Your hair hangs is loose, messy braids around your head as you lean back and gently coach Kylo in what to do next.

"Just remember, left over, right over. And just keep doing that all the way down. Slowly, left over, now right over."

The past couple of days since returning, Supreme Leader Snoke hadn't needed or called for his right hand, so Kylo decided to have some soft moments alone with you. You would have expected him to want to have sex all through the week, but in contrast, he wanted to pamper you instead. Each morning he woke you with gentle kisses and caresses. He bathed with you just so he could wash you himself in the most innocent way, and you him. And once you were out, he could not stop playing with your hair. If felt so nice the way his long fingers wrapped into your tresses and gently massaged your scalp. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to do something for you, and not just leave you with messy hair. For that reason, he decided he wanted to learn how to style your hair.

For the most part, braids were very difficult for him so the styles he would do wouldn't last long. The first style you showed him seemed to sadden him. He didn't say why, but when looking at yourself, you realized how much wrapping your braids over your head made you look like General Organa. So instead you taught him more styles. He always feared hurting you, and moved ever so slowly and gently. You turned your body in place so that he could continue the braid tail all the way around your head on his second try. You flipped your hair over next, and both laughed when the messy bun he was trying to do remained simply a mess. The French braids he tried to do from the crown of your head all the way down had plenty of strands flying all over the place. But through it all, he smiled so joyously, you couldn't help but feel a warm bubbling of affection for him continue to grow.

Whatever the case however, once noon hit, you would kiss him and remind him you must go out. Whatever airy but form fitting clothes would quickly be thrown on, and quickly you would replace the attempts at styling your hair Kylo had done with a simple French braid down to the base of your skull. The rest would be tied in a tight bun, then it was time for training.

The first day, Kylo protested and demanded, "How will I know you're safe! What if someone tries to hurt you because you're close to me and I'm not there to defend you?"

You shook your head and pulled your shoes on while replying, "FN will be there, and I trust him. They would have to get through him first to get to me, and he's the best trooper here. I'll be fine."

The next day he remained moody as you kissed him goodbye and went on your way to "see another man."

The third day, he insisted on coming too. FN had been very nervous, not wanting to leave a bad impression or do something wrong. Kylo was well known for his anger after all. Many rooms and consoles had been destroyed at its expense, and even you were very nervous for FN as well. You both moved very carefully and held back to avoid issues. But then...

"(Y.N.), why do you want to train with him? If he's the best we have, then I see why Phasma always complains they need to be broken more. This guy can barely get you to move, much less teach you to defend yourself well."

FN's hand tightened over his staff as he fought the feeling of disappointment. He always had everyone's disapproval when he worked so hard to impress them and make them see him as their equal. Yet, now, it was still just as bad. Maybe even worse because you admired Kylo so much. The whole point of doing this was so you could defend yourself with him, wasn't it? Now, with how careful he had been, he just lost himself the one friend he's had in the entire time here.

"Apologize."

Your demand startled FN and he could only turn in confusion to you.

"What are doing?" he asked perplexed. You simply gave him a little smile of reassurance before hardening your face and looking at Kylo sternly.

"Why should I apologize if it's true?"

He didn't see anything wrong with what he had said, and remained passive in his demeanor towards the both of you.

"Get up," you demanded as you walked over and tossed your staff to Kylo. He caught it instantly, and did as instructed. Though his face was twisted in confusion the entire time, FN caught on before Kylo did, and immediately his jaw dropped.

"(Y.N.), you can't be serious," FN stammered as he backed away. He crossed over quickly to you and quietly yet hurriedly whispered, "he'll kill me! I can't fight him!"

You smiled brightly at him and placed both hands on his shoulders.

"FN, I believe in you. I trust you, and I know you'll be fine. He won't hurt you, I promise." You looked over at Kylo who was finally understanding what was happening and began to twist the staff around by the base, taking into account the weight of it as he waited for you to finish your pep talk.

Reluctantly you added, "Ok, much. He won't hurt you much. I promise!"

Though FN was very reluctant, Kylo pushed him and sure enough, FN fought back. He held his ground. He kept up and sparred with Kylo on equal footing. Being force sensitive, Kylo had an unfair advantage, but he only just used it. And the moment he did, you called him out on it and made him fight fair. FN got too confident at that so he was unprepared for Kylo sweeping him off his footing, causing FN to land flat on his back. The moment he did, Kylo rose the staff and swiped it down, barely stopping it above his face. FN tensed up immediately, though he didn't cover himself at all. You in turn immediately stood up, ready to jump in the way, all the while yelling "No!" Alas, Kylo was only showing you both— he could control himself.

