Pippa shrieked and launched herself onto Poe and crashed her lips against his. Before he could react, she was on her feet, racing around the room grabbing trinkets off shelves and shoving them into a satchel.
"If we go now, we'll have a better chance of getting away unseen, or at least to get a head start before we are. It will be dangerous to cross the desert this time of night, but nothing you can't handle, right?" She whipped around and stared expectantly at Poe.
Poe, admittedly, was still rattled by what had just happened. He just nodded, fingers reaching up to ghost his lips. Pippa went back to racing through her home, opening a chest and pulling out a blaster of her own.
"I've got a speeder out back, we can take that and be there within the hour-" she tossed a scarf and a pair of goggles at Poe, "you'll want these. You don't need a facefull of sand while you're getting me off this god-forsaken junkyard!"
"You're easily excitable, you know that?" Poe stated, grabbing the goggles and scarf.
"You got a knife?" Pippa asked, ignoring his question while attaching a knife in a holster to her thigh. Poe couldn't help but steal a glance at the lean, muscled leg peaking out from the girl's tunic as she did so.
"I've uh-got a blaster." He stated, mouth dry. Pippa stopped to watch Poe stare at her, before adjusting her tunic and closing the distance between them.
"I'm aware, but this distance," she started, placing a finger under Poe's chin and moving his head up to meet her eyes, "a blaster is about as good as a knife with limited shots," Poe swallowed hard, acutely aware of the heat radiating off the woman's body pressed against his, " and would you look at that?" Poe's eyes widened as he felt the cool metal of a blade press against his neck, "I've got a knife with unlimited shots, so, try something." Pippa pulled the knife away from Poe's throat and tucked it back in it's holster. She winked at him and turned back to packing, tossing another sheathed knife towards Poe without looking, before dropping the lid to the storage container back into place.
Poe let out the long exhale of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Blasters don't exactly run out of their fuel source very quickly, you know."
"Just take the damn knife Dameron, and hope you don't have to use it. Better that than realize you don't have it when you need it." Poe picked up the knife and slipped it in his pocket, not willing to enter an argument he would very likely lose.
"So we go to Nima, borrow one of the lovely ships from Unkar Plutt, get the hell away from this system, then what's next for you?"
"Can you take me as far as Coruscant?"
"Bit of a change of scenery for you, don't you think?" Poe slung his bag over his shoulder as Pippa paced around the shelter, checking for anything she'd missed before leaving for good.
"I'm not from Jakku, you know. I've seen a city before." Pippa replied sarcastically, picking up a small book and shoving it into her bag.
"Are you from Coruscant?"
"No." Poe waited for her to continue, to offer an explanation. When she didn't, he answered.
"I can drop you there, just be careful. Easy place to get lost."
"Easy place to blend in." Pippa walked towards the door to the shelter, grasping the handle and looking around one last time. She gave her old home a small nod before stepping outside. Poe was quick to follow.
She led him around back of the shelter to a rather pathetic looking speeder. Pippa wasted no time jumping on before wrapping a scarf around her head and over her face, fixing a pair of goggles over her eyes.
"Well, come on." She stated in a half-whisper at Poe.
"Is this thing gonna make it?" He questioned, following Pippa's lead and donning his own scarf and goggles.
"It's a lot easier to snag parts for the engine than for the body, if you don't want to be noticed, that is."
"Scavenger and a thief, quite the resume you've got there." Poe teased, climbing up to sit behind Pippa.
"Yeah? Rumor is you were running spice before you cleaned up your act, so I don't think you're exactly in a place to pass judgment." Pippa jabbed at Poe, the hum of the speeder's engine coming to life.
"How did you know-"
"I listen, and I'm not from here. Why is that hard for you to grasp?"
Poe didn't get the chance to answer, not that he'd have had anything to say. Pippa pushed the throttle and the speeder set off at a breakneck pace, causing Poe to grab her waist to keep from falling off. The cool night air whipped past them. Soon, Nima Outpost could be seen on the horizon, a faint glow of the sun, soon to rise, silhouetting the buildings. Poe felt the speeder slow before stopping entirely.
