Chapter Text
August 4, 1843:
The thing about Poe Dameron was, he wasn’t needlessly reckless. He was enthusiastic, yes. He pushed himself to the absolute limit, yes. But he didn’t act without thinking. There was too much at stake for that.
Riding towards the pueblo on that hot August night, though, Poe knew that to anyone standing on the outside looking in, what he was about to do wasn’t just reckless, it was damn near suicidal.
Still, he had to do it.
The situation in Los Angeles was untenable. Snoke’s men were laying waste to everything in sight. If he didn’t act now, there might not be a Los Angeles left to protect by the end of the week. Plus, Snoke was systematically trying to hurt the people Poe loved. Poe didn’t mind if Snoke’s men took aim at him, but he drew the line at his family and friends, and in the past few days, Snoke had destroyed nearly everything Poe held dear. It was enough to make anyone just a bit testy.
Poe’s hands tightened on BeeBee’s reins as he thought about his plan. Finn would be angry, he thought. Finn would tell me not to do this. Finn… He should have told Finn the truth at the masquerade; heck, he should have told Finn the truth five years ago. He just hoped this stupidly brave act would be enough to make up for all of the things he should have done.
The thing about Poe Dameron was, he had been in love with Finn Trooper for a very long time.
For the last five years, that fact had brought Poe nothing but pain, but in the last few weeks, there’d been moments when Poe had started to hope, had started to envision what a future with Finn might look like. Now, though, Poe wasn’t so sure what he had to live for. He wanted to make Los Angeles safe, and he wanted to see Snoke and his empire destroyed, but once that was done… There was a big void where his future once had been.
Which is why, on that hot August night, he rode up to the wall surrounding Snoke’s compound ready to do something a bit reckless.
Poe dismounted and patted BeeBee’s neck. Poe could swear the horse shot him a look that said you’re an idiot as he began scaling the wall. “Yeah, Bee, I know. That’s the popular opinion. But I can’t let them hurt anyone else.” The horse whinnied, and Poe took that as tacit approval.
As Poe pushed himself to the top of the wall, he surveyed the grounds. The wind picked up and Poe could smell the ocean. For just an instant, his mind drifted back to the last time the Fox had snuck into Snoke’s compound late at night…