfully in all matters by his side, until the end of days?”

All eyes shifted to the Princess as she held the Prince's hand and slid a ring onto his finger.

“I do,” her voice lifeless.

“And do you, Kylo Ren, Crown Prince, Heir Apparent to the Empire, take this woman in matrimony? To serve faithfully in all matters by her side, until the end of days?”

The Crown Prince cleared his throat as he too, slipped a ring onto her fingers. “I do.”

The Sith priest snapped his holy text shut with satisfaction. “Then let it be said, that on this day, Kylo Ren and Reylina Palpatine are joined as one, in the holy matrimony of the Sith Eternal.”

The Prince and Princess rose to their feet. He offered her his hand, and she gently placed hers on top of his, just as had been practiced. As they walked from the altar, the ballroom erupted into celebratory applause for the newly married couple.

Hux offered Rose his hand, just as they too had been instructed. She gripped his hand tighter than he expected and he knew something was wrong. He watched her carefully out of the side of his eyes, but she gave nothing away. Usually Rose was a cheerful, bubbly person, even when performing her duties. Today, however, she was sullen and withdrawn.

Perhaps it was just the stress of the day getting to her. He suspected she had risen just as early as he did, likely earlier.

Hux gripped her fingertips in reassurance as they made their way to the end of the aisle.

Rose was tired.

After two hours of poking and prodding, they had finally finished taking all the official portraits that were going to be published on the holonet. The Crown Princess had needed to be photographed from every angle, with closeups of all the jewellery she had been adorned with. Her dress had needed to be arranged just so, in order to capture it in the most flattering way possible.

The problem?

The Princess wouldn't hold still. Every time they got everything into position, she would fuss or turn to glare at something the Prince had said. No doubt there would be lots of photos that were left on the editing room floor.

Photos with just the Princess, Rose, and Kaydel had been slightly easier. Almost fun. The photography assistants would get them into position and fluff their dresses before saying something funny to get them to smile and laugh.

It was the most relaxed Rose had felt in weeks, even if it was just temporary.

Finally it was time for dinner, but stars was it awkward.

The wedding party sat at a long table at the front of the room, with the Prince and Princess beside each other in the middle. Behind them sat the Emperor on his ostentatious throne. They were being watched on all sides.

Rose let her eyes drift down the table towards Hux. He had kept his perfect sabaac face all day, even curling his lip into a sneer a few times at some of the generals who tried to talk to him. They hated he was younger than themselves, but he significantly outranked them. But they had known better than to try and double cross him. The rumour was that Hux had even committed patricide, though it was never proven. Someone who was willing, allegedly, to murder his own flesh and blood was not to be trifled with.

He looked handsome in his high collar dress uniform. His red hair contrasted nicely with the black and gold. It suited him. She longed to run her fingers across his medals and aiguillette.

Instead, Rose was stuck listening to countless wedding speeches. Fortunately, they were on the final speaker. Unfortunately, it was the Emperor.

Sheev Palpatine, had, in recent years, started to become a bit unhinged in his ancient age, and had become prone to prattling on at length about nothing in particular. A couple of times already, his aide had come to his side to try and assist him back to his throne, to no avail. He was talking about his granddaughter, and no one was going to stop him until he was done.

Eventually, the Princess stood up and went to the Emperor's side.

“Grandfather,” she said quietly, a soft smile on her face. “Thank you for the kind words. I think everyone is eager to watch myself and Kylo have our first dance.” She glanced back at where Kylo sat, watching, the soft smile still on her face.

Rose better than to believe that smile. Everyone knew the Princess hated Kylo, but Palpatine was too far gone to notice.

“Oh, yes. Yes, of course! You must dance!” he waved his granddaughter off as his aides assisted him to his throne.

The Princess let out a small sigh and turned to find the Prince standing before her, his leather gloved hand outstretched to her.

Something silent passed between them as the Princess looked from his hand to his eyes. When she could see her hesitating, Rose thought for a moment the Princess was going to refuse and cause a scene as she tended to do. Instead, the Princess took his hand and the smallest of smiles formed on the Prince's face, softening his hard features ever so slightly.

Rose was certain she had never seen him smile before. Perhaps they had finally reached a turning point and would begin to work together.

The Prince led his new wife to the middle of the floor where he gracefully bowed to her in respect for her position. The Princess in turn, curtsied to him. They joined palms and circled around each other as the orchestra began playing the carefully selected music.

It was an old traditional Sith celebration song that had been repurposed for their wedding.

The crystal detailing on the Princess's dress sparkled beautifully under the soft ballroom lights and swished elegantly every time the Prince spun her.

As the music reached its crescendo, the Princess knelt into a curtsy so deep, she was nearly sitting on the floor. The move signified her honour and commitment to her new husband, showing to everyone present her position was deferential to his. The Prince, in turn, bowed at a ninety degree angle in respect to her. Everyone knew the true power in the relationship lay with her. It was his way of showing they would be equal in all things.

It would be quite the romantic gesture, if they loved each other.

The Prince once again reached out a gloved hand to his wife, who took it without hesitation. He helped her to her feet, then kissed her knuckles as the music ended.

The ballroom erupted in applause and cheers for the newly weds.

The pair smiled and waved and Rose wondered if perhaps there was a hint of genuine happiness in the Princess's eyes. There was a small glint that hadn't been there before.

“My lady, may I have this dance?” A black gloved hand appeared in Rose's peripheral vision.

She turned to see Hux, now standing beside her. It was their turn to dance what they had rehearsed.

“Of course,” she smiled as she took his hand.

Hux led her to the centre of the floor, Kaydel and Mitaka standing just to her left. They, like the Prince and Princess before, bowed and curtsied respectively to each other. Their dance, though similar, was meant to symbolize their commitment to the newly weds. How, exactly, Rose wasn't sure. What she knew about the Sith was minimal at best. What she did know, was this dance allowed her to be in Hux's arms without them having to hide in the shadows. For a few minutes, they could be in each other's presence in the open, and no one could say anything. The warmth of his arms tightly around her as he spun her around the floor brought her a small token of joy.

Not once had she stepped on his toes or stumbled her footing. He'd held her steady in his arms, looking at nothing but her. There was a softness in his eyes he only seemed to have when they were together.

The spell of their safe bubble was broken when he raised her from the dip. Their embrace parted, leaving Rose feeling cold. They bowed and curtsied to each other again, before taking their seats at the head-table.

As they sat, Rose glanced back over at Hux who was watching her as subtly as he could. A small smiled passed his lips, before the stony sabaac face returned and he resumed eating his now cold dinner.

The party had gone long into the night, well past when the newly wedded couple decided to retire. After being goaded by the likes of a drunken Enrik Pryde the Prince had had enough and took his new wife by the hand and led her to his chambers.

Rose and Kaydel had accompanied them to prepare the Princess for the night, while Hux returned to his quarters. To calm his anxiety, he rummaged through his desk drawer and found a long discarded package of cigarras. He'd quit the filthy habit years ago, but would indulge himself every so often. He glanced at the expiration date, but found himself not caring and lit one up anyway.

He sat, perched on the edge of his desk, watching the Exegol lightning storms playing in the clouds.

Rose had looked so beautiful in her dress tonight, it had been difficult to not spend the entire time staring at her. And how soft she had felt while they danced. The light fabric of her dress had made it easy for him to feel her warmth through his leather gloves.

His biggest regret was having to let her go when the music ended.

Hux let out a deep breath of smoke, puffing smoke rings as he did. An old party trick he'd learned in his youth to distract people with.

The cigarra had long since burnt out when the lightest knock came at the door, pulling Hux from the far off place his mind had wandered to.

Why would someone be needing him at such a late hour?

When the light knock came again, he rose to answer the door, opening it just enough to see who it was. The sight of the petite woman, clad in a smoke grey dress, caused him to let out a sigh of relief. He pulled Rose into his quarters before glancing around to make sure no once else was watching. When the door closed again, he locked it.

“You came,” he said quietly.

“I did,” she smiled at him. Something in that hardened heart of his cracked slightly. Her smile alone could undo him in ways he'd never expected.

“I thought you'd be with the Princess all night.”

“It was getting awkward. Eventually she asked us to leave after we helped her get ready.”

“And Kaydel? Won't she be missing you in your quarters?”

“I told her I had a few things to take care of first, and to head back without me.”

Hux nodded as he drew her into his arms. It was reassuring to feel her warmth against him again. But he knew, deep down, in the darkest recesses of his mind, it was getting dangerous for them. He had to figure out how to send her away somewhere safe.

“You look so handsome in your dress uniform,” Rose commented as she ran her fingers along the fine stitching on his chest. The feeling of her light touch, even though the heavy wool of the uniform stirred something within him.

Hux took Rose's cheeks within his hands and kissed her. Hard. His tongue played along her lips, begging for entry. When she relented and opened to him, a small moan escaped and he swallowed it. He would have all of her, if he could.

He picked her up and carried her over to his bed, never breaking their kiss. Hux was determined to savour tonight, instead of their usual frantic love making. The palace would rise late into the morning due to the wedding, giving them time to enjoy each other's company.

When eventually he broke off the kiss to surface for air, he sat back, looking at where she lay below him. He was straddling her hips.

“You look so beautiful.”

He could see Rose's face flush in the dim light of his quarters.

“It's true,” Hux reached down and caressed her cheek. “Ever since you first bumped into me, I've thought you were the most beautiful person in this wretched place.”

Rose let out a small laugh. “That's not saying much.”

“It's saying everything. I...I don't know how you did it, but you've changed me in profound ways since we met. You're all I think of.”

“Am I now?” she squirmed under him with a smirk on her face.

“Bugger all, woman,” he growled as he felt his erection growing at the sensation. He leaned down, kissing her again. As he did, he slipped his hand between her legs, coaxing her open.

His fingertips easily found the gusset of the lacy basics. Lightly, he stroked at the thin fabric, teasing her. His other hand, found its way to the low-cut neckline of her dress and pushed it aside. She was missing the upper half of her basics, the dress merely held in place with what appeared to be double sided tape.

Her nipple pebbled as the cooler air hit it, which only excited Hux further. He leaned down to suckle on one nipple while playing with the other. As he did, he slid his fingers inside of her, searching for that elusive spot she had.

“Ahh, Hux,” she moaned quietly, squirming under his touch.

“Hmm?” he asked, knowing full well what she was after.

“I need....I need you to...”

He glanced up at her, his eyes heavy with desire.

“I need you to...please...” she squirmed as she put her head on his head, pushing him down slightly.

Hux chuckled into her cleavage, kissing that delicate place between her breasts. He sat up and shimmied back so he could pull off her basics and flung them across the room. Then he un-clipped his belt and discarded his uniform jacket. The gold thread on his epaulettes would no doubt irritate the sensitive skin on her thighs.

“Take your shirt off too,” she breathed. “It's not fair I'm the only one topless.”

Hux nodded before doing as she asked of him and his shirt joined his jacket on the floor. It was the first time he had been shirtless in her presence and felt slightly uncomfortable.

“You're so handsome,” she mumbled as her hand skirted up his naked torso as far as it would reach. Which wasn't very far.

“Rose...”

She squirmed under him again and Hux dove between her legs. He started with just gently teasing her, licking at her lightly with the tip of his tongue. Her nub was swollen with desire and sensitive to the touch. Best to leave it alone. For the moment.

Using his long fingers, Hux gently spread her lower lips and took a good, long lick up her. She tasted fragrant. Clearly at some point this morning she had bathed in oils.

“Ngh, Hux,” she moaned as her hand grabbed at his hair.

Hux chuckled into her as he slid his index and middle fingers into her, curling them, and teasing her elusive spot.

“Hux! Oh...” Rose gasped.

Clearly he had found the right place. He leaned up slightly and suckled on her nub. It brought him a strange sort of pleasure to tease her in such a way. Feeling her squirm under his touch only made him desire her more. His own self was straining at the limits, but he was determined to not rush things. Not tonight, when for once, they'd be able to enjoy each other properly. Who knew when they'd get another chance, if ever.

“Ah, oh...yes, right there...” she moaned, as she shifted her hips in such a way that it gave her better friction. “Hux, I'm...I'm...”

Hux winced slightly as her nails dug into his head, but ignored his discomfort. Rose's other hand flew to her mouth to keep her from crying out as he pushed her over the edge of pleasure. Once her grip on him began to relax, he eased off and withdrew his fingers from her.

Rose gasped and let out a small moan of displeasure. She squirmed under him to encourage him further, but instead Hux leaned over her and kissed her.

Just as she reached for his trousers, the lights in his quarters flashed on, blinding them both. The door to his quarters slammed against their frames, forced open from the outside. Praetorian guards flooded into the room with troopers and security.

A pair of red gloved hands pulled a stunned Hux from where he knelt over Rose and threw him to the floor. He landed with a heavy thud.

“Seize him! Seize them both!” A voice in the chaos yelled out.

“Hux!”

He looked in time to see one of the security officers toss Rose over their shoulder. She was fighting them as best she could, but they had grabbed her in such a way her arms were pinned.

“Hux! Help me! Hux!”

“Rose!”

Hux leapt to his feet to lunge for her, but several sets of hands pulled him back and pulled him into a full nelson. “Let me go, I command you!”

“That's not going to happen, Grand General.”

“Pryde,” Hux growled as he struggled against the arms holding him. “I will have you court martialed for this.”

“No, I don't think so. If anything, you've signed your own death warrant. You know the penalty for taking one of the Princess's handmaidens for yourself.” Pryde grinned wickedly.

“Leave Rose out of this, she's done nothing wrong.”

“On the contrary, Grand General, she's done everything wrong. And she's aligned herself with you of all people.” Pryde studied Hux, squinting his old eyes, as if it would help him to understand Rose's logic. “What I don't understand is why. Why you? What did you offer her in return for spreading her legs, hmm? Power? Freedom? Perhaps she just wanted to know what a good fuck is like, since I hear the handmaidens need to remain pure. If that was the case, she should have just come to me.”

Hux pulled free of the hands restraining him and lunged at Pryde. The man was an absolute prick who deserved to suffer Hux's wrath. Just as he was about to swing at Pryde, pain shot up the back of his legs and he crumpled to his knees.

One of the Praetorian guards had jabbed Hux with his shock prod bo staff in the back of his legs. Pryde's lips curled in a sneer.

“How the mighty have fallen. Not even the Crown Prince can protect you now. Take him away.”

It took three guards to scrape Hux off the floor of his quarters. He would not go quietly. But as he was dragged from the room, he caught sight of a small, blonde handmaiden in the crowd of people who had gathered in the corridor.

Chapter Text

Hux landed with a hard thud as the guards tossed him into his holding cell. Though he managed to safety roll down the steps, it still hurt. While he wasn't an old man, he wasn't a young man either.

“You should respect your commanding officers!” He shouted as the pneumatic door slammed shut in his face.

With a huff, he pulled himself up onto the bench that was in his cell. The durasteel walls and harsh lighting was a stark contrast to his quarters.

They could have at least given me a shirt, he thought, lamenting it had been his own orders to keep the holding cells at a chilly fifteen degrees Celsius. With no blanket or pillow for comfort, Hux sighed. His shoulders slumped forward, his head nearly hanging between his knees.

What have I done?

He'd promised to protect her, that she would be safe, that she could trust him. Look where it had gotten her. She'd been carted off, half naked, like a sack of vegetables from the Outer Rim. He could only hope that they'd done her the courtesy of covering her up before tossing her into the interrogation chair. He knew what misery awaited her, he'd been instrumental in establishing the current protocols. A healthy dose of Skirtopanol, a powerful truth serum from Corellia, would be injected by the intimidating probe droid.

The interrogation that would follow could last for hours, days even. He himself had administered such interrogations in the past.

They never ended well.

At best the subject ended up in a feeble state. At worst, they wound up dead.

Though Rose held a high position within the Princess's court, the handmaidens were still considered lowly by most other officers. They weren't given much respect by the rest of the staff, and typically their transgressions were met with harsh punishment, regardless of how minor the offence.

