Finn lay flat out on his stomach across the freshly made bed, his chin cupped in his hands. He stared over the edge of the mattress at the waiting BB-8, trying to decode what it was the droid had said to him. Finn felt worn thin—they had, for the most part, stowed away all of the goods that Kes had bought for them. There had been a few more surprises hidden among the clothing, tools, and kits (though none as exuberant as the bottle of lube which now sat innocently at the side of the bed—it was too large to fit into the built-in drawers). They'd uncovered boxes of Yavini sweets that Finn was excited to try, and a mess of spicy crisps that Poe loved; Finn resolved to steer clear of those.

"Okay…say that last part again." Finn yawned.

BB-8 let loose a very human sounding sigh. [This is going to take forever.]

Finn's brow furrowed. "That sounded totally different to me."

"Because it was totally different. Come on, BB-8, stick to your lines, okay?" Poe lay alongside Finn, his dark eyes focused on the Galactic News program he was scrolling through as if it were in danger of going extinct. Coruscant was still a mess, and the chaos seemed to be spreading like a virus of hatred and violence; already Corellia and Ord Mantell were coming under fire from local First Order sympathizers and Imperial zealots. Poe's mouth thinned.

[Hello, I am BB-8.] BB-8 said blandly.

"Okay…so is it the little lilt at the end that makes it BB-8?" Finn turned to Poe.

"Yeah, it's kind of like writing in shorthand, but with sound. Dash-dash-and then that little 'bwoop' sound. That's BB-8 in binary."

"I think I got it. So…then 'hello' is the garbled bit at the beginning, right?"

"Yep."

Finn shook his head. "I don't see how you guys can just get what he's saying, especially when he starts talking so fast."

"It's all about tone, and the duration of each sound. I know it sounds complex right now, but once it clicks you'll pick it up in no time." Poe tore his eyes from the datapad screen and gave him a reassuring smile.

"If you say so…still sounds like a lot of nonsense to me." Finn shrugged.

[I guess you would know about nonsense sounds, seeing as you make a lot of them when Poe puts your—]

"Okay, buddy, let's get back on track, huh?" Poe solidly interrupted.

Finn glared into BB-8's dark, innocent lens. "So what did that mean?"

Poe grinned, his eyes crinkling up in the corners and Finn wondered if he really wanted to know. "That, in certain sexy situations, you make a lot of nonsense sounds yourself."

Finn huffed a derisive laugh. "I have never met a droid like him—you must've warped his programming."

"Anything sticks around me long enough will get warped. So you better watch out, baby." Poe winked.

Finn playfully nudged their shoulders together and turned back to the droid. "Okay, BB-8, how do I say 'Poe'?"

[Awesome Pilot of Perpetual Stubble.]

"Buddy…"

[He of the Orange and Black.]

"Come on…" Poe tried not to grin, though of course BB-8 picked up on it.

The droid let loose a quick chirp that ended in in a split-second waver. Finn turned to Poe. "Did he actually say your name?"

"He actually did that time."

"Okay." He had BB-8 repeat Poe's name until he figured he'd be able to recognize the sound even in the midst of a sentence. "How do you say 'Finn'?"

[Not Poe.]

"…That sounded like you just said Poe again."

"BB-8, go easy on him." Poe leveled his brows.

The sound for Finn was roughly the same duration as the sound for Poe, but it concealed a lower tone beneath the higher warble. BB-8 cocked it's head expectantly.

"Really? That was my name? That's kinda cool." Finn grinned and tried to mimic the electronic sound, his voice winding up and shuttering quickly off, and Poe turned to him with a look of such warmth that Finn promptly forgot where he was and what he was doing.

"That was so cute." Poe said with a gleam in his eyes.

"It…it was?" Finn felt his brain rapidly sliding out his ears.

"Uh huh," Poe leaned to the side, planting a quick kiss on his lips and then drawing away with a smile.

