The Patron Saint of Lost Causes

Chapter 12


The cramped turbolift rumbled as it climbed, issuing a more noticeable grating sound rather than its usual hum.

The bearings needed oil, Hux noted with a twitch of annoyance. Habit.

The noise of it was made all the louder, surely, due to the silence that hung between them. Him and Rose.

Hux frowned, looking at the floor. He wanted to say something, but what?

Any of the more… personal thoughts that floated around in his head were hamstrung by two opposing emotions: guilt, at having such ideas in the middle of a very dangerous mission, where the lives of his men were on the line, and fear, at the thought of her actually peeling away the protective layers of his uniform, like she'd peeled away all the rest of him, and finally seeing the man underneath. All his defects; all his real scars.

"We'll save them," Rose said suddenly.

Hux looked sideways at her, and noted how her hands were balled into tight fists at her side. She was staring at the closed doors of the turbolift, worry lines creasing her forehead.

"Those kids. All the rest. Like Duval," she muttered.

He shouldn't have been surprised; Rose practically oozed what the Resistance stood for. Salvage the damaged; stitch-up the broken; save the galaxy.

As the turbolift slowed to a gradual upward halt, Rose gave him a fierce look.

"The Sith Fleet won't take them," she said, fire burning in her gaze. "We won't let them."

He was honestly quite touched.

"Right," he replied, letting her passion give him a boost in confidence as the doors slid open.

The maintenance elevator let them out on the same level as the command deck, only a few corridors away. The first hallway was empty, but they kept their blasters at the ready.

Rose took the lead, rounding the final corner, but suddenly darted back around as the door to the bridge hissed open. Pressing her hand to his chest, she shoved him back against the wall, flattening herself there with him against the paneling. Hux didn't protest, but let the warmth of her hand stay him.

"What do you mean 'something's wrong'?" A voice said up ahead, around the corner.

A second voice responded, just shy of hysterical. "I can't get Captain Sabrond on comms! What if something's happened to her?!"

"She took three troopers!"

"I can't get them to respond either. We should go. Now," a third voice said, as the group's footfalls became louder.

"What about the bridge?" A fourth asked.

"Leave them! We can take the ship back once we regroup, come on!"

Four Sith Fleet officers, all in black uniforms with their telltale red piping, sprinted past where Hux and Rose were hiding, off down the long hallway back to the interior of the ship.

They waited, even long after the officer's pounding footfalls receded into the distance.

"Okay," Rose breathed after a few safe seconds, releasing him.

With Rose by his side, Hux rounded the corner, raised his weapon, and pressed the command panel to open the bridge doors. Before the doors had swished fully open, they were already rushing inside.

A flurry of noise and movement immediately accosted them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hux could see a large blunt object come swinging toward him.

There was a shout of, "Take this, zealots!" then, "Wait! Look!", "It's the General!", and "Stop!"

The object meant to collide with his skull was quickly batted away, as Hux sidestepped his attacker, jerked out of the trajectory of the crude metal pipe that narrowly missed his face, and struck the offending cadet in the forearm with butt of his blaster. There was a yelp of pain, and the pipe fell with a ringing clatter to the floor.

From the other side of the bridge came a gasp. "General Hux!"

Rose lowered her blaster, lips parting in surprise.

There were only a handful of bridge crew remaining, if you could call them crew. It was just like when she and Paige had started going out on missions: way too young. They were just kids: two older, and three younger. A young man with dark, tanned skin and the young blonde, the one by the door who had tried to ambush them. The rest, one younger girl and two small boys, looked to be between the ages of twelve and sixteen.

"Sir!" The young woman yelped, looking both excited to see him and horrified that she'd almost hit him. She held her arm, wincing. "It really is you!" Her cap had fallen to the ground, revealing blonde hair pulled into a tight tail.

"Who else would I be?" Hux snapped, glaring at the girl and then at the metal pipe on the ground. "What were you going to do," his voice pitched, "bash me over the head?"

