Foreign sounds and smells enveloped her, but it was no dream. Anya jerked awake and summoned her blaster. It smacked into her hand with a satisfying familiarity. She already felt more secure. What was happening? It was dark save for flashes of lightning. Rain fell in angry torrents. By the sounds of it, water was flowing nearby. Signs of life? None.
The jungle. The shelter. Pieces came back to her slowly. Sighing, Anya flopped back onto the sleeping platform and pulled the blanket draped over her lap up to her chin. Its irregular shape perplexed her as she nestled back in and tried to get comfortable. A moment later she sat up again, eyes open wide. It wasn't a blanket draped over her. It was a First Order uniform greatcoat. General Hux! She must have dozed off in the afterglow. Snatching the coat to her chest, she took stock of the situation. She was alone in the shelter, which had somehow withstood the roaring storm. The general's clothes were still strewn where they'd fallen. Anya blinked. Where was Hux?
As if to answer, the man appeared in a clearing, soaking wet in just his trousers. He stomped through the mud and dumped a pile of branches in a dirt corner of the shelter. "Ah. You're awake," he greeted her. He peeled off his trousers and kicked off his boots, certain to keep the shelter as dry as possible. Pretending not to notice her gaze, he pulled on dry undershorts and set to arranging the kindling. "Can you produce a fire?"
Anya pulled the greatcoat on and joined him over the sticks. "I thought you headed for the ship."
A silly expression screwed up his face. "I could hardly return undressed and alone. I only left you to find something to burn." He offered a warm smile. The abrupt casual calm was almost startling compared to his usual business-only attitude. "The temperature is dropping more rapidly than I expected. We'll need a fire. Can you-?"
With a little effort, she produced sparks in the kindling. Smoke began to billow upward toward an inverted funnel in the shelter roof.
"Stars." Hux stared at the smoke. "This was drenched. You really are a remarkable creature."
Anya held out her hands and let the building warmth take the tingle out of her fingers and toes. The coat fell open as she leaned forward. She instinctively reached to pull it back around her, but the heat on her skin felt better than her feigned modesty.
Hux didn't blush or avert his gaze. "Magnificent," he commented with the ease of someone remarking on a landscape. "Brains, brawn, beauty, and the Force. The perfect specimen of the human race."
She snorted. "Recruiting me to your unit, General? You don't always need to be working. And trust me, you don't want the Force." She settled back on the platform, arms still extended to the flames. "I'd rather be normal some days."
"Normal? Nonsense." The fire merrily crackling, he settled in beside her, his pale torso a stark contrast to her black cloak beneath him. Warmth radiated from his skin. Had he intended to be this close? "How easy to perform menial tasks with little effort. Communicate securely. Defend oneself." He grinned. "Had you found my advances troublesome, you could have thrown me up the nearest tree. A standard human would have to resort to more primitive methods." He smiled when she laughed. "You're spectacular the way you are."
"You hardly sound like the general I set out with."
Hux quirked an eyebrow. "You're right. For all I know you could have me under a spell. This could be a mind trick." In one swift move he flipped her onto her back and pinned her. The tip of his nose grazed hers. "Tell me, Anya Ren," he purred in a playfully authoritative growl. "What sorcery are you employing against me?" He pressed a kiss just under her ear. "I've questioned lesser offenders for longer, and fortunately we have all night."
Giggling, Anya squirmed in his grasp. "Maybe you're just trying to get a story to tell your officer friends. Bedding one of the supreme leader's knights? Impressive."
He sat up, a thigh on either side of her waist. "I don't make a habit of sharing my personal activities with those leeches." Hux tried to hide a scowl. "I'd appreciate if you'd do the same with Kylo Ren. He'll maim me if he know the finer events of this mission." He stroked his chin briefly. "Though it will have been worth it."
"And here I thought you hated me." Her mouth watered at the sheer closeness. His weight on her hips was satisfying.
