Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

We all have monsters in our heads

If I told you about the darkness inside of me would you still look at me like I'm the sun...

-Unknown

Serena bobbed her right foot as she balanced the book on her left thigh. She held it steady with one hand while the other was preoccupied rubbing BB-8's dome. She opted for the floor of the lounge instead of a chair, that way BB-8 could rest peacefully by her side. It also allowed her to stretch her legs out in front of her instead of sitting all scrunched like she was in the cockpit.

She mindlessly rubbed BB-8's robust belly as she sifted through Luke's book. She skimmed over the paragraphs until something piqued her interest. "Luke kept a meticulous record of everything he learned over the years," Serena muttered to the droid as she skimmed the old leger. "I trained with him for fourteen years and I didn't know most of this stuff... like here-" She dropped her right foot from the table's leg and sat up just to hunch over the book. "While many creatures across the universe are Force Sensitive, not even half have enough midi-chlorians to harness its powers, instead they can simply 'feel' surges in the Force...." Serena narrowed her eyes as she looked up at BB-8. His little red dot zipped from the book to her puzzled face. "So it's not all or nothing..." She tried to make sense of it. "It's a variation. So maybe when Luke said I was powerful with the Force he meant I had more midi-chlorians than some of the other Padawans? I mean... what else could he have meant?" BB-8 gave an uncertain beep. "Yeah... I just wish Luke was still here to-"

Serena was cut off by an unGodly scream. It vibrated through the halls and into the lobby with sheer pain and terror. It stiffened her bones and made goosebumps plague every inch of her skin.

Her head tore up to look down the hall. She could tell from the scream who it was. "It's Finn..." Her teeth grazed over her bottom lip anxiously. "I wonder-" Another piercing scream cut her off again. The exploding anguish behind it made her throw her book to the side as she sprinted up and down the hall. She raised a hand as she slammed into the wall, instead letting it slow her down, she simply pushed herself further down the hall towards the sleeping quarters. "Finn!" She screamed for him to hear her. "Finn!" She slammed her palm against the button to open the door. Her heart hammered dangerously in her chest at the endless possibilities that laid beyond the door.

The door opened, flooding the room with light to show Finn withering about on his unmade bed.

Serena lost her breath as she sprinted across the small space and kneeled before him. His legs kicked under the blankets as his arms flapped around by his side. She had to lurched back to miss being slapped by his mindless hands.

"Finn, hey, Finn, it's okay-" Serena grabbed his hand and pulled it to her chest in an effort to calm him. "It's just a nightmare, wake up-" She pleaded as she raised her other hand to stroke his sweaty cheek. "Finn, wake up, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay," She repeated over and over as he struggled against her. Sweat transferred from his face to her bare hand. She pushed past the odd sensation of someone else's sweat and ran her thumb soothingly along the highest point of his cheek. "Finn, sh, hey, it's okay. Just wake up-" She lowered her voice to a lighter tone to try and pull him from whatever terrors plagued his head.

His eyes peeled open a split second before he shot up in bed. She pulled her hand away from his cheek and dropped it to her chest where she still cradled his hand. She ran her thumbs over his knuckles to try and ground him like Poe did for her.

Finn's eyes scanned the room around him before he looked down at her with wide, startled eyes. As he saw her pale skin and silver hair he ripped his hand from her and scooted to the wall.

"Hey, it's okay-" She reached out for him again but he slapped her hand away as he crawled as far away from her as he could. He crouched up against the corner where his headboard pinched against the wall and brought his knees up to tuck into his chest. He lifted his hands and protectively wrapped his arms around his knees.