Rosella slept fitfully, struggling really to get any sleep. She had looked up the ceiling, resting in the bed next to Armitage. He had insisted that she share the bed with him, stating that they had to act like a couple despite what had happened. She had agreed, knowing that he might have a point, but she had kept to her side of the bed and he his. She was still slightly aching from her injuries. She had gotten up early and changed, finding clothes in the dresser. She put on the tight fitting black dress that she had always been forced to wear whenever she was with her husband.

She had waited for Armitage to dress and leave before she had stirred. After changing, she tied her hair into a high ponytail, knowing that it was messy as she had combed it back with her fingers. Heading into the living area, she found him stood and making breakfast. It was nothing fancy, a slice of toast and a glass of water.

"How did you sleep?" Armitage wondered from his wife.

"Fine," she lied to him. "Thank you."

"Good," he said. "And…the device?" he wondered from her.

"Hidden in the drawer," she said and looked at him with a narrowed stare. Folding her arms over her chest, she sauntered closer to him. "You know if Ren comes back here then he will be able to search my memories."

"I will not allow him," Armitage said. "I have already thought of this, Rosella. I have already thought of certain pieces of information to give him that I have gotten from you."

"And what information would this be considering I have said nothing to you?" Rosella enquired and Armitage let his eyes settle on her, taking in her figure in that dress. He couldn't help but still feel something for her and she knew that. She had to know it. He coughed into his palm for a second.

"The girl," he said to Rosella. "He is obsessed with her."

"Rey?" Rosella wondered. "Why? I mean, she mentioned something about him too when I spoke with her. Apparently they have some strange connection to the Force."

"I have heard that to be the case too," he responded to her. "But Ren is also obsessed with finding Emperor Palpatine."

Rosella scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"What could possibly be so funny?" he asked from her.

"Well, as if Palpatine has risen," she said to Armitage, moving to stand besides him, resting her thighs against the worktop. She kept her arms folded as her husband handed her a slice of toast. She took it from him and chewed down it. "I am serious, Armitage. That broadcast that we all heard could never have been Palpatine."

It had been a few weeks ago when the broadcast had gone out, but no one had truly believed it. How could Palpatine be back? Yet, Armitage seemed to be suggesting that Kylo Ren was convinced that it was true. Furrowing her brows, she kept on watching him.

"Are you serious?" she asked him when he did not speak and instead ate his own slice of toast.

"Rosella, this is not common knowledge," he warned her.

"Do you think it is true?" she continued pushing him.

"Ren travelled to Alazmec to seek something that would guide him to find out if it was," he said. "He sees Palpatine as the only one who can stand in his way."

"You are serious," she said. "We have to tell the Resistance-"

"-Hold up," Armitage interrupted his wife. "Before we use the data enconder we have to be certain. We should wait until we have news that it is correct."

"And when will we get that news?" she asked him, taking another bite of her toast.

"When it is safe to do so," Armitage said.

"You know," Rosella drawled, "it makes me wonder why you needed me in the first place if you simply just needed a data encoder."

Armitage placed the crust of his toast down onto the plate and wiped his hands over it. He didn't look at her. Instead he kept on watching the plate as he moved it over to the sink and sat it in the bowl. "Because every encoder that the First Order has to be signed out and even I am not immune to that practice. I also have to log into one which would have my information stored on it. This way is the only way. It allows us to remain completely anonymous."

"Good answer," Rosella said.

"I also knew that this was the way to bring you back," he admitted, turning back to let his eyes move over her.

"Armitage," she complained.

"You are still my wife, Rose," he reminded her. "You might have moved on to that Resistance pilot, but I know that you still have feelings for me. I know that deep down those feelings are still there."

"Stop it," Rosella pleaded with him. She couldn't cope with this. She did not need this. She knew how she felt. She knew that she would always have some feelings for Armitage. How could she not? There was one time when she thought that they could have been happy together. She thought that they could have been so happy.

"I mean it, Rosella," Armitage said. "What is it about Poe Dameron?"

"I love him," was all that Rosella could say to him. "I just love him, Armitage."

Saying nothing in response, Armitage adjusted the belt to his trousers. He straightened himself up and shook his head. "I need to go to a meeting. I will return this evening. There are books in the bedroom in the second drawer…I saved them after you left."

"Armitage…" she tried to grab his attention but he had already left her behind.

…

Sitting on a tree trunk, Poe was doing his best to focus. He was missing Rosella. That much had been clear. He had awoken early and wondered what she was doing. Was she safe? Was she doing okay? He didn't know and it was driving him mad. He was waiting for the sign that she had information for them, but he had no way of getting in touch with her. He tugged the ring he now wore around his neck from underneath his shirt. Looking down to it, he toyed with it in his fingertips.

"What is that?" Katrine's voice distracted him from his thoughts and he looked at the little girl. She was stood in front of him wearing a grey dress. She had her hair pushed back behind her ears and her hands in front of her.

