Quarantine still got me procrastinating even tho I have nothing but free time on my hands. But if any of you are following me, on any of my platforms, I kind of engaged in a new campaign that has absolutely nothing to do with Star Wars. Does that mean I'm giving up on this story? Hell no. I was actually insanely excited for this chapter—even if I ended up putting it off again until the last possible moment.
Someone asked if we were ever going to get Hux's POV again, especially because he and Rey are growing closer. Here it is: although it'll probably be the last Hux POV chapter in the story. But I never say never when it comes to these things.
To Do the Next Right Thing
Chapter 8
Rey wasn't ready for Coruscant.
Armitage could tell that just from seeing her the next morning, as it seemed like she'd been up for hours, fumbling around the ship like keeping her hands busy would keep her excitement down. He'd surprisingly slept well, probably well knowing that Kylo Ren and Allegiant General Pryde were completely dead and gone, his first good sleep in years. Or maybe it was because the crew's quarters, despite being a little clunky, were surprisingly comfortable. Maybe he'd just been forced to sleep in awful beds his whole life, and for the first time, he now knew what a real bed felt like.
Regardless, he woke up refreshed, getting dressed in the refresher before meeting Rey out in the main hull. Until now, a woman had never seen him in the flesh, in such a compromising position until her, and he wasn't sure what to think about that. She'd seen his scars, knew where they came from and even offered to try and heal them. She saw him and didn't flinch, scream, or laugh like he always feared one would. No, in fact there was a hint of fascination in those hazel eyes—but probably because of his damn scars, and nothing else.
He almost tripped over BB-8 still in his charging station, realizing he did not have the sense of space he thought he did, given he spent most of his days on giant Star Destroyers, where others scrambled to keep out of his way.
"Watch it," BB-8 snapped, rolling past him. Guess he was done charging. "I thought you First Order Generals were supposed to have your sh—"
"Morning!" Rey peeked her head out from the bridge, already dressed and in those signature three buns. Oh, was she going to stick out like a sore thumb. Not that he looked much better. "You were out like a light—I swear I made so much noise getting everything together when I got up."
Armitage Hux, now a heavy sleeper? That bed really was something else. "You're cheery this morning," he pointed out, raising a suspicious brow. "Just the morning before you were dreading this adventure."
"Well, I wouldn't say dread," she said. "I just didn't think it'd be fun without Finn and Poe."
"And is it?" he asked. "Fun, I mean."
She shrugged. "You know, kind of. BB-8 doesn't hate you; you're actually insightful and can hold your own where it matters. You've helped me work out a few demons I couldn't tell my friends. I'm seeing planets I've never dreamed of seeing before."
Coruscant. She was excited for finally seeing it with her own eyes.
She tossed him a portion. "I know it's not the breakfast of champions, but I want to get a move on."
Armitage politely placed it on the dejarik table for now. "Then I'll eat it in lightspeed," he said, moving past her to get in the co-pilot's seat. "No need to waste time when you clearly want to get there as soon as possible."
Rey smirked, starting up the Falcon. "I shouldn't like the fact that we're getting along, but I like that we're getting along."
Sighing, Armitage admitted, "My sentiments exactly."
The whole time there she couldn't stop moving or talking. Once in lightspeed, after breakfast, Rey took to tinkering with the entire ship, goading Armitage to help her out. He started learning more about the mechanics of this hunk of junk, and started to see that though yes, she was getting on in years, he could see why she was the most famous ship in the galaxy, after everything she'd been through.
Surprisingly, Rey trusted him with all that information. Or maybe she just wanted someone to talk to, given BB-8 had holed himself up in his charging station and didn't seem too keen on helping out if she had Armitage instead.
He was even getting more used to the nickname. Maybe it was because "Tage" seemed like the name of a traitor who betrayed the First Order, scrappy and suited for this mission.
Armitage didn't find her annoying when she spoke. She had this calming, even voice and too-wide smile, finding hope in her life past all the fear and abuse she suffered.
They had a lot in common, with their lack of parental guidance and yearning for approval of something bigger than themselves. Being able to actually relate to the scavenger, of all people, wasn't exactly the self-actualization he was looking for, but right now, that's what he was getting.
The ship warned that they were coming up on Coruscant. Rey hoisted herself out of the underground compartment and patched the panels back up, nearly sprinting back to the cockpit with Armitage struggling to follow. While certainly not Force sensitive, he could sense just how quickly her heart must be beating.
The lights from Galactic City shone from the atmosphere, and Armitage could see them reflected in Rey's eyes. She looked at the clock. "It's still morning out here," she uttered.
