Disclaimer: I don't own To the Moon.

Prologue

They said nothing as they packed up their equipment and left their patient's house.

They said nothing as they got into the company car and drove for the next few hours.

They said nothing when they stopped at a hotel for the night, too tired to continue driving home.

She spoke briefly to the receptionist to get them a room for two, but she didn't give her partner so much as a glance in his direction, and he avoided looking at her as well. If the receptionist noticed the bruises on his face or the tension between the pair, she was smart enough to not comment on it.

It was only after they were settled in their room—a modestly furbished room with two beds (thank goodness; neither of them were in the mood to deal with having only one bed to sleep in), a couple of lamps, and a TV—that Eva broke the silence.

"You really shouldn't have done that back there," she informed Neil as she sat on the bed on the right-hand side of the room.

Neil scowled as he plopped down on the other bed, ignoring the springs creaking in protest. "I believe the phrase you're looking for is 'thank you.'"

"Thank you for what?" Eva demanded. "Leaving Roland Stewart's memories to get into a fight with his son?"

"The asshole laid hands on you. Sue me for thinking you could use some help."

Eva bristled. "Our patient was the one who needed help, not me. And because of your overreaction—"

"I did not overreact!" Neil snapped. "An overreaction would be if I'd whipped out a lightsaber and sliced him to bits."

"We could be the ones getting sued," she finished as though there had been no interruption. "Have you thought about that at all?"

"All we'd have to say is that it was all Peter Stewart's fault and we'd be in the clear."

"And how do you think the boss will react to you going postal on our client's family member?"

That gave Neil pause. His lips pressed together in a thin line, and he abruptly stood up. "I'm gonna see if this place's got ice."

"The boss will be wanting our reports tomorrow," Eva said as soon as Neil returned with an icepack.

"Gee, I'm feeling quite better; thanks for caring," he grumbled, pressing the pack to his bruised cheek as he sat back down on his bed.

She ignored his sarcasm. "Have you thought about what you're going to write?"

"Yep. 'Shit happened and the mission was a failure.'"

"I think you're going to have be a little more detailed than that if you want to keep your job."

"The boss isn't going to fire me," Neil insisted. "I'll get a slap on the wrist and you and I'll be back to business as usual faster than you can say 'slap on the wrist.'"

"Neil, you beat someone up. Not even you believe that you'll get off so easily."

"I defended ourselves—you're acting like I went crazy on the guy for no reason!"

"How the tomato do you think this is going to look if it gets out? People already hate us for the work we do—you don't need to give them more ammo!"

"Are you trying to say the boss might fire me to maintain Sigmund Corp.'s sterling reputation among folks who don't like us anyway? Hun, if he was going to do that, he would've done it over two years ago."

Eva sighed in frustration. "Can you please just humor me for a minute? I want to know exactly what you're going to write in your report. It just might be the difference between you still having a job by the end of the week or not."

Neil rolled his eyes from behind his glasses. "I guess I'll have to if I want you off my back. But you'll have to tell me what you're going to say in your report, too. It's only fair."

"Fine, whatever. Just start from the beginning."

"The beginning. Right." Neil stood up and started pacing, pressing his icepack to his other cheek. "Well, I guess it began when you came to my office this afternoon saying we had a patient."

Author's Note: The prologue isn't that funny, I admit, but the next couple of chapters—where we get into Neil and Eva's biased accounts—will hopefully make up for it. I'll be busy studying for a test over the next two weeks, so I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter posted, but I'll try not to take too long.