Eliza opened her eyes when the sun fell on her face in the morning. She glanced at the window before turning over onto her other side. The sunlight warmed her back. It was comforting. It helped ease her embarrassment of crying in front of Ares. She didn’t cry. She hadn’t cried since Luke, but even then, it wasn’t as raw. It bubbled up all because he hugged her. Damn the human’s need for affection.

She rolled onto her back and gazed at the ceiling. What she hated most was how much better she felt after going to bed. Even though she cried herself to sleep, she didn't feel the gaping hole like before. Eliza would never admit it to anyone, but Ares Matthews managed to make her feel better. And he did it all without saying a word. The man who seemed to have something to say all the time didn’t utter anything to her to comfort her or make her laugh. He was just there. Eliza’s covered her eyes with her arms and sighed. Oh, how everything became much more complicated in her head.

Another sigh and she forced herself to sit up. There was no use thinking about it. They only had one day left there and she needed to put her focus back on the Scorpions. Their continued silence was unnerving. She sensed something was coming, but assumed it was her paranoia. The longer nothing happened, the more the bad feeling grew. With being so far away from home, she wasn't surprised if they capitalized on it. But Donovan hadn’t sent anything of concern to her or Ares. Of course, Eliza was probably overreacting. That’s what Ares would say to her. He didn’t seem worried about them.

Eliza gathered her clothes and her towel, pushing the negative thoughts away. She couldn’t do anything until they got back to Mars. Even then, she wasn’t sure there was much to do against the Scorpions.

She opened her door and walked to the open bathroom. Hopefully, the shower would drown her thoughts long enough to get through the day. No need to dampen another day with the darkness she kept inside her. The shower only washed away the first few layers of grief. It would do. Her walk downstairs felt like she was on her way to a jury. It was an unwarranted feeling because she knew Ares wouldn’t force more out of her. Eliza felt he would give her a break. It was unusual.

Katie was placing pancakes on a platter as Eliza walked into the kitchen. Ares was sitting at the table, reading a well-loved book. The second she sat down at the table across from him, he looked up at her with a bright smile. The corners of her mouth twitched upward.

“I’m sure you saw, but Mom made us pancakes,” he said, shutting the book and setting it down. The cover was long gone.

“Thank you, Katie,” she said, the smile she sent to the older woman marginally bigger than the one toward Ares.

“I always find that a carb-loaded breakfast cheers me up when the past catches up with me.”

Eliza’s eyes shot to Ares. He shook his head, reassuring her that he didn’t say anything to his mom. She relaxed. He hadn’t said anything before, so why would he choose to do so then? Ares wasn’t the bad guy.

Katie set a plate of pancakes in front of Eliza with a bottle of real maple syrup. The woman brushed some of Eliza’s wet hair from her face before she began cleaning up the kitchen. Ares jumped up to help her, leaving the young woman to herself. She wasn’t sure if that was what she needed or not.

Katie announced she was going to run to the bank and left before Eliza could finish the bite in her mouth. Ares sat back down and watched his partner for a second. She looked tired and worn down. Vacation didn’t treat her the way he had hoped.

“We’re going back to Mars today,” Ares said.

Eliza glanced at him. “Why?”

“I’m bored.”

“No, you’re not. Why do you want to go back?”

He sighed and put his elbows on the table as he leaned forward. “I wanted this trip to be a chance for you to relax, have some fun. Clearly, that didn’t go as planned and you seem to need work. I’m assuming work helps you stay distracted, which I don’t blame you. I should have considered the importance of bounty hunting for you. After catching Mae, I thought you would need time away. I’m sorry if that was wrong.”

Eliza chewed slowly. Since he didn't do anything wrong, his apology was surprising. She couldn’t deny he irritated her by dragging her along to Earth but despite it all, it wasn’t so bad. He also wasn’t wrong in his assumption. Work had become her crutch to deal with the past.

“I can’t accept your apology,” she said, setting her fork down. “I won’t accept it. Fortunately for you, I appreciate that you brought me here. It was time for me to deal with my shit. You let it happen sooner.”

A gentle chuckle left the man in front of her. “I guess then I’m glad I could help. I only hope you don’t have nightmares of me taking you on a vacation to get information out of you.”

“That was your plan all along, right?”

Their eyes locked, Eliza’s face serious. Ares’ smile faltered until she smirked. He was grinning. She already seemed like a different person from the night before. Mae Valen had held her back for so long and it was like she could breathe again. Ares had to admit he felt a little pride swelling in him because of his grand idea. The real Eliza Kane wanted to come out.

“You better finish your breakfast and get to packing,” he said, standing up. He still smiled. “As soon as you’re packed and ready, we’ll go home.”

“Will your mom get back in time?”

“She always does.”

Kathryn Matthews walked through the front door as Eliza brought her things downstairs. She had impeccable timing. The older woman saw the luggage and wrapped her arms around her tall son.

“You behave and don’t give this girl any more trouble.”

Ares rolled his eyes, “Anything you say, Mom.”

She turned on Eliza and grabbed her in a hug. “And you relax more often. You’re too young to let so much sit on those dainty shoulders. Despite popular belief, my son is a wonderful listener. Let it go. Talk about it. It’ll do you wonders.”

Eliza nervously laughed and nodded. It would be less painful to accept the woman’s words instead of arguing. There was no need for a dinner repeat.

“Both of you be safe going back.” Katie pointed at Ares, “I expect a call when you land. Got it?”

He agreed before grabbing his and Eliza’s luggage. The hunters left with a final goodbye.

A storm was rolling in. The sky was a beautiful steel gray with clouds billowing over the front hovering over the flat land. It was a shame they were leaving during a storm. Her favorite weather phenomenon was Earth storms. Nothing on Mars could match them. Eliza made sure to take a couple photos for her memories. Goosebumps rose on her arms as thunder echoed in the distance.

“We better go before that gets worse,” Ares said, picking up his pace toward the hangar.

“Would it be so horrible to wait it out?” Her suggestion surprised her. “I know we just left your mom’s house, but we could wait out in the hangar for it to pass. It’d make flying easier if we did.”

Ares stopped to look back at her with a smile. He could see the desire in her eyes. It shined brighter when lightning streaked across the clouds, the thunder rumbling after. “If that’s what you want, Lizzy.”

They scrambled to get into the hangar before the clouds released a torrent of rain. Eliza stood at the edge of the opening, her shoes getting wet, and stared. Ares took the time to load up their things in his ship, letting her have her time with the storm. When he finished, he leaned against his ship and watched her.

The lightning and thunder never made her jump. Her head tilted back as she watched the storm pass over them. She covered her ears once when the lightning was overhead, causing the building to shake at the sound. Then she was back to staring at the sky. He never knew she had a love for storms. The only storms on Mars involved high winds and a lot of dust, so how could have known?

The thunderstorm sped past, leaving a light rain falling behind it. The sun was already trying to peek through the light gray clouds. Eliza walked toward Ares, a wild look in her eyes and her shoes and bottom half of her pants soaked through.

“Thanks,” she mumbled before climbing into her seat. She took her shoes off before buckling up and pulling out her tablet.

Ares climbed into his seat and put the ship into motion. As he took the ship up and out of Earth’s atmosphere, Eliza watched the blue ball disappear from one side of the window. She’d be back one day. She hoped it’d be soon.