"Time difference," Armitage shrugged. "Gives us more time to look for an unaltered record."
"So you think it's in the old Senate?" They dipped down to enter the planet.
"I know it is," he said. "Even the New Republic wouldn't delete that information if it meant finding some way to get rid of the First Order."
But Rey said nothing the moment they entered the atmosphere. Everywhere she looked, buildings scraped the sky; transports of all kinds flew in every direction at different altitudes. It was too much, too quickly, with her eyes darting all about that she let her hands on the controls go slack.
Armitage pulled them back up to cruising. "Whoa, come on. You have to remember you're still flying here."
Rey shook her head, taking herself out of her trance. "Sorry. It's so... enchanting," she said, breathless. "I wish we could see it all."
He wondered if she knew anything about the underground city. "We should find somewhere to park for the evening," he suggested, reaching for their navigation. What was close to the Senate that didn't look too suspicious for their ship? High enough in levels to be considered comfortable? Ah. There was something, close to a transport to get them directly where they needed to go. Sure, it was close to a shopping district, but Rey didn't look to be the type to fixate on clothes, not when everything she owned looked so similar.
Nodding, Rey started heading in the direction Armitage suggested. "I knew the whole planet was a city; I just didn't think it'd be so... vast."
Oh, she was going to get swallowed whole, if they spent too much time exploring. "You know, this doesn't have to be your only trip," he pointed out. "You have the rest of your life to come back, and the means to do so."
Rey sighed. "You're right. I should stay mission focused."
"That's not entirely what I meant." Armitage thought about the credits he barely used. "How about... if we find what we're looking for, we find somewhere nice for dinner on an upper level, to celebrate."
That piqued her interest. They pulled up to the station. "You know somewhere?" she asked.
"I've heard whispers." The business dealers he knew from Canto Bight mentioned a few places on Coruscant, anyway.
They both had their hoods on, to be less recognizable, but Armitage doubted that would help much, given they had BB-8 traveling with them, too. Rey was able to persuade the station attendant to forget what ship was parked there.
The moment they stepped onto the streets, Rey stood still, shocked by the hustle and bustle of so many people making their way to their respective destinations. She had the wide-eyed, starry look of a girl taken with sensory overload, from the chatter of a thousand different languages, to the advertisements blaring in colorful lights above them, to the scent of purified air. Everyone's style was sophisticated and sharp; the women adorned various headdresses and hairstyles, and the men in clean robes and suits, no matter the species. With their rags, eyes plastered to them, given how much they stood out.
She started scurrying without direction, Armitage and BB-8 struggling to keep up.
"Is she even going the right way?" BB-8 asked, trying not to roll over anyone's feet.
"She is," Armitage answered lowly, "but I don't think she knows that." Something in the Force must have told her to head that way, he figured. Armitage scrambled through the crowd, for once grateful for his lanky frame so he could crowd weave easily. He'd forgotten, without Kylo Ren and Phasma, he was actually taller than most, and could even see over most heads. Luckily, a white hood wasn't the most difficult thing to find in a crowd, even if she seemed to wander like everything was interesting.
When he and BB-8 caught up, it was only because Rey had stopped briefly to look in a window.
"You shouldn't wander like that when you don't know how to navigate here," Armitage warned, but Rey wasn't paying attention. Her hazel eyes fixated on the window like what lay beyond held the answer to all her problems.
It was a shop that specialized in clothing. He followed her gaze to a tasteful navy dress with an asymmetrical hemline.
Sighing, Armitage looked up at the sky. The sun hadn't made its way over the skyscrapers yet—there was still plenty of time before sundown. He gestured toward the door. "Well, go on, then," he said.
"What?" Rey finally snapped out of her trance, shaking her head over at him. "What do you mean?"
"Yeah, I thought we were heading toward transport?" BB-8 asked, also confused.
"Go in." Armitage ignored BB-8, trying not to sound so sharp. "Obviously you want something better to wear than what you have."
Rey opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. Silently she made her way into the shop, the doors rushing open. Armitage noted how quickly she walked in, like she couldn't wait.
Immediately a shopping droid approached them, silver and sophisticated. Programmed female, Armitage noticed, as she started doting upon Rey and picking at her. "Oh, my dear, these just won't do—no wonder you walked into the shop!"
"Um..." Rey looked over to Armitage, pleading for him to speak on her behalf.
