Takes place immediately following the 3x12 almost-kiss, as well as after the rooftop talk in 3x13

I- I didn't know we still had landlines."

Helen can't help but chuckle and bear a childish grin at Max's joke.

"I have to… give me a sec, sorry." Max picks up the phone. "Hello?"

Oh my god! We were about to kiss! Helen feels like she's on top of the world!

"Oh, thank God!" Max exclaims. "Um… I have been… Yeah, okay. Great, um, that would be great, actually."

Helen senses this is an important call he needs to take and decides to give him a few moments alone. "I'm gonna slip-" she mouths to Max, only to have him reach out for her hand, sending a girlish thrill throughout her body at the intimate gesture.

"No, no! I will- I will pick her up, um, tomorrow, okay?" Max is silent for another moment, listening to most likely one of Luna's grandparents on the other end. "Well, that's really not necessary, Gwen. I appreciate it, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" His face goes from a strained smile to distraught and confused. The line must have clicked off, because he stares at the phone, then his panicked eyes find Helen's. Something's wrong.

"Max, what is it? What's happened?"

"Um, Gwen and… Calvin… they're taking Luna from me! They're filing for custody!"

"Oh god! Whatever for?!"

"I don't know! They heard about what happened to me. Maybe they think I'm not a reliable parent or something."

"What a load of rubbish! You may not be a perfect parent, but nobody is. You're a good and caring father!"

Max lets out a shaky sigh. "What am I gonna do?! Helen, I can't lose her!" he exclaims, tightening his hand around hers.

"Okay, alright, take a deep breath." Helen takes the phone still death-gripped in Max's hand and places it on the receiver. "How can I help?"

Max gives a slight smile hearing his motto coming out of her mouth, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm not sure, I mean, I'm gonna need a lawyer. I don't even know where to begin looking! There are so many options!"

An idea clicks in Helen's brain, but it might be a little painful. "I know just where to find one. I've got to go. I need to make a phone call." Helen attempts to pull her hand from Max's but to no avail, and meets his terror-struck eyes. She caresses his hand with her free one. "It's gonna be okay."

"Helen, I… before I got that phone call… what was about to finally happen with us..." he begins nervously, glancing down at their conjoined hands.

"Max, it's okay, we can speak about it later. Right now, you need to get some rest and focus on Luna."

"But we will talk about it?"

Helen gives Max a soft smile and brushes his hand with her thumb. "Yes, once everything is sorted out."

Max lets out a sigh of relief, the anticipation of himself and Helen finally becoming an "us" keeping him sane enough to release her hand.

Helen leaves the hospital room and heads to her office in a daze. Today's emotions have been all over the place! Concern for the patients suffering the effects of the chemical spill; annoyance at Max for not being organized or answering his phone when looking for the chemical debriefing paperwork; panic, terror, and helplessness upon finding Max drenched in the MFCA and during the decon shower; suspense after Max's treatment while he was still unconscious; relief upon him waking up; disbelief, excitement, and giddiness after their almost-kiss; and now, determination to help him once again, no matter the cost.

It's 9 p.m. Hopefully he answers. Helen picks up her phone and dials the number for the person she had been avoiding to keep work tensions to a minimum.

After three rings, Cassian's warm voice comes through. "Hello, Helen. What a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting your call. How are things with Mina?"

"Cassian, I'm not actually calling to catch up. I need a favor."

"Oh, what kind of favor?"

"You have contacts with other types of lawyers, right? Not just the immigration one you set me up with?"

"Yeah… Why do you need a lawyer? Are you in trouble?"

"No, it's not for me. It's Max. Erm, I need to be put in contact with a child custody lawyer. His daughter's grandparents are filing for custody."

"That's awful! I'm sorry to hear that. I know two state-of-the-art custody law firms right here in town. I can send you their contact information. Just tell them I sent you, and they'll give you the best they've got!"

"Thank you, Cassian! I can't tell you what that means to me! I mean, to Max..." Oof! Helen is pretty sure Cassian knows that she's in love with Max, but she doesn't want to rub it in his face, well, ear.

A pang of sorrow hits Cassian, remembering and slightly regretting how just a few weeks ago, he had told Max not to make Helen wait too long. Maybe they finally acted on the unspoken thing between the two of them. "So you and he are… together now…?"

"Oh, erm, not exactly, it's… complicated…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious. I'll send you those contacts right away."

"Cassian? Thank you," Helen says earnestly.

He is silent on the other end for a moment before saying in a melancholy tone, "Whatever you need."