Once, Hux had overseen the punishment of a kitchen maid who had been caught stealing an extra portion of food. Her arm had been so badly broken, it didn't heal properly. The girl was dismissed, and Hux had suspected she was living out her remaining days as a beggar on a backwater planet.

He had to find a way to get out.

“Let me out of here! I've done nothing!”

Rose struggled against her restraints. She wasn't sure how long she had been in the interrogation cell, strapped to the blasted chair. What she did know, was it had been long enough that her voice was starting to go hoarse. The restraints were also beginning to chafe.

She was also tired.

At least they had covered her up. When the guard snatched her up, she'd been half naked on Hux's bed. Despite everything, she had to laugh at the guard when he awkwardly pulled her dress back into place, covering her breasts. He'd been so red in the face from embarrassment.
“Haven't you ever touched a woman?” she'd goaded him with a smirk.

The young guard had slapped her for her insolence.

In return, she spat in his face. He'd deserved it. All her life, Rose had always been looked down upon. Even serving as the Princess's closest confidant, everyone had always treated her as if she was irreverent. Anyone who had been interested in her, the exchanges had only ever been physical.

And they had only ever been pageboys, young, low ranking men who hadn't known not to touch her.

Ironically, she laughed at her recollection about the first time a boy had touched her.

If one could call it that.

It had been the most chaste kiss ever, stolen in a dark corner under the stairwell. Rose had only been ten when the young officer cornered her and stolen her first kiss. He'd confessed feelings for her, but she never saw him again.

He had, like so many others, been shipped off to a far part of the galaxy.

A few droid beeps pulled Rose from her reminiscing. A large, round probe droid levitated its way into the room and over to her. A large hypodermic needle had been attached to it and Rose noticed a liquid dripping from the end of it.

“Oh no. No, no no!” she tried to squirm away, but the restraints held her fast.

It hurt.

Of course it did. Though not as much as she had imagined it would.

As the cool liquid entered her blood stream, felt her body begin to relax. She leaned her head back against the top of the chair, looking up at the lights.

She would not cry.

Not today.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Your service will be amply rewarded.”

Kaydel was stooped before the Crown Prince, who sat at his desk, looking unimpressed. Beside him stood the Princess, his now wife. With her hand on her husband's shoulder, she looked equally unimpressed at the news the handmaiden had brought them.

“Mitaka, you've worked with Hux for a long time. How did you not notice?”

The young man's head snapped up to look at the Prince, before bowing his head in reverence.

“With respect, my lord, Hux is a very private man. Yes, I've worked closely at his side for many cycles now, but there are still things he doesn't share with me. He is cunning like a loth wolf, and it would be easy for him to find ways to hide things, as this incident demonstrates.”

“And yet,” the Princess interjected, “my handmaiden was able to figure it out much easier than you. She found out quite by accident, it seems. It's strange to me that she would find out this truth, but you could not. Or, perhaps, would not.” her eyes narrowed at him.

Mitaka bowed lower to the Princess. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his spine.

“As I have said, my lady, Hux is cunning. He often works late into the night after dismissing me. That is how he is able to serve your majesties so efficiently. He is the last to bed and the first to rise. I have never known anyone else so dedicated to their craft that they would sacrifice themselves like this.”

“Then how did my handmaiden end up in his bed, hmm? Did she seduce him?”

“I-I do not know, my lady. What I do know is that they had scheduled several private rehearsals for the wedding dance. They didn't want to embarrass your majesties at your wedding.”

“Did you attend these rehearsals?”

“I did.”

“Did you witness anything untoward between them?”

“Absolutely not,” Mitaka answered, perhaps a bit too quickly. He was starting to find it difficult to keep his mind under control. Being questioned by two such strong Force users was difficult, especially as their proximity to each other only seemed to make them stronger.

“Very well, you're both dismissed.” The Prince mumbled, as he folded his arms and exchanged a look with his wife.

“Thank you sir. My lady.”

As Mitaka exited the Prince's office, Kaydel rushed past him. She was wringing her hands together and her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Was it concern for her friend?

Or was she realizing the consequences of her actions?

“Child. Child, wake up. You must eat something.”

Hux stirred from where he lay on the bench in his holding cell. When had he fallen asleep?

“Maz?” he asked, his voice cracking in his dry throat.

“Sit up, child. Have something to drink.” the tiny woman helped Hux into a sitting position before handing him a cool glass of water. He sipped at it, and when she encouraged him to drink more, he downed the entire thing.

“Why are you here? How are you here?”

“I heard what happened,” she said as she handed him a bowl of soup. “I wanted to help.”

“But...how?” Hux was still baffled.

The diminutive woman put her hand on his shoulder. “Armitage, I've known you since you were a boy. I've probably known you longer than you've known yourself. Never in my long life have I seen you look at Rose the way you look at anyone else. Something about her has softened those hard edges you worked so long to forge.”

Hux chuckled and let out a sigh. As much as he hated to admit it, Maz was right. Like a creeping vine, Rose had worked her way past his defense's. She was a bright spot in his otherwise dark existence.

Maz wiped away something on his face, and Hux realized he was crying.

“Maz, I promised I'd look after her, that she would be safe. All I've done is get her into trouble. I don't care what happens to me, but I need her to be safe. I need Rose to be safe.” He could feel his emotions beginning to crack. It was as if years of emotional isolation was about to come back on him. “I need to get her out of here, away from this place.”

“I know.”

“Maz, I...” he leaned onto her tiny shoulder and sobbed.

She gently rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. It had been a long time since she'd embraced him in such a way.

“Rose is a strong woman. She'll pull through this.”

“I know, but--”

“No but. She'll pull through, and we'll have you back in each other's arms before long.”

“How can you be so certain?”

Maz smirked in such a way that made Hux feel both uncertain and comforted at the same time. “I know a guy.”

Rose's head rolled to the side of her interrogation chair as her eyes fluttered open. She was finding difficult to stay awake and coherent. The Skirtopanol dose had been larger than intended and her interrogator was having a difficult task keeping her on topic.

“Let me ask you again, Tico: why were you with Grand General Hux? Did you seduce him?”

“Seduce?” Rose slurred as her head flopped forward, her eyes heavy as she tried to look up at the man interrogating her. What was his name again?

“Yes, did you seduce him?”

“Why...why would I do such a thing?”

“For Power? For control?”

“Over what? I'm...I'm already the...Crown Princess's handmaiden. Why...?” she trailed off.

“Tico!” the man shouted as he slammed his hand on the interrogation chair to wake her.

“Oh, hi. I'm here.”

The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Rose let out an awkward laugh.

“Hux does that too...when he's frustrated...you aren't...related, are you?”

“Why would I be related to that insufferable bastard, hmm?” the man growled at her. “He thinks he's so much better than the rest of us because he's a Grand General, because he's the right hand of the Crown Prince.”

Rose's head rolled to the side again.

“Dank farrik, woman! Stay awake!” he punched the chair, cementers from her face.

Rose jolted awake. “Whoa, sorry. I'm...I'm trying Captain...but whatever that droid gave me, has...has...”

The Lieutenant raised his hand to strike Rose, when the doors to her cell opened.

“I think that will be quite enough, Captain.”

“Agent Kallus,” the man snapped to attention.

“I think our guest here will be out for a bit. What was the dosage you gave her?”

“Only two cubic centimeters, sir.”

The agent narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure about that? She shouldn't be behaving this way if that's the dosage.”

The Captain shifted his gaze nervously to Rose, who's eyes had rolled back in their head.

“I-I'll go double check that was in fact what she received.”

Agent Kallus crossed his arms, clearly unimpressed.

The Captain quickly saluted before rushing from the room. Kallus looked at Rose, then gently tapped her cheek with his palm. When all he got in return was an awkward mumble, he concluded that her overdoes was indeed genuine.

“What a blithering idiot,” he mumbled to himself as he unlocked Rose's restraints and wrapped her up in a blanket.

A moment later, two knocks, followed by a pause and a third knock came at the door. Kallus opened the door to find a concerned Mitaka looking back at him.
“Dopheld Mitaka, I didn't expect to find you on the other side of this door.”

“We do what we must from the shadows,” he mumbled as he scooped up the unconscious Rose.

“Get them out of here. I'll do what I can to slow them down.”

Mitaka nodded and rushed from the room.

Not wasting any time, Kallus trashed the interrogation room. When it was to his satisfaction, he stepped from the room, allowing the door to close behind him. He then took his blaster and shot the locking mechanism and the control panel for it.

The security team had plasma cutters that would easily be able to cut through the durasteel door. But it would take them a few minutes, and by that time, Kallus hoped, Mitaka would have Rose in the hangar.

Hux had no idea how much time had passed since Maz had left his cell. With the recycled air and lack of windows made it easy to lose track of time. He'd eaten the food she brought. It had been a long time since she had cooked just for him. He had always imagined that's what his mother's cooking would be like: Warm and hearty. It didn't matter what she cooked, it always soothed something deep inside him.

And what had she meant by 'I know a guy?'

The tiny woman was always full of mystery. Her ability to keep him on his toes and keep him guessing was something he admired about her.

A commotion outside his cell door caused Hux to sit up and listen. Were they at last coming to take him away? He glanced around his cell for something, anything, he could use as a weapon, but found nothing. He flexed his hands, preparing for a fight. If they were going to take him out, he was going to go down swinging.

When the pneumatic door to his cell at last opened, it was a dark uniformed officer who rushed into the cell, not the white plastoid troopers.

“Mitaka?” Hux exclaimed, confused.

“Here, put this on.” His assistant tossed a shirt and uniform jacket at him, along with his greatcoat. “Hurry, Sir. We don't have much time.”

“What is going on?” Hux asked as he slipped his black muscle shirt over his head. For once, he didn't bother to tuck it in.

“We're getting you out of here.”

“We?”

Dodging his question, Mitaka took the few steps up the holding cell and into the corridor. Hux followed, still trying to put his uniform jacket on. Several white troopers lay unmoving on the floor. It was only then that Hux noticed the blaster Mitaka was holding.

“Dopheld, did you...?”

“No, they're just unconscious Let's go.”

Mitaka led Hux on a serpentine route through the castle, trying his best to dodge troopers and officers. It didn't take Hux long to figure out where they were headed.

When they arrived in the hangar, Hux noticed a small star fighter was primed for take off. The landing ramp was lowered, waiting.

“Hux, let's go!” Mitaka took him by the wrist, running across the hangar. He only stopped when they reached the landing ramp. His assistant thrust his blaster into his hands and ordered him to shoot him.

“What?”

“Shoot me, preferably with the stun setting.”

“Mitaka, I-”

“Sir! You must do this!” Mitaka grabbed the end of the blaster and pointed it at his own chest. “If you don't, you know the consequences.”

“Come with me.”

“You know I can't.”

Hux sighed, then levelled the blaster at Mitaka. “I'm sorry,” he whispered. Even though he used the stun setting, he still knew how much it hurt. His assistant crumpled to the ground in a heap.

“Hux, you need to hurry.” A crisp Imperial voice called from the top of the landing ramp.

“Kallus? What are you-”

“Take the most indirect route to Kef Bir as you possibly can. Once there, use this code cylinder to contact an agent by the name of Black One. He'll be able to get you to safety.” Kallus shoved the small instrument into Hux's hands and pushed him towards the small ship.

“I'm not leaving without Rose.” Before he could turn to go back into the palace, Kallus caught him by the shoulder.

“She's already on board.” The agent glanced back over his shoulder. “She's safe.”

“Kallus...”

“You need to go, now.” He pushed Hux up the ramp. “R2-N8, take off!”

A droid beeped from the cockpit of the small ship as it slowly lifted off the ground. Kallus, in turn, jumped onto the ground while Hux levelled his blaster at him.

Troopers and security agents burst through the various doors of the hangar just in time to see Hux shoot Kallus, who crumpled to the floor beside Mitaka.

“He's getting away!” Hux heard Phasma yell from somewhere below him. “Scramble the TIE fighters!”

Blaster fire hit the small ship, but the astromech droid had already raised the shields as it retracted the landing ramp. Hux took his place at the pilot's chair and navigated his way through the hangar and out into open space.

“I'm assuming you've already calculated our route to Kef Bir.”

The droid chirped in affirmative.

“Good. Kallus is nothing if not thorough. Make the jump.”

The droid chirped again, and Hux sat back and watched as the lights from the stars around them blurred with the power of hyperspace.

When they finally reached Kef Bir, Hux was beyond exhausted. He wasn't even sure if he could list all the systems they'd travelled through to get to Kef Bir. Dathomir, Lothal, Pasaana, Jakku, Dantooine, among others. According to R2-N8, the entire journey had taken three standard rotations and numerous hyperspace skipping jumps.

Though they lost the initial wave of TIE fighters, in the chaos of everything, Hux had forgotten the recently acquired TIE Defenders had hyperspace capabilities. He had managed to lose them, but for how long? It was best not to linger.

The astromech droid opened the landing ramp and Hux stumbled his way onto the misty moors they had landed on. He pulled the code cylinder Agent Kallus had given him from his pocket, looking at it. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined fleeing as he had. If anything, he had anticipated having to spend his days trying to track down the Princess.

Fate, something Hux had never put much stock in, seemed to have other plans for him.

“Hux? Are you okay?” a quiet voice called from the ship.

He turned to find Rose standing at the top of the ramp. She was still woozy from the Skirtopanol

“Rose...yes, I'm fine. You should stay inside, it's damp out here.

“I'm fine, really.” She slowly made her way down the ramp towards him, stumbling slightly when she made it to the bottom.

Hux caught her in his arms. “You ought to wait inside,” he mumbled, knowing full well she wouldn't listen to him.

“I've been inside breathing recycled air for days. I think I can handle being outside for a short while.

Hux adjusted the blanket that was on her shoulders. “Fine, but don't wander off too far.”

“I promise I won't.” She took his hand that held the cylinder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

He kissed her on the cheek and activated the cylinder “Black One? Black One, this is Red General. We seek your assistance.”

“Red General? Really?” Rose mumbled.

Hux gave her a look. She bit her tongue, but still smirked at him.

“Black One, Black One. This is Red General. We seek immediate assistance.”

Nothing.

“Now what?”

“We'll wait for a bit, but we can't linger here too long.” He pulled Rose into a tight hug, trying his best to hide his anxiety. It wouldn't do either of them any good if he couldn't hold himself together.

Night had settled when a response finally came.

Hux had built a fire to keep them warm. For whatever reason Rose kept insisting she was fine, when she was very clearly not. Even with the fire and two wool blankets, she was still shivering. Essentially, she was detoxing from the Skirtopanol She was strong, but that didn't make it any easier.

Even though Kallus and Mitaka had ensured there were sufficient supplies on the ship, Hux had still gone down to the shoreline in search of something to eat. He managed to spear two fish before returning. It wasn't a lot, but it would do for now. Rose needed fresh food to help her recover, not freeze dried rations.

Having eaten, Hux sat with Rose beside the fire. She sat on his lap with his greatcoat draped over her shoulders and Hux had wrapped the blankets over himself. He rubbed her back, hoping the friction would help warm her. Eventually, Rose fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. Hux pulled her closer, making sure she was comfortable before resting the side of his head on top of hers.

What a lark, he thought. It was crazy how upside down his life had become in only a matter of a few weeks. He had to laugh, how could he not? All because of the Princess's laundry, he found himself sitting on the damp ground with a woman he hardly knew sleeping in his lap.

But damn it all if he didn't love her fiercely.

Even if their freedom didn't last long, at least he would give her a taste of it. He would take her wherever she wanted to go. He wasn't keen on spending the rest of his life on the run, but if it made Rose happy...

Hux was nuzzling against her hair, when the bright lights of a ship flooded the area. The thrusters blew all sorts of debris around as the ship landed a short distance from where they sat.

Rose stirred in his lap at the sudden intrusion of noise pulling her from her sleep. “What's going on?” she managed to get out before Hux carefully set her on the ground with the blankets he'd been wearing.

“Stay here,” he stated, calmly but forcefully. He sprinted into the ship, returning a moment later with the blaster Mitaka had given him.

