Songs I listened to while writing this chapter:

When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

The Bioluminescence of Night by James Horner

Pushin' On by 2WEI

Ordinary by Train

Breakdown by Breaking Benjamin

Let You Go by Linkin Park & Limp Bizkit

Rebirth by Hi-Finesse

Feeling a bit better today, thanks. I appreciate you guys saying that. Thanks for reviewing! I love reading them :)

2020

Heathrow Airport Base/The Beach/The Farmhouse

Reset 221

Rita was walking alongside Luke in the field after the car ran out of gas. He was quiet, and she wondered if he was thinking about all the times she'd died. She knew it was a lot. She knew how she'd felt after watching Travis and her team die over and over again. She'd known better than to get close to them, for she hadn't just let Travis into her life...she'd let them all in. Travis had the bigger impact, but the other three were a close second. She knew she'd pulled back from the others after Travis died and closed herself off, and her team respected that, but she knew they were still a bit hurt all the same at her hardness. She just didn't want to be close to people anymore. It hurt too much when she lost them, so instead she went the complete opposite way and took pride in being tough and emotionless, thinking that would stop her from getting hurt again. She recognized the irony in this, that she'd lectured Luke a long time ago about having this mindset, but she realized how true it was through experience.

The only problem was that with Luke here now, it was making her start to feel close to him again. They'd gone through so much together in the past that it was hard to distance from him, no matter how hard she tried. He was the one who had always brought her back from her pain and made her feel again.

Then she got thinking about all the things that had happened to them back in their time together. She thought of a memory that she knew only she'd been privy to, and for whatever reason, she decided to suddenly blurt it out.

"I kissed you," she said. He turned his head to look at her, startled.

"Huh?" he asked.

"After you saved me on the rock wall," she said.

"When? I don't remember," he said, frowning.

"It was when you were unconscious," she said, feeling a bit silly now. "I...I thought you were dead."

"And you kissed me," he said, understanding.

"Yes."

"Huh," he said thoughtfully.

"What?"

"I did the same to you when you were out of it in the hospital over a year later," he answered. She stopped walking, making him stop a few feet later. He turned to face her, and they both studied each other.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I loved you and you getting hurt like that scared the hell out of me."

She remembered that night vividly. She hated remembering that night. She knew he did too. The scars on her left shoulder ached with the memory. It was not worse than a couple other memories she had, of course, especially Carol and her father's death, but it was still up there ranking high. Luke had been there through all of it. Luke had brought her back from the edge of darkness so many times, just like he was now without even trying. It was one of the many reasons why she loved him.

"I gave you my heart," she said after a moment.

"And I gave you mine," he replied. She felt her throat tighten, knowing she'd hurt him with her leaving like that, but there had been a valid reason for it.

"Do you forgive me?" she asked.

"I forgave you a long time ago, Rita," he answered softly. "Do you forgive me? For whatever it is I said?" She stood there looking at him until he started to walk towards her. She said nothing as he reached to grasp her cheek with his hand and rest his forehead against hers.

Is it worth losing the person who is very clearly the love of your life over? Can't you move on from it? Talk it out? If you still love him, you can forgive him. People can be forgiven, Rita. It's okay to do that; forgiveness is for you anyway, not them, but it does help people move on from mistakes and do better next time if given the chance and if they actually care to change. Give him that chance. I think he deserves it.

"Yes," she whispered, hearing Travis's voice echo in her head. "I do." She closed her eyes as she felt him brush his lips against hers. It transported her back to the first time he'd kissed her when they both were conscious. Sometimes that memory felt like yesterday, and she relived it a lot.

She made a sound in her throat as he kissed her slowly, softly. She reached to pull him into her, and she suddenly just wanted to be anywhere than standing in the middle of this field. Almost as if reading her mind, he stopped. She looked into his eyes.

"Come on," he said. "We're almost there."

...

Luke grunted at the impact of his back hitting the wall, Rita in his arms with her mouth opening his urgently. It hadn't taken them long to restart what they'd started in that field once they reached the farmhouse. He'd barely had the door open when she'd grabbed him and kissed him again.

She exclaimed slightly as they toppled down on the dusty mattress together. This time her shoulder wasn't injured. Sometimes she got hit and sometimes she didn't. Luke didn't have any control over that unfortunately. His eyes caught the scars on left shoulder. He hadn't had any control over that either.

