So, what exactly was Poe doing with Saramia?

"What are you doing with that girl?"

Poe turned from staring at the door Rey and Dar had just disappeared through and looked at his father in surprise.

"What do you mean?" he gasped.

Kes gestured toward the door. "Sending her off with Dar like that? Like you're trying to matchmake or something?" He shook his head. "Dar isn't going to join the Resistance, and Rey sure as hell can't stay here. So, why are you trying to pair them up?"

Poe frowned. "Papa, they're just going to a dance! They're not getting married!" He turned back toward the kitchen, suddenly in dire need of alcohol. "Rey didn't grow up in a very social environment," he explained as his father followed him. "I thought the least she could do while she's stuck here is have fun."

"Well, then why couldn't you take her?" Kes asked. "Instead of taking a risk that she'll fall for Dar and get her heart broken when she leaves."

Poe swung around to face him. "I can't take her!" he argued. "She's under my command," he said, but even he knew that was a weak argument. Rey wasn't really part of the military aspect of the Resistance. Just because he had the experience and rank and therefore had been in charge of their mission didn't really make him her superior. "Besides, she wouldn't want a man so much older than her."

Kes folded his arms in front of his chest, raising his eyebrows. "But it's just a dance," he said with a smirk.

Poe huffed and turned back toward the cooler. He searched inside, then in the cupboard next to it, while his father continued to watch him silently. "Don't you have anything to drink around here?"

"I see the way you look at her, Poe," Kes said softly. "I see how you keep an eye on her at all times, even though you pretend not to."

"I have to keep an eye on her," Poe stated. "She's important to the Resistance, both because of her abilities and because of her reputation. Leia would kill me if anything happened to her."

Kes nodded, humming in agreement. "Seems to me you're pretty important to the Resistance, too. Last I heard, your reward for capture was almost as much as hers." He shrugged. "It makes me wonder why Leia sent her two most valuable soldiers on this mission together." He paused. "Unless she had something else planned for the two of you."

Poe glared at him for a moment, then began to move past him, heading out of the kitchen. "I'm going into town to get something to drink." He heard Kes follow.

"Don't stop at the auditorium," the older man said, humor in his voice. "You don't need to get anymore jealous than you already are."

Rolling his eyes, Poe turned to him again. "I am not jealous!"

"Yeah, right," his father snorted. "Tell me you're not going to be a complete mess if Rey doesn't come home tonight."

Poe felt his breath catch. It wasn't that he hadn't thought that was a possibility. In fact, he rather expected it. He knew that was how Dar hoped the evening would end. But Kes saying it out loud brought images to Poe's mind that he would rather not think about. Like how much Dar towered over Rey, and how she had looked more feminine and delicate than he had ever seen her next to the younger man. How she had been very comfortable with Dar touching her. The blush on her cheek when Dar had been kissing her hand. The smile she had given him.

Rey wanted it, too.

He swallowed. "Rey's a grown woman. She's smart and savvy and knows what she wants. Dar will respect her wishes, and if her wishes include spending the night with him, then I'm…" he paused, twisting his lips in frustration. "I'm going to go get drunk." He turned and headed out the door.

The echo of his father's laughter followed him outside and half-way to the speeder. Of course, he wanted Rey, he thought. And of course, his father could tell. But it would never happen. Rey didn't look at him that way. Hell, just a short time ago, she had hinted that he looked old enough to be her father thanks to the grey in his beard. He ran a hand over his face, suddenly wishing he had shaved the damn thing off after they left Kalee, but he kind of liked how it made him a bit more invisible here on Yavin. While he trusted that most of the people here would never dream of turning him into the First Order, they were offering a good price for his head, and money was always alluring.

He drove to the village, taking it relatively slow, not wanting to catch up to Dar and Rey. He would prefer not to see either one of them again tonight. Maybe he could get himself so drunk that the hangover tomorrow would hide any reaction he might have to finding out Rey had indeed spent the night with Dar. Kriff, was she even experienced with sex, he wondered? She never seemed abashed or confused when part of sexual conversations with others at the base, and sometimes they got crude enough to make him blush. But that didn't mean she had any practical experience. It just meant she was familiar with talk like that, and knowing she had grown up in the rough environment of Jakku, he wasn't surprised. She could have taken lovers before she came to the Resistance. At least, he hoped any experience she had was consensual, although the thought of her willingly selling herself for rations didn't sit well with him any more than rape did.