"On the contrary. I've always found you rather intoxicating, even in your ridiculous regalia." He reached down and pinched one her nipples, already stiff with arousal. "Always dragging dirt onto my ship. Filthy."
It would take nothing for her to blast him a thousand yards into the air, crush him with her mind, torture him with his worst nightmares. Yet his sheer audacity to display dominance over her… was sexy as hell. She stared up at him, her mouth agape and chest heaving.
Pleased with her curious submission, he continued. "I wasn't disappointed when he assigned you to this mission, though I must admit I never expected such an encounter to come to fruition. By the way, you still haven't assured me you aren't altering my will." For a moment there was doubt in his face; an anxious twitch worrying this was nothing more than a cruel trap set by the supreme leader.
She looked up at him with what she hoped looked like sincerity. "No, General," she replied earnestly. "I would never."
"Say that again." His voice was a hoarse whisper. "Call me general again."
"Of course, General."
Jungle birds singing their jubilant relief that the storm passed was the first thing Anya was aware of the next morning. Hux's absence was the second. She squinted an eye open and groaned. Not that the storm would have allowed for much slumber, but her new found thirst for Hux certainly hadn't left her feeling particularly rested.
"General?" she called.
"I'm here." Hux had hauled their packs into the filtered sunshine to inventory and repack. Anya stared in disbelief. He somehow managed to looked impeccable. Neither storm nor sleepless night, romp through the jungle or trek through the mud could knock his image. His uniform was nearly pristine, and under his cap, his hair looked no worse for wear. She muttered under her breath and reached for her robes.
"The floor is nothing but muck, but otherwise there should be no delay in our return to the ship." He tossed her a protein bar. "Hup-"
"Yeah, yeah," she cut him off. "Hup two, Ren."
He turned, but it was too late. She'd already seen his cockeyed grin.
The forest was a nightmare. Each step was a quagmire of mud or slick foliage. The storm left its mark, all right. Branches had crashed down left and right if they were lucky; when they weren't, entire trees blocked the way.
Anya's foot skidded off a large leaf and she lurched forward. Hux caught her flailing arm and steadied her. She did the same for him a few minutes later.
"We seem to have been on the edge of the worst of it," Hux muttered. He drew a breath, then quipped cheerfully, "The ship is only a few hours away, and then the cruiser awaits."
Anya nudged him. "Not that the past day has been the worst mission I've ever been on."
He pursed his lips. "I've spent enough time on planet to last a month."
Anya's neck was suddenly burning hot. Hux practically skipping back to the ship was humiliating. She was in no particular rush to get back to business as usual, but the general certainly wasn't dragging his feet. Anya pursed her lips and attempted to center her emotions. It didn't help. A rush of anger and shame overwhelmed her like a swimmer in a tidal wave. It was stupid, all of it. The words they'd exchanged, how she felt, the way she knew how he tasted.
Another thought struck her. If the supreme leader ever searched her mind, it would certainly be the end of her. One look at her pinned beneath the general begging for more and Kylo Ren would crush her on the spot.
Ahead, Hux was waiting for her, holding another swath of vines out of her way. "Anya? Are you quite all right?"
"Fine." She passed him and crashed ahead. It didn't take long for her to realize she had little idea where they were going. She hadn't seen the officer use a compass the whole time they were on the planet. How the hell did he manage? Determined not to need assistance, she moved ahead in the same general direction they'd been heading.
"Track west slightly," Hux commented after half an hour.
Without a word, she tracked slightly west.
Their path took them along a steep ravine. This must have been the heart of the storm. Trees were leaning at awkward angles, entire root systems exposed. The incline looked slick as a slide, leading down to a rushing stream. Whether it was a river or rainwater runoff, Anya wasn't sure. She picked up her face, eager to be on less challenging terrain.
Apparently unbothered by the tight quarters, Hux cleared his throat. "I can't help but sense your anger." He paused. "I assume you regret our interactions."
