St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo
Main Building, ICCU Room 507
06:07 JST

As Riley dimly opened her eyes, the first question to cross her mind was who had redecorated her bedroom. That wasn't her clock on the wall. That wasn't her brightly coloured painting of koi fish. The bed sheets were an odd mint green. Groggy and confused, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

It took a few long moments of blinking the fuzziness away before realizing those small decorating choices weren't the only differences. The room she was in also had a sink and mirror, a length of medicinal cabinets along the wall, and a monitoring system built into the foot of her bed.

Then as the buzz of pain and steady sound of electronic beeping came into focus, Riley figured out with a startling jolt just what exactly was off about the whole thing.

She was supposed to be dead.

So why wasn't she?

"Gabriel," Riley whispered hoarsely. "Gabriel."

Panic curling through her, Riley fought to pull the last fuzzy memories she had from her drug-addled brain. Dimly, she remembered trying to tell the two men who'd been hovering over her to get down to the lifeboats. She remembered thinking that a containership in the middle of Tokyo Bay was as good a place as any to die. Because Gabriel could hardly move and Griffin…he couldn't save them both.

Vaguely, Riley registered the frantic tone of machines as her heart rate soared.

"Ms. Neal, you're awake." A large brunette woman in blue nursing scrubs hurried through the door, looking like a worried mother hen as the blood drained from Riley's face. "You're safe now, honey. No need to panic. Everything's all right – "

"No!" Riley cried out. "No, everything's not all right! Don't you get it?! I'm alive. That means he's…he's…" The word stuck hard as her throat closed up and tears blurred her vision. It couldn't be true, but what other explanation was there?

"He's dead!" she choked out. "Oh, God...he's dead..."

"Riley? Christ - what's wrong?!"

All at once, Griffin was at her side with a wide-eyed look of astonishment and confusion on his unshaven face. Hot tears running down her cheeks, seeing him made Riley's blood boil.

"You!" she pointed with raging accusation. "What did he say to you?! How easily did he convince you to leave him behind?" Griffin jerked back in surprise, hands raised in defence like her finger was a gun. "I'm the one..." she faltered, voice beginning to shake. "I was supposed to..."

But Riley had no more words. All she could think of was that Gabriel was gone. That he had made the choice of who would survive and foolishly picked her. Her partner, her friend, the one man in the world Riley could undoubtedly say she both respected and trusted, had chosen to die so she could live.

And she hadn't been able to stop him.

Letting out a choked cry of anguish, the grief surged up and crashed over her like a wave. And as voices swirled all around, Riley couldn't hear anything above the sound of her own heart wrenching sobs. Shutting her eyes and ears to the chaos of the world, she let herself drown.

And she sank deeper.

And deeper.

And deeper…

"He's alive!" Griffin boomed. "Would you pay attention already? Vaughn's alive."

Riley's eyes burst open. Her head pulsed with shock.

Uncontrollable shaking, she tried to reconcile what had been said with the impossible.

Could it true? Could Griffin really have done it?

Taking in an erratic breath and blinking away tears, the watery, unfocused blur in front of her sharpened into the agent's scruffy face. Hovering just inches from her own, his hard expression barely changed as she stared back at him speechlessly, wanting - but afraid – to believe.

"How?" she whispered, between gasps for breath.

Blowing out a puff of air, Griffin rubbed a hand over his eyes in exasperation. "The coast guard," he simply explained. "They were called in." Then he pulled away and stood over her with his arms crossed, watching Riley closely like he was waiting for her to fall apart again. "The doctors say Vaughn should fully recover. Now calm down before you hurt yourself," the agent ordered with blunt irritation.

Words sinking in one after the other, it took only a few moments for the tears to resume their fall. Smiling, trembling, laughing and crying, Riley made no attempt to stop the salty drops as they slid down her cheeks and dripped off her jaw. She was too joyously relieved to even notice.

At some point, when the pain in her chest became too much and she was as emotionally as she was physically exhausted, Riley wiped the last of the tears away.

Taking her cue, the nurse stepped forward. "There, now. Hush," she cooed. Pulling a tissue from the box on the nightstand, she dabbed carefully at Riley's cheeks. Warm and gentle, she had a kindly round face, soft brown eyes, and plump valentine lips. "All better," she smiled, tossing the tissue into a nearby waste basket. "Now, honey, my name's Joyce. I'm your day nurse, and I promise to take good care of you."

