Hi Everyone & Happy Saturday !

This is my first Star Wars fanfiction and this is my first fanfiction in English so please be indulgent.

I am a native French speaker and I want to improve in English which is why I decided to translate my own fanfic. Consequently some idioms may end up weird, some words used wrongly or out of context. Please feel free to correct me !

I am a huge Reylo fan and my fingers started typing the moment this idea came into my mind.

As states the Title, this is an AU fanfic. A Slow-burn romance in an uneasy context.

I am not sure if M-rating is relevant but just in case M it is !

Enjoy your reading !

Chapitre n°1: Kaitlyn.

A Tall dark-haired man hurried off the police car before striding over the entrance of the "E" dormitory of New Alderaan University campus. That was not the first time he went around this place. He easily recognized at first glance the age worn façades of the buildings, the fall frost bushes framing each solid oak door as well as the forest green road plates defining the streets. But now was not a proper time for recalling all these crazy years of him becoming an adult. A corpse had been discovered few minutes, maybe few hours earlier and time was against his team. The day, though, had well begun and he would have rather spend his evening chilling on his sofa with a good book in hands and a fresh beer on the adjacent sideboard.

It didn't take much time for Police lieutenant Kylo Ren to reach the room No.205, where the crime had occurred. It was a usual Wednesday evening and the hallways were empty, most of the students being out in town roaming from bar to bar. A petite ginger-haired stern-looking woman in her forties was waiting for them downstairs and ushered them till the door of the room, summing up the situation: "Giulia Andrews, head of the infirmary. We were called a little earlier by the victim's roommate. We only came in to confirm the death," She took a small break, adjusting her crimson colored triangle glasses on her trumpet-shaped nose, before adding almost icily: "Using gloves, of course".

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow, seemingly pleased by this common-sense initiative, before dismissing her without further ado. They were now in charge of the investigation and they ought to let them do their job. "Duly noted. You may go, we will take care from now on".

With a nod, she poked her head through the door opening and called her colleague. Few seconds later, a bald man in his early fifties wearing a pair of round-shaped glasses was leaving the room while whispering kind soothing words. Kylo Ren instantly winced. Could it be that the roommate was still in the room? Were they incompetent enough to let a living being stay and potentially compromise the crime scene? Smothering a sigh of frustration, he slowly entered the room and swallowed with one glance the brutality of the murder. Let's not beat around the bush: it had been a slaughter. A strong – almost sickening - mix of iron, pungent perspiration and disinfectant emanated from the small room. The room included two single beds with cream colored blankets. The one next to the entrance was drenched in fresh blood in which laid the victim's body. The warm peach-colored walls as well as the wooden floor had been splattered by spurts of blood. The pillow on which the head was resting was soaked by what seemed like a mixture of blood and probably sweat. They would need to scour the room to be sure but presumably the murderer didn't leave any weapon behind. Lastly, there was a "pretty" trail of blood on the floor next to the bed, as if someone had slipped on it walking into the room.

His colleague Phasma, a tall woman with short cropped platinum blond hair, walked into the small bedroom without hesitation and started shooting several pictures of the scene ; first to get an overview of the scene from different angles before taking close-up shots of the corpse. A third person, Mitaka the latest addition to their team, joined them in, disclosing somberly and without restraint the usual information: "The victim's been identified as Kaitlyn McConaughey, aged of 26 years old, human rac-…" However, the Lieutenant quickly silenced him with a hand gesture, scanning the rest of the room.

The room was oddly silent. But his doubt were confirmed when he spotted chestnut hair kept up in a messy bun. This had to be the roommate, he deduced. Huddled in the opposite corner of the room, he could not see her face which she had buried in her forearms, but he could clearly see her long delicate fingers stained with blood. With his deep and irrevocable cold voice, he gave new instructions to his subordinates: "Mitaka, call an ambulance. Phasma, I can smell disinfectant, thanks to start collecting samples".

Phone in hand, the nerdy young man they had just hired stormed out the room while the Lieutenant took light steps to reach the young woman. Her day had a sorry ending, no need to scare her even further. He had hoped to make her react with a kind soothing voice but it was no use. She remained curled onto herself, hermetically sealed, shut to the rest of the world. He slowly knelt down to her level, gently placing his hands on her shoulders in a comforting gesture before slowly moving his hands down to her elbows and pulling them apart. At first she struggled with him before eventually giving in and revealing her face. And damn, what a face! He clearly hadn't expected that and suddenly his heart came racing in his chest. He could almost feel his cheeks blush and his ears burn: she had a glowing sun-kissed skin and exquisite features with a pair of thin lips, a celestial nose and a myriad of small freckles. But what shook him the most were her stunning hazel eyes which were highlighted by bronze undertone. They were certainly prettier than now, bloodshot and wide-opened. Yet the young woman didn't seem to notice him, staring blankly at nothing and her chin quivering. It was clear that his unknown beauty was in a state of shock. He quickly stifled a groan. He desperately needed to collect himself and quick! Now was neither the right time nor the right place for wandering off track. He was on a crime scene, damn it!

