riverviewlogs | [closed] all hail the underdogs

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[closed] all hail the underdogs

who: ~~The Barbershop Trio~~ Poe, Finn, and Rey
what: STAR WARS: THE REUNION CONTINUES
when: The night after they all find each other(ish)
where: Poe's room
warnings: None atm

The past few days have been A Lot. It would be a lot even without what he learned after getting here. It would be a lot even if it was just the fact that Rey and Finn are also stuck, that Rey has been here largely alone for two months.

But the universe--any universe--no longer makes reasonable sense. He was here before. There are ships out there, somewhere, that raise the dead. Magic is real, undeniably real. There are heroes who died on Scarif walking around alive and well. He was here before, and he left Rey behind.

At least he's got BB-8. The droid has always been the one he rambles at when he's got something on his mind, and it's no different now. He keeps relatively quiet when they're shopping, except to comment on lists of radioactive-sounding ingredients he's never heard of before. He keeps quiet as he picks out gummy bears and a cookie (oreos) that looks like what she described. He keeps quiet as he gets a broad sampling of dinner food from three different restaurants. (All of them relatively spicy, okay, he likes spicy. At least he got half of the dishes mild, just in case.)

But when they're back in his quarters, all bets are off. Off he goes, spending a good ten minutes filling BB-8 in on everything he learned while he and the droid were separated. Eventually he winds back around to his previous self and his own disappearance.

"It doesn't make sense. Not the part with me being here before--I mean, that doesn't make sense either, but." He sets the food out on the table, Rey's chosen sweets near the center. "You know me, buddy, I wouldn't leave her alone. Not voluntarily, not because I wanted to. These people, I don't know what they're keeping from us or why, but they're-- They have to be lying about something."

BB-8 trills agreement, rolling in a circle around the table as Poe works. "The question is what to even do about it. How do we investigate? The people who live here, they seem..."

Happy. He can't get his head around it. How anyone could be satisfied here, taken from their homes, taken from their lives. He's lived with the desperate need for action for so long it's hard to function any other way. The empty hours he's already had in Quarantine are enough to make him climb the walls. Never mind the fact that he's quickly approaching a week on the ground, without even a patrol flight to help him get clear of the mental mess he's wallowing in.

Poe stops to stare at the table without really seeing it. "We've got to get back, Bee. Never mind finding out what happened to me before. If we stay too long I might go nuts."

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Poe waves off Rey's concern over the food. "I was curious, and like I said, you two can help me finish it." A pause, and then he adds more quietly, "I promise it's not going to go to waste."

Force knows Poe has recruited enough people with food insecurity to know what an uneaten helping means. Moreover, he's been with the Resistance too long to accept a waste of resources. He wouldn't do that to her. He wouldn't do it to either of them.

BB-8 has taken up a position underneath the table. He whistles in support of Rey's description of the market, and Poe laughs. "Yeah, I tried reading one of the packages. Might as well have been a new language."

He reaches out to nudge BB-8 with the back of his wrist. "This guy pulled a disappearing act on me while I was shopping."

Which led to Cassian and Jyn, but that's for later. Poe takes a big bite of food and super politely talks around it. "So, BB-8 told me a little, but how did you two meet? I thought it would be better if I heard it from you."

Finn makes a note to himself to see what the packaging talk is about. Maybe it's something he'll be able to get the hang of without too much trouble. Or something he can ask around about? There aren't a lot of familiar things on this moon to begin with.

"She ran me down in a market and hit me in the face with a staff," he supplies readily in answer to Poe's question.

She's great, and he wouldn't trade knowing her for the world, and she hit him in the face with a staff on first sight, after he'd already watched her decimate two would-be thieves from a safe distance. These things can coexist.

Finn takes another bite of his own.

The question asked doesn’t raise any eyebrows at all. It’s not awkward or anything. Rey takes another bite of her food and shakes her head at Finn.

“BB-8, said that your jacket was his master’s. I thought finn stole it, chased him down, and it wasn’t too hard of a smack.” Really, he was lucky she didn’t break his nose.