[Poe loves it when organics try to speak binary. Once, Snap cursed in binary and I thought Poe was going to faint.]

"I was not going to faint." Poe retorted.

[You came close.]

Finn chuckled. "This is gonna be impossible. I'm getting half of a conversation and kissed out of the blue. How am I supposed to focus?"

"Yeah, BB-8, stick to the lesson-plan, buddy."

[I'm not the one kissing the student.] The droid tartly replied.

"Okay, how do I say 'Rey'?" Finn put in before Poe could respond to whatever it was the droid had said.

[Awesome Desert Girl.]

"BB-8, come on." Poe shook his head warningly.

The sound for Rey twined up and ended almost before Finn had caught it. BB-8 had to repeat it several times before Finn even understood what he was hearing. They progressed down a line of names, covering Kes, Kalonia, Leia, Han, Maz, Chewbacca, all of Poe's pilots, and then BB-8 began to repeat the names in random order. At first Finn was flummoxed, as if everything he'd just learned had evaporated into thin air. But eventually, out of the stream of sounds, Finn began to recognize the patterns, the subtle shifts in tone and variations in length that separated one name from another.

"That one was Rey. Chewbacca. Threepio. Poe. Solo. Me. Kes. Bastian. Kalonia…was that last one Leia?"

BB-8 nodded it's dome and Poe ran an encouraging hand up his shoulder. "See, I told you you'd pick it up fast."

"That last one was just a guess." He shrugged.

The lesson carried on for another half an hour, until every noise the droid made blurred together into one massive run-on sentence and Finn could hold no more in his head. He yawned and wiped at his eyes. "Sorry, I can't do any more tonight."

"Running on fumes?" Poe asked, looking gladly away from footage of an overrun Coruscanti hospital.

"Yeah. I could fall asleep right now." Finn admitted.

"Let's call it a night then. It's probably 1100 on Yavin time anyways." Poe unfolded from the bed, shoving the datapad to the side, and extended a hand for Finn. He pulled him slowly to his feet, and smiled to himself as Finn's arm wrapped around his waist. They plodded down the hall and into the refresher that Finn had given the cleaning of a lifetime a few hours previous. Every surface in the cramped space gleamed.

"Sheesh, is this even the same room?" Poe asked as he walked up to the sink. He almost fancied he could see his face in it.

"If there's one thing I know how to do, it's clean a 'fresher." Finn stated in a self-satisfied kind of way. He hadn't understood the function or known the names of most of the kitchen items that Poe had put away, but at least in this, he was secure in his knowledge. "I had half a year of sanitation duty on Starkiller."

"Half a year? Jeez, who'd you piss off?" Poe exclaimed.

"Most of my superiors." Finn gave a glum smile that made Poe hurt.

"What'd you do?"

"I kept helping some of my squadmates who were falling back in our simulations or getting into trouble."

"But…helping your team is a good thing."

Finn shrugged. "Well, I know that now, but at the time I figured there was something wrong with me; I couldn't leave anyone behind, you know?" Finn met his reflections eyes in the mirror and then glanced away. But you left them all behind. You even killed some of them—even when you knew that it wasn't their fault…it was the First Order's.

They brushed their teeth in silence, Poe trying to imagine for the hundredth time just how confusing, terrifying, and belittling life in the First Order must have been for Finn; even if he hadn't understood it while under their thrall, the other man had surely internalized the hurt. Poe felt sick to his stomach and at the same time filled with a cold, quiet anger that was very different from the hot, reactionary brand he was familiar with.

He could see Finn's mood deflate as if he were a ship venting atmosphere; his tone became suspiciously light though his eyes were miles away.

"Hey," Poe said and Finn knew he was caught.

He turned with a wan smile. "Sorry,"

"Don't be sorry for what they did." Poe squeezed his shoulder.

Finn heaved a heavy breath; Poe's eyes were trained on him with the same focus he'd seen on the pilot's face during dogfights—not a flicker of emotion went unnoticed.

