Hi guys!
After this chapter, the chapters will be getting longer, and there will be small timejumps :) I promise, after this chapter, we will also be going back to Kylo and Rey :D Here's a nice little peak into life at the Resistance Base from everyone's favorite pilot, Poe Dameron!
Thanks a million to Meaghan for her efforts to help me when I'm stuck on this story and the right way to write Kylo and Rey and their character development.
As always, thanks to all of you for your support! I love you all!
Love, Annaelle
Part IV - D'Qar
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
—G.K. Chesterton
Poe presses the button to release the hatch so that he can exit his X-wing, feeling more than a little satisfied with the outcome of their mission. They'd retrieved BB-8 and managed to force the First Order into retreating without too many losses on their side.
He considers that a win.
He hopes that he'll get the chance to see Rey today; he'd been back at the Base for less than two hours, both of which he spent in the med-bay, when they'd gotten the call that BB-8 had somehow ended up on Takodana and that the First Order was on their way there too, so he'd not had the time to seek her out; to see if she was okay.
He's worried for her.
He has watched her grow skinnier and paler over the months, and he's going to speak to General Solo about letting her out of the life he now knows she was forced into.
It makes him feel sick to know he'd contributed to that life, even though he'd tried to protect her.
He'd done a fairly shitty job at it, he'll admit that freely, but he'd tried.
He climbs from the X-wing and hands off his helmet to one of the ground crew that had hurried towards him and the ship as he landed. "I think the main fuel tank took a hit," he tells Marty, one of their younger mechanics, "and I got the feeling my blasters weren't entirely up to par either."
Marty nods, but before either of them gets another word in, they're interrupted by shrill, excited beeping, and Poe barely manages to turn around in time to avoid BB-8 bowling him over in excitement at being reunited. He laughs, feeling a little lighter and happier already, as he listens to his loyal, excited little droid beeping and squealing.
"Yeah, I missed you too, buddy," he chuckles, kneeling next to BB-8 and patting the droid's side.
BB-8 squeals again, and Poe's eyes widen a little at that. "What?" He breathes, looking up to where BB-8 said the Millennium Falcon—who'd have thought that ship would ever be found again?—had landed with Finn on board. He doesn't listen to most of BB-8's other frantic beeps as he catches sight of him—he's alive.
He'd mourned the loss of a potential good friend—the man who went against everything he'd been taught to save him from the First Order; even though he only did it to save his own skin too.
He chuckles, his lips curling up into a large grin when Finn starts hurrying towards him. He stands and meets Finn halfway, nearly bursting in laughter at the awestruck way the younger man says his name before he manages to catch him in a hug.
"You're alive," Finn says, sounding both relieved and worried at the same time.
Poe chuckles and pulls away from him, keeping his hand on Finn's shoulder as he does. "So are you," he exclaims happily, "I was afraid you'd—" He doesn't finish, but he doesn't need to; it looks like Finn understands what he means perfectly.
"What happened to you?" Finn inquires, eyes wide and concerned, and Poe's a little struck by how handsome Finn is—how had he not seen that before?
He needs a second to shake off that sudden flare of attraction—it's been some time since he's actually been with a man, and he chooses to blame that—before he says, "What happened? I got thrown from the crash, woke up at night—no you, no ship, nothing—"
Before he can elaborate, BB-8 interrupts, squealing about how Finn had kept the First Order from taking him on Jakku and Takodana, and Poe can't quite hide his awestruck expression.
"BB-8 says you saved him," he tells Finn, who's still looking at the droid with an expression of mixed confusion, suspicion and fondness.
"Well," Finn stutters, and Poe swears he can see him blush a little. "It wasn't just me—we never would have even escaped Jakku without—"
Poe doesn't let him finish; he doesn't have the patience to—he's just so relieved that everyone's okay and that Finn finished his mission for him when he thought Poe wouldn't be able to do it anymore. "You finished my mission, Finn," he tells the younger man with a bright smile, patting his leather clad shoulder, "that's—" he cuts off and stares at the jacket for a long moment before blurting, "that's my jacket?"
"Oh," Finn stutters—and he's definitely blushing now—attempting to shrug it off immediately, "yeah, here…"
He can tell the younger man is somewhat embarrassed. Though he really isn't sure why, it's quite touching to know Finn kept his jacket through the entire journey from Jakku to Takodana to D'Qar—and he has to struggle to not laugh, because he's sure Finn won't take it well. "No, no," Poe chuckles, refusing to think upon how he thinks Finn looks better in that jacket than he ever did. "No, you keep it. It looks good on you—you're a good man, Finn."
Finn smiles weakly, and he looks like he's about to say more, when Poe spots General Solo and Princess Leia stroll towards them from the ship Finn had disembarked—is that really the Millennium Falcon?—and jumps into position immediately.
"General," he nods respectfully, "Princess."
Leia offers him a bright smile that makes him glow with pride—the Princess's approval has always meant a lot to him, after his own mother passed away—and her husband grumbles good-naturedly. "Mister Dameron," Leia says, her voice smooth and almost melodic. "It's good to see your prior injuries didn't cause any permanent damage."
He nods before laying his hand on Finn's shoulder again. "I believe you've met Finn?" He asks proudly. "He's the reason I was able to escape the Finalizer, and I understand he found BB-8 and finished my mission too."
