Once again, sorry for the delay.

"Honey!"

She looked up from the book she was reading. "In here!"

There was a brief pause before her husband entered the room, his uniform still as orderly as it had been when he left that morning, but his smile betraying the seriousness of his job.

"You look like you had a good day."

His smile widened. "I got the leave I requested."

"You requested leave?"

"I saw that look on your face when you saw those dates."

She softened, a small smile gracing her features. "We can go?"

He nodded. "Just for a couple of weeks, but yes." He paused, moving to sit beside her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Lets go see your kids."

For a brief moment her face fell and she let out a sigh. "Not all of them."

"No, but it's a start."

-Ghosts-

"There's another one."

Ava froze, slowly looking up from the book she had been reading to look towards the tv screen, still in slight disbelief. Even after hearing of that first case, and with knowing how infectious it could be, she had assumed it was under control. After all, neither Kevin or Kim had mentioned it the previous day, nor had Hailey when she had called the previous night. It seemed like it was something that would come up.

"How many is that now?"

"Fourteen." Ava stated, her gaze remaining on the tv as she answered her brother's question. "It doesn't make sense."

"So last night it was three and now there's fourteen?"

"Five." Ava corrected. "Fourth and fifth cases were confirmed last night."

"They probably all know each other, right?"

Sensing Chloe's concern, Ava looked to her sister.

"Hopefully." Ava considered. "If they haven't had any contact..."

"'If they haven't had any contact' what?"

"Anyone could get infected."

"Couldn't they have just all been to the same place?"

Ava nodded. "But if no one can figure out where..."

"This could be bad."

"Just stay inside." Matty shrugged. "Can't get it if we don't go out."

Ava shifted, moving to turn off the TV. "That won't help." She glanced from one sibling to the other. "Anxiety and panic never helps."

"Has Hailey said anything?"

"She's not answering." Ava frowned. "None of them are. They're probably busy."

"Weren't they there when that first guy went down? At the game?" Matty pondered aloud. "Maybe they have it?"

"I really don't want to think about that." Ava admitted. "They're our friends."

"And you were both around them yesterday." Chloe pointed out. "You could be infected, which means I could, and Uncle John could. Even AJ."

"No one's infected." Matty insisted. "We'd know by now, right Mads?"

"Not necessarily."

"Could you not have just said yes?"

"I'm not going to lie to make you feel better." Ava rolled her eyes. "Wasn't it you that said we already have enough lies in our lives?"

Matty relented. "Yeah. I'm beginning to think we could probably do with a few more white lies."

"Lying to you about this wouldn't protect you." She groaned, moving across the room as her phone alerted her to a new message. "Just pay attention to your own bodies. Anything out of the ordinary, say something"

She picked up her phone, unlocking it to read the full message, and, after taking only a second to digest what was being asked of her, left the room.

"What is it?" Chloe followed her out of the room and to the stairs. "Do you have it?"

"No." Ava shot back, heading upstairs and grabbing everything she was going to need and putting it in her backpack.

Her sister was still standing at the foot of the stairs when she returned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ava moved forward, grabbing her shoes before sitting on the stairs to put them on.

Chloe watched her with eyes narrowed. "Where are you going?"

Ava didn't answer, brushing past her sister and grasping her coat, barely even taking the time to fasten it before pulling open the front door.

"Where are you going?!"

"Work." Ava finally answered, taking a moment to look to her sister. "I've been called in."

"You're not even cleared to work."

"I was cleared yesterday."

Chloe frowned. "You're on leave."

"No one's on leave in an epidemic."

"Maddie, you can't go. You haven't even checked with Agent Stevens."

"I'll call her on the way." She managed to stop herself from admitting that she didn't care.

"How are you going to get there?"

Ava paused. She hadn't really considered that part. It wasn't as if she could take public transport.

"Officer Martins!"

She waited until the man appeared in the kitchen doorway, his colleague just behind him.

"I need a ride."

-Ghosts-

She'd opted not to mention to the officer just what she was doing, and to her relief, he hadn't asked. He probably just assumed it was an appointment that no one had mentioned to him. It wasn't until she was pushing open the doctors lounge door that he questioned her, and she filled him in on her intention to work, and she was surprised when he raised no objections, waiting as she rushed into the room to change. He was still there when she came back out.

