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Finn was on his back, half inside a control panel on the Falcon, helping Rey with repairs. There was a familiar metallic rolling noise near the ramp and then, he heard Rey coo, “Hello, Bee! Here to help?”
Finn leaned to the side and spied the astromech rolling toward him. Guess it came to help. “Good,” he said. “Bee, can you hand me that—OUCH,” Finn yelled as Bee shocked him.
Finn lurched forward, hitting his head on the panel and falling back. The last thing he heard before he blacked out was Rey yelling, “Bee!”
# # # #
Finn startled awake, and for a moment, everything looked wrong. Did they leave me on the floor?
He started to move, realizing that as he did, he heard a familiar metal rolling sound. He stopped and spun. “Keep that droid away from me,” he said—only it came out as a series of beeps. “What,” he said again, and then he felt sick as he realized that his arms and legs were missing and— “What in the kriffing hell is going on?”
Poe knelt down next to him, a hand on top of his head—only it wasn’t his head. “Sorry, Bee, but Rey thought it best to power you down while they moved Finn to medical.” Poe sighed and stood, looking down at Finn and shaking his head. “What got into you, buddy?”
“Poe, what in the hell is going on,” Finn asked, only it came out as beeps again.
That’s when he realized. I’m not in my body. He started moving his head, rotating it back and forth, and then, he was rolling. I’m in Bee’s body.
No.
No.
Nonononononononononononononononononono!
“Woah, buddy,” Poe said, kneeling down again. “What has you so worked up? And why in the hell did you shock Finn?”
Finn? I’m Finn! Bee shocked me!
“I’m Finn.”
“Bee,” Poe said.
“I’m Finn.”
“Bee, do we need to get a tech in here?”
“I’m FINN,” Finn yelled.
Poe shook his head, grabbing Bee’s dome and staring straight into the photoreceptor. “Bee? Did you fry something when you shocked him? Or did something happen earlier?”
I’m kriffing Finn, but…
Where in the hell is my body?
Finn thought for a moment, figuring arguing with Poe wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “Where’s Finn,” Finn asked.
“He’s in medical. Hit his head pretty hard. Dr. Kalonia thinks he’s going to be out for the rest of the night.” Poe shook his head. “And Rey is mad. Like, forehead scrunched kind of mad. I think it might be wise if you avoided her for a few days.”
“I want to see him,” Finn said.
Poe grimaced. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, buddy.”
“I want to see him, Poe,” Finn said, rolling forward and heading for the Falcon’s ramp.
“Woah, buddy! Okay. Just…” Poe jogged after his astromech. “Let me clear it with the doctor first, okay?”
Finn stopped at the end of the ramp. “Fine.”
“Seriously, Bee, what has gotten into you?” Poe pressed his comm and started talking.
As he did, Finn started trying to figure out his new body. Rolling seemed pretty intuitive—just lean in the direction I want to go and go. But other things were a bit more difficult. For instance, while he could easily turn his head, it felt wrong to be able to turn it a full 360-degrees. Feels like my neck is going to snap off, he thought. Next, he tried to access all of the tools he knew were housed in Bee’s frame. Those were a bit trickier.
He didn’t realize that Poe was staring until he had both the holoprojector going and his little arc torch out.
“Uh, buddy? Anything you want to tell me?”
“Can we see me, er…Finn now,” Finn asked.
“Sure,” Poe said, sounding a bit skeptical. “Let’s go.” He gestured forward and Finn took off. He could hear Poe jogging behind him. “We don’t have to run, buddy.”
Yeah, we do, Finn thought.
I want my body back.
As he got into medical, Finn screeched to a halt, finding Dr. Kalonia standing in the hallway glaring at him. “Not without Dameron,” she said.
Poe ran up, panting. “Sorry. Bee just…” He stopped to try to catch his breath.
“Seems to have a mind of its own today, doesn’t it?” Kalonia looked down at Finn. “Behave. Understood?”
“Yes,” Finn beeped out.
She nodded and pointed to a bed on the far side of medical. Finn rolled over and then realized his problem: I’m too kriffing short. As Poe came up behind him, he said, “I want to see him.”
Poe huffed out a breath, “Buddy.”
“I need to see him,” Finn begged.
Poe sighed and shook his head, muttering, “The things I do for you.” He groaned as he reached down and picked the astromech up. “There,” he said, clearly struggling under the weight. “Happy?”
Finn looked down on his sleeping form. It was unnerving. I’m…How can I be there and here? He shook his head. “Put me down.”
Poe did.
