Chapter Fifty

I've learned the meaning of repentance

Now you're the jury at my trial

I know I should serve my sentence

Still, I'm hoping all the while

You'll give me

Just one more word

I said that I was glad to start out

But now I'm back to cry my heart out

For just one more chance

We spend our lives in groping for happiness

I found it once and tossed it aside

I paid for it with hours of loneliness

I've nothing to hide

I'd bury my pride for

Just one more chance

Just One More Chance – Billie Holiday


Sharon waved the agents on as she crept down the hall. They paused at every body they found, checking for a pulse. The few survivors they'd found were sent to lobby, where Dr. Kingston had set up an emergency triage center to help those that he could before sending them off to the hospital.

There were a few Chitauri as well, but like those above ground, they'd dropped dead after Stark went through the wormhole. In Sharon Carter's honest opinion, it was like a fucking sci-fi movie. Aunt Peggy had told her some crazy stories about what had happened during the War, but none of it compared to this.

Aliens. Fucking aliens.

"First floor cleared. Proceeding to floor two," one of the agents said over the comm. Sharon's hand drifted to her utility belt; one click echoed over the comm., giving the affirmative to keep moving. While she would have preferred more seasoned agents, most of them had been called out to help the Avengers, or had been on rotation on the Helicarrier. She was the most senior agent they could find.

They stopped at the top of a corridor that split. Sharon motioned for one of the junior agents to step beside her before she nodded and swung left while he went right. "Clear," she said. "Half of you, on me. The rest of you, with Ramirez."

The group split in two. Sharon took the lead again, making sure that her agents were in line. They had to clear the rooms as they went. The only tense moment had been when they found an enemy combatant hiding in one of the rooms with his gun pointed straight at the door. He was badly injured, but not going down without a fight. Sharon had to shove one of the rookies out of the way and felt the bullet graze her arm. Hissing, she turned and fired a single shot.

"Fuck," the man snapped.

"Stand down and I don't kill you," Sharon growled, leveling her gun on him. He glared before setting the gun down. She nodded to the other agents and they rushed, securing him with zip ties before hauling him to his feet. "Get him upstairs to Kingston, then to the holding facility."

"Ma'am," her guy nodded, ushering the mercenary out of the door.

"We're moving on," Sharon ordered. Two of her team headed back up the corridor towards the stairs, and the others fell behind her. They quickly cleared the other rooms.

"We've got some resistance on this one, Agent Carter," one of the female agents said. The door opened slightly before it collided with something.

"Ok," Sharon nodded, striding over. She set her feet and cleared her throat. "This is Agent Carter. Identify yourself." Silence. "Identify yourself," she repeated.

There was a muffled buzzing sound. After taking a deep breath, Sharon put the muzzle of her gun in the gap before moving closer and looking into the room. Her heart stopped.

"Get it open, now!" she demanded, throwing her shoulder against the door. Another agent joined her, and together they moved it enough for Sharon to get in. She climbed over the table, her eyes focused on O'Connell. "I need Kingston down here immediately," she ordered. When she reached Garrett, she knelt beside him, not even caring that her white catsuit was being covered with blood.

With the sheer amount of blood, Sharon logically knew that he couldn't have survived. But that didn't stop her from pressing her fingers to the pulse point under his jaw. When she didn't feel anything, she picked up his wrist. This was Garrett O'Connell, her drinking buddy, the guy she'd talked to about rough missions. He'd cheated death before, and he could damn well do it again.

"I've got a pulse for her," Walker said. Sharon hasn't even realized that he'd followed her in. She sucked in a breath and blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes. There was a job. And Garrett would tell her to do it.

"Let's turn her over," Sharon said after clearing her throat. Before she stood, Sharon closed Garrett's eyes and kissed her fingertips before pressing them to Garr's lips. "Fuck," she hissed when she saw it was Emily Harthorn.

The doctor's face was covered in blood and bruises, but it was unmistakably her. Sharon pushed away Walker's hand as she crouched beside Emily, again ignoring the pool of blood. She probed the historian's neck until she felt the weak pulse before nodding. "Where's Kingston?" she called over her shoulder as she tugged Em's bloodstaind shirt up. Blood sluggishly spilled from the bullet hole on her right side, the crimson bright against her pale skin.

"He says you need to bring her up, but he's sending one of his team down with a backboard," one of the agents in the hall said.

