Copper for the Charlatan

Event Horizon

Ichara has a gift for Hux... and a gift for Kylo. He'll find it when he wakes up.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for .)

Chapter Text

The rebel fighter looked so out of place in the Finalizer's hangar; the dusty, piecemeal construction was a sharp contrast to the sterile conditions that surrounded it. The glass shell lifted, and Ichara winced as she peeled her herself from the seat, sticky with the blood oozing from the the pilot's shot; it had hit just between the plating on her back. Her hair had come loose, tumbling in a wild array of wavy locks as she jumped from the cockpit. One side of her face was blackened, crusted with still-drying blood around a burn that started at her dimple and went back to her ear.

The first thing that hit as her feet touched the ground wasn't the pride emanating from Hux like a beacon, but the spiraling pit of agony on the other side of the ship.

Good.

Suffer.

The searing blade that marked her back on Aleen set the first domino, and everything she had done since that day was adding one after another after another. The moment General Hux had walked into her cousin's den of iniquity his polished boot knocked down that very first brick, and it had been constant motion since. Every click of her heel as she neared the smirking General was the sound of another brick falling, pushing ever closer to the end. Her family avenged, and freedom gained from the monsters of her past.

The killer, the General, and her fleet.
No

The killer, the killer, the killer.

She stopped a foot away from Hux, both standing with baited breath. The entire hangar was silent save the whirring of the machines, and he wondered if she could hear his heart pounding against his ribcage as he looked at her. She smiled wide despite the pain as her wound cracked open, fresh blood tricking down her jawline to disappear down her neck into her armor.

An officer coughed behind him and brought them both back to reality.

"General Hux, the Resistance captured me on Balamin as planned. Between your expert strategy and my abilities, I was able to strike down the General of the Resistance. Their leader is no more." She stepped backwards and lowered to one knee, holding Leia's blaster across her outstretched palms.

"I brought you a trophy of war, my General. Her blaster."

His eyes sparkled as he took it from her, "Both efficient and thoughtful. Thank you, Teshik. With you in our ranks the First Order will truly be unstoppable."

Her eyes shot up to him, nervous by the use of her name- she didn't know that her interaction with Leia had been broadcast across the bridge. She rose shakily, and he moved to put an arm around her, fingers sinking into the bloody wound just out of sight. "Are you alright?" he asked softly so no one else could hear.

"I... think I need to go to the medical bay."

He waved two troopers over to escort her. "I'll be in my office preparing the official statement for our victory, find me when you're more steady. I want to you tell me everything." His fingers lifted her chin before he released her "You're amazing" he whispered. For a moment he considered taking her mouth in his, making whatever it was they had together public knowledge, though the expressions on their faces said enough.

No, there will be a time for that, and it will be glorious. Don't be greedy, take one triumphant moment at a time and relish it.
-

The troopers that had come across them the other day were patrolling the upper floors that lined the hangar, and stopped for a moment to see her present the blaster to the General.