What in the hell happened?
“Okay, now that you’ve seen him, do you think we can go back to quarters?”
“But,” Finn started.
“Bee,” Poe said, beyond exasperated, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a long day, and if you’re hoping to apologize to Finn, he’s not going to wake up until tomorrow anyway, so…”
Finn looked back up at the bed, desperately wanting to stay near his body, but at the same time knowing he wouldn’t know what to do, even if he…Bee? was awake. “Fine,” Finn said. He spared one last look at the bed before rolling away.
As he rolled out of medical, he started trying to figure out his situation: Bee shocked me. I got knocked out, and woke up in Bee’s body, which means that in all likelihood, Bee is in mine, but…how in the kriff do we switch back? Does Bee need to be awake? Do we need to do something special? Was it the shock or… He could feel the panic rise in his system. What if we can’t switch back? What if this is permanent? What if—
He was torn from his thoughts by Poe saying, “Hey, buddy, this way.”
Right. Poe’s room. Not mine.
Poe shot him a concerned look. “I think maybe we should run a diagnostic tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Finn said. Maybe a diagnostic will help.
Poe keyed in the code for his quarters and walked in, straight to his bed. He sat down with a heavy sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Now, you wanna tell me what happened today?”
Finn looked up at him. I wish I knew.
“Rey said you just barreled onto the Falcon and headed straight to Finn.” Poe shook his head. “I thought you liked Finn.”
“So did I,” Finn muttered.
“What?”
Finn shook his head.
Poe sighed. “Is this about what I told you last night?”
How should I know, Finn thought.
“Buddy, look, I was having a rough day, and…and I didn’t…” Poe sighed, falling backward onto his bed.
Finn rolled forward, gently nudging Poe’s leg. “Poe?”
Poe reached down to pat the top of his dome. “Look,” Poe said, sitting back up. “I’m really hoping that this isn’t a malfunction, but that this was your misguided attempt to protect me, but, but, but…” He looked down at the droid, a mixture of affection and annoyance in his eyes. “You can’t go around shocking beings. If you do,” Poe said, leaning down, “the General is going to insist I start wiping your memory and…and buddy…” Poe’s voice nearly broke. “I don’t want to do that.”
“No,” Finn said, suddenly afraid. “Please don’t.”
“Then don’t go around shocking beings. Especially not Finn, and especially not because I’m a jealous idiot.”
“Huh?”
“No, I get it,” Poe said. “I’ve been unloading all of these feelings to you for a while now, and…”
“Like what?”
“Bee, are you sure that you’re—”
“Like what,” Finn asked again.
“Like the fact that I’m crazy in love with Finn, and it’s clear that he and Rey are—”
Wait, what? Finn’s whole universe realigned and for a few moments, he stopped listening to Poe. When he had fully processed what Poe had said, he interrupted, “You love Finn?”
Poe gave a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, buddy. Hasn’t that been the theme of most of our late night talks since Crait?”
Holy kriffing hell. “And last night?”
“Seriously, Bee, you’re worrying me,” Poe said, bending down to look into Bee’s photoreceptor.
“Just tell me,” Finn said.
“Fine,” Poe said. “Last night, I…” Poe scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was complaining about all the time that Rey and Finn spend together and…” He looked down at the droid. “And I was being a jealous jerk, Bee. I want to make that clear. Finn and Rey have done nothing wrong. They are… Heck, Bee, they are two of the best beings I’ve ever met, and if she makes him happy, then…” Poe sighed. “I’m such a kriffing jerk.”
“You’re not a jerk,” Finn said.
Poe chuckled. “Yeah, right.” Poe looked down at the droid. “What I don’t understand is why you went after Finn.”
Been wondering that myself.
Finn looked up at Poe, who looked so worn out, so worried. “Are you okay?”
Poe gave Finn a weak smile. “I’m fine, buddy.”
“No, you’re not.”
Poe laughed. “Well, my astromech attacked someone today, and I’ve been yelled at by a General, a Jedi, and my favorite doctor. Plus, I figure tomorrow, the guy I’ve been crazy about for months is going to yell at me too.”
“He won’t,” Finn said.
“He should,” Poe said. He scrubbed his hands over his face again. “Kriff. You know, I just need to move on,” Poe said. “Like…maybe this is a good thing? Maybe now, I’ll stop fantasizing about him and just…”
“No,” Finn said as forcefully as he could manage.
“Buddy,” Poe started.
“No, you should tell him,” Finn said. “Tell him how you feel.”