"Did you tell him this was Captain America's girlfriend, and he's gonna be pretty pissed if he finds out she died after he just saved the fucking world?"

"I…uh…" the agent stuttered.

"Go get the damn board and secure the hallway so we can get out of here quickly. Walker, move the table."

"Yes, Ma'am," Walker nodded, jumping to his feet. Sharon grit her teeth as she pressed her hand to Emily's abdomen. Her eyes darted around, taking in the full extent of Em's injuries, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the awkward angle her left hand was bent at.

"You can't die, got it? "she hissed. "Carter's going to kill me if you die, alright? I don't know if you've noticed, but he's kind of been in love with you for years."

"What else do you need?" Walker asked, appearing at Sharon's side.

"We're going to need a b-" Sharon closed her eyes as she stumbled over her words, "body bag. For Agent O'Connell."

"I'll see to it." And then the two women were alone again. Sharon looked down at the ashen woman a wiped her eyes on her shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing here," she demanded. "You're supposed to be in Iowa or Indiana or something." Of course, Dr. Harthorn didn't answer. "God damn it. What the hell am I going to tell everyone?" Her whole family, biological and S.H.I.E.L.D. adopted, was devoted to making sure the Harthorns were safe, and now this? This was a nightmare of epic proportions.

"You know," Sharon ducked her head, the adrenaline that had carried her through the day flagging. "My family? They're pretty invested in you. Aunt Peggy…Uncle James…Uncle Brian…Uncle Tim…they all used to talk about you when I was growing up. I used to think you and Tucker were cousins or something that we'd never met."

A buzzing sound distracted her. Frowning, Sharon looked around and saw Em's purse, its contents spilled across the floor. Her Blackberry was vibrating.

"Probably your family calling," Sharon said. She removed one of her hands from Emily's stomach and stretched for the phone, but wasn't able to reach it.

OOO

"Come on! Answer your damn phone!" Carter yelled into his cell phone. He ran his free hand through his hair and fisted it when it rolled to voice mail.

"Hi, you've reached Emily Harthorn. I'm unable to answer the phone at this time, but please leave a short message and I'll call as soon as I can. Thank you."

"Emily, please, call me as soon as you can. I need to make sure you're alright. I…I'm begging you, call me," Carter felt his eyes pricking with tears as he hung up. He wasn't going to lose her. He couldn't.

OOO

Sharon held Emily's head still as her team rolled her onto her side enough to slip the backboard underneath her. Kingston's assistant had done a quick assessment before wrapping a gauze bandage around Em's abdomen and shooking his head. "We've gotta move quick," was all he had said.

Walker and two of the other agents helped Sharon carry the historian up the stairs and into the lobby. Because the power hadn't been restored, Kingston had chosen this area for his triage as it had the most lighting. A quick glance around showed Sharon that it wasn't only S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that he was treating; some civilians had stumbled in off the streets seeking medical attention.

"Kingston!" she yelled as soon as they hit the lobby. The older man was crouched next to one of the support staff, checking her pupil reflexes. Sharon had to fight the urge to scream at him as he finished with the other woman.

OOO

"Does anyone have eyes on Captain Rogers?" Carter demanded. The chatter over the comm. ignored him.

"HEY! I NEED EYES ON CAPTAIN ROGERS!"

"Haven't seen any of 'em since they grabbed some Middle Eastern food."

"Find him now! I need-"

"CARTER! What's Emily Harthorn's blood type?"

"Sharon?"

"Blood type, STAT."

OOO

It had taken a lot of yelling in order for Sharon to commandeer a truck, given that she was pretty much tethered to Emily with the field blood transfusion Dr. Kingston had set up. Thankfully Em was a universal recipient.

Walker had jumped out and gotten a stretcher as soon as the truck had pulled up to the hospital, and the civilian they'd given a ride to as well as the driver got out as well. Sharon was starting to feel a bit nauseous from her unexpected blood donation, not having eaten in what seemed like days.

The first doctor they sent in was young and seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people spilling into the emergency room. She did a quick exam, noted something on her chart, and nodded curtly. "I'll get my attending in here –"

"Now," Sharon cut her off.

"We've got a lot of patients, Ma'am, and –"

"Now," Sharon barked. "It's pretty damn obvious that she's going to bleed out if you don't –"

"Ma'am," an older man in blue scrubs dashed in, "I'm going to need you not to harass my intern. Owens, let's let this nice woman have her arm back." Sharon held out her arm to the younger woman, ignoring the look she was getting for her catsuit. The redheaded attending looked over Em before nodding. "We're going to the OR. Page ortho and neuro."