Armitage cleared his throat. "My... colleague here has just returned from a stealth mission on Pasaana," he lied, "and is in desperate need of a wardrobe change. She was eyeing the dress right over there, and we were wondering if there was any way she could try it on?" He pointed toward the navy gown.
"Of course!" the droid assured, rushing over to the rack and pulling one out in what seemed like Rey's perfect size. She'd probably scanned her the moment they walked in. "But my dear, this won't work with those boots."
Rey flushed as she looked down at her feet and her worn in, mud-caked boots that had seemed to traverse half the galaxy. "I... suppose not," she replied, downtrodden.
"Wait right here—I have all the selections you'll need!" The droid scurried to another part of the store, and Rey took a look around. While she'd been admiring the shop from the outside, inside she was now fearful, like she'd never seen this much material in her life. Armitage wondered if she'd ever even seen a clothing shop before now.
"What do I do?" she whispered in a panic, her feet rooted in place.
Armitage glanced over to a random dress and checked the price. It was certainly within the range of how many credits they still had, especially since the shopping droid seemed keen on doting Rey with accessories, as well. "Go with it," he assured. "You said yourself, you have no idea what looks good on you."
She could only nod, as the droid returned with a good number of dresses, shoes, and the like. "Come on, come on!" she goaded, pushing Rey toward a fitting room. "Try these on—I think I found some lovely selections that will work really well with your figure."
"What have you gotten her into?" BB-8 scolded, following them.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Armitage uttered.
Turned out, Rey couldn't walk in heels. Or in dresses that reached her feet. Armitage sat in a chair beside the fitting room, giving his verdict whenever she walked out. While BB-8 was bored, Armitage actually found himself engaged in the whole affair, waiting to see what the shopping droid tried to put her in next. By the fifth change, he noted the frustration on her face, like nothing was working out. Twice she stumbled out, tripping over either long hems or high shoes.
But there were things Armitage noticed about Rey that he hadn't before. She had a curve to her hips that was always covered by her draping robes, and very strong legs. Her arms were toned, shoulders broad from training. At some point, the shopping droid even accentuated her eyes with some makeup, making them pop more with dark, dramatic flair. Her hair was out of its buns, waving nicely around her shoulders.
"You always stare when she walks out," BB-8 pointed out, his hundredth lap around the chair.
"I'm just making sure she picks out something fitting," Armitage countered, though even to him it sounded like a lie. He'd taken his scarf off a while back, eyes wandering aimlessly whenever Rey was trying on something new.
"All right, tell me how stupid I look now." Rey stepped out of the fitting room, this time in ornately decorated flats so she could actually walk.
Navy seemed to be her color. Only this material shimmered, practically glimmered with every step like it was made of stardust. Its high neckline assured that she didn't need a necklace, though when she turned, he noticed the dress was backless. It hugged her curves down to her calves, reaching her ankles as opposed to her feet, and showed off her shoulders. It accentuated every one of her better features (not that she had any bad features, per se).
"Tage?" she asked when he didn't answer immediately. "It looks that bad, huh?"
Now it was his turn to shake his head, taking himself out of the moment. "No—no, not at all. That's the one."
Rey sighed in relief. "Ugh, finally. Are you sure we can afford all this? I can't exactly—" She pointed at the droid to indicate her mind persuasion powers wouldn't work.
Armitage waved his hand. "Don't worry about it." He looked up, eyeing a sharp, grey suit in his peripheral vision. Hell, if Rey got her wardrobe upgrade, he should get one too, right?
"What do you think of that?" he asked her, pointing at the suit.
She sighed again. "I suppose we'd stand out less if we both tried fitting in," she conceded. "You won't take too long, right?"
"He'd better not," said BB-8. "It's almost midday."
He rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, I know what I'm looking for."
Rey scoffed, but called the shopping droid over to get Armitage set up. And yes, unlike Rey, Armitage knew the cut of the jacket and slacks suited him, knew that grey was the most neutral color he could conceivably wear that held affiliation with no one (though he chose a less tattered, dark blue scarf for his hair).
She kept her annoyed expression up, even as he dug his credits out to pay. Luckily their old clothes fit snugly in her pack. While it didn't match, it'd do in a pinch, and before long, they were back out in the streets, at least passing the part of looking Coruscanti. And Armitage had to admit, he could walk a little straighter knowing he looked so much more put together.
"How'd you know?" Rey asked, as they continued down the bustling streets, busier now that it was a bit later in the day.
"Know what?" Armitage gently pulled Rey closer to him so she wouldn't be bumped into so easily.
"How did you know what looked good on me?" she clarified. "Even I wasn't sure until you confirmed it—I thought the droid would know all."
