One Hell of a Pilot
Summary: Based off of a prompt for Damrey Secret Santa: Poe deals with the fact that Rey Solo is the better pilot while inadvertently developing feelings for her.
A/N: So I took part in the Damerey Secret Santa and this fic is for @imaginationreaper98! I hope they enjoy this fic the most, but of course, I hope everyone that reads it will enjoy it too <3 It turned out to be kinda fluffy and I hope that's okay, I just can't help it when it comes to these two!
AO3: (x)
Admittedly, Poe had let his unofficial title of “the best pilot in the Resistance” get to his head a little bit. He liked being the best at something, especially since it was something he’d been doing his entire life. He’d always been the best pilot no matter where he was before the Resistance, truly, and it was that very fact that made him the General’s go-to pilot.
But then he flew with Rey in the Millennium Falcon, and he knew he wouldn’t be called the best pilot for very much longer.
She was a natural, even more so than him, and no matter what ship you put her in or up against, she could out-maneuver the best of them. It was a silly thing to be troubled about, it was some little title that didn’t mean much of anything at the end of the day. When people started to catch on to Rey’s talent and calling her the best pilot they’d ever seen, Poe would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit it stung just a bit. The General’s daughter, strong with the Force, and a better pilot than he could ever hope to be - she was certainly an unstoppable force that he didn’t want to be in the way of.
Poe didn’t even realize that he’d been watching her for the past few minutes while she trained with her lightsaber out on the tarmac until BB-8 nudged his leg.
“What is it, buddy?” Poe asked, trying and failing to stop looking at Rey.
A meeting, he’d forgotten all about the meeting at the war table to figure out the Resistance’s next moves from here. He was still getting used to being more involved in this side of the Resistance as opposed to flying around with Black Squadron whenever he was needed.
Poe got back to his feet and ready to leave, only to be stopped when he saw Rey looking over at him now this time. She smiled and offered up a small wave towards him, he didn’t know why he froze when she did so. He quickly waved back to her before heading on his way back into the base, he didn’t belong out here right now anyway though his heart still did.
Poe couldn’t miss his chance to be fighting alongside his fellow pilots again, the best pilot or not, he needed to do something other than shuffle from meeting to meeting all day, and right now he’d do more good up in the air than down on the ground. Among all the commotion and chaos out on the tarmac, Poe spotted Rey yet again, this time helping Chewbacca load up the Falcon before taking off. He could have just kept going and wished her good luck as he passed her by, but something told him to just stay a minute.
“Rey,” Poe said, catching her attention while Chewbacca took the case she held in her hands and brought it aboard.
“Yeah?” Rey asked.
“Good luck out there,” Poe said.
He wasn’t quite sure why his heart jumped at the sight of the smile now on her face, knowing that just a few simple words from him were what caused it.
“You too, we can’t lose the best pilot in the Resistance now,” Rey said.
“I think that title belongs to you now more than it does me,” Poe said, though he couldn’t help the smile that took over him.
“Me? I wasn’t the one who outmaneuvered three TIE Fighters and shot down twelve that were chasing down my squadron,” Rey said.
“You remember that? That battle was weeks ago,” Poe said with a twinge of disbelief.
“It’s hard to forget a good fight when you see one,” Rey said, a look of slight embarrassment crossing her face for only a moment, “either way, stay safe out there.”
“You too,” Poe said.
He gave a brief nod before he turned on his heels and started to head toward his ship, seeing BB-8 already being loaded into his spot.
“Poe,” Rey called out, stopping him again.
Poe turned to face her quickly this time, searching her face to see if something was wrong given the distressed tone of her voice.
“Yeah?” Poe asked.
Rey hesitated, biting down on her lower lip and seemingly contemplating something heavily. Was she nervous about this fight? It was half the size of the last battle, but even he still got nervous no matter the odds. She walked towards him and off the ramp of the Falcon, leaving only just a bit of space between them. He wasn’t used to seeing her this close, close enough to see the faint splash of freckles across her face or the strains of brown in her hazel eyes. He didn’t even get the chance to say another word before she quickly kissed him. It was over in a matter of seconds, and if a bright red blush hadn’t crossed her cheeks after she pulled away, Poe would have doubted that she even kissed him at all.
“Come back in one piece,” Rey said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I will if you will,” Poe said, he didn’t know how to react to the sudden shift between them other than trying to make light of the situation.
He got her to smile again before Chewbacca came out onto the ramp, the two taking a few steps back from one another now though their eyes stayed locked. They didn’t say another word to each other, they just slowly parted ways until Poe found himself back on track towards his ship. Poe couldn’t stop thinking about Rey for even a second, though it hadn’t been different from any other time lately, he seemed to always catch himself thinking about her anymore - one way or another.