The rest of the week after the incident, FN sparred mostly with Kylo and they moved slowly so to show you the best ways of defensive techniques, followed by short bouts of practice with you. You were very proud of FN, and quite surprised at how willing Kylo was to work with a stormtrooper. You were glad and thought maybe it would make it easier for the other stormtroopers to finally respect FN. All things considered, you shouldn't have been surprised when this wasn't the case.

Now, you and Kylo walk hand in hand towards the training room. Your lean arms are uncovered, showing your developing muscles. Kylo walks over in his full gear—mask and all—but once inside the room, he takes off everything except his undershirt and pants.

"Hey, bud!" you call to FN as you walk in. He's in the back corner, stretching with his back to you.

"Hi (Y.N.)," he calls to you over his shoulder. When he turns, he greets Kylo with his head turned down and says, "Hello commander."

"Let's get started?" Kylo asks.

"Yeah, of course," FN replies nervously. His head is still in an awkward bent position but you don't question it. Maybe he slept wrong and his neck hurts? You go off to the side then and start doing some warm ups. You don't pay much attention to the duo as they start sparring, and Kylo gives him pointers on what to improve. You take a mental note of everything he tells him, but don't bother looking at them because it does get repetitive after a while. You know very well how Kylo fights at this point, and you've fought with FN yourself many times. You can find his rhythm quite well if necessary. But it's only at Kylo's next comment that you immediately give them all your attention.

"Really, FN-2187. If you're that hurt, you should just say so. This extra practice isn't going to help you if you need time to recover."

"You're hurt?!" You exclaim loudly as you turn to look at him. Sure enough, he has a big bruise forming on his cheek, up to his eye, and back towards his ear. It's a nasty wound, and must have been quite painful to develop. You rush to him immediately, forcing him to sit as you start fussing over him. You notice him wince then when his hip makes contact with the floor and pull back.

"How hurt are you? Where else are you wounded?" you demand.

FN shakes his hands in a pleading 'no.'

"I'm fine. It's fine. Today's training was just more intense than I expected it to be. I hadn't trained with the others in quite some time so I lost sync with them. The opposing teams were set on finishing their mission and I happened to be in the way. That's the way of war; can't get upset over it."

"But your team should have had your back! They should have stopped them! They should have defended you! Did they at least fight alongside you?"

Kylo interjects then, telling you "sometimes you have to fight on your own. You can't always rely on your patrol to come to your aid. Phasma runs her simulations as realistically as possible. In fact, she would've more than likely punished all of his unit if they did give up their objective for a single soldier."

"But it's not fair!" you yell angrily. They do this shit on purpose. You know it, but you have no proof. And Kylo can't do anything anyways because he's not the one in charge of the troopers.

You stand protectively over FN, and plead for Kylo to do something. He shrugs uncomfortably, trying to say he can't interfere. This is trooper business and only Phasma can determine how her stormtroopers interact with each other. You can read in the way he shifts his gaze away from yours that there's something else to it too that he doesn't want to say. With a sigh of defeat, you turn to FN and help him up.

"Ok, you need to go back and rest. I don't know, hide if you have to. I'll see what I can do so you can heal properly, ok. Just... don't let them bully you. It won't make them like you any more always keeping your head down."

He keeps quiet, but nods understandably. While you two share your conversation, Kylo dries himself off and then puts his full gear back on. After FN makes his way out the door, Kylo voices his concern.

"If you talk to anyone about it, it's only going to get worse. You know that, don't you? And it's especially going to get harder for him if I try to vouch for him. You saw what they did to him for training with me."

"But I can't just keep quiet and let this happen, Kylo. It's not right. It's evil and cruel."

"If it gets any worse for him, you have to know it's going to be your fault. I need you to understand that. There's consequences—even for good actions."

You chew on your lip angrily, and turn from him without a word. You can't stand by doing nothing, but he has a point. You walk out the training room but rather than turn to go to your room with Kylo, you walk towards the main part of the base.

"(Y.N.)!" Kylo warns.

You throw your hand up dismissively without turning to look at him but reassure him that you just need to walk to figure something out. What he doesn't know is you already decided. You need to get him out. FN deserves better, and any role within the Rebellion would be better than this shit storm. So you walk around. Before entering any area, you calm your face and put up the charade of stupid and naive fool. You keep your ears peeled, and sure enough, you hear the snickers and the comments. The others had purposely ganged up on him. They were angered that FN-2187 was shmoozing up to you to get into Ren's good graces.

