Din studied his reflection, a blank expression staring back at him. An emotionless face, yet pools of intensity within his eyes. The grip at his helmet tightened. This one was different, with unfamiliar, clunky curves. It shone white, shoved into his hands moments prior by an irritated Rey.

With one final dart of his eyes in favor for the mirror, his hands gripped at either side of his disguise, moving to place it experimentally over his head. The limited vision wasn't new to him, just—different. He turned to the door of the ship's refresher, favoring to stay until they arrived at the Finalizer, but ultimately moving toward the cockpit.

The group of Poe's liberators eyed him through their stormtrooper helmets. Din's skin itches under the assessing gazes, disliking the fact that, they too, had helmets to hide under.

"Let's go through the plan again." Luke commanded the attention of the room, stepping forward. "Our men on the inside were using this ship to patrol the Abregado system. They were there to gather supplies." His hand gestured to a handful of large cases at their feet.
"These are illusion enough. Inside are our blasters and sabers." He reminded, turning to eye the stars ahead before looking back at the group.
"We know the general vicinity of Poe's location. The Mand'alor and Finn will find it. That's where they'll be improvising." He nodded to the two men, before turning to Rey. "The feanallay will be under close protection, most likely in the back of the ship, near Ren's quarters. Can you get me there?"

She nodded curtly as Chewbacca growled out a warning. The wookie put the ship into hyper-drive, moments later, the Finalizer came into view. Finn jogged over to the co-pilot's seat, hand hovering over the comm button.

"Lancer-027, status?" Crackled over the radio.

"Lancer-027, task secured. Permission to dock Finalizer." Finn spoke up, voice confident.

Din watched the ever nearing ship, it's cold exterior gave nothing away, but his eyes found themselves achingly going over every corner.

"Permission granted."

Finn slumped into his seat, letting a large breath leave his throat.

"That was the hard part." Luke muttered. "Now it's time for the harder part."

-

Din's footfalls were quiet, but quick, ultimately leaving Finn jogging to keep in step with him, toting the case of their weapons. The corridor held no one, surprisingly.

"I don't know if he's—" Finn began in a whisper.

The Mand'alor raised a hand quickly, still moving toward an unknown target. Finn shut up, albeit reluctantly.

Muffled groans of pain caused either of them to slow their steps to a walk.

"That's him." Finn gasped, breathing rapidly.

"You, stop!" A voice called out from behind them. Both froze, turning slowly. Din's gloved fist creaked, with no weapons on his person, he felt helpless.
"What are you doing in this area?" A man caught up to them. He had on a grey uniform, a lieutenant.

"Well, we—" Finn began.

"What are your numbers?" The man demanded, impatient.

"FN-2187, and this is—" Finn paused, causing Din to stiffen. The other man cleared his throat.
"This is FN-1526." He said finally.

"1526," The man began, voice unsure. "You're an older trooper. Normally they don't last that long." He raised his brow.

"Yes, sir." Din agreed, voice rough.

"Take off you helmet." The superior ordered, curiosity evident in his voice.

Din's hands reached to either side of the unfamiliar helmet, grip vice-like.

"Go on." The man muttered, irritated.

The mandalorian held his breath, shaky hands lifting the helmet off. He kept it held stiffly to his chest, hand twitching on instinct to pull it back over his face. His eyes darted to his side, looking to Finn, who's head was held rigidly forward, gaze looking only at the man in front of them.

"Hm," The Lieutenant hummed, impression filtering into his voice. "Maybe there will be a promotion in your future, 1526."

"Thank you, sir." Din murmured, his voice beginning to betray his uncomfortable position.

"Well," The man stood straight. "That will be all." He nodded before shouldering past them.

Din let a shaky breath out, fumbling to put the helmet back on. Once secured, he turned to Finn, who hesitantly turned to look at him.

"I didn't see anything." The former stormtrooper affirmed, before starting up again, leading them to the tortured sounds of Poe Dameron.
Din followed behind, easily catching up. His head darting to look at either of the closed doors, tuning in to the pilot's rough groans.