"I'll be fine if you go back to the house."

"I'm not allowed to leave you."

That was where the conflict began. The last thing she wanted was a police escort at work. If nothing else it would scare the patients, and that wasn't in anyone's best interests.

"I'll let hospital security know I'm here, and I won't leave the building." She glanced around the ED, knowing it would be easy to keep that promise considering the sheer amount of people there. She continued to look around, hoping to see security nearby to put the officer at ease, but instead, her eyes widened at the sight of a blood-soaked Hailey, standing motionless across the department, clear apprehension in her expression. "Detective Upton's here."

The officer followed her gaze, nodding as he noticed the detective. "She could probably take over with you."

That hadn't been what Ava had meant, but she wasn't about to argue with him.

"Dr. Bekker." She looked to the side as Goodwin approached, watched as the woman looked her over. "What are you doing here?"

Ava frowned. "I got a text, I was called in."

"Ah." Recognition flashed through the older woman's eyes. "I mentioned to Ms. Garrett yesterday that you had been cleared for work, she must have changed your status. You're happy to stay?"

Ava nodded, her eyes briefly moving across the ED again to where she had spied her friend. Hailey was no longer there. "Yeah."

"Then Dr. Latham could really use you covering his post ops upstairs." Goodwin advised. "I've had to pull a lot of the team down here."

Ava smiled. "Got it." She looked briefly to the officer. "I'll be fine." She took off without waiting for a response, opting to take the stairs and half-expecting to see the officer following her. He didn't.

It felt strange to her that she wasn't disappointed to be away from the action, mere months ago the thought of missing out on what was going on would have bothered her, but then, mere months ago she'd had very little to lose. Her life had been falling apart, trauma had been impacting her everyday life more than she'd cared to admit to anyone, and if she had contracted a contagious disease in an epidemic and died, no one other than Hailey would would have missed her, her family were gone, she'd shut herself off so successfully that Hailey had been the only friend she had, and Connor, he'd probably have been glad she wasn't around any more if he even cared at all.

Things were different now. She had most of her family back, and reconnecting with them had been the one gift she had doubted she'd ever receive. She'd realised through the emails she'd sent to Goodwin and Maggie while in Seattle that more people had her back than she'd known. The protection detail, as frustrating as she had found it, had helped her connect with Jay, Kevin, Kim and Adam. She had friends now, things she wanted to be around for. It was difficult to be disappointed that the slight risk of not being there had been reduced.

She headed straight to the nurses station after stepping out onto the floor, unsurprised to find the nurse on duty had already prepared the patient files and was ready to hand them to her – Goodwin must have called up.

"Priority?"

"Valve replacement in 2. Lawrence Oliver, 41-year-old male." The nurse responded without needing elaboration. "Coded in theater this morning, Dr. Latham couldn't find any reason for it, so he asked that we monitor him closely."

Ava nodded, taking the files and moving the patient in 2 to the top of the list, opening it to go over the man's notes before looking back to the nurse. "How is Dr. Latham doing?"

The nurse seemed slightly taken aback by the question. "He was a little stressed by the change in routine, but he knows the drill, emergencies over electives."

"I've never liked that word."

"Sorry?"

"Elective." Ava explained. "In this context it doesn't fit. Non-critical cases that require surgery are likely to become critical if they're left long enough."

The nurse nodded, biting her lip as if she wasn't sure whether or not to say anything else.

"Is this it?"

Another nod.

"I'd better get started." She smiled faintly before taking a step back, heading towards the first patient, but pausing for a moment, only long enough to call "It's good to see you, Megan" over her shoulder.

-Ghosts-

Connor threw his scrub cap on the ground in frustration. He'd known this day was going to get to him more than most when he came in, but he hadn't expected to have lost three patients in a little under four hours. Days like this only happened in the most extreme circumstances, but they were losing people so rapidly that it seemed this day stood out from the others.

He looked back to the hybrid OR, watching the nurses cleaning up what they could, preparing the body to be moved to the morgue. She was so young, a college student, and an hour ago she'd been awake and joking about changing her major to get away from the infectious diseases. Now she was gone.

