Songs I listened to while writing this chapter:

747 by Ludwig Goransson

Facility (007 Goldeneye soundtrack from N64 game)

Breach of Faith by Fringe Element

Don't Get in My Way by Zack Hemsey

Quantum Expansion by Audiomachine

Hero by Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott

Fire and the Flood by Vance Joy

Avalanche by Avril Lavigne

Flames by Mod Sun ft. Avril Lavigne

2020 Heathrow Airport Base/Ministry of Defense

Reset 275

Luke was tired of this. He needed a new plan, and he didn't care if Rita thought it was stupid. He was doing it. He was breaking into Brigham's office in the middle of the night.

"You're what?!" she exclaimed after he told her. Right on cue.

"I can't think of anything else to try," he said. "I can't keep this up. He's not getting it, and we are wasting time, so I'm doing this."

"Luke, you're crazy..."

"I know," he said. "We've always known that."

"Have we?" she asked.

"To some degree," he replied with a smirk. "Anyway, either you're with me or you're not. Your call."

"This is insane," she said, rubbing her face. "We'll never pull it off."

"Not with that attitude."

"Do you have any idea how guarded it will be?"

"I already know where they stand during the day. I imagine it would be similar during the night," he insisted. He watched her hem and haw, and he knew he had her.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," she sighed.

"It's because you can't help but tag along when I do something crazy," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"That's because someone has to save your arse when it all goes to shit," she commented.

"Pfft," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "I don't need to be saved."

"I beg to differ."

"And just when exactly have you saved me?" he asked, lifting a brow. He watched her look at him, and he knew she was thinking about saying it out loud, saying that she'd saved him the moment she entered his life because it was very true. She had, and he'd be the first to admit it, but she didn't say it. It was okay, though. They both knew it was true; it didn't need to be said.

"I'm sure there are countless times in our resets where I've saved you," she said instead. "And you're hoping I wouldn't say that cos I can't remember. Right?" He smiled because there had been some times where she'd killed a Mimic he'd missed or knocked him out of harm's way, but she had no idea.

"Fine," he conceded, "but you also don't remember all the times I saved you either."

"It was probably minimal."

"It wasn't."

"Are we seriously going to stand here and bicker over something I don't remember?" she asked, annoyed.

"Maybe," he replied. She rolled her eyes.

"Just come get me when we're leaving," she said, walking away. "And if you botch this up, I will say 'I told you so.'"

"And shoot me in the face? I don't think you get to do both," he said. "One or the other."

"Goodbye, Luke."

"One or the other!" he called after her, but she just lifted her hand up and kept walking without looking back. He chuckled to himself.

He really needed to make sure this worked.

...

Rita felt disoriented. Having Luke back in her life was throwing her off. Sneaking around with him in the dark in this moment was just as disorienting, and it was triggering different memories of their youth. She wondered if her father had known when they'd crept outside at night to go for a walk, do training, or star gaze on their backs in the grass...or, later, when they'd find a place to make out and not get discovered or interrupted.

She grunted when Luke suddenly stopped and threw out his arm to stop her, making her crash into it. He put a finger to his lips as he listened, and she held her breath. A guard came around the corner, and she watched as Luke, quick as lightening, pounced and incapacitated the man in seconds, lowering him to the ground and hiding him out of sight. This action made her think about how he would kill a man on one of his jobs. She'd always tried not to think about it a lot when he was gone on a mission, but sometimes it had been difficult not to. At least he wasn't actually killing these men. He was just knocking them out.

"See? Not so hard," he said, moving forward. Rita walked behind him. She saw someone in the mirror on the ceiling and grabbed Luke by the back of his pants, hauling him backwards into the nook of the doorway to their right until he turned around and pushed them both into it to hide. She felt like she couldn't breathe with him pressed against her, his breath on her cheek. Then he stepped out and grabbed the guard as he passed, taking him down next.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Rita said, "but we might actually pull this off." He said nothing, but he did smile as they walked forward quietly. He picked the lock on Brigham's office door and pushed it open once it was open. He shut it behind them and went to the safe. Rita held the light for him as he examined it.

