SCORCHED By The Force

The Challenge (Part Two)

-Hux-

Hux's tirade was interrupted by the all too familiar sound of doors opening. Hux quickly turned toward the offender, prepared to shout till his heart's content when he saw who it was.

"And what, pray tell, has gotten you so riled up, General?" The mocking, modulated voice spoke.

Hux pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to collect himself before responding to the Knight.

"It's nothing, Ren. Mind your own business"

Lieutenant Pinkerton barely contained his gasp, not thinking anyone would dare speak to someone so high ranking in such a way.

"This is my business, General" Kylo argued; leveling Hux with a dangerous glare as he stepped fully into the office, a move which caused the Lieutenant to shrink even further into his seat.

Hux crossed his arms as he returned the piercing look. "No. It really isn't," he refuted. "And how were you made aware of my emotional state?"

Kylo stared at Hux with a blank gaze.

'Oh, right...The Force'

"It is, actually" Kylo persisted. "Now enlighten me" he finished, flexing gloved hands.

"You want enlightenment? Try not acting like an overgrown four year-old"

Pinkerton let out a petrified squeak, now hiding behind his Datapad.

"Would you prefer that I...pry...said information from you? Surely you would not enjoy such an experience" the Knight threatened, raising his hand to punctuate the statement.

"You wouldn't dare" Hux challenged, hardening his gaze and taking a step in the direction of the black clad figure.

"Perhaps not" Kylo mused, "Not from you at least; but him, now that's a different story"

Hux barely had time to register the sentence before the sound of someone screaming broke the tense silence.

With a flick of Kylo's wrist, Lieutenant Pinkerton was lifted out of his chair and pinned against the nearest office wall, Datapad clattering to the floor.

"Ren, what is the meaning of this?! Release him at once!" the General demanded, eyes flickering from the crazed masked man to his suffering Lieutenant.

"Despite what you might think, General, I am the one person on this ship who does not take orders from you. I will do as I please, whenever I please and however I please; so if I wish to rip apart the mind of your...beloved Lieutenant then I will"

Hux choked on air, neck and face quickly becoming an offending shade of red.

"Beloved!? Lieutenant Pinkerton is not my beloved!... no offense Lieutenant"

"N-n-none taken Sir" Pinkerton stuttered out as he trembled against the wall regardless of the fact that The Force was holding him there.

Kylo Ren, amused now by this situation, loosened slightly his hold on the Lieutenant.

"Come now Lieutenant, I would be offended if I were you. Rejected by your own general? That's got to sting"

Hux face palmed and wished he himself had The Force so that he could throw Ren out, literally.

"Ren-"

"Lord. Ren"

'One...two...three...four...five...'

"Ren, either torture the poor man or let him go, either way remove yourself from my presence at once before I completely lose my patience with you"

With a noise akin to a snort, Kylo dropped his hand, causing Lieutenant Pinkerton to collapse in an undignified heap on the black, steel floor.

"I grow tired of this endeavor anyway, and I don't even care about your afflictions anyway"

"Sure you don't. You just throw tantrums for the hell of it" General Hux retorted, barely containing his smirk.

Ren stopped, halfway out of Hux's office.

"You are lucky, General, that Lieutenant Pinkerton is the only witness to your...poor choice of words"

With a quick look at Hux's desk, the General's black coffee mug flew across the surface before slamming, unceremoniously, onto the floor.

Mechanical laughter could be heard long after Kylo finally exited, along with General Hux's yelling for the cleaning bots.

(A/N: THIS CHAPTER ISN'T SUPER LONG FOR TWO REASONS. ONE, THIS IS A SECOND PART AND TWO, I AM GETTING BACK INTO THE SWING OF WRITING. SORRY FOR MY HORRIBLY LONG ABSENCE BUT I WILL TRY TO STICK AROUND THIS TIME!)