Paralyzed

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A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Four-A New Plan

Ben sat in front of the console with Rey balanced snugly in his lap as he tapped into the Steadfast's communication systems and brought up the coded message that had tripped up the alarms. To his and Rey's mutual surprise, he was able to pull up a holographic image of the sender, although to their chagrin the traitor's face was hidden within the shadows of a deep cowl, even his voice had been heavily disguised to maintain his anonymity.

"As I served you in the old wars, I serve you now."

"Good, my faithful servant." Darth Sidious' raspy voice sent chills down Rey's spine. This evil spectre was her grandfather. She turned her head toward Ben and hid her face in the crook of his neck. He stroked the back of her hair comfortingly as he paused the message.

"Would you rather I listen to the rest of this alone?" He asked gently.

Rey took a moment to recover. Inching her nose a little nearer to his neck, Rey breathed in his comforting scent and immediately felt much better. "No, carry on. I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?" Ben checked. His first concern was always her wellbeing.

Rey raised her head and looked at him, reaching out so stroke his face tenderly. "I'm sure."

Ben sensed that she was more composed now through their Force bond. He leaned in to giver he a quick peck on the lips before re-starting the holo-image. The sender repeated everything to the Emperor that had been discussed in the meeting Ben had attended with the Supreme Council. That whittled down the suspects to those who had been at that meeting-that included Allegiant General Enric Pryde, Admiral Frantis Griss, and the Generals Amret Engell, Bellava Parnadee, and Domaric Quinn.

"The Supreme Leader's obsession with finding the scavenger girl continues to disrupt The First Orders occupation of the galaxy. He is unstable, immature and I…."

Darth Sidious' laughter interrupted the informant's tirade. "I did not expect you to be so easily fooled, my faithful servant." He spat sarcastically. "You know how I like to punish those who disappointment me."

"Of course, your excellency." There was a faint tremor in the informant's voice now.

"I have been every voice in that boy's head since the moment he was born. I saw inside his mind when he confronted me here on Exegol. He thought he was strong enough to hide his every thought and intention from me…but where she is concerned, he is weak…."

"I don't understand." The informant quavered.

"He has turned." Sidious sneered. "I knew as soon as he left that he would seek her out and pledge his life to her like the pathetic lovesick fool he is. His grandfather, the indomitable Darth Vader was a fool for love, just like your weak Supreme Leader. He fell because he wanted to save his wife's life." Sidious cackled at the memory. "The Skywalker men have always been so easy to manipulate."

"Ben, he knows." Rey said in a blind panic when he paused the image again.

Ben clutched her to him, his arms wrapping tight around her. He should have foreseen this. He had been an idiot to think he could fool the master manipulator himself. The emperor had delved inside his mind and pulled out the one thing that mattered to him most. The evil Sith lord must have known as soon as he left the cursed planet that he would go straight to Rey and do everything in his power to protect her.

"What are we going to do?" Rey cried as she held her face in her hands. "He knows that everything we've done since we came here has been a ruse." She couldn't breathe, it felt as if someone was choking her. Her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and hide from the world. A choked cry for help forced itself up her throat, and she felt a teardrop run down her cheek. It seemed like this was the end of the road for them. All their carefully laid plans lay in ruins.

Even though Ben was quietly falling apart himself, his first priority remained Rey. His gentle touch on her face sent a wave of butterflies coursing through her veins, their fluttering wings easing the dread that had settled inside her. "We're stronger together." He reminded her.

Rey sucked in her lower lip and nodded. "Stronger together." She whispered, holding on to those words like a life-line.

"We should listen to the rest." Ben said, while rubbing her lower back in comfort. Rey settled back into the security of his arms as he played the rest of the message.

Gods, how had his life been reduced to this? He couldn't believe how far he had fallen. Armitage Hux glanced in distaste at the oily grey overalls he was being forced to wear. They were a far cry from the pristine, cleanly pressed uniform of the First Order. He missed the charcoal grey general's uniform, black gloves, polished officer's buckle, traditional flared-hip breeches, and insulated boots he used to wear. He also wore a crested command cap emblazoned with the insignia of the First Order and a gaberwool officer's greatcoat.

After spending so much of his time inside a ship, his pale skin was now raw with sunburn. The humidity of the jungle moon's atmosphere was doing him no favours. Ajan Kloss was swarming with all kinds of monstrous insects and fungi. He had been bitten so many times by all various kinds of creatures that he was surprised he had any blood left to suck out of his body. He was covered in bacta patches, one strip even covered his nose where he had received a particularly nasty bite.

"Haven't you finished cleaning those parts yet?"

And there she was again. His torturer. Armitage was sure she was getting a kick out of treating him like a slave. He grimaced as Rose Tico's shadow fell across him as she inspected his work. She picked up one of the parts he had just finished cleaning and studied it closely. "Mmmm…not bad." She mused.

Not bad? It was perfect! Armitage was nothing if not fastidious with his cleanliness. "I think you'll find there is not a spot of grease left on that part." He defended himself.

A small smirk lit up Rose's face as she accidentally on purpose let the part slip through her fingers and fall onto the muddy ground. "Oops!" She said. "I can be so clumsy sometimes. It looks like you'll be cleaning that again, Armitage." She continued as her infuriating smirk widened.

