Robin "Prez" Kuo didn't remember the duel between Monarch and Crimson One, or at least, the majority of it. She remembered the beginning of the fight, but with the harsh maneuvers that Monarch was forced to perform just to survive, she hadn't remained conscious for long.

When she finally came to, the first thing she saw was the ceiling of the Highway Tunnel that they'd grown to call home over the last couple of months. Immediately after opening her eyes, she regretted doing so, as she was gripped by the worst headache she'd ever experienced. She groaned in pain and tried to sit up, but someone held her down, albeit gently.

"Easy." Monarch said, his voice rough and dry, as though he hadn't had a sip of water for days. "You've been out for a while, take it slow."

As the grogginess of unconsciousness gradually faded away, memories of what had happened gradually came back to her. The ceasefire, the missiles, the eruption of the geothermal storms and the destruction of Presidia, and Crimson One. "Is he dead?"

Monarch paused for a moment, likely lost in thought, before he answered. "Yeah, he's dead."

Even though the effort of talking hurt, there was at least one other thing that she needed to know. "Dip? Comic?"

"No idea." Monarch answered, an uncharacteristic nervousness to his tone. "Galaxy's out looking for survivors now with the others. If they turn up, he'll let us know."

Prez let out a breath of exertion, it was about the only reply she could manage. To say she felt awful was an understatement, the pain was one thing, but the exhaustion was entirely another. She felt like she'd run a marathon under the hot sun with weights around each leg.

"Hang in there, the Medics are going to be busy for a while." Monarch told her, and she felt his hand grip hers in a gesture of reassurance. "There's… nevermind, let me worry about that for now."

She cautiously opened her eyes again to find her vision swimming, but she could still just about make out his face. "…Stay with me, please."

"I'm not going anywhere." Monarch reassured her. "Try to get some rest."

She didn't need much suggestion, and within a minute she was unconscious again, this time of her own volition.

Later

It took a while for the medics to finally get to her, and when they did, the news they had for her wasn't great. The odds were good that she'd suffered some kind of brain damage due to oxygen starvation thanks to her heart being unable to pump blood up to her brain, which explained why her memory was so fuzzy. It wasn't all bad news, however, as the damage didn't seem to be permanent, although she was grounded indefinitely for the time being. That sounded all well and good at first, since she was eager for a break, but she swiftly found herself extraordinarily bored.

Monarch, for his part, continued to visit her whenever he got the chance. Although he was frequently called upon to fly missions as part of the continuing war, he came and talked with her whenever he got the chance, bringing her updates as to what was going on.

The Federation had, for the most part, been kicked out of Cascadia. Apparently the Independence Force troops on the ground in Presidia hadn't known that Crimson One was the real cause of the ceasefire violation, and had taken their fury out on the Federation Garrison, which was practically annihilated.

Rescue crews had discovered both Diplomat's and Comic's planes, but they themselves were nowhere to be found. Monarch was hopeful though, as he'd put it: "I'll believe they're dead when I see a body."

He brought her more than just news, however. He managed to scavenge up some books and even a few video games for her to play while she was stuck in bed, and he always seemed to be around to bring her food and water whenever she needed it.

"You know, if you ever get sick of being a pilot, I think you'd make a pretty good nurse." She said.

Monarch couldn't help but chuckle. "I'd never considered that, you really think so?"

"Sure, you've got the right attitude for it." She answered. "Of course, you'd have to find someone else to be Cascadia's poster boy first."

Monarch froze at her words, and for a moment, she wondered if she'd said something wrong, before she put it together. Poster boy… oh, right.

"Poor choice of words, sorry." She added.

There was an awkward pause between the two of them as they both mulled over their own thoughts, and it wasn't hard to guess what was on Monarch's mind.

"Hey, don't let that maniac get under your skin, alright?" She told him. "Whatever he said to you, he was the one to pull the trigger. He's the reason this war isn't over, you didn't do anything wrong."

Monarch let out a long breath and nodded. "Yeah… thank you, I think I needed to hear that."

She held out her arms, and he leaned into her for a hug, looking a little bit better once he was in her arms.

"You aren't doing well with any of this, are you?" She guessed. He was acting much better than he had been after Prospero, but that didn't mean he was doing well.

Monarch shook his head. "I keep getting nightmares. Sometimes it's about Dip and Comic, or about Crimson… I've been shaking too. Mostly just my hands, it's hard to keep them steady sometimes."

Immediately, Prez wondered why she was only hearing about this now, but she did her best to keep her temper down for a moment. She could tell that Monarch was vulnerable right now, and she didn't want to hurt him. "Did you talk to the medics?"

Monarch's composure broke a little as he spoke, but he recovered quickly. "They think it might be PTSD, or something similar."

She held him a bit tighter in response. "With all of what we've seen, I don't blame you. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, I'll be okay." He was quick to reply. "They told me to see a Doctor, but with all of the injured from Presidia, it's going to be a while until that happens."

More bad news for the pile. Prez thought. "Are you really okay to fly? You should talk to Kaiser, I'm sure he can find someone else to take your place for a while."

Monarch hesitated, and she knew that he'd want to keep flying. He'd made it abundantly clear what kind of shape the Independence Force was in, they needed every pilot that they could get, especially one of his caliber. At that same time, he knew she was right, he wouldn't be doing anyone any good if he had a breakdown mid-flight.

"...Alright, I will." Monarch finally said. "It'd be nice to have some downtime for a change."

Monarch tried to stand, but Prez held onto him and kept him close. Now that she knew exactly what kind of demons he was facing, she wasn't content to let him go yet. "Stay with me for a while."

Wordlessly, he leaned back into her embrace and closed his eyes. "Okay."

We're a pair of wrecks. Prez thought, but still held him close. Monarch needed her, and so she'd stay strong, no matter what it took, and she knew that he'd do the same for her.

Author's Notes: I've got a few more ideas that I'll probably get around to writing at some point in the future, some involving the canon characters, but I've got one involving two original characters of mine that I plan on including.