Chapter Text
Jessika definitely doesn't wince as the medic applies the filigree staples to the gash in her leg. Her knuckles whiten on the edge of the examination table and she jiggles her uninjured leg until the medic – Kalpurnia? Or is it Kalonia? – gives her a stern look.
"You're lucky," she says, her voice damnably calm and soothing. "The shrapnel missed your femoral artery. You'll be back in the cockpit in no time."
Jess snorts. She'd never thought a rebellion would be this damn careful; once, back on Dandoran when she'd still been earning credits flying swoops, she'd blown a stabiliser and near torn off her arm. The next day she'd got right back in, patched up and braced, and won. This little nick was nothing.
"Ow!" she cries out as the medic slathers on some bacta and wraps the wound up.
Poe had seen the gash on her suit and insisted she go straight to med bay. You didn't just ignore the squad leader's orders so she'd waited while all the urgent cases were dealt with before someone could come jab at her sore leg and lecture her. It wasn't that she was squeamish – quite the opposite really – she just hated being fussed over.
There were a hundred other things she could be doing right now: her X-Wing was damaged much worse than she was and she liked to help the ground crew. It always paid to know your ship and it paid double to keep the grease monkeys on your side. As soon as she was let go she'd head down to the hangar and…
"There," Kalpurnia/Kalonia interrupts her thoughts. "Make sure that you rest for the next few days. There's still nothing better for recovery. Take these tonight, they'll help you sleep, and come back if it gets swollen or red. Immediately this time," she adds, giving Jess a sharp look.
She gives a jaunty salute and takes the blister pack of sleeping pills. "Sure thing, doc."
As soon as the medic pulls back the curtains and moves onto the next patient Jessika knots the sleeves of her flight suit around her waist and fires the pills down the garbage chute.
With the bacta spreading a nice, numb feeling across her thigh her leg isn't too sore to walk on so she barely limps as she makes her way towards the exit. She definitely doesn't want to spend any more time than necessary here but she can't help but pause when she hears the general's voice.
Leia Organa has an unexplainable magnetism; Jessika can remember every single speech she's given her. The others like to tease her about her crush but it's not that - it's more of a hero worship thing. Who could blame her? The legends told about the general were nearly too amazing to be true but it was all borne out by history: she was a spy in the Imperial Senate at fourteen and just about single handedly enabled the destruction of the first Death Star before she turned twenty. Anyone would be in awe.
That said, Jessika has seen holos of the younger Leia and she absolutely would have had a crush on her; the embarrassing, desperate kind. That would really have given her squad something to tease her about.
So she pauses just for a moment where she can see through the curtains to where the general is standing, her hand resting on a girl's shoulder. She doesn't recognise the girl – unusual for their insular community – and they're both sitting vigil over the ex-stormtrooper, asleep and hooked up to more machines than Jess can count.
"You should eat something," Leia says, her voice soft. "You must be hungry."
The girl wipes the grit from her eyes wearily. "Not really," she replies. She looks exhausted but undefeated; Jessika knows instinctively she wouldn't want to mess with her.
"The med droid says he might not wake up for quite some time," Leia continues. "It won't hurt to leave him for a few hours. I promise he's in safe hands."
"I don't want him to wake up alone," the girl replies, her voice small.
"Jessika, fancy seeing you here," someone says behind her and she spins around to see Poe giving her a smile. "And now I suppose you’re on your way to your bunk to rest?"
She rolls her eyes. "Why does no one trust me?" she asks, grateful he hadn't seen her eavesdropping.
Just then, the curtain opens and the general steps out. "There you are commander, lieutenant," she adds, nodding to Jessika
She snaps back a quick salute but Poe just goes to the girl.
"Poe here is going to take over for a while," Leia says, ushering him towards the girl's seat.
"Finn and me go way back," he reassures her. "I'll call you the moment he wakes up."
With a last squeeze of the ex-stormtrooper's hand the girl gets up, looking over her shoulder at his sleeping form, and follows Leia out. As she goes Jessika notices one more strange detail: hanging from the girl's waist is a heavy metal cylinder. She's no expert but she knows what that is – a lightsaber.
Who is this girl?
She desperately wants to follow them but they've already disappeared in the warren of the base's corridors, probably towards the general's private quarters, and she can't think of a single good reason to interrupt them.
She glances over at Poe, wondering whether he would have more details, but he's staring intently at the ex-stormtrooper, his customary smile slipped for the moment and genuine worry clouding his face.
She'll just have to find the girl and ask her herself.
::
Rey shrugs on the quilted vest Leia set out for her, wondering how the general knew she was cold in D’Qar’s relatively temperate climate. The general’s quarters are small but cosy and Rey had fallen asleep last night listening to the older woman milling about. It was nice to share space.
Leia looks up from the stack of holopads she's studying. "You promise you'll have breakfast? And you'll think about what I said?" she asks.
"I will," Rey agrees, knowing she'll hardly be able to get the thought out of her head. Actually going to find Luke Skywalker... asking him to train her... She's going to need more than a meal to think it over.
The base is so strange and so busy, the noise and smell of people nearly overwhelming. She’s glad Leia ordered them dinner in her rooms the night before; she's heard more languages than she thought existed in the galaxy in only the short time she’s spent out.
Added to which she can feel the weight of so much life pressing against her new senses, the ones that have just begun to awaken. It swirls around her like an invisible desert, every grain of sand shifting and grating against her.