"Why don't you take a break?"

He looked up to meet Goodwin's eyes. "There's not time. Who's next?"

"Take a break, Dr. Rhodes."

He could tell from her tone that it wasn't a request, and he was grateful. He knew he needed to step away from the chaos for a moment.

"I could probably do with some air."

He moved towards the elevators, knowing that going out at the ground level wasn't really a good plan. Between the incoming patients and the gathering media, there wasn't going to be any room to breathe out there. One of the balconies seemed the best option, even if he hadn't been too fond of them since a colleague had jumped to his death not too long ago.

He'd been outside for a couple of minutes when the door opened, and he turned briefly to nod to the nurse that had joined him. He knew her to talk to, Megan something, she'd been a scrub nurse on a few of his surgeries over the years, but she wasn't someone he knew much about. He nodded to her, turning back to gaze out at the view of the city.

She moved to look out over the same view, keeping a reasonable distance between them, so it took him a while to notice her repeated anxious glances towards him.

"Don't worry." He sighed. "I'm not contagious."

She looked surprised. "It's not that... I didn't..."

"Aren't you usually downstairs?"

"Um..." She cut off before giving a brief nod. "I was off today, they needed me to cover up here."

"Right." He glanced to the door. "I'll get back down there then, get out of your way." He took a step towards it, somewhat frustrated that he hadn't had more time alone.

"Wait!"

He hesitated at the door, turning back to the woman. He barely knew her, and despite noticing her apprehension, he'd assumed he wasn't the cause of it. Now, seeing the fear in her eyes, he realised he was.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I got it, I really did, Dr. Halstead was missing, but you crossed a line, and he died, I couldn't say nothing."

His heart sank at her words as he understood what it was she was saying, his mind connecting the dots as he realised that she was one of the nurses there that day. "It was you."

She nodded. "I guess sorry isn't the right word though, because I'm not, not for reporting you, I had to, it was the right thing to do. I'm sorry I let you blame someone else instead of owning it."

Her words were like a punch in the gut. Ava hadn't reported him. She hadn't reported him but she had lied for him. He'd almost forgotten, in the chaos of the past months, that the incident had even occurred, but now all he could see was the hurt in her eyes when he'd accused her.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

Megan sighed. "She doesn't deserve to be blamed."

Connor scoffed. She never had. "Why now?"

"Guilt, I guess." She shrugged. "Dr. Bekker's been kind all morning, and it just seemed wrong that I was still letting you blame her."

He was about to reply, tell her that it was always wrong, but found himself caught on her words. "All morning? She's here?"

"She's covering Dr. Latham's post ops..."

He was moving as soon as the words were out, deciding not to fight his overwhelming urge to see her. It wasn't as if he had the option to call her any more, he had to take every chance to see her that he could, and hope it helped her learn to trust him again, even if only enough to let him have her new number.

He had noticed the underlying suggestion in the nurse's words – that had Ava not been kind to her that day, she'd have kept quiet, that it was okay to tarnish someone's reputation if you didn't like them – but he couldn't bring himself to focus on it right now. He had something else to apologise for, although he realised he probably already had that night at Molly's, the incident had just slipped his mind at the time, so he hadn't considered it. He needed to apologise again, while he had the chance to.

Still, when he spotted her he paused, watching her laugh as she conversed with a patient, one eye on the chart in front of her. After a minute she looked up, almost as if she had felt that she was being watched, and their eyes met. She turned back to the patient almost instantly, and after exchanging a few words with the woman, made her way back to the nurse's station – his opportunity to approach.

"How is it down there?"

She hadn't waited for him to start the conversation, and when he took a moment to answer her she turned to him with curious eyes, expectantly waiting for a response.

"Intense."

He hoped the word would be enough, for now at least, he had no doubt she'd have so many questions later on, when they could both afford to take a longer break, at least.

"Is it true there's an entire apartment building in quarantine?"

"Yes." He confirmed. "I'm not sure on the details but they think it's the main site of infection."

"Do they know where it came from?"

