Walking down familiar hallways, Sam could almost forget the insanity of the last several days. Almost. A bath and clean clothes would get her closer, but still not all the way there. That... was going to take a while.

There was still her lingering hesitation to reach for Rebecca as they walked, a nagging mental note to stay in her peripheral vision at the doors and corners. That kept the events at the farm lurking a few subject hops below the surface in her head. Rebecca was definitely getting better, but the last thing Sam wanted was to make her backslide just because she got careless,

again.

Rebecca probably thought Sam missed it when she kissed Laura on the cheek before they left. It was a polite thought, but she wasn't adept at being sneaky. At least socially. Sam was firmly telling herself it hadn't been necessary anyway, and was waiting to see how well that stuck.

Laura was sweet, but having the in-law come visit several months into the relationship... eh, awkward. But Sam wasn't about to boot her to the RV. They'd just get her set up with her own place and then get back to a healthy balance. Ironically, like Laura said.

Just a couple of works in progress.

Sam would manage though. It wasn't nearly as haphazard as when the bot team learned CalTech's entry that edged them out forfeited, and they were facing a round with MIT after all. Getting combat-ready in three weeks instead of the three months they thought they had for the next regional may have permanently altered her neurological structure after all the caffeine and energy bars.

Still took a piece of them home as a trophy, though.

She braced herself after politely knocking on Leonard and Allison's door, grinned at Leonard when he opened it, and dropped to one knee to receive the inevitable charging dog. The sight of Rufus galloping headlong towards her, chuffing and whining excitedly, gave her a sensation of significant kinship to a deer in headlights of an oncoming freight train, and she appreciated the hand Rebecca put on her back. It probably kept Rufus from bowling her over into the hallway as he frantically danced on his front paws and headbutted her repeatedly.

"Yes, hello big guy. We missed you too. Ack!" She grimaced and flinched her head away at the inevitable desperate licking. "You have to be gentle with other-mama, okay? Yes, that's right, spin in a circle a few times before you ram me again. Get it out of your system. You can't go breaking her, we just got home."

He wasn't the biggest dog, but damn, was his head solid. His skull had the approximate mass and momentum of a bowling ball. That much made sense. The way his tail was able to pull his whole rear end with it as it helicoptered seemed to defy physics.

I guess both of my favorite life forms have a lil' extra swing in their hips. That put a smile on her face, and she glanced up at Rebecca, keeping a firm hand on Rufus' collar so he couldn't send her back to the infirmary. She could feel her mood improving as better thoughts filled her head, and she relished feeling another drip of tension drain away from her.

Rebecca knelt and lavished Rufus with attention while Sam kept him from jumping on her, and at one point their hands brushed, bringing back memories of a certain shower incident. She looked at Rebecca, and a small twitch in her smile let Sam know the recollection was a shared one.

Rebecca returned her attention to Rufus. "Hello, baby. I'm sorry we were gone for so long. But I'm sure Uncle and Auntie spoiled you rotten."

Leonard smiled as he backed into the apartment, holding the door until Sam could rise. "It's possible there's some truth to that. At least he got all of the attention to himself and there's nobody to pull on his ears and tail, just yet."

Rebecca ushered Rufus back inside so she and Sam could enter. "How's she doing?"

Allie stepped into view in the sunset-lit living room. "I'm fine, thank you. We've just been sitting here worried about all of you!"

Once everyone was successfully ushered into the larger space, hugs started going around. Embracing Allie had to be done nearly sideways. Sam was trying to figure out if it was just her imagination that the baby bump had grown since they left when Rebecca, unsurprisingly, apologized for causing them to worry. Sam just gave her a resigned look and thanked them for taking care of Rufus.

"I hope he didn't eat you out of house and home," she added.

Leonard chuckled as he gestured for them to sit if they wanted to. "No, he was a good guest. The only real damage is the amount of fur he left on the loveseat, but I'm excited having enough power for a vacuum soon."

"How's that coming?"

"They've been getting at least two panels up a day, now that they've finally caught up to the number of scaffolds we had pre-built and need to make a new frame for each cluster. So slower going without you, but still forward movement. I think Ronnie's eager to have fewer headaches." As he finished, Allie was asking after Rebecca's mother.

"She's settling in," Rebecca said. "It's a big adjustment, but it sounds like she's happy to be here."

"Of course she is," Allie replied, shaking Rebecca's shoulder gently. "You're here."

Yeah, dummy. Rebecca glanced at Sam's smirk and the corner of her mouth twitched again in acknowledgement. Sam's entertainment grew as the conversation continued.

