The two of them made it to the makeshift hospital in record time. As soon as they'd gotten word of where to find her, they'd both piled into Rosa's car and sped down the highway to the ramshackle military hospital. It had taken everything Eric had to not encourage her to blow through every single stop sign and red light on the way there, but in the end, they'd made it after about an hour of driving.

It was still very early in the morning once they arrived, bursting through the front doors to the warehouse. And it was truly little more than a warehouse at its core – apparently, the military had hastily converted an old building on the outskirts of town in preparation for Rebecca returning wounded.

That didn't change the fact that it was still an abandoned warehouse more than anything. Even with all the state-of-the-art medical equipment set up everywhere and the opaque white tent standing in the corner, it was still very easy to tell that it had originally been used for storing goods rather than people. It was still run-down and dilapidated, with cracks in the ceiling allowing droplets of rainwater to come spilling in, echoing as they drummed against the concrete floor. The sound of rain combined with the distant coppery tinge of blood.

Somehow, it reminded Eric of an abattoir more than anything. That thought sent chills down his spine even as he began to step towards the medical tent.

Eric and Rosa turned, and found Roy standing there. He eyed them both with no small amount of contempt, but beckoned them to follow him all the same.

"Come on," he said gruffly. "She's been asking for you both."

"She's awake?" Rosa asked as they began to follow Roy towards the tent.

"Of course she is," he replied. "You know what she is, after all. This is expected of her."

Eric bit his lip hard enough to draw a small spot of blood. He wanted nothing more than to tell Roy off for that, but ultimately held himself back.

Seeing Rebecca was far more important than getting even.

Roy led them towards the tent. As they approached the front flap, Roy stopped and turned to them.

"A few ground rules," he said. "First off, try not to get her too agitated or excited – she's still recovering, and we don't need anything jeopardizing her health at this point. Second, no mentioning to anybody how she really got her injuries. If anyone is dumb enough to ask, tell them it was a car accident. For all intents and purposes, this mission didn't happen, and the government has no knowledge of it. Understand?"

Reluctantly, Eric nodded, as did Rosa. Roy let out a tired sigh.

"Very well," he said with a grunt. "She's yours now."

With that, he stepped aside, and Eric and Rosa wasted no time in pushing their way through the tent flap.

As they stepped into the room, Eric was taken aback. He'd seen people hooked up to all sorts of life-giving machines before, but this surpassed all of them. To him, it seemed like the entire room was covered in wires, all of them leading back to some part of her body. Several IV drips were lined up next to her bedside, and an ECG steadily beeped away between them.

And there, in the center of the room, lying in bed, was Rebecca.

Eric didn't wait any longer. He ran over to her, gently taking her hand in his. She turned towards him, a surprised expression on her face.

"Hey," he said gently. "Don't worry, we're here now."

Rebecca blinked, her expression relaxing. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course we came," Rosa said, moving over to stand next to Eric. "We wouldn't have missed seeing you come back for the world."

She flashed Rebecca a smile, one that went unreciprocated. Instead, Rebecca hesitated, then looked up at the ceiling.

"...I'm sorry," she muttered. "I almost failed…" "

You're here now," Eric told her. "That's what matters, Rebecca."

Again, she said nothing, instead continuing to stare up at the ceiling. "...I couldn't save him," she added. "Miller, he… they put some kind of chip in his brain – controlled his movements against his will. He begged me to kill him. I didn't want to, but…"

She trailed off. Eric gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You did what you had to do," he assured her. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"It sounds like he knew there was no way to save him," Rosa muttered. "If he was so sure of that, then it must have been the right thing to do."

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"She's right," Eric added. "Rebecca, don't blame yourself for what happened. If anything, the fault lies entirely with the Iprenians."

Rebecca was quiet for a moment before she looked back to the two of them. "...I couldn't stop thinking about you both," she admitted. "While I was out in the field, I mean. Every waking minute, I was just thinking… am I going to see them again?"

"Rebecca-"

She suddenly blinked. "...He's really gone," she said softly. "I… he's gone, and I killed him…"

"You didn't have a choice."

"That doesn't make it right." She swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. "...The closest person I had to family, and he's dead now, because of me."

"Not because of you," Eric insisted. "If anything, all you did was put him out of his misery, Rebecca. Think about it – the things the Iprenians made him do, and were going to keep making him do… this was a mercy killing more than anything. You shouldn't think of it as anything else; Major Miller clearly didn't."

Rebecca fell silent. Eric shifted, suddenly nervous he'd said something wrong.

