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

chapter three

The excitement and nervous energy from the battle faded into fear and grief. All of the bombers were lost. Every single one of them. As grief settled over the ship that was escaping through lightspeed, you were able to finally ground yourself. 

You were still trembling from the vision that was all too real. There was no doubt in your mind that it was real, but the fact that your brother had really seen you there was enough to send your mind spiraling. With the anxiety of what had just occurred and the feeling of a dozen lives lost lingering in the energy around you, you stumbled around the hangar, scanning the lines of X-WINGS for Poe's.

He was jumping down from his ship, patting the side of it, shouting up at BB-8 as he was unloaded off the back. "Nice work, buddy. Yeah, go ahead and recharge a bit. I'm gonna go find the General." 

"Dameron," you said, hands curled into tight fists at your sides. His head turned fast and he removed his helmet and tossed it back up into his X-WING. He sprinted across the floor to get to you, his beaming grin slowly disappearing as he saw the fear on your face.

"Princess? What's wrong?" His arms went around you and you pressed your face at the center of his chest.

All you wanted was to tell him. But all you could think of was how close he was to dying, how terrified your mother looked when he cut off contact. For some reason, that was enough to justify your silence as he saw right through you and knew something was wrong. You pulled back and stared at the orange jumpsuit he wore. "Nothing. I'm just... glad that you're safe. But you scared me, Dameron! Why did you cut off contact?"

"I knew that you and your mom wouldn't exactly agree with what I was doing," he said, draping his arm over your shoulders. He turned you around and walked you out of the hangar. "But we made it out. You made it out. And I know that the General is gonna---"

"All of those bombers died, Poe," you said. 

He nodded and wore a look of sadness. "This is a war."

"And all of those deaths keep it from feeling like much of a success," you said.

"I know." He pulled you close to him and pressed his lips to the side of your head. "I'm just glad you're alright. You don't know how relieved I was to see you running in here. The first thing I thought when I caught up with the ship was how all I wanted was to---"

BB-8 came speeding by, beeping loudly and quickly to get Poe's attention. He stopped speaking and looked down, eyebrows furrowing together. "What? Finn... naked? Leaking bag? Did you fry a chip or something?" 

"I don't think so, Poe," you said, pointing to the entrance of the hangar. Finn was staggering by. Liquid was spewing out of the holes in the bacta suit that he wore. He looked confused and afraid.

"Finn!" Poe left your side and ran to his friend. Finn grabbed Poe's arms tightly and shook his head. "Hey, buddy. It's so good to see you. Let's uh... we need to get you dressed. Come on. You must have a thousand questions."

But all Finn could manage was the desperate question that was eating him alive. "Where is Rey?"

"She's on a mission to bring Luke Skywalker out of hiding," you said.

"She isn't here?" 

"No, buddy," Poe said, squeezing his shoulder. He grimaced and flicked the bacta off his hand. "I'm sorry." 

"Have you heard from her at all?"

"Not yet," you said. 

"Look," Poe said, "we'll get you dressed and settled in and everything will start to make more sense. I'm sure we'll hear from her soon, too. Come on, let's go get you into some actual clothes and then we'll talk to the General. I'm sure she'll have more answers for you."