Exhausted and pain-filled as she was, Riley felt a bit giddy as she returned Joyce's smile. "Nice to meet you, Joyce. My name's Riley, and I promise I'm not always like that." Then her giddiness faded slightly as she glanced at all the machines and tubes. "When can I go see him?"

Griffin, who was leaning his back against the wall, let out a noise of exasperation. Then he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Joyce gave her a sympathetic look. "Mr. Vaughn? Well, I suppose that depends. You see, there's a chest tube taped up snug against your ribs right now running into your left lung. You won't be leaving this bed until the doctor says." Turning back the bed sheet, she lifted up the hospital shirt Riley had been dressed in and Riley caught a glance of a thick plastic tube snaking over the side of the bed before her shirt came down again. "Looks good. No kinks or bubbling around the seal," Joyce reported. "As for Mr. Vaughn…" she smoothed the sheets and turned away from the bed towards a number of IV bags, inspecting each one. "Once his muscle strength started returning, he was transferred to a private room up on the seventh floor. I called up just a tick ago and was told he's still sleeping like a baby, but I'll tell you what; maybe later today when you're both awake, and if his nurse thinks he's able, we can have him brought down in a wheelchair. How does that sound?"

To Riley, it sounded like torture. She didn't want to wait until 'maybe later'. Every cell in her body was telling her to get up out of the bed, find Gabriel, and throw her arms around him. It wasn't that she didn't believe Joyce and Griffin, but that would make it real.

Riley smiled and nodded gratefully instead. "Thank you."

Joyce beamed back at her, waving the comment away like no thanks were necessary. "Oh, honey, you're welcome."

Humming a tune, she delicately picked up Riley's left hand and inspected the plastic IV tubes taped to the back of it. After that, she moved around to the other side of the bed and carefully repositioned the sling which cradled Riley's right arm. "Everything looks as right as it can," Joyce said, walking around to the foot of the bed and tapping at the monitoring system. "I'll come in and check on you again in a little bit but if you need anything in the meantime, don't you even hesitate. Push on that little red button there and I'll come running." Finishing her data entry, she gave Riley one last big smile. "Now I'm sure you've got all kinds of questions, but remember, honey: rest. Your body needs to heal, and you need to let it."

Riley nodded obediently and as the nurse walked past him towards the door, Griffin gave her a brief nod and mumbled, "Thanks, Joyce."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Griffin," she beamed, looking his haggard appearance up and down with a critical eye. "You should get some rest too, you know. Otherwise you'll wind up in a bed right next to your friend here."

Eyes on the floor, he nodded again. "Yeah, sure." Though as Joyce disappeared into the hallway, Griffin continued standing with his back against the wall, and eyes cast downwards.

Giving him a good look for the first time, Riley noted he was still wearing the shirt and dress pants he'd had on at the gala, although the shirt was almost completely unbuttoned to reveal the undershirt beneath. At one point bleach white, it was also dirty and wrinkled, with smatterings of dried blood around the rolled up sleeves, which Riley guessed was her own. Other than the dark circles beneath his eyes and the purplish-blue bruises on one cheek, it looked to her that Griffin was definitely tired, but otherwise unharmed.

And he was definitely annoyed.

"Sorry, Griff," she began. "I didn't mean to – "

"Lose your goddamn mind?" he finished with a cold glare. Letting out a heavy sigh of defeat, Griffin pushed himself away from the wall and fell bodily into the chair next to Riley's bed. Scrubbing roughly at his face, he waved a dismissive hand like he was too tired to argue. "Sure. No problem. Just go to sleep, would you?"

Logically, Riley knew she should. Her eyelids were heavy with fatigue and exhaustion tugged like an insistent child with the sweet promise of pain relief. But Joyce was right: she did have questions, and her heart buzzed with the anticipation of seeing Gabriel, without any intention of slowing down.

It was going to be a long wait.

"Tell me more about the coast guard," she prodded. "How'd it go down?"

Resting his forearms on his knees, Griffin gave her a look. For a moment, Riley thought he might just tell her again to go to sleep, but then with a long sigh he conceded and began the story. "You passed out and Vaughn was…" – he paused, and Riley already knew the answer – "being Vaughn. I was trying to work out a plan, and all of a sudden the door's banged in and we're surrounded."

