S H I F T

Chapter 4: Infiltration

Magdalene rose from her bed early to prepare for today's mission. Her silver eyes studied the agenda that Hux had left for her last night. A picture of the man she had picked up from Coreilla laid with the agenda for her to look over. She already knew they had "taken care of him". It's how it always went. She would get the target, they'd question them and once they had the info needed, they would kill them. It wasn't anything that bothered Magdalene, she'd killed thousands men just like him. It was just another day for her.

A quick shower later and a goodbye to James and she was out the door to the bridge to brief with Hux and see Kylo. She didn't know why he wanted to see her, perhaps to stage a goodbye for everyone. He wasn't all that bad, she just wasn't too sure about him yet. Stormtroopers quickly move to the side of the hall as she passes through, the same amount of fear as their other superiors going through their heads. They tried to avoid her and Kylo as much as possible, but now with both of them together, it was all the more terrifying.

Mags enters the room swiftly, catching the attention of Hux across the room and instantly having him march over to her. "Did you read the agenda I left for you?" He asks. "The one that states to "retrieve any information that may be important to the First Order and find any information on living Jedi" correct?" Mags asks. Hux nods. "And you studied the target?" He questioned. Mags quickly shifts into the man, down to the clothes and smell. "This good enough?" She asks in his voice. "Affirmative," Hux answers as Mags shifts back. "His ship is ready for you on the flight deck. Coordinates have been programmed. You have have 1 hour before our squadron comes in to attack and take you back." Mags nods. "I leave on your command," she comments. He nods and walks off.

Magdalene feels eyes upon her as she goes over the agenda again. She senses someone coming closer and simply turns when they're behind her. Kylo stands tall with his helmet hiding the face she saw just yesterday. "You wanted to see me?" She asks. He nods, pulling her to the side of the room. "I just wanted to wish you luck on your mission today," He states. "Thank you," She says, "I'm not too worried about it. It's just routine at this point." "I just have to warn you about General Organa," He speaks, "She can pick up on things pretty quickly. One slip up and she'll be onto you." "How do you know this?" Mags questions, "Have you done undercover on her before?" Kylo hesitates but simply replies with, "It's a conversation for another day." Mags raises a brow but let's it go, knowing it wasn't worth getting into since she could be sent off any time now. She lightly grabs Kylo's hand, making him jerk it back for a second and tense. "We have to keep the facade going, remember?" Magdalene whispers. "Right," He whispers back as he takes her hand and holds it firmly.

He sighs internally, remembering that this was all fake and that she wasn't grabbing for his hand because she would miss him, even if it was only an hour. It was for Snoke and for everyone else. She would never care for him in that way and this was all just an act for her. But how desperately he wanted it to be real, her fake affections to have meaning. All those nights that he laid in his quarters wide awake wishing for something like this to happen had come true but not in the way he wanted. It was almost like this was Snoke's way of torturing him, dangling Magdalene in front of him but telling her that it was for the First Order so that she would never actually fall for him. He held her hand a little tighter, one day hoping that may change.

Mags felt Kylo's already tight grip grow tighter, but she didn't bother to make a big deal out of it. It didn't really bother her, it could've been just for show. It was quite obvious he wasn't used to public displays of affection, but neither was Mags. This whole facade they were thrown into was strange for the both of them. Mags barely knew him but for some reason, she trusted him. Maybe it was him admitting he wanted to get to know her himself without racking her brain or the way James trusted him instantly. Perhaps it was the way he looked at her last night, his deep brown eyes studying her gently with a brush of care and kindness, something she never thought she would see from Kylo Ren. The way he made her feel the night before was indescribable to her, the warmth that had flowed through her was something she wanted to feel forever. But she knew it couldn't be.