Poe would make it back to the Resistance: the pressurized doors no matter how many blasts it withstood would remain closed until Poe himself opened them from within the bridge. That or a more powerful weapon was fired, but thankfully the stormtrooper Eris was currently being strangled by only had a blaster rifle and she'd already kicked that away. So Poe was gonna make it back to the Resistance whether or not she did.
The stormtrooper, who's name had been reduced to FN-2043, had almost gotten the location of the Resistance base. He'd kept to the shadows knowing his best bet was to let his men die and wait for the pilot to chart their course. His next form of action was to kill Eris, known to them only as 501, the more dangerous of the two and now a known traitor of the First Order. But he'd underestimated her, as he was seeing even Kylo Ren did, she was good – he hadn't realized what she was doing until the doors snapped shut. And not giving him time to react she swiftly raised her leg and brought a swift hard kick down on his arm causing his rifle to clatter dully on the floor as it slid to the back. He'd reacted then throwing her into a wall and after she'd fallen limp to the floor he'd dropped to his knees wrapping gloved hands around her soft neck.
She was so dazed, blood pooling in her hair from where her head struck metal for a second time. Eris was barely conscious enough to fight back. The hands that clawed at the suit around his arms, her fingers sliding uselessly against the smooth white plates unable to find leverage, slowly loosened their grip as her vision darkened.
And then the ship pitched right throwing the stormtrooper off her causing him to skid across the floor reaching fruitlessly for anything to hold on to. Eris too was left sliding on the smooth metal, only with the stormtrooper now off of her, her head cleared with each cold sweet breath inhaled. As sense and self-preservation returned she climbed to her feet reaching for the knife in her belt running for the trooper who'd just come to a stop against the wall his gun had fallen beside.
"Hold on!" Poe yelled over the ship's com not knowing if it actually worked and she'd heard him. He was stuck keeping them level knowing they'd be torn apart if he let the ship fall right. Rising to his feet he held his knee in place of his hands keeping the tiller in position so they'd fly level. He then reached for the right engine's thruster, hearing a deep groan as the ship slightly tilted. If he didn't get the engine back up they'd fall out of light-speed spinning, and at that speed there'd be nothing to keep the ship from being ripped apart.
There was a shudder that quaked through the whole ship nearly as the engine came back only to putter out again, and it nearly made him lose his balance as he stood with a knee keeping them steady and a hand pumping the thruster. Something must've been caught in it and after so many years of rotting in the blistering sun who knew what it is. With nothing else to do but hope and continuous effort Poe kept on trying to get the engine going, feeling a jolt every so often as the propellers spun only to catch something and stall. Until finally the propeller snapped whatever had caught on it throwing the whole ship forward as it whirred back to life. Poe picked himself up off the consul giving a breathless laugh, taking a moment to watch them come out of hyperspace as they hovered on the outskirts of D'Qar. He'd done it.
With his next breath Poe's thoughts turned to Eris and though the ship hummed loudly with life he still strained to hear behind the thick metal doors. Pulling the blaster from his belt he moved to the doors, standing for a moment with an ear pressed to the cold door hearing nothing, before he pressed the button on the wall. A seam was cut through the middle pulling them apart with a quick swoosh.
Poe stood with a finger on the trigger looking first to Eris' knife lying at his feet and then around the room: the back wall with the short set of stairs going to the lower level, the holocommunicator to his right, the dead computer system to his left. His hand tightened around the gun at the sight of the stormtrooper. He lay spread on his back and Poe stepped forward blaster steady aiming at the possibly unconscious man. There was a blackened scorch mark marring the otherwise white breast plate, the one Poe had shot, the one Eris hadn't seen lying in the sand. Poe's eyes then moved to his helmet, seeing he was in fact dead. Eris' weapon of choice – a retractable staff with a blunt end she was known to land vicious blows with, and the other ended in a sharp thin point – had been stuck up through his chin where it exited through the top of the trooper's helmet.
