Warning: dark AF. Hux #MeToo

Nothing made General Armitage Hux uncomfortable. There wasn't an order or objective that could make him squirm. No, General Hux was stoic and tried, had seen and certainly done it all. Hell, he'd given the order to have his own father killed. Hux was a hard man.

He arrived in the gym to workout at 0400 every morning. Morning for him, middle of the night for everyone else. The gym looked every bit as normal as every other morning; clean floors and empty exercise machines, except today someone was using the usually empty room to stash an officer-turned-prisoner. A woman chained to a weight rack in the gym, her eyes swollen and lip split down the middle, made his stomach churn.

The young female human looked up at him suspiciously. "General Hux?" Even bloody and beaten, chained to a rack, the First Order officer remembered her formalities.

Hux wanted to be pleased by her commitment to protocol, but was only horrified by the sight of her. It looked like she'd come from battle. Blood stained the pristine gray uniform, which was torn open to reveal bruises and dried blood mixed with fresh across her bare breasts. Other obvious signs of abuse were scattered across her collarbone and neck, and no doubt trailed down her arms under her sleeves. A large chunk of hair had come lose from her uniform bun and hung over half of her face. Her name badge read DAWSON and Hux tried to remember any incidents concerning that name. The uniform itself spoke of an administrative role, not military. The knowledge made his stomach squirm further.

"Officer?" he asked hesitantly. "What's the meaning of this?" Hux looked over his shoulder, suddenly hyper-aware. His hand went to the concealed holster under his arm. No one would ever find the general unarmed, not even at 0400.

"General," Dawson managed. "Please. Please, before he comes back." Dawson tugged at the restraints holding her to the weight rack. "He left to get his blaster." She shifted and Hux saw the darker nature of the assault. Her skirt was torn up the middle. Blood ran down her thighs.

"Dawson," Hux groaned. "Stars."

She nodded and looked down, trying to force her lip to stop quivering. "Forgive my state of dress, General. I'd only returned from my shift and he dragged me out of-"

"Forgiven," Hux spat, shaken that in her dire situation, she worried about protocol. It had been endearing but now he couldn't believe she'd waste time to use titles. "Who did this? He's coming back here?" He spun and fixed his blaster on the door. "Who is it?"

When the door whirred open not a moment later, a trooper out of uniform strolled back in, blaster in hand. He froze when he saw the general but quickly moved to fire.

"That's him!" Dawson called out in rage and horror. "FN-"

Without hesitation, Hux fired a clean shot to the head and sighed in annoyance as the body crumpled to the floor. Phasma wouldn't love waking up to clean up the body, but he radioed her anyway and thanked her profusely when she groggily agreed to report.

"General," Dawson breathed. Her eyes were wide as the swelling would allow as she stared at him in surprise. "Did – did you mean to kill him? I'm sure you meant to stun-"

He holstered his weapon. "Problem solved. I trust you'll corroborate what happened here. A filthy rapist attacked an officer and pulled a weapon on me. All clearly premeditated." When she nodded, he rushed to her. "Come. We'll get you to a med bay. Can you walk?"

"General," Dawson breathed. "Thank you. He- he said the missing captain- he said he did the same thing to her and that he was going to put me with her body when he was done."

Hux swore loudly. His stomach lurched once more and he had to take a deep breath through his nose in order to keep from vomiting. "I hoped she was AWOL by choice." Waking to a sexual assault and news of a serial rapist wasn't the morning he expected. The room spun for a moment. He focused on the dead rapist on the ground. He only wished he'd tortured the monster. "He got better than he deserved, but at least he'll not assault another of my officers. I'm very sorry this happened to you. I'm so sorry."

Dawson nodded and stared blankly at the floor as Hux freed her from her restraints. When her hands were free she gingerly pulled her uniform shut, scoffing when she realized it was ripped beyond repair. Danger past, she realized her nakedness and began to blush. When the last of the restraints were cut, she stood and looked as though she may cry.

