Disclaimer – I still own nothing. Please review, they make my day, and

Enjoy!

"AHHHHHHHH!" Hal screamed as he felt the scalpel cut into the back of his head. He fought against the ropes that were holding his wrists and ankles to the table, but the two skitters that were also in the room came forward and pushed him against the metal to keep him still. Suddenly, a loud blaring noise sounded as a red light started flashing in the room. The harnessed boy dropped the knife and ran out of the room, the two skitters followed.

Hal turned his now bleeding head to the side, and saw that the harnessed boy dropped the knife on the table right by his left hand. He pulled his hand against the ropes, which instantly dug back into the cuts that they had made due to Hal fighting against them many times.

Pressing his wrist against the scalpel, he moved his wrist forward until he could grab the tip of the blade with his fingers. Hal moved the knife so he could grip the handle, and started cutting the ropes around his wrist.

Once his left hand was free, he freed his right one, then moved to free his legs. The entire time he did this, the alarm never stopped. It was so loud, that he barely heard the sounds of gunfire.

Hal stood up, and almost fell flat on his face. He couldn't remember the last time he actually walked around. Once he was steady, he headed for the door, though his legs were shaking so bad that he couldn't walk in a straight line.

Before he reached the door however, something caught his attention. He slowly started walking towards it. He could see something on the ground that looked like a pedestal, and something similar coming from the ceiling, but all he could see in the middle was something that was glowing a light blue very brightly in the dark room. It was so bright that it hurt to look at it, he couldn't even see what 'it' was.

As he started getting closer, his eyes started to make out something in the center of the blue light, then he heard a high pitch whistle. Next thing he knew, he was flying backwards as the light changed from blue to yellow and orange.

"AH!" Hal shot up in his bed with a start. Taking many deep breaths to calm himself down, he looked around the room. He was in the hospital room in Charleston. He was safe, it was just a nightmare, a memory, of the h*ll he escaped from.

"Hal?" The oldest Mason son turned to look at the door as Maggie came into the room, carrying a tray looking at him with concern in her eyes. Hal mentally shook off the images and gave the woman a smile.

"Hey Mags, what's up?" Hal asked. Maggie put the tray that he could now see had food on it, on the table beside his bed before coming over to him.

"Nothing much. Are you okay?" Maggie questioned as she sat down on the bed. She could see the paleness of his skin, dark circles under his eyes, and the cold sweat that was covering his skin.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal lied, and she could tell. His hands were shaking slightly, and he kept shifting in his position, almost like he couldn't get comfortable.

"You sure? You seem a little restless." Maggie told him.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." Hal tried to assure her. His eyes though kept jumping around the room, mostly to the door. Whenever Maggie could hear someone talk from outside the room, or something being wheeled down the hallway, Hal would visibly tense.

"Hal?"

"It's just, I'm okay, right? I mean, there's nothing physically wrong with me. So, why am I still here, in the infirmary?" Hal questioned, finally turning his gaze to her. Anne had given no indication of when he would be released, and he was hating every moment that he was in the hospital room.

"Anne probably just wants to make certain you're okay. She'll release you soon, I'm sure." Maggie assumed. Hal looked around the room again, though much slower this time.

"It's just, it's starting to feel like I went from one prison cell to another." Hal admitted, his voice quiet. Maggie now knew why he was so restless and why he kept looking around the room. He was actually staring at the walls, he probably felt like they were closing in on him. She knew that feeling all too well.

When Maggie didn't say anything, Hal started to feel nervous. He was getting worried that she was taking what he said the wrong way.

"I mean, I'd rather be here, and I'm glad I am, but it-" Hal started.

"Feels like you're trapped. Like you can't breathe and you're going crazy." Maggie finished for him. She lifted her head and looked right into his eyes, no judgement or anger showed on her face or in her voice.

"It's okay, I get it." Maggie told him, sliding her hand into his, and he squeezed it. After a few moments, Maggie pulled her hand away and stood up. Hal looked at her in surprise and confusion.

"Why don't you eat, I'll be back." Maggie suggested, and at the look on Hal's face, she assured him, "I'll be right back, I promise."

She lowered her head close to his and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning on her heel and exited the room. Hal stared at the door for a minute before grabbing the plate and fork off the table and started eating.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Maggie found Anne checking over another patient. She waited until the doctor was finished and walking away before she approached.

