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Poe looked down at the datachip with a satisfied grin. That much closer to finding Lor San Tekka. He smiled and tucked it into his jacket pocket as he turned down an alley. Back to the dock, comm the General, and then, he stretched his neck and closed his eyes for a second, and then, Jess “there’s-always-complications-when-Poe-goes-on-a-mission” Pava owes me a drink.
Complications, Testor?
How about in and out, easy peasy. Poe turned right and everything went black…
# # # #
Poe woke to find his hands in binders behind him. He was on the floor of a…
I’m in someone’s hold.
Crap.
Kriffing, sithspitting crap!
He slowly pushed himself up and looked around. A few crates, but otherwise, nothing. “Hello?” Poe listened to his voice bounce off the metal walls. “Hey! Anyone there?”
The door to the hold slid open and a figure dressed in a long black duster approached. Poe found himself backing up against the wall. The figure stopped and crouched in front of him. The duster had a hood and the being was wearing a mask.
This does not scream “friendly.”
But what the hell. “Hey, buddy,” Poe said, his voice a bit shakier than he’d intended. “I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding?”
The figure threw back his hood and took off the mask to reveal the prettiest face Poe had ever seen. He blinked and licked his lips. The man staring at him had huge brown eyes that were clearly amused. “No,” the man said, his voice just a bit gravelly. “No misunderstanding, Dameron.” He stood. “You’re worth a lot of money.”
“Kriff,” Poe said. Why do the pretty ones always have to be soulless mercenaries? “Bounty hunter.”
“Yep,” said the man, walking over to a panel in the wall and opening it. He got out a ration bar and some water. He brought them back over to Poe. He eyed him suspiciously. “You gonna try something if I undo those binders?”
“Hell yeah, I am,” Poe said.
The man laughed and seemed to consider it. He shrugged. He put down the water and ration bar and reached behind Poe, unlocking the binders.
Poe was moving the instant he heard the click, but his captor was faster. The man used Poe’s weight against him and in a blink, Poe found himself on his back with the bounty hunter on top of him, pinning him down. “You finished,” the man asked, not even bothering to mask the amusement in his voice.
Poe struggled for another second before stilling. “Yeah. Fine.” He closed his eyes. Good going, Dameron.
The man chuckled and stood up. He nodded to the ration bar. “Eat up. We’ve still got a few more hours before the rendezvous.”
Poe crawled over to the ration bar and tore into it. Between bites he said, “Seriously, how do you sleep at night, working for the First Order?”
The man leaned against a crate. “Don’t work for the First Order.”
Poe huffed out an unamused laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“I don’t work for the First Order,” the man said, all traces of mirth gone from his voice. “You do know that you’re a deserter, right? The New Republic has a bounty on your head as well.”
Poe shook his head. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, buddy.”
“Wait, you’re judging me? You’re the deserter.” Poe rolled his eyes and kept eating, so the man continued, “Look man, you don’t know anything about me. Where I’m from. What I’ve seen.”
Poe looked up at his captor, his eyes burning with defiance. “And I don’t give a damn about any of that.” He looked the man up and down. “You seem like someone who can handle their own; you know how to fly; you obviously can take care of yourself,” Poe rubbed his wrists, “and you’re out here delivering bounties? Kriff, you might as well be working for the Order. You’re doin’ their job for them if you turn me in.”
“How you figure,” the man asked.
“Where do you think I went when I defected?”
“I don’t much care,” the man said, crossing his arms.
Poe stood up. “See? That’s what I’m talking about. You might not work for the Order, but you aren’t doing a kriffing thing to stop them, are you?” He shook his head and bent down to pick up his water. “For what it’s worth, I’m with the Resistance now, trying to figure out a way to beat the Order before they plunge us into another war.”
“You and your friends stole three X-wings when you left the navy.”
“Yeah, and I’m not sorry about that,” Poe said. “The Republic is ignoring the warning signs. They know about the Order and they don’t care. That’s how we ended up with the Empire, for crying the frag out loud!”
The man shook his head. “They said you were passionate.”
“Yeah, well, someone needs to be.” Poe was trying to figure out a way to get the better of this guy. If I can get to that cockpit…
The man smiled. “I can see the gears in your head working, Dameron. I’m not gonna let you into the cockpit.”