Riley nodded at the execution, wondering how the coast guard had even gotten involved in the first place. "So the Organized Crime Control Division has enough pull to call them in?" she guessed.

Griffin ran his hand through his ruffled hair. "Sort of. See, Vaughn and I were coming to get you and the guy nearly collapsed on me. We started arguing and your people put two and two together after Vaughn – like the genius he is – went and cut communication. Your boss got on the horn with the OCCD to see what they could do, and they turned around and called in the coast guard for immediate intervention. I don't think the coast guard would have scrambled so fast, but it turns out Abe got wind of what was going on and told the police that if needed, they could make any orders they wanted on his behalf."

"To keep Finnegan happy," Riley assumed.

Although Griffin nodded in agreement, he averted her eyes and she heard him mutter "Probably."

"Probably?" Riley repeated in surprise. "What do you mean 'probably'?"

Based on the look of shock on his face, Griffin hadn't counted on her actually hearing what he'd said. Caught, he frowned for a second before rolling his eyes and shrugging like it was no big deal. "He liked Captain America. Seems Japan's got a thing for idiotic bravery."

Blinking, it took Riley's tired, drug addled brain a few seconds to realize that Griffin was talking about Gabriel. Then she was simply stunned.

"Anyway, there were two choppers outside and the whole ship was surrounded," Griffin pushed on. "And I'm talking like an army here; patrol ships, guard boats, surveillance…these guys didn't mess around. You and Vaughn got lifted to the choppers and they took off straight for the hospital. I went back on one of the boats, got in contact with your agency, and spent the next couple hours on the phone being debriefed by Director Strand. I hung up and five minutes later they were wheeling you out of surgery."

Continuing down that path of conversation, Griffin leaned back against the chair and nodded to Riley's chest. "Pulmonary laceration. The bullet grazed your left lung and you were bleeding into it. Missed your ribs by a couple of centimeters, though."

Thoughts travelling from Gabriel to the reason she couldn't get up and go see him, Riley frowned. As much as it was saving her life, she didn't particularly care for the plastic tube stuffed inside her, tasked with sucking out any residual liquid from her lung. It made her feel like a caged animal and it hurt like all hell to boot.

"Lucky me," Riley said dryly.

"You were lucky," Griffin insisted. "You could've drowned in your own blood, you know. Trauma surgeon said the chest tube will come out in a couple days once the lung tissue's healed, and that Jameson guy's already got a respiratory therapist lined up for when you're back home. I told Joyce earlier you're a fast healer, so she's thinking full recovery in three months." He paused, and his gaze moved to her right arm. "But that…"

Looking down at the sling which rested loosely against her stomach, Riley tried wiggling her fingers, not thinking too hard about the diagnosis. "Let me guess - it's broken."

Griffin gave her a small, wry smile. "Proximal humerus fracture," he explained. "You'll have to sleep sitting up for the next little while so gravity can help keep the bones in place, and it'll be at least six months before they put you back in the field. There's nothing but desk duty and physio in your near future." Riley made a face at the prospect.

"And Gabriel's future?" Even knowing the answer, she wanted to hear it again. Even more, she wanted to see Gabriel answer that question himself.

Griffin sighed as if he was already tired of being asked. "Like I said; the doctors told me he'll make a full recovery." Stopping there, it appeared to Riley that he was content to drop the subject, and only begrudgingly continued on when he caught her look.

"So they had him hooked up to a ventilator for a while in the ICCU, plus a crash cart was ready to go just in case he went into cardiac arrest. But they never ended up needing it because he started getting better. They took the tube out about" – he glanced at his watch – "two hours ago and that's when he got moved to the private room on the seventh floor." Griffin then shrugged like they were talking about a cold instead of a deadly poison. "In cases like his, the night nurse said tetrodotoxin usually takes a couple days to completely clear out. So come tomorrow, the only real thing that Vaughn'll have to worry about will be a couple broken ribs." Raising an eyebrow, he added; "That, and whether he still has a job."

Pausing at his comment, Riley suddenly felt uneasy. Since waking up and finding out he was alive, her thoughts with respect to Gabriel hadn't travelled much past desperately needing to see him. But Griffin's mention of an argument and Gabriel deliberately cutting ties with CDOC in order to continue mission weren't things that Lillian would take lightly. And that wasn't even the full story.

"It was pretty bad, huh?" Riley ventured.

