Deep, deep underground

HUX, ARMITAGE
REF ID: 45529

He was their prized possession - the Resistances cherry on top. Wanted dead or alive, and they managed to track him on a jettisoning escape cruiser to some farming planet on the outskirts of nowhere with nothing but two loyal troopers defending him after the war had ended. He'd skittered to the corner of the room, nearly tripping twice of his long lanky legs but regained composure out of adrenaline, stopping his fall from holding onto the cement wall.

"And what about him!?" He sauntered back to the five inch thick glass and bars that kept him confined, pointing his bony finger to the cell adjacent from his, door slightly ajar to nothingness. It twisted his insides, he saw the nameplate before they threw him in here. "What about him.." He hissed, voice lowering with pure hard boiled anger.

SOLO, BEN
REF ID: 19938

The guard, who wore a thick padded vest underneath a hard coated enamel suit turned his head which adorned a large shiny black helm, and read the nameplate - as if he didn't know who was set to arrive next. The man grimaced behind the helmet, but Hux was unable to see. "Investigation and trial pending." The black helmet faced Hux full on. "Could have been you if your heart wasn't intertwined with evil." He walked off and Hux's blood curdling screams echoed only in his chamber.

And this was months ago.

Hux withered, and not because of neglect of prisoners well being from the 'resistance', he continuously kicked away food trays, slammed them against the wall until bowls broke and food splattered the walls, to which he would be escorted out with a metal box over his head until the room was set back to perfection. He sat in the corner, his limbs grew scrawnier than his natural state - which made him grimace, memories of his father picking on his naturally smaller physique came to mind. His facial hair sprouted, red coarse hair dropped down toward the floor, his hair longer than he had ever kept it, greasy and unkept. This was his protest until that cell across from his was filled.

See - he knew Kylo Ren had switched sides. Hux's stomach flipped at the memories - the murder of their supreme leader and Kylo believing he could fill those shoes. His brow twitched. He watched Kylo spiral into what he thought would be his life ending madness - or at least Hux had hoped for that in all of this chaos. It was his right to lead this army, the army he cultivated with the teachings of his father. Kylo was but a boy, a confused boy and had not one bearing to being a leader. Suddenly Kylo disappeared on a mission he claimed only he could complete - in regards to this Hux was met with a threat and a cold shoulder. Days later the Resistance had mustered the rest of what they could get to attack. The sweet taste of betrayal lingered to this day.

Today was different, he watched as a guard stopped in between his cell and Kylo's rightful one, and Hux could tell it was not feeding time. He scrambled to his feet and gripped the bars till his knuckles turned sheet white, watching the man like a starved predator. But he did not turn toward Hux, instead he took a step toward the empty cell and Hux swore he felt butterflies in there fluttering about, salivating at the thought of Kylo rotting miles underground with the people that wanted to tear him to shreds.

He heard a powered tool and his brows furrowed. "Is he being transferred?" He muttered, pushing his face against the cool bars to squint harder at the man, not loud enough to be heard over the tool. Perhaps because he turned last minute he wont be in maximum detention. His mouth tasted bitter - oh the pleasure he wanted to have seeing him thrown in there..

The powered tool shut off and the man took a few steps back, admiring something in his gloved hands, Hux peered as hard as he could but he didn't quite see what it was.

"What is that." He inquired calmly, thinking this may be the only chance he could ask with the little sanity he had left. The man looked over his shoulder and stared at him for a few moments before displaying what he had in his hand. Hux immediately noticed the tool that was clutched in the crook of his elbow, paid no mind to it and narrowed his vision to the hand.

Kylo Ren's nameplate.

"And why is that being removed - has the trial finished?" The guard remained silent. "He isn't getting maximum security - I'm right, aren't I? Blasted.." He could feel heat cover his face, red anger boiling from his toes to the hair atop his head.

Suddenly the guard laughed, a good hearty one at that, right in Hux's face. "He isn't getting no time in here." He removed his hand and snaked it into the pouch resting on his hip, making sure to zip it afterwards. "All Kylo Ren gets is a slap on the wrist apparently - not that most of us agree, but I'm sure you'll find that tidbit of information helpful in your years to come."

Hux ran his boney white fingers through the greasy tendrils of hair, pulled, and screamed in not half a second.

Supreme Court, Jathea - Resistance & Newly Appointed Galactic Senate

It was more than a slap on the wrist - that was for sure, but he took it, and grateful at that. The judge droned on above him on his elevated pedestal, his droopy eyes slowly reading lines from a long inscribed parchment...

