Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

Alternately

My mind and feelings are trapped by longings...

-Alexander Pushkin

The ship rattled as it fell dangerously fast through Ajan Kloss's atmosphere. Chewie howled urgently as he pushed the hover bed into the lounge where Poe stayed with Serena.

Poe nodded as he stood to his feet with his hands firmly planted over the wound. The blood began to clot and dry around him, which he hoped was a good thing. If the blood was staying in her body, that had to be good, right? Right?

"All the docs have been notified. They have an operating room prepped and ready, they're just waiting on her-" Finn barreled into the lounge behind Chewie. "We don't have any bacta tanks so they're looking to do it old school."

"Wh-what?" Poe craned to look at him. "What does that mean? This- this isn't an old school wound, Finn."

"I know-" Finn held up his hands defensively. "The Resistance is flying under the radar. We're not as well equipped as before." His eyes fell to Serena's figure- the very same figure that hadn't moved in hours. Not a whimper, not a head tilt, not a heavy pull in of new breath. "Is she still alive?"

Is she still alive?

Is she still alive?

Is she still alive?

"Poe?"

"I don't know-" he hissed. "I-" He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. His hands trembled profusely as he pressed them into her wound. He just had to keep her long enough to get her back to base. Once they were back to base everything would be okay.

The ship rocked to one side before it roughly fell flat onto Ajan Kloss's earth.

Chewie grunted as he patted Poe's shoulder. When Poe wouldn't move Chewie shoved him out of the way to grab Serena's body.

"Wait-" Poe tore himself up and grabbed onto Serena's limp arm. He walked alongside Chewie as the Wookie gingerly placed Serena on the hover table. He looked down at her as they moved through the halls of the ship. They met the rest of Black Squadron at the top of the ramp. Every last one of them watched in silence as Serena's still body wheeled past them.

"I'm- I'm sorry, Poe," Temmin forced out. "I didn't want this-" He placed a hand on Poe's passing shoulder, but the man shrugged it off as he started down the ramp by her side.

"Poe! Poe? Oh my God, it's true?" Kaydel sprinted up to Poe's side and grabbed his bicep. She looked down at Serena's white face and let out a sob. "What happened?" Her fingers dug into Poe's aching shoulder. Enough adrenaline had worn off for him to feel the ache of his gunshot.

He looked up at her with dry, lost eyes. "Kylo Ren." His voice cracked over the name.

Kaydel's face lost all color as she looked down towards her best friend and roommate. "I-I-"

Poe looked ahead to see two nurses running towards them.

"Clear the way! We'll take it from here."

"I'm not leaving her," Poe argued with them.

Chewie and Finn backed off as the two nurses took up wheeling her towards the base. One nurse pushed by her head as the second pulled at her feet.

"Explain the extent of the injury. Give us as much detail as you can." The man at the head of the hover bed urged him.

Poe swallowed as he tried to think back, but he could only remember it in glimpses: bloody hands, a red lightsaber, Serena's beautiful smile.