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

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The following days passed without much excitement. In between paperwork, training with Rey, meditation, Force training the Knights, and continued trials for the Guard's battle strategy, Kylo and Rey frequently discussed the new building with Thomas. It was slowly taking shape, the three of them extensively taking Natasha and Andrea's views into account.

Flock rapidly made a name for himself, much to Rey's mirth. As predicted, he'd stolen Shadow's heart, especially after he'd spotted her lurking in the shadows one day and had said, "There's a shadow in the shadows and the shadow's name is Shadow," before turning to Rey and promptly demanding, "Praise me. I'm smart." Both Rey and Shadow had burst out laughing, the Knight effectively blowing her cover and surprising both Phasma and Rey's Guard.

Ember had given the droid such a fierce glare, Flock had promptly dubbed her 'Miss Too-dangerous' and left her alone. Rogue, predictably, had sniggered at the droid while Quicksilver had lifted an eyebrow and had asked Kylo if it was possible to Force a droid into not seeing them.

After throwing a bunch of sassy comments towards Daze but without earning himself a response, Flock had claimed him boring and 'not worth his time' which, in turn, had served to amuse Dot. Burman, to nobody's surprise, had practically cooed at the little droid.

The first time Flock met Hux, however, had been another matter entirely.

They were on their way to dinner when Hux appeared from around a corner and stopped in his tracks in surprise. After a moment's hesitation, he fisted his hand above his heart, still a stickler for rules despite the more casual atmosphere of the Base.

"Supreme Leader, Supreme Duchess, Commander Phasma, Guard Arima."

Flock rolled forward as Hux's greetings were returned and tilted its head back. "Look, a fire torch," he said.

The change in Hux was immediate. He scowled and balled his fists, his face flashing red.

"How dare you?" he exclaimed. "You tin can!"

Kylo clearly felt Rey's spike of anger over the bond and, in the blink of an eye, as Hux moved to kick at Flock, she had her saber hovering near Hux's throat. The man blanched even faster than he'd turned red in anger. His eyes widened in fear as he turned slightly to look at Rey.

"Don't you dare touch what's mine," she said in a menacing whisper.

The reaction was so visceral that it completely took Kylo by surprise. He was happy not to feel any trace of the Dark side of the Force around Rey though, which meant she wasn't allowing her anger to overtake her. While he would have expected Flock to buzz around in pride of his mistress defending him, the droid only let out a few beeps and otherwise stayed quiet, as if it understood the situation had turned into a dangerous one.

Kylo was about to say something in an attempt to diffuse the situation when Ember appeared from around the same corner, took one look at the situation, and rushed forward.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"That piece of scrap metal-" Hux started.

He cut himself off as Rey twisted her hand, the saber coming close enough for it to slightly burn the skin of Hux's neck. From his position, Kylo couldn't see Rey's eyes but, from the way Ember was looking at her, he was quite certain they were assessing each other. As if Rey was daring her to take Hux's side.

Silence reigned and the tension in the air was a heavy thing.

"Hux," Ember finally said. "Apologise."

"I beg your pardon?" Hux exclaimed. "That droid insulted me."

"He insults everybody," Ember dryly answered.

"He called me a- A-"

Hux didn't finish his sentence but Ember glanced at him and seemed to understand nonetheless.

"Miss Rey," she said, turning her eyes back towards Rey. "Your droid called him the equivalent of an abandoned, scavenging Jedi."

The way the Force flared around Rey momentarily caused Kylo to fear for Hux's life, but the saber remained steady. He took a small step forward.

"Rey," he murmured. "We need him."

Kylo ignored Hux's surprised look as he focussed on Rey. She was staring at Ember.

"Flock," Rey suddenly said.

The little droid rolled forward and beeped. Rey turned to glare at Hux.

"Apologise to Flock for trying to kick him," she demanded.

"There is absolutely no rea-"

"Apologise," Rey yelled, causing Hux to flinch.

"Hux," Ember urged, not saying more beyond his name.

