#Hospital – September 5, 2015

Leah takes a few extra moments with the mirror before hopping out of the car. "Did he say what caused him to... feel this way about me?" she asks, "Specifically?" She continues in the indicated direction.

Halisi shakes her head. "No. I doubt there was anything specific. The paranoia is no doubt related to post-mission stress and sleep depravation. Perhaps in combination with exposure to the artifact. It wasn't the first manifestation of instability. He... attacked Jason earlier."

Leah pauses and glances over at Halisi. "He-... what?" she asks, quite surprised by this new information, "Jason asked me to check on him the other night... Why didn't he tell me about this?" she asks as she continues alongside Halisi. Although, more specifically she wanted to ask why he told her about this. But, for now, petty jealousy would have to wait. "We were all exposed to the

Halisi shakes her head as they near the entrance. "No... it's unlikely. Just don't want to discount the possibility." They enter the hospital - the waiting room has several people in it - mostly human. After entering the corridor she stops to look at Leah.

Leah stutter steps as Halisi stops without warning, nearly crashing into her. "What?" she asks, eager to get on her way.

Damien is sat at a chair he had pulled up to the window, staring out at it. He is dressed in his usual casual attire, minus the jacket which is draped over the end of his bed. He doesn't turn to see whom has entered, merely continuing to stare out at the forested area. Besides, he has a good idea on who it is.

Leah closes the door behind her and slowly paces across the room. She shrugs her shoulders, not that he can see it, searching for a way to start. She leans against the wall beside the window and glances out without looking towards him. "You.... You never responded to my text." she says, "Last time a guy tried to stand me up I almost broke his arm." She gives Damien a sidelong glance and

Damien continues to stare out the window, barely sparing Leah a glance. Though, it is more out of shame of himself than anything. "I assume she told you?" He says, cutting to the chase. "I wouldn't be surprised if you came here to kill me... I wouldn't blame you, truthfully."

Leah raises her shoulders and allows them to fall. "She-... said a whole lot. Not sure how much of it I understood. Sounded pretty out there." She rotates in place, putting her back against the wall to face Damien directly. "You don't actually think I have some sort of-..." she takes a deep breath as she recalls Halisi's words, shaking her head as she speaks, "...'hidden agenda', do

Damien shrugs minutely. "After seeing the shit we went through, I don't know what I think anymore... I'm just so... Confused."

Leah 's arms droop to her sides and she takes a step towards him. "Damien..." she sighs, lowering down to her knees on the floor right in front of him, parking her bottom on the heels of her boots. "Listen to me." she says, reaching for his hand as she attempts to meet his gaze. "Please. I'm your friend." she pleads, instantly feeling wracked by guilt at the lie she's going to have to

Damien seems to look right through her as she speaks. "I know you're my friend-". He furrows his brows and focuses on her. "I never thought you were going to harm anyone. I didn't even mention that."

Leah pulls his hand towards her and looks down at it. She shrugs as her eyes search over it, an excuse to avoid eye contact. "Then what? I don't understand, Damien... I don't know how to fix this if I don't understand."

Damien shakes his head. "I'm not sure I understand. But... I just couldn't shake this feeling that something changed after your surgery... You felt... Different. Not you."

Leah winces, her eyes watering up once more. "I was dif-... I am different, Damien." she says, raising her head to meet his eyes again, "How could I not be? I'm scared. I almost died. I don't know how to come to terms with what we've been through." she continues, raising her voice somewhat. Not out of anger, just frustration. With herself. "I don't know how to make sense of it.

Damien sits there numbly, staring down at the weeping woman before him. "I'm sorry...". He chokes out, his own eyes watering up. "I shouldn't have assumed-... I'm sorry...". His held hand grasps hers as he clenches his eyes shut, his other hand balling into a fist. "I'm not well... And all I'm doing is hurting people- I can't...-".

Leah shakes her head a few times, "No. No, you're gonna be fine, Damien." she assures him. "We both are. I promise. You just have to-..." she sighs, repeating herself once more, "Keep pushing forward. Okay? And... I'm gonna be right there with you if you need anything. But you have to trust me. I'm your friend, Damien. I'm your friend."

Damien allows a ghost of a smile to trace his lips. "So you keep saying," he replies, unfurling his hand. "The same goes to you, Leah... Please, tell me if anything is wrong. I owe you for what I was doing to you." He gaze averts as he finishes his sentence, still clearly ashamed.

Leah lowers her gaze once more as silence fills the room. After a few moments, she shifts in her place, sitting all the way down on the floor, but maintaining her grip on his hand. "What exactly-..." she shrugs, not entirely sure she actually wants the answer, "...was it you were doing to me...?"

Damien he clenches his fist again, taking a deep breath. "What happened yesterday... I meant it all, what I said... It's just I also had another motive too...".

