When the girl left, the Commander drifted off again. She had such a headache and only sleep seemed to make the pain subside. Everything was so unclear. She hadn't known the young Asian cadet, but still there was something familiar about her. The new faces and strange location were disconcerting. She could only hope that Bradford would be able to explain what happened.
Her last memory was of XCom Headquarters. They had come under attack in the early hours of the morning. The Commander had been awoken as the base shook and alerts started going off. Opening a comm to Mission Control she asked for a status report as she made her way there. There had been no previous intel to indicate that the aliens would make a second direct strike on the base. In fact when the Commander had reached Control she learned that they had crashed a UFO into the hangar where the recruits were conducting Guerrilla Tactics exercises that morning. An open link to the hangar showed gruesome images of soldiers' bodies on the hangar bay floor. Those who hadn't been killed on impact were attempting to help the wounded and found themselves under intense fire from incoming alien forces. Central had been on his way to check on the training when the base was struck. Calling Mission Control he told her they had already suffered heavy casualties. Her CO was fighting his way to back to Control and was recommending they evacuate the base.
As Bradford enters he finds her resting again. It allows him another moment to look at her without interruption and possibly judgment. Standing by her bedside he lets his hand rest on the sheet next to hers. Over the last twenty years he had almost forgotten how beautiful she was. He moved his fingers so that his pinky touched hers gently. As he touches her her body became agitated. She shakes and opens her mouth to cry out. There is profound agony in her expression as she grips the sheet with her fingers. Her knuckles white with strain. Then it was all gone - she was still again. He reaches to take her hand when he sees her eyes start to open.
Her eyes come into focus - there was a soldier standing next to her. Unlike the young female recruit's presence early this makes her anxious. Another new face - and then she looked again, recognizing his slight grin. One she knew all too well. How was this possible - what had happened?
"Glad to see you're finally coming out of it. Don't envy the headache you must have though. Still can't fault Dr. Tygan especially as no one's attempted something like this before."
She attempts to sit up a little, feeling awkward laying there. He reached out to steady her, "Easy. Still not entirely sure what they did to you. That chip was buried halfway into your skull."
The Commander is confused - what was he going on about. The Bradford she remembered was but a memory. Before her stood a very different man. His face looks rough and as if it had live through hundreds of battles and great loss, but how could that be? The young recruit had said something about retrieving her. Where had she been?
"Lost a lot of good soldiers looking for you over the years." He seemed cold, she thinks, not the Bradford the recruit made her think had kept watch by her bedside. "Almost gave up hope you were still out there. Acted on the intel as soon as I got word."
He turns away. He found he couldn't look at her without wanting to touch her, to fall to his knees and ask for forgiveness. Putting distance between them was the only thing he could think to do.
She watches him make his way across the room. "Not sure what you remember," he says and stops turning back to face her, "but a lot's changed." He gives her an apologetic look, "did the best I could, but the last 20 years has been tough without you."
Twenty years? She starts to search her memory - they were at HQ under attack. Central - her Central was fighting his way to Mission Control. She had given the command to abandon the base - the data transfers and dumps had been initiated. Big Sky was called back to pick up and assist with evacs - when there was…
He starts to speak again, looking up at him she sees him turn away again. "You feel like catching up Shen has the archive up and running on your terminal," and he gestures to the monitor to her right. "Otherwise I'd go see Dr. Tygan when you're ready. There are some things you should know. He'll be better at explaining them…" his voice trails off, "than me." He turns to the door.
Bradford experiences a sudden need to get out of the room. If he doesn't he'd suffer a wound that no amount of medkits or time on the mend will heal. This wasn't the speech or reunion he envisioned - and yet he couldn't find another way to speak to her. Not after all that had happen.
Just before leaving he turns back one last time. He stands at slight attention and looks her in the eye, "It's damn good to have you back", he pauses and then says, "Commander" before stepping through the door. Outside her quarters he stops and leans against the wall taking a deep breath.
On the other side of the door there is a terrified and confused woman. A woman that was - no is the Commander of XCom. She's just been told that it has been twenty years. Thinking back to her last memories she remembers her signing off with Big Sky as there was an explosion to her left. Bradford had told her to stay put he is coming for her. Equipment crashed down around them. She yelled to the Control staff to get moving as she turned in the direction of the explosion to see what she quickly identified as a Muton. It was armed and running at her full tilt, as she started to move it raised the butt of its plasma rifle - she felt it strike the side of her head and everything went black.
Commander Margaret Curtis suddenly feels completely alone. She looks down at her hands - they look the same as they did that day and she wonders if Bradford is looking at the same face she once looked at in the mirror - a face 20 years younger than his. What happened to him? To her? Using her arms she pulls herself up and reaches for the terminal. She needs to understand. The system says "Hello Commander," and she begins.