A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading! I'm so sorry of the slow updating, but I'm on Spring Break this week so hopefully I'll be able to get more chapters out soon. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed and favorited/followed, and I will be replying to your reviews at the end of this chapter!

Resistance Base, D'Qar

As soon as they arrived Poe hopped out of his X-Wing and went running towards the medical bay, looking for the first doctor he could find. He knew that Tav was probably cursing him for putting up such a fuss, but Poe had lost soldiers from a lot less. And he certainly wasn't going to let his best friend die of blood loss from a broken tree branch lodged in her leg.

The halls were much more crowded than when he had left, rows upon rows of people lined up along the walls. He went to grab the doctor standing off to the side with a clipboard, only then noticing that many of the refugees looked dirty and wounded. Some of the ones who had been home and lucky enough to escape before it blew up had burn marks, several layers of gauze soaked with blood to patch them up. Some of their heads were shaved, so that the medical staff could tend to the wounds underneath. Others looked to be missing limbs, either burnt off or lost in war.

There were children running around, tattered clothes barely covering their thin frames. One boy looked to be wearing a bloodstained makeshift eye patch, but he was still smiling as he chased the other kids around.

Poe suddenly felt guilty. Here there were hundreds of injured refugees, and he was about to take away one of the doctors for his own selfish reasons. Well, Tav's reasons. But that didn't make him feel any less sad.

The doctor turned, a smile immediately lighting up his face. "Ah Commander Dameron, to what do I owe the pleasure? You didn't injure yourself again, I hope."

Poe shook his head, trying to ignore the several pairs of eyes that were all of a sudden trained on him. In hindsight, the pilot probably did stick out among the crowds of wounded people. They were practically wearing rags, while he stood in the hall in almost clean, form fitting Resistance-issued clothing that barely had a single hole in them. He felt a little out of place, and hoped that the base would have enough material to make them their own clothes. He knew they were already running out.

"No, uh. It's Tav." The doctor gave him a look that told Poe that he needed to elaborate. He scratched the back of his head, trying to find the right words but coming up with nothing. "We flew out to get more Bacta, but we, uh – she tripped and fell on a tree branch. And it's still in her leg."

The doctor looked like he was trying not to laugh, and given the situation surrounding them it probably wouldn't have been a good idea. But years of being a trained medical practitioner had apparently given the doctor the ability to quickly compose himself. He gave a slight nod. "Very well," he spoke quickly, "bring her to the back room and we'll see what we can do."

Poe gave a quick nod of thanks before heading back out to the hangar. He looked up, just in time to see Tav glaring at him from the position by her ship. She was leaning against it, obviously to keep from putting weight on her right leg, but her arms were crossed in normal Tav fashion.

"Why did you do that?" She hissed when he came closer. He was close enough to see the blood already soaking through the wrap on her leg, and the thin sheen of sweat that had appeared on her forehead due to the pain.

"What do you mean?" Poe feigned innocence. But she had never bought it and probably never would.

"You know what."

Poe rolled his eyes, "You think I'm just going to leave you here with a branch in your leg?" He put his arms in the air for emphasis, but she wasn't having any of it.

Tav set her jaw. "There are hundreds of injured refugees from the New Republic here! I don't want to waste any of the supplies if we can afford it."

"We can't afford to lose you!"

"The Resistance has plenty of pilots."

"But I only have one you!"

"Dammit Poe!" she growled, her eyes narrowing, "Don't bring that up!" She huffed, pacing a couple of times in a circle before doubling back in pain from her wound.

"I'm sorry," Poe's voice softened, knowing he had won by the sag of defeat shown in her posture. He scratched the back of his neck guiltily, "I know you don't want me to bring them up and – kriff! – I don't want to talk about my mom any more than you do. But, dammit Tav – she wouldn't want you acting like you mean nothing to the Resistance!"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Shara was a great woman" Poe winced at the name "but you know as well as I do that she'd rather the others get their medicine first."

It was true – Poe knew that. His mother was the most selfless person he'd ever met. And yet, he was sure that he wouldn't want her son's best friend – practically her own daughter – to refuse treatment if she could help it. So, against his better judgment, Poe scooped Tav up bridal style.

