I am so happy everyone seems to be liking this story so far! I am a bit out of my element writing about the courtroom drama, so feel free to correct any errors I've made.
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I find Kylo Ren's POV so interesting. I hope you like it as well!
Kylo Ren sat in his office on the 37th floor of First Order, Inc., staring blankly out the window at the bustling city below. From his vantage point, no one would know that the streets of Coruscant were a perpetual cacophony of honking horns, frenzied footfalls, and people talking at the speed of light. As he watched, miniature cars idled in a standstill while ant-sized citizens hurried to and fro, eager to reach their destinations.
Spinning halfway around in his chair, Kylo looked around the room. It was, as always, immaculate. He liked his work space to reflect how he conducted himself in the courtroom: precise, organized, and disciplined. No spare document or solitary ballpoint pen out of place.
He shuffled through the paperwork on his desk, his mind wandering to the meeting he had attended earlier that morning. He had anticipated coming face to face with his uncle for the first time in ten years, but he had not been ready for the enigma that was Luke's protégée.
He had grossly underestimated the girl.
Kylo hated when that happened.
It was not often that he found himself surprised, and a knot of apprehension welled in his gut at the feeling of being ill-prepared. Control was paramount.
He had (erroneously, it seemed) thought that she would be embarrassed and timid after their encounter, but he could not have been more wrong. After everyone was seated in the small conference room, she had briefly turned to Luke, who nodded his head in approval, before launching into a ten-minute tirade. It had been evident that she had spent hours rehearsing, and it was so well articulated that she almost swayed him to her point of view.
He had found her moderately attractive when they had run into each other at the café (though her fashion sense was utterly atrocious), with her lively eyes and fascinating facial features. She became something else altogether, however, when she started talking about the perceived injustices inflicted on her clients by his.
As she paced the room, gesturing wildly with her hands, her cheeks had flushed a pretty shade of pink, her eyes lit up with righteous indignation, and she seemed to forget that anyone else was in the room with her. The coffee stain (which, yes, in hindsight had been entirely his fault – not that he would ever admit that out loud) peeked out from under her blazer, though she didn't seem to notice. If she did, she made no move to cover it up, so immersed was she in her rant.
She was passionate about this case, that much was certain. Kylo could use that to his advantage when he went head to head with her in court, so long as he did not make the mistake of misjudging her again.
Rey Kenobi was going to be a formidable opponent, but he would not let her have the upper hand. He almost looked forward to besting her.
Deciphering the mystery that was Rey Kenobi seemed a much better use of his time than slogging through the endless piles of paperwork sitting before him, so he did what any self-respecting, corporate lawyer with ample resources would do in his position.
He powered up his laptop and typed her name into Google.
There wasn't much to be found, a mere 57 results. He clicked on the first link, which directed him to the website for his family's law firm.
At the top of the page was a picture of a beaming Rey, clutching that overflowing bag he had seen her toting around earlier that day. His Uncle Luke stood to her left, one arm wrapped around the young woman. On her other side were Leia and Han Organa-Solo, both grinning widely at the camera. They looked happy, he mused, briefly wondering if they ever spared a thought for their wayward son, or if they were content with the direction their lives had taken. Kylo's fingers reached out to stroke the lines on his mother's face (were there that many the last time he had seen her?) before he realized what he was doing.
He quickly pulled his hand away and placed it in his pocket as penance for its insubordination.
Below the photograph was a small blurb welcoming the newest member of the Organa, Skywalker, and Solo family. The words stung, but he ignored the pain. He had made his choices long ago, and it would not do to dwell on the past.
Deciding to end the trip down memory lane before he was swamped with any latent… feelings about his distant family members, he pressed the back button (hitting his mouse with more force than was probably necessary) and scrolled down the results page until another link caught his eye.
It was a small article published in a newspaper he had never heard of, the Niima Post, from fifteen years prior.
James Kenobi, 40, and Marie Turner-Kenobi, 38, have passed away due to injuries obtained in a single car accident that occurred off of I-40 last Saturday. There is no word yet on what caused the accident. Recent evidence suggests, however, that Mr. Kenobi may have had a seizure while driving.
Kylo skimmed over the next several lines, where the writer continued to recount the ongoing investigation. Instead, his focus was drawn to the final paragraph, where a familiar name caught his eye.
