Paralyzed
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A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter. This story has been heavy on the angst. I need some lightness…
Chapter Thirty-Four-Rey's Revenge
The men were getting on Rey's last nerve and she was fast losing patience with both of them. Ben and Poe had been exchanging pointed barbs for most of the morning out of sheer boredom and frustration. They each had a datapad balanced on their lap as they trawled through the mounds of information that Hux had downloaded from the First Order's mainframe computers about the stormtrooper programme.
"Welcome to the real world, Solo." Poe snarked when Ben let out another heavy sigh of irritation. "You've got no subordanites here to do the hard work this time."
Ben shot Poe a death glare. "I would never have entrusted something as important as this to any of the technicians. Searching through vital reports and data formed a regular part of my daily routine in the First Order."
"Really?" Poe was disbelieving.
"Yes, really, Dameron." Ben drawled. "I had to be on top of my game, there were too many ambitious assholes waiting for the perfect opportunity to stab me in the back."
"Mmmm…" Poe mused. "Like Hux?"
"Especially Hux." Ben muttered.
"What is the deal with you two?" Poe persisted.
"Poe, enough!" Rey snapped exasperatedly when she noticed Ben's fingers clench around his datapad too tightly, threatening to shatter the inanimate object completely. "Less talk. More reading." She ordered him.
"Fine." Poe grumbled. "I was just trying to make conversation."
Rey flashed the fighter pilot a sour look. She had been fighting against the persistent queasiness for most of the morning and was already in a foul mood because of it. Poe and Ben's constant bickering was only adding to her stress. The renewed silence caressed her skin like a cool summer breeze, smoothing her soul, taking away her jagged edges. That was until Poe decided to open his stupid mouth again.
"Ugh, my back is killing me." He moaned, stretching his arms above his head to ease the ache in the muscles. "I think its time for a break."
"You've had two breaks already." Rey reminded him pointedly.
"Good to know you're keeping score, Rey." Poe did little to hide his sarcasm.
"Don't bite, sweetheart. That's what he wants." Ben warned her telepathically when she opened her mouth to issue a retort.
Rey, still feeling in a bad mood, turned it on him. "It's a pity you don't follow your own advice."
"What are you talking about?" Ben looked at her, genuinely confused.
"Instead of concentrating on the task at hand, you and Poe have been trading insults all morning just because you're bored. You're giving me a headache."
Ben stared into her eyes, searching for their customary warmth. "It is not my fault the guy has a planet sized ego." He slipped up and unthinkingly said the words aloud.
Poe, who had been observing their silent conversation with interest, frowned. "I take it you were talking about yourself when you said that." He snapped.
"Hardly." Ben broke eye contact with Rey and glared at Poe. "I'm not the one who's been bragging about being the best pilot in the galaxy all morning."
"That is not my ego talking. I'm just stating facts." Poe bristled. "Rey knows. Tell him."
Rey fought the urge to bang their heads together. "You are the best pilot in the galaxy." She deadpanned.
"See." Poe smirked in Ben's direction, having completely missed the veiled sarcasm in her tone.
"But then so is Ben." Rey tagged on at the end.
"Thank you!" Ben crowed as he flung an arm across her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "I think." He added in his head when she threw him an irritated stare.
"Prove it!" Poe challenged him eagerly as he leaned forward in his chair. "We'll each do one circuit of this cursed moon and see who gets back first."
"Done!" Ben agreed.
Rey was incensed by their childish behaviour. "Don't you dare, Ben Solo." She projected into his mind. "Be the bigger man."
"If you're making size comparisons, I'm already the bigger man." Ben quipped. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Its just a bit of fun."
"If you go through with this, you'll be sleeping alone under the stars tonight." Rey threatened him.
Ben began to waver until Poe jeered. "Are you coming or not, Solo? If you're afraid of showing yourself up, there is still time to back out."
"Rey, I can't back out now…" Ben pleaded.