Her reaction was almost comical. The young pilot had clearly not expected Poe to pick her up, as her eyes widened nearly to the size of saucers and her arms flailed for a moment before punching Poe in the arm. "Hey, watch it or I'll drop you."

"Kriffing hell, Poe!" She shouted, angrily glaring daggers at him. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but made only halfhearted attempts. Poe could tell that her leg was really bothering her, as she gave up within a couple of minutes. Finally she sighed and relaxed, to which Poe was grateful for; he still had to carry her across the loading bay and into the medical wing.

Their short trip was full of Poe getting strange looks from the people he passed, including some of his own pilots. However, with the amount of trouble he got himself into on a regular basis, the onlookers were smart enough not to question him.

By the time they reached the doctor, Tav was already leaning against his chest in exhaustion. The blood loss was most likely making her dizzy, which only quickened Poe's pace down the hall. A few of the refugee children pointed at them, only to be silenced by their mothers. Poe kind of felt bad for them, knowing that they were only curious. And it didn't really bother him. They were quite the sight.

The doctor motioned them into one of the medical rooms, where Poe put Tav down on the bed in the middle of the room. The white sheets were paper-thin and scratchy, something he knew all too well from his many trips to the medic's office. Tav grunted in discomfort as her leg hit the edge of the mattress, but she said no more.

Poe stepped back as a medical droid entered the room, its long arms stretched out with a basket of supplies and antiseptics. The doctor turned to face Poe, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave while I operate on the patient. It shouldn't take too long, and I'll come to get you when I'm finished."

Poe looked up in confusion, "Shouldn't you be in an operation room?"

The doctor nodded and sighed. "We have found that with the number of people pouring onto the base many of them have sustained very serious injuries, which has resulted in an inefficient number of operating rooms at the moment." Again, Poe felt guilty for taking the doctor away from the other patients. "Now, the General has informed me that the two of you recently went to obtain another shipment of Bacta."

"Yes!" Poe hopped up from his position leaning against the wall, "Should I go get it?"

The doctor nodded. Please hurry, the medical droid beeped. Poe complied, racing out of the room and towards his ship. No wonder the doctors always complained about his number of visits to the medic; he didn't really watch where he was going.

"Hey!" Poe looked up just in time to see himself toppling over a dark-haired girl, the clipboard in her hands and its contents tumbling to the floor, along with Poe. Papers were strewn everywhere, but luckily there wasn't anyone in the hall to have witnessed his blunder other than the girl before him. He looked up, only to widen his eyes as Liana stood above him, pointedly not making eye contact as she moved down to pick up her scattered pieces of paper.

Poe mentally cursed himself before putting on one of his oh-so-charming smiles that Tav always made fun of him for. "I'm so sorry, Liana! Can I help you?" He scrambled to his feet, immediately bending down to try to help the girl.

She shook her head before sighing. "Fine. But be careful, please. The General needs to see this immediately."

"What is it?" Poe asked, his curious nature taking over.

Liana snorted. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I have not been given permission to divulge the information yet."

"What?" Poe asked in astonishment, "But I have clearance to almost everything!"

"Not this, apparently." Liana said bluntly, trying to hide her smirk; Poe could still see it. He thought it was kind of adorable, really, but now wasn't really the time to say that. And c'mon, what was so important that they couldn't tell him?

"Oh," Poe remembered what Tav had told him, "where did you say the General was?"

"I didn't."

"Please." He put on a cheesy smile.

Liana rolled her eyes, but let out a laugh. "She's in her office."

"Thanks!" Poe moved to head in the direction he had been heading towards the hangar before looking back as Liana called to him.

"That's two times you've tripped over me today, Commander. You might want to watch where you're going."

Poe felt himself blush, but grinned at her anyway before breaking into a jog down the hallway, "Call me Poe!"

Liana smirked, "Goodbye, Commander."

He couldn't help it. Poe let the cheesy smile wander onto his face as he turned the corner and ran out into the loading bay, heading straight for he and Tav's X-Wings. His little droid beeped a 'hello' as he neared, BB-8 rolling around in circles while CT-19 followed it.

