A/N: A big thanks to SirenBanshee. You are one amazing beta!

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Kylo and Rey stayed in bed for a long time the next morning, luxuriating in each other's presence, stealing kisses while they cuddled.

"I think the trainees will be happy to see you again," Kylo murmured, his arms around Rey as she was half-sprawled on top of him.

"I rather think they'll be sad they're no longer being taught by the great Supreme Leader himself," Rey countered.

"You'll see," Kylo said. "Their skills were a lot better than I'd expected," he continued. "You're a great teacher."

Rey nuzzled into his chest and Kylo didn't need to see her face to know she was blushing.

"It's true," he insisted. "And I would like to involve you in the design of the new building, the one for the children."

She pushed herself up at that, looking at him intently. "I've lived my whole life in a desert, Ben," Rey said. "I don't know a thing about buildings."

He chuckled. "True," he agreed. "But you know more about dealing with Force sensitive children than I do."

Rey shook her head. "That was mostly Sirena." She plopped back down. "And then Rose and Finn."

"There were already children at the Resistance before I added those of the Bases," he countered. "Temiri being one of them. Did you not manage them alone?"

"Well, yes."

"See, I'm right." He hummed in amusement as she gave him a half-heartened punch on his chest. "Lend me your insights, Rey."

"Oh, okay, if you think it will help."

He momentarily tightened his hold on her before letting go. "Derek is going to flay me for missing another morning of paperwork," he said.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Will you now?"

"Hmm. I can handle Derek."

"You're going to set Flock loose on him, aren't you?" Kylo asked with a laugh.

"If it's warranted."

"He wouldn't survive."

"Flock or Derek?"

"Derek. He wouldn't dare damage your property."

"No, but he's made friends with Freya, hasn't he?" Rey asked. "She might hack into Flock's system when he's loading."

Kylo raised an eyebrow. "You think the two of them…?"

"No," Rey answered with a shrug. "Unless something changed while I was gone; they're just friends. Freya is the protective type though."

He hummed at that, secretly happy to know Derek had made a friend. His administrator had always seemed a bit of a loner but everybody needed somebody they could talk to.

Kylo playfully pushed Rey from his chest, earning himself some colourful protests.

"Let's spar until lunch," he said, eager to stretch his muscles and to face Rey in mock-combat.

Phasma was a formidable opponent, as were any of the Knights, but there was something truly unique about sparring with somebody you were connected with through the Force. Every movement she made was his and vice versa. He still won most times, courtesy of overpowering strength and more experience, but it was always a hard-won victory.

"Yes," Rey exclaimed, suddenly all bouncing energy. "I was barely able to train at all these past few days."

"Such hardship," Kylo countered, moving to the freshner to splash water in his face.

"You have no idea!"

He laughed and they both rushed to get ready.

The slight unease that had wormed its way into Kylo's system at Rey's absence settled once they faced each other and the first blow was dealt. They worked up a right sweat and then showered together before joining the Knights for lunch. After the meditation session, they met up again at Kylo's office.

Flock, who'd been zooming after Rey and had been beeping nonsense, slowed to a halt once they walked through the door.

"That's one angry paper man," he said.

Kylo had already spotted the badly-suppressed glare Derek had sent his way upon arrival and tried hard not to smile at the droid's comment. Derek himself looked down and suddenly seemed slightly worried.

"You're that Flock?" he asked.

Flock started wildly zooming circles around the room. "I'm famous! I'm famous!" he cried out.

Derek took a cautionary step back as the droid rolled by perilously close to his toes. "Supreme Leader, Supreme Duchess, welcome back," he greeted, keeping half an eye on Flock.

"Derek," both Kylo and Rey greeted back before Rey let out a short whistle. Flock immediately returned to her side. "Enough of your antics for now," she said, a fond tone to her voice.

"With how you talk to it," Kylo said, faking hurt, "one might think you love the droid more than me."

Despite his earlier command, Flock gave a few self-assured beeps. Rey tssk-ed at it and Flock rolled to a corner to sulk, causing Rey to shake her head with mirth.

"Don't sulk," she said.