"What're you staring at?" she asked when she noticed. He reached to touch the scars, remembering how they got there on that wretched night, and she closed her eyes briefly.

"It could have gone very wrong," he said quietly.

"But it didn't," she replied, opening her eyes again. She slid her hands under his shirt, tugging it up as she kissed him again.

He loved her hands on his skin. He loved when she pressed her face into his neck and clutched him against her. He loved that she remembered their dance like they'd done it yesterday. He loved showing her his physical love for her. He loved her response to his touch. He loved her.

He rested his forehead against her right shoulder when it was over, feeling her breathe hard under him.

"I love you," she whispered, making him lift his head and look at her. There were tears in her eyes and one that had slid down her left cheek. He moved to press his lips against hers softly, running his fingers against her left cheek and catching the next tear sliding down. He gently pulled and caught her lips with his over and over, conveying his love for her as best as he could. When he stopped, he left his face pressed against hers, his lips just grazing hers.

"I never stopped loving you," he finally said. He felt her fingers run over his cheek and neck before going down his arm. He felt her heart beat against his chest.

"You still have my heart," she whispered next, her breath against his lips.

"And you still have mine."

"I'll find you," she promised. "In the afterlife. If you lose the power and we both die."

"I know you will," he murmured.

"We should go," she said next, her right hand cupping his cheek again. He nodded slowly and kissed her one last time before moving away.

Watching her die that time was even harder.

Reset 222

"You kissed me," Luke said, "that time when you drank your dad's whiskey." It took Rita off guard completely, and she stared at him as she slowed her steps. They were walking through a field to get to a farmhouse.

"What?" she asked, feeling nervous. She'd always had vague memories of that night, but Luke had never told her this before. Or maybe he had and she couldn't remember because of all the resetting.

"This is my first time telling you," he said, reading her mind. "I just...you told me about the whole kissing me after the rock wall incident in the last reset, and I felt you needed to know that it wasn't the only time you kissed me before the library kiss."

"I kissed you," she repeated, her mind reeling at that information and the fact she'd told him about the other one. "That must have been so bad."

"It wasn't," he said, looking at her again. She felt shivers.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I didn't want you to feel foolish."

"That's when I asked you to not sleep with Lisa, right?" she asked, clarifying. Luke had admitted that to her in the past, which had floored her because she'd always thought she'd dreamt it and not actually asked him.

"Yea."

"Why didn't you tell me that I kissed you?" she questioned.

"You felt so bad," he said. "I didn't want to make you feel worse."

"What else did I say to you when that happened?" she asked. "And be honest."

"You told me you loved me," he said. They had stopped walking now, and Rita was feeling her heart beating faster.

"I did?"

"Yea."

Rita felt embarrassed in this moment. So he'd known all along that she loved him. She looked away, unable to take his gaze for the moment. She'd drunkenly bared her soul to him, and he'd listened.

"Rita," he said, suddenly standing in front of her and taking her hands into his. "I'm glad you told me. It's the reason I ended things with Lisa and why I waited for you."

"So, if I hadn't done any of those things, would you still have broken up with her?" Rita asked. She felt like a teenager again all of a sudden. The nervousness of anticipating his response and what he'd do next was so familiar.

"Yes," he answered, squeezing her hands. "I would have."

"She never liked me."

"I know. She made that clear."

"Well, maybe you should have stayed with her," Rita said, taking her hands back and starting to walk again. "You wouldn't have been abandoned."

"I don't regret us at all, Rita," Luke said, catching her hand again and making her stop walking. She said nothing as he pulled her in close and wrapped his arms around her. She felt herself trembling, knowing she'd wanted this for so long. She was too tired to fight him off.

"I don't either," she admitted. His fingers against her cheek brought back so many emotions and memories. She suddenly wished she could go back in time, back to the day she'd left and give herself a shake. She wished she had just gone to him despite everything and talked to him, because the man holding her right now was the same man she'd known and fallen in love with. He wasn't the type to be cruel.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, clutching the back of his jacket tightly.

"It's okay," he said back. "I promise."

