Paralyzed

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

Chapter Thirty-One-Working Together

Rey bit down hard on her bottom lip as she tried to stop shaking. She was mortified at her loss of control. Finn was already climbing to his feet, suffering from nothing worse than a bruised ego. Rey couldn't look at him, she was too ashamed. Even though he had crossed the line, he didn't deserve that reaction from her. She should have handled it better. She should…

Then Ben was there. He moved close, with those smouldering eyes that looked so deeply into her own. "Hey, its me. It's okay. You're okay." Her breathing became softer now he was with her, her pensive look melting into a smile as soft as the morning light. Her body squirmed just a little as her muscles finally relaxed. There was something about that gaze of his she knew she would never find in another man, the strength of their bond bridging their souls together. "Can you tell me what happened." He asked carefully.

Rey's gaze darted briefly to Finn. Poe was with him now, probably asking the same question as Ben. "He caught me at a bad time. It was nothing."

"You can't expect me to believe that, Rey." Ben countered, his voice hardening slightly. "You used the Force to send him flying out of that tent. What did he do?"

Rey could feel Ben's anger rising. She touched him, intent on calming him down. Finn would suffer worse than a Force push if Ben got hold of him. She ran her fingers over Ben's face, letting them sink into his obsidian hair that fell in tousled locks around his face. Gods, she loved his hair. She loved that he was so fiercely protective of her, but it was up to her to handle Finn, not him.

"You don't need to get involved. I handled the situation." She projected telepathically into his mind. "Let it go. Please, for me."

"Fine." Ben answered reluctantly as he pulled her into the protective circle of his arms. His warmth seeped into her being, bringing her a sense of comfort she got from nowhere else. She was grateful that he was listening to her, him kicking off would have only aggravated the situation and she didn't need more stress than she was under already. "Let's get out of here. I don't think I can keep my cool much longer with him around."

"K'" Rey agreed she as tucked herself under his arm and snuggled into his side.

Ben's hostile glare in Finn's direction was a clear message for him not to mess with her again or there would be severe consequences. Finn was the first to break the intense stare as he his gaze slid to Rey, the hurt in his eyes at her perceived betrayal clear. She couldn't look at him, feeling as equally betrayed herself.

As Ben led her away, Poe flashed them an apologetic smile. "We'll finish talking tomorrow." He said to Ben. "Have a good night."

Ben's expression softened slightly as he nodded at Poe in acknowledgement. As they began to leave, Harter Kalonia appeared. She smiled when she saw Rey back on her feet, but it faltered when she immediately picked up on the obvious tension.

"Is everything okay here?" She asked warily.

Rey put her hand on Ben's chest before he could issue a bitter retort. He frowned, tightening his arm around her shoulders as he remained silent and allowed Rey to answer for them. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome." Harter glanced uneasily in Finn's direction. He was glaring daggers at Ben. "Just make sure you rest."

"Will do." Rey promised hastily as she resumed walking, tugging Ben along with her.

Harter watched them go with a puzzled frown. "What am I missing?" She asked Finn and Poe.

"You don't want to know. Good night, Harter." Poe said testily as he gave Finn a severe look. "Let's take a walk." He snapped at him.

"I don't need a lecture, Poe." Finn replied stubbornly.

"I don't care." Poe snapped. "You're going to get one anyway." He grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him along with him.

Finn shrugged him off, scowling. "You could have backed me up there. Nice to know where your loyalties lie."

"Stop being an idiot." Poe was slowly losing his patience. "You need to sort your head out and accept that they're together."

"She doesn't know what she is getting herself into with him! How can you be okay with this? She's your friend, too." Finn accused.

Poe rubbed his aching temples. "Stop treating Rey like she is some kind of damsel in distress. She can look after herself. She knows what she wants and she wants him. She is never going to see you as anything other than a friend, and if you continue acting like an ass, she won't even see you as that. Do you really want to risk losing her completely?"

Finn's eyes glimmered in the darkness as he tried to hold his emotions in check. His fists clenched as he stared at Poe for a long minute, before taking in a deep breath and walking away.

Rose felt like the heat was bleeding into her bones, the intense humidity radiating outwards into the bright day. The ground smouldered and sent up a disorientating haze. Even the birds were silent and the grass stood still as if too hot to move. The dripping moisture from the intense humidity had fried the electrics again. Even though the technicians remained as vigilant as possible and double proofed everything on a regular basis, there was always going to be something that slipped their notice. And as usual it fell on her to fix the mess.

Rose felt frustrated tears well in her eyes as she pulled out the messy wiring from the console and found it had completely melted. She clumsily wiped the perspiration coating her brow with the sleeve of her tan shirt. It did little to ease her discomfort, only heightened it. The heat was making it difficult to concentrate, the brightness of the day stung her eyes and made them water. At least that was the excuse she made to herself as she took her unhappiness out on the unfortunate wiring. She yanked the circuit board out, accidentally slicing her palm open on one of the sharp corners.

"Oh hell." Rose blinked away her tears as the crimson wave of blood seeped out of the deep cut. It was like watching her hopes and dreams bleed out right there in front of her. Her dreams of Finn…she had to accept that for him she would always be second best.

"That looks nasty." Hux's concerned voice pulled her out of her stupor. She hadn't even been aware he was standing in front of her. His head was bent as he examined her wound, the bright daylight turned the red strands of his hair almost orange. He cupped her hand in his and reached for a sterile wipe to dab at the blood. Rose watched listlessly as he took care of her, carefully cleansing the wound before applying one of the obligatory bacta strips to cover it. "There you go. All done." He declared.

