The next few days were some of the hardest of my life. The first day of PT had me feeling like I was going through Ranger school all over again. The first three days were rough. Getting my muscles used to moving again basically felt like I was starting over. Even after getting shot didn't hurt this badly. Then came time to actually try to stand. I could barely stand on my own for a minute before I was grabbing onto my physical therapist so I wouldn't fall over.

We started to work on standing in place first, and when I felt comfortable, I took a few steps. I didn't get far in these first few days of PT, but it was better then sitting in bed with nothing to do. It took a few more days of long PT sessions before I was able to get out of bed on my own and make it over to the bathroom. Once Doctor Mayfield saw it with her own eyes, she cleared me to have most of the remaining tubes and drains removed from my body. The only ones that remained was the heart monitor leads and the IV in my arm for the many medications I was still on.

The day after everything came out of me, I got the morning off of PT to rest a bit. I thought it was a bit counter productive but I didn't argue with my therapist. Once again I woke up to a knock at the door. When I opened my eyes and took in the room I saw the person who I've been waiting to see since I've woken up. Morgan was standing in the doorway, her left arm in a sling but otherwise looking alright. Carefully I sat up in bed and pushed myself over to the edge. Once my legs were firmly on the ground, I pushed myself out of bed and took two steps in her direction when she was suddenly right in front of me with tears in her eyes.

With tender care, Morgan wrapped her arm around my waist and I walked into her waiting arms. My face made a home tucked in her neck and I brought my arms around her lower back and held her as closely as I could to my body without hurting myself in my process.

"Did you hear me say it back?" Morgan asked, her voice shaky with tears.

"What?" I asked and pulled away from her neck enough to be able to see her face.

"I said it back, I said it back to you so many times after the blast, waiting for you to say it again. But there was so much blood." Morgan said through sobs. I knew this was going to be hard, seeing Morgan for the first time afterwards. Now I understand why Annabelle waited until my doctor cleared me to move around some more before giving Morgan the chance to seek me out. If this happened when I first woke up, I would have barely been able to move let alone to remember what was happening.

Using some of my strength, I backed us both up towards my bed and carefully sat back down. Once I was on the bed, I looked up and Morgan's face and nodded towards the empty chair next to my bed. Morgan got the hint and sat down next to me but didn't let go of my hand.

"I'm sorry, I wish I did hear you. It would have made me felt a lot better then what I was actually feeling." I said and continued to rub my thumb over the back of her hand.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked as she tried to wipe away some of her tears.

"After the explosion, all I felt was pain. Worse then anything I've ever felt before. I had no sense of time. All I knew I wanted it to end. When I woke up for those few minutes here in the hospital, Annabelle was there and she told me where I was but that's about all I remember until I woke up again a few days later. Breathing sucks, walking is hard, but the pain isn't as bad as it was before. How is your arm?" I asked.

"I'm fine, a simple surgery to just repair some muscle damage and now I'm in this sling for another two weeks." Morgan answered.

"Good, god I can't wait to go home, all I want to do right now is curl up on the couch with you and not move for days." I said and sighed.

"Soon babe, soon. From what I've heard you are doing really well. I think we'll be home for Christmas." Morgan said.

"Christmas?" I asked confused.

"Yea, today's December 17th." Morgan said and it took me a little bit to wrap my head around that thought. That's when I decided to lay back down. Morgan moved close to the bed so she would still be able to hold my hand now that I'm back in bed.

"I feel like I'm missing so much time." I said and wiped my other hand down across my face.

"It's okay babe, you just need to take things one day at a time now. Now that you know the date, that shouldn't happen anymore. I'll make sure to bring your phone and some clothes for you to wear tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, the team wants to come and see you. Rob has been keeping them at bay for now, but now that he told them you're awake and on the mend, they are pushing to come and see you." Morgan said.

"If you see them when you leave, tell them to all come tomorrow afternoon so they can go home and be with there families for Christmas. I'm guessing Collins already debriefed them so they'll be free to leave then." I said.

"I'll make it happen. You rest for a few, I'm going to go get some food, is there anything you want from the café?" Morgan asked and slowly stood from the chair.

"Real food, actual vegetables, something sweet too." I said giving her my wish list. Morgan laughed and leaned over the bed and pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning and leaving the room.

It took a few seconds for me to calm down from the kiss and only when the door closed behind her did I realize I haven't gotten the chance to kiss Morgan yet. I'll just have to change that when she comes back from getting food. All that has really crossed my mind right now is getting to be close to Morgan again, to share that intimacy that has been missing, and to take her home to my moms for Christmas. Wait, moms.