"Oh, Maggie. What can I do for you?" Anne wondered with a kind.

"Why is Hal still in the infirmary?" Maggie got right down to it. The smile left her face.

"What do you mean?" Anne questioned, though Maggie could tell that the woman knew exactly what she was talking about.

"He's been here for a week, he doesn't have any broken bones, no injuries, he's not even dehydrated. So why are you still keeping him here?" Maggie clarified.

Anne turned her gaze from Maggie to their surroundings. When the doctor did that, the soldier's eyes followed, wondering what Anne was looking at. Then she noticed that they were standing in the middle of a crowded hallway. Anne grabbed Maggie's arm and pulled her to the side.

"Physically, yes, he appears to be fine. But I can't be certain without running more tests. I asked him about doing them earlier, but he said no." Anne told her.

"Are the tests really needed?" Maggie asked.

"No, but given what happened last time Karen had him, I'd feel a lot better if I did." Anne explained, remembering hearing about what happened with the eyebug.

"One, we have the device from the Volm now, which is quite easy to use. Two, Karen already did that. She wouldn't try the same tactic twice, especially if it wasn't very successful the first time." Maggie pointed out.

"But that doesn't mean she didn't do anything to him. He's showing obvious signs of Post Traumatic Stress."

"Are saying that you are keeping Hal in a windowless room, in a medical wing for having PTSD? He might as well be in a psychiatric ward. He was held captive by the Espheni, by Karen, for five months. Of course he's going to have PTSD, but having trauma isn't grounds for keeping someone in a hospital." Maggie argued.

"But we have no idea how it's going to affect him mentally, especially with any added stress, such as dealing with people who think that he is still a spy for Karen, especially since he willingly went with her. You know the rumors that are going around." Maggie wasn't deaf to what people were saying. There were many times already that she had to hold herself back from punching someone in the face for what they were saying, but these wasn't about that.

"Keeping him locked in a hospital room isn't going to stop the rumors, if anything, they'll grow because they'll think there's a reason he's being hidden away. And it won't get rid of his PTSD either, it will just make it worst." Maggie told her.

"What do you suggest I do then?" Anne asked.

"Let him move back into our room. I can keep an eye on him, and don't keep him hidden away. If we want Hal to get past this, and to show people that he's not a traitor, we need to get him back into his normal routine. And if something is wrong, then we'll find out soon enough. But I do know that keeping him locked up isn't going to make it better."

Anne stayed quiet, thinking over Maggie's suggestion. She had to admit, the young woman was right.

"If we use the Volm device and find out there is no eyebug, and if he's okay going back to your guys' room like before, and you promise to keep an eye on him until I can talk to Tom, then yes, he can leave the hospital." Anne agreed.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Hal finished eating in just minutes. He didn't remember eating anything at all while Karen had him, but he did remember having an IV in his hand. That was probably how she kept him from starving.

Not long after he finished, the door opened and Maggie re-entered the room, this time with Anne. Hal sat up straighter and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"What's going on?" Hal asked.

"Well, Maggie pleaded your case, and there are few conditions if you want to be discharged." Anne informed him.

"What conditions?" Hal questioned.

"Well, the Volm gave us this device that can tell if there's an eyebug, I want to check for that, which will be the only test I insist I run. And you have to promise that if you think there's something wrong, you tell me immediately." Anne explained.

"This device, how does it work?" Hal asked, not willing to commit to that condition until he knew the details.

"It's easy, you just keep your eyes open while I look at them through the device. That's it." Anne said. Hal looked over at Maggie who gave him a reassuring smile. He then looked back at his father's girlfriend and nodded.

The doctor pulled something out of her white coat pocket. It looked like a smooth rock with a hole in the middle that was filled with glass. Hal kept his head still and eyes opened as Anne looked through the glass into his eyes. After a few minutes, Anne put the device back into her pocket.

"Looks like you're clear. So, I will discharge with you." Anne revealed. Maggie came over to her boyfriend and held his hand.

"Am I going back to our room or…" Hal wasn't sure if Maggie would be alright with that. A lot could happen in five months and he didn't want to push her if she didn't want to go right back to where they left off.