Quickly looking around him Poe found her lying on her side with her back to him and he rushed to her and dropped to his knees beside her. "One of these times you're gonna let me save you," he said turning her on her back, seeing the blood on her chin from where her lip had been split. Swiping the pad of his thumb on his tongue he set about the cleaning it off.
She let him go on a few moments longer, still feeling like the ship was tilted, before she'd had enough and pushed his hand aside. "You're better with me."
He watched her pull herself up the wall noticing the unsteady way her legs held her up. "What than you are with me?" he asked already knowing the answer, when it came down to it she was the better fighter. Taking a step forward her legs shook and she reached a hand to his shoulder to steady herself, and Poe having enough of her stubbornness moved his shoulder to her waist and stood throwing her once again over his back. "True as that may be," he said turning, swinging her with him, for the piloting console, "I owe you a few saves."
Eris let herself hang limp over him, her pulse throbbing in her temples, without the energy or the will to fight him. "I don't need saving," she mumbled. "What I need is for you to put me down."
It lacked vehemence. "I can tell you really mean that," he said knowing she was probably exhausted if not as sore and aching as he was. But still he gently pulled her from his shoulder, cradling her for a brief second, and set her in the copilot's chair. "Don't mean to offend," he started, a terrible start if ever there were one, "but I'm not tellin you where our base is."
Tilting her head to give him a look she dryly replied, "pretty and smart."
He smiled lightly at her teasing but mostly he was grateful she'd taken it easily. "Can't be just a pretty face now can I," he joked in return seeing out of the corner of her eye the smirk that curled on her mouth as she turned away.
The problem was she didn't wanna smile at him. She didn't wanna like him, hell she didn't wanna even know his name. Pilot, that was an easier name to deal with, a less personal one. Pilot didn't make her think of a stupidly brave man with kind brown eyes and a warm easy smile. If he'd only been Pilot she thought she might've been able to kill him.
Poe himself was thinking something along the same lines as he set about landing, seeing men – his men – come running with blasters at the ready since the ship was unable to make contact. He'd thought it earlier, he preferred Renegade-1 it was more befitting of the reputation that followed. As a kid he'd learned the hard way that it was unwise to name an injured animal needing to be nursed back to health, a name turned something into someone and he'd cried when he'd set it free. After that first day he'd known this wouldn't be easy, Renegade-1 had become Eris and more than that he liked her.
It was a rocky landing but given the less than satisfactory flying it was more than Poe could ask for considering they could've crashed. "Hey," he said grabbing her arm before she could leave the bridge, seeing first her surprise and then her silent aversion to his touch. "I know what you said about trusting and I took that to heart I really did," he brought a hand to his chest in emphasis seeing her eyes narrow as she realized he wanted something, "but I need you to trust me."
She stared at him, though it was more similar to glaring, as she contemplated his request knowing what he planned. It was several moments, enough that the men below them had opened the hatch and were now climbing on board prepared to ambush the potential enemy. "Don't make me regret this," she said quietly seeing the sheer relief in his exhale as he turned to his men.
He greeted them easily, confidently, and they in turn greeted him with large smiles claps on the back and remarks on his being alive. This was something she'd never had, comradeship, nor had she wished to and she didn't wish to then. But she stayed quiet letting him enjoy his return home until one of them caught sight of her, stared hard at the familiar face, and raised his blaster once more.
"She's alright," Poe was quick to say stepping back and placing himself in front of her, taking on the role of advocate and protector. "Her friend's in a lot of trouble, she's agreed to come quietly."
"Lor San Tekka's dead cause of her."
Poe looked over his shoulder at Eris' cold face, her steeled exterior would do her no favors when an Order operative is what they thought of her. "I won't argue that," he said turning back to the guards, "but I wouldn't be here without her. Now you can lower your weapons, she's unarmed." As the men reluctantly lowered their blasters, though they kept their guns in hand not trusting her, Poe turned to her again. "Right?" he asked quietly.