Rey folded her arms across her chest as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. Go ahead. Be an idiot. I hope it rains all night!" She gathered the abandoned datapads in her arms and stormed off.
"Ooh, someone is in trouble." Poe laughed.
"You'll be laughing on the other side of your face when I win." Ben countered irritably.
Poe was feeling energised, and despite his grumpy attitude, he could tell that Ben was too. Being cooped up on the jungle moon for so long without being able to flex his piloting muscles had been taking its toll. He needed the release. He sensed that Ben did as well. The guy was like a ball of tension. "Rey will forgive you. She's good like that."
"I know." Ben tried to push his guilt aside as he followed Poe toward the Starfighter landing zone.
"Come on, BB-8." Poe hollered for his droid.
"Hey, no droids."
"You've got the Force. I've got a droid." Poe smirked as BB-8 rolled toward him, chirping merrily.
Soft wisps of Rose's silky black hair swept past an ear and caressed the skin of her neck, falling around her rather beautiful, deep eyes. Hux was mesmerised by the long, dark lashes that brushed her cheeks every time she closed her eyes. Occasionally, she raised those same eyes from the datapad, and he was forced to quickly drop his gaze to his own datapad. He would wait a few seconds before daring to turn his head to look her way just so he could admire her beautiful profile all over again.
"We should break for lunch." Rose said eventually as she rubbed her eyes. They had been working without stopping all morning and her eyes were beginning to feel the strain. Their diligence had paid off, already having amassed quite a bit of intriguing information out of the encrypted files. One piece in particular sounded promising. At the Battle of Ansett Island, an entire company of stormtroopers-company 77-mutinied rather than fire on civilians. She noted that Armitage had been extremely irritated by this intriguing find, muttering something about Phasma and coverup under his breath. "Armitage?" She said, looking at him with interest.
Hux felt the familiar secret thrill that sent his heart racing when she called him by his first name. "Yes."
"Tell me something about yourself. Something nice, not horrible. Something that nobody else knows."
Her request took him completely by surprise. This was the first time she had shown any real interest about him as a person. He became flustered as he tried to think of a suitable answer to impress her-total power and world domination wouldn't quite cut it.
When he took a long time to answer Rose's interest began to fade. "Don't worry about it, Armitage. Lets just get something to eat."
The tips of Hux's ears turned red with silent panic as he realised he was losing his only chance to engage with her. "Baking." He blurted out.
"Baking?" Rose was disbelieving.
Beneath the surface of Hux's pride and ambition existed a burning shame that started with the abuse he endured under his father's care. Though he also enjoyed a life of privilege due to Brendol's elevated position in the early First Order, young Armitage was the object of Brendol's scorn and therefore lived in fear of his father. Brendol considered his son pathetic, weak, snivelling and utterly useless. Hux likewise loathed his father and regarded Brendol as an "old bastard" whose death gave him a sense of relief. However, he had never gotten over the shame of being his father's bastard son by a kitchen woman, rather than a legitimate heir by Brendol's lawful wife, Maratelle. For all of his imperiousness and sense of manifest destiny, Hux never forgot his origins—he was the unloved, illegitimate son of a man who hated him—and he never forgave his abusers. He had no good memories of his father, but did have a few of his mother. One of which was them working together in the kitchens of an evening when he was very young, she taught him how to bake bread for the First Order officers, including his father, to eat the next day.
He became lost in the past for a moment before the remembered humiliation of his dead father's scathing voice shattered the good memory of his mother.
"Given you found his mother in a kitchen, you'd think your illegitimate son could at least serve a drink, Commandant Hux."
"Unfortunately, I've yet to find anything Armitage isn't utterly useless at, Admiral Brooks."
"Armitage?" Rose's gentle voice broke him out of the spell he was under. "Are you okay? You look…I don't know…sad."
Hux found himself drowning in Rose's compassionate gaze. No one had ever looked at him that way before, with such deep empathy. "I was thinking of my mother." He confessed.
"Oh, is she…?" Rose faltered.
"She died a long time ago." Hux admitted.
