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English
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Published:
2017-12-17
Updated:
2017-12-18
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2,647
Chapters:
4/?
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Now Or Never

Summary:

OT4 vignettes and prompt fills.

Notes:

Prompt me on Tumblr at @hauntedfalcon!

Chapter 1: The Pieces

Chapter Text

“Is that her?”

Finn looks up from the vitals readout to find Rose awake. He follows her gaze, and can’t hold back his smile. “Yeah.”

Rose’s answering smile is weak, but genuine. “She’s really pretty.”

He shrugs. “She’s okay.” Rose reaches out from under her blanket and shoves his shoulder, and Finn grins.

“So what’s my damage?”

Finn stifles an entire series of possible responses. “Your ribs are toast and you cracked both tibias. Bone stabilizer’s doing its job. Just give it a few more hours and you should be able to walk and take a normal breath.”

Rose presses his hand. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She chases his gaze down. “I’m going to mention it a lot. Not everybody gets to say Finn saved their life.”

Finn’s face burns. “I owed you one.”

“Actually I owed you one from when I stunned you, so I was making up for that.”

He holds up both hands in surrender. “Okay, all right. You owe me one.”

Rose nods, satisfied, and already drifting off again. “Damn right.”

Finn sits back against the side of her bunk, watching the rebels in the cabin. Morale is surprisingly high; there is a round of dejarik in progress and an actual sabacc game in another corner, and Connix has found a small liquor stash and initiated the rationing process. It feels more like an evening in the barracks than the aftermath of a devastating battle.

He hasn’t asked where they’re all going. Does it matter? They can chase Leia’s distress signal to all its destinations, confront the people who didn’t come to them, maybe guilt them into support, but is there any more point to that than to starting fresh somewhere else?

He pinches the spot between his eyes. This is not the hour to obsess. For right now, for long enough to rest, they are going to be okay. He wills his tension to ease, matches the pace of his breathing to Rose’s, and rests.

- - -

“Could I have a look at that?”

The woman takes her eyes off the broken device in her hands, and regards Rose seriously. A heartbeat later, without a word, she hands over the two pieces. Rose adjusts her hold on the blanket over her shoulders and takes them, then sits with effort in the empty space beside Rey. She can feel Finn watching her, watching both of them.

She uncouples the grip. “Power cell is blown,” she reports, which is nothing the other woman doesn’t know. “But the kyber crystal is intact and stable, and we can cook up new focusing gems. Some pipe for the chassis; this ship’s got to have some systems we can bypass. It won’t be good as new, but--”

“I’m not sure I want to rebuild it,” says Rey.

And part of Rose recoils at the thought of good components going to waste, but another part, maybe the greater part, understands. She hands back the pieces. “I’m Rose.”

“I know,” says Rey--Finn must have told her everything while Rose was out--and she smiles.

A gorgeous, blinding smile. Wow.

Oh no.

- - -

The third time Poe falls asleep in one of the Falcon’s second row cockpit chairs, Leia takes pity. “There’s extra crash foam in a floor compartment in the cargo hold.”

Poe blinks at her, then at the ship’s controls and the shattered spectrum of hyperspace, in search of anything at all he could be doing that’s useful. He finds only a Wookiee who is willing to physically escort him to the cargo hold, and the knowing gaze of a woman who is determined, here at the start of the end, to do right by every living person on this ship.

So is Poe, and that will mean looking after himself as well. He nods and goes.

In the main cabin most of the rebels doze in uncomfortable positions. Finn leans against the bulkhead by the medical bunk, arms crossed against a pervading chill despite all the bodies nearby, eyes open and focused on nothing. Poe nudges him. Come with me? he mouths, and tilts his head toward the ladder down.

Finn pushes away from the wall without hesitation.

The crash foam is meant to pad shipping containers with fragile goods, not human bodies, and it smells of stale glitterstim. It is the best thing Poe has experienced in… however long it’s been since Finn arrived on D’Qar. He groans, stretching out, and looks up at Finn. “How you been, buddy?”

Finn stares at him, and then laughs silently, and gets on the pad. “It’s been a weird day.”

“Yeah,” Poe says, offering his arm as a pillow, which Finn accepts. “Yeah.” He isn’t sure he can switch off, not really, from the endless mental cataloguing of what they have, rearranging their collection of one ship and fourteen officers into a configuration that will only ever be a sum of parts, and never the whole, because what they have is all of that but also brains, the best strategic minds in the galaxy, and if they can just get out from under the unfathomable losses and unspeakable fatigue, they can think their way to a solution in no time. But first, somehow, they all have to sleep.

“Can I join you?”

He didn’t even hear footsteps on the ladder. Of course he didn’t. She probably floated down.

Finn turns over, looks back at Poe, pretends to think it over. “It’s very cold,” Rey says.

