Chapter 4

When the buzz went off indicating that Hux was waiting to be let in, Kylo Ren left his study to see what Rey was up to. He found her completely cocooned in the black comforter on his bed. "Rey?" he said, not sure what to make of the scene.

She pulled the blanket tighter around her form.

"I have a guest. You need to return to the cage temporarily for me to let him in," he explained.

Her left leg slid out from under the blanket mound to step on the ground and was soon followed by her other leg. She walked back inside the cage and sat down on the cot inside without a word. He frowned and reached out with the force for insight. Immediately, he was met with an immense sensation of coziness. Ah. He had forgotten how few creature comforts she had experienced. He smiled sadly. No wonder she was reluctant to part with his comforter.

He closed and locked the cage without a word and went to admit Hux. The door lock now required several biometric scans to prove that he authorized it, so it took a moment, but the door opened.

Hux entered, and his eyes immediately went to the cage where Rey sat wrapped in his bedding. "Ren, have you slept with her already?" he asked, wide-eyed.

Kylo massaged his brows. "Of course not. I let her wander while I did some work in my office, and that's how I found her when I came back out." He watched as the blanket shifted and Rey's hazel eyes appeared through a gap.

Hux's jaw dropped. "You let her wander your rooms unattended?"

"I saw no reason not to. You assured me that she couldn't escape," Kylo reminded him.

"She can't, but that doesn't mean she won't try to kill you!" Hux spat. Kylo felt oddly touched that his red-headed general cared, though his objective was likely the well-being of the First Order.

Kylo gazed at Rey as he said, "She won't kill me. However, the bars wouldn't stop her if she decided to." Her eyes darted to his with a flicker of surprise, and he smirked. Either she hadn't known the strength of her own powers or hadn't known that he knew. It didn't matter. She would have killed him on the Supremacy if she really wanted him dead.

Hux fumed next to him. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Kylo Ren hoped so too. "More so than you, apparently. You put her here without privacy, spare clothes, or a place to relieve herself."

Hux sneered. "You're supposed to claim her to clear your head, Ren, not dress her up and play doll with her."

Kylo glared right back at Hux. "She is a formidable opponent and deserves both our courtesy and respect, Hux."

"Hux?" Rey said. They both turned to her, and she let the blanket fall around her shoulders like a black robe as she studied the general. She looked like a sith, and her dark expression and narrowed eyes did nothing to dispel the idea. "He's Hux? The one you said would replace you if you died?"

"Yes," Kylo confirmed. The air rippled as Rey pulled into the force. The very air was electric with the tension coming from her, and though he knew he should fear her, he was too fascinated to intervene with whatever was coming.

Within seconds, Hux gasped, doubled over, and grabbed his head, moaning. "No, stop! Stop it! She's in my head! Stop her, Ren!"

Kylo gaped at Rey. He had not expected her to be so ruthless, though he wasn't sure why. She had always been the one to attack first. Aren't you a Jedi? He said to her through the force. He felt her hesitate and split her attention to him. Next to him Hux took a deep breath as she eased up slightly. Generally speaking, mind invasion is a tool of the dark side.

She flinched and withdrew immediately.

Hux collapsed, struggling for breath. "Kill her at once, Ren!"

Kylo gave Hux a disdainful look. "I will not murder her to satisfy your injured pride. Lick your wounds elsewhere. We'll discuss this later."

Kylo unlocked and opened the exit for Hux. Hux glared at Kylo before briefly glancing in terror at Rey and slipping out the door. Kylo closed the door again and sighed. That would be a mess to untangle later.

"What did you learn?" he asked Rey without preamble. She didn't answer him. He looked at her and found her watching him. "You searched the mind of my second-in-command. Are you thankful you spared me on the Supremacy?"

"Yes," she said. "He's vile."

Kylo considered her. "And I'm not?"

She didn't answer him.

