He woke up in the middle of the night, a horrible headache pounding behind his eyes.

With a groan, he tried to move and noticed that his limbs were extremely heavy.

What the hell happened?

He remembered being in the safe house that Mac and the others had set up and that he had been reloading his battle rifle when suddenly something went horribly wrong with Delta.

The Fragment had been screaming in agony, causing him to feel the same pain—only tenfold. It had been so horrible that he had broken down and must have lost consciousness.

'Well, that probably was what happened.' he thought to himself, lying still on the bed and listening to his surroundings.

He was most likely in the infirmary and under observation.

'Agent New York, I am happy that you are doing okay. I am terribly sorry that I inflicted you with so much pain when I was losing it. It won't happen again. It was highly unprofessional of—

'

'Stop it, D.' York groaned in his thoughts, causing the Fragment to shut up, 'I just woke up and my head is killing me. Give me a break!.'

'Of course, Agent New York.' Delta replied.

'How many times do I need to tell you to just call me York?' he asked sarcastically through his pain.

'I won't use that term since it's impolite.'

'It's also impolite to ignore someone's wish on being called differently.' York argued, the Fragment shutting up at the undeniable logic of his retort.

'Okay then, York,' Delta hesitated quite a bit until he managed to bring out only that instead of his usual address for his partner, 'I will do so from now on.'

'Thanks.' York replied, now opening his eyes and forcing his body to follow his orders and sit up in his bed while deliberately ignoring the pain in his head from Delta's earlier rampage.

When he sat upright halfway, he noticed that someone was in the room with him.

Looking around, he could see the still figure of North lying on a cot beside him. He couldn't say it for sure, but it seemed like he wasn't alone and there was someone leaning against the wall beside his cot, looking at him lying there. But given the fact that there was light peering in through haphazardly closed curtains, his mind also could be playing tricks on him since the figure was right beside the window and the shadows could be making a human-like shape that his mind was simply identifying as one.

Delta, for once, kept his smartass remarks to himself.

Turning his head and trying to reach for a glass of water, his jaw almost dropped on the floor. There, beside his bed, sat a usually aqua-armored redhead.

Carolina!

Staring at her with his jaw hanging down slackly until he got his bearings back in check, he started smiling. She was sitting in the chair with her arms crossed and her head sunk onto her chest. She was for once wearing civilian clothes and it looked like she was asleep.

"York?" Turning his head at the small voice, he could see Theta hovering beside the still lying figure of North.

"What's up, buddy?" York asked silently, in order to not wake up the others

.

"Where are we?" he looked stressed and uncomfortable.

"We're safe here. I'm sure we're back in Armonia since Carolina is out of her armor." York explained, pointing back over to the Freelancer with a grin. His circulation was almost fully booted up by now, except for the horrible headache.

"Okay." Theta exhaled deeply, obviously relieved.

"How's North?" York asked, regarding the unmoving body.

Theta, looking over to North replied, "He's sleeping pretty deeply. I guess it will take another four or five hours until he wakes up. I couldn't control myself and I obviously hurt him pretty badly. I hope he isn't going to be angry with me." The Fragment muttered, kicking imaginary dust with his shoe.

York's expression softened at that, "Don't worry, Theta, he's not going to be angry with you. You couldn't control it. Neither could Delta. Don't beat yourself up about something you couldn't control."

"Okay." Theta replied, looking a bit relieved albeit still a little insecure but he obviously was okay with the explanation and disappeared again.

"Shaun?"

York's head whipped around at the mention of his real name by this special person so fast that he felt dizzy almost immediately.

His body started tipping and Carolina shot up to catch him when he threatened to fall out of his bed and stop his fall with his face.

"Smooth." Carolina held him steady and helped him sit back up.

"You know I always am, Lina." Carolina huffed at that, but York didn't get the impression it was out of annoyance. More like… a happy huff?

Like it had been back then in the Project, when she used to huff in amusement at his pick-up jokes he reserved only for her. And there always had been this little hint of a happy smile she only sent his way.

…He couldn't see that in the dark though, what a pity. He would have loved to see that again.

