It felt weird being in the medBay without Peggy being there but I was glad we’d managed to convince Cory to finally get some sleep. I’d told him to take my bed but he’d set up a cot in the corner of the room where he’d sprawled out. He was sleeping so heavily that I kept having to hold my breath and listen hard for his heartbeat.

It was a little fast, probably because of the sheer amount of stimulants he’d been taking recently, but it was still strong.

How’s it going, Peg? I thought, glancing at her empty bed.

It felt wrong to not have her there. Being away from her was making my skill crawl and stopping me from being able to sleep. I knew she was safe, she was in a locked room, but I couldn’t shake the worry that she might be snatched at any moment and I’d never see her again.

I’d already lost Gem, I couldn’t lose anyone else.

It’s so good! Peggy thought back with a squeal. I thought this was going to be so tough because I can’t focus on anything and my memory is basically gone but so much has come back to me! Did you know that they use the same basic structure as the base for all their systems? Like, it’s not the same, it’s so much more advanced but it’s pretty similar.

I smiled at her contagious excitement.

That’s good, I thought back genuinely. Is everyone being nice to you?

I knew it was a silly question but I needed to know.

I mean, I can tell that Aquila asked people to keep an eye on me. I went to the toilet about ten minutes ago and three separate people followed me in. But, apart from that, everyone is being lovely. I really like Grus and Orion, she told me.

Annoyance washed through me.

I knew that Aquila would have asked people to keep an eye on Peg, it made sense, but they didn’t need to be so obvious about it. It made sense, and I would have done the same, but I still hated it.

Oh, yeah? That’s good! I thought back, trying hard to be positive and not let my annoyance show. Have you had any food yet?

There was a pause before she replied.

Sorry! Orion was trying to explain this fantastic piece of software they have! Oh, no! I haven’t yet! I’ll stop and get some soon!

I’d started to sit up before Peg had even finished thinking.

I’ll bring you some food, I thought back.

Cas stirred as I climbed out of the bed as carefully as I could, his hand shooting out and closing around mine.

“Where are you going?” he croaked, his voice husky with sleep. “Is everything okay?”

I lifted his hand to my lips and pressed a gentle kiss to his scarred knuckles.

“Everything’s okay, I’m just going to go and bring Peggy some food. Go back to sleep,” I whispered.

He fought to keep his eyes open.

“Is she okay? Do you want me to come with?” he asked, despite his obvious tiredness.

“She’s completely fine, I think she’s actually really enjoying herself. Get some

more sleep, I’ll be back soon.”

I leant down and pressed a kiss against his warm forehead, meaning to pull away after that, but he turned his head towards mine. His lips pressed softly against mine, gently tempting me to climb back into bed with him, but with great difficulty, I was able to pull away.

“Sleep,” I whispered to him.

His head dropped back against the pillow.

“Okay,” he muttered, tiredness taking over. “Come back soon?”

“I promise.”

He slowly let go of my hand as his eyes fluttered shut again and I smiled, glancing over at Cory. I was glad he was still fast asleep, he clearly needed the rest.

Neither Cas nor Cory stirred as the door opened and I slipped out of the room. The medBay was weirdly quiet. I wasn’t sure if it was just because Cory wasn’t there or if it was because Chal still wasn’t there.

That made me anxious. He must have still been in the war rooms giving his interview. I wanted to know more about him and how he’d become Captain Sammer but… he’d said the story didn’t paint him in the best light. I’m not sure how much they ended up cutting out of it in the end but he was wrong. It made him sound heroic.

“Captain Aries!” a voice called as I tried to slip out of the medBay undetected.

My shoulders tightened as I turned, bracing myself for something horrible.

“Hi,” I started uncertainly, watching the doctor rush towards me, a bag clutched in their hands.

“Are you going to see Peggy now?” they asked, her eyes bright.

“I am.”

“Would you mind giving her this?”

The doctor thrust the bag towards me and it rattled ominously.

I didn’t reach out for it. Just because this person was a doctor, or at least dressed like one, didn’t mean that I trusted her.

“What’s in it?” I asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

Lots of people still had their doubts about Peggy and I wouldn’t put it past the Council to capitalise on that.

“It’s her medication. I didn’t think that she’d be gone that long. She needs to have her blood replacements, antibiotics, painkillers and cognitive stimulants but she needs to have some of them with food and she can’t have the stimulants before the blood replacements. She should hopefully remember but I’ve put some instructions in there just in case. She just needs to scan the code and it should give them,” the doctor said with a kind smile.

“Thank you, Doctor…” I trailed off, hoping to get her name.

“Doctor Tilis,” she finished for me. “Feel free to ping me if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” I said, finally accepting the bag from her.

Nodding towards her, I left the medBay clutching the bag. As soon as I was outside, I ripped it open and peered inside.

I’m not sure what I was expecting but the bag just contained a couple of bottles of pills, nothing too suspicious-looking. I forced myself to take a deep breath.

It’s fine. We’re safe, I thought to myself, gripping the bioplastic bag with sweating hands.

I tried to ignore the looks as I pushed away from the wall and walked towards the elevators, trying to look busy and unapproachable. It worked but it didn’t stop the whispers.

The hushed mentions of Gem and Peg were still too loud and it took everything I had in me not to turn around. They were standing so close to me, they must have known that I could hear them. Even without mods, I would have been able to! Anger flared within me. If I heard them say the words ‘those poor children’ one more time, I was going to scream.

They were lucky that the lift arrived when it did because I was about five-seconds from turning around and telling them exactly what I thought about their bullshit.

I was so glad that they didn’t try to join me in the lift because I honestly think that the twenty-six-second journey to the floor with the canteen would have been too much for me.

Almost at the canteen, I thought to Peg. What do you want to eat? Also, Doctor Tilis gave me a bunch of medication for you to have.

Oh no! Peg thought back frantically. I didn’t even think about my meds! Nik, I was meant to have them like twenty minutes ago! Is that going to be a problem? It’s probably fine, right?

I’m not sure but I guess so? She had the bag ready to go when I came out of our room so she might have been ready to bring it over to you, I thought. What do you want to eat?

Oh! I love Doctor Tilis, she’s so nice! Um… I don’t know actually? Can you just bring me anything? Peggy sent back unsurely.

The usual whispered swelled as I entered the canteen and I forced myself not to react.

Striding towards the stack of takeaway containers, I thought back to Peg, I got it. I’ll be there in five minutes or so?