"I'm not exactly a stylist, but you have features that you could accentuate more," he said. Armitage could see an air taxi service coming up, and picked up his pace a bit. Their shopping detour had taken a little more time than anticipated.
"And what about you?" she asked, her eyes still wandering a bit from all the overstimulation. "What features of yours do you want to accentuate?"
Armitage scoffed, hailing down a free taxi. "My shoulders, I suppose. I don't exactly have much to work with."
Rey frowned, helping BB-8 into the transport. "Senate Building," she told the navigation droid, then turned back to Armitage once she was seated. "You need to stop putting yourself down, no matter what others have said to you in the past."
Leaning back, Armitage kept the scarf down, knowing the makeshift hood wouldn't stay put in an air speeder. He tried not to hear what Rey said.
But she wasn't letting that go. Again. "Hey, I'm serious," she said. "You're not unattractive."
He ignored her again. And he'd keep doing so until she let it go. Maybe she was only saying that because of their compromising position from last night—he was probably the only person she'd ever seen... in that way. How unfortunate.
Armitage heard her sigh, but she eventually dropped it, deciding to take in all the open scenery instead. All right, fine, he felt a little bad for ignoring her like that, but he wouldn't admit it out loud.
"How do you like Coruscant?" he finally decided to ask instead, watching Rey take it all in.
"I'm surprised at the weather," she said. "It's all open, but even up here, I'm comfortable."
"The temperature is regulated," he explained. "I knew you'd say something, given you're so used to such warm climates."
"It's so much..." Rey continued, eyes still darting about at everything the planet had to offer. "I've never seen so many people in one place at a time." Even now, on the airway, there was a bit of traffic, even if Armitage could see the Senate Building in the distance. It wasn't like they could violate traffic laws here. "I didn't even know so many people could just exist in one place like this."
"They can and do." Armitage shrugged. "Even after the war."
"But I've seen this place, through the Force," she further elaborated. "Before the Empire. There was somehow even more life."
"That was before the Empire." Armitage pointed toward the crumbling Jedi Temple, still visible. "There's still quite a history here, even if it seems the citizens try to cover it up."
There was a visible shiver Armitage could tell ran down her spine. She was probably just reminded of the siege of the Temple, the execution of most of the Jedi. Now that Kylo Ren was dead, that the Skywalker twins were gone, Rey might be the only one left of them.
He didn't understand much about the Force, but he could at least understand the weight that came from such a consequence.
Armitage paid for the taxi once they reached their destination. But, unlike Arkanis Academy, the Senate Building certainly wasn't abandoned.
It was guarded.
Granted, there were only two men posted as security, but it was still something.
"Damn," Rey muttered, but she kept walking toward the building, as if nothing was wrong.
"What are you going to do?" asked Armitage, wrapping his scarf back around his hair. "Will they recognize you?"
"Probably not like this," she admitted. "You, they might, now that you're looking more like your old self."
Armitage realized he hadn't thought about that. But he enjoyed the fresh creases of the suit, the tightness around his joints. "And BB-8?"
Rey sighed. "BB-8, they'll probably know."
They were screwed.
But Rey tried to walk past them, cool as ever.
"Wait, wait a moment there. No citizens allowed," the first guard warned, stopping them in their tracks. "On whose authorization do you have to be here?"
Rey waved her hand before both of them. "You don't need to know who authorized us to be here."
The second guard raised a brow, confused. "Yes... we do," he said. "We're not letting just anyone in."
Damn, her usual method of getting by wasn't working. And Armitage wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't give him away.
He tried his hand at his Stormtrooper accent again. "We've... been authorized by General Dameron to be here," he lied, speaking slowly. Rey raised a brow at the way he sounded. Whether it was confused, or impressed, or a mixture of both, he couldn't tell. "This is his droid, BB-8. Don't you recognize him?"
BB-8 peeked his head from behind Rey's skirt. "I thought I was supposed to be invisible," he beeped, suspecting that the guards didn't understand him.
"We heard no such news from General Dameron," said the first guard. "What are your names?"
"I'm..." But Armitage froze up. What the hell was he supposed to say? What the hell was she supposed to say?
Rey rolled her eyes. "All right, forget this." She waved her hand before them again, and they both collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Armitage's eyes widened. "What did you do?" he asked, probably far louder than expected.
He also didn't expect her to grab his hand, starting to run into the building. They hid behind one of the huge pillars as more guards came out to see the commotion, safe in the shadows for now.
