A knock on the door to his sleeping bunker woke Poe the next morning. He felt himself being pulled from his deep slumber, the knocking on the door becoming harsher with every passing second.
"Alright, alright, I'm up!" he groaned.
The knocking stopped, much to Poe's relief. He rolled onto his back, eyes still closed as he struggled against the desire to return to sleep rather than report to his morning briefing. As much as his body argued with him, he was too committed to allow himself to sleep any longer.
When he shuffled from his bed, he noticed a holoboard had been slipped beneath the door to his room. The bright blue and red reflections of the screen flickered as headlines scrolled across the handheld device. Poe scooped up the screen, scratching at the short beard covering his face as he read through the headlines. One particular phrase, out of all the others, caught his attention: General Organa to declare latest Resistance mission later this morning. All members on board must attend the announcement: scheduled for 1100 hours. Black Squadron required to report to General Organa following the announcement.
Poe was suddenly awake. The excitement of a new mission that filled his body was returning, knowing his squadron would be the ones to take on this next assignment. He'd visit the General as soon as he readied himself to find out what awaited them. If he was manning the mission, he'd need to know everything before the rest of the Resistance did.
After grabbing a quick shower and a much-needed shave, Poe donned his Officer uniform and scavenged for a bite to eat. The sleeping quarters on board the transport weren't much, but they were comfortable and never without a source of energy. Poe grabbed an energy capsule - his 'food' of choice - and downed it with water. No frills. No mess. Just the way he liked it.
"Alright, BB-8" he announced, walking towards his powered-down droid. "You're next. If I can't sleep - neither can you." He bent to one knee in front of the unit and flipped a few switches. In seconds, the droid powered to life, its fuel cells fully charged.
Poe smiled down at the photorecptor eye of his friend and patted it's domed head. "Ready for another mission, buddy?"
A series of happy beeps and a spin of his spherical body gave Poe all the confirmation he needed. He chuckled, happy to have BB-8's support.
"Alright then, let's get going. Gotta swing by the General's office first, then maybe hit the hangar and see how the plane's coming. Sound alright?"
He listened as BB-8 chirped a reply, pausing only to grab one final item before leaving: the chain he wore every day, the chain that held his mother's wedding ring. Poe wrapped the silver chain around his neck and tucked it safely beneath his undershirt, feeling for the metal ring beneath the fabric. He did the same thing every morning, when time afforded him to do so, and took that moment for himself to remember the promise he made his mother.
With a wave of his hand, Poe motioned for BB-8 to follow, and together they headed to speak to General Organa. He figured he would have the most luck finding her in the main briefing room near the transport's cockpit. There, he could speak to her in private about whatever the mission was that awaited him.
But something that had been in the back of his mind was bugging him; had been bugging him since a few days prior. He hadn't been back to check on his ship, nor had he been back to speak to the woman — what was her name? The Pantoran... Shay. Right. Shay, for short she'd said.
Poe smiled, remembering the way she'd told him that, as if they would speak again. He supposed they would, of course. He hoped they would.
"Change of plans, BB-8" he told the droid, who followed close by. "Hangar first. Then the General."
BB-8 seemed happy no matter what Poe's choice. He gladly tagged along, always a few rolling strides ahead of Poe. He led them towards the hangar, passing several other pilots and lieutenants on their way.
Once the pair arrived at the hangar, Poe found himself surrounded by the sound of drills and wrenches, loud voices carrying over the noise of banging and clanging, along with the smell of oil and dirt and exhaust. All things considered, it was where Poe loved to be, if he couldn't be out in the vast openness of space.
The only thing that would make Poe happier was if he saw his plane back in correct working order, as well as the woman who made it that way.
He got both his wishes.
Walking beneath one of the S-foils, Poe's eyes went right to the body half-visible from within the cockpit. The glass shield was fully raised, but Shayavi wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were focused beneath her goggles at the panel in front of her, and a screwdriver was poised between her lips. Her violet hair was tied back into a loose bun held in place by a pen, and her blue skin was smudged with grease.
Not wanting to frighten her, Poe leaned against the body of his ship and waited. He used those moments to study her, watching the way she used the screw driver on the panel, then placed it back between her lips again. Her intense concentration was only interrupted by the string of curse words that flowed from her in frustration.
It made Poe laugh out loud in surprise. "Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said, finally making himself known. "Is that any way to talk in front of my baby?"
Shay nearly jumped halfway out of the cockpit chair when she heard him, spitting the screwdriver out into her hand. "How long have you been there?" She slid her goggles up over her forehead. "And how much of that did you hear?"
Poe climbed the ladder up to the cockpit, shrugging playfully. "Enough to know you curse like a bounty hunter."
She made a face at him. "I mentioned your ship was a challenge, right?"
"You did." Poe leaned forward, looking at his flight panels. "What's the issue in here?"
"No issue, actually." She replaced a small protective panel over one of the instrument dials and began to tighten the screws. "In fact - everything should be running much smoother now. I upgraded your launchers and both communication antenna receivers, so no more shoddy interception with on-ground comms."