"Well?" she asked.

"Oye," he said. She peered over his shoulder.

"That's a lot of combinations to try," she commented, seeing it was a keypad.

"Yea, yea," he retorted, setting to work. "Go find out if he's written it down somewhere."

"I very much doubt he'd leave the code to his safe lying haphazardly about," she retorted.

"You never know. Just go look," he ordered. She made a sound of displeasure in her throat but went to rifle through the desk drawers. Five minutes later, voices were shouting.

"They found your bodies," she advised. He turned to move when the door was flung open.

"FREEZE!"

They both turned to face the soldier. Luke knew it was coming.

"I told you so," Rita said.

"I said one or the other," Luke reminded her. She rolled her eyes.

"Stop talking!" the soldier barked. "Move, now!" Luke held up his hands and looked at Rita, lifting a brow to indicate she could shoot him anytime now. She held up her gun in one hand like she was going to surrender, but then she whipped to her left to shoot Luke in the head.

Reset 276

Luke shut the door to the safe quickly and propelled Rita backwards towards Brigham's desk. He pulled her down to the floor with him out of sight just as the door was kicked open and the lights came on. Luke held his breath, hoping the soldier would just leave, but he came into the room. Luke barely held his groan of annoyance.

Now what? Rita mouthed at him. He held up a finger, and she made a face, which made him make a face back at her. She opened her mouth, and he jumped up from behind the desk and tried to grab the soldier but missed.

"FREEZE!"

Rita shot him very quickly.

Reset 277

Luke waited by the door for the soldier to open it, and he grabbed him and incapacitated him quickly. He shut the door again and waited. The radio went off on the soldier's shoulder, so Luke picked it up to answer the voice asking for a check in.

"All clear," he said. Rita was shaking her head.

"Michaels is down!" the voice shouted over the radio. "There's an intruder! General's office!"

"Damn it," Luke sighed. Rita walked over to him and held up her gun.

"Bang time," she said.

"Just do it," he ordered, bracing himself.

Reset 278

It was worth a shot. When the soldier opened the door to Brigham's office, Luke pushed Rita against the wall and kissed her hard. He felt her surprise at first, but then she caught on to what he was doing and got into it.

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" the soldier demanded, making them stop and turn to look at him. "Sergeant Vrataski?!"

"I am so sorry," Rita said, stepping forward. Luke moved slowly after her. "We were sent to give General Brigham a really important document, and we just...you know."

"I very much doubt you'd be bringing anything here at this time of night," the soldier barked. By this time, both Luke and Rita were close enough to him.

"It was kept really quiet," Rita insisted. "No one was to know. Damn it, Private, I told you to keep your hands to yourself."

"I couldn't help it," Luke said with a shrug and a smile. "I mean, come on, look at you."

"You're not serious," Rita went on, hamming it up. "I'm as ugly as an old leather boot."

"Old leather...? Wow, that's harsh. Don't you agree?" Luke asked the soldier, who was looking a bit perplexed now as they both flanked him. "She's comparing that..." He paused to point at her body. "To this." He lifted his boot up and gestured to it.

"Honestly. You're just all gaga cos I'm the Full Metal Bitch. You'd say anything to get a chance at shagging me," Rita said, rolling her eyes. The fully perplexed soldier went to say something finally when Luke grabbed him and knocked him out. Rita was growling slightly as Luke dragged the soldier out of sight. She closed the door again and turned the light off.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, standing behind him with the light again.

"It worked didn't it?"

"Don't do it again," she ordered.

"I got news for you," Luke retorted. "We've done way more than that during this entire journey together." He saw her neck go a bit red, and she cleared her throat.

"Hurry up," she ordered.

"Go look in the filing cabinet. There was nothing in the desk last time."

She went to look while he pulled out his own light and kept trying different combinations, the light in his mouth. He could hear her rummaging and muttering to herself as she worked.

"Nothing," she said.

He pulled the light out of his mouth and turned to say something sarcastic when the office door flung open again and the lights came back on.

"FREEZE!"

Rita shot him instantly.