"I couldn't have done it without Rey," Finn says bashfully, though he does look troubled.
And then his words register, and Poe's eyes widen as he swivels around to stare at Finn. "Rey? What the Pfassk does Rey have to do with this?" He looks from Finn to the General and his wife a few times before he realizes just how guilty the Princess looks.
"Well," she starts, looking down and away, and Poe's stomach sinks—he has a really bad feeling about this— "when you were taken, we were able to intercept several messages from the First Order that indicated you had entrusted BB-8 with the map. When we used his location software to find him, we found that he last pinged not too far from Niima Outpost—"
"What, so you sent Rey?" He exclaims, taking an angry step forward. "Without back-up? Are you people out of your damn minds? She could have been killed, for Force's sake!" An awkward silence falls between the four, and Poe's stomach sinks further when he realizes what had been wrong with this picture all along—Rey isn't here.
"Poe," Finn starts, reaching out to touch his arm. "It's not their fault—"
Poe won't have any of it—his blood is boiling, and he has never been this angry before—and yanks his arm out of Finn's reach as he balls his fists, glaring at the couple he'd always trusted and believed in. How could they have sent a defenceless girl into a dangerous situation like that without back up?
"What the Pfassk is wrong with you?" He shouts, well aware that he's drawing the other pilots' attention, "She's nineteen for Force's sake! Haven't you done enough? Are you so intent on destroying her life that forcing her into prostitution wasn't enough—you had to send her on a kriffing suicide mission too?"
"Wait," Finn exclaims, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "You did what to her?"
Poe ignores his new-found friend and glares at the Princess, who seems to shrink a little with every hateful word that falls from his lips—and he would feel bad at that, but he's so kriffing angry.
"Hey," Han speaks up for the first time, "don't talk to her like that, kid. It was not a suicide mission—Rey was the only one who knew the terrain; she had the biggest chance to find and bring BB-8 back." The elder man sighs and shakes his head regretfully, and Poe hates to see that the man is genuine in his regret, "We didn't think she would be in any serious danger—we didn't think she'd register on their radar at all."
Finn puts his hand on Poe's arm, and Poe calms a little, turning to face Finn. "What happened?"
"She—" Leia begins, but Poe interrupts and shakes his head, shooting a glare at the Princess. He'd admired her for years—nearly kriffing worshipped the woman—but he can't even stand to look at her right now. "I don't want to hear it from you," he hisses venomously. "I don't want to hear anything from you right now."
He turns back to Finn, who simply swallows thickly before he starts. "I—we… The ship was damaged when we got to Takodana," he says hesitantly, "so Rey went to get some parts so that she could fix it. And she told me to stay on the ship, and I should've listened, but I—I wanted to help, so I went to the Cantina, and—"
"Finn," Poe sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "please get to the point."
"She was so angry," the younger man replies weakly, his eyes wide and pleading. "And then we saw—the Hosnian system—it… it was like Rey got hit, too. She nearly fell over, and she was crying, and then she suddenly just ran away, and then there were Stormtroopers everywhere—I saw Kylo Ren carry her aboard a ship before they retreated. I think she was alive, but—"
Poe chokes, nausea forcing its way through his entire body as he recalls his own time spent in Kylo Ren's interrogation chamber, before Finn came to get him out. He forces himself to take a few deep breaths to steady himself—he can't afford to lose his head now—before he turns his gaze back to the General and the Princess, who were listening to Finn's explanation with rapt attention as well.
"When are you setting up a rescue mission?" He demands, his tone brokering no room for argument.
"Poe," Leia speaks, her tone sad and soft, "we can't afford to risk the manpower needed to free one person from the Finalizer—much less a girl. We all care about Rey, but we're far more concerned about the things she knows—she knows where our Base is, she could lead them straight to us. We're better off preparing for that eventuality than a rescue mission that wouldn't eve—"
"It's your fault she's even there in the first place! If it had been you," Poe bellows, jabbing his finger in Leia's direction angrily, "We'd all be on our way already! We are not leaving her there to die!"
"Poe," Han sighs, looking older and wearier than Poe has ever seen him. "We don't have a choice. I'm sorry." The man steps forward and claps him on the shoulder, almost like the friendly gesture will just make it alright that they sent an innocent girl to die for them—after they spent an entire year forcing her to have sex with every man on Base in exchange for food.
It's not alright, Poe fumes internally, watching the elder couple stroll towards the hangars, and he's going to do whatever he has to in order to fix this.
He's getting Rey back, one way or another.
He failed her once, and he's not going to do it again.
He turns sharply, eyeing the other pilots—who are all still standing by their X-wings, clearly having overheard the conversation—before he strides towards them, purpose and confidence clear in his step. He knows many of the pilots refuse to take part in the way the Resistance treats young girls, and women in general, and he plans on using that—none of them will agree with leaving a young girl like Rey to the mercy of the First Order.
He hears Finn rushing to follow him, though he's sure Finn is still confused about the various interactions he's just witnessed.
"Where are we going?" Finn asks, a little breathless from trying to keep up with Poe. "And what the Pfassk did you mean by prostituti—"
"We're making this right," Poe replies grimly. "I'm organising a search party, and then I'm getting Rey back—I'm not leaving her in the hands of that monster."
