The Fireflies moved Ellie into what they call a "clean room." Incidentally, it's on the top floor of the hospital, back corner with only one way in and out. There's two guards at the door at all times and the airlock-style hatch requires keypad authorization. All just for her protection, Joel's sure. Marlene uses one hand to shield the keypad as she types in the combination before waving him in. Joel's pretty sure it's a six digit code. Not that it matters.

The room beyond is spare and aseptically white, with wide windows into the hallway giving it the feeling of a fishbowl. It's spotlessly clean, though the rest of the hospital shows its age with peeling paint and creeping mold. The light in here is fluorescent, rather than halogen work lamps. The EKG and pulse ox glow blue and beep softly. Alone in the reclineable bed, Ellie looks very small. The blue hospital gown hangs off her like a tent. The white sheets threaten to drown her. Marlene gives Joel a nod that's probably meant to be reassuring. "She's stable. She's been in and out, but she was talking an hour ago."

Joel approaches the bed and lays a hand on her hair. It's cleaner than it's been since he met her. Every inch of her was scrubbed before being moved to this room. Her eyes flutter open when he rubs his thumb over her forehead. "Hey, baby girl."

She blinks a few times and almost leans into his hand before remembering herself. "We did it," her voice is faint, "We made it to the Fireflies."

"You made it. Just had me along for the ride. I think I slowed you down, mostly."

She smiles a little at that. "Shut up." She tries to sit up, but he catches her shoulders.

"Now, take it easy. You've been through a lot. Just gotta take some time now to heal. Get your strength back."

"I don't wanna heal. I'm not sick. I want to get going on this cure shit." She doesn't try to sit up again, but her eyes are bright and they hone in on Marlene. "The scientists, are they here?"

Marlene's lip is twitching as if she's trying not to smile. She steps to Ellie's other side. "The doctor will be in to speak with you soon. Try to rest until then." She puts a hand on Ellie's arm, just below her elbow and the IV. "I'm proud of you."

To Joel, the touch doesn't look maternal. Or even like the approval of a commanding officer. Yes, she looks proud, but like you might be of a trophy. Or a Purple Heart. He clears his throat. "You heard the boss-lady, Ellie. Get some sleep. We got plenty of time to talk after your doctor's appointment."

She nods, her eyelids already fluttering, still smiling. "I can't believe we fucking did it . . ."

Joel squeezes her hand, nods to Marlene, and turns to go. He has to step aside so that the woman can enter another code - eight digits this time - to open the door from the inside. Joel doesn't comment on that - what would be the point? He nods to the two boys with machine guns and falls in beside Marlene as she strides down the hallway.

"We'll get you your guns," she says briskly, "The original shipment was lost when we had to flee Boston, so it'll take a little time. Maybe a week. But, I can get you double what we promised. God knows you've earned every penny."

Joel studies her with covert looks. "I'm not worried about that right now. When do I get to meet this doctor?"

She greets that comment with the caution of a boxer stepping back from an opening feint. "I'll arrange an introduction. He's very busy. And very important to the cause."

Joel merely grunts.

Her face hardens a little. "I wish you hadn't said that to her."

"Said what?"

"About having plenty of time. You shouldn't encourage her to get attached."

"It's a little fucking late for that, don't you think?"

She looks away. "Yeah." Neither of them reacts to the clear implication in her words. They have a week to get him his guns, so he doesn't have to have this fight yet. A week, and maybe they'll have what they need from Ellie and they can be done with all this. Marlene pulls a metal token like a fishing lure out of her pocket. "Take this to the second floor and ask for Hernandez. She'll set you up with a bunk. Private room, full access to the mess down the hall. And Joel?"

"Yeah?"

Her face is composed but her eyes are shining with emotion. "You did good out there. Real good. This could be what changes everything."

Joel grunts. "Yeah. I'll believe that when I see it."

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It's three days before they let him see Ellie again. This time, when he arrives, she's sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in real clothes - or, at least, a Firefly-issue tank and pants. A middle-aged man with sandy hair sits before her, wearing a black, visor-like contraption which he seems to be using to examine her eyes. She's fidgeting, but he grips her chin with two fingers, holding her still. "Ellie, could you please take this seriously for one minute?"

Joel lets the door swing closed behind him and clears his throat to announce himself. "Frankly, doc, it's a little hard to take you serious in that hat."

Ellie tugs away from the doctor and her face breaks into a grin. Pushing past the other man, she all but bounces over to Joel. "Dude! I was starting to think you forgot where I lived."

Joel forces a smile. "Sorry. Brought you something to make up for it." He reaches into his pack and pulls out her stack of well-worn comics. "And . . ." With a flourish, he pulls out the next issue and thunks it on top.

Her face lights up even further. "No way! Where the fuck did you find it?"

"Won it in a poker game. The kids around here can't bluff for shit."

"This is practically new . . ."

"Uh, she can't have that in here!" The doctor's voice is a little strained.

Joel raises his head and arches an eyebrow. "They're hers," he says coldly.

The man flushes but holds his ground. "This is a controlled environment. She can't have anything in here that hasn't been sterilized first."

"You're not sterilized. I'm not either."

"And neither of us will be staying longer than an hour."

"Now, don't you . . ."

"Joel, it's not a big deal," Ellie cuts him off quickly, "They've got this sterilizer thingy . . . what's it called?"