"Pretty bad?" Griffin gave a derisive scoff. "The damn idiot was dying and nothing I said or did made any difference. Yeah, I'll say it was pretty bad." Shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Griffin shook his head with the memory of it all.

"Christ…" he muttered under his breath. "And to think I actually believed him when I asked if you two were sleeping together."

"We…what?!" Riley sputtered. "You asked him…?" Thinking back to what seemed like weeks ago, she hazily recalled a moment in the Grand Ballroom after the sweep when Griffin and Gabriel had briefly been left alone together, and the latter's mood had subsequently darkened.

Now she understood.

"We're not sleeping together. It's…" Riley shook her head weakly, feeling her cheeks heat as her gaze fell to the folds in her mint green blankets. "We're just friends. It's not like that."

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Griffin looked silently from the heart monitor as it cheerfully gave away her racing pulse, to the bunched up fistful of blanket clenched tightly in her hand. "Really?" he asked evenly. "It's not like that, huh?" Leaning forward on his arms, Griffin shot her a look of annoyance. "Just who the hell do you think you're fooling?"

Surprised by the question, Riley met his eyes and found him watching her expectantly, as if he was resigned to waiting for some sort of confession. Tight lipped, she looked away, not wanting Griffin to see her cheeks heat up as the truth sank in.

Who did she think she was fooling?

Apparently just herself.

Angel's Bluff, Virginia
United States Cyber Command, Director's Office
17:26 EST

"She fought it pretty hard, but didn't stay awake for much longer after that. She seems to be doing all right, though."

Sitting at her desk with phone in one hand and double whiskey on the rocks in the other, Lillian Strand gave a relieved nod to the caller. "And how is she handling everything?"

"Uh…" Griffin paused in thought. "She was…a little confused at first, but after I explained things to her she was fine. Just really tired."

Raising an eyebrow at his hesitation, Lillian couldn't help but wonder exactly what 'a little confused' meant. Swirling her glass on the mahogany, she watched the golden liquid as it sloshed around and around. The cubes of ice clinked like frozen wind chimes.

"I'm happy to hear she's resting, then. But if Riley's up for it later, I'd love to speak to her myself. Hear her voice," Lillian added with a gentle smile.

"Sure. I, uh...I need to get back to the hotel, so I'll have Joyce call you the next time Riley wakes up."

Lillian nodded appreciatively. "Of course. Thank you, Agent Griffin. I realize your involvement in this mission went well beyond the original parameters, but I'm grateful for everything you've done for my agency and my agents. President Finnegan will be hearing from me what an asset you've been."

"Thanks," he said dryly. "I'd like to keep my job."

Exchanging good-byes, Lillian was just dropping the phone back into its cradle when she saw a fast moving blur in her peripheral. Looking up, she spotted Jameson through the glass walls of her office. Rumpled shirt halfway unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up to the elbows, she didn't think he'd yet gone home to sleep or even change since the mission had began.

Pulling her door open, Jameson covered the mic on his headset with one hand as he poked his head in. "Lillian, I've got Gabriel's nurse on the line. He's awake."

Lillian took a breath. "Thank you, Jameson. Put it through," she answered, nodding to her desk phone. "And Jameson?" Already turned to go, he looked back at her expectantly; drooping eyes plagued with fatigue. "They're going to be fine. Now rest."

Giving her a tired smile and a brief nod, Chris Jameson closed the door and hurried off; she hoped in search of a bed.

Turning her attention towards the blinking light on her phone, Lillian took a long sip of whiskey before picking up. "Hello, Gabriel. How're you - "

"What the hell happened to Riley?! Her chart says she was 'agitated upon awaking' and should be kept under observation in case of 'any further distress'," Gabriel ranted. "Why the hell'd you tell the nurse to dope me? I should've been there. She never should've woken up alone."

Well, he was certainly feeling better.

Taking a deep, calming breath while Gabriel seethed, Lillian reminded herself that he was still recovering from two fractured ribs and a deadly poison. Plus if his raspy, hoarse voice was anything to go by, he also had one hell of a sore throat from the tube they'd put down his trachea. She needed to take it easy on him - at least for now.

"I made that request because despite what you seem to think, you needed rest, as well," Lillian explained. "And Riley didn't wake up alone. After his debriefing, Agent Griffin offered to stay with her and I accepted. Now I'll admit he wouldn't have been my first choice, but he made himself available and brought Riley up to speed before she fell back asleep." Swirling her glass on the desk, Lillian studied the forming bubbles, cautiously adding; "She may have been confused or agitated at first, but I do believe she's all right now."

