Hal's eyes fluttered weakly. His breath was quick and labored. He felt pain coursing through his body with each rise and fall of his chest. The pain in his head was the worst, though.
He struggled to remember what had happened to him, but he couldn't seem to form any memories past the night he had spent in Maggie's tent. Hal's heart suddenly wrenched. Something must have happened that night.
Hal's eyes shot open quicker than they should have, and his head surged with an unbearable pain, but he ignored it. "Maggie!" Hal gasped her name, his voice inaudible.
His eyes darted around the room he rested in. He was panicking. He was lying on a hospital bed in what appeared to be a hospital room. He had no clue how he had gotten there, and he was terribly frightened, but what was worse was that he was completely alone in the room.
"Maggie!" Hal's voice was a little stronger now, almost a croak. He struggled to sit up in the bed, but he collapsed as he did so, finding he was painfully weak.
The door to the room slowly began to creak open, and Hal immediately tensed up. He had no idea where he was, and he had no idea who was on the other end of that door.
His hands tightened into fists around the thin blanket covering his legs, and he waited cautiously in silence.
Dr. Anne Glass entered the room quietly, obviously still under the impression that Hal was sleeping. Her eyes meet his slowly, and a warm smile spreads over her face immediately. "Hal. It's so good to see you up. How are you feeling?"
"Where's Maggie?" Hal asked weakly, ignoring Anne's questions.
"Maggie's fine, Hal. Don't worry. She just stepped out for a moment to rest, by my orders. She hasn't left your side." Anne continued to smile as she made her way to Hal's side.
Hal sighed heavily and closed his eyes, relief flooding him. Maggie was okay. He opened his eyes slowly again. "Where… Where are we?" He asked hesitantly. "We're in Charleston, Hal. Weaver ordered us to move camp, and Colonel Porter found us as we reached Charleston's borders. He brought us here." Anne replaced Hal's IV bag carefully, and checked his stats to make sure everything was fine with him.
Hal rested his throbbing head back against the pillow, the pain growing quickly. He suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired. "What… Happened to me…?" His voice was little more than a mumble, and he was unconscious before he found an answer to his question.
"Hal?" He heard the voice call out his name a few times before, but he wasn't sure if it was real or a dream. "Hal?" Hal was certain it was real now, and he tried to put a face to the familiar voice. But his head was causing him such pain he couldn't think.
Hal's eyes opened slowly. His vision was blurry and clouded as his head throbbed. He managed to focus his eyes after a few moments, and he glanced in the direction he had heard the voice coming from.
Tom Mason stood to Hal's left, his face lit up at the sight of his now conscious son. "Dad?" Hal croaked weakly. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Dad, what... What happened...? Why am I here...?" Hal sounded confused and exhausted.
Tom smiled sadly at Hal, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Shh... It's okay, Hal. Everything's okay." Tom's voice was soothing, and he placed his hand gently on Hal's aching shoulder.
Hal was failed in being soothed or calmed, however. Tom hadn't answered his questions, and Hal felt he needed some answers. "Dad, what happened...? Why... Can't I remember anything...?"
Tom sighed, his tired face taking on a somewhat pained expression. He raised his hands to his face and rubbed harshly at his cheeks. He dropped his hands and looked at Hal, his expression pained and cautious. "Hal..." Tom began, but stopped as he seemed to fail at finding the right words.
"You... You don't remember anything...?" Tom asked hesitantly, watching Hal with concern. Hal shook his head slowly, his eyes set intently on his father's.
"Hal... You... You had a bug..." Tom looked down at his feet, his voice becoming quiet as he spoke that last word.
Hal's confusion grew. "A bug? What do you mean?"
Tom looked back at Hal, his eyes unreadable. "You had a bug, Hal. An Espheni bug. Like the one... Like the one I had..."
Hal's confused look quickly shifted into one of great fear and pain. "What happened, Dad?" Hal's voice was quiet and pained.
Tom swallowed tightly and closed his eyes for a moment, relieving the moments in that abandoned building, relieving Hal pressing the gun to his temple, him pulling the trigger.