Without breaking eye contact she pulled a dagger out of her boot and let it clatter loudly on the floor, removed the case of darts that had both sleeping agents and poisons, unclipped the blaster she'd picked up from the floor letting it too fall to the floor, and pulled the thin metal cuff off her wrist.
"What's that one do, blow people up?" a guard sneered in question.
Blandly she turned to him and answered, "there's a wire coiled inside, it's good for strangling when I'm forced to fight up close."
Poe turned fully to her wondering if it'd yet to hit her how precarious her situation was; she was a known enemy of the Resistance. "What the hell are you doing?" he whispered through grit teeth.
She shrugged looking far more innocent than she deserved. "I'm cooperating," she answered simply. "He asked me a question I answered it honestly." She almost smiled at the widening of his eyes, at his mouthing 'knock it off' – he made it too easy. But it wasn't like they'd forgive her as easily as he had, she wouldn't get nearly as many chances to save them to show that she 'wasn't such a bad person'. He was too optimistic.
At a hand on his shoulder Poe turned to see a guard at his side, his hand raised to his earpiece before he brought his mouth closer to Poe's ear to whisper something he didn't want her hearing. Eris quietly observed Poe's face grow first confused and then excited, a light sparking in his dark eyes. And then Poe looked at her, a loose end needing to be tied up, and his face grew serious as he rushed forward and pulled her back a ways.
"You wanna rot in one of our cells the rest of your life?"
He stood so close she could almost feel the tip of his nose against her chin, he didn't want them to hear – maybe their plan, maybe how familiar they were. Eris didn't know what his intentions were and she really didn't like not knowing things. "I don't know, would you come visit?" she asked gauging his reaction.
"Eris," he hissed firmly, yet part of him was amused because they both knew if that happened he would visit.
"No."
He took a breath wishing she didn't feel the need to be so strong all the time. "You still willing to trust me?"
"You givin me another option?" she asked.
He knew that was a yes, a dragging-her-feet kind of agreement but a yes all the same. But he knew her, not much but well enough, she'd have considered every alternative by then. "Say you killed your way out of this ship, how far d'you think you'd get?"
That was the most challenging alternative, there were so many other factors she couldn't plan for them all. "Oh I would kill all of you," she assured him, her mouth brushing against his cheek, "but I don't think I'd get much farther."
That was the assurance he needed – she wasn't fighting, which left her with no other plan but him. "So you're pretty and smart," he said quietly using her own words, watching her eyes narrow as she looked at his surprisingly guilty face.
She felt like he wanted something again, there was a look in his eye like he was trying to pull her in so she'd give him whatever he asked for. And then it hit her, why he was trying to make this go well so there was a possibility she might be released. "It's her isn't it?" Her chest seized squeezing the air from her lungs at realizing they'd found Rey, they had a location.
For a moment her face, her eyes, were open for him; she was relieved, hopeful, worried, resigned to go after this girl. And with a blink he once more stared at her neutral face, with her guarded eyes, her pretty colored skin, her dark knitted brows. "I don't know but it's likely," he said feeling her recoiling, having not realized how comfortably she'd been standing against him until she pulled away. "Look," he said placing a hand on either arm holding her still, forcing her to stay with him, "I haven't had a chance to explain you, they won't let you leave. So for the love of all things, Eris, trust me."
She considered it, gave it good proper consideration – and really the only other option was to kill everyone on the base and she might've been good but she wasn't that good. And try as she might she just didn't couldn't make herself wanna kill him. But trust she found was her hands cuffed behind her back with a guard dragging her after him all the while jabbing the barrel of his blaster rifle into her side. Poe had left her as soon as she agreed, leaving her nothing but a request to the guards to treat her well. Eris liked solitude, not having to depend on someone or having someone depend on her, no responsibility to anyone but herself, no way of getting hurt. But watching Poe run into the large hangar, without looking back, she found herself feeling so alone.
