Raina had eased off on her pursuit. Since their open discussion a few nights previous; he knew what to do and where to go if he found himself having a change of heart. It was on him now. A strange sort of relationship had blossomed within those walls; Hux spent more time in Raina's quarters than he did in his own and of his own volition. He slept in his own room then took breakfast with Raina and would return to his space when she declared she was tired.

She did not mention her bedroom again. He knew where it was and would use the knowledge if and when he saw fit. Vida had seen strange before but this was a whole new level of odd. She had never seen anyone as staunch and as rigid as Hux so comfortable and at ease in the company of someone as easy-going and informal as Raina. She was his polar opposite but he seemed to appreciate that. Since their arrival, the Vornskr had grown complacent with the visitors. They now knew their names were Tigani and Nami; both strong male names from their planet of origin.

Vida could not tell them apart but Hux could. He knew Tigani was slightly broader and had a small scar over his left eye. Nami had a nick in his ear.

"Playing went too far when they were pups." Raina explained one social evening when the conversation turned to two creatures on the floor mouthing each other playfully; quite an unusual sight for two such dangerous looking animals. "The blood was everywhere."

Hux sat in Raina's quarters which seemed to be the norm by now. If she was there, so was he. If she was in the control room, so was he. In short, he was never far from the blonde commander. Whether it was for the sake of safety, comfort or just company, he didn't know. Did Raina notice? If she did, she didn't comment on it. The General was distracted from the holopad he flicked through so intensely when something invaded his peripheral vision.

Curious, he looked up and saw the glass tumbler she held out to him. Hesitantly, he took it.

"What is this?"

"It's not a seduction technique, I promise."

"I trust you that much, Raina. What is it?" Raina sat down in her usual chair with a glass of her own and her beloved Vornskr on each side.

"Alderaanian whiskey." Hux looked down into the glass; the liquid certainly did have a strong aroma, an unfamiliar one to other whiskeys he'd sampled. Not that he made a habit of it.

"Alderaanian whiskey." He repeated, somewhat blunt but bewildered. "Raina, surely you know that Alderaan was decimated over thirty years ago?"

"Thank you, General. I'm aware of that. By the Death Star." Hux gave in and took a small sip of the golden liquid in the glass. It was quite simply the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted. Sweet, smooth, crisp. Lips pursed as he savoured it; he tried not to be too taken over by the tang, if he reacted, Raina would tease him. He actually found that quite endearing; it showed she didn't fear him. "How do you like it?"

"Magnificent. May I inquire as to the occasion?"

"No occasion as such." She replied, crossing her legs in a way that always got his attention. "I found it yesterday. I was looking for something else and came across it. I started thinking about the person who gave it to me and felt it was long overdue." Raina answered lightly, something reminiscent in her eyes in the way she looked at her glass, something fond but sad in her smile.

"It was a gift. For my eighteenth birthday. One of the last bottles to come off the planet." The glass was given a gentle swirl and the fond smile continued. Naturally, he was curious as to whom or what made her that way.

"And who gave it to you?" He asked, watching her curiously, never quite seeing her like this. Even when Vida had reappeared in her life, Raina had not been so sentimental. Then again, she was busy trying to hold a base together with supposed enemies on site and exerting a necessary dominance over her visitors.

"My brother." She answered after some thought though he doubted it was because the information was slow coming to her. "He got it a few months before I was born and kept it for me." He'd heard of this tradition before. It was a nice idea but he'd only ever heard of it done with wine, not near priceless whiskey. He knew enough about Raina's family. She detested her father and at least one of her brothers. She never mentioned her mother and there were more brothers she didn't speak about. More to the point, he knew her family were devout to the Republic and anything to do with the Empire or the First Order would probably warrant disownment. If her father and Xander saw her now.

"He might not be too pleased if he knew who you were sharing it with."

"I don't think he'd mind." She replied with the same fondness as she remembered the finer details of her brother; the ones that led her to that answer. Cal had always been different. "This might surprise you, General." Raina began conversationally after a hearty sip from her tumbler. "Some of the older Republican officers, the likes of my father and Xander for instance. They see the Resistance as little more than a barely trained militia without proper ranks or discipline. Hi baby." Raina digressed briefly when Nami placed his head on her lap and made that little noise she couldn't resist.

