Dom's eyes snapped open.

It was daylight now, morning. Sitting up, he stretched, cracking his battle-worn bones and several places. He had dreamt about Maria again, and every passing day, he missed her more and more. He thought about his children, too, Benedicto and Sylvia. He would never forget them, and when his time came, he would meet them all in heaven.

But until then, he had to keep fighting.

He rubbed his face to wake himself up, and stood, seeing that the fire was dwindling from the night before. Past that, Anya was lying on the ground, curled up in a little ball. He remembered how Marcus had held on to her the night before, like she would die if he let go, which in all actuality, she probably would have. But where was he now?

Drowsily, he walked over to the sleeping girl. There was a little blood under the bandages, he made a mental note to check them later, but for now she would be okay. The regenerant they used should have healed them drastically, but she'd bee feeling pain for a few days until it was completely healed.

He squatted down and shook her gently, hoping she would wake up.

"Anya, wake up." He said, grasping her shoulder firmly.

She rolled over slightly, eyes blinking open, and finally focusing on Dom. That was always the strangest thing about Anya-- her eyes. She was blonde, but her eyes were a dark brown, almost black color. It was funny, like she and Marcus had traded eyes.

"Hmm?" She said, sitting up, yawning, stretching her arms.

"Dude, where's Marcus?"

She frowned and looked away from him for a second. Something had gone down while he was asleep.

"He went that way." She said, her head nodding in the general direction to Dom's left.

"Thanks." He replied, standing up and starting in that direction. "You gonna be okay here by yourself?" He asked, a bit concerned that there might be locust around, even though they hadn't seen any in a good twenty four hours. But if there was one thing he learned from this war, it was that you could never bet on those bastards.

"Yeah." She said, smiling a half-hearted smile. "I'll be fine."

So he trotted over in the direction she had gestured, and hoped Marcus hadn't gone too far. To Dom's relief, he hadn't, he saw Marcus's huge shoulders sitting on a hill maybe a few hundred yards from the edge of the compound, motionless. Was he sleeping?

He walked up quietly, trying not to wake him if, in fact, he was. He knew Marcus only ever slept for ten minutes at the maximum, the guy had such a problem with nightmares that he just stayed awake.

As he walked around his side, Dom saw that his eyes were open. No, he wasn't asleep, he was thinking, lost in the recesses of his mind. More and more, Marcus was getting like that, and Dom wasn't sure if it was for the best.

"Hey," he said, alerting Marcus to his presence. Marcus blinked once, and turned to look at Dom as the latino sat down next to him.

"Hey," He grunted back. they sat for a moment, in silence, looking at the sun's reflection on the water. For one, the scenery here was beautiful, and Dom never wanted to lose it to those damn fucking locust. He heard Marcus place his lancer at his side, and decided to acknowledge the 200-lb elephant in the room.

"What's up with you and Anya," He asked, knowing it was probably shaky ground. Everything was with this guy, but there had to be no secrets. Dom was the only real family he had left.

"Hmph. Nothing." He grunted, clearly avoiding the subject.

"Come on, Marcus, don't bullshit me man."

Marcus took a deep breath, and massaged his forehead with one hand before continuing.

"She talks in her sleep. About us." Obviously, he wasn't pleased.

"Us, me and you us, or us, you and her us?" Dom asked, clarifying.

"Me and her, us."

"So?" Dom shrugged his shoulders, he didn't get why that was such a bad thing. Wasn't Marcus like, head over heels for this girl?

"She talked about kids. She said she loved me." He said it like it was a bad thing.

"Cant she not have kids anyway? What's the big deal?"

"Dom."He said, turning and fixing his best friend with an unnerving stare from his icy blue eyes. "If the right people hear that, they'll bring her up on charges. We both could get thrown in jail. She's not going to jail just because of me."

"Shit." This was worse than Dom thought. "What the fuck has gotten into you, dude?"

Marcus blinked a little, giving away his surprise, waiting for Dom to continue.

"Seriously man, if she loves you then good for her, at least she deals with it. You just close it all up on the inside, like you do with everything. Look, do you think anyone gives a fuck about regulations anymore? Since when did you care about what everybody else thinks?" Dom had struck a nerve, he could tell. Marcus had looked away from him and back over the bay, his jaw clenched.

"I'm just saying, if you love her, then just fucking tell her. Its the least you can do for her, man, instead of tearing her up when you feel like being five again."

Dom's last statement hurt, Marcus closed his eyes and set his jaw after Dom said it, but at least he'd made his point. Before Marcus decided to punch him, he got up and walked away, back into the base to check on Anya.

Marcus sat there for a long time.