Note: I blame Persimonne on tumblr for this one. But I am so excited to share... A soulmark Reylux ficlet. Yes, I know you will ALL want more of this universe... I may return to this at a later time, either as a longfic slow burn, or with a few extra chapters. Eventually. That's why I'm separating this as a fic of its own. I'm a little busy with my current fics right now, however. xD For now, please enjoy this!

They'd known each other for years, since Kylo Ren had first stepped foot on the Finalizer at the age of twenty-four, already battle-hardened and scarred from a seeming lifetime beneath the yoke of the Supreme Leader. He was fresh from securing his place at the head of the religious order called the Knights of Ren, and the Finalizer was to become his and the Knights' staging ground.

At twenty-eight, Colonel Hux had risen quickly within the ranks of the First Order, in no small part due to his work ethic, his manipulative nature, and his ruthlessness in removing all who stood against him. The captaincy of the newly-built Finalizer was the reward for all of his hard work and ambition, and Hux was eager to use this beautiful and deadly tool of destruction to bring the galaxy to heel. He had stepped aboard the star destroyer for the first time with a practical mind, though filled with barely-suppressed fervor and zeal, expecting to find solace and satisfaction and a fulfilling life.

He hadn't expected to find his soulmate.

Sure, he had a soulmark like everyone else did; a phrase branded onto his skin by some mystical means once he'd turned eighteen. But he'd never believed. Plenty of people went their entire lives without finding their 'soulmate' – in fact it was an absolutely rarity to find yours.

So when he and Kylo Ren had first exchanged words, it was all that he could do to hide the shock that demanded to erupt across his normally-stoic features. There was no expression forthcoming from Kylo Ren, as his mask hid everything even then. So young to hide so much…

It took them years of dancing around each other, ignoring each other, fighting with each other, and yearning for each other before they finally acknowledged what was between them. It was hard to admit to a weakness like that in a world such as theirs. Instead, they filled the intervening years with animosity and strife, all of which sparked into passion as soon as they could no longer handle it. Only then did they find out that what they had between them was not a weakness, but a strength. Maintaining outward appearances, they reaffirmed and encouraged each other in private, growing to love one another with a depth and degree that would have made them laugh at the thought years ago.

Yet there they were.

They couldn't hide anything from each other at that point, and it wasn't long before their secrets were bared, utterly and completely. Armitage Hux has just gained the rank of General when they finally fell into bed, and it didn't take long to notice that something was… different… about themselves.

"You have a second phrase," Taj murmured as he traced the bare skin over Kylo's lower back, running his fingers over the words in question. They were not his; not the ones that he had spoken to Kylo at their first meeting. Those were on the man's right forearm. Yet he was not shocked – he had no right to be. Not with what was writ on his own skin.

"I know," was all Kylo said, his voice steeling itself as if expecting anger or rejection.

Taj was quiet a moment before he admitted, "I do, too."

Kylo rolled over, quick as a shot, and pinned the new-minted General beneath him as his eyes latched onto the other man's. "Where?" His voice was frantic as he queried the man. "I thought I was the only –"

Taj tilted his head to the side, baring as much of the side of his head as he could while pinned beneath the larger, darker man. "There, just above my hairline behind my ear. I keep the hair a little longer to hide it, so don't feel bad that you didn't notice it."

Kylo skimmed his fingertips over the short, but rather specific phrase. He let out a low, almost ironic laugh. "Well, at least you knew from a young age that you'd become a General."

Taj scrunched up his nose as he turned back to face Kylo. "I always wondered what would have happened if I tried to stay out of the First Order; out of the military…"

Kylo was quiet, musing on the question before dismissing it. He gripped Taj's chin with the long fingers of his free hand, resting most of his body weight on the man beneath him. "It changes nothing," he said firmly, staring into Taj's crisp green eyes.

"But –" Taj started to protest.

"No. If – if – we ever encounter that other person, or persons, then we will deal with it."

Ta, ever practical, finally agreed, and lifted his head to capture Kylo's lips with his own.

But it did change everything, after the destruction of Starkiller. It took until after Kylo's recovery from the bowcaster injury for him to admit that he'd been sitting on the knowledge that he'd met his second soulmate – a Resistance girl, strong in the Force but untrained, as Kylo put it. He'd known for weeks at that point, ever since he'd captured and attempted to interrogate her – unsuccessfully, at that.