"We thought you were the officers from the Derriphan!" One of the young boys said with a shout. "Come back to finish us off!"

"Obviously not," Hux grumbled, surveying the small gaggle of cadets. He pressed his lips into a thin line, stalking over to the command terminal at the front of the room.

The oldest boy, perhaps in his late teens, gave a start, like he might try to dash forward and physically stop Hux's advance. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Get away from there!"

Rose trained her blaster on him.

Hux paused, also turning. His voice was soft and deadly. "Excuse me?"

The young man, with light umber skin, pointed a finger in Hux's direction. "We can't trust him!" He looked around to the others. "He betrayed the First Order! Remember?! Do you deny it?" He asked Hux. "Isn't it true you sold us out to the Resistance?"

The bridge was hushed.

Hux swallowed thickly, pinned by the cadet's accusatory gaze. He looked around at the other young officers.

Too bad they don't know what a petty, selfish man you are.

What could he do? He didn't have the strength to lie to them; to these mere children.

"Hux didn't betray the First Order."

Everyone swiveled around to look at Rose, who slowly lowered her blaster.

Hux opened his mouth to speak, to correct her, but she cut him off.

"He knew Palpatine and Pryde were going to sacrifice the fleet at Exegol. That's why he escaped the Steadfast; to bargain with the Resistance and save all your lives. You. The future of the galaxy."

There was stunned silence, and then, one of the very young cadets elbowed the older officer in the ribs, hissing, "I told you! General Hux knew exactly what he was doing the whole time!" The young man who had originally spoken suddenly looked cowed and embarrassed.

Rose caught Hux's eye, determined and resolute; he could tell by the set of her jaw.

At the look of confidence she gave him, he began to feel a creeping nausea. Worse than when he'd had to run on his ruined leg, or when he'd felt humiliated in the Resistance's showers. No, because this was Rose. She just stood there, after risking her life, pretending he hadn't been an evil, murderous little cur from the start.

"Isn't that right, General?"

Her voice startled him from his reverie, steeped in hope.

For him.

Is this what she had to do, he wondered with a sudden bolt of shame, every time she 'stuck up' for him against the better judgement of her superiors? Of her friends? Lie and obfuscate and plead his case?

At his being more. As if he could be more

She was…

Her affection for him was ruinous.

And—

He loved her.

He—

Hux knew he had to turn away, before something dangerously vulnerable flashed across his features, but he couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. His mind just kept edging closer to panic. Confusion, elation, and panic. Which made him angry. At himself.

At that moment, however, came a sound from the Dreadnought's scanning station. A warning siren, as the Resistance fleet dropped out of warp and into all three ship's immediate airspace.

"Uh-oh," Rose said under her breath, an alarm sounding opening across the communications channel.

"This is the Lieutenant Lenwith of the Sith Fleet! All First Order and Sith ships are to scramble their fighters!"

Hux channeled the tempest of emotion swirling in him into the force behind his hand, bringing it down onto the communication's controls.

"Belay that order!" He bellowed, voice picked up by the equipment and broadcast to the other ships.

A counterintuitive move, perhaps. The opposite of what they had originally intended, after all; to lure all the light fighters out of all three ships' hangers. But that was before he'd realized that the two First Order craft were staffed with refugee cadets. Kids.

"This is Supreme Leader Armitage Hux of the First Order. All fighters are to stand down."

Before he'd even finished, scores of red wing-tipped TIEs began swarming out the belly of the Sith Destroyer, but thankfully, it didn't look like the First Order ships were responding to the Derriphan's call to arms.

Out in space, the two sides clashed into one another, and the dogfight was on.

"This is a huge problem!"

Hux jumped, unaware that Rose had joined him at the front of the bridge.

She pointed out the front of the transparisteel window. "The only way we were going to disable the First Order light craft was to have you order them to jump to hyperspace! But the Sith TIEs won't obey your command! How do we engage the virus?"

