Barkhorn and John stumble past the front gate of the base and make their way to the front door. the sun had just begun to rise over the sea as the two struggle to fight off sleep. The two are practically holding each other up when they open the door to the base. the pair sleepily walk down the hall towards the rooms. as they do they fail to notice that Sanya, returning from night watch, had just joined their tired group. Sanya turned and opened a door. she walks into the room and the two follow behind her.

Eila lay on her bed fast asleep when she was suddenly stirred. she felt her bed shake then a pounding by her feet. she shot up from her pillow shocked and surprised. she looks down to see the familiar sight of Sanya partly undressed hanging over the side of her bed.

"*Sigh* not again... well I guess just this once" Eila said as she pulls Sanya onto the bed. he gaze then falls on John and Barkhorn who were also asleep on her bed.

"you cant be serious... this is ridiculous" She said rolling her eyes and pulling the other two into the bed. she stands over the bed seeing now there was no room for her among the sleepy group of pilots.

"just this once... you two" She mumbles buttoning up her jacket and getting ready to leave the room when she notices Sanya begins to cuddle up to John. she wraps her arms around the tired boy and places her head on his shoulder.

"hmmmm. I guess she is really happy with him." She says with a smile as she leaves the room.

...

a knock comes to Eila's room that was now occupied by the sleepers. Barkhorn is the first to wake from her deep sleep. realizing that she had slept in she springs to her feet and runs to the door.

"sorry i'm coming!" she shouts and swings open the door. she is surprised to see Minna was the one knocking.

"Barkhorn... what are you doing here?" Minna asked. Barkhorn was confused when she realized she wasn't in her room. she then turned around to see she was sleeping with Sanya and John. her face turned bright red and she didn't have any response to her commander.

"i'm not going to ask... I just need to talk to John" she said gesturing to Barkhorn to go wake him up. she begins to lightly shake him to try to snap him up.

"hay Walker wake up" she says quietly. clearly she is not trying to wake him like she would Hartmann. Suddenly in his sleep he wraps his arms around her and pulls her onto the bed on top of him. Barkhorns face turns red as she fells Johns hand slowly move down her back. her head is right next to his when he begins to talk in his dream.

"ahhhhh. Sanya." he whispers into her ear.

"Im not Sanya you idiot!" Barkhorn shouts. this defiantly wakes John up as he stumbles back and falls out of bed. Barkhorn gets to her feet and turns to see Minna is just standing there smiling to them.

"what are you so happy about!" Barkhorn yells.

"you two sure have become good friends." She says with a laugh. Barkhorn just gets more mad and storms out of the room.

"well now that you are awake I would like to see you in my office to debrief you on the events that unfolded last night" she said as john got to his feet and fixed his jacket.

"alright." John said as he followed her out of the room.

Minna takes a seat behind her desk and pulls out some files. John sits down in front of her and the two are silent for a moment.

"A cargo plain in the ocean and half of London shot to pieces. this isn't going to be easy to cover up you do realize John.*sigh* what are you trying to accomplish through all this." Minna asked him.

"I'm just trying to stop some bad people from consuming this world." He responds.

"Then why are you trying to do this all alone. your practically killing yourself by not asking for our help. we are all a team. you need to remember that."

"If i needed any of your help I would have asked for it. I don't care what happens to me as long as I can stop him." John said as suddenly Minna stands up and her hand shoots across the desk and slaps him across the face. She just looks at him angrily. She sighs and her face becomes neutral once again and she takes her seat.

"do you think your the only one who cares. do you think Sanya will be happy at your funeral. Do you think Barkhorn wants to lose someone else close to her." Minna began

"I didn't think of it like..." John started but Minna continued.

"Yoshika has operated on you enough to feel some sympathy for you. She cares about you and you haven't even taken time to get to know her. Do you think Shirley and Lucchini are not going to miss you in the hanger. I think even Eila has gotten to like you a bit."

"alright I get your point... I shouldn't take this so lightly" John said hanging his head.

"Listen John... You may not have anyone back home for you but you shouldn't through your life away. You have people here who care about you deeply. I may not show it much but even I care about you." this shocked John seeing as for the most part he though Minna hated him.

"well... thank you... Minna" John said

"Its true I do care about you. Why do you think I keep covering for you whenever stuff like this happens. Why do you think I even picked you up from the hospital back then. I always knew there was something special about you. I only do this because I care." Minna said with a smile.

John rubbed his red cheek and smiled back at her. "yeah I can feel how much you care." he said and the two laughed "now my face hurts almost as much as my shoulder"

"whats wrong with your shoulder" Minna asked as she stood up and walked over to him.

"oh... its just been hurting since i woke up. don't worry about it." He said

"what did I just say. were a team. we look out for each other." she said examining the back of his jacket to see there was a hole in it by his shoulder.

