Aimee turned her body to face Dominick, who was sitting on the seat behind her, clutching to his bandaged ankle. His boots were off, his foot on the seat and his knee under his chin. Valerie was by his side, holding tightly to his forearm, which lay on the armrest between them. Her eyes stared at the bandage; it was turning rose with blood, faster than she could accept. Gavin had tried his best to clean it up, but the bullets were uncomfortably deep and there was no way the wounds would heal on their own. He needed a doctor.

When they arrived at the hospital, Gavin told Valerie and Aimee to stay behind, and, despite their urges to protest, they remained in the chopper obediently while the boys took care of Dom.

Aimee got up and sat next to Valerie.

"He's gonna be okay," Aimee whispered, looking at her empathetically.

"I know," she replied, but the air of devastation did not lift. "We were careless... too careless. We should have been in and out within seconds. No one had to get hurt, no one had to die."

Aimee's eyebrows rose, "You killed someone?"

Valerie sensitively pulled her legs onto her chair and held them at the calves. Tears fell from her eyes as she exhaled a shaken breath.

She nodded, "All that training and I'm still not prepared. I had never killed someone before today and I don't know if I could do it again."

She knew that she would have to, they both did. Domino Doomsday stood at their shoulders, breathing down their necks.

"That's because you're human," Aimee told her, "and there's nothing wrong with that."

She leaned over the armrest and her arms wrapped Valerie in consolation. Ear to ear they sat, in a silence only cracked by Valerie's light and fragile crying.

At least an hour later, Finn retrieved the girls from the chopper. They hurried into the hospital and into Dom's ward, where he sat not yet upright in his bed. As Valerie walked in, he glanced at her contently.

"Why do you look so surprised?" he asked the girls, but his focus and smile remained on Valerie. "I told you it was no big deal."

"I'm sure you'd say the same if you were missing an arm," she uttered, ambling up to him and sitting on the bed.

They shared a gaze of green love, much like Aimee and Stefan did. Aimee watched him as he smiled at the two with that unhidden boyish happiness she found so undeniably attractive, and he looked at her. The way his eyes avowed that she was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen. She blushed helplessly as he approached her with his hands tied behind his back like a dutiful soldier, yet a somewhat wayward grin rested on his face when he gestured her into the hallway.

"How are you?" he whispered.

"How am I?" she repeated in wonder. "I guess I'm okay."

It was a question she had not been asked in a while. It was almost as if this world she had grown into – this separate world of spies and armaments – had no forbearance for questions of feelings and small talk.

"You guess?"

Aimee leaned against the hallway wall and sighed, "Valerie and I were worried about Dominick. Now, I'm more worried about her; she shot a guy today and she had a breakdown. I don't think our friends are as ready as they seem, and I just can't help but blame myself for everything. It's like I'm the reason they're doing this."

Stefan drew near and caressed her arm with his gentle hand, "Hey, you aren't making them do anything. They may be our friends, but they joined GINM. Ergo, they literally signed up for this. Trust me; they're going on this mission because they want to."

A faint tug met Aimee's lips, however, the look in her eyes proved that she had other troubles and doubts, and Stefan read it well.

"So, what else is on your mind?"

There were various things, but some were better left unshared. She loved knowing how much Stefan cared, that he would always be there for her, but being the centre of attention was something Aimee never coveted, especially with Dominick lying injured in the next room.

Numbly, she stated, "I just don't like hospitals."

"What," gasped Stefan, and he continued with a playful air, "how could you not like hospitals? That's like saying you don't like cake or puppies! Everyone I know spends their afternoons at the hospital." He phrased it like it was this 'hip' thing.

"Everyone you know?" she giggled and played along. "Remind me to tell them of my few and dreadful experiences in hospitals, and to explain to them that hanging out in hospitals is an extremely abnormal pastime."

"Aw, come on, not all your experiences were dreadful. We kissed in a hospital, twice."

"And the second time you were heavily overmedicated. You were also supposed to be asleep," she mumbled bashfully.

"That's why it was even more special than the first!"

"Don't you find that a little creepy?" she chorused his laughter. "That we always kiss in hospitals?"

Stefan shook his head, "No way, we are the most average couple in history. The Soccer Babe and Her Kidnapper's Son: A Biography."

He smiled alluringly as her laughed slowed, and they were suddenly swept away by the seamless silence and privacy that encircled them. In a matter of seconds, he held Aimee by the waist and pulled her closer, and he set a kiss upon her lips, tender and timeless. Their bodies parted slowly, like the steady ticking of the hallway clock, and they were voiceless. Then, the moment of silence and privacy passed as Gavin walked into the hallway.