Leah furrows her brow as she looks up at Damien, the pain clear-as-day on her face. Her posture slacks momentarily before she stiffens her shoulders up and slowly pulls her hand back. "Oh..." she says softly, placing her hands on the armrests of his chair to help her stand back up. She sniffs and raises her head as she retakes her position near the wall. "It's okay." she says plainly as

Damien winces as though he was struck a painful blow. Not that he didn't deserve it of course. "It doesn't fucking matter what I'm going through, Leah. I hurt you, even though you didn't know it yet... All on some... Fucking made up motive...". He stands up, the chair screeching back at the force of his action. "Just-".

Damien grits his teeth, a hand touching the healing cuts on his forehead. "I can't just stop and get rid of this feeling," he says in a hoarse whisper. "Why can't I get rid of it?"

Leah sighs, running a hand across her forehead to sweep some hair out of her eyes. "Damien, what feeling? Talk to me..."

Leah folds her arms back across her chest, subconsciously retreating as she stares at the floor. She slumps her shoulders forward. "I-... I'm just me, Damien." she says sadly, "I sat there, put up in that hospital bed believing I was never going to walk again. Believing my career was over. My life was over... What do you expect? I'm. Your. Friend."

Damien furrows his brow. "Never believing you'd walk again... Even though you had a cousin who could help you out? I mean, they managed to send you your cybers pretty quickly when you called them...". He glances over at her.

Leah stutters with her words a bit as she places her palm against her forehead. "Damien... I don't have a cousin that could help me out. I have a cousin that-..." she pauses, quickly trying to tie the story together without backtracking over her previous story, "...he transports equipment to hospitals. He didn't just help me. He-... he stole it, Damien." she winces, appearing conflicted

Damien turns towards her, his frown becoming deeper. "Really? He risked everything for his cousin for hardware that can be acquired in Citadel space?"

Leah continues, her voice becoming shaky, "Why won't you trust me!? I never should've showed you that. I knew it was a bad idea." She turns and presses her head against the wall, shutting her eyes tightly.

Damien cringes. He backs away and turns, shaking his head. "Ignore me... I'm not well, Leah." He shudders, folding his arms. His voice becomes strained, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's... probably best if you leave... For your sake more than anything. I'm no good for you."

Leah is now, once again, crying. No longer just a few tears. Full on crying. Her chest is heaving as she brings her hand up over her mouth. "...No." she says softly. "Damien, please. You have to trust me. I don't have anyone else..." she says between sobs, "Just... Just tell me you trust me. Please. I need this. I need you!" she continues, practically pleading with the man.

Damien sighs, turning around to face her again, tears pooling at his eyes. "I do trust you," he says with a small sad smile. "But I'm not well and... I don't trust myself at this point. I don't want to hurt you." He looks back out the window, taking a deep shuddering breath.

Leah rushes back in front of him and reaches out, grasping each of his hands in hers. She gives his hands a tug. "No, no, no. You're fine." she sobs, tears now running off her face, "You just-... You need to get out of this place. You can't stay cooped up here. Remember how much fun we had when we got you out of your room?" she continues to plead, trying to coax him towards the door, "We

Damien pulls his hands back from hers, his sadness now being replaced by confusion. "For God's sakes, Leah, I'm not well. I need to be here, where I can get help! You're acting like I'm fucking dying." He steps back, softening his words a little. "Just... Calm down."

Leah tightly shuts her eyes as he pulls his hands back. "Damien. Please." she repeats, sucking in a heavy breath of air and doing her best to calm down. "Please. Come with me. I-... I need to show you something. This is-..." her voice cracks again, "...so important to me."

Damien sighs. "...fine. It's the least I can do," he says relenting. "Lemme just tell Halisi...".

Leah reaches out and grasps his hand tightly, leading on towards the door. "If we see her..." she agrees with a nod, secretly hoping Halisi won't be on the other side of the door. She extends her free hands and taps the panel to open the door.

Damien allows himself to be pulled along.

Halisi is on her way down the hall, away from them, alongside a nurse. They seem to be in a rush.

Leah catches a glimpse of Halisi and immediately tugs Damien in the other direction. She gives a glance at him. "I'm sorry, Damien. I'm so sorry. For everything. You don't deserve any of this."

Damien frowns, his suspicions one again making an- no, no more paranoia! Enough is enough. "None of us deserved this, Leah."

Leah continues down the hall, taking the first turn she can to get her out of sight of Halisi, should she turn around. "That's right. It was fucked up. And-... And horrible. And that's why-..." she continues speaking as she looks around, trying to navigate her way towards the closest exit, "...we need to stick together."

Leah continues through the waiting room with Damien in tow, unless he resists. "Please, Damien. I promise it'll make sense soon. Just... Just trust me. Please." A pang of guilt shoots through her. Tears continue to stream down her face.

Damien continues to follow her, the tears flowing down her face causing him to worry. Did he really hurt her that much?

Leah pauses as soon as she's outside, her eyes darting all around for a moment before she spots her destination and tugs Damien towards the parking lot. She lowers her head as she hears the boy, but continues on. "Where...?" she says softly, worry for her father cranked up to 11 by this point, "Where!?"

Damien tries to pull his arm back now, clearly worried by her erratic behaviour. "Leah, what's going on?"

