Dammit, Jason thought. These damn headaches again.

Jason stands up from where he was lying down trying to ease his headache with a little nap.

No such fucking luck, he thinks again as he rummages in the cupboards for his pain meds.

"Where the fuck did I put those little fuckers?" Jason murmurs as he continues to look for anything to help with his headache.

In his confused and pained state, he didn't hear the door to his apartment open nor hear Cerb as he runs on over to the person who just entered his home.

"Jace?" the voice says from behind him. He turns over to see Mandy behind him, kneeling right by Cerberus as she scratches his head.

"Mandy?" Jason asked, wondering when she got in. "When did you get here?"

Mandy looked at him confused. "Just now. I was calling for you, you weren't answering."

"Oh…sorry," he mumbled as he turned back to look for his pain meds again.

Mandy, noticing the pain in Jason's face, stood from where she knelt, walked over to Jason, and while rubbing his back, asked "Are you okay?"

"Wha-" Jason turned to look at Mandy again, seeing the worried look on her face, he gives her a painful smile and says "Yeah….I'm okay. I just forgot where I put my meds."

"Are you having headaches again?" Mandy asked worriedly, also taking a peek at his medicine cabinet for the meds he was looking for.

"Yeah….and I can't remember where I put my fucking meds." he huffed in answer as he leans against the doorframe of his bathroom.

"Why don't you sit down for a bit…I'll take a look," Mandy says as she maneuvers Jason over to the sofa.

"No…I can do it. Don't worry." he says but also just following Mandy over to the sofa. He was fucking exhausted. Where were his meds?

"Sit down, you big baby." Mandy admonishes making Jason smirk a little.

"Or what?" he teases back as he leans his head to the back of the sofa.

"Or I'll sick Cerb on you," Mandy says with a chuckle as she moves away from him, apparently looking for his meds.

"Cerb's loyal…" he tells Mandy to which she replies in amusement. "Yeah…he is loyal, that's why he's gonna follow what I say when I tell him it's for your own good."

Suddenly, he feels something cool placed over his eyes. "Just a little something to cool your head," Mandy explains.

"Thanks," he answers as he places a hand on top of the towel covering his eyes, and sighs in relief.

"I hear you had a run-in with your 'new boss'.." Mandy says and it seems she was coming from the kitchen this time.

"Where'd you hear that?" Jason asks her still reveling in the cool washcloth on his head. "Sonny?"

"Why do you assume it's Sonny?" Mandy asks, her voice getting louder, meaning she was getting closer.

He snorts before he answers "Coz he's a fucking chatterbox, that's why."

He hears Mandy laugh which makes him chuckle a little. "I'm telling Sonny…" she teases.

He feels her sit next to him on the sofa and feels her hand him a tablet and a glass of water "Here. Take this."

He removes the source of his comfort from his eyes and sees the bottle of his meds on the table.

"You gotta stop letting him rile you up, you know" Mandy starts.

"I know." Jason concedes. "But he's an ass! He never thinks about the welfare of the team or any of the people working with him. He's a fucking peacock!" Mandy chuckles at his answer.

He then, takes the tablet in his mouth, takes a quick gulp of water, and asks "Where'd you find those?"

Mandy looks him in the eye and smiles a little as she says "You put them in the fridge"

This stops Jason from doing whatever and just looks at Mandy, who takes his hand. "Jace…."

"I didn't remember…." he says in a whisper.

"Maybe it's time we get to the hospital, Jace…"Mandy says, squeezing the hand she was holding. "Just to see where we can go and what we can do…."

She was talking about all the headache episodes he's been having lately and how he keeps forgetting things.

"You can't keep doing all these self-tests on yourself. It's not gonna help you." Mandy continues "We need to know what the right thing to do is so we can stop whatever it is from progressing."

"I know, okay!" he says in a loud voice, refusing to look at her but also refusing to let her hand go. "I know…..I know I need help, I know there's something wrong…."

"Then why won't you go to the doctor?" Mandy asks letting go of his hand but now taking his face and turning it towards her. "Why won't you let anybody help?" she asks in a whisper as she leans her forehead against his.

He breathes heavily, trying to stop the sob that was about to come out from him but he was so fucking tired. He was fucking exhausted and he couldn't help but let out the sob. "I'm scared, Mandy. Fuck, I'm scared. I'm scared of what this would mean for my family….the team….my kids…..us. I've just started to fucking live again. I don't want to lose again…." he sobs as Mandy takes him in a crushing hug. "I'm fucking tired Mandy…but I don't want to stop fighting because I still want to live."

"Then we Live, Jason." Mandy says, her tears evident in her voice. "We live. We fight, again and again….that's how we live."

"I'm so tired of fighting," he says in a small voice as he surrenders in her embrace.

"Don't you ever say that, Jason Hayes?" Mandy says in a stern voice as she pulls him up to look at her. "Don't you ever say you'll give up because I will tear you out from whatever hell you're in and chain you up!"

Mandy takes his face in her hands, looks him in the eye, and says "You're not alone, Jason. We are all here to help you. Let us help you….Let me help you….because I want to Live too….I can't lose you now…I WON'T LOSE YOU….Do you hear me? Please….please…..let's just know together, okay?"

Jason nods his head and takes Mandy in his arms as he continues to nod. "Okay….Okay…."

"We'll go together," Mandy says with finality. "We'll find out together and we'll work the problem together."

"You're right." Jason agrees and decides within himself that he will fight for his family, for his team, and for his chance to live again. "Another Day….we'll fight for another day."

They continue to embrace each other tightly. After a while, Jason pulls Mandy back from the embrace, looks in her eyes, and with mirth in his eyes, says "So….you'll chain me up, huh?"

Mandy rolls her eyes at him and slaps his arm tenderly, "You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

Jason chuckles leans his forehead against hers and says "Not in your life." before he kisses her deeply.

After a while, he pulls back and tells Mandy seriously "I'm ready to step forward, Mandy. I'm ready to fight for this."