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“You. You’re Poe Dameron.”
Poe, who had been previously running for his life from the First Order, had been snatched from the street and pulled into a nearby alleyway. He comes face to face with a young girl, no older than 15, who scrutinizes his face in the dim light before nodding, seeming satisfied that it’s him and not some other random person running from the First Order. He gets a better look at her as she drags him further into the alley and around the corner. The bright white of the stormtrooper armor that she wears is hard to hide, even in the shadows of the alley, and Poe starts to try and pull himself out of her grasp.
“Let go of me.” He demands.
Her grip tightens and she all but pins him to the wall, trapping him between her and the cold stone at his back. “Shut up.” She hisses quietly, blue eyes glistening with poorly contained fear. “Do you want us to get caught? I’m trying to help you, but I need you to trust me. Please.”
Silence hangs in the air as he considers her words, but eventually, he nods and she lets up. He isn’t quite sure what makes him do it, but he has a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with the amount of raw emotion in her voice. She doesn’t let go of him entirely, as if she’s still not convinced he’s going to make a break for it, so Poe is led through the twisting turns of the back streets by the end of his sleeve.
The stormtrooper girl isn’t wearing her helmet or gloves and manages to remain relatively quiet in the rest of the gear. They finally stop when they come to a dead end. They are met by another stormtrooper in a similar state to the girl, who looks relieved to see her.
“Red.” He breathes out, dropping his weapon to the ground.
“AX.” She replies with a smile on her face and they race to hug each other.
“You were gone for so long.” The boy - AX - says, pulling back to look her over for injuries. “I thought they might have found you.”
“No, but I found him though.”
They break apart and Red motions to where Poe stands off to the side, watching their exchange. AX lights up with something like awe coloring his features.
“You’re Poe Dameron?”
“Yes, I am.” He confirms, although a bit hesitantly. “What exactly is going on?”
The two teens exchanged looks.
“We need your help,” AX says eventually.
“Come on,” Red motions for him to follow them, but doesn’t take hold of his shirt again. “We’re almost there. Then we’ll explain everything.”
Poe follows them further into the alley and is met by many pairs of eyes staring back at him. Whispers echo from where the figures sit tucked against the wall.
“Is that him?”
“Is that Poe Dameron?”
“He’s the one who helped FN-2187!”
“Does that mean he’s gonna help us?”
“Alright everyone, settle down,” AX says, and a hush falls over the group. Poe counts about 15 younger troopers who look at the teenagers with complete obedience.
“This is Poe Dameron,” Red confirms and a few excited whispers emerge from the crowd. “And we were hoping you would help us.” She directs the last bit at Poe nervously.
“We heard that you helped FN-2187 escape the Finalizer and… well-“
“You want me to help you all escape to First Order?” Poe can’t help but question disbelievingly.
The air is tense for a second as the young troopers hold their breath, afraid he is going to say no.
“You don’t even have to take us,” Red speaks up quietly, motioning to her and AX. “But we just got our cadets and they haven’t really learned enough to be a threat to you or where ever you take them. They wouldn’t really know enough to be able to report back to the First Order. Please, sir.” Red looks desperate. “They deserve something better than this.”
Poe sighs, unable to hold out against such a plea. “I’ve trusted you this far, and you haven’t turned me into the First Order yet so… I guess I’ll just have to continue to trust you. Don’t make me regret this.” He warns, pointing at her threateningly with his finger. “But I’ll help you. All of you.” He looks at AX and Red meaningfully. “In the Resistance, we don’t leave anyone behind.”
“Thank you, sir.” She says, voice tight.
He smiles reassuringly at her. “Alright so here’s the plan. My ship is hidden just past the tree line here,” He draws a crude map in the dirt with a stick, AX and Red crowding around him. “My droid is waiting onboard, he’s a white and orange BB unit. I’m going to lead the way there and hopefully get us there without running into the First Order. You and your cadets are your priority. Focus on getting to the ship safely. Got it?”
They nod and gather their cadets. Red leads the way back to the main road and they peer out of the alley carefully, looking for any enemy Stormtroopers. It’s only been about half an hour, so the First Order is still looking for Poe and his ship, hoping to capture him. They make it most of the way without issue, and the young cadets are able to keep up. Their luck soon runs out as they have to cross a wide-open stretch of land with no place to hide in order to get to the tree line. They send cadets across in pairs first and get three groups across before one of them trips, falling to the ground with a loud clatter.
