Author Note: I wanted to add in a snipet of Poe and Neyli talking, and thne we'll get back to the action! Thanks once again for the support in this story!
"Hold still."
"I am holding still,"
"You are not. You're fidgety." Poe gave me a look as I was getting his batter wound cleaned upon his arm. We were alone in my dad's old quarters, and after clearing my face with all the blood and dirt, Poe got my head wound cleaned out with bandage over it. Rey and Finn were guiding our Falcon to the coordinates that they received from 3PO, Chewie was trying to repair the ship, which left both of us to have some alone time.
It was soothing to get my head back into focus and no longer in pain, but I was still heavy with all that happened on that Destroyer. Needing to let me be exposed and out in the open was the best thing to do, I was more worried about how Poe was going to react.
"You're almost done anyways," I commented, seeing him look down at his blaster in his other hand as I was wrapping the arm carefully with the blue scarf he had on around his neck. He seemed out of his now mind then, thinking so far away from me as I tied the wound off, "There. You're all better."
"Another scar to add to the library," He muttered, having me watch him. We were sitting side by side on my bed, I was sitting with my legs crossed and Poe was leaning against the wall with his head against it. I could tell he was exhausted, we all were. He placed his blaster on the side of his leg, right on top of my bed as he took in a long breath of relief.
"So what happened, after we split up?" I asked him as I drew a leg up to rest my chin on the top of the knees, watching him carefully now as he sat up a bit on the bed, rubbing his eyes.
"I found a way we could get the information from 3PO," He started to explain, "We had to hack his protocol in his programming restrictions, and I knew someone who could do that under the table,"
"A hacker?" I asked.
"Sort of, a crew I used to work with way back had someone that could do it. So, we went to Kijimi." Poe explained, both of us looking at each other. I raised my eyebrow at him now since he was telling me something brand new about it, some juicy information.
"You were on a crew…" I trailed off, seeing him look at him now with almost intrigue while he stammered a bit and tried to explain.
"It was before I came to the Resistance I was with a crew, doing small stuff and here there," He explained, though I grinned at him with my tired face.
"A crew, huh?" I asked, almost teasing, seeing him raise his won eyebrow at me now.
"You're gonna tease about this, right now?" He asked, not amused, and yet I shrugged.
"It's a little amusing if you think about….trying to picture the perfect flyboy being part of a crew and doing odd jobs…I can picture it all in my head," I teased lightly, seeing him chuckle very lightly before I went quiet, reaching over to grab his hand, "Go on, Poe."
"We found our guy, Babu Frik. And…I also ran into another old friend from the crew. Her name's Zorii Bliss, and we….didn't end things on the right note when I left the crew to enlist in the Resistance," He explained, though when he mentioned this Zorii person, he froze up. Almost like he was afraid to mention this person, and yet I was posed and quiet about it. I was calmer than anything, and yet his face was showing me was beyond prettified.
"So…I take it you got the coordinates," I trailed off, showing that I wanted him to go on with what he was telling me. Poe gulped, maybe he thought I was lower him into some kind of trap for how cool and calm I was being.
"For us to get the coordinates we had to wipe 3PO's memory…and after that, we got what we need…." Poe paused, squeezing our hands together now as he searched my eyes, "You know, I was hoping that you would be angry, or talk about…or anything. You're quiet…why are you quiet?" He was rambling and almost saying at a fast pace as I placed my hand up to silence him. Immediately he was quiet, waiting for me to at least start yelling at him.
"Poe," I said to him, "The only thing that I'm surprised with all of this…is that you were part of a crew before we met…..and you didn't want to tell me about that part of your life," I admitted to him, seeing him think to himself now as he was looking down at our joined hands. He never told me a whole lot before he came to the Resistance, only a few things about his family. Maybe there was a reason for it, and he would tell that the past didn't matter to him.
"To be honest I didn't want you to see me differently, knowing that I worked with a crew as a splice runner," Poe answered as I rubbed my thumb against his skin on his hand, "I never told anyone about it. It was a different life that I didn't want to bring back."
"Why not?" I asked, pressing him gently about it. With his head leaned back, his eyes poured into mine and I saw the softness there once again.
"Because I liked you," He admitted to me, having me look at him a bit shocked now, seeing him pause for a brief second before he went on, "You were the first real friend I met at the base, and I instantly liked you. Not because of who your parents were, but because of who you were. Plus. you caught my attention when you clotheslined that one guy in the cafeteria when he gave you hell."
We both knew why we liked each other, we both came into our feelings with each other naturally and without the help of others. I was still amazed, from time to time, that Poe was interested in me from the beginning, let alone still being with me and loving me. I felt like I was too ordinary for him, nothing shocking about me and in how I was as a pilot.
Things were always amazing us constantly.
"Good thing I liked you too, after you complimented my clothesline," I commented back, seeing him crinkles his eyes with a smile as we both grinned at each other. It was a nice light moment, though it died down when Poe cleared his throat and looked at my head wound with his careful warm eyes.
