When they exited the plane, the warmth hit Emily like a wall after the cool of the cargo plane. The sun blindingly bright as her eyes tried to adjust to the daylight and Finn insisted on giving her his sunglasses. A strong wind whipped her hair around until she captured it in an elastic. Everything had a washed-out feel to it like colour had been banned from the place. Grey concrete, pale beige one-story buildings, people milling about in light brown attire.

As the crew unloaded their equipment, Finn took them straight to the Commander's office. Obviously, Finn had been here before because he knew exactly where he was going.

The Commander was expecting them, but he was anything but happy to see them. Emily in particular. He had received intelligence about her presence on the plane, but her passport had not arrived yet.  This left her in immigration limbo. In no uncertain terms, the senior officer made it clear he wanted this anomaly off of his base.

Emily attempted to plead her case, but the Commander was not even paying attention to her.  She was on the verge of demanding he speak to her when Finn stepped in front of Emily and negotiated her stay.

At last, the Commander acquiesced for the sake of the mission. Emily was to stay on the base but restricted to the makeshift quarters assigned to her.  She was not to get in his way or the way of his people. And as soon as Finn was back, both of them were to leave the base at their earliest convenience. 

Finn looked at Emily to see if she would agree to the terms.  Part of her wanted to scream she was not going to be treated like a prisoner, that she had the right to move about like any other free citizen. The look of concern in Finn's eyes quickly quelled that response.  She did not need his mind distracted on her potential errant behaviour.  Instead, she donned her best compromise-is-the-way-forward face and nodded in agreement.

Everything happened very quickly. She was told to wait outside the office while they found a place for her. Then she was handing Finn back his sunglasses. It was time for him to leave her.

Her calm, cool, in-control Captain Wainwright was replaced by an agitated Finn who paced in front of her as if he was already fighting a war but inside him. She stepped up and placed a hand on his arm.  Stopping, he turned to face her.

"Hey, you.  Talk to me," Emily prompted.

"You promise to stay here on the base. You won't...go away." Emily felt a pang of guilt at the inference to her leaving. Time to instill trust. She hadn't had a chance yet to prove her loyalty, not repeat the sins of the past. This was not eight years ago. Her family would not intervene. And even if they tried, nothing would make her leave this base without him. 

"Yes, Finn." She soothingly reassured him, "I'm not going anywhere.  I plan on enjoying my army base vacation. Take in the spa facilities." Finn smiled weakly at the lame joke. But the smile did not reach his eyes.

"It's not much, but the base is safe." Finn looked around as if to confirm what he was saying. "Just follow the Commander's orders so he doesn't have any reason to send you home. If that happens, I'll follow as soon as I can."

"I'll be quiet as a mouse. I'm good at it." Another half-smile from Finn. "I'll be here when you return. Passport in hand."

"I...I'll get back here as soon as possible." It was almost like now they were here and presented with the reality of being apart Finn didn't want to leave her. "I don't know how long .... I'll find a way-"

"Finn." She placed both hands on his upper arms, "You go out there and do what you need to do. I'll wait. No matter how long it takes." At her proclamation, she felt him relax a little.

"Ok." Then in a rush of words, he added, "I don't know what to do.  I can't stand the thought of leaving you.  Especially... in this place. But I need to do this. It's my job.  My crew needs me.  Still... my mind is going to be on you and what's happening here." Emily could feel his agitation as his muscles tensed below her fingers. "It's like the thought of moving away from you has me frozen.  This is crazy."

Emily's heart went out to him.  "I completely understand. Why do you think I got on that plane in the first place?"

A small part of her was relieved Finn was feeling the same as her. That it was going to hurt to be parted. But he needed to have his mind on his task so he stayed safe. So he came back to her. In a burst of inspiration, she took the elastic out of her hair and placed it around his wrist.

"There, now a part of me is going with you." He looked down at the deep blue band matching his eyes.

Emily kept on. "That's my favourite hairband. I need it back." And you, she implied. "Every time you look at it, you'll be reminded I'm right here waiting for you."

He shook his wrist and chuckled. "It's not really my style." Looking around he seemed to be at a loss. "I need to give you something."

She gripped the edge of the t-shirt she was wearing. "Already got it.  I'll get to sleep with you every night." 

This time the smile did reach his eyes. Raising his hand, he caressed her cheek before kissing her forehead. For the longest moment, neither said anything, just enjoyed holding on to each other. 

Finn broke the silence. "Em,"

"Mmmm." His scent was invading her senses, leaving her light headed.