Hux bit the inside of his lip. "Manually," he said after a moment's pause.

Rose blinked at him in surprise. "What, like, hack into their system from here?"

"Can you do it?" He asked in a low, serious voice, so that only the two of them could hear. Around them, the ship groaned as an errant, exploding Sith fighter was obliterated against the hull. At her look of unease, he leaned in a bit farther. "You can, Rose."

"Fine. But I'll need you to authenticate. If I have to backdoor into this ship's network, it's going to take forever," She countered in a loud whisper.

"I can get you in."

They both turned to see the young blonde woman standing a few paces behind them, fitting her cap back on her head.

Hux frowned. "Were you evesdrop—"

The girl straightened in attention; hands clasped behind her back. "If you need access to the encrypted holonet, I can get you in."

Hux narrowed his eyes. "Is that so?"

"Yes, sir. I was the Deputy Chief Flight Officer. I've been working my way in, little by little each day; just in case."

Hux narrowed his eyes. "Excellent foresight. Now, get to work."

Rose gave him a look, before following the girl back to the appropriate station.

"Thank you," Rose said, watching as the girl logged them on. "I'm Rose."

"Deputy Chief Officer Vitton." The girl gave her a swift sideways glance. "You're a Major. Loyal to General Hux?"

Rose's lips twitched. "You could say that."

Vitton shrugged. "I could. Here, this is the drive that connects to the Sith holo-network," she motioned to the screen, stepping back. "So, what division?"

"Engineering."

Back at the front of the bridge, Hux pointed to the young man. "You! Don't just stand there. Start priming our canons! Immediately!"

Through the mess of light fighters, the Sith Destroyer was beginning to maneuver.

No doubt they were priming their axial superlaser. That much power could rip through the Dreadnought like a monomolecular blade through flesh.

Hux quickly started pre-evacuation protocols at the helm.

There might be a battle going on outside in space, but still, having the cadets in escape shuttles would be massively preferable than having them stuck on an exploding Dreadnought.

In less than a minute, emergency lights had switched on and an alarm began to blare a loud, ship-wide warble. It was slightly muffled on the bridge, but it could still be heard from out in the hallway.

At least, Hux knew, the Sith couldn't use ready both their axial laser and their hyperdrive at the same time. There was a rather nasty priming and cooling sequence. Same tech as Starkiller, after all, if only attached to a ship.

"First Order Destroyer!" The Sith commander was getting frantic. "Send out your light fighters!"

"You will disregard that order, Captain," Hux said on the radio.

The First Order Destroyer, the third element in this entire standoff, sat unmoving. They were definitely listening to their comms, but unwilling so far as to radio out or make a move.

They were scared, Hux realized. Hedging. Who would win out? That's what they were thinking. Calculating. Smart.

"Now, the rest of you." He turned, pointing at the five cadets about the bridge. "You are to head to an escape pod. Major Tico and I will handle the rest."

"But sir!" The youngest girl, who was standing at the communications station, protested loudly.

"You." Hux pointed over at the oldest young man, who put into motion the canon's priming sequence. "Escort the rest of them."

The officer glanced at the two younger boys. "Come on. And you," he said to the girl at communications.

"But Rix!"

"That's an order, Sargent Kuna."

"You should go, too," Rose whispered to Officer Vitton. "I can take it from here."

"On your orders, Major," the young woman saluted, before following others, helping with the younger ones out into the hallway.

Perhaps, Hux thought, it was time to call the other half of their intrepid team. He opened a line to the main reactor room.

"Dameron!"

There was a crackle of static. "Oh hey! General Hugs! Good timing!" There were noises in the background: blaster shots. Poe grunted; it sounded like he'd flattened himself against the wall. "I think we've just been introduced to a few of your Sith friends!"