"Are you guys having a picnic without us?"

"Not this time. We'll be in in a minute," replied Stefan. "Is Dominick leaving with us?"

"Not likely, he needs to rest. And we all know he isn't gonna do that once he gets out of this place."

Aimee and Stefan nodded in timid agreement, not yet prepared to trade their aloneness in the hallway for the ward.

"So, would you prefer me to ask or not to ask you what you did this morning?" Stefan inquired once Gavin had returned to the others.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Well, now I'm curious," he whined humorously.

"We watched Twilight and listened to indie music," she said flatly.

"Twilight? Gavin watched Twilight?"

"Yup, he's a real fan! Even has the movie posters rolled up in his closet," she giggled, stepping into the ward.

She and Stefan quieted down as they entered the atmosphere. The ward bore the smell of chemicals, the sound of humming machines, and enforced expressions of seriousness upon the faces of its occupants. Dominick was drowsy and fought to stay awake, but was dipping inevitably into sleep. Patiently, Valerie stroked the hair on his head, waiting for him to shut his eyes. At that moment, Aimee remembered the time she first met the RDAs, the twins in particular. She had noticed the split-second in which Valerie had glimpsed at Dominick, how her cheeks had reddened. In that split-second, Aimee had seen that she had a crush. And over the past few days, it seemed as if Valerie was finally receiving the redamancy she yearned for.

Just as everyone began to feel the appealing air of slumber, the door opened. It was not a nurse, as they had expected, it was Celeste. She entered quietly, predicting that Dominick would be asleep.

"Is he okay?" she asked in a whisper.

The others nodded. She joined them at the side of Dom's bed and tucked her hands into the side pockets of her beige trench coat. She stood next to Gavin and lightly nudged his arm with her elbow.

"Thanks for texting me," she murmured.

"Sure, I just thought you ought to know."

"I appreciate the thought."

Celeste preferred Gavin over the others. No one had scorned her for what she did – cutting her hair like Aimee's, being an associate of Abba's as well as her niece – or who she used to be, but she had a mind-set that reminded her to trust as few people as possible. Maybe she preferred Gavin because he was once on the darker side of enemy lines; just like her, once a runaway, a dog of war, he had to cross over to the good side. The others, they were never called enemy, and because of that, Celeste almost envied them. Envied the way no one thought twice about whether they were on the good team and the way no one would expect them to be double-crossers, they were just instantaneously 'the good guys.' Celeste knew she needed to try, extra hard, because even if the others seemed to accept her, she felt like she would always have to prove herself.

She motioned towards Dominick, looking at him as she addressed the others, "You guys should get in some more training."

"What?" Stefan queried.

She glanced at him, "No one in this room is ready for what's coming, okay. If you were, this wouldn't have happened. Gavin told me what you found out about Domino Doomsday, it shouldn't be taken lightly. You've gotta be prepared, you've got to stop AIM."

"She's right," muttered Gavin.

"I've been training all morning, so I'll stay here with Dominick until he's well-rested and we'll meet up with you later, but you can't all sit here wasting time we don't have."

They all looked at Dominick, he was peacefully asleep. Valerie kept thinking about the man she had killed, how she was unprepared. They had no alternative choice; they had to go. Cautiously, they left the ward, glimpsing behind themselves as if they hoped Dominick would wake up and stop them from what seemed like abandoning him. Aimee was the only one who did not move. Stefan waited for her at the door, but she dismissed him with the promise that she would join them in a minute, and he left with the twins.

"Celeste, thank you," Aimee said.

"Of course," she whispered. "Is that all you stayed for?"

Her voice had a tangible hint of hostility, like she was annoyed that Aimee was disobeying her instruction.

"No," she said solidly. "I wanted to ask you something. When we get to France, if your mother is there... if we need to take her down –"

"Don't worry. I'll be ready," Celeste choked on her thick words.

Aimee nodded solemnly and was out the door. Celeste watched it fall shut without blinking. Would she be ready? The doubt in her eyes was strong enough for even Dominick to realise, and for the first time, he really looked at Celeste, his heart brimming with sympathy.

"I'm sure it won't come to that with Suzanne," he whispered.

Celeste looked at him with nervous eyes, and for a moment, she was smiling. When she realised this, she turned away from him, wiped her tear with her sleeve and said: "Go back to sleep." Dominick just shrugged and closed his eyes again, stirring like an overgrown toddler in a crib. Only then did Celeste allow herself to don her smile.