The people of Fall's End and wider Hope County celebrated their victory well into the night. They drank, feasted, and partied, finally free from the Project's reign of terror. For the first time in weeks, the residents of Fall's End chowed down on as much food as they wanted, no longer having to worry about rationing in the face of the cult stealing resources. Even Boomer got a plate with a T-bone steak on it.

People danced while others bought out instruments. Others sung, some rather poorly, but it did not matter. What mattered was that Hope County was free. And maybe, just maybe, things could go back to normal.

Morgan finished his third beer, feeling a bit of a buzz now. Maybe it was time to switch over to water. Next to him, Jess sat back in her seat, sipping on her mixed drink. She watched a few half-drunk people dancing to a guy covering The Lumineers on his acoustic guitar.

"I haven't seen these people happy in ages," she mused.

"It's pretty great," Morgan replied.

She shook her head and put her drink down.

"What's wrong?" Morgan asked her.

"I don't know. People think that after all this shit, everything will just go back to normal. I just don't think shit is ever going to be the same again."

Despite her dead serious delivery of very legitimate concerns, Morgan could not contain a laugh.

Jess looked at him and frowned.

"What?" she snapped.

Morgan smiled at her and shook his head.

"Nothing, Jess. I think you're just mad you won't able to kill someone as often."

She frowned, but Morgan kept his smirk on his face. Eventually, she could not keep it up and started to laugh, causing her to bury her face in her hands and shake her head.

"I think I just like to be real about things, Morgan," she countered.

He shrugged.

"Maybe so."

"Well, that and killing Peggies has been my pastime for the past year or so. I'd feel lost without it," added Jess.

"You heard what the Sheriff was saying earlier. Eden's Gate is down, but not out. They'll never rebuild to the level they were when this shit all started, but there's still cultists out there," Morgan said.

"Then I'll be there putting arrows through their heads," Jess firmly proclaimed.

"Which reminds me," Morgan began, "you want to go hunting tomorrow? For Peggies, I mean. I have a few spots we should check out."

Jess smiled at that. Killing cultists was another thing that could bring a smile to the master huntress's face.

"I thought you'd never ask," she said approvingly.

"You know there's no one else I'd rather have watching my back," Morgan assured her.

"Why is that?" she pried.

Morgan paused before he could blurt out the first thing on his mind. In his head, he could see himself saying something smooth.

"Maybe I just like having you close," the idealized Morgan in his mind deftly told Jess, who in his mind would have blushed and giggled like a teenage schoolgirl.

But, Morgan knew that with his track record of love and relationships, his attempt to smoothly pay her a compliment would come out along the lines of:

"I, uh, like your face. It's cool."

So, Morgan thought about his response.

"I can't think of anyone else in Hope County who can hit a man in the head at 60 yards with a fuckin' compound bow," Morgan said, "hard enough to do that with a gun."

Jess nodded and smirked. Maybe it was not a compliment on her physical appearance, but it was obviously an observation she noticed.

"I try, Morgan. I try."

"Seriously, you're like Robin Hood or something. Or whatever the female version of Robin would be," Morgan continued.

"I'm pretty sure Robin would work just fine as a girl's name too," Jess pointed out while laughing.

Morgan felt extremely stupid. He did try his best not to look like a complete fool in front of her.

"Oh, yeah, of course. That's what I meant," Morgan said, attempting to play it off.

Jess laughed again. "It's okay. I get what you were saying."

"Oh, good," Morgan said as he silently sighed in relief.

He loved seeing her laugh. It was such a simple thing, but a woman like Jess did not do it enough, Morgan felt. He found her laugh sweet and infectious. It was something he tried to bring out with stupid jokes and comments when they were out in the field, to varying levels of success. It was funny. Jess did much to keep up the ruthless killer persona, but once you got to know her, she was much more than just a young woman who seemed a bit too into shooting people with arrows.

That still was a big part of her character though. Morgan would not have it any other way.