When she pulled away from him, she felt the old piece of herself that she'd lost start to come to the surface. After she'd left him, she'd become isolated and mistrusting. She hadn't trusted anyone to not hurt her, and she had decided it was safer that way. Then a chain of events led to her signing up to the UDF, and she'd eventually let Travis Hendricks and her team convince her it was okay to let people in again, and she'd let them in and got to know them only to witness them die over and over again, finally losing Travis forever because of her mistake of not dying fast enough. She'd experienced far too much hurt and rage and injustice that she'd finally decided it was time to become the hardened person she was now.

And then there was a shift in things right before Luke came back into her life, and she was slowly unraveling.

She suddenly realized why Luke had tried to keep distant from her all those years ago and felt bad all over again for making him lose her regardless of her convincing him he wouldn't.

She had to think about something else.

"Did you read all of my books?" she asked, suddenly needing to know.

"Where did that come from?" he countered, laughing a little.

"Answer the question, and don't lie. I have proof that you did read some," she warned.

"Alright," he caved. "I did. I read all the books you told me about. I nicked them from your shelf while you were out and read them when you were in bed."

"I saw the liquid stain on page 51 of Pollyanna," she said, giving him a look.

"Yea...sorry," he said. "Copper knocked into my arm and made me spill my drink."

"He was always a bull in a china shop wasn't he?" Rita asked, remembering the dog's eager and playful personality. His tail had done some damage at times too.

"Little bit."

"Okay, so tell me," she said, unable to help herself. "What was your favorite?"

"Oh boy," he said, laughing again. "The Book Worm resurfaces."

"I'll kill you," she threatened, putting her hand on her holster.

"Alright, alright," he said, holding up his hands. "It was To Kill a Mockingbird."

"I knew it!" she crowed.

"Well, it was a better read when I wasn't forced to read it," he replied defensively. She just shook her head, smiling, and started walking again. He fell into step alongside her. Without thinking too much about it, she reached to hold his hand, and he let her.

For a moment, it was almost 25 years earlier with Rita in high school and being teased by Luke for reading too much, and he'd let her take him by the hand and drag him around to whatever it was she wanted to show him.

Rita looked at Luke when she noticed him looking at her. He gave her hand a squeeze.

"We'll get through," he promised.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she warned.

"I'm not," he replied. He looked ahead again, and she soon followed suit. She wanted to believe his words, but with this war, it was definitely very hard to.

Reset 225

Rita looked at her team and felt hollow inside. None of them spoke of Travis, but he was very much there with them. She'd gotten back late from training with Luke and found them heading off to do a knife throwing contest like old times. It didn't feel as fun, though, the way it used to. She regretted getting close to them. It had contributed to her shutting down and closing off from them in the end.

"Damn it," Pete muttered as he missed, cursing under his breath more as he went to retrieve his knife.

"You're thinking too hard," Kamden reasoned.

"Nah, he's just anxious about tomorrow cos he knows I'm gonna win that bet of killing more Mimics than him," Harvey teased, a twinkle in his eye. Pete shot him a look as he went to stand back before the board.

"Just keep a look out like you're supposed to," he ordered Harvey. It started to rain, making Rita look up at the sky. Her mind flashed to her childlike thinking of rain meaning God was crying. She wasn't sure where God was right now in midst of all this. It appeared He was busy elsewhere. She was still really angry at Him if she was honest. She wanted explanations for all the bad things that she'd endured and that others had endured.

"Howdy, lads," Luke's voice said, and Rita snapped her head to see him standing there observing. She bristled slightly. Why was he interrupting her time away from him?

"Sod off, Private," Harvey ordered. Rita saw Pete look at Luke for a moment, something like recognition on his face, but he said nothing.

"Yea, this area is for the big boys," Kamden added, snickering a little.

"What do you want?" Rita asked Luke, ignoring them all.

"Just heard the commotion and thought I'd check it out," Luke answered with a shrug.

"Aw, Pete! You're really sucking tonight," Harvey commented as Pete missed again. Luke looked over at them and the board and sucked his teeth.

"50 quid says I can beat you," Luke said.

"Luke," Rita warned. She knew Harvey wouldn't be able to resist, though. He liked to bet.

"You're on," Harvey said, sliding off the picnic table and coming forward. He took a knife and got ready to throw it. Kamden whistled when it hit next to the bull's eye. Rita didn't even have to look at Luke's face to know what he was thinking. He was thinking he'd already won.