His lips pulled into a grimace, Hux looked down to Flock as best as he could with the saber at his neck and spoke, "I apologise for trying to kick you."

"Flock," Rey said as the droid beeped in acknowledgement of Hux's words. "You will refrain from making comments about this man's appearance."

Again the droid beeped, accepting the command. Rey continued to glare at Hux for a moment longer.

"Touch him and you're dead," she snarled before extinguishing her saber, turning, and marching off in the direction from which they came, Arima and Flock dutifully following her.

After a look at Hux—who was looking furious but smart enough not to comment—Kylo followed after Rey. He found her in their room, kneeling on the ground, shivering and holding a confused Flock against her chest.

"What happened?" Kylo asked, sitting down next to her and putting a hand between her shoulder blades, hoping it would soothe her.

"I don't know," Rey answered, sounding out of it. "I don't know."

"You consider Flock as part of your family, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

Kylo sighed and pulled her against his side. "It's okay," he said. "We'll figure it out."

That had been about a week ago. They had talked about what had happened and Kylo had explained to Ember, who had no doubt relayed to Hux that he'd touched a very sore spot by attempting to attack a part of what Rey considered family, given that she'd never really had any, apart from maybe the Resistance who'd turned out not to care that much after all.

Rey and Hux continued to avoid each other like the plague though, which was something that needed to be remedied. Kylo wasn't entirely sure how to go about it though.

In the meantime, construction of Building K had officially come to an end. Kylo had addressed the entire construction team to thank them for their hard work and had wine delivered to their ship so they could celebrate.

With the crew gone the next morning, leaving only Thomas and Karina behind, things suddenly seemed a lot quieter at the Base. Although they never much came into direct contact with the construction workers, there had been a constant arrival and departure of ships, as well as the transports between the crew's ship and the Base itself. The sky seemed empty without them, and only with them gone did Kylo realise how much of a background noise the construction had provided.

It was only a few days after their departure that Hux arrived at Kylo's office without being summoned, a rare occurrence. Rey and he glared at each other before promptly looking away.

"What brings you here?" Kylo asked, only just holding back a sigh.

"I wished to discuss our current staff with you, Supreme Leader," he answered.

"Is there something wrong with them?"

Through the bond, he could feel Rey's protectiveness spike. They'd talked about how strongly she'd reacted towards Hux but neither of them really knew if her reaction had been normal or not, neither having had a typical family or childhood. It had saddened them both to realise the same was true for most people in the First Order, but with the organisation and its Bases and Academies so widely spread, they weren't sure if they would ever find a decent solution to that problem.

"The communications crew thanks you for their bonus, sir," Hux said. "They are also glad to be able to take it slower again. The addition of Building K has been discussed with the maintenance crew and, although they are confident they can get it all done with the new building only partially being in use, more crew will be needed as soon as you plan on inviting more Knights. May I suggest we already start searching for one new member?"

"Did you check if any of the current crew has family members that they've left behind?"

"I did, sir. There are none."

"You think one more member is needed for the maintenance crew?" Kylo asked, realising there was nobody to prioritise.

"Yes, sir. They're at maximum capacity right now. If something major were to go wrong, they would severely struggle to get it fixed."

"I see," Kylo answered with a sigh. "Add someone to the crew; you know the criteria."

"Yes, sir. Then there is the matter of Erifred."

"What about him?" Kylo asked.

"He's working himself ragged and refusing to admit it," Hux said in the most blunt tone Kylo had ever heard him use. "His sous-chef, Benjamin, has expressed his concerns more than once already. Someone needs to convince him to take more people into his kitchen."

"Doesn't Building K have its own kitchen?" Rey asked.

"Yes, why?" Kylo answered her.

"He doesn't want people in his kitchen, but what about having a second kitchen under him? He could make all the decisions concerning the meals but only cook for this building."

"That's a good idea," Kylo said. "Why don't you explain that to Hux?"

Rey scoffed and looked away at the same time Hux lifted his chin in a haughty manner. Kylo did, finally, sigh.

