I wouldn't usually have thought to call a man beautiful, but asleep Hux looked like a man created in the image of the gods. Aware I may have been slightly biased, but with his pale skin, full lips and cheek bones that just begged to be caressed, he was beautiful to me. His red hair, normally slicked back with military precision fell across his forehead, driving me to consider whether I could sneak off and throw all his hair gel in the trash compactor before he woke up.

Even the bruises on his face and mechnobandages wrapping around his arm and bare chest couldn't detract to the beauty of his lean body lying on the bed, covered by only a white sheet. The cuts were gone, the bacta therapy having done its work. The medical droids had identified that he'd broken two ribs and his left arm, but luckily no internal injuries. He would hurt for a little while longer but he'd be fine soon, if he rested.

His bedroom hummed and beeped softly with the sound from the medical monitors that tracked his steady slow heartbeat, the background soundtrack as I watched him sleep, aware how close I had been to losing him. Sitting beside him I reached over and took his hand, relishing the feeling of his warm soft fingers against my hand.

"Are watching me sleep?" he hadn't opened his eyes.

"No... Yes" I admitted

"Haven't you got something better to do?"

"No, not really" I decided not to tell him how much I had been enjoying the view.

"Will I live?" He opened an eye and turned his head towards me, wincing as the movement caused him pain.

"Yes, and without any impressive scars to show for it I'm afraid" smiling, I brushed a strand of hair from his eyes.

"I'm glad you're here" his voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I should…" he tried to sit up and groaned as the pain overwhelmed him. The droids were good, but the First Order didn't seem to go overboard on pain relief and Hux had asked them to keep it to a minimum so he'd be able to command if anything arose. Not that he didn't have a massive team of staff who were capable of making good decisions in his absence. Stubborn bastard.

"Lay beside me" I kicked off my boots and climbed hesitantly onto the bed beside him, the black of my uniform stark against the sheet. Cautious not to hurt him I curled in beside him, my head placed gingerly on his right shoulder, his arm curving around me. It felt like home.

"Where does it hurt?"

"It might be easier to work out where it doesn't" said with a pained smile

"Alright, how about ...here" I placed my hand gently on his sternum

"Sore"

"Here?" I reached down to his knee.

"Ouch"

"Not wishing to be critical Hux, but for the highest ranking military commander in the First Order, you sure are a wimp, fine, here?" I slipped my hand slightly under the sheet to gently touch his stomach, enjoying the feel of hard muscle under his warm skin.

"Sore, try lower" I glanced up into his eyes and saw a definite twinkle.

"Hmmm, I getting worried now that the patient may be irreparably damaged, so let's see… how about here?" my fingertips delicately traced down his stomach into the wire of his hair, stroking feather-light down the velvet length of him. Rewarded with a low groan, I wrapped my hand around him, my hand tenting the white sheet as it slide along his length.

"Ahem" someone by the door cleared their throat exaggeratedly. I whisked my hand away at lightning speed and placed it on his chest, my face pink.

"Sorry Sir, we saw from the heart rate monitor that you were awake and …. agitated, so we thought we should come and check on you, but I see that you are fine... " the medical officer looked intensely embarrassed and rapidly excused himself. The two men black uniformed men apparently didn't share his sensitivities and seemed eager to talk to Hux, agitation be damned.

I recognised them both of course. Captain Peavey was the captain of the Finalizer - technically my commanding officer, if we were still keeping up that pretense. He was old School Imperial, respected by the crew, knew his job and loved his ship. Captain Tritt Opan, though, had long been part of Hux's staff and had been with his father before him. With a face like a carnivorous animal, his eyes black, Opan gave me a look that didn't bother to disguise his contempt for me. Peavey ignored me entirely.

"Sir, we have some information just in from the sensor teams" Opan paused, catching Hux's eye and then looking at me pointedly

"Go ahead Captain" Hux stated, not bothering to explain to his junior officers while I was allowed to be privy to the confidential information he was about to depart.

Opan looked uncomfortable, but continued, unwilling to challenge his superior.

"We've tracked Kylo Ren's shuttle through hyperspace, it looks like he's heading to the Mandalore system"

"Mandalore? Why there?" Hux again struggled to sit up, the bed automatically adjusting. We knew he'd left after the failed raid and his attack on Hux, but why would Kylo possibly want to travel to that cursed part of the galaxy? I'd heard of it of course, although luckily never been; the system was home to every low born mercenary and bounty hunter in the galaxy. Why would he head there?

Looking thoughtful he dismissed Peavey to continue monitoring Kylo's movements.

That left Captain Opan. He was one of Hux's most trusted officers and they had a long history. Hux had given me a very high level, and I expect sanitised, version of what he'd done for him in the past. This was a man that the General had trusted with his life, as he was about to again.

"Opan, I need a list of all fleet commanders who you consider loyal to me, not to the Supreme Leader. And I want you to organise a meeting"

Opan whistled through his teeth, the implications of Hux's orders obvious.

"Given the damage the fleet has sustained, a return to a base planet for repairs and supplies wouldn't look too suspicious. Give me time and I'll get back to you. As for loyalty sir, I think you'll find the First Order would recognise your rule if, say, the Supreme Leader was to be …" he took his time to chose his words very carefully "no longer available " he allowed himself a small smile before leaving us alone again.

Hux was silent, aware that he, we, were starting down a path that could only end in all out confrontation with Kylo Ren. If we failed, death. If we won…. Hux would be Supreme Leader of the First Order, and maybe the galaxy. I couldn't dare to think of either outcome at the moment.

"We could call the meeting on Arkansis" he said quietly. I was surprised, it was his home world and from the little he'd said he had little love for it, having left there as a child. "I have some property there that might suffice, and there is a First Order repair base on a planet in the same system"

I suddenly had an inspired idea. Hux was a brilliant military tactician, but he didn't know people.

"We need a party, as General you could host a party, for the top level officers and their partners. Something to celebrate recent successes, commemorate the dead. Give them time to see their loved ones. Then perhaps a few small private gatherings for you to see how a change in leadership might be viewed. It would be social event, not threatening, not an obvious challenge to anyone's authority. It's the sort of thing military types love and Kylo, if he ever heard, wouldn't understand the threat" the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced it was perfect.

"A party?" he looked at me as if I was mad and then slowly nodded to himself as the idea took root.

"And I can wear a dress, and not bloody woollen trousers for a change.." I, as ever, considered the crucial elements of the plan.

Hux gave me a considered look. The twinkle was back.

"What's it worth?" So, he wasn't in that much pain then. "finish what you started and I'll get you any dress you want"

I sat up and started to unbutton my shirt, as he raised his eyebrow. I was upping the game from what he thought I was offering.

I shrugged my shoulders with a smile, "well, I will need shoes…"