The newly arrived ship, a T-70 x-wing starfighter, powered the main engines off, but the pilot could be heard talking to his astromech droid.

“Bee-bee, keep the emergency power on, we don't know who we're meeting.”

The droid chirped its reply.

It was hard to see in the dark beyond the reach of their fire, but Hux was sure of his skills with a blaster. He'd always ranked top at the academy on Mustafar, consistently more than a hundred points above everyone else. He levelled the blaster at the unknown pilot and flipped the switch from stun to lethal.

“Who are you?” he growled.

“Whoa, buddy!” The pilot's hands shot up. “You're the one who called me, remember?”

Lowered the blaster slightly, but still kept it trained on the pilot. “You're Black One?”

“I am. The real question is why you have Fulcrum's code cylinder.”

“Fulcrum?”

“Alexsandr Kallus, is he dead? What did you do to him?” The pilot whipped out his own blaster pistol, pointing it at Hux. Hux, in turn, raised his blaster again. The laser sight pointing at the pilot's heart.

“Whoa, gentlemen!” Rose shouted as she stumbled to her feet, running to stand between Hux and the pilot. “Surely we can talk about this.”

“The woman has a point,” the pilot said.

“Her name is Rose,” Hux growled.

“Can we all please just lower the blasters?” Rose begged, looking between the two of them.

“Fine, but I have questions,” the pilot said after a tense moment. He holstered his blaster and held his hands up. Hux's laser sight was still on his chest.

“Hux, please.” Rose said, putting her hand on his blaster. “He might be our only chance.”

Hux let out a frustrated sigh. “Very well. But he stays where I can see him at all times.”

“I can agree to that,” the pilot said as he plopped himself down by the fire. “Damn, I'd forgotten how cold it gets here.”

Hux handed the blaster to Rose before sitting across from the pilot.

“So how does this work? Do you talk first, do I talk first?” The pilot asked.

Hux snorted.

“In fairness,” the pilot added, “you called me. Who are you, Red General? Why do you have Kallus' code cylinder?”

“My name is Armitage Hux, Grand General to the Emperor.”

“Gran-Grand General?” The pilot sputtered. “I can't even-”

“Agent Kallus gave me the cylinder and instructed me to contact someone named Black One. I'm assuming that's you. We seek your assistance.”

The pilot leaned back in disbelief. “And what does the Grand General want with me, hmm?”

Hux glanced over at Rose for a moment and the pilot would later swear he saw the ginger man's expression soften.

“We seek asylum, for her.”

“For both of us,” Rose added forcefully.

The pilot's gaze drifted between the pair. “They're never going to believe me.”

It was a full rotation and a half later by the time Hux and Rose arrived on Ajan Kloss. They had agreed to take a round about route to the hidden base, separate from the pilot who had found them on Kef Bir. Their astromech landed their ship some distance from the base itself. They were met by the pilot along with a medic and pair of mechanics who wanted to inspect their ship.

Hux allowed it, not caring if they found anything damning or not. All that mattered was that Rose was safe.

Although the team had brought binders with them, they were never placed in the cuffs.

Fools, Hux thought. We could be anyone trying to infiltrate their ranks.

The ride back to the base on the hover cart was only a few minutes, but it seemed much longer. The medic inspected Rose and determined that the Skirtopanol was finally out of her system. All she needed was food and rest. Hux had refused any checkup, stating he was fine.

In reality he wasn't. But Rose's safety was paramount. He would negotiate for her to receive asylum and accept whatever consequences they had for him.

When the hover cart pulled into the camp, a large crowd had gathered, no doubt wanting to catch a glimpse of whoever the pilot had brought back with him.

In an effort to keep Rose safe, he climbed off the cart first before helping her down. He put his arm around her shoulders to hold her close as they walked through the throng of people. Although the medic cleared the way for them, everyone still stood too close for Hux's liking. He could hear their hushed whispers as they walked.

“Who's that?”
“Are they the ones Poe brought back?”

“I heard they served the Emperor.”

“Why would Poe bring them here?”

“Doesn't this put our base at risk? What if they've been tracked here, or worse.”

“What if the Emperor sent them here to find us.”

Hux felt Rose's hand around his hips tighten its grip. He wasn't sure if it was in reassurance or anxiety.

“Don't listen to them,” he whispered in her ear.

The pilot led them into a large cave that housed an impressive, but old, CR90 Corvette cruiser. In large, faded aurebesh the name of the ship had been painted: Tantive IV.

In all his years, Hux had never imagined he'd see such a relic of old days. How had such a ship survived through the civil war until now?

“Poe, it's about time you returned.” A voice pulled Hux's focus towards the main entry of the corvette. In the doorway stood a woman, mature in her years. Her dark salt and pepper hair had been pulled up into a chignon that gave her a distinctive, though classy look. It matched beautifully with her dark grey robes. She looked distinguished, and Hux wondered, if perhaps in another life, she would have served in the halls of power on Coruscant.

“General,” the pilot, apparently named Poe, said as he bounded up the steps to stand beside the woman. “May I present to you, Grand General Armitage Hux, and, erm...”

“Rose,” Hux supplied for him. “Her name is Rose.”

“Welcome, Grand General. It seems we have much to discuss.”

Rose was tired of being poked and prodded. She had agreed to an intravenous drip to help re-hydrate from their long journey and pain medication for her headache. But the lights, they were too bright. After spending almost her entire life on Exegol, a place of gloom and dim light, Rose found it difficult to focus with the bright white diode light.

She squinted as she slowly wandered the halls. She was exploring, she told herself. But in truth she was looking for Hux. Having him suddenly gone from her side left her feeling lonely and anxious in a strange place.

He had been whisked away from her side as soon as they had stepped aboard the Tantive IV. The price of their asylum was his extensive knowledge about the inner workings of the Emperor's army.

“Are you lost?”

Rose turned to find a lean woman with short cropped purple hair standing before her.

“I, um...”

“You're here with the Grand General, yes?”

Rose nodded. The woman smiled at her.

“Come, I'll take you to him.” The woman held out her hand, indicating for Rose to follow her.

She hesitated, but followed the woman. Rose noted she held herself with the same quiet regalness the older General did. It was obvious they were held in high regard.

“Your Grand General has been quite the source of knowledge for our cause. He's given us more information in a few hours than we could hope to acquire in an entire rotation,” the woman smiled kindly at Rose.

“And what, exactly, is your cause?” Rose asked, guarded.

“We're an underground movement that's trying to overthrow the Emperor and restore democracy to the galaxy. A sort of resistance, if you will.”

“I thought the rebellion failed years ago and everyone was wiped out.”

“What you've heard is partly true.” The woman stopped walking and turned to Rose. “Indeed, the rebellion failed and we were forced underground. Our leader, General Organa, spent many years in hiding, slowly working to rebuild our forces. She's a clever woman. Instead of direct assaults on the Empire, we've been slowly infiltrating their ranks.”

“You're going to destroy them from the inside.”

The woman nodded. “Agent Kallus was one of our spies. He's been a Fulcrum agent for years.”

“Fulcrum? Why does that sound familiar?”

“The Fulcrum Group was started by General Organa's father during the early years of the Empire. He recruited those on the inside who had become disillusioned with the Empire. Many met an unfortunate end when we were forced underground. Agent Kallus was key in maintaining those who remained and helped recruit more agents. He's unofficially their leader. I believe he's been working closely with Dopheld Mitaka to help get those in the palace out.

“Mitaka?” Rose's eyes went wide at the thought. He held such a high position in the palace as Hux's assistant, why would he risk compromising himself?

“As your General's assistant, he was in the perfect position to help people. He would see everything and everyone thought he was a quite, unassuming person. He could quietly go about his business and no one would pay him any mind.”

Looking back on things, knowing what she knew now, pieces fit into place. Rose recalled a meeting the Princess had been present at with her grandfather, discussing how every so often palace staff would vanish, seemingly into the ether. Security would be dispatched to retrieve the staff, but more often than not, they would return empty handed. It was widely suspected that someone on the inside was helping them escape, but Rose had never thought such schemes ran so high in the hierarchy.

Even with recent events over the last few weeks, Mitaka had always known where to find her to take her to Hux.

A soft smile crossed the woman's face. “Do things make a bit more sense now?”

“It does,” Rose nodded.

“We've been working hard for rotations to undermine Palpatine. When Poe's com went off a few days ago, we initially expected it to be Agent Kallus or Mitaka needing an extraction. We never thought it would be Grand General Armitage Hux. His appearance has been a boon for our cause.”

“And he's just told you everything?” Rose asked. She didn't know Hux well, but knew he was deeply suspicious of others and trusted few people.

“He did,” the woman smiled as she turned to continue walking down the corridor.

“Why?”

The woman paused and looked back over her shoulder, still smiling. “Because of you. He was adamant that he would tell us everything, but on the sole condition that you were kept safe.”

Rose gaped, her mouth opening and closing several times, but no sound came out.

The woman chuckled. “Come, they're just down this way.”

Rose followed. Anyone they passed in the corridor was civil to her, all smiling as they said hello to her and the woman she was with. She was initially leery of them, suspecting they would be wanting to curry favour with her.

The woman led Rose around a corner and onto the bridge of the Tantive IV. Everything was so bright and white. It was a bit of a shock to the system. In the centre of everything Hux stood talking with the older woman, the pilot who'd found them, and a few others. The large console displayed several maps, the largest of which was Exegol. Hux and Poe were having an animated discussion about something that Rose couldn't quite catch.

“Ah, Amilyn, how good of you to join us,” General Organa said, greeting her old friend with a kiss on each cheek. “And you're Rose, yes?”

Rose nodded and curtsied in respect for the older woman. “Yes ma'am.”

The older woman chuckled and placed a hand gently on Rose's shoulder. “My dear, it was a lifetime ago when I was a princess. Even then I wouldn't allow people to put me on a pedestal like that. We're all equal here. Please, call me Leia.”

Rose nodded and smiled slightly.

“Rose, what are you doing here? You should be resting.” Hux said, striding over to where she stood with the two older women. He looked her over, making sure she hadn't been mistreated.

“I'm fine, really. I've been resting for days, please let me be helpful.” She clutched at his hand, squeezing it slightly.

Hux sighed, about to say something when he was interrupted.

“Your General said you were the Crown Princess's chief handmaiden,” General Organa said, holding her hand out to lead Rose to the console.

“General, I must protest. This wasn't part of our agreement,” Hux said, following after them. “I've told you everything that I know-”

“Grand General,” the older woman held up her hand to silence Hux. “Rose wants to help, let her.”

“But there isn't anything that-”

“Are you sure about that?” General Organa smirked.

Hux let out a huff and folded his arms.

At the centre console, Rose zoomed in on where the palace was. She turned the digital image around on its vertical and horizontal axis several times, taking in the map of the palace from every possible angle. Slowly, her eyebrows knitted together.

“This map is incomplete,” she stated, turning to the others.

“What? That's impossible,” Hux said. “I have an extensive working knowledge of the palace, I know every corridor, every hallway-”

“You're missing one.”

“Where is it?” General Organa asked, smirking at Hux.

“It's here,” Rose pointed to a small nook at the back of the palace. “It's an old servants entrance that's long since been sealed off. Part of the corridor passes through a naturally formed tunnel in the bedrock. Several years ago part of it collapsed and it was decided that, for everyone's safety, it would no longer be used. Now the servants entrance is through part of the hangar.”

“How do you know?” Hux huffed.

“How many times have you had to chase after the Princess? How do you think she got out all the time when she was younger?” Rose pointed to the missing corridor on the map. “Once the tunnel collapsed, she stopped escaping, until the most recent escapade. I had always suspected the Emperor had it covered up on purpose because of her.”

Poe zoomed in on the area Rose was pointing to. “We could possibly use this to get in, take them by surprise.”

“It could be dangerous,” Rose added. “I don't' know what current state it's in.”

“Don't worry,” Poe smiled. “Danger is my middle name.”

“I thought it was Morgroove,” someone from across the room shouted.

Hux smirked at the sight of Poe's smile falling. The seriousness of the situation subsided slightly as everyone around them laughed.

“Thank you, Rose.” General Organa smiled as she placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. “Your information has proved invaluable.”

It had long since grown dark by the time Hux was released from his duties. After Rose had provided her useful intel, he insisted that she rest. General Organa had more than proven her point that Rose held just as much knowledge as he, possibly more because she'd been able to move about unseen by the higher officials who had dismissed her as a lowly handmaiden. Including himself.

Hux let out a long sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. His eyes hurt from staring at the map console for so long. And damn it all, he was hungry. Neither of them had eaten anything adequate since the wedding banquet. While he was accustomed to surviving on rations, Rose was not. He wanted to make sure she'd eaten something.

But first he had to find her.

“I think I saw her go that way,” a mechanic said, pointing off in the direction of a grassy hill.

Hux nodded his thanks before jogging in the direction he was pointed. He found Rose sitting on a fallen log on top of a small grassy knoll.

“There you are, I've been looking all over for you,” he said, slightly out of breath.

“Hux,” she said, looking up at him. She looked troubled, worried.

“Rose, what's wrong?” he knelt in front of her. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” she shivered.

“How long have you been out here?”

“I came out here to watch the sun set.”

“That was hours ago. You're still in your dress from the wedding,” he reached out and touched her hand. They were icy. “Rose, you're freezing.” He immediately stood and draped his greatcoat across her shoulders. Seeing Rose snuggle into it tugged at his heart. It just wouldn't do to go through everything they had in the last few days, only for Rose to fall deathly ill from the weirdly humid, yet chilly air.

“Did you get everything sorted out?”

“I think so, yes.” He sat beside her on the log and pulled her into his side to help warm her up. He felt his breath hitch slightly as Rose slipped her icy hand into his. Sure, they had slept together, but this...this was a different kind of intimacy. One he had rarely experienced. The memories of his mother were fleeting at best. The only other person who'd touched him in such ways was Maz. He had always seen her as what his idea of a grandmother was.

“And?”

He felt her grip on his hand tighten slightly with anxiety. Hux knew she was afraid of what the Resistance would want from them. He let out a long sigh. She might not like what he had to say, but it was best to just rip the bandage off quickly.

“They're willing to set you up with a new identity, a new place to live. You'd be able to be the person you want to be, do whatever you want to do.”

Rose let out a little chuckle. “I don't even know what that is.”

“There's no rush,” he whispered into the crown of her head. “General Organa said that whenever you feel you're ready, they'll help you. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need.”

“What about you?”

Hux squeezed her shoulders. He'd been dreading this conversation for most of the day. How would he tell her?

“They...they want me to stay for a while. They're beginning to prepare for an assault on Exegol and feel my expertise would be a valuable asset.”

“Then I'll wait here for you.”

“What? Rose, no.”

“Hux, please, I-”

Hux abruptly stood, then knelt in front of her again. He took both her hands into his, squeezing them as if to emphasize his point.

“Rose, I need to know you're safe. I won't be able to focus on anything if you're not safe.” He kissed her knuckles, then put them to his forehead, imploring her to understand his need to know she was safe. Armitage Hux had never begged for anything in his life before. But he needed this as much as he needed oxygen to breathe. “Please.”

Rose pulled one of her hands from his, and touched it lightly to his cheek. Instinctively, Hux closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. The rough stubble on his cheek that had formed in the last few days scratched lightly on her soft palm as he nuzzled her hand. The feeling of her lightly caressing his stubble with her thumb was enough to let an involuntary sob escape his lips.

“Rose, please, I need to know you're safe,” he said, not looking at her.

“I will be. There's no safer place than by your side. You promised to keep me safe, and you will.” Rose slid off the log to her knees and pulled Hux into a hug, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

Hux held her tightly, not wanting to let go. The galaxy would fear his wrath if anything happened to her.

Though he was loath to admit it, the idea of sending her away made him feel sick to his stomach, even if he felt she would be safer hidden away somewhere. But he knew she was right. So long as he could keep her within his eyesight, she'd be safe.

“Mo ghràdh,” he mumbled in Old Arkanisian, “I will keep you safe, no matter what.”

Chapter Text

It was two weeks before they stood on that hill again.

