"Very fetching."
Rosella would have scolded him for the comment if she wasn't tired. She had barely slept the night before, instead she had lain awake, her head resting on Poe's chest as the pilot slept calmly beneath her, his breathing a soothing melody and the rise and fall of a chest a constant.
"Bright orange," Rosella nodded, looking down at the uniform she was wearing. "Honestly, you want to blend in and you choose bright orange as a uniform?"
"Hey," Poe held his hands up in defence, his toothbrush dangling from the corner of his mouth as he stood against the doorframe and watched Rosella struggle to do something with her hair. "I didn't choose it."
The pilot went back to brushing his teeth as Rosella quit with her hair and left it dangling down her cheeks. It was too short for her to do anything with. She remained still as she sat on Poe's bed, tugging a brush through her locks as the pilot finished off in the bathroom.
"It's not too late," Poe suddenly informed her as he moved into the bedroom, dressed in his pilot's uniform as he noted the flak vest on the bed that Rosella had not yet put on. "You can still stay here."
"I don't think so," Rosella declared, grabbing the vest and staring at it, wondering the best way to put it on and fasten up. "I'm coming with you, Dameron. I'm not letting you go without me this time."
Shrugging, Poe learned to hold his tongue before he took hold of the vest from her and helped her into it, turning her to face him as his hands found the straps at the front and she allowed him to fasten her into it.
"Getting a bit handsy there, Dameron," Rosella joked with him and he laughed, his hand moving to the back of her neck before he bent down to kiss her and she laughed against his lips.
"You wish, Rose," Poe taunted her back.
He picked up the life support box too, helping her finish the outfit before she looked to herself in the mirror and nodded once, taking a deep breath and telling herself that she could do this. She had no other option. She had promised to go with Poe and his squadron. She couldn't back out now without looking like she was frightened.
"Here," Poe moved closer to her and she furrowed her brow at the sight of what he was handing her.
It was a long chain with a red pendant dangling at the end of the silver links. The red shone slightly and was like some form of stone.
"What is it?" she wondered from the pilot.
"Something just for you," Poe informed her. "I had it made…well…a few weeks after we started seeing each other. I always worried about leaving you here and the First Order finding you. I mean…after what you told me…I just wanted something to give to you, but it didn't work back then. I only managed to get the mechanic to finish it the other day."
"Still not answering the question, Poe," Rosella teased him and he chuckled before nodding in agreement with her and he took the two ends of the chain and stood behind her, letting her pull her hair out of the way.
"It's a necklace but it has a distress button," Poe informed her. "Just press it if you get into any danger and it sends a notice to my X-wing."
"How romantic," she replied sarcastically and Poe smirked.
Slowly turning around, she looked to the stone and managed to tuck it into her suit before resting her hands on Poe's shoulders, looking at him sincerely now as she nodded and pecked him on the cheek.
"But thank you," she said. "I mean, it is creepy and very stalker like, but I know that the sentiment is there."
Rolling his eyes, Poe took hold of Rosella by the waist as she laughed lightly, feeling his fingers digging into her sides as he attempted to tickle her. She pushed against his shoulders, but he was far too heavy for her to push away. Poe laughed along with her, forgetting about the mission they were about to head out on for some fleeting moments.
"You're the most important thing to me, Rosella," Poe said once their laughter had finished and all that remained were soft and fleeting smiles. She looked at him with earnest, her hands moving to stroke at his cheeks as he spoke sincerely. "The thought of them taking you away from me-"
"-I know," Rosella interrupted him before he could finish, her fingers holding him tightly before she moved to press her lips against his with haste. "I know."
Poe nodded then, realising that no more words needed to be said on the matter as she picked up his hand and nodded to him, indicating that she was ready. Poe kept hold of her hand as they made their way through the base. It was still eerily quiet in the morning with no one waking up to begin work for the day. But Rosella was glad. She could only imagine the stares that would come her way.
People spoke of the First Order defector and they looked at her with caution, but none of them bothered to speak against the General. She had vouched for the young woman and that was all there was to the matter.
"Dameron, there you are."
General Organa's voice range out as Poe made his way into the hanger. Rosella pulled her hand from his, not wishing to attract anymore stares on her way. She knew that Poe's team were loyal to him and he was just as loyal back. But it had taken them a while to warm to Rosella. They had been cautious, just like everyone else on the base, but Poe had urged them to see that there was not a bad bone in her body.
He had begged for her to come and drink with them in the cantina. She had been reluctant, claiming that she had books to mark for the children, but Poe had pleaded, telling her how important it had been for her to meet the people he trusted his life with. Of course, she had gone then and sat by Poe's side. She had tried to make conversation with them, often succeeding on numerous occasions. But it had taken a while and even now she suspected that they didn't all trust her.
"And Rosella," Leia said with a nod of her head.
Truth be told, she had half expected the girl to back out of this mission. But perhaps Rosella was stronger than Leia had anticipated.
"Where's Muva?" Poe enquired.
"He will not be joining you on the mission," Leia declared. "I need him here to assist with training. L'ulo shall be joining you instead."
