Rush's eyes opened slowly, his vision bleary from sleep. Hell, where was he? It felt like somewhere soft … a bed, perhaps? Mm, so comfy. But wait – Rush never slept! In fact, he avoided his bed like the plague. So where was he?

And why was he naked?

Confused, Rush tried to raise himself up on his elbows, but his muscles started trembling and he fell back on his face. Agh, everything ached! What the hell had he been doing last night? The last thing he remembered was sitting in the neural interface chair, but now ….

He felt like he'd run a bloody marathon! No, he felt like he'd spent a week in fucking bootcamp, or like –

Like he'd been –

Been –

Dr. Rush turned his head and found himself wrapped in Colonel Young's arms.

"Hi," said Young.

Oh, shit.

"We didn't have sex!" Young cried for the umpteenth time, his voice frantic and a bit exasperated. "For heaven's sake – Rush, would you please sit down and listen?"

"No," said Rush shortly, making sure the blanket he'd wrapped around him was secure. He turned for the door, tripped on a bit of stray cloth, and fell on his face.

"What are you planning to do?" Young asked him impatiently. "Walk out of my room in just a blanket? Is that something you want people to see?"

Rush growled against the floor and tried to stand. "Rapist," he accused. Young passed a hand over his face.

"Rush," he said, "for the hundredth time … I didn't rape you. You were turned into a child."

"Not bloody likely. My arse feels like someone ripped through it with a chainsaw."

Young grimaced. "Didn't need to know."

"Yes, well – if you can explain why my limbs feel ready to drop off –"

"Growing pains."

Rush's voice stumbled to a halt and he turned to look at Young, completely incredulous.

"Growing pains," he repeated. Young nodded. "Growing pains? Seriously?"

"Well, you did just grow from six to … I don't know, forty-something over-night."

Rush closed his eyes and banged his forehead against the floor. A little worriedly, Young picked up his radio and made a quick call.

"Eli?" he said. "I'd like to ask you a favor."

Rush sat in the Kino room with his blanket wrapped around him, face stony and blank. Young stood at the doorway, watching; he was biting his lip. Eli was between them, clicking through the documents in storage to find what he was looking for.

"Ah," he said, "here it is."

He pressed play. Rush watched for around two minutes as Greer and a younger version of himself went through a tickle fight. When the footage ran out, Eli and Young turned to him with expectant looks.

After a few seconds of staring at him, their hopeful expressions fell.

"All right," said Eli, turning back to the laptop. "Well, if you don't believe that …"

He stopped on another video, this one of Young and six-year-old Nicholas playing chess. Rush just scoffed, and Eli clicked on another clip.

They went through video after video, everyone scowling, until finally Eli found the right one.

"Volker!" six-year-old Rush cried. "You are a useless, overweight, FUCKING ASTROPHYSICIST! AND I AM IN NO MOOD!"

Rush's blank face gave way to something almost sheepish.

"What did Volker do?" he asked them. Eli lit up.

"So you believe us?"

"Yes. What did he do?"

"He wanted to bond with you," Young answered. "He tried to tell you a story."

"Ah. Well … that is rather useless, to be fair."

They didn't argue with him. Rush bit his lip, fidgeted a little, and looked down at his blanket.

"Could I get some clothes?" he asked.

FIN.