AN: I know in The Last Jedi, Poe and Rey meet for the first time. I changed that up a bit when I got in the mood to write Poe. Please read and review.
I do not own any part of Star Wars.
Decent People
Poe trudged along a hallway on the D'Qar Resistance base, weary and exhausted. BB-8 rolled along beside him, somehow matching his master's mood despite his nonhuman appearance. The pilot was still in his bright orange flight suit, having just successfully destroyed Star Killer base against all odds. None the less, they had taken heavy loses, and the high stakes dogfight had left him grimy, sweat soaked, and mentally drained. His droid didn't look much better – domed head soot covered and scuffed from Poe's little maneuver of flying inside the damaged thermal oscillator.
Poe ran a hand through his tousled hair and sighed, passing yet another faceless body in the hallway as he thought about a shower and his bunk. He took little notice to the individual until he no longer heard his droid rolling beside him. Turning around, he spotted the BB unit greeting the stranger just a few paces behind. Upon further inspection he noticed it was the girl he had seen exit the Falcon, looking worriedly after Finn as the medics and Poe hurried him away. She had dark, damp hair and her clothes were soaked through, a slight shiver trembling her body.
"BB-8," she smiled as she kneeled down to the droid's level, palm rubbing the soot away from his eye glass, "you made it! You're okay! It's so good to see you."
She then reached to straighten out his slightly crooked antenna as he twirled his happy response.
"Yes," she nodded, "I'm fine, don't worry. Just got a bit of a chill… That's better." She finished, patting his head and pulling away from the droid as he chattered his thanks.
"You did what?" Rey laughed at the droid's continued beeps, "With who, exactly?"
She glanced up as Poe approached, and then straightened to her full height, "Oh. I see you've found your master then."
BB-8 chirped an affirmative, and Poe extended his hand to the girl.
"Poe Dameron," he said with a friendly smile.
For a beat she looked at his outreached hand, a little caught off guard, as though she was not used to such a gesture. Poe wondered where Finn had found this girl.
Recovering, she tentatively grasped it in her own. "Rey," she responded, "It's nice to finally meet you. We thought you were dead."
Poe chuckled as he released her hand. He patted himself down with a thoughtful expression, as though checking if everything was in working order.
"Nope," he replied as he finished, "Still alive I think. I could understand how everyone made the mistake though. Very nearly perished."
Rey smiled up at him at his joking tone and BB-8 rolled back and forth slightly, as though he were a child bouncing up and down, clearly excited for the two to meet.
"I have to thank you," Poe went on seriously, "For completing my mission, and especially for saving BB-8 from becoming a pile of scrap. He told me all about you."
Rey shrugged with a small smile, "Any decent person would have."
"Well I'm glad he stumbled upon one of the few."
Rey glanced down, uncomfortable with the compliment.
"Truly, Rey. Thank you. This droid here is one of kind. We've gotten through a lot together."
The girl finally made eye contact before it quickly flitted away, "You're welcome."
The three filled the hallway for a few awkward beats, before both Poe and Rey simultaneously opened their mouths to speak. The synchronized gesture quickly brought the two back into silence.
Poe chuckled again, "Go ahead."
As Rey seemed to flounder for words, Poe surveyed her closely. She was clearly freezing as she stood there with her soiled clothing. Scrapes and bruising scattered her exposed arms and face, and her eyes held a sadness he was unfortunately very familiar with.
Poe spoke first despite his invitation for her to do so.
"Rey, are you alright?" he asked seriously, voice casted low as if to give her some privacy to express her possible distress.
She looked up, startled by the question, and tracked his eyes as they strayed to the light saber hilt still clutched in her hand, his eyebrows raising in question. She quickly tucked the weapon under her tunic.
"Yeah," she responded hastily, "fine. I'm fine."
Even to her own ears, she sounded as though she was trying to convince herself. And honestly, she was. She had just escaped from her torturing capture. She had watched Han Solo get murdered by his own son. She had witnessed Finn take a life threatening hit to protect her. And then she had fought Kylo Ren herself, with a laser sword, she had never yielded before. And she was trying to cope with the odd, comforting feeling that had always been within her, but which she had let overcome her. It had allowed her to fight back properly, had saved her, and it had been calming at the time. But looking back, she was now completely terrified by the power within her.
"I was just-," she stumbled over her words, trying to avoid the subject of the ancient weapon in her hand, the death she had witnessed, the battle for her life she had just been in…
"I was just looking for Finn… They took him." She finished the statement in a whisper. That was the one problem she was ready to face. The most important, at the moment.
Poe smiled tenderly, "That's where I just came from. He's in the hands of the best doctors a rebel base can buy."
He paused, hoping his joke would relieve the tension clearly taring the girl apart. It didn't.
"They think he's going to be fine. Recovered in just a few days…They're great doctors," he added lamely, "Patched me up loads of times. I was just kidding about their measly salaries."
Rey looked at the ground and nodded, swallowing hard.
"Do you think you could point me in his direction?"
"Oh, yeah." Poe nodded, pointing over his shoulder. "He's in the med bay. East wing of the base. You're going to go down this hall, take the second left, go through the double doors, take the right just before the staircase, then a quick left. Long hallway that curves to the right. At the end of that, there's another set of double doors, and just to the right someone should be at the desk and will let you in once they get Finn settled."
Rey looked over Poe's shoulder, in the direction he had pointed, her eyes clouded in confusion for just a moment.
She quickly steeled her gaze, and glanced back at Poe, "Great, thank you. Down this hallway then?"
Poe nodded in affirmation.
"Nice to meet you, Poe. Glad you're both okay," She smiled down at BB-8 before continuing on her way.
As she walked away, BB-8 beeped lowly in annoyance at his master and Poe huffed in response.
"She'll be fine," he told his companion with an eye roll.
The droid beeped a little louder in clear annoyance, and bumped his small, but heavy body into Poe's legs, causing his knees to buckle
"Okay, okay!" he replied harshly, straightening up.
Jogging a few steps to catch back up with Rey he said, "How about I show you the way. The hallways can get a bit confusing until you get used to them."
Rey nodded, her whole being relaxing in clear relief.
"I can also find you a dry set of clothes. Probably a uniform is the best I could do, but it'll be better than being soaked through. And the docs could look you over while you're waiting for Finn. You seem a bit banged up… No one will ask any questions."
"Thank you," Rey replied genuinely, "You don't have to do this."
Poe waved her off and gave her a charming smile, "Don't worry about it, any decent person would."
Rey returned the smile as they walked down the hallway, following half a step behind the young pilot. She had met more decent people in the past few days than she had in her entire life. An ex-storm trooper, a smuggler, and a bar maiden no less. But she was a scavenger, and he was a pilot, and it really made no difference to her. It was a nice change from the leather skinned hearts of her home planet. She wasn't sure she would ever be used to it. But she was grateful for it.
The end.
AN: Please drop a review, let me know what you think. I also have two other short Poe stories if you're looking for our young pilot.