Reset 279

"If you just hid these bodies better," Rita panted, helping him carry the one to the room.

"I do," he said indignantly. "I have no idea how they find them."

"This is ridiculous," she said next. "It's obviously not working."

"We haven't even tried that many times," he told her. "Stop whining."

"I'm not whining!"

"FREEZE!"

"Son of a..." Luke started as Rita aimed her gun at his head.

Reset 280

He was on a roll with the combinations when...

"FREEZE!"

He didn't even look at Rita as she shot him.

Reset 281

This time, Luke sent Rita to run around and distract the soldiers. He kept her gun on him to kill himself as needed. He pounded out numbers on the keypad fast, trying to think what would be pertinent to the general. He tried some birthdays and other dates, but they didn't work. Rita had searched the backs of picture frames and everything in the last reset, looking for the code written somewhere, but still nothing.

"Come on, come on, come on," he muttered to himself, tapping it out quickly.

"FREEZE!"

"Come on!" he exclaimed. He grabbed the gun and shot himself.

Reset 282

"So, without the code, we can't open the safe," Rita reasoned, standing there with crossed arms and looking at him with a raised brow.

"Nope," he sighed.

"So we wasted time."

"Nuh uh," he argued. "We did not waste time. If I had his code, it would work seamlessly."

"Sounds to me like you got your ass handed to you every time," she remarked.

"I am not giving up," he insisted, stalking off. She was either with him or she wasn't. He smiled when she ran to catch up with him.

...

They were sitting in the car, waiting to go in. Rita turned her head to look at his outline illuminated by the street lamp. She was feeling things inside again. Being around him made everything resurface, and she realized how much she truly had missed him despite denying it for so long. When he turned his head to meet her gaze, her heart fluttered and her stomach dropped.

"What?" he asked her.

"Nothing," she answered. How was he here right now? How had he known that she needed him? How did he always know when she needed him? Granted, there had been lots of times over the years where she'd needed him, but she'd been the one to leave. She'd been the one to make sure he couldn't find her. She also didn't come out and tell him that she needed him very often.

"You know what this reminds me of?" he asked.

"What's that?"

"The night I waited in my car before going in to murder the two men who killed Keira," he answered. Rita felt her body stiffen, and her breath caught in her throat. Luke had never talked about that night. She'd known he'd done it because he'd told her, and they'd talked about their emotions of what happened to Keira in general with each other, but he'd never uttered a single detail of what he'd experienced or witnessed that night he'd killed those men to her.

"Why are you telling me this?" she questioned.

"I'm not really sure," he confessed, shifting in his seat. "I guess I'm just thinking a lot about the past now that there might not be a future." He was quiet again, and Rita fingered the tab of her zipper on her coat.

"Were you scared?" she asked.

"Not at first," he answered honestly. "I didn't know there were two of them when I went in there."

"How did you know for sure it was the right person?"

"Keira's backpack was there," he replied softly, and Rita felt her stomach clench and her eyes burn a little.

"Oh," she said. He looked at her again, and she could see in the dark that there was pain in his eyes.

"I never told anyone this," he went on, "not even your father."

She waited with baited breath. What was he going to tell her? She almost didn't want to know, but she kept quiet. She sensed he needed to get this off his chest. The sad thing was she wouldn't remember after tomorrow.

"What is it?" she asked when he paused to rub his fingers back and forth against his face.

"There were photographs," he said finally. Rita couldn't stop the noise she made in her throat at this. She felt horrified.

"Photographs?" she repeated, her voice a whisper.

"They were just sitting on the table in the hallway, like they were regular photos waiting to be put in an album. I'll never forget the look on her face in the one I saw..."

"Oh, Luke."

"I left them to burn," he finished, clearing his throat now. "No one needed to see that." Rita was breathing a bit harder now, trying not to cry. Without a word, Luke reached to take her hand in his, and she squeezed it tight.

"When I saw Mei in the subway station being stalked by the Russians," he said after a bit, "I just kept seeing Keira. I couldn't let that happen again, even though I didn't know Mei."

