The park looked much different now that it was no longer overcast. The gray skies had given way to blue, and sunlight spilled down on the path ahead of them, flanked by trees that gently swayed in the wind. Eric shivered a bit as the wind blew against him, drawing his coat tightly around his body.

"Almost makes me wish it was still raining," he mused. "It shouldn't be this cold this time of year…"

"You know how predicting the weather goes," Rosa said as she came up alongside him. "Exercise in futility."

Eric merely nodded. He'd extended an invitation for Rosa to join them on their walk through the park, and she had accepted without a second thought, having met him and Rebecca at the entrance. There weren't many other people there, presumably because it was still somewhat early in the morning, though he wasn't going to complain about that.

A little privacy was probably needed after the events of the past few days.

Rebecca was there too, of course, dressed in one of the new outfits he'd picked out for her – dark blue jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. She'd forgone any kind of coat, against his recommendation, but the cold didn't seem to bother her at all despite that.

He suspected she'd been through worse, but the last thing he wanted to do was bring that up now.

And so, they began walking. The park had a long, winding trail that took them around the lake; by his estimate, it would take them some time to completely circle back to where they'd started. This was both good and bad – good because it gave them time to simply relax in each other's company, and bad because he knew his leg wasn't going to last through the entire thing without a few breaks.

And, predictably, that was exactly what happened. Just a short while into their circuit, Eric knew he had to rest, and waved down the others, heaving with exertion the entire time.

"Sorry…" he muttered. "My leg's making this way harder than it should be… just give me a minute."

Neither Rosa nor Rebecca raised any kind of protest with him about that, though Rosa did put her hand on her hip and gave him an incredulous look. He caught it just before she was able to wipe the look off her face, and stared at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said.

"Rosa, I can see it on your face that there's something you want to say."

She pursed her lips. "Forget it."

He shook his head. "No, I won't. If you've got something to say, then say it. I promise I can handle it."

She hesitated, then gave a sigh of resignation. "...I'll be honest, Eric – I don't think it's your leg. Well, not completely. I think you're just out of shape."

He blinked. "...Are you calling me fat?"

"I'm calling your lifestyle unhealthy," she pointed out.

"You realize how I lost my leg, right?"

"Yes, I read your file."

"And you realize that the way in which I lost it permanently damaged the nerves running through it beyond repair?"

"I'm aware. I'm also aware that the prosthetic you have ought to be very effective at helping with that."

"There's a difference between what it ought to be doing and what it actually does, you know."

"Sure. But maybe just try being a bit healthier? You could stand to drink less, smoke less, and eat more vegetables. Who knows, maybe the benefits will surprise you." Her expression softened. "I give you a rash of shit, sure, but at the end of the day, I'm still in charge of helping you. Seriously, at least try."

Eric stared at her in surprise, but eventually nodded. "...Okay," was all he could reply with.

Whatever the case was, Rosa brightened up a bit at hearing him say that. He let out a sigh, then stood up straighter. "Alright, I should be good now. Let's keep going."

With that, the three of them continued on down the path. They made it just a few steps before stepping into a beam of sunlight that was spilling through a thicket of trees off to the side. Eric brought his hands up to shield his eyes, but as he did, he caught of Rebecca's face for the first time since they'd started walking, and noticed something.

She was subtle about it, as per usual, but he'd gotten good at reading her over the past few weeks. And so, when the sun caught her face and finally lit it up for the first time, it wasn't hard for him to tell that she was feeling conflicted about something.

"Stop," he said, causing both women to halt next to him. Rosa looked to him in surprise, but he paid her little mind, instead turning his attention to Rebecca. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied instantly.

"That was a courtesy question. I can tell just by looking at you that something's bothering you. Now, you're free to keep it to yourself if that's what you want, but just know that I'm gonna keep asking until you finally spill it."

He'd said it somewhat jokingly, his intent being to try and let her guard down enough to talk, but even still, he'd expected her to at least glower at him somewhat before telling him. He was surprised when she didn't do any of that, and instead turned to look out into the nearby row of trees, an uncertain look crossing her face.

"I'm just…" she hesitated for a moment. "...I just don't know if coming here was right."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Eric's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"Look at me, Eric. I don't fit in at all. You've had to teach me how to do the most basic of things just to survive in civilian life – things I still don't completely understand, even weeks later. It doesn't make sense to me. My place is in the Marines, not here."

Rebecca lowered her head as the final words left her mouth. Eric exchanged a worried glance with Rosa, but before she could say anything, he stepped forward.

"Look," he offered, "you're being hard on yourself for no reason. Yes, there's going to be an adjustment period for you, and yes, it's going to take awhile. But put it into perspective – you were in the military for two decades. That's all you knew, and then they ripped it all away from you. Rosa and I, we've had our entire lives to learn this stuff. You can't reasonably expect yourself to undo two decades of military programming and also learn how to live as a civilian in just a few weeks. That'd be impossible for anyone."

Rebecca bit her lip, but didn't say anything in response. Eric got the sense that she was still very uneasy about something, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

"This is about what happened the other night?" he asked. She gave no indication that he was correct, but she didn't need to; intuition told him he was. He let out a soft sigh, then stepped closer and gently took her by the hand. She looked to him in surprise, but didn't pull away.

"You did what you had to," he said. "And you didn't go too far, either."