The group of Sith officers they'd seen earlier, exiting the bridge…

There was an excited whisper that could be heard between the two smallest boys as the group of young cadets exited the bridge.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, he really said it! General Hugs!"

"I thought it was just a myth!"

Hux let out a short, sharp sigh. "How far are you with destabilizing the core?"

"Getting there! We're working on it!" There came the sound of Poe returning blaster fire.

"Might I suggest you hurry?" Hux snapped. If the tide of battle didn't change soon, the Destroyer would soon choose to side with the Sith. They weren't going to wait forever.

According to the onboard computer's measure, most of the ship's complement had made their way to the escape pod hangar bays. Hux keyed in the override command that locked out use of Officers' craft, changing the settings so that they could be used by any of the cadets of lower rank.

"I think I got it!" Rose whooped.

Hux's head snapped up, just in time to see a strange kind of ripple tear through the dogfight.

The Sith's light fighters slowed to a stop as their engines were bled down to barely a hum. Resistance fighters quickly disengaged, jumping away back to safety.

Through the somewhat less congested space, Hux saw the Sith Destroyer's canons glowing red-hot.

His gut twisted.

The laser fired, ripping through the bottom port-side of the Dreadnought, with a force that sent him sprawling sideways on the command panel. It was a terribly vivid moment that brought Hux back to the Supremacy; nostalgia in only the very most violent, unpleasant of ways.

In the rumbling, creaking aftermath, there was an alarm going off on a command terminal. Their under-canons were shredded.

A groan pulled his attention as he steadied himself back on his feet.

Across the bridge, Rose was pushing herself back up using the side of the terminal she'd been working on, hand on her head.

Hux's heart stilled.

Before he could start toward her, she held up a hand, shaking her head. Leaving the bank of computers, she walked toward the front of the bridge, wincing.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly when she came to him, gaze flitting over the bump on her head.

"Fine," she groaned.

"What the hell was that!?" Poe yelled over the comms.

"A very big explosion," Hux responded tersely, scrolling through damage reports popping up on the command screen. "And a critical hit. Our weapons are down."

So, now the axial laser had been fired. What were the Sith going to do next? Take the time to prime and fire on them again? Or would they let the laser cool so they could use their hyperdrive to get away? Whichever it was, they needed to stop them before they could do either.

But how? Now their canons were down.

"Alright!" Poe said through the comms. "The failsafe has been disengaged! Start the self-destruct countdown and get the hell out of there!"

It looked like nearly all the escape pods had been jettisoned, too.

"We'll meet you in the hanger!" Rose called through the radio.

Hux brought up the controls for the Dreadnought's self-destruct confirmation screen. It required an Officer's code as well as a fingerprint scanner. The first he input without a second thought, but as he slid off the glove of his left hand, he paused.

There was no way the Sith would be able to cool their systems enough to jump to hyperspace before the Dreadnought exploded.

If they destroyed the Dreadnought now, as they had planned, then that would mean letting the Sith Destroyer go.

And what if the Sith were priming their canons, instead or readying their hyperdrive? The Dreadnought's absence left the remaining First Order Destroyer open to attack.

"What are you waiting for?" Rose hissed, taking a backward step towards the doors to the bridge. "Hurry up! So we can leave!"

No, they needed that Sith ship out of the picture. Permanently.

But they couldn't use their canons. Their canons were gone.

What if…

What if they used the Dreadnought itself as the weapon?

"Hux?"

They could... ram the Sith Destroyer.

The core would already be damaged, and with impact, the Drednought's explosion would obliterate both craft.

But that would mean someone had to stay aboard and—

"Armitage!"

He whirled around. Rose gave him a pleading look.

"Leave it," she said, breathless, as if she could read his mind. "We can pursue what's left of the Sith later. Right now, we're out of options. Right now, we need to go."

Hux swallowed.

No. She had to go.

It was undeniable…

The Resistance needed people like her, not a man like him.