"You two need to figure this out," he stated. "I can't have this type of disagreement lurking in my immediate team."

The look Rey sent him conveyed betrayal and made him feel slightly bad, despite knowing this was necessary.

Hux scowled. "I don't trust you," he said to Rey.

"That makes two of us," Rey snapped back.

Kylo waited for more. "Really?" he said when it became obvious neither would continue to speak. "That's it?"

Rey squared her shoulders. "You chased me," she accused.

"You humiliated me," Hux answered.

"Members of the Resistance died because of you."

"And so did many more because of him," Hux countered with a gesture towards Kylo. "You don't seem to mind that much."

Rey glared at Hux. "He knows what he's done. He knows. Do you?"

"Of course I do," Hux sniped back at her.

"Do you really?" Rey asked, standing from her usual corner where she'd been browsing documents again.

All of Derek's cajoling couldn't get her to sit on a chair with a desk of her own, so Derek had given up and brought in a bunch of cushions for her to use.

"Do you really?" Rey asked again. "Have you lost people that are close to you? Have you seen and heard the grieving of those left behind when their loved ones die? Do you truly know?"

"I-" Hux started, eyes confused and tone more subdued.

Rey didn't allow him to speak though. "Have you seen people you care about fall, not knowing if they would get up again. Fall and knowing that they won't? Have you seen people sacrifice themselves to save their friends? Do you know how difficult it is to clean blood from your hands? From underneath your nails?" She breathed heavily. "Do you still dare to claim that you know?" Her voice turned cold. "Have you ever killed yourself? Or have you always had others do your dirty work?"

Kylo stared at Rey, utterly shocked. A heartbeat later, he realised that a lot of what she'd said was part of the reason why he, himself, continued to dislike Hux. The man had ordered battles, massacres, and single takeouts, but not once did he have to feel the consequences. Although Snoke's punishments hadn't been mild and Hux had endured that and much more at Kylo's hand, he'd never known true grief.

Hux, too, was staring at Rey, looking completely speechless, like he couldn't even begin to imagine how to answer Rey's tirade. He looked down at his hands, dumbly blinking.

"That's why you hate me?" he finally asked, sounding honestly curious. "Because I never killed myself?"

"No," Rey answered.

"Then what's your problem?"

"That you don't care about the destruction you wrecked as long as it furthered your goal. You don't care about anybody but yourself and some sick notion of grandeur."

"He cares about Knight Ember now."

Everybody jumped at Derek's voice, clearly all having forgotten his presence. Kylo threw him a confused look as it was well-known that Derek wasn't exactly good friends with Hux either. To hear him defend their Base Leader was decidedly odd.

"I do," Hux agreed.

"Think about her dying," Rey pressed. "Multiply it by millions and then you'll know the pain you've caused."

Kylo winced. He, too, had caused such grief, such pain. It was not something that could be undone, but hearing Rey put it so bluntly only strengthened his resolve to solidify the First Order into something peaceful and stable.

Hux was back to staring at Rey with wide eyes. He seemed utterly shellshocked.

"Hux," Kylo said.

It caused Hux to jolt out of his staring and turn his gaze towards Kylo. There was no need of the Force to know Hux's mind was reeling.

"I'll talk to Erifred and get back to you," Kylo continued. "You are dismissed."

"Supreme Leader," Hux greeted before dazedly walking out of the room.

"Where did that come from?" Kylo asked as soon as the door closed.

"I don't like him," Rey answered.

"You've made that perfectly clear, Sandcat," Kylo answered. "I only hope you didn't break him." He turned towards Derek. "Why the comment about Ember?" he asked.

Derek shrugged. "It shows he has changed at least some," he said. "I still don't like him either, though, much for the same reason Miss Rey brought to the table: He never understood why trying to bribe me was wrong."

"Huh," Kylo unintelligently said, really not knowing what to add to that.

"Miss Rey," Derek said. "May I ask what your idea for Erifred was?"

Rey glanced at him, smiled, and explained, diffusing the tension that lingered in the room.