'Bring the boy to me.' Palpatine voice whispered in his mind.
Kylo darted out of the room as fast as his legs could carry. He remembered himself just before coming into view of the young officer, who must have scooted closer at the sound of the commotion. The man froze at the sight of Ren.
'Officer,' Ren snapped not even stopping to address the young man, 'I want the perimeter on lockdown. No one is to see the General without my approval. You are to report any change in his condition. To me directly.'
'The medic sir…' Mitaka stammered.
Ren temper flared. Was even the simplest instruction too much? How did Hux manage to have this bunch of dim wits do anything was for anyone to guess. A coded reflex to vent his frustration and the man was pinned to the wall a few inches above the floor.
Bad move.
He felt his head start to spin slightly and his vision whitening in a flash. In his state even this little force trick was draining. He clenched his teeth and kept his momentary weakness from showing.
'The medic can do their work. You are to ensure Hux safety. Would you fail me…' He walked closer, looking directly into the simpering fool's eyes, 'You'll wish to be dead long before I am done with you.'
He released his hold and turned on his heels without a look back.
He hardly made it to his rooms before his knee gave out and he collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. Even Snoke harsh training had hardly ever drained him to this point. He felt within an inch of his life. Two ragged breath later he had drifted into unconsciousness.
A notification from his data pad woke Kylo up. He had collapsed on the floor, but apart from a crick in the neck and lingering sore muscles he was fine. Whatever had happened in the med bay had not left permanent damages.
He lit the data pad and frowned. Lieutenant Mitaka. Oh right, the bootlicker.
The General's bacta treatment has been successful but he has broken a fever. The medic can't explain it. All his scans are normal. No drugs prove efficient. His condition is deemed worrying.
A medical report was attached, showing that Hux vitals were indeed normal but for the high fever. Kylo considered the report mournfully. He could not dismiss what had happened in the med bay but had hoped he would have more time to do some research before getting in range of Hux again. He scrolled and saw another more recent notification had been added to the thread.
The General was moved to his quarter for better access monitoring and security.
Kylo had not ordered this, but it was not an unintelligent move on the lieutenant part. Besides Hux would be closer to his own quarters if things spun out of control again, which would admittedly be handy. Kylo swiftly made his way to Hux quarters a few corridors from his own down the command section. He force-waved the door open and barged into the room, stopping only to register a blaster suddenly being pointed between his eyes.
The gun was lowered before Kylo could even wrench it from his holder, the young lieutenant he had entrusted Hux to blanching in front of him. The man had been standing guard by the door and let go of the gun in a panicked gesture before snapping in a salute.
'Sir I…' He stammered.
Ren chose to ignore him altogether, focused on the unfamiliar force signature bleeding from the bedroom. When he saw Hux sprawled on the sheet, coated in sweat and whining slightly against the fever that was wreaking his body he could not quite believe his eyes and senses.
Hux had always, always, been force null to a laughable degree. Even detecting his force signature when he was within spitting distance of his face was impossible. A rock had more connection to the force than Hux.
But here, as the illness was consuming him, Hux had turned into a maelstrom. The force did not flow through Hux, it caught on him like wind to a ripped cloth and came around to pierce through him again like so many needles. There was almost no need for Kylo to close his eyes to visualise the threads weaving through the redhead in a pulsating mess of dark and bloody crimson.
'He keeps getting worst sir,' a worried voice stated tentatively behind Kylo. 'The medics have no idea what could be causing this. No infection, no pathogens or toxics,' Mitaka recited.
Mitaka was unsure of the position of the Supreme Leader toward Hux. All he knew was that, by the time of the Supreme Leader departure from the med bay, the gaping wound in General Hux shoulder had been healed but for a twisted, angry scare. It was enough for the lieutenant to give the man some tentative trust.
Ren gave the young officer a weary look. He could feel his burning loyalty to Hux, and his worry.
'Leave us lieutenant,' he whispered.
A meaningful look to the medical droid had it following the lieutenant out. It beeped in disapprobation at being send out of monitoring distance from its patient but followed suits. Droids had developed a keen instinct in avoiding Ren that was too widespread not to have been some form of update in their protocol. Kylo suspected the responsible was lying fitfully in front of him.
As the door to the bedroom closed shut behind them, Kylo carefully approached the bed. The tangled mess in the Force twisting around Hux had an almost tangible feeling so densely it had coiled into him. There was a coppery taste on Kylo's tong that teased and coaxed a lingering, dormant bloodlust. It felt like a dark well was lulling him to take a sip, to dink its inky waters. Kylo put his hand through the dancing shadows overflowing from Hux's body, feeling the dark side licking his soul hungrily.
It was intoxicating. And Kylo had never quite gotten the temperance lesson. Following his instinct, he grabbed Hux jaw in one hand and positioned the other on the man's pale chest, left uncovered by his unrest, and just… Opened himself to the Dark Side.
It came crashing hungrily into him, setting his veins on fire like molten metal crawling up his arm into his entire body. The power rush was like none he had experimented before, a searing shot of pule adrenaline as the Dark Side clawed into him. His mind expanded on his own, in a pulse reaching through the entire ship and nearby ones. Opening his mind to the Force, filling him to the brim with raw, untamed power, his every cell singing with the Force.
He took a shuddering breath as the last of the threads coiled into him, leaving him feeling lightheaded and high on the Dark Side humming along his every nerves. He looked at his hands in disbelief, assessing no damage, before his eyes fell on Hux. The man had stopped his fretful whimpering and was laying seemingly at rest on the bed. A hand to his forehead proved he was burning no more. As he removed it, catching on a few strands of hair, two leaf green eyes opened to meet his.
They were glassy, lost. Vulnerable, almost. Kylo did not believed the man was fully awake, to show such weakness.
'What is happening to me Ren?' Hux asked in a wrecked whisper.
'I have no idea,' Kylo answered in a surprising bout of sincerity. 'Sleep General.'