Chapter 14

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Finn looked out at the cockpit. Poe was focusing on flying, not noticing Finn's pained gasps for air. They had left the atmosphere of the planet by now and had entered space. Poe was flicking switches and preparing for the jump to lightspeed.

"Poe?" Finn called, voice wobbly. He heard Poe sigh, impatient.

"What?"

"I-I'm bleeding."

Poe flicked a switch, putting the starship into autopilot, and swivelled around to look at Finn, who held out a blood stained hand. Poe's expression immediately changed to horror as he got out of his seat.

"Where?" He asked.

Finn pointed to his chest. Every time he took a breath, he felt a sharp pain in his lungs. He tried not to panic as Poe crouched down to look at the wound. He held the bottom of Finn's shirt and looked up.

"Can I?"

Finn nodded quickly. "Sure."

Poe gently lifted up the bottom of Finn's shirt, dried blood peeling away. "Tell me if it hurts."

Finn waited as patiently as he could, concerned at how quickly Poe had stopped being mad at him.

"Shit." Poe muttered.

Finn looked down. "Is it bad?" He asked quietly.

Poe wouldn't meet his gaze. "You've been shot." He said, closing Finn's hands around his shirt. "Hold that up. I'll get you a medpac." He got to his feet and opened an overhead locker, bringing out a single medpac. "Only one?" Poe said to himself, closing the locker and turning back to Finn. "Alright. Sit down. This might hurt a bit."

Finn sat back down, wincing slightly as Poe cleaned the wound as best he could, and bandaged it up. When he was done, Poe put a hand around Finn's shoulders and helped him walk to the cockpit. He sat Finn down in the co-pilot seat, and sat back in the pilot's seat. "Let me know if it gets bad."

"Mhm." Finn said. He looked at Poe, but his friend was looking away from him, staring out at the stars. Finn looked at him for a while, hoping to make eye contact for even a second, but Poe would not look at him.

"Poe?" Finn asked quietly. The silence was loud. Poe still wouldn't look at him, but said, "Mhm?"

"I'm sorry."

Poe shrugged, still looking out. "I know."

They didn't speak for most of the journey home. Finn looked out through the cockpit at the stars, as they became little more than blurs. He looked at Poe one more time, but Poe would not look at him. Finn turned his head away, and let tears roll silently down his face.

----

When they landed, Finn and Poe were met with anxious glances and worried questions about Rey. Poe did not answer them, instead taking Finn's hand and pulling him through the crowd. He had warned Finn before they landed to not say a word to anyone.

Finn tried not to cry again as Poe led him along, not answering any questions. "Get out of the way!" Poe yelled. "He's injured!" The crowd parted, and three medics stood waiting for them.

"Poe." Finn pleaded, voice wobbling. "Let me talk. I'll tell them everything. Please."

Poe shook his head. "No. You need to rest. But don't worry, okay? I'll tell them what happened."

"It was a trap." Finn said. "It was a trap, it was all planned out.. somehow they knew where we would be."

Poe either did not listen or did not care, and handed Finn over to the medics with a wave goodbye and a half smile. "It wasn't your fault." He told Finn, before turning away, to the crowd.

"Commander Dameron." Leia greeted him, eyes narrowed. "What happened out there?"

Poe sighed and looked at the ground. "General, Rey is gone."

"I can see that." Leia said. "Dead?"

"No." Poe told her. "Or at least, not for now. She was taken by First Order soldiers."

Leia's gaze softened. "I'm sorry. We will get her back, I promise. I know she was a close friend of yours. If you can, I would like to know how they found you. Did I hear Finn say it was a trap? How did they find you?"

Poe grimaced. "Finn is.. slightly confused at the moment. He was shot, General. He's never been injured that badly before. It shook him up a bit, and he was panicking. It was all I could do to get him back here."

Leia nodded. "So you're telling me it wasn't a trap?"

"That's right." Poe said. "My guess is that we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Must've gotten on their radar. How that happened is beyond me." He shrugged. "You know how desperate the First Order are to get their hands on Jedi. It wouldn't surprise me if they've updated their technology." Or, maybe they wanted to get their hands on the supplies."

"So the supplies were there?" Leia asked. "That's not what I've heard."

Poe frowned. "I don't know who told you that, General, but the supplies were definitely there. Unfortunately, they were destroyed in the fight. There was nothing we could salvage."

Leia paused for a moment to take this all in. "How did Rey get taken?" She asked gently.

Poe sighed heavily again, blinking away tears that weren't really there. "Once the enemy had spotted us, they sent down hundreds of soldiers to take us down. We were doing well defending ourselves until Finn was shot in the chest. He was screaming in pain before he blacked out, and Rey yelled that I had to get him to safety. I managed to drag him back to the starship, and flew back to the battleground, but I was too late." Poe looked down again, clenching his fists. "Rey had been overwhelmed, and there were only First Order soldiers left on the planet's surface. I took out as many of them as I could, but there was nothing else I could do for Rey." He bit his lip. "If I had just stayed with her, maybe I could have saved her-"

"Poe." Leia put a hand on his shoulder. "You did everything you could. Don't blame yourself. We'll get her back."

Poe nodded. "They won't do anything to her immediately." He said. "She's too valuable. They'll wait for a while and try to get her to talk." Poe looked through the hangar, at the stars beyond.

"I'll find her. I'll bring her home."

Running Away- finnpoeWhere stories live. Discover now