Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters, dialogue, and/or situations are not my own. I repeat: I do not own anything.

It was dawn by the time Darrien had regained consciousness after Chase and Thirteen had saved her from a parasite wreaking havoc on her already weakened body.

They had both been through a long night, but they had decided to forgo returning home for such a short amount of sleep, and instead they chose to stay at the hospital for a few extra hours before work.

After Thirteen had checked on Darrien to make sure she was doing alright, they had gone down to the locker rooms to change into a clean set of work clothes. They had already finished changing but Thirteen seemed to be lost in thought, sitting on the narrow bench, staring transfixed at the set of lockers before her. Since her conversation with Darrien she had been eerily quiet.

Chase slowly closed his own locker in an effort to break her from her reverie. When she failed to give any sign of moving, he briefly wondered if he should head back upstairs on his own in order to give her the alone time she seemed to desperately want—he knew how hard it must have been for her to break a promise to her friend—but before he could make up his mind about leaving, Thirteen broke the awkward silence.

"Darrien had to shoot that kid. It was the right thing, completely justified," she stated calmly, without glancing over at him. Chase just stared, curious as to where she planned to take the conversation. "But it didn't matter. She destroyed her life trying to forget."

Chase heard her take a shallow breath before continuing.

"I'm afraid that's what's going to happen to me."

It pained Chase to hear her voice falter; baring how much grief she constantly kept hidden from everyone.

Thirteen had revealed more of herself to him in one night than she had in the entire time he had worked with her. The change was disorienting, and he didn't know how to act around a crumbling Thirteen. Chase wished he did; he felt useless, being unable to give her with the help and support she needed, and he wanted desperately to ease her pain, but all he could do was remain immobile and stare at her in shock.

"You really should talk to someone," he finally muttered out in an effort to provide her with some help.

"I've talked to a therapist; it didn't help," she replied, holding back her tears.

"Maybe you should talk to someone who isn't a therapist," he added meekly, trying to nudge her into confiding in him. Chase knew his attempt at subtlety was weak, and Thirteen would be able to quickly catch his offer.

The idea of her refusing his help made him anxious and his palms sweaty. Chase was unable to look at her for fear of her rejection. I'm acting like a damn teenage boy.

To his dismay, she let out a small scoff in response before finally ripping her gaze away from the row of lockers. It was the first time she looked at him during their conversation.

"You really think you have any idea what it's like to live with something like this?"

There was a trace of anger tainting her response, and, as much as he hated to admit to it, her anger at him stung.

Yes, I do.

The memory of him deliberately choosing to take the life of a patient sobered him. Dibala's death still continued to weigh heavily on his conscience, every damn day.

The Dibala incident had cost him his marriage—it cost me Allison, he thought with regret—and Chase knew if he ever wanted to be more than just a colleague to the young woman crying before him, even if it were to be as just her friend, then she would need to know about his dark past as well. Thirteen had done what he had thought was impossible. She had confided in him about her deepest fear, and he wanted to help her in any way that he could.

In the quick moment it took for him to remember the hell he went through after the worst decision of his life, Chase realized he actually wanted to tell her.

"Let's grab a coffee," he ground out.

Chase saw her look of amazement as she stared at him with bright, watery, red-rimmed eyes. Thirteen would soon know just how well he knew of what she was going through, and he hoped she would let him be there for her.

I am done! See, I had most of it done already. This is my first completed multi-chapter fic. I know it's short, but I wanted to stay within the confines of the episode.

Thanks for reading!