It was a hollow victory for most of them, and the rush of joy at having won dimmed under the weight of all they'd lost. There was still work to be done finding the evil that remained and snuffing it out. True peace was a far way off, and they were tired.

And it was further still for the two that sat slumped on a bench in the med bay having not moved in days. Poe was still a General, Rey still a Jedi with much to do on her own, but the first time Eris' heart stopped they decided duty could wait a little longer. It was Finn who kept everything together, fit well as a General sending orders for recon on far away planets run by known Imperial sympathizers, bringing the information Cal gave to Poe to form a plan, brought them food, found them asleep with Rey's head on Poe's shoulder and their hands folded tightly together.

Only medical droids were allowed in the room Eris was being kept stable, they weren't known for their bedside manner and often one would shuffle out to inform them of her progress. They'd restarted her heart, again. The first thing she lost was a lung, two days later she lost the other, an organ specific to her species they weren't familiar with. They sat alone with each other imaging her chest being held open as machines kept her living, as she kept fighting.

"She wouldn't want this," Poe said softly at the beginning of the next week. It was a thought he'd had for several days before he finally forced himself to admit it.

But Rey shook her head as she pulled away, not wanting his pain. "You can't feel her, she's getting stronger. Her heart hasn't stopped in three days." She was going to wake up. Rey hadn't been able to heal her before, they'd both been too far gone, but now Eris was healing herself.

Sighing heavily Poe lowered his head as though in defeat. Rey was stubborn, still broken up about Ben to think clearly. Whatever they were doing to Eris it wasn't living, and if she was conscious - he rubbed his heavy watery eyes. She'd want it to be over, too practical to drag it out. "We need to start thinking about,"

"You need to shower," Rey said over him in a stern almost hateful tone. "And brush your teeth, you're starting to smell." She heard his offended scoff but she didn't care "Don't come back until you're willing to give her a chance." She didn't meet his outraged eye when he turned to her, she faced the wall with her chin raised standing by what she'd said. He couldn't be here if he thought Eris was gonna die, it wouldn't do anyone any good.

Seeing her jaw clenched in selfish determination he threw himself out of chair and stormed down the halls to his quarters. He could almost be angry at Eris for finally admitting she wanted this thing between them too, because how was he supposed to let her go now? How was he supposed to do this without her?

The scalding shower did him good enough to feel the exhaustion deep in his bones and he fell onto his bed hoping for kinder dreams. But he woke with empty arms and a heavy heart. He scuffed his feet as he slowly made his way back to medical and he decided he'd talk to Cal, who was lightyears away avoiding being her only family and the only one with any real say in letting her go.

As he rounded the corner knowing Rey would hate him for it he paused in the doorway staring at the empty bench. And for the first time in a week he felt a spark of hope.

...

Standing over where Eris lay slowly blinking as the med bot bustled around the machines they'd attached her to, Rey ran a trembling hand over her damp hair. They'd bathed her, dressed her as best they could, welcomed her slowly back to living.

"Do you know who I am?" Rey ask on a shaky breath. Eris blinked up at her several tired moments before she slowly nodded. A wave of relief rushed over her and Rey felt her shoulders begin to shake. "I'm so sorry," she said feeling tears slip past her chin and down her neck. She never should've left Eris, this wouldn't have happened if she'd stayed.

"I know," Eris assured her, her voice croaking from nonuse. She raised a hand to Rey's wet cheek but she froze, her brows drawing together in confusion at the sight of metal. An arm had been crafted to replace the one she'd lost and she flexed its fingers finding it lagged seconds slower then thought. Following it to her shoulder she made a soft noise at finding a plate covering her chest to replace her shattered sternum. Taking a breath she could almost feel the artificial airways they'd made her.

Rey continued smoothing her hair seeing the first signs of distressed. "It's okay," she told her. "You're okay." There was so much more Rey wanted to tell her, to look in her eyes and see the same grief she felt at Ben's loss. But that wasn't fair to do to her now. "Poe wanted to let you die," she said before she knew what she was saying. Her eyes widened as she raised a hand to her gaping mouth. "He didn't think you'd want this," was her attempt at softening what she'd said.

