Five

                                    

                                          
Artemis worked at her personal bench. She listened to a heavily regulated radio. She listened to the second speech of the day. Captain Phasma spoke today. Her voice caused chills to run down her spine. That authoritarian voice never softened, not even with her daughter. 
                          
It was rare she spoke to her mother, she was mainly thrown into her master's arms. Occasionally she'd see her mom to be told she's weak. She could have been great but she let her weaknesses control her. Crying was weakness and she made Artemis cry often.
                          
When she deactivated the tracker, she put it to the side for the time being. She would give it to Matt at their last day of work until the weekend. She turned her radio off and got ready for bed. She didn't need to hear it anymore. 
                          
She laid in bed that night, staring at her ceiling, her nightlight created stars above her, a rare gift from her mother. She fiddled with her blanket. She looked at her droid, it was a gift from her first love. Why she dated him, she couldn't understand why. He was nothing like her. And he turned out to be what she thought he might have been... A monster. A complete monster. But he was so sweet to her. But she couldn't stay with him and feel that second-hand guilt. Like staying with him meant she condoned his actions when she didn't. 
                          
Soon she fell asleep and as she fell asleep, Kylo was in his study looking over paperwork. He still occasionally thought of Artemis. He only worked harder to not think of her, which only caused it to worsen. She was weak, just looking at her he could tell. She was weaker than him. So why did he like her? Why was his mind floating to the ginger all of the sudden? Why all sudden? Was he that lonely? He could just claim her. She couldn't fight him. He could make her completely complicit to everything he wanted. She had no control. And yet he didn't dare look into her mind to see what she thought of him, or her life, her wishes and dreams, her past. 
                          
She feared him, and for great reason. He wasn't weak and he wasn't going to fall for what his grandfather did. She was just a woman. He didn't need her to rule over the galaxy. To finish what his grandfather couldn't. 
                          
And yet here he was, wondering what her bare skin felt like. What she would look like sleep beside him. No... These thoughts can't remain. 
                          
The next day, Artemis went to the mess hall. She noticed FN-2130 hadn't shown up to work. She check her holopad and read that he had been transferred... That meant one of two things: dead or actually transferred. 
                          
She sat with her friends, Kylo started to not join them for breakfast, he preferred his privately made food and didn't have to wear an ugly disguise. She beamed at Yrsa. "Have you heard?" 
                          
"Of what?" She asked curiously.
                          
"FN-2130 has... transferred." 
                          
Her and 675 gasp dramatically. "What!" They both hissed.
                          
"Yeah, the mystery lies. I guess it's better than a public execution." She shrugged.
                          
"I wonder if he's alive... And where he is." 675 injected.
                          
"Probably the Finalizer or something." Artemis shrugged. 
                          
"I wonder if he got promoted or demoted..." Yrsa replied.
                          
"Who knows. Maybe Captain Phasma knows." Artemis shrugged. 
                          
"Are you willing to ask?" 675 raised an eyebrow.
                          
"No, not if I can continue to avoid her." She smiled. 
                          
She wasn't going to go out of her way to see the bitch. She didn't need her self-esteem lowered anymore. 
                          
While Kylo and her worked on an older ship, she handed him the tracker, he mumbled a thank you. 
                          
She told him about the trooper and he acted surprised. She asked him what he thought happened and Kylo shrugged, suggesting maybe he was moved to a different base. She had to agree that was more plausible for his killing skills. He probably got a promotion. 
                          
Kylo still felt weak around her. She was less than him and yet she made him feel weak. He still wondered what her hair looked like down. If freckles coated her entire body and if she'd moan while he mounted her, how would it sound? 
                          
Once he thought of it, he quickly forced himself to work and try to focus his entire being on it. 
                          
Artemis was about to ask him a question about what his favorite food was when she saw her mother enter the hangar. She quickly looked down. She wouldn't look at her mother in her chrome armor. She hated that suit, she could picture blood splattered against it. 
                          
"Ah, fuck." Kylo heard her mutter under her breath. 
                          
"What did you do?" He sighed roughly. 
                          
Then he heard the heavy footsteps, he turned his head to see Captain Phasma. He felt Artemis hit his arm. 
                          
"Don't look." She hissed. He only looked at the girl, no woman had done that before- minus his mother, but that was not him... That was Ben. 
                          
He wanted to put her in her place but Phasma spoke. "Olo, follow me." It took him a moment for him to realize she was speaking to him. He got to his feet and followed her away from her daughter. When they were alone, he knew she wasn't happy. "You killed one of my best soldiers, commander. I was going to send him on our next mission." Her tone was rough. 
                          
"He was disrespectful, someone had to put him in his place." He replied firmly. 
                          
"Ren, don't kill anymore of my men. Go after Cardinal's instead." He stifled a laugh, but it came out more like a sniff. "Report on Artemis?" 
                          
"Very hard worker, but a pest. She is very inquisitive." He replied honestly. He looked back at Artemis, who clearly was under distress. "Very skilled." 
                          
"I apologize on her behave if she was bothersome. Perhaps I should have a word with her on professionalism." 
                          
"No," Kylo quickly replied. "That's not necessary, Captain." 
                          
"If you say so. I will leave you to your mission." She nodded her head and he bowed. She walked passed her daughter. "642," She quickly greeted.
                          
"Captain," Kylo picked up the quiver in Artemis's voice. 
                          
He joined her once again. And worked in peace. He noticed she was making more mistakes and was scatterbrained. He was growing very frustrated with her. He knew he'd have to ask her what was wrong, no matter how much he dreaded it.
                          
"What's wrong?" He managed to get out without growling. 
                          
"What did she want?" She asked softly.
                          
"Nothing," He shrugged.
                          
"Did she want a report on me? I know that sounds self-centered, but it wouldn't be the first time. Last time I received love, and by that I mean I slap in the face." She forced a laugh. "You're weak, you're pathetic. I should have left you out to rot." She mimicked. She turned to Kylo with large eyes. "I didn't mean to unload that onto you. It was extremely unprofessional." 
                          
"Sometimes we hurt the ones we love." He managed to say. 
                          
"That's bullshit. That's not love. You never hurt people you love. They'll try to figure out what's wrong with them. Why they weren't good enough. Don't hurt anyone you love, Matt. They won't forgive you." 
                          
That final sentence stuck with him. They won't forgive him. But he didn't care, he couldn't. Caring was weakness.