So will I suffer
Or will I be alright
I look up into the stars,
Then look down to count my scars,
And I know mercy

Never Thought- Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

Poe walked into the intensive care area of the infirmary with BB-8 close at his heels. It had been his first stop after reporting in to the General and the command staff. Even though he had stowed his life support gear he was still in his flight suit. The medic that had directed him here had said they were hopeful of Finn's recovery but it was still touch and go. He stood for a moment watching his new friend floating in the bacta tank taking stock of the visible wounds. Not least of which was a horrible looking burn to his shoulder that almost looked like a blaster wound.

Having been informed of Finn's lightsaber wound, Poe was unable to curb his somewhat morbid curiosity and he walked around to the back of the tank to examine the gash that went most of the way down Finn's back. The edges of the skin appeared almost cauterized."Kriff," he muttered. Despite his long military career, it was one of the most disturbing wounds he'd ever seen.

BB-8 beeped and Poe walked back around and for the first time noticed the girl that Finn had gone to rescue curled up tightly in a chair fast asleep. BB-8 started rolling toward her. "Let her sleep," Poe told the droid and he warbled back at Poe. Yeah, he imagined it might be overly chilly in here for someone who was from a desert planet. He went over to a stack of thermal blankets that were waiting to be packed away for the evacuation and grabbed one. He gently laid it over the sleeping figure before seating himself in the other chair.

Despite his utter exhaustion, he was still too keyed up from the battle to sit still for long. His eyes wandered about the room until they lit on a stack of clothes. He saw his old flight jacket on the top. He went over and picked it up. It was nearly bisected completely in half, the nerf hide leather singed where the lightsaber and cut it. "Kriff," he muttered again unable to believe Finn had actually survived that.

Poe started rifling through the pockets. There was the Old Republic credit chip his first wingman had given him for luck. He tucked it into one of the pockets of his flightsuit along with the half of a pack of stim pills he also found. He suspected there'd be a lot of long hauls in the immediate future he'd need those for. In another pocket, he found a couple of pieces of shuura flavored candies.

BB-8 twittered at him and he looked over to see the girl's dark eyes trained on him. The intensity of the look almost unnerved him, so he did what always did, deflected with humor. He held up the jacket. "Can you believe this? Lend a guy your jacket and it comes back like this."

"You're the best pilot in the galaxy," she said, her voice a little rough from sleep.

He gave a startled laugh. "What?"

She cleared her throat. "That's what Beebee-Ate told me on Jakku. He said his master was the best pilot in the galaxy."

"Well, Beebee-Ate is probably a little biased. Best pilot in the Resistance maybe, but probably not the galaxy." He tossed the jacket back down on the pile of ruined clothes and walked over to her. "I don't think we've been formally introduced yet. Poe Dameron." He held out his hand and she stared at it for such a long moment that he had the urge to withdraw it and shove it in his pocket.

But her hand finally snaked out from the blanket and she grasped his hand. "Rey," she said offering him a small smile.

She had a nice firm handshake. He liked that.

"Thanks for taking care of Beebee-Ate for me. I don't know what I would do without him."

"He's a good droid."

"The best," Poe agreed and BB-8 trilled happily. "Mind if I join you?" he gestured to the other chair.

She shook her head and he sat down again. They both watched Finn floating in the bacta.

"Has there been any updates on his condition?"

"When I came in, the medic said they were hopeful but it depended on how he responds to the bacta treatment. They don't exactly have a lot of experience with lightsaber wounds."

"I suppose not." Rey sighed. "At least they have bacta to treat him with."

They sat there in silence for a long while, both lost in their own thoughts. After a while Poe dug into his pocket for the candy. He held a piece out to Rey. "Candy?" he offered.

"Candy?" she asked as if it was some sort of alien word.

"Shuura flavored."

She took the piece and stared at it strangely before taking off the red foil wrapper. She placed it tentatively in her mouth, then she broke out into a smile. He couldn't help but note that she had a lovely smile. "It's good." She sounded surprised and he supposed someone who survived as a scavenger in a Outer Rim sandpit like Jakku didn't have much access to little luxuries like candy.

"It's my favorite," he told her. "Here, have another piece." He handed her the last piece.

"Thank you."

He tried to not watch her as she savored the candy. It made him more than a little sad that such a small thing as a couple of pieces of candy should make her so seemingly happy.