Hux sat forward having shrugged off his greatcoat, a sign of comfort he displayed around Raina. He'd never contemplated the relationship between the Republican military and the Resistance. He always assumed them to be one of the same and so there wouldn't be much to tell. That didn't seem to be the case.

"To them, they are merely rebels with good ships and decent pilots; pilots that are wasted in the Resistance. I'm sure they're probably rethinking that now…." She didn't linger on the point and for that he was grateful. Raina stroked Nami's head lightly and watched as the beast's crimson eyes closed in enjoyment.

"To belong to anything other than the Republican military in my family and Vida's was….. Well, you might as well be in the First Order." Noticing the attention his brother was getting, Tigani sauntered over and collapsed into the most awkward position possible and taking up much of Hux's lap. He couldn't ignore him so he too started to stroke the large animal.

"How Vida got the balls to join the First Order, I don't know. I suppose she was braver than I was. Chose to act upon what she saw where I couldn't. She saw the corruption within the Republic. Not all of it but enough of it. Greed, corruption, sabotage. Even among our own family members." Raina returned to her glass and took a sip. The taste was enough to sadden her but she could hide it well. Her free hand continued to stroke Nami.

"So why didn't you join us?" The General's curiosity had gotten the better of him. What if he and Raina had served on the same ship on the same side? Maybe he wouldn't be as taken with her. Maybe he would. She wouldn't have been the same though. Maybe she wouldn't have had the same spark of command that she had here.

"Because there were better ways to fix the Republic." Raina responded, directing her gaze from the Vornskr to the General, a little caught off guard with how intently he watched her. "I won't say anymore because I like you and I don't want to offend you." Hux breathed a small laugh into his glass at her blunt statement. The whiskey was definitely strong but he was sure his reactions were his own. The humour, it appeared, had been genuine as indicated by the smirk Raina cast into her own glass.

"Drink up." She told him, lashing another measure into his glass then her own.

"Cal was Xander's twin brother. There could not be two more different people on any planet and yet, they shared a womb. He never had any interest in the Republic. He loved anything mechanical, technical. Droids, engines, ships, anything. My parents entertained it, allowed him to train as pilot. And he was a brilliant one. One of the best." Raina paused and Hux's strokes to Tigani slowed though the creature showed no displeasure.

"How did he die?"

"Engine malfunction. Crashed on some backwater planet in the Arkanis system. They still don't know if it was the fumes or the actual crash that killed him." The Commander was almost blank. "Cal was also gay." The blonde held her glass and looked down at it as if it was an embodiment of her brother; sad, melancholic. "When he came out, told my father, he was disowned. Xander attacked him. Physically. I was only three, maybe four at the time. But I'll never forget asking him what happened to his lip, what happened to his eye, why his arm was in a sling…."

Raina leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Nami's head. The Vornskr were oddly comforting and Hux could attest to that.

"He joined what would later become the Resistance as a pilot. The new General Organa, formerly Princess Leia, took him in and showed him family, community. They accepted him for who he was, unlike his own family. Most importantly, he found love and I will always be grateful to her for that. I am indebted to her and I will repay it."

"Nobody gets in while I'm speaking to him."

"Yes, Commander." Though the door was guarded on the outside, she brought security measures of her own into the medical bay with her. He was kept in a separate, scarcely used wing. One of a higher security clearance, mostly used for prisoners. It was different with Vida and Hux when she was with them constantly, she could keep an eye on them. Her staff were dealing with a volatile, somewhat conscious Kylo Ren without supervision. Extra precautions needed to be taken.

He was just about awake when she entered the smaller, single bedded facility. The Vornskr slithered in after her and the door was shut before she strutted to the bed. It seemed the greater disturbance in the Force (though he was unsure why) jolted him fully awake, causing him to glower at the blonde female now in his presence. She wasn't afraid of him, far from it.

"Who are you?!" He spat suddenly, feeling more helpless than usual as she pulled up a chair and sat up beside his upper half.

