Force Destiny

Liability

It was finally over. He should have gathered the Force and stood to fight until she put him out of his misery, but he had believed she would have the decency to kill him. When the ground had opened up to swallow him whole, he could have given chase or tried to save himself, but he had been bested by someone better than him; it seemed a suitable death. Watching the same stars he had studied as a kid was almost peaceful, so he laid back in the snow and surrendered to his fate.

He was alone. He was always alone. Though the weak part of him wished she would stay... to end it, to just be there, staring at him with those fierce eyes. But she was gone. At least it was quiet. The snow seeped into his wounds, shivering through him. The pain anchored him to consciousness, but the cold numbed him. The pain faded and a warmth enveloped him as his mind slowed. It was a good enough death. He closed his eyes and waited for his fate, either by blood loss, hypothermia, or planetary collapse, whatever happened first. But his eyes opened to a harsh nudge to his rib cage. As his vision cleared, he figured he was in Hell. And, in a way, he was.

Kylo blinked languidly in a daze as he stared up at his general. He studied the upside-down figure. It was a disappointing sight to see Hux standing over him as he bled out in the snow. "Look at you, Supreme Leader. Living up to your full potential, I see." Supreme Leader? An antagonistic beep from a droid next to him fractured through his spiraling thoughts as he lay adrift in a sea of devastation. This wasn't Starkiller. He wasn't lying in snow, wounded in every way he could be. Hux hadn't arrived on Snoke's orders, following his tracking beacon to where he lay defeated.

Snoke was dead. Snoke wasn't even Snoke. Kylo was lying on a training room floor, on the Finalizer. His mother was dead. Perhaps Hux should have left him there on Starkiller, or taken him out of his misery. Perhaps Hux should consider it now. Kylo had awoken to a warning in the Force as he lay unconscious after the destruction of the Supremacy. He knew Hux wanted to kill him. That was why he had brought Hux along with him to Crait in the first place, to keep an eye on the traitor, lest he find a bolt through his back before he had the chance at revenge. But perhaps he should allow Hux the opportunity, because Kylo truly felt... nothing. Whatever he had suffered through before, it was inconsequential compared to the hollow ache that consumed him. He was startled when his general spoke again. "Where are your shackles?"

"If you wish to detain me, you will need Force-suppressing restraints," his voice said, but he didn't remember forming the thought. He didn't think he was capable of articulating coherent words. He had shattered into pieces, like a smashed mirror, and the man he had been was gone forever – broken beyond repair. Hux could drag him to detainment for all he cared; he wouldn't fight it.

"What...happened last night?" The general pressed. There was concern in the red-headed man's tone. He easily contended with Kylo's volatility, but this... it terrified him. If Hux had better judgment, he would kill him where he lay. Kylo posed no threat, had no strength to defend himself. And he didn't care; he wouldn't try to stop him.

"I lost everything," he answered. Hux rolled his eyes, clearly accustomed to his propensity for melodramatic gestures. But it was true. Rey was gone; she tried to kill him, then used their bond to set him up. He caused his own mother's death. Nothing mattered. Hux made no move to usurp him, however. Perhaps his death would not be sporting enough for him like that. Why else would he keep him around after his outburst in the reception hall?

"Did Snoke know you could create fire with your mind wizardry?" It was almost as if Hux was attempting to antagonize him, light the fuse that would make them at odds again, drag them back into familiar territory. But the anger that fed Kylo's darkness was gone.

"New development."

"I know this means little to you, but you put the lives of everyone on this destroyer at risk," the general continued spitefully. "You nearly forced me to kill you."