The day of the drop had finally arrived. They had gone back to Ruby's and her information had confirmed their fears. They just didn't know what kind of information their contact gave to the First Order. They had their suspicions though when their meeting place was changed from somewhere in CoCo Town to Monument Plaza.
Kat grew nervous that the First Order now knew that she and Poe were coming to the drop. If the First Order knew then surely Kylo Ren did too. She worried that the ex-Jedi would make an appearance or at the very least try to kidnap her. She didn't tell Poe of these fears, wanting them to be focused on the task at hand and not worrying about not leaving someone behind.
Poe landed their ship just a couple of blocks away from the plaza. It was public parking and there were various entry points so they could make it from anywhere they might be running from. The urge to walk to the meeting point, hand in hand was strong but they no longer had to keep up with their cover. They were Poe and Kat again. Kat wasn't even wearing the ring anymore.
It started off well. The drive was given, claiming to have the location of Lor San Tekka. The drive itself looked just fine. It would have even passed off as a typical drive if they weren't looking for anything that would tip them off. The casing wasn't quite put together, which caused Kat to pry it open. Just on the inside was a small tracker. Kat pulled it out as the contact was apologizing over and over.
"Kat, we've got incoming," Poe said as she stomped on the tracker and now hurried to put the drive back together thanks to his warning.
She turned to look over her shoulder and saw that it was the two men who had killed her parents. She then turned back to face their contact and saw two stormtroopers coming in from the other side. "Seems like they sent a team." She then turned to the contact. "I hope this was worth it."
With that, she and Poe took off running. Shouts from all parties were heard as they maneuvered through the crowds. She was just glad that the First Order seemed to have some good sense and not shoot into the crowds. That was of course moot when they decided to pull away from it and go through a side street to get to their ship.
"Get that Metonae girl!" The dark-eyed man bellowed which pushed Kat faster.
Poe pulled her into a small space between two buildings as the blaster fire started. They both inched far enough away from the entrance that they wouldn't be seen, blasters aimed at both entrances of the alleyway.
The alley was just big enough they could go down it single file but standing chest to chest like they were, they could feel when the other took a breath. They stayed at the ready even after the men and troopers chasing them had passed. Waiting a few more minutes to make sure all was well before they detangled themselves and hurried to the other end of the alley.
"Clear." They both said as they looked down the street in different directions.
Kat stepped out of the alley and holstered her blaster once again. "Probably should still run to the ship, huh?"
Poe nodded. "Yeah, probably." He took a deep breath and her hand before he started jogging, picking up his pace to a run when he knew that she was keeping up with him.
They raced up the ramp and into the cockpit, barely even sitting in their seats before starting with the pre-flight protocols. Once they broke atmosphere, they waited a few minutes before jumping to lightspeed to make sure that they weren't being followed.
Kat grinned when she gave the go-ahead. As the stars turned blue, she stood, patting Poe's shoulder. She wasn't entirely sure how things were going to change between the two once they got back to base. They had gotten closer, that was for sure, but she couldn't give the rest of the way in yet. They practically hated each other's guts for the first couple of years after all. Surely it couldn't be as simple as offering a cup of caf and a hand with simple repairs to make that shift into not constantly butting heads.
She pulled out her datapad and plugged in the drive. She checked through everything to make sure nothing had downloaded onto it. They didn't need another tracker fiasco. When she was sure that nothing had been added, she cautiously opened the file that was on the drive to see where Lor San Tekka could be.
"Find anything good yet?" Poe asked, coming to stand next to her so he could look over her shoulder at the datapad.
She shook her head, moving the datapad slightly so it was more in between them so it'd be easier on Poe to see. "Not really."
"Yeah, this just looks like a bunch of locations from the Jedi Order," Poe said as he looked through the intel.
"Ooh, wait, go back," Kat said when Poe flipped ahead too quickly. Her eyes scanned the document for what she was looking for. "He's on Jakku!" She exclaimed when she found what she was looking for. The document was a scanned letter from the old historian to someone whose name she didn't recognize.
"Looks like we were successful after all." Poe smiled at her.
"Looks like it indeed. Now, let's get back home."