"What is it?" Poe urged.

"There's just so many of them, Poe…taken and brainwashed and abused and…what can I do about it? I thought I was helping with the mission the General gave me, but I don't even have that anymore."

Poe bit his lip and looked away. His hand slid down between Finn's shoulders, lightly tracing the borders of his scar, and he guided them slowly back into the bedroom. BB-8 watched them enter, backpedaling up against one of the rooms storage units as they squeezed past and climbed into bed.

"Finn…" he began, "why do you think your bounty is so high?"

"Because I'm a traitor and I helped take down Starkiller Base?" Finn scooted towards the cool durasteel wall that partitioned the bedroom from the fresher as Poe lay alongside him.

"I'm sure that's part of it but…the General and I had another idea."

"Like what?" Finn propped is head on his hand as he studied Poe's dimly lit form. The warm contours of his body lay like pale dunes swathed in darkness and his heavy-lidded eyes stared through a curtain of black, curling waves. He looked infinitely sultry and a flutter tightened across Finn's stomach; he sometimes found it hard to believe that Poe was with him. That he was his.

"Well, we thought that they want you back because you're a symbol, Finn."

"A symbol of what?" Finn forced himself to concentrate on Poe's words.

"Of change. Of freedom. You not only got away, but you showed the First Order that one person can stand up to them; can hit them right where it hurts. If you were a trooper that was on the fence, maybe questioning how things worked, and you got word of that…that's the stuff mutinies are made of. So, even if you don't feel like you're helping right now, for some people out there, you might be the only thing keeping them going."

"…you think the First Order is afraid of me?" Finn nearly laughed in disbelief.

"It's not just me—the General thought so too." Poe stressed.

"So they offer a fortune to get me back because I'm a symbol." He pursed his lips and scratched the back of his head as he considered. It seemed a dubious idea at best. People like the General—like Luke Skywalker—they were symbols. Him? He was just Finn—a guy who couldn't tell a spatula from a whisk. He couldn't buy into the idea that others could potentially idolize him. "What would they have to gain from taking me alive though? Why not just kill me?"

Poe hesitated for a long while before answering. He didn't want to upset him, especially not when Finn was already feeling upended. "Leia thought they might try to recondition you. Prove to all the other troopers that there was no point rebelling."

Finn winced. He felt the truth of that statement in his gut, so immediately it was as if it had bypassed thought and went straight for instinctual certainty. Poe drew him against him and Finn's arms tightened around his back. The idea of being taken, of being not killed, but changed—it was worse than anything Finn had considered. Or maybe, he realized, the thought had always been there but had been too threatening to focus on. He'd kept it carefully locked away so that he could function.

"It'll be okay, sweetheart." Poe's voice ghosted warmly through his hair. "I won't let them hurt you again."

Finn's breath caught in his throat, stuck somewhere between a terrified sob and a hopeless laugh. He felt Poe's lips press against his forehead.

"You've got the best pilot in the galaxy on your team. And a Jedi out there, somewhere."

[And me!] The droid chirped from the floor near Poe's side of the bed.

"BB-8 says he's in the fight too. See? The First Order doesn't stand a chance." Poe smiled.

A keening pain went through Finn's chest. "I love you," he said as he held Poe in an iron grip.

"I love you too, baby, so much."

Poe woke with a groggy groan hours later. For a moment he wasn't sure where he was—the room lacked the blue light of BB-8's charging port, so he wasn't on Base—but nor was it as hot and humid as his home on Yavin. The sounds were all wrong. He brought a hand to his forehead, fingers brushing against his bactastrip. The gash had begun to itch as it'd closed and scabbed. He pressed his knuckles into it, wishing he could scratch the hell out of it like a nexu with fleas. Finn moved jerkily beside him and Poe woke fully, sitting up against the cool durasteel wall that served as a backboard.

