Chapter Four: After Dark

Yavin was loud and warm as Rey arrived, the windows already starting to steam up and something loud with a throbbing base blaring from the juke box.

"REY!" Finn's voice rose over the hubbub and she dodged her way through the already crowded bar to the table where the gang had already taken root. They had managed to steal some other chairs and Poe had his arm draped around Finn, who was fending the others off the still-warm Nachos that Rey was zooming in on. Rose held up a huge glass of red wine.

"Cab?" she explained and Rey grabbed the glass, draining half of it in one long pull before she slid onto the seat next to Rose.

"Thanks," she sighed, shucking her coat off and grabbing the bottle to refill her glass.

"So are you still with us?" Poe asked without any sensitivity. She frowned.

"What?" she called over the music.

"Did Ren fire you?" he tried.

"What? No!" she replied, feeling curiously annoyed. Jannah frowned.

"You looked like you were going to your execution," she commented.

"You really did," Zorii asked, her eyes filled with a smirk.

"So what did our managing asshole want with you?" Poe called and she rolled her eyes. She had been thinking about the encounter on her way to the bar and it had confused her. He really hadn't understood what he had done and she wondered how come someone in such a senior position could have such poor people skills. But he had been polite to her and had clearly been trying. And somehow, he had allowed her to roundly tell him off.

"He wanted to apologise to Rose," she said. They all stared at her and Poe dropped his nacho.

"What? Apologise?" Finn mumbled.

"Why didn't he ask me to come in?" Rose asked, her face still showing she was hurt. Rey frowned. Why had he asked her rather than Rose?

"I think...he was embarrassed and wasn't sure that you would want to see him right now," she found herself saying. "He asked me to say sorry on his behalf and to wish you a Happy Birthday." There was a pause and everyone burst out laughing.

"You're kidding, right?" Finn asked her, frowning.

"No," she said, feeling curiously annoyed. "He really did apologise!"

"Is this seat taken?" a precise voice asked and everyone looked up to see the shape of Hux standing there, stiff and looking very formal in his dark grey winter coat and suit. Rose shoved Rey aside and squealed.

"Armie! You came!"

He managed a nod.

"Of course-because you asked me," he said simply, oblivious to the shocked and confused looks the others were sharing. Rey rolled her eyes and took the vacant seat.

"You probably better sit next to Rose," she said. "Or she'll climb onto your lap." Hux's pale eyes widened.

"Is she likely to do that?" he asked in a low voice.

"Very," Rey replied. "Probability is directly proportional to amount of wine consumed."

"What's your poison?" Poe asked, ever the host, and Hux awkwardly sat.

"Um...Scotch and soda?" he hazarded and Poe winked at him.

"I'll be right back," he said and shoved his way to the bar, waving to the barman. "Hey, Wedge!"

"So...you ever been here before?" Zorii asked, inspecting Hux. He still looked as precisely dressed as he was at work and he fastidiously removed and folded his coat, stowing it carefully under his chair.

"I don't think so," he confessed.

"Nacho?" Jannah asked and he nodded, taking the cleanest one possible. Rey was trying not to laugh but it was hilarious to observe. The ginger-haired man carefully shook the more messy nachos off his chosen offering and inspected it carefully, as if he was visiting some alien land and was trying not to get caught out or accidentally eat some food that would poison him. Carefully, he took a tiny bite off the corner.

"Delicious," he lied. Poe swaggered back and dumped what was clearly a double in front of him and another plate of Nachos.

"Welcome to the gang!" he said as Rose grinned at Hux. Forcing a smile, Hux took a very small sip and nodded.

"Thank you, Poe," he said carefully. "That's very kind."

"So...Hux...what is your first name anyway?" Finn asked.

"Embarrassing," Hux grumbled.

"Armie," Rose said, smiling as he sighed.

"Armie?" Poe was incredulous. "C'mon-you gotta give us more than that..."

"Hey!" Rey interrupted him. "Give him break, okay? He's made the effort to join us so you can make the effort to treat him with civility!"

"Okay, Mom!" Poe said good-naturedly. Finn elbowed him as well while Jannah and Zorii whispered hastily. "So you heard the latest asshole move Ren pulled?" Poe asked.

There was sudden silence at the table and Finn tried to slap his hand over Poe's mouth.

"Shut up," he hissed. "Um...you don't have to answer that." But Hux rolled his eyes and glanced at Rose.

"I believe he upset Rose?" he guessed as she smiled and proceeded to recount the entire tale, with assistance from everyone except Rey. She found herself feeling embarrassed for Ren, even though he had been an asshole because it seemed obvious that he was not good with people. And he probably wasn't even wholly aware how offensive he was being. Her mind swung back to herself as a young child, swapped from foster home to foster home in quick succession, no stability and precious little tuition in how to integrate into a family or behave: if she hadn't been lucky enough to have a couple of relatively stable placements, would she be as socially inept as him? Or was he really just an asshole?