"Got it," Owens nodded as she took the needle from Sharon's arm and pressed a cotton ball to it.

"I'm fine," Sharon snapped. "Go, Emily needs you more than me right now."

"You might want to get something to eat or some juice or something," Owens said as they started to wheel Em from the room. "Oh, and get that looked at," she nodded to the cut on her hair before thrusting Em's purse into her hands, "here's this."

Sharon stood there, not quite sure of what she should do. She scrubbed a hand over her face, took a breath, and exited the room. A nurse told her where to find the bathroom, and Sharon took a moment to collect herself. The cut on her hairline wasn't deep enough to warrant stitches, so she dabbed it with a paper towel. Since she had some time, Sharon scrubbed as much of the dust, blood, and god knows what else from her as well. Civilians…they usually don't do so well with all of that.

As she was drying her hands, Em's phone started to vibrate loudly against the sink. A glace at the caller ID made her pause for just a split second before answering it.

"EMILY?! Thank god, are you-"

"Mrs. Harthorn, this is Agent Sharon Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D."

OOO

Carter showed up sometime while Emily was still in surgery, and joined Sharon in the overcrowded waiting room. He was a wreck, and she couldn't find it in herself to make some snide comment. She's genuinely happy to see him alive and unscathed. Well, mostly unscathed.

Emily's phone kept ringing. Some of the callers were ones they recognized from their surveillance. When Carter listened to one of the unknown caller's voice mail message, he scowled. The news agencies had started to connect one of the costumed heroes with Captain America, and wanted to get, "the foremost expert's opinion on the possibility of a new Captain America."

He paced until Dr. Owens came out to give them an update. The younger woman assured them that Emily was still alive and that Dr. Kerr was doing all he could to keep it that way. After some not-so-delicate prodding by Carter, Dr. Owens revealed that Emily had already flat lined twice.

Sharon left out that part when she called to update the Harthorns, who were driving down from Vermont.

OOO

There was still no word about Captain Rogers when, three hours later, Emily was wheeled into a recovery room. Sharon had sent Carter to find them something to eat, so she had a few minutes alone with Em. "Your cousin had a lot of internal bleeding," Dr. Kerr said. "But she's lucky. A few centimeters to the right and she could have been paralyzed."

"So she won't have any long term damage?"

"Unfortunately we had to remove an ovary. She might also have some short-term memory loss from the concussion. But we won't know if there's any significant brain damage from lack of oxygen until she wakes up."

"When will that be?" they both turned to see Carter standing in the doorway. His arms were laden with vending machine junk food, adding to the look of a lost boy.

"We can't be sure," Dr. Kerr said, "she's been through a lot and right now her brain is protecting her from that."

"Thank you, Doctor," Sharon said, nodding to him.

"We'll have someone come in and check on her periodically."

"Of course."

Carter shook his hand as Dr. Kerr left, and then came into the room and deposited the food in an empty chair before collapsing into another. When he leaned forward and put his head in his hands, Sharon waited a heartbeat before walking over to him and squeezing his shoulder. "She's going to be ok."

"You don't know that."

"She's not your mother, or Aunt Peggy, and she's definitely not that whore you were engaged to. Emily's not going anywhere."

"You always know just what to say," Carter huffed, even as his hand drifted up to cover hers.

"I thought we'd discussed my lack of a bedside manner before."

"We did," he smirked before handing her a bag of crisps. "You're still horrid."

"Haven't had much practice, thank god," she shrugged. After a moment, Sharon crossed the room and sat in the chair on the other side of the bed. "By the way," she sighed after finding a comfortable position, "I'm glad you didn't die."

"Same. Get some sleep, coz. I'll call the Harthorns and update them, and then call Grandfather."

"Sounds like a plan," she yawned.

After he made the calls, Carter contemplated turn Emily's phone off completely, just to stop the incessant buzzing. Even on the silent setting, he saw the screen light up frequently. To distract himself, he watched the news and the analysis of what had happened in the city.

When Dr. Doan made his appearance, Carter muted the television, not wanting to hear his take on Captain America.

OOO

"Baby," Caroline Harthorn breathed when she entered the room. Matthew clutched his wife's shoulders and blinked back tears, while Tucker just stared at his sister. Sharon, who had gone to personally escort the Harthorns into New York City after the lock down had been initiated, stood silently behind them.