There was a pause as Gabriel considered her answer. Lillian knew he wouldn't be happy that Griffin had made an effort to stick around, but she also knew he would accept the fact that someone had been there for Riley – even if that someone hadn't been him.

"You really think she's okay?" he finally asked.

Lillian nodded, smiling. "I do. She's strong, Gabriel. Riley's been through a lot, but she's strong. You know that."

His tone was considerably gentler as he answered; "Yeah, I do."

"Good. And how are you doing?"

"Peachy."

Raising an eyebrow at the finality of the word, Lillian decided it was time for a change of topic. Pulling open a drawer, she grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and dropped both on the desk next to her drink.

"In that case, you can explain to me just what exactly happened after you and Agent Griffin nearly shot each other."

Gabriel let out a sigh. "I was wondering when you'd ask about that."

Lillian tapped the end of her pen on a corner of the notepad, leaving behind tiny little dents in the paper. "Frankly, I'm hoping you'll deny it actually happened. I'd like to think you have more common sense than to attack and threaten the detail leader for the President of the United States."

She wasn't holding her breath, though.

As if in confirmation, the anger Lillian sensed radiating off of Gabriel in the charged silence practically heated the phone in her hand.

"Lillian…" he warned. "The guy was giving up on Riley. Said we had to abort."

"I know, Gabriel," she answered softly. "Agent Griffin was making what he thought was the best decision given the circumstances."

"You're defending him?!" he sputtered.

Sighing, Lillian rubbed at her tired eyes. "No, I'm reminding you that sometimes there are no 'good' decisions. Sometimes there are only ones that will hurt us and others that will hurt us more." Lillian gripped the pen in her hand. "I know you don't like it and I know we don't always agree, but it's my job to ensure that the decisions which are made are the ones that will hurt us the least."

Gabriel let out a growl. "You are defending him."

Lillian threw up a hand in exacerbation. "How can I when Riley's alive?" she countered. "You took an enormous risk, Gabriel, but in the end you all made it out alive." Thinking briefly of Prime Minister Abe's support, she added; "And from the sounds of it, it was because of that risk."

In the silence that followed, Lillian picked up the tumbler and swallowed another mouthful of whiskey. The ice was starting to melt. "Unfortunately, however, there are people who will question that risk. Weatherly, Tetazoo…certainly the President himself. They'll see what you did as proof that you are a risk. That you don't follow orders and can't be controlled."

Pen poised in her hand, Lillian looked at the blank page in front of her and debated telling Gabriel about a recent conversation she'd had about checks and balances. About the belief that his current insubordination was a precursor for the day he became more chip than man. What Gabriel didn't know was that the seeds of mistrust had already been planted. And if Lillian wanted to protect her asset, then she needed to stop those seeds from sprouting.

"Gabriel, you have to give me a reason," she commanded. "I need a damn good reason to feed to these wolves in order to keep them off our backs."

There was a long, hollow pause. Silently eying her drink, Lillian grimly wondered if her agent was deciding on an answer by replaying the night in his head. Maybe even the part she had yet to be filled in on. Since Griffin had split his time between trying to find the others and hiding from crew members, Lillian could only guess how Gabriel had gone from searching for Riley to tied up in a chair, and she had gone from escaping custody to what Griffin hadn't hesitated to describe as his rescue of her from an impending gang rape. It was a conversation Lillian wasn't looking forward to have.

Finally Gabriel said something, but his voice so low, so tight with emotion, she had to strain into the receiver to hear.

"Riley was gonna die," he edged out. "The things they did to her…what they were planning to do…" Gabriel took a ragged breath and in the silence that followed, Lillian wondered if he'd even finish. "You're asking me for a reason, but you already know what it is."

The Director of Cyber Command took a second to consider this, then quickly shot back the rest of her whiskey. "Yes," she quietly answered, feeling the liquid burn down her throat. "Yes, I suppose I do."

St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo
Main Building, ICCU Ward
06:41 JST

507. He was almost at room 507.

Clumsily maneuvering his way around staff and other patients, Gabriel tried to keep his frustration at bay as it continued to rise. Honestly, it was bad enough he had to submit to being in a wheelchair, since his traitorous legs were still more or less dead weights. Bad enough that he'd just about needed to threaten his nurse so she'd leave him alone and not try wheeling him to Riley's room herself. But for God's sake, trying to use his mostly working arms to steer around slow walkers and janitors pushing mop buckets who had nowhere else to be but in his way was something else.

