Holley stood in the hallway for a few moments after Siddeley had left, staring at where he had disappeared from her sight. She sighed and walked back into the hospital room, closing the door behind her.

Finn had passed out on the couch when he heard a knock at the door, waking him up. He drowsily got to his feet and stumbled to the door. He looked nothing like his usual self, wearing a pair of gray Adidas trackpants he had for many years with a baggy black shirt. He opened the door to find Grem and Ace waiting for him, armed with machine guns. Without saying anything, they opened fire on him, killing him where he stood.

Finn screamed, waking up in a cold sweat on the couch. He had nightmares all the time whenever he managed to sleep now. Reaching for his phone, he saw an iMessage from Holley waiting for him and opened it up.

siddeley showed up to the hospital angry and we had a fight. Finn sighed and typed a response.

What was he mad about? The three little dots popped up immediately, signaling an incoming reply. The time now was 7:30. Holley had texted him at 6:45. Finn had managed to get five hours of sleep since Holley drove him home -far more than usual these days.

he said you're avoiding him. i told him that you just want your space but he wouldn't take no for an answer. then he stormed off IDK where he went now

Finn sighed and typed another response.

I don't want to be around Siddeley. It's nothing personal but he wants all the attention when he shows up and I NEED to be with Leland right now. I'm too tired to deal with both of them.

understandable :) if he comes back i'll tell him but honestly i feel like he's gonna text or call you about it so watch out LOL

leland's doing well btw he was actually holding a conversation w me and he told me when he's lucid he knows he gets mad and delirious sometimes and he's sorry for every time he yells at us

Finn smiled at this slightly.

I'm not mad at him, he doesn't need to apologize. I know he can't help it.

i agree :)

Finn didn't reply this time, still tired. He turned the phone off and curled up on the couch.

In his dream, he was on the oil rig again. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest as he crept around above the loading dock. Leland had called for backup. Finn hadn't told anyone, but he had had a bad feeling about it from the very start -from the very moment Leland had left for the mission. When Finn got that distress call, his heart had sank. He knew Leland was in more trouble than ever before -Finn and Leland had pulled each other out of close calls many times before, but this felt eerily different. Finn knew it was nothing good.

"Leland Turbo, this is Finn McMissile. I'm at the rally point. Over." The only response was static crackling. Finn grimaced, feeling a bottomless hole open up in his stomach. It felt like his guts were falling through it over and over, the rapid sinking motion continuing again and again as his anxiety started to build. Something had to have happened to Leland. If the radio was intact he would have heard background noise, maybe voices.

"Leland, it's Finn. Please respond. Over." More static. Oh god, they had gotten to Leland before Finn did. He knew it for certain then. What had become of him now? Finn watched as the workers unloaded crate after crate, when suddenly a short man scurried into view.

"Too many people here. Out of my way."

"Professor Zündapp?" Now he knew they were up to no good. Outlaw German weapons designer Janus Zündapp was running the show. What if he had personally disposed of Leland? Tested some horrible new thing on him? This just kept getting worse and worse. Zündapp and a worker were discussing a TV camera the former had described as "extremely dangerous". Finn's hands shook as he took picture after picture. He felt like puking.

"What are you up to now, Professor?" Finn took out a cable gun and attached a few wires to the areas around him, then advanced further to get a closer look.

"This is valuable equipment. Make sure it is properly secured for the voyage." The worker closed the box as Finn took a few last photos, and then went to pack it away.

"Hey, Professor Z!" A man waiting behind the Professor with a larger crate piped up. Zündapp turned around to face him.

"This is one of those British spies we told you about." Finn's face shifted. Leland!

"Yeah! This one we caught sticking his nose where it didn't belong." Zündapp approached the container, reading something written on the crate.

"Agent Leland Turbo." As if on cue, the crane pulled the crate's lid off, revealing to Finn's horror a crushed red cube. Leland... was inside that. Either they had killed him and disposed of him like that or... that was how he had been killed. Crushed to death inside his car.

Finn gasped and bolted upright on the couch. His phone was going off, and he reached for it. Leland was calling him. This was the first time Leland had used his phone in a while -Holley must have found it and given it to him, because Finn had taken it away and hid it in the nightstand's drawer one day when Leland was delirious and threatening to call 999 on him for an unspecified reason. It was around one in the morning.

"Leland?"

"Hi, Finn." He sounded okay.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I just called to tell you something. I wanted you to hear this from me so I wanted to do this before I forget about it..."

"What is it?"

"I'm being discharged soon." Finn's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they said... bloody hell... oh yeah, they said I'm sound enough to leave. The physical therapy's all outpatient, I guess they don't want me just lingering in hospital that long." Finn sat there, processing that. He would finally be taking Leland home.

He would finally be retiring from MI6. He would finally leave London. He would finally end this chapter of his life. This would all end.

This would all end. Finn was going to be torn away from everything he knew, thrust into this new frontier.

This would all end. No longer would Finn have to distance himself from Leland due to work or hide their relationship from anyone ever again.

"Finn?"

"Finn?" Finn was silent, in a state of shock. Even though he knew this day would come eventually, he still wasn't prepared for it.

"Finn." Leland's tone grew sharper.

"Huh?" This time, Leland was silent.

"I feel like I was going to call and tell you something. I can't remember why I picked up the phone." On rare occasions, Finn was glad Leland had completely forgotten something. This was one of those occasions.

"Bloody hell! This memory loss is really doing me head in, Finn."

"Don't worry about it, Leland, I'm sure everything is fine." Finn was too worn out to deal with this. This was so taxing -not just talking on the phone this late at night, but everything, cumulatively -he hated to admit it, but Leland was so needy. Holley was right. Finn would get used to it, and Leland was getting better -but that was in the future. Right now, their relationship was so... skewed. Visiting Leland constantly was tiring enough -soon, Finn would be caring for him.

The future Holley had given Finn hope for tonight better come soon. Because Finn was at his limit. He sighed into the reciever. He'd feel better tomorrow morning. This was just sleep depriviation, he wasn't thinking rationally, he'd be okay. He'd be okay. He just needed to hang up and rest for a bit.

"Goodnight, Leland."

"I think I remember what-"

"Goodnight, Leland. I love you." Finn hung up. Hopefully Leland would forget that too, because Finn felt bad about it the very second after. But this regret wouldn't keep him up. Finn's eyelids were heavy, and he fell back asleep within minutes, not to be woken by the phone again.