[Hux]

Hux woke to the sound of low voices, trying to be quiet. It brought him awake faster than casual tones would have. Through slitted eyes, he could see CL-0745 sitting behind Lt. Connix, brushing her hair, of all things. Their conversation was inconsequential, though he listened to it anyway as CL-0745 talked about the name she'd already picked out, possibly in some sideways honoring of himself. It was touching.

Speaking of touching, Poe's hand was nestled against Hux's belly. He covered it with his own – his fingers were slightly longer and thinner than the pilot's and definitely paler. He stroked the hand gently, thinking about the kisses they'd exchanged; thinking about how Poe had woke him during the night by kissing him. It had been jarring, but he had to say it was an improvement over what was going on in his head.

It had felt like a dream, with Sidious, Palpatine, or whoever trying to tempt him into conversation. He assumed it was more. He was still tired and there was nothing interesting to see here – Connix was braiding her hair now. He supposed his own was a mess, but … he would take care of that later. For now he was warmed by Poe's entire body against his back and the surprising security that brought. His eyes slid shut.

"Tritt! Ah!" Energy coursed through him, vivid and overwhelming. Force lightning – Tritt Opan was being killed with it. Hux gasped. He'd known the man since he was a child, Tritt being the least objectionable of his father's associates. He'd never been Brendol's crony, but he'd worked for Brendol often enough that Armitage knew him by name and deed. After Brendol was dead, Armitage had hired Tritt himself.

They had grown friendly through the long association. Tritt had been amused by Brendol's son and never mocked him like the others did. He'd provided Armitage with the first knife he hadn't had to steal from someone else or pilfer from stores. Every shred of that acquaintance was being exploited - hard, savage, and painful. Hux gasped and rolled face down on the floor to protect his vitals. His hands were in front of him, trapped under him, though not shackled as Tritt's were. He tried not to convulse. The energy was pouring through Tritt, not himself. It was just a full-sensation, surround-sound hallucination of dying.

"Hugs?" Poe shook his shoulder in alarm. "Hugs? Wake up!"

Other voices were in the background, but the one Hux dreaded was Sidious'. The lightning stopped. "Hugs?" Sidious said.

"No!" Hux said and he wasn't sure he'd said it to Sidious or Poe. Or maybe just to the universe. At least he wasn't being shocked anymore. Or rather, Tritt wasn't. The man was still breathing. Hux had told Sidious no before and it hadn't done anything, but he hadn't had such a tie to him at that point. It felt dangerous to speak to him now, like he could feel Sidious' fingers exploring the thread between them that he'd drawn taut.

"Are you okay?" Poe hand was still on him.

"Don't touch me! He sees it!"

There was a sinister laugh in his head as Poe retreated. "I do, my boy. I do. I see everything. You should cut short this pointless, adolescent rebellion and come to me. We can do so much together. There will come a time when I stop asking."

It was so tempting to answer him with words of spite or defiance. Hux swallowed them down and sat up, breathing hard. Seconds dragged on.

"Lights to fifty percent." That was CL-0745, who was mostly armored and had her blaster up and pointed at Poe. Half her squad had the same target. The other half was waking and grabbing weapons, bringing them to bear on anyone not First Order.

"No," Hux said weakly, bringing his attention to the room and the dangers here and now. "Stand down. He isn't-" He had a sense it was the drift in his attention (and the time elapsed without response) that led Sidious to act.

Sidious, distantly: "Then he dies."

Power coursed through him again. Hux curled into himself, arms curled over his middle. He was barely able to keep himself from falling to the floor again. He shook, bodily.

"Is he here?" That was Rey's voice.

"I think it's a projection." Ren's.

"Can we stop it?" Poe now.

"Ah!" Hux slumped with a gasp. "He's dead. It's over." He panted. The connection had severed, yanked out of him like a wad of hair, leaving his scalp tender and burning. More than he had ever in his life, he wanted to grieve. It felt like a part of himself had died. He'd liked Tritt well enough. Every bit of that liking had been used to lacerate his soul.

"Who's dead?" Poe asked.

"Tritt. Captain Tritt Opan." Hux rubbed his wrists uneasily. The lightning had scorched Tritt's flesh under them and although his wrists were whole, his mind kept telling him they had burned. "I've known him since I was a child. Sidious finally found someone I had a … a meaningful connection to." He looked up at Poe, who looked as alarmed as one might be to wake up next to someone writhing. "He heard you. He felt your hand."

Poe looked at his hand.

"Does he know where we are?" Ren asked.

Hux shook his head. "No. He was still demanding that I come to him even after that. If he'd known where we were, he would have moved on that immediately. He wouldn't have tried to coerce it out of me further."

"What about last night?" Poe asked. "When I, uh, distracted you? Did he see me then?"

"I don't know." He smiled hollowly, thinking about that pleasant distraction.

"What happened last night?" Ren asked. "Was there more?"

Hux glanced around. The entire compartment was awake now, everyone paying attention to him. "I always knew how to command an audience," he said dryly.

"We can go forward." Ren gestured at the forward compartment.

"No need," Hux answered. "Yes, there was more. He tried bribing me into engaging instead of him having to search for me."

"And did you?" Ren asked.

"I'm not an idiot!" Hux said. "Why do you people-" He shook his head in disbelief, looking between the Force users and at Poe. "Of course not. No. The whole thing was a trap. His lies within it were a trap. The locations, his plans, his promises – that's bait and I am not taking it. I am not putting my neck into his collar. I will not allow him to rule me."

Hux looked around the room angrily. "And he knows it, which is why he's moved on to blackmail and torture now. No one has ever called me 'Hugs' in a public forum except you," he said, swinging to Dameron. "He'll find out. There were too many witnesses to that call over D'Qar and no one can block his mind. I don't know what he can do with the information, but he'll have your name for it."

Poe bared his teeth in regret. "I didn't know."

"I know. I don't blame you. We agreed that you were to interfere if you saw it happening. He's alert for that interference now. Just know that." Hux sighed. He was still huddled. His hair was hanging in his eyes. He'd showered the day before so at least it wasn't greasy, but it was still unkempt. He looked across at Connix and said in a bedraggled voice, "May I borrow your comb?"

"Yes," she said softly, digging it out. Poe fetched it, as Hux was still sitting. He didn't think he could stand yet, but he could at least put his hair to rights.