If there was only one thing he could do for her, this would be it. He could ensure that she would escape and he could take out the Sith Destroyer. That way, the cultists would no longer pursue the Resistance, or be able to capture the cadets.

But Rose would never leave by choice. She was too damn prideful. Too kind. He had to force her hand.

The thought caused emotion to well up in the back of his throat.

Right hand plunging around his body, he gripped his blaster handle in its holster, pulling it forth and leveling it in her direction, aiming at her chest, arm fully extended.

Rose's lips parted in surprise, eyes going ultra-wide as she focused on the blaster's cold, dark barrel.

"I think it's time you went back to your friends," he growled, letting the cold feeling in his chest expand, filling all the corners of him with dreadful, detached determination

"What?" She breathed, looking truly stunned.

Burying the part of himself that hated to see her so pained, he sneered...

"I've sent the escape pods a few directives; they are to take the cadets to the First Order Destroyer, where I will assume command and re-take the fleet." He let out a dark chuckle. "I assure you, Miss Tico, you've been extremely helpful up until this point, but this is where we part ways."

Rose shook her head, trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

He was… double-crossing her?

Now?

She took a tentative step towards him. "Hux..."

His grip on his blaster tightened. "I'm giving you a chance to escape, Miss Tico. I suggest you take it."

"And why's that? Huh?" She was suddenly so pissed; she could feel the anger of it flaring hot all over her body.

"Professional courtesy," Hux spat, guiding his ungloved hand to hover over the fingerprint scanner.

Because that's exactly what you're supposed to do, Rose thought bitterly, telegraph your stupid secret plans out of courtesy!

"That's bullshit," she countered.

Why was he doing this? There was no way he was going to be able to get command of the First Order ship, not with that Sith Destroyer still…

Rose's gaze slowly moved from the blaster to the viewport, where the Sith ship hung against the blackness of space, planet of Brysis round and wide in the backdrop.

That's why…

He was going to distract the Sith fleet. With the Dreadnought.

It sent a wave of dread down her spine.

No, she wasn't going to let him do this.

Death won't take you, Armitage. I won't let it.

"I'm not leaving," she said, taking another step toward him. She saw his Adam's apple bob.

"Then I'll shoot you," he growled.

A tight, terrible grin split Rose's mouth.

"Oh yeah?" She breathed; eyes alight with fury.

Hux frowned, refocusing in his effort to keep the blaster level and pointed at her. As Rose took another step toward him, and then another, he tracked her with his aim, having to readjust as she slowly crept closer.

When she came to a stop, it was as the cold metal ring of the barrel settled gently against her chest.

Hux's heart pounded at the sight of her, looking at him from under the weapon's bite in her uniform.

"I will shoot you," he reiterated, trying to sound as cruel as he could muster.

"Then do it! If you're so determined to betray me and go back to ruling the First Order then you're just going to have to kill me, because I'm not leaving." She wasn't going to let him sacrifice himself, she thought with a wave of fury.

Hux glowered at her, face pinched in anger. They were running out of time. She should already be gone and he should already have the self-destruct sequence counting down. He should already be using the Dreadnought's impulse engines in their trajectory toward the Sith Destroyer.

"The cadets need you," she tried again, softer and more pleading.

He gave a start. "I told you that I will be the one who—"

"Cut the bullshit, Hux!"

"Fine," he seethed. "But you will let me do this; let me make this right. You need. to go. Now."

No!"

Hux felt a keen jolt of rage lance through him. "Rose!"

She groaned loudly, angry and frustrated, gripping the barrel of the blaster and pressing it against her chest more forcefully. "I said do it!"

His arm trembled. "Why do you insist on fighting me?!"

"Because I don't want you to die, you dummy!" She barked, tears gathering in her eyes. With each passing moment, Rose's panic churned and grew. The thought of him being ripped away from her ravaging her heart. "I just want you to start the countdown and leave with me."

The blaster lowered a fraction.

