Warnings: Explicit usage of language.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving the Star Wars Universe other than a POP Poe figurine. All characters belong to their creators. Seraphine and other OCs are my personal characters unless otherwise mentioned.

Author's Note: So I registered for my classes next semester today and apparently I hate myself because they are literally ALL science classes and AHHHHHHHHHH. I'm gonna die. But procrastination is the thing I do best and I just want this semester to be over, soooooooo chapter? Also I know this is a veryyyyyyyy slow burn story, but I promise it is rated M for much more than just Seraphine's language and dark themes. Hint of it in this chapter. Just a tad. :) *Insert Evil Laugh Here*

Chapter Four - Running

"So who hired you" Poe repeated and Seraphine sighed. She had literally just answered that question three steps ago, or rather told him that she wasn't going to answer it. She glanced back at the man as she moved the spreader down the sand dune and into the town.

"Quite now, explain later." She replied with a shrug, and Poe did not seemed pleased with her answer but fell silent anyway. Seraphine felt strange, like she was out in the open and she was missing something. She normally wasn't in this few layers of clothing, her jeans and jacket did not give her as much protection as it normally did. Well, her jacket had protective shielding, but she still felt wrong.

There was something she was missing, what was she missing? Then she heard it.

Footsteps.

Perfectly in rhythm, marching together, fucking footsteps.

She had known something was wrong before she could have really processed it. "Shit." She aggressively pushed Poe into one of the side ways, and grabbed his arm as she started to run, leaving the piece of shit speeder behind them in the dust.

"What the hell, Seraphine, what's going on."

"Stormtroopers."

Fuck.

Fuck.

FUCK.

Poe glanced around while they were running but he didn't see anyone. The town was eerily silent and empty, he only caught glimpses of people as they ran by and he didn't see anyone in white. He glanced back at the blonde before asking, "Are you sure the heat didn't get to you? How do you know that there are stormtroopers?"

Seraphine simply tapped her ear, but that wasn't much of an explanation. She could hear them? He couldn't hear anything other than their footsteps (granted he could hear his much more than hers), his pounding heartbeat, and whatever the hell was going on with his head.

"What?"

Seraphine stopped suddenly, grabbed him forcefully by the arm and pulled him down. Poe's knees hit hard on the ground, adding to the long list of injuries he had been gathering and gave the girl next to him a rather nasty look. She was crouched beside him watching as a large group of natives passed.

"How can you hear them?" Poe questioned but Seraphine just ssshhhed him. "Seraphine!"

Seraphine sighed and then lightly touched the back of his neck. Her hand was freezing, as cold as snow, an especially shocking contrast to how warm the air was becoming as the sun creeped to the sky. She pushed his head down to the ground and whispered, "listen."

Confused the pilot did just that. While Seraphine looked around them, he listened to the ground feeling like an absolute idiot. Until he heard it. "Footsteps."

"Perfectly in rhythm, marching together, fucking footsteps." Seraphine replied, repeating her inner thoughts from earlier. "Hence, Stormtroopers. Honestly, they are the only ones that are trained enough to not fuck it up."

Poe sat up and looked at the girl. "And you heard that, just while walking."

Seraphine shrugged before standing up. "I am a collection agent. Half of my job involves running. Come on."

She took off in a run again, Poe struggling to his feet and using his long strides to catch up with her. Why was he still following her? He could take any of these turns and take his chances that she wouldn't be able to find him again before he made it out of here. She had left her speeder behind when they started to run. He could make it back there, he think he knew the way.

She would know in a second that he had split off, but seemed more scared than he was of the stormtroopers. Enough to be sprinting through the city towards an unknown location. Where were they going? And who did she work for? Collection agents had to be hired, and they rarely collected bounties. Which means there was someone who had been willing enough to pay quite a bit of money to send someone to find him, but who?

If she had been focused on just him, he would stand no chance of escaping. But she was running, running away from something, or more specifically a group of someones. Would she take her chances of trying to find him, or would she cut her loses and just keep running? He could probably get away from the stormtroopers, 50-50 he could get back to that speeder. It was still early in the morning, unlikely that anyone else had taken it already.

His thoughts were reeling, but for some reason he was still following her. Why was he still following her?

He needed to get out of here, to complete his mission, to find BB-8.

And yet, even though she had kidnapped him, handcuffed him and wouldn't give him a straight answer, he felt like he could trust her. She had saved him, before all that stuff, she had saved his life. It felt like deep in his gut he knew something that his brain did not. His brain also had like 500 questions he really wanted answered.

But he needed get out of here, to complete his mission, to find BB-8.

Suddenly he got another piercing headache, worse than all the ones he had been ignoring before, he stumbled and stopped running, not being able to focus his eyes anymore. He stumbled to the side and almost collapsed to the ground, holding his head. He grabbed the clothes that were on his face, suffocating him, and pulled them down.

Everything around him was spinning and his eyes couldn't focus on anything, and everything hurt, the lights, the sounds, his heartbeat. He forced his eyes closed trying to take comfort in the darkness but it did almost nothing. His heart was pounding in his chest, but his head was screaming and felt like it was splitting in half. His own screams were echoing, throughout his head and he felt like he was going to throw up. He could feel his own sweat slowly drip down his neck and started to choke as he struggled to breathe. Struggled to feel anything, anything but pain. Struggled to hear anything other than his own screams.

And then there was cold. Cold on his face, something different, something he could focus on from within the mingled madness of his mind. He took a deep breath, ignoring the way it hurt as his lungs screamed for air, and focused on the cold. It was a few moments before he was able open his eyes. And looked into those beautiful blue ones.

