Hello everyone! How are you? I hope you had a wonderful Valentines/Singles Awareness/Palentines day last week! Luckily I can offer you some more romance in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it! A big shoutout to Lily L Lovegood, Love Fiction 2019 and thedragonhorse for their reviews last week!

If you could all please leave a review for this chapter, I would appreciate it so much! It's always hard writing love scenes and comments are warmly appreciated. -heart-

Lots of love

Mistro

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Oh, no." Oddy's voice shook as he looked down at his fallen Commander. Poe's face was still as a group of pirates began to gather around them.

"Blast them!" A mysterious purple creature with blue eyes shouted at them. "Dameron's the only one we need." Leo glanced up to see the pirates now pointing blasters between their eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Leo's voice was confident. From the corner of his eye, he could see various droids making their way to form another circle around the group. Luckily, when he had gone over the mission with Poe, this was something Threepio had planned for. "You see, we have you surrounded."

The Ranc members were at a loss for words. Who were these men who had just showed up and hacked into their droid systems?

"Please relinquish your arms immediately," A tall droid requested.

"Clarification," another droid chimed in. "Your weapons. Caveat: you will indeed relinquish your arms if you fail to comply."

One of the pirates paused for an eye roll. "Fabulous."

Leo shrugged. "As I said. Surrounded."

Poe was steadily starting to regain his conscious, his body weakly lifting off the floor. "Do you guys know what getting a stun blast right in the chest feels like?" Poe began to rub at his chest wearily, not at all phased by what was going on. "Because I do," he groaned. "I almost wish they'd just dropped me off the Sliver." BB-8 whizzed with concern. "Don't worry, pal. I'm just kidding. I'm not going anywhere for a good, long while."

Leo kept his blaster held upright, although the pirates had already lost their interest. "I wouldn't mind getting off this planet."

"These Rancs were trying to sell the droid we were looking for." Oddy said as he helped Poe to stand. "Threepio has some of his spies already looking for it."

Leo's eyes were fixated on an incoming droid. It was an old N1-ZX series Commando droid, whose long black legs were carrying it straight towards the Resistance group. "If I had to guess, I'd say our quarry is here now."

"Huh." The droid scoffed, its wide eyes scanning the men from head to toe. "Took you long enough."

The men disregarded the droid's sass to follow it outside. The Rancs didn't seem to have any issue with letting them go, their weapons still dropped on the floor and their hands in the air. It was interesting to think of the power of droids, and just what their presence could mean. The Rancs weren't particularly worried about fighting them - in that sense they easily could have won - but the amount of precious data that droids in their gang possessed was too valuable. If the hacker damaged the droids' systems, the Rancs would have been finished.

When the Resistance group was back outside, the new droid seemed to have little interest in offering up the information. It politely declined Leo's request, and Poe didn't have the energy to argue.f

"This is outrageous!" Leo shouted, finally snapping. "I'm your superior officer and I'm commanding you to release your data!"

"You wish, blondie. I'm keeping what I know about Supreme Leader Snoke to myself until I'm blasted off this planet."

Leo had dealt with some annoying people in his time, but none had ever been quite so irritating as a disobedient droid. The scratchy voice got under his skin, and he turned to the others with an explanation. "This unit's self-preservation programming is deeply embedded into his central processors." Poe raised a brow in amazement. He'd never heard Leo use such big words. "He's only gonna release his intelligence about the First Order once we safely return to the Resistance base."

"Refusing?" Poe scoffed. "He's a droid. Just get it out of him! Give him a robo-lobotomy or something." BB-8 cried in fear, never quite hearing his friend speak so harshly about droids. Poe glanced down with an apologetic look, unable to take back his words.

"Just try, human." The droid challenged. "See what happens."

"He's right," Oddy sighed. "Forcefully infiltrating his systems would result in a complete memory wipe. We would lose everything."

Poe's head was ringing again. This time it wasn't from the blaster, but once again from his electrocution on the Starkiller Base. He hadn't even had time to think about that mission, let alone a new one. He hoped that nothing had gone wrong since he left. The pressure building up made his temples sting, and with a defeated groan, he shut his eyes. "Whatever. I hate this mission. Let's just get the damn thing back to the ship."

"Thing?" The droid gasped. "I have a name, you know! I am Nunzix!"

