Copper for the Charlatan

Ascension

Hux had fallen asleep at the desk in his quarters, face buried in the crook of his arm. His hunched form was surrounded by databanks regarding force lore. So much of it was contradictory and half the rules seemed arbitrary at best, only serving to further his disdain for the power. He'd put his head down for just a moment, telling himself that closing his eyes might improve his focus. It wasn't even an entire minute before he'd drifted out of consciousness; his body grateful for the rest it so desperately needed. A vibration of the holopad under his face brought him to with a start, grimacing at the soreness in his neck and back from the strange sleeping position.

-
Sir, she should be waking any moment now. This is a temporary fix but will be sufficient until she's completely healed.
-
Mara quickly returned to her post at engineering after what happened. Only Phasma remained, waiting in the hallway outside of the medical bay. Hux came flying around the corner, walking as quickly as he could without breaking into a run. She put a hand out and stopped him.

"Sir. I had to do what was necessary to bring her back, for the good of the First Order. Know that this was the only way. We're to go to Arkanis tomorrow evening, don't forget."

Hux narrowed his eyes "Phasma, why are you saying this? What did you do?"

"She didn't take it well, but she's in there waiting for you. I suggest you speak with her."

The doors slid open to reveal destruction behind them. Sparks shot from destroyed control panels, wiring hung loose from the ceiling, and save the light by the door the room was dark. Hux squeezed past an overturned surgery table that had been thrown at the wall. One of the doctors was huddled underneath a medical station. As his eyes adjusted to the low light he could make out the figure of a woman standing at the back of the room. He approached slowly, the paced breath of a mechanized respirator cutting through the sizzle of destroyed electronics.

"Ichara..."

"I had his neck between my blades." The tone of her voice was barely recognizable through the modulation. She raised her hand to the side and clenched it in a fist. "I could have killed him."

"I am using every available resource to find him. He won't escape us."

"But I saved him... for you. "

Hux was a few paces behind her, fiddling with the edge of his glove as he tended to do when he was nervous. Just as he reached a hand out to touch her shoulder she spun around. The gleam of the respirator over her mouth and nose reflected the flickering light of sparks. Hoses ran down her neck and connected to a bacta pump implanted in her chest, the lights from controls flickering under her robes. Phasma promised she'd take care of it, but he hadn't expected this.

"What have you done to me, Hux? What did I let you do to me?"

He swallowed before responding, steeling himself for whatever might come. "I did what had to be done."

Her hand shot up to his throat "How dare you."

He winced, but there was no pressure. "The scans said there was no sign of life, that you wouldn't heal. I didn't believe them. Trying to bring you back like this... it was the only way." She stared him for for a second before releasing him.

"Maybe I should have just died then." She growled, shoving past him to leave and using the force to sling everything that was in her way at the walls.

Hux pinched the bridge of his nose, one lone tear slipping past the thumb of his leather glove. Frustration bubbled over- his nerves were shot. When he looked back up the softness dropped from his tone and he yelled over the sounds of things breaking. "Ichara! Don't tell me I brought you back just so you could be an insufferable fucking idiot!"