“What was that?” Someone calls from the distance and the telltale stomp of Stormtrooper boots gets closer.
“Run.” Poe hisses at AX and Red. “Get your troopers out of sight and onto the ship. I’ll get the little one.”
The remaining troopers race across the barren stretch and into the treeline while Poe stops in the middle, helping the fallen cadet to her feet. “Are you okay?” He asks quickly, looking her over. She can’t be but 7 years old and tears run down her face, but it appears that the armor has taken all of the damage. She nods. “Good. Let’s get to the trees. We’re almost there.” He nudges her into motion and they take off into a run, diving for the cover of the greenery. He reunites her with her unit and AX looks appreciative, even as the little one spews apologizes, clinging onto her leader’s uniform.
“In the forest!” The enemy troopers call to one another and Poe figures they must have seen him duck into the trees.
“Kriff.” He swears, mind racing. “Get to the ship.” He commands them, pointing in the general direction that it is. It is barely visible through the thick mass of trees, but if the enemy stormtroopers find it they’re screwed.
“Where are you going?” Red calls after him, when he starts moving in a different direction.
“Don’t worry about me. Get to the ship.”
“Sir-“
“That’s an order.” He says, before remerging from the trees and darting across the bare stretch of land.
“There!” The enemy troopers yell, as he predicted, and take off in pursuit of him instead.
It takes a while for him to lose them, and even that is not without a firefight. He manages to down the stormtroopers before they can call for backup, but he still has to weave his way through the crowded market to avoid other patrols before he can make his way back to the ship. He runs as fast as he can, but he is favoring his right side from a stray blaster shot and is still roughed up from his original run-in with them. This was supposed to be a relatively simple meeting for some information and supplies from a Resistance ally, but it turned out to be a trap by the First Order. To escape them the first time, he had to fight his way out and has been steadily losing blood from a wound on his head. He makes it to the ship finally to find Ax and Red on guard, who looks happy to see him.
“Let’s get out of here,” AX says, watching the door until it closes all the way.
“I couldn’t agree with you more, buddy,” Poe says, collapsing into the pilot’s seat. BB-8 beeps at him inquiringly. “Well, it isn’t the cargo I was originally intending to bring home, but it works, right?” BB-8 beeps again, unsatisfied with his response. “I’ll explain everything once we get into hyperspace, okay?”
It’s a three-day journey back to the base and Poe is awake for most of it, talking with and trying to settle the young troopers. He’s happy to tell them stories of the Resistance, answer any questions and reassure them that they can talk to Finn once they land. He manages to help most of them choose names, and the little trooper who he helped earlier now sticks to his side, unwilling to stray too far from him. She decides to go by Elle, based on her designation EL-5829. They are, for the most part, still jittery and on edge but as Red and AX relax, so do the rest of them.
Poe feeds them to the best of his abilities, but he wasn’t preparing for guests, so they go through all the emergency rations pretty quickly. Neither he, AX nor Red eat the entire time. Poe makes sure everyone has plenty to drink and forces them to sleep, even if he doesn’t. None of them seem too hurt, thankfully, but they use up what little bacta the ship has on board. The blaster wound in his side aches if he moves too quickly, but he cleaned it and his head wound, which has stopped bleeding. He’s been awake for just about three days, with little snippets of sleep here or there, when Red forces him to actually get some rest.
“You are no use to us dead on your feet, sir.” She says.
“I’ve told you already, you can call me Poe.” He deflects.
She levels him with a look. “Will you sleep if I call you Poe?” She snarks, and he admits to defeat.
“Fine,” he says, exhaustion hitting him like a wave. “But wake me up when we get there, so I can land the ship.”
Red nods and gives him a blanket, which he lays down on the floor and curls on top of. The younger troopers have been using the tiny bunk to sleep on, so Poe makes himself comfortable on the floor. It doesn’t take very long for him to fall asleep. About half an hour later, Elle finds him and curls into his non-injured side, falling asleep as well.
AX and Red exchange glances. “Do you think the droid can land this thing?”
AX knows a little binary, so between him and BB-8, the ship lands without much issue. It’s not as graceful as if Poe were doing it, but the pilot has yet to wake.
Red bites her lip nervously. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“He’s been awake for a long time. He just needs to rest.” AX reassures her.
The landing crew gathers around the vessel, waiting for them to open the hatch. The two stormtroopers exchange a glance. Red goes to wake Poe, but hisses and places her hand against his head. “He’s warm.”
