Chapter Text
The day that Lady Rey takes interest in FN-2187 is perhaps the last peaceful day in his life. Not that life in the First Order could really be peaceful, not by a long shot, but he's gotten used to a certain routine. Wake up, go to the mess, joke a bit with his fellow troopers when the higher-ups aren't looking. Have a training session. Another meal. Another training session, or a simulation, had the instructor deemed you ready. Eat dinner, take a shower and go to bed completely spent. Repeat for eternity.
It isn't a good life but it's the only one that FN-2187 had ever known. Sometimes, as he lays in his bunk at night, light snores of other troopers filling the room, he wonders... but no, this route of thinking is wrong. It's prohibited. Don't dwell on your past, for you do not have one, soldier, the instructors tell them. You only live to serve the First Order's purpose.
He hates it, but it's not like he has any other choice. FN-2187's heart might yearn for something more, something that isn't the cold, white armor or supervisor's boot to the back, but he knows that he can not have it. So instead, he gets used to the harsh regime, imposed on him since his youngest years and pushes himself to stay on top. It's... tolerable, at most.
That is, until the day when Lady Rey's intense gaze focuses on him in the hangar, managing to find him among the dozens of other troopers. Knights of Ren never paid attention to the lesser soldiers — they are just means to an end, lives to be sacrificed. But somehow, her brown eyes find his even through the visor of his helmet and since that, nothing is the same.
Rey hates returning to Starkiller. The planet is cold and unwelcoming, the chill finding its way to her even in the privacy of her quarters. It's not like she could do much to change it, though — her missions usually aren't long, making her time off-planet so much more cherished. In the end, she always has to return, give a report and wait for whenever Supreme Leader decided to send her off Force-knows-where. She doesn't possess quite the same amount of freedom that her brother does.
Then again, Rey is nowhere near Kylo Ren's devotion to the First Order. She remains with them and she takes orders, but she does not care for it. Her reasoning is simple: she stays wherever her brother does. He found her, after all this time, on the harsh sands of Jakku and she refuses to leave his side. Even if sometimes his motives seem unreasonable. Even if sometimes, as she witnesses his actions, Rey feels fear.
But he's her family.
When she nears the base, she forces her mind to rid of any doubts troubling it. Rey knows that her shields are strong, but she doesn't think that either her brother or Supreme Leader would appreciate seeing even a snippet of such thoughts. She learned it the hard way, back when she was just a young girl, barely having spent a week on Starkiller.
As usual, the hangar is bustling with activity. It's controlled and disciplined, so different from the colorful planets she had visited. Sometimes, Rey hates it. The pristine corridors, troopers ready to fulfill every order, the hierarchy that is almost a religion in the First Order.
It should be her home after all this time, but it's not.
A squad of troopers welcomes her after she exits her shuttle. Rey waves a dismissing hand at them, about to depart straight to her quarters, when something stops her. It's... strange, like a tug in the Force, pulling her to turn around. She never experienced anything quite like it.
Her eyes scan the hangar, searching for the source of this peculiar feeling. She stops at a squadron of troopers when it suddenly hits her, the Force almost visibly clouding around one of them. Though the trooper is wearing a helmet, she feels as if she could see straight through the visor and into their eyes. It's absolutely thrilling.
Rey can't even describe what it is, but it feels like the Force is pulsating around the trooper. She has no idea how it is possible, yet it most certainly is, with the proof right there. Whoever they are, they are Force-sensitive. How did it slip through unnoticed till now is beyond her, but it is an interesting turn of events.
She knows that her brother is currently off-base, so she has no means of informing him... nor does she want to. If Kylo Ren hadn't noticed it before, then Rey has no reason to believe he would be able to do so now. No, for the time being, this secret is hers. Hers and the mysterious trooper's.
Reluctantly, Rey looks away from them. She'd make sure to know who they are, to reach towards their Force but for that, she needs privacy. The crowded hangar couldn't provide that.
She makes the way for her quarters. Rey needs to meditate.
Janitorial duty is, by far, the least favourite assignment of FN-2187, though he has to admit it is refreshingly peaceful. After Lady Rey had all but drilled his head with her gaze, he feels like he deserves that. FN-2187 still has no idea what it all was about and he isn't sure that he wants to know. Whenever Knights of Ren took interest in troopers... well, let's say it never ended well. Though he never heard of Lady Rey punishing someone the way that Kylo Ren did, he has no desire to test it out. So when she finally moved on, breaking their eye contact, he let out a breath of relief. If he focuses on his current task hard enough, he can almost forget about it.
Almost.
FN-2187 has a suspicion that Captain Phasma assigned him as a janitor after he helped Slip during a simulation. But Slip was falling behind and if he failed, he would meet harsh consequences. He saw no other way but to help his friend, even if it meant getting janitorial duty. After all, he'd much rather mop the floors than see Slip getting hurt.
"Psst, Eight-Seven?"
Speaking of Slip, he was assigned the same punishment, which made it much more bearable.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for saving my ass, man." His friend's face is obscured by the helmet but FN-2187 knows there is a sheepish smile behind it. "Again."
