Squad fic: tfa overlap

[splinteredstar]

Squad fic: timeline one

My true loves are multiverses and time travel, so. that is what happens here. This.... technically isn't one fic. There are snippets of... eh, two, possibly three fics here, depending on how the plot goes. The different iterations are indicated. They all start in the same place, though: Squad gets transported to where they were approximately a year before TFA starts


okay. squad. I am missing most of the tfa adjacent plotline. I'm gonna... try and recreate it, maybe?

So.

Squad get yoinked back to about a year before tfa starts, all of them n the places they would have been at the time.

Poe wakes up in his bed in D'qar and pauses. Checks the calendar, because he's been around Force users and skywalkers for long enough that you never know what'll happen.

He looks at the date, goes "....well fuck."

The man he used to be would have bolted, ran shouting about the future. Fortunately, he wasn't that many anymore. So he just thinks for a second, and wanders into General Organa's office.

She looked up at him - and fuck, he paused when he saw her, looking those few years and few tragedies younger. She narrowed her eyes at him, tilting her head slightly.

Poe just nodded. "Yeah. I. Yeah."

"Tell me everything." Poe sat down, and told her.

Elsewhere - Kylo wakes and feels pressure and /awareness/ inside of his head. He stares down at his hand - the metal left, marks of claiming etched into it, his name and his family and his freedom - and then feels a response that isn't his on the inside of his head and -

He screams

(pretend i can keep a tense for more than a paragraph)

He screams, tearing at his own skin, his metal hand digging into his flesh arm, maybe if he breaks the other one he won't be able to use it to - use it to -

"Ren!" Hux. Hux's hands, wrapped around his, not strong enough to break his grip but - his voice, his touch, the familiarity of his mind against him, -

Ren relaxes his hands. There is blood smeared on his fingertips.

Hux's protective rage is enough of a balm, enough of a steady place to set his feet that Ren can - build up boundaries in his mind. He buries his head in Hux's chest and builds up old walls, things he hasn't needed in years, the careful boundaries that Snoke won't be offended enough by to knock down. Hides everything he needs to underneath them, hides Rey and Finn and Poe and everything where Snoke never looked.

He could do this. He was strong.

He traced his grandfather's sigil on his arm and swallowed. Survive.

Finn woke up and had a similar panic - white on white on white on - but he was used to this nightmare, he'd had it before - so he flung out his mind for Rey, but -

He finds the gentle glow of a thousand lives - his squad, he'd recognized their minds, learned before he knew he was learning them - and latched on to - Ren?

Ren, familiar darkness, the thrum of an engine - Hux near it, lightning quick and furious - Phasma, smooth metal -

He feels Ren's attention turn to him, and then something /else/ turns to him, and Ren hisses - hide, hide, or he'll see you -

Finn hides with the practice of a trooper and feels Snoke pass him by.

first priority, finn whispers, we get rid of him

second, ren amends, first we find rey

(this is not how i took it last time but, ya know, whatev)

hux does administrative trickery to get Finn off the roster. a certain amount of glaring, and arguing, and they settled on a plan to protect as many troopers as possible

("I can't stop deploying them, people would notice!" "I know, I know...")

Ren goes to get Rey from Jakku.

There's hugging and only a little bit of shouting when he lands.

A few hours later, Poe gets a call. Or, rather, General Organa gets a call while Poe happens to be in the office.

The holocall goes through.

"Rey!" Poe leans into screen. "Hey kid, I was totally planning on grabbing you! Did you get the Falcon running?"

Rey greets him, and then takes a deep breath.

"Ren got here first." She holds up a breath. "So, we couldn't leave the falcon there, right?" Poe nods, already a little concerned. "And you know how there's a tracker on the falcon that turns on when you break atmo?"

Poe nods - freezes, and then his mouth opens, and then closes.

Rey holds her hands up. "No one's dead!"

so. cut to the Falcon.

Kylo is there. He is doing his damnest to not talk to Han or Chewie.

They're letting him avoid them, and he can't decide how he feels about that.

Rey explained the situation to Han. Han listened, and sighed, and muttered something about bloody force nonsense, and accepted it.

Ren isn't sure what he feels about that either. There's - a lot of things in his head, right now, a lot of emotions pinging around like balls in a casino roulette wheel.

Rey gets in touch with the Resistance and gets a confirm on Poe. She doesn't call Ren in, and he's grateful

(cut to all of them in a single room)

"So, how'd I die?"

Rey and Ren jerk their heads towards Han. Across the room, a glass shatters.

Han pushes the glass out of the way and sits down. "You both look at me like I'm a ghost. So. How'd I die?"

Truth be told, he has his suspicions... Rey and Ren look at each other, a conversation carried out in thoughts and quick expressions.

Rey looks away. Kylo takes a breath.

"-Snoke - he said." He takes another breath. "He said that I loved you too much, that I - if I killed you I'd stop wanting to go back, if you were gone I wouldn't miss you as much, that it'd stop hurting - "

Another glass breaks.

Han nods. He doesn't look surprised. He just looks - sad, and tired, and Ren has too many feelings to know what any of them are right now.