"—not to hurt him this time." A muffled voice bit out through the closed door to his right. Din turned to Finn across the corridor, jerking his head toward himself. Finn nodded immediately, quietly stepping toward him, setting the case just beside them. Din unlatched the top, right hand fastening around the hilt of his dark saber, dropping his arm to rest beside him.

"Well, I'm going to the cafeteria." Another voice muttered, the doors hissing open from Din's right as either of the men held themselves flush against the wall.

The mandalorian ignited his saber, just as the trooper came into view, gripping at the man's shoulders, and burrowing the weapon into the other's abdomen. He used his grip at the trooper's shoulders to throw him back into the room, landing on his back.
The other trooper stood to attention immediately, scrambling for the blaster at his hip. Din beat him to it, sending his saber arcing down, severing the trooper's hand before ultimately going through his chest.

Finn followed after, eyeing the carnage carefully with a blaster in his hand.

The second the trooper's form hit the ground, Din's head snapped to the right, spotting Poe's ragged body shackled from the ceiling.
His boots stalked toward the shorter man, shutting off his saber as a gloved hand moving to grab at the side of the other's face, tilting it upward. Poe's tired eyes opened in a near flinch, eyeing the bottomless darkness of the stormtrooper mask's eyes.

"Poe," Din breathed out, Finn scrambling to stand beside them.

The pilot blinked, confused eyes turning to that of relieved recognition. He reeled forward as much as his chained wrists could allow him, in search for more of Din before eyeing the other unknown trooper disguise.
"I wish I could say your name back." Poe murmured, groggy smile replacing his pained frown.

"Let's get you down, buddy." Finn spoke up, hand moving to grip at the other's shoulder.

"Finn," Poe realized.

"Yeah," Finn's smile was evident in his voice, both hands grabbing under Poe's arms to secure him. Din got the hint, moving a hand to the dark saber. He lifted his weapon near the chain above Poe's hands, igniting the saber before slashing it across the air.

Finn's arms stressed under the weight of his friend. The mandalorian quickly grabbed at Poe's waist, helping guide him to kneel on the ground.

"Can you walk?" Din murmured as Finn's head turned to look at the doorway.

"Uh—" Poe started slowly.

"We need to go." Finn urged, head darting between either of the men.

"Alright," Din bit out, overwhelmed. He grunted, moving his other arm to both of Poe's legs, hoisting the man into his arms. Poe's hands shakily clambered to find purchase on the sleek armor. The Mand'alor turned to face Finn who stood nearby, frozen as he watched the encounter.

"Move," Din ordered, voice gruff.

"Yeah," Finn said dumbly, stumbling toward the door.
The group moved to the hallway, thankfully remaining empty, and immediately walked with purpose. After mere moments, rolling red light filled their view.

"Probably Rey's fault." Finn grunted out, changing gears to jog. Din followed suit, forcing a delirious Poe to tighten his grip. A siren began to quietly wail as muffled shouts resounded from nearby.
"That's probably her fault too." Finn supplied again.

The group skidded around the corner, noticing the ship they arrived in, before making a run for it.

"Hey, stop!" A voice commanded, Din turned his head to notice a handful of troopers arriving at the bay, right on their tail. Finn spun around, firing off a few shots that easily took down a couple. The remaining two intercepted them, one wresting for Finn's blaster as the other grabbed at Din's shoulder, hauling him backward.

The mandalorian moved his left arm to wrap around Poe's waist as he freed his right, leaving Poe to lean unevenly beside him on shaky feet. He unholstered his saber, shoving the hilt into the trooper's chest before igniting it, the man crumpling to the ground.
Finn managed to wrangle his blaster away, shooting his assailant in the abdomen before rushing to the entrance of the ship, which was swiftly opened by Chewbacca. Din took no time to bend down to carry Poe in the previous manner, instead, using on arm to lift most of the pilot's weight, half dragging him onto the ship.

Din moved to the wall, keeping his body flush against the cool metal in an attempt to hide from any oncoming troopers. He moved to keep both of his hands at Poe's waist, tugging, the pilot's back held to Din's chest. Poe hissed in pain at the aggressive pull, to which the mandalorian immediately loosened his hold.

