(Yes I changed the title. I just felt that its more concise and better than what it was before :P)
And I'm back (a long-ass about of time of not updating)! Thank you to all who commented and left lovely feedback! It is much appreciated!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. This is just for my own (twisted) amusement and not for profit.
Chapter 5: Energy Over Time
Nothing happened on the flight back to the palace, which was a relief to Hux. Everyone was on edge, of course. But nothing happened.
No bomb on the shuttle. No assassins hidden amongst the Stormtroopers. No poison in any of the food.
It felt so normal and routine that Hux almost forgot the state he was in for a moment. And then a faint twinge of pain racing from his chest down to the tips of his fingers told him that, indeed, things had changed.
He fought through the fog of painkillers. Kylo pretended to look regal when really he was being pensive and pouty as usual, and the Jedi sulked in the corner with an expression that warred between something like, 'I just saw a ghost' and 'I want some of the food that's sitting on the table'. Hux wanted to throw one of the spiky fruit at her head to get her to stop staring.
This Rey was a slight woman—that much was obvious—her Jedi robes making her look more bulky than she really was. And she was clearly full of nervous energy. Not serene like the Jedi that Hux had had the misfortune of meeting in the past. She wasn't a threat to Kylo's life, not yet.
But what could he do if she was?
It was a short ride from the hospital to the Senate building; Hux knew that much. He knew the upper level of Coruscant like the back of his hand.
He wished the distance was longer. Maybe he could get the pilots to take a detour to prolong this trip. As much as he had wanted to leave the hospital, he didn't want to go back to Kylo's office.
They were in for a clusterfuck when they got back. Of course the Senate was convening in a few days. And of course this Jedi insisted that she be beside Kylo during the meeting. Just adding insult to insult and injury.
Hux hated his life.
At least this time they used the Chancellor's private landing deck. There was no need for pomp; not anymore. The populace knew that their Chancellor was still alive. Those leeches lurking outside the hospital doors probably spread images of them as far as the Outer Rim already. They would be used to flaunt the Republic's power or deride its weakness.
Behold. The Chancellor of the Republic. Brought low due to this personal blow. Held high in spite of it.
He winced, more in physical pain and less in mental, when he rose from his chair.
He should be taking it easy. That was what the doctor had told him to do. But with events swirling around them like they were, he couldn't afford to rest.
Kylo, damn him, needed his adviser by his side. The Jedi could fuck off for all he cared.
The premises were crawling with Stormtroopers. Hux wasn't sure if he was glad or worried about it. More people meant more protection, but it also meant that someone could slip in.
The door slid open and the lights immediately illuminated the room.
Hux turned towards the woman, steeling his features and curling his lips in a sneer.
"Welcome to the Chancellor's office, Master Jedi."
…
Rey wasn't impressed.
Okay, she was a little impressed, but she refused to let it show.
The room was dimmer than it probably usually was, a metallic screen covering the panoramic windows. Everything else was pristine. If not for the covered window, it looked as if nothing had happened.
"I wonder how long it's going to take for them to fix the window," Hux muttered.
Phasma spoke up, "Contractors will be here within the next few days. The windows will be double reinforced so nothing like this happens again."
"Triple. No less. And I want to screen everyone before they get in the building," Hux returned.
Captain Phasma nodded, not arguing. "As you wish."
The Chancellor flicked his hand dismissively. "Leave us. Don't let anyone on this floor without vetting them first. I don't care who it is."
"Yes, my lord."
Phasma turned and left, the doors shutting behind her. Leaving Rey alone with the two men again.
Ren grumbled something foul under his breath as he strode to his desk, brushing past the Jedi. Hux followed, only to flop on one of the armchairs in front of the large desk.
Rey watched as the Chancellor pressed a few buttons on his holoprojector and a skinny Twi'lek in elegant garb appeared on the screen. The blue light washed over the human's face, deepening the shadows in his eyes.
She tried to not listen to the message, but words filtered in. Demands about a pending trade agreement and a slightly more polite request for dinner. The Chancellor swore aloud as that message ended and awaited transition to the next.
"Senator Tetel is going to throw a fit if you don't respond to him," Hux drawled.
The Chancellor threw him a murderous look and Rey almost smiled. He wasn't a very level-headed man—not in the slightest. She could feel the waves of energy coming off of him.
"He can wait."
Ren turned his attention back to the device and the image changed to another person in expensive clothing making demands and requests.
Rey slowly paced around the edge of the room. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. A threat, a sign, a clue… at least a distraction.
Everything was in a sumptuous red. Master Skywalker had told her about how the previous Chancellor loved the color. Apparently his successor hadn't taken the time to change that aspect of his office.
But, there were some art pieces here and there signaling that there was someone new; a mark of the office's owner. A large piece of shiny black rock sat on a table pressed against the wall. It was untouched by an artist's chisel. It looked like it was taken straight from a mountainside and polished.
Splendor, so unfamiliar to her.
She wanted to touch it. But she could still feel the men's eyes on her, despite the sounds of voices coming from the holoprojector. They'd probably yell at her the instant her skin touched the stone.
'Welcome to the Chancellor's Office', Hux had said. Welcome, indeed. She wasn't truly welcome here.
Too damn bad for all three of them. She didn't want to be here, either. But she had her orders. The Chancellor could complain to Master Skywalker if he wanted her gone that badly. One of the more experienced Jedi Knights—Poe Dameron came to mind—could take up her burden.
Force, why was she even here? Of all the people in the Jedi Temple, Master Luke had to pick her. Rey was so completely, utterly out of her depth here. There was something evil, bigger than a simple assassination attempt. She would be a fool not to see it.
She couldn't find the lingering darkness in this room. There was a certain energy, but not…bad. Unfamiliar. Strange.