"John... take of your jacket for me" Minna said

"woah woah. I know you said you care about me and all but I have Sanya." John started.

"no you Idiot. I need to check something. take off your jacket."

John unbuttons his jacket and tosses it onto the table. Minna is shocked to see his white shirt is stained with scarlet blood. at the center of the blood is skin and clothing tattered from a bullet.

"John... You've been shot!" Minna shouted

"what!" john said

"how did you not know you were hit!"

"I don't know! i guess in the moment all the adrenalin and stuff!"

"you've been bleeding all night! we need to get you to the infirmary before you bleed out!" she said pushing him out of the door.

...

Yoshika cleans her hand in the sink and drys them on a towel. John lays in a bed and waits for her. he looks around his surroundings to see many tools and knives.

Yoshika walks over to the bed starts to prepare for the operation.

"so how is this going to work. your just going to do some magic and fix me up right" John asked

"well its not that simple" Yoshika said "we need to remove the bullet before I can heal you or it will do more harm than good." as she says that lynne walks in with a bottle in her hands and gives it to Yoshika.

"is this what you needed" Lynne asked.

"yes this is perfect" Yoshika said with a smile.

"Whats that?" John asked.

"Its alcohol. I need it to disinfect the wound and my tools... and your probably going to need it to." she handed him the bottle and John takes a swig.

"*cough cough* Is this going to hurt" John asked

"Im not going to lie... you may want to bite down on something." Yoshika said cleaning a knife and getting in close to the wound.

"Hay Yoshika... I haven't had a chance to thank you for always fixing me up. We should take some time to talk and get to know each other." John said

"yeah... id like that." she said smiling to him

"alright" john said taking another drink "lets get the lead out" John said as Yoshika dug the knife deep under his skin. a sharp pain quickly shot through him as he began to scream. Yoshika grabbed a leather belt and placed it in his mouth for him to bite on. it didn't stop the horrible pain but at least she could concentrate on what she was doing without all the screaming. after a little digging she finally dislodged the bullet from his shoulder. she held it out to him in her palm.

"see that wasn't that bad." she said with a smile and put the bullet on a tray. Yoshika raised her hands over Johns wound and a glow began to appear around them. her ears and tail revealed themselves as she began to heal the boy. the bloody opening slowly closed and the skin reformed over it. the blue glow began to fade and Yoshika's ears and tail disappeared along with it.

"alright that should do it. you are good to go." Yoshika said taking off her gloves.

"thanks. i owe you one" John said getting out of the bed and grabbing a shirt.

"Its alright. despite fixing your wound... you still don't look to good." she said looking over her team mate.

"yeah i haven't had much time to sleep these past few days."

"well that's no good" she said as she took his hand and dragged him back to his room. "as a doctor I know what is right for my patients and clearly you need bed rest. you are not aloud to leave this room until you have gotten a necessary amount of sleep."

"and how long will that be doctor" John joked.

"i'll get you when I think it has been enough. now get some sleep" She said closing the door.

John was now alone in the dark room. he sat on the bed and let out a deep sigh. the then lay back and drifted off to sleep.

...

A knock come to the door and John rose from the bed.

'is it Yoshika. how long have I been out' John wondered as he walked over to the door and opened it. suddenly a pain fills his stomach as the wind is knocked out of him by a mighty kick. John is knocked back onto the floor as he begins to cough and gasp for air. the sound of cans hitting the ground is now present as John turns to see gas leaking from cylinders on the ground. As he tries to catch his breath he also inhales whatever was in the cans.

John looks up to see a tall man wearing a gas mask standing above him. the man was dressed in black from his coat to his boots and had many containers of the gas strapped to his belt.

"its good to see you again John. Did you miss me. it seems you have gotten a new doctor to take care of you... I thought you may have forgotten about me so I thought I might drop in." The man said. every word was somewhat muffled by the gas mask but that only made his speech more sinister.

"*cough* I should have been expecting *cough* you" John said as he jumped up and grabbed the man by his shirt.

"ah ah ah. Were not going to fight just yet John. I want to have a little fun" he said as his body started to disintegrate into a dark mist. "your in my world now John" he said as the mist flew out the door and into the hall.

John stumbles through the doorway and out into the hall to see that it was much longer then it had been when he first went to sleep. the doors were all warped and so was his vision. when he looked outside the windows the sky was green and the grass blue. John had broken out into a cold sweat and was breathing rapidly. an announcement came on over the speakers with a loud screech that made John drop to his knees and cover his ears. the net thing he knew the muffled voice of the man he was with came on.

"The doctor is in!" the man shouted as he started to break out in a sadistic and evil laugh. John started to run down the halls that stretched on for miles.