A Better Form Of Repayment

Summary: Poe offers Hux a chance
Warning(s): Spoilers for the whole sequel trilogy; AU; some references to canon wounds
Pairing: Poe Dameron/Hux Armitage

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Poe watched as Finn escaped the ship and then turned towards Hux, who was holding his arm, panting, his eyes glassy with the pain of the wound he’d been dealt.

“What are you doing?” Hux demanded, staring at Poe like he thought the pilot had lost his mind. “I’ve given you the perfect opportunity to escape! You’re going to squander it.” He grunted and glanced towards the door. “You don’t have long before the rest of the First Order is going to come storming in here. And I won’t save you again.”

“I believe that,” Poe answered. “But that’s okay. You don’t need to save me because I’m going to save you.”

“I don’t need saving.”

Poe glanced towards the door, where he was certain the troops led by Kylo Ren would be storming through at any moment, and then moved forward, grabbing hold of Hux’s uninjured arm. “You don’t think they’ll guess? Even if Kylo Ren doesn’t know for sure, he’ll be looking for someone to blame for this. And you and I both know you’ll be the easy target.”

Hux stared down at Poe’s hand on his arm, then looked up and into his eyes. “I’m not some lost creature you can take back to the Resistance with you. I’m a traitor.” He tugged his arm free, but there’d been an instance, just one moment, of hesitation.

Poe looked into Hux’s eyes, but didn’t grab the other man’s arm again. Instead, he nodded in the direction Finn had taken. “You have two choices. You can stay here and die, or you can come with me and live.”

“You don’t know that I’ll die if I stay here.”

“I don’t like the odds of you staying alive if you do.” There was the sound of stomping boots from outside the room.

Hux looked at the door and spoke in a low voice. “I don’t believe in the Resistance.”

“Do you believe in the First Order?” Poe returned.

Tearing his eyes away from the door and the sounds coming from behind it, Hux looked back into Poe’s eyes, taking precious seconds before he said, “No. Not anymore.”

“Then come with me,” Poe said.

Once again, Hux glanced back; back the way he’d led Poe and Finn. The indecision was clear on his face.

Poe fought the urge to rush the other man’s decision. To tell him to hurry up. He understood. Truly, he did. It wasn’t an easy decision to turn against, to turn your back on, everything you’d ever thought and believed.

“This doesn’t mean I’m defecting.” Hux finally turned back to Poe, staring into his eyes. “I’m not switching sides to join you and your rebels.”

“Understood,” Poe replied lightly. “Now let’s get out of here and figure out our next move.”

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“I’m not going.”

Poe stood at the exit of the ship, watching as Finn joined the others, and then turned to Hux, raising his eyebrows. “Where would you rather be?”

Hux flushed and looked away, glancing at the metal floor he stood on. “Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not. Right now,” Poe added. “I’m serious. If you had the choice to go anywhere in the galaxy, where would you go?”

Hux shook his head, but it seemed to be more of an expression of disbelief than a refusal to answer, as he spoke in an almost reluctant tone. “Somewhere I can’t be reached by either the rebels or the First Order.”

“Comfort? Security? Safety?” Poe took a step closer to Hux with every word he uttered.

Hux touched the injury on his arm, still looking stubbornly away from Poe. “You must think I’m pathetic.” He snorted softly. Finally raised his eyes to Poe’s face, though didn’t make eye contact. “You can dress it up with all the pretty words you want, but we both know that I’m really your prisoner.”

“Yes.” Poe’s lips quirked into a half-smile as he added, “You’re my prisoner…but not the Resistance’s prisoner.”

Hux frowned, now focusing on Poe’s eyes. A tiny smile played around the corners of his mouth; bitter and almost haughty, but it was still there. “If I asked, would you take me away?”

“When this is over,” Poe answered honestly. “When we win and the galaxy is at peace again, then yes. I’ll take you away.”

“Do you really think you’ll win?” Hux’s question wasn’t biting or sarcastic. It sounded more curious than anything else.

“Of course.” Poe shrugged. “If I assumed we’d lose, then that belief would make it more likely. Belief might not be everything, but it definitely helps.”

Hux glanced towards the exit of the ship once more, before focusing on Poe again. “You’re not escorting me off the ship. You haven’t put me in restraints. The only thing you did was make sure I wasn’t carrying any weapons.” He paused.

Poe waited, cocking his head to one side, before asking, “Was there a question in there somewhere?”

“What are you intending? Do you think you’ll sway me to the side of the Resistance? Do you think I’ll turn my back on everything I’ve ever believed in, just because you decided to save me?”

Poe took his time answering, his focus entirely on the man in front of him and not on what might be happening outside. Given that no member of the Resistance had yet to come storming in to arrest Hux, he assumed that either Finn had done some very fast talking about Hux…or hadn’t revealed the identity of their prisoner. “I’m not intending anything right now,” he answered honestly. “You saved my life. Maybe not because you believed in the Resistance, but because you stopped believing in the First Order.”

“And you think that’ll make me join you all?” Hux snorted softly. “Losing my belief in one path won’t make me believe in the opposite path.”

“Not right away,” Poe agreed. “And maybe not ever. We both know that you’re joining us as my prisoner for right now. But you saved me and Finn and that will go a long way towards earning you some goodwill. If you want to avoid being locked up until the end of the war, cooperating is going to mean you’ll spend a lot less time locked up.”

Hux glanced towards the exit of the ship and then focused on Poe once more. “Before we go out there and I end up locked up by your people…tell me why. Why did you decide to save me? Why even offer a second chance? What makes you think I even wanted to be saved?”

Poe allowed himself to take several steps forward, until he was right into Hux’s personal space. The other man stiffened visibly, but didn’t move away, even though his eyes moved warily over Poe’s form. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if putting up a barrier of skin and clothes between them.

Ignoring the positioning of Hux’s arms, Poe reached out and placed his hand on the other man’s face. He could hear Hux’s breathing quicken and watched his eyes dilate as his whole body stiffened. He didn’t pull away and in return, Poe didn’t move his hand from its original position. He kept his hand there, the touch light and gentle, until Hux’s body relaxed. Then, he leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to the other man’s lips.

Hux breathed out slowly and Poe tasted the breath as it wafted over his lips. His hand slid down Hux’s face, fingers brushing over his neck and down his shoulder. Everywhere his fingers touched, he felt Hux stiffen and then relax when the touch continued.

Poe kept the kiss light and gentle; kept caressing, rather than holding the other man tightly. And his reward came when Hux relaxed visibly; not leaning into the touch, exactly, but allowing it. By the time Poe broke the kiss, Hux’s face was flushed and his eyes bright.

With a soft smile, Poe let his hand travel down Hux’s arm and then took a step back. “Let’s leave the ship. Get that wound of yours properly treated. And then we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

“Yeah…okay.” Hux watched him closely, a slightly dazed look coming over his face, but followed Poe from the ship without a further word or protest.

The End