Hux stood on top on the grassy knoll, waiting, fidgeting impatiently with one of the buttons on the cuff of his uniform jacket. Freshly pressed, of course. Nothing less would do for a day like today.

“She's late,” he mumbled, irritated.

“Don't get your basics in a twist, Hugs. She'll be here.” Poe responded, amused. Never in all his days had he imagined he'd be witness in such an intimate wedding for one of the most feared men in the galaxy.

Hux let out a huff as he dropped his hands to his hips and stared at his feet. He didn't like to be kept waiting, especially on such an important day.

“Hey, Hugs,” Poe said, nudging the man.

“What?” came the irritated snap reply.

“Look.”

Hux looked in the direction Poe was pointing in. Later, when they retold the story, he would state he was calm and collected. The definition of cool under pressure.

But what Poe saw, and would forever remind Hux of, was a man who's world had just tilted on its axis.

Rose was walking across the grass in a simple white dress that looked like it had been made for her. The bodice was covered in a simple white lace and seemed to shimmer in the evening sun. The high neckline left everything to the imagination, but was the perfect canvas for her pendant.

The one she had lost that fateful day.

The one he had fixed for her.

The one that had brought them together and set off a chain of events that led them to where they now stood.

Rose walked towards them, flanked by General Organa and Amilyn Holdo. They were all smiling, laughing. Under any other circumstance, it would be a happy scene.

It should have been the happiest day of their lives.

The truth of the matter was, it had been decided that for Rose and Hux to go into hiding, they needed to change their names.

The best way to do that? A marriage contract.

They could pose as refugees fleeing them Empire, newly married with the papers to prove it.

As Rose reached the top of the knoll, Hux reached out to take her hand. The warmth of her touch brought him a small measure of comfort against the guilt he'd been feeling for the past few weeks. The way she smiled at him convinced him they could pretend to be a married couple in love.

At least for a while.

General Organa stood between them to officiate the ceremony.

“As you are both aware, in order for this ruse to be successful, this union needs to be legitimate. You'll be entering into a legally binding marriage and all that comes with it.”

Rose nodded her ascent.

“In addition to that,” the General continued, “it's been decided by all parties that part of the ruse will also be a change of surname. Jakobi is the name we have all agreed upon.”

For Rose, a change of surname wasn't such a big deal. It was common for women to change it upon marrying into their husband's family. For Hux, however, his surname was everything. It struck fear and awe into people. It was simple, instantly recognizable. His father had built their reputation, he had carried it to further heights.

But he was willing to give it up, for her. To keep her safe. He would find a way to live a simple, humble life, wherever they landed when the time came.

General Organa motioned to them, and Hux took both of Rose's hands in his.

“Though this is probably not what either of you envisioned, if you ever envisioned anything,” the old General began. “We are all gathered here to witness the union of these two extraordinary people who have defied the odds and the Emperor himself to be here. Never in all my days would I have imagined officiating such a ceremony, but here we are.” She smiled at them both.

“Armitage, if you would begin, please.”

Hux nodded and took the datapad Poe had been holding. He cleared his throat a couple of times and tugged at the tight collar of his uniform jacket. Is this how the Crown Prince had been feeling on his own wedding day? Hux couldn't help but wonder.

“Rose,” he began, his voice a little shaky. “With an open heart, pure spirit, and sense of amazement, I take you today as my wife as a mirror of my love, as a complement to me in every way. My lover, my friend. I vow to risk everything for you, to give over my life for you, to be the man you love.”

Hux cleared his throat again, his voice stronger now. “Receive this ring and my true love's kiss as a token of my pure and true love for you, and I promise to forever more be your loving and devoted husband.”

Amilyn handed Hux a box, from which he pulled a simple ring.

Rose let out a small gasp.

The ring had been cast in Haysian smelt with etchings that complimented her necklace. In the centre sat a small polished stone: the kyber crystal he had gifted her.

“I thought I'd lost it,” she said quietly as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

“He brought it to me in the middle of the night,” Poe added with a smile as he handed Rose the datapad.

Rose looked at the ring, trying desperately not to let the tears threatening to fall ruin the simple makeup Amilyn had done for her.

“Rose,” General Organa smiled kindly at Rose while motioning to the datapad in her hands.

Rose scrolled down to her own vows and took a deep breath. “Armitage, when we met on that fateful day, I thought for sure I was done for, that the troopers would come for me and I'd be taken to the detention block. Your reputation precedes you, after all. Instead, you showed me such kindness. Not only by not having me tossed in the brig, but by repairing my necklace and returning it to me.”

Without thinking, one of her hands strayed to her necklace.

“Today, I promise to surprise you, to amaze you, to make you laugh, and to help you in your every endeavour. I vow to always communicate with you freely, never to hold back but to be honest and loyal. I vow to listen and never hurt you, to always kiss you and never shame you. I give you my hand, my heart, and my word that I will be a loving and devoted wife.”

Rose handed the datapad back to Poe, then took a second small box from Amilyn. From it, she also pulled a simple ring made from matte black tungsten, inlaid with rose gold. She slipped it onto his ring finger and took his left hand in hers.

General Organa pulled a blue piece of cloth from her long billowy sleeves and wrapped it around their joined hands.

“With this cloth, you are bound to each other until such time it is deemed no longer prudent. Armitage, you may kiss your bride.”

With his right hand, he gently reached up and cupped Rose's cheek, bringing his lips gently to hers. They kissed, sealing their agreement.

General Organa and Amilyn both applauded, while Poe merely smirked and shook his head.

“Who would have thought I'd end witnessing the marriage of Armitage Hux, one of the most feared men in the galaxy.”

There was no traditional wedding feast.

The Resistance simply didn't have the resources for it. Instead, Armitage and Rose had a small, intimate picnic on the grassy knoll. General Organa had managed to procure enough fresh food for them to have a meal together. Poe had spent two days tracking down a small crate of meilooruns as a wedding gift for the newly wedded couple. It was much better than a wedding dinner of freeze dried rations.

“They deserve something,” the General had justified.

Some had speculated General Organa had lost her mind. Others said it was a welcome distraction from the stress and seriousness of their situation. Yet others even said she was quietly reminiscing about the early days of her own marriage.

General Organa had married just after the failed rebellion was driven underground. There were parallels to be drawn.

Armitage and Rose, sat watching the comings and goings of the Resistance's fleet as the sun began to set.

“Even though there's so much going on here, it's weirdly peaceful.” Rose said as she leaned her head on Armitage's shoulder.

He hummed in reply.

“What's wrong?”

“It's nothing,” he put his arm around her waist, drawing her closer.

“Don't lie to me.”

Armitage turned to face her. “I'm not lying to you. I'm just trying to be present in the moment, macushla.” With a finger, he gently tipped her chin up and kissed her, more passionately than during their ceremony. He nipped gently at her lips, begging for entry and slowly she relented.

As Rose's lips parted, Armitage slipped his tongue into her mouth. She tasted like the meiloorun she'd been eating. A strange but compelling mix of citrus, tart, and sweet danced across his tongue. He felt it a pity Rose wanted to share the meilooruns with others living on the base. Surely they could keep a couple for themselves.

“Come here,” he growled, pulling Rose into his lap. The billowy skirt of her wedding dress was wide enough to allow her to straddle his hips. Immediately he felt his blood rushing out of his head to other areas. The feeling of Rose grinding down on him alone was likely to push him over the edge.

He put his hands on her hips to still her movements. For once, they didn't need to rush out of fear of being caught.

“Agra, if you would have me, I would make proper love to you.” He tucked a lose piece of hair behind her ear. “I know this marriage is just a ruse to help our disguise, but I will to honour my vows. I meant them sincerely.”

“Em yêu anh.” Rose said as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Her tongue darted into his mouth when he gasped at the shock of her boldness. The last couple of weeks, Rose had begun to come out of the shell working in the palace had kept her in. She was becoming bolder, more outspoken. She would push back if someone challenged her on something instead of demurring.

It just made her more beautiful to him.

Armitage's hands slid up her back, clawing gently at the delicate buttons on her dress. “I want to get you out of this,” he murmured in her ear as he kissed the tender skin behind her ear.

“I think you should,” came the breathy reply.

He pulled back to look at her, searching her eyes for any sign of hesitancy. “Are you sure?”

Rose nodded. “I am.”

One of Armitage's hands found its way to the back of her neck and pulled her in for another kiss. It was more aggressive than he'd intended, but the way Rose melted into him...

Never in a thousand rotations had he ever imagined love for himself. Just having someone he cared about had seemed impossible only a few weeks prior. It was a thought that had never even crossed his mind.

But now...

One of Rose's nails scratched at the top button on his uniform. “Perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private,” she whispered between kisses.

Reluctantly he helped her off his lap as she stood and smoothed the creases in her dress.

“Kriff, you're beautiful,” Armitage let slip from where he still sat. He let an uncharacteristic smile cross his face at the sight of her blushing. “You don't believe me?”

Rose fussed with collecting their picnic, avoiding his gaze.

“Let me prove it to you,” he growled as he scooped her up into a bridal carry.

“What are you—put me down, you'll hurt yourself.”

“Never.” He ignored her protests. “You're my wife, let me treat you as such.”

Armitage carried Rose all the way back to their quarters on the Tantive IV, despite her giggling protests. He paused briefly, allowing the pneumatic door to swish open and carried her across the threshold. He gently placed her on her feet before turning to ensure the door was locked. The last thing they needed was someone like Poe just walking into their quarters.

Which he had already done to them a few times since their arrival.

Before he could turn back to her, Rose had come up behind him and put her arms around his waist, nuzzling her face into his back.

“Rose? Are you alright?” he turned in her arms to face her.

“I am,” she sighed before putting her arms around his shoulders. “I never would have imagined getting married. When I was really young, before the Crown Princess came, I used to dream of a Prince Charming coming to sweep me off my feet and rescue me.”

“Instead you're tethered to me...”

“Armitage, this marriage might be one of convenience to help disguise us, but that doesn't mean I don't want it.” She put her hands gently on his cheeks.

“Rose, I've done terrible things to people.”
“I know. I've visited friends in the infirmary that you interrogated.”

He flinched at that comment.

“But I believe people can change. If they want to. The fact that you didn't throw me into the brig for walking into you that day is proof of that.”

Armitage chuckled, looking down at their feet. “Honestly, you caught me at a time when I was quite distracted with the wedding preparations.

Rose lifted his face to look him in his eyes. “Armitage, I haven't known you long, but...you've changed. You're a different person than the one who everyone in the palace is afraid of.”

He leaned in, kissing her. “It's because of you,” he whispered between kisses.

Rose let out a small gasp as he nibbled on her earlobe.

Armitage's hands snaked up her backside, feeling for the zipper on her dress. When he didn't find one, he pulled back and turned her around.

“How the kriff do I get this thing off you? Where's the zipper?”

Rose giggled at his frustration and went over to the dressing table. She picked up a small hook and handed it to him.

“What the...with this?”

She nodded.

“Dank farrik,” he muttered under his breath as he slowly started working away at unhooking all the buttons. It took several minutes before he had undone enough to let the dress fall, but Rose held it fast to her chest, covering herself as best she could with it.

“Let me see you,” Armitage said, gently pulling her hands from her chest. The dress fell to the floor, pooling around her feet. He helped her step from it and gazed at her naked form. He found he couldn't help himself as his hands gently traced up her sides, feeling all the curves of her hourglass figure.

Rose shuddered slightly under his touch when he reached the delicate skin just below her breasts.

“You're so beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her again. As he did, Armitage picked her up and carried her to their bed. He gently laid her down. The sight of her, laid out on their bed sent blood rushing to his already semi-hard cock.

Rose glanced at the tenting in his trousers, then looked up at him. It only made things worse and Armitage felt he couldn't unbutton his uniform shirt fast enough.

When he at last managed to shed it, it joined her dress on the floor. Carefully, still wearing his trousers, he climbed on top of her, and kissed her all over.

He started with her mouth. Rose still tasted faintly like the meilooruns from earlier. She was delicious. Slowly, as he made his way down her neck to one of her breasts, his right hand carefully slid its way up her inner thighs. When his mouth found her nipple, Rose arched her back slightly and let out a gasp of pleasure.

“Armitage...” she moaned as her hands scratched at his back, her blunt nails leaving faint red lines on his flesh.

As his right hand found her centre, teasing it, his left found her other breast and began playing with the nipple. He leaned up to kiss her again, slowly. There was no need for them to rush.

“You don't have to be quiet if you don't want to,” he said as he trailed kisses down her neck. “We're free of that place.”

His mouth found her breast again just as his right hand found the delicate nub between her legs.

“Arm...tage...” Rose's hand grasped at his scalp, pulling on his hair in a way he found pleasurable.

He chuckled into her skin, knowing full well what she wanted. “Tell me what you want, Rose.”

“I want...” she breathed as he licked at the delicate underside of her breast. “I want you...to...”

“To what?” he kissed her cleavage.

“I want...I want your mouth on me...down there...” she pushed gently on his head, indicating her intent.

“Is that so?”

“Armitaaaaage,” Rose whined as he slipped a finger inside of her. “Please...”

Slowly, he left a trail of kisses leading down between her legs where he settled. He hooked her thighs over his shoulders and took a long swipe up her seam with his tongue.

“You're so wet,” he said as he used his fingers to gently pull her lips apart.

“It's, ah...what you do to me.” Rose felt herself melting into the bed at his ministrations. It wasn't the first time he'd been between her thighs, but not having to worry about being caught meant she could enjoy his touch more. It was almost as if they were a real, proper couple.

Armitage flicked at her clit with the tip of his tongue while his fingers found that delicate spot inside her. He could tell she was getting close when she started clenching up.

“I'm...I'm...” Her grip on his scalp tightened as her other hand clawed at the pillow in an attempt to ground herself.

Armitage suckled on her clit, tipping her over the edge. Rose's entire body seized up, her back arching, as she let out a cry he thought for sure would send security running to their door.

As he felt her start to relax, he crawled up beside her on the bed and took Rose into his arms. He kissed her gently a few times on her forehead.

“I've got you.”

They lay in each other's arms for several minutes until Rose's breathing finally slowed and she reached up and kissed him. Armitage tasted like a strange combination of them both: her tang with his sweat.

When she pulled away, Rose reached for the belt on his trousers, fumbling with the latch. Once that was undone, she fumbled with the button and the fly, and pushed his trousers down as best she could from her position.

“I want you too.”

Armitage shimmied out of his trousers and basics. They joined the growing heap of clothes on the floor.

He climbed over her, gasping as Rose took his full erection in her hands. Any semblance of coherent thought left his mind at the touch of her hand sliding up and down his length.

“Rose, I...”

“I want you, Armitage. All of you.” Rose pulled him down into a kiss and guided the tip of his cock to the entrance of her core.

“Are you sure?”

Rose nodded and wrapped her legs around his hips, settling into a better position. With a gentle thrust of his hips, Armitage slid inside her. There was a bit of resistance, then the most glorious feeling Rose had ever known.

He stretched her wide, sinking in slowly until he was fully buried to the hilt. There he stopped and looked at her, his eyes asking if she was okay. When Rose nodded, he pulled back before diving back in. Armitage did this slowly at first, before picking up his pace.

“Kriff, you feel good,” he grunted into her shoulder.

All Rose could manage in reply with a moan of pleasure.

It had been so long since Armitage had sought pleasure on Cantonica that the feeling of Rose wrapped around him had him seeing stars. He had to slow his pace in order to avoid finishing just as he was getting started. He preferred things on the rougher end of the spectrum but didn't want to hurt Rose. Although he had found evidence she might prefer things that way too. Her blunt finger nails digging into his back again was proof of that.

When he felt his own climax beginning, he slowed his pace and reached between them, searching for the delicate nub between her legs.

The arching of Rose's back was the answer that he'd found the correct spot. She'd lost the ability to articulate his name. It brought him an odd sense of satisfaction that he'd done that to her.

Rose hitched her legs higher on his back, giving him deeper access.

“Kriff, Rose...” He wasn't going to be able to hold off his own orgasm for much longer. Armitage buried his head in her shoulder, biting gently on the soft flesh.

