Paralyzed

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A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter. The reviews are still not showing on the site, but I can still read them in my e-mails. It means I was unable to reply personally, sorry. :)

Chapter Forty-One-Palpatine's Curse

"You completed the sacrifice as promised, Rey Palpatine. You have earned your place amongst us and we pledge ourselves to you as the granddaughter of the one true Emperor."

Every individual member of the Resistance who stormed Rey's quarters in defence of her had overheard Trudgen's statement. She suddenly became the focus of everyone's attention and not in a good way. Her secret had come out in the worst way possible and she was devastated. Rey faced down the many pairs of eyes, some confused, some betrayed, a few openly hostile. The knights had risen to their feet again, their weapons drawn and ready to deliver death to anyone who dared approach their newly appointed leader.

While everyone's attention was focused on Rey, Hux used the opportunity to sneak over to Rose's side. He bent down and helped her to rise, his relief palpable when he realised, she was just breathless from her recent exertions and not because she was injured.

"I'm okay, Armitage." Rose assured him quietly as she looked around in confusion at the assembled group of Resistance fighters. She couldn't understand why they had suddenly gone so silent and were staring in Rey's direction with such judgemental eyes. She felt anger rising up inside her on Rey's behalf as she pushed through the warm bodies separating her from her friend. Hux grimaced as he immediately followed in her wake, sensing that his beloved Rose was about to kick off in a big way.

C'ai Threnalli, an Abednedo male pilot who flew in the Resistance Starfighter Corps, was the first to step forward and question Rey. "Is what we just heard true?" He asked gruffly. His black eyes, small and filled with unease, bored into her.

C'ai's eyes, and those of many of the others she had once counted as friends, observed her as if she was a total stranger. Rey knew they had already judged her and she hadn't even spoken a word in her own defence. Her twisted heritage spoke for her. She suddenly knew how Leia must have felt when she was exposed by the Senate to be the daughter of the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. In that instant, Leia had lost all credibility and everyone suspected her-and even Luke-of being evil. The widespread shock and condemnation by those on the Senate she had once considered allies and friends, had killed her political career. Leia had deliberately kept it secret in order to protect herself and her family from condemnation such as this. In the end it had backfired, hurting not only her, but her marriage to Han, and ultimately her relationship with Ben. Rey had hidden the knowledge of her true origins for the same reasons Leia had, and now history was repeating itself and it was breaking her heart.

"Is it true?" C'ai demanded again. "Are you a Palpatine?"

Rey's complexion had turned white as all the energy drained out of her. "Yes." She said simply.

There was an explosion of noise as the Resistance fighters began to demand answers. Rey closed her eyes against the onslaught, swaying slightly on her feet. She felt strong fingers wrap around her upper arm to steady her. She opened her eyes wearily to find Trudgen looking down at her. Rey was astonished to see that he had removed his intimidating mask revealing the man underneath. She acknowledged he had done so as an element of trust. She was surprised at how ordinary he looked. His dirty blonde hair was long and fell almost to his shoulders. His skin was almost as pale as Hux's. The most striking thing about him was his deep blue eyes that seemed to hold an ocean of secrets.

"See how quickly those you once considered friends turn on you, my lady. We've all been there." He said as if giving her a hint of his own dark past. "On your command we will kill them all."

Rey shook her head at him. She couldn't even summon the energy to be angry at him. Death was a code the knights lived by. It was how they survived. They took what they wanted by force and woe betide anyone standing in their way. They didn't even seem to care that she had essentially murdered their comrade in arms. Vicrul's broken body lay like so much garbage on the ground. The knights hadn't even given it a second glance since pledging their allegiance to her.

Their attention was caught by Rose who had managed to fight her way to the front. The petite engineer was bristling with anger, making her appear ten times taller than she actually was. Hux was standing guardedly by her side, his expression a mixture of pride and worry, as he fought the urge to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder so he could carry her out of there.

"What is wrong with you?" Rose yelled at the agitated group of Resistance fighters. "This is Rey we're talking about."

"She lied to us." Rylan, one of the most senior technicians, retorted. "She's a Palpatine."

There were many murmurings of agreement to that statement.

"And you have bad breath, Rylan." Rose snapped back at him. "But we don't hold your personal hygiene against you, do we?"

Rylan blushed red from the roots of his hair to the nape of his neck with mortification. C'ai let out an impatient snort as he shoved the embarrassed technician to one side. "This is no time to make a joke, Rose Tico." He admonished her. "This is a serious matter."

Hux counted to ten in his head as he watched Rose's temper begin to boil over. Once upon a time he had been on the receiving end of it himself. She looked as magnificent now as she had back then when she had defiantly stood up for herself against him and the whole First Order. He wore the scar on his hand where she had bitten him with pride. It tingled now as if warning him that it was time to intervene before she did something she might regret. He cleared his throat to gain her attention.

"What is it, Armitage?" She rounded on him impatiently.

Hux inclined his head so he could whisper into her ear without being overheard. "There are some battles that you cannot win, especially against an Abednedo. They are as tough and stubborn as their thick bluish brown hide suggests. I think it would be in our best interests to withdraw and let the situation simmer down instead of continuing to inflame it."

Rose slowly calmed down as she let Hux's words of advice sink in. Of course, he was right. Arguing was pointless and only adding fuel to the flames. The situation needed to be diffused quickly. Maybe once everyone had cooled off, they would actually be able to realise they were letting their stupid fears and prejudices rule their heads instead of common sense. She was about to try another tactic and reason with C'ai and the others when Rey took control of the situation herself.

