When Eric awoke the next day, he did so feeling refreshed for the first time since leaving the military. He blinked in surprise as he stared up at the ceiling. Even just laying in his bed, his body felt lighter, like he was unwound partially. Even the act of opening his eyes and breathing somehow felt easier.

"What the fuck…?"

A moment passed, and he brought a hand up and pinched himself on the thigh, trying to wake himself up. The small burst of pain across his skin told him that he was not, in fact, dreaming. Eric couldn't help but wince a bit as he pulled his hand away, then shook his head.

"Alright, then…" he muttered.

Without a second thought, he rose out of bed, then started to get ready, wincing as he stretched his artificial leg out, the joint of the grafted limb letting out a small groan of protest as he did so. Once he was stretched out, Eric moved to the restroom and stepped into the shower. After a few minutes of standing under the water and washing himself, he got dressed, then stepped out into the living room. Curiously, Rebecca's door didn't open when he stepped outside. That realization caused him to raise an eyebrow. Generally, she was up not long after he was, but today seemed to be different. Still, he pushed that thought away, instead focusing on getting breakfast ready.

A short while later, and he had two plates laid out, waiting for her. And yet, she still didn't leave her room. His curiosity officially piqued, Eric crept over to her door and pressed his ear against it, only to pause when he heard her gently snoring from the other side.

Slowly, a grin split his face, and he carefully peeled himself away from her door and headed back to the kitchen to eat by himself.

***

Rebecca didn't leave her room for another hour, which took him by surprise. It wasn't unwelcome, though, and he made sure to let her know that when she finally stepped out into the hallway.

"Sleep well?"

She paused, then turned to look at him in surprise. He was sitting in the living room, watching TV. She tilted her head, confused.

"You could hear me?"

"Mhm." He nodded. "You're quiet, I'll give you that, but you still have your tells."

"What are they?"

"You really expect me to give away my secrets like that?" He turned towards her, a faint smile crossing his face. "But if you must know… part of the floor creaks when you walk on it. It's not particularly loud, but if you know what to listen for, you'll hear it."

She stared at him, and he motioned towards the kitchen. "I got breakfast ready for you, by the way."

"You didn't have to do that. I can make bacon and eggs by myself."

"Sure, but I figured I'd go for something a little more fancy today. French toast isn't exactly hard to make, but it's a bit of a step up from bacon, eggs, and toast."

She nodded in understanding, then stepped over to the kitchen and sat down at the table. As she began to eat her breakfast, Eric stood up and stretched, then moved over to her.

"You never answered my question, by the way."

"Which question?" she asked as she took her first bite of French toast. Her eyes immediately lit up when she first tasted it, but she hesitated before diving back in for more, instead taking care to pace herself.

"You know the one," Eric said. "I asked if you slept well last night. Did you?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded. "I did," she confirmed as she took another bite of her breakfast. "This is really good, Eric."

"Ah, it's nothing," he said. "I'll teach you how to make it next time, when we're both awake for it. Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, what do you think made you sleep well? I'd wager you're like me and haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time."

She shrugged. "The best sleep always came from going into cryo."

"And why is that?"

"Because I couldn't remember what it was like."

Eric felt a pang of sympathy lance through his heart. Part of his mind was screaming at him to do something to reassure her, to put a hand on her shoulder in order to comfort her, and he very nearly did so but at the last second, he stopped himself, instead pulling his hand back.

"Hey," he said softly. "Those days are over, alright? You're done fighting, Rebecca."

"I know," she replied, her voice quiet. "I just… I feel guilty about it, to a certain degree. I could have given so much more than I did-"

"You gave more than anyone else possibly could have been expected to have given." He let out a small sigh. "You did so much, Rebecca. You and the other Angels."

"And yet, there are still some of them out in the field, and I'm still here."

"They'll get out eventually," Eric assured her. "The war's over. No need to keep them in the service long-term anymore. Eventually, they'll get out."

"You're sure?"

He nodded. "I'm positive."

She suddenly bit her lip. "...There's something I wanted to ask," she ventured. He nodded, and she took a breath. "...How long are you going to let me stay here?"

Eric didn't even need to think about his answer.

"As long as you want," he replied without any hesitation. "I'm not about to kick you out any time soon, Rebecca. If anything, I'm glad to have you around – keeps the days from bleeding together when I have someone to do stuff with. Plus, you make for good company."