Carter moved away from the bed as Emily's family surrounded her, taking in the dark bruises developing on her face, the cast encasing her left wrist, and the intubation tube taped to her mouth. "What happened?" Tucker finally asked, looking at the two agents standing awkwardly by the door.

"Em-Emily," Carter cleared his throat, "she was caught in a fight at headquarters." Sharon glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow. He caught the look and shook his head infinitesimally.

"Is she going to be alright?" Matthew asked. Caroline wasn't listening, but stroking back Emily's hair and leaning across the bed to press her forehead against hers, tears streaming off her cheeks.

"I'll get the doctor," Sharon offered.

"Where's Steve?" Tucker demanded as she turned to leave. "Shouldn't he be here?"

"We're trying to find him," Carter sighed. "It's proving a bit difficult given everything that's happened."

"You don't think…" Tuck trailed off, glancing out the window at the destruction.

"He's probably fine," Caroline whispered, reaching for her son's hand.

The three stood silently around the youngest member of their family, each touching her as if to assure themselves that she was real. Carter, feeling as though he were intruding on the private family moment, retreated to the hall and pulled the door shut behind him. Groaning, he rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the fatigue. Caffeine was doing little to keep him awake at this point, but he was determined to stay conscious.

"Cart?"

"Mhmm?" he mumbled, looking up from the ground to meet Sharon's concerned look.

"You need to crash. I can stay with them, you head back to your apartment."

"Can't. Place is trashed."

"Mine, then. Or one of the safe houses."

"M'fine, Shar. I've gone on less sleep."

"Not after what we went through today."

"M'fine. The doc coming?"

"Yeah," she nodded, turning to lean against the door with him. Carter dozed off on his feet, but jerked to attention when Dr. Kerr appeared. The two agents waited outside while the good doctor briefed the family on Emily's condition. The door muffled the noise, but they both heard Mrs. Harthorn's strangled cry. It wasn't long after that that Dr. Kerr left the room.

"Let's give them a minute," Sharon said as she peeked in to see Mrs. Harthorn sobbing into her husband's shoulder. She bit her lip and pulled back, not wanting to invade on a private moment. "You think our parents would be that upset if it was us in there?"

Carter glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Sharon had surprised him today. She'd put aside her jealousy of Emily so completely. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Yours would. Mine…"

"You had Aunt Peggy and Uncle James."

"I was lucky."

"Carte-" Sharon paused when the doorknob turned, and the two quickly stood up straight.

Caroline Harthorn stood there, her eyes red and puffy. "W-would you come in?"

"Of course," Carter nodded, pushing Sharon in front of him. Caroline shut the door and took a breath before turning to face them. She gave a stifled cry before moving quickly to pull Sharon into a hug.

"Thank you," she said, her voice weak. "Thank you for everything you did. Dr. Kerr told me that you brought my Emily here."

"It…it wasn't..." Sharon stuttered. Behind Caroline, Carter raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome." When Caroline let go, Sharon was turned and pulled into Matthew's embrace, and then shook Tucker's hand.

"You too," Caroline nodded, pulling Carter in. "Thank you so much."

"My pleasure. I just wish I could have done more…been there to stop it from happening."

"There's no use wishing for things you can't change," Caroline sniffled.

OOO

Carter had fallen asleep on the floor not long after he and Sharon had come back into the room. Caroline had draped a blanket over him before returning to her vigil by Em's side. The Harthorns had asked questions, ones that Sharon knew she wasn't authorized to answer, but she'd been vague in her replies.

It was just after five in the morning that Carter's phone rang. He jerked awake, ready to smash Emily's phone against the wall before realizing it was own that was ringing. "Falsworth," he grunted while sitting up. The Harthorns, who had fallen asleep around Emily, had woke up as well, but Sharon was perched on the window sill, looking like she hadn't slept at all. "You sure?" Carter asked the agent on the phone. "Great. Thanks."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Sharon asked, standing as Carter pushed himself up.

"Yeah," he nodded before popping his neck and stretching. "We've got eyes on him."

"Want help?" she smirked.

"Eyes on who?" Tucker asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I've got it," Carter smirked.

"Why don't you leave the gun with me then?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"You take away all the fun."

"Eyes on who?" Tuck repeated himself.