The couple's only child, Rey Kenobi, was also inside the car at the time of the crash. Fortunately, the 13-year-old was unharmed. She will be placed in the custody of her paternal grandfather, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Beside the story was a black and white picture of a young Rey desperately clinging to an older gentleman, who looked far too old to be taking care of a teenage girl. Rey's brunette locks were pulled back into three distinct buns, although a few tendrils had escaped and framed her face. Even in the grainy photograph, Kylo could see tear tracks running down her cheeks.
His investigation was interrupted by a brusque tap on his office door. He was about to tell the knocker to go away when the door swung open, revealing the First Order's Vice President of Human Relations.
"What do you need, Phasma?" he snapped irritably.
"Well, hello to you, too," she replied drily.
Kylo tried to discretely shut his laptop so that Phasma wouldn't notice. From the way her eyebrow raised, however, he had piqued her interest instead. Damn it. She always had been too observant for her own good.
"Should I be concerned about how you're spending your time at work?" she teased, looking far more amused than she had any right to be.
"Don't be ridiculous," he bit out. He was not blushing at being caught. He wasn't.
"What did you want?" Even though he was annoyed, the words were harsher than he intended. Phasma was one of the few competent people that worked at First Order, Inc., and he really could not afford to lose her as an ally.
The tall woman seemed ready to press the issue, but she sighed in resignation instead. Kylo's shoulders relaxed slightly as she frowned at him.
"Do you have any idea why Kevin dropped these documents off at my desk, along with a letter of resignation, instead of delivering them directly to you?"
"Kevin?" The name didn't ring any bells.
"Your assistant!" she cried exasperatedly. Oh. Phasma slammed a stack of papers down in front of him, toppling the pile he had so carefully organized previously.
"I may have… reacted rashly when he failed to file the proper documentation for our court case next week. Though he really should have had it done days ago. It's not my fault he couldn't do his job properly." The excuse sounded weak even to him.
Phasma threw her hands in the air. "God damn it, Ren! That's the third one this month! How on earth do you plan to get anything done if you keep scaring away all of your assistants?!"
Kylo shrank under her glare. The woman could be downright terrifying when she was angry.
Phasma took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she seemed much calmer than before. "No matter. If you want to be an ass to everyone around you, be my guest. But don't come crying to me when you inevitably find yourself alone."
Kylo opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as Phasma once again spoke up.
"I almost forgot. Hux asked to see you in his office as soon as possible."
"Hux can go to hell," he muttered, just loud enough for Phasma to hear. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard her chuckle. William Hux, VP of Research and Development, was one of the most irksome men he had ever met. "I'm busy."
"Doing what? Something so top-secret you won't even let me see your laptop screen?"
"Research for the Skywalker case. You know how important it is."
She tilted her head, staring at him as though she didn't quite believe his explanation, then straightened up. "Fine. But you get to explain to Hux why you refused to meet with him. I'm done playing mediator between the pair of you."
She walked through the doorway, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "Maybe the two of you could actually act like adults for once," as she left.
Kylo waited several minutes until he was sure she was gone before he reopened his laptop.
Returning to the search page, Kylo continued scrolling through the results. After several minutes of scrolling past a myriad of LinkedIn profiles and seemingly abandoned Myspace pages (Good lord, Rey Kenobi wasn't that common of a name, was it?), his cursor finally landed on something that looked promising.
It was an obituary, he realized, after he clicked on it.
Mr. Obi-Wan Kenobi, 80, died peacefully in his sleep Thursday evening at his home in Niima, Arizona. Ben, as he was affectionately called by those close to him, was born on November 19, 1922. A decorated war veteran, Mr. Kenobi will be sorely missed by all who were lucky enough to have known him. He is survived by his granddaughter, Rey Kenobi, 15.
He read through the passage several times before finally closing his browser window.
So much tragedy to experience at such a young age. No wonder she looked so pleased to be accepted into his family. She didn't have one.
He had a fleeting moment of empathy for the girl, though if anyone asked he would deny it until his last breath.
Pushing the information he had learned to the back of his mind, Kylo reminded himself to stay detached. This case was exceedingly important, for both himself and the company; it would not do to lose his objectivity just because his opponent had endured a not-insignificant amount of hardship in her life.
Glancing at the clock on his laptop, he was relieved to see it was nearly time to leave for the day. He typed a quick email to Hux, eloquently explaining why he had been unable to see him.
(Billy: Can't meet. I have better things to do. Kylo.)
The lawyer swiftly powered off his laptop and packed it into his briefcase. He donned his wool coat and grabbed his keys off his desk, double-checking that he had everything he needed before switching off the lights. Walking through the office, he spared a wave for Hux, who looked decidedly peeved.
Kylo was still grinning as he slid into his car.
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