[Finn]

Finn was considering his lot in life when the door chime sounded. "Yes?"

"It's General Hux. I need your unit report."

"Um …" Finn frowned at himself. He was dirty and naked, with filthy, torn clothing on the bed next to him. Not even his underwear was salvageable (it was actually one of the worst pieces), though he assumed his socks would be okay if he could wash all the blood out of them. "I … uh …"

The door slid open, which was well within Hux's prerogative to barge in. Finn sat at attention, not especially wanting to pull himself up to standing unless he had to. Hux's eyes roamed over him critically, lingering on his wounds. "Are you fit to serve?"

"Restricted duty, sir."

Hux looked past him at the clothing on the bed. "Your uniform does not appear to meet regulation."

"Um. No." Finn picked up the shirt carefully, showing the torn and bloody back of it. He was careful because Hux had not asked him to do so. Showing him something unasked for wasn't as rude as speaking without permission, but he was careful all the same.

Hux nodded. "Wait." He left, leaving the door open. Finn heard him address CL-0745. "First Sergeant, was there any clothing or something that could pass as such in the stores when you examined them?"

"There were a couple stock uniforms, sir."

"Let me see them. Get me the largest of them."

Shortly, Hux returned with a basic black duty uniform. He handed it over. Finn fingered the cloth, noting it was a bit thicker than the stuff Lando had used to make their disguises. There was no belt, boots, or rank insignia. The idea being that anyone unexpectedly required to stay overnight would have something they could change into, and would transfer their own accoutrements as Finn would. Finn observed, "This is a real officer's uniform, sir."

"I won't have you naked or in rags. You have no rank so it's just fabric."

"What if I did? Have a rank? What would it be?"

Hux's brows drew together in mild suspicion. "It would be lieutenant," he said slowly, confirming for Finn that Hux knew what he was really asking. That he had a rank in mind was not surprising. In order for Hux to deal with him at all, he'd likely had to imagine a rank to work out where to slot Finn into his worldview. It was something Finn did as well.

Finn kept fingering the cloth, trying to decide how bold he wanted to be about this. "I could put a braid on it," he offered. Braids were acceptable field insignias for service uniforms. The captain's insignia from the disguise could be altered.

"CL-0745 is still your senior. But you're in luck in that her paperwork has already been filed and her promotion is approved on contingency. I could say that contingency was filled and she would be a lieutenant as well. But we don't have a red pauldron for her and I won't have you dressed higher than she is."

They were definitely talking about the same thing. Finn nodded. "I understand, sir."

"Are you seeking to enlist?" Hux's voice was unhurried and cautious, as was Finn's.

"H-482 is an adult recruit. I know they happen."

"They do. But I can't think of another situation where the applicant had been previously convicted of treason." He didn't sound disgusted. Just curious.

"You annulled it."

"I vacated the sentence."

Finn hesitated. "What's the difference?" he asked finally.

"The conviction stands. There's no punishment. I made a note in the shuttle's log yesterday catching up the paperwork. Anything can be amended."

"Okay. You know your history better than I do. Sir. You know exceptions are made. Snoke. Kylo Ren. The Knights of Ren. The Amaxine Integration. The Quehulon Nebula Splinter Faction. The Allegiant fleet. And those are just the big groups. Individuals sign up all the time. I fought on your side yesterday. I intend to fight on your side against Sidious. And … beyond that, if it's granted."

"Your record would indicate your loyalties are … fickle."

"I'm trying to do the right thing. I always have," Finn said earnestly. "Does that matter?"

Hux studied him, expression closed. He asked another question instead of answering. "Would you be joining alone?"

"I think so."

"Hm. Make yourself presentable – no rank. I will finalize CL-0745's promotion. I will speak with H-482 about your comportment yesterday. And I will take your request under consideration. You can make your report after breakfast." With that, Hux turned and left, closing the door behind him this time.

Finn breathed out deeply. He'd really done that. He'd really asked. Sort of – he hadn't explicitly asked but it was perfectly clear to both of them what he was saying. He still had a day or at least a few hours to reconsider. It seemed insane now that he had started the process. What would everyone think of him for switching sides willy-nilly?

He shook it off and got on with his duty. He took a shower, cleaned his boots as best he could, and got dressed – no socks, no underwear. The uniform was tight, especially across the shoulders and the tops of his thighs, but it covered him. When he walked out, he was still trying to get used to how it clung to him. The bites from his back hurt when he flexed them, so he moved carefully.

Once he was down the ramp, he saw the real reason for moving outside – breakfast had to be cooked (or at least most of them wanted it that way). It was probably better to call it lunch, as it was well past mid-day.

"Already?" Rose said when Finn came down the ramp. She eyed the uniform. So did everyone else. Admittedly, Kaydel, Rose, and Rey were in First Order uniforms as well, but his was new and it attracted attention.

He shrugged and gestured to himself, turning to address everyone. "My clothes were trashed. I have to wear something. Last time I checked, they didn't carry civilian clothes on random military shuttles."

"You're lucky they had that," Kaydel said with a laugh as she handed him a plate of boiled crab. It had green stuff in it, some kind of plant. "It's a little … hm … form-fitting."

"Haha. Yeah," he said, mostly unamused.

"Do they have others? Most of us could do with a change."

"Maybe one or two. Ask the first sergeant."

"I will," Kaydel said.

Finn turned back to Rose. In a lower voice, he said as they moved to the side, "I did ask, though."

"What did he say?" She, too, kept her voice low as they walked apart from the group.

"He didn't say no."

She gave him a dubious look. "He's desperate."

"Yeah," Finn nodded. "He is. Why wouldn't he be? That's why I'm doing this. Saving what I love, remember?"

Disbelievingly, she said, "You love … the First Order?"

"Not … not that exactly, no. But Rose … I grew up there. I served with people. I felt really strongly about some of them. The whole reason- No, it's not the whole reason I defected, but it was the trigger. On Jakku, one of my squad mates, named Slip, was killed. I … I loved him. I'd been written up for trying to help him too much during sims. He was one of my people and to see him get killed so pointlessly, just a random bolt out of nowhere, really messed me up."

He'd seen H-482 kneeling next to TN-1017 and even if the Old Man had been the one to shoot him, Finn had understood what was going on there. Troopers cared about each other. Everyone pretended they didn't, but they did. And he cared about them, too, especially now that he didn't have to pretend anymore.

Finn shifted closer to her, quieter. "Rose, every one of those troopers was once just a scared kid like I was. Some of them still are. They just … hide it better. The first chance I got to run, I did. Some of them," he nodded his head in the direction of the nearest perimeter guard, "are just the same. They just haven't had the chance yet. Maybe I can do something about that. So they're not running away from something. But fighting for it."

"You'd have to change the whole First Order."

Finn shrugged. "How is this any tougher or more dangerous than stopping them from the outside?"

She gave a worried, pensive frown, but said, "You have a point."