OOO

"Sir. Sir, someone is attempting to – correction, has entered Stark Tower."

"Put someone else on it," Tony groaned, nuzzling against Pepper. She smiled and tightened her grip on him, running her hands through his hair. It took a moment for Jarvis' statement to sink in, but when it did she sat up quickly, making Tony groan.

"Someone's in the Tower? Who?"

"It appears to be Agent Carter Falsworth of S.H.I.E.L.D., grandson of Howard Stark's friend James Falsworth, formerly of the Howling Comm-"

"Send him to Cap," Tony mumbled, pulling Pepper back down. "We're kind of busy here."

"Yes sir."

OOO

"Sir. Captain Rogers." Steve snored on, clutching the pillow tightly. Jarvis made a noise as if he was clearing his throat. "Captain Rogers, there is an angry S.H.I.E.L.D. agent headed towards your room. Shall I –"

"STEVE! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR YOU ARSE!" Steve slowly opened his eyes as the pounding on the door continued. "OPEN THE GOD DAMN – "

"Hey," Steve said, scrubbing a hand down his face. Carter looked over him, noting the fading bruises and healing cuts across his bare chest and arm. "What's –" he dodged as the irate man threw a punch, managing to hit the door instead. Steve groaned as his broken ribs rubbed together. When Carter pulled back again, he found his arms pinned behind his back.

"It would be unwise to attempt that again." Try as he might to free himself, the man wouldn't loosen his hold.

"S'okay, Thor, he's a friend."

"Is this how friends greet one another on Midgard?" Thor asked as he loosened his grip on Carter. When the agent tried to shove Steve, Thor stopped him. When Steve nodded to him, the god retreated back to his room.

"You don't bloody deserve her."

"What're you talking about?" Steve asked.

"I have been looking for you for hours, and this? This is where I find you?" he motioned to the luxurious, albeit somewhat destroyed, Stark Tower. "Do you know where Sharon found her?"

"Who?"

"Emily!"

"Emily?" Steve forced himself to straighten, even as the blood drained from his face. "She's in Indiana."

"She's lying half dead in a hospital." Carter shook with rage as he tried, and failed, to blink back the tears gathering in his eyes. "She went to S.H.I.E.L.D.," he gasped, "looking for you. And that nearly got her killed. And you," he shoved him, "you can't even bother to check in on your comms."

"She's…Emily's here?" Carter spun on his heel, burying his hands in his hair.

"You don't…Just get dressed Em's waited long enough."

OOO

Steve had pulled on the hodge-podge of clothes Pepper had found for him the night before. The pants sat high on his ankles, and the t-shirt hung loose across his chest. The shoes pinched his feet as followed Carter through the halls at a barely restrained run.

His heart was pounding. Emily… She wasn't in the hospital. It was some mistake, because she was in Indiana. She would have called him, let him know that she was coming back to the city so they could talk.

But when Carter threw open a door and stepped in, Steve stopped dead in the doorway. His eyes went automatically to the bed, but Caroline Harthorn blocked his view. The older woman stood up, the chair squeaking against the linoleum floor. "Steve," she said softly, her eyes sweeping over him. "Come in and shut the door"

"Ma'am," he muttered, forcing his feet to move. When he got closer to the bed, Steve saw Sharon and Carter standing off to the side. Both were giving him disapproving looks.

"Come here," Caroline said, pulling him into a hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…" he couldn't say anything as he got his first glance of Emily over her mother's shoulder. When he let out a strangled moan, Caroline broke away and rubbed his back.

"The…the doctor said we won't know how bad it is until she wakes up," Caroline said, wiping at her eyes.

"How," Steve paused to clear his throat, "how long will that be?"

"We don't know." He dragged his eyes from Emily's bruised face and towards the two agents standing by the window.

"She was supposed to be in Indiana."

"Indiana?" Caroline asked, looking from Steve to Carter and Sharon.

"I didn't know she was back until I went to her flat," Carter said. "I've been a bit busy with everything going on."

"She didn't buy her ticket until the day before yesterday," Sharon stated. "There was no way for us to know." Caroline raised an eyebrow and looked at the three people in the room.

"How do..."

"Who found her?" Steve asked.

"I did," Sharon nodded. "She was in the HQ basement, in her office. It appears that Agent O'Connell found her and was trying to get her out."

"O'Connell?" Caroline breathed.

"He's…?"

"Dead," Sharon bowed her head and clenched her fists.