"Why are we stopped?" Poe whispered.
"Unkar Plutt has guards at night, our best chance at getting out of here unnoticed is to go in on foot." Pippa replied, dismounting gracefully. Poe followed, and the two jogged towards the junkyard. As the shipyard came into view, Poe felt Pippa's hand wrap around his wrist and jerk him towards the ground. Poe lost his footing as Pippa pulled him behind a large stone water basin.
"What the hell-" Pippa's free hand slapped over his mouth, silencing him. She held a finger to her lips, gesturing up for Poe to look. He peered over the rim of the well, spotting three guards near the entrance to the yard.
"Three against two, I don't hate those odds." Poe whispered, grabbing his blaster and flipping off the safety.
"You're just as trigger happy as your reputation suggests-" Pippa rolled her eyes as she pulled something out of her bag, "we're trying NOT to draw attention to ourselves, remember?"
"You got a better plan?"
"Yeah, when I run, you run." Pippa pushed herself off the ground and Poe followed. Before he could question, Pippa reared back and chucked whatever she'd been holding in the opposite direction of the ship yard before taking off in a sprint.
Poe followed, his question soon answered with a loud bang, followed by a bright series of flashes.
"Flash grenades?! THAT'S your brilliant plan to not draw attention to us?!" Poe spat, knowing the tussle of a fight would bring significantly less attention that the rhythmic flashing and banging noise of the grenade.
"Best way to not draw attention to yourself is to draw it to something else. Head for that freighter!" Pippa called, lobbing another grenade in the same direction as before.
To Poe's surprise, the three guards were already running towards the flashing light, weapons drawn. Pippa's plan was working.
Until it wasn't.
"STOP! THEIF!" A gruff voice called as the two raced towards a small freighter. Before Poe could react, a flash of red light hit the guard square in the chest. Poe whipped his head around to see Pippa aiming a blaster at the man, still running towards the ship.
"Come on flyboy, our luck is running out!" Pippa called, scrambling up the ship's ramp. Poe followed, stopping only to fire a few shots at the guards approaching.
"HEY, YOU FLY, I'LL SHOOT!" Pippa called, racing back down the ramp and taking aim. Poe didn't need to be told twice. He raced to the cockpit and started flipping switches, thanking the stars that the ship was coming to life, although reluctantly.
"I'm closing the door, come on Pippa!" He heard her footsteps thudding towards the cockpit as he shut the hatch and pulled on the yoke, easing the ship off the ground.
Soon, they were in the atmosphere. Poe's heartbeat slowed to a normal rhythm.
"WE DID IT! FUCK YOU JAKKU! FUCK YOU UNKAR PLUTT! AND FUCK YOUR NASTY RATIONS THAT TASTE LIKE ASH!" Pippa threw her long arms around Poe before standing and spinning in the small cockpit. Poe couldn't help but smile at her expression of pure joy. Freedom will do that to you.
"Next stop, Coruscant?" Poe questioned, watching the woman's erratic dance of freedom.
"Next stop, Coruscant!" She cheered, "Then I'll be out of your hair, and you can go back to saving the galaxy. Don't you just love a happy ending?" Pippa twirled and plopped down on the floor next to the captains chair, her clasped hands tucked under her chin, face twisted in ecstasy, her large brown eyes fixed on Poe. His stomach twisted uncomfortably as he looked at the girl, unsure why he wasn't feeling the same sense of joy she was.
Poe busied himself with the ship's controls, charting a course to Coruscant. The ship's fuel reserves were low, but enough to make it there. He'd need to refuel if he wanted to make it to his next stop.
"Afraid you're not getting rid of me just yet, sweetheart. I'll need to refuel before leaving Coruscant."
"Ok, and?" Pippa questions, now sprawled across the co-pilot's chair.