So he was Mei's friend. Rita had wondered if it was just a coincidence, but her heart had said otherwise. She wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about, though, about the subway and the Russians. She gathered he'd told her before, though.

"I'm not sure I understand," she said.

"I know," he replied. "You don't remember."

"She mentioned you were her guardian," Rita stated, recalling that piece of information. "I didn't know it was you exactly, though, but I had my suspicions."

"I am."

"You said you weren't scared at first," Rita said next, remembering. "What made you scared that day?"

"When the second guy came from nowhere," Luke answered. "They both held me down while one tried to strangle me, and I thought for a moment that I was done for, but I just kept thinking that, aside from wanting them dead for what they did, it wasn't my time yet because someone had to bring you back from the dark. I wasn't about to leave you alone when you needed me."

Rita remembered how numb she'd been. She remembered how angry and upset and hollow she'd felt. It had been a few months before she'd snapped out of it...before Luke snapped her out of it. She remembered it vividly.

"I'm grateful that you made it out of there alive," she said to him when he didn't say anything further. He played with her fingers in his, running the tip of his thumb down her palm to her wrist and making her shiver. She turned his hand over after a moment, finding the "R" on his wrist without looking and tracing it with her finger. She'd seen it in a rare photograph of him when she spent time looking through social media for his fights in Jersey that others had posted. It had surprised her; she spent hours looking at it and memorizing it.

"What made you get this?" she asked, tapping a finger against it.

"You'd left, and I was broken. I just wanted you with me somehow," he answered.

"You didn't do the full name," she pointed out.

"You know I never wanted anyone at work to know about you," he said. "I still didn't. I wanted to keep you safe."

"Right," she said. She felt slightly disgruntled inside. It was his need to keep her safe from his coworkers that had kept them apart and doing long distance for so long. She blamed that job for contributing to the end of their relationship. She blamed it a lot, not to mention his words.

She smoothed her thumb over the tattoo, thinking about how the artist had done it justice. She'd created it after all.

"You're surprised I remembered what it looked like," he noted.

"A little," she agreed. "I doodled it on your wrist a very long time ago after all." He gave a soft chuckle, and she was pretty sure they were both thinking about how everything eventually led to them getting together.

"I loved you then," he said softly, "and I love you now." She looked at him, feeling torn up inside. How could he still love her?

"Luke..."

"I'm serious," he interrupted, knowing what she was going to say. "So accept it already."

"I'm sorry," she blurted out.

"I know," he replied, reaching to rest his hand against her cheek. "I'm sorry too."

They shouldn't waste anymore time. Rita was about to point that out when he moved in to kiss her softly. Feeling his lips on hers again took her back through time, and she felt herself melt into him just like she used to.

He didn't kiss her for long, but it was long enough to remember how much she'd missed it.

"Let's break into a safe," he said, letting go of her face and opening the car door. She followed suit, feeling the heat on her cheeks slowly fade away as they walked quickly to the building side by side.

Reset 290

Luke had to concede that he was not going to break into that safe. It made his stomach twist and made him feel annoyed, but it was reality. He'd even tried a few times to figure out the safe number during the day by hanging around the Ministry of Defense building, but it was not information he could easily get, and they had one too many close calls.

"It sounds like you gave it your best shot," Rita said, looking at him.

"I think I could do better."

"Luke, we can't waste anymore time. I think the only way we're gonna get it is by talking to Brigham."

"He reminds me of a toad," Luke commented. "I don't know why."

"He reminds me of John C. McCloy," Rita said back.

"Who?"

"Mission Impossible II," she said logically.

"Oh yea," Luke said, remembering. "He kind of does."

"That guy was also an arse," she muttered.

"So what? I just keep at him until he finally gives it to me?" Luke asked, getting them back on topic.

"I think that's all we can do," Rita agreed. "I'm sorry, Luke."

"It's fine," he sighed. "I'll figure it out. Meet me in a few hours, and we'll go."

"Okay."

He watched her go, and he kicked himself for not being able to get the stupid code for the safe. He knew Rita was right, though. They had to stop wasting time. Who knew if the Mimics and Alphas had a way of finding him despite him resetting the day? He couldn't risk that.