"What's going on here?" Caroline demanded, stepping away from Steve and moving to shield Emily.

"Caroline," Steve sighed, "there's a lot we need to tell you-"

"Don't insult my intelligence," Caroline snapped. "I know exactly who you are." Steve tensed.

"Ma'am?"

"I'm an English teacher." Her voice softened as she turned away from Steve; she reached out and stroked Emily's bruised cheek. "Who do you think proof read her dissertation? I knew from the minute I saw you on the television."

"Knew what?" Carter asked, looking between Steve and Caroline.

"He's the Captain America they keep talking about. I don't know whose idea it was to bring him back, but you're the new one."

Steve sighed and shook his head. "If only the explanation was that simple. Are Matthew and Tucker here?"

"They're getting coffee," Caroline said, wiping her eyes again.

"It's going to be easiest to tell you all at the same time," he stated.

"We'll go get them," Carter offered, nudging Sharon. She quirked an eyebrow but nodded.

"I need some air," Caroline sniffled. "I'll get them, and give you and Emily some time alone."

"Thank you," Steve said, squeezing her hand. Caroline nodded and hugged him again before leaving.

"You're going to tell them?" Sharon hissed. "They're not auth-"

"Everything," Carter cut her off. "We knew this was a possibility."

"We need to talk to Fury about-"

"It's my call," Steve stated as he sat on Emily's bed, trying not to jostle her at all. "Fury doesn't get to tell us what Emily's family can and can't know anymore."

The two agents exchanged uneasy looks, not quite sure what had transpired on the Helicarrier. They'd both heard that Agent Coulson had been fatally injured, but the Helicarrier crew was being unusually tight lipped. "We'll be outside," Carter said after a beat, and then grabbed his cousin's arm and pulled her from the room.

When the door shut, Steve took Emily's hand in his and stroked her knuckles. He reached up to cup her bruised cheek, biting his lower lip hard enough to nearly draw blood. The only sound in the room was the loud beeping of the heart monitor, and the rhythmic hissing of the ventilator that was breathing for her. When he leaned over her, Steve wished there was some way to kiss her without disturbing the tubes surrounding her. Unable to find a way, he settled for resting his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry, Emily. I should have been there" he choked, closing his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. A tear zigzagged down his cheek and fell onto hers. "You've gotta wake up, Sweetheart," he pleaded. "You promised me we'd go to Paris."

She didn't even so much as twitch. "You can't leave me here alone, Emily. You said you'd never leave me." Steve took a deep breath and swiped at the tears on his cheeks, sniffling loudly. "I know you can hear me. And I want to say that I'm sorry, about everything. I don't care about you and Garrett anymore. You need to wake up so that we can move forward and put all of that behind us. Because I love you so much, and I still want to marry you."

He felt something in his chest clench when he saw a single tear sliding from Em's eye towards her hairline. "Honey? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand, ok?" She didn't move. "Come on, Emily, I know you can do this." Nothing.

Steve's shoulders sagged as the silence stretched on. "Did you know I was color blind before the serum?" he asked, reaching to brush away her tear. "Couldn't see anything but black, white, and grey. And after? After, there was so much. Now I know that this," he plucked at the blanket covering her, "this isn't light grey, it's sky blue. When I woke up, it was the same way. My past, what's going on now, you…it's not black and white. I told you that you could always talk to me your past, and when you tried to tell me that you were struggling with Garrett being alive, I didn't want to hear it."

He paused to clear his throat and shook his head. "So I'm sorry. And I'm going to try and make it up to you. But you have to wake up. I can't do this without you, Emily. I just found out that there are aliens and met a few gods. And you're the one person I can talk to this about. I love you, and I'm sorry, and I need you. So please, please don't leave me alone again, Sweetheart. Please?"

When there was a soft knocking, Steve wiped his cheek on his shoulder and sniffled again. "Yeah," he croaked while leaning towards Emily. As he brushed his lips against her temple, the door swung open to reveal the Harthorns.

"Ok," Steve nodded, clasping Emily's hand tightly. "We have a lot to go over."


Author's Note: So here's the chapter. Hope it met expectations.

I'm hoping that Sharon came across as a more sympathetic character. I know I've made her the villain in this story, and *fingers crossed* this chapter helped explain a few of her issues with Emily. If there weren't clear, I'm more than happy to discuss them!

And the bit about Steve being color blind? That's on his enlistment forms.

As always, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!