"I love you."

Emily's heart fluttered. The words were so familiar yet so new. It took a moment for her to be able to return them. "I love you too."

"Be safe. Promise me." He pleaded against her forehead.

Emily took his hand and placed it over the silver charm sitting on her chest. "I promise. I won't leave the base," she repeated.

Bracketing her face in his hands Finn quickly pressed his lips against hers before starting to back away. "Do what the Commander says, he will take care of you." Finn stopped and gave Emily a look over. "I'll be back and then we will talk about our future...together."

The thought of a future together made Emily tingle with excitement. She didn't know what to say in response. Grinning at him instead, she raised her hand, blew him a kiss and waved goodbye. Finn caught the kiss, put it in his pocket, turned around and jogged away.

Her mind flashed back to a similar scene. The last time Finn left. Boarding a bus, going to visit his sister.  It was supposed to be only a few days. Then he would be back and they were set to tell her family they were moving in together.  But it hadn't been a few days.  Emily did not see him again. Not for eight long years.

Emily had no choice back then, forced to leave. Beth needed her. By the time she boarded a flight to Japan, Finn was on his way back. Expecting her to be waiting for him at the bus station as planned. The letter she scribbled to him explained everything. Including her promise to return by Labour Day. 

The first chance she got, Emily called the bar to talk to Finn. There was sorrow in Simon's voice when he told her Finn wasn't there. She kept missing him, he'd just left or was running late. The time difference made it impossible to connect. Each time she begged Simon to let Finn know she loved him and would be back to pick him up on her way to university.  Still, she refused to doubt. Until she stood out front of the Waterfront Bar, heartbroken, on a cold misty morning.

Shivering at the memory, she repeated her vow. It wasn't going to be like that this time.

A young, lanky officer with dark, closely cropped hair introduced himself as Private Kim. "The Commander assigned me to you. You need to wear this at all times." The private handed her a laminated card on a cord.  The small piece of white plastic had a bar code and "Ms. E. Montgomery" printed in large bold black letters.

"Jewellery. Why you shouldn't have," Emily replied. 

The officer looked confused for a moment. "Yeah, I guess."

Right thought Emily, sarcasm is lost on this one.  Then she scolded herself internally.  Mere moments ago, she promised Finn she would not do anything to get in trouble and here she was teasing this poor officer.

"I apologize, Private Kim. It has been a long and confusing day. I'm very tired.  But it's no excuse for being rude."

Kim shuffled his feet embarrassedly. "Ummm, shall we get you to your room then?"  He looked around for her things.

Emily held up the small satchel holding her few items including her wallet, phone, lip gloss and an assortment of damp clothes. "Nothing but this. I left in rather a rush and didn't get a chance to pack my toothbrush."

"Oh," mumbled Kim. "Well, I can help you find some essentials.  We have a small tuck shop here on the base.  Wanna stop by there first and get a few things?"

Emily nodded in agreement, grateful for his generosity. 

The tuck shop was better stocked than some of the corner stores back in Washington.  Emily grabbed a basket and walked the aisles.  First stop, a toothbrush and toothpaste followed by deodorant, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer.  Her skin was already feeling dehydrated and she had only been here an hour. There was a small section of clothing. She made her way there, picking out two more t-shirts, a couple of pairs of jersey pants, sunglasses and the ugliest flip flops she had ever seen.

Taking the items up to the counter, she started searching in her purse for her wallet.

"That's not necessary ma'am." Kim turned to the clerk. "Put these on Captain Wainwright's account."

"No. Really, I would prefer to pay myself."

"I'm afraid not ma'am."  Emily wished he would stop calling her ma'am. "There's no money used here on the base. Everything is charged to an account and settled back home."

"Oh. Can I set up my own account?"

Kim shrugged. "I'm sure you can ma'am.  But it would need to be done...back home." The clerk was watching them, probably wondering who this woman was and why she was here without an account.

"I see. Well, in that case, let's throw in a few of these chocolate bars.  For Captain Wainwright. They're his favourite." She had no idea if he liked them or not.

"Very well ma'am." There was the name again. As they gathered up her belongings, she asked the officer if he could call her Emily.

"Oh no, ma'am.  That would be against protocol.  The Commander's big on following rules. He gave me strict orders to observe all protocols around you."

Emily swallowed her sarcastic response. If it was what the Commander wanted, she was going to have to deal with it.  Nothing was going to make her break the promise to Finn. 

Or so she thought.

Four days later, Emily stood in the Commander's office where he ordered her to leave the base.