...to be monitored for a to-be-determined timeframe from an appointed guard...

Ben didn't listen much. He heard the hustle and bustle beforehand of the 'this is what's probably going to happen' spiel, told directly to him from people supporting him, and from hushed but not so hushed angrily spat words from base goers walking past him. His mother Leia had briefed him as well, as happily as she could, it was a glow on her face he hadn't seen once. Maybe that one time on the only 'family vacation' they'd ever taken on Hoth… He blinked the memory away - what mattered was that she had a new start to her step and he listened to whatever she wanted to tell him about this case, no matter how boring the whole legal semantics were.

...a complete and irreversible personal ban on weapons of all kinds, including all previously owned belongings - such items will be surrendered to the senate...

The court room was large, shaped like a cone with pews that were able to sit hundreds on stacked rows, and hundreds of people meant most of them were against this hearing. Ben could tell, he could see them in his peripheral shaking their heads, getting up to leave with clenched fists and begin arguments with those sitting next to them. He didn't blame them, for what he had done in the past and leading up until his eventual surrender and assistance, he assumed he would be thrown into the underground bunker where people go to rot into bones covered with a thin layer of skin. Amidst all this chaos, all these people of different races, species, faces, he could spot her instantly.

She sat on a lonely pew, on the edge, watching intently with those big hazel eyes, laden with worry for the lack of his own. It grew something warm inside of him, seeing her. It wasn't just this appearance - she had been present every day of the trail, and it was agonizing, at least he assumed so - being held in a temporary cell was definitely worse than hearing the jury, the Judge and many witnesses. She stayed through it all. Something she'd bring herself a lunch and he'd catch her mid-munch, they would lock eyes for a brief moment and she hurriedly chewed her bite. Sometimes she would get cozy and prop her feet up on the metal bannister - or most of the time, she sat on edge, her body squared, listening intently for brief sentences of law words she would want to research to have the most know how and help for afterwards.

An outcry of voices rang through the large room, it echoed in the silence, the judges voice had finished. Anger and dismay smeared on the faces of those who he'd hurt and disappointed. But Rey's face - that's all he wanted to see, and that big smile spread from ear to ear. It almost made him want to crack a smile - almost.

The viewers poured out first, ushered away from officers with long red neon batons pointing the way out, most wanted to grip the bannisters and yell that the judge had made a mistake and the underground needed a fresh resident. Ben watched Rey try to smoothly talk her way out of leaving to the officer but he just should his head, and she looked at him for a small moment before begrudgingly entering the hallway.

Afterwards Ben had shook the hand of the Judge and thanked him for his leniency - something Leia had told him to say - and not that he wouldn't use his sincere manners but he was glad she had to remind him, because he had far more on his plate. The guards guided him away from the courtroom and into a series of halls, where he went through more legal droning with a straight face, before he was allowed to have these laser shackles dismantled off his wrists. He rubbed the smooth skin of his wrists with his calloused rough fingers, the small hard bumps of skin tickled the sensitive skin.

The first to enter the room was Leia, who he had not seen in the courtroom but he didn't bother to chase faces after he had seen Rey, but he felt a wave of relief nonetheless.

The stood in front of him, almost looking unsure of what to say or do, a puzzled look donned her face before she shook it off and approached with open arms, closing him in on a motherly hug he was not accustomed to. The corners of his lips tugged into a smile, and he wrapped his own much larger arms around her tiny frame, she was so small her head just barely hit his chest. He thought back to the last time he had seen her, as a pre-teen that was, when she had made the decision for him to accompany Luke. He was just a smidge taller than her and it made him inwardly laugh - oh how the times have changed.

"Ben, I..." Leia had took a step back, keeping a firm loving grasp on his biceps, looking up at him with those eyes he had thought about many times. "I had always hoped this day would come." The guard excused himself to the darkened corner to give them some time. "Most people - they didn't believe, but I knew."

Ben showed her a small smile, one he didn't think she'd ever seen. "I didn't give most people the reason to believe."

"Only a few can sense what's in a persons heart." Leia intertwined her bejewelled fingers and lay them to rest at her abdomen. My son is alive. Hans words echoed, and although he was not force sensitive a bond of love can truly lead one to see. "Rey.. She could see it too. She fought tooth and nail for you."