Rey felt exposed as she faced the very people who had should have had her back, but were now glaring at her with judgemental eyes. She was tired, so damn tired. Weary to the bone. She reached out to Ben telepathically but there was no response. She could still feel him, their connection flowed around her like fine wine, but he remained unconscious and out of reach for now. She was on her own. Her breaths came shallow in her chest as if the revelation of her bloodline had wound itself so tightly around her that she would soon suffocate.

As Rey stared at the sea of faces, she knew that anything she said in defence of herself was pointless. The way the news had come out about her connection to Palpatine would forever overshadow everything she had ever done for the Resistance. She was the granddaughter of one of the most powerful Sith lords that ever lived. She was tainted by association. They couldn't hold Sidious responsible for his crimes but they could hold her accountable. Every wrong he did would be directed at her. The damage was done. At this point she was toxic.

"I have fought alongside all of you countless times in battle." She called out hollowly. "Have you forgotten? Are your memories so short? Am I to be held accountable for an accident of birth?"

"You say that and yet surround yourself with darkside users." C'ai countered boldly as he became the natural spokesperson for the others. There were a few murmurings of discontent, but most of the Resistance stood with him, their mistrustful glares encompassing the remaining Knights of Ren who stood guard beside her. "We heard them pledge allegiance to you. You are the mistress of Kylo Ren, you invite traitors and spies into our midst and allow them to roam free." He accused, pointing a quavering finger in Hux's direction.

Hux suddenly found himself unexpectedly in the spotlight and he glowered silently at all the accusing eyes. Rose's temper was on the boil again as she prepared to jump to his defence, but Rey claimed everyone's attention again as she stepped forward, her hazel eyes scanning the agitated crowd.

"So, this is what you think of me?" Rey bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to keep her composure.

Rylan came to join C'ai, seemingly having gotten over his earlier embarrassment. He glared at Rey balefully. "Your machinations have been exposed, Rey Palpatine. I never trusted you from the start." He declared spitefully, playing up to his audience. "What better way for a pair of upstart darkside users to gain power over us by infiltrating the Resistance and gaining our trust while slowly poisoning it from the inside. History speaks for itself. Isn't that exactly how her own grandfather rose to power after all. He rose from being a senator from a relatively obscure planet to chancellor of the entire senate in a short period of time and you all know what happened after that. This one may wear a prettier face, but how long will it be before we are all bowing down before another Sith Lord?"

Rey tuned out the accusing voices as nausea overwhelmed her. Her tiredness came in both forms, physical and mental. Her body needed to rest yet her mind needed it to move, to burn the anxiety right out. She was past the point of endurance.

The voices came back into focus as she concentrated on the crowd in front of her. "Your decision is made." She said, cutting right through Rylan's speech. "I leave you with this-General Leia Organa Solo was the natural born daughter of Vader and you trusted and followed her. But still you presume to judge me?"

Everyone had fallen silent now as they absorbed her words. Rey was too weary to see whether her little speech had an impact on them or not. She just wanted to get out of there and put some space between the Resistance and those who had doubted and accused her. She turned to face Trudgen. "Where is your ship?" She demanded in a low voice.

"We left the Night Buzzard on the surface." Trudgen informed her.

"Then take me to it." Rey said listlessly. "We leave now to rendezvous with Be…. Kylo's ship." She stumbled over her words as she swayed on her feet.

Trudgen caught her arm again to steady her. "Are you ill, my lady?" He asked.

"I've been awake for twenty-four hours straight with no sleep and little food. In that time, I've had to fight to the death and faced down a hostile crowd. Wouldn't that make you a little tired, Trudgen?" She snapped at him.

"Good point." Trudgen conceded with a smirk. "As for the hostile crowd, just say the word and we…"

"No." Rey cut in sourly.

"As you wish." Trudgen left her and relayed her orders to the other knights.

"Rey?" Rose said anxiously as she approached. "You're not really leaving, are you?"

"They've given me no other choice." Rey answered wearily. "When Poe returns to the base, maybe he can make them see reason. But for now, its best if Ben and I keep our distance. The knights will take me where I need to go."

"You can't seriously trust them, Rey." Rose argued.

"I trust them about as much as everyone here trusts me right now. I'll keep my guard up don't worry." Rey caught Rose's hands in hers. "Take care of yourself, Rose."

"No, I won't let you go off alone. I'm coming with you." Rose stated firmly, her tone brooking no argument.

"Rose, I can't ask you to do that." Rey pleaded.

"You didn't ask me. Its my decision." Rose gave Rey a wan smile. "I'll just need a moment to pack a few things, okay." She gave Rey a quick hug before she could protest further and then left to join Hux, who was waiting at the entrance to Rey's quarters. "I guess this is goodbye for a while, Armitage." She explained hurriedly, not quite able to meet his eyes. "I'm leaving with Rey."

Her confession didn't come as a surprise to Hux. It was exactly the kind of noble thing she would do. "I would advise concealing several blasters about our persons. The knights are known to be very unpredictable. I should know." He said sombrely.

"Does that mean you're coming with me, Armitage?" Rose asked, her cheeks flushing slightly as she finally allowed her eyes to meet his.

"Where else would I go?" Hux said with a small smile.

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