Next Chapter of Fork in the Road is currently delayed (because I'm struggling with finding the right way of writing + voice for TFA!Luke – Damn him for having no lines in the movie!) so you get this instead.

I was listening to Repo! The Genetic Opera's soundtrack between writing the last chapter of Fork in the Road and, well, everyone keeps asking me if Hux is the father.

Pairings: Hux/Kylo

Warnings: mpreg, childbirth, death in childbirth

I would apologise if I was actually sorry.

Kylo is screaming. Kylo has been screaming (and crying) for the past few hours. There is nothing Hux can do to ease his pain, nothing more the midwives can do. A planet like the one they are currently on just does not have the supplies needed to ease the pain Kylo is suffering from.

Hux wants to yell at him for this. Wants to demand to know if it was worth it to leave the First Order? Was it worth it now they are stuck on this back-water planet without a proper medical facility because they have to avoid the eyes of both the Resistance and First Order? He wants to rant and work off his frustrations on Kylo (like he always does, did) but can't bring himself to with how the midwives are looking at them. Looking with pity in their eyes. Hux knows he is being ridiculous (hopes he is being ridiculous) but can't risk his last words to Kylo being an argument.

If asked a day ago he would have thought the concept of Kylo Ren dying in childbirth a ridiculous one. Sure he knew Kylo's grandmother had died after giving birth to his mother and uncle (Kylo had told him so much about his family after they had left the first order – Hux had mocked him for being sentimental) but Kylo was different. Kylo isn't some weak ex-queen who died of heartbreak, he was the leader of the Knights of Ren and (while prone to tantrums) one of the most strongest people Hux had ever met. Anyway, all the tests from before they left suggested Kylo was the perfect mother physically. They said his body was strong and would handle pregnancy just fine (that it could handle multiple in short succession and that was part of the reason they ran). Everything had pointed towards Kylo having an easy labour and delivery.

Now Hux wasn't so sure. Maybe the results had meant he would have an easy labour and delivery if able to access the First Order's medical resources. Perhaps the results were just wrong.

Now Kylo was screaming in between sobs and groans, and the midwives were giving him encouraging words between shared nervous glances. And Hux is left in between, with no knowledge of his own but that which he can obtain from the others in the room. He doesn't actually know how much pain Kylo is in, doesn't know what a normal delivery is supposed to look like. So he tries to stay in control, keep a brave face on so no-one knows how much he is panicking inside. He and Kylo were supposed to escape the First Order and figure out what to do with the child together. Hux is terrified of being left with that burden alone.

Another hour passes, and then another. Kylo's throat has gone hoarse from his screams but they still come pouring from his lips.

Finally a triumphant cry comes from one of the midwives and the baby girl is born. She is healthy and whole.

Kylo slumps against the bed and it takes Hux a couple of seconds to realise it's not just exhaustion that has him like that. The midwives hurriedly hand Hux the child, who has been hastily bundled in clothe, before returning to some task that has them rushing and panicking.

Hux stares down at the baby and is amazed how much her features resemble his and Kylo's. He had always assumed babies all looked the same. That any difference was just the parents projecting onto them. He knows it to be false now though.

"Hux," Kylo says and he sounds so tired, so defeated (so unlike his usual self), "let me hold her."

Hux does so almost immediately, easily giving the child that Kylo has sacrificed so much for over. He hears one of the midwives mutter something that sounds like 'he's bleeding out' to the other but chooses to ignore it and instead focus his attention onto Kylo and their baby.

"She's so pretty," Kylo mutters before letting out a small laugh, "she has your eyes... and your hair."

"And your nose," Hux replies almost instinctually with the same professional tone that Kylo both loved and hated. "What do you want to call her?"

There is only silence in response to that question and when Hux looks at Kylo again he realises his eyes are glazed over.

"Kylo? Kylo!? Ben!" There was no way for Kylo not to respond to his birth name. He always hated Hux using it and would snarl at him for it without fail.

No reply breached the air, instead the already slow and shallow breathing of Kylo Ren stopped.

The younger midwife gave a cry at the sight. She was only really an apprentice, Hux remembered, and this was probably the first time she had had someone die. The older women had clearly seen it happen before. She had a clinicalness that reminded Hux of himself whenever he ordered the deaths of someone standing in his way (standing in the First Order's way). She offered her condolences and left the room so he could grieve in peace (dragging the younger women with her).

Mostly Hux felt numb. How was he supposed to process the fact that Kylo Ren died in childbirth? That Kylo Ren, who had fought many battles and decimated the rebel forces time and time again had been defeated by the combined efforts of his and his child's bodies. It was an impossible thought.

And yet it was the reality.

Hux removed the baby from the slowly cooling arms of her mother and stared down at her. She didn't even have a name. That was supposed to be Kylo's job. Hux would organise the exacts they needed to survive and Kylo would deal with the other things. Hux didn't even know how you were supposed to pick the name of a child. His father had basically named him after himself but that wouldn't work here, couldn't work here.

Then he had the problem of what to do with her now. He had little want to stay on a back-water planet. Had never wanted to be on a back-water planet. That had been Kylo's idea. Kylo's idea to give her something of a normal life away from everything.

He could always return to the First Order. Snoke would be sad about losing Kylo (and the possibility of many more potentially-force-sensitive offspring) but he would be happy to have the child, especially with how much of a blank-slate she could be. Not even possessing of a name. Hux couldn't do it though. It was too much an insult to Kylo to take the child right back to the person he had put so much work (and now sacrificed his life) to keep her away from.

He could just dump her somewhere or give her to some kind strangers to look after. That wouldn't work though either. She was still his daughter and he wasn't ready to condemn her to the lifestyle of these (primitive, pathetic) planets.

He could take her to the Resistance. Leia Organa would accept her grandchild with open arms no matter what her son had done. She would also know what to do with a baby. Know how to name it. Hux would have to hand over some pretty high level secrets to ensure his own safety but he knew ones that would do it. It was just a question of if he was willing to.

Leaning over the now cold body of Kylo Ren he pressed a gentle kiss to the death-frozen lips. "I'm sorry."

A week later, after Kylo Ren had been buried in a simple grave (he deserved so much bigger, so much better) Hux gathered up the small amount of possessions he now possessed and organised a ship to take the two of them off the planet.

He knew the next part would be the hard one. Knew that the next few days would be some of the worst in his life. He also knew he was making the best decision, the smartest decision. That didn't make it any easier.

She still didn't have a name.