Hux hid his scowl as he picked up the damnable part and began to clean it all over again. He had learned very quickly not to complain. Rose Tico was an expert with that wicked electro-shock prod she was so fond of using-especially on him. The woman who had haunted his dreams nightly was now haunting his days too. She was the only one who spoke to him at all, everyone else in the Resistance just ignored him completely, finding him nothing but a nuisance. At least she noticed him, even if it was mostly just yelling at him.

"Rose!"

Armitage groaned in annoyance when he heard the deep baritone of FN-2187's voice calling out Rose's name. The former stormtrooper, or Finn as he was calling himself now, was always hanging around. It grated on his nerves. It was obvious that the guy had a serious crush on her. Rose appeared to be keeping the former stormtrooper at arms-length for now, much to Armitage's satisfaction. It was clear that FN-2187 had fallen out of Rose's good graces and was trying to ingratiate himself with her again.

"I've brought you a little something to brighten your day." Finn produced a colourful bunch of wildflowers and passed them to Rose, smiling brightly.

"I've brought you a little something to brighten your day." Armitage imitated him sarcastically under his breath. Rose Tico was a formidable woman. She deserved better than a few half dead flowers. Now, if he gave her a gift, it would be much more….

Armitage's thoughts were broken when Finn's head whipped around and he snapped. "Did you say something?"

"Oh, ignore him." Rose said dismissively as she claimed Finn's attention again. She lifted the flowers to her nose and smelled them. "These are lovely, Finn. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Finn said as he gave Hux a warning look. He drew Rose away from the former First Order spy. "How do you put up with him under your feet all day? You know you shouldn't be shouldered with the responsibility of keeping an eye on him all the time when he's not in his cell." He leaned in; his warm lips close to her ear. "I can pull some strings. I'm sure we can unload him on someone else for a while. It would mean we could spend some quality time together."

Armitage had inched closer in order to overhear better. He was outraged when he heard Finn's plan. He wasn't haven't that. Surely a woman as lovely and intelligent as Rose Tico wasn't going to fall for that. He was alarmed when he heard Rose let out a girlish giggle. This wouldn't do. Not at all.

Since being captured by the Resistance, Armitage's world had become very narrow. His days were monotonous. He was put in a holding cell overnight; a bland breakfast would be provided at dawn, he would choke the unappealing gloop down until a guard arrived to escort him to Rose, where she would set about giving him the most menial tasks possible. Then as evening drew in, he would be escorted back to the same cell where another bland concoction was waiting for him. His nights were filled with lucid dreams of his torturer. It was fair to say that Armitage Hux was becoming a tad obsessed with Rose Tico. As much as he pretended otherwise, being around her, even if she was constantly criticising or yelling at him, was the bright spot in his day. Now the former stormtrooper was invading his territory. He wasn't having that.

"Ow!" He howled in a pathetic attempt to draw Rose's attention back to himself. "I've been bitten again."

Finn scowled while Rose emitted a weary sigh. "I've never known anyone get bitten so much. Or whine so much when it happens, either."

"Ah, who cares about him!" Finn gave her the full force of his big brown eyes. "Join me for dinner?" He asked.

"We'll see." Rose said, laughing as she drew away from him. She wasn't going to make it that easy for Finn. "I'll see you later."

Finn grinned at her, pleased that he was finally making some headway after screwing up so badly. He sauntered away on a high, leaving Rose to deal with her difficult patient. She stripped off another bacta patch and slapped it over the bite that Hux had deliberately scratched until it bled.

"There." She said. "Now get back to work. Those parts aren't going to clean themselves, Armitage."

Feeling pleased with himself, Armitage went back to furiously scrubbing the parts until they were gleaming. He would do anything that would please the goddess that was Rose Tico. For the first time Hux began to understand Ren's obsession with the scavenger girl.

"I suspect the scavenger girl is closer than you think." Sidious rasped to his loyal servant. "He will want to keep her near him. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, my faithful servant. Report anything you find suspicious, no matter how small, to me at once."

"Yes, your excellency." The informant promised.

That was the end of the transmission. Ben turned off the holographic projection of Sidious' servant and returned his attention to Rey. Her eyes were the colour of milk chocolate edged with a deep forest-green. They were so beautiful, just like her, and right now they were filled with trepidation and fear about what lay ahead.

"What do we do now, Ben?" She asked. "He knows that you've turned. He knows that you'll keep me somewhere close. How long before that informant figures out that the newest recruit to the Knights of Ren is me. We're running out of time."

"I know." Ben ran his fingers up and down her arms in a soothing motion. "We need to lay a trap for Sidious' informant. It is definitely someone on the council. That conversation gave us some clues. Whoever it is served the emperor during the old wars. That narrows it down quite a bit."

"Who are you thinking of?" Rey asked, her curiosity piqued. She felt all of the Supreme council were capable of stabbing each other in the back.

"Enric Pryde or Amrett Engell. They are both around the right age to have served under Sidious in the old wars. The others are too young." Ben explained. "I'm going to confide a different piece of alluring information to each one of them as bait. As soon as they try and contact him again and tell him the specific lie that I've entrapped them with, their identity will be revealed and we'll have them." He finished grimly.

A/N-thank you for reading. Please review.