Finn was moaning in his sleep, his hands knotting up the dark quilt. Poe watched him carefully and cautiously. A groan broke free into a full yell, and Finn's arms twitched. He grasped reflexively at the bend of his right arm, crying out as if he were being burned. Poe scooted to the edge of the bed; he knew better than to try and physically wake Finn from the nightmare.

"Finn!" He called out, his heart beating in his throat as the other man writhed. "Finn!"

Finn jerked upright with a wild swing that Poe only just dodged. He stood from bed, backing several paces away as BB-8 bleeped in alarm. Finn sat, gasping and shaking.

"Finn, it's me…it's okay, you're safe." Poe soothed.

"Poe?" Finn gasped. Poe stepped closer as if Finn were a bomb that may still detonate. With exaggerated care he reached for the light and pressed it on to a low glow. Finn blinked hard against the gentle light and wiped at his sweaty forehead with a quivering hand. His breath whooshed from him in relief and shame as he realized where he was. I'm with Poe. I'm with Poe.

"It's okay," Poe sat down next to him and Finn tensed. "Just breathe. In and out, real slow."

Finn closed his eyes, focusing on his breath until his heartbeat slowed from its frantic gallop. The muscles of his abdomen let go and he sighed. Rather than feeling rested, he now felt as if he'd been awake for days. "I'm sorry." He managed as he rested his forehead in his palm.

"It's fine, Finn. I've done the same thing."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" He dared to peer up at him through his fingers.

"Nah. I've got fast reflexes." Poe tried to kid and then wished he'd said anything else.

"So I tried to hurt you?" Finn was horrified, a look of self-hatred and shame sliding over his face like a heavy mask.

"Hey, it's okay—"

"It's not okay! What if I really hurt you, Poe?"

"You didn't, so just relax."

"But—I—" He broke off and looked away, a sob throttling his voice.

"Baby…," Poe held him and for a moment Finn tried to pull away from his embrace; he didn't feel he could trust himself; didn't feel he deserved it. But then he caved and the sob broke free. "I'm sorry, honey," Poe regretted their earlier conversation regarding the First Order; Finn's subconscious had apparently latched onto it tooth and nail.

"I shouldn't sleep near you." Finn wiped at his eyes.

"That's stupid."

"But what if I—"

"What if I hurt you? What if BB-8 decides to electrocute us both while we sleep? What if the ship gets sucked into a black hole?" Poe smiled knowingly at him. "I'll chance it, Finn."

But what if I can't chance it? Finn thought to himself, but he was too exhausted to argue. He nodded slowly as he lay back down—disgust played about the corners of his mouth; the sheets where he had lain were cold and clammy with sweat, and clung to his skin as he rolled over to face the wall. Poe watched him sadly for a few seconds and then lifted the sheets, sliding in alongside him and pressing his chest up against Finn's back. Poe curled around him, a barrier to fear and darkness. Finn could say nothing, but he gripped Poe's hand fiercely.

He woke to an empty room. Sitting stiffly up and rubbing at his eyes, Finn peered about for the datapad. He found it on the floor, picked it up and turned it on. According to Yavin time, it was 0900. He couldn't believe that he'd slept so late, and was shocked that he hadn't even felt Poe getting out of bed. But then, it had taken him a long time to fall back to sleep after his nightmare, and even in the blankness of sleep he'd remained as tense and alert as a hunted animal. He flung off the quilt and shivered against the ships cool canned air. Opening the storage compartments above his side of the bed, Finn pulled out a shirt, pair of pants, and boxers, and quickly clothed. He started automatically for the cockpit.

Electronic chatter filled his ears, and for once, he understood part of it.

"BB-8?" He turned. The droid was parked in the cockpit, half under the pilot's seat, a metallic dataprobe jutting from it's chassis and linked into the ships interface. Finn walked up to it, stretching his head from side to side. "Whatcha doing?"

BB-8 chirped brightly, going on a longwinded and pointless explanation. Finn nodded and waved a hand.

"Okay, okay. Something important. Got it."