Rey straightened up in her chair, but still kept the blanket wrapped around her. She turned to him. "Who do you think is the best pilot in the galaxy?"

"Well..." he said considering, it sort of depended on what kind of ship you were talking about.

"Han Solo?"

"Probably. Solo was definitely a legend."

"Was..." she whispered and a shadow of grief passed over her face and she turned her face away from him.

"I'm sorry."

She turned back to him, her face now schooled into a blank mask. "Did you know him?"

"No. He and General Organa were already separated before I joined the Resistance. My dad used to talk about him though. He knew him during the war."

"Was Han really was a general in the Rebellion?"

Poe nodded. "My dad was part of Solo's strike team during the Battle of Endor."

"I wish I had gotten the chance to know him better."

He didn't really know how to comfort her in her grief or if she would even let him. Instead he took up their former subject. "Y'know, if we're talking about starfighters, I'd definitely put my credits on Wedge Antilles as the best starfighter pilot in the galaxy."

Some of the sadness left her expression as he eyes lit up with interest. "Wedge Antilles? Who's that?"

"Who's that?" he feigned disbelief. "He's the only pilot to survive both Death Star runs, that's who."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And he formed Rogue Squadron with Luke Skywalker after the Battle of Yavin. He was my instructor when I was at the Republic Military Academy. He was really something. A real hotshot, but not cocky."

"Unlike yourself?" she teased.

He grinned at her and agreed, "Unlike myself. He also said that would get me in trouble. And he was right, quite a few times over."

"I'd like to meet him. Is he part of the Resistance?"

"Not officially, but he's been known to help out on occasion." And they may now need the help of all of their old friends now. "He's been retired a while on Corellia."

"I've always wanted to go to the shipyards on Corellia. They make excellent ships."

Poe couldn't help but laugh. She definitely had flying in her blood. "They do indeed. When this whole situation settles down, I'll take you to visit General Antilles and I'm sure he could arrange for you to check out the shipyards." He shocked himself with the offer. He was definitely getting a little punchy with exhaustion. He decided to shift the conversation. "Beebee-Ate says you're a pretty hot pilot yourself."

Rey looked a little embarrassed. "I don't-"

"Excuse me."

They looked up at a medic that just came in.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but I'll have to ask you to leave for a couple of hours. We're about to take Finn out of the bacta and run some tests to see how he's progressing.."

"You'll inform me of his status?" His tone indicating that wasn't really a request but an order.

"Yes, sir."

Rey rose to her feet and followed him out, wrapping the blanket around herself like a cloak.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Yeah, me neither." He wondered what to do with her. They were a little short on guest quarters, especially now that they're packing up the base. Then a thought struck him. "You know what I bet you'd like? A hydro-shower."

"A hydro-shower? With water?"

"With all the water you can use."

"That would be wonderful." She smiled broadly at the thought.

Instead of taking her to the communal showers, he took her to his personal quarters. She'd have more privacy there and she might be able to get some rest too. The lights came on when they entered. "After your shower, you can crash here and and get some sleep until they allow visitors again."

He didn't even know if she heard him. She seemed transfixed by the hologram on his nightstand of the waterfall that was near his family's ranch. "Where is that?"

"Yavin IV. It's near where I grew up. It was the place I would go to when I was hiding out from chores or just needed a place to think."

"You grew up in a jungle?"

"Pretty much."

"It's so beautiful." she reached out toward the hologram as if she could dip her fingers in the water. "Such color."

"It wasn't a bad place to grow up. In the middle of nowhere, but not bad."

"I know a lot about the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, you probably do," He conceded. "The refresher's through that door. There should be clean towels in there. I'll get you a shirt to sleep in and see if I can borrow some clean clothes for you." He eyed her. "Kare's about your size."

"Why are you doing all this for me?"

He could feel her eyes on him, almost penetrating into him. He couldn't really blame her suspiciousness. They were strangers after all and he had taken her back to his quarters and suggested a shower. Hell, he'd be suspicious too. "I don't expect anything from you, Rey. I owe you. I owe you a lot. You save Beebee-Ate and you completed my mission for me. A shower and a place to crash is the least I can do."

She seemed satisfied. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'll let you know when I have some news on Finn."

TBC

A/N- I'm not quite sure where I'm going to with this, but I really wanted to have Poe and Rey interact.