“Bee, we’ve talked about this. It’s clear that he’s with Rey and—”
“I’m not with Rey,” Finn said.
“Uh, buddy?”
“I mean, Finn is not with Rey.”
“You don’t know that, Bee, and—”
“I do know that, and I know that Finn is…” He’d never told another soul. He’d figured it was some stupid unrequited crush, which was why lately, he had been doing everything in his power to avoid Poe.
“Finn is what, Bee?”
“Finn is in love with you,” Finn said.
Poe let out a sad laugh and looked down at Bee with such pity that Finn wanted to scream. “I wish that were the case, buddy.”
“It is,” Finn said, getting so upset, he started spinning. “It is! I promise, it is!”
“Woah, buddy,” Poe said, coming off the bed and kneeling on the floor, wrapping his arms around the astromech. He leaned his head against Bee’s dome, enveloping the droid in a hug. “I wish it were true, and I think you are about the best friend I’ve ever had for wishing it were the case, but…” Poe sighed, pressing his forehead against Bee’s dome just a bit harder. “Let’s just get some rest, okay buddy?”
Finn wondered if it felt this good to Bee to be in Poe’s arms. A part of him wanted to tell Poe never to let go, but instead, he said, “Okay.”
“Go charge,” Poe said, pointing to the station in the corner.
Finn started over and then paused. “Poe?”
“Yeah, buddy,” Poe said, lying down.
“I love you.”
Poe gave him a soft smile. “I love you too, Bee.” He nodded to the station. “Now, go charge.”
“Night, Poe.”
“Night, Bee.”
# # # #
Finn blinked open his eyes with a groan. His head was pounding and everything was far too bright. He tried to say something, but it came out as a garbled mess.
Suddenly, he felt a hand squeeze his own and then, he heard Rey’s voice, “Doctor! He’s awake!”
Rey leaned over him. “Finn? Are you okay?”
Finn licked his lips. “Head,” he managed.
The doctor came in. “How are you feeling, Finn?”
Finn said, “Head.”
The doctor nodded. “You had quite the accident. Manage to hit both the front and the back of your head with quite a bit of force.”
She came over, shining a bright light into his eyes. Finn tried to jerk his head away. “I need to look, Finn,” she said, forcefully. “The brain scans look good, but I always like to double check.”
“Can he have something for the pain,” Rey asked.
“Of course,” the doctor said. “I’ll have a droid bring something in a moment.” The doctor gave Finn a kind smile. “Colonel Dameron has been asking about you, but he figured he might not be welcome.”
“I’d like to see him,” Finn said. “And Bee too.”
The doctor raised an eyebrow at that. “I’ll pass that along.”
“Thanks,” Finn said.
Rey looked down at Finn. “Are you sure you want to see Bee?”
Finn nodded, and then almost immediately regretted it. “Yeah, we need to have a talk, actually.”
“Okay,” Rey said, totally unconvinced.
# # # #
An hour later, Poe poked his head around the corner. “Is this a good time?”
“Yeah,” Finn said. He looked down at Poe’s feet. “Where’s Bee?”
“Bee is waiting down the hall. I didn’t know if you wanted to yell at me first or—”
“I’m not gonna yell at either of you,” Finn said. “Actually,” he turned to Rey. “If you and Poe could give me a few minutes alone with Bee?”
“You sure,” Rey asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, buddy,” Poe said. He turned down the hall and gave a quick whistle. Finn could hear the droid roll over. “Now,” Poe whispered. “You be good. And be sure to apologize, okay?”
[Yes.] Bee replied in a mournful tone.
The droid rolled in and Finn sat up a bit more so he could see Bee. He nodded to a space next to his bed.
Bee rolled over. [I am sorry, Friend-Finn. I shouldn’t have shocked you.]
“No,” Finn said, “you shouldn’t have.” He couldn’t help but smile. “But I’m guessing you were a bit frustrated with me?”
Bee looked up.
“You were upset that Poe was jealous, and…” Finn laughed. “Let’s be honest, you like Rey more than you like me.”
The droid cocked its dome to the side, studying Finn.
“How much do you remember from after I got shocked, Bee?”
[Friend-Rey switched off my power and Friend-Poe turned me back on this morning in his room.]
Finn considered that. “So you don’t remember any of it?”
[Are you feeling well, Friend-Finn?]
“I’ve been better, but…” He wondered if it would be worth it to try to explain to Bee. Then, he wondered, Is anyone gonna believe me?
He looked down at the droid. “So, why did you shock me?”
The droid gave a pitiful sound.