BB-8 burbled and Finn caught precisely one word: Poe.

"You said 'Poe'. Hey," he grinned, "I understood that!"

A sarcastic whistle.

"Well, it's something." Finn rolled his eyes and started back through the hall. "Poe?"

The metallic clatter of a tool falling to the floor rattled through his ears and then a quick curse. Finn walked carefully down the ramp that led into the cargo hold and engine room. Poe's tousled head popped out of a service duct in between the engines. "Oh, you're up. Hey, can you hand me that wrench?"

"Yeah. What're you doing?" Finn slowly bent and picked up the greasy implement and handed it up to him.

"Thanks." Poe squirmed back into the hatch. "I was checking the fuel injector—if we can score a newer model, maybe a Duronai 9 or a SoroSuub Nexil, we'll be able to amp the efficiency by…maybe 20, 25%?"

"Oh. Well, that's good." Finn tried to sound as excited by this discovery as Poe was. "What's BB-8 doing in the cockpit?"

"He's checking for the Resistance frequency; been at it for three or four hours so far, but no hits. He also tried he codes for every ship in the fleet, but if anyone's left, they've already ditched their ships." Poe grunted; the hatch was hardly tall enough for him to crouch in and he slammed his head on the low rim while trying to reverse his way out and down the ladder. "Ugh...no more hits to the head, please, universe."

"You okay?" Finn asked, steadying him as he stepped away from the ladder.

"Sure, yeah." Poe rubbed the back of his head, his eyes lifting to Finn's and holding him. The other man looked tired, the whites of his eyes tinged an irritated red. "How about you? You get any sleep?"

"A bit. I can't believe I slept so late."

"You needed to." He kissed him softly, then plunked his wrench down in an open toolkit. Wiping his hands on a rag, he wrapped an arm around Finn and led them back towards the cockpit. "You wanna talk about it?" Poe asked delicately.

Finn shrugged but Poe had the feeling he'd speak if given enough time. A small niche to the right of the kitchen concealed a seat atop it's hide-away drawers. Finn sat heavily atop it while Poe pulled out a few bowls and started a rather plain breakfast compared to the feast that Kes had prepared for them. He poured a packet of dry, flat grains into one bowl and then the next, topped them off with water and started them in the heater. Finn watched, absorbing every movement as if there'd be a test on how to make porridge. There had always been tests on everything, in his old life. He swallowed.

"It was the First Order. I dreamed they were reconditioning me."

Poe turned from the heater, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed before his chest. "I thought that must've been it…you were really grabbing at your arm." Finn bowed his head and Poe's mouth thinned. "Finn, can I ask you—you said to Leia that you were reconditioned once before. What was it for?"

Finn met his eyes and then glanced away. "I ignored a direct order to leave one of my squadron behind. The mission ended up failing because of me."

"But…it was just a simulation, right?"

"That didn't matter." Finn shrugged and the timer for their bowls of porridge went off, jolting each of them back to the cold hard ship. Finn swallowed and took the opportunity to change the topic as Poe removed the bowls. "So, what're we doing today?"

Poe wasn't fooled by the sudden switch, though he didn't press the subject. "There's a nearby planet we can stop at to get some parts for BB-8, and I want to look for a new fuel injector too. After that…well, it's not much, but there was an old Republic outpost the Resistance used to use as a waypoint on supply runs. It's been decommissioned for years, but—it's the only place I can think to check for anything."

"You think survivors might have stopped there to regroup?"

"Hopefully."

Finn smiled as Poe handed him his dull grey bowl of slop; even this miniscule plan lifted his spirits and he ate with relish. BB-8 suddenly let loose an ear-piercing beep and Poe walked quickly to the door.

[I've got something!]

"Yeah?" Poe breathed, hurriedly sitting down in the pilot's seat and keying up the display. "What is it, buddy?" Finn followed quickly after him, his heart tripping over itself in excitement.

