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He regretted it as soon as his fist made contact with the pilots jaw. In Finn’s defense, the guy was asking for it. He had been peacefully eating his dinner, minding his own business, when the resistance pilot next to him purposely spoke louder than he needed to about his dislike towards the new stormtrooper. Saying things about how Finn was just a ‘useless double agent’ and responsible for the death of all those people in the New Republic.
Finn tried to ignore him, he really did, because some of the stuff he was saying didn’t even make sense. He wondered if someone close to him died when the New Order attacked the New Republic. Thinking of that acted like a distraction, but once he heard him speak Rey’s name, his anger flared.
“Leave her out of this.” Finn had said, jaw clenched.
The pilot snorted and turned his head towards him and made a disgusted face, as if appalled Finn would even speak to him. Normally, Finn would have no problem keeping his mouth shut, he’d spent his whole life taking orders without question and although it hurt him to not be accepted when he finally thought he found a home, he could deal with it. But when he said Rey's name in the same sentence as pathetic and weak, he snapped.
“You got something to say?” He asked. The man was brawny, with dark, almond shaped eyes and a scar running along the side of his face.
“Yeah,” Finn snapped, turning towards him. “How about you keep your mouth shut.”
The man smiled, and Finn knew why. He bit the bait. “How about you do something about it, Trooper scum.” He said, getting to his feet.
He felt Poe, who was sitting across from him and watching the exchange with wide eyes, tug on his arm to keep him down, but Finn, ignoring the pain in his back, stood up in front of the pilot.
“I’d love to.” That's when it happened. He pulled his clenched fist back before driving it straight into the man’s jaw. The blow sent him staggering to the side but was able to quickly recover and land his fist in Finn’s gut.
He doubled over and gasped for breath, but noticed the pilot throw another punch at his head and quickly bent down, avoiding the hit. Finn made the best of his position and wrapped his arms around the burly pilot’s waist and used the leverage he had to swipe the man’s legs from under him, sending him down onto the metal table. He was aware of people gasping and beginning to reach for him, but he lost control of all the anger and frustration he’d kept bottled up for so many years and raised his fists. The first one missed, making his knuckles connect with the metal table painfully. He felt a dull ache form, but the adrenaline kept him from feeling much of anything other than anger.
His left fist managed to land successfully on the pilot’s nose and he heard a satisfying cracking noise.
Before anything else could happen, two people had their arms wrapped around Finn and were pulling him off the pilot. He didn’t struggle against their hold and allowed himself to be pulled away from the now bleeding, and for some reason, smug looking resistance pilot.
***********************
He felt like a child, sitting with his head low in a chair and listening to Poe scold him. “You can’t let them get in your head.”
“I know.” Finn mumbled, embarrassed. He knew stuff like this couldn’t happen, nothing that could threaten the trust and friendship that the people of the resistance had for one another should be messed with. His fist felt numb from the pain and blood oozed out from the small cuts the metal caused and he thanked Poe when he handed him an ice pack.
“What’ll happen?” Finn asked the pilot. They were sitting in one of the control rooms since the medical bay seemed to be filled with people suffering from a stomach flue that was being passed around the base. The nurse had thrown them some bandages and an ice pack before ushering them out quickly.
“Nothing, I don’t think. Word’ll get around, people’ll talk about it for a day then get over it by the third.” He answered, shrugging and leaning against a desk.
Finn nodded and glanced down at his hand, trying to make a fist before a sharp pain shot up his arm and he was forced to relax his fingers.
“I won’t get punished?” Finn asked, remembering how frowned upon fighting other stormtroopers was and the consequences they’d have to face.
“Well, not that we encourage fights, but you’ll probably get cleaning duty, maybe? The general with deal with the punishment.” He said crossing his arms over his chest.
The door suddenly slid open and Finn felt himself smile when he realized who it was. The smile left his face though when he realized she looked angry.
“Rey.” Poe greeted, then glanced between the two. “I’m, uh, gonna go see if they need any help cleaning the mess you made in the rec hall.”
With that, the pilot left the two alone in the small, stuffy room. Finn wasn’t sure what to say, or if he was supposed to say anything at all. She had gotten back a couple weeks ago with Luke Skywalker and since then people all over the base had been on high alert, waiting for the general to announce what the plan to overthrow the New Order was.
Finn, feeling his cheeks heat up under her intense gaze, looked away and grabbed the bandages that laid next to him. “You could’ve gotten hurt.” She ended up saying, walking up to him and sitting in a chair across from him.
Finn shrugged as he began wrapping his bruised hand. When he was a stormtrooper, they only really got injured during training or from accidents since they spent most of their time in uniforms that covered their body. When they did get injured, the medic staff usually treated them quickly before sending them off.
“What he say?” Rey asked, reaching over and grabbing the bandages from Finn. He assumed either he was doing it wrong or she needed something to keep her hands busy.
Finn shrugged again then realized he should probably say something. “Nothing really, I guess he just said some things I didn’t agree with. Said some things about you” He found himself saying.
She hummed, her hands working effortlessly as she wrapped the bandage around his hand. “It was pretty stupid of you.”
He smiled. “Maybe. Probably.”
“But,” she mumbled, looking at him straight on. Finn felt a lump form in her throat under her gaze. “I think it’s kind of sweet, you know, you defending my honor and all that.” Rey finished with a small smile. The tension she held seemed to leave her body and he noticed her visibly relax.
He made a smug face when she finished wrapping his fist and leaned back in his chair. “Eh, it’s nothing...”
She hummed and stood up, reaching her hand towards him. “Come on, the general’s probably ready to assign you to cafeteria cleaning duty.”
Finn groaned but accepted her hand anyways, a warm feeling spreading in his chest when she held on a little longer than needed and gave his hand a little squeeze. 'Maybe I should get into fights more often...' He thought to himself.