"It looks like I'll be having plenty of time to catch up with her, too. The nurse back at Broadway — Sandy, the one you've seen for a couple of checkups? She won't even let me climb a flight of stairs without taking a rest, and it sounds like I'm basically in for several days of confinement to the couch with my knitting and whatever books Sam is merciful enough to bring me."

Allie chuckled with about as much schadenfreude as Sam had ever seen from her. "Rebecca, dear. Now you know how I feel! I have to admit a little glee at the tables being turned on you after months of you trying to baby me. Pardon the pun."

Sam noticed that Leonard was staying particularly quiet during the accusations of excess fretting, but did him the courtesy of not pointing it out. Allison asked if they wanted to stay for some tea, but Rebecca politely declined, citing a desire to get back so her mother wasn't alone for too long.

"If we're not careful, she'll start folding the towels and rearranging the cupboards, and then I'll really be in trouble with Sam."

Leonard laughed at them from the kitchen where he was retrieving a small plastic food container. "Well, you know what they say about 'happy wife, happy life' and all that."

Sam actually felt her cheeks flush and turned the smirk that had been on her face for most of their visit his way.

Allison grinned back and forth at her and Rebecca with that ever-soothing laugh and hugged them both again. "I hope the three—" She glanced at Rufus and corrected herself. "Four of you will join us for dinner tomorrow night. Just a small celebration of your return and welcoming your mom. I promise there will be bread?"

Sam knew her eyes must have lit up, shamelessly, and shrugged at Allie's knowing smile. "You sure know how to bend us to your will." She glanced at Rebecca, who nodded.

"Absolutely, Allie. We'd love to. Can we bring anything or help?"

"I'll let you know. In the meantime, I hope you sleep well."

While Sam chuckled enthusiastically, Rebecca replied. "Oh, I'm pretty sure we will. Thank you for everything."

Leonard handed the box he'd retrieved to Sam, and she saw a half-dozen eggs inside. "Something to get you started on dinner."

She hugged him with her free arm. "Thanks, Len. You'd think I'd be getting sick of eggs and rice by now, but Rebecca has actually managed to keep it pretty interesting. My girl definitely keeps me around by way of my stomach." She spared a playful wink for Rebecca.

He laughed, his goodnatured warm staccato that could erupt into a jovial belly guffaw if you wound him up enough. "Maybe she can give me some pointers sometime. In defiance of all Asian stereotypes, my attempts at fried rice are terrible. I don't even need Allie to tell me."

He saw them out the door again, and Rufus was unsurprisingly clingy and anxious until it was clear he was going with them this time. Sam thumped his side affectionately as he settled into a happy lope between them, then fished hopefully for Rebecca's fingers. A happy flutter buoyed her mood further as Rebecca warmly grasped her hand.

A dozen steps down the hall, Sam let out a long contented sigh. "Okay," she said. "Now we're home."

"Right?" Rebecca's warm hand squeezed hers gently. "They're so awesome, and we have Rufus back. That line about your stomach though... isn't it sorta the other way around? You know I have a weakness for your midriff."

"Heh. Well, I guess it's a two way street." Sam paused, tilting her head to listen to Rufus' toes clicking along the floor, and then peered down at his feet. "Well, heck. They trimmed his claws."

"Bathed him too, from the way he smells distinctly less doggy than usual."

"They really are saints, aren't they."

"Our lady of the apocalypse?"

Sam groaned and decided that wasn't worth a further reply.

When they reached their door, she sent Rebecca in first to get Laura and Sue sequestered in the bedroom while Rufus reacclimatized. Soon after, while he sniffed all the new bags and boxes in the apartment, she broke out the battery-powered blood pressure machine in their larger medkit and parked Rebecca on a chair at the dining table.

When she came back from putting a pot of water on the stove and checked the reading, she gently stroked her fingertips over Rebecca's forehead, trying to ignore the fading wounds marring her skin, focusing on smoothing out the little furrow line between her brows. "Hey, sweetie. Welcome home."

Rebecca smiled, and reached her free arm for Sam's waist. "Hi. Same to you."

Even after her other arm was freed from the machine's cuff, they stayed close for a few minutes. Rebecca rested her head against Sam, who shifted her fingers to the strands of hair that had escaped Rebecca's hair tie. The peaceful moment concluded when they heard Rufus pawing at the bedroom door and whining.

Rebecca lifted her head and smiled up at Sam. "He's always interrupting, isn't he?"

