Grandfather appeared to hover above them at expressly inconvenient moments during crucial training, and then gave his unbridled approval of their partnership.

It was frustrating. But Kylo knew where he was attempting to lead them, to the same bond he'd had with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though, in the eyes of the Council, long dead as they were, Hux and Kylo were only padawans.

Grandfather liked to make that very clear.

"Don't wield the Force like an impatient youngling," he said. "Look at the General's patience. Emulate it."

Kylo had practiced basic exercises since he was little more than a boy. If anyone knew patience in the Force, it was him. His patience with the Force was perfect. The pleasure of testing that balance fell to his idiot subordinates. So clueless, so busy snivelling and never doing enough work. How dare Grandfather lecture him on something he knew so well, and Hux so little.

"Stop that whining, Ren, it certainly won't get you anywhere." Hux had one foot balanced perfectly on the room's upper support bar, the other laid to rest at his knee. He didn't shake, or wobble, and in the Force the scent of blood was not so suffocating. He was calm.

"Forgive me, Grandfather. The crew distracts me. It's... incompetent."

Grandfather laughed. "Not all. If you cannot trust in your command to properly and expressly execute your orders, then do the work yourself."

"I sent them to retrieve a map months ago. Still they haven't returned to me with anything more than the bodies of slain 'Troopers. As if enough of their blood could possibly paint the path to what I must find."

Something intensely curious lit in Grandfather's eyes. "Where does this map lead?"

"To my uncle, to your son."

"And what reason have you to seek my son? Simple curiosity cannot cause this level of indiscretion. You've turned over half the galaxy in your efforts."

"He is our blood. I want knowledge." Kylo bowed. "You have all my respect, but there exist some things in this world only Luke Skywalker knows."

Grandfather raised an eyebrow. "That is true. He trained you; the second to do so, after your mother. Do you plan to use his own techniques against him?"

"I don't want to harm my uncle. I only want to share in his wisdom."

"And yet your Supreme Leader wants you to throw your father to the hungry dogs that lie in wait at the end of this life."

Kylo looked away. The order was one that had torn him apart at the seams, but he hadn't let a single soul in on his internal war. Snoke would execute him. The crew would recoil from his very presence. Hux would mock him indefinitely.

And yet Han Solo was still his father.

"I'd pay a countless million credits to see the day the Supreme Leader orders my own father's death," Hux said, mouth curled into an ugly snarl.

"Brendol Hux I?"

"The one and the only."

Kylo hesitated. To ask personal questions was to risk Hux's small pinch of trust. "I take it... you did not have a strong relationship with him?"

Hux practically spat on the floor below him. "He was right about many things. Training an army effectively, with no doubt. But terrible with names, truly unoriginal. To think, Brendol Armitage Hux II - my name, in all its glory. Could you possibly get any more egotistical than naming your own son after yourself? He was right about work ethic. About centring oneself. But he was not fit for parenthood, with inversely as much talent as he could raise an army from a group of shaking, yellow-hearted cowards." He hummed. "In short, my relationship with my father is no better than yours, Ren, and that really is saying something, believe me."

Kylo hid his wince. The comparison was unpleasant to consider, in the least. But the knowledge was valuable. One more piece to the puzzle he had gained, though he hadn't yet placed any one of those pieces on the board.

He had no idea where to start.

Hux crossed his legs and set his hands on the table. Kylo paused in eating his protein bar to spare a moment's attention Hux's way. "I've been thinking," Hux said, pleased to have the spotlight shining once more upon him. "I've been thinking we ought to have a strategy. What we're doing is treason, you're aware, I'm sure."

"To avoid suspicion?"

"And everything that comes with it."

"Our deaths," Kylo said. Hux looked at him sourly. "It's a good idea. But we barely have the resources for its execution."

"We have our own minds."

"You want us to outsmart Snoke?"

"Precisely so." Hux gave another pleasant smile, like a puppet trying to mimic sentient life. Kylo felt entirely on edge whenever it sought his way. "I'm glad you're catching on so quickly, Ren."

"You're uneasy," said Kylo, instead. "About facing him?"

"He has no question that my loyalty lies solely with myself, but as of yet, I've had no reason to leave. And for a reason such as this, he would gladly see us both vivisected."

The image flashed in Hux's mind, and so in his. He swallowed back bile. "How descriptive."

"Ah, mental reverb? Yes, about this connection. Have you already linked us? If Snoke wants to keep his eye on us, he'll no doubt make sure our stories are in check. I imagine communicating mentally will solve this, as long as he continues to believe I have about as much skill with the Force as a waste disposal worm. Which is the next point I wanted to address, consequently. He must be kept in the dark."

Something in him snickered at the wordplay. He had now the advantage of both, and yet Snoke knew of only one Force, of only the Dark.

"Feeling smug isn't going to help us convince the Supreme Leader I excel in only one area. Knowledge of your precious sorcery isn't subtle, or easy to hide, or as mysterious as you like to think."

"I can only create the link with your permission. Theoretically, it could run one-way, but that would defeat the purpose."

Hux gave an impatient huff. "Well, you have it."

Kylo reached out in a careful twirling thread, for Hux to mentally grasp. Physically, he slipped a hand out of his glove to hold out. "Take it. It will make the process easier."

Hux looked on in obvious distaste, but still, he bared a single hand, and laid two blaster-calloused fingers in Kylo's outstretched palm. When Kylo did not attempt to break them off, he allowed the other three to follow.

Hux's hands had burns from blasterbolts, and Kylo's from countless lightsabers. Despite their animosity, despite their differences, here they were alike. In war.

