Chain Reaction

Chapter 10 - Reunion

Paige

For the rest of the trip, Paige had acquainted herself with their pilot, the Wookiee named Chewbacca or Chewie as Rey called him, and she also got to talking with Rey. They shared stories about each other, and truth be told, there weren't much to be told from their past so the conversations about it traveled into other topics instead. Chewie and Rey taught Paige the basics of how to fly their ship, they called it the Millenium Falcon. Chewie told stories of his own about the travels he had with Han Solo and the dangers this ship had taken them into and out of. Hearing the Wookiee's stories made Paige sadly want to meet Han Solo. But, she could never. Not anymore.

When they'd arrived at the Resistance base, it was to Paige's relief that she was ignored at first, thanks to the reunions that happened. Rey didn't need to tell Leia about Han because the general apparently already sensed what had happened through the Force. Paige was reluctant as she waited to climb down the ship. She was expecting the others to peg her as a villain and begin prosecuting her again for being part of the First Order. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she nervously climbed down the ship and fixed her eyes on her boots. It wasn't until strong arms wrapped around her that she looked up.

"You're back!" She heard the familiar voice of Poe Dameron say.

When she realized it was Poe, she blinked off her shock of being hugged and wrapped her own arms around him as well, returning his hug.

"Paige, I'm so sorry I lost you back at Takodana. I thought you--" He said, into her ear.

"It's alright, Poe, really." She replied, pulling away from the hug.

Poe's eyebrows furrowed as he regarded her appearance. He looked at her head then downwards and noticed the dried blood on her face, and the bloodstains all over her body.

"What happened to you?" He said, his face filled with worry.

His hands reached her face and felt for cuts or open wounds, finding none, he stared at her clothes and frowned as he noticed they were almost fully soiled with blood. Paige did not want him to know it was her own.

"Starkiller base imploded, if you haven't been told already." She mumbled.

"Oh, I heard about that." He chuckled lightly.

Suddenly, they both heard the beeping of a certain droid rolling towards them.

"BB8!" Poe exclaimed.

He crouched down and held his arms open for the droid, capturing it in a hug as it reached him.

"I'm so happy to see you again, buddy."

After the touching reunion with his droid, he stood and turned to face Paige.

"We gotta get you out of those clothes." He said, gesturing to her attire. "Come on."

He offered his arm, and Paige took it, rolling her eyes as Poe practically started walking with a skip in his step.

Poe took her to an entrance to the underground base and led her through the maze of it, they stopped as they reached, what Paige assumed to be, Poe's living quarters. He retracted her arm from Paige and quickly rummaged around the top of his bed. It was double-decked, but the top was full of his things that Paige wasn't tall enough to see. Looking around, she saw a doorway that she noticed led towards the bathroom.

He went back beside her and presented a white shirt, he chuckled nervously, seeing as it was big for her. Paige accepted anyway, giving him a small smile.

"Bathroom's over there. But, I think you already knew that." He said, then sat on his bed to wait.

Paige nodded and went inside through the doorway she saw earlier. She moved towards the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. She was a bloody mess. She groaned as she noticed just how disheveled she looked. Paige turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face. She felt the blood that dried on her face come off and dissolve in the water as she saw the brownish fluid going down the drain.