The droid continued to ramble on as Leo managed to get it in a chokehold. Oddy and Poe would have offered a helping hand, had something else not stolen their attention. "Poe… what is that?" It was Oddy who asked, his head pointed directly towards the sky.

"Uh-oh." Poe's heart registered what it was before his eyes caught sight of it. He could spot it from a stretched out shadow on the ground, its slender body too long for any other ship than the Carrion Spike. "I know that ship. I saw it on Megalox Beta." He looked at his friend, waiting for guilt to register on his face. "That's Terex."

"Huh." Oddy said quietly. "Terex."

Poe began to push the group towards the crowd. BB-8 and Leo followed close behind, the rebel droid still clutched beneath Leo's firm guard. Now that Terex had arrived, Poe had to maintain his composure in order to convince Oddy that he knew nothing. "I thought this smelled like him. Those gangsters must have called him – he probably put a bounty out on me. Man is nefarious." Oddy said nothing in response, his eyes darting anxiously around them. "If we move fast and get a little luck, we can be off this planet before-"

Without warning, a thunderous voice erupted from the sky. It caused everyone, including the pirates lining the narrow streets, to stop their paths. "This is Lord Terex. I have returned."

"Lord Terex?" Poe's eyes squinted against the sun. "This guy's pretty impressed with himself."

"People of Kaddak." The voice continued. "I require Poe Dameron. Bring him to me, and you shall be rewarded." Poe's stomach dropped to the core of the planet. Suddenly all eyes were on him. "Go, now. Please me."

In only a matter of seconds, all three of the men had their blasters ready. Blue stun bullets were flying between them and the buildings as they sprinted back towards the ship hangar. "BB-8!" Poe screamed down at his friend, who was struggling to keep up as legs danced around his spherical body. "Can you override these droid settings? Make them protect us?"

The bot's gears clicked like wildfire. In only a matter of seconds, things began to get quieter behind the group. When they turned back, a wall of droids stood between them and the pirates.

"Override signal received." Each of the droids were saying it, their own blasters now raised. "New protocol received. Protect and defend."

With a sigh of relief, they continued their desperate sprint towards the hangar. The Commando Droid was still with them, its cold metal hand forcibly being tugged by Leo. If the droid had anything to say about it, it was lost under the sound of their trampling feet.

It didn't take much longer for the makeshift team to get back up the Sliver. Nobody had managed to cross their path with droids at their beck and call, and before they could realize it, they were once again standing in front of The Beast. Its grey and red hues glared down at them against the beating sunlight, recalling Poe of that very morning, when he had been safe in the embrace of Mara. Poe collapsed against his knees, wondering what on Earth he was doing here. Was it really worth it? What if Oddy wasn't the mole?

"Thank the maker," Leo gasped, crumbling to his knees. "We made it."

"Wait." The droid scoffed. "We're supposed to get in that? I'd have better luck flapping my arms."

Leo glared at his newfound enemy. "Too bad you don't have arms, bot."

The droid ignored him. "If Terex sends fighters after us, we're done for. This is a terrible plan."

"Easy there, chief." Poe shot it a look of warning. "I planned for this." The droid glanced at him with curiosity, wondering who this strange man was that Terex would go as far to put a bounty on his head. Without an explanation, Poe turned to his trusted droid. "Do it, pal."

BB-8's system swung open the back hatch of The Beast. Its large walkway fell to the ground slowly, creaking like a forgotten staircase, and with a thud it came to rest on solid ground. What lay inside appeared to the group like a beautiful dancer making her entrance on stage. Leo could have cried with laughter and relief. He think he was finally beginning to understand Poe Dameron.

"You just couldn't leave it, could you?"

Staring back at them was Poe's T-85 X-Wing. The cockpit lid was already opened, as if begging for one of the pilots to step inside. Poe breathed as if he were seeing a friend that had been lost for years. "Hello, beautiful."

"Come on," Leo urged, shoving the droid inside. "You can ride on the hull."

"And what about you?" Nunzix protested, its gangly body desperately trying to avoid Leo's attempts. "Where are you going to go?"

Leo flashed it a white grin, his blue eyes sparkling like open waters. "Like the Commander said – we planned for this. I'll be taking the hunk of junk back with Oddy and you and Dameron can make your way out of here around Terex's bullets."

"Oddy?" The droid would have raised a brow if it had one. "I feel that I should point out that the third member of your party is missing."

