Eleven months earlier

"What do you know about Rosella?"

Poe was about to be briefed by General Organa on the new recruits. He was sat in the control room around the large table where their faces were being shown to him. He looked at them, swiping his hand in mid air to flick to another one, reading their credentials as the General watched him. He tried to act nonchalant, shrugging his shoulders as he kept his gaze on the invisible screen before him.

"Not much," Poe admitted to the General. "She keeps herself to herself."

"So she has not told you anything?" the General pushed and Poe pursed his lips, not entirely comfortable discussing Rosella with the General.

"I never said that," Poe mumbled. "She's just quiet…sometimes she says things and I can piece together what happened. I know how she was married to someone in the First Order and I know that she used to be a teacher."

"And that is all?" she continued to push and Poe huffed loudly and turned around, his hands dropping to his hips and crumpling his leather jacket as he cocked a brow and the General kept her stern appearance before settling down in a chair.

"What is it you want, General?" Poe wondered.

"Nothing," she admitted and then shook her head, changing her mind as she looked earnestly to Poe. "Well, there is something. When she arrived here we kept her locked away for a while…until she spoke…but she never said much. She only said sentences and left us to fill in the blanks. The girl was traumatised. I can see that."

"She still is," Poe said. "She's…well…"

"And you've grown close to her, haven't you?"

Poe could say nothing then, he could only sink into the chair, vanishing the pilots' faces from the screen. It was almost as if they were judging him. He let them go as he went to rest his hands on the table, his forehead coming down to rest on his arm as the General let a smirk pass her face. She had seen that look before. It was the look of a man who was in love, but hopelessly so.

Picking his head back up, Poe laced his fingers together and turned to look to Leia. "I like her," Poe admitted. "But I like her more than I should. I know she likes me, but she's scared. She's scared of how she feels. I guess that's understandable considering what she's been through."

"And she's married," the General pushed.

"He sounds like a bastard," Poe snarled. "She hasn't told me much about him. She doesn't like to, but she-"

"-He's a powerful man, Poe," she interrupted him and Poe looked at her with an inquisitive stare as she continued to speak. She knew she shouldn't do this, but she felt she had to. She had to protect Poe. Poe had a right to know what he might be involved with. "He's the General of the First Order."

Poe's mouth gaped then, his face paling as Leia stood up and moved to lean over the table, bringing up a photo of the man in question. Poe turned to look, almost feeling the need to sneer at the sight of the man before him. He had a very pale face with beady features, red hair slicked back on his head and held underneath a hat. He looked cold. He looked callous. Poe's blood boiled as he stood up.

"General Hux," Leia spoke. "Rosella told us all about him. She told us his methods and his use of torture to extract information. She told us about the stormtrooper programme."

"What did he do to her?" Poe demanded, his hands balling into fists as he managed to tear his glare from the image of the General and back to Leia. "She's terrified of him. He has done something to her."

Leia took her turn to inhale a sharp and shaky breath then. "She refused to teach for them anymore," she declared. "He saw to it that she was punished before she escaped. The girl isn't just physically scared, Poe-"

"-Wait," Poe interrupted, his stomach churning as he took in her words and he let his hands fall limp by his side. "He…he marked her…he…"

"Poe," the General whispered, a tone of sympathy in her voice. "I have no doubt she will tell you all of this in her own time, but you need to know who she is and what you are getting involved with. You know that your work carries a certain element of danger and if the First Order caught you and knew…if General Hux knew about you and his wife…well…I assume he would not be happy about it."

"I'd kill him," Poe said, his voice flat and lacking emotion. Instead he spoke in a matter of fact tone, his eyes wide and emotionless, yet brimming with water. "I would kill for what he has done to her."

Nodding, Leia didn't doubt his words. She just doubted whether or not he would have that chance he wanted. She could only move her hand to his shoulder and give it a light squeeze.

"Be careful," she urged him. "I know love, Poe…but I also know fear and danger."

Poe didn't know what she meant. All he knew was that he had to leave. He had to get out and go to find her. Picking up his papers, he tucked them underneath his arm and gave the General a nod.

"If I may be excused, General, I have matters to attend to."

A small smile passed her lips. "Of course."

Poe stalked off from the control room, his intent obvious as he wandered around the base, wondering where she would have gotten to. He suspected the dining hall, but that was completely empty. She spent as little time as possible in the room she shared with three other women so he doubted there too. But then he thought about it. Rosella loved nothing more than peace and quiet. She would be on the hill overlooking the base.

He didn't doubt himself as he deposited his papers in his work station on the runway and then moved towards the said location. Sure enough, he could see the back of her head, her long hair flowing slightly in the breeze as she sat with her arms wrapped around her legs and her cheek on her kneecaps.

Poe did his best not to startled her, knowing how she got lost in her own thoughts more often than not. He settled down beside her, watching how she turned her gaze up to him. She managed a small smile, but Poe couldn't even manage that. All he felt when he saw her was sympathy, but he knew she despised that. She hated him when he showed her sympathy.

"What's wrong?" she asked of him, picking her head up to look to him.

"I want to promise you something," Poe told her and she looked puzzled as the pilot dared to move and rest his hand on her back, the motion enough to make her stiffen under his touch. She soon relaxed, controlling her breathing as Poe bent down to look her in the eye.

"I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure you never go back there-"

"-Poe," she tried to interrupt.

"-No," he counteracted. "I need you to listen, Rosella, because I need you to know. I want you to stop living in fear…stop being scared…even if it is just for a little while because you know that I'm here. And I know you don't want…well…we're just friends, but friends look after each other and I will look after you."

She said nothing then, unsure of what she could say to him. Instead she only nodded, unable to speak as she moved slowly, her motion hesitant as she let her lips linger on his cheek, the feeling of them soft and enough to make Poe's cheeks heat up slightly as she pulled back almost a second after, looking back over the base as Poe did the same, a small smile moving to his face.