A final thrust and grunt tipped Armitage over the edge. It had been a long time since he'd experienced pleasure of that magnitude.

Sweating and panting, he looked up at Rose, who looked just as flushed as he felt. She tenderly brushed some of the hair from his face and kissed him.

“Are you alright?” he asked, looking her over. “I didn't hurt you?”

“I'm fine. More than fine.”

“Good,” he sighed, collapsing on top of her.

They lay in each others arms for an considerable amount of time while they came down from their respective highs. Rose was gently running her fingers through his sweaty hair, while he drew lazy circles on her arm with his thumb.

He had never allowed himself to remain in such a vulnerable position after intimacy. Typically, he would rise, quickly shower, and be on his way. Sex had always been transactional. But this...this was so much different. Physical sensations amplified when you were with someone you cared about.

But should they be interrupted or ambushed again, well, his beskar dagger remained faithfully under his pillow, just in case.

Old habits and all that.

“Arm?”

“Hmm?” He grunted, partly in distaste at the nickname he'd somehow picked up.

“I was wondering, if, maybe...you'd like to have a shower with me? They have real water here, and...I've never tried that before.”

Armitage looked up at her, his eyelids still heavy from their love making. “Rose, I would love to share a shower with you.”

Slowly, he climbed off her and pulled her to her feet. Brushing away some of the hair stuck to her face, he pulled her into a kiss. Armitage held her, hands on her cheeks.

“Rose, Mo ghràdh, ” he breathed between kisses. “I love you.”

Rose looked up at him, as he rested his forehead against hers. Gently she placed her hands on his, squeezing them softly.

“Armitage, I love you too.”

He looked at her, his eyelashes tickling her. He kissed her again, and was about to take her back to bed when Rose pushed away slightly, giggling.

“Arm, I never would have imagined you'd be as horny as a massiff.”

“Only for you, Agra .” He picked Rose up by her waist and carried her into the fresher. He turned on the water, smiling at the look on her face when she stuck her hand under the spray.

“We only had the sonic showers on Exegol. Kaydel and I were lucky, we only had to share with each other, but servants lower in rank had to share with several people. It was a weird sort of communal shower situation.”

Carefully she stepped under the spray, giggling at the sensation on her skin.

“It's so warm,” she sighed. “A few times the Princess would allow us use of her bath after she had finished, though by then the water was lukewarm at best. But this, it feels so nice against my skin.” Rose held out her hand for Armitage to join her. He took her hand in his as he stepped over the small that held back the water from the floor.

Carefully, he soaked her hair with water, then reached for the soap. He poured a little into his hands, then massaged it into her scalp.

Rose's eyes fluttered closed with pleasure at the feeling of his nails on her scalp.

“That feels so nice,” she mumbled.

“It should.” Armitage grabbed the synthetic loofah and put more soap on it. Gently, he started scrubbing her skin. It was abrasive, but not so much to hurt her. Rolls of dead skin fell off of her, slowly circling the drain with the soap bubbles that washed off her.

When the soap in her hair had rinsed off, Rose rubbed the skin Armitage had scrubbed.

“I don't think my skin has ever felt so smooth.”

“I promise, you'll always have this luxury.”

Rose took his forearms in her hands and traded places with him, shuffling awkwardly as they circled around in the shower. “It's your turn.”

“What? No, I'm fine.”

She already had the soap in her hands, reaching up to put it on the top of his head. Armitage stooped slightly to allow her to reach. Her nails scratched at his scalp, and it somehow felt even better than it had before. They worked the soap into his hair in small circles, and when she was satisfied with the lather, Rose tipped his head back as best she could to rinse it off. Once his hair was free of soap, she scrubbed at his skin with the synthetic loofah, grossed out at the amount of dead skin it pulled from his body.

“Did this much come off me?”

“Yeah.”

“Gross.”

After they finished, Armitage wrapped them both in thin, super absorbent towels. The Resistance couldn't afford the thick, fluffy towels he was accustomed to on Exegol. They were a practical group of people, opting for for the convenience of light weight in case they needed to bug-out in a hurry.

It was late by the time they finished and they had missed the evening meal time.

While Rose lay in their bed with her datapad, reading droid specs, Armitage slipped out to the mess hall.

Despite the late hour, there were still some Resistance members eating. Due to the shift work nature of their operation, food was available at all hours. Though certain times of day there were more options than others.

As he reached to pour himself a cup of tea, Poe approached him.

“Hey Hugs,” Poe said as he slapped Armitage on the shoulder.

“Can I help you with something, Dameron?”

“Not really,” the man smirked. “Although...”

“What?”

“Do you think you and Missus could keep it down a bit next time? As a professional courtesy to your neighbours, of course. I was trying to work on some details of our assault on Exegol, and the two of you were rather...distracting.”

Armitage could feel the tips of his ears burning.

“Don't worry, I won't let slip the nature of your, er, prowess in bed.” Poe patted him on the shoulder and winked before walking away.

Feeling his cheeks turning red as well, Armitage quickly made a plate of fruit and toast and left the mess hall. His long legs swiftly carried him back to their quarters. When the door closed behind him, he put the plate down on the small table more forcefully than he'd intended, and caught Rose's attention.

“Are you okay?”

“I just ran into Dameron.”

“Oh,” Rose cringed slightly, knowing how well the pair of them got along.

“He, ah, overheard our activities earlier.”

Rose sat up and set her datapad aside. “Then, perhaps,” she said, walking over to him, “we should give him an encore.”

Armitage felt his ears burning. He was a fiercely private man, and the idea that they'd been overheard, by Dameron of all people, embarrassed him.

Rose put her arms around his torso, looking up at him. The thin nightgown she'd been given didn't leave much to the imagination.

“Perhaps you're right,” he growled into her ear as he scooped Rose up and tossed her onto the bed.

Three standard months had passed before the Resistance felt they were ready for their mission to Exegol. The aim, General Organa had said with a pointed look at Poe, was reconnaissance. Though Armitage had provided a significant amount of intelligence in exchange for their safety, a lot could have changed in the intervening months.

The rumour was the Emperor was growing weaker and the Crown Prince was beginning to take over more of his duties.

Dubbed Project Daylight, Armitage and Poe were sharing point on the operation. Because of this, Armitage was frequently late returning to his quarters. Part of him revelled in it. He enjoyed having projects to throw himself into, working late into the night. It was one of the reasons he had risen as high as he had. Though no one would use the word, he had essentially been an equal to the Crown Prince in terms of authority. He had sat nearly on top of the totem pole with few people to answer to.

On the other hand, part of him lamented how much his new found position took him away from Rose. Just as it had before, his aptitude for engineering, mechanics, and strategy saw him quickly rise within the Resistance. They trusted his information was accurate down to the tiniest of details.

Though Rose said she didn't mind him constantly working late, they rarely seemed to find time to be alone together. Most nights, he returned to find her asleep, datapad still in hand. Often it would be open to droid specs, but the last few weeks, Armitage had noticed the datapad often had engine specs on it.

Over the previous months, Rose had shown a mechanical aptitude previously unknown to her. It kept her busy, helping to repair droids and generally keeping things in working order around the base. The Resistance was grateful for the extra pair of hands.

On the small table in their quarters a partly deconstructed mouse droid and it's parts sat. Rose often seemed to bring her work home with her and it brought a soft smile to Armitage's face. He enjoyed watching her come out of her shell bit by bit. Rose was blossoming into a beautiful person, inside and out.

He just wished they could spend more time together.

Especially as he was leaving for Exegol in a few days.

The pneumatic door to their quarters swished open effortlessly.

And quietly.

Armitage watched as it closed again behind him and let out a soft chuckle. Rose had fixed the sticky spot the door had been getting stuck on the last few weeks.

Because of course she did. She was always doing things quietly in the background to make life a little easier for him.

As she usually was at this hour, Rose was asleep on their bed, still in the mechanic's coveralls she'd been given. The datapad lay on the bed beside her, still open on the last file she'd been looking at. Carefully, so as to not disturb her, Armitage picked up the datapad to place it safely on the table. He glanced at the file to see what she'd been working on.

It was a letter.

To him.

Dearest Armitage,

I don't know yet if I'll give this to you or not. I don't want you to be distracted by, or worry about me while you're away on your mission. The intelligence that General Organa is sending you for is important for their cause, and our survival.

Still, I wanted you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. You didn't need to rescue me from that interrogation after the wedding. You didn't need to take me with you when you escaped. You could have just abandoned me at any point along our journey to reach Ajan Kloss. There was a nice village near where we were camped on Kef Bir...

You didn't need to marry me if you didn't want to.

My point is, you did all these things for me, and I greatly appreciate it. I feel I've found a new purpose here with the Resistance. For the first time, I've made friends. Real friends. Not just people who wanted to use my proximity to the Crown Princess to leverage themselves.

I've grown quite fond of you over the last few months, and not just because I'm your 'wife.' I care about you quite a lot.

I have a gift for you. It's in the box on the table. I hope you'll find it useful on your mission. Please, take care of yourself on Exegol. The Emperor and Crown Prince are crafty. You know better than anyone, getting out will be the hard part.

Love, Rose.

Armitage glanced from the datapad to Rose, then the small box on the table. Even at a time like this, she was thinking of his safety.

He put the datapad down on the table and picked up the small brown box. It was tied shut with a piece of red wire, no doubt scrap from something she'd been working on. He twisted the wire apart and took the lid off.

Inside, sat a pair of binder cuffs. He pulled them from the box, looking them over. Why would she gift him binder cuffs of all things? They seemed ordinary enough.

“They can suppress Force users powers,” came the mumbled answer from the bed. Rose had stirred and was slowly sitting up.

“How...?” he looked at her.

“I've been working on them for a while with Finn. He was a Stormtrooper stationed on Jakku before he escaped and made his way here. While he's not as strong as the Crown Prince, he has a connection to the Force and has been helping me test them.”

Armitage, still holding the cuffs, knelt in front of the still half asleep Rose.

“Why?”

“I wanted to help keep you safe,” she said, her voice still groggy with sleep. She took the cuffs into her own hands and flipped a latch on them. “They come apart, so even if you can get just one on someone, they'll still work. Though they do work better in tandem. I hope you don't need to use them.”

“Rose, how did you manage this?”

“It was Finn's idea, actually. I was upset that you were returning to Exegol and he told me about the ysalamiri lizards from Myrkr. He found reference to them in one of the ancient Jedi tomes General Organa has in her office. We were able to isolate the diencephalon of a ysalamir and integrate it into the cuffs. It's not perfect, but...it will help if you run into Kylo Ren or Reylina. It won't completely block their connection to the force, they're both too strong, but...it will help. Hopefully.”

Armitage wasn't even sure where to begin with his questions. He had so many.

Rose latched the two cuffs back together and placed them back in his hands. “Please take them with you. It'll make me feel better.”

“Firstly,” he said, taking her hands into his, “where did you even get a ysalamir? And how did you...”

“Hondo Ohnaka was able to get one for us.”

Armitage's eyes narrowed at the pirate's name. He'd had dealings with the Weequay several times over the years. The man was a rogue, always out for himself. But there had been occasions where he'd proven himself useful. The problem was, he often asked a steep price for his services.

“It took us a few tries to integrate the brain part into the cuffs. It's a pretty crude cybernetic augmentation, but...it works.”

He looked at the cuffs again and tucked them into his pocket for safe keeping. “Thank you, Rose. I appreciate what you've done.”

She smiled softly at him as he kissed her hands. Absentmindedly, she reached for her necklace, grasping at where it should have been.

“Rose,” Armitage said, softly but with a stern edge to it. “Where is your pendant?”

Rose let a small sigh escape her. “Please don't be mad...”

“ Agra , why would I be mad at you?” He tightened the grip on her hands slightly. It was meant for reassurance, but came off as irritation or a touch of anger.

“Hondo has it,” she whispered so quietly, Armitage wasn't even sure if he heard her. “It...was the trade he wanted in return for the ysalamir.”

“ Macushla ,” he said softly as he stood, pulling Rose to her feet, and into his arms. “I promise when I return, I'll pay Ohnaka a visit and get it back for you.” He wiped away a few of her tears that were threatening to fall.

“I promise I'm not mad, Rose. I greatly appreciate what you've done.” He kissed her gently on her forehead.

Rose clung tightly to him as he rubbed her back to help calm her.

“Actually, since you're awake, there's something I wanted to show you.”

“Now? The moons are well past their apex.”

“Yes, now.” He draped his greatcoat across her shoulders and motioned for her put her shoes on. Then he took her hand in his, leading her quietly out of the Tantive IV. He waved to the night guards stationed at the cave entrance, who waved back, likely assuming the newly married couple wanted some privacy.

Armitage led Rose across the base and up onto the grassy knoll where they got married. It was just far enough from the base that it was dark. It was the witching hour, but it was the perfect time to pull her out here. Who knows when they'd get another chance.

Or if.

“It's so dark. What did you want to show me?”

“This,” he said, pointing up to the night sky.

The inky blackness was dotted with hundreds of thousands of stars.

“It's beautiful...”

“It was always too overcast on Exegol to see the stars, and I don't remember the sky on Arkanis. I've been wanting to show you for a while.” He pulled her into his arms.

“Armitage--”

“I promise, Rose. I'll come back to you, no matter what.” He smoothed some of her bedhead and leaned down for a kiss.

Rose clung tightly to the lapels of the Imperial uniform he still wore, even after all this time. She deepened the kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth. Armitage held her tighter, almost afraid that if he let go, she'd float away. He picked her up by her hips and she wrapped her legs around him.

“You'd better come back to me,” she breathed between kisses.

“I'd be a damn fool to let you go.”

“Ahem, am I interrupting?” A voice asked, snapping them both back to their reality.

Poe Dameron stood before them, hands on hips, looking like a parent who had just caught their child with their hand in the cookie jar.

“Dameron,” Armitage ground out between gritted teeth as Rose slowly slid back to the ground.

“I can appreciate your circumstances, but really? Out here?”

“Would you prefer we kept you awake again?” Rose said with a smirk. “What do you think, Armitage? Maybe we should retire to our quarters.”

A wolfish grin crossed his face. “I think you're quite right, dear wife. It's late, let us retire.” He took her hand in his, briskly walking away from Poe.

“That's not what I meant!” The pilot called after them.

The first briefing of the day was at first light, far too early for Poe's liking. He'd already been having problems sleeping and had taken a walk the night before thinking the fresh air might help, when he stumbled upon Armitage and Rose sucking face. Much to his consternation, they had returned to their quarters, where they spent the next hour and change making love.

Loudly.

He had the great misfortune to share a bulkhead wall with the lovebirds, and they seemed to take a perverse sense of pleasure in being loud to annoy him.

When he arrived on the bridge of the Tantive IV that morning, he felt his stomach drop.

Armitage Hux, or Jakobi, or whatever his surname was now, was already there, dressed in his perpetually clean and pressed Imperial uniform. The man was looking over details for their mission to Exegol, sipping on the usual tea he drank each morning.

On more than one occasion, Poe had contemplated poisoning the tea the former Grand General seemed to love so much. Not fatally. The man's intimate knowledge of the palace on Exegol had more than proved his worth.

But, perhaps just enough to make the man sick for a few days.

General Organa, had made sure to quash those thoughts with a swift slap of her walking cane.

Poe respected the man, but that didn't mean he had to like him.

“Good morning, Dameron,” Armitage said, hiding his smirk behind his tea. He handed Poe a cup of caf that he welcomed greatly. It was going to be a long day.

“Hux,” he nodded in thanks.

“It's Jakobi now.”

“Whatever, it doesn't matter,” Poe grumped, sipping the life giving caf.

“It does,” Armitage bit back. “Because when we leave here, I don't want to be hounded by agents of the Emperor because you can't get my name straight.”

“Fine, Jakobi . But don't think that just because you've changed your name, you're not a wanted man. You were too high ranking for the Emperor to let just walk away.”

“I never expected him to. But I'll do what I can to keep Rose safe.”