"Hey little buddy," Poe affectionately called to his droid, heading to the back of his ship where the Bacta was loaded. CT-19 beeped indignantly. Poe grinned, "Hello to you too, Seetee." The droid replied with a pleased beep.

What is Master-Poe doing? BB-8 chirped, stopping in its tracks to look up at the pilot. CT gave a series of loud, annoyed beeps as the astro accidentally ran into its friend who was no longer rolling around in circles.

Poe chuckled, ignoring the obscene cursing that no droid had ever been programmed to spout out. It had obviously learned it from its master. "I'm dropping the Bacta off with the medics." He grabbed whatever boxes he could carry before hurrying back to the medical wing, the two droids following him.

He couldn't help but notice some of the refugee children stare wide-eyed at the two droids that rolled down the hall after him. He shouldn't have been surprised, really; they had just been attacked, so the two droids were probably a welcome distraction for the kids. A few of them even ran up to the two astros, much to their parents' chagrin. However the little droids didn't seem to mind, and Poe had to laugh at the smug enjoyment BB and CT seemed to be getting out of the attention they were receiving.

Poe decided he'd leave them in the hallway as he delivered the Bacta. It would be good for the children, and he was sure BB wouldn't be happy if Poe pulled it away from the kids now.

The sound of loud cursing and a very annoyed tone of voice were what Poe followed to find his way back to the room he had been in before. He set the boxes down in the corner, slightly flinching as he stood back up to look at the sight before him: Tav was on the bed, sheets already stained with blood as the doctor stitched up her wound. The branch was lying on a nearby table, the end of it coated in the same red, sticky substance. Poe scrunched up his nose in disgust as he realized just how far it had been stuck in his friend's leg, and thanked the Maker that they hadn't somehow gotten stranded on the planet.

Speaking of which, Poe realized that he still needed to go talk to the General. Tav's discovery was of high importance and he'd be damned if General Organa didn't know about it ASAP. Tav seemed to catch a glimpse of him as he slipped out the door, because the resounding "Fuck you, Poe!" made him wince as he headed to the General's office.

Compared to that of the Med Bay, the rest of the halls in the base were relatively empty. Though, Poe remembered, he and Tav had been out for a good majority of the day. Most of the base was probably at dinner. His stomach growled at the thought, reminding him that he had missed lunch and was practically running on fumes. He sighed, deciding he would just have to wait before he could soothe his aching stomach.

Poe stood outside of the General's office somewhat awkwardly. She had never seemed to be angry at his abrupt intrusions before, but he still felt bad entering when the woman always seemed so swamped with work as it was. Still, Poe knocked on the door, waiting until he heard the muffled "Come in!" before entering.

General Organa sat behind a large desk made of dark wood, the desk filled with various papers and folders. A holopad sat to one side as she shuffled through a stack of documents. She looked up, her eyebrows raised. "To what do I owe this pleasure, Dameron?" The General smiled, seemingly relieved to take her mind off of the paperwork for a few minutes.

Poe gave the woman a nervous smile in return before going to rub the back of his neck. He hadn't really thought through what he was going to say to her, but years of giving mission reports had him blurting out the information they had found fairly quickly. "I think the First Order has a hidden base on Thyferra."

General Organa gave him a look of surprise before urging him to continue. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, uh," Poe bit his lip, "Tav found a kid on the planet. He was trembling – like, really shaking. And, uh, she said he was afraid she was going to hurt him, and when she asked why he said that, the boy told her that the First Order had hurt him before. Apparently a couple dozen are stationed on the other side of the planet."

The General sat back in her chair, apparently thinking things over. She shook her head. "That's ingenious of them; I should have seen it coming."

"General?" Poe gave her a confused look.

Again she shook her head. "They are planning to cut off the Bacta to the rest of us. If they can control the supply, then the Resistance and New Republic will be forced to fight a war without medicine." She stood up, "Nice work, Commander. Expect a meeting soon. I need to speak with the tacticians so we can devise a plan." She moved to leave, "We need to raid their base before the First Order realizes we know about it."

Poe nods. "When are we planning to do that?"

"As soon as possible."

Poe nods again, then – "Wait! Uh, you should probably know that Tav was injured on the mission." The General raised her eyebrows in surprise. "She fell, and uh, got a branch stuck in her leg."