She glanced up and something in Hux's expression told her that he was as uncomfortable with the stinging criticism Ren was getting-without the man himself being here to defend himself. And it stood to reason, for Hux and Ren worked closely together. Hux seemed to the closest Ren had to a friend and a small part of her felt sorry for her boss. She had friends here and they were out after work, socialising but what did Ren have? And then she mentally shook herself: he may well have a life outside of work that he guarded jealously, a beautiful girlfriend, other friends... She shrugged. It was nothing to her...but she felt in her heart that probably the man was lonely.

"I'm afraid my friend Ren is not that adept at dealing with people," Hux sighed. "He is trying."

"Very," Finn muttered. Poe gestured.

"He told Rey that he was sorry and to pass on his apologies," he said scornfully, downing his whiskey sour. Shockingly Hux smiled.

"That's progress," he murmured as they all stared at him.

"What?" Finn asked.

"That's just lame!" Zorii added. Hux shrugged.

"I suppose it is-but he is trying," he said.

"Are you serious?" Jannah asked, knocking back her vodka tonic. Hux shuffled his feet.

"Without breaking any confidences, Ren has endured...some difficult times in his past," he revealed carefully. "I think they impacted negatively on his social skills."

"What difficult times?" Poe asked. Hux shook his head.

"I really can't say any more," he said firmly. "It's not my story to tell and I don't know most of it. So if you want to walk up to him and ask, you are welcome..." Then he grabbed a nacho dripping in cheese and ate it in one bite. He pulled a face. "And that's hardly Stilton," he added. Rey frowned and sipped her wine. She had learned more in one evening than she had in eighteen months about her taciturn boss-and that mystery only made her more determined to find out what she could about Kylo Ren.

-o0o-

He was exhausted as he got home, too tired to even feel exasperated at another tiresome and long day. Hux's jibe wasn't wrong: he was almost the first in and usually the last to leave, burying himself in his work for the company. Not that he needed to stay for such excessive hours but what was there to return home for?

He closed the door and locked it carefully. Ever since he had returned, he had been incredibly aware of security, always alert because he knew that Snoke wasn't finished with him. The man had moulded Kylo Ren and was not going to allow his betrayal to stand without some penalty.

His apartment was spartan, the wooden floor devoid of rugs, the white walls blank and black leather sofas clear of any cushions. There was a single black wood coffee table and a television on a bench. The kitchen was white with black tiles and black surfaces and his bedroom was ordered, wardrobe closed and white bedclothes neatly made. There were no pictures or ornaments anywhere. A single bookcase was laden with non-fiction and textbooks. He dumped his bag and and walked through to the kitchen, pouring himself a Scotch and grabbing something from the freezer, blasting it in the microwave and then eating at the counter. Finally, he sat in front of the television and sighed.

The apartment was his, bought by his parents when he finally returned home, broken. His mother had been remorseful and his father stoic, both welcoming their errant son with open arms but he had been reticent, ashamed and angry. Too much had occurred since they sent him away to school, too many terrible things had happened and he was no longer the boy they had left. He was angry, embittered and deeply scarred, a wreck of their son...but they had been willing to ignore his faults and do anything to try to get him back on his feet. Even if that meant parachuting him into their precious company and praying that it would work out. And he supposed he should be grateful that they were willing to risk so much of what they had built to give him a chance-but he still felt resentment and anger. And fear...for himself and for them as well.

He closed his eyes and he found his memory sliding back to the encounter in his office with Rey. Her sparkling eyes, the light flush on her cheeks as she faced him, the firm set of her chin as she scolded him. Unconsciously, his lips curled up in a smile. She was feisty and brave, never letting him get away with what she considered wrong. Her inner strength and determination made him smile and he wondered what it would be like going on a date with her.

And then reality crashed around him. He was committed to this wager to ask her out-and after the dressing down she had given him and her clear disdain for his lacking social skills, he guessed she would turn him down. But his mother had been insistent that he try to develop some sort of social life, despite his protestations that he did have one friend, because they both knew he and Hux never socialised or even communicated outside of work. But what could he tell her? That there was a part of him that was scared to go out, scared that Snoke would find out where he was and would approach him...or worse.

He sat forward, digging his hands into his hair and closing his eyes. He had nightmares so many nights still, seeing faces of people who had died or been harmed or Snoke's visage leering from the darkness, his scarred face twisted in a snarl of censure. Why would any woman want the damaged goods he was?

He forced himself to sit back. He had promised his mother that he would try and he couldn't permit Hux to gloat over him for chickening out. And those were reasons enough to hazard the humiliation of her walking out on the blind date.

But he really wished she wouldn't.