"Did it work?"

Kylo swallows, shakes his head.

"Planning on doing it again?"

Kylo jolts. "Wh- No!"

Han Solo nods, and stands. "Okay," he says, like that settles it. Kylo Ren stares at him as he walks away

(In all honesty, i could probably have an entire fic based on "kylo and han have awkward conversations")

Chewie growls a question. Kylo chokes on something that might have been laughter.

"No, you." He taps his side. "Glancing blow. It could have been a headshot, but it wasn't." He swallows. "I don't know why it wasn't. I would have let you."

Chewie growls something low. He pats Ren on one shoulder, gentle, and walks away.

Rey knows where Luke is, obviously, so they go there next.

On the way, a call comes on the com from an unknown number

Han tenses, but Rey and Kylo react instantly

"Let it through," they then glare at each other for speaking in sync

Han sighs, and lets it through

There's a shout from the other side. "I /told/ you that was the right connection."

Rey perks up. "Finn!"

The picture comes through. It is not finn, but Hux, looking off screen with an annoyed expression. "Yes, yes, apparently you -"

"Tash."

Hux looks over to Ren and his expression immediately softens. "Hello, Kylo."

Finn pushes into frame. "Rey!"

Han is struck, heart in his throat, with the knowledge that he's never seen his son smile like that before. Never seen him look at anyone the way he's looking at this First Order officer with Imperial posture

He doesn't know what he feels, quite. Just some tangled up mixture of joy and grief and fear that Han's long since labeled "fuck, I'm a father."

they update each other on status, of course, and reassurances that everyone is okay.

"Hux has a plan to take over the Order."

"Of course he does.." Ren replies, which makes Hux preen a bit

After, Han lingers long enough to talk to Ren privately.

"That your boy? The general?"

Kylo stares. Nods.

"He make you happy?"

Kylo looks away to where Hux was. "....Happier than I've ever been."

Han swallows. "Okay. I'm glad."

Han huffs a bit of a laugh. "I'd say I'll threaten him, but your mother is better at it than me."

Kylo snorts, and then looks like he's surprised at it, and it's - it's good.

cut to luke's island

Han walks up to Luke, rolls his eyes at him and tells him that if he doesn't get over himself and get on the ship, Chewie would knock him out and carry him on.

Rey mutters to herself that she can't believe she never tried that.

Kylo is waiting outside. Luke comes out and they watch each other for a long moment.

Kylo speaks first. "I - I'm sorry for everything."

Luke nods, once. "I'm sorry too."

aaaaand cut! That's all I've got for this one

(different iteration)

splinteredstar

ngl, there's a subplot in - i think it's the first loop? but in a version where the squad reforms to fight the order rather than dong an internal coup

splinteredstar

and poe's just like "okay if this is gonna be a thing. i want a therapist on staff"

splinteredstar

"look. i love all of you," he explains to the squad. "yes, even you hux, despite my best efforts. I want to help you. I can handle helping one of you. I cannot handle all /five/ of you at once."

splinteredstar

"It's not anyone's fault," poe says, cutting off finn's apology. "I just. I can't do this on my own." He runs a hand through his hair.

"I don't need a therapist," Hux snorts, offended.

"Okay." Kylo says, quiet. Everyone stares. He shrugs, awkward. "Worth a shot."

splinteredstar

"We

*cough*

"We're looking for someone who has experience with force sensitives," Poe says, apologetic. "But, ya know..."

splinteredstar

Thin on the ground, even before the empire. Kylo nods in understanding.

splinteredstar

"I don't need /help/," Hux mutters to himself.

(Therapist later remarks that they "really expected Kylo Ren to be the combative one." Nope, it's Hux.)

(different iteration, tw sexual assault, reference to past rape)

Squad poe in my head is actually in the middle of a messy situation with hux at the moment. It's getting sorted out, but. Messy

Okay. This is a timeline... roughly canon. I kinda feel like it's one of the loops? So hux is Infamous but he's not Starkiller.

Context: i tend to incorporate into this a snippet of cwu back story - the assault and Hux's later violent revenge. Ren knows. Phasma is pretty sure. Rest of the squad doesn't.

So. Hux, poe, and phasma are at a Resistance base. Ren, rey, and Finn aren't - off fetching Luke, maybe

Okay. Hux isn't starkiller, but he's still /Hux./ and someone - maybe a resistance member, maybe someone who's just a contractor - decides "what the fuck is he doing here, walking around the base like he belongs here? Like he's /safe/ here?"

Hux is alone. His instincts are good, but he's - he's used to being in a resistance base, now. He's used to /trusting/ in their stupid morals and rules.

(Stupid, he snarls later, so fucking /stupid/)

The guy isn't careful. Maybe he expects everyone on the base to be on his side.- people coming running when they hear shouting and smell blood. People come running to find Hux, the look in his eyes half mad, very determinedly, breaking every one of the bones in the man's arm

(He doesn't have his weapons. He doesn't really need them)

Poe's the only one who gets close. The guy sees him first - starts babbling something about how hux just fucking attacked him, shoot him already - and hux cuts him off with a snarl.

