A/N: Thank you so much for all of the love! This chapter contains a particular trope I've always loved but never had the occasion to write. I hope you enjoy. Extra love to my beta-extraordinaire Stencil Your Heart.
Chapter Three – Lifts and Understandings
"We believe that if we can make contact with the secessionist sect on Indri we can gather more information on the First Order's movements through several moles the secessionists have placed within the formal government."
Poe leaned forward in his seat, bracing his elbows on his thighs while he watched a holo of the ice planet Indri spin slowly for the Resistance command to see. Although he was listening intently to the morning intelligence briefing, he also wasn't as invested in this particular bit of news as he was in other things. Making contact with Indri's brutal but effective secessionist sect wasn't a job that fell on his radar. Back channel communicating was a task for people far more talented in coding. Poe didn't have the patience for covert messages delicately worded and he certainly couldn't be paid to sit down and actually try to parse it apart. He was more of a boots on the ground, blaster in his hand kind of guy when it came to forging Resistance alliances and, moreover, Poe's mission work tended to be much higher in priority than this.
Still, allies anywhere were critical, especially since he was beginning to think they were all alone on this desolate planet, spinning in a vacuum that swallowed any and all attempts at contact with the greater galaxy. Indri wasn't a particularly important planet but the same could be said for most others. Adding each one up to reach a whole system and then stacking systems on top of one another is how they would amass their strength. Poe was forever grateful to anyone in the Resistance who helped forge those bonds.
From her place at the rim of the large holoprojector, General Organa pursed her lips. Poe could see her face through the holo of Indri, the lines at her eyes and mouth tight, only exacerbating the drawn quality she'd had since surviving her near-death experience on the Raddus. If Poe was being honest, she'd been affected before then, too. Although he'd never faced losing the love of his life-that would require meeting her-Poe didn't need to endure that experience to understand how acutely Leia felt the loss of Han. Adding the horrific circumstances of Han's death and their years of estrangement certainly hadn't helped. All-in-all, Leia simply wasn't the same woman he'd met a few years earlier, recruiting New Republic pilots to her cause. And yet, none of the recent horrors to befall her seemed to dent her composed exterior or her iron grip on her faculties, which is what distinguished her from any other commanding officer he'd ever had and was a quality Poe knew he lacked in himself.
"Have we made any progress with our other contacts?"
The communications officer presenting this particular update shifted her weight and wouldn't quite meet Leia's eye. Taking that as answer enough, Leia didn't bother to wait for excuses or even the promise that the communications team was working on it; she already knew that and repeating the same thing from two days prior didn't help anyone.
Poe pursed his lips and stared down at his knees, feeling suddenly forlorn. He was beginning to think that the allies he once so staunchly believed in were nothing more than figments of his overactive imagination. So far he'd listened to the same disappointing report every other day with no signs of change on the horizon.
An elbow dug lightly into his side. Connix leaned over to him and whispered in his ear. "Where's Rey?"
Poe sat up a little straighter. He searched the operations room for a sign of Rey's preferred style of dress, unique from the array of Resistance uniforms. Normally she stuck out in a crowd but he didn't see her now. He leaned to his other side and Finn turned his ear to hear him.
"Where's Rey?"
"Training," Finn whispered, not taking his attention off the new holo supporting the presentation of the chief supply officer.
Poe only narrowly avoided the urge to roll his eyes. Just what exactly Rey was training for, he didn't quite know but ever since landing on Wavern, Rey had spent most of her time sequestered away from everyone else, pouring through a series of hopelessly tattered leather-bound books and learning whatever it was Jedi learned. Even as a child, he never understood the appeal of the Jedi in the stories his parents told him. The idea of foregoing all of his personal possessions and attachments and learning to reel in his chaotic, often strong emotions didn't appeal to him on any level, no matter how awesome lightsabers were. Besides, multiple people over the course of his life had tried and mostly failed to teach him to curb his emotions. He didn't think a bunch of ancient Jedi texts or even Luke Skywalker's Force ghost were going to do the trick if even Leia had failed.
His reticence toward the whole notion of becoming a Jedi certainly colored his opinion on Rey's reclusive nature but Poe also thought all the time she spent holed away from the rest of the Resistance deprived them of a strong fighter. There was a time and place for intense meditation and moving rocks and everything else incredible that she did and in Poe's entirely not-humble opinion, the middle of a damn war wasn't it.
Finn scowled when Poe made a sarcastic face. "She planning on telling us what she's training for? Or what 'training' even means?"
Funn's unamused shake of his head told Poe everything. No, Finn didn't have an answer to either question but he also wasn't going to press Rey for those answers either. For being a Storm Trooper capable of bucking his programming and deserting the First Order, Finn was endlessly loyal though Poe could never quite tell the priority of Finn's loyalties between his friends.
"I'm pretty sure kicking Kylo Ren's ass is high on her list," he snapped under his breath, eyes still locked on the supply report.
Poe made a 'pfft' sound and decided that prodding Finn further was going to get him absolutely nowhere. He learned back toward Connix and started to open his mouth before she held up a hand to silence him.
"I got it," she promised.
"Commander Dameron?" Leia's call to action spurred him to his feet.