-o0o-

He was back, standing amid Snoke's men, his 'Knights' as he referred to them. In First Order Construction, Snoke optimised his profits by forcing those who defied his desire to buy them out from their properties, leaning on suppliers and rivals and cutting every corner. Since he arrived, an angry runaway kid of seventeen, Snoke had groomed him, moulding him into a dark presence that suited Snoke's needs. And he had been vicious and brutal, executing Snoke's orders with relish and little thought for consequences. Almost.

But he had possessed some qualms and in his first year, he had been eased in, help security, then moving on to assist 'encouraging' people to sell up. There were unions, competition and suppliers who all posed threats to the bottom line of First Order and Snoke was very adept at removing anything that threatened the integrity of his plans. At first, Kylo had harboured concerns that they ere crossing a line-but Snoke had welcomed him, supported and nurtured a young man who had been sent from his family and abused and tormented in some form of Hell. Snoke was kind and wise; Snoke had given him a home and purpose and a name. And Snoke had explained how his opponents (he never called them enemies) had all been made reasonable offers, been given choices and all they wanted to do was undermine and thwart Snoke's plans which were in the interests of all. It's all for the Greater Good. Many people will benefit. Why should a few selfish, evil, greedy people disadvantage so many others just for their own gain?

So he had helped. He had assisted in the beatings and the fires, he had helped sabotage opponents and stolen what Snoke had asked him. And he had been adopted like an apprentice, encouraged to learn, to grow and evolve in Snoke's own image, pushing aside what little conflict remained in him. He became immured to pain and blood and Snoke trusted him as his proxy on missions, to speak for Snoke and so what needed to be done. So when an old man, Lor San Tekka, refused to sell his house that sat slap bang in the middle of a major housing development that First Order was solely building, a development that would yield many tens of millions of dollars to the bottom line, he had been trusted to lead the mission. Tekka had refused generous offers, a publicity campaign, even pressure from local politicians and had responded with a law suit requesting an injunction against the First Order developments. So the Knights were sent to solve the problem with Kylo leading on his first red mission.

This time, there was no persuasion, no attempt at finesse. The knights had broken into his home, surrounded by rubble and the skeletons of his neighbouring houses and unseen, they had snatched the man. And Kylo had been with them, masked as they all had been and dressed in black. And the old man had looked defiantly at them as they dragged him through his kicked in front door, his grey hair stained with blood and his pale eyes unafraid.

"I knew you would come," he said. His diction was clear and scornful.

"You should have sold up," Kylo said, his dark eyes sweeping over the kneeling shape. He knew the mission, knew what needed to be done. But that day, something in him had prompted him to offer one last chance. "There is still time..."

"No," Lor had said, his eyes sympathetic. "I have no need for more money. I just want to spend the last of my life in my home."

"You're old," Kylo sneered. "Do you think that your selfishness should impede the chances for hundreds of families to have new and better homes?" Lor laughed then, a scornful and somehow pitying sound.

"You believe those words?" he asked. "What happened to you that you accept the words of such a monster?" Anger boiled up in Kylo's chest then-anger at his own abandonment, fury at the way he had been treated and the rage at the people who tried to attack and thwart the man who had nurtured him when no one else had. Snoke held his unquestioning loyalty.

"I am the only monster you should be fearing!" he hissed, snatching his knife and plunging it into Lor's neck. The old man choked as his lifeblood escaped and he Knights held him until he died. Then Kylo nodded. "Put him in his house. Burn it. Burn it all!"

"As you command," Vicrul-the oldest and most vicious of the Knights-said and he and the others hauled the body back into the little home. Kylo stood in the dark for a long moment, breathing through his nose with his teeth gritted so hard it hurt with the bloody knife still clamped in his hand. Then automatically, he phoned Snoke and reported.

"Well done, my faithful apprentice," the man said. "One major obstacle eliminated so now we can proceed with the plan."

"He was just an old man," Kylo murmured despite himself.

"Do I sense conflict in you?" Snoke sneered. "You realise what you have done? What you have just confessed? You murdered a man in cold blood? And despite your feelings to your family, do you want them to know what you have become? Do you want to spend the remains of your life in a small cell?"

A flicker of anxiety, of fear thrilled through his chest.

"No, my Master," he murmured.

"Never forget that you are mine," Snoke told him coldly. "Mine to train, to nurture...or to dispose of. Do not make me consider the latter. You are a loyal man, Kylo. Remain so." He paused. "Or anyone and anything that you love will share your fate."

-o0o-

He sat bolt upright, eyes snapping open and sweat drenching his shape. He was breathing hard, as if he had run a marathon and his entire body was shaking.

How could he have forgotten?

He had gotten so wrapped up in Hux's stupid wager and his mother's enthusiasm that he had pushed the fear aside. But it was always there and if he allowed his guard to slip, then Snoke would find him and locate what he had.

And it would all be taken from him.

He covered his face with trembling hands, groaning in despair.

It was pointless. He should stop now. Because it could never be anything more than a mistake.