Trying out a new approach, he mumbled gently yet clumsily "Hey, you can't stay here". But the beautiful young woman didn't move the slightest inch. He bit his lower lips out of frustration while standing up and quickly grabbing her forearms to lift her up. She was halfway lifted up when both her legs gave in causing her to slump on the wooden floor. She swallowed loudly and her ribcage heaved with a stifled sob. He had to get her out of here.

Praying for his ears to have recovered their usual color, he quickly peeked at his colleague over his shoulder. The inner struggle was indeed there but his moral conscious eventually prevailed and his left arm was soon sliding under her knees and sweeping her off the ground. She barely weighted more than a feather, he thought while carefully getting around Phasma, making sure that the beautiful face resting against his broad chest could not see the corpse in the bed. He tried his best to look casual but as he never felt nor showed empathy for anyone, his colleague casted him a knowing look and flashed him an amused smile.

Fuck, he was doomed.

… And busted.

Closing the door after him, he leaned against the wall, still carrying the beautiful strange in his arms. She had eventually grabbed his arm and was now struggling with heavy breathing. She kind of looked like an abandoned kitten, he mused. Human warmth would not strangle him and it would certainly have a salutary effect on the young lady. Or at least, that was what he had come up with in order to justify his every act while waiting for that fucking ambulance. This was a waste of time, he was adamant. They had a corpse but no weapon yet. He chastised himself further more: he had to conduct the investigation, damn it! He should not waste any more time playing the babysitter, not even for a witness as beautiful as she was. But at the same time, he thought, since it couldn't be helped and while he could do nothing about it but wait... His eyes were soon enough roaming over her delicate features again, wandering over that amazing constellation of freckles of hers before heading down to her well-defined vermillion lips and how wonderful they would feel against his !... Then his eyes lingered over her clothes: a rough light grey wool cardigan over a slightly worn-out Marine blue denim dress. A thin brown belt was completing the outfit while flattering her slender waist. She was also wearing plain black low-boots on a dark pair of sheer black polka dots tights. The perfect outfit for a student at New Alderaan University, he admitted without further ado.

It wasn't for another fifteen minutes before Maz, Head of New Alderaan police, came in along with the paramedics. He entrusted the young woman to them before heading back to the scene, his notebook in hand and his chief tailing his steps upstairs. Pushing the door, his chief winced at the sight of the corpse, or dare they say, the vision of horror it offered before their eyes. "Phasma. Report please", she asked, without looking away from the bulging wide-opened eyes of the victim.

The tall blond straightened up, facing her two superiors. "Multiple stab wounds. I evaluate the blood loss at three liters, more or less. There are also several bruises and scratch marks around the neck. We will have to wait for the autopsy report but, judging from what I see, the victim might have been strangled before being stabbed several times".

Maz then turned to her right-hand man. "What do you think, Lieutenant?"

He suddenly closed his notebook, answering honestly while tucking his pen in his shirt pocket. "Based on the violence of the murder, I would say this is a single case. But let's not rush to hasty conclusions before we get the coroner's report."

She had well trained him and seemed satisfied by his answer. As his career progressed, Maz had entrusted him more and more investigations as well as criminal profiling. Consequently, his skill kept improving along with his experience and he was offered the position of Lieutenant. Being a policeman in a bustling city such as New Alderaan was not one job for sensitive souls, even more when they were sent to take care of such cases. He'd always done his best to behave professional and laid-back. Policemen 'd better not have a weak heart ! That certainly was not Hux's case. The prosecutor had thrown up the very moment he stepped on his first crime scene. Kylo Ren couldn't hold back a mocking smile while recalling with ease the expression of utmost disgust that didn't left the ginger's face that day. Speaking of which and to the Lieutenant's despair, the prosecutor was probably on his way. Kylo Ren couldn't tell he was fond of the young prosecutor. In his opinion, the ginger haired man was nothing but an opportunist bureaucrat who would always hinder them during investigations. He still couldn't understand why his colleague Phasma and even their chief Maz were hanging at his every words when the young prosecutor flaunted his success. In addition, the thirty-three year old ginger was obnoxious, patronizing and would never miss a chance to belittle his work and pass him off as incompetent. To sum up; they didn't get along so well.

Maz casted one last glance at the victim before leaving the premises. "Well note, I leave it up to you to gather the samples and prints. Once you are finished, Gial will come pick the corpse. I am going to ask for a plan of the building."

"Duly noted", they replied it unison.