Poe looked up to the Duros male as he made his way out from the shadows before a smile broke on his face. Moving towards the green creature, Poe's hand outstretched as L'ulo clasped onto Dameron's shoulder.
Smiling at the motion, Rosella remembered the story from Poe about L'ulo. The tall man had been something of an uncle figure to Poe when he was growing up. Once Poe had informed L'ulo that he wanted to join the Resistance, the man could do nothing to stop him. But then Poe had expressed a desire for L'ulo to join him and he could not say no to him. It had been L'ulo who had persuaded Poe's mother to settle down and make a home for herself on Yavin 4 with Poe's father. Apparently Shara Bey, Poe's mother, had been reluctant to leave behind the Alliance, but she had put her family first, despite dying shortly after the Battle of Endor.
"It's great to see you, L'ulo," Poe spoke.
"And you, Poe," the man responded. "When you wrote to ask me to join you I flew here as fast as possible. Your mother would have been so proud."
Nodding, Poe released the man's hand from his grip before feeling his eyes begin to prickle. But now was not the time for tears. Now he had to be strong.
"So here you all are," Leia motioned around to Kun, Wexley, Pava, Poe, L'ulo and Rosella. "Black Squadron."
Rosella would have winced at the sound of that had Poe not been there to place his hand on the small of her back. Smiling up to him, she dared to reach behind to take hold of his hand, hoping that no one could see the motion.
"You are to travel to the Crèche planet just beyond Bardotta. I believe it would be wise for you to travel and spend the night in Bardotta. The people there are kind, but do not speak to them of your mission. They dislike the Jedi Order and I doubt they would be thrilled to hear that you work for the Reistance. Supplies are in your X-Wings…tents for the cold…food…just lay low for an evening before continuing on to Crèche."
Murmurs of agreement went around the group before they all went to find their helmets. Poe guided Rosella, helping her to secure her helmet on top of her head before he dealt with his own. His squad turned to their own X-Wings and began to prepare to fly.
"Are you sure you know how to fly?" Poe asked from her and she rolled her eyes as Jessika passed by, slapping Poe on the back.
"She probably knows more than you, Dameron," Jessika declared, winking to Rosella as she moved to her own plane and climbed up.
"I doubt that," Rosella informed Poe as they came to the ship she would be flying, "but I know enough. The perks to being the wife of a General, I guess."
Wincing, Poe tried to forget she had just said that. He was about to offer her help up the ladders but she was already climbing upwards and settling herself into the pilot's seat, closing her eyes to try to keep her mind focused and her thoughts clear. Looking up, Poe nodded softly to her as she gave him a small smile.
She only hoped that she could fly this thing.
….
Poe knew that he was supposed to leading the Squadron as they sped along, but all he could do was check on his dashboard to make sure that Rosella was behind him. It had taken her a while to settle into flying and Poe had made sure that he had spoken to her over the communication system plenty of times. Each time she had promised him that she was fine and didn't want him to worry. Luckily no one else could hear them as Poe spoke only to her on those occasions.
"Black One, I see Bardotta."
Jessika's voice rang over Poe's headset and he peered down, noting the planet beneath him. Nodding, her took a deep breath before he began his descent.
"Black Squadron, this is Black One, prepare to land."
Keeping her breathing under control, Rosella followed Poe and the rest of the Squadron towards the planet, trying to keep calm as the planet slowly became bigger and bigger. She lowered the plane gently, doing her best with her shaking hands as they came downwards and finally the plane was on the ground in between rows and rows of trees. The noise of the engine turning off comforted her as she allowed the hatch to open, the feeling of cold air engulfing her and causing her to squirm.
Pulling her helmet from her head, she tossed into the small footwell before raking a hand through her hair. Looking down, she already saw Poe stood on the ground, waiting for her.
"Need a hand?" Poe asked.
Rosella pushed herself from the seat, hesitantly climbing over the side of the X-Wing before she felt Poe's hands on her waist, guiding her to the floor and dragging her body over his as she went.
"Got it," she mumbled, patting him on the chest as the rest of the Squadron turned to Poe.
"Right, here's the plan," Poe informed them. "We set up camp for the night and get some much needed rest. We'll take it in turns to look out too."
"Can't we just find a Cantina somewhere?" Temmin called out. "At least it will be warm in there."
Poe had to admit that there was a chilling atmosphere to the planet. There was no snow or ice, but that didn't stop the feeling of cold amongst them. Jessika and Kun nodded in agreement at that idea and Poe rolled his eyes.
"If you want to try to find a cantina then go, but change out of your pilot's uniforms first. No one is to know why we are here."
"Even we don't know why we're here," Temmin responded and Poe groaned.
"Just trust me when I say it's important," Poe replied, hating the fact that he had to keep things from his team.
As they set up tents, L'ulo helped Poe as Rosella helped Jessika, the two females laughing and joking about something as Poe looked over to Rose with a soft expression and quirk of his lips. It was something that L'ulo couldn't help but notice.
"You know, I saw that same look on your mother's face over two decades ago," he informed Poe and the pilot looked to him and chuckled.
"Yeah, well," Poe said sheepishly. "She's…she's pretty special to me, L'ulo."
