A/N: Well. I hope I made you all sweat enough. Ha. The last chapter may have seemed like the end, but it wasn't. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the read. Please rate and review.

Groggily, I open my eyes and canvas my new surroundings. It's a dark and lifeless hospital room, the only source of light coming from a dim fluorescent light above my bed. I glance down at the IV in my arm and notice movement in the corner of the room. Sitting there in a chair, asleep, is Mactavish. A smile forms on my lips as I try to get his attention but only pain comes through my throat. I sit back, discouraged. That's when Price walks in with a doctor, looking from Mactavish to me.

"Well at least someone's awake." Remarks Price dryly.

This causes Mactavish to stir, "I wasn't sleeping, I was merely resting my eyes." he shoots back, yawning. He looks at Price but then over to me. He looks like he hasn't slept in a while and I can't help but ponder why.

I hear Price laugh, "Yeah, sure." He chuckles lightly.

The doctor walks over to me, his dark green eyes scanning my bandage on my neck, "How are you feeling, Miz. Deran?" he asks, smiling sweetly at me. I blink, wondering who the hell this guy is talking to do. It takes me a couple seconds for me to piece together that Price and Mactavish checked me in under a false name. I open my mouth to respond but the doctor shoves a notepad and pencil at me instead.

I take it, writing down my answer, "Fine Doc, except I can't speak!!" I write, showing him my reply.

He chuckles, "Will, you'll be healed in no time." He reassures me. His pager beeps abruptly, summoning him else where.

Price shuts the door soundlessly after the doc. I take the pad, "So, where the hall am I anywhere?" I write, showing him my question.

"A hospital, in Latvia." He replies, knowingly.

I smile, scribbling down something on the paper before showing him, "Europe, eh? I sure am hitting every continent aren't I?" Price smiles back, a forced smile. I sense this, flipping a new page open. "Drop the charade Price. You look like a creeper." I write, not happy when people don't come out with what they want to say right away. Price sighs, dropping the fake smile. "What's up? What was with the forced smile? Makarov's dead, isn't he?" I scribble, showing him.

Price nods, "Yeah, he's dead…" he answers, trailing off silently.

There's a silence as I write down my words, "So why are you avoiding my question?" I resist the urge to write a funny comment after, not wanting to come off as a silly funny question.

Price sighs, looking over at Mactavish who has dozed off once again, "Erin. You died three times on the table….they didn't think you'd come back from the last time…" Price mutters in a hushed tone. I gulp painfully, touching my throat delicately. "Honestly, the only one who believed you'd come back…was Soap." He replies softly. I look over at the sleeping Scot in thoughtfulness, and then back at Price.

"Really? Damn…I would have given up on me after the 2nd time I died, lol." I write, not realizing I wrote the text lingo at the end.

Price frowns, "That's not funny." He replies darkly.

I raise an eyebrow sarcastically, writing, "Does it look like I'm laughing?"

"Well, you did put 'lol' at the end of that sentence…" Price points out.

I blink, "Sorry…force of habit." I write on the pad.

Price smirks, "Isn't everything. Look, I got to go talk to Nikolai. You should get some rest." He suggests, starting to the door.

He pauses when he sees me writing something down. I pout, showing him what I wrote, "Yeah, but I don't want to. I kinda want to stay in the world of the living."

Price rolls his eyes, "Nice. I wonder how the team put up with all your sarcasm." He replies wryly. My smile slips from my face, remembering how Ghost always made a comment on my cynical words. Price doesn't see what he's said has effected me, exiting the room quietly. I look over at Mactavish, wondering how he was able to believe in me after I died three times. Frowning, I wonder how it would have been different if I had waited for Price and him to clear the room with me. Hell, I wonder how life would be if Makarov never killed all those civilians at the airport or if Shepard hadn't betrayed us. The rest of the team wouldn't have been eliminated and the remaining living team wouldn't be hunted war criminals. God, what a mess...I wish there was something I could do- I stop my thought abruptly, my eyes falling upon the notepad I had been given to communicate with. A sly smile comes across my face, my mind hatching a plan. And so, in the back of the notepad, I start writing the events and adventures that befell my division, starting with that slow day that started slow with no missions or briefings for that matter….

After a good two hours of non-stop writing, I had almost filled the note pad up and I wasn't even haft way through detailing the life of the division. I gripped my hand, feeling it ache after having been writing so much. I look up, seeing Mactavish is still asleep. Scowling, I scribble something down on a piece of paper before crumpling it up and tossing it at him. He wakes with a jolt, looking around till he notices the crumpled up ball of paper on his lap. He un-crumples it, reading what is scribbled upon it. "Sleeping on the job?" it reads. He chuckles silently, but I can see something troubling him behind his blue eyes. I scribble something on the pad, displaying my writing, "Thanks." Is all it said.

He looks at me, perplexed, "For what?" he asks.

I smile softly as I hold up my response, "For not giving up on me when everyone else did."

He smiles back, "Course, why would I?" he mutters. I shrug, the note pad slipping from my lap onto the ground. Furrowing my brow, I try reaching for it to no avail. Mactavish walks over, picking it up for me. He notices the writing in the back and reads it, his normal unfazed face shifting as he reads the memories I wrote. "You wrote all this?" he breathes, taking in the sudden trip down memory lane.

I nod, extending a hand to take the note pad back. He hesitates but eventually hands it back to me. "Once I get better, I'll get this published and take it to the highest court! They'll see this and realize you and Price had just cause to kill Shepard!" I write, hope dancing in my eyes. Mactavish blinks, mouth slightly agape, unable to comprehend this unexpected on-slot of information. "You can thank me later…just, don't forget them OK?" I write, referring to our fallen friends. I beam at him, feeling tears grip me.

Mactavish smiles at me softly, "How could I?" he responds quietly.