There was such relief from Jason when the final procedure to cleanse his body of the Vorporin toxins was complete. It felt intrusive and extremely uncomfortable. Despite how uncomfortable the procedure was, pride engulfed him after seeing the toxicology reports and the subsequent comments from the doctors about 'how did he survive?'

The repairs to his shoulder would take a couple of months to heal fully. With his shoulder bone shattered and the muscles and tendons virtually obliterated, the regrowing and rehabilitation of the various parts would require a considerable amount of patience.

As he lay on his hospital bed, stretching his arm as much as he could to gain some ease of movement, it had given him time to reflect. He hadn't seen Voshtek K'Or, the Ceti Judicator, since their rescue. Jason had hoped he had done enough to keep Voshtek away from the wrong parties. Hopefully, the intelligence that Voshtek was willing to offer would shed some light on the devastating news about the start of the war. That news would then place pressure on the relevant parties and cause someone, whether mid-level or higher up within the conspiracy, to make a mistake.

As a stinging pain shot all the way up his arm, Jason remembered that at this point, there was little he would be able to do about it.

At least two months out of an illegitimate war in which thousands of people on both sides were losing their lives daily brought a sense of dread to Jason's stomach.

He thought back to when he initially joined the war effort. Wanting to make a name for himself, to prove he was a great warrior like his father, to make an impact in this war. He wished he had listened to his father before this all started. Everything Yulrian Scharn had said to Jason was true. Jason had cheated death a few times now, encountered far superior alien forces, only to find out that he was potentially fighting for the enemy.

Only one thing mattered now, his fellow soldiers around him. This war had taken far too many of them already, and while they all thought that they were being patriots and defending their homes, in truth they were the aggressors and fighting an unjust war.

Jason sighed. If there was one thing he could not bear was to hear that his long term friend Aurora Pendergast was dead or even worse Jacqueline Donnelly had met her fate. Yet at this time there was nothing he could do but to wait for the bone, muscle, and tissue reproduction of his shoulder to finish without complications.

He smiled as the thoughts of Donnelly flooded his mind. Her long fine dusty brown hair, her soft caring brown eyes, her sweet but devilish cheeky smile, how her soft dimples gracefully appeared when her lips parted as her infectious smile spread. Her energy and her spirit were like none other he had ever met before. Her determination and devotion to do what she felt was right and her caring but charismatic spirit were something Jason longed to be around. Donnelly had made it clear that a relationship between them was out of the question and her logic made sense, they had too many enemies on both sides of the war to ever be safe. This didn't deter Jason from wanting to absorb her aura.

Hearing her voice on Vidar had been nothing less than a welcome miracle. To hear her calm but the assertive voice would have been a perfect last moment of his life, instead though it had given him a new sense of purpose and vigour.

His arm will heal, his health will be restored and nothing would stop him from bringing justice to those responsible for the atrocities caused before and during the war.

"Lieutenant Scharn." a voice beside him broke his trance.

Turning he saw one of the staff nurses on duty quickly looking over his vitals. With a flick of her hand, various statistics and graphs appeared floating in front of her. Not looking at Jason she spun her hand around, twisting and turning to examine the results before flicking her hand once more to dismiss them.

"I'm pleased to tell you that your recovery is on schedule. It is obviously early days for us at the moment, and your recovery will be monitored closely, however, the Doctors have informed me that you should be able to return to active duty later on in the year." the nurse cheerfully informed him.

"Any idea when?" Jason asked knowing that the question would be a pointless one.

"Unfortunately not, but with the right rehabilitation routine it will certainly speed up the process. Anyway, the real reason I'm here is that you have a visitor." The cheerful nurse spun around and exited the room leaving Jason to wonder who had likely visited him.

It was when he saw those dimples that his heart felt like it had skipped a beat. As Donnelly boldly strode into the room to sit next to Jason he couldn't help but return the smile.

"I was just thinking about you." Jason reacted.

"Something good I hope." Donnelly chuckled.

"How could I think anything but."

Donnelly laughed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "How are you feeling?"

"The soldier in me says absolutely fine, but in reality I feel like I've had to endure one of those super G environments for a solid week." Jason replied, trying to move as little as possible.

Donnelly held his hand and gently rubbed it with her thumb. "One mission I spent a few hours on a cargo ship when the gravity generators had gone haywire. I think it was around three to four g's continuously. Whole body ached like hell afterwards. It felt like I was floating when we returned to standard gravity. Anyway, the guys send their regards along with Pendergast and her team. She's an impressive character that woman."

