Close to Me {Poe Dameron}

twenty-one

After they ate cake, Rose and Kat headed into the main control area of the Tantive IV. Leia told them that all of the old holos should still be there despite anything the Empire could have done to the ship. So, the two friends set about fixing things since instead of wiping the control center of the information saved, the Empire decided to break the screens and paneling protecting the hardware system.

The pair worked in silence, mostly. Both would hum whatever song randomly would pop in their heads from time to time or even talk to themselves as they worked on something particularly puzzling or frustrating. They had managed to remove all the paneling when Connix came in. "The General requested you both to join her for an update. General Calrissian sent a message saying that the team just left and were trying to dodge the First Order."

"Thanks, Lieutenant. We'll be there shortly." Kat smiled, dismissing the other woman.

✧☆✧

Just as Rose and Kat arrived at Leia's side, Snap came up to the three women. "General, Colonel, Lieutenant." He said in greeting. "We're getting reports of a raid at the Festival of Ancestors."

All three women practically sighed together. "This mission is everything. We cannot fail." Leia said.

"Any word from Poe or Rey?" Kat asked.

"Falcon's not responding." He said, fearful of what that could mean.

Rose looked towards Kat, watching as her friend's face fell before rolling her eyes. "Do you have to say it like that?"

Snap looked to Rose, defensive. Rose might be a lieutenant now but he was used to informing Kat and Leia for a lot longer than she had an official title. "Like what?"

"Do me a personal favor?" Leia asked. "Be optimistic."

Snap nodded. "Yes ma'am." He continued to nod as he tried to think of a way to sound optimistic with the not so great news. "Uh, this is, this is terrific. You're not gonna believe how well this is gonna turn out."

The three women looked at him in various degrees of disbelief. Rose, fed up, sighed, and walked away while shaking her head.

"Hey, Wexley?" Kat asked, interrupting him.

"Yeah, Colonel?"

"Why don't you go find Kare and ask her to help you with that optimism." She gave him a bit of a pointed stare before following after Rose.

He just looked to Leia, who gave a small shrug. "It could use a little work. Thank you, Captain." 

✧☆✧

Kat found Rose already back at work, fixing the wiring under one of the desks. "They probably haven't made it back to the Falcon yet and honestly I don't think Poe would even let them go back to the Falcon if the First Order is after them."

Rose looked over to her friend, incredulous. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I'm just trying to offer up a different solution than whatever's going through your head right now."

She laughed, shaking her head. "Well, maybe work on your delivery a little bit. It wasn't very cheerful."

Kat sat down next to Rose. "You know comfort isn't exactly my strong suit, especially when I'm running a mission." She sighed. "They are fine though. I do believe that."

Rose smiled. "That's better. Now help me with this wiring? It looked like at least someone was smart enough to try and detach things while everyone was going ballistic in here."