Sure enough, his knife hit the bull's eye dead on.

"Shit," Pete commented.

"Sarge, you wanna put an end to this?" Harvey asked, looking at her.

"No thanks," she replied. "You took the bet, not me." She watched her team and Luke interact further, and she felt like in another life, they could have been friends. At least they'd stopped calling him "Private." He'd earned himself a little bit of respect with his skills.

"Travis would have cleaned your clock," Harvey said after it was over, and Rita felt herself tense. From the look on Luke's face, he didn't know much about Travis.

"Oh yea?" he said casually.

"I hear Farell," Rita tried, but Pete looked and saw nothing before scoffing.

"False alarm," he said. Rita wanted to hit him. Couldn't he tell she didn't want Luke hearing about Travis?

"Yea," Harvey went on. "Travis had the best aim. He and Rita could really give each other a run for their money. They were weirdly close."

Rita felt Luke's eyes on her, but she said nothing. Let him think what he wanted.

"He's a fallen hero now, just like all of us will be after tomorrow," Pete said quietly, and the others crew silent.

"That's bleak as shit, man," Kamden said, shaking his head.

"I'm turning in," Rita announced, done with this weird group setting. It unnerved her to have Luke talking and bonding with her team.

"'Night, Rita," Pete said to her. He reached to squeeze her shoulder as she passed, and she gave a slight pause before patting his hand and carrying on. Let Luke think what he wanted about that too. Pete was a good man, and she worried about him.

She was just relieved that none of them could remember all the times they'd died. It was bad enough she could.

...

Luke normally didn't interact with Rita's team, but tonight he had felt called to. He remembered the expression on Rita's face that time she'd found him doing knife tossing, and, in one of the resets, he'd learned that she'd done it with her team a lot in the past, so it was a bit triggering for her. He knew Pete recognized him from the time he was living with Brendan. He'd spent enough time with Pete and his brother Randy while he was there. Neither of them mentioned it, though. Luke hadn't seen Randy around, so he assumed the worst. It would explain some of the pain in Pete's eyes.

Hanging with them gave him a good sense of the camaraderie Rita experienced regularly. He was happy that she had a good team. It did not escape his attention how much the mentioning of Travis unsettled her. He tried not to feel that pang of jealousy at the idea of her being with someone else.

"What are you doing out after hours, Private?" Farell asked, catching him. Luke groaned inwardly.

"Couldn't sleep," he tried.

"Well, maybe this'll help. Drop and give me 50."

He definitely was not going to miss this part of this whole experience.

Reset 230

It was the last straw. Luke had seen Rita die one too many times; he wasn't going to watch her die again. They were at the farmhouse, and she was sipping her coffee. He had the keys to the helicopter in his pocket. He was going to pretend he couldn't find them. What he was going to do after that, he wasn't sure yet. He hadn't thought that far.

"Mm, that was good," Rita said, finishing her coffee. "Come on then. Let's find those keys."

"It's getting dark," Luke reasoned. "Maybe we should wait until morning."

"Are you insane? What, did you want to have a nice shag and cuddle or something?" she asked, lifting a brow at him. "Want me to light a fire to set the mood?"

"You mock me," he said, pointing at her, "but that doesn't stop you coming onto me." She went bright red in the face.

"I do not!"

"You do," he said. "Sorry, love."

"Just find the damn keys," she shot back. She went hunting, and he just stood there. After a while, she returned and saw him still unmoving.

"Luke," she said, realization dawning on her face. "Where are the keys?"

"I don't have them," he lied. She was on him quick, hands trying to get into his pockets. He fought her off, which made her start attacking him more. Fighting with her was not something he'd intended on doing, but if that's what it took, then he'd do it.

She shouted in anger and frustration when he flipped her off of him easily and dumped her on the ground. She kicked out at his legs, but he jumped back out of her way.

"Luke!" she yelled. "Come on!"

"No," he said back.

"Why are you keeping them from me?" she demanded, getting back to her feet.

"I'm not..."

"You bloody well are! Why?!"

"Because you die, Rita," he said bluntly, making her close her mouth. "You die. Every time. I've tried every which way imaginable to fix this, but the outcome is always the same. You die."