Once on base, the pair immediately made their way towards Leia's office. While they weren't holding hands, they were definitely standing closer together than they typically would. The small distance kept between them was usually reserved for those they were close to and got along with. It seemed like the mission was successful in more ways than one.
Before they could make it to Leia's, Rose hurried over and wrapped Kat into a hug. "I'm so glad you're back." She smiled looking between her friend and the pilot that was often the topic of venting sessions. "I want as many details I can get but a comm is going off in your room and I can't find it and it's been going off for a while."
"Missed you too, Rose." Kat smiled while rolling her eyes despite the worry creeping up on her. There was only one commlink she kept hidden and the fact that it was ringing made her extremely nervous.
She handed the drive over to Poe. "Let her know that I'll be there shortly. Apparently, I have someone who's been trying to contact me since I've been away."
Poe nodded before continuing to Leia's office.
"Well, you didn't kill him…" Rose trailed off trying to get something out of her best friend as they made their way to Kat's room.
Kat couldn't help but laugh. "Nice try, Rose but I'm afraid this past week is classified." She smirked at her friend who groaned in frustration.
"Oh, c'mon Kat. Can't you tell me something? You went a whole week with the one person who seems to push your buttons far more than anyone else and you came back not looking ready to just be absolutely done with him."
"This week was certainly full of surprises." She stopped outside her room door, hearing the sharp trill of her commlink ringing. "I'll see what I can tell you after I talk with Leia. Happy?"
Rose grinned. "Not the details I want but I'll take it." She gave her one more hug. "Good to have you back, Kat."
Kat just smiled and once Rose was far enough away, slipped into her room. She walked to her closet and pulled the commlink out of the small box that she had kept some of her childhood things in. She hurried to the en suite, thanking the Maker she had her own private quarters. Taking a deep breath, she answered the comm. "Thought you almost had me, didn't ya?" She asked, teasing the person on the other line.
The comm was a private line and she had modified it so that the signal would scramble. That way it could never be traced to her physical location, for the person on the other end of the line was none other than Kylo Ren.
"I killed those men for you." He said instead of letting her push his buttons. He of course was upset that the troopers he had sent couldn't get her. He was beginning to get tired of trying to convince her to join him. He figured if he could get her on a Star Destroyer, show her everything and how she could make it all better, she would finally join him like he's wanted for the past six years.
"Am I supposed to be grateful?" She asked, making her voice sound void of any emotion when she in fact was taken aback. The men who haunted her nightmares, who had killed her parents, were no longer alive. The man who she once called brother had killed them seemingly for her. She honestly didn't know how to feel.
"Well, yes. I told you I would protect you. Did you get what you were looking for?"
"I did. I'm not telling you anything though." She ignored the pang in her chest at his promise, the words he had told her the first night he tried to get her to follow him to the dark side.
Kylo chuckled. "I'd expect nothing different but we now know the same information. So let the race begin, Katerina."
And with that, the connection died and Kat burst into action. Not even bothering to hide the comm again before running to Leia's office. Kat nearly ran into the door as she hurried inside. As soon as she saw the woman who raised her, she started spewing out everything she knew, not caring that Poe still sat in front of Leia's desk.
"We need to move now. The First Order knows his location as well, we've got to get there first."
Poe looked up at her like she had grown a second head. "How do you know this? Who called you?"
"Don't worry about it." She shot off, keeping her focus on Leia. "Have you reached out to Tekka, yet? Told him we're coming? Hell, I'll go now. It's just another simple drop."
"I hoped we had moved past this," Poe mumbled beside her.
She turned on him so quickly. "When I say don't worry about it, commander, I mean don't worry about it. Just know I have important intel that has to be acted upon, right now."
Poe stood, ready to let her have it. He would not be spoken down to, least of all by her and in front of Leia, no less. He wasn't going to let her push him away when he knew more of her tricks now to keep people at bay. He had just opened his mouth when Leia shouted, "sit down!"
Both of them turned to look at the older woman before doing just as she had asked.
"Now, I will be having none of that. You two just pulled off a successful mission. I will not have you two back at each other throats practically just after you've stepped foot back on base. I have reached out to Tekka. I did the minute you commed to tell us his location. He is expecting Commander Dameron tomorrow. We will still be ahead of the First Order." She then turned to Poe. "Be patient with her and you'll find out soon enough. Now go get ready for your mission. I wish to speak with Colonel Metonae alone."