They scoot. Poe’s hand is under Finn’s cheek now, hardly any use as a pillow but he can’t complain, and Rey gets into the space between them, and it’s been maybe three hours since they formally introduced themselves but all Poe feels, and all that is in Rey’s eyes, is absolute trust.

That’s the other thing they have now, and Poe holds onto it as he starts to unmoor from the waking world. Trust like that is exactly what they’ll need in the fight that’s coming.

“Oh.”

Poe opens his eyes. “You left the pieces up in the cabin,” says Rose, holding something in her fist. “I thought, uh, well. I can’t drill kyber, not without blowing us all up probably, but I had some wire and I found some light tether line in a supply cabinet.” She fidgets and, haltingly, opens her hand.

Rey sits up.

“If you don’t like it,” Rose goes on, “you can use it in your next lightsaber instead. Or get rid of it or some--”

“I love it,” Rey says, and Rose’s shoulders drop instantly. She hands Rey the crystal, wrapped with a hastily stripped patch wire, and slips the loop of tether line over her head. Poe lifts his head enough to see the shard of crystal sitting just below her collarbone. It suits her. “Come here?” Rey offers.

Rose stiffens again, a little. “You just want my blanket.”

“That’s true,” says Finn, and Poe makes agreeing noises, and Rose clutches the thermal foil a little tighter, but Rey just keeps smiling disarmingly up at her until she comes over.

“My ribs still hurt,” she warns.

“Won’t squeeze you,” says Poe, shutting his eyes again. Soon Rey’s back is against him and he shifts to rest his face at the nape of her neck. Finn moves farther away and that’s a really sad thing, but his hand comes to rest in Poe’s instead, and Rose sets her cheek against Poe’s forearm and he ends up with about a half-meter corner of thermal foil over his hip, reflecting the warmth of all of them together.

Rose says, “So, how did you guys meet?”

Finn says, “Rose, we’re doing sleeping now,” and there is a brief scuffle and the feel of Finn’s breathy laugh against Poe’s hand.

Working against sleep, Poe says, “Did we leave anyone else who loves us upstairs?”

A grappling hook clanks on the ladder. BB-8 warbles as they descend. Rey shakes with laughter.

There’s no room left on the foam, but all the little droid wants is to be close to them, and Poe understands completely. He drifts into a warm and pleasant darkness, holding many people he would like to save.

Chapter 2: The Businessman

Notes:

catpella prompted: now I want to see the TLJ OT4 interacting with Lando - who's impressed by him as General Calrissian former Rebel leader and who's impressed by his deeds after the Rebellion and how many of them swoon over his still-evident swagger

GET LANDO BACK INTO STAR WARS DANGIT

Send me prompts on Tumblr at @hauntedfalcon!

Chapter Text

“General Calrissian,” says Finn, extending his hand.

Maz’s new place is sleek and this booth is the most secluded and well shielded with sound-dampening architecture. Still, the man on the padded bench snaps his gaze up from his datapad to Finn, and looks him and the others over for a long moment before he says, “There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

“General Organa sent us.”

For a second, Calrissian almost grins. “You’re the one that grew a conscience, aren’t you?” he asks, and Finn could say the same for him. “As for you, Commander Dameron, your reputation precedes you. And who might you be?”

“I’m Rey,” says Rey, having none of his charm. “And this is Rose Tico, hero of the Battle of Crait.” At that Rose opens her mouth, closes it again, and stands a little straighter.

“A regular band of rebels. How is Leia?”

“You’d know if you’d responded to her distress signal,” says Poe, his chin high.

Calrissian doesn’t blink. “I was indisposed. I’d be happy to tell you that story–how much time do you have?”

Rose sets the drink they bought at Maz’s recommendation on the table, and now Calrissian smiles. “We’re not here to confront you,” she says.

“And yet this feels remarkably like a confrontation.” The four of them glance at each other, and Finn is the first to sit, hands folded on the table. Rose does the same, but Rey and Poe hang back, leaning in the archway.

Calrissian sips his drink, and Rose continues, “Your smuggling ring has saved the Resistance more times than I can count.”

“Here’s someone who understands respect and gratitude.”

“We’re running low on resources–one of which is unmonitored hyperspace routes,” says Finn.

“And a way to counteract the tracking technology that the First Order will inevitably implement again, if I understand the situation correctly.”

“Also, informants,” Rey says, “which you clearly have.”

Calrissian considers them one by one. “In exchange for all that, am I supposed to have a rank again?”

“There aren’t enough of us left for rank,” says Poe.

Calrissian gazed contemplatively at his drink. This silence stretches so long that Finn steals an uncertain glance at the others. They were warned Calrissian was a businessman first, and they have nothing at all to offer, but Leia was so certain–

“If this is the limit to our conversation,” says Rey, “we’ll just get back on the Falcon and try Terrik or Karrde.”

At the word Falcon, Calrissian’s eyes sharpen like the bird itself. “You have my ship?”

“Your what?” Rey says, emphasis on the first word.

