To Barney´s relief, Pepper fell asleep quickly due to the strains of the day, even though her sleep was not as peaceful as he would have wished for it to be. He himself did not allow himself to fall asleep this time, at least not until Booker had stopped by to confirm that he would stick around for the rest of the night so that Barney would be at least halfway fit for the flight home the next day. But the night stayed quiet, and Barney was thankful for it.

Despite the fact that they both could have done with some more hours of rest, they both were up early the next morning. There was no use in dwelling here any longer. Daisy insisted on them having more than just a cup of coffee and a toast for breakfast. And once they had finished eating, she equipped them with lunch packages which would have been sufficient for a circumnavigation of the world. Pepper thanked her heartily for her support after all the years that they had not seen each other. Then, they had been good to go.

Once more, Booker had offered his help and had left town a little while before them. He lived here, considered the place kind of his terrain, and he wanted to make sure that Barney´s and Pepper´s departure would not be disturbed by anyone who might be lying in ambush out there. He had confirmed that everything was quiet outside at the airfield long before they actually arrived there.

On the short drive over there, after the wordy goodbye between the two women, Pepper had fallen quiet. Even though she did not make many words - something Barney was thankful for at this early time of the day - she seemed way better again than the day before, tense, but in a composed way. With checking on the airworthiness of their plane, there was a task at hand, one she could participate in and one she had carried out uncounted times before.

Barney considered only for a second to tell her let him go through with it alone before he discarded the idea. Routines were a good thing and soothing in their own way, and it was her plane in the end. They took their time with the checkup, despite the low temperature and an ice cold sprinkling of rain which would start to fall at some point. After a little while, they met right at the nose of the plane, exchanging a look.

„Everything ok?" he asked.

She nodded. „Everything ok."

He had not announced any findings before and so they were by now obviously finally ready to leave. With one hand resting against the cool and slightly wet surface of the plane, Barney nodded slowly, contented, while he let his gaze wander for a last time over the abandoned area. If Booker was out there, which he had no doubt about, he kept effectively out of view. It was alright. Everything had been cleared out before among them.

„Then let's go", he suggested, dropping his hand.

Pepper nodded, a small sigh coming over her lips while she glanced around once more as well.

„Did we forget about anything?" Barney asked.

With another sigh, she shook her head. „I don't think so."

Her gaze returned to him. „I am just wondering what will be waiting for us once we are back home."

He held her gaze for a moment, then shrugged before he brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face.

„Whatever it will be", he muttered. „We´ll be able to handle it."