IN MY DREAMS [A POE DAMERON X READER STORY] [BOOKS 1-3]

chapter five

Back on Starkiller Base, you were sent to the medbay as soon as you arrived. They gave you a sedative even though you told them the pain was tolerable. As they closed the mask over your mouth and you focused on the lights hanging overhead, you thought of the meadow.

That was where you wanted to be. Even though you couldn't remember who was there waiting for you, you knew you were safer there.

It only took a few seconds to fall under, and when you did, you remembered the meadow. The feeling of grass blades against your skin, the smell of rich soil, the warmth of sunshine. The laugh of someone you didn't know but you loved. You reached for them and you could feel the soft brush of their hand against yours before the shadows rolled over you and everything faded away.

I'll see you again soon, my love. I promise you that.

Your eyes opened to an empty room, where you lay in a paper-thin gown with gauze wound around your arms, from your palms to just above your elbow. You were able to sit up without any pain. Gauze was wrapped tightly around your abdomen, stained with blood. It was probably painkillers that were keeping you from feeling it currently. Your face was stiff, and after brushing over your skin with your fingertips, you felt the tender skin where you were burned.

There was no one around to notice that you woke up, so you slowly moved your legs to hang off the table. You swung your bare feet for just a moment, glancing around the room to take in where your clothes were. You spotted them folded on the shelf by the door. You walked as quietly as you could across the cold floor and grabbed your robes. Quickly you shed the thin gown and dressed back in your clothes. As you pulled your boots back on your feet, you could hear the nurse droid making its rounds about the wing of the medbay. Soon they'd check if you were up and force you back in bed.

You couldn't just sit by and wait around. You left your room even though the movement you'd done so far hurt you badly. You had to find the man that saved you. He was in one of the interrogation rooms on the fourth floor. You took an elevator down, miraculously avoiding your Master and anyone else with the authority to demand what you were doing.

The floor that held the interrogation rooms was absolutely silent for exactly one moment before you heard the blood-curdling scream of a man. Your eyes widened and your body stiffened. That was him and you knew it.

It bothered you to know that someone was torturing him. Anger flared up inside of you and you marched to the door of his cell, slammed your palm against the pad on the wall, fingers furiously typing out the code for entry. It slid open and you stepped inside.

A stormtrooper removed his hand from the man's throat. He slid against the wall, dropping to his knees. His hands were in binders. Blood dribbled from his bottom lip. The stormtrooper looked at you.

"Leave," you said loudly. He didn't move. You pointed your finger to the exit behind you. With a fraction of hesitation, the stormtrooper walked by you. "Wait."

He paused.

"Did Commander Kylo Ren give you permission to be in here?"

The shakiness in his voice was answer enough. "Er --- no, not exactly. He said to patrol this area and---"

You turned to look at him. "I want an answer. Did you give you permission to be in this cell specifically, officer? To interrogate this prisoner?"

"No. He did not."

"Hm. Then you'd better keep this between us, MM-0526. If anyone asks, you didn't see me. If anyone asks me, I didn't see you. Is this understood?"

"Y-Yes. Loud and clear."

"Good. You may go."

He left, and the door slid shut in his absence. You turned to look back at the man. Much to your surprise, he was gone. All you could manage was a sharp intake of breath before you were knocked to the ground, the heaviness of his bound hands hitting the side of your head. You yelped and dropped to your knees, catching yourself on your palm before you could fall all the way down.

You twisted your body, hand snatching the fists of the pilot that stared down at you with bared teeth. He roared out in frustration and pain and you moved onto your feet, your free hand raising up. A light punch to his stomach sent him flying upward into the wall. He hit the ground hard.

"That wasn't smart of you, Resistance scum," you said.

His face was red as he struggled to find the wind that was knocked out of him. He was on his side, body curling up, head ducking into his chest. "Yeah, well... I was running out of options."

"And you chose to act on the most foolish one," you said.

"So, what? You gonna torture me? Use your mind tricks on me? I'm not giving you any information. I'd die before I gave the First Order anything."

"No," you said. "None of that."

His eyes, full of tears and pain, were on you. "Then what? You're gonna kill me just like that?"

Did you really come off that evil? He was terrified of you. You, who stood smaller than he did, who would certainly not win in physical combat against him if it weren't for your abilities through the Force. Maybe that was what horrified him. A Force user on the opposite side. You were a great danger to anyone. That was what made you so precious to Kylo. You were a copy of him; equally as strong, equally as powerful. He had every right to be afraid of you, but you didn't want him to be.

"No," you said. You bent forward and grabbed him by his shoulders carefully. He resisted you as you moved him to sit upright. "Please. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then what do you want?"

"Do you know me?" you asked, your eyes on his. "Do you know who I am?"