Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Part 1

The General had been acting far too odd for Kylo Ren's liking the past week. Hux was acting strange, wobbling when he walked and looking far too tired. He'd snap alert when someone spoke to him, but if left alone he would zone out but look off to the distance like he was listening to someone speak. Kylo had caught him mumbling to himself and leaning against the walls when he thought no one was around.

He'd spoken to Snoke about the whole occurrence, but Snoke had abruptly cut him off with a 'it's the General's business' and refused to continue on the matter. He suspected that his master knew something that he didn't. It was not his place to question or pry, so Kylo had bowed his head and apologized for wasting his master's time. He listened to updates and as soon as his master's hologram vanished Kylo decided that he'd just go to Hux and figure out what was going on.

Kylo didn't want to admit to himself that he was doing this for any other reason than curiosity. He certainly didn't feel any attachment to the man that was causing concern and worry for the other's well-being, no way. Well- maybe a little. It was an odd feeling that he couldn't stomp out, that he'd indulged in. A few casual fucks that were only stress-relief to the ginger but something more to the knight had only fueled the feelings, left him confused. Kylo wondered if he was only growing attached because the General had been the one to rescue and take care of him after his failure on Starkiller. That he was just developing feelings because he was desperate for affection, hadn't had anyone do anything remotely caring to him since he was a child.

The General hated him anyways.

Stupid unrequited feelings that bothered his head. He needed to focus solely on growing more powerful, reenforcing his darkness, not worrying about a man who wished him gone. Yet he could not help but feel what he felt, and could only pray that perhaps it would help his descent to the dark. Many Sith Lords had been lead to the dark due to these feelings, hopefully it would lead to the same with him.

He found Hux sooner than he thought he would. The redhead was leaning against a wall, one hand holding his head. He looked weak, and as he approached, Kylo could see that his legs were shaking. Against his will, worry built up.

"General, you look unwell."

Hux shot him a glare. He suddenly winced from pain, his other hand raising up to his head. He muttered something under his breath and then exhaled slowly before straightening up. He gave Ren a disgusted look, "Leave me be, Ren."

"If you are ill then you should go to the medbay. Shall I take you there?"

"Absolutely not. It's just a headache. I was on my way to my quarters, I have pills there." Hux snapped.

"You have been behaving strangely this week, General. It is not a mere headache."

"And what? Why are you suddenly so concerned for my health? I thought you would rather enjoy seeing me suffer. Do you actually care for me, Lord Ren?" Hux smirked with that.

"O-of course not!" There was no way Hux could know, absolutely no way. "But it would not bode well for this ship if her General did not take care of himself."

Hux's smirk faded to a frown. "Hmph. A fine point, Ren, but this is something that the medics cannot solve. I will be fine with just my pills and some sleep. So do try not to destroy anything during my free shift." He waved a hand and walked off.

"I can make no promises."

"Beast." Hux turned the corner and Kylo was left standing in an empty hallway.

-

Hux felt weak and sick. He wasn't sure how much more of his nightly routine he could handle before it would be noticeable to everyone onboard the Finalizer that something was wrong with their General. But it wasn't up to him whether or not he could decide to do the ritual. If he appeared, and oh did he appear every night, then Hux went through the ritual. He had no choice but to obey him.

He suffered just by being around him, he would certainly die if he became angry.

It didn't help that he had just told him something very valuable about Kylo Ren. Something, admittedly, that Hux wished he'd never had to know about. Hux wasn't yet sure why he thought it was important that Kylo Ren had a petty crush on him like some teenager. There was surely more significant things to worry about, like the ritual. Ren's foolish crush could get in the way if he interrupted or found out about the ritual, what the routine was, why he was weakening so much. Ren might believe it was a physical illness, but Hux knew it was his mind that was being diseased.

His headaches were nothing but cracks of his mind threatening to appear. He'd go insane like one of Ren's prisoners if the ritual wasn't successful soon. Hux didn't want to entertain the thought of ending up broken and numb.

"I have a good feeling about tonight." Hux leaned against the wall as the voice sent a stab of pain through his head. He gritted his teeth to bear it and sighed when the words stopped. Hux took a moment to regain his composure and continued the walk to his personal quarters.

-

Kylo bit his lip. He was getting too concerned to leave the General alone to stumble to his room. He decided to follow the ginger man. Surely he'd be able to figure out what was going on.

