Poe sat quietly in the barren waiting room, and had long since given up finding distractions to keep his mind occupied. Due to the Resistance's limited budget, the waiting room of the medical ward was basically just a normal hospital room, but instead of a bed and monitors, a few uncomfortable chairs lined up against the blank walls. There wasn't even anything to read. The only thing that separated himself from the medical corridor was a thin plastic curtain. He heard shuffling feet and hushed voices, which were growing quieter as time passed and night came.

The explosion had been unexpected, and it was simply a streak of luck that had kept him safe, even though afterwards his ears were ringing, he was miraculously okay, besides a few minor scrapes from diving to the ground in terror. He had always been able to remain calm in stressful situations. It was what made him a good pilot, but watching something combust from far away was a lot different than something up close.

It had just been like any other day, the pilots were running drills and training apprentices. It happened so suddenly. One of the men in his squadron, Lathan had been the most injured out of everyone around. Some others were burned and scraped up, and currently receiving treatment, others he had sent home to rest, which is why he currently sat in the waiting room alone. A nurse had asked to look him over, but he had declined. He knew he was fine, and it was unnecessary, even though they'd insisted.

He wanted to wait until Lathan was out of surgery and stabilized. It was the right thing for him to do, even though it had been hours and he was exhausted. He had left the medical ward earlier, briefly, to speak to General Organa, and her mechanics had chalked it up to faulty machinery, which Poe didn't have a hard time believing, considering Lathan's fighter had surely seen better days.

Poe'd been sitting for so long the time seemed to blend together, and even though he wasn't the anxious type, he was growing worried. Leaning forward, he focused on the tiled floor, that was clean for the most part besides some specks and streaks of dirt. The sanitation workers probably hadn't come here yet today. Poe heard the curtain being pulled back, the commotion from the hallway now visible to him. The doctor who'd helped Lathan earlier entered, and he straightened up.

"Poe Dameron, right?" she asked, and he nodded. He recognized the woman vaguely, he must have met her before. He knew most everyone who worked on the Resistance base, but not many of the medical staff. He may have seen her around during weapons training that everyone was required to complete.

"I'm Dr. Juun," she introduced herself. She had whispy dark blonde hair that was mussed out of its braid it was clipped in, and her eyes were sunken and tired, with purple circles underneath. Besides her obvious exhaustion, however, she looked relatively young for a doctor. "One of the nurses told me I might find you here."

"Oh?" Poe asked, blinking, as the fluorescent lights were becoming irritating. She carried a datapad in one hand, but it rested at her side. Her light grey uniform was a pleasant contrast against the stark white of the room, and he watched her sit in the chair across from him.

"I wanted to let you know your friend is doing well," she said, pulling her chair forward slightly so it was closer to Poe. "We expect him to make a full recovery."

Poe stood, relief flooding over him. "May I go visit him?"

"I understand you're excited," she motioned for him to sit, and he did. "He's resting now. But he'll be ready for visitors tomorrow."

"Oh," Poe said, and his eyes locked on her.

"And I know you were around during the explosion earlier," she continued. "I wanted to make sure you were feeling all right."

"I'm feeling fine," he answered with a weak smile.

"No hearing loss, headaches?" She squinted at him slightly, cocking an eyebrow.

"No," Poe shook his head.

"Okay," she continued. "Well if you start to feel bad, we have doctors and medics working around the clock who can care for you."

Poe nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Anyways," she said. "I thought it'd be best if I came to let you know how Lathan was doing after my shift ended."

"I appreciate it," he said, watching her stand and push the chair back into place precisely where it had been. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Dr. Juu- uh, Krya," she cleared her throat. "My name is Kyra."

"Kyra," He repeated. "It was nice to meet you, thank you for taking care of Lathan," he offered her his hand.

She started at his hand for a moment before taking it and shaking it firmly. "It's my job," she replied, releasing her grip. "I know it's been a long day for you," she said, facing him. "You should probably get some rest."

"You should too," he suggested, eyeing her tired eyes and slumped shoulders.

"I was going to grab something to eat before I head to my room," she confessed. "I haven't eaten since lunch."

The mere mention of sustenance made Poe's stomach growl, he had forgotten about it in the chaos, and hadn't wanted to leave the infirmary in the off chance any news came. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, she walked past him.

She paused, looking at him over her shoulder, "Not at all," she said. "I just have to grab some things before I head out."

"That's fine," Poe responded.

The cafeteria dining area was open throughout the day, but always closed at night. However, because many shifts worked by those in the Resistance had unusual hours, there were always leftover meals and snacks left in the refrigerators. Poe sometimes had to utilize them after returning from missions late at night, but it'd been awhile.

Kyra wasn't especially talkative, and he didn't know whether that was her demeanor or if she was just tired. This was very unlike Poe, who enjoyed talking and socializing and getting to know others. They sat across from one another, eating in silence before he spoke up.