He thought about their last meaningful conversation in the car eight resets ago. He truly hadn't ever told anyone details about the kills that made him an assassin again. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if he had just driven away and left it alone, but he realized that he probably would have gotten back on the path regardless. It was in his blood. It was who he was, but he'd spent a long time making up for it when he finally got out.

Just like he'd spend however long it took to make up for whatever it was that made Rita leave.

...

Rita found her team in the training room. Harvey was sparring with Kamden while Pete watched.

"What did I miss?" she asked, stopping to stand next to him with her arms crossed.

"These two knuckleheads going at it," Pete answered. "Where were you?"

"Just debriefing with someone," she replied.

"You see that Cage bloke?" Pete asked.

"Who?"

"He's running around claiming he's been wrongly labeled a deserter. I feel bad for the squad he ended up in."

"Hmm," Rita said, not knowing what else to say. She was thinking about Luke. Being around him was making her think of a lot of things.

"AAAAUUGGGHH! NOOOO!" Harvey bellowed as Kamden threw him across the floor. He rolled to a stop, landing on his back. He was breathing hard with his arms and legs sprawled.

"Give it up, mate," Pete said, laughing. "Before you hurt yourself."

"I am hurt," Harvey retorted. "My pride is very hurt."

"I warned you," Kamden said, pointing a finger at him. "I'm not to be messed with." He was barely breaking a sweat. Rita felt the pang inside as she recalled watching Kamden getting killed like he was nothing. She'd seen all of them die like they were merely a nuisance and not the strong warriors she knew them to be.

"You look tired, Rita," Pete noted, looking at her properly now.

"I am tired," she agreed. "But I'm used to it."

"You think this will all be over tomorrow?" Pete asked, leaning back on his right foot now.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. She really didn't know, but with Luke resetting the day, she still had hope. If he lost that, she would lose hope. She knew it. That was what was keeping her at the edge of the darkness, preventing her from being swallowed whole again by it. Not that she wanted to admit it.

"Might be for the best," Pete said with a shrug, watching Harvey and Kamden start to spar again while hurling insults at each other. "I wouldn't want to see Earth get destroyed anyway."

Rita said nothing as he turned and walked away. She knew he was missing his brother. She knew he worried about his parents. There wasn't much comfort to offer, though. They were in this until the end.

She turned to leave as well, the laughter and shouting from Kamden and Harvey echoing on the walls behind her as she went.

...

Luke let Rita drive to Brigham's office. They parked, and she slid her arm down onto her leg and looked out the window for a moment at the building.

"Let's hope we get it this time," Luke said.

Rita said nothing as she unbuckled her seatbelt. It slid through her fingers of her right hand as it went back into place. Luke watched her, wondering what she was thinking. She'd been very quiet on the drive over.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, unable to take it anymore.

"Did you know that Farell lost his only son at the start of the war?" she asked, finally looking at him.

"No," Luke answered. This took him by surprise, but then again, he hadn't taken the time to study Farell well enough.

"I could see it in his eyes," Rita said on cue. "That raw pain. I don't know why I cared to ask him about it, but I guess I just thought it would help him to release it, like you used to do with me...or at least, what you tried to do. I know I was resistant at times."

"A little?" he asked, chuckling slightly.

"Alright, a lot," she corrected. "Anyway, I guess I just look at Farell and think: If he can keep his shit together from that, then I can too."

"He seems very put together for having lost a son," Luke agreed.

"I've seen him lose it before when he thought he was alone, but he's good at keeping his emotions inside," Rita advised.

"Just like you," Luke noted. "Although, you eventually start to crack at the seams in public." She met his eyes, and he resisted reaching out to touch her.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm slipping back into that dark place," she told him.

"The one I almost lost you to," he noted, remembering it vividly. It had scared him then, and it scared him now. He'd known she'd been struggling and would help her let it out at times in different resets, but he hadn't realized quite how serious it was.

"Yea," she said quietly.

"Is that why you want me to let you go?" he asked. "You think death is a better option?"

