Maybe they should have been somber from the start, good people hadn't made it back. But the high of having done the impossible, having saved entire star systems, was something no one, and certainly not Poe, could deny. Jessika clapped him on the back and another crew member hollered in victory. One of the younger members did a cartwheel. That got everyone laughing. It was, Poe was certain, what the fallen would want them to be doing. The victory, the joy, this was what they died for. It deserved celebration. The mourning could come later.

When the Millennium Falcon landed, Poe expected more of the same.

But then Chewbacca came out, an unconscious Finn in his arms.

Everything stopped. Or, it didn't, but for Poe it did. He couldn't hear what Jessika was saying, didn't see what passed between the General and the girl who disembarked the Falcon before Finn. All he could feel was fear. It curled up in his abdomen and chewed at his heart, sent tendrils up to his ears, pounded at his head.

He followed Finn into the medical bay, where droids began taking vitals. A stern-face woman looked up as he entered.

"Out. You'll get in the way."

"What happened?"

"Lightsaber. Out."

Leaving was the only thing he could do. Poe made his way to his barracks, thankful they were empty in the aftermath of battle. He'd lost good men before. He'd lost good men today. But Finn, he admitted to himself, was more than just a good man. Poe would laugh at himself if terror over what might be happening in the medical bay didn't hang on him so heavily. Jessika always teased him, said he'd fall for any nice boy with a cute smile. Finn was certainly no exception.

Poe did laugh then. Finn was an exception in so many ways. A Storm Trooper who broke free. A man taught nothing but hatred and fear but chose kindness anyway. Who wouldn't fall for someone like that? Poe pressed his hands to his face. It wouldn't be fair for Finn to die now, the universe couldn't be so cruel.

That was a juvenile line of thought, and Poe knew it. The universe could, had. But he hoped against all reason it wouldn't now.

He couldn't say how long he'd stayed there with his thoughts before Jessika showed up. "The General has called a meeting."

Poe sighed. "Now?"

"No, she's waiting with Rey for news on the Storm Trooper."

"Don't call him that."

Jessika gave him a wry smile. "You could join them."

"I'm not so sure." Rey was something special, he knew, both to Finn and the galaxy. He supposed they were suited for each other, two extraordinary people.

"You should join them." She sat down next to him. "It's not like you to doubt yourself."

He forced a smile. "Stranger things have happened in recent days."

"Now listen here, Black Leader. I'm giving you a command this time. Don't live with regrets." She punched him in the shoulder, but her expression went soft. "I saw how you looked at each other. I can't promise he feels the same, but I can promise he would want you there."

"Thanks, Jess."

She raised an eyebrow as she stood. "Thank me with action, not words."

...

He'd promised himself he'd go after the meeting, but in the excitement about the map, Rey had beaten him there. She held Finn's hand. Poe could hear the murmur of her voice though he couldn't make out her words. He wondered if Finn could, if somehow that soft river of sound could make its way past the anesthesia and comfort him. He wondered if Rey could make it so. Jedi could do anything, couldn't they?

He hung back, hoping she wouldn't turn around. If he was honest, he didn't think it was her rumored strength in the force was what would reach Finn. Even at a distance, even with Finn unconscious, he could see something between them, bright and burning and good. Finn needed her. It was her touch and her care that would pull him towards recovery.

So he left, but somehow, every route he took for any task Leia gave him took him past the medical bay, and every time he had to pause to look in. Rey was almost always there, but as the day of her departure drew nearer, more of her time was consumed with preparations. And so, when Poe passed, he could not bear to see Finn lying alone. That looked too much like he was dead. It wasn't his place to take Finn's hand, but he had to, if only for a moment. Poe needed to feel that it was warm, that there was still a pulse under the skin. He could live with whatever else happened.

He'd intended to leave right away, but he sat down. His errand had to wait.

Finn's breathing was soft but steady. Poe watched his chest rise and fall under the weight of the lightsaber scars. The urge to trace them with his fingers tugged at his heart. Instead he pressed Finn's hand to his forehead. "You deserve so much better than this."

Poe closed his eyes. Finn was alive, expected to recover. It was enough, it had to be enough.

He gave a start when someone grasped his shoulder. "You finally came in."

Poe expected Rey to be angry, to berate him for his intrusion. But her face was calm, almost relieved.

"I feel you look sometimes." She looked down at Finn, her hand still on Poe. "He cares about you a lot. I heard as much from him as from BB8."

Poe swallowed hard. "He thought of nothing but you when the First Order took you."

She smiled, but her eyes were glassy. "I don't want to leave him. I have to soon, but…" Rey looked at him with an expression he couldn't place. "You care for him too, right?" An edge had entered her voice.

Poe set Finn's hand back on the bed and stood.

Rey faced him fully. "I need to know."

"I do. Very much like you do."

She threw her arms around him. Poe stumbled from surprise.

"Take care of him. I can't leave him alone." She held him very tightly. "Promise me."

He hugged her back, thinking about what he'd heard about the girl left on a desert planet her whole life. "I promise. I'll tell Leia I can't do anything else." He'd meant it as a joke, but as it came out it no longer felt like one. "I'll be here when he wakes up."

She pulled away. "Make sure he knows I'm coming back." A heaviness weighed on Poe's heart, but then Rey continued, "I want him to know he has both of us."

Poe smiled. "I will." Finn would be the most loved man in the universe, he would make sure of it.