He watched the General leaned heavily against the wall, his face twisting in pain. Kylo reached out to him with the force, only to be shot back by a barrier and some sort of dark feeling that should not have been there. It felt very similar to Snoke's presence, but also different. It was not as stingy as his master, but colder, harsher, darker. Why would the General have that sort of presence in his head? He'd sensed Hux many times before, he'd never had that in his head before. Kylo wondered if perhaps Snoke was tormenting him with something.

Or could it be something else?

No, it had to be Snoke. No one else could have that sort of feeling to them.

He cautiously follow Hux back to his quarters. Hux nearly spotted him when he looked back before stepping into his room, the door sliding shut behind him. Luckily Kylo was not spotted, he thought, so he went up to the door and reached out to sense what was going on inside.

-

Hux knew that Ren was following him from the start. He had told him a few hallways back, griping about how if they were interrupted the plan would fall apart. Hux knew if the ritual was interrupted the plan would only be ruined because his mind would be shattered and he would be left behind as an empty shell. He wasn't too keen on that thought so he mentally cursed and hoped that Ren would leave him be, get bored and stomp off to sulk about his pathetic crush.

He locked his door, setting it to a mode where even the override code wouldn't work. In order for anyone to get in they would have to blow the door down, or in Ren's case, rip the door down with the force. Then Hux went to his desk and dug out a bottle of pills. He was almost out, and he was certain that the medical droids would see through his overused lie of losing the bottle soon. They'd regulate what he was given and would mark him down so that he couldn't get any more than the standard amount. Hopefully this would be the last night of the ritual, so he shook all the remaining pills out. He reached under his desk and pulled out a bottle of brandy.

You weren't supposed to mix the two, and certainly not with four times the normal dosage of pills. Hux didn't care, the more he swallowed the easier the process would be. He downed all of it, gulping down a third of the bottle for good measure, and waited for the numbness to kick in. Once he felt positively tizzy he climbed onto his bed and got into a meditating position.

"Lights, 15%." The lights dimmed. Hux became increasingly aware of a cold feeling on his chest. The necklace he had received from his mother years ago always froze when the ritual was beginning. He kept it hidden under his uniform, his own good luck charm that was all too real. Hux closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He exhaled slowly and cleared his head, drowning in the haze of the liquor and pills. The presence of him filled his head and he fought back the natural instinct to block him out. The extra drugs worked wonders and soon Hux could feel detached from his body. He was no longer in control.

"I have succeeded, grandson of mine. Finally, I may use your body as a vessel. I will destroy that fool Snoke and bring the descendant of Skywalker to his knees. Then you will take your rightful place as emperor, the place you rightfully deserve, where I once sat, grandson of mine."

'Yes, Grandfather. was Hux's last conscious thought before he was gone from his body completely, his mind a floating pocket of life in the vastness of the force, with no physical form.

According to plan, once his grandfather could fully possess his body, the dead sith would immediately leave and then be free to come and go. Hux would be immediately be placed back in and his grandfather told him that he would be able to possess him anytime after doing it once, without the ritual. No one could disturb the ritual because his grandfather would need time to drag him back to his body and tie him back in before leaving. If his grandfather left, then Hux's consciousness would never be able to return.

Of course, that idiot Ren had to come in.

-

Kylo grew concerned when he sensed the General downing far too many pills and brandy. Using drugs to get rid of sickness was what must have been making him so weak. Hux was killing himself slowly if he was doing this every night. However, he had no right to burst in and tell Hux not to drug his problems, so he waited. Hux would be told off by medics soon enough and not get access to pills, so he couldn't intervene.

But a few minutes later Hux's life force started to fade. That was really concerning. Was he dying? He reached out with all his concentration. No, his body seemed fine, so why was his life force disappearing? That only happened when someone died. Kylo forced himself to remain outside. When Hux's life force completely disappeared and there was some other presence fully in the room, something unnatural, Kylo jammed the entrance code in the door. LOCKED, it flashed. He punched in the override code, but again, LOCKED.

He ripped down the door with the force, and stepped in.

Kylo saw that Hux was sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking not at all dead. His breath caught in his throat when Hux abruptly opened his eyes and shot him a glare.

They were yellow.

"Hux? What-" He quickly forced himself into Hux's head, trying to see what was going on, and suddenly found his mind bursting at the seams. He drew back as the presence forcefully jammed him out.