"Not yet." He waited for her to respond, but she didn't, instead opting to shuffle through the patient files in front of her. "So, you're back at work."

"Yes." She commented, before quickly adding, "but also no."

"That's confusing."

She sighed. "I was cleared to work yesterday, just in time to get called in today." She looked back up at him. "Typical, of course. The day after I get cleared for basic duties, effectively ending my medical leave, an epidemic hits."

"The FBI were okay with it?"

"I'm not going to let them stop me from doing my job, Connor."

He nodded, that was the Ava he knew, but he couldn't help but feel she was being a little off when it came to the Ava he had come to know more recently. "Of course."

She glanced towards the door he had entered from. "Did you see Megan on your way here?

"Um..." He paused, looking to the door himself then turning back. "On the balcony. I was..."

"She probably won't be..." Ava cut off. "You were what?"

"I was hoping to talk to you about her."

"About how she was the one that reported you?"

His eyes narrowed at her question. "You know?"

"She told me this morning."

His frown deepened, that didn't really fit with Megan's claim that Ava had been kind to her all day. "You're not angry?"

"Why would I be?"

"After everything..."

"She reported you, Connor." Ava stated. "She reported you because a man died and it could have been the result of our actions. It was her job."

He nodded. "But after..."

"Your choice to blame me is on you, Connor." Ava reminded him of the obvious. "Not her."

"I'm sorry."

"You've said."

"If it helps, I regret it."

"It does." She contemplated, tilting her head slightly. "A little, anyway."

"A little?"

"I get it." She reminded him, and he felt he didn't deserve her understanding. "But it still hurt. I thought..."

He frowned when she cut off. "You thought?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

He was about to respond, but the sound of a door opening and approaching footsteps stopped him, and he looked up to meet Goodwin's gaze.

"Did you need me?"

The older woman frowned, but her focus wasn't on him.

"Dr. Bekker."

Ava visibly tensed as she was addressed. "Has something happened?"

"It could be nothing, but I wanted you to hear it from me, and as you know, word travels fast in this place."

"What is it?"

"Detective Upton has been placed in quarantine. It's a precaution, and she's being monitored, but..."

"Hailey."

-Ghosts-

Hailey paced, unsure of what else she could even do. The frustration of being unable to work in the current situation was getting to her far more than she cared to admit, and the constant complaints from those around her was beginning to give her a headache. Since when was following basic instructions difficult?

"I've asked them to put a rush on your test results, hopefully we'll have you out of her in no time."

She gave Natalie a small smile. It wasn't her fault, if anything, Hailey knew it was her own. Going in without backup was never advised, and going in without any protection in the middle of an epidemic was stupid. She hadn't thought about it at the time, and now it was one of very few things on her mind.

"You should get some rest."

Hailey gestured around her. "I don't think that'll be possible."

"Probably not," Natalie agreed, "but you could still try."

"Has anyone let Voight know I'm here?"

"Ms. Goodwin called him."

"Jay?"

"Will called him on his break. Voight had already let him know."

"He's probably..." Hailey cut off as she noticed Ava moving through the area, a frantic look in her eyes as she glanced around anxiously, making a beeline for her as soon as she spotted her. "I'm fine." She sighed, taking in what her friend was wearing. "Why are you working?"

"I..." Ava frowned, looking herself over as if she had forgotten why she was at the hospital. "What happened?"

"Woman collapsed on me, she's infected." Hailey kept the explanation brief. "What are you doing here?"

"I was called in."

"That happens in situations like this." Natalie interjected, as if she thought Hailey may not know that. "Need all the staff we can get."

"I know." Hailey confirmed, her eyes remaining on Ava. "She's not meant to be here."

"I was called in."

"Did you clear it with Agent Stevens?"

"I cleared it with one of the officers with us today."

"Which officer? Where are they?"

"Martins. He left when he saw you."

Hailey's eyes narrowed. "Natalie, can you get Will to call Jay back. Let him know she's here."

"I'm not leaving." Ava was insistent, her eyes defiant. "I'm staying until I'm no longer needed, and I'm sure you're okay."

"I'm fine." Hailey repeated her earlier assurance. "That's not going to change."