They didn't ever talk about it after that, but the knowledge was always there. The girl may have escaped, may have scarred his lover, may have hated Kylo with a burning passion, it seemed… but Hux knew all too well how easily hatred could morph into love, and how amazing that burning, all-consuming love could be.

He tried his best not to be jealous of the specter that hung between them; the ghost of her. The girl. Rey. But it was so hard, especially with Kylo practically crawling out of his skin with the need – the desire – to go after her, to find her, to possess her.

He tried his best to ignore it, until one day he couldn't.

That morning, Kylo Ren was gone from the General's bed, from the Finalizer, even, without leaving a word.

After that, it was all that he could think about.

Three weeks later, Kylo Ren was suddenly back, carrying a shackled prisoner over his shoulder as he strode past the General in the hangar. Hux had come barreling down from the bridge as soon as the docking code had been received, but the First Knight barely paid him any attention as he passed, except to demand that the General follow him.

Hux spent the entire walk, after dismissing his aides, glaring at the back of Kylo Ren's swirling robes and the girl who had caught his lover's attention – the girl who was his lover's other soulmate, apparently. The time had finally come to see where they stood with each other. He'd never imagined he'd feel this jealous; this consumed with anger and hate. And yet…

Kylo arrived at a cell, and Hux was silently grateful that the other man wasn't insisting on placing the young woman in an actual set of quarters.

As if sensing what he was thinking – and he quite possibly was – Kylo spoke up. "She's still our enemy. The cell and shackles will hold her, even with her use of the Force, though I gave her an injection of neurotoxins that will hamper her ability to access the Force itself."

Hux recalled learning about those neurotoxins back at the Academy – there had been plenty of times he'd wished he'd been allowed to use them on the Knight in front of him. Retaining his professional façade, he nodded at Kylo. "What now?" The question was loaded, and both of them knew it.

"We wait." The answer he received was just as filled with extra meaning.

"I'll go, then –"

"No," Kylo's voice behind the mask was firm. "You'll wait here with me. I want you here for this."

Hux settled back against the wall, remaining standing. It wasn't often he accepted orders from others, but there was something about Kylo today that told him he needed to stay. So he relaxed himself slightly and watched the rise and fall of the young woman's chest as she breathed, the way the artificial lights cast shadows on her tanned skin, and the glint of her warm brown hair…

Less than an hour later, she woke. There was no slow waking for her. No; instead she shot straight up, even with her hands shackled behind her back, and whirled in a crouch to face the two men occupying the cell with her. She was silent for a moment, but her face gained an increasingly frustrated cast to it until she finally directed a glare at Kylo accompanied by a rather ugly cuss word. "What the Force did you do to me?"

It was Hux who answered, filled with a rather odd mix of jealousy, glee, anger, and even respect for the little spitfire she-devil in front of him. "We made sure you wouldn't be a problem." He took great satisfaction in the bewildered look she gave him, but soon became confused at the horror that took over her features. It was more than simply being stuck in a cell, captured by the enemy – there was something deep and personal about the look that crossed her face; that flared into existence and consumed her gaze as she stared into his own. Something about it bothered him, in ways that brought to mind the emotions of pity and worry – emotions he'd never thought he'd feel for a prisoner of war.

"What are you looking at, girl?" he snapped, deeply troubled by the thoughts and feelings raging through his mind.

His words seemed to put strength back into her spine, chasing away the horror and disbelief that had moments ago completely taken her over. She remained crouching, her hair barely contained in its three buns, and her clothing torn and singed from easily-recognizable saber burns… yet she still commanded presence and poise, more so than he'd ever imagined possible from a simple scavenger girl.

Her next words floored him, as known as they were to him; words that had done nothing but consume him of late. "Do you ever shut up, General?" she spoke arrogantly, staring up at him in defiance.

His hand flew to the hairs behind his ear, and he barely heard the snort that Kylo Ren uttered off to the side.

The girl met his eyes, silent; her own acknowledging their connection with hatred and fear and even understanding of what she saw in his eyes.

Finally – finally – Kylo caught on. He reached up and removed his helmet with a hiss, and his eyes darted frantically back and forth between his lover and his… whatever she was. "What – oh kriff," he breathed, his eyes wide.

General Armitage Hux turned on his heel, refusing to stop even as he heard Kylo Ren call out his name. The girl… the scavenger… the Jedi… their prisoner – she wasn't only Kylo Ren's second soulmate. She was his as well.