"I used the Force to knock them out," she whispered. "They'll be fine; they just won't wake for a while. I didn't want it to come to that, but push came to shove back there. Though I'm surprised you tried to disguise your voice."
"I panicked," he whispered back. "It worked during my First Order escape. Now... should we have BB-8 hack into some sort of directory?"
Rey looked around, her brows furrowed in concentration. "No," she said after a moment. "I... I know where to go."
Armitage figured it must be something in the Force informing her. Other than to the guards, it hadn't let her down yet. "All right." He sighed; he couldn't believe he was here, trusting a Force user from the Resistance. The past few weeks hadn't been very kind to him. "Lead the way."
She took his hand again, probably just out of habit so he wouldn't fall behind. He tried not to think about how perfectly their fingers slotted together, how warm her palm was, how she didn't let go until after they were safely on a lift. "Top floor," she uttered to herself as the lift started to move. "Center room. I think I can feel it."
Once they reached the top floor, Rey made sure to look in all directions. "Coast is clear," she said, her voice still quiet. This time, Armitage just followed her, instead of her taking his hand again. BB-8 was on their heels, rolling along as silently as he could.
"I hear something coming down the hall," he warned. Luckily the Senate Building was built like a circle, so unless the guards patrolling were close, they couldn't see them.
But Rey still kept her cool, as if in another trance. Unlike her taking in the entirety of Coruscant, this trance was more of a focused one, as if trusting her instincts to know exactly where to go.
"This room," Rey ran up to the door, instructing BB-8. "I need you to hack in here."
Silently BB-8 obeyed, not wanting to alert anyone of their location. Was it just Armitage, or were those footsteps sounding a bit louder with every passing moment? But before he could worry any further, the door whooshed open, and Rey pushed everyone inside. That had been close.
"All right." Rey still tried to keep her voice low, rummaging around her pack again. Looking around, Armitage noticed that this was the mainframe computer. Well. The Force had been right about that. "BB-8, try to find Armitage Hux's unaltered record of birth, and download it onto my datapad. If you find his mother's name in any other file, add that, too."
"I should get paid for this work," BB-8 complained, but he did as he was told. There were far more files on this computer, but at least it was still running, and not old and dusty like the one on Arkanis.
Armitage could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't know if it was because he thought they wouldn't find what they were looking for, or they would. He wasn't sure which thought was more frightening.
Instead of waiting with him, Rey sat beside BB-8, fumbling with the datapad. If anything, she was the only one excited about all this.
She flailed for a moment, but covered her mouth, remembering that they were trying to be stealthy, and had snuck in using nefarious tactics. "What?" Armitage asked, kneeling beside her to read over her shoulder.
"Her name's redacted on this file, but she's mentioned as your mother here, look."
His eyes skimmed the file. "Redacted, mother of Armitage Hux, excommunication relocation to planet: Nakadia. City: Quarrow. Effective immediately." It was dated two days after he was born. She'd only had two days with him, probably still delirious and confused about her situation. Armitage could tell that this plan had Maratelle's fingerprints all over it.
"Nakadia," Armitage repeated lowly. If it was exile, the chances of her leaving said planet were extremely unlikely. "That's the plastic and agriculture planet that doesn't take too kindly to droids. It was always under New Republic rule."
"That has to be where she is," Rey said, trying to keep the excitement in her voice down. The war had barely touched Nakadia; if she was as young as Rey suspected when she looked in his mind, the chances of her still being alive rose exponentially. Maratelle must have suspected sending his mother to a planet the exact opposite of Arkanis's ideals would be the cruelest punishment imaginable. Keeping her alive and unable to leave was just as diabolical.
"I think I found it," said BB-8. But even if they didn't have her name, they had her planet. They had her city. For once in Armitage's life, she was almost real.
Rey handed him the datapad. "You deserve to know her name first."
Nodding, he took it in shaking hands. Name: Armitage Hux, born 4 BBY. Species: human. Hair: red. Eyes: green. He skipped past Brendol and found her.
She had been eighteen when she'd been pregnant, just as young and innocent as Rey had seen. Species: human. Hair: blonde. Eyes: green. Green like his. Her name read clear as day in this file.
"Ariadne Sinestra," he murmured, unable to hear himself over the sound of his own pounding heartbeat.
So he said it again. "My mother's name is Ariadne Sinestra."
We have a name! And we have a planet! This all took so much research on Wookieepedia, but MAN am I glad it exists, otherwise I would be so lost in this universe.
Given this is the only way I can p much communicate with the world right now, comments and kudos are insanely appreciated.