"Here." Hux pulled off his shirt and gave it to her. "I'm afraid my jacket's in my quarters so this is all I can offer you. Only a few guards are on patrol and the med bay isn't far. I assure you there's no further danger from me." Still, he imagined he looked strange standing there in nothing but his athletic bottoms and shoulder holster. Goosebumps rolled down his bare shoulders and chest. He felt exposed, but he was seeing Dawson on the worst moments of her life.

She nodded and eagerly pulled on his shirt, black enblazoned with the red First Order insignia. Wincing as she moved, Dawson squeaked out her thanks. "I don't know him. I've never even seen his file. I don't know his name." Her face went blank as she looked down at the drops of blood on the floor. After a moment she dared to look up to Hux. "I didn't provoke him, General. I swear."

"No," Hux interrupted in a harsh growl, grabbing her and spinning her to face him. She gasped and met his gaze with surprised eyes. He released her, immediately regretting touching her. "Of course you didn't provoke him. Put such ridiculous thoughts out of your mind." He motioned to the door, then balled his hands into fists. "Come. The med bay."

"Yes, General." She shuffled along, pain clear on her face. Her eyes sparkled with tears and jaw twitched as she clenched her teeth. She caught Hux's gaze and sniffled. Her bottom lip began to tremble.

Hux hated feeling vulnerable, but he felt as if he owed it to her somehow. "I'll let you in on a secret, Dawson. My life hasn't been all prestige and honors. I've had to do unspeakable things and endure unspeakable things being done to me to get where I am today." Her pursed his lips and looked at her. The understanding on her face gave him a shock of both comfort and humiliation. "I feel somewhat better with that man dead at my hand. Karma, if you believe in that sort of thing. Trust that I know precisely how you're feeling. You'll come through and be stronger for it, even though you shouldn't have to be." He sniffed and tried not to look at her state of ruin. She'd fallen behind a few steps and he slowed and waited for her to catch up. "I apologize," he muttered. He extended an arm toward her and nodded. "May I?"

She nodded and leaned heavily on him as he wrapped an arm around her waist. He could just imagine the whispers that would burn through the ranks at their bloody, undressed state. He tolerated many rumors, but he'd murder the first man who whispered that he was a predator.

Dawson had only stirred moments before when the ginger general paused in her doorway.

"General!" She sat up at attention and nodded for him to enter.

"At ease," Hux said softly. He lingered by the bed for a moment before sitting at the foot of it, careful not to touch her.

Dawson looked to the medical droid in confusion. It backed away.

Hux studied her face. He wasn't sure whether the officer looked better or worse. The blood was wiped away but bruises had blossomed here and there with time. Her black eyes spread like a masquerade mask and nearly reached her jaw, brilliantly green and purple. One arm was bandaged, and he didn't dare think about her more southern regions. "Are you well?"

She pursed her lips and nodded. "I'm not pregnant and I was not infected with-"

Hux shook his head and interrupted. "No. I know you're hurt. Are you well?" he repeated.

"Yes, General." She mustered a small smile. "Or I will be. Thank you again for saving me."

The choice of words threw him off his rhythm. "Saving?" he repeated. "I was only there to work out. I did what any member of the First Order should do."

She lowered her chin and cast him a pessimistic look from beneath her brows. "General. Do you truly think I would have had such an outcome should another trooper or officer have found me?" She shook her head. "I'm glad it was you."

Hux cleared his throat. He didn't want to admit the wild streak in some of the troops, so he merely turned his head. It would be addressed soon. "If there's any additional care or counseling you feel you need, tell them you have my authorization." He brought up his authorization code on his datapad and showed it to her. "Memorize that and use it if anyone troubles you. It's my personal code."

"Thank you, General."

Hux nodded curtly. "Well then. Recover quickly. Think not on what happened. No one will touch another person on this ship without their consent. I'll make sure of it."

Several plans for punishment and deterrent whirled through his mind, but the craziest idea concerned Ren and his mind-reading knights. Enthused by the idea of using them to his benefit, he strode from the med bay in search of the Force users. Rapists won't be tolerated in the First Order. We'll eliminate them before they strike.