AX frowns. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“What if they want to take him to medical?” Red worried, panic filling her system. Going to medical as a stormtrooper meant that you didn’t always return. If you were deemed too damaged to recover, or if it would take too many supplies to repair, then you were decommissioned.
“We won’t let anything bad happen to him.” AX promises. “Elle?” He says, getting the attention of the little girl. She woke up at the shaky landing, but still cuddles next to Poe on the ground. “You’re in charge of him while he’s asleep, okay?”
She nods, a serious look crossing her face. “I won’t let them decommission him.” She says, and AX cringes a little. He was hoping she hadn’t caught onto that part of their conversation.
“Ready?” he says instead, looking over to Red, who nods. He takes a deep breath and opens the door to the ship, the two of them making their way down the ramp.
Everyone around them is immediately on high alert.
“Who are you?” one of the people demands. “And what are you doing with Poe’s ship?”
“We are here to speak with FN-2187,” Red says firmly.
AX scooches a little closer, “Poe calls him Finn.”
“Oh, right. We’re here to talk to Finn.” She amends where they can hear her. She chances a glance at AX. “Uh, please?”
The people on the tarmac talk among each other and one of them runs off. A woman steps forward and introduces herself. “My name is Jessika. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to know if Poe is with you? Can I talk to him?” She asks.
Red and AX look at each other again. “He’s fine,” AX says eventually. “His droid helped me land the ship.”
“BB-8 helped you land the ship? Why wasn’t Poe flying?” Jess asks concern seeping into her voice.
Red elbows AX in the side. “Good job.” She mutters. “We are here to talk with Finn.” She says again.
“Someone went to go get him. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“We told you, he’s fine.”
“I want to trust you, but Poe is my friend. Does he need to go to medical?”
“No,” AX says, a little too abruptly.
Jess narrows her eyes. “You’re lying.”
“Finn can come to check on him.”
“How do I know you didn’t leave him behind?” Jess presses.
“And how do we know that you didn’t torture and kill FN-2187?” Red accuses.
“Woah,” Finn says, breaking his way through the front of the crowd. “No one did anything to me.”
“You’re FN-2187?”
Finn nods.
“Poe calls you Finn.”
Finn nods again. “That’s my name. I don’t go by my designation anymore. Do you have names?”
“Red and AX. Poe gave some of the other’s names if they wanted.”
“Others?” Jess asks.
AX curses. Red looks between AX and Resistance members nervously. “FN- Finn can come onboard to see them.”
“This is a trap.” Jess hisses, taking a step forward.
AX and Red take a step back towards the ship. Suddenly, BB-8 zooms past the two troopers and down the ramp, beeping rapidly.
Finn looks at Jess, who listens to BB-8’s report attentively. “Poe’s sick.” She says finally. “Infected blaster shot wound. Also probably some head trauma. They haven’t had that much to eat or drink the past few days either. But it’s been peaceful. Poe is helping them escape the First Order.” She looks at Finn with a smile. “It looks like they got inspired.”
“He’ll be fine.” Red desperately tries to reassure. “I’m sure with a few days' rest he’ll be back in fighting order. He doesn’t need to go to medical.”
“You can’t just sleep off an infected wound kid-“ Jess starts to explain.
“Pava, wait.” Finn starts to interrupt.
AX’s scream rings throughout the hanger. “We won’t let you decommission him!” He pulls a blaster from seemingly nowhere and points it at the crowd of people.
People scramble for guns of their own but Finn steps out between the two groups and holds up his hands placatingly. “Everybody put your weapons down.” He looks at the two teens standing on the ramp to the ship. AX is radiating a worried rage and Red looks like she is seconds away from bursting into tears. “No one is going to be decommissioning Poe.”
AX eyes him warily. “You promise?”
“They didn’t decommission me, and I had to stay in their medical for a month to recover from a wound one time.”
AX lowers the blaster in something like shock.
“Really?” Red manages.
“Really. He’ll probably just be in there for a few days and then he’ll be released back to work.”
“Well, okay then,” Red says. “You can come on board then. You and Jess, I guess.”
“Thank you.”
Finn and Jess follow the pair onto the spaceship and are quickly surrounded by the young cadets, who “oh” and “ah” at them. AX pulls Jess off to help him organize the younger troopers while Red leads Finn over to where Poe lays on the floor still asleep. Elle is still sitting there, guarding him, and holds up a rock threateningly until Red introduces Finn. Finn shakes Poe awake who bolts up and immediately regrets it. He folds over on himself, waiting for the pain in his side to disperse.