Sitting up straight again, Carolina offered him some unsweetened tea that he gratefully accepted.

When he felt like he had drunk enough, he shook his head slightly and Carolina put the glass back down.

They sat in silence for some time, until York decided to break the silence.

"Would you mind going out for a walk? I don't want to wake North up. Theta mentioned that he still needs some rest." He asked silently.

Carolina obviously wanted to protest, but the male lifted a hand, "I'm not talking about bolting, Lina." She threw him a dirty glare at that, "Just walking around a bit in the hallway outside. Get some fresh air and move my limbs. We're staying where the nurse can keep an eye on me. Besides, I would love to have something sweet like a coke or something. I feel like my body needs that right now."

The former leader of the Freelancers looked contemplative for a while, before nodding reluctantly.

"Okay, I will inform the nurse and then come get you." She got up and left the room.

It wasn't long until she returned.

"Okay, let's go. But if you're not feeling okay, we'll immediately report to the nurse." She ordered lowly.

Walking over to his cot, she bent down and helped the male who was sitting on the bed and waiting for her to stand up.

Slowly, they started walking out of the room and towards one of the smaller anterooms on the floor, close to the nurses' office.

After setting York down, Carolina left again, coming back soon afterwards with two juices for them. Looking at the cans, the tan-wearing male suspected her of having gotten them from the beverage dispenser some meters down.

Sitting down on the ragtag couch beside York she handed him the beverage. He accepted it with a "Thanks."

It was strange, to say the least. After ten years, they had met again.

York had never thought that it would go down like that: that he would be out for more than ten years, nor that he ever would meet Carolina again after finding that out.

He actually had planned on waking up as soon as his clone was killed and immediately going to search for Carolina, trying to get her to let go and start anew with him.

But he had been out cold for more than ten fucking years and now they were all awkward around each other.

Maybe it was for the better, since Carolina seemed to have been able to let the whole shit about the Project go, as far as he heard from Wash. She looked more relaxed, more mature, but still like the Carolina he had known back in Project Freelancer. Determined, strong-willed, thick-headed, agile, but loving and gentle all the same.

Still…

Now they were all awkward around each other.

They had been so close during the Project, coming from them knowing each other even before Freelancer as they had met in Errera and immediately had clicked with one another.

Speaking of clicking…

"Guess this time there's no lighter around you could snatch from me to break the ice, huh?" he stated a bit awkwardly, not really knowing how to get a conversation started up.

She had hit him in the guts before turning on her heels and running right after that the last time they met.

She had been hiding from him for more than two months until the assault yesterday. Was it yesterday?

"You mean the Errera lighter?" Carolina asked, reaching in her pocket and pulling out something.

Dropping it in York's hand, he looked at it completely baffled.

"You seriously kept that thing?" He asked with incredulousness but yet happiness in his voice, immediately starting to flick the cap open and closed with a clicking sound.

"It was my piece of memory of you. It was because of this stupid thing," with that she snatched the lighter back like she had back then in Errera years ago, "That we got to know each other at all."

York snorted into the can. He took a swig after Carolina took the lighter back. He really had needed that sugar.

"Right. If I hadn't have gotten dragged along by my friends and was playing with that, you wouldn't have shown up and taken it from me."

Carolina threw him that small smile she used to give him back in Freelancer, outstretching her hand to give York back his lighter.

He shook his head, "Keep it. It was safe with you for the last ten years. Besides, take it as a promise that I will stay with you from now on like the lighter does."

He threw her a small smile which Carolina did not respond to. If anything, her face was turning hard just as her eyes were doing.

"You can't promise that." She answered deliberately, getting up to leave.

But York was faster. Getting up too, he grasped her arm to make her stay. If she wanted, she could have broken free without any problem but she didn't.

This was the reason for York to say what he said next, "Please stay. I want to talk with you about that. We can't always run from that." His voice was soft and warm.

It was a strange situation. Carolina usually would take the bull by the horns and get the issue resolved quickly when it showed up, but in this instance she was evading. She was trying to run, only to not have to approach the subject.

Carolina hadn't turned around so far, still keeping her back to him.