Leah slows down. She looks over at him and smiles sadly as he pulls his arm back. "Damien, please. I-... I haven't-..." she begins, stuttering over her words. She takes a step towards him and stares him directly in the eyes, placing a hand on each of his shoulders. "Trust me." she says. She leans forward, standing up on her tippy toes as she attempts to press her lips against his.

Damien turns his head away and places a hand against her shoulder. "No. No, tell me what's going on. Now. This isn't like you at all!"

Leah bites her lower lip as she's shot down and takes a step back from Monroe. She nods a couple times to herself, but keeps her hands on his shoulders. "There's something I need to tell you, Damien. Something that's eating away at me." Her eyes are red and puffy. The crying has stopped, but it's clear that a lot of the fight is drained from her. "I need help. I need your help. Please..."

Damien sighs and looks down at her, placing his cybernetic over her hand. "I'll do what I can... Just tell me what's wrong." He smiles warmly at her.

Leah sighs and leans her head back, frustration burning in her eyes. "I can't just tell you. I need to show you. It's about my cybernetics..." Her voice suddenly ramps up and a few tears run down her cheeks again, "Please! Just-... over here." she interlocks her fingers with his cybernetic fingers, backing up towards the forested area.

Damien blinks as he's pulled along again. What. "What? Wouldn't this have been better in the hospital room? Instead of outside?"

Leah shakes her head as she enters the treeline. "No... I-... Halisi." she says, "Halisi was watching me... I-... can't trust..." she trails off, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

Damien stops just inside the treeline, ripping his hand free from her. "Alright, enough!" He shakes his head and glares at her. "I told you I'm sick and this is just making this worse! Tell me. What's. Going. On!"

Leah stares silently at Damien, arms slumped at her sides as her orders scroll past her eye. A slight shine envelopes her form. What would her father think? Would he want her to trade her friend's life for his? Her entire body trembles from the weight of the decision. She bites down on her lower lip. Hard. Hard enough to draw blood. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to her father. He sacrificed

Damien blinks, his gut clenching as her single unspoken word somehow rang in his ears. Run. Run from- oh no. "Leah wha-".

Leah unleashes the biotic energy, attempting to pin Monroe's back to the nearest tree. "I told you to run!" she shouts through gritted teeth, "I'm so sorry..."

Damien slams against the tree, the wind drive out of him by the attack. He... He was right. No. Tears well and fury burns in his eyes as he glares at Leah.

Leah continues to hold him pinned against the tree. "Why?" she asks, "WHY!? Why couldn't you just TRUST me!? I never wanted to hurt you. Don't you understand that!? I never wanted to hurt anyone! I! Have! No! Choice!" Her shoulders shake as she continues to fall apart. She slams him against the tree again as she approaches. "I have no choice..." she repeats, much quieter this time.

Leah shakes her head, continuing towards him. "It's just... too late, Monroe. They see you as a threat... I have no idea who 'they' even are." she says honestly, "It was the cybernetic." All the emotion is slowly draining from her face. It's far too late to turn back at this point. She's fighting for her father's life. Hopefully she'll still be able to look him in the eye when she's

Damien shakes his head. "Don't do this, Leah," he pleads, just as he unleashes the overload aimed at her biotic implant.

Leah drops to her knee as the overload courses through her. She reaches back with her left hand and places it over her implant, losing all control over her biotics momentarily. She lets out a pained grunt. "Please-... If-... If you get away... Promise me you'll protect my dad." she pleads as she rises back to her feet and blinks a few times until her vision is restored.

Damien drops to his knees, wincing at the pain flaring in his back. He shakes his head after a few moments, staring up at her with fierce determination. "No... I won't be able to... It's clear they have a blade dangling above you and letting me go will only get us and your dad killed...". He takes a deep, shuddering breath and sits back on his legs.

Leah stares at him for a few moments in silence. "Monroe..." she mutters apologetically. It looks as though she has more to say as she approaches, but she merely shakes her head and resigns herself to silence. It doesn't take long before the glow overtakes her and she once more attempts to lift Monroe up off the ground. "You are a good man..." she sobs, repeating her sentiment from their

Damien crashes against the tree again, pinned for the second and final time that night. He grunts in pain. He nods once as he resigns himself to his fate, looking directly into Leah's eyes. "Make 'em pay, Leah...".

Leah sucks in some air, attempting to stifle the sobs resonating through her chest. He wasn't even going to fight back anymore. She relaxed her stance and faced him once more, giving him a nod in return. A slow, solemn nod. 'It's okay.' she tells herself. 'Push it all down. The emotion. The fear. Keep. Pushing. Forward. No matter what. No matter how much it hurts.' She takes one more step

Damien | Crack! Damien's head snaps to the side and he goes limp, his eyes staring blankly into nothingness. In one, instant moment, his life was extinguished. Damien died, believing he was at least giving Leah and her father a chance. That was enough for him.

Leah slowly sets his body down, propped against the tree. She brings her hand up to cover her mouth as she struggles to breathe, her sobs preventing her from sucking in any oxygen. She takes a couple steps towards him before dropping to the ground, crawling across the dirt on her hands and knees. She presses her head against his and grasps his organic hand, interlocking her fingers with