Part of Poe's duties included keeping command abreast of all notable First Order operations. He worked with the ground teams scanning as many channels as possible to determine the advance of the First Order's troops and make tactical recommendations of where the Resistance was best utilized in trying to stem the onslaught. These days, however, Poe felt like he was just rattling off a long list of successful First Order encroachments into undefended planets. The wild, impulsive part of him wanted to take on the whole of the First Order alone, fueled by sheer anger over its merciless, outright barbaric gunning of the fleeing Resistance. But even on his best days, Poe simply couldn't do the job alone. Without the manpower, firepower, or fleet to back him up, he was just an insignificant speck to be wiped off the forward windows of a star destroyer's bridge.
His part of the briefing was, as it had been for weeks now, dismal at best and vaguely interesting at most. Leia wouldn't send her precious remaining troops into a losing battle and after swallowing the bitter pill of the Raddus and Crait, Poe agreed with her. For now, they were better off hunkering down and riding out the storm until they could replenish their numbers both in terms of fighters, support staff, and ships. That didn't lessen his overall depression about the situation, a seditious state of mind that bloomed into life in his mind and heart, a seed sown from the fear and hopelessness he'd felt locked in that crumbling base on Crait.
"Things will change," Leia commented to him a little while later. She sat next to him while the rest of command filed out, off to their respective duties. "I know it doesn't feel that way now but all it takes is one report or source to alter the course of events."
She laid a hand on his knee and he covered it, giving her fingers a squeeze. "I gotta tell you, General; it's getting harder to keep the faith."
"And that's alright. You can't be everything for everyone and you don't always have to put on a brave face. That's why we rely on each other."
"You're just a fountain of wisdom, aren't you?" He teased and she fixed him with a motherly look that, unbeknownst to her, caused his heart to ache. Poe could still remember the way his mother often looked at him, like he personally hung all the moons and arranged every star just for her. To see even the specter of that expression reminded him that he'd give just about anything for his late mother's perspective on this whole mess.
"Years of experience, Poe," Leia counseled, patting his knee. "You'll get there, I promise."
Poe wasn't entirely certain of that. He knew he was slowly evolving into a promising leader but he doubted he could ever touch Leia for her wisdom and unshakeable judgment.
"One day," he affirmed anyway, more for her sake than his. "I should go check in with Tyce and Snapp; they were supposed to do an atmospheric sweep of the planet for security."
"Get to it, Commander."
Poe left Leia to stare pensively at the holo of Waveren, where all appeared to be quiet for now. He wished he had her knack for knowing what to say and when to say it but in lieu of that, Poe did know when he was better off staying quiet lest he make things worse. Leaving the general to her thoughts, Poe exited operations to make for the most likely places he might find Tyce or Snapp.
He'd just turned a corner, making toward the lift when a voice rang out behind him.
"Commander! Commander Dameron!"
Poe did an immediate about face only to meet Alannah's scowl as she passed a couple of people to reach him. She had a rag pressed to her hand and his stomach sank.
Not this again!
X X X
On the list of things Alannah wanted to do with her day, chasing Poe down to lecture him about BB-8's behavior wasn't one of them. She'd accepted the fact that the little droid was determined to keep a close eye on her while she worked. She'd even accepted the fact that BB-8 didn't care for her. What she couldn't accept was BB-8's open hostility toward her. BB units were programmed to be loyal to their masters, Alannah knew that but she never expected to find a droid so wholly devoted to its master as BB-8 was to Poe. And now that he had witnessed multiple clashes between the pair, BB-8 had taken a staunch side in their war of wits and Alannah was the clear loser. She had the electrical burns from his prods to prove it.
Alannah had already talked to Poe twice about this only to receive his assurances that she just needed to be patient and BB-8 would come around. This time, however, Alannah had had enough and Poe was going to listen to her or else he was going to have to find a new technician.
It took her only a few minutes to track Poe down. Every morning the Resistance command met for a general briefing. She caught sight of him striding from operations and only had to call out his name twice to get his attention. When he whirled around to face her, however, she discovered she'd caught him in one of his rare but potent bad moods.
"Alannah-" he raked a hand through his hair. "I've already told you, if you're nice to BB-8, he'll be nice to you." She repeated the phrase along with him, waving her fingers along for emphasis.
"I am nice!" She argued. "You know that I'm nice to him. It's not my attitude that's the problem, it's that BB-8 flat out doesn't like me."
"Well what do you want me to do about it? Ground him? He's allowed to dislike you."
Alannah bit the inside of her cheek so hard she tasted blood in order to keep her sharp insult from flying out of her mouth. Over the past month they'd become increasingly comfortable with each other and that meant letting the occasional sharp barb fly. That was acceptable when they were arguing over the speed of maintenance or just Poe's irritating presence while she was trying to work but she couldn't very well insult him in the middle of a hallway, in front of other people.
Poe, recognizing that tiny victory, spun on his heel to continue on his less-than-merry way.
"I didn't say he had to like me but I don't think it's too much to ask him to stop shocking me when he doesn't agree with something I do!"
Alannah caught up with him and held up her hand to show off the shiny, stinging burn marks that were impossible to misidentify. Poe considered her hand for a moment before deflecting in an exaggerated sigh. "I have better things to do than play moderator."
