Buck landed the shuttle with a whisper on the Defense Directorate fight deck in New Chicago. It was just after dawn and, with only a skeleton crew of maintenance personnel on duty, the hanger bay was nearly deserted as he released the door mechanism and followed his two companions down the ramp. Their footsteps echoed in the cavernous chamber.

They crossed to the foot of the metal stairs leading out into the main part of the complex and stopped, silently looking at one another. All three were exhausted after the severe emotional drain of the past twelve hours. Yet at the same time none of them wanted to break the spell they seemed still to be under.

Finally Dr. Huer rubbed his hands together briskly. "Well, I'm afraid I must be getting on. I have a number of meetings today with the engineers working on the latest water purification building designs for New Phoenix, and then a report to prepare for the computer council this afternoon."

He fixed his gaze on his two young colleagues. "I don't expect to see either one of you at the Directorate today. Go on to your quarters, get some sleep, pack for your return to the Searcher. I'll see you back here at 0800 hours tomorrow morning."

They nodded in unison.

"Until tomorrow, then," Buck said.

"Until tomorrow, Dr. Huer," Wilma echoed.

"Tomorrow." The older man hesitated and then extended his hand to Buck. A broad smile lit his face. "And Buck – welcome home, my friend."

Buck grinned. "Thanks, Doc," he said. He gripped the older man's hand firmly in his own, then clapped him on shoulder as he turned to leave.

He stood for a moment, watching Dr. Huer leave the hanger bay, basking in the warmth of their friendship and the feeling of belonging to this time and place that was beginning to take root in his heart. Then he looked over at Wilma and gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

----

Wilma and Buck set off through the nearly deserted corridors of the Directorate in companionable silence. Their quarters were not far from one another in the officers' wing, a short walk from the fight deck. They walked slowly, lost in their own thoughts.

For Wilma, the journey back to New Chicago from the cavern had been far too short. Far to short for her to completely process the tumultuous events and emotions she had experienced over the past twelve hours, or to fully regain her emotional equilibrium. All she could focus on was the sensation of overwhelming joy that flooded her heart when she saw Buck emerge from the rocks.

He had caught her up in his arms, and the way he'd looked at her – just for an instant, an instant that must have been brief yet had seemed timeless…

She tried to take herself back to that moment, when they had loosened their embrace and he'd gazed down at her with the rising sun lighting his face. If she had to describe the expression she had seen in his eyes, what would she say?

It had been warm – affectionate. Admiring, even. Yes, she decided. Those words felt right. But it had been so much more than that.

In that moment he had looked at her as though she was the only person in the world.

Something fluttered in her stomach. Was it true? Was Buck developing a romantic interest in her? Or was it simply hopeful thinking, imagining an outcome that she desired so much? She wished with all her heart that she knew.

"Well, this is my stop," Buck's voice broke into her reverie.

Wilma started and looked around. Indeed, they were standing just outside the door to Buck's quarters. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed their arrival.

Suddenly she wanted very badly to ask him why he'd chosen to stay here in the 25th century – and to find out if the answer might have something to do with her.

She could hear his light breathing as they stood side by side, the subtle cadence of his inhalation and exhalation as he waited for her to reply. And all at once she was acutely, almost uncomfortably aware of him, in a way she had never been before about anyone in her life. The strong yet supple tone of his chiseled body, the fine line of his jaw. The way the corners of his mouth quirked upward as he regarded her.

She shifted her gaze to look into his blue eyes. She could still see the warmth there, the affection, but also an overwhelming fatigue that dulled their usual brightness. And with this heightened awareness, the newfound sensitivity that she seemed to have of his every gesture and expression, she knew that this was not the time for questions.

Instead she shyly closed the distance between them, until they were inches apart. Then she reached out one hand against his bicep to balance herself and stretched up to kiss him gently on the cheek.

"Welcome home, Buck," she whispered against his skin.

----

TBC