Kylo wasn't sure who she said it to, him or the droid, but he decided not to push further. With Flock safely out of the way, Derek was sending him his polite version of a glare again.

"Show me the most important documents while we wait for Thomas and his wife," Kylo sighed, sitting down.

Immediately, Derek shoved a tablet under his nose, as well as a digital pen. Kylo blinked and looked up at him in confusion.

"I've been digitalising," Derek said. "It's slow-going but not everything needs to be printed out anymore. We should have left those archaic, Planet-bound procedures behind us a long time ago."

"Good for you, Derek," Rey muttered from where she'd dug up her own tablet and she was either catching up on gossip or perusing another document about the First Order.

Kylo blinked again in surprise as he caught a faint blush on Derek's cheeks. "She's right," he added. "This is definitely an improvement."

"Thank you, sir. If you could now sign, here and here? It's about a change in supply chain for the Supremacy."

Kylo almost rolled his eyes at his Administrator and the oh-so carefully crafted disapproval of Kylo's absence that morning. They didn't have to wait long though before Thomas and his wife arrived. Derek slipped out at the same time.

"Supreme Leader, Miss Rey," Thomas greeted, his wife echoing his words.

Kylo raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't sure, sir," Thomas said apologetic, waving a hand towards Rey.

"I value your discretion, Thomas," Kylo said, "but you're both now part of the permanent staff. In fact, there are a few extra things that will be explained to you in a moment."

"I see," Thomas said before turning his attention back to Rey. "Supreme Duchess," he greeted properly.

The look on Thomas' wife's face was most comical before she, too, hastily turned and repeated the greeting.

"Thomas," Rey said, tone light as she put down her tablet and came to stand next to Kylo. "You should introduce your wife."

"Yes, of course."

Thomas placed his hand at the small of his wife's back and pushed her forward a bit. She had black hair that was about shoulder-length and brown eyes. She was about the same height as her husband. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she radiated not shyness, but the impression that she preferred to let Thomas do the talking while she observed.

"Meet Karina, my wife," Thomas simply said.

"Welcome to the team, Karina," Kylo said.

"Thank you, Supreme Leader," she answered, soft-spoken. "It is a pleasure to meet you. And you too, of course, Supreme Duchess."

"We currently only have a limited number of droids," Kylo said, "but Thomas told us you wouldn't mind helping with general maintenance either?"

"No, sir, I don't mind at all. I'm more than grateful that I get to stay at the same place as Thomas."

"Good. Also, I do believe Rey would enjoy watching you work on the droids from time to time."

"Oh?" Karina asked, looking at Rey.

"They're interesting," Rey said with a shrug. "I know quite a bit about ships but not about droids. I only learned how to make Flock back at the Academy."

Having heard his name, Flock buzzed back into action, rolling up to Rey's side.

"Mister Tomtom," he said, looking at Thomas. "Have you caught yourself a missus Tomtom?"

"Tomtom?" Karina echoed with a smile, glancing at Thomas who looked embarrassed.

"I can't convince it to call me something else," he muttered. "And, to be honest, I quite dread what it would come up with if I keep pushing."

Karina laughed and sank down on her haunches. "Hello, Flock," she said. "I see someone tweaked your software."

Flock rolled backwards a bit. "You will not tweak me," he said. "I am perfect."

Kylo had the distinct impression Flock would have preened if he'd had feathers.

Karina laughed and stood again. "I'm sure you are," she answered.

"Andrea did," Rey supplied.

"Andrea?" Karina asked. "If I may know, of course."

"Andrea Jolsk," Kylo said. "She's a Director at the Academy Thomas and Rey visited."

"Jolsk?" Karina said with some surprise. "Andrea Jolsk?"

"Yes. You know her?" Kylo asked.

Karina smiled, lighting up her entire face. "We were classmates," she answered. "I haven't seen her since we graduated but she always had a knack for tinkering with the droid software. She almost failed an examination because her droid made an inopportune comment at an inopportune time to an inopportune person."

Rey snorted. "Her droid insulted the examinator, didn't it?"

"Most creatively."

"I really like Andrea," Rey commented while laughing.

"I'm sure you do," Kylo answered.

"Sir?" Karina asked, frowning with confusion.