"Again," Alannah ground out, having to take slightly smaller, faster steps to keep up with him. "I don't need a moderator. All I'm asking is that you ask BB-8 to stop shocking me for asinine reasons."
"Meaning it's okay for him to shock you for non-asinine reasons?"
"It's not okay for him to shock me at all!" She snapped.
Poe halted in front of the lift that would carry him to who-knew-where. Alannah didn't particularly care about where he was going or what he was doing but she wasn't about to let him get on that lift and let the doors shut in her face. He'd already managed to use briefings and training as excuses to get out of dealing with this issue but not this time. He pushed the button with a little more force than necessary and she could see a tiny vein jumping out at his temple while he waited.
"Alannah," even the way he said her name spoke to some exhausted, drawn quality that weighed down his spirit even if it didn't show on his face. "I don't like curbing BB-8's behavior through orders and demands."
"But it's okay for him to abuse me while I'm on the job?" Her question got his attention, head snapping in her direction even as the lift doors open. Alannah took advantage of his momentary surprise to slip onto the lift. He couldn't very well pretend like he hadn't been waiting and so he took the two steps necessary to board after her. As soon as the doors shut, Alannah crossed her arms over her chest and fixed him with a less irritated, still gravely serious expression. "Poe, I'm not a slave. I don't care if BB-8 doesn't like me because you and I can't get along. I don't deserve to be treated this way. I know that you know that."
Over the course of their many arguments, Alannah got the impression that Poe was not an easily offended man. Judging from the rapid shift in his entire body, his posture going rigid, arms tightening over his chest and his face darkening, Alannah had touched a particularly sensitive nerve.
"Did anyone say that you-" he pointed a finger at her and then broke off, finishing his sentence with a frustrated groan. Perhaps this wasn't what Alannah wanted to do with ehr morning but she could tell that Poe wanted to be on the receiving end of it even less. "Of course you're not a slave. Why would you even say that?"
The myriad of reasons as to why her mind went there was complicated and she would rather fall face-first into a sarlacc pit than reveal to him all of her 'whys.' "Maybe that was a bad choice of words but the sentiment is still the same. I'm working on your X-Wing because you asked me to."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're difficult? You're just-" he made a circular motion around her face to convey his frustration either because he couldn't come up with the words or the language he wanted to use was too coarse for a Commander to use when addressing a subordinate.
Poe's sentence was cut off by a creak and then a loud metallic scrape that shook the whole lift as it ground to a halt. Alannah threw a hand out to catch herself on the wall, her shoulder bumping into Poe who did the same thing. The overhead lights, already somewhat dimmed with age, flickered. Alannah's body tensed up.
"That can't be good," she murmured, pushing herself straight.
"Oh, you think?"
"And not helped along with that attitude," she grumbled under her breath.
One of the few benefits to being a Laryaian that Alannah had identified was that her slightly larger than normal eyes were made for seeing in the dark. Evolved over thousands of years mining the planet's rich subterranean ore veins, Laryaians all possessed the same ability to see better than most other humans. That was part of what made Alannah so good at fine detail work; she could just flat out see it better than most. At the moment, however, her superior vision wasn't helping her because she couldn't see any physical sign of damage to the lift, not from the inside anyway.
"It's an old base," Poe murmured, craning his head up toward the ceiling. "Things are bound to be a little out of order."
Alannah bit the tip of her tongue to keep from pointing out that they were in a little more trouble than that. "I just hope it's not something to do with the cable system or even degradation of the lift track."
"Wait-can that happen?"
She shrugged. "Most metal corrodes over time and it's not like the atmosphere is ideal. But, more than likely it's just an electrical short."
Alannah turned toward the isolated panel set into the wall above the buttons. She didn't have much in the way of fingernails-they broke too often on the job to be fussy about keeping them pretty-but she had just enough to dig into one side of the panel and push. It popped free, swinging out on its hinges to clang against the lift door.
"Alright," she murmured to herself. "Let's see what we can do."
The electrical panel was something of a mess. In the flickering, dim light, she identified small areas of moisture and water damage to the circuitry and the protective coating on some the wires had been worn away, leaving exposed metal. Following along the tangled mess, she eventually isolated the first component and carefully tweaked the wire and-
"Aha! Let there be light," she murmured as the lights stopped flickering and transitioned into failsafe mode, casting a dim circle over their heads.
"Okay, but what about the part where we need to get moving? I've got pilots to debrief."
"And I have hyperdrives to repair but you can't just rush this! I thought I heard someone say the base was an old mine shipping complex repurposed to be a base which means this lift shaft might go past the main floor," she mused, rubbing the back of her neck in thought.
"Hold up," Poe stopped her before he could continue thinking out loud. His face scrunched in confusion. He pointed down toward the durasteel floor beneath them. "How far?"
Alannah shrugged. "How should I know? I'm just guessing here. On Laryaia some of the main mine and lift shafts extend for dozens of floors." Her eyes narrowed. "Why? You're not afraid of a little fall, are you?"
"I don't think anyone would say dozens of floors into the middle of an unexplored mine qualifies as 'little.'" Alannah tried not to let him see her roll her eyes at his use of finger quotes but he did and that only exacerbated his irritation. "Look, normally I don't mind the enjoyment you take out of insulting me but right now I am not in the mood."