“Bee, I’m not gonna get mad.”
[I know, but Friend-Poe might.]
“How about this? I tell you what I think happened and you tell me if I’m right?”
[Okay.]
“Poe told you he’s jealous of me and Rey, because he thinks that I’m in love with her. And for some reason, you got it into your head that I was hurting Poe, so you came to give me a piece of your mind, so to speak. Does that sound about right?”
[Yes.] Bee hung its dome in shame.
“Yeah, I figured,” Finn said. “Next time, come and talk to me, Bee. Talking is almost always the best course of action in situations like this.” Good advice, Finn thought to himself. I should probably take it myself. “Okay?”
[Okay.] The beep that Bee gave was so pitiful that Finn’s heart broke just a little. He felt like he was scolding an adorable child, and he suddenly realized why Poe was forever patting Bee on the dome and hugging it.
“Oh for crying the kriff out loud, I’m not mad, Bee, okay?”
The droid looked up.
“Just…just don’t do it again.” Finn shook his head. “Now, could you go get Poe and send him in here?”
Bee beeped in the affirmative and rolled off to find Poe.
Poe came in, hanging his head. “Finn, I just wanted to apologize for—”
“I’m not in love with Rey,” Finn said.
Poe froze in the doorway, his mouth hanging open. When he finally recovered, he managed to say, “Huh?”
“I’m not in love with Rey,” Finn said. “I think you’ve been operating under the misapprehension that—”
“I’m going to kill that droid,” Poe said, already turning to go hunt Bee down.
“Bee didn’t tell me,” Finn called after him.
Poe froze again. “What?”
“Bee didn’t tell me,” Finn said. “You did.”
“I…what?”
Finn nodded to the chair next to his bed. “Let me tell you a story, and when I’m finished, maybe the two of us can figure out if it has a happy ending or not.”
Poe looked confused, but as he looked over at the smile Finn was wearing, he matched it. “Okay,” Poe said, sitting.
“Well, it all starts yesterday, with me in the Falcon…”
# # # #
Twenty minutes later, Poe sat in his chair, flabbergasted.
“Take as long as you want,” Finn said, loving how adorable the other man looked when he was confused.
“So, you’re saying that…” Poe shook his head. “That last night when…” He closed his eyes and covered his face. “Oh kriff!”
Finn laughed. “To be fair, I told you I was Finn on the Falcon.”
“Yeah, well,” Poe said, “how in the hell was I supposed to believe that?”
Finn laughed harder. “I don’t know. Maybe the fact that Bee suddenly didn’t know how to Bee?”
Poe shook his head. “Does Bee remember any of this?”
“No,” Finn said. “Must’ve been out the entire time. Bee doesn’t remember anything until this morning.”
“Kriff,” Poe said, leaning back. “This is…this…what in the kriff happened?”
Finn shrugged. “No idea.”
“Have you told Dr. Kalonia or Rey or—”
“Didn’t figure they’d believe me,” Finn said. “At least with you, I had some proof.”
And then, Poe remembered everything he’d told “Bee” the night before. His face went bright red and his head fell forward into his hands. “This is a kriffing nightmare.”
“No,” Finn said. “A kriffing nightmare is waking up in a droid’s body. Trust me on that.”
Poe peeked up at him. “Look, about last night…”
“Do you remember what I told you?”
Poe paused, and then, he remembered one thing very clearly. “You told me Finn loves me.” He said it as if he didn’t believe it.
“Yeah,” Finn said. “I did.”
“But…” Poe looked over at him, still in shock.
Finn raised an eyebrow, waiting for Poe to catch up.
Poe was out of his seat and next to Finn in the next second. “So that means that…you love me?”
“Yep,” Finn said with a nod.
“And…and I love you.”
“So I hear,” Finn said.
It finally sunk in. “You love me,” Poe said again. He laughed. “You love me.”
“Yeah,” Finn said, laughing with him. “I do.”
“Kriff,” Poe said. He started to lean forward and then paused. “Can I?”
“Yes,” Finn said, closing his eyes as Poe pressed his lips into Finn’s.
# # # #
Rey and Bee stood in the doorway, watching Poe and Finn. Rey looked down at the astromech and whispered, “Next time, you warn me that you’re going to shock him. The plan was just to swap you two out for a night, not send Finn to medical, okay?”
[I got carried away.]
“Bee,” Rey warned.
[Fine. Next time, no shocks.]
“Although, maybe there won’t be a need for a next time?”
[With those two? There will definitely be a next time.]