- Poe –

Groaning frustrated the best pilot of the resistance rolled over in his bed and hits the alarm clock a little harder than necessary. He throws the covers from the bed and steps sleepily into the refresher. His only wish at this point was to just get a good night's sleep and not being haunted by nightmares of creepy force users inside his head poking around his memories. But since his escape from the clutches of Kylo Ren with the help of Finn and the destruction of the Starkiller base, his wish was not fulfilled. He filled his days with work and extra shifts on the ground crew whenever he wasn't scheduled to fly. But even double shifts and long training sessions didn't exhaust him enough to keep the dreams at bay. He wondered if Rey was troubled by these nightmares as well, having been told by General Organa that the brunette had also been "interrogated" by Kylo Ren. But as she wasn't on D'Qar anymore, this option was not available either. Even though they had only met briefly – twice – he caught himself thinking about the young woman from time to time. No wonder, he reassured himself, after all she was the legacy of the Jedi – or so the talk on the base went.

So he went on his daily visit to the med bay, only to be greeted by a head shaking by the doctor. He was the only visitor to ask for Finn and each and every day the same response awaited him. The former stormtrooper was still in a coma, nearly four weeks by now. Even though the doctor didn't say it, Poe suspected it was no good sign that Finn's condition hadn't improved by now. "Commander Dameron, you don't look to good yourself." the doctor offered her opinion on his appearance. "Trouble sleeping?"

"Well, there's just a lot to do at the moment. " the pilot lied without blinking. "Don't overdo it, Commander. Especially with pilots there is an elevated risk of fatal mistakes on the job. We wouldn't want to lose you just because you work too much." Poe runs a hand through his unruly locks and looks down. He didn't want to endanger himself or the people he was in charge of as leader of the black squadron. But he couldn't face the night either. With a mumbled excuse he left the med bay and headed straight to the hangers. He had scheduled a briefing this early in order to keep his team alert and ready for whatever mission they were sent on.

As soon as he arrived at the hangar, he grabbed his data pad with notes on the training he had thought up for his squadron that day. It was the same routine he had his team do the whole week already, but he didn't think it was a bad idea to have them repeat maneuvers until he was satisfied with the result. Absentmindedly he chewed on his lower lip until something hit his head. Bewildered he looked up and met the grin of one of his new pilots, the seemingly ever-cheerful Jessika Pava. She originally was a member of the blue squadron but after the attack on the Starkiller base some pilots were reassigned to Poe's black squadron simply to even the numbers between the squadrons. Jessika Pava had been one of the most eager pilots to serve under the best pilot of the Resistance. "Good morning, Commander. You seemed to be sleeping with your eyes open." She mocked him cheerfully.

"Oh, did you ask to be on the ground crew today? That can easily be arranged." Poe threatened mockingly.

"Well, if we do the same maneuvers as we did all week, I wouldn't mind getting soaked in machine oil."

"Careful what you wish for, Lieutenant."

One after the other the other pilots arrived at the hangar and took their seats on uncomfortable chairs. They were positioned in the vicinity of the X-Wings facing a wall where Poe had BB-8 project their flight plans for the day. The briefing only took half an hour and as soon as they were done, everyone headed for their aircraft. Shortly before Poe himself could climb in his X-Wing, a ground crew member called him back.

"Commander Dameron, General Organa wishes to see you."

"Now? We're heading out on our maneuver right now." He explained. "She wants to see you right away."

"Jess, take over the squadron. Don't deviate from the plan." Poe ordered and descended his flight with a frustrated sigh.

"General, you asked for me." Poe introduced himself unceremoniously when he arrived at the control center.

"Yes, let's talk in private, Poe." The General gestured him towards one of the offices adjacent to the big control center.

"Is everything alright?" the pilot asked.

"You tell me, Commander." The General retorted raising an eyebrow.

"I don't understand."

"You act a little irrational in the last few weeks, giving your squadron the same routines over and over again, you take extra shifts with the ground crew and off duty you retract yourself from your peers and work on your X-Wing. Do you care to elaborate?"

Knowing that it would be difficult to keep his thoughts and worries to himself from the General he stared at his shoes that suddenly seemed very dirty and messy to him. "I'm still a little new to the Resistance and the speed at which everything unfolds is a little overwhelming."

"Do you think I'm a fool, Dameron?" General Organa scolded the younger man. "You're not new around here. You're one of the constants around here and your behavior leads the younger and newer personnel. Your example is taken in by your pilots at an almost religious extend. If you behave erratically, your people will do so, too. You are a leader and as such you have a responsibility to keep yourself in check. If something is going on with you, troubling you, it is your obligation to do something about it."

"I'm sorry, General." Poe felt his heart sink. He knew about all of these things but couldn't help feeling disappointed and discouraged at the same time. "I'll take care of it. I'll be up to the usual standards. You can count on me."

Leia Organa shook her head. "No, Poe. This is not what I meant. I don't want you to stretch yourself even further. I want you to take care of yourself. Take it a little slower, don't do extra shifts and please try to relax. You're my best pilot and you should be in for a promotion soon. But I can't promote a dead Commander who fell asleep on a maneuver. I can't promote you, if you risk the lives of your peers by leading them into battle unprepared, either." She explained.

"Vary the maneuvers, let them have a little downtime and get some sleep." She ordered and caught him flinching at the mentioning of sleep. She decided to not talk about the issue any further. She saw how uncomfortable the pilot felt at her intervention. But she would keep a close watch on him.