"If you don't have to fight for it, it's 'cause it's not worth it."

Max huffs a slight chuckle. He and Helen had been through a lot together, that's for sure. She'd been there for him when he was fighting cancer and while he went through his grieving process, while simultaneously fighting their feelings for each other. Helen had fought to get Max the best cancer treatment plan, both with chemo and precision-targeted therapy. They had fought in the trenches of a global pandemic together. He fought to be able to get to a place where he could move on from Georgia, only to find Helen unavailable when he was ready. Now they're both ready, but he still has to fight, fight for his daughter.

Max steps closer to Helen while still facing her. "Helen, thank you for finding me that lawyer. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Helen simply shrugs, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. "Of course, anything for you."

Max senses she's avoiding divulging some crucial information. "Where did you find him?"

"How do you mean?"

"Where did you find the lawyer? I didn't think you'd know of any custody lawyers around."

Helen stares back at Max's unwavering eyes, and can tell he has no intent on backing down. "I, erm… Cassian gave me the contact information. He put me in touch with an immigration lawyer when I was trying to visit Iran before my brother died, so I thought he might have some more connections."

Max's mouth is agape in shock. "You… went through the awkwardness of talking to Cassian for me? Why would you do that?"

Helen maintains a steady gaze, getting lost in those ocean eyes. "Max, don't make me do this again. You know why," she states softly. Everything that I have done, I have done for you, she remembers saying to him a year and a half ago. Helen can't bear to be the first one to put her heart on the line this time, but the sentiment still rings true. Because I love you, she refrains from vocalizing. He has to know that!

"I do." Max slowly gravitates toward Helen and glances downward as he reaches out to grasp her hands.

In the two-plus years they've known each other, Helen can count on one hand the amount of times she and Max have, well, held hands, and apart from the decon shower, have embraced probably the same amount. So this tiny but intimate gesture sends butterflies all throughout her body.

"Helen, we still need to talk about what happened. I… remember what I said in the decon shower."

Helen has trouble breathing, recalling those moments all too well. She was sure he had said those three little words as he collapsed against her, clinging to her like a lifeline. She had already known that he loved her, for a long time in fact, but what if he hadn't meant to say it yet? What if he only said them because he was in a state of chemical-induced delirium? "Max, it's okay. I won't hold you to things you said in there. Both of our emotions were running high. It's alright if you want to take it back."

"No!" Max exclaims, startling Helen. He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath before continuing, gaze now locked in on Helen's. "No, I… I don't want to take it back." He leans in closer, so close that Helen can smell his cedar cologne mixed with the scent of hand sanitizer, an odd yet comforting combination.

Helen's eyes trail to Max's mouth as she takes in shallow breaths at the anticipation of what it would be like to finally feel his lips on hers. Would they be soft, slow, and gentle? Or would they be rough, desperate, and hungry upon finally acting on years of pent-up feelings?

"Helen," Max whispers, staring at her lips which are only inches apart from his. "Helen, I-"

Max's cell phone rings, breaking the heated silence as he lets out a frustrated sigh. "Again? Are you kidding me?! I swear, these god damn phones…" he complains, reaching into his pocket to pull it out, still holding onto Helen's hand with his free one. He stares at it for a moment as if debating whether or not to actually answer it, then swipes the screen and puts it up to his ear. "Hello?"

Helen watches Max's face go from calculative to hopeful, then he looks back at her with strained eyes, pulling the phone away from his mouth. "I'm so sorry, I have to take this. It's my lawyer. I might be a while."

"Max, it's fine. You have to put Luna first. We'll speak about this later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll see you on Monday."

"Good. Because I'm not done with you yet." He redirects his voice back into the phone. "Yes, I'm still here. Yeah, now's as good a time as any."

Helen pulls her hand free from Max's, feeling him squeeze it before letting her fingers slip away.

Cambridge! Mina got into King's College in Cambridge! Helen couldn't be any more excited! Term starts in four weeks, there's so much to do to get her ready for her move across the ocean. Figuring Max would be busy with Luna's court case for a while, Helen decides she would like to take Mina to London a few weeks early to explore their relationship more. Helen had only just broached the topic of her father, Mina's grandfather, but it seemed to start opening both of them up at the seams. A few weeks in Helen's old hometown might just do them both some good. All she has to do is run it by Max… she's sure he'll say yes, maybe a little reluctantly, as they still haven't spoken about what happened after the chemical spill…

Monday evening, Helen knocks on Max's office door and hears a warm "Come in" from the other side. She enters and Max is sitting at his desk, fiddling with a pen, attempting to do some paperwork. His eyes soften upon seeing Helen and can't help but smile as if just seeing her is something cathartic that he needed at the end of a long, difficult day. "Hey," he hums.