“About that: Can you two keep it down at night? I'm already having problems sleeping. I don't need you two keeping me awake as well.”

Armitage smirked, taking a long sip of his tea. “I cannot be held responsible for the amount of noise my wife makes.”

Poe was about to reply when General Organa swept into the room, followed by Amilyn Holdo, someone Armitage wasn't familiar with, and...Rose.

“Gentlemen, good morning,” the old General said as she made her way to the centre console. “I'm sorry to pull you from your beds so early, however, we've received an important update from Fulcrum.”

She glanced across the console at the two young men, looking from one to the other.

“Poe? You look like bantha shit. Are you still not sleeping properly?” She asked, folding her arms.

“No, General. I haven't been.” He glanced sideways at Armitage, who merely sipped at his tea.

“You should go see the medic for that.”

“Yes General. I'll go after we've finished here.”

“Good, now down to business.” General Organa pulled up the map of the palace on Exegol. “We received an urgent transmission from Fulcrum early this morning. The Emperor has fallen gravely ill and isn't expected to last too much longer. The Crown Prince will likely become Emperor by week's end. I know Project Daylight is slated to be carried out in the coming days, but I'm asking you to step up preparations. I want you to depart before first light tomorrow.”

Poe and Armitage exchanged looks.

“Tomorrow?” Poe asked. “It'll be tight, but if we start loading the ship this morning, it can be done.”

“What about you, Jakobi?” The General asked, using Armitage's new surname.

“I will be ready.”

“Good. One more thing before you go. We're making a slight amendment to the plan.”

“Amendment?” Armitage all but spat his tea out. “General, with all due respect, we've been planning Daylight for months, we can't just change it last minute.”

General Organa held up a hand to silence him. “I understand you feelings on this. However, Fulcrum has also requested an extraction if possible.”

“An extraction? How? This mission is supposed to be reconnaissance”

“And that will still be the main objective. I'm adding two officers to the mission for this objective. It will be their responsibility, and theirs alone. You needn't worry about it.”

“Who are these officers?” Poe asked.

“You can't just add officers who don't have the clearance to the mission.” Armitage added at the same time.

General Organa gestured to Rose and the mystery person who had accompanied them to the briefing.

“Rose and Finn will be going with you.” She held up a hand to silence their protests. “Rose has intimate knowledge of the palace, but will remain on the ship at all times. Finn, disguised as a Stormtrooper will attempt the extraction.”

“On his own?”

The man named Finn held up his old Stormtrooper helmet. “Troopers are faceless cogs, no one will recognize me.”

Poe sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He knew full well there would be no way to change General Organa's mind.

“Any questions?” The General asked.

No one answered.
“You're dismissed. And remember Gentlemen, you're departing at first light.”

It was going to be a long day indeed.

As everyone left the bridge of the Tantive IV, Armitage grabbed Rose by the upper arm, pulling her aside.

“Ow, Armitage, what's wrong?” She tried to pull her arm from his grip, but he held her fast.

“How long?”

“What?”

“How long have you known, Rose?” He tightened his grip on her arm.

“What are you talking about?”

“How long have you been plotting this 'mission' behind my back? Rose, I can't keep you safe if you're there.”

Rose managed to free herself from his grip. Rubbing her upper arm, she looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and anger.

“I don't know what maniacal, sinister plot you think I've been working on behind your back, but I can assure you I only found out about it ten minutes before you do. General Organa approached me in the mess hall, asking if I'd be willing to help with this Fulcrum extraction that's come up last minute.”

Armitage could feel what little colour he had, draining from his face. Realizing what he'd done, he let out a long sigh. He tentatively reached out to touch her arm where he'd grabbed her. When she pulled back slightly, he wasn't surprised.

“I'm sorry, did I hurt you?”

“It's fine,” Rose replied quietly.

Staring at their feet and his hands on his hips, Armitage spoke. “I'm sorry, Rose. I am. This...isn't justification for my actions, but we've been planning this mission for weeks. Then having this dropped on us, mere hours before we're to depart...it just isn't right. I don't like that General Organa is doing this.”

“I know,” Rose took his hand into hers. “The General is afraid that this might be the only chance to get the Fulcrum agent out. I doubt we'll get a second chance at this. She asked me specifically because I'm most familiar with all the back corridors of the palace. General Organa made it clear that Finn will be the one going to retrieve the agent. I'm just there to help guide him from the ship.”

“I still don't like it,” he said, pulling her into a tight hug.

“We do what we must.”

Chapter Text

It was astronomical twilight when Armitage made his way to the airfield, tumbler of tea in hand. The barest hint of light sat along the horizon of Ajan Kloss. It was almost unnoticeable with the lights from the base polluting everything.

It was cold, too.

Despite the humidity of the jungle in which the base was hidden, there was a slight chill in the air that unnerved the former general. He couldn't hear the drone and hum of the wildlife that should have accompanied living in a jungle.

That said, it was hard to hear anything over Poe yelling orders.

“Hugs, there you are,” Poe said, hustling over. “You're late.”

Armitage did his best to stifle an eye roll as he handed Poe his tumbler of caf. “I'm right on time, Dameron, as agreed.”

Where's the Missus?” Poe took a long draught of his caf, letting out a sigh of contentment as he did.

“She'll be here. Did you see the medic about your sleeping issues?”

“Didn't have time.”

“Dameron...”

“It's fine. I'm fine. Honest, see?” Poe held up his hand to prove it wasn't shaking.

“That's not the point,” Armitage slapped his hand away. “We're walking into a very dangerous mission and I need to know you've got my back.”

“I've got yours, Grand General. But do you have mine?” Poe took another sip from his tumbler, giving Armitage a knowing look.

“I'm here! We're coming!” Rose shouted as she and Finn ran towards them, before either Poe or Armitage could say anything else to each other. In her hands, she carried Finn's stormtrooper helmet. Poking out from her courier bag, was the mouse droid that had occupied space on the table in their room for several weeks.

Finn, Armitage observed, was half dressed in his stormtrooper uniform. He wore the plastoid trousers, but carried the torso armour in his hands as they ran towards the airfield. The black dryfit shirt that was standard issue for wearing under the armour, clung to his abs. The man was fitter than the leather jacket he always wore let on.

Poe, Armitage also observed, held his caf tumbler half way to his mouth. At the sound of Rose calling to them, he'd turned to admonish them for their lateness.

“Close your mouth, Dameron. Letting it hang open like that is undignified.” Armitage sipped his tea with a smirk.

“Hugs, I swear, when we get back-”

“You swear what?” Finn asked as they reached earshot.

“Nothing,” Poe mumbled. “Come on, we need to get going.”

As Finn and Poe boarded the Eidolon, Armitage tried to contain his laugh.

“What's going on?” Rose asked, curious.

“I'll explain when we have a moment, Agra.” He whispered and kissed the side of her head. “Come on.” Armitage put his had on the small of her back, guiding her aboard the small ship that would take them back to a place neither thought they'd go.

Exegol.

That damn, wretched place.

“Is everyone here?” A green haired man asked from the cockpit of the ship, looking back at where Armitage, Rose, and Poe sat in the common area.

“Yeah, Jacen. We're good,” Poe replied, sitting in the co-pilot's seat beside him.

“Spector Seven to Mamma Nerf, Eidolon is ready for departure.”

“Spector Seven,” one could hear General Organa's eye roll through the com. “You are cleared for departure. Good luck, and may the force be with you.”

“Thank you, General.”

“Oh, and Jacen?”

“Yes, General?”

“I want a new call sign when you return.”

“Of course, General.” Jacen smirked at Poe as he switched off the com. “Chop, calculate the coordinates for our jump.”

The cranky, ancient astromech saluted with one of his mechanical arms and plugged himself into the ship's computer. It only took a few moments for the old droid to calculate the information needed.

Jacen flipped a few switches on the dashboard and the engines of the Eidolon hummed to life. The ship lifted off the ground, hovering for a moment, before launching into the atmosphere.

“Hold on, everyone. It's going to be a bumpy ride.” Jacen called from the front of the ship.

As the ship rose higher into the planet's atmosphere, it hit a few air pockets causing the ship to bounce slightly.

Rose let out a small cry of fright and clutched tightly to her courier bag for comfort.

Sensing her anxiety, Armitage put his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly.

“You're alright, I've got you,” he whispered in her ear. “It'll all be over in a few moments.”

Rose buried her face in his shoulder, not wanting to watch their surroundings bounce in the changes of atmospheric pressure.

After a few minutes the Eidolon escaped the gravity of Ajan Kloss and the ride smoothed out considerably.

“Rose? Macushla, you can let go now.”

Rose looked up at him, then back at her hands who now held a death grip on his greatcoat. Slowly her hands released their grip. She looked away, her cheeks pink with embarrasment.

“Sorry...”

“We're going to make the jump to hyperspace in a moment. It's going to be a long flight, so you might as well get comfortable,” Jacen called from the cockpit.

“Hey, Rose?” Finn asked, wanting to distract her. “Let's keep working on the droid and my helmet.”

“Yes,” she nodded, trying to reign in her adrenaline surge. “That's a good idea.”

Before Armitage could ask what they were working on, Poe emerged from the cockpit and motioned for him to follow.

Reluctantly, he did.

Poe led them down to the cargo hold. It was a small space, full of containers and equipment. Some for this mission, some for others. Armitage didn't ask.

“Are you okay with her coming with us?”

“Not particularly.”
“Because I need to know, if things go sideways...”

Armitage let out an irritated sigh. “Dameron, I assure you I'm committed to our mission-”

“I know you are,” Poe held up a hand to stop the former Grand General. “I need to know, if things go sideways with Rose and Finn...”

“I'll do everything I can to save them, Poe. You know I won't leave her behind to be tortured again.” Armitage looked Poe directly in the eyes, silently challenging the man to change his mind.

“Alright, fine. It's not like the Resistance leaves people behind anyway,” Poe said, finally breaking eye contact.

“I'm going to get some rest. You should too.” Armitage waved as he turned to leave. “It's going to be at least eighteen hours before we get to Exegol.”

Sleep was fitful. Armitage tossed and turned, never truly falling into the deep sleep he desperately needed. Visions of memories past danced across his mind's eye.

The angry, red-headed man who'd called himself Armitage's father, even though he wasn't much more than a sperm donor.

The wrinkled, sadistic face of an old man who called himself Emperor of the galaxy, pickled by his rage and anger.

The soft old face of the tiny kitchen maid, Maz, the only one who Armitage would have considered a friend.

The youthful, but serious face of Mitaka, who's dark eyes had seen more than they should have at his age.

The dark haired, perpetually infuriated Crown Prince, his face bisected with that ghastly scar, and that stupid big nose that Armitage frequently wanted to punch.

The delicate features of the Crown Princess, who's hidden rage matched both that of her Grandfather's and her husband's.

The perpetually scared of her own shadow handmaiden who had once dared call herself a friend to Rose.

The stormy eyes of his now wife, who had learned over the last few months to stand a little taller. Who had reached out and warmed his long dead heart.

Armitage awoke with a gasp, bolting upright in his bunk. He was covered in a cold sweat.

It had, somehow, all been a dream. Perhaps it was brought about by all the caf he had been drinking and the stress and pressure he'd been under. Their success in this mission was imperative to their survival. If they somehow failed...

It wasn't even an option.

They had to succeed.

After a few moments, Armitage rose to his feet and straightened his uniform. In the adjoining fresher, he splashed a bit of water on his face and took a few moments to collect himself. The harsh lighting only served to emphasize the dark circles under his eyes.

“Kriff...”

His grip on the aluminum sink tightened as he tried to dig his nails in.

“Armitage?” Rose's quiet voice and light knock on the door called to him. “Are you in here? I came to see if you were awake yet. We'll be arriving in a few hours.”

“I'm in the fresher,” he replied.

Damn that woman. She always had a way of pulling him back from the brink without even knowing it.

He looked at his reflection again, seeing the tired, stressed face looking back at him. Armitage straightened and slapped himself on the face a few times. With a final deep breath, he unlocked the door and stepped back into the bunk room where Rose sat, waiting.

“Are you okay?”

“Mmhmm,” he hummed as he sat beside her on the bunk. “How long is a few hours?”

“Roughly five. Why?”

Armitage pulled Rose into his arms, holding her tightly as he lay them down on the narrow bunk. He snuggled into her, burring his face in her hair. She smelt of droid grease and meilooruns.

“Are you sure you're okay?”

“I just want a few minutes of peace with you.”

He felt Rose let out a small sigh and relax into him.

“Armitage?”

“Hmm?”

“I'm scared.”

He tightened his grip on her torso. “Me too, Agra.”

Rose twisted around in his arms to face him. “And what could the great Grand General of the Empire have to be scared of?”

“Losing you,” he brushed some of the hair from her face. “For the first time in my life, I'm afraid. I've faced death many times, but I worry for your safety. It's an all consuming dread. Of all the planets, Exegol is the last one I wanted you to return to. I'm finding it difficult to focus.”

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“It's not your fault, Agra. I'm not mad at you. I just wish General Organa had picked someone, anyone, else.” He leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. “I need you to promise you'll remain on the Eidolon, no matter what.”

“I promise I will.” Rose tilted her head up slightly and kissed the end of his nose.

The decent into Exegol was bumpy. The abnormal atmospheric conditions of the planet were somehow worse than he had remembered. Was it due to the Emperor's failing health? The Crown Prince's rage? One didn't need to be connected to the Force to feel it.

Or had it always been this bad and he just hadn't noticed because it had been normal for him? Having seen more of how the rest of the galaxy lived had shifted his perspective.

The Eidolon landed just over a ridge a short distance away from the palace. It was close enough they could approach the building without speeders, but still far enough away to avoid detection.

“Right,” Poe said as they landed. “Jacen, you, Chopper and Rose are to remain here. Under no circumstances are you to leave. It's General Organa's order. Keep the engines running just in case we need a quick exit.”

Jacen nodded and Chopper saluted Poe with one of his mechanical arms.

“Rose, you'll help guide Finn from here to find Fulcrum. I'll also need you to monitor our coms.”

“I've got this mouse droid ready,” she said, holding up the small droid. “I put a small camera in it, so I can use it to guide Finn. We've also updated the tech in his trooper helmet. Jacen and I will be able to monitor your coms as well as any coms coming from the palace.”

Poe nodded, pleased with her work.

“Hugs – sorry, Jakobi,” he added hastily at Hux's glare. “You'll be with me. Our job is to get in, find what we need, and get out. Quietly, discreetly.”

“I'm not the one who's loud and obnoxious.”

“What I mean,” Poe huffed, “is that you're one of the most recognizable men in this place, and you didn't exactly leave quietly. Keep your head down and do not engage anyone. For any reason. Got that?”

“Yes, General.” Armitage replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Poe rolled his eyes. “We depart in five minutes.”

Taking Rose's hand in his, Armitage pulled her into a tight hug, refusing to let go.

“Please be safe,” he whispered.

“I will, I promise. Do you have the gift I gave you?”

“It's in my pocket.”

“The Crown Prince is a smart man, he'll know you're here.”

“I know...”

“Armitage,” Rose pulled back just enough to see his face.

“Hugs, let's go!” Poe called from the gangplank.

“I love you, Agra,” he said, a weak smile crossing his face.

Rose pulled him down for a kiss they were both reluctant to break. “Come back to me.”

“A thousand star fighters couldn't keep me from you.”

“Hugs!” Poe was growing impatient.

Slowly Armitage broke away from Rose and walked down the gangway. He didn't dare turn around for a final look, afraid he'd lose what little resolve he had.

Shortly after Armitage and Poe had left, Finn departed as well. Seeing her new friend kitted up in his old stormtrooper uniform was unsettling for her. It brought back too many memories of being on this wretched planet. She'd given her entire life for this place, and for what?

More scars than she cared to count. Friends lost who had randomly disappeared. It had been an absolute nightmare living under the thumb of the Emperor.

Even though she and Kaydel had it better than most and had been afforded more luxury than most of the staff due to their positions.

Kaydel...

Rose's mind wandered back to her friend. How had she been holding up? Had she taken Rose's place next to the Crown Princess?