Kylo frowned, went to the cage, and opened it. She still had his comforter wrapped around her and was idly fingering the fabric where she sat on the cot. It reminded him of a newborn reassuring itself of its mother's presence. "You can keep the blanket. I'll request a replacement."

He paused, wondering if he should keep talking to her. He had promised to avoid her in the bond, but this was not the bond, and there were things to discuss. "Hux overseas mission details, which includes prisoner management. I could override him to provide you visits with your friends, but it would cause problems, especially since you invaded his mind just now. I'll see if I can't smooth it over quickly and get FN-2187 in to see you."

"Not your mother?" Rey asked. He shook his head. "You haven't seen her, have you?" Kylo said nothing, but he felt the pain and shame of what he had done to his mother creep over his heart again like a frigid, wet blanket. "You're afraid."

He was afraid. He was afraid of many things.

"Rey, I can provide you some texts on the force for the meantime. Might help you learn more about… all of it. I know you didn't have much time with Luke. It would be better than nothing, and it would help pass the time."

He went to a nearby screen, unlocked it, and entered a request for a few of the introductory books on the force to be downloaded, printed, and delivered to his quarters. He did not trust that she wouldn't discover how to hack a reader to take over the ship if he gave her one.

"You don't plan to ask me to be your student again?" she said.

He half-chuckled at that. "I know when I've lost, Rey. Before the Supremacy, I had hoped… but it doesn't matter now." He wondered what he would do with her when the Resistance was finally destroyed. Would it be safe to free her then?

"Did Hux think that you might still succeed in recruiting me if you slept with me?"

Kylo froze and stared at her in confusion. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Rey puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Why does Hux want you to sleep with me?"

Ah. He decided to pull her leg, much like he had done when she asked why he hated his father. "Because he wants to breed an army of force babies."

Rey scoffed at that. "No, he doesn't. I saw inside his head. He would be happy if all force users were annihilated."

"Then ask me the right question," he said.

"Why does Hux-"

"No," he interrupted.

"Why do you-"

"No."

Rey glared at him, but calmed herself with several careful breaths. He felt her reach into the force and let it guide her. "Why am I alive if you've given up on recruiting me?"

"That is the right question."

"Then answer it," Rey insisted.

"No."

"That's not fair!" Rey protested.

Kylo shrugged. He didn't see any point in telling her how deeply his infatuation with her ran. It would only give her more reason to reject him and leave them both more uncomfortable.

"Kylo? You know that, as long as I live, I'll be trying to stop you from destroying the Resistance, right?" she asked after a moment. "If you ever free me… and if I discover a way to escape, I may still destroy you."

There it was. Another reminder that she didn't care about him, even if he didn't tell her how much he wished things were different. "I know. I've been wondering: Why did you spare me on the Supremacy?"

Rey answered immediately. "I trust the force, and the force willed it."

What a perfectly jedi thing to say. He had hoped his suspicions of her apathy towards him were wrong, but there was the confirmation. He ground his teeth against the wave of aching disappointment and hurt and left for his office without a word.

A few of you have wondered where I'm going with this fanfic. I added the following Author's Note to the beginning of the first chapter for clarification:

This fanfic is rated M for sexual stuff in later chapters. The long and short of the premise is that Hux convinces Kylo Ren and Rey to stay together while she's imprisoned by the First Order for various reasons, and long story short, Rey discovers Kylo's physical attraction to her, gets curious, and acts on it.

I'm not going to hold back much on graphic stuff, but this won't be your typical smut fanfic. This is going to be more realistic, awkward, cautious, and exploratory, and if the interaction doesn't develop the characters/relationship, it won't be included.

I'm trying to stay mostly in-character for everyone but Hux, and I changed Hux up because 2D villains are boring and I'm tired of having to kill him off in fanfics. Here he's more obsessed with helping the First Order succeed than being powerful, and he's fine cooperating with Kylo Ren for the First Order, so he might actually survive this time.

I hope you enjoy the story. Feel free to tell me what you think.