"It was my mother's ring," he answered her and sat up straight, urging for her to come and sit down with him. Instead of sitting next to him, she climbed onto his knee and Poe's lips arched upwards. He kept a hand around her waist, holding her steady as she looked at the ring he was holding. "She gave it to me before she died."

"When did she die?" Katrine asked.

"A long time ago now," Poe said. "I remember that she took me flying with her and that's when I realised I wanted to be a pilot."

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes," Poe said. "You don't stop missing the people who you lost. You just have to find a way to move on because that is what they would want you to do. They would want you to be happy."

"I…I miss my parents too," she said.

"Of course you do," Poe said, "but they would be proud of you, Katrine. They would be proud of how brave you have been."

"I haven't been brave," Katrine said.

"Are you kidding me?" Poe asked her, exaggerating the shock in his voice. "Look at what you've done! You've joined the Resistance, kid. Besides, you made me wear a suit when I had that picnic with Rose. Do you know no one has made me wear a suit…ever," he teased her, finger flicking her nose and she swatted him away, laughing gently as she made the motion and he chuckled. "You're a brave girl, Katrine and right now you are doing a really important job."

"What's that?"

"Keeping me sane and hugging me," he responded honestly. "I need this, kid."

"You miss her," Katrine observed. "You always go quiet when she is not here…you sit and stare…she told me that I had to look after you and keep you out of trouble."

"Did she really?" Poe responded. "Well, you're doing an excellent job, sweetheart. Come on, we should go and get breakfast."

Katrine nodded and jumped down from his knee. She took hold of his hand, clinging tightly onto it and she led him back to the base for breakfast.

…

"It is true," Armitage said to Rosella once he had returned back to his quarters. He took hold of her by the arm and steered her into the bedroom to talk privately. Closing the door behind him, he looked to her as she perched on the edge of the bed. "Ren sent word that he had been to a place called Exegol. The Emperor has risen and he has a fleet. He has subjects there too…Ren thinks that it could wipe the Resistance out without a real fight…alongside anyone else who dares to challenge him."

"Complete domination," Rosella whispered and Armitage nodded.

"Exactly that," he said to her. "We need to send that message to the Resistance now. They may be able to stop him."

"And the only reason you are doing this is because you detest Ren?" Rosella checked, moving to her bedside drawer and pulling out the device she had hidden underneath clothing.

"The only reason," he echoed back.

"And nothing to do with you actually wanting to do the right thing?"

"The First Order is my life, Rosella," he responded, voice terse and she rolled her eyes behind his back. She should have known better. He was not going to change, not really. She had tried to change him for so many years and had failed. Why would she be able to do that now?

"Here," was all she said, tossing the device over to him. "And how do you intend to get that back to the Resistance?"

"We have a delivery of essential medicine due tomorrow. The doctor with the delivery will take the coder to someone else…who will then take it to the Resistance," he said. "Rosella, I need to be vague. I do not want you to know the details. It is safer that way. I just need you to trust me."

"Trust you?" she asked from him. "Armitage-"

"-When have I ever done anything to lose your trust?" he wondered from her. "Rosella, I have protected you through everything. I do not lie to you. Our marriage is based on more than that."

She nodded. She knew that he was telling the truth. She let out a deep breath and Armitage finished typing into the device before resting it next to him. "This device will gone before Ren returns in the morning," he said to her. "When he comes back then he will want to see you. Pryde already informed me of that."

"But we are going with the cover story, yes?" she checked from him.

"I am going to tell him that you have told me everything and he has no need to search your memory," he said to her. "It will work. I will not let him anywhere near you…not again."

"You know," Rosella said, folding one leg over the other, "he never used to scare me, not really. Before he had that mask…when he was just training…I thought that he was another lost kid."

Armitage looked interested in that comment. He rested his hands on his kneecaps and continued speaking. "And now?" he wondered from her.

"Now he terrifies me," she said. "I just never thought that he would become the Supreme Leader. I never assumed that would happen."

"I wish that it had not," Armitage scoffed to her. "But he will not be in power for much longer. I can promise you that, Rosella."

"Just…I know that I agreed to help you do this, but I want the Resistance to win, Armitage. I fear what would happen if the First Order won…I just want you to be careful, okay?"

"Why do you care?" Armitage asked and she groaned.

"Just because I might not be in love with you do not mean that I do not care," she retorted to him. "You are my husband…we have been married for a long time and I know that there is a different side to you. You are not always the General you pretend to be. You could be sweet and caring sometimes when you were with me. Why is that so impossible for you to remember?"

"It isn't," Armitage admitted, mouth feeling dry. "But only for you…it was always you who made me weak."

"Caring is not a weakness," she responded, hand going to sit on top of his. "You might realise that one day."

He said nothing in response to her. He turned his hand over and let his fingers move into hers, holding onto them tightly. And this time she didn't pull away.

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!