Connix was in on the plan, which you were grateful for. She made sure Finn and Rose's escape went by without Admiral Holdo's knowledge. By sheer luck, she did not question Connix's claim of the cause of the radar beeping being "passing debris". 

"Eighteen hours of fuel left," you said, walking alongside Poe. "Do you like our odds?"

"To be honest with you, I'm trying not to think of our odds," he said. "I have faith in Finn. We've seen him get through crazier things."

"You're right," you said.

"We'll be alright," he said. "We'll make things right."

"What do we do 'til then?" you asked. 

"We stay out of Holdo's way and sit tight." He shook his head. "I hate doing nothin', but she isn't gonna trust us anytime soon. Not me, anyway." 

"Finn will come back," you said, nodding. "And then we'll get back to work." 

* * *

The hours ticked by painfully slow, and Hux spent each and every single one of them staring forward at the promising future. He traded sleep for this taste of anticipation. He longed for the freeing feeling of complete success that would come with the destruction of the Resistance ships. 

They were pushing through their last remaining hours of fuel now. Less than seven hours until they were no more. Less than seven hours, and no hope in sight for them. They were sitting and waiting. It was beautiful. 

"The main cruiser's still keeping beyond range. But their medical freighter is out of fuel, and its shields are down."

"The beginning of their end. Destroy it." Hux grinned, tasting the victory right there on his tongue. In mere hours, the Resistance would be destroyed. He would claim victory, he would claim revenge. You would soon regret the moment you left for the Resistance scum, if you weren't regretting it already.

* * *

"Admiral, fuel reserves at six hours," Connix whispered. 

The admiral blinked, having just witnessed the death of two pilots from the Resistance's last remaining medical freighter. She inhaled deeply, sharply, and buried her pain deep beneath a face of complete calmness. 

"Maintain our current course. Steady on."

Connix turned away, struggling to hide her disappointment in her reply. 

* * *

You turned away from the sight of the ship exploding. Each burst of orange came with a popping sound that made you flinch. You put your back to the viewport and closed your eyes tight. Poe still watched, right by your side. 

"Finn, Rose, where are you guys?" he whispered. 

"Six hours," you said painfully. "How did we already lose twelve hours of this?"

He didn't look at you, be but he held out his hand. You took it and leaned against him, your cheek pressed against his shoulder. He kissed the top of your head. 

"Are you afraid?" he asked. 

"I'm not afraid to die," you said. "I'm afraid of losing this. I know what it means not to me but to the galaxy. I don't want the First Order to reign supreme over all of these people. The galaxy would be a disaster. Are you afraid?"

"I'm afraid of some things," he admitted, his thumb stroking across your knuckles. "Things I'm not sure I want to talk about."

You knew what he meant. "I'm afraid of losing you, too," you said with a whisper. You pressed a kiss against the corner of his mouth and closed your eyes. 

Several popping sounds let out outside of the ship as the remainder of your fleet was destroyed behind you.

You jumped to look. Poe was already livid, turning away and stomping back towards the bridge. You knew he was about to demand answers from the less than helpful admiral, and quite honestly, you wanted answers, too.  

Someone was there to stop him. "The admiral has banned you from the bridge. Let's not make a scene.

"No, let's." He pushed by them and turned, grabbing your hand so they didn't try to stop you, too.

Now hand in hand, you and Poe approached the admiral, still dressed in a full length purple gown, looking more like a queen preparing for a ball than someone terrified of losing in the war.

Poe's voice was harsh. "Holdo."

She was annoyed. "Flyboy."

"Cut it, lady! We had a fleet and now we're down to one ship and you've told us nothing." He rose his voice. "Tell us that we have a plan! That we have hope!"

"When I served under Leia, she would say, hope is like the sun," she said, voice calm. "If you only believe in it when you can see it---"

"You'll never make it through the night," Poe finished. He put his free hand on his hip. 

"Yes," she said. 

He sighed, defeated. 

"I can see that you have a lot that you care about," she said, glancing at your hands. "I know how scary things like this can be. But---"

Poe wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were somewhere else. "Are you... are you filling up the transports?" 

She didn't answer.

"You are," he said. "All of them? We're abandoning ship? Is that... that's what you got? That's what you brought us to?" 

Suddenly, he ripped his hand from yours. You jumped as he kicked and pushed over a chair. Officers stepped forward with their guns up. Terrified, you stepped forward and turned towards Poe. 

"Stop this," you hissed at him, your hands pushing against his chest. He pushed your hands off of him and you grabbed his arm tight, roughly, your eyes flashing with warning. He ignored it.