"And we both should get some rest. Call me crazy, but I'm going to guess you don't have the credits to get lodging for the night."
Poe watched as the woman mulled over his offer.
"Fine. I gave you shelter, you give me shelter. Then we'll be square."
Poe grimaced.
"It's not a business transaction!" He spat sarcastically. Pippa rolled her eyes.
"Please. Everything is a business transaction in this galaxy."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, exhaustion from a long night and their daring escape settling in. Poe occasionally glanced over at the woman, who was combing her fingers through her long, black hair before braiding it and tossing it over her shoulder.
"So.." Poe started, breaking the silence, "you said you're not from Jakku?"
"Yep." Pippa replied casually.
"Where are you from?"
"Where are you from?" Pippa deflected his question, not meeting Poe's eye and feigning disinterest in their conversation.
Poe smirked.
"Naboo." He replied cooly.
"Oh yeah? Me too." Poe caught the sarcasm in her voice, subtle, barely detectable, but present nonetheless.
"What did you do there?" He asked trying to keep the woman talking.
"My family were merchants. Exotic goods."
"So how does a woman of expensive taste end up a scavenger on Jakuu?"
"Same way anyone else does." Pippa still refused to look at him, instead showing intense interest in the hem of her tunic, now gripped too tightly between her fingers.
"So crash landing?" Poe questioned, looking over at the woman. She shifted uncomfortably at his gaze.
"Something like that."
"Or running away." Poe finished flatly. The hem of her tunic fell from between her fingers, but her expression remained neutral. "That's why people go to Jakku, right? To disappear? That's why you're going to Coruscant, isn't that what you said? No, to blend in, that was it."
Pippa remained silent.
"What are you running from? Or is it a 'who?'"
"That's none of your business." The woman snapped, now glaring at Poe.
"Don't lie to me-"
"Oh that's rich, coming from you! How's Yavin IV this time of year?" She questioned threateningly.
"You know, you seem to know a little too much about me for me to believe you picked it up from the rumor mill of Jakku." Poe stated, his voice falling somewhere between playful and threatening.
"Just fly the ship." Pippa responded, annoyed. The planet of Coruscant had come into view.
"You know what? I don't think I will." Poe responded, flicking off the autopilot controls.
"Dameron, fly. The. Ship." Pippa responded through gritted teeth.
"Nah-" Poe flipped another switch, causing the small freighter to shake, "I suddenly don't really feel like it." He flipped another switch, and then another. The freighter jarred again, the gravitational pull of Coruscant pulling the ship downward..
"By the stars, Poe, we're going to crash!" Pippa yelled, now on her feet.
"Looks that way, doesn't it." Poe cut the engines entirely, sending the ship into a free fall. No sooner than he had, he felt Pippa shove him out of his seat, causing him to land on the floor with a hard thud. Before he could gain his footing, he felt the hum of the engines coming back to life as the ship began to right itself. Pippa now sat in the pilot's chair, expertly pulling the ship out of it's free fall.
"I knew it-"
"This is docking bay #74, state your business on Coruscant." A voice chimed over the ship's communications system.
Poe righted himself and sat in the co-pilot's chair before responding.
"This is Commander Dameron of the Resistance. We're having mechanical problems and need to stop to refuel." He heard Pippa snort at the mention of "mechanical problems."
"Alright commander, you can dock at hanger #42. We'll get you fixed up."
"Mechanical problems?" Pippa hissed.
"I knew it!" Poe stated, now standing, staring down at the woman now effortlessly flying the freighter.
"Save it, Dameron."
"'I need a pilot,' bullshit! You needed a bodyguard!" Poe challenged, pointing a finger threateningly at Pippa.
"Oh come off it, we both got what we wanted, didn't we?" Pippa guided the ship into the hanger, a perfect landing, before cutting the engine.
"This conversation is not over!" Poe spat, grabbing his satchel and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Yeah, I figured as much." Pippa responded, more to herself than to Poe, following him to the ship's exit.