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I could sleep for ten weeks.
It was a thought that was pushed away almost as quickly as it arrived. There would be no sleep, and if Armitage Hux were honest with himself, even if the time were gifted him, he would find it difficult to sleep knowing that there was an entire organization that needed him to step up and lead them towards a galactic victory. He couldn't lose whatever advantage they had gained through something as human as a need for sleep.
That didn't mean that he wasn't aching as he strode through the remnants of a former rebellion base, flanked by stormtroopers that had orders to find anyone remaining and to destroy whatever was left. It wasn't much of a rock to hide in, but it would not be one that any remaining Resistance allies could ever hide in again.
He found Ren in what appeared to be a control room, standing stock still as if he were a statue, his gaze on something in his hands.
Or... on nothing.
As Hux cautiously cleared the massive shoulder and came round the other side, he could see that there was nothing there, but Ren hadn't moved.
Ren. Supreme Leader.
One was still pushing against the other in his mind, and Hux stepped back, catching the eye of a stormtrooper about to enter. He shook his head and with a motion directed the stormtrooper elsewhere.
There was nothing any of them could do to protect Hux against the Force, as had been easily demonstrated multiple times in the past few hours, and so strategically he was required to move in a different way.
He rather wished he was less exhausted while trying to navigate whatever emotional landmines there almost certainly would be. Ren had just gone completely insane while trying to do in his Uncle, wasting Force only knew how much artillery trying to kill the man, and in the meantime, it had served as a distraction to let the Resistance escape, presumably.
Hux could be angry about that - he was angry about it - but he couldn't do much about that. Nor could he do anything about the fact that Snoke was gone and Ren had blustered his way into the man's place. Snoke had been problematic at times, and Hux had blistered at his religious adherence to the Force, but Ren had that, as well as a healthy dose of emotional instability that was now Hux's problem. Along with, doing whatever he could to keep from having Ren's damnable Force grip on his neck again.
Kriff everything.
Hux swallowed, it hurt, and he suspected he would have bruises there tomorrow. He ran through a list of possible things to say or do, not sure he wanted to surprise or startle Ren, and then realizing at the same time that despite the statue like appearance of the other man, he was unlikely to do so. Ren knew he was here, probably knew that he'd sent the stormtroopers away, and likely could tell what he was thinking.
Hux's lips disappeared into a thin line for a moment, and he squared his shoulders.
"Supreme Leader," he pushed the words to the surface, although they felt strange to him, and like something that didn't fit quite right.
There was no response, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. He was more tired than he wanted to admit.
For the longest time the man in front of him had been a nuisance, someone that Hux had to put up with and work with and learn how to swim around and clean up after. Now that man was the leader of the First Order, and he had no business being so. He didn't have the emotional control for it, and this was an obvious example of that fact. Whatever had happened in here, whatever had captured Ren's mind, it wasn't letting go, and in the meantime the base was being cleared and any information that might be helpful to them was being gathered, and the First Order would continue to work as it did because of Hux. Hux had given those orders, and his men had followed them, because his men were trained, and because Hux did his damn job regardless of his emotions.
Which, brought him to now. He might not think Kylo Ren could be the Supreme Leader, but so long as he could not best him out - and any opportunity he might have had to end Ren as a nuisance was lost for the foreseeable future - he would need to do his damn job, which was to see the First Order winning in the galaxy. If that meant that he had to prop up the Supreme Leader to have the ability to get his work done, then it became another job responsibility. They'd been, if not equals because Hux loathed the idea of Ren having been even close to his equal, at least colleagues - given equal weight by Snoke. But Snoke was gone, Ren was here, and Hux wanted to move forward and end the Resistance and get to the work of ruling a galaxy.
He risked the name: "Ren."
This time the head turned, movement for the first time since Hux had walked into the room, as if he hadn't been considered worth Ren's attention before hand. Hux avoided rolling his eyes at this, and instead took a step forward.
Ren's eyes looked dark, haunted, his skin pale, and his hand closed over something that Hux couldn't see. Or maybe it was just closing over nothing, because as soon as it happened, Ren opened it again, and made a gesture as if to brush it away.
