Ben awoke with a start. It was that feeling again. The emotions gave rise to his anxiety. The Force amplified the terror. Suddenly the entire galaxy was collapsing in on him and he lunged for something solid and real. His hand collided with the wall, smooth and cool. He squeezed his eyes shut. Things you can feel. The wall. The bed. The blanket. Things you can smell. Recirculated oxygen. A light, fresh scent of soap. Things you can hear. Anya Kenobi.

Anya's breath from her bunk relaxed him. She could have had her own quarters but chose to remain within arm's distance of him. He had been and was still grateful. He'd always found solace in having her near as he slept. As a matter of fact, the last time he'd slept alone was the night his uncle tried to kill him. No, his family wasn't reliable. Leia Organa was always gone at some meeting or council function. Han Solo was- dead.

"Anya," he called urgently. "An."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Ben?"

"Tell me I didn't do it." Tears choked him. "Tell me Han Solo lives."

In an instant, Anya was perched on the edge of his bed. "Let me." She pressed her fingertips to his temple, but he thrashed away.

"No!" he roared. "Tell me it was a nightmare."

Anya's long braid hung over her shoulder and tickled his chest. She batted it out of the way and wiped her eyes. "He understood. He understood the question." More tears rolled down her cheeks. "Ben, he knew. Let me help. Let me-"

"No!" Ben cried again, slapping her hand away. "I killed him, An. It's gone too far. I can't put on this charade. Can't we just go back? No one would stop us." He shuddered. "We have to go. We'll go to my mother and explain-"

"No." Anya grabbed his hand. "The entire galaxy is counting on you. It's either we stop them from the inside or we can't stop them at all. General Organa can't know."

Ben moaned. It was a sorrowful, horrendous sound that made Anya cringe away from him. She was right. If anyone in the resistance knew that he and the Knights of Ren worked for their cause as double agents, it would go wrong somehow. It was better that only he and Anya knew that they served the Light. Still, the charade and the fact that his own father had died at his hand, suspecting his son's deception, was becoming impossible to live. He wished it over.

At last Anya drew a breath and touched her fingertips against his forehead. He sighed and leaned into the pressure, immediately feeling a cool sensation flow from her into him, numbing his senses and slowing his thoughts. The pillow beneath him was soft and he settled back into it. "An. You're saving the galaxy. Not me."

"Shut up," Anya sighed. "Sleep."

"You can do it, right?" Ben's voice was thick with impending slumber. Still, he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Can you?"

"All you're asking me to do is make someone fall in love with me," Anya replied. "But sure."

Ben took a deep breath and embraced sleep. "For the Light."


Conflict raged in Anya and made her very being ache. Every motive and move seemed wrong. The Light glimmered distantly, but the Dark closing in on her was suffocating. She had no doubt that her actions were working to benefit the resistance. Ben's struggle was real, and Anya knew it. Darth Vader fell to the Dark, and she knew Ben feared the same fate. He was walking a tight rope above the flames, doused in lighter fluid.

Solace came in the company of Armitage Hux. There was something extremely hypnotizing about the grey of his eyes and Anya allowed herself to become enamored with him. They stole glances and touches in the corridors and council meetings. When they could get away, they eagerly ravaged the other in empty rooms or around corners. More than once Anya returned to her quarters with frizzy hair and swollen lips, scrutinized by an interested yet silent gaze from Ben.

After an unusually uneventful day, the knight donned her long charcoal cloak and set out to find the general. Troopers shied away from her in the halls. Glimpses of their emotions wafted off of them. Intimidation. Fear. Annoyance. Intrigue. The gut reactions were much less extreme than when she walked anywhere with Ben and she took some pride in that.

Hux wasn't in his chambers or on the bridge. Anya knew precisely where he would be.