Rose sincerely hoped her only friend had been spared the wrath of the Emperor and Crown Prince. Simply by having associated with Rose, she too could have been in trouble.

“Rose? Rose, can you hear me?” Finn's voice came across the coms.

“Yes Finn, I can hear you.”

“Oh thank goodness, I've been trying to reach you for the last ten minutes.”

“What? You have?”

“Yes. Have you not been able to hear me?”

“Not until just now.”

“That's....good...can't....Fulcrum...think....lost...” Finn's transmission began cutting out.

“Finn? Finn, can you hear me?”

“Rose, I...dead zone...lost...mouse droid...” The line went quiet.

“Are there dead zones in the palace?” Jacen asked from where he sat in the cockpit.

“There are, but Finn must be really deep underground to have found one. They're typically in the very lowest levels.”

“Chop, see if you can amplify Finn's signal.”

The old astromech whirled at the computer for a few minutes.

“Finn? Finn! Can you hear me? Finn??”

“It doesn't seem to be helping,” Jacen said after a moment.

“The mouse droid is supposed to help boost the signal, even from deep within the palace. Why isn't it working?”

“Could they be jamming our coms?”

“Maybe...” Rose stood and draped her cloak across her shoulders.

“Where are you going?” Jacen said, following her to the gangway. “Your orders are to stay here.”

“I can't...I have to go find Finn and help him. He could be in trouble.”

“Rose...”

“I've spent nearly my entire life in this place, Jacen. I grew up here. I know where he is and how to get there unnoticed. I promise I'll be fine.”

Jacen let out a long suffering sigh. “They'll have my head for this, especially your husband. I swear, Rose, if you're not back in time, or in one piece, there will be hell to pay.”

“Thank you, my friend.” Rose gave him a brief smile before taking off sprinting towards the palace.

Things were going smoothly. A little too smoothly for Armitage's liking.

Having left Poe in the armoury, he headed for his old office. It was a risky move to go there, as it was in such a high traffic area. But if he could get his datapad, or download some data from his old terminal, it would be a risk well worth taking.

Assuming they hadn't deleted his access codes.

But even if they had, he knew the back doors to access the systems. He had designed and coded them, after all. The Crown Prince was many things, but good with the more technical aspects of computers was not one of them.

The corridors were empty, almost suspiciously so.

Armitage figured most people were tending to the ailing Emperor. If what Fulcrum had told them was true, the man was due to shuffle off the mortal coil at any moment. No doubt the Crown Prince and Princess were by his side, awaiting the old man's final, ragged breath.

Whether that waiting was with anticipation or sorrow, he neither knew nor cared. The Crown Prince's love for the man only extended as far as the fact that he was the Prince's Grandfather-in-law, and was more out of respect for his wife than anything.

As with the rest of them, Kylo Ren's life had been drastically altered when he'd been brought to Exegol and Armitage didn't begrudge any of Kylo's resentment towards the man.

If they'd been given a proper choice, Armitage doubted that anyone in the palace would have voluntarily come to serve the Emperor.

He wanted to see it all burn. Figuratively and literally.

Checking that the hall was clear, Armitage slipped into his old office to find it just as he'd left it. Everything had been upended when Pryde had stormed in with the troopers. The place was a mess.

But the fools had been too stupid to change the access code to the door.

“Idiots,” Armitage mumbled as he quietly closed the door behind him.

Careful not to disturb anything, he picked his way across the room to his desk. Several of the drawers had been pulled out and dumped on the floor, including the one he was looking for. He picked it up, turning it right side up and examined it.

It seemed Pryde had been in too much of a hurry to humiliate him that he hadn't taken notice of the false bottom.

Sliding his index finger along the back of the drawer, Armitage found the tiny indent that acted as the release mechanism. He pushed it, and the bottom of the drawer popped up.

It was still there. His datapad. The one he kept secretly with backups of every project he had worked on. It would be vital information for General Leia.

Before leaving, he took a moment to hook the datapad up to his computer terminal. It was risky to spend any more time than necessary in his office but the payoff would be worth it.

He activated the transfer of data of several new projects that had started under Pryde's command, and waited.

“Hu-Jakobi,” Poe hissed on the com. “Where are you? We need to go.”

“I'm in my office.”

“What in the galaxy are you doing there? You'll get caught for sure.”

“I needed to retrieve a few things. It's vital to your cause.”

“Nothing is more vital to our cause than you. How will I explain to Rose why you didn't come back?”

“I'll be at the rendezvous point, you can't get rid of me that easily.”

“Damn. Too bad, I was looking forward to having quiet neighbours for a change.”

“Stop talking, Dameron.” Armitage cut the line.

Once the data transfer finished, he tucked the datapad into the inner breast pocket of his greatcoat. Pausing at the door, he took one last look at his office.

There was a strange sense of finality to the moment. He hadn't expected to come back when they'd left several months earlier, but he knew this time would be the last time he stood in this room. So much had happened in this room over the years.

Good and bad.

Despite years of abuse, Armitage realized he wouldn't trade it for all the credits in the galaxy. After all, if he did, he wouldn't have Rose.

He would much rather live a simple life with her, than a grand, luxurious life without her.

With that final parting thought, Hux quietly opened his office door and glanced out into the hallway.

Empty.

He slipped out of his office for the final time and headed back towards the armoury.

Back towards the life he'd claimed for himself.

His future.

His love.

Rose.

Having made her way through the old access tunnel, Rose slipped through the corridors. She tried her best to keep her face hidden by the hood of the cloak, knowing no one would question a servant with their face down turned. Being as invisible as possible was how she'd survived so far, and that skill would serve her well.

Using the locator she'd attached to the mouse droid, she found it unresponsive deep on the lower levels of the palace. The little antenna was bent out of place.

“Poor thing,” she mumbled to herself. “Someone must have kicked you.”

She collected the droid, then found a dark corner to hide herself in.

“Finn? Finn, can you hear me?” She whispered into her com.

“Rose? Were are you?” came the reply.

“I'm on level Bravo-twelve. The droid was damaged, that's why we couldn't communicate.”

“You're supposed to be on the ship, with Jacen,” Finn hissed. There were voices in the background Rose couldn't make out.

“Finn, where--”

“It's okay, Rose. I found Fulcrum on the detention level. We'll meet you back at the old access point. We'll be right behind you.”

“Okay, stay safe.” Rose sighed as she cut the com and pocketed the device. She had made it this far, she could make it back. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Rose emerged from her hiding place and turned to head back in the direction in which she'd came.

“Rose? Is-is that you?” a voice called from behind her.

She froze in place. Perhaps if she didn't move, they wouldn't see her.

“Rosie? It is you, oh I'm so glad to see you.”

Slowly, she turned to find Kaydel standing at the opposite end of the corridor.

“Kay...”

The blonde woman latched onto her in a tight hug.

“Oh Rose, I'm so, so sorry. I never intended for you to get taken away like that. I only meant to help. I've been so worried about you. Where have you been?”

“I've been...wait...” Rose pushed her friend off of her. “What did you say?”

“I never meant to cause you problems. The Crown Princess was asking me where you were one evening, and I...I told her you were with the Grand General Hux...that you'd been spending time with him.”

“Kaydel...”

“I thought-I thought if I told her, it would make things easier for you two. It's obvious you care about each other, anyone can see it. I thought if she knew, she would talk to the Crown Prince on your behalf, get you some sort of permission to--”

“You did this,” Rose interrupted.

“I just wanted to--”

“Kaydel, they drugged me. I was strapped to an interrogation chair and tortured by a droid for hours. The only reason I stand here today, is because that man put himself at great risk to save me.”

“But I--”

“We would have been fine, if only you'd chosen to look the other way. But you couldn't do me that one small courtesy, could you? I did it for you when you were sleeping with that guard. I thought we were friends.”

“We are!”

“Friends don't stab each other in the back, Kaydel.”

The blonde woman's eyes were beginning to water at Rose's tongue lashing.

“Do you know who did come for us? It was Pryde. Not the Princess. Not the Crown Prince. Pryde. We didn't get a fairy tale ending, because you couldn't keep your mouth shut.” Rose's voice was rising as she jabbed her friend in the chest with her finger.

“I just wanted you to be happy...” Kaydel said between sobs.

In a rare, uncharacteristic moment of anger, Rose slapped her squarely across the face. “How dare you. How dare you presume to know what I want.”

Rose could feel the hot tears of her anger streaking down her own face. In the past, she would have apologized, kept quiet. But now that she'd been given the chance to figure out who she really was, Rose ripped into her friend.

Former friend.

That Kaydel, her very best, and really only friend, had been the one to betray her stung especially hard. They had spent the majority of their life together, working to serve the Princess. They shared a room. They had been each other's greatest confidences. They had been each other's found family, sisters united in their situations. They had gotten along well with each other, and the Princess.

“I'm sorry, Rose. I'm so sorry,” Kaydel sobbed, holding her cheek. “I just...I was jealous that you had been chosen to dance at the Princess's wedding, and-”

“That's what this is about? You were jealous because I had to dance at the wedding? That's the most karking shit I've ever heard, Kay! You were there, you danced with Mitaka.”

“But Mitaka is...he's not...”

“He's not what, Kay?” Rose said with the firmness of a disappointed mother.

“He's not as high ranking as the Grand General,” she mumbled, looking down at her feet.

“So that's what this is really about. You were jealous that Hux was more interested in me than you.”

Kaydel nodded between her sobs.

“That is...that's messed up, Kaydel. I thought we were friends.”

“We are! We are, Rose. Honestly, I didn't think that-”

“That's your problem. You never think before you do anything.” With a sigh, Rose turned to leave.

“Wait! Rose, where are you going? Please...take me with you.”

Rose glanced back over her shoulder at her former friend. “You made this mess, Kaydel. Now you must lie in it.”

Even though he had slipped through the servants corridors unnoticed, as soon as he stepped into the armoury, Armitage knew something was wrong.

Crouched behind a crate full of weapons, he stilled his breathing, and listened. It was too quiet for his liking, even with everyone somewhere else.

“You might as well come out, Hux. I know you know I'm here.”

With a small sigh, Armitage stood and came out from behind the crate. The Crown Prince stood, blocking his path. He held his lightsaber casually in his hand and Armitage was keenly aware of the fact that he hadn't ignited it yet was a ploy to lure him into a false sense of security.

He schooled his face into what he hoped was a look of disinterest and casually dusted himself off.

“I'm surprised to see you, Hux. I thought for sure you'd gone to ground. We had scouts out for weeks looking for you. But I am glad you're back. The old man is on the verge of death. They say it's only a matter of hours now. When he's finally gone, I will rule the galaxy. With you at my war table, we'll be unstoppable.”

With his back durasteel straight and his arms clasped firmly behind him, Armitage walked towards the Prince. “What is your plan?”

The Prince's perpetual frown softened ever so slightly. “After a small mourning period, we'll host a coronation for myself and the Princess. Nothing too over the top. We'll lure leaders of systems here to convince them we want peace, and then –“

It was at that moment, just as he came to stand beside the Prince, that his com activated.

“Jakobi, where are you? I'm at the rendezvous point. It's crawling with troopers, I can't wait long.”

Letting out a long suffering sigh, Armitage put his hands in his pockets and pulled his com from one of them.

“Go without me, I'll be right behind you.”

“But what about Rose? There will be hell to pay if-” Whatever Poe said next was lost as he dropped the com to the floor and crushed it beneath his boot. Looking back at the Prince, Armitage let out another sigh.

“Well, that was unfortunate,” he said to the bewildered looking Prince. But before Kylo Ren could respond, Hux slapped one of the cuffs onto the Prince's nearest wrist.

The affect of the ysalamir's diencephalon was immediate. The Prince fell to one of his knees with a loud grunt of pain. It was clear his connection to the Force had been cut off, or at least severely impacted.

“What have you done, Hux?” he gritted out.

Pulling a small blaster from his inner coat pocket, the former Grand General pointed it at the soon-to-be Emperor. “I'm evening the odds.”

The Prince let out a grunt of anger as he lunged forward to swat the blaster from Armitage hand. Armitage, for his part, stumbled back a few steps as the blaster skidded across the floor and ended up somewhere behind a stack of crates.

Using the force, the Prince recalled his lightsaber with some difficulty. It reminded Armitage of the early days when he was still learning to master his powers. It was obvious the cuffs Rose had given him were having an affect and had dampened the Prince's powers. It would give him a fighting chance at escaping and returning to the new life he was building with Rose.

Armitage pulled a collapsible truncheon from his greatcoat, the end of which was equipped with a shock prod. He'd found it tucked away in his belongings when they'd initially escaped. Someone had packed it for him.

Mitaka.

Activating the shock prod, Armitage lunged at the Prince and jabbed the end into his shoulder. The Prince cried out in pain, but still found the strength to grab the truncheon.

He snapped it in half as if it were a twig.

Slowly, the Prince climbed to his feet. “Hux,” he uttered, his voice rough with pain. “We've been friends for years. I will forgive your transgressions and restore you to your place as my right hand if you give this foolishness up. I will even make allowances for your woman to join you. Not as a mistress, but in a place of honour at your side.”

“I'd rather be thrown into a sarlacc pit.”

“Suit yourself,” the Prince replied as a scowl took over his face. He hit the activation button on his lightsaber and pointed it at Hux. “In truth, I was hoping you'd refuse.”

As the Prince slashed at him, Armitage jumped backwards into a stack of crates, causing the pile to tumble over. He narrowly avoided the Prince's downward stab as he rolled to one side. While the Prince was momentarily distracted, Armitage swiped out with his foot, knocking the Prince to the floor. Kylo landed with a heavy thud on the floor, but he wasn't about too stick around to watch. He was well schooled in hand-to-hand combat at close range, perhaps more so than the Prince. But Kylo had the advantage of the Force, even if it was dulled. He needed something, anything, to help level the playing field.

Across the armoury, he spied a crate with faded aurebesh writing on it. It was across the large room, but if he could get to it...

Pulling a pair of daggers from his boots, Armitage threw them at the Prince. The first was easily deflected, but the second lodged deep into the Prince's shoulder.

Enraged, the Prince used the Force in an attempt to throw crates at him as he ran across the room. As he reached the crate he was aiming for, Kylo pushed the stack in an attempt to pin him to the wall. But the knife in his shoulder and his dampened connection to the Force caused the stack of crates to topple over instead, and Armitage's problem of how he was going to open the crate while being vulnerable to the Prince was answered.

The lids on the crates broke free of their magnetic bonds, spilling their contents across the floor in Armitage's path. They were full of weapons.

Specifically, the same weapons that the Praetorian Guard used.

The only weapons that could withstand an assault by a lightsaber.

The Prince's long legs quickly carried him across the room towards his former friend. But as he reached up to attack in a downward strike, his red lightsaber was blocked by the weapon Hux now wielded: a Praetorian double-bladed pole-arm.

“We were friends, Hux. I considered you a brother! What happened?” The Prince growled as he pushed his lightsaber down on Hux.

“I saw the truth, Ren. No one here is happy, not even you! Our entire lives are lies, fed to us by the Emperor for his own machinations. Our lives are not our own so long as we live here under his thumb.” Pushing back against the Prince, the two men sprang apart.

“It is my divine right to rule this galaxy!”

“You're as delusional as the Emperor!”

Armitage narrowly avoided the Prince's lunge, parring at the last moment. But what he didn't see was Kylo's follow-up: pulling the ceiling down on them both.

If this was to be his end, he hoped that he had caused enough of a distraction for the others to escape.

Jacen paced the cargo hold of the Eidolon like a caged loth-wolf. Something had gone dreadfully wrong. He glanced at the chronometer before letting out a sigh. They were taking too long. Everyone was well past their last check-in, but what could he do? Someone had to stay with the ship. If Rose hadn't run off...

Rose...

Thinking about her made his stomach churn. If the Grand General came back to discover she was gone, he was a dead man. He didn't need his connection to the Force to tell him that.

“Anything, Chop?”

The astromech shook its head. The droid had been monitoring all frequencies, but there had been no communication, not even from the palace itself. From that, they concluded that the Emperor was still breathing. For now, at least.