"Luke," she said, her tone a warning. "What did I tell you?"

"To let you go," he said. "I know that. I know this is war. I know we have to make sacrifices, but I'm not willing to sacrifice you. I'm just not." She pulled out her pistol, and he scoffed. "What are you gonna do? If you shoot me, you'll just reset me, and I will do this again."

She shifted it in her hand and then swung it at his face as hard as she could. He shouted in pain as it connected and just about knocked him over. She went for his pant pocket, finding the keys and pulling them out while he was still trying to regain his senses.

"Rita," he said, catching her wrist as she tried to back away from him. His jaw and cheek were throbbing viciously.

"Stop, Luke," she said. "You're not stopping me. I'm doing this."

He tackled her to the ground, but she held firm to the keys and bit him when he tried to pry them out of her fingers, making him grunt in pain.

"Stop fighting dirty," he panted, pressing a knee into her stomach and a hand against her chest. She couldn't breathe, and he almost got the keys when she threw them. When he released her to go after them, she wrapped her legs around his and brought him back down.

"You always fight like a wuss?" she asked.

"Insulting me is not going to throw me off my game," he retorted. He escaped and launched onto the keys, grabbing them. She did her best to get on top of him, but he was successful in flipping her onto her stomach and holding her down by her neck.

"Luke, come on!" she exclaimed, trying to get free of him.

"Why can't you just accept that I love you and want you to live?!" he shouted. She grew very still, breathing hard. She could hear his heavy breaths too.

"Please, Luke," she said, softer this time. "Let me go."

"I can't," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "I can't let you go. Not like this." She moved to roll onto her back, and he let her, still sitting over her stomach while resting on his knees on either side of her. She looked up at him and saw his pain all over his face. She sat up, knowing it was probably her best shot of getting her way, and he moved to kneel, which made her move to rest on her knees in front of him. She pressed a hand against his cheek gently, and she felt him start to fold.

"If I stand on the sidelines while hundreds of others die trying to save humanity, do you know what that will do to me?" she asked. "I can't do that. If I have the chance to save this world for everyone who's left, then I'm doing it."

"I know."

She moved closer, resting her face against his. She smoothed her hand down his cheek and cupped his jaw.

"I've been gone from your life a long time," she told him.

"You've always been with me every single day, Rita," he said. "and I've just had 230 days with you."

"That you remember," she said. "I don't."

"You did this before. You know what I'm feeling," he insisted.

"I do, but I also understood it had to be done," she replied. She could feel his pain radiating from his skin now. She still had her hand on his face.

"I love you," he said quietly. She responded by kissing him slowly, and he kissed her back. She moved her other hand to slide down his arm and wrap her fingers around the keys in his hand. After kissing him deeper, she felt him release them to her grasp while putting his other hand on her back to pull her close. She hadn't forgotten how soft his mouth always was against hers no matter what. It always marveled her. Thirty seconds later, she stopped. He said nothing. He watched as she pushed herself up and walked away from him. She walked with a determined step to the helicopter and pulled the cover off.

"Rita," Luke said, back again.

"I'm doing this," she said sharply.

"We haven't tried you just walking away," he went on, ignoring her. "Just walk away, Rita."

"I am not a coward!" she exclaimed. "I am a soldier. This is what we do! You of all people know that."

"I'm an assassin," he corrected.

"You'd still die for the cause," she shot back. She climbed in, dodging his hand.

"If I go on and kill the Omega, if I do that after you die, you aren't coming back," he replied strongly. "You realize that right? It's over. Do you really want to do that?"

She looked at him, and he could see she understood it very clearly. Something passed across her face, but then she hardened.

"Do your job, Luke," she said, starting the helicopter.

"Rita!"

She started to go up, and he ran for cover as the Mimic came from nowhere and attacked it midair. Luke ran and dodged the helicopter coming at him full speed. Then he picked up the axe and killed the Mimic with a scream of rage in each swing. When it was dead, he went over to Rita and fell on his knees, taking her hand in his. Her breathing was shaky and ragged. Her eyes were slightly afraid.

"Rita," he said quietly, holding her hand tightly.

"I never...stopped...loving you," she managed to say. He held her gaze, feeling like he might lose his shit when she exhaled one last time and her stare became vacant.

