Neil spent the next couple weeks hardly listening to anything anyone said. People just kind of talked at him, while he thought about literally anything else.

He vaguely remembered the meeting he had with Rob about the mission failure with Horace Greenlove. His week-long suspension without pay passed by in a blur. It was only until he received eight increasingly annoyed voicemails from Rob, reminding Neil to check his mail for his Board of Directors hearing summons, that Neil decided he should probably snap out of it.

He decided he was going to go to his hearing and fight for his job. He was determined not to be like Eva and quit. He wouldn't be heartbroken to lose this job, but the pay was pretty good, and Neil was used to certain comforts.

Neil arrived at his hearing about ten minutes early. He sat in the lobby trying to calm his nerves. He could almost hear Eva tease him about his uncharacteristic punctuality. He almost muttered a response under his breath - "Rob would kill me if I didn't."

Rob and Alistair soon joined him.

"You ready?" said Rob.

Neil nodded mutely.

One of the Board members came to fetch them. She led them down a hallway to a board room where several other Board members sat around a meeting table and watched Neil like vultures eyeing a potential meal.

What looked to be the chairman of the Board, a pudgy balding man with wispy white hair, shuffled some papers in front of him.

"Now that we're all here, let's begin the hearing," said the chairman. He cleared his throat. "Drs. Alistair Bartholomew Vance and Neil Jack Watts - we will be deliberating your continued employment at Sigmund Corp given your failure to uphold the contract. Your client, Horace Greenlove, passed away due to heart complications before you were able to fulfill your end of the contract. If you can prove that this failure was outside your control and not due to negligence on your part, we may reconsider firing you. You may speak."

Alistair stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Board, I have prepared a forty-part Power Point presentation to state our case. Now, if I may direct your attention to -"

"Or we could simply state the fact that Horace was already declining when we arrived, and call it a day," said Neil, shrugging.

Everyone looked at Neil. Rob rolled his eyes as if to say "Oh, here we go."

"You're Neil Jack Watts?" asked the chairman, peering at his notes.

"It sounds weird when you go all full-namey on me like that, but...yeah. That's me."

"You're a recent full-time hire, is that correct?"

"He had completed his six-month internship and three months of supervised missions," said Rob, before Neil could respond. "He had only been doing unsupervised missions about two months ago."

"Ah yes, now I remember," said the chairman. "You were due to appear before us to vouch for Eva Rosalene, but the hearing was canceled due to her resignation."

"He was actually Eva's partner during that mission," said Rob.

"I see. So that's two mission failures on your record then, Dr. Watts?"

Neil glared daggers at Rob. "You're a real help, you know that?"

"Come to think of it," said the chairman, rifling through his notes. "I have here some complaints levied against you from various folks who wish to remain anonymous. Complaints like "bouncing a tennis ball against the office wall", "either showing up late to company meetings or refusing to show up at all", "refusing to respect your supervisor", "harassing a hospice patient and nurse", and just overall..." He squints at a word. "'...Dick-ishness?' Is that a word?" he asked his fellow board members, who shrugged.

Neil glared even sharper daggers at Rob.

"It's part of my job, Neil. I have to be truthful," said Rob.

Neil gave a laugh. "And 'dick-ishness' was the word you chose to pull out of your - ?"

"There. See? Exhibit A, your Honor," interrupted Rob, pointing at Neil.

"Dr. Lin, are you saying that you would like us to fire Dr. Watts?" asked the chairman.

Rob stared at Neil. "Yes. Yes, I would," he said.

Neil didn't know what he would've said to Rob's face at that moment. Whatever he had in mind probably would've sealed his fate if spoken aloud, and his life would've gone in a drastically different direction that day. But he didn't get the chance to say anything.

The door burst open.

"If Neil goes, I go," said Eva.

Everyone turned around. Neil's jaw dropped. Eva strode into the board room confidently.

"I mean...I know I already left, but...I just meant that I won't come back if he gets fired. Yeah, that's what I meant," mumbled Eva.

"Excuse me. Who are you? This is a closed meeting," said the chairman.