"He's right," Eris sighed more in the movement of her shoulders than any air passing from her cybernetic lungs. She shook her head at Rey's horrified face, raising the heavy arm attached to her. "Obviously not now cause I'm alive." She glanced at Rey and gave a sardonic, "yay." She watched a smile twitch over Rey's mouth, but her thoughts had turned. "Where is Poe?"

Rey swallowed as she stood back trying to keep the rush of jealousy at bay. "I'll send someone to get him," she said forcing a smile. In two years Eris had always sided with Rey, thought of her first, put her first, leaving Poe on the sidelines. Now she was on the sideline, and it hurt.

She stepped out of the room and stopped short at seeing Poe standing against the wall too wound up to sit down. Having given them a moment instead of barging in. "She's,"

"I don't need your help."

Poe gave a teary laugh at the sound of that stubborn indignation. That's when Rey understood, Poe never wanted to let her go he just loved her enough to know she would. "She asked for you," she told him with a small shivering smile.

His feet moved faster than he had time to understand, to really understand, what Rey had said. He charged into the room and fell short just a step past the doorway at the sight of her as she dragged herself up to sit. Taking in the shiny plate fitted across her chest and down her left side almost to her hip, he'd almost lost her. Again.

She looked up at his wide eyes suddenly feeling naked. "It was stupid not to tell you what I was doing," she said before he could berate her, because she knew it was coming.

But on a desperate breath he rushed to where she sat and getting his hands around either side of her face he tipped her head back and kissed her. Hard. And it was such a fucking relief.

He sighed against her feeling her hands around his wrists as though to keep him there. Pulling away only to breathe he'd come back and kiss her again, and again, and again. He peppered her grinning lips with a thousand kisses before he had enough, and even still he gave her one more. Settling with his forehead over hers he told her, "that was stupid, I'm very mad at you." But his voice was light and his eyes warm as he looked at her, holding her cold metal hand against his cheek.

"I'm sorry."

He couldn't remember her ever apologizing, and it was like pulling teeth to get her to admit she was wrong. Yet here she was admitting both. It scared her, the thought of leaving this when she still had so much she still wanted to do. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't think you'd support me," she admitted. It seemed stupid now, with him so close.

He nodded understanding at least where she was coming from, and it meant he hadn't made it clear enough. "Agree with you, no," he told her as he placed a palm on either side of her hip and leaned over her, his nose grazing hers. "But Eris, I'll always support you."

Her expression fell apart slowly, not all at once but it cracked and chipped away until she was left with nothing but how much she adored him. Taking a moment to soak him in, that she got to have this, she shifted her weight finding her back tired from how heavy she felt.

It had his eyes falling to her chest tracing the steel frame that held the shape of what used to be her breasts, the way it was melded into her soft lilac skin. He traced every inch of her, slowly, taking his time before his eyes found hers and he nodded. "I can work with this," he said taking her synthetic hand in his, and he grinned. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Retractable blaster cannon," she answered to the second.

A smile split wide over his handsome face. "Hell yeah," he agreed imagining it now. The glow of a plasma beam on her fierce expression. He'd draw up the plans for the armorer that crafted the arm she had now. Maybe he'd surprise her by having a blade installed, he could already see the awed face she'd make when she found it and the warmth of that had him leaning into her.
"You wanna keep it metal or you want it to match you?" he asked ready to give her whatever she wanted so long as she was alive to want it. And this was part of her now, a permanent fixture prolonging a lifespan that'd been cut in half. He watched her as she looked down at herself, her brow knitted as she thought. And he raised her hand placing a light kiss on steel knuckles. "Maybe turquoise?"

Her eyes rolled to the ceiling though a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You're never gonna let go that dress go," she grumbled lacking her normal bite.

"Not a chance," he answered hearing her quiet airy laugh. He honestly didn't think he was gonna hear that again, and it made him sentimental.

"A deep purple would look beautiful."

They both turned to where Rey stood in the doorway with Finn at her back, her sad eyes making her look young. Poe turned back to Eris knowing she probably figured out Ben was dead the moment she saw Rey, he didn't get the care they both had for him but he cared for both of them. "Let it be known we can agree on some things," he said opting for something easier, more hopeful. "That would look very beautiful." In truth he would say that about any color, she could pick the most vile green mixed with brown and because it was her he was gonna love it.