"But I nearly-"

"But you didn't, in the end. You listened to me instead, and held yourself back from following what you'd been trained to do for two decades. Do you have any idea how much willpower that had to have taken?" He shook his head. "You make it sound like you're not adjusting properly, but you're not looking at everything you've accomplished so far. Like I said, it's going to take you a while before you're properly acclimated to civilian life. You can't dwell on every mistake and treat them as signs you don't belong, you'll drive yourself crazy if you do that."

Rebecca blinked, then averted her gaze. "I just… don't know what to do…"

"That's okay," Rosa interjected, stepping up to her. "We understand this is hard for you, in a way that it isn't for us. There's nothing wrong with that, especially given your history. We'll be here for you regardless, not just because it's our job, but because we care."

"But why?" she suddenly asked. "Why care about me like this? You both hardly even know me. You don't know who I really am, or what I've done in my

life."

"We know enough," Eric said to her.

Rebecca stared at him again, still seemingly unplacated. Eric hesitated for just a moment, then looked over to Rosa.

"I'm gonna try something," he offered. "Might be crazy, but something tells me she really needs it."

"Uh, okay," Rosa said, uncertain. "What are you-"

That was as far as she got before Eric slipped his hands around Rebecca and gently pulled her close. She froze in his grasp, her body tensing. Her arms hung limply at her sides, as if she were uncertain about what to do.

"W-what…" she managed to stammer out after a moment's pause. "What… is this?"

"It's called a hug," Eric said to her. "You looked like you needed one."

"Why are you-"

"Because you looked like you needed one, like I said. Don't need a reason more than that."

She didn't protest any further after that, instead staying frozen in his grasp. The two of them held that position for a moment, until Rosa closed in and joined them, throwing her arms around Rebecca from behind.

"Thought you could leave me out of this, did you?" she said accusingly. "I'm not gonna miss the first hug. Not for the world."

The three of them held that position, none of them pulling away, instead staying tangled up in each other's arms as the rays of sunlight cut through the trees and enveloped them from above.

And it may have just been his imagination, but Eric could have sworn that Rebecca relaxed just a bit by the time they all separated.

***

Rebecca was silent as they continued on their way, and Eric was initially worried he'd gone too far, but his fears died when he noticed she was… not quite at ease, but more content. It was in how she carried herself – a bit more upright, with purpose in her step. It was difficult to notice, but enough small things gave her away that he was able to tell she wasn't mad at him, at least.As they continued walking, Rosa suddenly tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned towards her.

"Yeah?"

"We need to talk," she said to him.

His brow furrowed. "...This about what we just did?"

"No, other than to say that it was the right move." She took a breath. "...Consider this me bringing up that topic again."

"Which topic?"

"Come on, you know the one. I want you to see a-"

"Oh," he said. "That topic."

She nodded, and he took a breath. "...You know how I feel about-"

"Yes," she interrupted, "I'm aware. That's why I'm asking you not to go alone, Eric."

"What, you want me to bring-"

"You wouldn't be in the same session," Rosa explained. "I'd have separate ones for you and her. Hell, I'll even convince the OVA to pay for it, so it's not coming out of your pocket – that shouldn't be too hard once I mention it's for an Angel in need." She took a breath. "I just… I know you're reticent to do this, but I legitimately believe it's something you both need to do. Especially her – you've done an amazing job with her so far, but there are some things that require a professional. And as for yourself… I doubt she'll be on-board with it unless you are, too."

"So either we both go or neither of us goes," Eric realized.

Rosa nodded. "Yeah. I understand that this is difficult for you-"

"That's an understatement." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't like the idea of going to a shrink, okay? I hate the knowledge that some asshole in a suit and tie can just put a stamp on my record and have me committed to a psych ward over some stupid bullshit. Moreover, there are some things I don't want to talk about – things that are painful to even think about."

Rosa bristled. "But you don't have to-"

"Let me finish," Eric said, causing her to go silent. He let out another sigh. "...Truthfully, I think the entire field is full of fucked-up people who only get into it because they want to figure out what's wrong with themselves more than anything; making money off of their patients is just a bonus." He looked up ahead, where Rebecca was walking. "...But if it's for her, then fine, I'll do it."

Rosa stared at him in surprise. He almost expected her to cheer in victory or gloat or something, considering she'd spent the better part of a year trying to convince him to do this. But she didn't. Instead, she merely nodded.

"I'll set something up for you both," she offered. "All you'll have to do is sign some paperwork. Nothing major, it'll just be-"

Before she could finish speaking, Eric's phone began to ring. He paused in surprise, but after sharing a glance with her, pulled it from his pocket and checked the caller ID. It wasn't from a number he recognized; his first thought was that it was a solicitor, but he figured it best to answer it regardless. He accepted the call and brought the phone to his ear.

His blood ran cold as the person on the other end of the line began to speak.

It was over after about a minute, with Eric saying nothing the entire time. The person on the other side of the line finished the call, and the line went dead. Slowly, Eric slipped his phone back into his pocket, then stared up into the sky, a heavy sigh escaping him as a lump formed in his throat.

"Eric?" Rosa asked, concerned. "What's wrong? Who was that person?"

"Naval investigator," Eric said, his mouth dry. He turned to Rosa, doing his best to blink away the tears that had started to form in his eyes.

"My dad's dead."