Poe felt a cold pit forming in his stomach. He'd just been kissing one of the General's field agents. The one he had been sent here to find specifically. He'd been taken for an absolute fool. And worst of all, it looked like he wasn't going to get laid. He looked at the woman's face now. She looked guarded, suspicious. Scared? She was completely different. Was any of the conversation they had had together real? She was a spy and she had played him perfectly.
"Put that down, will you?" Poe said casually as he sat down on a plump armchair. Red velvety material with gold stitching. Very fancy. "You were very convincing. Had me fooled."
"Who. Sent you?" she repeated, the blaster still clutched in her hands, aimed directly at him. He was grateful for how much cooler it was in this building. The heat outside had been really bugging him. This was a bit of a relief. But he was having such a mixture of emotions. He felt disappointed. He had just wanted her to be a nice girl who had taken a fancy to him. He felt like a fool that he hadn't kept his guard up and realised that something was off. And he was curious. Dara Varana. He had never heard of this field agent before. And he wondered why the General was directly involved in her retrieval.
"Calm down. The General sent me."
Dara lowered her blaster, but the guarded look stayed on her face. She was staring at Poe intently, as though trying to get inside his head and figure him out.
"Leia sent you."
"Yes. General Leia Organa. The boss. You were to be expecting me. I was sent to pick up a field agent by the name of Dara Varana and return them to base. You're Dara. I'm here to pick you up." He was starting to get a bit irritated. She had been expecting him. There was no need to point a blaster at him. "Wait, are you in some kind of trouble?" He still liked her, and she was one of his own. If she was in trouble he ought to know.
"Only always." she muttered, before putting the blaster down on a stylish wooden table. "And field agent, really? Is that what she called me?" There was a curl of mirth at the corner of her lips. He caught himself staring at her lips, thinking of that kiss. She had been using it as a ploy to get him back to her place, to corner him. But it had felt so real, so good.
"Are you saying you're not a field agent?" he asked, still staring at her lips.
"Of course I am." she said quickly, almost cutting off the end of his sentence. He raised a brow at her. One look in her eyes told him she was panicking a little at her own slip up. He had known there was something more to this mission than the General had told him. She looked even younger all of a sudden. She was scared.
"Hey, look. It's going to be okay. General Organa sent me to come and get you, and I'm her best pilot. She trusts me. I'll get you back to base in one piece, I promise." He sat forward and took her hand. "You can trust me." She snatched her hand away, but she looked a little less scared.
"We can talk about this in the morning. I know where you're staying. I saw you showing up at the… rendezvous locations, and I followed you for a time. I knew you were looking for me." Dara kicked off her shoes and stepped into another room, leaving Poe alone.
"I'll try to pretend that that isn't a bit creepy." he called out. He wondered how an agent like her could afford such luxury surroundings. She must do some very dangerous missions to get such a good wage.
"I'm sorry. I just had to make sure you weren't one of his… I mean weren't with the First File or anything like that." she called back. He thought she was going to be okay. He didn't think anyone was going to hurt her just yet. It was safe for him to leave. He hoped.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." He stood and made a hasty exit, before he asked her how much of what had happened was real. He felt stung. He made his way back to his hotel quickly. He wondered if he would ever get an explanation for this odd mission.