Seraphine kept her hands cradling his face, as he closed his eyes again and attempted to resume his proper breathing. "Your hands are freezing." He joked, hating how raspy his voice sounded.

"Sorry," She replied keeping her voice low and quite, to try to keep his headache from coming back. "They are always like that." Her eyes were darting over his face, and she slowly withdrew her hands. Poe quickly caught them within his own.

"Don't apologize when I should be thanking you." He muttered slowly rubbing her hands between his own in an attempt to warm them up.

"It was nothing." Seraphine replied softly, trying to look anywhere but their hands. Then something grabbed her attention. "Stormtroopers. They are close."

Poe gestured to the cloth he had pulled from his face. "If I wrap back up they won't recognize me."

Seraphine shook her head. "They are searching for someone, which means they will make you take it off. We have to avoid them completely."

"How?" Poe questioned. Now even he could hear their footsteps, echoing down the roads.

"Oh, I am so going to fucking regret this." Seraphine hissed under her breath pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Regret wh," but before Poe could finish his question, Seraphine had grabbed his collar and pulled him with her against the wall.

They were very close.

Very very close, and she was unable to make eye contact with him, which caused Poe to chuckle. "So how's it going." He teased.

"Oh shut up." Seraphine snapped back, deciding to focus on the entrance to the main road closest to them. The Stormtroopers were almost right on them.

Seraphine's back was against the wall, and Poe was almost completely on top of her. He had a few inches on her, but their faces were still very very very close. Anyone who walked past and saw them would assume they were a kissing couple.

Which Poe assumed was the plan.

Yet it was still very awkward, and he could tell how uncomfortable Seraphine was. The poor girl seemed like the wanted to jump out of her skin. So Poe's mind was racing to find any topic other than the situation they were currently in.

"Do you ever just want to run away? Run away and leave this all behind." Poe asked. He didn't know where these words were coming from, or why he was asking her. A complete stranger who probably wanted him dead.

He was tired, and he wanted to just sleep. All he wanted to do was sleep, to just take a break and sleep for a week, a month, a year. Forever. His job always kept him going, without ever stopping. When he was with his men he was able to, keep his head up and keep on moving. He hadn't taken a break for as long as he could remember, not a single sick day, or a morning to sleep in. Then he had a mission to complete, men to inspire and a war to win.

Now, for some reason, in front of this women, he wanted to break down and sleep. To run away and not have to do anything ever again. To go to a far away place and live a life without a worry in the world. To be free in a way he knew deep down he would never be. That was not the life for him. It was not a life that he would ever be able to live. For he was Poe Dameron of the resistance. And he had a mission to complete.

Seraphine chuckled slightly and Poe turned to look at her. She was smiling slightly, a true slight smile but there was so much sadness in her eyes. So much sadness that it hurt his heart. "I have been running my whole life, Dameron. And yet you really can never get away. Life is a mistress that is not kind, and she always has a way of catching up with you."

Poe turned to completely look at her, his dark brown eyes searching her light blue ones. She was unable to make eye contact with him her eyes darting everywhere but his face. But he kept watching her, almost missing the slight blush that was creeping up her cheeks.

Then all he saw was a blinding light, and he put his hand over his eyes in an attempt to block it. Moments later the light was gone and the stormtroopers continued down the road, away from them. Poe took a step back, watching them go before questioning, "How the hell did that work?"

Seraphine shrugged, "I don't understand it exactly, but it does every single time."

"How often have you had to use it?"

"Enough. They aren't really all that bright, Stormtroopers."

Poe smiled, ever so slightly before looking back at her and asking, "Who hired you?"

Seraphine sighed, letting out a breath of air that she she had been holding. She leaned more back into the wall, running her hand through the loose strands of hair falling out of her braid. Poe's eyes followed her movement, watching her as she played with the few strands. "A friend. Of both me and you. I am not here to kill you, Dameron, I am here to save you."

Poe laughed, and shook his head. "You could have just said that."

"And missed all this fun we have had? Besides you would have never believed me anyway." Seraphine teased, before pushing herself up and slipping out from under Poe to step down the alley way more.

Poe laughed to himself before admitting, "True."

"Come on, we need to get moving again." She turned without another word and started to walk again, not running this time Poe noted. She still seemed tense and scared but she obviously didn't want to show it, he could only tell because of how tense her shoulders were. But she was walking, apparently thinking more about his still pounding head rather than her own fear.

And so he followed her. He continued to follow her. And something told him that he would follow this girl to the end of the earths if she asked him too.

Well. Maybe in another lifetime. Because in this one he had a mission. He had a universe to save. He just hoped that Seraphine would help him with that and not get in his way.

Author's Note: Welppp, I need to go to lab now. So yah, hope yall enjoyed it, and please please pretty please review? I wanted to thank .2017 for their continued support and thank you ALL for reading. It really means a lot, and thank you. Lot's of love and let us get through this semester together! Also heyyyy, longest chapter yet whoop whoop

Sneak Peak to Chapter Five

Fucking Hell.

Fuckingggggg hellllllllll.

Why did his face have to look so good? How does his face even still look good with how many hits it had taken. She was pretty sure she nailed it a few times herself.

Fuckinggggggg hellllllll.

She walked in front of him, making sure to stay in front of him so he couldn't see how bad her face was flushed. It felt like her cheeks were on fire.

Fuckingggggggg helllllllllllll.

Stupid fucking hormones, and shit.

Yah, that was what it was, all those hormones and stuff.

As almost every creepy old woman she had run into told her, her biological clock was ticking and it was time for her to start popping out babies. Ugh babies. She shuddered slightly.

Hormones.

That is what it had to be.

Only explanation.

Yep, only one.

She still wanted to bash his head in.

Yep.