[It's the Yavin news network—they think you're dead!]

Poe's mood pulled a 180 so fast it nearly hurt, and his face fell as BB-8 replayed the program. A somber woman with rich tan skin and an outfit of patterned yellows and oranges began to speak over footage of Red streaking down from the sky and disappearing from view, and then of Yavini officials surveying the burnt and twisted wreck.

Yavin native and Resistance hero, Colonel Poe Dameron, was a confirmed casualty of the crash in the Baleñen jungle that took place roughly two days ago. He was 32 years old. Dameron, son of Rebellion soldiers Lieutenant Shara Bey and Sergeant Kes Dameron, graduated top of his class in Starfleet Academy and went on to attain the rank of Commander in the Republic Navy. Upon joining General Leia Organa's Resistance, we now know that Dameron was instrumental in uncovering evidence of First Order involvement and corruption within the Republic. Dameron went on to attain the rain of Colonel, and delivered the shot that destroyed the First Order superweapon, Starkiller Base. I don't believe I need to overemphasize the debt of gratitude that is owed to Dameron's actions.

Those who knew him say that Poe Dameron was a brave and immensely talented man who stuck to his principles, and would risk anything for his friends, and for the cause of the Resistance in which he so believed. His father, Kes, could not be reached for this program, but we send our sincere heartfelt condolences as we pay our respects to a true Yavini hero.

The program ended with a shot of flowers that had been piled before the Yavini Republic outpost and Poe's heart twisted. A crowd of people were milling about, talking, maybe even reminiscing about him, and he caught sight of the Wenning's tear-streaked faces among them.

"Turn it off." He said so forcefully that BB-8 jumped.

Finn and the droid looked at him in unison.

Poe stood, running a hand through his hair. "Well, that's fucking horrible." He managed.

"I'm sorry, Poe." Finn said softly.

[There is some good news…] BB-8 piped up timidly. [Since that program aired, your bounty has been suspended. It hasn't been canceled, but it looks like the First Order is buying into Kes' plan.]

"Good for the fucking First Order." Poe snapped. "I'm gonna go take a shower." He left the cramped space like a storm. BB-8 looked up at Finn with a sad moan.

He reached out and patted it's dome fondly. "It'll be okay," he soothed, though he couldn't meet the droid's glossy lens.

The Hyrotil lanced downwards like a spear, shearing through the atmosphere of the blueish grey orb that loomed up to meet them. The cockpit was cast in a cold light that gave Finn and Poe a sickly pallor, and then a bright flare of orange brought them to vivid life again as they entered the atmosphere. Poe smoothly brought them out of sublight and into a cruising speed of 600kpm. A vast frozen vista stretched on before them in a shivering tapestry of frosty grey, drifting white and deep blue shadows. Poe frowned.

"Aw no…I totally forgot this planet was in its winter cycle right now!" He moaned. "I bet you anything dad didn't get us cold weather clothes."

Finn grinned. He'd take the cold over the humid mugginess of D'Qar and Yavin any day.

"Hyrotil Light Freighter, we have you on our scanners. Please state that nature of your visit to Tanil." A heavily accented voice scratched through the ships communications array.

"Parts repair and supply stop." Poe answered.

"Landing coordinates have been sent. Proceed to landing bay 12—do not deviate from your flight path."

"Copy." Poe queued up the offered coordinates and angled towards the Tanil city of Brovash. It steadily grew from an indistinct pile of snowy lumps to a city that towered above them. The roofs of the ice-coated buildings were steeply pitched—it looked for all the world like a city of frozen daggers. The storm grey sky cast an eerie light and shadow as deep as night. Finn knew that a sky like that threatened snow, and soon.

"Wow," Finn breathed. Frosted colors shone dully beneath a coating of grime and snow, and Finn imagined that in the summer, Tanil would have to be a stunning sight. "This place is amazing."

"This place is going to kill me." Poe arched a brow as he brought them over their open and circular landing bay. "Okay," he said as if to himself, "more clothes. Layers. Lots of layers."

