His own screams rang through his head and into the open air as he was quickly thrust into consciousness, Kylo Ren's mask forming behind his eyelids as he blinked away the sleepy haze that had fled from him the moment he flew into a seated position in bed. Shaking his head and allowing it to fall into his hands, Poe Dameron looked up and to the side when a series of quiet beeps rang out. On the ground, BB-8 looked up at his pilot in what could only be concern. Sighing, Poe rubbed at his eyes before allowing his hand to slide down his face and into his lap. "I'm alright, BB-8. I promise." He told the little round droid. When BB-8 gave a whistle of doubt, it made him chuckle. "I'm alright, really." Looking at the time on the screen mounted into the wall, he tossed away the covers to throw his legs over the side of the bed. "I should probably get up anyway."

Watching him as he got up from the bed to gather his clothes, BB-8 whistled indignantly, expressing his opinion on whether Poe was truly fine as he promised he was.

Exchanging the ragged t-shirt he had worn in bed for one of his usual long sleeved black shirts, Poe laughed as he slipped the fresh shirt over his head. "Whatever you say, buddy."

It was closed.

That was the first thing Poe noticed that morning as he walked down the strip, past the multiple X-Wings resting on the ground and the tiny in hill hangers some of them hid in. Everyone that passed by looked at it in confusion, not understanding why it was closed. Even with him trying to clear his mind of the darkness that had plagued his dreams, he noticed the little one ship sized hangar was closed. What made it peculiar was that this hanger was always open. It held tools, spare parts, and was an overall communal gathering area between missions, for it gave the pilots quick access to their ships if necessary. His curiosity getting the best of him and his dreams taking a backseat in the furthest reaches of his mind, Poe began to wander towards the hangar door, his eyes fixated on the lock device that rested on the door. Behind him, BB-8 chirped in curiosity.

"I dunno, BB-8." He replied, a hand reaching out to the lock.

"Don't even think of it, pilot." A woman's voice called out to him, making his hand freeze in midair.

Whoah. BB-8 whirred.

Looking up to his right, he appraised the woman dressed all in black walking towards him, who was obviously the source of the warning as she studied him in return with a corner of her mouth turned upwards. "Why not?" He called back, straightening up.

Her own eyes looking him up and down as she approached him, she walked around him to stand against the door. "That's classified." Was all she said in a core accent, similar to Finn's friend Rey, accompanied by a subtle smirk.

"Is it a ship?" Poe asked with a grin, unable as always to keep his mouth shut.

"Of course." The woman's smirk grew a little towards a real grin.

"What kind of ship?" He pressed on, taking a small step forwards.

"One I don't want anyone to see." The redhead stood to her full height, which wasn't much, leaving her three inches below Poe's own height of 5'8.

"Is it yours?"

"Yes."

"Is it a piece of garbage and you don't want anyone to see it?"

"Absolutely not." She bantered back at him as quickly as he threw the questions at her.

Poe's grin widened as he held out his hand to her. "Commander Poe Dameron." He introduced himself. "Black leader of Red and Blue squadrons."

Giving him a smile in return, she took his larger hand in her smaller hand, the warmth and grasp of her hand surprising him as she shook his own. "Why Black leader if you head red and blue squadron?" She asked, dropping his hand as she looked up at him.

"See over there?" Poe pointed far down the strip to his left. Following his point and gaze, the woman stepped on her toes to see over the other pilots milling about. "The black X-Wing is mine. That's where my call sign comes from." As he spoke to her, he tried to discreetly move his hand to reach beside her to access the lock, but looked down in surprise when his hand was softly bumped out of the way. Looking back up to meet the woman's gaze, she grinned at him smugly as she had stepped in front of the mechanism, allowing her hip to bump his hand away.

"Nice try, Commander. I'm stupid, but not that stupid." She told him.

Taking a step back, Poe crossed his arms. "Oh I never said you were."

"You have a nice looking ship." The woman crossed her own arms, changing the subject as she looked towards Poe's ship, revealing the two loops tying up her long red hair at the back of her head.

"Nicer than yours?" He tossed back, trying to get an idea of what kind of ship this woman might have.

"No." Was all she provided, pressing her lips together in an effort not to smile.

"Can - Can you at least give me a hint?" He asked.