Jason smiled and nodded. "Despite all I have put her through, she's always got my back. So you're both talking now?"

"It appears that we both have something in common that transcends our disagreements." Donnelly replied.

"What's that?"

"You."

Jason blushed and chuckled nervously at the abrupt but thoughtful comment. He quickly looked away before changing the direction of the conversation. "The asset?"

"Alive, well and with our preferred target."

Jason smiled. They had done it. Despite them not being able to talk openly about the situation, Jason understood that Voshtek K'Or was now under the protection of Vladimir Proviski. With everything that had happened, this was a massive win and almost made everything he had endured worth it. "I'm glad you were sent to get him."

Donnelly frowned and looked directly at him. "I came for you, not the target. I risked a court marshall, not to mention my life, to find you. Finding the target was simply a bonus."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise."

"No you didn't, " Donnelly interrupted. "You didn't realise that after two days without you that I realised that I couldn't carry on not knowing if you had lived or died on that godforsaken planet!"

"You shouldn't have risked yourself for me." Jason responded.

"Goddammit Jason, will you listen." she barked at him, "I told you before that we can't be together." she said looking directly at him, her brown eyes starting to glisten with tears "I realised on that planet that I was wrong. I realised that we can't be apart, I can't be without you. I would risk everything again to know that you were safe. Nothing else matters." a tear slid down her cheek and passed her lips.

Jason watched the tear closely as it flowed down her soft pale skin. He smiled like a teenager at her words.

This seemed to just frustrate Donnelly more "I'm pouring my heart here and all you can do is smile?"

Jason raised his arm despite all the aching he endured, he wiped the tear from her cheek before sliding his hand carefully across her face. As he pulled himself closer to her, he wriggled in agony before relaxing back into his bed. "Ouch!" he commented under his breath."

"You deserved that." Donnelly smiled once more, her dimples reappearing.

"I deserved that, " Jason reaffirmed, trying to ignore the pain coursing through his body. "You mean everything to me too, Jacqueline. Despite what you said to me before, there's no way that these feelings will go away."

Donnelly smiled before leaning down towards him and placing her lips on his. For all her aggressiveness and feistiness, her lips were so tender and soft. During this moment, all of Jason's aches and pains briefly disappeared. All that mattered was Jason and Jacqueline, complete peace, complete serenity.

As their lips parted, Jason opened his eyes to look directly into hers. The brightness of her irises was mesmerising like two dark pearls reflecting her life. In all the years that this war had been ongoing, despite the desire to serve, this was the first time Jason felt alive. He would savour this moment for as long as he could.

"I hope that will be the first of many." Donnelly commented caressing the side of his face.

Jason just smiled like a teenager again.

Donnelly laughed. "I guess that's an agreement then."

Jason nodded.

Donnelly sat upright before holding his hand tighter. "Unfortunately, despite this progression in our relationship, I need to tell you that I will be sent on an assignment that's likely to keep me out of contact for a few months."

"Months?" replied Jason, shocked.

"I can't say much, as the mission is need to know, but I will be on Earth for the duration. I promise to contact you when I can, but it's likely to not be as often as I would like." informed Donnelly.

Jason frowned knowing that it would likely be a dangerous mission and he was in no state to offer assistance.

"Would you still have kissed me if I told you earlier?"

Jason smiled "Absolutely. I just wish I could be there to help."

"Even if you were fit for duty, you couldn't help, but I must do this mission. Not only have I received my orders, but I believe the rewards for doing it could be substantial."

Jason recognised the look in her eye, potential information on Operation Rebirth. A sadness appeared on Jason's face but he nodded in agreement. "I understand, and if there's anything I can do to help, I am here."

"I know, " Donnelly replied. "Your first task is to get fit and back to active duty."

"Yes Ma'am" Jason cheekily responded.

Donnelly smiled. "Then afterwards we do what we can to put this conspiracy to bed." a small glint came across her eye "So I can do the same for you."

Jason gulped as Donnelly laughed at his response.

"Seriously though Jacqueline, be careful." Jason replied. "There's too much at stake now for one of us to let our guard down. Remain vigilant and come back to me safe and sound, I need you as much as you need me."

With that, Donnelly leaned forward to kiss him again to reaffirm her feelings and to offer Jason reassurance that she would do everything she could to remain alive and safe.