“Finn thought you were dead and then we saw Stormtroopers and had to leave. Finn kept grabbing my hand like I needed to be lead to safety...” please ignore that small smile on her face. At the time it was annoying, but thinking back on it now, it was a little funny. Especially when Finn asked if she had a cute boyfriend later on, but that didn’t need to be repeated

Poe chokes on his overlarge bite of food and starts laughing. He needs a minute to swallow and then figure out how to breathe again. The rest of it is really very sweet, except for the part where Poe himself was thought dead, but there's something bizarrely perfect about the two of them meeting over BB-8's accusations and Finn getting hit in the face.

"And you found the Millennium Falcon, right?"

This is all exactly why Jakku is a junkyard, thank you. Finn might hiss something to the effect of they were calling in an air strike! like it is the ultimate defense of his hand-grabbing, while Poe is getting his breath back and thankfully not dying. He wanted them to not die in the air strike, sometimes you have to grab a few hands.

(Patently untrue. Sometimes you just strongly prefer to grab a few hands.)

"Found it. Passed it up trying to find a better ship. Came back and stole it."

The Falcon served them well. Finn's fond-ish of it, and he sure never had enough of a discerning eye to look at it and think 'garbage'. It seemed smarter to defer to pilot's preference during that brief few seconds when they had more than one choice of ships, though.

"But you should've seen the flying she did with that thing! It was unbelievable!"

Rey threw a concerned look at Poe, hoping he wasn't choking on his food. Okay, it was a little funny how they met, but not enough to laugh at. Unless he was seeing something that both Finn and Rey were ignoring, or choosing to ignore.

Then she rolled her eyes at Finn. yes,they were calling in an air strike but he didn't have to keep reaching for her hand.

"I didn't realize that was the Falcon. Unkar Plutt kept it covered and said it was a bucket of bolts. Everyone there referred to it as garbage." She couldn't but say it in a matter-of-fact way. If she had known that was the Falcon, she would've been in awe of it sooner, and wondering why it was on Jakku.

Finn's praise though...that started to make her smile. "I was only able to fly it because you were hitting those TIE fighters. If you didn't hit that last one, we would've never made it off the planet." How she basically had to cut power from the engines, letting the Falcon hover in mid air for the moment to allow Finn that shot...

"Once we were in space, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief, and then a pipe burst and I had to repair it and several other things." You know, to keep them from dying.

Poe’s expression as they talk is like a kid at space-Christmas. “I know Finn is a great shot, but man, I would have loved to see you two in the air.”

That ship, in the hands of someone who knew how to use it? Outrunning a First Order air strike? It’s the holy land of aerial spectacle. He points his fork at Rey. “Soon as we can manage it, I want to go up in the Intrepid with you and put you both through your paces.”

He starts to take another bite of food and then pauses. “Oh, that’s the Perimeter Guard’s shuttle. I’m with them for now.”

"I told you, you set me up for that shot," Finn argues right back.

He looks more than supportive of this Intrepid idea as Poe initially proposes it, if more for Rey's chance to show off than anything. They've both had him in the gunner's seat-- probably haven't had any chances to see each other at work, though. That could be worth the trip.

The tail end of that idea maybe gives him pause for a couple of reasons. One of which is that he doesn't see how any kind of shuttle could have many paces to fo through. The other--

"They suggested the Perimeter Guard to you, too?"

Then again... of all the people who'd be qualified. Resistance pilot probably hits the mark.

"Doesn't matter, if you missed, then we would've been dead," Rey argues right back. A bit of bantering between the two of them. Both of them acknowledging the other's strength.

Rey's eyes widen a little at the name of that ship. Jim had taken her to see it, and even recruited her to be part of his team. Normally, she would've smiled and agree to be put through her paces, but something else was on her mind.

"I know what the Intrepid is. I'm part of the Perimeter Guard too.." In addition to working for Cisco. She liked the income and it helped keep her busy. Rey placed her fork down on her plate and let it rest on her knee.

"You've met with Jim?" she asked, trying to get a feel for what the pair may have talked about...and wondering if now was the right time to fill both men in on what also happened prior to both of them arriving..

Listening to them talk to each other is a delight. Poe lets the compliments continue, taking the opportunity to eat some more. But then there's the double-questions aimed his way.

At least the first one is easy to answer.

"Yeah, they did. So we're all going to be working together." That's good. It means they can all keep an eye on each other, make sure the others stay safe.