Narrowly missing a distracted surgeon on his smartphone, Gabriel rounded a corner and nearly took out someone's knees.

"Damn it," he cursed, looking up to see who he'd just about played bumper cars with.

It was Charlie Griffin.

"Having trouble with your ride, Vaughn?" he asked smoothly. Initial look of surprise quickly turning into an eyebrow raise, Griffin took a step back and adjusted his collar.

"Just working the kinks out," Gabriel countered, giving the man a once-over.

Unlike the last time he'd seen Griffin, the agent looked decently put together, with his suit jacket neatly folded over one arm, hair perfectly combed, and crisp white shirt wrinkle free and bloodless. "Taking off?" Gabriel guessed, not bothering to hide his smile.

Griffin glanced at the floor for a moment before shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I am. Some of us have to get back to their actual jobs."

Gabriel ignored the comment, giving a nod instead to Riley's room at the end of the hall. "How is she?"

"Alive," he answered gruffly. "And sleeping, so you better not wake her up."

Gabriel crossed his arms, feeling slightly insulted. "Wasn't planning on it."

In truth, all he actually wanted – no, needed – to do since the moment they'd been separated was see Riley's face. Watch every inhale and exhale. Feel her hand while he held it in both of his.

The rest could wait until later.

Griffin shrugged like it didn't really matter one way or the other. "Yeah, well, I'm out of here. If she does wake up…" He glanced down at the floor again then looked somewhere over Gabriel's head with an unreadable expression. "Just keep it short, and don't upset her." Then without another word, Griffin walked off and disappeared around the corner.

Gabriel blinked, unable to shake the feeling that their whole conversation felt off. Maybe it was the lack of a smirk on his face, or his slightly subdued nature, or maybe the fact that he wasn't surrounded by his usual cloud of smugness, but Gabriel was suddenly struck with the notion that he'd never see Griffin again.

Spinning the chair, he following him around the corner. "Hey," Gabriel called to the retreating form.

Already halfway to the elevators, Griffin stopped, paused, then gave a sigh before slowly turned back. There was the faintest hint of resentment in his otherwise neutral expression. "What?" he called in return.

Gabriel pursed his lips. He hadn't exactly thought this through, but knew in an instant that no matter what came out of his mouth, it was never going to be enough. "I wanted to say…thank you," he said. "I owe you one."

Griffin considered the words for a moment, then made a noise that sounded almost like a laugh as he shook his head in disbelief and continued to walk away. "Yeah, you do," he called over his shoulder. An elevator door chimed its opening and with a final nod in Gabriel's direction, Griffin disappeared.

Gabriel sat alone with the debt he'd never be able to repay and the burning image of a scarred man smiling with lust. He didn't like owing people, but as Gabriel turned the wheelchair around and continued on his trek, he knew it didn't matter for one simple reason.

Riley.

The last glimpse he'd had of her was back on the Charleston, as her prone body had disappeared into a helicopter. That moment was forever seared in his memory, hours later still causing his chest to tighten as he had wondered in a brief, wild instant if that would be the last time he ever saw her alive.

Gabriel's tenuous grip on his sanity had only weakened upon arriving at St. Luke's and discovering that there were no cameras in the OR to chip into. Then they'd intubated him, robbing Gabriel even of his ability to ask if his partner was still breathing. He spent hours like this, chipped into the hospital records while he lay motionless in a bed, watching nurses come in and out. Not one of them knew he'd been screaming at them in his mind, begging for a single word about Riley Neal. Not one of them knew how he furiously swore at their backs as they left. It had been purgatory – no, it had been hell. His fully functioning brain had been a prisoner, locked in a lifeless body. And there was nothing Gabriel could do but slowly go insane.

Finally, it had been a brief operative note entered into the hospital system which had pulled him back from the edge. Turning to liquid from relief, Gabriel had read the post-op diagnosis, the last final line of it, over and over until his vision blurred with tears and he could see each word when he closed his eyes.

Condition of patient: stable

They say there are a precious few defining moments in every person's life. Moments that are hinged on choices made, and still others that are borne from trial and tribulation. Wheeling to a stop outside room 507, Gabriel knew reading Riley's post-op note had been one of his.

