Morning came too soon, the sunlight trying its best to penetrate the small little piece of heaven they had found. Rey watched as Poe rose and started gathering up his clothing, then disappeared behind a tree to do his business and dress. With a sigh, Rey stood and did the same on the other side of the clearing. Her clothes were still a bit damp, the humid air of the jungle not conducive to drying, but they were clean and felt much better on her clean skin than they had. Well, mostly clean skin, Rey thought. There was always a layer of sweat covering her, and probably more so than normal thanks to their exertions yesterday afternoon. She felt a shiver run through her body as she recalled Poe's talented lips and fingers.

When she finished and entered the clearing again, Poe was already working on the fire, ready to warm up some food. "I want to get started ASAP," he told her. "The sooner we get to Ajara, the better. If we can get there before nightfall, maybe we can get in contact with the SEAL team and get a plan going before daybreak."

Rey just nodded, her anxiety building again. Her neck felt stiff on the right side. She had hopes it was because of the way she had slept, wrapped more than a little awkwardly in Poe's arms, and not a warning of an impending migraine.

As she ate, Poe watched her with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you ask?" She was more than a little startled by his question. She was usually very good at hiding any discomfort.

"The way you're holding your head, and your shoulders are tighter than normal." His gaze was intense as he watched her.

She shrugged. "My neck is stiff," she admitted. "Sometimes that's a sign I'm getting a migraine."

"Shit," he whispered. "Anything you can do to ward it off?"

She glared at him.

"I know, I know!" he exclaimed. "If you could do that, you'd never get them. But is there anything I can do to help?"

"Sometimes massages with pressure points help in the early stages," she told him. "I have a hairdresser that's really good at that."

Poe immediately jumped up and came over to kneel behind her. "One head massage, coming right up!"

Rey laughed. "Poe!"

"Hey, I'll even braid your hair while I'm at it," he told her, his fingers already working at her scalp. "Tell me where the pressure points are."

Rey sat shocked for a moment, amazed at the almost instantaneous rush of pleasure that Poe's fingers were creating as he kneaded her head. She closed her eyes and absorbed the feeling. Not even her hairdresser was this good. She couldn't help the moan that escaped her.

"Rey?" he asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Pressure points?"

"Uh, yeah. At the base of my skull, where it meets my neck," she told him. "That's the best one."

She felt his thumbs work down behind her head and find the area she described. The right side was particularly sensitive; that's where it was starting, she knew. It was indeed a migraine. But instead of stressing about it, she let herself fall into an almost trance-like state as his fingers continued their ministrations, moving along her scalp, up and down, putting firm pressure at the base of her skull and then moving back up to rub her temples.

Rey was on the verge of falling asleep when she felt his hands change course and start to play with her hair, gently finger combing it and then pulling the shoulder length strands together into a simple braid. She couldn't help but smile. "Where did you learn to braid?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"Would you believe I learned as a kid?" he told her. "My dad's best friend had two daughters, just a bit younger than me. I was always left in charge of them when they came to visit. I learned all about braiding and tea parties and dressing barbies." He huffed a laugh. "But then they spent an equal amount of time playing with my Star Wars action figures and model airplanes."

Rey smiled as Poe tied off the braid with a piece of twine he pulled from his pack, using his big ass knife to cut the twine short enough it didn't dangle too far past the end of her braid. "There," he said. "How do you feel?"

Rey turned to look at him. "If you're not sure what to do after you retire from the DEA, you could make a killing doing scalp massages," she told him. Her neck was no longer stiff, and though she knew that didn't necessarily mean the migraine had been interrupted, her hope that it had been was strong.

Minutes later, they were packed up and ready to go. Poe led Rey to the rock wall off to the side of the waterfall. He looked at her with eyebrows raised. "My guess is you know how to rock climb?"

She smiled. "Of course. I don't do a lot, but I've done my fair share. My dad actually climbed Devil's Tower more than once; I never aspired to that."

"Impressive," Poe said, and she knew he meant it. "This will be a piece of cake for you." He turned to the wall and began climbing, Rey following as soon as he got a couple of body lengths above her.

He was right, it was easy. It was more like climbing a very steep staircase than actual rock climbing, with enough wide hand and footholds to offer plenty of security. It wasn't long before she was clambering up over the top to stand next to him. She looked down at the way they had come and was surprised at how hard it was to see their little forest glen; the vegetation growing along the top of the waterfall practically hid it from view. Secret indeed, she thought. She gave a big sigh.

