Into the Fray

Chapter Four

Kylo set down his datapad, looking over the simple message he had sent General Hux.

I'm fine.

Seconds later, the response had come back.

Good.

Kylo then watched as his medical files were accessed with the tag AH. At that moment he couldn't help but smirk--it was so like Hux to either not believe him or to have to double-check. The man was thorough, Kylo had to give him that.

That small, simple exchange had happened a handful of days ago. The experience of going to the infirmary had been nerve-wracking. Kylo had been paranoid that, somehow, the medic droids would find out he had turned, and he would be shoved out the nearest airlock. Of course that hadn't happened, but Kylo was a worrier. He always had been, thinking and obsessing over every possibly bad outcome.

But his exam came back clean. Which was why he had let General Hux know. It was an open and closed matter.

So then why did he sit, alone in his quarters now, days later, reading and re-reading the simple exchange?

Kylo was surprised when a tightness in his chest hit him. It was a familiar feeling, one he hadn't felt since being on Bespin. It was the feeling that he pinned as homesickness. It didn't make any sense. He was home. How could he possibly still feel it?

Idly he switched screens, pulling up the logs of conversations he and Hux had exchanged over the years. Kylo smirked; the logs were largely one-sided, Hux sending him reports or questions which Kylo rarely bothered to respond to. There was an occasional message of annoyance, from both men.

Why do I bother? Read one from Hux.

Do whatever you want; you're going to do it anyway, so why are you asking? Came one from Kylo.

The tightness in his chest came back. Annoyed, Kylo gently tossed the data pad onto his table, removed his right glove, and rubbed his eyes. He didn't have anything scheduled to do today, so maybe he would just drink heavily to stop any dreaming and go to sleep. Although he didn't have any alcohol. And he had never been drunk in his life.

This whim of a thought was interrupted by a blaring sound. Startled, his head shot up. He knew that alarm anywhere. Jumping to his feet, Kylo rushed out of his room and headed to the main bridge.

"What happened?" Kylo asked a few minutes later when he arrived at the bridge. He took a stance next to Hux, looking out the window. Just then a X-Wing flew past, making a couple people flinch.

The pilot was crazy. He had come dangerously close to the window, giving them a thumbs up. The droid, B.B.8., sat in back, and even through the glass Kylo could hear it squeal electronically gleefully.

"That damn X-Wing came from nowhere," Hux snapped. He turned to his crew, pointing out the window. "Don't just sit there! Scatter some ships and blast that stupid thing out of the sky!"

Kylo internally panicked, his outward demeanor unchanged. If B.B.8. was in that ship, that probably meant the ace pilot of the Resistance hadn't died. If the Resistance lost him...

Kylo whirled around, barking out an order. "Get my ship ready for launch."

Hux, dumbfounded, turned as Kylo hurried off the bridge. "What are you doing? It's just one measly ship--"

Kylo briefly looked over his shoulder. "Yes. And I'd like to personally get rid of this thorn in our side."

As soon as the bridge doors closed behind him Kylo broke into a sprint down the hallway, not caring who saw him. He couldn't let their ace pilot die. He just had to figure out how to protect him without making it obvious that's what he was doing.