HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6
Sydney, Australia
September 2552

"You gonna let me go any time soon?"

"Do you want me to let go?"

"Well, maybe in a minute or two!" She giggled as she continued to be sandwiched between Jun's arms and chest. "You're here! I can't believe you're really here!" He heard Celestina say against his chest.

"Well, I can't believe you survived… that fall," Jun managed to get through that sentence. Even thinking about her incident made his blood run cold. He pulled back enough to see her face and cup her cheeks. "How are you doing?"

She shut her eyes upon the physical contact, having been away from his touch for so long. "I feel wonderful, really! But none of that matters right now," She said as she threw her arms around his neck again. "You're here and that's the most important thing."

He knew right then that it was time to shut up.

Chief of Staff's quarters, HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6
Sydney, Australia
September 2552

"-up! Jun, wake up!"

He cracked his eyes open and sat up hurriedly, covered in a thin layer of sweat. Jun found Celestina on the bed next to him, her hands on his shoulders. "Jun-"

"I'm okay, Celest," He quickly answered, his effort at an assuring smile failing.

"I-" Those two words annoyed Celestina greatly. "You're not okay, because you had a nightmare."

"Celest-"

"I may be the one with the head injury, but even it can't make me forget what a stubborn little shit you are."

"I'm not stubborn!" Jun retorted.

"You've been through a lot, Jun. It's natural to have nightmares."

She got a lackluster 'hm' in return, but that did not stop her from running her hand over his scalp in a comforting manner. "It's okay, mi amore." She told him in a low voice, prompting a smile.

However, Jun's eyes could not help but wonder over to the kitchen table, where he spotted an opened bottle of scotch and a single glass. "You get headaches, don't you?"

It had only been two days since they had reunited. She honestly thought she had more time to prepare before needing to have this conversation. Who was she kidding? This was the man who had known her since they were both 7 years old. "Painkillers don't help me sometimes."

"Wow, you're not even trying to give me an excuse."

"Pardon?"

She knew right then that she had said the wrong thing to her partner. "Celest… you don't remember?"

"Am I… supposed to remember something?"

"Well, whenever you were keeping something from me, you'd always try to make excuses or talk your way out of it. I mean, you'd always cave eventually, but it's always hard to get you to open up instantly."

The look on her face told him that she was embarrassed, almost ashamed to have not known that fact about her. Nevertheless, she kept that smile of hers and a hand on his cheek. "Well, you make it sound like you're my only weakness."

"Hey, I've admitted that you're mine."

She could not help but giggle at that. "We're a couple of sorry losers, aren't we?"

Upon hearing that, Jun pulled her into his chest with absolutely no resistance from her. "Come here," She settled in his arms as they wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. "We've both been through a lot. And while I know you're holding out on me, I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me anything. You know you can trust me."

"Of course, I know that. It's just…" She interlaced her fingers with his. "There's a lot I'm struggling with. Just like I know you are too. I guess we both just need some time to sort out our thoughts and confide in each other."

"I guess we do."

Jun felt her smile against his chest. "So isn't it lucky that we're working together now? Because there's no way we can let each other go now."

"Lucky, indeed."