As their shuttle docked in the cavernous landing bay of the Finalizer, Kylo Ren could sense a palpable shift in the energy of the Force. His fellow passengers grew restless and the anger he could feel them harboring towards him began to sharpen. He couldn't wait to get off the craft and back to his quarters. He'd finally replaced his belt as he'd stood from the bunk, smoothing his clothes into the best order they could be given the circumstances.

With his hood still shielding the edges of his bloodied face, Ren jostled at the door next to General Hux, each vying to be the first to disembark. Ren suspected Hux would run straight to Master Snoke to spin a yarn about exactly whose fault it was that Starkiller Base was now an asteroid field. Let him. Ren had a different plan in mind.

"I can't wait to see your face at your court martial," Hux said low, almost under his breath. "There's no way you'll be able to worm your way out of this one."

"Why would anyone continue to follow a general who can't keep his army's main asset from being destroyed by a raggedy band of traitors?" Ren hissed back.

They glared at each other as Captain Phasma approached from behind.

"Gentlemen," she purred, "May I suggest you keep a lid on it in front of my troops?" The gangway opened automatically and rows upon rows of troopers snapped to attention at the sight of Phasma lurking in the shadows.

"And may I remind you, Captain, that it was one of your troops who went rogue in the first place and assisted Dameron from escaping?" Hux's fury was barely contained at this point.

"I told you both we should've used clones," Ren added needlessly.

Neither Hux nor Phasma said a word as they proceeded out of the ship, and Ren had to bow his head to suppress a satisfied smile.

Rey traced her fingers over the back of Finn's hand. It was slightly cold to the touch in the recirculated air of the room, which was much cooler and drier than the muggy, warm air outside. Rey preferred the interior to the steam bath that outside represented this late afternoon.

The monitoring equipment beeped softly and steadily, a light display pulsing with each weak beat of Finn's heart. Dr. Ixx had left them alone after checking on Finn herself and assuring Rey again that he would be alright. But Rey wondered why, if he was fine, they didn't just revive him now. She longed to debrief with him about the last day. It was hard to believe it had fit into a single day, the way a dream seemed both incredibly long but also short and jumbled up at the same time. But he'd come back for her. That was all that mattered.

The kind-eyed medic had left a set of slightly too-big clothes for her on the bed when she'd emerged from the shower, and she'd dressed hastily, eager to ditch the med bay-issue garment as a lingering sign of weakness. She did her best to tuck the excess material into the belt, but the cloths fairly dwarfed her petite frame. She looked like a Sand Person who'd just crawled out of the desert. She left her hair down to dry. All things considered, she felt quite well, especially after the cocktail of vitamins and painkillers she'd swallowed. Her back didn't ache any more, and aside from being unbelievably tired, she felt like she was ready for anything.

She wondered what everyone else was up to, now that Starkiller was destroyed. Was Chewbacca still here? She hadn't seen him since last night, nor Poe Dameron. He and BB-8 were likely inseparable, so she knew if she found one, she'd find the other. She wondered briefly at the chance of everything that had happened: if only she hadn't responded to BB-8's indignant beeps…

Then a dark wave passed over her, wondering if Kylo Ren had escaped. She studied Finn's sleeping face and felt a tide of anger growing inside her chest. It was his fault Finn was in this state. And it was his fault Han was gone.

A knock at the door interrupted her reverie, and she turned quickly to see General Organa as the woman opened the door and entered.

"How is he," she asked Rey softly, not looking at Rey. She placed her hand on Finn's cheek in a way that Rey interpreted as motherly concern.

"The doctor says he's fine," Rey said, "But, I don't see why he needs to stay unconscious if he's fine."

The general raised one eyebrow and pursed her lips, but didn't make a comment on Rey's assertion. "You look like you could use a walk," she said instead. "Would you like to get out of here for a bit?"

"Sure," Rey nodded. "Can I just…. leave?" She wasn't sure how any of this worked.

"Dr. Ixx told me you were cleared if you felt up to it," General Organa smiled slightly. "I see they gave you the standard-issue civilian rags. Not the most flattering, huh?"

Rey smiled and looked down at herself with a shy laugh. "Ah, they're probably a lot cleaner than my old clothes." She picked up the holo with her reading material and tucked it gently under her arm. She glanced reluctantly back at Finn once more before turning away.

General Organa held the door open for her as they exited to the hallway and lead the way to the outside door. They stood outside for a moment, eyes adjusting to the bright sun. The humidity was completely foreign to Rey, and she felt sweaty just standing still.

"Let me show you around," the general placed one hand in her vest pocket. "People are eager to get a look at you."

"At….me?" Rey was confused. "Why?"

"You saved BB-8," General Organa smiled at her like she was daft to have forgotten. "If you hadn't picked him up on Jakku, who knows if we'd have ever found Luke."

"Oh," was all Rey could say.