When I opened my eyes from my daydream I tried not to panic over completely forgetting to call them to let them know I'm alright. Just as I was about to use the call button, the door swung open and Morgan walked back inside followed by Major Collins, who was holding a tray of food?

"I got all the way down to the café and bought everything only to realize I couldn't carry it back up here with only one arm. Annabelle was downstairs and so I asked if she could bring it up for me." Morgan said looking a bit embarrassed as Annabelle put the tray of wonderfully smelling food down on my tray table. There actions only distracted me for a few moments when before I shook my head.

"Guys, I need my phone, I need to call my moms." I said and watched as Morgan took the seat next to my bed as Annabelle sat down on the edge of my bed.

"I don't have your phone with me, I could ask Rob to bring it over and you can give them a call when he gets here?" Morgan asked.

"Did you tell them that I was hurt?" I asked Annabelle as she stole a carrot off of my plate.

"I did, it's protocol. But I have called them every day since. They've spoken to your doctor and knew everything that has been going on since you got to the hospital in Poland. I've told them that you're awake and should be calling soon, I just didn't want to push it on you right away until you were more stable." Annabelle said.

I looked from her to Morgan. Morgan just gave me a nod and I relented a bit on getting my phone back. Instead I pulled the tray of food in front of me and started to eat a little bit. I actually moaned at how good the food was after only eating MRE's and being on a liquid diet for so long.

Annabelle started talking quietly to Morgan while I ate lunch. I ate most of the food she got me but saved room to have the piece of chocolate cake. I was only able to get through about half of the piece before I got too full so I had to save the rest for later. Once I was finished and pushed the tray away and looked up at them. They both looked like they had a secret they were keeping. So with one final swig of water, I sat up again and looked at both of them.

"What aren't you tell me?" I asked wanting to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. Annabelle cleared her throat and looked at Morgan while Morgan just rubbed her forehead before trying to sink into the chair.

"Guys" I bit out at the both of them.

"After" Morgan started not looking at me before breaking off. It took another second before she started again. "After the explosion, I never blacked out, sure I was disoriented from everything but once I realized you weren't on top of me anymore, I looked around and found you a few feet away, wrapped around the support beam of the building. I crawled over to you and carefully pulled you away and when I turned you onto your back, I saw all of the blood. I started screaming for you to wake up but nothing I did worked, so I started to scream I love you, hoping that maybe if I said it loud enough, you would answer me. What I didn't realize at the time was that most of the team heard it. I only pieced it together when Emmett pulled me off of you. Rob took the SAT phone and called for the copper evac while Monica held me back from getting to you while Cosima worked on my shoulder and Emmett worked to keep you breathing." Morgan said not meeting my eyes.

It took a few seconds for her to collect herself but when she did, Morgan looked up and I saw the tears in her eyes. This is something that could ruin both of our careers, something we both knew when we started our relationship again. Something that we've tried to keep away from the light of day. But I knew it wouldn't last forever. I just wish I would have been able to tell the team in a better way. Having them find out like this was the worse case scenario.

"In their final debrief, nobody mentioned. I haven't heard anything from Major Roman or Cater as debriefs of Alpha and Bravo team have also concluded. I think both Delta teams are still here, sticking around waiting for news about you. I think Rob gave them some updates but not much." Major Collins said.

"You know I'll fall on the sword every single time. If someone started asking questions or thinks they know something, please tell me and take care of it." I said looking at Major Collins.

"We are in this relationship together Daniella, you can't be making these decisions yourself." Morgan said.

"I know that but I'm done Morgan, so if this means taking this bullet on my way out of the door, I'll do it in a heartbeat so your career can continue." I said.

The air was tense between the three of us. When Morgan didn't have a response for minute, Annabelle decided to make her exit, leaving the two of us alone. It took a few more tense minutes of silence before I opened my mouth again.

"How much more time is on your contract?" I asked softly wanting to take this conversation down a few notches.

"Two more years, just like you." Morgan said.

"Do you want to continue on in the Army?" I asked.

"Yes." Morgan answered.

"Okay, we will take it one day at a time then. We are both going to be out for a while to recover and when we are cleared to return we can have this conversation again." I said. Morgan didn't say anything so I pushed myself to the edge of my bed and stood up. Morgan just watched as I walked my way to the bathroom. I needed a few seconds to calm down from the argument and to also use the bathroom. When I was done I left the bathroom and found Morgan pacing back and forth in front of my bed.