And now he had to decide what to do about it. After all, Griffin had said not to upset her.

Crossing the threshold, Gabriel pushed that question to the side as his heart skipped a beat and he released the breath he'd been holding.

There she was.

Lying at a raised incline on the bed, Riley was too pale and too still, with too many plastic lines and noisy machines around her. She looked fragile, and it squeezed at Gabriel's heart to know his strong, capable partner was trapped there, weakened and defenceless.

Taking up vigil at her left side, he noted that the bruise-like shadows beneath Riley's closed eyes were nearly as dark as the curling tendrils that framed her face. They lay in stark contrast to the square, bone white bandages that were taped to her cheek and disappearing beneath the neckline of her hospital shirt. Gabriel averted his eyes. He couldn't look at those without wondering about the torn skin they covered. Wondering, as his stomach turned, how they'd come to be.

It was even harder to look at the sling holding Riley's right arm. That shoulder would never recover its full range of motion, and it might ache for years to come. It would certainly take years for the memory of her face, screwed up in unbearable pain as Takayama had shifted the bone, to finally fade from Gabriel's mind.

Though by far the worst of all was what lay beneath the covers, hidden from view. A bullet wound he'd been unable to prevent. A lung injury which had resulted from Riley's focus on his safety instead of the danger right in front of her.

This, along with the rest of her injuries, was his fault. His fault for having the chip. For being – as she had put it – the one who had to live. Riley had made it damn clear enough on the boat that his safety was all she cared about. And that no matter how much he wanted to protect her with everything he had, she wasn't interested.

She would still do her job. She would still die just so he could live.

Gabriel shook his head roughly, trying to rid himself of the dark thoughts that were tightening the cords in his throat. No, he had to stop. He had to remember the most important thing.

She was alive, damn it.

Gabriel turned his attention to Riley's left hand resting over the covers. Carefully, trying not to disturb her or the tube running into it, he encased that hand in both of his own. Her cool, slender fingers disappeared beneath his larger, calloused ones and quickly began to heat as he gave Riley his warmth.

"Hey, you," he whispered to her sleeping face.

Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe it was just an unconscious muscle twitch, but Gabriel could have sworn that as he gave a gentle squeeze, for an instant Riley squeezed back. It set off a flutter in his chest all the same.

Christ, he was such a goner.

"…Gabriel…?"

At the sound of the barely heard whisper, Gabriel completely froze up. Heart thrumming and eyes locked on their entwined hands, he wondered just how much his brain was playing tricks on him.

"Gabriel."

Nope, not a trick.

Turning his blue eyes to meet green, Gabriel was sure his heart would burst from his chest. "Riley…" he breathed. Bringing her hand to his face, he reveled in the smile forming on her lips. "Yeah, it's me," he answered, pressing his own lips against her knuckles. "I'm here, Riley. I'm right here."

Squeezing his hand, her tired eyes studied him like she was trying to commit every detail to memory. "It's so good to see you," she whispered. He noticed then that her voice was shaking. "I…I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

"Same," he answered roughly, massaging Riley's fingers with his thumb. "God, you have no idea."

At this confession, her wavering smile fell and Riley looked at him with a heartbroken expression that felt like a punch to his gut.

Don't upset her, he chastised himself. You're an idiot, Vaughn. Don't upset her.

"Gabriel…" Shifting, whatever Riley had been about to say died with a hiss of pain on her lips. Her eyes snapped shut and she completely tensed up, crushing his hand until it hurt.

"Easy, easy," Gabriel coaxed, although his own voice rose with anxiety. There was no helping it. She was in pain, and it cut at him like a knife.

After a few tense moments, Riley's iron grip relaxed and her eyes reopened. Her face matched the colour of the bandage on her cheek. "Sorry," she said lamely. "I forgot I can't move that much."

Breathing hard enough that his ribs ached, Gabriel stared at her incredulously. "'Sorry'?" he repeated. "You're sorry?! Christ, Riley, I'm the one who should be apologizing." Looking down at her hand at his lips, he swallowed thickly before continuing. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what happened, but…I'll do anything to make it right."

Relaxed into the pillow, Riley gave a tired little shake of her head. "I don't – "

"Anything, Riley," Gabriel cut in. "I don't care what it is."