Then he unleashed his scream of pain.

Reset 231

Luke walked away from it all. He didn't even go to the beach for battle. Instead, he stayed in London. He found his old house where he used to live without really knowing why he'd gone there. He guessed he was just trying to find pieces of his past. What for, he had no idea. When he got there, he discovered it was destroyed, but it brought back too many memories at once all the same. He felt the pain and did his best to swallow it down.

He stood overlooking the river when he saw hundreds of Mimics come barreling towards the city. People started screaming, and Luke braced himself for the impact and for the clarity of what this meant:

They lost the war.

Reset 232

Luke opened his eyes, and he suddenly mentally clicked together an idea. It annoyed him that he hadn't thought of it until now, but it was worth a try. He'd try anything to avoid having Rita get killed.

He went through the motions of the day, but he didn't say anything to Rita until later. He found her walking to her barrack in the rain and ran to catch up with her.

"Hey," he said, catching her by the arm and making her exclaim in surprise.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she demanded, yanking her arm back.

"I can reset the day, Rita," he told her, and her face changed from hostile to surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"We lose the war tomorrow," he pushed on.

"What?!"

He moved to a quieter place after seeing another soldier walking, and she followed.

"Luke, you need to explain more than this," she insisted.

"I've been trying this entire time to get off the beach tomorrow and then leave that damn farmhouse we get to," he said, "but it never works. I tried going to the dam the night before the battle, and that never worked, but I never tried going the morning of."

"Slow down," she said, waving her hands. "What are you talking about?"

"The Omega is in a dam," he said impatiently. "We've walked through shit, driven through shit, and tried to fly through shit, and it doesn't work. I'm desperate to try anything, so tomorrow morning, you and I are stealing an aircraft and going to that dam."

She stared at him, and then an understanding dawned on her.

"You can't stand seeing me die every day," she noted.

"I die too," he said defensively.

"You can't let that alter the plan..."

"You don't even know what my plan is," he retorted. "And clearly it's not working anyway."

"You've tried going alone then?" she challenged. He fidgeted with his fingers, not wanting to answer. "Luke?"

"No, I haven't," he said.

"Maybe you should try that."

"It's better with two people to fight..."

"Don't base this decision on the fact I die," she said abruptly.

"I'm not! This idea seems logical. The Mimics will already be at the beach waiting to ambush us, so they won't be waiting for us when we get there."

"So, what?" she asked. "We try this attempt to see if it works. What if it doesn't?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," he answered. "Meet me here at 0500 tomorrow. The others leave at 0600."

"Okay," she agreed. He said nothing else, and he decided to just walk away before anything else came up.

He could feel her watching him with every step that he took.

...

At 0600 the next morning, Rita was sitting in the co-pilot's seat as Luke flew. It hadn't been hard to steal one, and they'd been flying for almost an hour. She was feeling jumpy but also skeptical that this plan would work. It just seemed too easy. They hadn't met any resistance so far.

When he landed close to the dam and shut off the engines, she turned her head to look at him.

"This is very bizarre," he said without looking at her.

"Where are all the Mimics?" she asked. She felt alive with adrenaline. The Omega had sent the army to fight thinking no one would find it here. That had to be it.

"I don't know, but I'm not complaining," he said, unclipping his belt. "I've had enough of getting slaughtered for a while."

"Come on then," she said, standing up and going to walk to the back of the aircraft to collect her weapons. She didn't bother with the mech suit, and neither did Luke. She did grab a string of grenades, though.

"Hey," he said, making her look at him. "This might be it."

"Uh huh," she replied.

"I just want to say it's been really good fighting this war with you," he went on. She paused after holstering her pistol.

"Well, I have no memory of it, so I guess you're on your own with that," she said back. She unconsciously reached to touch the chain around her neck and saw him notice. She forced her fingers to release it and let her hand drop to her side.

"I still love you," he said softly. She felt her heart clench. How could he still love her? After everything?

"Don't," she said, trying to contain the shake in her voice. She didn't know everything she'd ever said to him during the resets or what transpired between them. By the way he was looking at her, she had a rough idea.

He loaded his machine gun and said nothing else, but he did reach out and press his hand on her shoulder as he passed her. She felt the warmth from his hand long after it was gone.