She tilted her head again, and Eric simply grinned at her, and then let go and sat down next to her again. Rebecca stared at him, then lowered her head.

"...Thank you," she offered quietly. "For everything, I mean."

"Hey," he replied. "You deserve all this, okay? Don't go acting like you're a charity case, or anything like that – you're not. You've helped me as much as I've helped you. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement… and beyond that, you're my friend."

She turned to him in surprise, and his grin widened. "What, you don't think that term doesn't apply by this point, do you? I'd say we're close enough to be a bit more informal with each other by now."

She blinked once more, but then, the faintest of smiles crossed her face as well. It was barely noticeable – really more of a slight upwards quirk of the sides of her mouth than anything – but it was obvious enough to him.

And in that moment, Eric knew that whatever had happened up to this point, it had all been worth it just for that smile.

***

After breakfast, the two were lazing around watching TV when there was a sudden knock at the door. Eric exchanged a glance with Rebecca, both of them unsure who would be knocking early in the morning. Naturally, he got his answer within just a few seconds.

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"Open up, asshole, I know you're in there."

That was all he needed to hear. Eric rose from his seat and moved over to the front door, then unlocked it and threw it open.

"You know, I have neighbors," he deadpanned. "I imagine it wouldn't go well for you if they reported your language to your superiors."

Rosa rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, they've heard way worse from the two of us by now."

She pushed past him, stepping into his home. Eric watched her for a moment in surprise before closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, come in, thanks for asking," he said. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Because you weren't answering the phone," she told him. "I've been calling and texting you for some time now."

"Shoot… sorry. Damn thing had no battery this morning, since I left it off the charger last night by mistake." Rosa's words finally sank in, and he turned to her in confusion. "Hang on, why were you calling and texting me so frequently? Did somebody die or something?"

"No, but we have the opportunity to do something fun rather than just laze around," Rosa announced.

"Like what?"

In response, she reached into her pocket, retrieving three small pieces of paper and thrusting them into his chest. Eric stared at her for a moment before taking the papers and looking them over, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"A baseball game?"

"Yup!" she said excitedly. "I won a raffle and ended up getting three tickets."

"Alright, not that I'm not unappreciative, but don't you have other veterans you should be helping? How is it that you're able to take all this time for the

two of us alone?"

"Because one of you is an Angel?" she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You two are pretty much the only ones I'm supposed to watch

over now thanks to that. I mean, how do you think I'm able to be on-call for you both at all hours of the day?"

"Makes sense, I suppose…" Eric begrudgingly admitted. "Okay, so when's the game?"

"In a bit," Rosa told him. A sheepish grin crossed her face. "So, uh, we should probably leave right about now."

"Oh, now you tell us that."

"In my defense, I've been trying to reach you for a while now. Not my fault your phone was off."

"Baseball?" Rebecca asked, interrupting the two of them. "What's that?"

Eric paused, trying to consider the best way to explain the intricacies of professional sports to her, when Rosa interrupted, a wide smirk on her face.

"Oh, you'll see," was all she had to say.

Eric wisely chose not to let her know how sinister she'd sounded.

***

"And we're finally here!" Rosa said with a dramatic sigh as she sank into her seat. "Urgh… traffic was a nightmare…"

"You're welcome, by the way," Eric said, sitting next to her. "I could have easily made you drive, considering this was your idea."

"I had to explain how baseball works to Rebecca."

"That doesn't explain why you had me drive your work car, though."

Rosa just waved him off. She let out another content sigh, then turned to Rebecca. "How're you holding up?"

Rebecca turned back to her, midway through a large box of nachos. She swallowed what was in her mouth, her eye lighting up. "I already like this sport."

"That makes one of us…" Eric grumbled.Rosa gently elbowed him. "Come on, you don't have to be such a curmudgeon."

"I'm just not really a sports guy. Seriously, these guys make how much money a year just for throwing a ball around? It's stupid."

"Admittedly, you've got a point there, but come on, just sit back and enjoy the spectacle."

"What spectacle?"

As if on cue, the PA suddenly came to life, and the announcer began to speak.

"And now, please all rise for the national anthem."

Eric and Rosa immediately stood up, with him snapping to a salute and her putting her hand over her heart, but to Eric's surprise, so did Rebecca, her hand rising to her forehead as she stood up. His surprise only lasted a moment before reality sank in – obviously, they'd have drilled saluting the flag into her, the same way they did any other service member.