Despite Poe being unable to fight back the new feelings he felt whenever he caught a glimpse of Rey around the Resistance base, and after what transpired on the tarmac before the battle, he found himself avoiding her - and it seemed that Rey was doing the same. Every time they wound up in the same hallway alone or headed in the same direction, they would turn and go their separate ways. He didn’t know what to do, it’d been so long since he even came close to liking someone, and now he found himself falling for the most incredible woman he’d ever met in his life. But it was because of that very fact that he found it difficult to even say two words to her anymore.
He was a leader of the Resistance, he could surely find the courage to say something to Rey. It’d been almost three days since they spoke, someone had to say something.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, you can do this,” Poe said to himself under his breath, finding himself standing outside of the Falcon yet again, “you faced the First Order, you can face Rey.”
“Face me about what?” Rey’s voice came from down the hall of the Falcon, causing Poe to jump slightly at her sudden presence.
“What? Oh, nothing,” Poe tried to brush things off, already trying to find a way to back down, feeling like a fool under her gaze.
“Is everything alright? Is something wrong?” Rey asked.
“No, no, everything’s fine,” Poe said.
“Are you sure? You haven’t talked to me in a few days,” Rey said, her demeanor suddenly shifting, “is Finn alright?” She asked with a sudden panic.
“He’s fine,” Poe said.
“Beebee-Ate?” Rey asked.
“Fine too,” Poe said, “I...I just wanted to talk I guess, about what happened before the battle a few days ago.”
“Oh,” Rey said quietly, her cheeks flushing slightly now at the mention of it, “Sure, yeah,”
“Do you maybe wanna go somewhere else?” Poe asked.
While the Falcon was the hub of most of their interactions, the Falcon was also almost always full of people - whether it was a Wookie or a family of porgs, or simply Resistance members helping run maintenance, it wasn’t exactly the place for a private conversation at the moment.
“Sure,” Rey nodded, “I know somewhere we can go.”
Rey grabbed Poe’s hand and led him off of the tarmac, taking him out deeper into the lush nature of the planet before they finally reached a small lake. Rey let go of his hand only to take a seat on the grass, patting the small space beside her. Poe took a seat, a bit closer to her than anticipated, but still comfortable.
“How did you find this place?” Poe asked.
“It gets to be too much at the base sometimes, too many thoughts rushing around that I can’t block out all the time. I just went for a walk one day and eventually found myself here,” Rey shrugged.
“I never really went past the tarmac,” Poe said, “I guess maybe I should once in a while.”
“What did you want to talk about?” Rey asked, pulling her knees close to her chest and seeming nervous as she picked at her clothes, avoiding looking right at him.
Noticing her nerves, Poe moved over a bit closer, looking right at and trying to catch her attention. When she finally looked up, Poe offered up a small smile and tentatively put one of his arms around her. He didn’t want to scare her off, but at the same time, he didn’t want her to think he wanted to end whatever this was that was bubbling up between them.
“Rey, I-”
Rey turned and closed the space between them without a second of hesitation, her soft lips cautious and unsure of how to really continue the kiss. Poe took over from there, leaning into the kiss and cupping her face to hold her closer. By the time it was getting harder to breathe, they finally separated, even though all Poe wanted to do was to keep the kiss going.
“I...wow,” Poe said.
“Please tell me that you wanted to do that and I didn’t read all of this wrong,” Rey said anxiously.
“I really did want to do that,” Poe reassured her.
Rey slowly reached out, intertwining her fingers with Poe’s and giving his hand a slight squeeze. With all of the amazing feats he’d seen Rey achieve in the short time he knew her, it was easy to forget that past being a Jedi, past being an ace pilot, and past being the General’s daughter, she was still just a girl who was capable of such gentleness, a side of her that Poe greedily wanted all to himself.
“Well…” Rey said, a hint of a grin still on her face, “does the best pilot in the galaxy want to take the Falcon out for a ride? Chewie and I have been working on the thrusters all day and I think it’s only fitting that the best pilot here tries it out.”
“Best pilot in the galaxy?” Poe asked, “I think that title belongs to you.”
“Kriff no, you’re way better than I am,” Rey said.
“Flying is kind of in your blood last I checked,” Poe said.
“Yours too,” Rey said.
There was a slight pause between them, both of them still grinning like fools despite knowing that no one was truly going to win this argument.
“Alright, how about we both fly it then? Chewie can take a break from this one little test flight,” Rey offered up.
“Sounds good,” Poe said.
This time, Poe leaned in and stole a quick kiss before getting to his feet and helping Rey do the same. He didn’t know how he got lucky enough to win over Rey, he didn’t know why out of all the people in the galaxy she chose him, but he knew one thing for certain, and it was that he had no plans of ever letting her go.