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<LIEUTENANT CONNIX INCOMING.>
Poe looked up from where he’d been handing Finn off to the medics. “What was that, buddy?”
<LIEUTENANT CONNIX IS COMING.> The droid wiggled a little as he beeped out his message.
“Oh- oh, cool, good, uh- Finn, man, you alright?”
“So long as they get this stuff off me, sure,” Finn muttered, still sounding pretty dazed. As it was, Poe only sort of knew who Rey was and he wasn’t completely sure where she was beyond the fact that she hadn’t been on D’Qar during the evacuation, so Finn still wasn’t completely happy; the leaking medical bags weren’t helping either.
“Okay, that’s good, I’m just gonna step out for a second, alright? We’ll talk more in a bit, don’t worry.”
“Oh, I’ll find you if you don’t, don’t worry,” Finn echoed back with a sort of dry, teasing threat. Poe flashed him a winning grin and stepped out of the infirmary, tapping the frame of the door as he went.
Poe had barely turned to face the hallway properly before something- someone- fairly slammed into him, hitting him and then dragging him off to the side, into a maintenance alcove near the entrance of the infirmary. Poe barely had time to find his bearings before arms were wrapped around his neck, and lips were pressed against his; he knew who it was, though, because there was only one person who’d do something like this, and he melted into the kiss with a deep, abiding sense of relief.
When they parted, Poe sighed. “You made it off before they fired on the base.”
“Naturally,” Kaydel said, as though her safety and continued existence had never been in question or peril. That was typical of her; the day they both died and found themselves in the afterlife she’d probably regard it with a shrug and an unconcerned sniff. “Great job with the Dreadnaught.”
His smiled flickered. “Well, actually it was Paige who destroyed it.”
Kaydel nodded, pulling back, arms sliding off his shoulders. “True. We can drink to her later when we have a chance.”
“Definitely.” Poe’s hands slid up and over her shoulders, letting his forehead fall to bump against her head.
“I heard your exchange with Hux.”
Poe grinned widely. “Did you?”
Kaydel lifted her eyes to his as best she could without shaking him off, and cocked her eyebrow at him. “I can’t believe you went with a mom joke.”
“Look, these hoity-toity First Order snobs can’t handle jokes of any kind, and I thought I might make a low-key assassination attempt on Hux by seeing if I couldn’t give him an aneurysm.” He paused. “In fairness, since we blew up his little pet-project yesterday, I’d take a pretty good bet that the Dreadnaught being destroyed might be the final straw for Snoke. He doesn’t strike me as a galactic overlord who takes failure well.”
“I’d feel worse for Hux if he wasn’t a raging psychopath.” Kaydel leaned back and studied Poe’s face carefully. “Speaking of raging psychopaths, I can still see a bit of that bruise near your temple- how’s your head?”
Poe flinched reflexively when her fingers came up to brush the area, and he jerked back slightly. Kaydel’s eyebrows popped up, and before she could speak he assured her, “I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s a lot better.”
“From yesterday?”
“Absolutely.”
She didn’t believe him and that wasn’t even a little bit of a surprise; the battle was lost the moment he tried to pretend it wasn’t a problem. Even without her sharp observational skills, they’d known each other long enough to know the other’s tics and mannerisms. And Kaydel was generally pretty good about knowing when he was lying through his teeth, especially about things like this.
“You need to see a doctor.”
“I did that yesterday; they cleared me.”
Alright, so maybe they didn’t clear him per se, but it wasn’t as though he could sit back and chill while the remnants of the Resistance ran for their lives from the First Order. He had to be ready to fly at a moment’s notice if he was needed, and chances were, he was going to be needed in the upcoming days.
Kaydel regarded him with doubt. “They cleared you?”
“They cleared me.”
“Why do I feel like you’re pulling one on me?”
“I’m not pulling one on you. Hey, so, later,” Poe swerved away from that minefield as easily as he piloted his X-Wing, “Once things have settled down, maybe we can sit down, have a proper dinner? Or at least whatever passes for proper when you’re running on limited supplies and fleeing for your life?”
Kaydel rolled her eyes shut. “Fine.” Her eyes snapped open again, and she fixed Poe with a sharp look. “I’m watching that bruise, Poe. You know I’m more than capable of hog-tying you and dragging you to the infirmary if I think you need it.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second,” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. And he meant it- he’d seen Kaydel drop guys bigger than him before. “Hey, I have to go check in with the General, alright? I’ll see you on the Bridge after I get BB-8.”
“Right.” Kaydel straightened up, fiddled with her shirt until the fabric was smooth, and regarded Poe with her I-Am-A-Lieutenant look. “I’ll see you there.”
“You know it.” Poe went to stick his head back into the infirmary to find BB-8 when Kaydel called back to him,
“Oh, Poe?”
Poe turned back. “Yeah?”
Kaydel’s smile had faded into something a little more serious. “Be careful; I got the vibe that maybe General Organa wasn’t as happy about the Dreadnaught at the rest of us. I don’t know if she’s going to be shaking your hand over it, is all I mean.”
Poe’s shoulders sank. There had been more than a few casualties on the run, and coupled with the fact that he’d disobeyed Leia’s orders directly and launched the attack anyway meant that he could guess easily enough why she was upset. Outside of the heat of the moment, the full realization that he had disobeyed a direct order made him wince, made his stomach turn with anxiety.
Crap.
“Thanks for the warning,” He said, trying to smile but knowing it was coming out strained. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.”
Kaydel nodded, something like concern flickering through her eyes before she turned and walked away.
Poe took a deep breath and fought to steady his hands, which were suddenly trembling. Once they had (somewhat, at least) he poked his head back into the infirmary and found BB-8 rolling around near Finn’s bed. “Hey little buddy, let’s go see the General. She wants to talk to us.”
<POE IS IN TROUBLE.> BB-8 blooped as he rolled towards the door.
Poe swallowed, feeling his face flush.
“Yeah, buddy, I’m in lots of trouble. So let’s just get it over with.”
-End