"I'm sure it's not that bad." Finn laughed as he followed him into the bedroom.

"Finn, I'm from a tropical planet. If it's cold enough to snow, it's too cold for me. I will freeze solid out there and you'll have to drag my corpse back to the ship. Tell my dad I loved him."

Finn rolled his eyes as Poe pulled on three more shirts and two more pairs of socks. Finn layered one long-sleeved shirt over his and felt ready to make a point.

"Let's go. BB-8, you stay here, okay? We've got our comms on us—if we run into trouble, you know what to do. Keep an ear on their channels in case anything suspicious pops up."

BB-8 whipped out an arm and saluted.

They headed down into the cargo hold and Poe activated the repulsorsledge left over from Kes' supply run.

"So let's see…I think five hundred credits should cover everything we'll need…"

"You'll have to handle all that—I've never bought anything in my life. I've never even seen money before."

Poe glanced up at him as he crammed finger-sized credit chips into a bag and stuffed it down his many shirts. "Hmm…I'll give you a lesson later." He took a deep breath and faced the ramp like a condemned man. "Ready?"

"Yep."

"Oh gods, it's gonna be so cold." He grimaced as he reluctantly hit the controls. The ramp levered slowly down with a hiss that was caught and drowned in a gust of wind so frigid that Poe felt it had climbed into his lungs and strangled him. He shrank against Finn's side as they walked down the ramp and into a fluffy layer of glittering snow.

"No, n-n-no, this t-the worst!" Poe chattered, his arms wrapped around his chest and his hands tucked under his armpits. Finn laughed as he guided the sledge through the snow. While he certainly couldn't stay out indefinitely, he found it more bracing than anything.

The pilot's elbow was knocking into him. "Are you already shaking?" Finn barked a laugh and his breath steamed from him like a chimney.

"It's n-n-not funny!"

Finn couldn't stop laughing as they traversed the main street. Enclosed speeders lined the edges of shops and buildings, and air traffic darted about over their heads, draping them in sultry blue shadows. Finn smiled about him. He'd never been able to walk around a city before and he wanted to stop and look at everything; the goods on display behind a frosted window, the stretch-speeder parked up against a fantastic smelling restaurant. He saw many humans, a green-skinned twi'lek with his head-tails tucked into knitted stockings, a few rodians, and several species he'd never even heard of before. One strange little being was walking about on it's arms, while carrying a bag in it's legs.

He nudged Poe and whispered, "Hey, what's that thing?"

"A d-d-d-dug."

"A what?" Finn nearly went into hysterics and it took all of his self-control to keep himself battened down. He brought his hands to his mouth with glee as he mimicked, "A d-d-d-dug?"

"S-shut up!" Poe elbowed him hard. "We're s-supposed to be k-keeping a low p-p-profile."

"Well, you're doing a great job at that." Finn smirked.

After several minutes of wandering around, they found a machinery shop and Poe darted inside, nearly sobbing with gratitude at the warmth of the cluttered building. A tiny being with a face that struck Finn mute came around a pile of servomotors and squeaked, weather in shock or delight Finn couldn't tell. It had a distinctly rodent-like appearance and was covered in thick, wispy brown fur. Large, inky black eyes gazed up at them, and it's flat spade-shape nose wavered two and fro. Huge, triangular ears jutted up a foot past the top of it's skull.

"Can I help you, gentlemans?" The voice was so high and quick that it went right over their heads. They exchanged nonplussed looks.

"Sorry, what was that?" Poe asked politely as he bent closer to the shopkeeper.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh, yeah. I need parts for a BB astromech unit. Mine is pretty banged up. I've got a list here somewhere…" He made quite a production of reaching around inside his multiple shirts for the sheet of flimsy. Finn grinned nervously at the creature, hoping this all seemed very normal. "There it is." Poe announced triumphantly and handed the list over to the sharp-clawed hand.