As for Rey's question...

Poe meets her eyes, his smile a little crooked. "Yeah. He told me. About me. That was weird."

Finn adds a personal note to his growing list of personal notes: learn more about the Perimeter Guard in general. Small-scale militia on a quarantined moon, it makes sense they'd be looking to fill the ranks in. Doesn't say much about what it's really like. If Rey's been part of it, she'd probably mention it being terrible, but everyone has a different lens on things like that.

He'll have to check through his lens to see what matches up.

The turn in conversation is enough to have Finn straightening up, personal note all but forgotten.

"What about you?"

Probably something confusing or something that will fill him with outrage, statistically. Right now he's settling for concern.

So he knew. On the one hand, it lift a weight off her shoulders. On the other hand, she should've been the one to tell him. Poe's world had been turned upside down as hers had been. Did she dare to put him back into that head space? No..he deserved to know everything, and so did Finn.

"That he's been here before..." Rey explained in a soft voice, almost wanting to turn her head down, avert her gaze. No, she wouldn't hide from the truth. She wouldn't look away from her friends and show she was afraid. Afraid of their reactions, afraid of them being upset with her. Or thinking she didn't trust them.

"And so have I. We don't remember anything. I.." she paused, looking more at Poe than Finn.

"I didn't want to keep it a secret, but I didn't want to make you feel more on edge."

Poe reaches over to pat Rey's knee, an unspoken forgiveness. He's not sure how to voice his thoughts on the whole mess yet. He's definitely not going to talk about Jim walking up and hugging him like a squadmate. (He supposes that Jim was his squadmate, that other version of him, and wonders for the first time how this must feel from the other side of things. A friend who doesn't remember even knowing you.)

"It definitely wouldn't have helped." But there's something else there, something that's easier to focus on than his own piece of this puzzle. "You too?"

Finn can't really think of something he needs to add here. He's gotten his big "what" out of the way, and he has almost no idea what's happening. Which is about the level he's gotten used to. And if he interrupts, he feels like it might sort of interrupt the flow of getting answers.

But he does throw a sharp look between Poe and Rey, food all but forgotten.

Every time he thinks this moon can't top itself for not making sense... something new rises from the ashes.

The attention was now on Rey, but she didn't shy away from it. Both of her friends needed to know what had happened before, and this was...this was part of it.

"Yes, me too. The you that was here before was surprised I remembered him, because I had been here before too. Except...." How could she put this delicately?

"Except The Poe that was here before, didn't remember the same things as me. He only remembered landing on Jakku, and that was it." Rey paused for a moment, letting that sink in. Poe had been here before, but only remembered landing on Jakku, whereas Rey had been here before but didn't remember anything.

"I don't know exactly happened. If it was another version of me and Poe that were here before, or if we were here, then sent back, and then brought back again."

Poe pokes at his food, trying not to lose his appetite. "Yeah. That worries me."

For a lot of reasons. For reasons he's not going to talk about, not going to even mention, not even going to think about too hard.

He forces himself to take a bite, chew, swallow, even though what tasted delicious moments ago now sits like wet sand in his mouth. "That's right at the top of my list of things we need to find out."

Finn is on board for this high level of suspicion and this resolve to figure some things out. It all sounds a little too much like messing around with people he likes for his taste.

"Try to give me a heads up if we need to bust into any official facilities. I work better prepared."

You know. A casual 'hey, Finn, we're burning this place down and getting out' that he can follow up with 'oh, okay, thanks for the heads up, I'll be there'.

There was a slight scoff from Rey, shooting Finn a look. Like they wouldn't tell him if they were planning on something. Her eyes soon drift back to her food, no longer interested in. She couldn't force herself to eat it, it might come back up in a way she didn't like.

"If anything happens, we'll inform one another." Something all three of them should be in agreement with...but at least she got the very major thing out of the way. As for the second thing.

"We can try to gather information about this place and what exactly happens, but there's something else that's pressing. Cassian and Jyn, they're the two people I've met from the past. They're the ones who stole the plans about the Death Star. I told them the Empire was defeated...but I didn't tell them about the First Order."

How can tell two heroes that their mission was a success and now someone else was trying to accomplish what the Empire tried to do?