Tilting her head to the side, she locked her gaze with him. The intensity with which she looked at him shocked him. This woman oozed confidence, power, authority, and the way she looked into his eyes, it felt as though she were looking at his soul. With the strength she looked him in the eye, Poe would have felt uncomfortable if it had been anyone else; and yet, this woman made him feel completely at ease, relaxed, peaceful even. Well, almost peaceful. It was driving him mad trying to figure out what was in that hangar. "Why do you care so much?" She finally asked. There was no trace of teasing in her voice like earlier, only pure curiosity.

His brow furrowing, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He finally answered before looking around. "This hangar is always open, so I guess you could say all of us are curious as to why it's closed up."

Stepping closer, she looked up at him, tilting her head to the sides look at him from different angles, loose strands of her long red bangs that hadn't been able to stay up in her tied hair floating towards him in the breeze. As he stood still watching her actions, he fought the urge to inhale deeply as a warm and sweet aroma teased at his senses. He was snapped back to reality however when the woman spoke.

"She's an old ship; I've had her for a number of years." She slowly admitted.

"Describe her." Poe suggested lowly.

After a beat of silence, she started to speak, a distant look on her eye and a faint smile on her lips. "An elegant ship for a more civilized age."

At this, he smiled. "That is quite the description."

"However it doesn't help you figure out what it could be, does it?" She leaned back once again against the hangar door, looking up at him with twinkling brown eyes and a wide teasing smile.

Blinking, Poe stepped back as well and shaking his head, laughed. "No, no it doesn't. But I'll figure it out eventually."

Laughing along with him, eventually she lowered her head to look up at him tauntingly. "Well, you are certainly welcome to try, Poe Dameron." She said lowly with a wicked grin.

At this is his heart stopped for a moment. Behind him, BB-8 whirred in surprise. Dropping her gaze to the little round astromech, her eyes widened as she gave a small squeal of adoration. "Oh hello, sweetheart!" She said, carefully dropping to her knees.

"This is BB-8." Poe finally found his voice, watching the scene before him. "We've been through a lot together, right buddy?"

These last couple of minutes have been hard enough. BB-8 beeped, making Poe roll his eyes.

"Are you not just a beauty?" The woman sighed, running her small hands gently over BB-8's dome, making him hum happily. "You are so precious and adorable!"

I'm tough too! The little droid rolled back and forth on the spot.

"Yes, you are, BB-8. You're very tough." Poe confirmed with a laugh.

"Oh, no doubt." She sighed before slowly moving to stand back up, her face contorting in pain slightly.

Noticing this with a frown, Poe offered her his hands to help her stand back up. Looking from his hands to his face, she smiled weakly before grabbing his forearms as he grabbed hers, allowing him to haul her up to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

"Fine." She said passively. Noticing they were still holding each other's arms, she let go. "Thank you."

"No problem." Poe nodded. They stood there once more in silence before he spoke again. "What did you say your name was?" He asked.

This made her grin, and made him automatically grin back. "I didn't give it." She said.

"Well I think you should."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Biting her lower lip for a moment, her right hand twitched slightly before she met his gaze once more. "My friends call me Dean." She settled on.

"Call you. But it isn't your real name." He was quick to catch on.

"It's a nickname that has a meaning." She shrugged.

"What kind of a meaning?" He asked.

She shrugged slightly. "My friends figured out I was quite similar to a warrior on my home planet, certainly in terms of style, behaviour, tastes, and music. He's normally the oldest of the group, is brave, and has saved the world a number of times." She explained.

Thinking it over, Poe nodded in understanding. Curiosity, however still gnawed at him. "Okay. So, Dean. That is good, but what's your real name? First name. Last name. Something."

Looking up at him for the final time, she gave him a final smile that was a cross between a smirk and a mysterious smile. "You'll find out eventually, Poe." Was all she said.

"Of course I will." He winked at her after a moment of recovery. "Cummon, BB-8." Let's get something to eat, I'm starving." He said before walking away. As he walked though, he turned back to look at the redhead. "See you around, Dean." He said with a wave before turning around and continuing back down the strip, missing the red blush that dusted her face.

She was flirting with you. BB-8 chirped as he rolled alongside his pilot.

"She was, wasn't she? Yeah, she was." Poe said more or less to himself. Without even realizing it, the woman nicknamed Dean had completely and utterly banished any thought or memory of Kylo Ren from his mind, for now.