"An autoclave," the doctor supplies.

"Autoclave. Just give these to Mia - she's one of the nurses - and she can sterilize it in a couple of hours."

Joel pauses just long enough that his disapproval can't be missed, then nods. "Alright, then." He turns to the doctor and extends his hand. "You must be Jerry."

The man's face twists a little, but his grip is firm enough. "Dr. Anderson."

"Joel." He slings his pack back over his shoulder. "Sorry for interrupting your exam."

"That's fine, we were just about done anyway. Just need to finish the sonographic assessment. If you could lie down, Ellie, this'll only take a minute."

Joel's brow furrows. "The what?" Ellie seems to know the drill, though. She lies down on the bed and pulls her tank top halfway up to expose her belly. Anderson is sitting on the rolling stool again and pulling over an ultrasound machine, like the ones that used to grace gynecologists' offices. Only, instead of putting the gel-slicked probe on her lower abdomen, he tucks it up just under her ribs and presses down with enough force to make her wince.

"So," Ellie says, her voice light despite the tension in her brow, "Is it . . . a girl?"

The doctor snorts. "Very funny."

"A boy? I could deal with a boy. They're kind of gross, though."

Joel resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Seriously, doc, what are you doing?"

"Nothing to worry about. Just checking for any residual bleeding."

"Bleeding? Why the hell would she be bleeding?

Anderson doesn't respond at first. His eyes are locked on the grainy black and white screen and he seems lost in concentration. Joel growls and grabs his wrist, stilling it instantly. "Why would she be bleeding?"

"Joel!"

"It's okay, Ellie," Anderson says quickly, "I should've explained. She had hepatic and splenic aspirates taken yesterday. I need to make sure the needle didn't cause a minor intraperitoneal hemorrhage."

Some of those words might as well be Chinese to Joel, and he has a nagging suspicion that Anderson knows that. His face hardens. "Isn't that a little invasive?"

"It's very safe."

"I thought you were studying her blood."

"We are and there's a lot we can learn from her serum titers and leukogram characteristics. But, we need to look for insight wherever we can find it, and that includes investigating any extravascular sources of immune response."

"And you decide you can just investigate those extravascular sources without even gettin' permission?"

"C'mon, Joel, leave it alone!"

Anderson's face is very cold. "I got authorization. From Marlene. Her guardian." He pauses with the probe on the left side of her abdomen. "But that, Ellie, is neither here nor there because we are done and you . . . are perfect. No bleeding. Barely a bruise."

Joel belatedly notices the thumbnail-sized purple splotch a fist's length below her breastbone. It's fresher than the many bumps and bruises she picked up on the road. Fresher and a more even, perfect round. Before Joel can investigate it further, Ellie is tugging her shirt down and grimacing. "I hate that gel stuff."

"Put a note in my complaint box. Did you take your pain medication last night?"

"I hate that too. It makes me all woozy."

"Well, you don't have to take it tonight if you don't want to. I'll see you tomorrow for your exam. Make sure you get enough sleep."

"Aye aye, Cap."

Anderson pauses, looking at Joel. "Remember: one hour. Any longer and we'll have to decontaminate the whole suite."

"Relax, doc, I'm not gonna mess up your science experiment."

As he leaves, Ellie swings her legs down from the bed. "You sure know how to make a great first impression."

Joel grunts. "I don't need to best friends with him - just need him to do right by you." He glances at her and can't help but smile. "Besides, didn't you try and stab me the first time we met?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." She stands and paces over to the windows. Past the hallway outside, they can see sunlight streaming through the dirty windows, and the far side of the hospital building beyond. "What's going on out there, anyway?"

Joel pads after her. "Hard to say, they're doing a pretty good job of keeping me in the dark." He drops a hand to her shoulder. "Everyone's real excited about you, though."

She grins and blushes as if he's just paid her the best compliment ever. "It's so weird to think that we're actually here. That after everything, this is actually happening."

"Yeah," Joel sighs, "Weird. Ellie . . ." he turns her to him, "Anderson. He been treating you okay?"

She seems genuinely puzzled. "Yeah. It's fine."

"That aspirate thing . . ."

"Yeah, that was a biiiig needle." She curls an arm subconsciously around her abdomen, but her face remains nonchalant. "But it was no big deal. They gave me something first, so I didn't feel it. Or, I felt it, but I . . . sort of didn't care?"

"Ellie, they should not just be doing those kinds of things without talking about it first."

"They told me what they were doing. Sort of, at least. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but that might've been from the drugs . . ."

"Ellie!"

"Kidding. God, Joel, your face . . ." She trails off, then gives up on the weak attempt at a joke. Her face goes very solemn. "Y'know, there's gonna be a lot more of this kind of thing. Tests. Procedures. If Cordyceps was simple, they'd have figured it out twenty years ago."

"Did Anderson tell you that?"

"Joel, c'mon, the point is, I can handle it! I can do this." She stares up at him, a tiny adult with bare feet and a question in her eyes. "Can you?"

He sighs. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Good, 'cause I don't want to. I'm doing what I have to do, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay. That's out of the way." She walks back to the bed and plops down on it, suddenly just a teenage girl again. "Now. You've gotta tell me everything about this Firefly compound."

tbc