"YOU IDIOT!!" Hux -but not his voice- screeched. The voice was old and raspy, strangely familiar. "Do you know what you've done?!" The yellow faded back into blue and Hux's eyes rolled back into his head. The redhead went limp, falling back. The presence vanished but Hux's life force did not return.

Kylo ripped off his helmet and hurried to Hux's side. He lifted him up a bit, reaching into his mind. He felt sick at what he found.

There was nothing.

He wanted to drop Hux, like he was something burning, but didn't. He desperately searched through the force for Hux's mind, but found nothing. Hux was clearly breathing, his pulse steady, his eyes still open. Kylo shook him a bit. "Hux! Come back- please!"

Memories from his training days came back to Kylo, making him freeze. When Snoke was first teaching him how to interrogate prisoners, how to break them but not completely. How he failed so many times, leaving them empty shells Like Hux was right now. Clearly alive but with nothing in their heads. No consciousness.

He'd turned Hux into a broken shell, destroyed his mind.

Chapter Text

Part 2

Hux recognized after what could have been less than a second or perhaps an eternity that he was in the afterlife, some sort of odd limbo. He could tell immediately because first of all, he wasn't on the Finalizer, and second, he was a child. He was sitting on a swing set, something he'd only seen in pictures, and he recognized his childhood outfit, although the First Order armband was different. He was wearing no shoes, which deeply annoyed him. He huffed, a small and definitely undignified sound coming from what he assumed to be his five year old body. Hux despised the thought of being little again. He much preferred to be an adult.

He stared down at the ground. Well, if he was going to be stuck as a child on a swing set for the rest of eternity because of Kylo Ren's stupid mistake, he was going to enjoy it. Swings were supposed to be fun. Hux tried to get it to move, but felt embarrassed as he realized he had no idea how to get the swing to work. He'd never seen or read about what to do.

There was a light push against his back that made him startle. He tightened his grip on the swing set chains and turned his head. A tall man he recognized was standing behind him. He was younger than how he usually appeared, his hair red and skin smooth, with piercing yellow eyes. He looked just like the holo that Hux's mother had once shown him. This was the man he had inherited most of his looks from, not his own father, but his grandfather.

"Hello, grandson of mine."

"Hello Grandfather Palpatine." Hux immediately looked away, embarrassed again by his high pitched voice.

"Oh, you poor thing, you've manifested as a child. I'm sure you'll grow soon when more of your consciousness bundles together. For now I'll take you around the afterlife. Do you know how to swing?"

Hux shook his head, and felt the light push again. He realized that it was making him swing, so he relaxed. After a few more pushes he was swinging at a moderate height. "Grandfather, what happened?"

The former emperor huffed, "That fool descendent of Skywalker burst in and drove me out of your head before I could pull you back in. He's destroyed everything we've worked for."

"Idiot Ren! He always ruins everything!" Hux felt anger rising up. "Now he's basically killed me!"

"Your body is still alive. The descendent of Skywalker is mourning over it as we speak. It's only been a few minutes, and he believes that he shattered your mind, grandson of mine."

"It's not shattered, just misplaced."

"In reality it is in a way shattered. The pieces are floating around. I will help you search for them, before the descendent of Skywalker finds them first. You are merely the largest piece, capable of thought. The others have manifested as objects. Most likely clothes. It could take us hours or years to find them all. Of course, it will feel like nothing at all to us."

That was... troubling, to say the least. Hux did not want to spend eternity looking for pieces of his mind. He wanted very much to be back in his body. He also didn't want to be stuck as a kid forever. Ren would end up dying someday and come to this afterlife, and Hux was not willing to be in a child's form when that time came. He'd rather be back in the form of a General, ready to chew Ren out for doing this to him.

Hux thought of a question, "Is it possible for me to see Ren, Grandfather?"

"Yes, all beings in the afterlife may gaze upon the living world. However, only powerful force users can go back as an apparition, you will only be able to see."

Damn, that ruled out being able to lecture Ren from the afterlife. Hux would have loved to scold him from the grave for causing this. Haunting him for the rest of his miserable life would have been great.

"What if my body dies?"

"Then your mind will bring itself back together automatically. You will be stuck here for eternity, grandson of mine."