She just needed to turn around to find the source. Those two men sent ripples through the Force like they were Jedi—only this was less peaceful, more restless and angry. And she was to be subjected to this for the foreseeable future. The amount of meditation would need to compensate for the disquiet growing inside her was getting larger and larger by the minute.
The tinny voices of the holoprojector stopped and there was a moment of silence. Rey felt the tension in the air and suddenly it spiked in a bolt of anger that wasn't hers but it left her hands balling into fists all the same.
Something crashed, sounding like shattered glass.
Rey turned on a pin, her hand drifting to her lightsaber.
…
The knick-knack made a satisfyingly loud sound as it impacted with the wall. It was even more satisfying to see the little Jedi jump in surprise, ready to fight.
Hux was utterly unaffected, as usual.
But even then, it did little to quell the anger that rose in Kylo's chest and tinted his vision. Six messages, all from senators, asking for this or that. The lack of sympathy for Hux was like metal nails on his skin, but he had gotten used to that. Security detail—because technically that was what Hux was—was given little to no mind.
But that was not what bothered him.
Six messages, and nothing from the filth who had disturbed the peace. He had been gone from his office for hours. And they hadn't said a word. No bragging statement, no demand…nothing.
A ghost in the night, able to attack in broad daylight.
"So, no gloating? No taunts? How disappointing," Hux muttered. He actually sounded disappointed that nobody came forward. Of all the people in the room, Hux probably wanted answers more than anyone else.
"You think the people behind this would be so stupid as to leave a message?" Rey asked Hux incredulously. She had relaxed from her tense position—clearly realizing that there was no threat—her hand moving back to hang by her side.
Hux rolled his eyes. "There are ways, Master Jedi, of leaving anonymous messages on these channels. We have the tightest security imaginable, but there must be a hole somewhere that they could exploit."
Kylo's hands closed over the edges of his desk and squeezed, the joints in his fingers popping.
"They are cowards. Trying to intimidate us," he hissed.
If he was to die by an assassin's hand, let him see who killed him. He didn't want to die not knowing why and by whom.
"What do they get out of this?"
Kylo fixed her with a stare. "Notoriety, for one."
He looked down at his hands. Corded muscle shifted under skin, knuckles turning white as he squeezed and squeezed.
"They show their muscle," he added. His hands released their hold, tension fading and returning in a different fashion as his fingers curled into fists.
"They show that they could have killed the Chancellor of the Republic but instead chose to shoot his right hand."
He pretended not to see Hux shift at the words.
"True power is being able to choose who lives and who dies."
Rey nodded and Kylo was actually grateful for it. At least she wasn't that naïve. "Do you have that power?" she asked.
Kylo hesitated. That was just it, wasn't it? Power. Because behind all of the rhetoric and the ass-kissing that politicians did…underneath it all, they did the things they did for power. There was nothing else. There was no other motive. Wealth, maybe. Altruism, hardly.
No angels in politics.
He liked to believe that he was above it. He was distancing himself from his family name and the fates that could have been his, but never were: Senator of Naboo. Senator of Alderaan. Jedi Master.
He was Kylo Ren. His own man. This was for power, perhaps. But this was also for himself. He was proving himself. He was elected to the highest position in the Republic, wasn't he? He had to have been doing something right. This was not his family speaking for him. This was his initiative, his abilities, that had got him this far.
And he had power. He was Chancellor. But what kind of power did he hold?
"In a sense. I can choose where funds are allocated. I can choose where we send troops," he allowed. "Those things can mean the difference between life and death."
That look of contemplation flickered over her face again. "But you don't kill people directly."
Hux snorted.
"Is something funny?" Rey asked. The genuine curiosity stayed in her voice, not angry. It was as if Hux presented her with a puzzle that she had yet to figure out. She was young, still learning.
How old was she anyway?
"Whether we pull the trigger or have someone else do it for us means nothing," Hux said, each word slow and deliberate. "Someone still dies and it would be our fault."
His hand twitched—almost unconsciously—towards his chest, where the near-fatal wound was hidden.
Hux continued, "A hired gun is a hired gun. What we need to worry about is who hired them. They are the real enemy."
"So, we shouldn't go after whoever shot you?" Rey asked, now sounding exasperated. Clearly, she wanted a direct answer.
The redhead's lip curled. "Oh, I still want to kill the person who had the audacity to shoot me. But I would rather kill the person behind all this."
His fingers picked at a stray thread on the chair.
"I will contact some of my… friends in the underworld. Maybe they heard something."
"Bala Tik?" Kylo suggested, raising an eyebrow.
Kylo watched as color—barely noticeable—rose on Hux's cheeks and pretended that it didn't send a feeling of something that definitely wasn't jealousy blooming in his chest.
"I can…mediate on it," Rey offered, albeit hesitantly. "I sense something behind this. Something dark."
"Oh really?" Kylo crossed his arms, his mind immediately going to another Jedi. How much did the illustrious and omniscient Luke Skywalker tell her about him? How much did Rey know? "The Force will give you the answers?"
Rey mirrored him, her posture tensed again. "It will guide me to them, my lord. This could be solved even before the Senate convenes again."
"Speaking of, how are we going to deal with that?" Hux asked.
Kylo pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to have a monstrous headache. He needed to sleep. But sleep was not going to happen.
He breathed, "I'll figure something out."
Ta daaaaaa! –jazz hands-
Okay so hopefully the next chapter isn't going to take 2 months to show up.
Thank you so much to Alania for doing a word war with me and helping me get half of this damn thing done! And thank you to Juulna for looking this over and catching my mistakes and also just being a great cheerleader 3.
But all feedback is appreciated! Definitely spurs me into updating faster ;)
Cheers!
~Tiara of Sapphires