They both finished their chuckling at Morgan's stumble. Jess picked up her drink and took a sip while Morgan observed the people celebrating. There was a comfortable silence between them, one that possessed a contemplative quality. He felt this could be a good time to make some sort of comment.

"You know, I'm glad I met you," Morgan told her.

She turned to him, with a look that betrayed some measure of hesitation.

"Because I'm the best bow hunter in Hope County?" she finally replied. The way she said it made Morgan think that was a kind of safe, measured response.

"Well, that, yeah. But, I don't know. You're just good company, I guess."

Jess smirked at that. "Me? Good company? That's a new one."

"Always room for something new," Morgan responded. "It keeps things fresh, right?"

"I mean, I guess," Jess said, "it's just not something a lot of people would say when they think of me."

"Is that so?"

"Come on, Morgan. I realize a lot of people think I'm a total bitch with more than a few issues."

She leaned back with a light shrug. "What can I say? I actually prefer it that way. Less people will want to mess with me."

"Well… I don't think you're a bitch," Morgan said.

She grinned. "That makes you and Dutch the only people who feel that way."

"I just had a good feeling about you. I'm a cop after all. I have to know how to read people," Morgan replied with a light shrug.

Jess nodded. "I had a good feeling about you too, you know."

Morgan could feel his cheeks burn. He could only hope that Jess could not tell in the low light of the bar. Then again, being a master tracker and hunter, she probably could tell. Which is probably why she looked down in an attempt to conceal a grin.

"I guess we're just both good at feelings," Morgan suggested.

Jess downed the last of her drink. "Maybe we are," she said quietly.

They sat in the same contemplative silence for several seconds. Morgan could feel his heart pounding. He felt like he should do more, but what exactly? Some sappy romance movie shit like grabbing her hand? Jess was not the kind of person for that and neither was he. Real life was not like the movies he watched when he was a teenager.

"Hey, I think I'm going to get going," Jess said.

"Oh," Morgan responded, trying not to sound disappointed.

"What? Are you disappointed?" Jess asked him with a smirk, obviously seeing through Morgan's attempts to play it cool.

"Oh, no! I mean… well," a flustered Morgan replied.

Jess laughed. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.

"Whoa, relax, Deputy Rook. I get you."

Morgan laughed back. "I'm glad."

She let go of his shoulder and stood up, picking up her hooded jacket. Jess threw on the ragged green jacket that she was so fond of and pulled the hood over her chocolate brown hair, giving her the distinctive profile Morgan had come to instantly recognize.

Jess looked over her shoulder as she headed for the exit.

"I'll see you tomorrow, eight in the morning," she ordered rather than asked.

Morgan had to smile at the way she liked to take charge.

"Whatever you say, Jess."

Jess smiled back one last time.

"Goodnight, Morgan."

"Goodnight, Jess."

Morgan watched her melt past the revelers in the bar and head out the door. With a shake of his head, he sighed and leaned back. He knew that she would be on his mind the rest of the night, and probably in his dreams. Morgan often thought about just how clichéd it was, seeing Jess in his dreams. Not like he could help it, though. The subconscious works in mysterious ways.

As much as he wanted dreams to be reality, Morgan felt that he was at a strange place. He got the feeling there was… something there. Maybe Jess felt the same way and had a difficult time expressing it. That would make two of them, if that was the case.

Morgan had never really been one for romantic relationships. He had never had a steady girlfriend and had only been on a few dates with women through college. None of them lasted. His friends often told him that he would find the right one eventually.

Was Jess Black "the right one?" He liked to think so. There was no one in the world like her, that was for sure. It was also a fact that Morgan felt something for her he had never felt for another woman. This feeling was intrusive and at times took him over.

He wanted her. He wanted to be around her and get to know what made Jess Black, Jess Black. Without a doubt he wanted all these things. But how exactly was he supposed to get from here to what he constantly dreamt about?

Feelings are stupid, Morgan thought as he took a sip of his beer.

Morgan's cell phone let out an incessant tone that caused him to groggily sit up and paw at the nightstand next to him in order to silence it. He looked at the screen which helpfully informed him it was 7:00 in the morning.