"But the Sith…"

"I don't give fuck about the Sith, Hux! Let them go!" It was noble of him, good of him, to want to do this; to want to atone in his own twisted, self-deprecating way. To save the Resistance, save her, by laying down his life, but...

After this was over, they would be alive and they would be safe, and then she could pin him down in just the ways she wanted.

… but she couldn't let him. She was too selfish with her heart.

"Leave the Dreadnought. Let it explode and live to fight the Sith another day. Just… please come back with me. I can't— Please…"

The desire to get ahold of him, to grip him in her hands and hold him so he couldn't escape her; it roared so loud in Rose's ears that she barely heard the ship-wide alarm blaring all around them.

If only she could make him understand.

She refused to lose him like she'd lost Paige

At the desperate sound in her voice, Hux's resolve boke, and he lowered his arm. The blaster tip pointed down to the floor.

Well… at least now he knew why he was so weak for her. Why he couldn't say no.

He really did love her.

"Rose…"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Rose lunged forward, moving the moment she was no longer pinned under the barrel of his blaster. He'd given her an opening for her to impress upon him just how much she needed him, and she wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste.

Hux made a noise of surprise as her hands took hold of him, fisting her fingers in the front of his uniform and hauling him down to her level.

The blaster clattered to the ground as he seized in shock, her mouth suddenly crushed against his own, lips warm and desperate.

The whole thing took a moment to register, and then he gasped. Rose used his moment of shock to lick into his mouth, a frantic whimper curling up from her chest, setting him on fire as the weight of her movement drove him back against the edge of the terminal.

With that, his last bit of self-control shredded. Hux let out a warm hum, hauling her closer with an arm locking into place around her back, taking control of the kiss. A gloved hand came up to grip her chin and tilt her head, allowing him better access to her mouth as their tongues clashed.

All that was inside of him; all the pain and the panic, the elation at having Rose in his arms coupled with fear that they might both be dead in a matter of minutes; the slow affection of her lips— it ripped a moan from deep within his chest, the sound of it muffled by Rose's mouth as she greedily swallowed the sound.

It was a dangerous moment, the ship falling apart around them as it was, but the risky rush of it only fueled their desperation.

Rose leaned into him further, pressing him back against the dashboard as her hands released the front of his uniform, arms snaking their way behind his back. Her fingers worked their way up, tangling in the lower fringe of his hair and yanking. Hux bit off the sound she was threatening to coax from him with a hiss, pulling back a fraction, and she took the opportunity to bite at his lower lip.

Something deep within the Dreadnought exploded, causing the ship to pitch and shutter.

They broke apart, both raking in breath as they steadied themselves against each other, torn away from their small, shared moment only to be dropped back into the very real chaos around them.

Hux's chest heaved with breath; Rose sucked down one gasp after another.

"Will you… please," she managed to say into the small space between them, "come with me now?" Her hand covered his where it had shifted to cup the side of her face.

He frowned, brows pulling together. Eventually, he relented, slumping slightly.

"I cannot deny you," he admitted, thumbing her cheekbone with a gloved finger; she could see the reflection of herself in his eyes. "You're simply too powerful."

Rose grinned, leaning into his touch.

"Good. Let's finish this."

Gently, she pushed away from him, letting him straighten back up from where he'd been so unceremoniously ravaged against the bridge controls.

Turning, he pressed his naked hand against the fingerprint scanner and was surprised how calm he felt, how at ease.

Hux could feel Rose behind him, still a little breathless

His mouth tingled, and he wondered if hers did too.

She'd kissed him. Kissed him like that.

Like she'd been trying to breathe life back into his body.

"It's done," he said with grim finality as he grabbed his other leather glove where it was resting on the terminal, slipping it back on.

He turned toward her as her hand darted out, grasping his newly gloved one. Together, they dashed from the bridge, the ship's destruction quickly clocking down behind them.

And they ran.