Poe rolled his eyes. Fine. He leaned back against the wall. “You have a name?”
“Finnius Tek. Most beings call me Finn.”
“Well, Finn, I’d like to go on record as saying you’re a real bastard.”
Finn laughed. “You aren’t the first to say it. Doubt you’ll be the last.”
Poe kicked his heel into the wall behind him. This is a real kriffing mess. He crossed his arms. “So, how does someone become a bounty hunter anyway?”
“I don’t know. Fell into it.”
“Fell into it?” Poe stared at him with wide eyes.
He acts like he genuinely wants to know. Finn shrugged. “Things were always a bit rough in our part of the galaxy. Parents died when I was young, and if you didn’t have people, you usually either fell in with the Hutts or the pirates…” He stared into the empty hold. “Didn’t want to be beholden those types, so I set out on my own.” For a moment, he was lost in his memories. Then, he startled out of his thoughts. How in the kriff did you get me to say that? He turned to Poe. “And how does one become a New Republic defector?”
“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but in my case, I watched the First Order attack a ship unprovoked, reported it to my superiors, who did nothing, and watched my best friend die trying to stop the Order and…” Poe shook his head, refusing to look Finn in the eye. He spoke more for himself than the other man. “It wasn’t right. They knew. They knew what the Order was doing and they kept their mouths shut,” he looked up, “and I just wondered how many more beings were going to have to die before they got off their butts and did something.” He shook his head. “That’s when Leia Organa recruited me.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “Recruited by the Senator herself? That’s impressive.”
“Yeah, well…” Poe couldn’t help himself. He stepped forward. “Seriously, buddy, what in the hell are you doing out here? We could use someone like you.”
Finn burst into a loud, long laugh. “You aren’t really trying to recruit me, are you?”
“Yeah,” Poe said, as earnestly as possible. “I am.”
“Based on what? The fact that I got the drop on you or the fact that I knew you were going to try something when I unlocked the binders?”
“Both,” Poe said.
Finn shook his head. “You’re a real piece of work.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t spot talent.”
“Give it a rest, man. I’ve got a job to do and I’m gonna see it through.”
Poe pressed his lips together. Trust your gut, Dameron. “Fine. You don’t want to come work for the good guys, that’s your decision, but can I ask you for a favor?”
“What?”
Poe reached into his pocket and produced the datachip. “I need to get this to General Organa. We’re…look, it’s a long story, but we’re trying to find Luke Skywalker and this has information that should help us find him.”
“You have to be kriffing kidding me! You aren’t seriously giving me that, are you?”
“Well, if you’re gonna turn me over, yeah.”
“Are you outta your mind, Dameron?”
Poe couldn’t help his smile. “Probably, but my gut tells me I can trust you.”
Finn took a step forward. “I’m a bounty hunter who’s about to turn you over to the New Republic authorities and you think you can trust me?”
“Yeah,” Poe said. “Plus, there aren’t a lot of other options.” He gestured to the empty hold.
Finn laughed. “You’re too honest for your own good, you know that, right?”
“It’s been pointed out before.” He smiled, walking forward. “I’m a crap liar. Which you’d think would make me a terrible spy, but in most of the galaxy I’ve found that beings don’t know how to handle honesty.”
Finn said, “You’re betting on their cynical natures, and it works.” He looked Poe up and down, shaking his head. “Kriff, who are you?”
Poe laughed and leaned on the crate next to Finn, holding out the datachip. “I’m the guy who’s betting that you’re a fairly decent being, even if you are a bounty hunter. I’m depending on you doing the right thing—a lot of beings are, actually.”
Finn had spent the better part of the last decade on his own, and while he’d always tried to do the right thing and make his late parents proud, it had been a long time since anyone had put their trust in him like this. He looked into Poe’s eyes. They were big and brown and earnest. Finn took a deep breath and held out his hand. Poe dropped the datachip into it. “How do you know that I’m not some sleezy—”
“Finn, buddy, you didn’t beat me up when I was out. You gave me food and water. And you didn’t beat me senseless when I tried to get the better of you just now.” Poe shrugged. “I’m good at reading people. You may be a bastard, but you ain’t all bad.”