"You..." Tom sighed and opened his eyes again. "Hal, you were controlled. The Espheni used you as a mole, of sorts. They used you to extract information about the attack we're planning on them. You..." Tom paused, needing to take a deep breath before speaking of what happened next. "You took me hostage, and attempted to get information out of me. You said... You put the gun to your head and said you would kill yourself unless I told you everything about the attack. You... Pulled the trigger, but I managed to push the gun away enough so that the bullet only grazed you. You bled so much..." Tom stops again and closes his eyes, remembering being drenched in his son's blood.
"We got you to a safe place. Ben managed to contact the rebel Skitters and they gave us... A device... It was Espheni technology, and it removed the bug... But we almost lost you... You were in such pain... Your screams..." Tom's breath was shaky, and he couldn't open his eyes yet. "Your heart stopped... The pain was too much, and your heart stopped. Anne barely saved you..." A tear slid from Tom's closed eye, and he pressed his lips together tightly to hold in the cry that threatened to escape his dry throat.
Hal felt his heart racing in his chest. It was pounding against his ribs, and it choked his trembling breath. He shuddered fiercely, and closed his eyes tightly.
Hal knew how much pain he had caused his father. He could see it. He had put his father, as well as himself, in danger. Hal could never forgive himself for that. He opened his eyes to find his father looking at him, his eyes red and slightly swollen from holding in tears. Hal felt an overwhelming guilt crash over him.
"Dad... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." Hal whispered, his voice cracking. He closed his eyes again and bit his lip hard to stop himself from crying. "I'm so sorry, Dad..."
Tom quickly moved to his son's side, sitting next to him. He pulled Hal into a tight, warm embrace, burying his face against Hal's shoulder. "Don't be sorry, Hal. You didn't do anything wrong. It's okay, son. It's going to be just fine."
Hal didn't hug his father back, nor did he reply to his soothing words. He simply stared past his father's head, his eyes glistening. Hal's mind was racing with memories of all the wrong he had done. He had let his mother die alone in the streets, and he had lost his little brother to the aliens after fighting with him over something completely ridiculous. He had endangered Matt's life by letting him tag along to rescue Tom. He had let all of those poor children get slaughtered by Karen and the mech, without putting up any sort of fight. He had put Maggie in danger simply by lying next to her while being controlled by the bug, and then he had held his father at gunpoint before turning the gun on himself and attempting suicide as his father watched helplessly.
Hal closed his eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek slowly. He bit the inside of his cheeks until he tasted blood. When he opened his eyes again, Hal Mason felt so unworthy of his father's loving embrace. He pulled back, a little harsher than he intended to. Tom's eyes filled with confusion.
"Dad, I... I'm really tired... I... I just want to sleep for a while..." Hal avoided his dad's eyes as he spoke.
Tom watched his son closely, noticing the faint tear streak on Hal's cheek. He knew his son was hurting terribly right now, and he decided that if what he needed was sleep, then he would give him that. Tom nodded and stood slowly, pressing a kiss to the top of Hal's head as he did so.
Hal's eyes closed painfully at this expression of love, and he sighed weakly. Tom left the room quietly, and Hal layed his head back gently. He felt hot tears fall down the side of his face and run into his hair. Hal was cripplingly exhausted, but he knew he had no hope of sleeping through this much guilt and pain.
Hal wasn't sure how much time had passed since the last time he had blinked, but his eyes were aching terribly. He closed them, wincing slightly. When he managed to open them again, he found he was no longer alone in his room.
She stood there, her usually guarded and unreadable face holding an incredibly vulnerable expression. Hal sat up quickly in his bed and held her unfaltering gaze. Maggie opened her mouth, as if to speak, but she only managed to release a soft, pained sigh.
"Hey." She finally managed to whisper, her eyes closing briefly. "Hey." Hal murmured gently.
Maggie didn't move closer to him, or further away. She stayed firmly where she was, and she met his gaze once again. Her eyes were tired and full of a mixture of emotions.
"Maggie..." Hal whispered, his eyes shutting tightly. "I'm so sorry..."
Hal kept his eyes shut, but he felt Maggie sit next to him gently, before taking his hand in both of hers.