"Tell me what is up with you. What is on your mind?" York pleaded, squeezing her arm slightly, only to put emphasis on his request without hurting her or making her feel caged. He knew how easily she could become angry when she felt caged.

Carolina didn't turn around still, but he could see her shoulders slump a bit.

"I had lost you. Do you know through how much shit I had to go through because of you?"

York blinked at that, but didn't say a word. Maybe it was about to break out of her, and he wouldn't do a damn thing to stop her from doing that and get a weight off her chest now.

"For ten fucking years, I lived with the knowledge that I lost you and lost a chance to tell you so many things. I had sealed away my pain and all my feelings. I was fighting in the hope to someday get revenge for your death and maybe a bit of peace for myself. And after that," York assumed she was talking about the Director, "I was fighting here… only to keep myself going, to not think about all of this. And then suddenly, you show up again—popping up like a fucking jack out of the box acting as if nothing ever happened! Do you even know how that feels?! To think you lost someone and then to suddenly be confronted with that same person after ten years?!"

While she was talking, she had turned around to face him like she usually did when she was arguing with someone. What was rather unusual was the open display of emotion on her face and her voice growing gradually louder during the time she was talking until she was almost shouting.

Slowly and carefully, York grasped both of her arms to make her keep looking at him. Again, he was careful not to make her feel caged and to become angrier as a result of that.

"I know how that feels, actually." He began slowly, seeing surprise in those emerald eyes of hers, "When the ship crashed, I was convinced that you had died. I had been living all these years thinking you were dead." He started explaining. "Okay, there were those ten years I am missing because I had been in cryo, but in the end, it doesn't matter if you spent two or ten years mourning. I am struggling the same as you with those feelings."

He didn't know when he did it or why, but he had pulled Carolina into a tight hug while talking, "I was as surprised as you when I found out that there are friends and my love on the planet we crashed on. I was convinced I would never see you again. Besides that, it was never planned for me to be out of it for so long. I had planned on waking up after my clone died and immediately going to look for you to build up a new life with you away from Freelancer, away from—" He didn't get further in his rambling, as his lips suddenly were sealed with those of Carolina kissing him fiercely.

He couldn't help but notice that she was looking even more gorgeous close up. What was off, however, were the huge tears rolling down her face. And the fact that her kiss felt desperate, as if there's something she urgently needed and only got when she was kissing him.

For now, however, he decided to not inquire on that more than necessary. He just closed his eyes and replied to the kiss.

That was something they had never done back in the Project. Probably because anyone could have accused Carolina of being influenced by York while being in a relationship with him That was the main reason why they never kissed, never went over the amicable closeness, small smiles, and fond discussions that only happened when they had been amongst themselves.

Dropping one of his hands, he wrapped it around Carolina's hips and pulled her flush into his chest while the other hand went up to her cheek, cupping it. His thumb stroked over her perfectly defined cheekbone.

Their lips were moving in perfect synch to each other, York getting a bit bolder after some moments and slipping a tongue into her mouth. She replied immediately, both of them soon starting a tongue dance. However, neither of them seemed to be able to become the more dominant part.

When they separated, York kept her close, pulling her into another hug to make her lean against him.

He felt large tears drop on his shoulders, but he didn't comment on them. He couldn't even start to imagine what kind of emotional pressure she had accumulated during those years she thought him to be dead. It all seemed to slowly resurface and break its way out of her now, making her cry and cry due to all those feelings now coming back up again.

Her shoulders were shaking slightly and York could hear her sob quietly every now and then, but it wasn't a loud crying like others might do. She was quiet when she wasn't commanding the guys around.

She was self-confident and kept herself straight all the time, but when being off-duty, she wasn't a loud kind of woman. She would often talk to him in a low voice, so low that only York sitting directly beside her could understand it.

"I love you, Carolina. I always have, even before the Project." York started, huffing lowly in an amused manner when he suddenly realized something, "I guess it was love at first sight. I was whipped when I noticed you standing beside me. You have quite a stunning personality. You're strong, clever, strong-willed and a great leader, yet you are kind, gentle and gorgeous if you're not the fearsome leader I always respected so much." York pulled a face like having bitten into a lemon, "Although I never really acted like I was doing that, I guess."