"Coward!" he screamed at Holdo. "Those transport ships are unarmed, unyielded. We abandon this cruiser, we're done. We don't stand a chance. No, you are not just a coward, you are a traitor."

"Get this man off my bridge," she said. 

You stared at his face as people came over and grabbed not only him, but you by your arms. He shot them a dirty look and said, "How about you not grab her. Okay?" 

"Poe," you said, shutting him up. You let them push you forward without fighting back. 

Now alone with him and off the bridge, you walked ahead of him. "I can't believe you'd cause a scene like that. You should've asked why she was doing what she was doing."

"It seemed pretty clear to me that she was being a coward, and that's it," he said. 

You turned and glared at him, sighing, "Poe---"

"What?" he asked. "You wanna fight about this, fine." 

"I don't want to fight about this!" you said. "I don't like fighting with you like --- like I'm mad at you. I want to fight with you, by your side. I don't want to yell at you and I don't want you to yell at me. Poe, I want us to work together." 

He stopped. "Okay," he whispered. "I'm sorry, princess." 

"It's okay," you said. "Should... should we contact Finn?" 

* * *

"Finn, Holdo is loading the crew in the shuttle. She's going to abandon ship. Where are you?" he asked. 

"Poe, we're on our way back to the fleet. We're so close." 

"Did you find the Master Codebreaker?" he asked, holding the radio close to his lips. 

"We found a codebreaker. We can shut the tracker down, just buy us a little more time."

Poe dropped his head and shook it. This wasn't the news you needed. A codebreaker wasn't going to be enough; you needed the real thing, and fast. 

"We can buy us time." You nodded.

Poe nodded back. "All right. Hurry."

* * *

"So a stormtrooper and a who now are doing what?" 

"They are trying to save us. This is our best chance to escape. You have to give Finn and Rose all the time that you can."

She was fuming. "You have bet the survival of the Resistance on bad odds and put us all at risk! There's no time now. We have to get clear of the cruiser. Load the transports." 

"I was afraid you'd say that," Poe muttered. 

You sighed, putting your hand on your stun gun. You pulled it out along with Connix, Poe, and a few other Resistance members that disagreed with her way of commanding this ship. 

"Vice Admiral Holdo, I am relieving you of your command for the survival of this ship, its crew, and the Resistance." 

"I hope you understand what you're doing," she said.

"Yeah." He put his gun away and you followed. "We're going to the bridge. If they move, stun them."

On the way toward the bridge, he took out his communicator. "BB-8, tell me something good," he said into it. 

BB-8 chirped, then you heard Finn. "Poe, we're almost there. Have the cruiser prepped for lightspeed." 

"Yeah, I'm on it, pal. You just hurry."

The door slipped open and the group following you came in.

"Clear the bridge," Poe commanded. "Escort the officers down to the hangar."

"Commander --- uh, Captain Dameron, Admiral Holdo was looking for you," C-3PO said. 

"Yeah, we spoke," he said. 

"Sir, I am almost afraid to ask---"

"Good instince, Threepio. Go with that." 

"Threepio," you said, shaking your head. "Now's not the time to ask questions."

"Goodness," he said. "This is just rude."

Poe exclaimed, "Seal that door!" 

"What is it?" you asked. 

"She's on her way," he said, working on the pad of numbers and commands in front of him. Connix sealed the door. 

"Threepio, where do you think you're going?" you asked as you saw him inching his way towards the exit. 

"It would be quite against my programming to be party to a mutiny!" he said. 

"Hey!" Poe shouted. 

"It is not correct protocol," he explained. 

Suddenly, the door began to spark. He jumped. 

"Oh --- neither is this!" 

"Finn!" Poe shouted through the radio. "We're ready to jump!" 

The door was sparking and smoking, and you knew they were about to break through. Poe ducked behind the commander's chair and nodded you over to take cover behind him. You pulled out your stun gun and prepared to fire. 

Through the radio, you heard the muffled sound of stormtroopers. You looked to Poe with wide eyes, as you wondered if it was---

"Oh, no," he whispered. "They didn't make it."

Your heart dropped. "They what?" 

The door flew off. You jumped and Poe stood up, blaster at the ready. You swallowed hard and kept down, but aimed. 

And you stopped when, instead of a purple gown, you saw a white one. 

"Leia," Poe whispered. 

Leia stared at him, blinked, and then pulled out a stun gun. She shot him with it. You yelped as he flew back behind you, hitting the wall and hitting the ground unconscious.