"I'm okay with it if you are." Maggie told him.

"I'm way more than okay with that." Hal told her, giving her a smile.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

As Hal and Maggie made their way to their room, Hal kept his gaze down, not looking at anyone they though he could feel their eyes on him. The minute that Hal followed Maggie out of the hospital room, practically everyone turned and looked at him. Some with only curious glances, others will full on glares. Maggie quickly saw what was going on, and in response, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her.

Once they reached the room, Hal immediately took refuge inside, away from everyone's stares. It wasn't until Maggie closed the door that he relaxed and looked around the room. Everything looked exactly the same, like he had never left. Hal found it comforting, yet a little weird. He felt a bit like a stranger in this room.

Maggie watch Hal take note of the room. She could see from the way he was walking around and looking everything over that something was up. She went over to him, but he didn't notice since he had his back to her.

She put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Hal?"

He turned around to face her and gave her smile small and whispered back, "Hey."

"Everything okay?" Maggie checked.

"Yeah, I guess I just, need to get used to the room again." Hal concluded as he sat down on the bed.

"Well, you were gone for a long time." Maggie stated as she sat down beside him.

"For way too long." Hal agreed. The two locked eyes, tilted their heads and moved closer, their lips meeting. Hal placed his hands on Maggie's waist while she gently put hers on his neck, under the base of his head.

As they moved even closer to each other, the kiss went deeper. Maggie moved her hands up, running her fingers through his thick hair. Unfortunately, she accidentally brushed against the now scabbed over cut under his ear and suddenly, Hal wasn't in the room anymore as a memory washed over him.

Hal struggled against the ropes that were keeping him trapped on the metal table. Karen was standing beside him, watching him.

"Try not to move Hal." Karen told him. Before Hal could ask what she meant, a harnessed boy came to his other side with a scalpel in hand. Hal looked back over to Karen.

"Karen, don't" Hal pleaded, but she ignored him, and put one of her hands on his neck and the other in his hair. She moved his head to face the side she was on giving the harnessed kid access to the back of his neck. Hal tried to move but Karen held his head still. He felt the sharp edge of the scalpel cut into his skin and he screamed.

"Hal?"

Hal blinked and the memory faded away. He was back in the bedroom with Maggie, who was looking at him worriedly.

Maggie instantly knew what happened, he had a flashback. When she accidentally touched the still healing cut, he tensed up and pulled away. His hands were shaking and his eyes practically glazed over, not seeing anything. She didn't know how many times she called his name before he snapped out of it.

"Sorry." Hal's voice was so quiet that Maggie barely heard it.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. It's my fault, I should've been careful to not touch that cut." Maggie told him.

"You couldn't have known." Hal reminded her. He folded his hands over his lap and looked down at them. Maggie lifted her arm and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"Hal, tell me what happened." Maggie requested, keeping her voice soft. She wanted to help him, but she didn't want to force him to tell her when he wasn't ready to relive it all just yet. When he didn't answer her, she asked a different question.

"What's on your mind?" After a few more moments of silence, Hal answered.

"I feel like, if I so much as close my eyes, that when I open them, everything will be gone. That I'll still be with…" Hal didn't finish, and he didn't need to. Maggie knew what he meant. She lifted her hand, put it under his chin and turned his head to face her.

Hal's eyes were filled with so much fear and pain, and she knew there was more to the story, that he wasn't going to tell her, not yet anyways. That was alright with her though, she didn't need to know. She just had to make sure he knew that this was all real. So, she moved her hands so they were both on the back of his head, well above the cut, and pulled his head down so she could press her lips against his again. Hal immediately kissed her back, closing his eyes as he did.

Maggie pulled back after a few seconds, and smiled at him. Hal was now beyond confused as to what was going on.

"What was that for?" Hal asked.

"You closed your eyes. Look around, you're still here. I'm still here." Maggie explained. Hal actually did look around the room, and when he turned his gaze back to her, she saw him smile at her, though a tear was now sliding down his cheek. Hal immediately lowered his back down to hers and locked her lips in his again. As the kiss went deeper, the world faded away because in that moment, it was just the two of them, just Hal and Maggie.

AN - The last scene between Hal and Maggie is inspired from a scene from White Collar (amazing show!). Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 8 should be up within a week.