Phasma told him she had already collected samples for fibers, liquids and skin appendage. She had already checked the room using a portable UV light and didn't find any traces of semen. Her ten years of seniority and her strict methodical approach wouldn't allow Kylo to doubt her skills and while she was still collecting the samples under the victim's nails, he decided to check for latent prints, footwear, if any, using luminol. He eventually found a partial footwear print near the foot of the bed, shot a few up-to-scale pictures before grabbing the Dust mark kit and collect the evidence. Once done, he kept looking around, checking the walls, door and window frames, baseboards and furniture surfaces but to no avail. Turning toward Phasma, he noticed that she was stowing all the samples in evidence bags with extra caution before gathering her tools. It was time to wrap the corpse, the sheets, the bed and ship it all to the lab adjoining the morgue. Once they finished gathering their equipment and witnessed Mitaka come back with Gial Ackbar "the admiral", their coroner, they took off.

The evening had significantly chilled outside. Maz seemed to be caught deep in conversation with Hux and Mrs. Bespin, the middle-aged chairwoman of the university. She discreetly slipped away as soon as they crossed the doorstep, leaving the woman in the good care of the prosecutor. Her face was seemingly showing the off-day. The light breeze was rustling the crimson-colored leaves off the tar and had them waltz around them as they passed by. She grumbled with a low voice while escorting them to the police SUVs. "This murder is very bad press for our city. The Mayor wants to pay us a visit tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, we'd better start sorting this whole mess. There was no weapon left, right ? And what about the roommate ? Who wants to hear her testimony ? »

For sure, that wasn't how he had planned to spend his Wednesday evening. He was going to step down but Phasma outstripped him first, declaring with a light voice yet heavy with understatements, "Kylo seemed to be getting along quite well with the roommate earlier", She then gave him a wink, taking her two carrying bags to the trunk and whispered to his attention only," Thank me later if you get laid!"

Maz hadn't understood the innuendos. She genuinely seemed surprised; The tall dark-haired Lieutenant Kylo Ren wasn't known for being outgoing. " Well, well, that's a first! Perfect, then it's decided. Let's meet tomorrow at seven a.m to debrief", She was heading toward the prosecutor when she suddenly turned back, barking all too seriously "And don't forget to bring coffee and muffins!"

He was so fucking doomed.

The young woman was sleeping soundly when he stepped into her hospital room. Obviously she was not going anywhere so he briefly went talking to the staff. They informed him that she had arrived in such a state of hysteria that they had no choice but to sedate her before helping her in a loose gown. The medicine, though, wasn't very strong and the effects would last only for another couple hours, three at most. He would wait then.

The first hour went by slowly. He didn't have any book with him. He inquired about his colleagues' improvements and texted back his mother before playing a card game on his smartphone. Boredom won him soon after and he started counting things randomly. He first counted the number of tiles on the ground, then the curtains hooks. Eventually he conceded that while counting stupid things, he could as well contemplate the gorgeous constellation of freckles of his unknown beauty. He had counted at least thirty of them when a nurse brought him the woman's belongings. With a quick glance, he ensured that she was still fast asleep before shamefully rummaging through her clothes. Always having a pair of gloves on him revealed to be damn helpful and he couldn't thank Maz enough for his training. Unfortunately nothing interesting came out. There was no wallet. No identity card either. He found nothing but a handkierchief embroded with the letters "O.K" and a PIN locked phone. Disappointed, he folded back the clothes. He would have to wait for Sleeping Beauty to wake from her slumber.

It was past two in the morning when her long eyelashes started to flutter. Kylo Ren straightened in his armchair whereas she regained her senses. Her eyelids slowly lifted up on her ever beautiful yet tired –looking hazel eyes. This time though, they tended to look greener, he noted. She was still confused and dazed from the medicine and gently rubbed her eyes, inquiring softly. "Where am I?"

Kylo slowly got closer to the bed, introducing himself politely. "Miss, you are at the hospital. Let me introduce myself. I am the Police Lieutenant Kylo Ren. May I ask for your name, please?"

Removing drowsily her hands from her eyes, she didn't seem to be struck by reality yet. Time would soon enough reminisce her about the exact circumstances of her admission in the hospital. The commissure of her thin lips surreptitiously lifted in a small sleepy smile and she eventually revealed her identity. "Rey. Rey Kenobi."

Here it is, the storm pilot !

I hope you liked it and are looking forward to reading the next chapter.

However please note that I am a very slow writer in French, and it takes me twice as much time to translate in English afterwards. Updates may take a few weeks but please be assured that I will post this fanfiction till the very last word.

Reviews are the author's bread and I love bread ! Write me something ? I would be pleased to get feedbacks, especially if they contains advise to improve or correct myself !

Have a nice day & take care !

RosePourpre