"Hi," she smiles back. Helen sits down in the chair opposite his desk. "How's Luna?"

"Oh, well, she's a little disoriented from being passed around like a hot potato. I picked her up from their house at the crack of dawn yesterday." Max drops his pen and rubs his face with both hands, clearly weary and exhausted from the events that had transpired over the past week. "They agreed to drop the case."

"Wow, Max! That is wonderful!"

Max gives Helen a melancholy smile. "Yeah. I couldn't have done it without your help." He gazes longingly at her, and it feels like he's staring straight into her soul. "Helen, I'm ready to talk about 'us'… now that everything is mostly settled," he whispers, leaning forward on his desk.

Helen shifts uncomfortably in her seat. That conversation is still going to have to wait. "Actually, Max, I have something else I need to speak to you about."

"O...kay…" Max replies a little nervously. She didn't change her mind, did she? After all that's happened recently, he's sure that would break him!

"Mina got into King's College in Cambridge."

"Oh my god! That's amazing!"

"Yes, it is! But you know how I've been struggling to connect with her. So I'd like to take a few weeks off and accompany her to London, starting this weekend."

Max's face falls, surprised by the news, but attempts to hide his disappointment by plastering on a forced smile. "That's great. Um, yeah, of course you should go. Heh, this can wait… unless you just wanted to forget about it?"

Helen scans Max's eyes, seeing him put up a wall to hide his self-doubt. "I'm not trying to run away from us, I swear. Only just, this is my first chance I have to really get to know Mina, and for her to get to know me." Helen reaches across the table to take Max's hand. "When I get back, we will talk about this… this thing between us."

Max lets out a sigh of relief and squeezes Helen's hand while maintaining eye contact. "Can I call you... while you're in London?"

Helen's heart melts! Sure, they've spoken over the phone before, but never with romantic intentions. It's like Max is a nervous middle schooler asking if he can keep in contact with his crush that he spent time with at summer camp, and it's the most endearing thing! "Erm, the time difference might make it a little difficult." Helen can see worry brimming in Max's eyes. "But we can figure something out, I'm sure. Anyways, that's what texting and voicemails are for, right?"

A smile returns to Max's face, then he whispers, "I'm gonna miss you."

A rush goes through Helen's body again, hearing words that sound so intimate as if they're slowly becoming lovers, virtually each other's person. "Me too," she hums back, leaning in close to prop her elbow on the desk, leaving her face a foot away from Max's.

Max's heart thumps wildly in his chest at their newfound proximity, and stares very intentionally at Helen's mouth as if asking permission to kiss her.

Noticing where his eyes have trailed, Helen tilts her head to the right and tentatively leans in, parting her lips ever so slightly as Max follows suit. She can see him close his eyes before doing the same when there is a knock on the door, startling them in their seats. "Oh, bloody hell! What is it this time?!" Helen exclaims, having this been their third interrupted almost-kiss in just over a week!

As he sits back in his chair, Max groans and lets out a frustrated "Come in."

Floyd creaks open the office door and notices Max and Helen release each other's hands. "Hey, um, sorry, I hope I'm not… interrupting anything." Floyd has suspected that something was going on between these two for a while now, even before witnessing how frantic and panicked Helen was about Max after the chemical spill. But now seeing how flustered and frustrated they just seemed upon being interrupted, plus hearing Helen curse through the door, confirmed those suspicions.

"Uh, no, nothing. What do you need?" Max asks flatly.

Glancing back and forth between the two people on opposite sides of the desk, still trying to read the vibe of the room, Floyd's eyes settle on Max. "I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're holding up after everything that's gone down this past week. But I can come back later if you two were in the middle of something."

"No, that's alright, I was just leaving," Helen replies as she stands up. "You two should catch up. I've got Mina to get home to."

Max's eyes fixate on Helen as she walks toward the door. She stands in the door frame for a moment, turns back to look at him, then says "We'll finish that conversation when I get back."

"I'm counting on it," Max replies with a smirk before she gracefully glides down the hallway, out of sight, but most definitely not out of mind.

What lies ahead may be uncertain but one thing Max is certain about is his love for Helen, and hers for him. He can still feel how she cradled him, caressed him, whispered soothing words to him during the decon shower. There's no going back from that. The next few weeks will feel like the longest of Max's life! The only thing that will get him through is those beautiful, intimate, terrifying memories.