But she shook her head because she was purple enough. This time it was Finn who piped in, "maybe white. White Knight of the Resistance sounds good."

She was never going to be good enough for that. Their eyes met and Poe smirked at the gleam of mischief he saw in hers. "Black it is," he agreed. Taking a breath he got arms around her and held her close, soaking in the feel of her. "You're predictably boring," he told her, his warm breath curling against her ear.

"That's bantha fodder and you know it," she retorted feeling his round cheek against hers. "Now get off me."

He squeezed her tighter, a small act of rebellion. And a short moment later another pair of arms encircled them both, and with a hum of a laugh Poe patted Finn's hand as they both held her.

Huffing a metallic sigh Eris sat there letting them hug her and muttered, "you guys suck." Rolling her eyes at the two boys on either side of her she looked at Rey in the doorway. "Are you coming or not?"

Loss weighed so heavy she hesitated, but a smile so small it was almost non-existent curled on her mouth as she stepped forward. Finn raised his arm so Rey could slip under it, in doing so it gave Eris room to shrug both him and Poe off as the two girls wrapped their arms around each other.

"Seriously?" Poe demanded as he looked down at them, perfectly content without them.

Finn was shaking his head muttering, "she just had to be the cute boyfriend." If only Rey had picked someone a little less impulsive, a little more caring - although looking at the way Eris held Rey close, her hand cupping the back of her head, he understood how much these two had grown together. How much they all had, their pieces filling in where one was lacking to make them almost whole.

Her chest was still and strangely quiet, the steel used for the plate designed to withstand blaster fire. Rey pulled back having a hard time feeling her, but Eris brushed the hair out of her face making her smile. Though it quickly fell. Eris turned to Poe who was already shaking his head to refuse. "Go be Generals," she told him firmly, because there were more important things than her. "You can come back after dinner."

He was reluctant to leave her, especially when she lay back not strong enough to hold herself up anymore, but he did as told because she was right. The First Order was gone but its stain lingered, they had much to do. And it was a relief to be back on his feet, to work hard doing something he believed in, knowing at the end of the day she was gonna be there.

There was a lightness to Rey at dinner, the first shy signs of her coming out of this starting to show. With a gentle smile Finn took her hand in his, and Rey looked at their interwoven fingers before her eyes met his. As if seeing what had always been there for the first time.

Across the table Poe held his cup to his mouth looking between them, an intruder to the soft moment they shared. "There goes my appetite," he mumbled unheard as he ditched them and his half eaten tray and made his way back to med bay.

He paused in the doorway looking down at where Eris sat on the floor with her back against the bed and BB-8 across from her and D-O on her right. BB-8 and Eris held their cards with his cards extended on a small clamp, while D-O's were hidden by the small paper screen Eris made for him. It was almost sweet.

"Why are you down here?" he asked as he stepped over the pile between them and sat beside D-O. The droid nudged its spherical head at its first card and Poe put that one in the pile.

She threw down a card and answered morosely, "I wanted to get up." The moment she'd slid off the table her legs had crumpled under the weight, she wasn't used to being weak. "Then your droid and his friend found me and they've been kicking my ass ever since."

"Strategy good, execution needs work," D-O commented as it rolled back and forth looking up at her. He hadn't liked the look of her at first, cursing at the medical droid trying to help her, but she'd slumped back exhausted from her efforts with a frown. Broken, like him.

Poe laughed at the look Eris gave it seeing the little droid bow under that severe glare before it sprung back up having already decided she was good.

They finished their game, BB-8 winning as he usually did, and Poe climbed to his feet groaning as he stretched. But he looked down at where Eris was maneuvering her legs under her as she hooked her elbow on the edge of the bed to help lift her up. "You good?"

The droid that'd been sitting in the corner tasked with caring for her shuffled forward. "I offered help earlier, General, but she threatened to rip my arm off."

Poe's brows rose as he looked at Eris who was now kneeling, still not able to get herself up. "You're making me look bad," he told her. "I'm a General, I have a reputation."