"Okay, duly noted," she muttered under her breath. Rather than continue to deal with Poe's deplorable mood, Alannah continued picking through the wires in the lift, trying to get a better look at the circuitry beneath. From the setup, she could tell that the lift did indeed extend several floors more than the three at surface level. "There's damage but I'm not sure I can do much without a set of tools. I could try-" she tried to tweak a switch and pulled back when sparks flew "-nope, no, terrible idea."
"Alannah?"
She held up a hand to silence Poe.
"Just give me a second."
"Alannah."
Whirling around, she was prepared to take his head off when Poe pointed up. She followed the line of his finger to the ceiling where she could see the maintenance hatch. "We could try climbing out."
That had more promise than anything she could come up with. There was only one problem she could identify. "Poe, this lift is over eight feet tall. How do you propose you get up there? I doubt even you can jump that high."
"Not me. You." Alannah's mouth fell open in surprise. He wanted her to what? "Most lift shafts have a ladder for maintenance, right?"
"Well, yes but-"
"And you're small enough to fit through the hatch."
"Of course I am, so are you-"
"Maybe, but I doubt you can give me a leg up to reach it. I'm going to give you a boost, you're going to open the hatch, and hopefully make enough noise that someone will pry open the doors and get help."
Unfortunately, Alannah couldn't think of a better plan. Poe dropped down to one knee and laced his fingers together. Swallowing her uncertainty, Alannah braced her hands on his shoulders. He was warm and firm beneath her hands, muscles tensed in preparation. Trying not to think too much about what she was about to do, she stepped into the cradle of his hands. Poe lifted her up with surprising ease and she raised her hands overhead, loosening the latches on the hatch and pushed it open with a huff.
"Got it?" Poe asked as she braced her forearms on the ledge.
"Yeah."
Alannah hauled herself over the side, sitting on the edge. From below, Poe looked comically small and surly with his hands planted on his hips. "What can you see?"
The lift shaft was dark with the light from the lift itself lending her just enough illumination to see the shaft extend up two floors to the ceiling and when she dared to peek over the ledge, her stomach swooped uncomfortably before falling out of the bottom of her body, down what she estimated were at least two dozen floors. The lift itself was held by two thick cables, one of which helped to power the track attaching the lift to the shaft. Glancing up at the cables, her stomach swooped uncomfortably. Blue and white sparks flew off from a large fray in the power cable, raining over her head and down through the open hatch.
"What the hell is that?"
"Trouble," Alannah replied, daring to get to her feet.
The ladder ran the length of the shaft to the left of the track and it led up to the main floor's doors. There was a gap of maybe three feet separating Alannah from the ladder and she remembered with a shudder that maintenance crew normally wore harnesses attached to cable anchors outside of the lift, saving them from any nasty falls. If she fell, it would be a long drop capped off with a painful end. But she wasn't certain the second cable would hold if the power cable gave. If she didn't get help and that happened, then the impact of the lift plummeting to the bottom would almost certainly kill Poe.
Alannah took an unsteady step toward the ledge, feeling the lift shake and her body quiver. If she could just reach out a little further...a shower of sparks rained down on her, catching the back of her neck. And then-
"Alannah!" Poe yelled for her when the lift lurched and she stumbled, falling backward. "Get back in here!"
She was already ahead of him and rolled over, reaching the edge of the hatch. Alannah crested the side just as more wires in the power cable snapped. For a second she felt weightless, falling into nothing as the lift fell around her before she felt two arms brace her, softening the blow right before she hit the floor. The lift stopped.
"Are you okay?" Poe's voice was soft in her ear and he was so close she could feel his warm breath on her neck.
"I-"
The lift plummeted again and Poe pulled her tight against his chest. Alannah's body reacted without her knowing, turning her face into his neck. There was nothing hiding would do to protect her from the potential impact but she couldn't stop herself. A painfully loud metallic screech accompanied the lift scraping against the tracks, grinding to a halt. She wasn't sure if her heartbeats stretched out for multiple seconds at a time or perhaps time simply slowed while they waited for the next drop. It never came and eventually she dared to lift her head and remembered where she was.
Her body fit too easily against Poe's, resting sideways between his legs and pressed up against his chest and torso. Every breath he took brought him against her and with her hand on his chest, she could feel the firm muscles beneath his shirt along with his racing heart. Contained within the circle of his arms, Alannah was fully aware of the places their bodies touched and his tense muscles caging her in place, far stronger than she'd given him credit for. Stars above, what exactly was he hiding beneath that orange flight suit? They were so close she could smell the traces of soap clinging to his skin and his breath mingled with hers in the scant space. It had been so long since she'd been this close to anyone for any reason and despite the decidedly unromantic nature of their position and the fact that it was Poe holding her, Alannah couldn't help but feel a little thrill roll through her. Knowing that he'd willingly taken the brunt of and broken her fall only intensified the feeling.
Alannah felt dizzy and she needed space lest she allow the fanciful side of her nature carry her away.
"Poe," she whispered, keeping her gaze down, eyelashes brushing her cheeks. "I think we've stopped moving."
"Yeah."
"So, you can probably let go of me now."