"I think it's definitely better than what's going to happen if we lose this war, but no. I'd just rather be the one to die than someone else's kid. I'd rather die saving this world for everyone else than live knowing I failed or that I chickened out."

Luke moved closer to her, reaching to grasp the back of her neck now to hold her still in front of him. She didn't fight him.

"If you die, I die," he told her, "and there's a whole lot more living I have left to do, so you're not allowed to die, Rita. That's final. Also, you're the last person to ever chicken out of anything, so I'm not worried you will now."

She didn't say anything as she looked at him. He couldn't help himself and pulled her head close so he could press his lips against her temple.

"When this is over," he said after, pressing his face against hers, "we can start again. If you want to."

"You want to?" she asked, her voice soft and vulnerable. He could almost see her teenage/young adult self again.

"There's no question about it," he answered. She reached to grip his shoulder and released a small sigh of what could have been relief. He gave a small smile and finally got one back from her.

"I always wondered if it was possible," she said. "If it wasn't too late."

"It's never too late."

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she whispered.

"And I'm sorry I hurt you," he replied. He still didn't know. He was beginning to think he would never know, and as much as that pained him, he knew he'd eventually have to accept it. If they could move on from it, then maybe he didn't even need to know.

He closed his eyes as she kissed him lightly, hesitantly. He didn't move when she pulled back slightly, his eyes searching hers now. She kissed him again, harder this time. Her hand grasped his face, and he desperately wished they weren't sitting in a car on the street with a timeline they had to adhere to.

"For a second there, I thought we were in your car parked somewhere private," she said when they finally stopped. He chuckled slightly.

"Those were some good times," he agreed. She moved her hand to hold his cheek, sliding her thumb across it slowly.

"Let's go get this thing," she said.

"I have a good feeling," he replied. She smiled, pulling back from him and letting go of his shoulder. He pushed his door open the same time she did and got out. They walked across the road together, and Luke suddenly really did have a good feeling about this upcoming conversation with Brigham.

Reset 291

Rita watched Mei complete her training with a focus and determination that reflected her own. It made Rita proud to watch her. She recognized some of the moves Mei did, though. She didn't know how Mei would know them unless...

"That was intense," Mei said with a laugh as she wiped the sweat off her brow with her arm. "Wow. What's it like on the battlefield?"

"A lot more intense than this," Rita answered.

"My friend Luke is going to battle tomorrow," Mei said. "I think it's his first one. He would freak out if he knew I was here."

Luke. Rita studied Mei thoughtfully. Her friend's name was Luke? What were the odds?

"How come he doesn't know you're here?" she couldn't help but ask.

"He's my guardian, and he's had this thing about keeping me safe," Mei explained, taking a drink from her water bottle briefly. "He gets upset with me when I do something reckless."

That sounded very familiar. Rita was convincing herself it was merely a coincidence. It would just be too bizarre otherwise.

"I wish you could meet him," Mei added. "I think you'd like him."

"I'll see you later, Mei," Rita said, ending that conversation as quickly as possible. Mei just smiled back.

"Thanks for training me today," Mei said, unwrapping her hands and sliding her jacket on.

"You're welcome."

Then she was gone. Rita was lost in her thoughts as she walked from the training arena towards her barrack. She bumped into a fellow soldier who had a question for her, and she answered it. Then she carried on. She was still thinking about Mei's friend Luke. It couldn't be Luke Wright. It would just be too much of a coincidence. No, Mei's Luke was someone else.

She caught sight of someone in her peripheral vision, and her steps faltered. Then her heart dropped and her stomach flipped uncontrollably. Her eyes stayed on him.

Luke Wright.

He was standing across the way, watching her. His arms were crossed as he stood military style, and he had a slight smile on his lips. She caught her breath and steadied herself. So it was him. She watched him make his way over to her, and she braced herself when he stopped in front of her.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she asked hotly, picking that statement out of all the others she'd thought of.

"I'm here to win this war," he answered, "and to do that, we need to convince General Brigham to give me the device in his safe that will find the Omega."

