Keira

Keira snorted a little, thinking he was probably right. At the moment though, she just didn't have it in her to care. "Gee, thanks," she said dryly, reaching out and plucking the tissues from the box he held out, then coming to stand next to him and breathe in the thick chocolate on the air.

She recognized the smell instantly, and the amount of gratitude welling up inside of her when he pulled the mugs out of the microwave was almost pathetic. It was a favorite of hers, one of the few things from this time that she truly enjoyed-a novelty, really, after a lifetime of MREs and dehydrated, genetically engineered goods. The chocolate was rich and creamy, and left a pleasant coating on the top of her tongue.

Carlos-her Carlos-had always said it tasted like it came out of a third grader's lunch box, but she'd noticed he'd always had some on his shelf when she came over. Its presence here felt like an unexpected gift. How far she'd come, when she could carry so much sentiment for something so small.

"I thought you didn't like that stuff."

Carlos

"Yeah, well." Carlos shrugged his shoulders, as uncomfortable with the damp gratitude shining in her eyes as he was with the quick bolt of happiness he felt when she gave a soft sigh of pleasure after grabbing her cup and taking a sip. "It was easier to stick some on the shelf than to try and find a convenience store that carried it in the middle of the night."

She smiled, like he knew she would, remembering the way they'd run down the street in the dark and the rain. She'd laughed like a child, the shadows temporarily gone from her eyes as she went from one shop to another, ignoring his grumbling that they should have brought the car. It was one of the first times he'd seen her face light up like that, careless and carefree, with her hair laying in damp strings around her face, and even knowing it was going to ruin his leather jacket he'd willingly gone along-would have, he realized now, followed her almost anywhere if it would keep her smiling like that.

Looking at the woman next to him, seeming soft and vulnerable in a way he'd never seen this Keira look but he remembered so well from the partner he'd lost, soaking up the heat from the cup she'd wrapped her hands around, Carlos had to bite his lip to keep himself from saying something stupid. He couldn't resist the urge to reach out an arm and wrap it around her waist, pulling her close and tucking her head under his chin. She fit, the way she always had, and he felt muscles he hadn't even realized he'd tensed relax when she leaned against him with a sigh.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" he asked, holding his breath as he waited to see if she was going to pull away, pull back into herself the way she had a hundred times in the past few weeks whenever things got personal. He was absurdly relieved when she shrugged, straightening a bit but not putting any more distance between them.

"It's all gone," she said softly, tipping her head to look up at him. "Sam. Greg. The future. Home. At least the home I knew. Alec. Betty. The friends I thought I had, here." Hesitating, eyes searching his face, she admitted softly, so softly he could barely hear her, "You."