"Fuckin' lying /scum/" he snarls, and his accident has slipped, he sounds like Rey, he sounds like a gutter brat and that more than anything convinces Poe that this is /serious/

Hux looks up, sees all resistance troopers around him with hands on their guns. He steps back. His hands are shaking. He clenches them

"....bb." Poe says, really fucking worried. "Pull the security footage, would ya?"

The footage isn't perfect. It's enough to see the way he grabs at hux, enough to make out what he /says/ -

Hux twitches, his fists clenching. Bb8 shuts off the footage

"Can I kill him now?"

Poe swallows. "No." He cuts off hux's snarled objection. "Now, we are going to throw him in the brig so we can investigate his record." He pushes a hand through his hair. "Find out if he's done this before." He meets hux's eyes, animal wide and trembling with rage. "See who else has the right to take a piece out of his hide."

That, finally, appeases hux. He spits the blood out of his mouth. "Fine. But when you're done, he's mine."

Poe nods. "We'll work something out." He half turns to the people watching. "Get him to the brig. Bb, send the footage to the general."

Hux swivels, and starts to stalk off. Poe reaches for him, and barely misses having his wrist broken."Don't /touch/ me."

Poe holds up his hands. "Okay. Get yourself to the med bay, all right?" Hux sneers, and walks off in a direction that doesn't go anywhere near the medbay

Poe isn't finn, able to get Hux in a medbay with threats and bribery.

So he lets him walk away

(Time passes. Hux manages to gather every scrap of alcohol on the base and stockpile it in his room. Poe leans his head on Leia's desk for a bit while they sort this out)

(Phasma informs them that on the finalizer such crimes were punishable by death. Either at the hands of the victim or by Hux himself.)

(She stopped by Hux's room, with a few bottles he'd missed)

Poe goes to Hux's room. He knocks. A few minutes later, Hux opens the door. Glares for a moment, and lets him in

He looks like hell. He smells like alcohol.

Poe opens his mouth, reconsiders his first words, and says something else

"He's in the brig. We've tracked down some possible other offenses. There's some debate on exactly what counts as legal limits of punishment, but, there's every chance you'll get to deal with him"

Hux nods. Takes another swig from his bottle. "Good."

Poe glances at the bottles on the floor. Opens his mouth again. Hux shoots him a glare.

"If you ask if I'm all right, I will break this bottle and stab you with it."

Poe frowns but nods. He swallows. This - this isn't like hux normally, this isn't regular levels of upset, this is "kylo is bleeding out in the next room" levels...Hux doesn't /panic/ like that

Hux sees the question coming, maybe, and he hates the look in Poe's eyes

"Don't, Dameron. I don't need your pity and I don't need your help. Just get out."

Poe lets out a breath. He wants to stay. But hux- "...look. compromise. I'll send bb by to stay the night-" hux snorts but poe keeps going, "just to make sure you don't suffocate in your sleep, all right?" He kicks an empty bottle pointedly.

Hux scowls. "Fine. Now /go/"

(Seriously, Dameron, expecting him to choke on his sick like some sort of teenager)

Poe leaves. A few minutes later bb8 rolls in, beeps at the bottles, and plugs in to the wall. Hux is just drunk enough to pat the Droid on the head

Poe really wishes that he could hug the guy without getting stabbed

And fuck, but that instinct of hux makes way too much sense now

(slightly different iteration)

Kylo has a very weird concept of romantic gestures

oh god. there's one bit in a squad timeline

hux has mentioned he's married in passing, but not given any details. there's an announcement that the supreme leader will attend and right before the scheduled time

there's a ripple in the force that makes every sensitive person's head shoot up

and the door opens

and Kylo Ren enters dragging half of Snoke's corpse

silence as he stalks up to the presenter's table. Hux watches him the entire time, and does not look away

"The supreme leader is dead," Ren says. he drops the corpse, and keeps walking. He stops before Hux's chair.

And kneels.

"Long live the supreme leader." He waits, head bowed at Hux's feet, as the shock ripples through the room.

Hux - smiles, and offers a hand. Silence drops on the room once more. "Come, there's no need for you to stay down there, darling."

Kylo comes up, and one bloody hand touches Hux's face

(Presumably politics happen here)

Later, poe is discussing strategy with Rey and the rest of the resistance

Phasma bursts in and rounds on Rey, who had been with Ren on the ship with snoke

"Did he tell you he was planning on that?"

"Killing snoke? That was -"

"/no/, putting Hux on the throne which was /not what we agreed/"

"I don't think he planned that, he just thought it would be romantic."

Phasma makes a wordless sound of pure frustration

"Yes, completely restructure the political structure of the galaxy on a romantic whim. Of course he did."

"And now I've got to deal with a dozen snarling high command officers, to say nothing of the /rest of the galaxy/'

"Isn't that normally hux's job?" Poe cuts in, eyebrows up

"Yes!" Phasma throws her hands up. "It is his job! But he's off /mooning/ over how "romantic" his husband is!"

Poe pats phasma's chrome shoulder

"I'm going to punch them both."

"Have fun!"

Picture the rest of the resistance just boggling at this btw

.