Finn and Chewbacca stood at the other side of the entrance, the ex-stormtrooper discarding his helmet on the floor, his head darting out to look for the other members of their party.

The ping of stray blaster fire against the side of the ship made Din's head snap to eye the entrance just beside him.
"That's them." Finn shouted over the commotion, jerking his head away from himself. "Get Poe to the bunks."

The Mand'alor didn't take time to respond, ducking down to grab at Poe's legs. The pilot grunted, in either pain or annoyance, either was plausible. The sleeping quarters weren't far off. A ship without a med bay wasn't ideal, but a bed and a kit would suffice. He moved to set the other man down on the nearest bed. Poe took a sharp intake of breath, eyes frantic as he gripped at Din's shoulders in pain.

"It's alright." Din attempted to placate, which only seemed to make matters.

"It hurts." Poe grunted out through uneven breaths.

"What does?" The mandalorian asked quietly, helmet moving down Poe's form in assessment. His gloved hand moved to grab at the man's shirt, pulling it upward to reveal a multitude of bruises. He looked back to Poe's pained expression, his hand stopping short of the other's chin, lifting his face upward.

They both felt the floor rumble beneath them as the ship came to life, Din breathing out a sigh of relief. Rapid footfalls reached them, Rey, Finn, and Luke skidding into the room.

"How is he?" Finn began.

"Poe," Rey muttered, as the group reached the two.

"Head wound." Din answered quietly, voice rough. Helmet unmoving from Poe's body. "Broken ribs, probably."
Rey moved to kneel at the foot of the bed as Finn grabbed at the med kit, getting to work. Luke stood by, carefully watching.

Finn's steady hands opened a canister of bacta spray, moving it to the dried blood at the side of Poe's head, and sprayed generously. Poe tensed immediately, cursing out in protest, a hand shooting out to grip at Din's arm.
"Please," Poe slurred, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Are we going home?" He asked, almost pleaded.

"Settle down, Poe." Finn murmured, pulling the canister away from his head. "It's gonna be okay, man."

"Where—" Poe started up again, eyes searching the faces surrounding his line of sight. "Where's Grogu?"

"Grogu?" Rey mumbled, confused, as Finn moved to grab a clean cloth.

"He's not here." Din supplied quickly, free hand moving to rest atop Poe's frantic one. "He's alright."

"Where is he?" Poe urged, weak arms attempting to pull away from the mandalorian, trying to sit up.

"He's on Mandalore." Din reminded him, hand moving to lay flat atop Poe's chest, gently pushing him back down.

"How—What?" Poe breathed before Finn placed a warm rag atop his head wound, causing the pilot to shrink back in pain.

"Stop thinking so hard." Luke murmured from overhead. "You're badly concussed, Poe, you're going to be confused for a while." He explained, as Finn moved to place an oxygen mask atop the pilot's lower face. Poe huffed in response, only taking a few moments for his half-lidded eyes to close.

"Does that help him sleep?" Rey asked, eyes darting between Finn and Poe.

"Yeah," Finn sighed, moving the cloth to rest uselessly in his lap. "The medical team at the base will do more than we can." He gestured to the bruises littering Poe's body.

Din's helmet shot up, head reeling forward as he shifted. "The base?"

"The resistance base." Rey confirmed with a nod, nonchalant.

"He's coming home." The mandalorian stressed, the hand atop Poe's chest unwavering.

"The base has great medical equipment." Finn explained slowly, attempting to placate the Mand'alor.

"So does Mandalore." Din spoke. Rey shook her head immediately, rolling her eyes.
"Mandalore's medicine is basically glorified pseudoscience." The padawan responded.

The thought of what Rey had insinuated once before made the mandalorian's skin prickle, doubtful of whether his feelings for Poe were truly reciprocated, or as Rey had said, simply an act of survival.

"Fine." Din acquiesced, standing up. He made one final glance at Poe's now restful form before stalking off in search for his familiar armor.