Since the BP reading had come back at an acceptable level and they were temporarily alone, Sam bent to kiss Rebecca for a several delightful seconds before replying. "Well, you're the one who brought him home. I adore him, but can't take any of that blame."

Rebecca chuckled as she stood, coming back in for another round with enough enthusiasm Sam had to push her away with a playful swat at her shoulder. They exchanged mischievous grins while Sam put the machine away and Rebecca left to shoo Rufus away from the door. She took that opportunity to invite Laura out to meet him, and that went about how Sam expected. There was some friendly cooing, a lot of tail wagging, and at least one yelp from Rebecca when he whacked her knee.

They spent the next couple of hours heating a lot of water, enough for multiple baths and a pot of rice for dinner. Sam made a mental note to talk to Leonard about building another stove — either wood or propane — on the dining room's balcony for more capacity. It'd be nice for the warmer months too, when capturing excess heat inside was not a feature. Rebecca assented to Sam and Laura's insistence that she clean up first, but balked awkwardly when it became clear Sam was going to spend the whole time perched on the bathroom counter.

Sam closed the door and tossed Rebecca a towel to hang on the bar closest to the bathtub. "Remy, I swear I'm not here for the free show. I just want to make sure you're okay with all the slippery." She nodded at the tub. "The heat and standing up too fast could do wonky things to your blood pressure, and I'm worried about you getting dizzy."

"Not here just for the free show you mean." Rebecca smirked as she started the tub filling and ran a finger down the chart Sam had Sharpie'd on the tile wall with mix ratios and desired temperatures. "And it's weird, with my mom right outside again. I'm still embarrassed that she heard us the first night at Walt's."

"Fair, on your first point." Sam swung her feet as they dangled from the counter, enjoying the sensation of whimsical freedom. "Also, there's no point in worrying. Your mother's already seen me see you naked. Who do you think helped her get you into dry clothes after Sandy checked your vitals?"

Rebecca cringed and sighed. "Yikes. I guess it beats a lot of the alternatives, but that's one helluva relationship milestone. At least I wasn't conscious for it. Also, I'm going to walk right past a joke about you checking my vitals."

"Heh. And I left you a good opportunity and everything." Sam hopped down just long enough to hold Rebecca's hand on the way down before returning to her roost for several minutes. She tried to be polite and spent much of the time watching the sun set over the tint film they'd applied to the bottom panes of the window. Eventually boredom set in, so she risked a wet leg to help rinse the last of the shampoo away, then smiled at the contented hum ladling additional warm water over Rebecca's back evoked. "See sugar, it's not so bad having me here."

"Mmm. Okay, okay. You were right."

"Oh sugar, say that again, I liked the sound of it."

Rebecca scoffed and waved her hand for the towel. "No, I think once is enough right now. Let's not have you get all insufferable our first night home."

Sam held the towel up and supported one of Rebecca's hands as they rose, then leaned to study herself in the mirror while Rebecca dressed. Their week-and-change of misadventure hadn't been kind to her complexion, and she was looking forward to using her real face wash again. She probably deserved one brief peek at Rebecca's half-dressed reflection in consolation. Maybe two, since she'd been good all that time.

When Rebecca habitually plopped down to brush her hair by the fire, Sam caught her eye and pointedly looked at Laura. That got a sheepish grin, but there was a hint of warm appreciation behind it.

Rufus whined at them and walked to the front door and back twice. "Okay, boy," Sam told him, pulling her jacket back on from where it hung on the back of a bar stool. "I'll take you outside for walk while my share of hot water is doing its thing." He turned in an excited circle at two of the three words he recognized and sat by the door to wait for her. He was such a sweetheart, Sam really hoped Sue would be nice about things. Guess we'll find out soon!

Rebecca looked up at her from in front of Laura with another smile. "Thank you, Rosie. I'll cook, I promise."

"Warm bath, fresh protein and carbs, and our own bed. It's shaping up to be a good night." Sam scooped an approximation of Rebecca's usual pistol-radio-flashlight trio into various pockets, then met Rufus at the door.

Downstairs, she enjoyed a long breath of familiar air and started a loop around the compound with Rufus. As usual, he was popular with the locals, so it was slow going. By the time she turned the third corner of the building, dusk proper was settling in and a stiff breeze chilled a lingering damp streak along her right thigh. Thinking about her anticipation of warmer months to come, she reckoned her eagerness could actually be quantified as roughly fifteen to twenty degrees Fahrenheit.

For now, she was excited to get back upstairs to a warm if politely short soak, home-cooked meal, and their cozy nest of blankets and comforters.