“I’m going to settle up,” Calrissian says, rising, and Finn and Rose stand as well, uncertain, “and then I’m going to make sure you haven’t done something absurd like anodize the hull or install a compressor, and then we’ll cut a deal.”

He sweeps out of the booth, leaving the four them in his wake. “Why do I feel like we just sold the Falcon?” Rose says.

“Make sure he doesn’t bolt,” Poe advises, and Rey, eyes half closed, shakes her head.

“He’s doing what he said. You’re just jealous you can’t make a cape work.”

“I can too,” says Poe, still sullen but working his way out of it at the promise of a productive discussion. “I just don’t want to.”

Chapter 3: Easy to Love

Notes:

Anon prompted: The OT4 actually discussing their feelings! Communication!!!

Prompt me on Tumblr at @hauntedfalcon!

Chapter Text

“I’ve never done this before,” says Rose. She’s drowsy--Rey’s fingers are working through her hair, the wire ties set aside for the night next to Rey’s loops. “A relationship, I mean.”

“You’re good at it,” Rey tells her. “I haven’t either, and I don’t think Finn has, and Poe--”

“Not one like this,” Poe murmurs from the other side of Finn. Rose thought they were both asleep.

“That’s the thing,” Rose says. “We all love each other, but… sometimes I wonder if this is too much for us. There’s probably a reason monogamy is the most common form of mating in the galaxy, right?”

“Nobody else has as much love to give as we do,” Poe says, and Rey and Rose both snort.

“If it helps,” Finn says, his face pressed to Poe’s clavicle, “we can all walk away anytime.”

It doesn’t. “Walk away where? If I kark up, we’re still all on the same tiny ship and I have to look you in the eye every--”

Rey leans over and kisses her cheek, and Rose stops, takes a breath. “We’re all gonna kark up,” Poe says, eyes open now and holding Rose’s gaze. “We’re going to start over all the time. It’s going to hurt. If you don’t believe it’s worth it, you can say so now and none of us will judge you.”

Rose sets her jaw. He doesn’t mean it as a challenge, but taking things as a challenge is how she’s made it through life so far. Survive under First Order oppression until she could get offworld with Paige? Scrape buildup from fifty meters of conduit before lunch? Keep the Falcon’s hyperdrive functional with nothing more than tape and spit? Challenge accepted.

Love three people at once?

“You’re all easy to love,” she sighs.

Rey holds her shoulders and turns her around. “What do you think you are?” she asks through a trace of a smile.

Rose leans on her. They sink down beside Finn. His hand reaches back for her, and Rose holds it.

Chapter 4: It Suits You

Notes:

kyberfox wanted boyfriends shopping for new clothes. Girlfriends came along.

Prompt me on Tumblr at @hauntedfalcon!

Chapter Text

The rebels no longer have a quartermaster or a dedicated uniform synthesizer, so on an unnamed trading station in the Mid Rim, they find a shop.

“Okay, we need a showroom,” Poe says, studying the map.

“Here.” Rey taps a square corresponding to a place nearby. “Tailless bipeds.”

“That’s us.” Poe leads, and Rey and Finn stop short when they reach their destination.

“No one needs this many clothes,” Finn says.

“This fabric is impractical,” Rey adds, touching something shiny.

“You have like ten meters of gauze wrapped around you,” says Rose.

Rey rounds on her. “I dare you to try this on.”

“Uhh, no. That’s made for tall people.” At Rey’s stare she says, “Synthetic Hapan pearls aren’t really my style.”

“Just try it?” Rey says, and Rose buckles, takes it from her hand, and disappears into a changing room.

“You like the v-neck or do you want to try a square placket?” Poe offers both to Finn.

“This is fine. Can they make the new one smell like you?”

“You’re so romantic, buddy.” Poe notes the preset numbers that will match the design to Finn’s measurements at the synthesizer, then turns to a new rack and scoffs. “Look at this. They’re offering trousers with fake Corellian bloodstripes. Disgraceful.”

“Stolen valor,” Finn concurs.

They’re waiting by the bank of synthesizers for Rey’s third vest when Rose emerges. “Happy now?”

The gown is indeed long on her, and the pearls are a little overwhelming. “Wow,” Finn breathes.

“You should buy that,” Rey agrees.

“For what? It’s not like I can wear it on a mission.”

Finn reaches for ideas. “We could infiltrate a, a…”

“Party,” Poe supplies. “There’s always good intel at parties.”

“I’m putting this back,” Rose declares, and the others deflate a little.

But then one of the synthesizers chimes, and Poe perks up. “Hey, I got you something,” he says to Finn. The jacket he takes out from the machine is free from the signs of wear, and it doesn’t have a carefully-mended cut in the shoulder and back, but it does have the ribbed piping on the arms and red accent panels. “Won’t feel the same, I know, but this one you can break in yourse--”

The jacket gets crushed between them when Finn pulls him in for a kiss.