Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 11: Rabid Cur

The blaring noise of a comm link shook Ren out of an unusually deep sleep. Assailed by a merciless headache, he groaned while turning over from his back onto his hands and slowly sat back on his knees.

He pushed the hair out of his eyes, disoriented and gathering his wits as he looked around the room.

The bed was empty beside him, though a dip in the sheets left the ghostly outline of Rey's curled up form. He couldn't help but reach out and lay his hand where her head had been, remembering how the tears had pooled up against the bridge of her nose before spilling over the side, and a stray twirl of wet hair that stuck to her cheek.

The echo of loss left a hollow void in his chest as he recalled the dream.

Mother...

The comm link continued to go off on the bedside table.

Pressing a finger to the painful spot on his temple, he snatched the comm link off the table to answer it.

"Ren."

"Sir," Hux's annoyed voice patched through, "the members are meeting in ten minutes."

Ren was already stepping off the bed toward the shower as he realized the time.

"Of course, General." He replied as he shut the comm link and tossed it over his shoulder onto the sheets, using the force to turn the water on before he'd even gotten in the door.

Ten minutes was going to be cutting it close.

*

Ren was perturbed to see a pair of stormtroopers stationed outside the briefing room as he approached. He sensed one of them holding his breath as he stepped aside for Ren.

Ren passed over their minds, and detected no thoughts of previous events as to why they were posted for this meeting;
just lingering fears of previous occurrences where he had snapped, destroying whole rooms in his wake.

Hux must be on edge.

The door closed behind him the moment he stepped inside.

"Supreme Leader Ren...welcome." Armitage Hux addressed him from the head of the command table, smiling with a sickening level of smugness.

Twelve other uniformed bodies turned to stare at Ren, their faces locked in hesitant expressions, and waves of doubt hovered thickly in the air; bridge commanders, captains, and the analysts.

"Is this regarding the rebels, General?" Ren asked in a flat tone. He wouldn't play this game, when some tidbit Armitage dangled was important to the war.

Hux's mouth warped fleetingly from a smile to a snarl, before pursing his lips tightly. Balling up his fists at his sides in an act of self control, he responded surprisingly cool.

"Indeed it is. In fact, it's not just about the rebels. We have reason to believe that someone may have aided...the girl...in killing Snoke."

A bright image appeared on the televisor behind Hux as he slowly backed out of the way. There was black patterned walls and vertical white panels, with two figures standing one behind the other. Detention cuffs were clearly visible on the one person.

A stab of panic inflicted Ren's chest. It was Rey and himself in the elevator, in the few moments before arriving at Snoke's throne room. He watched with an unchanged expression as she stepped close to him and mouthed words before her gaze travelled to his mouth and back up to his eyes. Ren mirrored a similar pattern.

I didn't imagine it then.

A flutter of longing teased his insides in confirmation of wondering what could have been.