Hux stepped forward. "The men are sweeping the base for any clues as to where they went. We'll find them, and we'll end them."
Ren didn't say anything, instead he glanced around the room as if he were seeing things Hux couldn't see.
And maybe he was; Hux hated this Force bantha shit.
"Ren," he stepped forward again, and this time, almost on instinct he reached his hand out to the man's shoulder. "Let it die. Let's go."
There was a shudder under his hand, some emotion rolling through Ren's body at those words, although Hux wasn't certain what it was he'd said. An emotional minefield, and he wished he could send a droid in to disarm or disable them before he came through. Ren was more complicated than a battlefield, and yet, just as unavoidable.
"What are their orders?" Ren asked, low, barely loud enough to be heard.
"They're looking for any information about transmissions sent, or places they might have gone. Who was here, that sort of thing. Then they're going to destroy what's here, and we're going to leave."
"Organa was here," Ren said flatly. "And the scavenger."
"They're not here now."
"No, they're not," Ren looked up at him, seeming annoyed for a moment by this statement. "Nor is Skywalker; I think he's dead."
Hux didn't have a clue what had happened with Skywalker, but he didn't want to admit it. It meant admitting that there was a huge and substantial aspect of the Force and what Ren could do that was beyond anything Hux knew or had access to. But just as frustrating to him was the fact that Ren seemed so emotionally disturbed by all of this. Hux moved his hand to Ren's, sliding it over the top.
"There's nothing here for us to do, Ren. It's time to go."
Ren swallowed, his gaze dropped to the hand that was over his, and he stared at it for a moment that seemed to last forever, making Hux wonder if he should have kept it where it was, and then Ren closed his eyes.
Hux's attention was grabbed by a stormtrooper standing in the doorway again, and he looked up.
"Give us a minute," he snapped. "Tell the Captain to regather the troops outside the door in preparation for transport off planet."
The stormtrooper disappeared, and Ren hadn't moved.
Armitage Hux didn't do emotions. He'd never been allowed to invest time in them, because that would have demonstrated weakness. Perhaps there was some jealousy underneath the disdain he held for a man who was all emotion and held the power to keep that emotion from destroying him completely.
So far, anyway.
Some Supreme Leader.
Hux frowned and closed his own eyes, the exhaustion of the day, or really the last week, settling on his shoulders.He brought his other hand up, behind Ren and let it rest on the man's head.
"Ren."
Maybe disdain wasn't the best way to handle Ren any longer. He'd held onto it, weaponized it, and kept it steady throughout their time working together. Maybe this needed something different.
"They don't need you, or want you," he continued, trying not to think about the fact that the warmth of Ren's hand against his own was a comfort in its own right. It occurred to him that he could try to kill Ren now, he was close enough that with any other person he likely could have pulled such an assassination off. But Ren was not a normal individual, and that thought died before it could take root. "They never have, and you know it. But I do need you. The First Order needs their Supreme Leader. It's time to go."
For a heartbeat Hux waited, uncertain if it would work. The sort of subtle emotion he was trying to wield wasn't something he was used to doing, nor would he have ever guessed he would be trying to use it with Ren, and yet, there was something that felt natural in the way Ren's head seemed to lean back against Hux's fingertips, and when his fingers spread to slide between the man's dark curls, it was instinct, not a manipulation. And when a sigh escaped Ren's lips, the tension in the room seemed to disperse.
Ren straightened, and with the motion, the moment was gone, leaving Hux to wonder if it had happened at all.
"When your troops are ready, then, General. I'd like my shuttle prepared immediately."
Hux straightened, military posture setting in again. Ren was back, and whatever he'd done seemed to have worked. There was a bolstering of confidence with that knowledge, and with it the hope of being able to do so again in the future. And with that confidence he felt less cold, less completely alone, and less exhausted. It was not a cup of tea, but strangely, it felt nearly as satisfying.
Hux smiled grimly, and nodded to the other man's orders. "Yes, Supreme Leader."