Even though she was surrounded by light, Rose's mind remained clouded with grey. Her heartache was killing her. Her mood ricocheted between low and lower. She had no energy or motivation to get done the mountain of work that awaited her. Her head swam with half formed regrets. She was never going to put her heart out there again; she didn't think she could take another rejection.

"We better get back to work." She said dully, turning away from Hux and tugging half heartedly at the messy wiring.

"Allow me." Hux put his hands on her shoulders and guided her away from the console so he could take her place.

"You don't know what you're doing, Armitage." Rose was roused from her apathy a little as she peered around him, watching as he carefully disentangled the wiring and began to repair the damaged circuitry. "Okay, maybe you know a little." She conceded grudgingly.

Hux hid his smile at Rose's faint praise. He would take what he could get. He kept stealing glances at her as she worked quietly alongside him. Her pretty face was tense with concentration as she focused all her attention on the task at hand. Her emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face. Her pain was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips. Hux knew that it was that ungrateful scoundrel Finn who was the root cause of her pain. It just made him despise the former stormtrooper more than ever.

Their peaceful endeavours were interrupted by the arrival of Ben and Poe. Armitage immediately scowled at his former rival. Ben looked back at him impassively. "A word, Hux." He commanded.

Ben's authoritative tone grated on Hux's nerves. "You are not the Supreme Leader anymore, Ren. You cannot order me to do anything." He seethed; hating being shown up in front of Rose.

If he expected to rouse Ben's ire, he was severely disappointed. Ben merely shrugged and nodded his head in agreement. He stepped back and motioned for Poe to take his place. Dameron smirked as he put his hand on Hux's shoulder and pushed him forward. "Why don't you take an early lunch, Rose. We're just going to have a quick chat with old Huggsy here." He said to her.

Rose looked at them all curiously for a minute before shrugging. "I guess I'll see you all later then." She replied as she watched them tow a protesting Hux along with them out into the bright daylight. She sighed, feeling a little sorry for Armitage. She resolved to get him a treat, maybe some extra fruit and a pot of that Caf' he loved so much. That was sure to cheer him up.

The First Order Stormtrooper Corps were formed during the New Republic Era, following the collapse of its Imperial-era predecessor in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War. Though the Galactic Concordance banned the mobilization of stormtroopers, the First Order secretly began its own stormtrooper program under the supervision of General Brendol Hux and Captain Cardinal, and later Armitage Hux and Captain Phasma. Throughout its time, the program was centred on training human conscripts from early childhood.

As the commander of the stormtrooper legions, Phasma endeavoured to mould the stormtroopers into the finest soldiers in the galaxy and was constantly vigilant against any signs of weakness or disobedience. To this end, behavioural and personality conditioning was critical in the training of First Order stormtroopers. In an effort to control their psychological development, the First Order provided its trainees with a steady amount of subliminal sleep messages and First Order propaganda, resulting in the production of soldiers who were completely loyal to the First Order. In addition, rigorous combat exercises and psychological conditioning, the First Order strongly emphasized the values of uniformity and conformity. They were therefore given alphanumeric designations instead of names. As such, their emphasis of uniformity and conformity was strict enough that Stormtroopers weren't allowed to even remove their helmets unless specifically ordered to do so, with the penalty of doing so usually being mandated psychological counselling. A trooper that displayed "erratic conditioning" could be scheduled for a full mental wipe and reprogram, also known as a brain scrape. Likewise, stormtroopers were not allowed to initiate contact with First Order officers.

Not every trooper was a successful product by the First Order's standards. There were many like Finn, who even though he was a capable soldier, did not possess the same devotion that his comrades felt for the First Order. His lack of zeal for the First Order's cause, combined with his unwillingness to execute unarmed prisoners, led him to doubt his loyalties before ultimately forsaking his allegiance to the First Order. And there were many more like him, their numbers growing every day.

"You were in charge of the programme, Hux. I know how fastidious you and Phasma were for keeping precise records." Ben matched Armitage's icy stare. "If we can access those records, we can get a clearer picture of how many showed signs of defecting like Finn."

"You expect me to help you?" Armitage sneered through bloodless lips.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Poe complained to Ben as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "We're wasting our time with this guy."

"You're right." Ben agreed coolly. "I guess we need to go back to our fall-back plan."

"Huh?" Poe looked puzzled for a second, before comprehension dawned. "Oh, yeah, that plan. Explain it to me again."

"We'll sneak Rose and Finn onto the Steadfast. They've done it before. I am sure they can…." Ben began.

Armitage's eyes blazed with anger as his posture became rigid. "You leave her out of this!" He snarled at Ben viciously. "I'll get you what you want."

"Good." Ben kept his expression stern as Hux was escorted back to his cell.

"That guy really hates you." Poe said, stating the obvious.

"You think?" Ben replied sarcastically as he ran his fingers through his hair, feeling weary at having to deal with Hux's continued animosity. He longed to be back with Rey again. "How are you doing, sweetheart?" He reached out to her through their bond.

"All the better hearing your voice. Did Hux agree to help?" She asked hopefully.

"After a little persuasion." The warm glow of their Force bond surrounded him, putting a big smile on his face. Ben turned to find Poe smirking at him. "What's so funny?" He demanded irritably.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Poe laughed.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time.