"He's probably just trying to join the praetorian guard through her. And it's working. Why else would he be training him personally. Now he can't train him anymore."

It makes your blood boil, but you won't let them faze you. They'll see. Every single one of them. They'll regret ever treating him so badly, you promise yourself. With that determination, you walk onto the bridge where General Hux is busy directing a few operations presented on various screens before him. When he sees you, you note how he rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath before turning to you. This may be your process, and you do it very well. But Hux in contrast is terrible at putting a fake face on. It's too clear he doesn't want you there.

Regardless of if it's done on purpose or not, you remain rooted in place and gently smile at him while you wait for him to come to you. It's a great spot to gather more intel too. On a monitor down on the bridge, there is notes being shown of a star map a few galaxies away. On another moniter, an image of Poe and a few other Rebels on a desert planet is clearly under analysis. A few tables over, you can hear the chatter of cargo being sent to Bothawui in return for the decryption of some maps. It seems that they're determined to find something as various maps all seem to be of the same sector of the galaxy. But what it means, you remain uncertain of. But you keep your brows raised ever so slightly and rock on your feet to feign waiting patiently but uninterested. You keep roaming your eyes all over the room, refusing to let anything hold your attention for too long lest you give yourself away. And sure enough, it works for the best as Hux leaves you to your own devices for a lot longer than you expected. It seems he only comes to you finally when you start to quietly huff.

With a fake smile, he comes over and says, "What a pleasure to see you here on the bridge. I hope I didn't make you wait too long. What can I do for you today, oh special one?"

You bite your tongue at his sass and remember to play a part. So without pause, you loop your hand around his elbow and tell him you'd like to walk and talk.

"I have a very serious matter to talk to you about, but I'm not exactly sure how to broach it... If I may?"

Hux stops playing his part but continues walking with you. He huffs a long deep sigh and responds, "you already have. Now what is it. I'm a very busy man after all. I don't have all day."

"Well, you see, I've been training as of late because I hate that I don't have any use here at the base. I've been wanting to be more useful. But I think I've only caused problems for the stormtrooper who I enlisted to help me."

"You do have a habit of causing trouble..."

You ignore that comment, though take a moment before continuing.

"You see, I want to go on a mission. I'd like to prove myself. But I also want to help the stormtrooper I bugged not have as many issues. How can I do that so I don't interfere or make things worse?"

Hux thinks it over and looks at you critically before he even considers taking another step. When he does, he leads you down the corridor and towards the simulation sector.

"You cannot under any circumstances go into a mission without first having been stress tested. We only send out our best. Sending out an incompetent soldier makes the First Order look weak. Do you understand?"

You nod your head earnestly, ready to take on the challenge.

"You said this stormtrooper has been training you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Give me his identification number, and if you succeed, I'll talk to Phasma to see what can be done to help him clear the bad standing you left him on."

Hux can be rather rude, but considering how he is now helping you, you can't help jump up and wrap your arms around him into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Hux! I knew you would be the smartest person to help me!"

You feel his jaw twist into a smirk before he says, "I would've expected you to think of Ren first. Why did you come to me?"

You pull back and pout slightly as you remember your previous conversation with your fiancé.

"He doesn't like getting into other people's business. I know he wouldn't help. But good field reports and successful missions are your expertise. You were the only person I could think of who could think of how to move forward. I wish I could think as far ahead as you do..."

As expected, he bristles with pride at your comments, his ego quickly softening him to you.

"Yes, well, we'll make a soldier of you yet. But not on the field until Phasma gives you her mark of approval. Go to her tomorrow first thing in the morning. We'll see how things move ahead next."

You jump excitedly, a big grin plastered on your face as you repeat "thank you" over and over again. You give him a tight hug then skip your way away from him until you get into an empty corridor. When you confirm no one is in sight, you sneak your way over to a supply closet connected to the main generator. You pop open the electrical interface cover, and use some of the electrical supplies left into the closet to reach the right frequency and send a message.

Burrowing to nest

Will test soon. Might succeed yet.

Will caw before flight

You hope your plan succeeds for more than just the rebellion now. FN has become your closest friend here. You need to save him. And you can't let general Organa down. You see the light in her son. You see the kindness she had in her own eyes. You can only imagine how happy getting him back would make her. The First Order will not keep your two dears any longer. You will save them.