Methodic beeping stirred Aiden from his slumber.

He opened his eyes, white light blinding him, and he blinked wildly until his vision adjusted.

He was inside a hospital, laying on a cot and attached to an assortment of crazy wires and plugs. There was a vile taste in his mouth, and his limbs felt stiff and sore.

Footsteps approached, making Aiden tense up. Where was he? This wasn't the Second Unit Medical Bay he was accustomed to. He was elsewhere, in a place he'd never been before. It was vaguely similar to that of Second Unit, yet it was different in ways Aiden couldn't explain.

A doctor in a white lab coat stopped just before his bed. He noticed Aiden's conscious state, and immediately signalled to a nearby nurse.

"Please inform Director Graeme and the others that General Lycroft is awake," the doctor ordered. Instantly, the nurse took off, leaving Aiden alone with the doctor.

"Good morning, General," the doctor saluted politely. "I'm Dr. Cavan. You're in First Unit's Medical Bay, since we have the most advanced medical care out of all the Units, and you needed the best of the best."

"What happened to me?" Aiden asked, his voice raw.

"You were shot twice during your encounter with Orion. There were some complications, of course, as the bullet in your chest fragmented and you needed extensive surgery to have the bullet pieces extracted out. Your heart stopped three times."

"I've seen worse," Aiden remarked.

"The bullet in your hand, the one shot by Lieutenant Blanche, suffered no complications. It's been removed, and you should be set to heal in a matter of days with our medicine. However, just because your hand is feeling better doesn't mean that the rest of you is unharmed. As a result of your surgery for the bullet that entered your chest, we were able to regenerate your tissue, but we needed to infuse a portion of your heart with metal in order for it to properly function. This will take a little longer to heal."

"What about Zariah and the others? What happened with the missiles?" Aiden demanded. "I have to see them."

"They're already on their way," Dr. Cavan reassured him. "There's just one more thing I have to go over with you, General Lycroft, and that's the microchip that Orion implanted into your neck while you were unconscious."

"Were you able to get rid of it?" Aiden's eyes widened in fear.

The Medical Official nodded. "It took a long time, but our tech specialists discovered a way to remove it safely. You've been out a week and a half as a result."

Dr. Cavan stopped as the nurse from before returned, nodding respectfully to Aiden. "Director Graeme and his comrades are here for General Lycroft, sir."

"Thank you. Bring them in." The Medical Official gathered his things, turning to Aiden. "I'll let you catch up with your friends. Let me know if there's anything you need."

"Thank you, Doctor," Aiden replied. Seconds later, Aiden was greeted by Roman, Theo, Zariah, Dax and Farley entering his hospital room, their expressions relieved.

"Sleep well?" Theo smiled. Aiden noticed the small figure he carried with him, tucked into his arms protectively. It was bundled up in a soft blanket, snoring quietly every once in a while.

"Best one yet. Apparently my heart stopped three times," Aiden grinned. He gestured to the small infant curled up in Theo's arms. "Who's this?"

"They found her abandoned in Abree City. We've been asking around, but someone said that her parents died in the fighting. No one's been wanting to take her, so I thought I would," Theo said sheepishly. He looked down at the little girl, who was sleeping soundly against him.

"Think you can handle something as dangerous as her?" Aiden smiled slightly.

Theo returned his smile warmly. For the first time in a long while, it was genuine; the way it had been before Jayda died all those months ago. "Yeah, I think I can. Her name is Rune."

"You scared us half to death, you idiot," Zariah said angrily, storming toward Aiden.

"Whoa, it's okay, Zar. I'm okay," Aiden raised his hands defensively. "It's over now."

"Good to have you back, Aiden," Roman folded his arms across his chest. "How're you feeling?"

"Kind of rough," Aiden admitted. "I'm not too sure what's happened, to be quite honest. Any of you want to explain?"

"We will, but we're waiting on somebody first." Farley stepped forward. "I wanted you to know that they found Rania's body. They're keeping her in the Abree City morgue for now. There's talk about building a monument for all the fallen soldiers. They want to call it the Statue of Hope."

Emotion welled up in Aiden's throat. He nodded. "I would like that very much," he decided. Another realization hit him, making Aiden wince.

"What happened to Virgil?" he asked quietly.

A hush filled the room. Zariah and Theo exchanged looks, but it was Zariah who found the courage to speak first.