The woman snorted at that, "Yeah, but that's just the way you are. Like Wyoming's knock-knock-jokes."

This time York groaned, "Don't remind me of those. I am pretty glad he's gone since I definitely would kill him now for cracking just another one of those jokes."

The happy smile he was wearing only got broader when he heard Carolina start laughing, her face still tucked into his neck.

They stood like that for a while, enjoying each other's company until York said, "You mind if we go back? I guess I need some more rest and maybe a pill for my headache."

Carolina lifted her head and looked at him, "Why didn't you say something before?" She obviously already knew that he had a headache even before they went out of the infirmary room.

"And miss out on what happened? Not even with both of my legs broken!" He returned at her exclamation, to which Carolina again started laughing.

"Okay, point for you, York. Now let's get you back into bed." With that, she started pulling him towards the door with their hands intertwined.

Passing by the nurse's room, Carolina shortly asked for some pain medication for York's headache, also informing them that North maybe will need that too upon waking up.

In their room, York noticed that the shadow that had been next to North's cot was gone.

Looking over there, he blinked.

"What's up?" Carolina asked, looking into the direction of York's stare and trying to see something.

"I thought I saw a shadow standing beside North's cot when I woke up, but I guess my mind was just playing some tricks on me." York replied, sitting down just when the nurse showed up and gave him the medication.

When the nurse left after putting some of the medication on North's nightstand too, Carolina spoke up.

"Actually, there was someone." She explained, sitting on the bed beside York.

He looked at her silently, prompting Carolina with his glance to continue, "Mac was there for quite some time. I don't know from where she knows North, but she didn't say a word and I got the feeling like she didn't want to talk about it."

York nodded at that. North had told him about once having had a girl after Freelancer. Maybe this had been her? But aside from a ton of Alaena's who were called Ala running around, there wasn't someone who was called Ala and who had had the real name of Alaska. So he didn't suspect it was her.

Maybe she was just someone else who came over to keep an eye on them. Possibly a medic in training or something. Or the guys Wash had been with for the last couple of years had decided to watch over them in shifts, so neither of them would be alone upon waking up.

Emptying his glass, he could hear Carolina yawn lowly.

"Tired?" He asked, putting the glass away and carefully stretching his limbs.

"Yeah, I guess I am going to bed now." She replied with a dull note to her voice and got up, only to be held back again by York.

"The bed is wider than the one back in Freelancer, so how about staying?" He offered.

"You're in the infirmary." Carolina countered, but York could see a slight blush spread over her face.

"I have not a single broken bone, nor any stab or bullet wounds." He retorted.

Carolina frowned at that, "Isn't it going to be awkward when North wakes up?"

Okay, now Carolina definitely was embarrassed.

"He's known since the Project that we have a thing for each other… we're talking about North here, at least. And the others knew too. Fuck, even the rookie knew." He laughed at that when he remembered the rather embarrassing situation where Wash had asked him about the situation between the two of them.

It was silent for a long time, until Carolina exhaled, taking a step towards the cot, "Okay, move over."

"What?" York blinked, baffled at having such an easy win.

"I said move over or do you want me to go to my room and sleep alone now?"

How fast the tables could turn, he thought. Only moments ago he had been the one teasing Carolina and now she turned it around without much effort.

A grin appeared on his lips

.

"Nope, I prefer you being close to me." He replied, pulling her over and lying down at the same time.

He was lying on his back while Carolina was lying tucked into his right side, head on his shoulder and a hand on his chest with their fingers intertwined there. York's other hand was around her waist and keeping her close.

"York?" It already had gotten calm and York was about to drop off, when he heard Carolina calling for him.

He made an acknowledging sound, indicating to her that he was listening.

"I love you too." She muttered silently, squeezing his hand that she had her fingers intertwined with gently.

Turning his head, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I am glad to hear that. Now let's get some rest."

With an 'uh-huh' sound from Carolina, they both closed their eyes and soon were off into their individual dreamlands.