The lights in the stadium dimmed as a lone singer made her way to the center of the field, a microphone held in her hand. She took a breath, then began to sing. And despite his early wariness, Eric couldn't help but focus on her – she had the audience captivated, her voice swirling around the stadium, the tones resonating off the stands and out of the speakers, forming a veritable wall of sound that enveloped them all.

Then, just as she reached the crescendo of the song, someone began to set off a series of fireworks to accompany the long, sustained note. Eric flinched at the sudden lights and noise.

And he wasn't the only one.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eric saw Rebecca suddenly shrink back, her eye widening in shock. He watched as her body began to gently tremble, and his blood froze in his veins as he realized what was happening.

Without wasting any more time, he reached for her, took her by the hand, and began to lead her out of the stands.

***

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Eric insisted as he led her through the stadium.

Finally, he found an empty hallway the two of them could duck into. They made it into the shadows just as the game started, the crack of the wooden bat against the thrown ball punctuated by the excitement of the crowd. Rebecca again flinched at the noise, and Eric didn't wait to see anymore, instead pulling her into a hug.

"It's alright," he assured her.

"I…" She trailed off for a moment. "...What's happening? I don't understand…"

"It's… combat stress, I think," he offered, not breaking the hug for a moment. "It's not uncommon at all. I've experienced a bit of it, myself."

"But… why? I've never acted like that before, and I've been through the real thing…"

"The brain's a funny thing, Rebecca. Sometimes it just betrays you like that." He pulled away just enough to look her in the eye, but didn't let go of her just yet. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She bit her lip, but ultimately nodded. "...It just… the sights and sounds of it, just… brought back some memories, of when I was still in. It's stupid, I know-"

"No, it isn't. You've been through a lot, alright? This isn't uncommon for a veteran."

"But I was trained not to feel like this."

"We all were," Eric explained. "But sometimes, you can't control it. They spend years and years teaching us how to kill, but they never teach us how to stop. That's on them, not you."

He tightened the hug once again. Rebecca took in a deep, shuddering breath, then pulled away. "...Thanks," she quietly offered.

Footsteps suddenly caught their attention, and they both turned right as Rosa rounded the corner.

"Oh, thank God!" she said, relieved. "Rebecca, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"

She carefully approached, and Rebecca sucked in another breath.

"...It's okay," she said. "Just… took me by surprise. I'll be fine." Rosa stopped, then turned to Eric. He nodded, and she pursed her lips, then turned back to Rebecca.

"...Okay," she conceded. "But we can leave, we don't have to-"

Rebecca suddenly shook her head. "I want to see the game," she insisted.

"Are you-"

"Yes," she declared. "I don't want to leave yet… if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Rosa said to her. "I just wasn't sure…" She trailed off, then shook her head. "You know what? You're right. Come on, let's get back to our seats, before we miss the rest of the first inning."

Rebecca nodded, and together, the three of them began the walk through the stadium once more.

***

A few hours later, and they were pulling into Eric's driveway. Thankfully, past the opening to the game, there hadn't been any other incidents. In fact, Rebecca seemed to have had a good time, if the way she'd watched each play was any indication. Eric had been amused, seeing the way she tracked the ball with every throw and every hit.

The only one who seemed to have had a bad time was Rosa, who was currently sulking in the back seat.

"Lighten up," Eric couldn't help but tease. "It's just a game."

"It was the first one of the season and they lost!" Rosa lamented. "At this rate, they'll never make it to the World Series!"

"You're being dramatic."

Eric put the car in park and turned off the engine, and all of them unbuckled themselves and got out, then began to head for the front door.

They all paused when a familiar-looking black SUV with tinted windows pulled into his neighborhood. Eric's eyes narrowed when it came to a stop next to his house, and the two men in suits got out.

"What fresh hell is this…?" he muttered as he stepped in-between them and Rebecca. He was about to tell them off when Rosa spoke up.

"What can we do for you two gentlemen?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

The two suits stopped a short ways away, crossing their arms in front of themselves.

"We're just here to collect Thirteen," the dark-skinned bald man said.

"On what grounds?"

"Simple," the other one said. "We have need of her for a mission."

Eric's blood all but froze in his veins. A snarl crossed his face. "She's retired," he snapped. "The government saw to that."

"Believe us, we wouldn't be here if it weren't vitally important. Unfortunately, we have no choice, given what we've just learned." He looked past Eric, locking eyes with Rebecca.

"Your mentor is alive, Thirteen," he said. "And we need you to track him down."