As soon as the Millennium Falcon landed and they got out, a golden droid with a red arm informed Finn in polite, clipped words that he was ordered to head directly to med bay for a check up. Finn could only stare, having never seen anything before quite like the droid. In the end, Rey grasped his hand, promised C-3PO, which was apparently the droid's name, that she would take Finn to med bay personally.

Rey nearly skipped off, and she was so excited that Finn highly doubted they were going to meet doctors. He didn't dwell on it, however, since his mind could barely hold a coherent thought over the childlike wonder that overcame him as he glimpsed at the lush forest, blue skies, and X-Wings that flew overhead. Droids and people worked tirelessly, but they also chatted—to each other. They even smiled. They clapped each other on the back and told jokes, beaming once their conversation partner burst out in laughter.

Rey took him in the direction where lots of people in orange pilot suits were leaving. They glanced at her, then to him, and bit their lips to stop what Finn presumed were smirks. The further they went, more and more of the pilots stopped and watched them pass, leaning into each other and whispering. Finn wanted to rub the back of his neck, not used to so many people staring at him. He never thought he would actually wish for his helmet back, but all those stares and whispers did the trick.

Rey stopped by an X-Wing, the sides painted black unlike the rest that had a more neutral grey. Dropping his hand, she bounded over to the ship and stood on the tips of her toes, rapping her knuckles on the nose.

"Hold on, hold on," called a man from inside the cockpit.

A spherical orange and white droid popped out near the engine. Its head—or, at least, Finn thought that was a head—spun around. Upon settling on Rey, the droid beeped out an exuberant string of binary and sped toward her, rolling a foot before her. "Hello, Beebee-Ate," said Rey, bending down onto one knee. She patted the top of the droid's head, and the droid rolled into her, beeping softly. "I missed you, too."

The man jumped out of the cockpit, swinging down and not releasing his hands from the ship even after landing. His dark hair was mussed from his helmet, sweat curling it and pressed it into his forehead. He leaned into the ship like it was an extension of himself. He grinned at BB-8 and Rey, yet his brown eyes were harrowed and slightly vacant.

Finn started to feel like he'd intruded on something private. These people obviously knew each other quite well. He never experienced a friendship as close as theirs between troopers on the Finalizer, but always he figured that if he were involved in one, he wouldn't have appreciated someone tagging along and killing the moment.

He cleared his throat and stepped back. "I'm gonna go to med bay."

The man jolted, tearing away from Rey and directing his full, undivided attention to Finn. He looked straight into his eyes. Having that harrowing stare boring straight into him made Finn's mind go blank. "Rey," said the man, the bob of his throat bouncing. "Who is that?"

"Who do you think?" said Rey, lip quirked. "Finn, of course."

He raked his eyes over Finn, raising an eyebrow and letting out a haggard breath. Finn looked down at himself, shifting from foot to foot and overly self-conscious at how tightly the black body suit hugged his figure. When he looked back up, the man was smirking, eyes no longer haunted yet crackling with amusement. He pushed away from the X-Wing and bounded over to him.

"So you're Finn," he said, coming a step too close. He set his hand on Finn's shoulder, fingertips skirting the edge of his collar and grazing his neck. He looked into Finn's eyes and said, "I'm Poe. Poe Dameron."

Finn didn't know if it was due to the warmth of Poe's hand that seeped through his body suit and scorched his skin, but nothing in all the universe could've persuaded Finn to look away from Poe. His face was all sharp angles. Light stubble shadowed his jawline, and Finn admired it until he spied Poe's lips, curled into a wicked smirk that seemed to be reeling Finn in.

Poe struck him as familiar. Finn furrowed his brows, seeking through the fog of reconditioning that still clouded his mind. Poe furrowed his brows, too, and his hand moved from Finn's shoulder to cup his jaw. Finn thought he ought to protest that, but no one had ever looked at him the way Poe did. He wished Poe could look at him like that forever, at least for a minute longer.

Then the memory resurfaced. Finn was excited for a brief moment at the mere feat of remembering, but once he replayed the memory in his mind's eye, he wanted to tear away from Poe and apologize profusely.

"Your voice, you're the man from the bathroom," said Finn, heaving. "I thought I was going crazy."

"You thought…" Poe shook his head. "I don't understand."

