Poe pulled away from Rey, his eyes immediately scanning the sky, but he kept hold of one of her hands. His body, which just seconds before had felt like it was about to combust as she had been trying to wrap herself around him, protested his sharp move. He winced slightly, but then his eye caught sight of the Cessna 206, and the blood began to return to his brain. Unfortunately, the little plane was flying away from them.

"What is that?" Rey gasped, using her free hand to point ahead of them, just under where the plane was disappearing behind another huge granite formation.

He squinted, his brain still a bit sluggish as he focused on the reddish color barely visible behind the trees. "It's a building!" he exclaimed when he realized the color he saw was from the shingles of a roof. He looked at Rey and grinned. She grinned back, and the adrenaline that had been produced by their make-out session was used to push them forward on the trail. They passed another sign but barely glanced at it as they continued on. The trail branched, and without hesitating Poe took the right one, continuing on toward the building.

Soon, they could see what appeared to be a gravel road, and next to the building, which was a stout looking cabin, sat a United States Forest Service SUV. Poe tightened his grip on Rey's hand and they both began to jog. If there was a vehicle here, that meant there was probably a ranger. Just as they started to follow the trail around the building toward its front, a man came out the door. Wearing the typical olive-green slacks and jacket, with the distinctive straw hat, the young man looked startled as he saw them, but then his eyes widened almost comically as recognition hit him.

"Oh, my God!" he gasped. "Everyone thinks you're dead!"

Poe stopped, dropping Rey's hand so he could lean over, bracing himself on his knees as he laughed, gasping for air. "I'm sure a few people wish I was," he joked.

"How?" the Ranger started. "Where?" He looked around wildly. "Where did you come from?"

"We've been hiking for a couple of days now," Rey started. "There are at least two dozen more survivors at the crash site. They need help!"

"Shit-take!" the ranger said, quickly changing the swear word to a mushroom. He turned back toward the door. "Get in here and sit down. I'll radio the search commander."

Poe grabbed Rey's hand again and tugged her behind him as he followed the ranger inside. The cabin was small but cozy, and Poe made a bee-line for the sofa sitting along the front wall. As the ranger made his way over to a desk with a computer and other tech sitting on it, Poe pulled out his phone. Still no signal. But the ranger didn't need a cell signal. He took off his hat and put a headset on over his blonde hair. Almost immediately he started talking excitedly on it.

"Guess who just strolled up to my door?" he inquired. "Poe fucking Dameron!"

Rey started laughing, looking at Poe. He smiled back at her. They had done it. They had made it to safety, and it hadn't taken too long. The others would be found and rescued, now. While he looked at her beautiful face, he was reminded of the confession she had given him just before the plane's arrival. He had expected to be surprised or disappointed by her admission, but he had been neither. He had been amused by it, however.

If it had changed how he felt about her, it had only made him care for her even more. These past few days had put the both of them in a situation where insincerity or artifice had been impossible, even for a well-trained actor such as himself. Her concealing that she was a fan was understandable. Directly after the crash, she probably hadn't even thought about it, and afterwards, after they started getting close, he appreciated why she hadn't wanted to tell him. After what she had said about her feelings for him, it was obvious she hadn't wanted to risk having him hate her or distrust her.

"Hey!"

The ranger's voice, directed toward them, pulled his thoughts back to their current situation.

"Can you guys show me on this map where you came from?" The young man was standing next to a large framed map on the wall next to his desk.

Poe stood and moved over to the map, feeling his aching body scream; he had just been getting comfortable sitting. Rey followed.

The ranger pointed to a spot just northeast of the label 'Big Sandy Campground.' "We're right here," he said.

Poe brought his finger up and followed the trail back as Rey moved in to watch. "We came from the Cirque," Poe said. "We hit the trail about four or five hours north of there."

Rey added her finger. "And we hiked about four hours from the west to get to the trail," she said as she slid her finger left on the map. She looked at the ranger. "Around here somewhere."

The ranger looked intensely at where she was pointing, then spoke into the microphone of his headset. "West of Texas Pass," he said. Then he looked back at them, awe in his face. "How the hell did anyone survive a crash in that area?" Then he shook his head. "Never mind. Everyone thought the pilot turned west in the storm. They've been looking for you closer to Pinedale."

"The pilot said he was going to try and get to Atlantic City," Poe told him.

The kid shook his head. "Weren't even close. But if the damage to the plane was as bad as he thought, then he had no clue where he was."

Poe nodded. "I guessed he was just trying to keep everyone calm. Make everyone think it was under control."

The ranger nodded. Then he kind of shook himself. "I'm Tem, by the way. Tem Blagg." He reached out a hand. "Big fan."

Poe gave a soft laugh and shook the man's hand. Then he motioned to Rey. "This is my fellow Pathfinder, Rey Smith."

Tem and Rey shook hands.

"Why didn't we see any other hikers on the trail?" Poe asked. "I thought this was a fairly popular place?"

Tem huffed a frustrated laugh. "That storm that knocked you out of the sky? It also washed out the only road out here. The few campers that were stuck were airlifted out yesterday. It's just me and the few backpackers that are still on the loop, unaware. I'm here waiting for them." He grinned. "And I got you instead."

"Does that mean we get airlifted out, too?" Rey asked.

"Actually, no. I just got word a few hours ago that the road has been repaired. Another ranger is on the way to drive you to Boulder. The choppers will go in for the folks on your plane once the search plane finds them."

Poe nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted. Tem seemed to recognize this.

"Hey, are you guys hungry?" he asked. "I've got fixings for cold sandwiches, soda and juice. I can make some coffee, too."

"Sandwiches sound great," Poe said nodding. His stomach seemed to roll over on itself at his words.

"Do you have Coke?" Rey asked quietly.

Poe laughed as Tem nodded.

XXXXXX

A/N: Yes, I love Coke, which is why I had to make Rey a Cola addict, too! LOL