Chapter Eleven: Worth

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"Let go

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"That

Kylo wasn't sure what woke him up, but he turned over in his bed, feeling a vague and distant disturbance. Moments later, his comlink beeped and he sat up to answer it.

"Supreme Leader," Peavey's voice came across the channel, his tone clearly nervous by whatever news he had to disclose. "Vallis has escaped. She slaughtered the squad guarding her then stole a shuttle from hangar bay four and burst into hyperspace from within the hangar, causing quite a mess in the process."

"She ?" Kylo nearly snarled as he ripped his covers away and shot out of bed in a fit of anger. He had expected Vallis to at least an escape, but actually succeeding would have required help not only from Hux, but from other subordinates as well. The ray shield operator, the camera monitors, shuttle lock downs, hangar bay magnetic shields, he could clearly see all of it had obviously been planned and plotted carefully.

"I'm sorry sir," Peavey replied shakily. "We're still investigating the situation. General Hux is seeing to it personally."

"I'm sure he is," Kylo grumbled back with a derisive scoff. "Keep me updated, and dismiss the council meeting today, I won't be attending."

"Yes sir," Peavey confirmed and the com disconnected with another beep.

Kylo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off an aggravated headache before becoming aware of Rey's presence in her doorway, realizing she had been there all along and having heard the entire conversation. She donned one of the black uniforms again, no doubt her gray outfit needed some mending after getting ripped and tattered by her duel with Vallis.

He narrowed his gaze at her standing there and checked his chrono. "It hasn't been twelve hours yet."

"And I told you," Rey replied with a roll of her eyes. "I've had worse, injuries than this back on Jakku. I'll be ." She crossed over to him with only a slight limp in her stride and gestured at the comlink in his hand. "How did Vallis manage all that, anyway? I know she's skilled, but..."

"She had help," Kylo answered, deciding to let the issue drop about her injury. He hesitated in elaborating but ultimately determined it wouldn't hurt matters if she knew the truth about his subordinates. In fact, it came as a relief to finally have an opportunity to share his problems with someone he could trust. The person on this entire ship he could truly trust. "Morale within the Order has been steadily declining after Snoke's death. I don't know how he's doing it, but Hux is slowly but surely gaining popularity."

"So why not just exile him or lock him up or something?"

"Doing that would only cause his loyalists to defect or turn on me in a mutiny. It's a delicate matter that I haven't sorted out yet."

"Have you ever..." Rey bit her lip in hesitation, as if knowing he would have something derisive to say in reply. "You know, showed any for your troops?"

"Why would I?" Kylo nearly snorted with contempt for the idea. "They're soldiers, they do what they're told. Period."

"I just think, maybe you'd be a more popular ruler if you showed a little more kindness here or there, is all."

"," Kylo repeated, his tone dull and dubious. "In the ." He wondered if she even realized how ridiculous she sounded, yet at the same time he got an odd sense of a dismal groan in the back of his mind, nothing more than a whisper or an echo, He was startled for a moment and just barely fought off the urge to look over his shoulder.

Rey sighed in apparent defeat of her own argument and waved a bothered hand at him, completely oblivious to his hallucinations. "Fine then, what are you planning to do in the meantime?"

"Nothing," Kylo replied simply, dismissing the notion that his grandfather just spoke to him as he crossed over to his computer terminal and began entering commands. "I'll allow Hux to think I don't suspect his treachery. To think I'm too distracted to notice."

"Distracted with what?" Rey questioned as she followed him and Kylo gave her a pointed look that caused her to blink innocently at him. "Me?"

"You must admit," Kylo replied with a smirk as he turned back to the monitor and tapped another key on the panel. "You are distracting."

She made a face and looked about to retort when his call to the went through and a male voice crackled to life from the terminal. "What is your bidding, Supreme Leader?"

"Captain, I have more instructions for prisoner FN-2187 and his cellmate. Starting today, they are to be given a tour of the ship everyday by a full squad of troopers. You are also expected to forward these instructions to the for rebel pilot Poe Dameron and his droid. Is that understood?"

There was short pause and Kylo imagined the captain sharing an odd glance with his nearest aides before making his stammered reply. "Y-Yes Sire, I shall implement your orders immediately."

Kylo terminated the call and turned to meet Rey's beaming smile. "Get ready to leave," he told her, fidgeting slightly under her coiled stare. "I'll take you to visit them again."

Rey placed both her hands on her hips and tipped her head at him, her smile turning lopsided. "I was beginning to think you forgot."

"Things have been a little chaotic since our... agreement." Kylo had to turn his head to keep from looking at her, the memory of kissing her flashed through his mind and was dredging up a strong desire to do so again.

Although he could only see her in his peripheral, he could practically still feel her smile as she moved closer suddenly and stretched herself up to place a quick peck on his cheek. "Thank you," she said before stepping away from him and towards the fresher.