Once she saw me leave the bathroom she stopped in her tracks to watch me. I just walked over to her and stood in front of her. I took my hand off of the IV stand and put it on her cheek. Morgan's eyes fluttered closed at the feeling and I couldn't help myself but lean in and give her a kiss. Finally. My lips pressed to her and I could feel all of the tension from our fight leave her body. The kiss didn't last long. I didn't have much strength left in me and I was still pretty short of breath, so I knew I couldn't push it.

When I pulled away I leaned my forehead into hers for a few seconds before I had to walk over to the bed and sit back down. Once I got comfortable, I looked over and found Morgan still rooted in the same spot I left.

"You going to stand there all day?" I asked to get her attention. Morgan spun around and found me flipping the edge of the blanket up as an invitation. Morgan gave me a questioning look and I sighed.

"Everyone already knows about us and the only person in command that has come into this room since I've been here has been Annabelle. If you have nothing better to do, I rather spend the next couple of hours before PT cuddled with you." I said.

Morgan gave me a smile before coming over to me. She kicked her shoes off before getting into bed on the right side of me, away from all of the bruising and damage. We couldn't really do much thought because her left side is injured, so I just reached my hand out for hers. Morgan quickly took it and I pulled the blankets back over my body. It didn't take long before I ended up falling asleep.

Unfortunately for me, our nap didn't last long. We were interrupted by my physical therapist who quite literally crashed into the door and woke us both up. I instantly reached for my pistol which wasn't on my thigh and it lead to a few nurses rushing into the room when my heart rate picked up in a matter of seconds. Morgan was barely holding herself together next to me as it took a few painstakingly long minutes for us both to calm down enough for me to even entertain the idea of doing PT right now.

For our evening PT session, my therapist wanted me to walk down the hall towards the nurses station. So far we haven't gone that far so this will definitely be a challenge but Morgan stayed right by my side. She held my hand on my walk while my physical therapist followed behind me with a wheel chair and my IV pole. I just focused on the destination and not to much on how hard it hurt to breath. It was probably the longest walk of my life but when I finally made it to the nurses station, I felt proud of my accomplishment. My reward for this walk was a ride back to my room in the wheel chair, which at this point was necessary because I didn't have the energy to walk back myself.

My nurse came back into the room once I got settled in bed again. She brought dinner for me and she also removed the leads from my chest for the heart monitor. Now I was only down to two things, the IV in my arm and the oxygen cannula, which probably won't come out until I'm on my way out the door. I was able to eat a bit of my dinner and the rest of my piece of cake before the nurse came back to kick Morgan out for the night. Before she left I asked Morgan to bring me something specific from my stuff if she could find it along with my phone and some new clothes to change into. I gave her a kiss goodnight with a promise of her being back here as soon as the visiting hours started.

The next morning I got to wake up on my own for once. I think that Morgan and I scared everyone a bit yesterday so hopefully they will be a bit gentler with how they barge into the room now. Right after breakfast and my morning meds, my physical therapist was back and we were on the move again. We did another walk to the nurses station and a little bit of the walk on the way back to my room before I had enough and just enjoyed the ride. My chest still hurts a ton but instead of a sharp knife blade in my gut every time I took a breath, the knife blade has dulled a bit.

I got to rest a bit before Morgan woke me up when she came to visit. But today she was carrying a bag with her. After a long kiss hello, Morgan gave me my fully charged phone before she put the bag down on the side of the bed. With some fresh clothes I knew I wanted to take a shower and finally get out of this hospital gown before the team showed up. But with Morgan down an arm, this is going to be interesting. Instead of having her try to help me, one of my nurses, Alexa who came with Doctor Shannon from Poland and who has been with me basically everyday since I've been in the hospital, helped me. I still couldn't really lift my arms above my breasts much because of the pull from all of the stitches in my chest so we had to get a bit creative. We were lucky that the shower had a removable shower head. Once I was done and clean, it felt so nice to actually climb into my own pajamas. But it didn't take long to realize that the sweatshirt Alexa helped me into, was actually one of Morgans.

Once Alexa reconnected my IV, she left us alone again. I was barely able to get a word in to Morgan to thank her before the door opened again and in walked Rob followed by Monica and the rest of the team. All twelve of us in one room together again and in one piece. They were all uncharacteristically quiet for once and it put me a bit on edge.

"You guys realize I'm alive right? You don't have to be so quiet." I said trying to break the tension in the room. I don't think it worked because they still didn't say anything. I sighed and rubbed my forehead at the growing headache that was forming. I push the blanket off of my legs and slowly pushed myself up and out of bed. Morgan put her hand on my mine but I waved her off. I knew I shouldn't be walking around to much right now but I couldn't help it.