"I don't deserve to have her on my side." He spoke from the heart, nothing but the truth, it was was she deserved. "Or you for that matter." When he first returned to his mother at the beginning-of-the-end of the war he was half expecting her to give him a big smack across the face with her jewelled hands, and maybe a fierce choke for what he had put her through all these years. Often times in his youth when he acted up Leia would smack him mildly across the back of his head, and what did he deserve after killing his father? Maybe he didn't understand the unconditional parental love she had for him, but as of right now it didn't make a whole lot of sense.

"You've got a fierce ally in her."

As if on cue, the spinning door curled in on itself and revealed a few silhouettes against the brighter lights in the corridor, he knew instantly of Rey, her smaller frame against those standing beside her. Her warmth radiated into the room immediately, followed by the crack of a toothy grin, but she stay planted where she was, unsure of if she was intruding into a intimate mother-son moment. Beside her Finn stood, his face was not so awestruck, instead closer resembled those who yelled after the judgement was declared. A pout, an angry one at that, and his eyes cold, staring into Bens own eyes. Ben drew in a sharp breath - this was a close friend of Reys and he would have to play nice. Not to mention the regime he helped lead tried to kill Finn numerous times.

A girl stood beside Finn, she too did not look pleased, but more of a monotone look she displayed. Her dark hair feathered at the ends, and her arms crossed over her chest. A glimmering half-moon sat atop her collarbone. He didn't recognize this one, but it was yet another connected with Rey that wildly disliked him. Ben watched the two leave and Rey entered timidly, after Leia had brought a hand up to usher her in.

"Well... That was an ordeal." Rey breathed out the pent up tension that had been lingering there for what Ben could only assume was this whole trial. "Even after I had been told what the Jury would most likely choose I still worried.." She shook her head at the mere ridiculousness with a sheepish smile creeping on her face. "And here we are."

"Here we are indeed." Leia smiled, bringing Rey into a tight hug, Ben watched with a ball of warmth in his stomach, Reys eyes fluttering shut, her curled eyelashes barely dusting her rosy cheeks. "Thank you so much for attending every hearing."

Rey stepped back, and shook her head with a smile. "Of course I wouldn't miss them, I couldn't let there be an injustice."

Rey had secretly met up with Ben, the holding cell he was assigned to was not heavily guarded, effectively making it easy for the scavenger to tinker her way through. She had knelt down and placed her face to the cool bars, eyes staring up at him when he had stood up with shock. He knelt down in front of her, wrapping his long fingers around the bar when he had eased himself down to her level, sitting down on the cold concrete at his feet. I had to see you. She whispered, a single light flickering from wires above their heads, illuminating small sparks in her orbs. I don't want you getting in trouble just to see me. Ben had voiced, his eyes occasionally darting to the revolving doors, where just on the other side an officers desk sat in the nook of a room. Rey snickered silently. As if they'll get me in trouble, tiny slap on the wrist is all they could do to me right now. Ben smiled. It had meant a lot she was willing to even get just a small slap on the wrist to come see him, he hadn't done much to deserve anything. So why are you here then. Rey looked down, suddenly the cheer left and the small light in her eyes disappeared, it now flickered on the hair atop her head. I just didn't want you to be alone, or to think you're alone in this. She raised her hand and warily covered his hand with her small dainty one. I will attend every hearing.

That was the only time he had gotten to see her up close since the war ended, now standing freely before her without constraints on left him unsure what to do. He had a lot of emotions, and things he wanted to say to her, explain, tell her.

But for now, all he could muster was a smile, and a "thank you Rey."

And deep, deep underground, Armitage Hux had been strapped down to a wheelchair. He thrashed and screamed, his mind absolutely obliterated. They wheeled him with grimaces on their faces, wheeled him down many corridors until they stopped before a large armored door. Men behind thick glass checked their ID's and allowed them access, the door hissing open, bright red lights spinning around. This made Hux stop, curiosity getting the better of him now, his ears opening as his vision was covered by a black sac over his head.

"Where am I going - tell me dammit!"

They wheeled him in further, and stopped before another door, using their own ID tags to open it this time. One of the large guards unstrapped him and threw Hux in, the thin mess tripping inside and landing on what he did not expect - it was cushiony.

By the time Hux ripped the hood off his head, leaving disheveled ginger hair, they had closed the door behind them. Now locked behind a door and in a mental cell - a padded one, Hux could only further dissolve into madness.