Bubba: heeey so here's my Angst Fic lmao. warnings for grieving/suicidal ideation throughout the whole fic. this fic was a present to myself haha i finished it on my birthday last month. :^)

Part 1

They called him the Starkiller and expected him to be a ravenous beast, but instead all they got was a broken man who sat in the corner and acted catatonic. Whenever they'd take him for interrogation he'd just sit or lay there and wouldn't say a word, would take the torture they dealt on him, the hits, the stinging words. Once they tossed him back into his cell he'd crawl back to his corner, hug his knees to his chest, bury his face in them, and start shaking. Within minutes he'd be still as the dead once more.

No one could explain it, nor understand why the feared General Hux was hardly anything more than shell. Even Finn had been confused, this wasn't the proud and perfect General he'd worked under, but looking at him proved it definitely was. When Rey had attempted to slip into his head to try and see what was wrong, she'd pulled out and nearly collapsed at the sheer volume of his thoughts, incoherent screaming, a mantra of death shrieks in his head.

It had been a month before Leia finally decided she'd go and deal with their guest herself. She'd brought herself to his cell and placed three guards outside of it. Now she was facing their prisoner for the first time, and she realized all the stories from the guards were true. Hux hadn't even moved since she entered and stood just four feet in front of him. He'd kept his position, curled up in that corner, and just stayed still. Leia wondered what he'd been through to leave him like this. They hadn't tortured him to the breaking point, there were no signs of anyone breaking his mind, he'd done this to himself. No one knew why.

"General Armitage 'Starkiller' Hux, I've heard a lot about you. Will you speak to me?" The redhead didn't make any sign that he'd even heard. Leia decided that she would continue talking. "What would you like me to call you? Armitage? No, that name doesn't fit you, despite your situation now. General? You're not in any position now, and the First Order is well on its way to destruction. I'll just call you Hux then." She'd heard Finn refer to him as Hux whenever he spoke, so that seemed suitable. "You're very resilient, I'll give you that. Not a single word out of you no matter what we've done. You're only prolonging the inevitable, though. Once you talk we'll put you on trial for your war crimes and have you executed."

Hux raised his head slightly. Leia could just barely see his cold blue-green eyes. He hissed, voice raspy from not being used, "I don't see why you should waste your resources on me. Just kill me already, so I can..." He trailed off, curling up even more tightly than before.

"So you can what?" She questioned. "So you can be put out of your misery?"

"So I can go to that idiotic afterlife you sorcerers are always raving about. If there's really one then I'll be able to see someone you vile Resistance scum took away from me again."

That would certainly explain the state he was in, it was grief. The Resistance had been earning lots of victories the past year, many First Order members were dying. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, then. Who was it?"

Hux shot her a glare, loosening up a bit. "You know who it was! You heartless woman, killing your own son! You killed Kylo Ren, I saw it! One of the only two beings I've cared about and your fighters slaughtered him!"

Oh. Leia kept her calm expression. "What was your relationship with him?"

"I'm his kriffing widower, figure that out." Hux snapped. He looked away. Leia was surprised at that.

She hid her shock. "You said... you saw him die?"

"The Supreme Leader recovered footage caught during the battle! Ren was fighting and a group ambushed him from behind. They..." He swallowed, the holo probably replaying in his head, "They shot him five times in the back, and when he was on the ground one came and shot him in the head before they dragged off his body. Leader Snoke confirmed that he couldn't use his magic to sense Ren anymore and that his 'life force' had gone out." He paused."You know this! Leave me be, I won't be a source of pity for you," he snarled.

She did know that. But she also knew that the Supreme Leader had lied. The footage must have been altered, or perhaps was taken from too far away, because then the truth would have been obvious. Her fighters hadn't killed Ren, that would have gone against her orders, they had just captured him. Sure, they had shot him, but not to kill, the shots were stun bolts, and the last shot had been a weak one.

Why would the Supreme Leader lie about his apprentice's death? It was clearly aimed to weaken the General, but why weaken the person at the top? Or had it been expected to make the General stronger, more intent on destroying the Resistance? She didn't know. Both options were equally as likely, and she wasn't sure how Snoke thought.

Well, at least it would make things more interesting when she went to speak with her son again.

"As you wish, Hux, I'll be stopping by within the next few days." She turned and left. Leia decided that she may as well go and speak to her son now. She still had plenty of time before she was expected back at her normal post.