He felt nervous. It was strange … having her in his quarters. He had crossed a line. It had been his idea of course, inviting her over. She had gone along, even though she had tensed up a little when she had entered.

He didn't know why he had done it, it had been a spur of the moment thing. They had stood in the lift, she was standing close to him – he could practically sense her warmth. He given in … had invited her …

She wanted to advance, that's why she bothered to show up in the lab. And he had taken advantage of that. He wouldn't help her with her career but she didn't know that. Up until now it had been harmless. He had enjoyed her company that was all. But now-

'One of the perks of the job, boy.'

He cleared his throat. "It's- it's getting late."

She shifted on the couch. "I don't mind." She put the whiskey down on the table and got up.

He followed her movements with his eyes, feeling his breath quicken.

She came closer and put her hand tenderly on his cheek. The warmth was so unexpected that he twitched. He jumped up and took a step back, almost stumbling over the sofa. "Please don't," he said.

She pulled her hand back, a surprised look on her face.

"I knew that you're doing this for your family … I- I shouldn't have invited to-" he broke off. "I won't advance you. I'm sorry."

She just stared at him.

He averted his gaze. "It's already late."

A moment of silence, then she replied. "Yes, it's already late."

He looked up, she was still standing in front of him, her pretty face framed by black curls, her pink lips parted … By the stars, she was indeed striking. For a split second he regretted- no, it wasn't right.

"Good night," he said awkwardly.

She blushed. "Good night."

Moments later she was gone. He stared at her glass on the table. It had been a mistake to get involved with her. He let himself fall back on the chair. Despite everything he still hadn't learned. Silly. Weak.

.

-o-

.

Rose rushed to the lift. She pushed several times on the call button. What had she been thinking? She pushed again a little harder. This wasn't supposed to happen, why by the seven gates of chaos had she been attracted to him? Some spy she turned out to be!

When was this kriffing lift coming? She pushed the button again. Seconds later the doors opened and she rushed inside. She mashed the down button and pressed her forehead against the cool steel in the back of the lift. She was still aroused, damn it.

Why hadn't he just played along? After all the effort he had gone through to get her into his quarters, after the expensive whiskey he had wasted on her – why was he so kriffing complicated? For once she had thought she knew what he would do next.

The lift door opened again on her deck and she marched towards her quarters in the far end of the corridor. She slowed her step before she stood before her door in an attempt to calm down. It was in vain. Kriff. She had liked the feeling of his clean shaved cheek on her hand a little too much.

She punched the code in and kicked her boots from her feet while she hastily undressed herself.

She rushed in the shower and closed her eyes as the sonic waves washed over her. What would she give for a holo-call to Paige – or Poe? She buried her face in her hands and exhaled. She had to calm down, she was just a little drunk. Drunk and horny.

She stepped out of the shower and started to brush her teeth. She had to calm down. The important thing was the mission, that's why she was here. Everything else was secondary. Hux was still her best shot to get intel.

She stared at her reflection. And he liked her … he didn't want to take advantage of her. He had sent her away because he thought that she was only doing it to get a promotion. She felt a small stab in her heart. He- he wasn't supposed to be like that.

But no matter how long she mused about it … he like her and she liked him too. Kriff! She liked him too. She spit the toothpaste out and rinsed her mouth.

It was a mess – but one she could still salvage. She just had to keep her cool and keep her priorities straight. That and she needed to schlick off. Damn.

-o-

The next day was filled with boring routine work, Rose used the time to think how to best approach Hux in the lab. She played through a lot of conversations, ranging from him being hostile and sending her away to him welcoming her warmly back into the lab, handing her a steaming cup of tea.

Finally she stood before the door leading to the lab, rubbing her hand against the fabric of her trousers. This was it, all she had to do was go in say 'good evening' or something like that and play it by the ear. She straightened herself and walked in, as soon as the door slid open all her carefully prepared sentences vanished from her mind. Hux was bent over the holo as always, looking up in utter surprise, gaping at her.

A thousand thoughts rumbled through her head, she opened her mouth and closed it without saying anything.

Finally she set her sights on the holo, it showed the circuitry of a mouse droid. She had to say something, anything … Then she just said what first entered her mind. "The circuitry is set up wrong."

His eyes darted to the holo. "What? No, it's not!"

"It might not look like it but there will be interference from the B-module once the droid is getting more than three signals from the main frame at the same time."

"That's preposterous!" The words were harsh, but his tone was soft. They looked at each other, she could see that the tips of his ears turned pink. She could feel heat crawling up her cheeks.

She didn't know what else to do, so she walked to the workbench and continued her work where she had left off. Hux focussed again on the circuitry and seemed to check the B-module. Rose allowed herself a tiny smile – will you look at that! That was smooth! They would simply act as if last night hadn't happened; easy.

.

-o-

.

Seeing her back in the lab was surreal, Hux thought as he glanced over the holo to her. Despite everything she was back with him. How strange. Was she still hoping he would advance her? No … there had to be another reason. Perhaps it was her genuine love for the tech? Yes, that seemed logical. It was an interesting project after all.

He checked the module on the mouse droid. Even before he ran the numbers he had known that she was right. She usually was. He set his sights again on her. What a brilliant mind she had … and the way she pressed her lips together when she was focussing … he looked away and focussed again on the module.

He was a good engineer, and yet he hadn't seen that the circuit had been wrong. In theory it should work but he lost himself in the theory … it was the same with Starkiller. In theory the energy dampeners should work … and yet they didn't. He was missing something.

He zoomed out of the schematics. He was missing the bigger picture … he was trying to cram more technology into the mouse droid instead of calculating what kind of droid could carry the necessary tech. Yes, just the way he had tried to simply increase the energy output … focussed on the result instead of the network he was dealing with …

His eyes went wide. The problem with the Starkiller project weren't the dampeners! It was the scale of the weapon! He had assumed that it had to be the same size like the Deathstar and worked under the very assumption! But when he just focussed on the scale needed for the energy … he needed to think bigger! He didn't need a moon … he needed a planet!

"I think we're working under the wrong assumption," he said.

Rose looked up. "What do you mean?"

He changed the specifics of the mouse droid, made it larger. "We just need to build it slightly larger. It will still fit through the droid hatches …"

"… hm, it will need more energy to move," she continued. "But that's not an issue because we'll save an extra tour after the assignments! That's great!"

He smiled at her, yes … the gleam in her eyes as she returned his gaze was unmistakable – her love for the tech had brought her back.

-o-

That night Hux worked late. He checked and rechecked his calculations, just before his shift began he compiled a report for the chief engineers responsible for Starkiller. After he had sent the message he leaned back in his chair.

He was fairly certain that he had solved the only hiccup for the projects … or at least the only hiccup he was aware of. He knew from experience that sooner or later new problems could turn up. He pulled the Starkiller schematics up. A weapon to change the course of galactic history … and he was the one who had designed it. There had been others that had helped to build it, countless workers and soldiers that had contributed … and Rose, Rose had helped of course. But it was still his. His legacy.

An odd feeling of pride overcame him. He would help to shape the new order of the galaxy, stand beside the Supreme Leader as the architect of his victory. Not mystical forces but technology would deliver the galaxy from chaos.