He strode along a spacious hall with a dome arching from floor to floor, staring out into the vastness of space. With his pristine uniform and arms clasped behind his back, he truly looked a collected, unshakable officer of the First Order. Authority and seriousness radiated from him. As usual, the image set an angry spark in her gut, but she looked past the uniform and it fizzled out. Armitage was not General Hux. She had to separate the two. Compartmentalizing was part of the Jedi teachings.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" she called out.

Hux turned from the window wall with a start. His eyes trailed from the hem of her cloak to her hood. "I thought you were training with Kylo Ren this evening."

"We did a quite intense session and called it adequate." She dropped the hood and let her braid fall out. "You look lonely."

Hux smiled sadly. "As you rise through the ranks, there are fewer and fewer to commiserate with." He cast his eyes to the stars once more. "I suppose I am lonely." After a moment the smile fell away and he dropped his gaze to his gloves. "I suppose that's a lie. I never had a colleague to spend time or share misery with."

"Colleague? You mean a friend?" Anya offered softly. She sat on a bench.

Hux snorted. "Friends? No, not at all. Perhaps Captain Phasma, but she is only a subordinate looking to win my favor." He joined her on the bench, snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. "I don't mean to bother you with my troubles. Introversion has been a wonderful tool. Harnessing those dark feelings has created everything I have now." Finally he smiled – a small, cautious thing – and shrugged. "You always seem to seek me out when the solitude is becoming too much." He raised an eyebrow smartly. "Are you using the Force on me?"

Anya pulled away and stared at him. "I said I wouldn't! You don't believe me?"

"A jest, Ren." Hux nudged her as she rolled her eyes. "You've sought me out. Might I suggest you're lonely as well?"

"Not at all," she replied, her mind immediately conjuring Ben and the rest of the knights. She had no shortage of communication every day, both professional and personal. The longer she thought about it, though, the more she realized he may be right. When Ben spent the evenings transfixed with the scavenger girl, didn't she wish she could reach out and have those silly pillow conversations with someone? Specifically, Hux? "Maybe a bit," she added sheepishly.

Hux nodded, then pursed his lips. Grey eyes challenged her. "But it's late. You'll want to be getting back, I presume."

The unspoken distaste hung in the air between them since their first sexual encounter. She fucked him and left him sleeping, simply penning a note saying her master wouldn't be pleased if she didn't return to her own bed before morning. It felt grimier than she intended. Her intention was never to use him and leave, but that's precisely what she did. His apprehension and disdain was well-earned.

She took too long to craft an appropriate response and Hux's voice betrayed his annoyance. "Go back to your quarters, Ren. I'd hate to put you in a bad light with your master." He stalked away, leaving her sitting on the bench alone.

Without thinking she held out her hand and used the Force to stop him. "Armie, it's just a training thing. I need a master and Kylo needs an apprentice. You know how he is. I want to stay in his good graces."

He struggled against the Force hard enough that Anya felt the strain. He snarled and twisted hard enough that it felt like a blow knocked her beside the head. Free, he frantically brushed off his jacket and clenched his fists. "Don't fucking do that! I am on track to become the grand marshal for the First Order and I won't have a sorceress throwing me around like I'm some child's rag doll!"

Anya's mouth moved up and down wordlessly. "I'm sorry," she finally managed. "I didn't mean to." What was worse than the realization that her mission was suddenly blowing up in her face was the fact the look of utter hatred Armitage was watching her with. His chest heaved in anger. His teeth were gritted. Hands shaking, he brushed his hair back into place and sniffed.

Anya took a deep breath to hastily center herself. Time after time Ben reminded her to let the Jedi training go in order to keep up her charade. The Sith were passionate and fiery. Wouldn't a true dark Force user lash out with twice the fury Hux was? Act be damned. Anya Kenobi was no Sith and Armitage Hux was no game piece to toy with. His feelings were blazing with hurt and there was no way she could further the injury. "I didn't think. I apologize," she said. "Armie-"

"Go back to your master," he sneered, fists still balled at his sides. His lip twitched and then he blurted, "Are you fucking him, too? Is that the only way to win his favor? Is that why you had to run back to him? I'm- I'm only good enough for dark hallways and when he's not on ship?" His nostrils flared and wetness shone in his eyes. "Don't think I haven't noticed your affections only come when there's not a soul to see. I'm not a fool."