Finn closed his hand around the datachip, and leaned back against the crate. Even though it was tiny, he could feel the weight of it. What in the kriff am I doing?
Poe said, “Of course, if you’ve had a change of heart and want to let me go, that would be wonderful too.”
Finn shook his head with a grin as he pocketed the datachip. I’ll give him this: he’s charming as hell. “How often are you able to charm your way out of these kinds of situations?”
Poe laughed. “Not as often as I’d like. Most beings don’t find me charming so much as snarky.”
Finn laughed. “You know, if the situation were different, I could see buying a guy like you a drink.”
“Well,” Poe said, fixing him with a stare that made Finn’s insides get all fluttery. “You have anything on board? Not like we’re gonna get another opportunity.”
Finn looked over at Poe Dameron—beautiful, dark-haired, just-his-type Poe Dameron—and he felt his resolve waiver. “Fine.” He pushed off the crate. “But just one drink.”
Poe followed him. “Just one drink.”
# # # #
Five drinks later, Poe fell out of his seat, laughing. “But then, I realized I had forgotten to put on pants!”
Finn laughed and shook his head, looking down at the other man on the floor. “You really can’t hold your liquor, can you?”
“Nope,” Poe said, popping out the “P” so forcefully he started laughing again.
Finn reached down. “Come on,” he said, pulling on Poe. “Come on.”
Poe started up and then fell back on his butt, bringing Finn down with him. Finn chuckled. “You’re a bad influence, Dameron.”
“That I am,” Poe said, bopping Finn’s nose with his finger before giving up on getting back up and just lying down on the floor.
Finn started to get up and decided Poe was onto something. He rolled over and landed next to Poe with a sigh. “Shouldn’ta had that last one,” Finn said with a groan.
“Tell me about it, buddy.”
Finn felt his eyes get heavy. “Just gonna rest for a second.”
“Mmmmm-hmmmm,” Poe said, “Time to nap.”
Finn heard the other man’s breathing even out and stopped fighting it. The nav computer will ding when we get there, he told himself. He let his eyes drift closed.
# # # #
The ship shimmied and Finn awoke with a start. He looked next to him. Poe?
OH KRIFFING HELL, NO!
He jumped up, his head swimming, and ran to the cockpit where Poe was bringing the ship in for a landing.
“Sorry about that,” Poe said over his shoulder. “The atmosphere on this planet gets a bit choppy at times.
“Where are we?”
“Resistance base,” Poe said. “D’Qar.”
“What,” Finn asked, sliding into the co-pilot’s seat and then grabbing his throbbing head.
“Resistance base on D’Qar,” Poe repeated. He glanced over at the other man. “Sorry about that. You seem like a nice guy and all, and it was really good of you to share that rum with me, but…”
“But,” Finn said, dreading what Poe was about to say.
“Well, I may be a crap liar, but I can hold my drink. You don’t grow up with a former Pathfinder for a father and not learn how to drink at a very young age. Probably too young? I don’t know.” Poe smiled. “Anyway, once you were out, I re-set the navigation and…” He held a hand out to gesture in front of them. “Here we are.”
“Kriff,” Finn said. He sat back in his chair, numb as Poe set them down in a textbook landing. He felt in his pocket. The datachip was still there. He reached in and held it out. “You’re gonna need this.”
“Oh, thanks,” Poe said, far too cheerfully. He started shutting down the ship while Finn watched.
As Poe stood, Finn said, “So what happens to me now?”
Poe leaned against the pilot’s seat. “What do you want to happen to you?”
“Poe, I’m being serious here.”
“So am I,” Poe said. “You want to leave, you can leave. You want to stick around, see what’s what, you could do that too.” He smiled.
“Poe Dameron, are you seriously still trying to recruit me?”
“Yep,” Poe said. “I think you’d make a damn fine Resistance soldier.”
Finn shook his head, scrubbing both hands over his face. “This was not how I thought today was gonna go.” He stood. What the hell. “Okay, why don’t you introduce me to this General of yours.”
Poe started laughing. He bumped his shoulder into Finn’s. “You’re gonna love her.”