With each passing moment, another explosion rocked the Dreadnought. If they didn't hurry, they'd be caught by the fire that was ripping through the ship.

At least, Hux thought, the emergency doors had been overridden by the self-destruct protocol, so there wasn't a chance that they'd be sealed.

They made good time, using the main turbolifts that were still functional. She had yet to let go of his hand, grip constricting a few times within his own.

When the doors opened at the hanger level, there was a loud explosion that erupted only a few decks away. It made the lift shutter as they dashed out of it.

"There they are!"

They whirled around to see two Sith Officers running down the corridor to their left.

Hux growled.

Dameron!

Never bloody finishing the job!

"Go!" He dropped Rose's hand, pushing her forward as he reached into the side of his greatcoat as it whipped open, pulling out Duval's blaster. He covered her, following after as she dashed along. He was able to get a few shots off towards their oncoming attackers, slowing their advance.

Half of the hanger was already blazing, and the sight of it made the memory of the last time Rose had been nearly trapped by a ship, on fire, finally register. It squeezed her chest.

"Fuel cells," Hux muttered under his breath, blanketing the arched opening of the hallway behind them with fire, pinning the Sith Officers down as they took cover.

Across the hanger, the command shuttle's running lights were already on.

Just as they made a break for it, fire ripped through the hallway from which they had just exited. The explosion consumed the remaining Sith officers completely, and the sheer radiating force of the blast knocked Hux and Rose off their feet as they were thrown forward to the ground.

Hux landed with a hard smack, skidding on his stomach along the metal floor, coming to a stop in the dust and ash, his greatcoat fanned around him.

Plain bloomed in his chest as the air was knocked out of him.

Bits of metal began clanged off the ground around him, as the scaffolding near the top of the hanger began shaking loose from its brackets. Blown apart from successive blasts, strips of interior siding, and some of the more flammable cargo, ejected themselves across the room in smoking arcs, showering sparks and flame as they went.

Groaning, Hux struggled to get his arms under his body as he pushed his chest off the ground.

His ears were ringing, the explosion had been so loud.

With a gloved hand, he tried to push back his hair that had been so thoroughly blown out of place.

Looking around, the hanger was now strewn with debris; bits of smoldering metal and wall paneling were strewn about, blown off in the blast. His eyes landed instantly on Rose, who was lying on the floor with her back to him, on her side, a few feet away. She wasn't moving.

There was a seizing spike of panic at seeing her body lying there so still. He used every ounce of training and learned stoicism to seize upon said panic and wrestle it under control. If she were injured then he'd need to be sharp and alert, no matter how much dread there was pounding through him.

With a hiss of pain, he fought his way to his feet, limped over to her, keeping his posture crouched low out of caution and from the pain pulsing over his body. When he reached her, he half-fell to his knees.

"Rose," he groaned, leaning over her, gripping her shoulders so he could turn her over.

"Ouch!" She yelped as he rolled her onto her back, pain and discomfort screwing up her expression.

She was alive!

Her hand flew up to her opposite arm, where he was gripping her. He quickly removed his hand, bracing her against his knee, and saw that some piece of debris had slashed through her Major's coat and down to the flesh of her arm. It wasn't a deep wound, but it looked like it stung.

Easily treatable, he thought, huffing in immense relief at the feeling that surged through him. He thanked the very stars around them for a good fortune he did not necessarily believe he deserved.

Rose struggled to sit up. Hux helped her.

"Can you stand?" He asked.

"Hey!"

They both looked over to see Finn hanging out the back of the command shuttle, bracing his hand against the hydraulic arm that would raise and lower the ramp.

The man's eyes were wide. "Come on!" He waved at them.

Hux gripped Rose by the arms and hauled her to her feet with him. She hissed at the sudden, dizzying movement. It wasn't a very gentle gesture, but there was no time. By Hux's internal calculations, they had but minutes before the Dreadnought was completely torn apart.

