Sometime before dawn, Harry followed his wife.

Eyes red but dry, Rey covered both bodies with blankets, then lay facing the fire, staring at it with a look of desolation on her face. Poe got up to add wood to all the fires once more; Finn had gotten up and helped him that last time, but the man seemed to be sleeping soundly now. He could tell the temperature was still above freezing, but even temps in the forties could cause hypothermia, especially for people that were already suffering from shock. As he headed back to his fire, he noticed Rey watching him. Without saying anything, he moved to lay down behind her. Also without saying a word, she turned and moved her body close to his, laying her head on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he had just met this woman today. Or yesterday, he corrected himself, his watch telling him it was close to three in the morning. It felt like he had known her forever. It had nothing to do with the crash, he knew; he had been feeling that way before the plane had run into problems. And he didn't even know her last name.

He closed his eyes and tried his best to relax, but his mind kept going over all that needed to be done to help keep all the survivors alive. There were twenty-six people now, with Linda and Harry gone. There was not enough food to feed them all for too long. If tomorrow's recon didn't find any help, then they would need to find a water source. Some way to find or catch food. Poe didn't hunt. In fact, he rarely ate meat. But it would probably be better to try and kill something rather than guess what non-toxic plants there were to eat.

Somehow, he slept. He didn't know how long, but when he opened his eyes, the sun was already appearing over the large rock formation to their east. The warmth it brought was more than physical. He sat up carefully, trying not to disturb Rey too much, and watched as a handful of others began to stir. Eventually, more people began to get up. Bags were opened, snacks were being eaten, water drunk. There was no coffee, but some chose soda to get their morning caffeine. Rey sat up and pulled out the can of Coke she had tucked away the night before, giving Poe a shy smile when he smirked at her. Poe let everyone get up and move, letting them disappear behind rocks or trees to go to the bathroom or change clothing if they desired. But then it was time to get down to business.

He had Finn and Kaz help him move Harry and Linda's bodies to the plane with the others who had not survived. It would be better to keep them out of sight of the survivors, but also it was a way to keep the bodies all together so that when rescue came, they could be recovered easier. Then he asked for volunteers to do the reconnaissance of the area. A young couple, Ezra and Sabine, stepped forward, while Finn and Kaz decided to partner up. Poe wanted them to stay in pairs and to make sure they would not stray so far as to not be able to find their way back to the crash site.

He looked among the group for someone to partner with him, but no one else seemed confident enough to head out into unknown wilderness. Until Rey, who had changed out of her cute little sundress into jeans, t-shirt, and hiking boots, stepped forward.

"I'll go with you, if you want to look around," she said softly. "There's no reason for me to stay here anymore."

Poe looked at her carefully. While she looked as exhausted as he felt, he could also see hopefulness in her gaze. She needed to keep busy, he thought. And if she wanted to keep busy with him, so much the better. "I'd like that," he responded with a gentle nod. "Take some water," he said to his recon group. "You get dehydrated easier at high elevations. And don't be gone for more than two hours. Once we get to know the area, we can go out farther next time. But let's not get anyone lost right now, okay?"

Kaz and Finn both chuckled and Ezra and Sabine smiled. He sent one pair off toward the south and the other northwest. He determined that he and Rey would go east. He looked at the rest of the survivors. "I ask that you all stay close to the crash site," he told them. "If you want to move around, don't go alone, and keep the camp in sight. This is wilderness, which means there are predators around. Bear, mountain lions, wolves. They won't bother a group, so stay close." He looked at Rey, then back at the others. "We'll be back, hopefully with good news."

"Be careful!" an older black man called out to them. Poe nodded, then he turned south, Rey at his side.

They walked quietly across the meadow, heading toward one of the many rock formations scattered around them, but then Rey spoke.

"You're good at that."

Poe glanced at her. "What? Being bossy?"

She laughed softly. "Being a leader."

He shrugged. "I've had plenty of practice faking it."

"You mean acting?"

"That's what acting is, isn't it? The big fake?" He couldn't help the sarcasm. He loved what he did, and he took great pride in it, but in a situation like this his job seemed a frivolous, egocentric thing.

"If it helps you to help these people keep their hopes up and remain strong through this ordeal, then it's not fake, is it?"

He looked at her again, surprised and strangely comforted by her words. "You know, I realized last night that I don't even know your last name."

She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. "Smith," she said softly. "Rey Smith."

"That'll be easy to remember," he said with a grin.

As he hoped, she laughed softly at his comment. "It was given to me," she added, looking away.

"Given to you?"

"I'm an orphan," she explained. "I was abandoned at a homeless shelter in London when I was about five months old with a card that simply said 'Rey' on it. I was raised in a children's home. When I turned eighteen, I was offered a scholarship to attend Wheaton College in Illinois through an International foster program; I guess they thought I had potential. That's where I met Finn." She shrugged. "I had no desire to go back to England, so I applied for citizenship and got a degree in Health Services. Finn became a firefighter and I became an EMT. When I decided to go to vet school, Finn decided to follow, and it's a good thing he did, because he met Rose within a week of us moving to Fort Collins."

"So, you two weren't a couple when you came here?" he asked. She and Finn seemed so close, but it was obvious Finn and Rose were the couple.

She shook her head. "It's hard to explain my relationship with Finn," she said. "He's an orphan, too, so we connected right away, but there's never been any sexual attraction between us. As soon as we were able to leave the dorms, we moved in together and have been roommates ever since. He's my best friend."

Poe nodded. "Having a best friend is the best kind of relationship," he said. "Don't ever take it for granted."

"Do you have a best friend?" she asked, her eyes curious.

He gave her a one-shoulder shrug. "Kind of, though I rarely see him these days. Din Djarin and I used to do plays together back in the day, and we've stayed in touch through the years, but we're both so busy doing our own thing we have a hard time getting together."

"Isn't he..?" Rey started.

"Yeah, he's got his own show now. He's getting to be quite the superstar." He grinned. Din was older than him and it had taken him longer to hit his stride in the industry, but Poe was so happy he had finally made it. "We worked together on Shadowmen," he added. "But we were so busy there, we hardly had time to be social together. He's married now, too, with a baby on the way, so…" he shrugged. "Life's been a little lonely for a while."

"I know what you mean," Rey nodded. "I love Rose to death, but since she's come into Finn's life, we don't spend nearly as much time together as we used to." She stopped suddenly, looking ahead of them.

Poe stopped too, and felt a smile take over his face as he saw the pretty little creek flowing along in front of them. "Well, there's a water source, at least."

One problem solved, he thought, as he and Rey found a way across the water. Now, to find food, or better yet, signs of civilization.

XXXXXX