Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I, in fact, own very little, so I hope the real owners don't mind me having a little fun with their creations.

As always, reviews are most welcome – but please be gentle. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

"Please tell me that pilots do know the difference between a thruster and a hovercraft, Commander."

"Very funny, Tupper," Poe answered sardonically as he finished steering the hovercraft to the mechanic's workbench. "The thruster you need is in the hovercraft, and before you ask, I had to get the hovercraft to get the thruster." When Tupper shot him a quizzical look, Poe raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask. It's a long story."

"Well, General Organa might be interested in a long story. She was starting to get worried that something might've gone wrong." Tupper gripped a tool in his hand, eager to tear-up the hovercraft it seemed.

"I'll make sure to check-in with the General. Things didn't go quite as planned, but at least I got you guys the part. Any idea when the transport ship will be running again?"

Tupper looked up as if searching the air for an answer. "In theory, I can retrofit the thruster and have it running again tomorrow. In reality, the transport is an outdated piece of scrap. It's the best we've got, but it still might take a lot more work to get it skyward again."

"Good thing the Resistance has the best techs in the galaxy, my friend." Poe shot Tupper his most confident smile and slapped the man on the back.

"You're right, Commander. If anyone can get that transport flying again, it'll be us." Tupper turned from Poe and focused his attention on removing the thruster from the hovercraft.

Poe kept the confident look on his face until he left Tupper, but his face fell into a troubled look as soon as the coast was clear. General Organa wouldn't be happy until that transport was up and running, and Poe didn't know what else he could do to make that happen. The Resistance's own spacecraft were easily recognizable in this part of the galaxy and would be spotted and no doubt shot down in moments. They needed a makeshift fleet to better travel within the First Order's territory, but so far hadn't had much luck with acquiring any truly useful spacecraft. Junk was about all they could afford without garnering suspicion. Up until now, the Resistance had been relying on commercial transports to go from planet to planet, but it was risky each time and grew riskier the further away they traveled. Poe wasn't sure how much longer the rag-tag team of Resistance fighters could survive in enemy territory if things didn't start going their way.

He briefly contemplated walking to the mess to grab a quick bite to eat, but he was so exhausted he didn't think it was worth the effort. Instead, he headed toward his bunk. The Resistance had been lucky enough to find just at the outskirts of the town a mountain with hundreds of tunnels and multiple exits, which recommended it highly as a prime spot for the Resistance to set up base. The tunnels opened up into caves of differing sizes, and the Resistance used each cave as a different "room" within the base: bunk rooms, mess hall, hangar bays, weapons, central command, and more. A dense forest surrounded the mountain and provided even more cover. Poe vaguely remembered some of the Resistance techs explaining that the mountain was made out of some mineral that effectively cloaked the signatures from all their equipment. He had pretty much stopped listening the moment the techs started talking, so he couldn't recall exactly. Early on, General Organa had said that the caves reminded her of the Rebel base on Hoth, minus the frigid temperatures of course.

Poe was quickly learning the layout of the base and very rarely chose the wrong tunnels anymore. He hurriedly navigated the tunnel system and shed his jacket the moment he entered his bunk, leaving it crumpled on the floor. As an officer, he had a small, but private, cave to himself, and he relished his first chance of true privacy that day. He forcefully sat down on his cot and kicked off his shoes. He pulled his long-sleeved shirt over his head in one swift move and tossed the shirt to join his jacket.

Poe stretched out on his cot and stared at the ceiling. He was so exhausted, so ready for sleep, yet he tensed the moment he laid down. He would never say it out loud, but he was actually nervous to fall asleep. Ever since his run-in with Kylo Ren, Poe had been having nightmares. Or maybe night terrors were a better description. He would fall asleep, only it wouldn't be sleep. It would be darkness and silent agony. Sometimes he would see the metal face of the Sith knight. Other times it was just the disembodied, metallic voice. One thing that was always constant was the pain, the intrusion in his mind, his very thoughts being forcibly ripped out. It was like Ren's interrogation had infected Poe's mind and the dark Jedi was still there with him, extracting bits of Poe every night.

To calm his mind, he focused on the details of the day, and how he would explain what happened to General Organa. After running after Schala outside of Perl's shop, Poe had taken her advice and waited until nightfall before he arrived at the cantina. He had walked right up to Quilp, fed him some lame line about how he was interested in the hovercraft and made him an offer for it. The sleaze ball Quilp had haggled with him as if the hovercraft were actually valuable, and Poe was forced to play the part of the dim but interested buyer. Poe knew the hovercraft was practically worthless, yet he had allowed Quilp to take the lead, hopeful it would make negotiations go smoothly and quickly. He had to bite his tongue the whole time, but in the end, it had worked rather well, as Schala had predicted. Poe had waited for a few minutes after the sale looking for her and was sorry that he wasn't able to find her in the crowd, to at least give her a nod in acknowledgment if nothing else.

To tell the truth, he felt pretty rotten about the way he'd acted yesterday. He had noticed the way Schala had blushed slightly when he was talking to her, took it to mean that she found him attractive and he had used it against her to his own advantage. It felt underhanded, and Poe didn't like the way that felt. It was another reason he longed to get back in the pilot's seat and away from these covert missions. He was honest Poe Dameron when he was in the skies – talented and fearless. But since the Resistance had entered First Order territory and he'd been grounded for these covert missions, he'd done nothing but lie, hide the truth and manipulate. He knew it was necessary, but he also knew it wasn't him.

Poe was too tired though, and he couldn't fight his exhaustion for long. He wasn't sure the moment he closed his eyes, but he did know the moment he felt Kylo Ren's presence in his mind. It was the same darkness, the same torment as so many nights before. Poe tried to fight it, but he couldn't make the pain stop and he couldn't force himself to wake up.

He resigned himself to another night of having to repeat the violation of Ren, when in his mind, he saw a pinprick of a light. Suddenly, it was as if the oppression of Kylo Ren was lifted. Intrigued, Poe willed his consciousness forward. As he approached the light grew larger, and then it was as if the light transported him to a wide-open space. He knew it was a dream, but the place so emanated peace that Poe didn't want to leave. He looked around and saw that he was high atop some kind of stone ruins. Looking to the horizon, he saw a vast lushness spread out as far as he could see. The sunlight shone down on him, golden and warm. It almost felt as if his mind were healing itself in this place – as if the wounds left by Ren were slowly binding up.

Poe's attention was drawn to a woman in a meditative pose at the edge of the ruins. Her back was turned to him so he couldn't see her face. She was perfectly still, as if communing with the nature around her. As the wind gently blew the woman's hair around, Poe noticed the silvery blonde strands were just like Schala's. He took a step forward to approach the woman, when from behind him came the menacing form of Kylo Ren. Poe tensed immediately, but the dark Jedi walked right past him towards the woman. Ren activated his lightsaber, and the warm, golden light of the moment was drenched in red. Poe could hear the unstable crackle of the crossbars. Ren did not hesitate as he moved forward, and as he moved he arched his saber high. Poe realized that the woman was the target and he tried to move or shout, but he was merely a spectator in this dream. He watched in horror as Ren's blade came down upon the unsuspecting woman.

As soon as the blade made contact Poe shot awake, instantly sitting up in his cot. His breathing was ragged, and Poe took a few deeps breaths to calm his heart. "What the heck was that?" he said aloud to no one but himself.

A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! Hopefully you will continue to enjoy the story!