"Hey," Eric stated softly. "If you truly think you're alone-"

To his surprise, Rebecca simply shook her head. She turned towards him, their gazes meeting, and then with nine simple words, took his breath away.

"I know I'm not alone, because I have you."

Eric's heart skipped a beat. Next to him, he heard Rosa give a small, choked sob, and despite his best efforts, he found himself forced to blink away tears, too.

Rebecca bit her lip, then turned away. "You're always there for me, and honestly, I still don't truly know why… I don't know what you're supposed to be to me, Eric," she confessed. "You said I'm your friend, but… that doesn't feel right, somehow." Her eyes suddenly widened. "...I never thanked you…"

"You'll never have to," Eric insisted. "Rebecca, everything we've done, we've done because you deserve to be happy, and healthy, and safe. You deserve to have people who care, and I don't just mean that because of what you've done for humanity during your military service. You've gone almost your entire life without knowing what it's like to not be in combat… it's enough. You deserve to have a chance to settle down and live your life how you see fit. Plus, it's not like you were the only one saved by this arrangement, either."

Rebecca stared at him in shock. Eric let out a small, embarrassed sigh.

"…I don't know if you realized it at the time, but I was on a downward spiral," he emphasized. "I had been for years. I was content to sit at home, smoking and slowly drinking myself to death. Hell, if you hadn't been there when my dad died, I probably would have succeeded in doing exactly that." He sucked in a shaky breath before continuing. "…But you were there, Rebecca. You gave me a reason to keep going – because I had you to worry about, and I knew you needed me. I couldn't let myself go, not when you still needed help."

Rebecca bit her lip. "T-that's not… I didn't do anything…"

"Doesn't matter," Eric declared. "You needed me, and so I stuck around… and, damn it, I got attached." He flashed her a small smile, even as his vision blurred once again. "You're my friend, Rebecca. You've saved my life multiple times – between the drinking stuff and that home invasion… you talked about never being able to repay me? You've already repaid me, even if you don't realize it."

She froze at that, her gaze falling to him once more. He saw her throat working, trying to form words, only for her to fail at speaking them. More than that, though, he saw her eyes, and how they were steadily growing wetter with every passing moment.

"I…" She paused to take a breath, probably trying to hold herself back, but Eric could tell it wasn't helping much. "…I don't want to leave again," she said softly. "I never… w-want to go back in the field again. Not if it means leaving you both behind…"

"That's okay," Eric assured her. "You don't have to go out again, Rebecca. Not if you don't want to."

"You're sure?"

He nodded, his smile returning. "Yes, I'm sure. After all, you're an Angel – there's not a person alive who can make you do something you don't want to."

He smiled at his own joke, and next to him, Rosa let out a small laugh, even as she wiped at her eyes. Eric had expected that.

But what he hadn't expected was for Rebecca to crack the smallest, faintest of smiles, too.

The sight of her smiling caught him off-guard. He stared at her, as did Rosa, but to his amazement, she didn't let the smile fade. Instead, she held it there.

That was too much for Eric. As he stared at her, grinning away in her hospital bed, he finally stopped holding himself back. He stood there, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs, as he let the tears fall freely. Next to him, Rosa did the same. And that was enough for Rebecca's grin to finally fade, replaced with a look of worried shock.

"Eric?" she asked. "Rosa? Is… something wrong?"

"No," Eric insisted. "No, no, nothing's wrong. We're just… happy to have you back, and that you'll be staying."

Rosa, for her part, didn't say anything. Rather, she suddenly lunged forwards, engulfing Rebecca in a big hug. Rebecca paused, unsure of what to do at first, and it only got worse when Eric followed Rosa's lead, joining her hug.

If Rebecca had been unsure of what to do at first, now she was downright perplexed. She sat there for a moment, before reaching out with shaking hands, wrapping them around the two of them. As he hugged her, Eric could see her desperately trying to swallow the lump in her throat, holding herself back the entire time.

And that wouldn't do at all.

"Rebecca," he said, getting her attention. "It's okay."

She stared at him in surprise, but only for as long as it took for his words to fully sink in.

And when they finally did, she stopped holding back.

Rebecca's grip around the two of them tightened as she finally let herself cry, the tears spilling down her cheeks as her body was wracked with quiet sobs of happiness. Eric and Rosa joined her, the three of them holding each other as they fell to pieces. And through it all, Rebecca kept muttering the same two words over and over again.

"I'm home… I'm home… I'm home…"

And as the three of them held onto each other, all of them gently losing control, all Eric could think about was how, for the first time in years, he felt truly happy.