Early morning rolled around and Breccia was alone in the Lab. Stewing over a hot cup of coffee, she stared at the blueprints with the hope that SOMETHING would pop into her head.

Riker left the evening prior on an emergency trip and had yet to report back after arriving home.

The Lab was empty, she was by herself. She even put Nibs in his ball because she didn't want his wayward anger spells making cheese of the walls.

Sighing, she rubbed her temples. She and the technicians (And Maddie) couldn't make hide or hair of what to do next. They couldn't find the chip in the rubble and with limited funds, creating a new prototype was out of the question.

Hearing a knock at the door, she choked down the last of her drink and tossed the mug in the sink.

"I figured." She said when she found Morice in wait. "Don't you have clean up to do?"

"It's snowing too damn hard, thank you very much." Morice had a box in front of him. "But if you're going to have that attitude, I'll just toss these out and go on my merry way."

"Are those Jelly doughnuts?"

"No, they're rice balls." If the sarcasm was any thicker, it'd be palpable. "Now take off your stupid lab coat, we'll go up on the hill and eat them."

Breccia debated the offer for a second. "I really should stay and work."

"Yeah, and I should've finished highschool. Look, I'm tired, you're tired, It's Sunday. Let's do something."

Breccia smiled coyly, flicking out the collar of his jacket. "So, is this some kind of date?" She added before Morice could speak up. "I'd call it a 'friend date', but I don't want to hurt your sensibilities."

"Shut up and get out here before I kick you down the stairs." Morice waited until she got her jacket on. "And button that thing before you freeze your tits off."

Breccia wasn't through playing around. "Of course you'd care about my tits."

"Don't make me jam a doughnut up your ass."

Standing on the hill overlooking the Island, Breccia felt a satisfying chill. From where she and Morice stood, she could see the entirety of Aurora. There was an over-crop of trees around the bench she sat on. The constant frigid temperatures made for a layer of crystal ice on the branches. The resulting sheen danced when the sunlight broke through the clouds.

To the right of the hill was the never ending sea, the Wingulls surfed on the breeze and the occasional Milotic broke the surface.

"It's beautiful up here." Breccia said with a mouthful of doughnut. "You come here often?"

Morice picked up a stone after searching though the snow. From there, he chucked it into the ocean. "Whenever I need time alone. " He picked up another, but held it in his gloved hand without throwing it. "Last time I was up here, it was after Caleb died." Tossed the stone up and down. "We started out here together, same time. Got shipped here on the same boat. He was the best drinking buddy a guy could have...After he died...I couldn't really talk to anyone. You were laid up in the infirmary and Nessa was torn to shit. So, I came up here, had a good, old fashion, cry. Then, I got my crap together and carried on with my life."

Breccia wiped any left over powdered sugar on her pant legs. "You know, you can tell me anything. It isn't healthy to hold things in like that."

Morice heard this and smirked, glancing over his shoulder to his friend before sending his pebble flying. He waited until he saw it plop in the water before talking. "That's a lot coming from you."

Breccia's eyes narrowed. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know what I mean honey."

Hearing Morice call her that sent a warmth into Breccia's cheeks. "No I don't."

"Okay then..." Morice debated whether he should push the issue further. The two of them had been getting along just fine, and he wondered if bringing this up would damage things.

Then again...There were days Breccia was detached and not herself. No matter how many times she assured she was "just tired" he didn't believe it. "Why are you here?"

Breccia was tempted to tell him it was none of his business. (Just having him pry was enough to flare her temper). "I got out of jail and no one would hire me. Nessa and Caleb said they could get me in and I figured I had no other option."

"And this had nothing to do with your old man?"

Breccia was immediately put on edge. The bitter cold seemed to bite more now that her heart was beating faster. Her father was always on her mind, but that didn't mean she wanted him brought up in conversation. "No it doesn't." Her words were unsure. "I'm just...trying to survive, alright?" The sweetness on her tongue from the sugar turned sour.

"I know you've been holding it in. I can tell every time he's brought up-"

"What are you, my psychiatrist?" The gas peddle that was her temper was being pressed, and Breccia didn't appreciate it. "We're all here for a reason and mine is no different than anyone else. I don't want to talk about this."

Morice expected resistance, but he didn't he'd get such a rageful response. Regardless, it didn't stop him from pushing further. "Everyone else has come to terms with what they've done."