"You thanked me like a million times already," he replies. "Don't worry about it."
Slip murmurs something else but it's completely lost in his voice-changer. FN-2187 decides not to drag the matter further — after all, Slip would have done the same for him, had their roles been swapped. Right?
He turns around, facing a ventilation console. When Phasma assigns you to a certain job, you need to make sure that every single one task is done perfectly. He's not about to receive some ridiculous punishment just because he forgot to recalibrate the ventilation system in this sector like few troopers had done some time ago. It didn't end in a pleasant way.
FN-2187 senses that something isn't right even before Slip lets out a startled gasp. He can't explain it but, even with his back turned, he feels the prickling sensation on his neck, uneasiness enveloping him. It isn't exactly the same as when you sense someone watching you from behind. No, this is different, more complex. He can feel it in his bones.
That's when he hears the voice and his blood freezes.
"Leave, soldier."
He knows the order isn't directed at him as he turns around. Slip's head turns into his direction, a gesture of concern about his well-being but he complies, his every step loud in the silence that seems to have flooded the corridor.
FN-2187 swallows and faces the woman in front of him. He's never been this close to any of the Knights of Ren and especially not to Lady Rey, the only dark warrior who wanders the halls unmasked. Somehow, it makes her even more terrifying. The others... he knows that they are people, under their helmets and long capes, but still, they are faceless. It makes it easier to call them monsters in his head.
Lady Rey is different. With no mask obscuring her face, she appears almost harmless. He suspects it's intentional. From up close, FN-2187 can see that she's much younger he'd expect her to be, possibly even younger than him. Freckles are scattered across her pale face, framed by wisps of brown hair which have escaped her bun. Buns, he corrects himself. She wears her hair up in three buns, which seems... silly, almost, considering who she is.
As soon as he finishes that thought, a smirk appears on her face. FN-2178 feels himself starting to sweat underneath his armour. Could she...? He heard that Kylo Ren is able to read people's minds but he never heard about other Knights doing the same.
"What is your name, trooper?"
Her voice cuts through the silence. It's... surprisingly normal. Not overly warm, but not as sharp as one could expect from a Knight of Ren either.
He frowns. FN-2187 suspects she already knows it, after the way she stared at him in the hangar and seeing that she sought him out just now. Still, he tells her.
"FN-2187, sir."
She grimaces and he begins to think that he said the wrong thing. At the same time, he can't look away from the way that her nose scrunches up. He'd call it cute but then again, if she is able to read his thoughts, he'd better refrain himself.
"Don't call me that," she says. "I'm not Ren."
"What should I call you, then?" He asks. It's a strange request, especially coming from Lady Rey herself. He can't help but wonder if this is all some kind of set-up. Why would she even approach him, a simple trooper without any field experience? What was in it for her?
She shrugs. "Whatever you want. I do not care for titles."
Her words catch FN-2178 by surprise. However, he doesn't let it show. Instead, he nods slowly, pretending to understand. He doesn't, this entire situation is freaking him out, but there's no reason for her to know that.
Lady Rey studies him closely, as if she can see his face under the helmet. He's determined to remain calm despite her scrutinizing gaze and he must succeed because she smiles. It feels ridiculous — a Knight of Ren stands before him, one that's the biggest enigma of them all, and she's smiling at him.
For some reason, it also feels right. In some strange, twisted way. Her smile is warm, making her seem... normal, despite the black of her leather robes, the saber staff dangling from her belt, the dangerous glow of her eyes. It's unnerving.
"You must wonder why I'm here," she begins. "Why I'm talking to you."
"I— yes."
She nods, her expression serious. "I don't wish to frighten you. I know you might not believe me, considering what my," she grimaces before saying the next word, "colleagues have done to other troopers in the past, but... If we're to do this, if I'm to tell you what I have to, I need you to trust me."
FN-2187's head is spinning. If we're to do this? Trust her? What is she even talking about?
Perhaps she senses his confusion — the Knights are some kind of Force users, after all — because she takes a step towards him. He instinctively backs away, almost flinching and Lady Rey swears. For a moment, he thought she was going to strike him, the way he's seen Kylo Ren strike other troopers but seeing her abashed face just now... Maybe she's right. Maybe he should trust her. Or maybe he's going mad.
"I have some answers for you. But I'm afraid I can't tell you them now." For some reason, FN-2178 feels almost disappointed. "Come to my quarters at twenty hundred, sharp. I'll tell you everything."
He stares at her, dumbfounded. The idea of visiting any superior's quarters is raising about a million alarms in his head. Visiting a Knight's quarters... it's pure madness.
Lady Rey starts to leave and, against all his instincts, he calls after her.
"Wait!"
She glances at him over her shoulder, her brow raised.
"I, uh, don't have the clearance for the officers quarters," he admits. She smiles mischievously.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Tell the guards you're my guest, they'll let you in."
With that, she retreats, her steps almost inaudible compared to Slip's. FN-2178 stares after her until her lithe form is swallowed by the shadows, his head spinning.
What. The. Fuck.