“What is it? Are we landing?” He says, rubbing at his eyes and yawning.
“A little past that, I think.”
“Finn.” Poe’s head whips up in surprise. “I can explain.”
Finn laughs. “It was rough at the start, but we came to an understanding.”
“You promised to wake me.” He points at Red when he spots her and she holds her hands up in defense.
“You saved us. The least that I could do is let you rest.”
“They thought we were going to decommission you,” Finn explains.
Elle perks up from where she sits nearby. “I won’t let them decommission him.” She says fiercely.
“No one is decommissioning me,” Poe promises.
“Elle, they aren’t going to hurt him,” Red confirms.
“No. AX put me in charge.” She holds up her rock again.
Red sighs. “Yes, he did, didn’t he?”
“She can come with us.” Finn offers. “But we should get going, for Poe’s sake. Your wound isn’t going to get less infected. And everyone here needs a nice, big meal.”
Finn helps Poe to his feet and Red wanders off to find AX and Jess, corraling the rest of the cadets. They travel to medical as one big group, filling up the facility once they arrive. Poe gett sequestered away to get checked over and Elle stays menacingly at his side. The rest of the troopers get coaxed through a basic examination and into new clothing with the help and Finn and Jess, who some of the little troopers have latched onto already. They then get brought down to the mess hall, where they marvel over all the food and fill up their trays with everything they see. They refuse to settle at the mess hall tables and insist on eating back in medical with Poe and Elle.
It’s a little while later, everyone well fed and Poe is treated for his wounds when the general makes her appearance. At the sight of a commanding officer, any reassurances about decommissioning seem to have vanished and the small group crowds around Poe’s bed as if they can hide him from Leia’s sight. Red and AX stand at the foot of the bed and stare the General down, at full attention.
Leia just looks amused. “You’ve amassed a small army, Poe.”
Poe sits up a little to see over all the children. “So it seems. I promise she’s not going to hurt me.” He says to the troopers.
“She’s a commanding officer.” Red hisses, seeming content to look back at Poe as AX keeps his attention on Leia for them. “She’s Leia Organa! She’s-“
“Not interested in hurting my best pilot.” Leia finishes. Red whips back around to stare at her.
Red and AX share a look but hesitantly relax. The rest of the troopers seem to relax as well, except for Elle, who throws her rock at the General anyway.
“Elle, no.” Poe sighs, before burying his face in his hands.
The rock doesn’t quite reach the general but lands somewhere near her feet. Leia smiles at it and glances back at the small group of troopers amused. Elle has another rock in her hand already, ready to throw it again.
“It looks like he’s well protected.” She says to the teens, who look a little embarrassed. “I expect a full report from you later.” She says to Poe, which earns her a polite “yes, ma’am.” With that, she leaves the room, taking all the tension with her.
It takes a little longer for everyone to settle down and even longer after that to find everyone a room to stay in for the night. They mostly want to stick together, except for Elle, who still refuses to move away from Poe. They agree to let him stay for now and tomorrow AX will talk to her about it. Their solution is a bunch of blankets in an old conference room, kinda like a sleepover, but it’s temporary. It’s going to take some time to get everyone comfortable here, and that process won’t truly start until Poe is out of medical. For now, everyone is tucked into their make-shift beds and Finn leaves to go check on Poe. He’s awake, even as Elle sleeps tucked next to him.
“How are you feeling?” Finn asks quietly.
“Better now. It’s so good to see you.” He grins, reaching out and pulling Finn in for a kiss. “Are you ready to co-parent some kids with me?” He teases
Finn laughs. “We’ve only been dating a few months, isn’t it kinda early for children?”
“Hey,” Poe defends. “They tracked me down, not the other way around.”
“I would love to co-parent with you, Poe.” He says seriously.
“They’re good kids. It’s going to be a steep learning curve though.”
“It’ll be worth it. Anything is worth it to keep them away from the First Order. They don’t deserve to have the life I had.”
“No one does.”
“That’s in the past.” Finn comforts. “Now, I’m building a life with you. And our twenty kids.”
Poe snickers and Finn smiles, kissing him again.
“You should sleep,” Finn says, going to stand.
“Stay with me.” Poe whines, tugging on Finn’s sleeve. Finn rolls his eyes but complies, fitting himself onto the small bed against Poe’s side, careful not to jostle Poe or wake Elle.
Poe thinks, as he starts to drift off to sleep, that for a mission that was a trap, it went surprisingly well.