Finn wondered how to describe reconditioning in as few words as possible to a man who couldn't possibly fathom such a thing existed. "They went through my head. I only woke up this morning. Everything was—"

"Oh, Finn."

Poe wrapped his other hand around Finn's back and crashed into him, his other hand cupping the back of Finn's head. He scratched his hair, and it felt so good that Finn's eyes slid shut. "Finn, everything's going to be fine now."

Finn wrapped his arms around Poe, clinging tightly. He decided then that he liked Poe and he could listen to him forever as long as he made promises like that, even if they couldn't be kept.

"Poe, I need to tell you something," said Rey.

Finn opened his eyes and found she was looking anywhere but at them. Finn pulled away from Poe, missing his warmth as soon as he left his arms. Poe ruffled his hair and smiled before he turned to Rey, the hand falling from Finn's head and tracing down his chest as he left.

Rey gestured for Poe to crouch down beside her. Leaning close, she whispered to him, yet Finn instinctually extended his ear as he'd been trained to do for battle. "Master Luke trained me in memory restoration before I completed the mission. He said I was a natural and was confident in my abilities. I tried on Finn, so many times, but I couldn't… It wasn't Kylo Ren. I don't know what they did, but if it wasn't the Force, there may be nothing we can do."

Amusement slipped off Poe's face. He searched her eyes, and must not have liked what he found. "You're serious?"

Rey scratched dirt off BB-8. "I'm so sorry. I tried. I did."

"It's okay," said Poe. "I believe you. Don't worry." He peered over his shoulder at Finn, grimacing against the sunlight blinding him. "You said you need to go to med bay? I'll show you the way. We wouldn't want you to get lost."

Poe kept peering over at Finn, and so Finn peered back, not knowing what else to do. He waited for Poe to order him to stand in line beside him, but Poe only pressed a hand over his forehead, casting his face in shadows and blocking out the sun. Finn had the sinking suspicion that Poe hadn't issued him an order, but had instead invited Finn to approve or disapprove his accompaniment to med bay.

Once Finn realized this, he didn't have to think twice. "Sure, yeah," he said, grinning wide. He was a bit embarrassed about how unrestrained his emotions were, exposed and bare without the helmet. "I'd love that."

Poe smiled, the stressed lines that overcame his face after Rey's report long gone. He shot to a stand, and his smile only grew the closer he came to Finn. He stopped a step too close again, lifting a hand and made to set it on Finn's bicep, but he froze, fingers flexing and forming a fist. He dropped his hand. The harrowed stare returned. He smiled regardless. "Right," he said. "I'll show you the way."

They walked back the way Rey and Finn had come, and the pilots who'd leaned against their X-Wings still loitered about. If their stares and whispers had unnerved Finn before, now they had his heart racing and skin prickling. A few whistled and hollered. Most were directed at Poe, and Poe just quickened his strides. Finn hurried to match his pace. They had entered the thick of it when two pilots swarmed them at either side. A tall man clapped Poe on the shoulder and started rambling about flight technique and Poe's particularly exceptional precision in taking out TIE fighters. Beside Finn was a woman with her black hair pulled back into a ponytail loosened from battle. She smiled at him, a genuine, honest smile.

Finn couldn't breathe.

It was all starting to crash over him—the stares, the whispers, Rey's words, this woman who had Finn trapped beneath the warmest of smiles. It spun circles in his mind that went faster and faster the longer he dwelled on it. He fought to focus on Poe's warmth beside him, or the stunning blue skies he had only dreamed about, but his face was on fire from mortification. The sky, while a gorgeous, otherworldly blue, didn't have walls to condense it. Beyond the atmosphere laid countless stars and dark matter. Beyond those were other planets. Beyond the planets were galaxies, and beyond the galaxies were entire universes. And perpendicular to those were alternative universes. And parallel universes. Other Finns who were still on the Finalizer. The First Order could be anywhere. Even in the Resistance.

Finn choked, throat tightening and forcing out the air from his lungs. He halted, boots stuck to the floor. The woman's smile slipped off her face, eyes tinged with worry. Even the man who spoke to Poe stopped.

Poe swerved around and grabbed his shoulders, the ferocity he first directed toward Finn back again. "Finn," he murmured, kind and haunting.

Finn shrugged out of his grasp, needing space, and looked at the blue skies, accepting it as the new dome that enclosed him inside this planet. Shifting his gaze, he looked ahead toward the lush, thick forests that surrounded the Resistance base at all sides.