She huffed as she knelt with her arms folded on the bed catching her breath, feeling her legs straining. "Yeah, reputation for being a loud mouth flyboy," she had enough fire to spit. In a rush of strength she pulled herself up using her legs to hoist her and she laid over the bed realizing now that she was here she couldn't pick her chest up.

Unable to help his grin Poe looked down at where she sat bent over the bed, his heated gaze trailing over the curve of her long body. "I gotta say, that's a good position."

"Get your head out of your cockpit," she told him, feeling him settle against her back with his hands on her hips. And when he heard the breath she took he got an arm under her legs and swung them onto the bed so she was lying on her left side.

He laid against her back curled around her and kissed her cheek. "Although I will admit when I think of that you're always on top," he mumbled against her smiling cheek.

"Think of that often?" she teased hearing his short hum as he settled against her. Her eyes closed as he pulled her closer, his arm around her middle keeping her against him. It was warm, it felt safe, and she could imagine a life like this. "This doesn't mean I like you," she said softly, close to sleep.

A sly smirk slid across his mouth. "It's like I keep saying," his lips grazed her ear from how close they laid together, "you've been into me since I started shooting at you." He could feel her beginning to relax against him.

"No," she responded, her lips barely moving. "But close."

All at once she fell still, the mechanical lungs drawing in air without the need for her body to move. Poe sat up with his mouth on her bare shoulder as he watched her lashes flutter, the only sign now she was alive besides how warm her skin was. "I love you," he whispered on a quiet breath, knowing she wasn't ready for that. As he lay with his cheek against hers he didn't think he was ready either, but they'd get there. They had time.

.^.

It took time for Eris to get back on her feet, to build the muscle needed to carry the heavy steel forever bound to her chest. Rey helped with that. Poe was the one to convince her to get in the chair in the meantime, having never been scared enough of her to take her shit.

"Isn't this nice?" he asked that first day he wheeled her outside. There was a breeze that day and she sat with her eyes closed enjoying the way it ruffled her hair after so many weeks stuck inside. She didn't savor things, she consumed them all at once, and so the longer she stayed that way he knew she was ignoring him. Her pride hurt at the way he yelled for her to get her ass in the chair. "You're impossible to deal with sometimes."

Without opening her eyes she responded, "you were happy enough to deal with me last night."

His eyes widened and a feminine laugh sounded on the other side of Eris as two familiar faces came up to them. "You were right, I like her," Zorii said, her smile hidden behind her helmet.

"Yeah she's a piece of work," Cal admitted touching a hand to her shoulder in greeting and farewell. "Maybe you'll be walking when we get back."

Eris nodded feeling herself getting stronger every day, the fact that it was taking so long annoyed her though. "Don't let him die," she said looking to Zorii, whose bright blue eyes she could see through the raised eye piece. "He's good at that." She shook Zorii's hand and watched them walk to their ship to meet their small team, noticing the familiarity that had them stepping close together. It made her smile.

"I told you they were getting close," Poe said seeing the same signs Eris had. He looked down at her to see her mouth pursed around a grin. "Yeah keep laughing, I'll make you pay for that later."

She looked up at him without raising her chin. "Will I enjoy it?" she asked watching the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed heavily.

He bent kissing her quickly. "Asshole," he muttered against her lips.

"Master has big wheels."

They both sighed as they pulled apart to look at the sad little droid that raced around Eris. "No, Rey found you. You're her problem," Eris told D-O. And it stopped in front her shuffling back and forth as though it didn't understand. "I'm not your master."

"Yes."

Her eyes narrowed. "Who decided that?" she asked thinking it was probably Poe, given how often he found it in her room.

But D-O moved to the side of her and butted one of the wheels. "I did," it replied matter of fact.

Poe moved behind her and resumed pushing her, planning to get her to Finn because the two of them were their best strategists. "He likes you," Poe said watching as the little guy shot off only to realize he'd left her behind.

"Slow wheels," D-O said as it forced itself to go slow too. Its head constantly pivoted as though waiting to be kicked or thrown or trampled. With a sigh Eris got a hand around its cone-head and sat him in the chair beside her. It tilted its head back as its sensors studied her stern face. This one was good, BB-8 told him so, its why he picked her. She was good.