Are you this melodramatic all the time? Maker, I'll barely be able to handle it without losing my own sanity in the crossfire.

Nice to see you, Kylo returned.

It was like trying to part clouds with his bare hands. The link was strong, stronger than he'd thought, but Hux's mind was shrouded, walled off, and he was using everything he had to keep it that way. Every movement reeked of distrust. Kylo couldn't blame him.

You've established the link?

I have.

Hmm. Good. This will be able to fool the Supreme Leader. For now, at least. We may have to plan in the longterm, knowing your incredible skills in deceit.

Longterm?

Learning the Force doesn't take a day, I assume.

No. It doesn't. He blinked. I admire your commitment.

Never had he experienced such a connection. It was overwhelming. It was a sensory overload. It was absolutely amazing.

"We're even," Kylo said. This was the third hour they'd been training, and still they had met each other equally. Still.

Hux considered him briefly. "We are."

The neural link was beyond words. He wondered if this had been what Grandfather truly wanted him to see. To stop him from making the same mistakes, throwing it all always in service to some power-hungry fool. He had sought knowledge beyond Luke searching desperately for the remnants of the dead Jedi. Snoke had given it to him when others couldn't. But now, now he realised the knowledge lay in his blood, and the blood of the dedicated. Like Hux.

"We're matched," Kylo added, hesitantly. He saw the same fervour in Hux, the same wild-eyed drive to know and see. He hadn't seen it in many, and certainly not in the Order. They had a thirst to kill, but they brushed off the true meaning of what they were fighting for. Kylo had fallen prey to it himself, but Hux. Hux had a thirst not just for blood, but to learn, to absorb all new information. It was commendable.

"There's more depth to you than I thought," Hux said. A bead of sweat trailed down his temple and across his cheek, which he brushed away. "You're angry, and just as insane. But you're motivated. Determined. I admire determination." A hum. "You see things through. Admirable."

Kylo bowed his head. "Together, we could achieve anything."

To his surprise, Hux returned the bow. "More than just glory and power, yes? Your ridiculous magic, it offers insight into the workings of this world. The Supreme Leader is always away, hunting for these things. Your ancient artefacts. I think it's high time we try ourselves."

"You would risk leaving the Order?"

"Oh, no. I would take the Order. Snoke no longer owns it. We do."

"You... wish to overthrow his rule?"

Hux smiled, all teeth. "Not that he has much of it, but yes. That is the general idea. Now, I recall you wanted a map. To your uncle's location."

"He's had years, now, to find meaning. After I destroyed him, he rebuilt himself in his work. He couldn't bare to look at others, only the past. He wanted to see what it was the Jedi fought so hard to protect. I want to see what he's learnt."

"Well," said Hux. "There are many places to hide in this galaxy. But we have eyes everywhere. Did you have a lead?"

"A droid. One of the Resistance fighter's. I've been told, for a high price, that it has one of the map's key pieces. The other lies with my mother and father."

"You'll have to get it from them."

"Or from Grandfather. If he truly sees that I want knowledge, he will give up his son's location. Perhaps even his daughter's." Kylo paused. "But you must swear, nobody touches them. Snoke wants them dead."

"You're quite the rebel, aren't you? You want to do everything Snoke's told you not to. You want to keep them alive because he wants to see them gone."

"Not only that," Kylo offered. "They're Skywalker descendants. They've seen things. Things powerful enough to keep them afloat, even after fighting two wars. They're outmatched, underpowered, and small. And yet they go against the Order at every turn."

Hux snarled. "It's a thorn in my side."

"Imagine directing that thorn elsewhere."

"You want an alliance?"

The very small voice that was still Ben Solo whispered to him. He only wanted his family back. Kylo Ren wanted his family's resources.

Hux reconsidered. "You want to retie the knot you cut when you destroyed your uncle's work," he corrected.

"I want what they know."

"You want them to love you again."

Kylo clenched his fists. "I want them to give me that map. I want access to that knowledge."

Hux raised a brow. "And knowledge is power."

"You would contest-"

"No. I wouldn't. But admit what you don't want to admit, Ren. Stop denying it. You want to be accepted back into your own flesh and blood. That's why you're so eager to do as your grandfather says."

"He was a powerful man. He knows things none of us can... possibly fathom."

Hux only stared. "And?"

"And he's all I have left. The only one who understands me."

"You think Mummy doesn't love you anymore? You think she sees you only as some evil little cog in Snoke's machine?"

"She has no reason to think otherwise."

"Then show her. I don't care if you want a heart-to-heart. If you share their knowledge with me I'll even refrain from commenting on your inevitable show of tears when you reunite. I'll turn the First Order from their tail. I know I can control this galaxy better than Emperor Palpatine; I can create order in chaos, where he could not. I don't care about your ridiculous blood feud. I couldn't care any less." He tilted his head. "You scratch my back, I scratch yours. As it goes."

"You want knowledge because it is power? And greater power means greater order?"

"Greater control over my men. Anything I want, I can achieve, with their strength and my own. And, it seems, with yours. If you'll give it."

"And you'll give me free reign. To search for what I want."

"You can go have your little commune with the Jedi. Just lend me your hand, and teach me what you know."

Kylo blinked, then held out a hand. "It's a deal."

Hux gripped it, and shook it once. "So," he said. "Let's get started."

Author's Note: SEMESTER'S FINALLY FINISHED. YASSSS. But my birthday is rapidly approaching, so I'm sorry for all these delays. I've been having too much fun bathing in the pure, shining starlight that is NOT HAVING TO DO ANYTHING AT ALL. I'M FREE. SO FREE I CAN TASTE IT.

(Enjoy. I hope to be a little speedier next time. xoxo)