Keira

Keira wanted to bite her tongue off almost as soon as the words left her mouth. It felt stupid, to be complaining about her partner-her friend-being gone when she was standing in his house, wrapped in his arms and drinking his cocoa. Considering everything she'd done, and everything she'd put him through, to have even this much felt like so much more than she deserved.

But she was tired. So tired. Tired of fighting and losing over, and over, and over again. Tired of living every day with the distance between her and the people she cared about. Tired of walking on glass when she was with Carlos, the first friend she'd really had in this time. Tired of pushing her heart and soul to the limit with nothing to show for it.

She was tired, so very, very tired, of being alone. Leaning over, she pressed her head into Carlos's chest, smiling when he reached for her cup and set it down next to his on the counter. Squeezing tightly and wrapping her other arm around his hips when he pulled her tight against his chest and ran a hand up and down her back.

"I'm right here," he said softly, giving her a light shake when she shook her head. "I am. I always have been. You're the one that's different." Keira expected him to stop there-she knew it was her fault. She was surprised when he kept talking. "It's not just that you're a different you, you're a totally different person. Every time someone tries to get close to you, you pull away. It's like you didn't just go back in time to this time, you went all the way back. Slamming doors, keeping secrets. Damn it Keira, I thought we were past that."

She winced at the angry frustration in his voice. "I'm sorry," she said dully. She knew it was inadequate, but it was the best she could do. "I shouldn't have dragged you into my mess. I realize that now. I only wish I would have realized it before it was too late."

"And what, let me think you were-she was-just dead?" Carlos pulled back so he was holding her elbows, his eyes suddenly angry. "Never let me know that you were here? Just hide in the shadows and do your own thing without anyone else getting in the way. Or better yet, maybe you wish you'd never even bothered being my partner in the first place. Is that what you want? Fine." He pushed her away, walking past her back to the living room and flopping on the couch. "You know the way out," he said, not even bothering to turn his head. "Keys are on the counter. I'll hitch a ride to the station in the morning."

Carlos

He was being an ass. He knew it, he just couldn't seem to stop himself. After the hell she'd put him through the last few weeks, having her look him in the eye and tell him it was all a mistake was more than he could deal with. If she wanted to go all Lone Ranger, that was fine with him. He'd gotten by without her before, he could do it again.

Keira Cameron could go home, go to her own time, go straight to hell for all he cared.

He heard her step into the living room, felt the other end of the couch give under her weight.

"That's not what I meant," she said softly. He tried to ignore the pain in her voice. "It just…seems like all of this would have been easier for you that way." When he didn't answer her, she reached out and squeezed his arm. "Carlos, I've made a lot of mistakes since coming back to 2012, but being your partner-your friend-was never one of them. You and Alec are the closest things to family that I have here, and now I've messed it all up."

Keira's voice was thick with tears and starting to shake, but she forged on. "I'm never going home, Carlos. My future doesn't even exist anymore, Alec made sure of that. And if I'm not fighting to get home, and I've managed to destroy my relationship with the people that I care about here, then what's the point in me being here at all?"