"I can see," L'ulo declared. "How did you meet her? I would like to get to know her more once all of this is over."
"Aw, you're not going to embarrass me with tales of me as a kid, are you?" Poe checked and L'ulo did chuckle at that part before looking to Poe with an amused expression.
"I believe that is a priority for me," he said and Poe rolled his eyes.
"Well, perhaps when this is over you can do that. I told her about you. She knows everything about you…mother…father…"
"She really must be special."
Nodding, Poe finished pitching the tent before noticing Temmin stood there looking impatience. They had all shed the Resistance suits from their upper layers and stood there dithering slightly as Poe looked between all of them. Rosella was slowly pushing the orange jumpsuit from her skin, leaving her in a simple blue pantsuit with black boots on her feet. It was different attire than her teaching outfits.
"Right, you lot head off if you want to," Poe informed them. "I'll stay here and keep watch."
No one disagreed and everyone began to move off whilst Rosella rocked back and forth on her heels. No one bothered to ask her if she was joining them. They already knew the answer to that question. L'ulo smiled to the girl as he passed her and she looked on with wonder. Did he disapprove of her for Poe? Did he know about her?
"No need to look so worried."
Poe's voice was in her ear as his hands held her hips and he watched his team seek a drinking hole.
"He doesn't know anything about you," he spoke and Rosella tried to lean back against him, but the uniform he wore stopped her from completing the motion.
"And when he does?" Rosella wondered. "I know he is like an uncle to you. Do you think he will approve of me? I'm…I came from the First Order-"
"-And there you go," Poe spoke, his lips pressing against her neck once. "You came from them. You are not one of them. I think he will realise how brave you were to have left. It is only you who doesn't see it that way, Rose."
Rolling her eyes, she turned on her heel and moved to pat Poe's chest.
"You should change," she said, changing the conversation. "I'll wait for you in the tent."
Poe had no chance to disagree before Rosella slipped into one tent, unfolding the sleeping bag and unzipping it too. She sat on the floor of the tent, looking around the small space as she wrapped her arms over her legs, pulling them up so that she could rest her chin on her knees.
"It is freezing out there," Poe complained once he was inside the tent, dressed in a beige shirt with his leather jacket on his frame.
"Should we start a fire or something?" Rosella wondered, but Poe shook his head at her.
"Someone might spot us," he said. "I mean, I'm not averse to sharing a sleeping bag if you're not."
Rolling her eyes, Rosella smirked to the pilot. "Of course you're not."
Poe took that as an open invitation, moving into a sleeping bag and keeping it open, urging to Rosella to lay next to him. She did so after a moment, allowing Poe to wrap his arm around her shoulders and hold her to him. Her hands moved between them, resting on his stomach as Poe struggled to zip the sleeping bag.
"I thought you were keeping watch?" Rosella suddenly asked, her hot breath by his neck.
"Don't worry, I have a droid on lookout. Besides, I'd rather be in here."
"I don't doubt it," Rosella whispered.
"Besides, you did well today, Rosella. I was impressed with your flying."
"Really?" Rosella asked from him. "I know I was pretty rusty, but it has been a while since I was allowed to fly. I mean, my father taught me how to fly all different ships after the fall of the Empire, but that stopped when I married him. Apparently the wife of a General should not be seen flying."
Poe's grip around her tightened then and Rosella didn't pretend not to know why. He was always there in the back of her mind. Everything she did she can almost imagine his snapping tone telling her off. Whether it was not to slouch or to remember her manners. How could she forget him?
"Poe," Rosella whispered.
"Hmm?"
"I need you to promise me something," she spoke and Poe turned to look down to her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I know this isn't fair on you and I know you will probably say no or tell me that it will never happen, but I need you to understand that all I want now is for you and me to be together."
"Hey," Poe said, perching on his elbows as she did the same. "What's brought this on?"
"We're out here on this mission," she told him. "And I know that there is still a chance…whether it is today or in two year's time…I know that the First Order might find me, but if they do…I'm not going back."
"Because they won't find you," Poe promised and she shook her head.
"No," she replied. "I'm not going back alive, Poe."
It was then when the weight of her words range heavy on him. Shaking his head, Poe slumped back onto the ground, refusing to have this conversation with her.
"I will not kill you," Poe snarled.
"I hope it never comes to that," she said honestly. "But I am not going back there. I am not going back to Armitage…to be his wife…have his children…I will never go back there again. Do you understand me? I faked my death before. I cannot do it again."
"Stop it," Poe demanded, cradling her cheeks as he sensed that he was losing her again. He looked into her eyes, his gaze strong and full of a need for recognition as he held her still in his grip. "That will not happen. He will not get to you. Do you understand?"
"You can't promise me that," she replied. "But you need to know that I will not go back to him alive. I will not let him…everything he did…all those children…I cannot go back."
"Sh," Poe urged her, trying to calm her down as she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung onto him. The pilot placed his hands on her back, keeping her to him. "I will never let anything happen to you…the First Order…Hux…no one will hurt you so long as I am here."
….
A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading and do let me know what you think!