"My name is Commander Raina Von." She told him calmly, confidently, unperturbed by his seething attempt to sit up.

"Where am I?!" Raina raised an eyebrow. Gratitude, boy. You'd best learn it. "You're on a Republican base on the planet of Andala. My base." Panic set in at the word Republican. She felt a weak sort of probing and that desperate frustration on Ren's face drew her to one conclusion.

"You're trying to get into my head, aren't you?" She asked him quietly, leaning in a little towards him. The look of alarm that took over the desperation answered that too. "You won't be able to. Blame them." She nodded behind her and his gaze followed to the horrific creatures watching him like prey from beside the door. "Let's just calm down, alright?" Gently, Raina reminded herself. Be gentle.

"No one's going to hurt you. We're actually trying to help you. You were brought here by General Hux and Captain Phasma." The familiar names jostled around in his head. But it made no sense. Why a Republican base? The dark haired male regarded her cautiously, sceptically. She had no command of the Force but her….. Creatures(?) did?

"And why are we on a Republican base?" He seemed to have accepted it and subsequently calmed down.

"I'm Captain Phasma's first cousin." Raina explained though she knew the man had probably never seen her cousin with her helmet off and so had nothing to compare her with. "She contacted me when the three of you had nowhere else to go. And I accepted." Ren studied the female before him carefully. Blonde, wavy hair, pale skin, blue eyes; very pretty overall.

"You're a spy?"

"No." Raina shut him down bluntly then pursed her lips briefly. "I hate spies." They were quiet for a moment as they studied each other.

"I know what happened on Starkiller. What you did." Ren's whole demeanour changed. He was no longer defensive and ruffled; now there was a look of defeat and pain in those dark eyes. "I know what you thought it would accomplish. But it didn't. It didn't do what it was supposed to." Raina took in his crumbling exterior, the scar that dominated the upper half of his face.

"I don't know much about the Force but I know that the pull between light and dark can be unbearable. The choice can be crushing and one can find comfort where another can find destruction. For darkness restores what light cannot repair, isn't that right?"

The Knight stared. Someone understood. She understood what it meant. That pull, that shift, that torment. Even if it was just words, she was trying to offer him something.

"You wouldn't be here if it weren't for family. Vida made sure you were brought to safety and she swallowed her pride to do so. It's what families do for each other." Raina looked behind her to the door and to the Vornskr. When she looked back, Kylo Ren watched her like a lost child.

"It's not too late, Ben." The blonde expected another shift in his emotions but she didn't expect him to cry.

"It is…." He gasped through the familiar sensation of a windpipe constricted by tears. "It's done…. It's too late…." The Commander remembered the pitiful condition Cal had been in. She remembered seeing him years later when she was old enough to decide for herself. He was strong, he was glowing, he was happy. He was in love! She didn't know if she could ever repay Leia. Now she could. Raina left the chair and sat up beside the pillow, perched lightly at the side of the mattress. An arm wound around the dark male's shoulders and pulled him gently against her. He didn't know her but he didn't fight her. He was broken but it was comforting. Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"You have two choices." She told him barely above a kind whisper. "You go and face Snoke. Or you allow me to arrange to bring you home." Ren froze. To him, neither of those were an option.

"I can't…."

"Your mother wants you home." Those were the magic words. "You tell me if you want to go home and I'll arrange it."

"Yes…." His answer was instantaneous. "But… Hux and Phasma?"

"They won't know until you're gone. I promise."

"General." Raina stood in her quarters, hands tucked behind her back. "He's awake." There was almost silence but enough background noise to know the line was still live. There was a sniffling then a woman's voice.

"He's alright?"

"He's just fine. A little scratched up but the worst of the damage has been taken care of. He's mostly resting." She paused. This was for Cal. "He wants to come home, General." The sniffling intensified and Raina waited for a moment. "I've spoken to him. He's torn up. I think he just needs his mother."

"I can't think of how to repay you, Raina."

"You looked after mine, General. The least I could do was look after yours until he was ready to go home."

"I'll send someone soon. Before the day is out."

"Take care, General."