Eris felt it even more so when the door closed to her cell, a bright energy field enclosing her in the small gray room. "Get comfortable," the guard goaded. His efforts were wasted as Eris silently took the three short steps to the back wall and sat on the cold floor.
She sat like that for a while, her knees curled to her chest, her head resting against the wall. And then she laid her head on her knees, wrapped her arms around her legs. After some time she laid flat on her back beside the wall, an arm under her head. Then she swung around to plant her feet on the wall with her knees bent, her heels tapped a beat or just kicked frustrated. And then she stretched her legs out crossing them at the ankles, her hands folded over her middle, her eyes closed. With no clear show of time she didn't know if she'd been there an hour, two, all night.
There was a constant hum from the door, like a hive inside her mind buzzing against her brain. Her eyes opened when the sound cut out and craning her neck she looked to see who'd opened her cell and was now stepping inside. A sound that could only be described as a soft bellow had her sitting up turning fully to the man who stopped only a foot's distance from her. "Han?"
"Hey kid," he said holding out a hand to help her up, one he was surprised she took when normally she helped herself. "How's life been treatin ya?"
Her face was a mix of one part confusion, two parts familiarity, and another part irritation because he wasn't her favorite person. "I'm a prisoner, how do you think."
Giving a short unamused laugh he raised an accusatory finger in her direction and said, "lip like that I'm surprised you got that pilot on your side." He watched something crack in her stony face in a way he was regretfully familiar with. "I see the feelings are mutual," he jested stepping back to let her out of the very small room she'd been locked in. He opened his mouth to continue but Chewy beat him to it saying a great many things to the much shorter woman.
"Yeah it's good see you too," she said giving a friendly-ish slap to the wookie's arm before turning to Han. "What all d'Poe say, am I being let go?"
He almost grinned at her using the boy's first name seeing she did in fact like him as much as he seemed to like her. "For the time being at least, we're headin out soon; taking the Star-killer base. You're with us," he motioned to himself and Chewy, "obviously."
She nodded having figured the moment she saw him he'd either broken her out or she was stuck with him. "Alright," she said, her voice curled at the end making it clear she wanted more.
Han did smile then glad to see she was somewhat in the process of moving on. "Wanna know what he said about you?" he asked forcing her to either admit it or be stubborn.
Eris of course chose stubborn. "No, now why are we still here you said we were leaving?" she asked shifting her weight uncomfortably.
Han motioned to the hall they now stood in and began leading her down it, though really she walked beside him stride for stride with Chewy at their backs looking for all the world like she knew where she was going. "He said we knew your name and the things you'd done, but he knew you and you were capable of being kind. You know," Han said raising a shoulder offhandedly, "in case you were interested."
"I wasn't," she said but not even she bought it. She walked quietly beside him passing a few people who either stopped completely in their tracks at the sight of her or had to take another look to see it was in fact her. For years the Resistance hadn't even known she was a she, it amazed her how much trouble saving one blasted droid had been.
Entering the crowded briefing room she spotted Poe almost immediately, decked in a bright orange jumper, standing front and center by a map charting the course he and his fighter pilots would take. Her eyes then fell to the other side of the console catching sight of a small round white and orange droid, Poe's droid, the droid Rey would've been with. Next to it were a pair of black clad legs and she followed them to find an almost familiar looking brown jacket and further up a dark skinned young man – the one she'd seen before she found Poe. He must've been the stormtrooper.
Poe caught sight of violet hair and looked past the map to see Eris' perpetually unhappy face as she stalked toward Finn. "Oh no," he said realizing she'd probably figured it out.
Shoving the man he was talking to Eris stopped in front of the boy and stared hard at his taken aback face as he tried to figure out if he knew her. "Where is she?" she demanded.