"He's alive," she explained quickly. "He's stable, and he's in good spirits. He held the bomb in just the right way, that the rest of him managed to survive the explosion. It held him together. Well, most of him, at least."

"What?" Aiden furrowed his brow.

A faint squeaking noise echoed down the hallway, and everyone in the room turned their head to see Kerian pushing Virgil in a wheelchair towards Aiden's hospital room. He looked beat up, bandages wrapped around his head and shoulder, stitches stretching across his lip and scratches and bruises covering his body. Farley held the door open for them, and Kerian thanked him once they were inside.

"Virgil," Aiden sighed in relief.

Virgil stood up from the wheelchair, a childish grin across his face. "You've always got to compete with me, huh? Trying to die on us three times in a row... go fuck yourself."

"What's the damage?" Aiden inquired. In response, Virgil lifted his arm; except it wasn't exactly his arm anymore.

Where there was once Virgil's flesh and bone, there was now an entirely metal prosthetic that stretched from the base of his shoulder to his fingertips. It was infused to him with the freakish medical technology of First Unit's Medical Bay. However, Aiden was amazed by how advanced the prosthetic was. Virgil could move each of his fingers independently, and even flex as if it were a normal arm.

"Nanotech," Virgil summarized. "I never really paid attention to the science behind it because, well, I had to deal with the fact that my arm is metal, but it's pretty incredible. It functions the same as my old arm, except this one is way, way cooler. They even installed some pretty sick weapons in this bad boy."

"Yeah, wow. You win this time, brother," Aiden teased. "I managed to get out with some metal implants in my heart, but nothing as crazy as a new arm."

"We can't all be as dramatic as me. Besides," Virgil winked. "I'm going to have a great time seeing if my cyborg hand matches up to my old one tonight."

"You're actually disgusting," Zariah snorted. "Sit down, we have to fill him in on what happened."

Virgil made a face at Zariah, but obediently returned to his wheelchair, planting a brief kiss on Kerian's lips.

"So, Orion flipped the nuclear switch, which sent three live warheads into the atmosphere. I was able to get a hold of Farley and Roman, who were managing to kick some serious ass out in the field," Zariah began.

"I ordered Theo's fleet to go after the missiles. It was up to him to make sure they didn't make contact, because if they did, it was game over for the rest of us," Roman continued. "Luckily, they succeeded. Once they managed to destroy the missiles, I called for our troops to fall back. After the Other Worlders found out about what Orion had tried to do, and that he was dead, they surrendered pretty quick. We rounded 'em up, put them in secure cells, and they're presently being guarded by Programmers and rebels alike."

"The past few days have been about restoring order to the country. We've been sending out tons of able-bodied soldiers to the cities to clean up and distribute resources to the people. There have been some casualties, but overall, spirits have been high. We're healing," Farley added. "Dax here's been my right hand man through directing patrols. I think he's earned a promotion, and that goes for his friends too. Especially his girlfriend, Seren. She's one hell of a trainee."

"Girlfriend?" Aiden raised an eyebrow. Dax's face flushed red, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"She's not my girlfriend," he insisted. "I don't like her that way."

"I saw you two kissing outside the bunks yesterday," Farley recalled nonchalantly.

"It was one time," Dax pressed.

"Didn't you break her arm?" Virgil pointed out.

"I was sorry for it!"

Everyone laughed, filling Aiden with a feeling of safety that he hadn't felt in a long time. Their ordeal, which had lasted far too long, was finally over. No they could focus on repairing the world that they had caused so much irreparable damage to, and direct their attention to giving Creatan the reform it needed to survive in the distant future.

"Sounds like you guys have made a lot of progress so far," Aiden said. "We've done good. I know we have."

"Roman has been developing a way to ensure that this never happens again," Theo elaborated. "With the input of the rest of us, he's come up with a government system that coexists beside the Program. There will be a federal government, lead by an elected President or Director, and there will be sectional and municipal governments for each Unit's sector and city, each with elected Officials. Elections will be held every four years, and this time, they won't be rigged. The Program will work alongside the federal government, but the General and President will become two separate titles."

"So, who becomes the General?" Aiden asked. All eyes fell upon him in bewilderment.

"You, of course," Farley answered. "Come on, Aiden, you can't seriously tell me that you're not qualified for the position by now?"