"No," Anya breathed.

"No what?" Hux growled, turning back on her and shaking a gloved finger in her face. "I should have suspected as much from the moment you took off your mask and I saw you were a woman." Loathing dripped from every syllable. "I've seen my officers fall all over themselves for him. I see how closely you follow him. Go back to him and leave me alone, you witch."

"That's not-"

"I apologize. Fraternizing with a non-military organization on board at the Supreme Leader's insistence is an unwise decision for a First Order officer." Hux's voice was suddenly calm and strong. General Hux, Anya knew. Armitage was behind the military mask once more, where it was safer. The image from before returned. The stars that shone down on them were no longer lovely, but sterile faint. Space was vast and cold, like the general before her, with his eyes matching his nearly pristine uniform. "I leave you to Lord Ren and advise you to stay out of First Order matters." He turned and stormed from the hall, looking official as ever.

Hux had gone from the hall entirely by the time Anya moved again. The mission didn't cross her mind, but every word he'd slung at her did. They played on a loop. Sorceress. Witch. Leave me alone. She simply let the words play for a while.

Her feet were moving before she realized what her course of action was. Her cloak streamed out behind her as she ran. Troopers paused their rounds and watched her, not daring to question or stop her. Ten feet away from her destination, she reached out the threw Hux's door open. At a jog, she entered the quarters and looked wildly for him.

He spotted her first. Blaster drawn and face utterly blank, he spun and aimed for her. She threw the gun aside with the Force and crashed into him. Before he could object, Anya pressed her lips against his in a wildly passionate kiss. In the course of the collision somehow her legs ended up around his waist and hands in his hair. Shocked, he stumbled with her weight. For a moment Anya worried he'd drop her or push her away, but his tongue eagerly pushed against her lips. She moaned at how eagerly he accepted her and matched her desire. His hands found her ass, both fondling and supporting her as their lips continued their warm, wet dance.

When they finally broke apart, Anya took Hux's hand and led him into the bedroom. She pushed him onto the bed and removed her tunic, pulling it off seductively over her head. He reached for his jacket, but she shook her head. "Wait." The strip tease continued, and when she had nothing left to remove, she undid her braid and let her long hair cascade over her shoulders and down her back.

Hux watched with interest. His eyebrow quirked at the amount of hair the braid seemed to compress. He opened his mouth to speak, but Anya beat him to it.

"Just me. No armor or saber. No title. And no master."

Nodding, Hux stood and reached for his uniform. He let each piece fall to the floor, wrinkling in an unceremonious heap. When he was naked, he matched her stare. "No First Order. No general. No sides between us."

For a moment they stood examining the other. Unlike their trysts during working hours, their actions were slow and intentional. He reached for her and she leaned into his touch. Anya buried her face in his neck, trying to memorize his scent and warmth. His arms fit perfectly around her and she sighed happily.

As they collapsed back onto the bed, every move was a declaration of intent, a silent statement and promise. Anya squeezed her eyes shut and tried to channel her positivity into him, but sensed he had already forgotten the hard feelings from earlier.

Hux's eyes bore into her very soul. It was infinitely more intimate than the ways he touched her, and for a moment the connection scared Anya. She looked away, but Hux touched her chin and turned her face back to his. "No," he ordered, voice firm in resolve but tender in tone. "I want to see you. I- I need you to see me."

She nodded and surrendered to the grey pools, perfect cloudy skies, serene and calming. Lips parted in desire, he watched her face as she came, cried out, and shuddered.

When she awoke the next morning, naked and pleasantly sore, Hux had gone. A note on his pillow made her stomach churn nervously.

You'd think me so petty? Come, Ren.
I only left because my schedule demanded me.
Thank you for coming after me last night.
Yours, AH.