"We'll see you at the debrief," the woman told Poe, nodding to the other pilot. Then they left, disappearing into the throng of pilots watching and whispering.

"What can I—" Poe bit his lip, then sighed. "Come on. Let's go. That sound okay?"

Finn nodded, feeling the first bit of air entering his lungs, yet he couldn't take in a solid breath until they were once again walking in pure silence, the whispering and watching left to regard their backs.

Med bay offered him a doctor to administer his check up or a droid to do it. Despite med bay telling him the droid would be less effective, Finn had had enough of humans messing around with him for a lifetime. The answer came out at lightspeed: "Droid, please."

Two droids looked him over, a med droid and another that spoke a language Finn actually understood. It took a little persuading to allow Poe into his room, but Finn feigned a headache arising at the idea of separating. He didn't trust the droid anymore than a doctor. He didn't know why he trusted Poe, but, for some reason, he did.

Finn sat on top of a bed as the medical droid flashed a light between his eyes. It started beeping off a wildfire of a response. "He says you have an astigmatism," said the translator droid. "Subsequent tests are required at a later date."

Finn looked over at Poe, who watched the floor and sat on a backless chair with his knees far apart, hunched forward and elbows resting on his knees. Poe was blurry from this distance, Finn thought, and his old helmet could have had a corrective lens filling in the viewport. Poe flicked his gaze up, and Finn's stomach fluttered before he snapped his eyes back to the medical droid.

The droid switched off the light and started beeping. Concurrently to the beeps, the translator droid said, "Master Luke reported to us about your mind. Perhaps you have a deeper understanding about what the First Order did to you, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do. We can prescribe medications to treat side effects. You are very disoriented and have a short attention span."

"It's temporary," said Finn, void of emotion. He was only stating facts, nothing personal, and he would gladly give up information about the First Order if it helped the Resistance defeat them. "It'll clear up in two days." At least, he hoped so. Hux said the rogue stormtrooper had sabotaged the First Order three weeks ago, and Finn only regained consciousness that morning.

"Your memories will return?" said the translator droid, squeaking as it attempted to convey the medical droid's delight.

Finn's shoulders fell. "No, it won't," he said. "I don't know exactly what they do, but they sort of shock your brain into a malfunction. The trauma winds up erasing your memory. They keep doing it until you can't remember what they wanted you to forget." This time perhaps he didn't sound as confident. His voice was small, difficult to hear even for his own ears. "It's not so bad. Who knows what I did? It's a good thing I can't remember it."

The medical droid beeped lowly, its flashlight falling without characteristic robotic precision. "Your therapist will meet with you next," translated the other droid.

Finn blinked, not sure how to respond to that. "Therapist?" he said.

The medical droid retracted all its mechanic limbs and snapped up its compartments. "Good day, Master Finn," said the other droid.

The door whooshed and disappeared into the walls, closing just as fast once the droids exited. In their wake, they left Finn and Poe to a pin drop quiet room. Leaves fluttered in the wind, audible even with the closed viewports. I can hear leaves fluttering in the wind. Actual leaves. He couldn't believe it.

"Do you like music?" said Poe. Finn was so stunned to hear him, he jumped. Poe held his head in his palm, index finger pressed along his cheek and touching the tip of his eyebrow.

"I don't know," said Finn. "I've only heard imperial music."

Poe pressed his lips together, tipping his chin down in a partial nod. "I have a radio. It picks up some channels. We could listen to it together, unless you don't—"

"Yes, yes," said Finn. "That's great. A great idea. I'd love that."

Poe's lip quirked, and it curved along his face so pleasantly that Finn found he couldn't look away.

The doors whooshed open. A man with shaggy blond hair and a thick grey and white beard stood in the door frame, wearing a tan cloak. His blue eyes pierced Finn, serenity and chaos interconnected in his gaze. A presence enveloped Finn. The Force, he realized. It wasn't oppressive like Kylo Ren's. It flowed through and within him like an embrace.

"Hello?" said Finn, looking over at Poe, who stared at the man in the doorway as if he'd seen a ghost.

The man smiled crookedly. "Hello, Finn. I'm Luke, your therapist."

Low laughter rumbled out of Poe's lips. Finn's gaze snapped over to him, the low chuckle luring him in. Poe was already looking his way. "Aren't you full of surprises?" he said, mouth quirking.