Anya spun and thrust a finger at him. "You're the one who can't wait to get back to the ship."
A strange sound filled the jungle before Hux could speak. Their heads whipped right and left. The source of the sound was impossible to miss. A huge tree was toppling over in slow motion, gaining speed as its weight prepared to crush them to death.
"Move!" Hux called, taking her hand and dashing ahead.
Anya wretched her hand free and braced herself in the mud. With a fierce grunt, she reached out with the Force and held the massive trunk in place above them. It was far heavier than anything she'd manipulated, but it hung perfectly still overhead. She stared in amazement for a moment and heard Hux utter his own admission of shock.
Before she could decide how best to maneuver the tree, another came down upon them suddenly, unrooted as its mammoth neighbor tore up a huge swath of ground around it. Anya's Force grip broke. Hux called out. The scent of earthy growth enveloped them. Battered by branches crashing down on them, Anya lost her footing. Flashes of green leaves swept her over the embankment. The massive shock of treetop chased after her. Stars lit up in her eyes as she tumbled toward the water.
Landing wasn't as awful as she expected. She skidded gracefully into the water, the gentle slope at the bottom helping to slow her. It wasn't a river after all, just a massive runoff from last night's storm. The leaves and grass beneath her broke her fall. Aside from a little dizziness and some scratches here and there, she was fine.
Above, the trees came to rest for the time being, trapped at the bases of younger trees. Wood creaked and branches swayed as if annoyed by their intruding fallen brethren.
There was no sign of the general. Anya looked back to the top of the hill. If he hand't landed here with her, he should be above. But he wasn't. Her heart raced. "Hux?" she called. She clambered up the hill but slid back down a few times. Was the general trapped under one of the trees? Crushed beneath the massive weight? Pinned between the trunks? He had to be somewhere. "Hux!"
"Here." The voice came from behind her.
Anya spun to see his gray-sleeved arm coming from the water. "Hux," she breathed. Broken branches crunched under her feet as she waded into the stream. It was shockingly powerful, but she pushed forward in the waist-deep water.
Hux struggled to keep his face above the rushing water. "I've been impaled," he sputtered. Fear didn't cross his face, but utter annoyance did. Even in the face of death, Hux's disdain shone through like a sun.
Anya peered through the dirty water. A broken branch as thick as her arm was protruding from the general's lower abdomen. Blood swirled out steadily. Her stomach lurched. She wasn't trained in medical aid. Kylo Ren had been more concerned about making sure the knights could defend themselves. Someone who was wounded on a mission was likely to be killed.
"I – I have to get you out of the water. I'm going to cut the branch and do that." Before he could respond, she reached into the water, snatched the machete from his belt, and gentle felt around until she found a place to saw.
Hux's face was pale. Teeth gritted, he hissed with every movement.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she chanted with each pass. The branch finally broke loose. She hooked him under the arms and dragged him out of the water. He screamed as the branch caught on a vine and jerked.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Anya hissed. "I'm sorry."
Hux's head lulled to the side as she rested him on his side. Now that he was out of the water, his uniform was turning deep crimson. The branch had run clear through at a bizarre angle when he landed at the bottom of the ravine. She didn't dare wonder what organs it shredded.
"Okay. Uh, stop the bleeding. Leave the object. I'm sure that's right." She ripped her cloak into long strips and wound them gently around his abdomen. He winced with every pass. "You're not going to die. I've got you."
He mustered a grimace. "If you say."
Soft splashes drew their attention. A small trickle of pebbles tumbled into the water. They looked back up to the ridge. Rocks shifted and spilled down the bank. The uprooted trees had been the only thing anchoring the rocks in the soil. The landslide was eminent.
"You'll have to leave me," Hux blurted. He squeezed her arm. "My personal code for the ship is 494676. Go."
The Force was teeming with acceptance, sacrifice and… love?