...

A few months later

On mornings as nice as that one Poe was slow to wake, not ready to let go because it'd mean letting go of her. Eris was pressed against his back, her arm hooked around his unclothed waist, her face tucked between his shoulder blades. His skin had warmed her, and he could feel the small passing of air through her nose. "How long have you been up?" he asked in a thick voice deepened by sleep.

"A while," she answered raising her head so her cheek was against the back of his neck.

He almost shivered at the fist kiss she pressed to his skin, the next came with her teeth grazing his shoulder and his breathing grew short. "Why didn't you wake me?" he asked not minding the thought of a few more minutes like this.

Her mouth crept along his neck to his cheek, catching the flash of his teeth as he smiled. "I wasn't ready to give you back," she admitted with an honesty he made her feel safe enough to give.

After half a year of mornings like this he found parts of her were still sweet. She didn't let him see them often so he'd learned to cherish the moments she did. Her lips on his jaw had him pulling at the covers stuck under him as he rolled into her, she was enough to drive him crazy. She laid back as he turned over getting a hand behind either of her knees as he settled between them, feeling her hands around his hips because even when he took lead she was still in charge.

After they were both satisfied she sat at the edge of the bed with him flush against her back as he tied up her hair. It fell out as soon as he let go, and he sighed before gathering it back up.

"You could just braid it," Eris offered with her eyes closed enjoying these quiet moments. She smiled at his huff. "Worried Rey'll make fun of it again?"

"Watch it," he warned not appreciating her or Rey's inevitable teasing before she'd fix it. "It's not like I ever needed to know how to do this."

He only learned now because she couldn't do it one handed, and while the synthetic arm could be gentle it wasn't enough to not break the ties. And it was very sweet of him to take it so seriously, it also made it very easy to rile him up. "Maybe one day you'll actually be good at it."

"Hey," he laughed pulled her hair just enough to tilt her head back so he could see her daring eyes. "If you'd woken me up I'd have time to go again." As it was he kissed her cheek and pulled his hands away slowly willing it to stay up. "Maybe if you,"

"Maybe if I don't move it won't fall down?" she finished for him with a smile. And she watched him deflate as it fell when she turned to him. "It can be down for today," she told him patting his knee before ruffling her hair back into the messy way it normally sat. "Come on, I'm hungry."

Making their way to the dining hall Rey immediately grumbled something unkind with an order for him and Finn to bring them back food. When they did Eris was sitting beside Rey with her hair neatly braided while BB-8 and D-O sat near them.

Poe and Finn sat across from them, and he was hoping Finn would jump in to discuss a potential mission for them since Rey deemed Eris ready for the field. But Rey was quick and occasionally scathing. "If you put the same effort into helping her as you do in," she was cut off by the bread Eris shoved in her open mouth.

"He's doing his best leave him alone," Eris told her in such a manner they both knew that was the last time she wanted to hear it, even though they all knew it'd be the same thing tomorrow. But she turned to Finn who wore confidence and his position well. "Now what'd you wanna tell me?"

She listened as Finn outlined the compound they'd be taking in a few days. The plan he'd come up with had her in the back, which had Rey shaking her head. "Eris is ready, she has been for while."

"She doesn't have to be ready because you want her to be," he said knowing from several conversations between Rey and Poe that it was Finn himself who wasn't ready.

"And we have a better shot at this with her."

Sighing at the two of them, who were caught somewhere between things they wanted to admit but weren't ready for and resulted in incessant arguing, Eris turned to Poe. "I got you something."

His brows rose as he lowered his cup. "Me?" he asked incredulous. "You got me something?"

"No I got it for the other guy I sleep with," she answered in a stark serious tone.

"Okay," he said having enough of her teasing. He planted his hands on the table and stood. "Is it this way?" he jerked a finger at the finger and headed off "Keep up cripple."

Laughing lightly at how easy he made it she stood and started after him. But she turned back catching D-O's little eye and she jerked her head for him and BB-8 to come with them.