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"You brought it up with your little quip about 'telling you anything'. If you're going to say that, make sure you aren't refusing to do the same-" He was interrupted once more.

"I don't want to talk about it." Breccia decided it was best to flee and attempted to do so. "I have better things to do than deal with this."

Morice realized he may have messed things between them. He wasn't the most tactful person and, in the split second it took for Breccia to stand, he knew he had screwed up. "Breccia I didn't mean-"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" She turned on him like a rabid Sviper, her anger laced with venom. "Why can't you just drop it!?" She chose to stay put, but as she did so, her walls began to crumble. "Please...I just...I can't right now..."

Her friend frowned, mad at himself. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have pushed it."

Breccia nodded, her bottom lip quivering. "It's..." She wanted to say it was fine. She wanted to say that she knew of his intentions and she held nothing against him. But, having it all laid on her made it hard to suck the emotions back in.

She had done good about holding her anguish back before. Yet here she was now, unable to pick up the pieces of her shattered defenses. She felt a streamline tear break free of her misting vision and tried desperately to wipe it away before Morice saw.

Regardless, he did.

"Breccia..." The last thing he wanted to was make her this upset.

She was too far gone and clasped her hands over her face when the tears started welling. "It's all my fault..."

"What is?" Morice's breath hung in a fog cloud in front of his face. Breccia's did too, when it managed to seep through her fingers.

"He was sick..." A sniffle came next. "Th...They found it on his lung and by the time they realized, he was too far along..." Another tear came through. "I couldn't keep my ass out of trouble...he always made excuses...but then they tossed me in prison and he just gave up." Her voice hitched. "I killed him...he gave up without me there and it's all my fault." She had been trying hard to not let any emotion through. But in the end, she couldn't withstand the battering of her sadness beating against the back of her eyelids. She broke down, weeping long, haggard sobs without any shame. "...I d-don't even know where he's buried..."

Feeling guilt for pushing her into such a stressful situation, Morice approached and did what he could to remedy the issue. Wrapping his arms around her, he let her cry into his shoulder.

"He tried so hard to raise me decent." Breccia continued, still crying. "Now I'm stuck here, my life is fucked up and I'll never be able to apologize."

As she sniffled, Morice placed his hand on the back of her head, an action she didn't seem to mind. At first he didn't know what to say, but he realized being a sympathetic ear was the best for her. "If there's..." He chose wisely. "A place we go after we die, I'm sure he understands who you are."

"Yeah." Breccia sniffled again. "A pathetic felon."

Her friend corrected. "All he sees is a woman who's trying her hardest to get her life on track. Who's hardworking, intelligent-" He almost said 'beautiful', but caught himself. "...basically the opposite of most of the idiots here." He added. "And a woman who needs to stop using survivor's guilt as an excuse to hate herself."

Though the 'pep talk' helped, Breccia still had a dark cloud looming over her. "My prison sentence didn't help."

"I doubt your dad's love changed because of that." Morice loosened his grip. "I'd be damned if my old man ever wanted to talk to me again. He had big plans for me and I ran in the opposite direction."

"How is that any different from me?"

There was a pause. "You weren't a spiteful asshole about it."

"True." Lost in her own emotions, Breccia enjoyed the warmth of Morice's arms wrapped around her. Even though she just had a melt down, she felt an odd serenity fall over her. With dried tear tracks still on her face, she glanced upwards about the same time he looked down.

It wouldn't have taken much, just her stretching up on her toes. Feeling his warm breath on her face made it all the more inviting. In her state, any kind of emotional contact was welcomed.

It would also seem that Morice was contemplating the same.

When she moved in closer, only an inch or so was between them. The fog from their breath mingled with one another and her pulse thickened from the possible outcome.

At the last minute, however, Morice adjusted and pressed the kiss to her forehead instead. "Come on." He let her go, taking his embrace with him. "I don't want this to be a complete bust." He noticed, and felt bad for, the confusion and dejection on her face. "Unless you wanna throw rocks at the Wingulls."

Breccia went back to the box of doughnuts, still feeling the outline of his lips on her forehead. "I think I'll pass." She closed her heavy eyelids, breathing deep to steady the beat of her pounding heart.

"Yeah I figured."