He tugged her along and they moved forward together, the sounds of the ship tearing apart in flame roaring behind them.

The shuttle was already beginning to lift itself off the flight deck floor by the time they reached it, the small thrusters in the undercarriage burning with white-blue flame.

Dameron was getting impatient.

As they approached the edge of the command shuttle's ramp, now a few feet off the ground, Rose stumbled. Hux compensated immediately, grip tight on her uninjured arm as he hauled her back high enough to slip an arm under her back, dragging her to her feet again.

Finn's arms were out. "Jump!"

Rose did so, and Hux bent to readjust; get hold of her hips, hoisting her off the ground and into Finn's embrace. The other man pulled her the rest of the way up and into the space craft.

Dameron must have already cleared the pre-flight protocols, for the ship's little ramp was slowly tilting upward, moving to lock in so the shuttle could launch into space.

The ramp was higher than Hux's chest now, both from the way it was retracting up and from how the command craft was hovering higher still.

"Come on!" Finn reappeared, slinging one arm down towards him.

He stared up at Finn, the former stormtrooper, as much or as little a traitor as he was. An enemy until he wasn't. Hux's heart pounded as he panted for breath, the warm and caustic air around them burning his lungs. He was exhausted.

"Hux!"

He heard Rose calling for him from up above, dazed and desperate.

With a burst of determination, Hux took the ramp's lip in one hand, bending, jumping, and hoisting his weight upward, grabbing at Finn's outstretched hand with the other. They grasped each other by the forearm.

Finn grunted, pulling Hux upward as the ramp tilted ever higher. It caught Hux in the stomach, so he had to shimmy sideways to slide himself up and over the end of it as the shuttle began to move.

Both he and Finn tumbled back and down to Rose's feet, who was sitting up on the floor, as the shuttle's ramp-door clicked into place.

There was a slam of force as Poe punched the ship forward, exiting the hanger at a speed certainly faster than any regulation would advise. He didn't make a move to hyperspace, but swung around in a large arc, speeding away from the Dreadnought as it began to systematically implode upon itself.

"Did we get 'em?!" Dameron called from the cockpit.

"Yeah!" Finn responded with a deep whooping breath.

Hux pushed himself up onto his forearms and knees, swallowing hard as he watched the Abysmus crumble into fire and floating debris through the shuttle's back viewports. From beyond the disintegrating ship, he watched with cold fury as the Sith Destroyer jumped to hyperspace. Gone.

They'd escaped.

He cursed himself.

He should have refused her. He should have stayed behind and—

His thoughts derailed as something—someone—launched themselves at him, catching him by surprise and causing him to fall back against the floor. He braced himself up with his arms as heavy weight slammed upon his chest.

To his utter shock Rose had thrown herself over him, and was now sobbing into his neck

Hux froze.

"Y-your arm," he said weakly.

"Hux! Hux! We made it! We—!" Her voice was loud in his ear as she drowned him out, shouting and crying and squeezing him and on him all at once.

Gently, he pressed a hand to her back, as if that would steady the torrent of her, watching from over the top of her head as Finn slowly got to his feet.

The other man gave him an appraising look; much less venom than it was humor.

That's your life know, that look said.

Hux didn't know to feel about that.

At least Dameron was driving the shuttle; Hux didn't need that hotheaded pilot seeing Rose's embarrassingly open displays. And Hux was in no mood to hear another attack against his character, especially with Rose pressing herself against him so thoroughly in her relief.

He understood; she was glad they were both alive.

Admittedly, so was he.

Hux moved the hand resting upon her back, encircling her instead in a one-armed embrace. He closed his eyes as an all-consuming wave of relief washed over him, bolstered by the warm weight of her; safe against him. Lowering his forehead to rest upon her shoulder, he held her tight.


A/N- Thank you so much to my hubby Dan, and my writing buddy Brit, for helping me edit this chapter, bolstering me when I had doubt, and for just being great people all around. Love you guys!