That wasn't a very good alternative. He'd much prefer his own body being alive and finding all of the pieces himself so hopefully he might be able to find a way to get back into his physical form.

"Shall we start looking for the first piece?" Palpatine stopped the swing. He lifted Hux off of the seat. Blue eyes met with yellow. Palpatine hissed in a low voice, "If only you'd been force sensitive, you'd have made a perfect Sith. You have so much controlled anger. How regretful that it was the descendent of Skywalker who was chosen by the force."

Chapter Text

Part 3

Captain Phasma had noticed how sick the General had looked just like Kylo had. Only she knew her place and her place was to not ask any questions unless Hux physically collapsed in front of her or started coughing up blood. Other than that she would have to leave him to suffer in front of her. Kylo had been her only hope in getting the one person she'd call a friend help, although Hux was too stubborn and now she had no idea where either of them were. Hux clearly wasn't in the medbay like Phasma had hoped Kylo would force him to, and she didn't have a good reason to check with security and gain access to the cameras in the General's room.

Well, she had a datapad with a report on it that needed verifying from the General, so she was using that as an excuse to go see what was up with him. She hadn't heard back from Kylo yet so that added to her concern. Making it to the hallway, she saw the remains of what was once Hux's door. That was a cause for concern so she swiftly went to the room, pulling out her blaster, and entered it. "General Hux?"

What she saw surprised her, to say the least. Kylo Ren was on the General's bed, holding what looked to be General Hux's dead body. Kylo had his face buried in the General's chest, and his shoulders were shaking. Instantly, Phasma feared the worst.

"Is... Is the General dead?"

Kylo looked up, only just noticing her. "I didn't mean to do this." She could see he was crying.

"Did you kill him?" Her voice resounded with disbelief. Her grip on her blaster tightened.

"No! I didn't! He's still alive, just..." Phasma didn't really believe that. She stepped over, putting her gun in its holster and the datapad on the bed. She pulled off her glove and felt for a pulse. She found one, slow but definitely there. Phasma let out a breath of relief she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"Then what did you do, Lord Ren?"

"I... I made a mistake... I didn't mean to..." He tightened his hold on the General. "I didn't mean to break him."

"You what?" Phasma had seen Kylo break the minds of a few prisoners before. The results were an empty shell of a person that they either sent back as examples or simply shot and disposed of. How could he turn the General into one of those mindless husks? "Fix him then! The Supreme Leader isn't going to be happy about this, General Hux is valuable and we need him to run the Finalizer! Don't just sit there!" She knew she was speaking out of turn, that it was dangerous for her to speak to a superior like that, but she couldn't stop herself.

"I can't! I don't know how! I don't think I even can."

Phasma kept her mouth shut, taking a moment to clear her head. It wouldn't do any good to provoke Kylo. He could easily do the same to her or worse if she pressed too far. She thought of something. "Maybe the Supreme Leader will know how to fix him. We should take him to the medbay so they can put him on life support for now, Lord Ren."

"Right..."

The medics questioned what happened to the General, and Ren dished out a few excuses that they didn't enjoy but had to accept. At least one of his excuses, Phasma noticed, one about the General overdosing, happened to be true. She hadn't really been paying attention to the others, and nothing came up in any of the other tests that the medics did, other than the fact that the General hadn't been eating or sleeping much either. That last part was a well known fact. Hux was so obsessive he never got much sleep and didn't eat much other than small rations, so it didn't faze her.

Phasma instructed the medics to give her updates on the General's wellbeing every few hours and set off with Kylo to speak with the Supreme Leader.

-

Hux was pleasantly surprised when he managed to find a piece of his mind within just a few hours. They were shoes, which meant he didn't have to be carried around anymore. When he slipped them on he felt more like himself, and looking down he saw he was no longer in a small child's form. He looked to be around ten, in his old academy uniform. Shooting a glance back at his grandfather, he noticed that Palpatine looked old, like when he was Chancellor. It was probably difficult for him to force his young appearance.

They kept walking. Palpatine kept glancing down at Hux, like he expected him to run away. He finally spoke, "I am thinking about taking you to meet some old friends. Perhaps they could help gather your missing pieces, grandson of mine."

"Old friends, grandfather?"

"Something like that. They are not the people I would normally seek out in this realm but our situation calls for people of their expertise, grandson of mine. They will help you, I'm sure of it."