Poe followed her to the hanger wondering what the hell she'd done, letting his steps linger towards hers so his arm brushed her. But he slowed a little as she led him outside where the few bigger ships they had were stored. Coming around a fighter ship he stopped in his tracks at the sight of an almost pristine BT-7 Thunderclap standing proud apart from the others.

His eyes were wide and glassy as he looked at her and she shrugged. "I'm sure it's not the ship you were dreaming of," she told him looking more at his hair than his eyes. "It's the first ship I ever stole, and lost, and I've always wanted another one. And it's, obviously, the first ship we ever flew in together so there's...that."

With a hand on her arm he stopped her uncomfortable rambling knowing how much she hated talking about her feelings. "I love," he started meeting her eye and he swallowed, "it. I love it. It's a good ship, a great ship," he corrected himself knowing his words were as jumbled as his thoughts felt. "It's good, it's gonna - uh," he took a breath as his mind cleared, "be good." He smiled as an actual thought formed. "Come on," he said getting an arm around her back.

"You're a General, where are we going?" she asked having only wanted to see that very cute look of surprise and the even cuter way he stumbled over his words. Rey had helped her scavenge it, her and Rose helped her get it running. Going somewhere wasn't the plan, yet. But he ushered her up the ramp feeling D-O and BB-8 dart past as they excitedly explored.

"They won't miss us for a few hours," he told her, letting her slide in the seat next to his before he climbed in the pilot's chair. His chair, because this was his. Theirs. He looked at her as she hit the switch to raise the ramp, words curled on his tongue he only ever said when she was asleep.

She caught his eye and she sat back waiting. "You gonna tell me where we're running away to?" she asked hearing a thump at the far back of the ship, followed by a softer lighter one.

The corner of his mouth curled hearing it too as he turned to the consul and got them ready to fly. "That one," he said pointing at the lever he needed her to toggle. Getting them up he flew them just outside of the base planet's atmosphere, this one flew a lot smoother than the one they'd found on Jakku.

Looking at her face made soft by these last several months, he could feel his mother's ring weighing heavily on the chain around his neck. "Now that we've got our ship we need to find our corner of the universe to park it," he told her seeing the way her lips parted as she looked at him awed. "We'll retire eventually, and we'll need somewhere to lie low from all the trouble we're gonna cause."
Because neither one of them was suited for an easy life, and he planned on having a lifetime of adventures with her. It was the softest she'd ever looked at him, he could see the future she wanted with him in her eyes. "Who's looking at who now?" he teased as he glanced at the map setting the first quadrant for them to explore.

Her wet eyes raked his face, tracing his sharp jaw and the bridge of his nose, his soft cheeks and scratchy chin. "I love you too," she told him softly. It fell out of her mouth without thought, no weighing her options or talking herself out of it. She loved him, and that was that.

His face crumbled with a sudden rush of vulnerability at hearing those words come out of her mouth She'd said it so easily, so readily. He thought it'd be a while til he heard that, he'd been prepared to wait. So he hadn't been expecting it, his stomach feeling like his plane had gone dead and he was in free fall.

She smiled faintly at his open face, still amazed sometimes she got to have this. "Close your mouth and let's go," she told him and turned to the consul.

A wry smile spread over his mouth. "That's my girl," he said with a warmth that was new for them.

It would likely take them years to find a place they'd wanna settle down in, they'd be older when they finally shared that look as they were both filled with such a knowing that this was the place. Where they'd run away when they only needed each other, after their kids had grown and made lives of their own, when they were both weathered and grey and tired.

But sitting in that cockpit then they didn't mind waiting, knowing finding peace wasn't going to be half as fun as what it took to get there. He took her hand in his and ran his thumb over her cold knuckles, and they turned to see their noisy stowaways who'd snuck onboard before they left and had taken their time getting up here as Rey showed Finn around. Eris and Poe shared a weighted look and a small smile – they didn't mind waiting. They were already home.

And so it ends. There's still a lot of life left for her and Poe, and I don't plan on writing it. So if there's any part or little moments, or any details of their lives, you wanna know hit me up and I can tell you what I picture for them.

Thank you all for coming on this very long journey with me, there were a lot bumps on the way but I hope ya'll enjoyed it.