I walked around the bed with my IV pole and walked a line in front of all of them. They are all in civilian clothes so I knew I couldn't pick on anything out of order on them so it looks like I'm going to have to a dig a little deeper.

"Yes, I almost died, yes you all saw it. But I am here alive, thanks to every single one of you, especially you." I said and stood in front of Emmett. His eyes were watering as they finally met mine. "Thank you for keeping me alive." I said trying to keep it together in front of everyone. I knew it wouldn't be long before tears appeared so I let go of my IV pole and pulled Emmett into a hug. He wrapped his arms around my lower back and held me carefully until I pulled away from the hug.

"I know you guys have questions so lets here them." I said as I started to make my way back to my bed to sit down, my body had enough standing for now.

"How are you doing?" Emmett asked.

"I'm managing, I got to shower for the first time since the explosion this morning but that was an interesting experience, breathing sucks, walking sucks, pretty much everything sucks right now. I have a long recovery ahead of me." I said.

"Is our deployment over?" Warren asked.

"I don't know, I haven't really talked shop with Major Collins since I woke up, I would assume so. Two missions back to back like this calls for some time off. I'll see if I can get a hold of here to talk about it. What's next?" I asked.

"The deployment question." Micah asked.

"Ah, right, remind me again what it is." I said wanting to hear it from them.

"What is a hobby we don't know about that you love to do and wish you had more time to do it?" Felix asked.

"For those who don't know, my mom Shannon is an artist. Her style has varied over the years, but when I was younger, one of the things we did together was draw. Morgan?" I said and turned to face her and pointed towards my bag. She picked it up with her one arm and reached inside and grabbed the notebook I asked her to bring today.

"I love to draw. Subject doesn't matter, half of the time they are just random pen doodles but it's something that I love to do when I have the chance." I said and flipped open the notebook to reveal all of the sketches I have done over the course of this last deployment when I've had some downtime. Some are more detailed then others, done over the course of night watches, half done in the dark. Others are quick little cartoon drawings of animals or flowers. Others are actual maps I've done in great detail of what is around us. I watched as the team passed the book around and then while Dexter had the book, his looked up at me concerned. He didn't say anything but just flipped the book around and I saw Marta's face in great detail staring back me. Morgan gasped from her seat behind me and reached out for the book. I watched as her hand ran over the lines of her hair before looking up at me.

"Who is that boss?" Dexter asked and my attention turned back to him and team.

"Someone we couldn't save." I said and heard Morgan snap the book closed behind me. I guess show and tell time as come to an end for now.

"I also wanted to speak to you all about something else." I said and looked at Rob for a second. When I eyed the door he got the hint and shut it before leaning against it so nobody could walk in unannounced.

"After the explosion, when it was clear that I was not okay and you guys came to give me aid, Morgan said somethings to me in the heat of the moment." I said unsure of how to go about this conversation. I was never shy about my sexuality and I knew it helped other on the team accept there's. But this moment is one that has left me struggling how to explain. It's something so personal to me and something so close to my core, it's hard for me to actually get the words out.

Before I could say anything I felt the bed dip next to me and I turned to see Morgan sat down on my left. Her right hand quickly took mine and she intertwined our fingers together before running her thumb across my knuckles. I clenched my jaw and tilted my head down, not wanting to see any of there faces right now.

"I've been in love with Daniella for a long time. We have been in an on and off relationship for years. Recent events finally made us see that life is to short not to be happy. So, we reconciled before we left for deployment and have been together since. Only a hand full of people knew about it because our careers can go down the drain if command found out because of the chain of command issue." Morgan said taking the lead while I tried to breath through the panic attack that was brewing. Once I thought I had a handle on it I looked up at the team. They all looked a bit surprised but nobody was running out of the room which was good. So I took a deep breath and found my voice again.

"We aren't asking you guys to lie and cover for us, I will happily fall on the sword for this not wanting anything to blow back on Morgan and her career. I just ask that if you are going to speak about what happened, that you place all the blame on me." I said.

"Shut up with this blame crap Daniella. Nobody is going to say anything about your relationship. We all had a conversation about it before we had our debrief. Your secret is safe with us." Monica said. I looked around the room and saw that most of the team gave us all smiles and I had a feeling that Morgan and I were going to be okay.

a/n: long but you finally get the reunion you have been waiting for. song on the side is Look After You by the Fray, like the team is looking after them.