"Are you ready, Ren?" asked Hux as they stood at the doors leading into Supreme Leader Snoke's throne room.
"As ready as I can be," answered Ren, his voice flattened by the vocoder in his helmet. "Admit another map failure, cringe, promise to do better, and hope I can walk out after the punishment."
Hux turned his head and looked at Kylo. "Let me do the talking, Ren. You've barely recovered from your last set of injuries. I'll keep his attention and perhaps you can avoid another session in sickbay."
"Are you sure Hux?" asked Kylo. "He's bound to be angry over the Starkiller testing delay."
"The map failure was because we were both embroiled in the testing delay," replied Hux. "He may smack me around a bit but I'll be fine."
Kylo huffed through his vocoder, "As long as you're sure about this, Hux."
As the doors to the throne room swung open they looked at each other, nodded, and walked in.
**KS**
Hux's head was spinning. He couldn't focus his eyes. Nausea - he wanted to throw up. He was propped up on something hard and at the same time a bit yielding. What had happened? Where was he? He tried to move.
"Easy Hux. I've got you. Just lie still."
"Ren?" Hux asked, confused.
"Yeah. There's a float stretcher on the way. Don't move, Hux. You've got a nasty concussion and you're bleeding."
He felt his eyes closing.
"Stay with me, Hux. You need to stay awake for a little longer."
He forced his eyes open and stared at Kylo's bare face. Where was his helmet?
He tried to move. Pain. Lots of pain. His head dropped down again on…Kylo's lap?
"What happened, Ren?" he murmured.
Kylo looked up as a team of medics came barreling down the corridor with a float stretcher, a medidroid, and a portable medkit.
"The medics are here. We'll talk about it after we get you to the sickbay."
**KS**
"What happened to the General, Commander Ren?" inquired CMO Kelley.
They were both standing next to a medical bed that contained an unconscious General Hux. Kylo's helmet sat on a table near the bed. The Chief Medical Officer had seen his face so many times that it was a bit redundant.
"We were both in conference with Supreme Leader Snoke," replied Kylo. "He had administered discipline to the General for issues with Starkiller Base. Hux was dismissed and I remained."
"Discipline, Commander?"
Kylo grimaced. "Do I really need to clarify, Dr. Kelley?"
"No sir. Please continue."
"When I left the throne room I saw the General in a nearby corridor fighting for his life. As I ran over I saw him fall to the ground. Before they could kill him I dispatched his attackers with my lightsaber."
"He's lucky you intervened, Commander," commented CMO Kelley dryly. "He could have ended up in the morgue instead of the sickbay."
Kylo grimaced. The thought of Hux dying made his stomach twist unpleasantly. If Supreme Leader Snoke had kept him a few minutes longer - he shut that thought down.
The doctor continued, "He has a concussion and bruising on his torso, but fortunately no broken bones. There are multiple knife wounds that have caused blood loss, but not enough to be immediately life-threatening. The knife wounds initially concerned me but scans show no internal organs were damaged. The General is fortunate that you called for a med-team so quickly, Commander."
"How long will you need to keep him, doctor?" asked Kylo.
"This time?" responded Kelley. "I would want to keep him at least 2 full cycles to ensure that his wounds have healed properly and no infection has set in. I also need to monitor the concussion he received. However…"
"However?" queried Kylo.
"Do you recall the discussion I had with you and the General a few months ago about the reparative ability of the human body?" inquired Kelley. Kylo nodded. "Repetitive concussions, even mild ones, take a toll on the brain. It would be a tragedy to lose such a brilliant mind to chronic traumatic encephalopathy."
"I don't know what that is," answered Kylo, annoyed.
"Smack a person's head around too many times and you are looking at permanent brain damage," said Kelley bluntly. "And that presumes that he's not killed in another assassination attempt before that happens."
"So what do you expect me to do, Doctor Kelley?" growled Kylo. "He's a colleague, not a friend."
"I expect you to think about it. You and he have both been subject to multiple concussions, as well as many other preventable injuries. If nothing else you might have a common cause."
"I'll keep that in mind," retorted Kylo as he retrieved his helmet before heading out of the sickbay.
**KS**
Kylo sat in his chambers in the Finalizer and tried to meditate. Something was coming to a head. He could feel it in the Force. He opened his awareness further. He could almost grasp it. it felt like it was just at the tip of his mental fingers. Ugh, this wasn't working.
Kylo opened his eyes, stood up, and stretched the kinks out of his arms and legs. What now? He could talk to his grandfather's helmet, but Vader has never been very forthcoming with advice for his grandson. Actually, he has never gotten a reply when he talked to the helmet. Not a peep.
So no, he won't ask for advice from Vader. He wished Hux wasn't laid up in a sickbay on the Supremacy. He and Hux didn't always get along - mostly didn't get along, actually, but Kylo couldn't deny that Hux was brilliant. He would evaluate the situation and come up with a plan, an alternate plan, and an alternate to the alternate plan.
No one else knew what was like to stand before Snoke and hope you wouldn't be punished too severely for perceived failures. To know that the wrong word, the wrong facial expression, even thinking a disparaging thought could have you flying across the throne room and into a durasteel wall. Hux knew. Hells, he had been thrown around as much as Kylo.
He started pacing the length of his quarters. Sitting quietly and creating devilishly clever plans was not his forte. He was more action inclined, particularly those where he could throw people around with the Force or chop something to flinders with his lightsaber. He needed Hux. Well, first he needed to gather some intel; then he needed to talk to Hux.
Kylo put on his helmet and stalked out the door and into the corridor. Two Stormtroopers who were patrolling saw him, backed up against a wall, and froze in abject terror. Kylo stomped past them, resisting the impulse to look over and say 'Boo!' He was on a mission: next stop, Captain Phasma's office.
Author Note - Summary: Another meeting with Supreme Leader Snoke with predictable results. Hux fights off an assassination attempt. Kylo feels something changing through the Force but he's not sure what it is.
I've been away from writing recovering from knee replacement surgery. Also dealing with a minor writer's block. I think I have one more chapter to write to wrap up this story.