Huffing at what was sure to be his stubbornness, she looked at him for a long moment; green eyes flickering in calculation. Then Riley finally raised one skeptical eyebrow. "Anything?" she confirmed. "You promise?"

Gabriel nodded his agreement. He'd get her the damn moon if she asked.

Riley set her lips in a fine line and gave him a hard stare. "Then what I want is for you to promise you'll never try dying for me again."

Gabriel swore under his breath. Realizing she'd trapped him in a corner, he looked at her pleadingly. "Anything but that."

Riley's eyes narrowed; her face growing dark with anger. "Gabriel…" she warned. "That's all I want. How many times do I have to tell you that it's your life that's my responsibility? Not the other way around."

Even expecting this answer, it still felt like a knife through his heart. "You can say it as many times as you want," Gabriel growled back, holding up an inch of finger space. "It ain't gonna change the fact that I came this close to losing you."

Riley glared back defiantly, but there was that flicker of heartbreak in her eyes again. "And just what makes you think I'm the only one whose life was in danger? Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, I came this close to losing you?" She pulled her hand from his grasp and gave him the same inch of space with her fingers. Her voice grew angrier as she asked; "Did you even think about how I'd feel?"

The question caught Gabriel off guard. "Riley…I did. Of course I did," he started. "Honestly, I thought you'd be angry as all hell, but I - " Gabriel stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing where he was going with that train of thought, and not wanting to finish. He knew Riley didn't want to hear it.

"What? 'But I' what, Gabriel? 'But I didn't care'? 'But I thought you'd get over it'?" Riley brought her hand up and roughly swiped a stray lock of hair from her eye. "After everything we've been through, how could you think that? How could you think that I don't care about you?"

Tears were beginning to well in her eyes, threatening to rip Gabriel apart. "Riley..." he begged. "Don't..."

"I thought you were dead!" she exclaimed. "When I first woke up after the surgery, I thought you hadn't made it off the ship. I thought I'd lost you forever and it broke me!"

He didn't remember moving. All Gabriel knew was that one moment he had been sitting in the wheel chair and the next he was sitting on the edge of Riley's bed with her crumbling face cradled in his hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Riley," he gasped out. "But I love you. I thought that I didn't. I even tried not to. But I love you so damn much it hurts."

For a moment, time seemed to stop as they looked at each other in silence. Then it was impossible to say who moved first. Impossible to say whether Riley pulled him down, or whether Gabriel leaned towards her on his own accord.

Because then their lips met and after that it didn't matter.

Gabriel melted into her, exploring Riley's mouth with a hunger and sorrowful joy that had no words – only feeling. The feeling of Riley's hand clutching his neck, pulling him deeper. Her lips and tongue moving rhythmically against his own. The heat of each rapid exhale against his face.

He didn't want it to end, but as the sound of Riley's menacingly beeping heart monitor became more and more insistent, Gabriel finally ended their kiss, worried that she was overtaxing herself. Pulling away just a few inches, he could still feel their mingling breaths warm the space between them as his own heart beat tried to slow down.

"So just don't ask me that. Please," Gabriel whispered, swiping with his thumb at the single tear that had fell to Riley's cheek. "Don't ask me to not do everything I can to keep you safe. I can't keep that kind of promise. I won't."

Riley considered this for a moment; her face carefully neutral as she brought her hand around from Gabriel's neck and gently caressed the growing stubble down his jaw. "We're never going to agree on this, are we?" she asked softly.

"No," he answered, beginning to grin. "Never."

Riley just shook her head. "God, you're so stubborn," she chastised, giving Gabriel a look that told him their disagreement was far from over. "I guess you're lucky I love you, too."

Laughing, and smiling so widely it hurt, Gabriel had to agree before leaned down to kiss her again. He knew there would be future arguments, and future dangers. Moments that would test him, and moments that would test her. But as Gabriel sank back in to Riley's embrace, he pushed those thoughts from his mind in favour of their kiss - and all the kisses that were to come.

THE END

A/N: Augh! It's dooone! You guys have no idea how many revisions this chapter went through. It was a monster trying to sort out and wrap up, but there you have it. The big finale. I'd like to thank each and every one of you so very, VERY much for reading, with extra special thanks to kwisteria, citronsandblueteacups, and evincis for all the behind-the-scenes conversations. It's been such a treat writing for you all, and I can't ever thank you all enough for supporting me in this crazy huge project I took on. Your love has been my drug.

Until next time...

xoxoxo Nina