She dared to look at him now only to find herself trapped in the intensity of his stare. His lips parted softly and she felt her stomach swoop again. Alannah wasn't blind but she'd never noticed the finer details before. But now that she was this close to Poe, she appreciated the shape of his mouth and the strong line of his jaw, covered in a thick coat of stubble. Just thinking about him in such intimate terms worried Alannah even more than the precarious position of their lift. Not once in her life had she been the type to be easily disarmed by a handsome man and she wasn't about to start now. Waxing poetic over perfect mouths and the almost immaculate sweep of his dark waves from his forehead was better left for one of his many admirers. Alannah wasn't on his radar and didn't want to be.
Poe eased his hold on her and she started to move to her knees. The lift creaked and she froze.
"Carefully," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as though he feared the soundwaves alone could dislodge the lift from its spot on the track.
This time she didn't argue and she didn't dismiss his hands coming to help her transition to sit next to him, their backs pressed against one of the walls. He didn't let go of her until she was safely seated.
"So, this is pretty bad."
"Yeah," she whispered, glancing up through the still-open hatch. "But sooner or later someone's going to notice you're gone, right?"
"Or you," he added.
Somehow Alannah doubted that but she kept it to herself. Now wasn't really the time to get into an argument. Instead she decided to adopt the best course of action she could think of, which was to maintain a positive outlook.
"Well, someone will figure it out and they'll find us. I mean, honestly, how long could it take?"
X X X
An hour later, Alannah wanted to roast her words over an open fire and eat them. Her backside was almost numb and her lower back screamed from being stuck in the same position for so long but she didn't dare move. Neither did Poe who appeared to be taking his captive status way worse than her. This didn't completely surprise her. Being in the business of repairing light spacecraft often meant she had to contort her body into small places and in weid, often uncomfortable positions to get the job done. She'd gotten good at ignoring pain and, more importantly, she had the patience for it.
Poe, on the other hand, reminded her of an animal stuffed in a cage so small it couldn't even pace back and forth to relieve tension. He twiddled his thumbs and toyed with the cuff of his shirt all while he tapped his toe to the beat of a song she couldn't hear. Did the man even know what stillness meant? Alannah was almost certain he did because he'd been the main operative in several ground-based missions that probably required some small amount of stealth. But right now he had all the stealth of a herd of bantha stampeding through a crystal shop and it was setting her on edge, which wasn't an easy thing to do.
"Poe." She started to reach out to still his hands but stopped herself at the last second. They were familiar and on good terms with each other but they weren't that familiar.
"Sorry, can't help it. I hate being helpless."
"I get that." Alannah stretched one of her legs and flexed her foot. "You're used to going into any situation, guns blazing. But seriously, the best thing we can do right now is just be patient." A sarcastic smirk tugged at her lips. "Which is a real challenge for you, I know."
Poe sighed. "I'm not that bad." After a brief pause, he frowned. "Am I?"
Alannah had never pegged him for the insecure type. Poe exuded confidence; it practically dripped off him in everything he did. He gave orders without hesitating and never let any pre-mission jitters show whenever he clambered into the cockpit. Alannah also didn't live under a rock; she'd heard all of the stories about Poe, about his courage under fire and the daring missions he undertook. His simple, tiny question betrayed that bravado and showed her something deeper, something she didn't expect.
"Patience definitely isn't one of your crowning virtues but you're not that bad. And even if you are, most of the time you've got a pretty good reason. Missions don't wait and neither does the general."
"No, she does not," Poe agreed. He tilted his head toward her. "And I don't always rush in with guns blazing. I actually am an extremely well-trained fighter."
"I know that. You'd have to be to survive the things you have."
"So, you've heard the stories."
Alannah rolled her eyes. "Poe, who hasn't heard the stories? At the rate you're going, your name's gonna wind up in the same breath as General Organa's."
"Oh, I'm sorry, was that a compliment?"
"No" she scoffed."
"Are you sure? 'Cause it sounded like a compliment."
In truth, Alannah wasn't sure whether it was a compliment or not. Growing up in a poor sector of an already poor mining planet, she knew all of the legends surrounding the fall of the Empire, of General Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker, but she never paid much attention. Allowing herself to get carried away by mystical stories about larger-than-life figures only served as a distraction and when she struggled to put food on the table and to make sure her father made it to his shifts at the mine on time, Alannah couldn't afford distractions. In fact, she hadn't believed most of what she heard as a child until she joined the Resistance and saw Leia Organa in person.
"Take it for what you will. Someone has to wind up being a legend in this war and better you than me."
Poe chewed her words over for a moment, pressing the tips of his fingers together over and over again. "Trust me, I've done plenty of things that probably disqualify me from legend status."
Alannah started to ask 'like what' but then recalled his shoddy safety bypass technique on his X-Wing's hyperdrive. That kind of skill certainly wasn't something taught to New Republic recruits or even to scrappier resistance pilots. No, Poe picked that up from a decidedly shadier source, though over the past month she hadn't dared to ask. Instead she entertained herself with theories on what Poe possibly might have done in his early years. Every time Alannah considered the possibilities, she had to remind herself that Poe's past was none of her business.
An uncomfortable silence hung over them. Poe continued to mess with one of the rolled cuffs of his shirt, waiting for her to work up the gumption to ask him. If that was truly the case then he would be waiting a long time. Alannah had zero intention of going there.
"Kijimi."