...

They went cautiously inside. Luke swept his gun left and right slowly, keeping an eye out. It was eerily quiet, and something about it didn't sit well with him.

"Do you think it's even here?" Rita asked quietly on his left. She had her gun aimed as well.

"I'm starting to question that," he replied. He did his best to recall the vision, and he walked to where it was supposed to be with Rita following him carefully. When they arrived, he lowered his gun and stared at the spot.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's supposed to be right here," he answered, gesturing. "Is it invisible?"

"No," she answered. "I mean...I don't think so..."

Luke was thinking hard. Then a noise made them both spin, and Rita unconsciously gave a slight gasp at the sight of the Alpha standing there looking at them in the doorway. Its low growl made all the hair on Luke's arms and neck stand up straight.

"Why is it just standing there?" Rita dared to ask. Luke heard another noise and turned behind him to see a Mimic guarding the other exit. Neither of them were moving in to kill him. They were just...watching. Then it hit him.

"They're trapping me," he said.

"What?"

"They know I have the power," he went on.

"You think so?"

"Why else block both exits?" he asked. "They don't want me to escape." He decided to test the theory and pulled out his pistol to aim it at his head. Within seconds, the Alpha lunged and smacked it out of his hand. Rita exclaimed while Luke shielded her from harm, not trusting that the Alpha wasn't going to kill her. He figured if he stood in the way, they couldn't touch her without killing him, and it definitely looked like they didn't want to do that.

"They want it back," he told her, his mouth next to her ear.

"How are they gonna do that?" she asked.

"I really don't want to find out," he answered. Rita went to pull out her gun next, and the Mimic did the same thing as the Alpha: It sent the gun flying out of her hand. They ended up standing back to back, Luke reaching to grab her wrist from behind.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"I'm thinking," he answered.

"You have to die, Luke."

"I know that. Grenade?"

"If it kills the Alpha, it might reset the day for them instead of us. I have no idea if they still can or if that's how it would work, but it's too risky."

"Right."

He felt her grip tighten, and he wondered if she was feeling a little bit scared like he was in this moment.

...

The water under the tanks. As much as Rita feared drowning, it was the only option left. And it wasn't like she had to drown either. Luke did.

"Luke," Rita whispered. "The water." She felt him turn his head to see it.

"Got it," he murmured. The Mimic and the Alpha were moving in closer, and she knew they didn't have much time. Her hand stung from getting slapped by the Mimic.

"On my count," she said. He nodded. "One, two..." On three, she turned to shove Luke forward, and he skidded onto his side and slid under the tanks just as the Mimic stabbed through Rita's middle with its arm and the Alpha charged to get Luke back. She cried out, feeling immense pain, and started sinking to the ground. She fell to her side and managed to see Luke looking back at her. The pain in his eyes at her suffering was very evident.

"Do it," she whispered, unable to speak louder. Her eyes never left his as the Mimic bore down on her, wrapping itself around her wrists and ankles before winding around her neck and chest. She hoped Luke wouldn't fall for the taunt and be lured out to try and save her. The only way he could save her was to die. The Alpha was still going after him and was getting closer.

Do it! she mentally screamed at him. She watched him stick his face into the water just as the Alpha's arm got closer to him and the Mimic on top of her came in for the death blow.

Then it went black.

Reset 233

Rita was balancing on her hands and trying to stay focused when heavy footsteps came towards her. She groaned inwardly at the interruption and turned her head to see who was coming.

She lost her balance.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she demanded, pushing herself up to her feet and trying not to feel embarrassed. It was only a matter of time before she ran into him. She knew that. It still didn't prepare her for the bombardment of emotions.

He said nothing as he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a tight embrace. She was completely taken off guard, and her first instinct was to smack him off, but she could feel the strength of his own emotions in that hug, and she suddenly didn't have the heart to make him stop. It didn't help that she'd wanted to feel his embrace again for so long.

"Luke," she said after a moment when it appeared he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. "Let me go. Please."

He obeyed, and she had to work to stop trembling after his touch. She looked at him and realized that he looked haunted.

"It was a trick," Luke answered.

"Excuse me?"

"The vision. It was a bloody trick."

She stared at him. What was he saying?! She tried to catch up mentally, but it was hard to do so when Luke was breathing like someone about to explode, his anger having built quickly.

