A/N: As stated before, written for the One Hundred Ways To Say 'I Love You' Challenge. If you ever feel like talking or seeing more of my work, hit me up on Twitter ( mricjwrites) or on Discord (Mari#8292).

Prompt: "It's not that heavy. I'm stronger than I look."

Anyways, enjoy!

Neil's occupational therapist clearing him or not, it doesn't stop Eva from worrying, no. Far from it, actually: she's been the one caring for him since the beginning, and, in the end, none of it matters. It doesn't matter that Neil's as healthy as he can be, all things considered, and it doesn't matter that all of his team thinks he's ready to go back to work. What does matter, is that Eva has been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and she has never been so scared in her life. For him, and for herself, too.

Eva might be stubborn and hard to deal with sometimes, but if there isn't something Eva is, that something is selfish, and she doesn't let her fears ruin his day, and refuses to let them catch up to her. Morning comes, and both of them wake up earlier than the usual and celebrate it for as long and as much as time allows them, and although Eva hates it and doesn't want to repeat the squirrel incident, she lets Neil drive for once, and, instead of cooking, both of them decide to get breakfast on their way to work.

She's there when Neil enters his office for the first time in over a year, and Neil has the biggest, stupidest smile on his face, and Eva doesn't need to ask him to know this is the happiest he's been in a while, and her heart almost melts at the thought.

Between the two of them, Eva's the hard-working one, the one that cares too much about the rules and doing whatever the contract asks them to, but Neil's the one that cares. The one that loves his job and loves everything that both of them are supposed to do, and, at the end of the day, Eva wouldn't have it any other way.

It doesn't take long for things to fall into a familiar routine, the sort of thing both of them have almost forgotten, and it doesn't take long until both of them are called in. Their patient is Abigail James and lives in a nursing home, and her state is quickly deteriorating. Both of them don't need to ask each other to know there isn't enough time, and of course Neil's first time going back to work in over a year isn't going to be as easy as both of them thought it'd be.

Soon enough, both of them are there, and the nursing home is in on the top of a hill, surrounded by trees and near the sea, and it's everything Neil talks about when it comes to retirement. Part of her hopes she's part of his long term plans.

"Let me help you," Eva doesn't ask or suggests, she demands, and before Neil can leave the car and walk to the trunk, she's outside and waiting for him by it. She's never offered to help him with the machine, and has never showed any interest in it, but this time around, Eva can't keep this to herself and is sure she shouldn't either. In this moment, Eva knows it's the right thing: it's been almost one year since Neil even as much as touched the machine, and helping wouldn't hurt, especially not now.

In his absence, she and Taima ended up working together, and at this point, carrying the machine isn't anything new to Eva.

"C'mon, Eva. Don't tell you're starting to go soft on me now," Neil tries to be as soft and as warm as he can, but can't hide the irritation behind his words. Both of them have been working together for a long time now, and Eva has never offered to help once, no matter how much he begged at the time, and Neil isn't allowing things to change now. Especially not now.

Eva pretends she doesn't notice his frustration, and, opening the trunk, her hands goes for the machine. Before she manages to have a solid grip on it, though, Neil's close to her, and gently tries to bat her hands away from it. This is his job, and he's been kept from it for far too long. It sucks and is the part Neil hates the most about Sigmund, but this time around, Neil wants to carry the machine inside.

But then again: it isn't Eva's fault and he doesn't blame her for worrying. She wouldn't have anything to worry about if it weren't for his stupidity.

"It isn't that heavy," It's what Neil tells her over his shoulder once he has the machine in his hands, and Eva doesn't buy any of it. She doesn't need to be the one holding it to know that it is, indeed, as heavy as it looks, and the fact Neil needs some extra strength to lift it up and readjust his grip on it doesn't go unnoticed.

"In fact-," He's struggling to get the words out, struggling to even as much as breathe, and in that moment, Neil knows he should've taken easier. It's the first time in months since he's touched the machine, and although the original model he and Rox came up with has been updated and has had some improvements, it doesn't mean that maintenance managed to make it much lighter than it is already, and in the end, he blames it on all the extra features he and Rox added.

It's much easier to get the job done, but even harder to carry it inside and then to the trunk once again.

"- In fact, it's much lighter than I remember it being," And the more Neil tries, the easier it gets: to take the initial steps, to remember to breathe as he walks up the hill, and soon enough, it almost feels as if he's never left at all and has been here for the ride all along, "Let's roll."

And before either of them notice, Neil and Eva are moving, faster and faster, and in a what it feels like seconds, both of them are standing before the front door. Slowly, almost as if no time has passed since he and Eva last worked together, the old and familiar routine comes to them: Neil's hands are busy and she's the one responsible for getting both of them in. Eva rings the doorbell and introduces herself, explaining the reason why they're here in the first place.

On the other side of the door, not much longer after it, the man's voice disappears with a promise of buzzing them in a few seconds.

"Told ya I'm stronger than I look," Neil doesn't let silence settle in, and, not so surprisingly, Eva doesn't mind this time around. His lips curve into a smile and Neil has one of those loving, longing looks on his face, the ones that, more often than not, he tries to hide.

There isn't enough time, and neither of them get a word out after that. The door opens, and Neil nudges her with one of his feet, and Eva leads the way.

His smile is reassuring and makes her feel slightly better, but it doesn't stop Eva from worrying, and part of her is sure she's never going to stop doing so, but, right now, there isn't much of a point in thinking about it. This is as good as it'll get and the best it's ever been, and, for now, it's enough.