Jacen let out an irritable sigh. “Where is everyone?”

He couldn't even inform command of the situation. They were under strict instructions to remain dark until they were well clear of Exegol space.

Just as he was about to pull his hair out, Chopper lit up, flailing his droid arms around. Quickly, the droid plugged himself into the nearest terminal.

“Come in....Spectre Seven, come in. Do you read me? This is Fulcrum.” The audio in the hangar crackled to life, cutting in and out.

“Chop, can you boost the signal? Fulcrum, this is Spectre Seven, I read you. Please tell me you have good news.”

“We do. We have both Fulcrum agents and are headed towards you. We've encountered little resistance, and while we don't want to jinx ourselves, we should be at your location within the hour. You'll be able to monitor us on the predetermined frequency. Go dark.”

The line cut, but Jacen had already climbed up into the cockpit. He turned a few dials until he was able to find the tracker Finn had carried with him. It seemed they were out of whatever dead zone they had found themselves in and were slowly making their way towards the ship.

“Someone must be injured if they're moving that slowly,” he mumbled to no one as he watched the agonizingly slow progress of the dot on the screen. A brisk walking pace should have them back in half the time that Fulcrum had said.

“Chopper! Prepare the med kits, I think we're going to need them.”

From the base of the ladder, Chopper saluted and got to work.

It was nearly two hours later before Fulcrum broke the silence.

“We'll be at your location within five minutes,” was all that was said before the line went dead again. Jacen waited a few more minutes before opening the hangar. The engines of the Eidolon were primed for a quick getaway.

The problem?

Only three figures limped over the hill towards the ship instead of six.

Finn and Mitaka were supporting Kallus with his arms over his shoulders, a leg clearly broken.

“What happened? Where is everyone else?” he asked, ushering them inside.

“Poe is right behind us,” Kallus grunted as he eased himself down onto a bench. “He was covering our escape because, well...” he motioned to his bad leg.

“Okay everyone, lets get going!” Poe announced a moment later as he ran up the gangway.

“Where's Jakobi and Rose?” Jacen asked.

“What do you mean, 'where is Rose?'” Armitage asked as he limped his way into the hangar, one arm around his side to help stop the bleeding. His face was bruised and bloody, his greatcoat torn to shreds. One eye was nearly swollen shut, and his lower lip split in several places. The arm that wasn't around his side hung limply as blood that his coat couldn't absorb dripped onto the floor. It still tightly held the pole-arm

Poe visibly cringed as he looked the man over. “What happened to you?”

“Kylo Ren happened.”

“And you escaped?”

“Barely,” he grunted out as he shrugged off Finn's attempt to help him. With his good arm, he reached for the collar of Jacen's leather bomber jacket. “Where is Rose? Where...is...my...wife?” With what little strength he still possessed, Armitage lifted the man off his feet and pointed one of the blades of the pole-arm at his neck.

“She left to help Fulcrum when there was a communications issue with the mouse droid,” Jacen stated calmly, raising his hands slightly as he did.

“And you just let her?” He poked the tip of the blade at Jacen's Adam's apple.

“In all honesty, I tried to stop her. But she's a spirited woman and short of physically restraining her, there was no way to stop her from going.”

“Let's all just take a breath for a moment,” Finn said, trying to step between the two men. Hux dropped Jacen with a growl.

“We made contact with Rose while we were in the Palace,” Finn continued. “Something had happened to the relay on the mouse droid and she came to fix it.”

“She was to remain on the ship.”

“She was worried about us. It's just in her nature to care for her friends like that.”

“We'll find her,” Poe added, putting a hand cautiously on Armitage's shoulder.

He tightened his grip on the pole-arm “If anything's happened to her...if she's been captured again-”

“You'll burn the galaxy, yes we know.” Poe added. Armitage cast him a sideways glance that suggested the man was within an inch of his life.

“Did she state where she was when she made contact?” Jacen asked, trying to diffuse the situation further. Logic and clear heads would prevail in this situation.

“She said she was on level Bravo-twelve, and was to meet us back at the old access tunnel. She wasn't there when we arrived, so we kept moving.”

“That's deep inside the Palace,” Kallus added, pulling up a holographic map. “It's possible she ran into trouble.”

Jacen opened his mouth to ask a question when the com line crackled with static. Everyone exchanged curious glances as the noise continued for a few moments before cutting off.

“Chopper, can you clear up that line?”

The cantankerous droid plugged himself into a terminal again and a red dot appeared on the map. They watched as it approached the ship, and as it crested the nearby hill the Eidolon hid behind, Hux limped his way to the bottom of the gangway.

“I'm here!” Rose breathlessly shouted as she ran as best she could towards the ship, the broken mouse droid in her arms. “Don't leave without me!”

The sight of her had Armitage hobbling as best he could towards her. Reaching her, he picked her up with his good arm, hugging her tightly.

“I thought I'd lost you,” he whispered as he kissed her. The cracks and splits on his lips made it painful, but he didn't care.

“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry,” she said, struggling to regain her breath.

“We need to go, now!” Jacen yelled from the ship as Poe and Finn rushed to help their friends.

Safely aboard the ship, Rose glanced back as the gangway retracted and the hatch closed to find a blonde woman had followed her.

“Goodbye, Kaydel.”

The journey back to Ajan Kloss was long. Longer than the trip there had been.

Concerned that they were being followed, Jacen added several stops to the journey. The previously eighteen hour trip was now doubled. With nothing to do but wait, the ship had been turned to autopilot and most people were resting.

Except for Armitage.

Standing in the small fresher, he leaned heavily on the small durasteel sink, his nails digging into the cold metal as best they could. Glancing up, he looked at his reflection of the mirror.

Even by his usual standards, he looked like a pale shade of his former self. Though having a ceiling collapse on oneself probably didn't help matters.

Save for the cuts and bruising, which were numerous, his skin was as white as the snows on Hoth.

Armitage moved his head slowly from side to side, examining the damage. He had always been one to bruise easily, but this was next level.

“Arm?” A light knock came on the locked door. “Are you in there?”

He sighed, reluctantly unlocking the door to let Rose in. She carefully slid the door open just enough to stick her head in the small room.

“Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“You're not fine, let me see.” She pushed her way into the small room, closing the door behind her. “You've been hiding in here since we left Exegol.”

“I didn't want you to see – ow!” Armitage glanced down to see Rose spraying bacta gel on one of his wounds.

“Did you really think that that I wouldn't be able to handle seeing you this way? I spent many years cleaning the cuts and scrapes on the Princess. She was always getting into things. Always finding trouble...”

“You sound sad about it.”

“I suppose in a way, I am.” Carefully, Rose reached up to dab gel on Armitage's jawline. “She's not a terrible person, just stuck in terrible circumstances. When we were younger, we used to play all sorts of games and tricks on the guards. Captain Phasma was quite indulgent about it. But as she got older, the Emperor started making demands on her time and she slowly began to change. All the lessons and studying he made her do, to make her worthy of her future mantle...it hardened her.

I don't blame her. She really had no choice to cast me aside. It's Kaydel's actions that hurt the most.”

“You saw her?” Armitage's words stilled Rose's gentle hand.

“I did...She-she told me everything. She's the one who betrayed us to the Crown Prince and Princess.”

Armitage took her hands in his and pulled Rose into a hug. Her sobs muffled by his chest.

He let her cry for as long as she needed. Once her sobs subsided, he carefully leaned back just enough to see her face.
“Agra, I'm sorry,” he brushed the tears from her cheeks and smoothed out her messed up hair. “I'm sorry for all of this. You wouldn't have gone through any of this if it wasn't for me.”

“Stop. It's because of you that I'm free.”

“But-”

“Armitage, you set us free. I would rather spend the rest of my life on some backwater planet, quietly living out my days than stay in the palace.”

“You'd trade your safety and security for the unknown?”

“Even with the high position I enjoyed, it was hardly safe. On even the slightest whim, I could have been thrown into the detention block. You know that.”

Armitage hung his head, fully aware of his role he had in placing many of the staff there.

“I'll take my chances in the unknown. With you.” Her hand gently cupped his cheek, careful not to upset his wounds.

Slowly, Armtiage leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Her chapped lips tasted like bacta and had a bitter sting to them. Despite the discomfort, he deepened the kiss when Rose's mouth opened to his.

This woman, this amazing woman still wanted to be with him despite everything.

“I love you, so much,” he mumbled, nuzzling his nose against hers. But as he leaned in to kiss her again, the fresher door flew open.

“Oh man, I've really got to – Kriff! Dank farrik, Hux! If you're going to make out with your wife, do it somewhere else!” Poe shouted as he quickly averted his eyes while trying to push his way into the small fresher.

“What are you doing, Dameron?” Armitage snarled.

“What does it look like? I need to use the facilities. Now get out!” Poe shoved the lovers out of the fresher as Rose giggled.

When at long last the Eidolon landed back at Ajan Kloss, everyone was exhausted. General Organa came to greet them, but the sight of them had her promising to do a full debrief in the morning. The general was surprised to find she'd been requested in the medical bay, by Armitage, no less.

She shuffled into the medbay of the Tantive IV to find Armitage sitting upright while several med-droids poked and prodded at his wounds.

“You look like you fell into a sarlacc pit,” she said, pulling up a stool beside his bed.

“I think I would have preferred that.”

“I heard from Poe you fought with Kylo Ren. Not many people can go toe-to-toe with him and survive.”

“I almost didn't. It was pure luck that the ceiling collapsed when it did.”

Leia's eyes narrowed at the man as she eyed him slyly. “I'm sure it was. Poe also mentioned you failed to meet him at the rendezvous point. You went off mission.”

“I think, General,” he said, grunting in discomfort as he reached for the datapad beside his bed, “you'll find it was quite worth it.”

“What is this?” she asked, taking the datapad from his hands and scrolling through the files

“It's my personal, private datapad. It contains information on all the projects I worked on while I was in the palace. I was also able to download specs on new projects they've started.”

“You took a great risk in getting this to us. You'll receive a commendation for this.”

Armitage shook his head, wincing as he did. “I don't need any more medals for my collection. Use this information however you need. Consider it a parting gift for taking us in.”

“You're leaving us?”
“It's never been my intention to stay. Rose wishes to live free somewhere, and I'll go wherever she is.”

A smile crossed Leia's face as she stood and placed her hand on Armitage's shoulder. “My boy, you have truly become what you were meant to be. We met once, long ago. Even then, I could see the determination in your young eyes.”

Confusion crossed Armitage's face. “I don't remember.”

“It was so long ago, a lifetime ago. You were there to greet us when Kylo Ren arrived. You stood, defiantly at your father's side. I knew, even then, you were destined for something great. But, who knew this was to be your legacy.”

“You...you're the Crown Prince's mother?”

Leia nodded once. “When the rebellion failed, my son was the price the Emperor demanded.”

“You willingly gave up your son?”

“There was nothing willing about it. I swore to him I'd find a way to get him back, but...I have failed. Thank you, for being a friend to him all these years.”

“How?” Armitage asked as Leia turned to leave. “How could you just give him up so easily?”

The General turned and looked at him over her shoulder. “Because, we do what we must to survive.”

“Hey, everyone! Wake everyone up, they need to hear this!” Poe shouted as he ran onto the bridge of the Tantive IV. It was late into the third shift and the majority of those on the base were asleep.

“What's going on?”

“The Emperor, he's dead.” Poe stated plainly as he activated the holo-projector. In the centre of the bridge, a large, blueish-grey image of Kylo Ren appeared. “Broadcast this across the base.”

“It is with a heavy heart, that we announce the passing of Emperor Sheev Palpatine. He passed away this evening, his granddaughter and myself by his side as he took his last breath. His entire life he worked tirelessly to unite the galaxy, and with his dying breath, wished for peace.”

“What bantha shit,” Armitage mumbled as he, Rose, and other stumbled half asleep onto the bridge.

“As Emperor,” Kylo Ren continued, “I will endeavour to continue his work to bring peace to our galaxy. My first act as Emperor, will be to hunt down the traitor to the crown, Armitage Hux. He stole valuable information, and must be brought to justice.”

An image of Armitage replaced Kylo's on the projection.
“Anyone found giving this man sanctuary will face the same consequences. However, anyone who has information on him, will be rewarded.”

All eyes in the room turned to Armitage.

“Damn, that's a lot of credits,” Poe added, pulling up the information being transmitted to bounty hunters across the galaxy.

“I have to leave, immediately.”

“I'm coming with you,” Rose clung to his arm.

“Rose-”

“Arm, we shared vows. Where you go, I go.”

He looked down at her. The determination in her eyes burned bright, and he knew he would be unable to persuade her otherwise.

“Fine. We leave within a standard day.”

“Armitage,” Leia added, shuffling over to him. “If this is your decision, I will support you. But you will be safe here with us.”

“Thank you, General. But the best option is to leave, the sooner the better.”

Leia nodded once. “You'll always have a place here among us.”

“Rose, are you sure about this?” Finn asked, handing Rose a micro-spanner as he did. The pair sat at a workbench, the small mouse droid laid out before them.

“Armitage insists. Besides,” she sat back and pulled off her work goggles, “us leaving will keep everyone here safe. If we're not here, the Emperor has no reason to come.”

“Rose...”

“Finn, Kylo Ren is relentless. He's essentially a human massiff. He'll sniff us out, and when he does, we can't be here.”

“Are you sure this is what you want? A life on the run, stuck in hiding?”

“It's...not quite how I'd imagined my life, but, so long as I'm with him, we'll be fine.” Rose leaned forward, placing her hand on Finn's knee. “I promise.”

It was only a few hours later when Rose and Armitage stood on the tarmac, waiting to board the Eidolon. They had arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs, so packing their few belongings hadn't taken much time.

The plan was for Jacen to take them to Mandalore, where hasty arrangements had been made for them to meet with a local Fulcum agent, who would assist them with onward travel. From there, no one knew where they would go. For the safety of everyone, not even Armitage or Rose knew where the Fulcrum agent planned to send them.

Their Resistance uniforms had been exchanged for civilian clothing, though Armitage had refused to give up his greatcoat.

“It's too distinctive, you'll be spotted as soon as you land,” Poe argued.

“Nonsense, it hides my face no problem,” Armitage stated as he flipped up the large collar.

“Not that hideous shade of colour your hair is,” Poe mumbled in reply.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“Listen, Dameron...I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye these last few months, but...thank you. If it hadn't been for you, Rose and I would have been stranded on Kef Bir.”

“I somehow doubt that. You're too resourceful to get stuck like that.”

“You took us in and gave us shelter when you didn't have to. I wanted to thank you for that,” Armitage extended his hand to Poe.

Poe hesitantly embraced Armitage. When he stepped back, he looked down at what had been slipped into his hand.

“Use this encryption key to contact us if we can help with anything.”

“Are you sure?” Poe asked, turning the small fob over in his hands. “This is an Imperial encryption key. Won't they be able to trace it?”

“Who do you think programmed their system?” Armitage smirked. “Rose, are you ready to go?”

“I am,” she sniffled, letting go of Finn's hug. “I'm sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't cry.”

“Here, General Organa asked me to give this to you. It's old, but, she hopes it will bring you a bit of luck.” Finn handed her a piece of fabric.

Unfolding it, Rose discovered it to be a forest green poncho. She slipped it over her head and pulled up the hood. It was large, almost too large on her. She felt a bit lost under the fabric, but knew it would easily obscure her face.

“The General wore it when she fought in the Battle of Endor. It's not much, but she hopes it helps.”

“Thank you, I'll treasure it.” She hugged Finn again. Then, with a deep breath she took Armitage's hand in hers. The pair walked up the gangway, stopping briefly in the doorway for Rose to wave as the hatch closed.

A few minutes later, the Eidolon had taken flight and was exiting Ajan Kloss's atmosphere.

“Do you think they'll be okay?” Finn asked, watching as the ship vanished from view.

“I'm sure they will. They're resourceful people. Besides,” Poe added, holding up the encryption key, “we've gained a powerful new Fulcrum agent.”