"Oh, yes, chassis. Tool bay. Nanopin dataport. Accelerometer. These I have. Follow me, please."

They edged around a display of sharp-edged bits and pieces Finn couldn't begin to identify. The half-lit space was lined with shelves that went nearly to the ceiling and on them were all manner of different droid parts. BB-8 would've been traumatized by the place. Photoreceptors hung about like ornaments, heads from a huge array of models sat in bins, staring vacantly out. Limbs, hands, and manipulator arms jutted like grotesque plants out of tubs and barrels. Even Finn felt uneasy.

Poe, however, poked about everything with great interest. "Oh cool! Look at that old Republic medical droid torso—the 2-1B model, I think."

"You know your droids, sir." The creature squeaked.

Poe shrugged. "It's a hobby."

They left with all the parts BB-8 needed, the tools to get it done, and a lighter credit-pouch. Poe hid behind Finn as they exited the shop. "L-little guy was k-kind of expensive." Poe lamented.

"Kinda creepy too. What was he? She? It?"

"She I think—hard to t-t-tell. That species is c-called a Chadra-fan."

"Oh."

"Shit, this the w-w-worst weather." He tucked so closely against Finn that he could hardly walk.

"Yeah, and it's gonna snow soon too, if those clouds are any hint."

"R-really? We g-g-gotta hurry. I f-fucking hate snow."

"You know?" Finn grinned warmly down at him. "I don't think I complained enough on Yavin."

The found a parts shop with an adequate replacement for their fuel injector half a block further, and while Poe examined the part, Finn stared around the shop. It was similar to the droid shop, but far larger—and more crowded. A toydarian buzzed about, examining top-shelf items. Two duros browsed through towering clusters of hyperdrive motivators. A weequay appeared to be studying…them.

Finn stiffened, alarms going off in the back of his mind. Even as he turned to Poe he could feel the weequay's eyes on the back of his head. "Poe—that weequay over there—I think he knows who we are."

Poe looked up from the fuel injector in his hands and peered marginally over Finn's shoulder. The weequay was staring as boldly as a rancor. "Right." Poe whispered. "Time to head out." He flagged a salesperson and hurriedly paid for the injector, aggravated that the woman seemed intent on going on and on about the benefits of this particular fuel injector.

"Yeah, that's great, thanks." Poe cut her off, grabbed Finn's arm and started them forwards. Back out in the cold, Finn took the repulsorsledge handles and they headed quickly back down the street, tromping through wet, clinging slush, and bracing themselves against the snow-speckled wind. Poe pulled out his comm and contacted BB-8.

"Hey buddy, have the ship ready to fly. We're gonna be there in about two minutes. And-" he added as an afterthought, "it wouldn't hurt to have the cannons aimed down the main street."

They had just about made it back to their landing bay when Finn turned and saw a figure taking cover behind a short stone wall. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and before he even knew what he was doing, he'd shoved Poe down into the snow and braced for impact. The diffuse blue light of a stun shot whooshed over their heads.

"Shit," Poe breathed as he scrambled to get behind their repulsorsledge. He took Finn's hand, pulled him after him, and drew his blaster. Two gigantic red bolts lit up the street like a flash of hellish lightening and an explosion of vaporized rock rattled their eardrums. They peeked above the sledge to see the weequay sprinting wildly down the street in a full retreat. "Come on!" Poe yelled, yanking Finn to his feet. "Run, I got the sledge!"

Finn hesitated for a second and took off with Poe at his heels. He hit a patch of ice, and for a horrible moment he thought he would fall, but he caught himself with a painful twinge in his back. The ramp was down and waiting for them and they dashed up it. Before it had even closed, BB-8 had the ship lifting into the air. A few seconds later Poe had flung himself into the pilot's seat and the Hyrotil roared from the planet in a flash of yellow lights and an explosion of scattered snow, slipping through the grey clouds, and then vanishing into the safety of deep space.