"This way," she said, leading him somewhere quieter where they stood opposite of each other. "You wanna run that by me again?"

"I have what you had," he said impatiently. "I got the vision. I found the spot where the Omega was supposed to be, and do you know what I found?"

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing," she echoed.

"Not a damn thing," he said for good measure. "Except for a Mimic and an Alpha, who were certainly not going to let me kill myself and reset the day. They were gonna take it out of me. How, I have no idea, and I'm very glad I didn't get to find out."

"Shit," Rita said, feeling at a loss now. All that time she'd spent trying to find the Omega from her own vision, and he was telling her it was a lie. So Travis had died for nothing. That really hurt. "Maybe they couldn't take it out of you, but they could have held you hostage until you lost it over time since you couldn't reset."

"Possibly. I have no idea."

Rita didn't know what to think in that moment.

"They figured out the power was hijacked," he went on. "They gave me the vision to see who shows up."

"Because they wouldn't know exactly who had it," Rita said knowingly. She knew he was just running through the events to understand it all.

"Right, which would explain why we were constantly killed before getting to the dam. They didn't know we were going there, that I had it specifically. But they succeeded in fooling me into thinking the Omega would be there. How come I didn't think of that? And I can't believe I never thought to try flying there the morning of. How stupid am I?"

"Was I with you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Anyway," he said, gesturing. "What do we do now? We have no idea where this thing is, and now it knows I have the power and wants it out of me. On top of that, London falls tomorrow. The Mimics win the war. I saw it."

Rita let these last words hit her hard. They lost tomorrow. This was not good.

"I...I think we need to see Dr. Carter."

"Lead the way."

...

Luke stood back while Dr. Carter chastised Rita for dragging him away from his work and risking exposing them. Then he stopped talking when Rita explained what happened. They both looked at Luke.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I'm just the muscle here."

"There is another way, but we need a live Mimic or Alpha," Dr. Carter said.

"We have one," Rita said, realizing. She was still staring at Luke.

"You think it would work on him?"

"Just what the hell are you gonna be doing to me?" Luke demanded.

"Why didn't we think to try it when I had it?" Rita asked Dr. Carter, ignoring Luke.

"I don't know. I guess it was all still new, not to mention it's locked up in General Brigham's office and you were in Verdun while I was here. It's still locked up in his office, by the way."

"Then we go get it," Rita said instantly.

"Hey!" Luke said loudly, waving his hand at them. "What are we getting? What kind of torture are you planning to inflict on me?"

"It's a device that will be able to locate the Omega. We need an Alpha or Mimic to make it work, and you've got Alpha's blood, so you're the next best thing," Rita explained. He stared at her.

"Why the hell didn't the two of you lead with that?! We could have saved so much time!" he exclaimed.

"We didn't know the vision was a fake," Rita said impatiently.

"Still, you made me wait forever for the damn vision when we could have found it quicker this way!"

"Brigham might not even give it to us no matter what we try. This is our last resort," Rita insisted.

"I am not happy about this," Luke said, pointing a finger at her as he went to the door. She followed him.

"Good luck!" Dr. Carter called after them.

"Don't be pissy," Rita said as they walked together to go look for a vehicle.

"I'm not. I'm annoyed."

"How long have I known you again?" she asked, shooting him a look. "You're pissy."

"I have a right to be."

They found a vehicle and set off. He let Rita drive. He was too busy being pissed off and trying to think of how to convince a man he'd never met to give him the one thing that would save the world.

Reset 240

"Have we even made it to Brigham yet?" Rita asked.

"No," Luke growled. "Cos someone always seems to recognize you or we get caught."

She said nothing else as she drove. His jaw was clenched, and she knew he was frustrated. They were close to ending this, and yet it seemed so far away.

They were just outside of the general's door when someone caught them. Rita didn't waste any time resetting the day.

She'd do it as many times as it took.

I hope the dam scene wasn't too out of place and that my explanations made sense. I usually never alter my storyline based on comments in reviews, especially when I've got my story already written out, but I have to say that Lana inspired me to change what I had written for the dam scene originally (which was Luke going alone like Cage did) because I too wanted to know what it would look like to have Rita involved, so I went with it. I hope it was satisfying :)