"Hal Mason, don't you dare apologize for something you had no control over. Hey, look at me." He opened his eyes and met hers carefully. Her face was serious and her expression persistent. "You got it? Don't do that to yourself. You don't deserve that." Her voice was soft and caring, but firm.
Hal was unable to hide the pain he was feeling from Maggie. She saw it immediately, and she quickly pulled him into her arms. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, pressing his face hard into her warm neck.
He couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks as he held her. His grip around her tightened as his aching mind was flooded with reminders of all the terrible things he had done. All the lives he had put at risk, all the lives that had been lost because he failed to fight for them.
A choked sob barely escaped his lips, but Maggie caught it. She pulled back gently and held his face in her hands, looking deep into his agonized eyes. "I know what you're thinking, how you're feeling. But you can't blame yourself, Hal. You couldn't have done anything to stop what happened. No one could have."
Hal looked at her, his face expressing such pain that it broke Maggie's heart.
"I've done so many terrible things, Maggie... It all just keeps replaying in my head... I want it to stop, but it won't... I... Can't make it stop..." Hal's voice sounded broken and tired.
Maggie stroked away a tear as it escaped his eye with her thumb. He looked down at his hands for a moment, hating that she was seeing him so vulnerable.
Maggie put her finger beneath his chin and gently tugged his face back up so he was looking into her eyes again. She thought about her next words carefully. "Lay with me." She said quietly.
They both relaxed on their sides, their faces just inches from each other. Hal reached up and tucked a strand of fallen hair behind Maggie's ear, and then let his finger trace a gentle line down her cheek and to her lips. He ran his fingers over her lips softly, feeling them, and her eyes closed.
She opened them again and met his intense hazel eyes.
"Hal..." Maggie's voice was just a breath. "Everything that's happened... You couldn't have done anything... You know that, don't you?"
"No." Hal smiled sadly at her. "I know I wasn't in control, with the bug, but I could have fought harder and overcome it. I know I could have. And with everything else... The mech with the kids, Matt getting hurt, my mom... That's all on me." He let out a small sigh and glanced away. "I've done so much that I can't take back."
Maggie watched him for a moment, hoping that he couldn't tell how upset she was. She swallowed loudly before letting out a long, shaky breath.
"Hal... Baby... Look at me." He met her eyes reluctantly, his heart fluttering a little as she called him 'baby'.
Hal was tired. His eyes had terribly dark circles under them, and they were so bloodshot that there was almost no white left to them. His skin was pale, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that his cheeks were a little sunken. He was worn.
"We're going to get through this, Hal." Maggie continued, speaking slowly and carefully. "We've gotten through every other shitty thing that's happened to us in this terrible world, and we'll get through this. We'll get revenge, payback. Together." A small smile spread across her lips as she searched through his beautiful, pure eyes for a reaction.
Hal was silent for a moment, his expression almost cautious. "As a team...?" He asked, a smile forming on his lips slowly.
Maggie felt her heart surge as she saw this smile on his face. She felt a tear run down her face, but she ignored it. She bit her lip softly and nodded, her smile widening. "As a team."
And they would get payback as a team. Hal knew this. They both did. They would do whatever they had to in order to bring Karen and all of the Espheni down to their knees, begging for mercy.
Hal had so much anger, so much hate for them that he knew he would stop at nothing to kill every last alien on this planet, including, and especially, Karen. He wanted to bring them all down, and make them suffer for all that they've done.
But for now, as Hal layed here with Maggie, he felt some of that anger and hatred melt away for a moment. As he looked into her beautiful, clear eyes, he felt something that was more worth fighting for than all the anger and hatred in the world. He felt love. And it was so true, so real, and he knew she felt it, too.
Hal held Maggie close to him, their bodies pressed firmly against each other. He felt Maggie drift off into a deep, peaceful sleep after several long minutes. Hal closed his eyes tight and pulled her just a little closer to him, pressing a soft kiss into her hair. He let out a deep sigh, relief flooding him, because Maggie was here, with him, and he knew that soon they would both have their revenge.