Poe frowned. "Hey, I was using that as an excuse to-"
"-not listen to direct orders? Yeah, I know." She hopped from the cockpit onto one of the wings. "We wouldn't want the Resistance's best pilot disobeying orders, now would we?"
From the ground, BB-8 made a slow whoooooh sound, to which Poe promptly glared at him.
"Who told you that, anyway?" Poe inquired, his tone curious. "I mean...not that it matters or anything..."
His eagerness was borderline adorable. Shay eyed him playfully. "Well, to be honest...since I've been here, that's all I hear."
"Is that so?" Poe leaned an arm against the S-foil above him, liking what he was hearing.
Shay decided to play it up even more. "You should hear it! Dameron this, Dameron that. Seems you're the guy who can do it all."
Poe raised a dark eyebrow and smirked. "What if I could confirm that?"
Their eyes met, and something unspoken passed between them. In that moment, Shay took notice of how dark and soulful Poe's eyes were. They were large, expressive, and...sad. Poe may have been acting brazen towards her, but Shay saw something deeper in his eyes, something that was hiding beyond their deep espresso color. She noticed his eye lashes, so long and dark, seemed to make his eyes even rounder. Shay's stomach fluttered, which caught her more off guard than she realized. She looked down at the ground to avoid his handsome stare, and that's when she noticed the orange and white droid waiting attentively nearby.
"Well! What's this?" Shay hopped the rest of the way to the ground, leaving Poe on the wing. "Hello there" she said to BB-8 as she knelt before him. "And just who might you be?"
Poe's brain was still on a 30 second delay. He'd lost himself in the sunset gold of Shay's eyes, trying to understand what it was he felt stirring within him. It was if a stun gun had hit him. Shay was smart. Quick. A challenge. He liked challenges. He liked the way she leveled with him. And her smile...her smile...
"Is he yours?" Shay called up to him.
Poe forced himself out of his own emotions and jumped to the ground. He stood beside her and BB-8, noticing immediately the kind way she was looking at the droid. "He is." He stared at the droid proudly. "Though its not so much ownership as it is a friendship, eh, bud? Best friends forever?"
BB-8 rocked on his round body, showing enthusiastic agreement to Poe's words. This nearly melted Shay's heart seeing it, and she laughed.
"Wow, you must be special then" she told BB-8. "And you're kinda cute, too." With this, she made a pointed effort to eye Poe as she stood. "You and your friend are quite the pair."
From the ground, BB-8 looked from Shay to Poe, then back to Shay again. He made another low humming sound, and Poe had to restrain himself from showing the smile that threatened to break across his face. His little droid was telling him the 'new girl' was very kind and very pretty, but Poe already knew all of this. He licked his bottom lip and bit it, disguising his amusement.
"You mean you haven't heard that already from the others?" Poe taunted. In all actuality, he was a little surprised. "Surely that was mentioned somewhere in between the talk of how awesome a pilot I am and all."
"You mean Resistance's best pilot" Shay corrected him, and began to walk towards her tool cart. "No one mentioned anything about 'awesome'..."
"Right, that's what I meant." Poe followed, watching as she placed all the tools from her belt into the cart. He felt like she was wrapping her work up and was about to leave, but he wasn't done talking with her. He didn't want to be done talking to her. He wanted to know more about when she came on with the Resistance, how long she'd been a mechanic, if she knew how to fly, if she wanted to fly with him. "So, Shayavi..."
"Shay for short" she answered, humor in her eyes.
Poe laughed. "Right. I remember."
"Good."
"Now that my ship is fixed..."
Shay cocked her head and waited, wiping her greasy hands on a spare rag. What she was waiting for, she wasn't sure. It seemed like Poe wanted to ask her something, or tell her something, but quick-witted man in front of her seemed to have a sudden loss for words.
"It is fixed, right?" he asked, hands going to his hips.
"Yes." She grinned. "100% ready for you to screw it up again."
BB-8 whistled, obviously keen to Shay's joking. She looked at the droid and winked.
"Which, come to think of it - have you heard about the next mission yet?" She was curious if the General had told Poe about the mission personally, the way she'd spoken to her about it. By the look on Poe's face, that didn't seem to be the case.
"No, that's where I was heading when I decided to come see-" He stopped before the words made it out of his mouth. "-see my ship." He leaned in closer. "What do you know? What's it about?"
Shay wasn't sure she should leak the news before the General had time to speak about it. She also wasn't entirely sure Poe - or his droid - would appreciate someone inexperienced and new to the Resistance tagging along with them. So...she held off.
"I think we'd better wait for the General" she answered, watching disappointment spread across his face.
Lucky for the both of them, a voice interrupted them - heard through the loudspeaker comms that echoed across the hangar.
"All Resistance members on board are asked to report to the Briefing Room 001 at this time. I repeat: all Resistance members on board are asked to report to the Briefing Room 001 at this time."