"I'm Eva Rosalene. And you're not firing Neil."

"Eva Rosalene, you say?" said the chairman, his eyebrows raised. "So you decided not to show up to your own hearing, but instead, interrupt someone else's?"

"I'm repaying a debt I owe to Neil," said Eva, glancing at Neil. "And I know for a fact that he was planning on defending me for my hearing. But more importantly, he's innocent in regards to this mission failure. This wasn't his fault."

Neil didn't know what to say. Eva was really here - vouching for him. He never thought he'd see the day. He caught Eva's eye and she smiled at him.

One of the other board members, a scrawny old lady with a large hooked nose, scoffed at Eva. "Given your previous actions, Dr. Rosalene, I don't think you're in any position to tell us what constitutes appropriate behavior for a Sigmund employee. You're obviously biased; you were his partner, after all."

"And as his partner, I know him well enough to know that he would never do anything to jeapordize a mission," Eva parried.

The board members looked at each other, unsure what to make of this unexpected development.

"Very well," said the chairman. "What do you have to say on behalf of the accused?"

Eva pulled out a sheet of paper from her purse.

"I have here a photocopy of the patient's death certificate with the exact time of death written on it. Now, before I give it to you-"

She turned to Alistair.

"Alistair, what time did you and Neil receive the call to go to the hospice?"

Alistair scrolled through his Power Point presentation on his laptop. "Uhh, around 6:15pm," he replied.

"And what time did you arrive at the patient's room?" asked Eva.

"Around 6:30pm," said Alistair.

"Our case records can confirm that," said one of the board members, checking his files.

"Good. So given the short distance between the Sigmund Corp offices and the hospice, we've established that there was no dawdling about once the call was received. Agreed?" said Eva.

The board members all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Now, please take a look at this death certificate," said Eva, handing the piece of paper to the chairman. After squinting at the sheet for a moment, his eyebrows raised.

"The patient died at 6:40pm!" said the chairman, as if impressed.

Neil felt his jaw drop. He knew exactly where this was going.

"That's right," said Eva, a smile creeping onto her face. "Ten minutes. Alistair and Neil had just ten minutes to fulfill a declining client's wish. Now tell me, is it possible for our most experienced agents to traverse an entire lifetime and fulfill a wish in ten minutes?"

"Not likely," said Rob. It takes our best people about an hour just to reach the client's earliest memories and transfer the desire."

"Exactly," said Eva. "So to expect these two agents, one of whom is still fairly new, to fulfill the contract in ten minutes is insanity. And if you were to look at my previous actions, Mrs..." She read the hook-nosed lady's name plate. "...Occhuzzo, you'll find that I, of all people, would be the most qualified to make that assertion and guarantee its validity."

The hook-nosed lady, Mrs. Occhuzzo, balked. She looked like a vulture whose had her feathers ruffled. She eyed Eva with an icy glare as she rifled through her files.

"You know, that actually sounds like a good idea," said Mrs. Occhuzzo. "Why don't we take a look at your case, Dr. Rosalene? Just to call your laughably transparent bluff...Ah, here we are," she said, pulling out a sheet of paper from her folder.

Neil felt a thrill of apprehension in his gut. He didn't like where this was going.

"Well, would you look at that? You're absolutely right!" said Mrs. Occhuzzo, mockingly. "You failed the mission with Lolita Riveira because you, yourself, had tried to order Neil to fulfill the mission in just ten minutes. Clever, very clever."

"The client's daughter, Bonnie, had just called the police," said Eva, steadily. "Not to mention the client's health was declining. At that moment, my priority was to buy us more time."

"And the way you chose to do that was to attack the client's daughter," said Occhuzzo.

"Bonnie slapped Eva across the face!" Neil yelled. "I'm sure that's somewhere in your stupid files."

Rob put a hand on Neil's arm.

"Neil, calm down," warned Rob.

Neil wrenched his arm out of Rob's grasp. He stood up.

