Ten months earlier

"She is an absolute nightmare to share a room with. All she does is wake up and either scream or cry and then flee. I wouldn't mind, but she isn't exactly quiet. I tried to talk to her once but she didn't listen and just left the room. I have no idea where she goes."

Poe was doing his best not to eavesdrop, but it was very difficult when Nita Klavos was sat there and talking loud enough for everyone in the dining hall to hear her. Poe had waited for Rosella before he ate, but he had yet to see her. He had wondered where she could have been, but then he remembered that she had mentioned something about having to speak to the General that morning after Leia had requested to see her.

"Do you think she sneaks off to spy?" one of Nita's friends asked her and the human woman shrugged, tossing her long dark hair behind her shoulder.

"No idea," Nita admitted. "She came from the First Order though so she could be. But if the General trusts her then who are we to question that decision?"

Poe didn't know if she was being genuine or sarcastic, but he didn't want to stay around to listen to her. Instead he stood up and moved over to her table, catching her eye as she coughed once to stop the others around her from laughing. Removing her hand from her first, she peered up to Poe with some kind of flirtatious, yet smarmy, glance. It was almost as if she knew exactly what Poe was thinking.

"I don't know where she went," Nita said and Poe let his teeth grind together. "She's flighty and pretty irritable."

"Just stop gossiping about her," Poe urged, looking around the table as he tried to keep his gaze even and authoritative instead of angry and demanding. "She's gone through enough."

"Well maybe you can tell her to take something when she sleeps?" Nita replied, almost sounding cranky at the idea of Poe telling her what to do. "She's disrupting me and the people next to us."

"Just stop," Poe said, holding his hand up as he backed away from their table and left the dinner room. He knew, of course, that by telling them not to talk that they would do the opposite. Not only would they talk about Rosella, but they would talk about how he was close to her.

The problem wasn't the fact that Poe cared. He had no interest in what they said, but he knew that Rosella had a problem with it. She didn't like the idea of people talking about her, nor did she like the idea of them gossiping. She just worried what might happen if the rumours ever reached the First Order.

Poe moved around the base, greeting people with smiles and slaps on the back as he tried to find her. He didn't know where she might be considering she was the only one on the base who didn't have a role as of yet. Leia didn't know what to do with her, nor did she trust her enough to give her too much of a role. But Poe could see that Rosella was bored. She had read every book there was to read and she had done nothing but brood.

She needed something to do before she became lost in her thoughts.

The last place he had expected to find her should have been the first place he should really have thought of. She was standing outside the small shack of a school, her arms folded over her chest as she peered at the building. But the look on her face was one of pain. Her brow was sweating and her face flushed red. It was almost as if she was trapped in her own thoughts.

"Rosella," Poe called as he wandered up to her, looking as casual as always with his hands stuffed in his pockets. But she didn't stir, nor did she look in his direction.

Poe remained concerned as he moved towards her, going to stand in front of her as he took hold of her by the shoulders, but she still didn't move.

"Rosella!" Poe snapped. "Come on, Rose…come back to me…"

He shook her forcefully, almost as if he was shaking her awake. Eventually she blinked profusely, her hands flailing in front of her as Poe kept on holding her. She moved with haste then, pushing her body tightly up against Poe's as her hands clutched onto the brown shirt he wore, her head resting on his chest. Poe moved his hands down to her back, his chin on top of her head.

"What in the name of the Force was that?" Poe whispered, panting for breath after a moment of fear had taken hold of him. Shaking her head slowly, Rosella gulped once and took a deep breath.

"I get lost sometimes," she admitted to him. "I think about things and I…I go to this place…this dark place…"

"I take it that you have nightmares about it too?"

Poe watched as Rosella peered up to him then, her brow arched and her gaze questioning.

"How do you know about the nightmares?"

"Your roommates were complaining this morning," Poe admitted to her and Rosella shook her head, moving out of Poe's embrace and pushing her hands through her hair as she inhaled a sharp breath and Poe shrugged. "You could have told me, Rosella."

"I thought that they would go after a while," she lamely admitted.

"I could see about getting you transferred-"

"-I already asked," Rosella said. "All the rooms are full and there's nowhere for me to go. As soon as I wake up I come out here and just sit and think…or read…so I don't disturb them anymore. I know they don't like me."

"They don't know you," Poe defended. "If they did then they would understand."

"They can't know me," Rosella said with haste. "No one can know anything about what happened."

"Hey," Poe said, holding his hands up and going on the defensive. "No one knows much about you, Rosella. Hell, I only know certain bits."

"It's safer that way," Rosella said, shaking her head as she began to pace. "It's safer…not knowing…"

Poe sighed then. If only she knew that he did know. He knew because Leia had told him about her husband and the scars on her. He knew most of the things she wanted hidden, but he played ignorant. He played ignorant because he wanted her to trust him. Out of all the girls on the base, he had to pick the one who was damaged. But Poe didn't see as irreparable. Slowly, he knew that she had the strength to piece herself together. It would take time, but Poe was willing to help her. He was willing to do what he could.

"Anyway, if you need somewhere to sleep then I have a room to myself," Poe informed her. "It's not much, but it has enough space for two."

