Author's Note: Thanks for reading, friends! This has been hella fun to write. I'll be wrapping 'er up soon, so enjoy! I'll still update Forcebond Fluff here and there.

Hux shifted uneasily. "This will never work. Snoke will see through it immediately."

"It has to work," Ben replied. "It has to." He shifted in the heavy quilted black tunic the rebels had scrounged up from somewhere. He sighed at the black cloak but donned it anyway. He looked like a ruler fit to stand by Niima Ren's side, all right. That was the rouse.

He and Hux, Poe and Aurelia were gathered in the Falcon, discussing the last details of the rescue. Empress or not, they refused to leave Rey in the First Order's grasp, in such proximity to Snoke. Both Ben and Hux were certain that though Rey broke Snoke's mind control, she couldn't last forever.

Aurelia clasped a wide belt around Ben's waist and he stared in the mirror. How easily it could have been me, he thought. How easily Rey and I could be stuck on separate sides

"You look good," Aurelia said uneasily. "A proper Knight of Ren. Ben Ren." Then she laughed. "We'll have to change your name. Solo Ren. Organa Ren."

"Kylo Ren," Ben said. The name came to him in Mustafar when Snoke was digging through his mind. He didn't remember it until that instant and it sent a strange dread through him. "It's Kylo Ren."

Hux pulled on his First Order greatcoat. "If you get either of us killed, I'll kill you myself."

"Fair enough," Ben agreed. "I'll try to be gentle, but I can't make any promises."

Poe nodded to himself more than anyone else. "Okay. Ben takes Hux back as a prisoner. They take you to Rey. The three of you blast your way out of there, killing Snoke if possible." He shrugged to Aurelia. "Not a chance anything goes wrong."

She shrugged back. "We've had worse odds."

"Don't tell me the odds," Ben groaned. The group spent hours planning rescue situations. None of them panned out even slightly except for this one. "Take an hour. Make your preparations. Meet back here, Hux."

As soon as the ramp of the Falcon lowered onto the floor of the First Order hangar, Ben gave Hux a rough shove. It's show time. "Take us to the Empress! I have a gift for her," Ben purred to the troopers. "If she didn't believe me before, she'll have me now."

The troopers called out in fear and barked orders to him, but Ben simply smiled and tuned into the Force. "Bring me Captain Phasma."

In no time Phasma was storming toward them in her chrome armor. "Eager to switch sides, are we?" she mocked him. "The Empress knew you'd be back." She turned slightly toward Hux. "We've heard stories about your whereabouts, Traitor."

Hux opened his mouth to speak but Ben delivered as gentle a backhand as he could muster while still making the blow look fierce. "Silence."

Phasma stepped back. "The Empress will know what to do. Come along."

Rey was bent over her desk with the latest battle plans, scrutinizing them for hour two. There had to be a way to turn it around, work it to the rebels advantage, or cancel it all together. She rubbed her temples. By staying, Rey thought she could do better for her friends. Instead, she was unintentionally the figurehead of their demise. The Empress who would unite the galaxy, crush opposition, and rule supreme under Snoke's careful eye. Sure, she was trying to act as a mole, but she hadn't made a single stride. It burned.

Tears stung her eyes when she wondered what Poe and Finn thought of her, Han and Leia. She'd never be welcomed back to camp. If there was a camp.

Her door intercom dinged and Captain Phasma's powerful voice addressed her. "Empress. You have guests."

Rey used the Force to open the door. Staring in disbelief, she got to her feet. "Ben? General?" she quickly corrected herself. "Why has he returned? Captain?" She stared between the two, then at the man behind Ben. "Is that General Hux?"

Ben strode forward and tossed Hux into her quarters. He fell flat on his face and groaned.

"I brought you a gift," Ben purred. "I'd like to give it to you and receive your thanks in private."

Rey nodded to Phasma but she remained planted in the doorway.

"Empress," the captain said. "There are two of them."

"You think I can't handle them?" Rey laughed. "You left me alone with General Solo after my coronation. What's changed? Have I not earned your respect?" Suddenly she seemed a foot taller and Phasma cowered away. The runt is no matter to anyone and the general is, well, easily persuaded in my favor." She turned to Ben and batted her eyes. "Look. He brought me our missing ginger."

"Very well. I'll be outside should you need anything." Phasma stepped back and the doors whirred shut.

Ben relaxed somewhat. "We're getting you out of here," he blurted.

"Ben," Rey breathed fondly, reaching up and touching his cheek. "You look very First Order-ly. Black suits you."

"Too well," Ben grumbled. "The sooner we can get back to normal life, the better."

"Empress, is it?" Hux said, getting to his feet and studying Rey's gown and diadem before shifting his gaze to the suite. "These used to be my quarters. How strange they'd replace me with a royal instead of a military leader." He looked around in wonder. "I haven't even missed it. Sleeping on a cot in the middle of a field and I haven't even missed it here."

Rey gestured to his beard. "I like it."

Hux stroked the whiskers and allowed a fleeting smirk. "So does Poe." He even winked.

Rey's lips jerked into a smile. "Oh? Did you actually manage to tame him?"

"We can catch up later," Ben interrupted gruffly. "We have to get you out of here."

"Wait," Rey said, holding up her hand in a very stately manner. Both men paused. In a matter of weeks she'd truly become an empress. "I want to talk to you about something first."

Ben hesitated. "What?" He glanced at Hux, who nodded and quickly excused himself to the window on the far end of the suite. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared out into the wide expanse of space.

Rey stepped closer. "You know how you said you had dreams? Saw things that scared you?" She pursed her lips for a moment. "What- what kind of things?"

"Violence." Ben furrowed his brow. "Rey, can this wait until we're back at cam-"

"Have you seen our daughter?" Her face paled and her wide eyes waited for affirmation.

Hux stiffened and glanced over his shoulder at the pair before clearing his throat and turning back to the window.

"Yes," Ben replied. "A baby." The fact that Rey had seen a daughter as well floored him. By now Ben wrote off anything and everything he saw to Snoke's influence, but if Rey had seen the same thing? Perhaps it wasn't all a lie.

Her lips moved through a series of expressions; a smile, a frown, a grim line, then twitched into a neutral expression once again. She touched her stomach. "Do you think from my coronation?" she trailed off.

Ben cleared his throat. They'd taken no precautions. It wasn't as if he'd planned it. "I don't know," he replied softly. "If not now, soon. Neither of us looked older in the vision. Did we in yours?"

Stroking her stomach, she seemed lost in thought. "No." She reached up and removed her tiara, setting it gently on a table. "I didn't think it was true. I thought it was a hope. A dream." A full beam broke free and she giggled. "I think I really am pregnant."

Hux broke his silence and strode forward, passion blazing in his steely eyes. "That makes this mission's success absolutely imperative. You cannot stay now. Snoke won't allow your child to live."