Kat looked at Leia like she had lost it. How could she expect her to tell Poe 'oh by the way I still contact my brother who happens to be Kylo Ren from time to time on a private comm and sometimes he calls me'. Poe looked between the two women and nodded before leaving.
Once the door shut, Kat spoke her mind. "You can't be serious. Be patient with her? Leia, I can't tell him or anyone else on this base that I'm still in contact with Ben. They'd think I'm double-crossing the Resistance. They wouldn't understand. They know that he's your son and yet no one ever mentions it. So surely they also ignore the fact that we're practically siblings. Just because Poe saw me deal with a few things does not mean that we are the best of friends now, or even going towards whatever it is you're trying to make happen. Be patient with her, ha! If I have any say in the matter he's never going to see me weak like that again."
Leia just shook her head, letting out a sigh. "He told me what you said, about being scared. This is your fear talking. You can't live your life without having people in it. They will always come and go no matter how hard you try to keep them out. He cares about you, let him. And you care about him. I've seen how you look relieved after he returns from doing something reckless."
"Ben killed my parents' murderers," Kat said instead, not wanting to think about Poe or the truth behind Leia's words.
Leia just gave Kat a look of disappointment before going along with the topic change. "Is that why he called?"
She shrugged. "I guess so. And to tell me they knew about Jakku as well."
"Are you okay?"
It was Kat's turn to sigh. "I guess? He said he did it because he told me he would protect me. I was too shocked to really say anything. He wanted me to be grateful and in some ways, I am, in a twisted sort of way I guess. I just feel like he did it for an ulterior motive."
Leia stood and walked around her desk to stand in front of Kat. "In maybe that same twisted sort of way, it gives me hope that Ben is still in there." She took Kat's hands in hers and squeezed them. "Now, I believe you have a pilot to go speak to."
Kat groaned. "Please don't make me. It'll be simpler if we just let things go back to how they were."
"I'm afraid that's not on the table."
Kat stood with a huff, glaring towards Leia. "I'm a grown woman. You can't make me do things that I don't want to anymore. And I will not be taking it as a general's order because this has nothing to do with the Resistance." She said as she walked to the door.
Turning around after opening it, she gave the older woman a small smile. "See you at dinner?"
Leia just laughed and nodded, shooing the younger woman out.
Despite not being ready to tell Poe about Ben just yet, it didn't mean that she couldn't apologize for snapping at him. After this past week, he deserved that much. While she wouldn't admit it to Leia's face, the older woman had been right. She found him by her door after having learned he was unloading the ship they had taken to Coruscant. "Hey." She said when he looked to see who was coming down the hall.
"Are you here to tell me I've overstepped again?" He asked.
She shook her head, stopping just a few feet away from him. "I was looking for you to apologize. I snapped at you when I shouldn't have."
Poe placed a hand to her forehead, staring down at her with a cheeky grin. "You feeling okay? Because I think you just apologized to me."
Kat rolled her eyes and pushed his hand away. "I thought we had moved past this." She said, throwing his words back at him.
"Touche."
She let out a sigh and took his hand in hers, swinging their arms slightly between them. "Listen, what you saw this past week is barely even the surface of all I've got going on. I promise to do my best to not let old habits come back. Things seem to work out better when we work together so this is me apologizing and promising to do better."
Poe could honestly kiss her, right now, this very moment and not think twice about it. He had told Leia what had happened at their first visit to Monument Plaza and had asked her what he should do. She had told him to continue showing up for Kat and to let the lion-hearted girl come to him in her own way. This definitely felt like the latter. He brought Kat's hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles instead. "Apology accepted and I promise to do the same."
All Kat would have to do is pull on his hand and their lips would meet. This felt like something she had never experienced before in her life full of heartbreak and it truly scared her. This impulsive pilot standing in front of her could steal her heart right out of her walls and at this moment she was sure she would let him. Instead, she made sure everything was locked tight as she let go of his hand and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for grabbing my bags. Now go get ready for your next assignment."
Poe just smirked at her before heading off.