"They, uhm," Thomas started with a glance at Kylo, "can talk over the Force."

"What?" Karina asked, eyes growing wide.

"Ah, yes, that brings us to the explanation about this Base," Kylo said. "I'm going to need vows of secrecy first though."

They both easily agreed, giving the same oath the other members of staff had when Kylo had first arrived.

"Do you know who she is?" Kylo asked Karina, gesturing to Rey.

"Your Supreme Duchess, sir?" Karina answered, uncertain.

"I'll take that as a no," Kylo said.

Rey, at the same time, offered a small, almost mocking bow. "Rey of the Resistance," she said. "Don't you dare call me a Jedi."

"Of course not, Sup- Wait, what?"

Karina looked at Thomas, who gave her a reassuring nod, his hand brushing circles at her back. "There's a lot more going on here than we know, Kara," he said.

"But aren't you- Isn't the Resistance our enemy?" Karina asked. "I heard of a raid not so long ago."

"Pretence," Kylo said, "and coordinated. To prevent dissent from growing within the First Order before we're ready to divulge this particular information."

"Oh." She stared at Rey. "So you're the Resistance-" Rey lifted a single eyebrow and Karina coughed. "-Force User," she finished.

"I am," Rey said with a smile.

"O-kay."

"There's more," Kylo said.

"More, sir?" Thomas asked, immediately looking wide-eyed.

Kylo grinned. "Yes," he said. "You see, this complex will become the Knights' home base," he said, "and the place where they learn the Force."

"What?" both Thomas and Karina exclaimed.

His grin only widening and his amusement echoed by Rey over their bond, Kylo explained the basics of what was happening within the base. Once finished, he dismissed Karina, muttering to Phasma to make sure she made it back to her rooms safely, and turned towards Thomas again.

"Can you put two and two together?" Kylo asked.

Thomas blinked at him.

"Tomtom has turned into an owl," Flock happily announced.

He'd been hushed before by Rey during the explanation but, given that Karina had left, the little droid had probably figured said explanation was over.

Thomas frowned at the droid, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

"Or a fish," Flock added.

Thomas shook his head. "May I sit?" he asked. "For a moment."

"Of course," Kylo agreed.

Walking to one of the chairs standing in the corner, Thomas unceremoniously dropped down on it.

"Building K," he started.

"Is for the advanced trainees and fully-trained Knights," Kylo supplied.

"But there are no special training rooms. Nothing is out of the ordinary," Thomas answered.

"There is no need for special equipment in order to learn the Force."

Thomas gave him an incredulous look. "There are no rooms that are saber-proof," he countered.

"We are neither Jedi nor Sith," Rey said. "And Kyber crystals have become rare."

Kylo nodded. They hadn't discussed it in detail but he was glad Rey had picked up on it nonetheless.

"The Knights will become Force Users but that does not mean they need sabers. One can be a Force User without the saber. But that is nothing for you to worry yourself with."

"The children that escaped," Thomas added after a while. "Well, the ones you sent away, they were Force sensitive?"

"Yes."

Thomas frowned then looked up at Rey with sudden realisation. "They went to the Resistance."

"He really is smart," Rey noted before answering Thomas. "Yes, I was there to pick them up."

"You've been communicating with each other for that long already?" Thomas asked, sounding incredulous.

"Longer, really," Kylo said.

"Well…" Rey added.

"It depends on how you count," Kylo wryly added, earning him a laugh from Rey.

"You want to train them," Thomas concluded. "Children like them, you want to train them to become Knights."

"They were already picked out to become Knights," Kylo answered. "I disagreed with the teaching methods though."

"Which is why you sent me to the Academy to learn from the directors," Thomas added. "To offer a better training environment."

"Indeed," Rey agreed.

"Do you need another minute or can we start discussing the new building?" Kylo asked.

"There are no special requirements I need to take into account? Other than the usual needs of military training bases?"

"No," Kylo answered. "And if so, we'll discover them along the way."

Thomas took a breath and nodded. "I'm honoured to be working on this project," he said. "The Directors' explanations gave me multiple ideas. I've sketched some of them this morning, if you would allow me the use of a tablet?"