"You're a good man, Poe Dameron," Rosella whispered into the air. "Too good for someone like me."

"I'm too good for most people," Poe said, a cocky tone to his voice as she chuckled and rolled her eyes. "The problem is I think you're just too good for me. You just don't realise it."

She scoffed then, shaking her head back and forth. "I'm no good for you…I just worry you'll see that one day."

She went back to staring then, but Poe shook his head, muttering under his breath. "Never."

Now

Rosella's head was pounding as she opened her eyes, fully expecting to see darkness. Instead she was shocked. The sun was glaring down onto her face, warming her and causing her to flutter her eyes, adjusting her sight as she struggled to open her eyes fully.

"Rose…you're alright…it's okay…"

She managed to look up, the sight of Poe's face coming into her vision. He was knelt up, cradling her head in his lap as she moved a palm to her forehead, rubbing it slowly as she struggled to think coherently.

"I ejected us and we landed on Jakku," Poe informed her. "I don't know where Finn is. I told him to eject but I don't know where he landed."

"We should find him," Rosella muttered, finally coming round as she sat up and Poe helped her with his hands, noticing how she struggled against the grainy sand. She knelt then, her hands moving to cup hold of his cheeks as she looked at him, making sure he was in tact.

"I'm fine," he promised her underneath her scrutinising gaze. "Rose, I promise you."

"Okay," Rosella nodded in agreement. "We should move before the First Order come for us."

"Agreed," Poe said, standing up and Rosella noticed that he didn't have his jacket on him anymore. She said nothing, taking hold of Poe's hand as he hauled her to her feet, his arm around her waist steadying her.

They looked around them, their eyes narrowing as Poe took a shaky breath.

"Which way?" Rosella whispered, unsure of where they even were. "There's nothing but sand."

Poe nodded. "If in doubt, follow the sun."

Rosella let her eyes scrunch together. "Is that even true?"

"It is now," Poe said and they began walking in that direction. "If we find people then we might find BB-8 after I abandoned him here."

Rosella didn't know how long they had been walking for as the sun continued to beat down on them, but she could hardly see straight. Her mouth was dry, the shoes on her feet ruined and the dark clothes she wore ripped. Poe's brown shirt was also ripped slightly and he still had dried blood on his face.

"Can you hear that?" Rosella wondered, a faint noise of echoing screams in her ears as she stood still and Poe listened intensely too.

"Yeah," Poe nodded.

"It sounds like screams," Poe said.

Rosella moved with haste then, slipping up the sand as she ran to the top of the hill. She stood on top, peering down as she moved to place her hands over her mouth, the sight beneath enough to make her feel fear. Poe was soon behind her, his hand on her back and his other arm moving in front of her waist and pushing her back down the hill to hide them.

"There's nothing we can do," Poe told her, keeping them out of sight as only their heads peered over the dip. "I have no weapon…nothing…"

"They're destroying everything," Rosella spoke in a small voice.

All she could see from the small village were destroyed huts and homes. Smoke rose into the air as thick as fog. The smell was atrocious and the screams enough to haunt Rosella for the rest of her days as Poe kept her firmly pressed to his side.

"They're in the air too," Poe said, noticing the sight of impending TIE fighters. "We need to keep low and hidden. If they're looking for us-"

"-They will be looking for BB-8 too," Rosella interrupted. "And a part of me suspects that Armitage is more interested in the droid than me."

"I doubt that," Poe muttered. "I should have killed the bastard…if I had a weapon then I would have. I'd have killed him for what he had done to you."

"He's not worth it," Rosella promised him. "I don't want you to kill anyone for me. Do you understand that?"

"Let's argue about this another time," Poe urged her. "For now we need to find somewhere to hide until they've gone."

The fighters seemed to pass over them without any interruption, but Rosella agreed with Poe. They moved with haste until they were far enough away from the destruction. Poe had no idea what he saw ahead, but it looked like an abandoned ship of some kind. He said nothing, dragging Rosella towards it.

"Looks derelict to me," Poe said to her.

"Guess so," she agreed and Poe did his best to open the hatch into it, struggling for a few moments. He pulled it off and smoke left the joints as Poe peered into it.

"Looks safe," Poe said, stepping into the large ship and Rosella followed him, letting him take her hand and haul her into it. She followed him through the steel corridors as Poe looked around, taking note of things as he passed them by.

They soon came to an open space next to the cockpit and Poe climbed into the cockpit that was looking onto the landscape. Rosella watched as he tried to get the radio to work, but with no luck. He threw the speaker down and ran a hand through his hair.

"There will be a way to fix it," Rosella said, taking his shoulder into her hands and squeezing lightly. "I can think of something…"

"Yeah," Poe said half-heartedly and climbed from the seat. "I'll see if I can get this thing to fly. We don't want to be staying on Jakku for long…if they've already sent troops then it won't be long before they send another batch when Hux realises they didn't find you."

"You…I did tell you not to come after me," Rosella informed Poe, her voice low. "But I'm glad you did. Even if he finds me again-"

"-That won't happen," Poe promised her, his hands running up and down her arms. "And I would never leave you, Rose. You knew that."

She nodded and moved to kiss him chastely. "And I…I'm so grateful…"

"Hey," Poe smirked. "I don't risk my life for any girl, you know. You're pretty special, Rose."

She nudged him in the chest then and moved towards the cockpit, taking the pilot's seat while Poe watched her.

"I'll try to get the radio to work," Rosella informed him. "You work on getting this thing flying."

Poe smirked as he watched her focus on the radio. He nodded and dropped his hands to his hips. "On it."

…

A/N: Let me know what you think!