This chapter takes place right after the last one.

As much as Bradford knew that Eliza was their best hope at taking the Earth back... he was mildly wondering if it would be worth the cost on the soldiers.

Bradford had organized the remaining ten recruits that XCOM had after the search for the Commander into the Bridge. Eliza had said she'd need a few minutes to get into the Commander's uniform that Bradford had managed to get for her—she was pretty insistent on not wearing her old one, which was... strange. John could've sworn that she would've hopped right back into her old duds and went to commanding the soldiers anew. Come to think of it, she showed a certain vulnerability when he was talking with her while she was in bed. At the time he'd chalked it up to the shock of realizing she'd been on ice for twenty years.

But now? His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the door that oversaw the Bridge. He wasn't sure. She was acting strange, but it wasn't as if he could blame her. Eliza was probably getting used to moving around again.

One of the soldiers must've caught his expression, as he heard one of them speak up behind him. "Getting impatient, Central?"

He looked back. The soldier that had spoken was Angeline, though she usually went by Angel. Light skin, long, blonde hair, and brown eyes. Bradford always thought she was a bit of a greenhorn just by looking at her, but if her friend was to be believed, she was a wicked shot. He crossed his arms, putting on a disapproving air. "I waited twenty years to get our Commander out of that tank. Five minutes doesn't mean much to me." Feeling the need to hammer an earlier point he'd discussed home, he looked out at the group. "Now. You all remember what I said—Eliza's no-nonsense and it's that attitude that lets her get the job done. Refer to her as Commander only—though 'Commander O'Leary' is permissible. Try not to talk back; that's advice for your safety, not her comfort. Be respectful and this should go down well."

He got nods out of his soldiers, even a "roger" here and there. Satisfied for the moment, he looked back towards the door, just in time to see it open and have Eliza step out.

Bradford would be ashamed to say she looked just as stunning as she did twenty years ago. Her new uniform was much like his, just with a blue tint and the XCOM emblem stitched onto the left side of her chest, courtesy of what he remembered from the Boy Scouts. Her gun holster on her left leg held her same pistol from First Contact, and her hair was tucked behind her ears. She looked down at the soldiers for a second, then made her way down the stairs and came to stand in front of them. They responded by saluting.

Eliza regarded her new soldiers for a second before beginning. "At ease, soldiers." When everyone fell to rest, she continued. "Good to see Bradford didn't resort to picking up people off the streets—or slack on the etiquette training. Knowing that, he's probably drilled my name into your head more times than you care to hear, but let me introduce myself anyway. My name's Eliza O'Leary, acting Commander of XCOM until Bradford's tired of dealing with me again."

One of the soldiers side-eyed Bradford and he had to admit, he shared their apprehension. Eliza cracked a joke or two at First Contact, yes, but they were far more morbid than this.

"Now," Eliza went on, "I'm sure you lot have questions. I would—if the man organizing the resistance thus far dragged me in front of a woman I'd never seen before and said she was my new Commander, I might have a question or two. First one being 'Are you crazy?'" Some nervous laughter bubbled up from the soldiers, and Eliza smiled calmly. "That being said, anyone have any?"

There was silence for a while... but eventually, the Reaper recruit that Volk had sent—Arsozu—raised his hand. "Maybe one or two. Bradford basically said you'd have a stick up your ass and expect to get ours kicked. Was he lying or are you pulling one over on us?"

Dead silence. Eliza looked over to Bradford, cocking an eyebrow, while he desperately wanted to go over and clip Arsozu around the ears. He knew Reapers weren't fond of leaders that didn't prove their worth, but this just made him want to rip him a new one.

"Well..." Eliza clasped her hands in front of her, like she'd always do. "Bradford's not a liar for warning you, and I'm certainly not pulling one over on you. Judging by what Bradford's told me, you all have been searching for me for about twenty years, yeah?" When they nodded, she bobbed her head back. "Twenty years is a hell of a lot of time to spend in time-out, to put it lightly. Bradford knows I was—to put it generously—a hardass, at First Contact. I've had the time to think over what I was doing and how I presented myself, and I came to the conclusion that old me sucked."

There were more laughs, slightly emboldened this time by Arsozu's question. Eliza's smile grew. "So I resolved to do something about it—I can lead better than I did. Pretty sure I lost First Contact through resentment alone." That probably had a bit of truth to it. There was a good chance that the aliens found their base via a mole or a snitch. "I've been given the exceedingly rare chance of getting to try again, so I'd like to do better this time 'round. Any other questions?"

Banel, their best Grenadier, spoke up. "What should we address you as?"

"Just 'Commander' will do," she replied. "Though, if you're comfortable, call me Eliza. It's not like we're being chaperoned by the actual military anymore." She leveled a look at Bradford. "Please tell me we're not or else I will walk out of here faster than you can blink."

Bradford, thoroughly at a loss for words, just shook his head. "Good!" Eliza looked back to her soldiers. "Even if we're not being held to anyone's official standards, I'd like to maintain some decorum so the opposition doesn't have too many chances to call us unwashed, uncivilized radicals." She sighed. "Not like that's going to stop them anyway, of course."

Eliza was getting a lot of laughs, and as much as Bradford was thoroughly confused, he could see the soldiers relaxing. Even if he was confused... Bradford was warmed at the idea of Eliza turning over a new leaf. She looked as happy as he'd seen her in decades—and he had to admit, a smile did a lot for her charm.

Commanding officer, John, a voice in the back of his mind bit. Don't go getting too attached. Not like she'd get involved with someone under her, anyway.

As the questions continued, Eliza painted herself as... maybe not a casual, but a lenient Commander, prone to easygoing jokes and the occasional spot of self-deprecation—or fond deprecation slung his way, which Bradford would take. The soldiers eased up from their earlier tension and the Commander even got a round of introductions out of the lot of them, learning their names, roles, and a few tidbits they felt keen to share.

Eventually, god forbid, nobody had any more questions. Eliza bobbed her head, mostly to herself. "I'd like to think that this was a rather nice introduction. I'm confident in you lot—don't make me go regretting it now. You all are dismissed to the rest of your schedules."

With that, the soldiers filtered out, some even waving goodbye to Eliza as she returned it. When they were all cleared out, Bradford was the first to initiate conversation, walking up closer to her. "Eliza, I want to believe this, I really do... but if you're putting on a face—"

"Bradford." Her tone changed immediately and her face softened. "Do you remember the girl you met at the start of Basic? Bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked?" When Bradford nodded, she looked to the doors. "She... never really died. Went away for a bit, beat back with cynicism and self-enforced lies... but she was always there, waiting for the day to let me have a break. She grew up, that much is true, but... I've always been her. That woman at First Contact? That was who the military made me into. And I never want to be her again. Do you understand?"

After a moment of reflective, respectful silence, Bradford nodded. "I understand, Liz." Her smile at the use of her nickname warmed his heart. "Call me selfish, but I was always hoping that girl would return. You seemed like you were actually living then; not just following orders that were no longer being barked."

She bitterly chuckled. "That obvious, huh? If that's the case, maybe it's best we bury that woman and move on. Nothing to be gained from letting her stick around, right?"

"Right." Bradford rubbed at his stubble... then slowly, cautiously, moved so that he was leaning his shoulder against hers. "I keep saying it, but... it's good to have you back, Liz."

Not only did Eliza not move away, he could feel her lean back against him. "It's good to be back, John."