"I honestly thought you were dead," He confessed to me, having me ouse there and watch him now as he was searching my gaze with his own, "For a split second, I tried to think of how I was going to finish this whole mission without you with us."
"I'm so sorry," I apologized to him, it felt like the right thing for me to say, "The last thing I wanted to do to you, to anyone, was to worry and think the worst."
"I know," he reassured me as he placed his other hand on top of our joined ones, patting it gently, "But Rey felt…she felt you. She told me you were alive, and I believed her. How could she….feel you?"
"The Force," I answered simply with a shrug of my shoulders since it was so simple. Poe thought about it, almost hurting his own brain from trying to figure it all out now as I leaned my head against the wall to be next to him, "It's how I felt My Uncle Luke when he passed away, when I felt my mother, how I feel Ben."
"You feel your brother?" Poe asked, having me nod my head.
"It's more of a connection than a feeling. My connection with him's been stronger now that we know that we're both alive. But he's broken…he's afraid and broken now." It felt off that I should talk to Poe about my brother since my brother inflicted pain on Poe when Poe was on Jakku. I knew where my brother's loyalties were with at the time, then again I didn't know he was my brother.
"Listen…Neyli…" Poe started, almost faltering on his words now as I was thinking more about my brother, "I don't know how it is with you and your brother….but he's done some bad things."
"I know," I said in agreement, "And I know there's darkness in him. More than there should be," I looked directly at him in the eyes with seriousness and confirmation, "But there's also light in him. I can feel that there is, and my brother's in there with the light—"
"Neyli," Poe stooped me, placing his hand on my neck to have me focus on him, "I'm more concerned about what he could do to you." I looked at him in confusion now, sitting up a bit straighter as I was tilted my head at him.
"Ben never wanted to hurt me," I reassured him, slowly, seeing him not say anything now as I pointed my hand at him, "You think he's gonna kill me?"
"No, but I think he's far more capable of bad than good," Poe answered, using his words carefully and wisely. I said nothing, looking dead ahead now since it felt like I was conflicted. I knew where Poe was coming from, but I also know what I was feeling when I interacted with my brother myself.
It was a line right down the middle, and it felt like I had to choose one side.
"You don't trust me trying to help him?" I asked, not looking at him anymore as I didn't like how this conversation was going between the both of us. At first, he didn't say anything as I looked back at him, "I know what he did to you, I saw it with my own two eyes. The hate that I felt for what he did to you was there. I know who he killed and how he didn't blink once. But Poe, I also know my brother. He's there. I've seen him and I know he is. If I can help bring him back to the light….I need to try."
"I can't…I don't…." Poe tried to argue with me and find the right words, but I knew what he was trying to say. I nodded my head, silently agreeing with him as if we were reading each other's minds.
"Poe," I said his name carefully and softly, "I can take care of myself with him. Do you believe me?" It was a big jump for me to do, to reassure Poe that I could handle myself with Ben and know what to do.
"It's different for me since I thought I lost you at least once before, and you're asking me to let you…" Poe started.
"To trust me." I ended for him, "I wouldn't do this if I didn't think I could."
I knew that I could do it, there was no hesitation since I felt it being so close. Ben was there, I knew I could get him fully to the light and make things right. All I needed was the push to go through with it, and yet the confidence and the trust was there. The last thing I needed too was support and back up.
"You said you were going to marry me after all of this is over," Poe reminded me, having me see him eye me now as he used to. I gave him a knowing look back. There was no way I was going to let Poe go, not with what we went through and how far we've come. We've done battles together before, the missions that were chaotic and crazy. But now that the Resistance was hanging in the balance and all of us friends were relying on us, I knew where my loyalties lie.
"And I don't intend to break that promise to you," I agreed with the breath, I leaned over to be close enough to count the lashes on his cheeks, feeling his hold on my hand tighten slightly from how I moved. I knew that we were missing out on a moment with just the both of us, and how I craved it
"You better not," Poe said back in a low tone, almost in a tease, having me grin at him since it felt like we both knew that we were alone and no one was going to disturb us.
"What'll you do about it, Dameron?" I teased, seeing him grin slyly. He leaned over to kiss me, holding it there and having me breathe out through my nose. In all the places for us to kiss, it had to be in the Falcon, both of us beaten up and damaged, but we didn't care. Neither of us did.
The moment was there, and I was going to take it.
I pressed kiss after kiss to him, keeping it gentle and almost bold as we were in our moment. His hand on my neck fanned out the fingers against my skin, cradling me carefully as I placed one hadn't on his shirt to hold him there and other on his neck. His spare hand that was holding my hand wrapped around my waist and it felt like we were moving along a bit faster, not too fast, but it felt like it was going somewhere. I felt his tongue barely, having me barely moan in response now.
Man, did I love this man.
Of course, it came to a screeching halt when we heard a familiar droid outside of the quarters.
"Master Solo! Master Finn wanted me to inform you we are approaching our destination!"
Poe pulled away in utter annoyance, looking at the door with his glare now as he was still holding me in his embrace. I had to laugh and hide my face in his hair now as he pointed to the door.
"Swear to God, I'm gonna find that off switch!"