"So," he began. "I have to say, I feel like I've met you before."

"You have," she said, after swallowing a bite of her food. "I remember meeting you, it was a while ago."

Poe felt bad, because even though she looked vaguely familiar to him, she wouldn't have remembered her name before she told him. "Oh, I apologize. I should have remembered your name."

Krya shook her head. "It's all right. I'm sure you meet a lot of people. I don't always remember all my patients. Like I said, it was awhile back."

He was relieved she didn't mind.

"The only reason I remember you is because I hear your name a lot," she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I'm kind of a big deal around here," he joked.

She scoffed. "Oh, I know."

Poe wasn't sure how to respond after that, so he chewed on a bite of food and swallowed before continuing. "How long have you been with the Resistance?"

"A little under a year," she said, looking pensive.

"What brought you here?" he continued. He loved hearing the stories and explanations of the people who worked around him. It was his favorite part of the movement, how it's ideals and purposes brought people together and made them unified. Most people had a great passion for the work they did, and Krya didn't seem like an exception.

Kyra bit her lower lip before shrugging. "I'd heard a little about it on the news and it interested me. I was unhappy, I needed a way to get out of where I was. So that led me here."

"Where were you?" asked Poe, studying her face.

He noticed her body language changed from relaxed to rigid quickly, and she appeared to become slightly closed off before pushing a piece of her hair out of her face. Her braid was disheveled after the day of work. "It's a long story."

Poe could sense it wasn't something she was interested in going into by the way she quickly changed the subject.

"So, how about you? How long have you been involved with the Resistance?"

Poe straightened up, taking a bite of the leftovers he ate. "Two years," he said after swallowing the food.

"So if I need someone to show me the ropes, I should ask you, right?" she teased.

"If you've already been here a year, shouldn't you know the ropes by now?" he asked playfully.

Kyra rolled her eyes. "There's a surprising amount I still don't know," she began. "For example, I didn't know that this place was open after dinner until a few weeks ago," she gestured to the cafeteria. "I used to go home after night shifts absolutely starved and have to eat crackers in my room for dinner."

"Fair enough," Poe chuckled. "You seem awfully young to be a doctor," he observed out loud, and then immediately regretted his word choice. "I didn't mean that in, in a rude way, I just wasn't sure how this came to be your career choice.

"I know what you meant," Kyra said, taking a quick sip of tea. "My father was an apothecary and a farmer," she answered, lighting up. "He taught me most of what I knew, then when I left home I took the classes I needed to get my certification."

"Do you like doing that here?" he asked.

The corner of her mouth pulled up slightly in a smirk. "It's not bad. I'm new, though, so I have to do a lot of the brunt work," she paused. "Anyways, they're training new medics and doctors, so I won't be as overworked once they're certified."

They finished their meal and said goodbye, and Poe watched the woman walk out of the cafeteria to go back to her dorm. It was then that his exhaustion hit him, and he knew that he had a debrief with General Organa in the morning before his next mission. He figured it would be best to get some rest in the meantime.

Kyra pressed her thumb against the scanner on her door and heard it click open as it recognized her fingerprint. For the most part, she had no complaints about the Resistance Base's dormitories. Some people who worked for the movement shared their small dormitories, but she was lucky enough to live alone.

Most nights after returning from work, she would go on a walk outside or read a book. However, this evening she was absolutely exhausted. She went into her small bathroom and shed her uniform, which had remained surprisingly clean despite the circumstances of today, and stepped into the shower. The warm water ran over her body, soothing her aching muscles and quelling the headache she had felt begin to stir.

She was surprised that she had ended up spending a good part of the evening speaking with Poe Dameron. He was a prominent figure in the Resistance. He was the handsome pilot who always seemed to look like he had walked straight out of a Resistance recruitment poster. As fitting as the role might have been, General Organa had always kept those advertisement models from ever going on missions, they took positions in sanitation and food service. Poe was too talented of a pilot to ever risk being so openly exposed to the First Order, especially when he was actively doing work and traveling all around the galaxy.

Kyra had met him before, and he had been pleasant, but she wasn't taken off guard that he hadn't remembered her. The Resistance was already large, and grew everyday. In reality, the only people one got to know were the people they interacted with on a daily basis. Kyra had one close friend, Philomela, but mostly kept a professional relationship with her coworkers. It was nice to have a meal with someone she didn't know well, though.

She had to be up in less than five hours, so she quickly got dressed into pajamas and curled up under the covers. Silently, to herself, she hoped tomorrow wouldn't be as hectic.

Hello all, this is my first Star Wars fic, so go easy on me. I have only seen the movies and am an avid fan of those, so I don't know much beyond those, but I've been doing a lot of research in order to make this as accurate and close to canon as possible. Please let me know what you think!