"Bonnie tried to unplug my machine, and Eva stopped her, because, if she hadn't, I could've suffered mental damage. It's like pulling out your USB drive without safely ejecting it first. Eva had to forcibly restrain Bonnie, because she was about to hurt us both. The only reason I got out of that unscathed is because of what Eva did. And what did Eva get? A tranq in the neck, a weeklong suspension, and front row seats to the shitshow starring the douche brigade." He gestured grandly at the board members. They all looked scandalized at him. Rob buried his face in his hands.

"Order!" yelled the chairman. He instinctively looked around for a gavel, but given he wasn't a trial judge, he simply banged his fist on his desk.

"No, you listen to me, you old fart. If you're seriously going to prosecute someone who's already resigned, then you've all proven yourselves to be nothing more than a spiteful bunch of morons! This is an embarassing waste of everyone's time. Do what you want with me, but if you have a shred of intelligence, you'll offer Eva her job back."

"And if you have a smidgen of common sense, you'll declare Neil and Alistair innocent of any malpractice in the Horace Greenlove case," added Eva, folding her arms with finality.

The staredown was intense - the Board of Directors vs. Neil and Eva. Neil didn't need to make eye contact with Eva to know that they both had the exact same cold, hard glint in their eyes and the same defiant smile on their lips. There was enough electricity in the air to power the whole city.

Whatever happened in the past and come what may, for just that moment, Neil had his best friend back.

The chairman cleared his throat, "If you've finished stating your case, I believe it's time to conclude this hearing. We'll need some time to deliberate as a Board, and we'll notify you by mail of our verdict within a week. Are we agreed?"

He looked up and down the table at his fellow board members. They nodded in agreement. Mrs. Occhuzzo shuffled her papers, looking miffed.

"Alright, then this hearing is adjourned," said the chairman. He banged his fist on the table like a gavel and stood up. The rest of the Board followed suit and left the room, whispering amongst themselves.

"But...my Power Point presentation..." whimpered Alistair.

"Don't sweat it, Alistair," said Rob, standing up. "It's probably for the best."

Neil and Eva looked at each other. There it was again - that powerful, overwhelming feeling impossible to describe. The feeling stronger than anger and bitterness. The feeling that called out to Eva and implored her to come back to Sig Corp.

"Um...Thanks," mumbled Neil.

"Thanks to you too," said Eva, a little sheepishly. "I came as soon as I got the call from Roxie. How many more of these things are we gonna have to sit through?"

"I'll have to have a word with the chairman about having a hearing for every single failed mission we encounter. It's really cutting into our productivity," said Rob. "I mean, a malpractice hearing just because the patient died too soon? That's ridiculous."

"That's bureaucracy for you," said Alistair, shaking his head.

"Anyway, I think the three of you should lie low for now," said Rob. "Consider your suspensions still in place until you receive your verdicts."

Rob turned to leave.

"Hey Rob," said Neil. "Did you really want to fire me?"

Rob stopped.

"Well, Eva's made her conditions for employment perfectly clear. And from what I can see, she'd be most valuable to the company if you were her partner. I don't know what it is, but...you two have got something."

Rob walked out the door. "But yes, if Eva weren't here, I would've fired you in a heartbeat, Neil. So remember that the next time you decide to play catch with my wall." Rob left.

"Playing catch with his wall?" asked Eva, following Rob out.

"Oh Eva, my dear, Neil went through a pretty strange period after you left, let me tell you..." said Alistair, following Eva out the door as he regaled her with all the weird things Neil would do during her absence.

Neil, alone in the room, looked back to the table where the Board of Directors sat. He threw up two middle fingers and walked out with a swagger.

One week later...

Neil started the company car, raring to go on his first assignment since getting acquitted.

"You know..." he said. "It's been one hell of a first year at this job. The assignments are depressing and everyone at Sig Corp is a royal pain in the ass - you included. This car smells like ass and Vaseline. And don't get me started on the higher-ups.

"But...I'd be lying if I said some part of me didn't love some part of this job."

"Oh?" said Eva, sitting in the passenger seat, clad once again in her Sig Corp lab coat. "And what part of the job is that?"

Neil looked at her. He could barely contain the genuine happiness spreading across his face.

"Well," he said, "it's a feeling that's hard to describe."

The End