"Is she the one who taught you to bake?" Rose guessed.
"She was a kitchen maid." Hux waited for the usual condemnation at his mother's low status, but to his surprise Rose just smiled.
"Ah, I bet she was an amazing cook. Sadly, I never had that talent. My sister Paige on the other hand…" Rose stopped speaking, her eyes glimmering with moisture. "Never mind."
Hux hated seeing the sadness in her eyes. He missed her smile. "Tell me about your sister." He asked.
"I'll tell you if you teach me how to bake some of that bread you were talking about." Rose offered.
"I hardy remember…." Hux murmured.
"I'm sure it will come back to you." A small glimmer of a smile finally tugged at the corners of her lips. "Come on, Armitage. It will be fun. And don't we deserve some of that after all our hard work?"
"I believe so. Yes." Hux finally agreed. He would do anything to please her. His reward was the brightest smile he had ever gotten from her.
It was a few hours later when Rey crossed paths with the duo. She was confronted with the strange sight of Rose and Hux emerging from the canteen's kitchens. Rose was carrying a tray filled with the most delicious smelling bread that immediately sent Rey's taste buds tingling. The tantalising smell chased away the constant nausea that had plagued her all day. She felt her mouth water as she hurried to intercept them.
"Hi, Rey." Rose greeted her happily.
"Hey." Rey's curious gaze flicked between her and Hux. "Where did you get that delicious bread?"
"We made it." Rose trilled with delight. "Well, actually Armitage did. I helped."
Rey failed to hide her astonishment at this surprising news. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Rose said, eyes dancing with mirth.
Rey smiled hesitantly as she glanced at Hux, who was looking with pride at his creation or Rose, she couldn't quite tell. Rey shook her head to clear it. This was turning into a very strange day. Poe and Ben had returned from their space race pumped and full of energy, claiming neither was the victor. Rey didn't know why, but their sudden turnaround in mood after bickering all morning, really annoyed her for some reason. Ben had tried to coax her into a good mood, doing his best to get her to forgive him, but she was still feeling highly irritated and left him and Poe together to enjoy their newfound admiration for one another's awesome piloting skills.
"That bread really smells delicious." She said to Rose as the freshly baked aroma sent her mouth watering again. She was so hungry.
"Would you like some?" Rose offered kindly.
"Oh, yes, please." Rey reached for the bread and pulled off a huge chunk. The inside was soft and delicate and when she put it in her mouth it practically melted on her tongue. "This is…this is… I have no words to describe how gorgeous this is." She said with her mouth full.
Rose could see how much Rey loved it. She generously offered her the whole loaf. Hux was about to protest, but one sharp look from Rose quietened him. "Thank you, Rose." Rey gushed, taking the tray from her. "I appreciate it so much."
"You're welcome." Rose smiled. She watched as Rey walked off in the opposite direction carrying the tray. She looked up at a glowering Hux, who wasn't best pleased seeing all his hard work being hauled off by the scavenger. "Doesn't it make you feel good to do a good deed?" She teased lightly.
"Absolutely." Hux lied through gritted teeth.
"Liar." Rose laughed.
"A peace offering." Rey declared to Ben and Poe as she placed the delicious smelling bread on the table between them.
Ben smiled, relieved that Rey was no longer angry with him. He watched happily as she carved up the bread, placing two slices on Poe's plate and two on his. "Thanks, sweetheart."
"You're welcome." Rey said sweetly.
Both men tucked in heartily, still buoyed with adrenaline from their race. She watched as they savoured the taste, letting the delicious light bread melt on their tongue. It wasn't long before they were reaching for more.
"Rey, that was…. just…sublime." Poe was practically salivating. He cut off another generous chunk and passed half to Ben. He stuffed it into his mouth and Ben followed suit. "Who made this? I've got to thank them."
"It was Hux." Rey revealed, laughing as the two of them immediately began to choke on the bread as if it was poisoned. Revenge really did taste so sweet, she thought to herself with a satisfied smile.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time.