"Okay, but if I'm General, who's the President?" Aiden said, puzzled.

"That would be Roman," Virgil responded. "The asshole's been testing out both names; President Graeme and Director Graeme. What a narcissist, the pansy."

Roman smiled at that. "We held a public vote. They chose me, and so did the people you see before you. Even Virgil voted for me."

"What other choice did I have? The vote was pretty much unanimous. I didn't want to be that guy," Virgil muttered.

"The Program will still be a source of protection, only this time, it requires the guidance and supervision of the federal government before it can engage in any serious conduct. Equally so, the Program and the federal government will be in correspondence with one another so as to prevent another corrupt government," Roman put in.

"I'd like to expand an alternate branch of the Program," Aiden said suddenly.

"An alternate branch? What do you mean?" Farley questioned.

"Eskium was living right next to us and we never even knew it. What if there are other people out there and we just don't know it? We might not be the last people on this planet," Aiden argued. "I'd like to enforce that the Program not only be a protective source, but also an explorative one."

"So, we'd be looking for other civilizations as well as defending our own," Zariah summarized. "It's not a bad idea. Reconnecting with the world could give us a shot at restoring it to what it once was."

"Once I establish a proper federal government, we'll discuss the idea," Roman nodded in agreement. "Until then, each and every one of us should take some well deserved time to rest."

"Finally, something I can agree with him on," Virgil exasperated.

They carried on like this for a while, talking and discussing, cracking jokes and filling each other in on what had happened during the Eskium raid. Theo left the room every once and a while to tend to Rune, but other than that, it was like a new peace had been returned to the world.

A knock on the door meant that Dr. Cavan had returned to check up on Aiden. He politely shooed Aiden's companions away, leaving only Zariah to stay with Aiden while he received his treatment. Once Dr. Cavan had gone, Zariah crawled next to Aiden in his small hospital cot, where she curled up beside him and stared aimlessly at the ceiling with him.

"Sorry I shot you," Zariah apologized meekly.

"You don't look all that sorry," Aiden teased.

Zariah kissed his shoulder softly. "Do I?"

"Not one bit," he smiled.

"You had me worried. I didn't know if you would pull through. The amount of times they had to resuscitate you..." Zariah trailed off, her expression growing worried.

"Please, Zar, I'm alright. I promise," Aiden said, kissing her forehead.

"I came back for you, just like I promised," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "But you were so still and so pale, I... I thought I was too late."

"Nah, are you kidding? I'd wait forever for you," Aiden poked her.

"We're okay now," Zariah leaned her head against his arm. "Orion and Xylem are dead. Eskium has fallen. I avenged Rhys. But we lost so many people to get here. Are we heroes?"

"I don't know if we're heroes. I don't know what makes someone a 'hero'. I just know that we had a mission, and we completed it. Now we've got to work just as hard to complete the next one," Aiden replied thoughtfully. "What I do know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter how long or short it manages to be. With our luck, you can never be sure."

"Well, my luck is extraordinary," Zariah flashed him a radiant smile.

Aiden returned it.

It didn't take long for their kissing to become passionate, and for Zariah to crawl on top of him underneath the hospital bed sheets. Afterwards, they laid together in silence as nighttime crept in, the night air blowing into Aiden's hospital room in the form of a cooling breeze.

"You never gave me an answer," Aiden said suddenly, breaking their silence.

Zariah rolled around to answer him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I said that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter how long or short," Aiden repeated.

"That's not a question," Zariah frowned. "That's a statement. How am I supposed to answer a question if you never gave me one?"

"Okay, maybe it's not a question, but how am I supposed to know if you want the same thing? I'm not saying you have to marry me to make that happen, but I have to know," Aiden urged.

Zariah paused for a moment, leaving Aiden in a state of agony. After all they had gone through and done together, she was hesitating?

"Of course I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have no desire to marry you, at least not right now, but in the future, I could see it. Maybe some kids, too," she thought aloud. Aiden sighed in relief. At least they were both on the same page.

"I love you, Zariah Blanche," Aiden glanced at her.

"I love you too, Aiden Lycroft," Zariah replied.

It wasn't long before she rolled on top of him once more, and they stayed like that until the early hours of the morning, when sunlight began to filter through the shades of the hospital room window, giving promise to a new day with endless possibilities.