Description: Sequel to my earlier story, "Breakdown" (so, umm, read that one first, because some of the stuff in here won't make any sense if you haven't). This fic chronicles the evolution of Red and Healy's lives and relationships after Red is released from Litchfield. They formed a strong bond behind prison walls, but will it all fall apart now that Red is free?

Disclaimer: None of these characters (with the obvious exception of the 0.5 original characters I'm introducing) belong to me, nor do any of the plot points from the show that might be mentioned in this fic. Those are all the property of Netflix and Jenji Kohan (praise her). I write fanfic for funsies, not monies. Also, if I introduce song lyrics in here (which you can see I've done in this chapter), I will always attribute them to the artist (including the title; Tom Petty ftw!) and it goes without saying that they don't belong to me.

Learning to Fly

All the flowers that you planted, Mama

In the backyard

All died when you went away.

I know that living with you baby was sometimes hard

But I'm willing to give it another try.

Healy turned the car stereo off with a groan. He had never been particularly enamored with Sinead O'Connor's music, but today the song made him want to smash things. It reminded him of Red, just as everything did these days. He realized that this was irrational. "Nothing Compares 2 U" was a breakup song, and he and Red had not actually broken up. In many ways, their agreement was worse than a breakup. Breakups were final; but this left everything up in the air.

Their five-week waiting period was almost up, and he was starting to go insane with the uncertainty of everything. Somehow, he had expected that she would cave and call him sooner—he knew that he would have, if he was on her end of things. He'd been on edge for weeks, waiting and wanting to hear from her. Every time his phone beeped or buzzed, his spirits would lift, because he would think that surely, this was it, this was her, calling to say that she needed him. Or, even better, she had something worked out and everything was all right and now they could be together. And every time the notification was nothing more than a work e-mail from Caputo or a text from his brother, his heart would sink.

The anticipation and disappointment had started to make Healy imagine the worst-case scenario on an endless loop that wouldn't stop playing in his head. What if she called him only to tell him that the relationship was over before it had even really been able to get off the ground? What if, since she had been on the outside and away from him, she had decided that their prison fling was a mistake? After all, she was free now; she had choices. Healy knew that never in a million years would they have ended up together if he hadn't been one of only a handful of men she saw on a regular basis. Now she could have anyone she wanted, or she could decide that she didn't need the hassle of a partner at all and devote herself to opening her bakery and being a babushka to her sons' children. What if she called to say she didn't want him anymore? What if she never called at all?

These were the thoughts that had consumed him, all day, every day, for the last month. At first it was unbearable. Having to work in the same place where they had spent all their time together was Healy's own personal hell. Every time he entered the cafeteria he expected to see her, and he kept waiting for the knock on his office door that never came. He got irrationally angry when other people sat in the chair she had always taken because, damn it, that was and always would be Red's chair, although he knew she would never sit in it again.

Healy pulled into his driveway and parked, then grabbed the grocery bags from the front seat. Once inside, he put away the few food items he had purchased, then pulled a TV dinner from the freezer and threw it into the microwave before heading to his bedroom to change out of his uniform.

Two hours later, he was sprawled on his sofa, half-asleep with the television on and a novel lying open on the floor in front of him, when his phone rang. Lately, he had started keeping it on silent all the time, because constantly waiting for the ringtone to sound was driving him slowly mad. However, he supposed that on this particular day, he had forgotten to turn the sound off. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the contraption from the end table by his head. He didn't recognize the number on the screen, and briefly considered declining the call—unknown numbers were usually telemarketers. Then, through his groggy haze, something occurred to him and made him press the green Accept button instead.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Red's hand was shaking so much that she almost dropped the phone. Dropping her phone was nothing new, of course; the damn thing was almost as big as her hand and she wasn't used to holding something so slim and sleek. Why Yuri thought that she needed a brand new smartphone when she hadn't even had a cell phone before going to prison was a mystery to her. Still, he and his brothers had been adamant that Red needed a phone, and Yuri had been spoiling her since her release from Litchfield. Red supposed that it was to make up for the nineteen hours of labor and 30 years of being a pain in her ass.

Just as the dial tone started to sound, Red heard the baby wake up with a piercing shriek. Damn, she thought. Now not only would the sound of a screaming baby provide an unpleasant soundtrack for the call, but Tanya would likely be barging into the room at any moment, begging Red to handle the baby. Ever since Maxim moved her into his house, Red had become her granddaughter's go-to caretaker. It wasn't that Maxim and his wife couldn't handle their daughter, or that they expected Red to raise their child for them. It was simply that little Ekaterina had decided that her grandmother was her favorite person in the world, and Red was the only person for whom the infant would behave.

Five rings and he hadn't picked up. Derr'mo. Surely that meant he wasn't going to answer. Red held the phone out in front of her face, trying to figure out where on the screen she needed to press to end the call, when she heard a voice on the other end of the line. His voice.

She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she said, uncertain.

"Galina," came the reply. His voice was thick and foggy, as though he had just been woken up, but it was definitely him.

"Hello Sam."

"Oh, god, Galina. It's…it's so nice to hear your voice." Red smiled at that.

"It's good to hear yours, too," she said.

"So…umm…how are you?" Healy asked.

"Fine. I'm fine. I just…wanted to get in touch and see how you were."

"Fine," he replied. There was a moment of silence that was thick with tension. "So, would you…maybe…want to get together some time? Get a coffee, catch up?" Healy asked. Red bit her lip, fighting back a chuckle at how nervous he sounded.

"No coffee," she replied, "I have a better idea. What time do you get off work tomorrow, and would it be out of your way to come to Utica?"

"Yeah, I could do that. I get off at 6."

"Good," Red said, not realizing how relieved she sounded, "I'm going to give you an address, and I want you to meet me there."

"Okay." She could hear the confusion in his voice. "What's this the address of?"

"That, you'll find out when you get there," she replied cryptically.

"Well…umm…all right then. What's the address?" Red gave it to him, and then he repeated it back to her.

"I'll see you there tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yep," Healy replied, "I'll be there."

They said goodbye and hung up, and Red sighed happily, feeling freer and more at ease than she had in such a long time.