Kylo Ren proceeded straight to his quarters, the impact of each step jostling his injured side painfully. The bacta was helping, but he'd lost a lot of blood and felt decidedly weak. He kept his eyes straight ahead, not acknowledging the petty officers he passed on his way and ignoring the whispers he heard as he swept through the hallways. He rarely appeared without his helmet in front of First Order personnel. He rounded the corner to the wing where the officers' rooms were, and pressed his hand to the access panel.

Safely inside, he heaved a deep sigh and set about undressing. He threw the damaged tunic straight in the trash compactor chute. There was no sense in keeping a top with a giant hole burned in it. Entering the 'fresher, he peered again at his cheek as he waited for the water to warm in the shower.

The slice from her wild swing had cut him from cheekbone to nearly the corner of his mouth, and while it was pink under the goo of the bacta, it would be noticeable for some time to come. His side ached considerably, and now that he was alone and could be completely honest with himself, his pride was fairly damaged as well. He was well aware of how their fight to the draw would look to anyone who hadn't been there.

He stood under the spray, leaning with both palms outstretched against the tile as the water ran down his back. Blood colored the water that swirled around his feet for several minutes as the remaining caked bits came loose and washed away, the healing salve along with it. Looking down at his side, he could see a spot in the wound that was continuing to bleed slowly, a tiny rivulet of blood escaping with each beat of his heart. He closed his eyes against the water and ran his hands through his hair. All he could see with his eyes closed was her face, wet with snow and sweat and so alive with her fear and hatred for him. The fact that she'd seen the map to his uncle's bolthole felt almost secondary to his new idea of harnessing her power in the Force to him. Thickly, through his haze of exhaustion, he began forming his counter-attack to arguments that could be raised against his nascent plan.

Rey and the General made the rounds of the base, which was considerably larger than Rey had originally thought. A number of well-disguised buildings lurked in the edge of the dense forest, bunkers and hangars half-submerged in hillsides covered with grass to camouflage them from aerial surveillance. The X-Wings tied down outside on the tarmac had netting thrown over their tell-tale wings to hide them from prying eyes.

"You can never be too careful," the general said wryly when she caught Rey staring at the fortifications. "I hate to say 'I told you so', but we'd been telling the Senate for years that Starkiller was not a normal base."

Rey nodded silently. The general had said very little on their walk besides explaining what this or that building was.

They were walking a path along a still lake when the General finally asked, "Is anyone waiting for you back home? You're not obliged to stay here if you don't want to."

Rey stopped suddenly, and General Organa stopped and turned back to face her. "I…. I was always waiting for them to come back," Rey admitted, and for the first time aloud, "But I don't think they're ever coming for me." Tears welled up in her eyes at her confession, and she was surprised when the general closed the gap between them and simply placed her arms around Rey.

The sensation of being hugged was overwhelming. Rey could not hold in her sobs and she felt embarrassed that her tears were wetting the general's shoulder. Leia cupped the back of her head lightly in one hand and murmured, "You're alright, shhhhhhh."

Drawing away finally, the general fished a small handkerchief out of her breast pocket and handed it to Rey. "Listen, Rey, if there's anything I've learned in my time in this crazy galaxy, it's that the family you make is as important, if not more important, than the one you're born into." She raised her eyebrows at Rey in amusement. "Hell, I was your age before I found out I had a another set of parents and a sibling."

Rey stared at her and the question hung between them, begging to be asked. "General," she hesitated, "You and Han had… have… a son?"

General Organa cocked her head to one side and a smile quirked the corner of her mouth. "How did you know that?"

Again Rey felt shy and a bit lame explaining what she felt she barely understood. "I saw you-both of you- in his memories."

Leia nodded silently at this. She opened her mouth several times, as though about to comment, only to close her mouth and lapse into silence again. At last she replied, "I'm sorry that happened, Rey. I know it's selfish to ask, but- how did he seem to you?"

Rey didn't know how to respond to this, not at all. Answering would force her to consider Kylo Ren as a person, and that wasn't something she was sure she actually believed. But, she knew the general was asking out of an instinctual parental concern that no logical arguments could overcome. She finally answered as honestly as she could.

"Angry."

The general simply nodded, looking at the ground. She felt sad, Rey could detect it immediately, but surprisingly angry at herself as well. "We'll talk about it more tomorrow, at the debrief. C'mon, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to. We've got a room lined up for you, but you're going to be sharing- I think you'll like your roommate."

Rey followed silently a few steps behind General Organa, pondering this development. She had never had to share her living quarters with anyone, and wasn't sure if this was desirable situation for normal people, or a necessary concession to military life. What if this person didn't like her? She had never been around this many other beings in her life, and it made her feel more alone than ever. Her anxiety was rising in her stomach again as she glanced across the water towards the low-slung building they were heading towards. She tucked the holopad higher into her sweating armpit and wondered when she'd ever have time to read it.