Author's Note: Hello! I haven't done an author's note on this story yet, so I figured I should. I hope you're enjoying the story so far and I apologize that this chapter is a tad shorter than the others. I have some news that will also be featured in the author's note of the next chapter of my other story. Some of you might be following along that story, A Resistance of Resent, or may have read my one-shot, but in the foreseeable future I plan to begin writing a new fanfiction featuring a different OC that will end up having some Poe/OC action as well as themes from my one-shot, which should be fun. That story will be a lot longer than this one and A Resistance of Resent, not really in terms of chapter length, but in terms of how many chapters it will be. These are my warm up fics preparing me to write the new one lol. I also have a poll on my profile for you to help me choose a name for my OC. Anyways, leave a review if you'd like to and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for your support and may the Force be with you. :)
"Ready to hit the hay?" Zinc asked, stretching his arms after a long period of silent work and Signy jumped.
"You can go. I'm going to stay here for a while longer." she replied, still a bit shaken. She was so focused on her work she'd completely neglected to check what time it was.
"You sure? It's getting kind of late."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Signy looked up over her shoulder and offered a small smile to Zinc who stood towering above her, concerned look on his face and hands in his pockets as he shifted back and forth on his feet.
"If you say so." he answered, his voice almost singsongy as he headed toward the door.
Part of him wanted to insist upon staying for a while longer, but he knew she'd object. He was tired anyway. It obvious she had things on her mind. He'd tried talking to her a few times during the day, but she hadn't responded. Signy was lost in thought, he assumed, and he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to mention it. It was like talking to a sleepwalker. Waking them up could scare them, but leaving them to continue sleepwalking could easily result in them getting hurt. He would allow her to continue sleepwalking for now.
"Goodnight Zinc." she told him and he raised his eyebrows at her.
"Goodnight Signy. Don't forget to wash that canteen later. I don't want your germs."
Signy shook her head and rolled her eyes, turning back to the droid she was repairing. The sound of the automatic doors opening and then closing again was almost a relief. Signy was tired and a hand rose to her face where her fingers pinched at the bridge of her nose.
The familiar sound of R2-LE rolling up next to her caused her to take her hand from her face. Signy sniffled, pulling her knees up close to her and hugging them. She leaned her cheek on her knees, eyes fixated on the droid.
"It's ok…" she said softly, eyes growing red. "I just miss my family tonight."
R2-LE chirped in response, coming closer to the girl. She reached out a hand to pat the droid.
"I meant my human family, but I'm happy to have you too." Signy smiled and another set of familiar droid sounds filled the quiet shop.
"BB-8?" Signy called out, eyebrows knitting together in concern. "I thought Zinc let you power off for the night. Please come out."
Another series of beeps filled the air.
"It's ok. Just come out. I understand."
The little droid slowly rolled out from his hiding place, giving a sad beep and coming up next to R2-LE.
"You miss your family too." she sighed. "I know. It'll be ok though. Poe's coming back; I promise."
BB-8 gave a hopeful reply and R2-LE gave encouragement to his new friend.
"He'll probably be back within the next day if everything goes smoothly. I know you're worried about him, but you know him. He's the best pilot we've got. Just believe in him." Signy told the droid, sitting up a bit and reaching over to close the toolbox next to her.
"It's really hard, I know, especially in a place like this." she began, nodding her head in the direction of the doors. "Everyone is always running around here. Everybody has something to worry about all the time because the worry never stops and the worry won't stop until the First Order is gone. The problem is you see someone one day and the next day they could be gone. None of us know what day's going to be our last. We have every right to worry, but the Resistance needs us to be strong."
Signy stopped and shook her head. "I know I sound like a hypocrite. I guess I need to stop crying about people I'll never see again. I have hope that Poe Dameron will make it back though. I can feel it. He always comes back…"
Signy yawned and leaned her head forward on her knees again. She couldn't stop thinking about her family. There was something about the uncertainty in Poe's voice when he asked her to watch over BB-8 that resonated with her. It reminded her of them, her family, and she missed them.
Feelings of regret and sadness filled her sleepy head and tears welled up in her tired eyes again.
"You two can power off for the night." she said softly and the droids hesitantly did as they were told.
Signy's eyelids grew heavy and before she could get up, she drifted into a fitful sleep. Visions of the past floated through her dreams. She saw her family, but then she saw Poe Dameron, his dark eyes filled with worry. That look haunted her. She'd seen it before on other people. The people who had that look never returned.
The sound of gunshots rang in her ears and the screams of the dying got caught in her throat as she slept. There was no escaping the past, not even when she wasn't awake.
In the morning Zinc entered the droid repair center to find Signy passed out on the floor, torso draped over her knees and arms folded beneath her head. He was going to wake her up, but she looked so peaceful lying there with her eyes closed and mouth slightly open that he couldn't bring himself to. Instead he took off his coat and gently placed it over her shoulders. The shop was cold, especially early in the morning before the sun was out, and he didn't want her to catch a cold. The last thing he needed was to have her get sick. He couldn't run the shop without her.
He felt a twang of bitter dissatisfaction that she wasn't awake to see that he had arrived at work on time for once, but he figured he had plenty of time to tease her about it when she woke up. Now it was time to get to work.
