Maggie was eager to see Hal and fiddled with her jacket as she followed Anne down the hall to Hal's room.

"Is he really gonna be okay? You didn't leave anything out because Matt was there?"

Anne stopped at a door and smiled tiredly. "He'll be okay he was really lucky that the bullet only grazed him. It could have been a lot worse. He just needs to take some time to rest and heal but he'll be up and fighting again before you know it."

The doctor held the door open for her as Maggie stepped into the quiet room. Hal was pale and still in the hospital bed and the blonde could see shadows under his eyes already. She knew it was probably from the blood loss but she could also see the lingering bruises from his encounter with Pope and thought, with bitter humour, that they finally had a few days rest after near constant attacks and Hal wouldn't even be awake to enjoy it.

Maggie moved closer to the bed as Anne patted her on the arm and left. There was already a chair waiting by Hal's bed and the soldier sat down and took her boyfriend's hand in hers, squeezing it gently. There was gauze taped to the side of his head where the bullet wound was and his head was turned slightly towards her, dried blood making his hair stiff in some places.

There were a few medical supplies laying on a table near the bed so Maggie took a cloth and wet it at a sink nearby and took it back to the boy lying in the bed to carefully scrub the red from his face. The cloth quickly became stained pink and black, the dirt on his face coming off with the blood and Maggie sighed, quickly deciding to just wash his whole face and neck.

"Hal Mason you are covered in dirt. You know I'm sure you would enjoy this sponge bath a lot more if you woke up?" It was a little strange talking to someone that couldn't talk back. Hell, Maggie didn't even know if HalaHHHHHHHH could hear her but she couldn't sit there in silence and she hoped her voice would bring him back to her.

It felt good to actually be able to help by doing something with her hands and she continued to wipe the cloth over Hal's skin being careful not to wet any bandages.

"We're all real worried about you Hal, and I don't want to be staying here for too long after they tried to kill you guys. They have a lot of good resources here it's a good set up maybe we should just take over. Having a real bedroom again would be nice hmm?"

She thought back to the room she had shared with him so long ago, when he was still in his wheelchair. She missed that so much, being able to fall asleep in his arms and wake up to her favourite person each morning. Then after everything with her spikes and now Isabella they had been growing apart but Maggie still cared about Hal so much and she wanted him back so desperately. No matter what the spikes had made her do she never stopped loving Hal and now that they were gone she could repair their relationship to make it as strong as it was before. If only he wold wake up.

Hal was looking better without the blood and dirt but he was still too pale and Maggie put the now dirty cloth down. Moving to the side of his bed where his un-IV'd hand lay, Maggie picked up Hal's limp arm and wrapped it around her as she lay down on the small space left on the bed beside him.

She hadn't been held by Hal in so long and she laid her head on his shoulder as her tears fell on the bare skin of his chest. She gripped his hand as she cried letting out all the emotions she had tried to keep hidden till now.

He had almost died today, and while that as the norm now it had rarely come this close. He was lined up for execution and shot in the head and god, when he had dropped like that, she saw her entire reason for living fall to the dirt. She had thought he was gone.

The image of his blood sprayed across the bullet riddled wall was seared into her mind and she just needed him to wake up so that his blinding smile could replace the horrible image. She wanted desperately to see him smirk at her and make a joke. She could almost hear him say "Come on Mags don't tell me your going soft on me." But he lay unmoving, even his eyes were still under their pale lids and Maggie just hoped he could hear her.

"I love you so much baby and I'm sitting here waiting so you have to come back to me alright? You don't get to leave me alone in this war Hal Mason." As expected she got no response but stretched up to trail kisses along his stubbled jawline, up his cheek and finally on his lips, tugging his ear gently as she did. The blonde then pulled Hal's blankets up higher on his chest and snuggled back down, wrapping his arm back around her waist as she closed her eyes as fell asleep in her favourite persons arms.

….

"Dad I don't wanna get something to eat, I wanna see Hal." The kid whined, craning his head back to see Anne leaning over Ben as his father pulled him away to the dining hall.

"I know Matt but Maggie's with him right now and I'm sure she'd like some time with him."

The boy made face but complied with his father's tugging and walked beside him.

"I'm not even hungry."

Tom stopped walking and turned to his youngest with tears in his eyes and laid his hands on his shoulders.

"Matty we almost lost both your brothers today and I … I just want to make sure you're okay."

Matt looked at his dad and saw how scared he was and hoped that didn't mean Anne was lying about Hal being okay. Not wanting to see his dad so worried anymore he wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and held on tight as he felt his father's arms wrap around his waist in return.

"I'm okay Dad. And they will be too. You taught us to be strong."

Tom gripped his youngest tight and ran a hand over his head, holding him closer.

"I just hate that you have to be. I just want you boys safe, that's all I wanted."

Matt nodded in Toms hold.

"I know Dad."

The professor sniffed and blinked his tears away, releasing his hold on his son and standing up to resume walking to the dining hall.

"So you rode a motorcycle huh?"

Matt looked warily up at him as he followed.

"You're not mad?"

Tom laughed. "Before the invasion I would have been but no, Matt, I'm proud of you. You followed orders and snuck out of here to get help. Help that ended up saving the lives of four people, your brothers and Anne's included. You did good son and your right, your brothers will be fine. We'll take good care of them." He patted Matt on the shoulder and beamed proudly down at him making Matt smile back in return.

Anne inspected Ben but knew there wasn't much to do but let him rest and wait for the spikes to heal him but she cleaned the wound and gave him fluids through an IV anyway. The poor boy was exhausted and she carefully straightened out the blanket that had been laid over him. He was so young and already had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. They all did really, but Ben had been fighting so hard in this war and was still judged, ridiculed, and now tortured for having the same spikes that he used to help people.

It just wasn't fair and the medic shook her head in frustration. It seemed people forgot that Ben was forcibly given the spikes by the skitters and chose to hate him instead of the things that did it to him.

Ben was put through a horrible experience and had chosen to use what he was left with to help win the war and to help others, even if it came at a cost to himself and she was so proud of him for it. She just wished others would see him for the hero that he was. All her Mason boys were heroes.

Anne sighed and ran a hand through the boy's hair, massaging the back of his head and the nape of his neck. Ben seemed to relax at her touch and the medic watched as his creased eyebrows smoothed out as he sighed in his sleep. Anne smiled and sat down beside his bed, hands continuing their gentle movements through his hair.

"I'm here kiddo, you're alright."

Anne stayed there, with him, so long she eventually fell asleep and Tom and Matt came back to find her slumped in a chair at Ben's bedside. Tom grabbed an extra blanket and draped it over his wife's shoulders, kissing her temple and deciding to allow her some rest before he woke her for some real sleep. Matt whispered goodnight to Anne and wrapped his arms around Ben, as much as he could without disturbing him, as a sort of hug before following his father to the next room where an empty bed lay waiting.

Matt climbed in and Tom kissed his curly head as he tucked him in. "Get some rest and you can visit Hal when you wake up okay?"

"Okay, thanks Dad. I love you." Tom smiled again and sat next to his son to stay with him till he slept.

"Love you too son."