AN: Thanks for the favs & follows, it's nice to know someone is enjoying this. I'm having fun with this character, and I love giving BB-8 a larger role. I hope you continue to like it! ~
I woke the next morning to BB-8 ramming the bed, her polite way of waking me, I guess. Poe was gone.
"Where did Poe go?" I got a scrambled series of beeps that confused me. I could usually understand her, but she wasn't making sense. "Why would he eat in his plane?" This brought on a long story from her, and in the end I still only had an idea of what happened. "So he went to get food, got waylaid by someone, and jumps into another plane without you?" This got me a thumbs up. Now I understood why she was so upset. He went somewhere without her.
"Welcome to the club BB-8." I pulled myself onto my crutches and looked around. "Yesssss!" The man had his own private shower. I guess it was good to be the best pilot. I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by. I got undressed and removed the bacta packs. The burned skin had grown back quickly, and it was ugly. Well, I mostly wore coveralls anyway, so not a huge deal. At least I was alive. Feeling pretty proud of myself that i was able to fool my ego into believing the horrible scarring didn't matter, I picked up the soap and took a deep sniff. My eyes rolled back into my head, it smelled just like him. Taking advantage of this temporary self confidence and incredible privacy, I let my imagination wander. The hot water and steam magnified the scent of the soap and I couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to be with Poe. My fingers traced paths I knew he would probably never touch on me, and I gave myself some much needed release, leaning against the side of the shower stall for support. Feeling exhausted but clear-headed, I took the most thorough shower I'd had in recent memory and felt almost good despite the dull ache from every bruise and joint in my body.
Pulling my coveralls back on, I made my way to the infirmary to replace the bacta packs. They pronounced me healed enough to go bacta-free, and I even got a boot to replace the evil crutches. I should be walking normally in a week! I wandered around with the droid, poking my head into the workroom in the flight bay, got yelled at for coming anywhere near work, and ended up with the droid and my ever present guard sitting with me at the cantina. Rogg set a steaming cup of yellow liquid in front of me.
"You need this. Ignore the taste. Trust me." Rogg stood by the table and waited. I sipped the drink, made a face at the bitter taste, but kept drinking.
"Will this give me super powers?" I asked him.
"You already have those. And you have amazing luck. This will help the pain." At that, I almost gulped the hot liquid down, desperate for even a short break from the constant hurt. After a few minutes, I felt calm and relaxed, and something was keeping my thoughts from dwelling on every bruise. It was wonderful.
"Thank you Rogg. You take such good care of me." I stood up and kissed what I was pretty sure was his cheek. He smiled and went back to work.
"Let's party guys. What's a girl gotta do to get free plane rides?"
My guard glared down at me. Apparently that was not an approved activity. As my enthusiasm began to deflate under his gaze, a loud rumble filled the air. "Another explosion," I whispered.
We all jumped up and began making our way toward the sound. I could see the distress on my guard's face, he obviously wanted to run and help but I could only limp along slowly. "I think this answers the question of whether or not they were trying to kill specifically me, don't you think?" I stopped walking and put my hand on his arm. "Go. I'm safe. Help them out." I could tell the decision was tearing him apart, but he turned around and ran to the rising smoke.
It took a while, but I managed to make it to the scene of destruction. People were moving everywhere, pulling rocks and dirt away from yet another cave-turned-workroom. This was on the opposite side of the base from where I worked, so I wasn't as familiar with what was worked on inside the cave. But I wanted to help somehow. BB-8 had left my side, but suddenly came zooming back to me with an injured droid hobbling behind her. I bent down to greet him, but all he could manage was a garbled series of beeps. Scooping him into my arms, I looked around for a place to sit. Out of the way but not far was a grouping of rocks, and I plopped down with the little droid. He sat still as I pulled his housing off and began to reconnect broken wires with my fingers, twisting ends together and stealing electrical tape from other areas inside him. He squealed with joy when I replaced his cover, and flew back into the fray of rescuers. I smiled to myself, knowing he was better even though he hadn't thanked me. Probably wasn't part of his programming. I got it. That was the way with a lot of droids.
But it didn't end there. Those droids, big and small, communicate with each other. It wasn't long before I had a line of droids in front of me, all having some sort of damage caused by their proximity to the explosion. Small parts began to pile near me as they started to learn what I needed to help them. Tweezers and pliers somehow appeared. I fixed them as best I could with what I had. When the crowd thinned away, BB-8 rolled up, concerned about another droid trapped in the rubble that no one seemed to be caring about. I looked at the area, and it seemed easy enough to dig through. Grabbing a piece of metal, I began to carve away at the dirt and throw small rocks aside.
"No, no, stop. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll do it." Snap Wexley appeared at my side and took the makeshift shovel out of my hand. I glared up at him, pissed at being patronized.
"I'm doing just fine, don't take over because I'm a girl, Snap."
He rolled his eyes skyward. "I'm helping you because if Poe found out I let you dig in this rubble he'd kill me." Jess walked up at that moment.
"Seriously, listen to Snap and let us dig. It's not a girl thing." I liked Jess. I liked his whole squadron. They weren't cocky like many others, they knew they were good but never bragged about it.
"Um," I started, unsure of what I was asking. "So, why would you think Poe would be upset?"
Jess gave me the "are you kidding" glare. "Puh-leeze. We know where you were last night. And besides, have you seen a mirror? No one who looks as bad a shape as you should be walking around, much less digging a rescue mission. Honey, you're a walking purple monster."
I paused at that. No, I hadn't looked in a mirror. There weren't many around, and all I ever did was pull my long hair back with a rag so it wasn't like I did anything beyond basic hygiene. If her assessment was anything close, I probably didn't want to see myself anyway. "How do you know where I was?" I hissed.
Snap answered as he continued digging. "Because he was sleeping in my room and kept me awake with all his snoring."
At this point of what I was considering a very helpful conversation, they pulled a crushed droid out of the dirt. I crouched down and examined him. "I'm sorry BB-8, he's gone. Do you know who he belonged to?"
She gave a sad beep. I felt sad all of a sudden too. "What did she say?" Snap asked.
"He belonged to one of the two people who were killed. There's no one to mourn him or remember him." At that moment, another injured droid walked up, missing his arm. I glanced down at the dead machine, and slowly removed his arm. "Remember who donated their parts to you," I said to the injured droid as I attached the arm to him. He gave a solemn beep and walked away.
"That was so sad, but so meaningful, it was a beautiful thing you just did Smiley," Jess said softly. I gave her a sad smile.
"Do I really look so bad, Jess?" I asked tiredly.
"Babe, your eye is blood red, half your face is purple, every piece of bare skin showing has scabs on it, so I can only imagine what that coverall is hiding." She smiled really big. "But you're alive."