Poe smiled softly. "Our little bit of heaven," he said, echoing her thoughts from earlier that morning.

"I'll miss it," she answered. She looked at him as she slid her pack off of her back. "You know, when you first talked about it, I was sure you were planning on seducing me when we got here." She squatted down and pulled the pack open.

"Trust me, I wanted to," he told her with a smirk. "But I knew I couldn't. I didn't expect you to jump me," he laughed. "I knew you would love it, though."

"I did," she nodded as she pulled out the Glock and zipped the pack closed again. "I really did." She stood and tucked the weapon in between her blouse, which she had tied tightly around her waist, and her hip. She slipped the pack back on and looked at him.

He nodded his approval. He still wore a little smile, but his eyes were serious. "How do you feel?" he asked again.

"So far, so good," she told him honestly. His massage had helped tremendously.

"Let's go."

He turned and headed into the jungle, walking along the stream. Rey gave one last look down the waterfall, then followed.

The jungle here was different than what they had been tromping through before, and Rey took note that the canopy was thicker, preventing a lot of sunlight from coming through, and therefore limiting the amount of undergrowth. It made traveling easier, as they continued to move quickly along the creek. At one point, Rey heard a loud ruckus from above that didn't sound like the Capuchin or Howler monkeys that they usually heard. She looked up to see several Green-winged Macaws flying through the trees above them, their bright red plumage startling against the green and grey treetops. Rey stopped and stared in wonder.

When they finally flew out of sight, she looked ahead to see Poe waiting for her. He didn't look impatient or upset; if anything, he looked a bit sad. "I wish we could have taken our time so you could have enjoyed this place a bit more," he told her.

Rey shook her head. "I had three days before all Hell broke loose," she told him. "Then I met you. I call that a win all the way around."

He snorted a laugh, then turned and continued on. Rey followed.

It was when Poe started walking different and she noticed he was looking about him a lot more that Rey realized they were nearing Ajara. She also became more alert and aware of her surroundings. They continued on like this for a good hour when suddenly Rey heard the sound of voices off to their left. Without being told, she dropped down into a squat, Poe doing the same in front of her. He shuffled along at a crouch, moving over to a large tree and peering around it. She also moved over closer to the trees.

The three men moving through the forest were not being subtle at all. They crashed along, joking and laughing among themselves as they continued on, walking right across what would have been Rey and Poe's path if they hadn't stopped. She saw Poe shake his head in disbelief. The men continued on, not even looking in their direction, and soon they disappeared, with only their noise remaining.

"Hmmm…" Rey hummed. "Ricardo's men?"

Poe gave her a side-eye. "He doesn't hire brains."

"Obviously," Rey snorted. "Good for us, though."

"Very good," he agreed. Carefully, they stood and continued on, still wary. Eventually, Rey could see the shape of buildings becoming visible through the trees. Poe crouched down again and moved forward while staying low. Rey followed suit. He shuffled up to a large downed tree, a perfect hiding spot to observe what was ahead. "Bingo," he said quietly.

She moved up next to him and looked out upon her first view of Ajara. A large building sat just off to their right. It looked like a boarding house or small apartment building, with a large deck that completely encircled the first floor. Several more, smaller buildings sat off to their left, and Rey could see a cobblestone street beyond them.

Rey watched as Poe's eyes searched the area, every once in a while pausing to focus on something. He began to carefully point those somethings out to her. "Look at the second palm tree to the right," he told her. "Then look directly to its left." She did and saw the shape of a man on the roof of the small building there. He pointed out another man in the window of a building on the left. "And there's a guy in the car parked over by the store," he told her, motioning toward another large building on the other side of the road. He pointed to the big building they were closest to. "That's Maz' place," he told her. "They're watching it."

Suddenly, a young woman appeared, walking quickly along the path that lay between the buildings and the jungle. She was beautiful, her bright green skirt coming down to her knees and swishing along her legs, her face made up but not overly so. Poe immediately became focused on her. He reached down and grabbed a rock, then tossed it toward her. It landed in front of her and she stopped, her dark eyes darting in their direction. Poe barely allowed himself to be seen over the top of their hiding place. He glanced at Rey. The woman gave him a small smile and nodded, then continued on, heading for the building Poe had said belonged to Maz. She disappeared around the corner.

"Someone you know, I'm assuming?" Rey asked.

"Satine," Poe told her. "She works for Maz."

Rey nodded. "So?"

Poe sat down, his back to the tree. "So. Now we wait."

XXXXXX

A/N: You all have to wait, too. Until Monday! Thank you for reading!