Poe's body went cold. "What? I can't believe…" He snapped around in a panic, realizing the droid was right. "Where is he?"

How had he missed it? When did Oddy get the chance to sneak away? Whatever the mechanic was doing, it would be a suicide mission. He hoped, in the deepest part of his heart, that he had been wrong about Oddy and that Terex really did have leverage against him. If that were true, Oddy could have summoned up the courage to fight and gone after Terex himself. Either way, Poe could not risk the hunt for his friend with Terex on his tail.

"I've been signaling his comms," Leo said, aggressively tapping at his wrist. "No response."

Poe marched forward towards his ship, a flush of anger spreading across his cheeks. "I feel awful saying this, but we can't wait. The stakes are too high. We'll leave Oddy the Cargo ship. He has the access codes to fly it."

"What about me?" Leo's anxiety began to flare up at the realization that his precious Beast could be lost forever. After all, it was one of the only sentimental things he had of his and Mara's dynamic relationship, and he was gradually growing into a sentimental kind of guy.

Poe strapped on his helmet, his eyes staring straight ahead with purpose. "I'm not sure if you saw that T-70 at the front of the cargo hold, but I'm pretty sure the droids are still blocking the pathway. You'll be safe. Take BB-8 and override the system for the access codes. If you can, follow my lead out of here."

Leo agreed without argument. Before setting off to find the older X-Wing model, he managed to get the droid into the hull. As much as he hated to leave The Beast behind, flying in a T-70 was nothing to complain about.

Poe shook his head silently as BB-8 and Leo disappeared from his line of vision. What kind of mess had they gotten themselves into? Whispering to himself, Poe tried to calm his pumping heart. "Honestly, wherever Oddy is, he's probably safer than we are."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Captain Phasma's blue face stared blankly at Terex through the hologram, but her voice was filled with rage. "Agent Terex… What have you done?" Her expressionless eyes moved from his head to his toes. "And what are you wearing?" The man was sitting in his familiar chair, with that familiar lean that she so greatly despised. His armor was makeshift and appeared to be several decades old. There was a deep purple hue on his chest, with arms and legs seemingly made from an old Trooper suit. Whatever it was, it made him no less of an embarrassment to the First Order.

"This?" He gestured to his chest with both hands. "The armor of the Lord-General of the Rancs of Kaddak."

"Fine," Phasma spat. "But why? Standards must be maintained. Examples must be set. You are an Officer of the First Order Security Bureau!"

"Well, yes." His voice was silk like butter, coy as always. "But I am also Lord-General of the Rancs of Kaddak. And frankly, my dear Captain Phasma…" He leaned in menacingly from his chair, their eyes now level through the hologram. "You knew that when you hired me."

Terex was on fire that day. He never felt as strong with the First Order as he did with the Rancs. On Kaddak, his power was unlimited and every man on the planet would have slit their own throat without question if he asked them to. He had his former colleague to thank for that, a man known by the name of Cormac, who had tried to use him as bait. Bait? Oh, no. Terex was not something to be chewed up and spat back out again. Cormac and several other pirates on Kaddak had wanted to overtake the Rebellion many years ago on their own to wield power and fame. They had considered Terex dispensable, using him as a guppy for smaller tasks.

He had shown them who was really dispensable.

"You were ordered to report to First Order Space after your failure to obtain information from Grakkus the Hutt. You did not do so. Luckily for you, that was handled by the First Order. However, Kylo Ren himself has taken an interest in your missteps."

"Ah, yes." Terex raised his thick brow, his nails receiving more attention that the woman before him. "Very intimidating. I met Vader once, Phasma. Now there was a terrifying, magical strongman for you. But it so happens that I do have an explanation." He sat up straight again, clearing his throat. Phasma waited in silence. If she didn't, she wasn't sure what words would fly from her mouth. "Poe Dameron is bringing the Resistance a droid he mistakenly believes holds crucial First Order Intelligence. I, and my sizable fleet of warships, are currently tracking him. Once Poe leads me to the Resistance Base, I will use my fleet to destroy Leia Organa, Poe, Ackbar, and everyone and everything else they have."

