Author's note:

Thank you so, so much for all your follows,favourites and reviews - keep them coming! It's so encouraging to have such good feedback for my first fic. Glad there's so much Dameron love out there :) Hope you enjoy this monster chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it - some hurt/comfort fluff coming in the next chapter!

Deserah xx

Chapter 8

Poe's conversation was engaging, and Nell found herself relaxing in the man's company, despite her growing attraction towards him. She felt guilty for feeling that way, especially in the wake of losing her family and everything she'd ever known at the hands of the First Order. Nell hadn't been particularly close to her parents – her Uncle Dak had been more of a parent to her than her mother and father – but she still felt their loss with every fibre of her being.

"Nell, are you ok?" Poe asked quietly, his dark brows knitted together with concern "You kinda drifted off there." Nell shrugged apologetically.

"I'm sorry Poe – I was just thinking of home. It's still not quite sunk in. It'll be ok" She smiled a little too brightly "Anyway, what were you saying?" Nell wasn't ready to talk about her pain yet.

"Well, Pava was telling me last night about your sim scores. Sounds as if you gave me a run for my money. How'd you like to try the real thing?" Nell grinned at Poe, nodding. Poe pushed his food tray away, standing and reaching for Nell's hand. She gladly accepted his as he hoisted her out of her chair, nodding his head in the direction of the main hangar.

Nell gasped as she entered the hangar, seeing all the X-wings lined up. She followed Poe over to a black X-wing with orange accents – it was a sight to behold and Nell looked it over appreciatively.

"This is Black One. She's all mine and she handles like a dream. She's got me out of quite few scrapes in her time. And this," Poe turned and indicated the ship next to his "will be yours."

Nell turned and looked at the X-wing he was looking at. It was off-white with emerald green accents, slightly scuffed, but otherwise perfect.

"Mine? As in, my very own X-wing?" Nell uttered disbelievingly. "She's a beauty!"

"Well, the General told me that your Uncle was in Green Squadron back in the day. She also told me that he was the reason you came to us. I thought you might want to honour him, hence the green..."

Nell turned to face Poe, her mouth agape. Suddenly, she threw her arms around his neck, tears in her eyes. Poe flushed and patted her back awkwardly, unsure of how to react to the warm feminine body that was suddenly pressed against his. Nell sensed him stiffen in her embrace and quickly released him, blushing.

"I'm so sorry, Commander, I just...well, nobody's ever done anything like that for me before. It's perfect." Poe's expression softened with relief that he'd done the right thing.

"Please, call me Poe. Anyway, ready to fly?" Poe said, handing her a flight suit as he tugged on his own. Nell nodded and started to zip up her flight suit, then going to climb the ladder up to the cockpit of her ship. Two engineers approached their ships and went over final checks, detaching the fuelling pipes and indicating two astromech droids in to position under the ships. Nell looked down at Poe's droid, putting her helmet on and flicking on the comm system.

"Who's that cute little guy?"

Poe chuckled, noticing what she was referring to.

"Nell, meet BB-8. BB-8, meet Nell. She's our newest recruit." Nell heard the little orb-like droid beeping cheerily over Poe's comm line as she went through her final pre-flight checks.

"Hey BB-8. It's a pleasure to meet you. Ok Comma...Poe. Ready when you are."

"Roger that. Let's see what you can do."

The two X-wings lifted off, heading in to the clear air of the green planet. Nell relaxed in to the leather seat, feeling a sense of freedom begin to wash over her. The controls of the ship were like second nature to her, as the cruciform wings of their ships cut through the air, swooping low over the top of the base.

"Ready to try something different" Poe's voice crackled in her ear. Nell grinned.

"What did you have in mind, Black Leader?" In response, Poe picked up speed, rapidly inclining in to the atmosphere, sweeping right and ending in a barrel roll. Nell imitated him perfectly.

" Looks like Pava was right...nice moves, Evaan!" Nell blushed, grateful that Poe couldn't see how pleased she was with his approval. She and Poe flew in tandem for another hour or so – she lost track of time, thoroughly enjoying herself and feeling as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders for the first time since she's arrived at the base. She couldn't remember when she's last been this happy or free.

"Ready to head back?" Her comm crackled once again. Nell looked out of the cockpit to see Poe's ship to her left.

"Awww, do we have to?" Nell moaned, joking. In response she steered slightly to the right, descending and heading back in the direction of the airfield, enjoying the sound of Poe's laugh in her ear. Landing smoothly, with Black One touching down alongside her, Nell popped open the cockpit and descended the ladder. She removed her helmet and shook out her chestnut hair, hoping it wasn't too messy after the confines of the helmet.

"That's some pretty sharp flying, Miss Evaan. When did you learn all that?" Poe grinned, striding over to her as soon as he was down the ladder from his own cockpit, BB-8 hot on his heels. Nell shrugged lightly and smiled.

"My uncle started teaching me in his old A-wing when I was about seven...my mother wasn't happy about it, but she could see that it was all I wanted. She couldn't have stopped me if she tried" Nell finished, smiling sadly.

" You know, my mother was in Green Squadron, too? She started teaching me when I was six. I'd wanted to fly ever since I could walk. Sounds like we have a lot in common." Poe smiled at Nell, looking a little hopeful.

"Your mother is Shara Bey?" Nell gaped at Poe, who nodded. Green four, Shara Bey, had been her childhood idol, and had featured heavily in her Uncle's stories of his days in the Rebel Alliance. Ever since hearing about the woman Nell had known that she wanted to be a pilot like her Uncle. She couldn't believe her luck.

"Was." Poe corrected gently "She died when I was 8. She was amazing. It wasn't until I joined the Republic Starfleet that I found out just how amazing she was. She never spoke about her time in the Rebellion. I looked up all her old flight logs I found out she'd completed hundreds of missions. She was quite a woman. She's the main reason I joined the Resistance. Reading about what she came up against made me realise just how bad things were getting with the First Order. Luckily I managed to bring my two most trusted pilots from Rapier Squadron with me when I defected.

Nell listened, rapt with attention. She really felt as if Poe was opening up to her and didn't take it lightly. She was increasingly fascinated by the man who was in turns kind and sensitive, yet brave and daring in the air. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed genuinely interested in her, too. Nell wasn't sure what to do about that. She's had boyfriends in the past, and had plenty of experience with men. More than she wanted to admit, in fact. In some ways in the past her encounters had been a form of escapism from her dull life. She hadn't had any involvement with men in the past year or so though, having been too distracted by work and the loss of her Uncle.

Poe's comm suddenly sounded.

"That's the General – she wants to see me. Are you gonna be ok on your own for a bit? I'll comm you later, ok?" Poe smiled apologetically at Nell, already starting to walk away. Nell nodded and shooed him away.

"Yes, go! Talk to you later" she smiled. Turning and leaving, Poe ran off in the direction of the Command Centre. Nell watched him leave, hoping she'd hear from him later, before heading back to her quarters to change out of the flight suit.

The rest of the day passed slowly, and, apart from a quick comm message to say that he wouldn't be able to join her for dinner, Nell didn't hear from Poe. She was joined in the mess for dinner by Jessika Pava, who wanted to know all about her flight session with Poe, and Snap Wexley who was friendly enough, but seemed far too distracted by Jess to hold any real conversation with Nell. Looking at the chrono on the wall, Nell noticed that it was getting late and excused herself from the two other pilots, leaving for her quarters. Nell palmed shut the door of her quarters and stripped off her clothes, changing in to a pair of soft sleep trousers and a strappy tank for bed. Climbing under the covers, Nell tried to quiet her racing thoughts before drifting off to sleep.