The night before the mission, Rafferty made her way up the stairs to the Oven. A heavy door kept the Blue shut away, but you could still feel it hum through the walls. Most of the girls came up from time to time, which made perfect sense. In a way, they were all born here.

Rafferty wasn't surprised to find Sheridan here already. Sheridan came here a lot.

Sheridan looked up at her, and flashed a little half smile. Rafferty sat down near her. No need to ask permission. This place belonged to all of them.

They sat in silence for a moment before Sheridan spoke.

"We don't deserve this assignment," she said.

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"We've done lots of good stuff," Rafferty said.

"Either Vincent insisted on you, or they gave it to us because of your Class Four. Definitely not because of our performance. Or my plan," said Sheridan.

"I was the one that screwed up," replied Rafferty.

"Do you know," Sheridan started as she turned toward Rafferty, "that Cody's idea to tell it about my water rationing plan would have actually worked slightly better than what happened out there?"

That got a little laugh out of Rafferty.

"D Hall's going too," Rafferty said.

"Fantastic," said Sheridan, rolling her eyes. Then she muttered something under her breath. Rafferty thought it sounded like "pyramid."

There was another few moments of silence before Rafferty realized she had a question.

"What does it feel like to you?" she asked Sheridan.

Sheridan raised her eyebrows a bit, and pointed at the wall behind her. Rafferty nodded.

"It helps me focus. Like strong coffee. Only better," she said.

Rafferty nodded again. She leaned back until her head touched the wall, feeling herself relax as she let the Blue sing to her.

Without even realizing it, she reached to her left until her fingers brushed Sheridan's. Neither of them moved for a very long time.

Like a hug.

Like a hug from a really old friend you haven't seen in forever.

Like going home.