The mess buzzes with activity, pilots and ground crew and intelligence officers all crowding the rows of tables. She grabs a tray of food from the cooks, and is taken aback by the enormous pile of food on it.
After her dinner last night she's not sure she can eat as much again today but her mouth still waters at the sight of the succulent fruit they've given her.
She surveys the room to find a seat and immediately catches the eye of one of the pilots who waves and gestures her towards their table. She feels awkward but maybe Poe had asked his people to look out for her?
"Hey," the girl grins as Rey sets down her tray and sits opposite her. "You looked a little lost."
Rey shrugs, digging into the fruit. The girl is startlingly pretty, her long black hair pulled into a rough ponytail and smudges of oil adorning her face. She's wearing her orange jumpsuit undone over a white tank and the sleeves knotted round her waist.
"I'm Jessika Pava," she says. "Blue Squadron."
"Rey," she replies, feeling it sounds incomplete but she hardly has anything else to tack on. She lifts a bowl of soup to her mouth and takes a deep draught to cover her awkwardness.
Jessika grins though. "Pleased to meet you, Rey." Her eyes flick down to Rey's waist. "That's a pretty special weapon you've got there."
Rey feels her hand immediately fly to the saber grip, her fingers clutching it possessively.
Jessika leans forward, lowering her voice. "So... are you a Jedi?"
Rey can hear the excitement humming in the other girl's voice but she doesn't feel in danger. She studies her, tries to reach out with her unpracticed senses but Jessika only seems enthusiastic.
She shrugs, keeping her eyes fixed on her plate of fruit. Her instinct is to keep herself inconspicuous but she decides to try out the idea, see how it fits her. "Not really, but I might be one. Some day."
She can feel Jessika grin without looking. "I knew it," she whispers, as if to herself. "That would explain why the general is involved."
"But I'm not sure if I will," Rey blurts out, the churn of her thoughts overflowing. "Leia said she has the map, finally, and she says I should follow it and get training but – "
"You'll make a great Jedi," Jessika says, seemingly certain. "Although I never imagined one being so easy on the eyes."
Rey blushes. "I'm not sure I am – " she begins but the girl interrupts her with a cheeky grin.
"Pretty or a Jedi?" she asks, her eyes sparkling. Some of the other pilots near their end of the table groan but Rey hesitates, not sure if she's being messed with.
"Either. I don't know how I did what I did... "
The girl nods. "We always say 'may the force be with you' when we go out on missions but I know half the pilots don't think it's real. Sometimes, though, when you pull off an impossible shot, or when you just know something's coming before the sensors do..." She shrugs. "I believe it."
"You're..." Rey searches for the words. What was it Leia had said? "Force sensitive?"
One of the other pilots, an abednedo, barks with laughter. "Testor? She's as force sensitive as a brain damaged cannok."
Jessika whacks him lightly on the arm. "I'm not saying I'll be swinging a lightsaber around but sometimes I get hunches, sometimes they're right. It's like a voice in the back of your head, giving you a nudge."
"Or a bloody big push," Rey agrees, leaning her head on her hands.
The girl shrugs. "I wouldn't know about that. I just trust my instincts." She tilts her head consideringly. "Right now mine are saying we should go for walk. I can show you a bit of D’Qar maybe take one of the two-man ships up…” she trails off suggestively but one of the other pilots interrupts.
He’s human, with short black hair and a beard. “No you can’t Jess,” he says testily. “Everyone is grounded except for patrols and emergencies.”
“Well I can show you the base,” Jessika continues, undeterred. “I have a private bunk, you know."
Rey freezes. She's not sure if she understands correctly; propositions on Jakku hadn't exactly been unheard of, but they weren't usually from someone so... attractive. Jessika certainly seems serious but she's not sure if she should, if she wants to –
Jessika notices her wide eyes and immediately leans back, offering Rey a rueful smile. "Or not, zero pressure offer.”
"Leave the girl alone, Testor," the abednedo pilot says, rolling his eyes.
"It's not that I - " Rey babbles out but Jessika waves her protests away.
"Seriously, it's no big deal." She finishes mopping up the last of her meal and pockets a tube of field rations. "It was good to meet you, Rey. May the force be with you."
"You too," Rey says, dazed.
“Don’t mind Testor,” the human man says, leaning over to speak to her. “She’s a bit forward but… well. You learn to take your chances in this line of work. You never know when you’ll be blown out of the sky.”
Rey nods slowly, watching Jessika’s retreating back. Her offer was intriguing but she knows there’s another opportunity she needs to seize and Leia is waiting on an answer.
::
The next morning Jess looks out for Rey at breakfast, fiercely defending the empty seat opposite her to the amusement of her fellow pilots, but she doesn’t appear. Poe, looking tired around the eyes but perceptive as ever, pats her on the back and takes the chair.
“The Millennium Falcon left yesterday,” he remarks, stirring a disgusting amount of sugar into his caf. Apparently the gossip mill had reached medbay.
“Oh,” Jessika says, aiming for casual. “I guess she went. Do you know when she might be back?”
He just shrugs and Jessika slumps. Temmin puts an arm around her shoulders and sighs deeply.
“Cheer up Jess, there’s other fish in the sea. Quite literally. I hear there’s a Mon Calamari down in maintenance you haven’t struck out with yet."
She pulls away from him and punches his shoulder but he still laughs. After a moment she joins in: she shouldn’t let herself get gloomy over a what if .