Alannah almost didn't hear him, he spoke so softly. She did not mistake the note of regret or his hesitance.
"Excuse me?"
"Alannah, are you really gonna tell me after that day in the hangar you haven't been wondering?" Poe crossed his arms over his chest, drumming his fingers along his upper arm. When Alannah didn't answer, he took it as a cue to keep talking. "I was a spice runner, working with a crew out of a small town in Kijimi."
Alannah choked on a cough. A strong hand came to land between her shoulder blades, slapping her on the back a couple of times while she recovered herself. She was so overcome with surprise she only remembered at the last second that it was unwise to turn her body all the way to face him. "You're kidding me. You? Poe. Poe Dameron. Resistance commander. You ran spice."
His grimace was answer enough. "That's exactly why I don't tell people."
"Well, it's just really shocking. It's hard to imagine you, of all people, running spice."
Poe's frown deepened. From within the depths of his shirt he produced a silver chain. She'd seen flashes of it before but didn't think much of it. A plain ring hung from the chain, far too small to fit on any of Poe's fingers.
"It was my mom's. My dad got overprotective after she died and by the time I turned sixteen, I couldn't get off Yavin fast enough. One thing led to another and I wound up piloting getaway cruisers and smuggling spice in unregistered cargo ships."
Alanna still couldn't wrap her head around it for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, running spice was illegal and incredibly risky. Runners were killed on the job all the time - by dealers, buyers, First Order patrols, even their own crewmates. For another, Poe possessed an indescribable, almost intangible moral quality that seemingly placed him worlds away from quick and dirty back alley deals and bricks of spice. Even when he made mistakes in leadership he was unimpeachable, a figurehead of hope that people in all levels of the Resistance looked to for inspiration and so much more. Poe presented himself as a man above temptation. He strove for justice, for the freedom of every last living soul in the galaxy and running spice, the direct source of so much economic and class oppression throughout the galaxy-her home planet included-just didn't fit.
And yet.
Her mind crawled back to the stories she'd heard. Poe was known for his incredible, albeit risky flight maneuvers. Although she'd never seen him fly in person, the tales of his antics reverberated through the hangar. Poe was a master of tight turns; he could blow TIE Fighters into smithereens mid-barrel roll and skim the surface of a star destroyer leaving mere inches between it and the belly of his fighter. He took risks in flight as he did in his configurations, giving himself more control than most pilots because it was often all-too easy to spin out of control. The more Alannah chewed it over, the more certain pieces about him fell into place. His swagger was more than just finishing at the top of his class in the New Republic X-Wing corps. And Alannah started to wonder if perhaps his uncompromising mission to bring justice to every system was because he'd seen the absolute dredges of the galaxy and knew just how cruel people could be to one another.
She caught him chewing the corner of his thumb, unable to keep his eyes on her but also unable to look away. He was waiting for her answer, whether that was to express her disgust or perhaps even worse.
"Honestly?" She began and wished his slightly slack-jawed, anxious expression wasn't so endearing. "It explains so much. Some of your specs and preferences are really unusual. I thought it was just because you like to play it fast and loose. But if you're used to making dangerous maneuvers in old rickety ships then I guess even the battered X-Wings in the hangar are practically brand new to you."
Poe practically deflated in relief. Now confident she wasn't going to outright reject him, he reclaimed a sliver of his usual bravado.
"And it didn't occur to you to just ask me?"
She bit the inside of her cheek to contain her initial acerbic response. Alannah almost couldn't believe that they'd spent this much time together without devolving into a tiff. Sometimes she wondered if she picked fights or he did simply for the fun of it. There was something inherently entertaining about matching wits with Poe; it wasn't often she could find someone in possession of his whip-smart intelligence who also mastered sarcasm and dry humor the way he had. As they sat side-by-side, trapped in a lift that could very well drop at any given second, Alannah found herself enjoying this conversation far more than any argument she could pick.
"It's not my job to question how you like your fighter unless there's a safety risk. Besides, your past is yours and you can reveal it as you see fit."
Poe raised his eyebrows. His curls dropped low across his forehead and the tips of Alannah's fingers itched to brush them away. "Is that your subtle way of telling me I shouldn't bother asking you about yours?"
Alannah laced her fingers and raised them to rest atop her head. She was pleased he'd read between the lines because although she didn't mind disclosing certain unimportant details, she wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to tell anyone the whole truth of how she wound up in the Resistance. "Something like that. I was no spice runner though, I can promise you that."
"Oh no, you're way too good for that, I can tell." The compliment slipped from his lips with unassuming ease. Alannah wondered how many women fell prey to his silver tongue over the years. "But I think that's enough to disqualify me from legendary status, don't you?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," she joked and then chuckled. "I dunno, I don't think it's quite as bad as you do. It tarnishes that golden boy reputation of yours just enough that it makes me like you a little more."
Poe let his head fall back against the wall. His eyes closed and Alannah privately envied his long eyelashes but her admiration gave way to curiosity when he waggled his eyebrows, cracking one eye open again. "Enough to let off the hostile act?" He laughed when she kicked at his shin. "I'm kidding! I just want to know if, when I tell BB-8 to knock it off, I can tell him that you're my friend? Because that'll go a long way."