The bodies who were around the hangar began to halt what they were doing. Poe and Shay looked at one another.
"Guess I'm about to find out anyway" he said to her with a shrug.
BB-8 rolled past them and towards the hall and Poe didn't hesitate to follow. "You coming?" he called back to Shay.
"Right after you, Troublemaker" she said, dropping the last of her tools in the cart. She took off at a fast brisk walk, making sure to catch up to her two newfound friends.
It was packed inside the briefing room, as Shay figured it would be. She'd only been to two other of these kinds of all-hands briefings, and it was hard to even find standing room. She managed to squeeze in to a back standing row on the top level, but it offered a good view of everyone else seated down below her. A large, circular-shaped hologram projector was the focal point of the room...aside from General Organa herself, of course. Shay was pleased to see the General was all smiles as she waited for the remaining few attendants to trickle in.
Poe stood not far from General Organa. His arms were crossed over his chest, legs spread in an attentive stance. It occurred to Shay that Poe actually wasn't dressed in his flight suit. Somehow, she'd completely missed the fact that he was dressed down, if that's what you could call it, in his olive-colored Officer jacket and dark brown pants. The whole time they'd been flirting with one another in the hangar, she never took notice of what he'd actually been wearing.
Were we flirting? she asked herself. Or is he just that friendly with everyone? Everyone seems to adore him. He's General Organa's favorite. Surely he's just this open with everyone...
She wasn't so sure. There was something there between them. She felt it. If her past relationships were any help - and they weren't - she could swear they were flirting.
"Hey, there you are!" Catlin whispered, squeezing past a few others so she could stand next to Shay. "Where have you been all morning?"
Shay rolled her eyes. "Guess."
Cat gave a slow nod. "Still fixing it?"
"Just finished."
"Ahhh."
Shay smiled at her friend, then slowly chanced another glance in Poe's direction. Much to her surprise, he was looking right at her. Her heart caught in her chest.
Poe gave her a tiny nod, then looked back to General Organa, who began to speak to the group around her.
Good galaxies, he's handsome, Shay thought with an exhale. She looked to see if Cat had noticed anything, but her friend's eyes were locked on Leia.
As the briefing continued, the General brought everyone up to speed on what Shay already knew: Black Squadron was to report to Lahsbane and coordinate with someone of great interest to General Organa. An exchange of information would occur there in regards to the latest plan the First Order was devising against colonies in the mid-rim near Lahsbane.
A map of the planet Lahsbane hovered above the holoprojector, giving everyone in the room a view of the landing base and location of dispatch once on the planet. Shay payed close attention, as she'd never been to Lahsbane. She didn't want to be any more of a burden than she already feared she would be. She also wondered if she was the only mechanic being deployed along with Black Squadron.
"As of now" General Organa announce, "I have assigned a special ops mechanic to accompany Black Squadron to Lahsbane, and all points beyond wherever this mission leads them. That assignment has been given to Shayavi Pewcha of Pandora, who's recently joined the Resistance and has shown great promise."
Catlin's eyes widened when she looked at Shay. "You're going with them?" she whispered in shock.
Shay kept her gaze locked on General Organa, who was smiling at her from her position on the floor.
"Lahsbane is known to have a fine, powdery dust within its atmosphere that wreaks havoc on a starfighter's engine. I suspect Pewcha may become Black Squadron's most valuable player, in time." With this, she looked pointedly at Poe. "Ensure you don't lose her somewhere along the way, Dameron."
Leia's instruction came paired with a smirk, which Poe reciprocated.
As Leia continued speaking, it was now Poe's eyes that looked for Shay. Their gazes locked, and...ever so slightly...he shook his head at her.
Shay saw that smirk in his eyes, even from a level above him. She flicked one eyebrow acknowledging him, then looked back at Leia. This mission is going to be trouble, she thought. He knew why she'd held back from telling him anything in the hangar now, and Shay was sure she'd never hear the end of it.
At least he doesn't look totally disappointed he has to have a mechanic bothering him the whole trip, she thought with some relief.
For the remainder of the briefing, neither Poe nor Shayavi looked at one another. The details of the mission were laid out in full, and both banked their respective roles in the mission within their minds. They were to leave the following morning at 0600 hours. Shay was thankful for that much: she'd need to load up her equipment and whatever personal items she'd need for the mission.
Leia raised her hands to those seated and standing around her. "That is all for now. You're excused. May the Force be with you all."
With this, bodies began filing out of the room. Cat was already talking a mile a minute now that she was able to, but Shay was paying attention to the floor below. Leia was speaking closely with the members of Poe's squadron, their eyes and ears giving her their full attention. She wondered what was being said, and what details had been strategically left out. She wondered what awaited them. She worried about what awaited her.
But somewhere in her stomach - in the same spot where she felt her stomach flutter back at the hangar - she felt like this mission was going to be the beginning of something much bigger for her. Much, much bigger.