He stared at her several seconds trying to place her because she seemed to know him, and then he remembered what Rey had said about someone she wasn't sure would come looking for her. "You're the cute boyfriend?" he asked having thought 'Eris' would've been a man. And then realizing what he'd said he quickly backtracked. "I mean Rey mentioned you, said some good things, it's nice to meet you." At her hard eyes growing harder he swallowed uncomfortably and held out his hand. "I'm Finn."
For a few moments she did nothing but stare at him waiting for him to say something else. "That's not what I asked," she said harsh and unforgiving.
Finn dropped his hand to his side very tempted to say yes sir. "Well the thing is," he started before shaking his head thinking that wasn't the best way to go about it, "you see," but even that didn't sound right and yet with nothing else to say he decided to continue as her already thin patience wore even more, "we were ambushed and outnumbered, and she'd run off so I didn't even know where she was. And then we got captured ourselves and were about to be execut-"
"Finn," her surprisingly light voice cut him off silencing him, "that's what you said your name was, right?" She waited for his quick nod before stepping closer and saying, "spit it out or I'll make you."
Pressing his lips together he gave another nod, a jerk of his head really. "Kylo Ren took her," he finally said still feeling that loss weighing in him. "That's why we're going to the base," he was quick to tell her as her face darkened to the point of making him nervous, "to get her back. And to destroy it. But between you and me," he lowered his voice, "I'm really there to get her back."
Her body was nearly vibrating as she stared at him with blazing eyes, her teeth grinding so hard they clicked. Until she hit him square in the chest almost knocking him off his feet and yelled, "You lost her!"
"Whoa," Poe said catching her around the waist before she could hit the poor kid again, "easy now, he's just the messenger." He looked around her head to see a timid Finn and with an almost proud grin Poe said, "she packs a hell of a punch, doesn't she."
Finn rubbed the place her hand had struck having thought she might've broken something if not completely steal the air from his lungs. "Friend of yours?" he asked wondering how the two knew each other.
Poe shrugged. "Met her yesterday but," he looked at Eris who now stood aware of his arm around her and raised a hand to his wrist to pull him off her, "I'd say we're friends."
Throwing his arm away from her she stepped back. "Whatever, what's the plan." At a pair of hands resting on her shoulders she stepped forward out of their grasp and turned so that she was almost behind Poe. "One more person touches me," she grumbled looking at Han.
"Cool it sister," he told her watching her eyes roll at his choice of words. "Keep mouthin off someone's gonna start noticing. And in case you haven't realized you're not exactly loved here," he reminded her already seeing she'd caught several people's interests.
Eris' eyes narrowed as she observed his weathered face. "You are breaking me out," she said thinking this was the worst plan considering he hadn't even tried to keep her out of sight. Half the base probably knew she was out, granted it was with the general's husband but there wasn't even a hint of stealth.
"You finally figure that out?" Han said giving a sarcastic nod. He turned to Chewy seeing him already looking down at him, having realized the next step. "Get her to the ship, see if you can do it quietly."
Eris shouldered her way around Poe and pushed past Han muttering, "why start now," before walking to a table in the back where a round bearded pilot stood. "Give me that," she said snatching her staff out of his hands slamming the opened end on the table to retract it. Grabbing the rest of her gear she then turned to find Chewbacca waiting to escort her to the Millennium Falcon, a ship the two had never stopped talking about.
Finn turned from her retreating form to Han Solo, seeing out his peripheral the orange of Poe's suit as he walked back to the map and his pilots. "Why are we bringing her, how do you know she won't get Rey and leave us?" he asked not thinking he'd ever trust her.
"Cause I know her," Han answered still looking after her and Chewy, who had grown rather fond of the stubborn woman years before – mostly because she was ruthless but also because Poe was right in that she was capable of being kind. "Let's just say I owe her one," he said remembering a time she hadn't always been like this. But that time had passed, buried in an unmarked grave with the last person she'd let herself truly care for.