Rosella did shake her head then, almost looking horrified. "What would people say?" she demanded.

"Rose, don't take this the wrong way, okay? But people are already talking about us. I don't think they would be shocked if you spent the night in my room," Poe informed her and he saw her bite her lip, almost as if she was scared of the thought of doing such a thing.

"I'm not him," Poe urged her, trying to soothe her as he moved forwards to take hold of her hand, the motion bold, but he hoped it was not unwelcome as he let her hand lay limply inside of his. "I would never hurt you."

"I know," she said without skipping a beat. "I just don't want to burden you."

Poe chuckled then. "Well, Rose," he said, his voice low and light, "in case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of not going anywhere so I'm just going to have to deal with the burdens you bring."

Rosella didn't know whether to smile or cry with happiness at what he had just told her. She felt slightly pathetic and so she made do with a small nod and a slim smile as she kept Poe's hand inside of hers, squeezing it tightly as she allowed herself to take a step closer to him and peck him on the cheek. She let her forehead rest against his shoulder.

"Look, I have training all day," Poe said. "Why don't I just show you to my room and you can rest if you want?"

Shaking her head, Rosella straightened herself out once more after straightening out the simple dress she wore on her body. "I have to meet the General," she said. "I don't know why."

"Then go after," Poe urged her. "Go and sleep, Rosella. You look like you need it."

Rosella did smile then, nudging Poe in the stomach. "Charming."

"Only to you," Poe said, his words teasing yet full of honesty as he saw her begin to blush.

She coughed and tried to conceal her face as she murmured her excuse for leaving and told Poe she would think of his offer. Poe let her wander off, standing still with his hands on his hips as he went and he did his best not to think of how much the woman from the First Order had affected him. Perhaps he was going soft after all?

Now

Poe cursed for what seemed like the thousandth time the following morning. After spending the night hiding in the ship, Poe was struggling to remain coherent as his need for food took hold of him. His stomach rumbled at any given moment and he was struggling to think of anything but how hungry he was.

"It's not as if we even have any money," Poe complained. "All I can think about is getting home and eating."

"We will," Rosella called out to him as she remained sat in the pilot's chair, her legs crossed as she tried to fix the radio while Poe remained in the hold, working out which wire went where and how to get the ship up and running.

"I haven't ate anything since I was taken," Poe complained once more. "And do you know what they fed me?"

"A small slice of sweet bread and a glass of water," Rosella answered and Poe went silent. Rosella looked up, peering out of the cockpit to the landscape before her. She knew Poe wondered how she knew that. "I was a prisoner there too, remember?"

Poe squirmed in the hold and closed his eyes harshly, wrinkles forming on his face as he dared to pull himself from the hatch, his hands holding the ladder as he peered into the cockpit, his body remaining against the ladder.

"Sorry," Poe said and she shook her head slowly.

"Forget about it," she urged him. "Anyway, how are you getting on down there?"

"Barely managed anything," Poe said. "I know ships like the back of my hand…flying them isn't a problem, but fixing them…well…it's a bit more technical. I don't know if I'm doing it right or what. I can fix X-Wings, but I work in them all the time…this hunk of junk is impossible."

Rosella would have laughed had she not been so tired and cranky. Moving from her seat, she placed the radio down and went to the hold.

"I'll have a look," she said. "See if you can get the radio to work or something."

"What if we are better off just going into one of Jakku's town or something?"

"No," Rosella answered without hesitation. "You and I both know that if any stormtroopers are still lurking then we have no chance. There are only two of us…we're best off staying hidden."

Poe climbed out from the hatch and allowed Rosella to climb down. He didn't bother to challenge her as he saw her set to work, clearly engrossed on finding a way to get them out of the mess as soon as possible. She was quick, pushing on wires and buttons. Poe stopped watching and moved into the cockpit, flopping into the seat as his stomach grumbled.

"Oh shut it," Poe muttered to his gut as he picked up the radio.

He began tweaking things slightly, but nothing major before he heard a loud noise come from the device. It was high pitched and enough to make him slam it down and curse loudly.

Popping her head up from the hatch, Rosella moved out again and rushed into the cockpit, perching on the arm of the pilot's chair as Poe watched her pick the device up.

"What did you do?" she demanded from Poe. "I've been working on this for hours."

"Nothing," Poe said to her and she looked to him with a lack of belief. "Honestly, Rose, I didn't do anything."

"Well you must have done something," Rosella informed him. "All I need is to find the right frequency for the Resistance…make sure they pick up the call…"

"How hard is that?" Poe asked and Rosella shrugged before looking down to him again.

"If…if the First Order are still out there then there is a chance that they might pick it up and if they do then they will get to us quicker than the Resistance can get to us." Rosella explained. "But it's the only chance we have and I don't know what to do unless we can get the ship up and flying."

"I doubt it," Poe snorted. "But we can try again. If both of us are working on it then we might be able to do something."

"And if we can't?" Rosella worried and Poe took her hand inside of his.

"If we can't fix it by nightfall then we use the radio," Poe said. "It's our only chance of getting out of here, Rosella."

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!