As he stretched, Morgan thought about Jess, who he would be seeing in an hour. Last night, he had a dream him and Jess were together in a field under a starry sky. In front of them, a campfire gave off a pleasant warming glow. They were sitting together, hand in hand. He could not remember what they were talking about, but Jess was laughing and smiling- that was all that mattered. The last thing that occurred before he woke up was Jess putting an arm around him and pulling him close.

"I fucking love you," dream-Jess told him.

Morgan thought about his dream and the previous night as he got ready for the day. Since his rental house was one of the homes burned down by Eden's Gate during their occupation of Fall's End, Mary had let Morgan stay in a spare room in the upstairs of the Spread Eagle. It was not too bad. The room was clean, roomy, and had a full bathroom across the hallway. Plus, it was free. Can't beat that.

Morgan came downstairs, where Mary sat at the bar, sipping coffee.

"Good morning, Mary," he greeted.

"Mornin' deputy," Mary said pleasantly. Morgan was amazed at the woman's ability to function so early in the morning, especially after a long night.

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"Uh… can I have sunny side up eggs?" he asked.

"Morgan, you can get any kind of eggs you want after everything you've done for us," Mary started.

She paused. "Within reason."

Morgan chuckled. "I'm easy to please, so don't worry."

Mary picked up a steaming coffee pot and poured him a cup.

"Want any sugar or anything?"

"I'm good, thanks," Morgan said.

He took a deep sip and set down the cup. Mary was leaning on the counter, smiling at him. She obviously wanted to talk about something.

"How'd you fare last night?" Morgan asked.

Mary shrugged. "Not bad. Almost everyone got totally wasted. But I had enough sober enough hands to help with the cleanup."

"I turned in early- sorry I couldn't help."

Mary waved him off. "Forget about it, Morgan. You've done enough already. I don't need you scrubbing plates."

"So…" Mary continued, "I saw you talking to Jess Black."

Morgan looked up mid-sip.

"You did?" he asked hesitantly.

"I did."

"Well, yeah, I was. She's my friend. We did a lot of damage to Eden's Gate together," Morgan explained.

"So, do you like her?" Mary asked.

Morgan almost choked on his coffee.

"I- what?"

Mary shook her head and chuckled. "Morgan, this is a very small town. It's easy to know everyone's business. Can't really avoid it."

"Uh… well… I guess… It's weird…" Morgan stammered in reply.

"Hey, we're friends. This isn't high school. You can tell me. Maybe I can give some advice," Mary assured him.

Morgan sighed. "Dammit, Mary. Alright, yeah. I 'like' her. I guess you could say that."

"Well, why don't you ask her out?" Mary asked, as if it was a no-brainer.

"I know that would be the thing to do in a normal situation. But I don't think this is a normal situation. We're still at war with a murderous doomsday cult. Our main activities together consist to killing shit and blowing shit up."

"Okay, you're right. This is a little different. Jess is a… different kind of person too."

"You could say that," Morgan chuckled.

"As a woman, I can only really tell you just keep at it. You two are always running around together and seem to be pretty tight. So, you got that down. But, what I think is important is that you show her that you care and that you're there for her. Most girls like that. With everything she's been though… she'll appreciate it," Mary advised.

"I care about her. A lot. I'm there for her and she knows it," Morgan replied resolutely.

"I have no doubts about that. You're a great man, Morgan. She deserves someone like you."

Before he could answer, Jess pushed open the door to the bar and strolled in. Her green jacket was on, her bow slung over her shoulder, and quiver was secured to her back. She was most certainly ready.

"Morgan! You're still eating? Come on, let's get a move on. We got Peggies to kill," she urged.

Morgan turned back to Mary who smirked.

"Hell of a woman," she whispered. Morgan could only smirk back.

He grabbed his bag and rifle, throwing both items onto his shoulders. Jess smiled at him. He could almost see her eyes light up when he looked into them.

Hell of a woman indeed, Morgan thought as they headed out.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will contain some bonding through cultist killing. Jess's favorite thing.