It didn't matter, he told himself. Dar would take care of her. If she decided to have sex with him, Dar would make sure she enjoyed it, whatever her experience.

He pulled into the main parking area outside of the village, making note of Dar's speeder as he did so, then he quickly made his way in the opposite direction of the auditorium. He could hear the music and laughter from here, but soon the techno music and conversation of Clint's drowned out the sound of the party down the way. He went right up to the bar and ordered a Red Dwarf.

He wasn't even half-way through his drink when someone touched his arm. He turned his head to see Saramia smiling at him.

"Hey!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting away from my dad for a while," he told her with a grin. "Force knows I love him, but living with him again…"

Saramia laughed. "Come sit with us," she said, gesturing toward a table in the back. Three other humans and a couple of Rodians sat there, watching them rather excitedly. "Co-workers," Saramia said with a wink.

Spies, Poe thought. Helping the Resistance the best way they knew how. And now they were excited to meet the legendary Poe Dameron. He sighed, giving Saramia a exaggerated grimace. Laughing again, she took his arm and led him to the table.

Her group of 'friends' turned out to be pretty entertaining. They had all been raised here on Yavin, with parents that had been a part of the Rebel Alliance, and after Hosnian Prime's destruction, they had set out to do what they could, building a network that spanned the Outer Rim, and answering to one of Leia's most trusted allies, Garek, a Sullustian spy who had worked for the Rebellion years ago.

Poe enjoyed his time with the group for a couple of hours, drinking and laughing and not thinking about what Dar might be doing to Rey. Well, mostly. Eventually, the party broke up, as most of them were heading off-world the next morning. Theirs was a dangerous hobby, and Poe knew that every time one of them left Yavin IV, they prayed they would be coming back. He thanked them all, then he and Saramia started wandering slowly toward the parking area.

"Are you sure you're okay to drive home?" Saramia asked him. "I could find a valet droid to drive your speeder back."

Poe hadn't drunk as much as he had been planning to on his arrival here tonight, so his head was still clear. "I'm good," he told her. "I'll go slow so if I run into a tree, I won't get hurt too bad."

"You're not funny, Dameron," Saramia grumbled.

He chuckled. "You do remember what I do for a living, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," she sighed, stopping to look up at him. "You're just living to die, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "Not until the war is won," he said softly. "And then I hope I've found something to live for past that."

"You still haven't found anybody?" she whispered, her eyes sad.

He shook his head. "Not like you did," he said, raising a hand up to touch her smooth cheek. "Was it worth the pain?" he asked as she nuzzled into his hand. "Was the love worth the loss?"

She looked him in the eye. "My pain would say otherwise," she told him honestly. "But when I remember the time we had, I wouldn't trade it for anything. So, yes. It was worth it." She took the hand that was still touching her cheek in both of hers. "Come stay with me tonight."

In answer, Poe leaned in. Saramia responded as he hoped, meeting his lips with her own. She was soft and sweet and familiar, and he could feel himself start to harden. If Rey was getting lucky tonight, he thought caustically, then why shouldn't he? Saramia's arms came up around his neck and he pulled her close, letting his tongue dance with hers, letting the alcohol and the arousal take control of his senses.

Suddenly, she pulled back. He opened his eyes sluggishly, finding himself surprised and disturbed that he had expected to see Rey in his arms. Kriff, he must be more drunk than he thought. Saramia was looking past him, smiling slightly. She looked back at him. "Someone was watching us," she said with a chuckle. "Maybe we should take this to my place?"

Poe turned to glance at where she had been looking, but whoever she had been talking about was gone. He frowned, then looked back at Saramia. "Who was it?"

She shrugged. "I didn't really see," she said. "A woman. Why?"

Poe shook his head, the dizzy feeling inside increasing. "I… I don't know. I just…" He took a deep breath and shook his head. "I should probably go home," he said regretfully. He looked back down toward the auditorium, which was much quieter than it had been.

Saramia cocked her head at him. "You're worried about your friend, aren't you?"

Poe looked at her, startled.

"Dar's a good guy. He won't hurt her."

Poe felt a smile form, and his head cleared a bit. "I know that."

"Then it's something else that has you worried about her?"

Poe stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head slightly. "It doesn't matter. Only the war matters."

"That's not true," Saramia told him. "Love is the reason we're fighting the First Order," she said. "In the end, love is all that matters." She stepped back. "Go home, Dameron. And maybe think about not taking anything, including the people you care about, for granted. Life is too short. Find that person that will make you want to live beyond this war. And don't let her go."

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