Poe sets his food aside. There's not much point in continuing to eat right now, not when the thought of doing so makes him queasy. It'll be there later. (What a luxurious thought, Poe realizes. It'll be there later, without a moment of doubt.)

"They're going to find out. One of us will let something slip, somehow, at some point, no matter how hard we try. We have to be honest with them." A pause. "But I think we can all agree not to tell them about Starkiller."

He doesn't even want to talk about Starkiller himself. He can't imagine what it would be like for Cassian and Jyn, to know that thirty years after the destruction of the Death Star, a new monster made a new weapon even worse than the first two.

Finn doesn't stop eating, personally. It's not light conversation by literally any means, he respects their respective decisions on it, but functionality still has to be a factor.

Past a certain point, he thinks, the First Order coming up with the old rebels is a little inevitable. He never blamed Rey for keeping a lot of that under wraps. How do you lay out that history in the spur of the moment? How do you say 'you struggled and something just as terrible came to do the same thing you worked to stop'?

It's better to have more of them together working things out now.

"The less they have to hear about Starkiller, the better." There's honesty and then there's cruelty. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"I told Cassian there were some people who were still loyal to the Empire--which was a truth in it's own way...but he thinks they're sympathizers.." Which...kind was the First Order, but only for a brief moment in time until they started to gather resources and power. It hurt to not fully divulge what happens in the future, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Rey looks back at her food, knowing she'd have to finish it sooner or later. She wouldn't let it go to waste, but since the conversation turned heavy, it's hard to manage another bite.

"No, they don't need to know anything about Starkiller... But what about Kylo Ren? I haven't said anything about the Jedi. At least, I don't recall that I have." Maybe about having faith in the Force, but she can't recall every conversation she's had with the pair.

"And I haven't told them what I can do either..." Her connection to the Force and all.

"We'll follow your lead with the Jedi and the Force, Rey."

BB-8 peeps agreement, and Poe flashes him a smile. "It's your right to tell them what you want them to know. The only reason we have to say more than you want is if Kylo Ren or someone shows up. It's a possibility, but it's one we'll deal with when and if it happens."

Poe takes a deep breath. "I'll tell them about the First Order."

Sympathizers. It's certainly no lie.

Poe puts it to better words than Finn can, really, in terms of following Rey's lead. It's her power to make known- or not- if she wants. He nods, though, wanting to make his agreement known.

Listen to that deep breath.

"I'm from the First Order," Finn says, matter-of-fact but not unkindly. "I can always tell them."

Jedi and the Force.. Like she has any actual clue to how all of it was suppose to work. Any information about the Jedi she considered to be a myth, and now she was supposed to figure out what was true and what was made up. No one to guide her except the Force itself.

"I'm hoping he doesn't show up, but if he does...then yes, we need to tell them." Because they had to properly defend themselves in case of an attack.

And then her heart sinks. It's an inevitable, but they need to tell them.

"..You both can tell them. I think they might take it better coming from you than me..." The person who with held such important information. But at least they were figuring this out together.

"You did what you thought was right. I can't say I would've done any differently, if I was the first one here. Telling them...." For a second, all he can think of is Leia, General Organa and her fight to make someone care. "They lived under the Empire. How do you just tell someone that there's a group trying to bring that back?"

A good question, and one he's going to have to figure out the answer to. Him and Finn both.

That is the question.

"Not alone, that's for sure." He would have made the same decision. Or wound up straight-up lying about a few things, over lies of omission. If there's one thing his tone conveys, it's that on the support team for Rey, Finn will always have a firmly reserved seat. She did the best she could with what she got. "And probably not too bluntly."

It had been hard to keep that from Jyn and Cassian, especially when it came to talking about her friends. How Finn had defected, and how brave he was for doing it. Or not mentioning the General...but the conversation wouldn't be an easy one to have. It was a conversation they needed to start, just in case someone else from the First Order or the Resistance came here.

"Not too bluntly, but we can't treat them like they're glass." And there in laid the problem.

"We could...just have them over for drinks or something, and tell them. Invite them here, so if they want to leave, they have a way out." And go back to their room to think things over, but at least it was an option.

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[closed] all hail the underdogs

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