"Terex," Phasma's voice was now loose with rage. "You must not do this! You don't even know what has happened here!" Her chest heaved with anger, although it could not be seen underneath her thick armor. "Starkiller Base is destroyed. We are exiting into the atmosphere as we speak, trying to locate a signal from one of the X-Wings that left our base. If we can manage to lock onto it, we will find the Resistance Base in a matter of minutes and we will hunt them down." She pointed her gloved finger squarely between his eyes. She wished she was there in person to kill him herself. Nothing would have held her back. "The Supreme Leader has forbidden open hostility by First Order military against forces aligned with the New Republic. The time is not yet right!"

Terex had stood up upon hearing the news from Starkiller Base. Things were messier than he thought, but he was in too deep with his argument and could not pull out now for the sake of compliance. "Ah, but Phasma, have you already forgotten? I am not only a First Order Officer. My ships are not First Order, my men are not First Order. They are mine. Which means, of course, that what you cannot do, what Hux and Kylo Ren cannot do, what the Supreme Leader cannot do… I can."

Phasma shook her head. In her private quarters, where she was taking the call, she could hear the frantic shouts of men as Starkiller Base was shredding into pieces behind their ship. "Terex, this sort of action is precisely why you are not given the status within the First Order you believe you deserve. I warn you, if you pursue Poe Dameron to the Resistance base, the consequences will be dire."

"You really are a First Order Commander through and through, Phasma." Terex wore a genuine smile, the side of his face with the cyborg implant not moving as freely as the other. "You threaten and whine and wail, but you never do anything." He sat back down, dusting off his pants before doing so. "Just sit back, relax, and let me hand you the Resistance. Why don't you just…" He gestured towards her small frame with a lack of concern. "I dunno, go polish your armor."

"Terex do not-" Her voice was cut off with a click. Terex had ended the call, his eyes now staring out into the deep void of space through the window in front of him. His fingers snapped for the attention of a servant.

"Drink. Now."

A beautiful Abednedo woman carried over a plate with shaking hands. Terex plucked the drink off without grace, nearly sending her toppling the liquid into his lap. Luckily, he hadn't seemed to notice. Her stomach churned with the thought of her lost husband, Oddy Muva, and when she would return to him and escape this wretched place.

"My, my, my." Terex sighed after taking a long sip of his wine. "That felt absolutely wonderful."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

When Mara had left the office after several hours of reading reports, her head felt heavier than after it had been shot. As it had been doing recently, her mind trickled onwards to thoughts of her pillow. It would have felt cooler, less comfortable without Poe there, and yet she was grateful for what he had given her. The motivation to sleep, to rest, and to better herself.

Thoughts of him danced around her head, intertwining with all of the messages she had read on the screen that day. It had been several hours since she had human contact, but her body carried her subconsciously through the base's hangar. She wanted to be alone with his ship, to feel the worn-out seat and think about the tremendous skills he had possessed to make that ship come alive.

The Battle of Takodana had shown Mara what Poe Dameron was really capable of. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what he must have looked like on Starkiller Base, weaving his way in and out of TIE Fighters as swiftly as a needle and thread. She was lucky - and she knew it - that he was alive.

As she turned the corner into the main hall, many of the X-Wings still in bad shape from the previous mission, a weight dropped her stomach to the floor. Poe's X-Wing was not there. Her mind began to race with worry and fear, thinking of every irrational explanation that she could.

Of course, it came down to a simple answer. Poe was nothing without BB-8 and his X-Wing, and he had likely snuck it onto the back of The Beast when nobody was looking. She almost laughed at the thought of it, a sweet sound escaping her lips and distracting a nearby mechanic. She waved in awkward politeness, turning her back swiftly on the scene.

When she finally reached Poe's room, only the small X-Wing model could recall his presence. There was not much character to the room beside that. She stared at it while she lay on the bed, her mind trickling to the night before as she tumbled into a deep sleep. Her fingers clutched at the Force seed in her pocket, a gift that Poe had offered her many months ago.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The Night Before…

"Mara." He pulled her away, their breath caught between them. The two stared at one another with wild eyes, their thoughts unmasked. "I don't want to leave tomorrow."

I don't want to leave tomorrow without knowing you, without seeing you, without being with you.

She bit her bottom lip, fighting back the urge to protest. "You're Commander Poe Dameron. You have no choice."

"I do have a choice," he muttered before kissing her once again. "At least for tonight."