Her brain did its best to keep up with the words he was saying. Then she suddenly understood.

"You can reset the day," she said. Finally, some hope was growing in her chest again. Luke had always been able to give her hope, even in the darkest times. Even when she'd been apart from him for so long, the idea that maybe they could try again one day despite everything is what gave her hope. She just hadn't been brave enough to go to him.

"That I can," he confirmed.

"When do we go?" she asked.

"In the afternoon."

"Okay."

He told her what time and where to meet him, and then he walked away. Rita let him go. She didn't know what else to say to him anyway.

...

"What's going on?" Kamden asked, approaching Rita after lunch. She looked up at him from the bench. He was going to train with Pete and Harvey, but she wasn't going to bother since she was meeting up with Luke and because she just had too much on her mind. Images and memories went through her brain like a movie reel. Her emotions were all over the place because of it.

"Nothing," she answered.

"You sure?"

"Yea."

"You're thinking about Travis, aren't you?" he asked. She sucked her teeth lightly, wishing he wasn't so damn intuitive. She wasn't just thinking about Travis, though, but she wasn't going to tell him that. Travis was the only one who knew about Luke.

"I miss him," she admitted.

"Me too," Kamden sighed, running a hand over his head. "He just had that way about him, didn't he? One that made you feel at ease and so sure that everything was gonna be alright."

"He did," she agreed.

"I'll be honest and say I envy that you were close with him," he said. "He had a soft spot for you."

Rita knew that was true. They'd spent a lot of time together after all outside of the resetting. It was only during the resetting that she'd started to share more about her life with him. She regretted that now. She wished she had shared more with him.

Kamden eventually left her alone, and she watched her team for a while before going to meet Luke. Despite her mixed feelings about seeing him again, she felt a small thrill in her stomach at knowing she was going to spend time with him again.

...

Luke watched Rita approach him carefully, but he caught the small shine in her eyes as she saw him. She hid it quickly, but it was there. It made him smile.

"What?" she asked, making herself sound gruff and tough.

"Just you," he answered, heading for a car. She followed, and when he unlocked it, she demanded to drive. He never argued with her anymore because it just wasted time.

"How many times have you tried to get it from him?" she asked. Her hands were at nine and three on the wheel, her gaze straight ahead on the road.

"Lots," he answered.

"He hasn't given it to you yet?"

"No. He's stubborn."

"Have you said please?" she asked, lifting a brow and turning her head so she could look at him briefly. He scoffed.

"I have literally gotten onto my knees and begged," he retorted. "Not my proudest moment."

"And he still didn't give it to you?"

"No."

"Maybe he recognized it wasn't genuine begging," she commented, smirking.

"Just don't shoot him again," Luke warned. "You almost cost me the ability to reset doing that."

"Fine," she sighed. He studied her as she drove. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if half of the things that occurred in her life hadn't happened. He wondered if she wouldn't be as hard and closed off. He knew, though, that with some precise words, he could break her walls again. He always had that ability; he'd just had to be patient and persistent enough then like he was now. He chose not to break her wall today. He let her be mad and distant. Sometimes he hoped that would get him an answer, but it never worked.

"Did resetting all the time and watching your team constantly die make you this cold, Rita?" he asked. "Or was it me and what I did that made you that way? Or something else? Cos I know you've been through a lot of shit, but you always bounced back relatively well."

"You contributed," she answered carefully.

"I've said it a lot of times, but I'll say it again. I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"It doesn't really matter now," she replied.

"I feel like it does," he argued. She didn't respond, and he swallowed his frustration. He felt the familiar feelings from when she'd shut him out all those years ago.

They pulled into the a parking spot on the street. Rita cut the engine and unbuckled herself.

"I love you," he said, making her snap her head towards him. He wasn't sure why he'd said it. For some reason, the urge to tell her was strong.

"You're on your own with that," she replied, getting out of the car. Luke smiled to himself. He knew she was lying. He got out next, following her. He took the bad with the good in all these resets. He'd had enough moments with her to know the truth. Let her be closed off from him in this one.

There'd be more resets after this anyway.