Alannah could see he was fishing for more than that but BB-8 was a useful cover. If Poe thought befriending her meant that their war of wits was going to end in peace, or end at all, he had another thing coming. She simply enjoyed fighting with him too much to stop just because he happened to be a good person and she grudgingly liked him now. But Poe didn't need to know that right away; she had to get her fun however she could.
"Yeah," she affirmed and couldn't help but smile when he did upon hearing her response. "You can tell him that. Just don't ask me to set you up with any of my friends."
Poe's slightly raspy chuckle floated up toward the ceiling panels and Alannah's heart stuttered on a single beat upon hearing it. "Don't worry, Ace. I'm not currently looking."
"Ah," she didn't know why but she felt the tiniest prickle of disappointment in the lining of her stomach, perhaps because she'd now lost yet another opportunity to tease him mercilessly. "Well, I suppose the men and women of the Resistance can rest easy then. Although it's a bit of a shame; Ngala and I always thought you and the storm trooper made a cute couple."
"Finn's a smart, good-looking, loyal guy. I should be so lucky," Poe observed.
There was something there, an ugly truth buried beneath the playful surface of his words that Alannah felt. Partners of that caliber were almost impossible to find. Although there were better options than usual within the Resistance, there was also a prohibitive amount of pairing off and partner-switching. It was inevitable when this many people were placed under enormous stress and grouped together in such tight quarters. More than once Alannah had walked in on one of her roommates entangled with someone only to discover them with someone new a few weeks later. But the more she considered the situation, the more she realized something.
"I don't think I've ever even heard a rumor about you with someone else."
"That's because there's nothing to tell. I dated around when I was a pilot for the New Republic but General Organa has kept me pretty busy since joining the Resistance."
Alannah thought there was more to the story than that. Yes, Poe was busy but so was everyone else and they all managed to find pockets of downtime to engage in whatever recreational activities they saw fit, sleeping around included. Alannah had a hard time believing Poe was as pure as the driven snow. He was too smooth and personable; she was certain he'd had partners in the past. Alannah had never thought of Poe that way and before she could curb her thoughts, her traitorous mind wondered what it would feel like to tangle her fingers in his thick hair and feel his admittedly perfect mouth on hers. She stopped herself before she could go any further down that path, despite her innate curiosity over his previous experience. She decided to let it go. Alannah couldn't very well make a speech about respecting privacy and boundaries only to turn around and needle Poe about arguably the most private aspect of his life. Because he'd already earned the right to do exactly what he did next.
"That's my excuse. What's yours?"
"Well, lately it's because you keep breaking your ship and I don't have time to do anything else except eat and sleep." Poe tipped his head toward her, taking all the credit for her bizarre new schedule. "I should probably thank you, though. Most of my friends have at least one person on this base they can't make eye contact with. I'd rather stay on good terms with everyone."
Poe nudged her ankle with the toe of his boot and she playfully kicked him away. "You're welcome. And speaking of being on good terms, I will talk to BB-8. He might still give you some sass but that's just how he is."
"Thank you."
Their eyes met. For a brief moment, Alannah completely forgot the precarious nature of their circumstances. A funny, warm feeling began to fill her stomach, reminding her of how she felt drinking hot chocolate, an exceedingly rare treat, on one of the even rarer cold days on Laryaia. The familiar, comforting warmth expanded in her chest as she read the friendly affection shining on his face, from the softness of his brow to the way his jaw eased from its usual half-clenched state. Alone, trapped in the lift, she felt they sat on an equal plane; he wasn't one of the most important people in the Resistance and she wasn't a lowly technician. They were just two people trying to wade through a crowded, merciless galaxy, doing the best they could to cover the scars from their respective ugly pasts and scraping through the war one day at a time.
A flush began to creep its way up the back of her neck, hot blood slithering through her veins to stain her pale cheeks pink. They'd been staring at each other for far too long, of that much Alannah was certain.
The clumsy part of her mind began tripping over thoughts in search for any way to change the subject or force Alannah to break the strange spell holding them together. But what could she do when they were literally stuck together by virtue of their precarious position? She could stand on top of the lift and scream into the dark void of the shaft but she was certain nobody would hear her. With no other way to reach out for help, they simply had to wait until someone was desperate enough for one of them to begin tearing the base apart or finally have BB-8 scan the building.
Alannah's strong brows snapped together. The push she needed to break their increasingly intimate moment came at once, shoving her mind toward the electrical panel. She smacked a palm to her forehead.
"Oh, I'm such an idiot!"
"Why this time?"
She glared at him. "Don't make me take the last hour back," she warned and he threw his hands up in defense, though he looked exceedingly proud of himself.
"What is it?"
"The lift should have an emergency comms system. I can't believe I didn't think of it straight away."
Poe frowned. "I can't believe I didn't either."
"Stay still. I'm going to see if I can get to the panel without moving too much."
Alannah ignored Poe's feeble protest. Moving as slowly as she could, she shifted her weight and eventually rose to her knees. The lift creaked in response to the change in weight but held steady. Alannah released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. So far, so good.
"This better work," Poe grumbled under his breath. "I didn't survive taking out the Starkiller Base just to die in a lift shaft."