Natalie listened, her curiosity peaked. Hailey's tone had changed with her reassurances, almost as if she was trying to talk Ava down from a ledge she didn't seem to be on.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

The detective rolled her eyes as her friend turned to Natalie for confirmation, and groaned in frustration when the doctor admitted that they wouldn't know for sure until they got the test results. Ava already knew that, it wasn't facts she had needed.

"I'm going to be fine. I'll be out of here and back to work before you know it. Get back to work, okay. If anything happens to me, I'll make sure someone finds you."

Ava gave a small nod. "You better."

Hailey waited until her friend was out of sight before turning back to Natalie. "Tell Dr. Charles she's here, too."

"Dr. Charles?"

"Just let him know."

-Ghosts-

Connor frowned as he walked into the doctors lounge, barely managing to stifle a yawn as he observed Ava. Sitting with her head leaning back, staring at the ceiling, the unfamiliar cell phone in her hand being ignored.

"Is Upton okay?"

Ava shifted, raising her head to look at him as she pulled her legs beneath her, her eyes giving away her exhaustion. "Yeah." Her eyes drifted closed for a moment, then snapped open as if she had remembered where she was, or realised who it was in the room with her. "You heading out?"

He nodded. "Next shift started about an hour ago."

"Oh." She glanced down at the iphone in her hand before looking back up at him. "Night."

He moved, but instead of heading towards the door, found himself sitting down next to her. "Long day?" She pulled a face in response, and he couldn't help but smile. "That bad?"

"When Hailey..."

He frowned as she cut off, unsure as to whether or not he should prompt her to continue. "You said she's okay?"

"She is." Ava confirmed, her head unexpectedly falling onto his shoulder. "She's good."

The physical contact surprised him, and he felt concern growing in him that she hadn't really realised the significance of the moment, and that if he mentioned it to her, he could scare her off. "Just scary?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "Hailey's been all I have since I moved here."

That stung. "That's not true."

"Yes it is." Ava lamented. "The only person that really knew me. I guess she kind of still is."

"What about your family?"

"They know who I used to be."

He contemplated placing an arm around her shoulders, but decided against it, not knowing how she'd react. Instead, he opted to change the subject. "Want me to wait with you until your ride gets here?"

"Might be waiting a while."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know who's coming. Or when."

He looked to the phone in her hand. "Did you not call anyone to pick you up?"

"Phone's dead."

"Want to use mine?"

"Will called Jay for me. And Hailey. They're not answering. I don't know the other numbers."

"So you're just going to wait?"

"Yeah."

"That doesn't sound very safe."

She shifted off of him, and he was slightly relieved that she didn't seem alarmed by the fact she had just been leaning on him. "I'll go back upstairs, it'll be fine."

"That's not really a plan."

"Someone will show up eventually."

He sighed, deciding to take the risk. "Why don't you come to mine?"

"Connor..."

"I can't let you stay here."

"It's not a good idea." She was alert now, shifting away from him slightly. "I can't."

"Staying here isn't a good idea." He reasoned. He'd expected this reaction before he asked. "Once you get to mine, you can charge your phone, call whoever you need to and let them know you're okay. They won't have any reason to panic."

"That's not why it's a bad idea..."

She looked down as she cut off, and he sighed. Of course. They weren't really in a place where that was something they'd do, especially after everything that had happened between them that year.

"It's not ideal." He hoped she'd be more open to the idea if he met her halfway in some form, because if she didn't, they'd both end up sitting around the hospital for however long it took for someone to show up. "It's better than staying here, though. Think about it logically. This is a public building. Anyone can walk in here. A private building with a doorman has to be safer."

Her expression changed. She knew he was right, but he could also tell she didn't want to give in.

"How is Max?"

He smiled as she referenced the doorman by name. Of course she remembered. "He's doing well. He's asked about you a few times."

"That's nice."

"He'd love to see you."

"Connor..."

"Just think of it as a friend helping out another friend, okay."

"But..."

"Come on." He stood up, holding out a hand to her. "The sooner we go, the sooner you'll be able to get that phone charged."

"I really don't think..."

He turned his hand slightly, shooting her a pointed look and waiting for her to respond.