General Organa gave him a look of astonishment before quickly replacing it with a blank expression. "Is it severe?"

Poe bit his lip. "I'm not sure. But she's with the medic now."

She nodded. "Well I assume that no matter what, she'd want to fly in the raid."

"But –"

"You know her better than I do, Dameron."

Poe sighed. He did. And he also knew that no injury was severe enough to warrant her to stay on base during something this important.

He nodded woefully. Tav wouldn't listen to reason. She never had. And he supposed her leg wouldn't hinder her piloting skills too terribly much, but still. It was the principle of the thing. Most soldiers were expected to get at least a few days rest before being sent out into the field. That's what any good commanding officer would make them do.

But Tav was Tav. And she knew him inside and out. Well enough that she knew what buttons to push to get her way and drive him insane. So insane, in fact, that Poe wondered how the kriffing hell they were still as close as they were sometimes. But perhaps that's why it worked. Whatever it was, Poe decided it was best to probably just let sleeping akk dogs lay.

"I should probably go let her know what's up, then."

General Organa shook her head. "Let her rest, Poe. You can tell her about everything once we've figured out a plan. Besides," she moved to leave her office, "you look like you could use some rest as well."

Poe watched silently as she left, not bothering to add a comment. He knew she was right, yet he couldn't bring himself to go lay down. He knew his bod was probably overworked, but that was the life of a pilot. Poe didn't often get much sleep on any normal given day, because he had to be ready to jump out of bed at the drop of a hat. The pilots were the first ones called away for missions and normally some of the last ones to get back. And Poe was in charge of making sure all of his pilots arrived safely. No, Poe didn't think he could go to sleep.

So instead, he figured he would go visit a friend.

Poe turned lots of windy hallways and corners, following the path to Finn's medical room. Occasionally a fellow soldier would stop him to give him a pat on the back or congratulate him on a successful mission on Starkiller, but mostly Poe tried to ignore them. He wasn't the real hero here. No, that role went to the ex-stormtrooper lying unconscious in the medical bay at the brink of death and the young scavenger who was off on a mission to bring back the last Jedi.

No, Poe wasn't the hero. He was just another broken man praying to whoever was listening that his friend would wake up from his coma.

When Poe entered Finn's room, the first smell that hit him was the strong scent of antiseptic and chemicals. Finn was lying face down on the bed, as to not aggravate the nasty wound on his back, and several tanks of Bacta were hooked up to him. He was unmoving. And if it weren't for the oxygen tube helping him breathe and the slight beep beep beep of his heart monitor, Poe would think that his friend was dead.

He scooted a chair over to the bed, plopping himself down on it and grabbing the other man's hand with his own. It wasn't unusual for Poe to visit Finn in the medical bay – he had already done it several times since the other man had been brought in – and yet he still found himself with that gnawing feeling of guilt in his gut. Finn was innocent. He had helped Poe escape the First Order, committing treason while doing so, and then willingly went back in order to save a girl he had only just met. Finn was amazing, and Poe couldn't help but feel an inkling of protection for the other man.

Poe should have been the one to protect Finn. Finn, who had known practically nothing of this world. He had been free for such a short time, and now he was confined to this bed. No one deserved that. He was so brave and now the world was making him pay for it. Poe couldn't help but wish it were him who was laying in the bed and not Finn.

He frowned, noticing Finn's jacket in shreds at the foot of his bed. Poe's jacket, which he had given to Finn. It was the man's only possession, and Poe felt guilty about it being torn up. He moved to grab it, pulling the jacket onto his lap.

A large gash split the back of the jacket nearly in two, but it wouldn't be completely unfixable. There were plenty of talented soldiers and specialized people on the base, so he was bound to find someone who could patch it up. That thought made Poe grin. Yes, he would get the jacket fixed so that when Finn woke up he would have it. The idea made Poe happy, whether the situation should have permitted it or not.

AvalonTheLadyKiller: Thank you so much! There's nothing more wonderful than hearing that you enjoy the way I write my characters. I really can't thank you enough for your wonderful comment! I do hope you continue to enjoy the story and I hope to keep writing my characters to your standard :)

belladu57: Thank you so much!