"Oh, you took out Starkiller?" Alannah wondered if she could actually roll her eyes right out of her head. She bit the tip of her tongue to keep from asking if he genuinely thought there was anyone left in the universe who didn't know he'd destroyed that monstrosity. She settled for a bit of sarcasm tainted with the tiniest trace of acid. "I had no idea."
"Stop, you're getting sarcasm everywhere," he fired back and Alannah just shook her head and kept her face toward the electrical panel so he wouldn't see her smirk. "It was only a whole planet-killing planet."
"It's no Death Star though. And-" she managed to get into the open electrical panel and pushed a chunk of wires aside to reveal the small hatch hiding the emergency comm. "Here we go!"
Alannah slowly returned back to her spot where Poe was definitely pouting.
"Look, just 'cause Skywalker beat me to the punch with the whole Death Star thing doesn't-"
"Hold on, I need to hear."
Alannah flicked on the comm link and listened for the tell-tale crackle but it never came. Poe's exaggerated sigh accompanied his disappointed "damn."
"Ye of little faith," she taunted and flipped the comm link over, sliding part of the cover off. There weren't many parts to the link, which made her job much easier. "Sometimes you just need to give the circuits a little prod to get them up and running again." And just like that, a faint crackle pierced the silence. Flipping the comm back over, she held it out to Poe. "I don't know the best frequency to use."
Poe took the comm and adjusted the frequency until BB-8's high-pitched, frantic beeps echoed off the durasteel walls. Alannah clapped her hands over her ears and could still hear BB-8's expressions of worry loud and clear. Eventually, Poe got the little droid to calm down long enough to relay their situation and sent him for help. When at last the ear-splitting conversation ended, Poe slumped back down and shoved the comm in his pocket.
"You gotta love that little orange and white ball of nerves."
"I'm sure I will. As soon as he stops shocking he hell out of me."
A brief pause hung tense between them before Alannah's shoulders broke at the same his did and they both snorted in laughter.
X X X
Poe was not a claustrophobic man. Being a pilot often meant a life of working in cramped cockpits and this was especially true of the X-Wing. He could handle small spaces. During his tenure on Kijimi, he'd hidden in miniscule storage compartments to avoid detection and sidled through the crush of people in the underbelly of so many cities he eventually stopped keeping track. He was used to the tight confines of his fighter, of sleeping on narrow beds and cleaning up in a fresher barely bigger than he was. Poe did not mind small spaces but he'd never been more happy to accept Finn's helping hand as he climbed up the ladder and hauled himself through the open doorway out of the lift shaft and onto the first floor of the base.
"Oh, that's so much better," he exclaimed though he nearly fell backward when BB-8 rolled right into him. "Hey, buddy! Thanks for getting help."
"You okay?" Finn asked.
Poe privately wondered whether the First Order injected some form of bacta beneath the skin of Storm Troopers to keep their faces in a permanent scowl; he so rarely saw anything else gracing Finn's face. "I'm fine."
That was only a partial lie. Poe was mostly fine, if the definition could be stretched to include being trapped for over two hours on a lift that could have plummeted to the bottom of a dark, dank mineshaft. He hated feeling useless but he also would have hated dying in such a stupid manner even more. In fact, the only thing that was even remotely fine about the entire situation was his company. And what company Alannah was.
At his insistence, she'd taken the first harness dropped down to them. He'd helped steady her ankles, guiding her through the open hatch while a team of droids winched the harness cable, raising her up the several floors it took to get them out. By the time he followed suit, she was already on the ground and surrounded by a handful of her friends, including Connix and Rose. Aside from looking a little paler than usual-if that was even possible-Alannah appeared no worse for the wear. In fact, he would have said she didn't look at all affected by their time stuck together but Poe suspected differently. Though she'd likely never admit it, Alannah was similar to him in a few key respects, including the fact that she hid her true emotions beneath that enduring professional exterior of hers. But Poe was willing to wager everything he owned that she'd felt the monumental change in their dynamic the same way he did.
Who knew all it took was a semi-near death experience and a couple of totally uninterrupted hours to finally convince Alannah that they were friends and had been for the better part of a month now?
"So, stuck with Corallay, huh? That must have been interesting."
"Hmm," he replied, only half-listening to Finn. "It was eye-opening, that's for sure."
BB-8 nudged his leg. Poe and Finn both exclaimed their shock and looked down at BB-8 with wide, disapproving eyes upon his string of beeps practically blaming the entire situation on Alannah. Kneeling down, Poe rested a hand on the droid and shook his head.
"You've got to stop that," he counseled. BB-8's head slid further back and he expressed his total dismay. He thought that, because they fought so often, Poe didn't like Alannah and therefore BB-8 wasn't supposed to like her either.
Across the way, Alannah caught his eye. Seeing him finally addressing his droid brought a beaming, genuine smile to Alannah's face. He liked the way the corners of her eyes crinkled. Poe felt as though his stomach fell the full length of the lift shaft, swooping pleasantly under the glow of her approval.
"You need to ease up. We like Alannah," Poe explained, watching her long after she turned away from him, presumably to return to the hangar. Through a gap in the people, he caught the sway of her hips. He swallowed hard. "I like her a lot."
A/N – Next chapter includes more banter and a sudden change of plans!
Liked it? Loved it? Think BB-8 is the ultimate ride-or-die friend? I'd love to know any and all thoughts. Much love – Kappa.