The kiss was slow and simple. Mara's hands could barely move at the thought of his suggestion, her pounding heart soaking up all of the energy she had. Her body stung with fear at the thought of what this might mean - that they would come together as one - and that she would be infinitely lost in the man that was Poe Dameron. Take my heart, she thought with desperation as their kiss pushed them into the floor. Take it away from me.

Poe's body was towering over Mara's as she lay flat on the ground. The simplicity that was her, in everything that she was, overwhelmed him. He could hardly summon the strength to break free from her lips, but he needed to look her in the eye. When he did, a soft whisper fell from his lips. "Hello."

"Hello," she breathed into a laugh. The laugh that collapsed his senses. His lips met her cheek with a long pause. When he pulled away again, he stood up without a second word, offering his hand to her. She followed his lead towards their room in silence, the door shutting behind them with a gentle click.

The two of them couldn't seem to let a finger drop from the other as they pressed themselves into the bed. They were both exhausted and sore, Poe more than he could possibly express, but they didn't long for sleep. The ache he felt now was different, burning and urgent. If he had to go countless sleepless nights to fall by her side, the world of his dreams would be the ultimate sacrifice.

Mara longed for something, both in her heart and in her body. She was tender, her body pressing him closer under he practically melted into her. She found it strange that bodies could do that, and even more strange that she longed for it. She was hungry for the taste of him, her eyelids repeatedly flickering open to stare at his imperfect curls.

Gently, with purpose, Poe began to unzip the front of her uniform. It slid off easily and tumbled to the floor, a solitary reminder that it was only the two of them. She wore tights for warmth and a plain blouse, the image of her naked body still hidden from him. Before he could continue further, she began to remove her own clothes. He couldn't truly believe that such a moment was happening, and that she was accepting him with such open arms. And yet, she lay there with her fingers clumsily peeling off his stained shirt, dropping it like a cherry on ice cream over her uniform. His belt and trousers were next to follow, nothing separating them in that moment except a mere patch of fabric. Nothing felt unusual, dangerous, or secretive about their coming together.

It felt right.

"Mara Crescent..." Poe looked into her eyes and she was able to spot the familiar golden specks in his. "I love you."

Her chest was warm with his words, and she warmed it further by pressing her self against him. His lips parted against hers, the room still. In only a moment, a fraction of a second, did she feel him enter her. Her head turned sideways with the pleasure and the utter realization that there was no going back. Her hair was undone over the pillow, surrounding her face like a frame. She was more beautiful than ever, and he wanted nothing more than to relish in it.

Their bodies moved with one another for what felt like hours, days, weeks. It was never fast or urgent, but careful and soft. It was as if they both understood unspoken words: if this was to be the only time they made love, because the future was truly unpredictable, then they had to explore every inch of one another. They had to take turns looking at the other from above, their hands roaming everywhere that their lips could not.

"I love you too," Mara finally replied, after letting her head fall into the crook of his neck. "Unconditionally."

His eyelids fluttered as he felt his head spin. He could feel himself getting closer to his breaking point, her body too sensuous and supple for him to hold back. He wanted it to go on longer, however, and he bit his lip with frustration. She watched him struggle, her body moving carefully to not overthrow his senses.

Finally, Mara broke free from her thoughts. "I want you."

"I want you," he replied, his hands moving over her torso. They had been mickinging one another all night.

When the moment finally came, they bodies collapsed onto one another just as their clothes did on the floor. Weak. Poe's lashes flickered in and out of the world, unsure of exactly where he was. All he could comprehend was that she was there, the weight of her body so obviously atop him and around him. He could never tell her what a struggle it was to love her, what it cost him to always appear calm and force his thoughts away from her.

Mara's fingers mockingly slid down his chest, further and further until he gave a squirm of surprise. She laughed against his ear, her lips gently nibbling. It was unlike anything Poe could imagine she would do, the playfulness and openness of her unexpected.

"Did you just... bite me?" She nibbled his neck again, her tongue eventually meeting his skin. His body was already weak from moments before, but she continued to make it falter. He had never felt like this before, as if he could be with her over and over again and never grow tired. "Nevermind," he sighed. "I'm starting to like it."

Her body crumbled beside him, finally exhausted. Beads of sweat lined their foreheads, but neither could move to brush it off. The moment was perfect, as if taken directly out of a wish blown upon a dandelion.

This time, Mara could set free her fear of nightmares. The only thing lining her future now were dreams.