Trinity awoke early the next morning, before her alarm. She was greeted with a feeling of chest-aching sadness and for a moment she didn’t remember why.

But as soon as her feet hit the floor it all came back. She had told Hawkeye she was leaving when the job was done, that they would never be together…

When the project was over she would never see him again.

The hollow feeling threatened to overwhelm her.

The best thing to do is work.

She threw on her clothes quickly, went downstairs, grabbed one of Veronica’s protein bars out of the cupboard, and headed over to the chapel. The last thing she wanted was to run into anyone.

Last night’s storm had left its mark on the morning. The birds were singing in the rhododendrons, and even the normally dusty grass in the K-9 pen was emerald green.

Trinity strode past it all quickly, not wanting to dwell on the beauty of her life in this place.

It was odd to enter the old chapel alone, but with any luck Hawkeye wouldn’t be here for another hour at least. Or maybe he wouldn’t come at all.

In any case she would get as much work done as she could.

The project was nearly completed, that much was genuinely good. Wherever she went from here, she certainly hoped she would never scan this much again.

Thank goodness for Hawkeye’s hard work, or she would have twice as much left ahead of her.

She pictured him smiling down at her, the light from the windows making his eyes twinkle.

A wave of loss drowned her heart.

How can you love him? You barely know him.

But the little voice in her head had nothing on her heart.

She threw herself into scanning, trying to numb herself with the rhythm of the work.

She had finally begun to feel a measure of peace when the door opened and Hawkeye stepped into the room.

His big body was silhouetted against the bright windows, so that she couldn’t see his expression, only the set of his wide shoulders.

“Good morning, Trinity. You got here early,” he observed.

His voice was warm and kind, and she felt utterly ashamed for what she was about to do.

“I want to finish up,” she said coldly.

“I’ll help,” he said, taking his place at his own oak desk.

She kept her lips buttoned, knowing that if she allowed herself to be friendly, things would fall back into place between them.

And that was dangerous. Because she wasn’t sure she could push him away again.

Just finish the project and move on, Trinity.

As the sun rose outside the windows, she imagined Veronica and Lobo going out to the kennels together to feed the K-9s. She imagined Brooke and Conan heading downstairs to teach a quick martial arts class before combat training at the academy began for the day.

And she tried to imagine what Hawkeye might be doing in the mornings when she was gone. Would he be alone? Or was there another woman whose routine he would come to share?

He was an incredible person. He wouldn’t be alone for long.

The thought was both comforting and shatteringly painful.

“I respect your decision,” he said, his deep voice breaking the silence and her train of thought.

“What?” she asked.

“I want you to know that I respect your decision,” he repeated. “I don’t like it. And if anyone else tried to take you away from me I’d fight them like an animal. But if it’s what you want, I respect your decision.”

“I-I…”

But Trinity was saved from having to respond by the sound of the door opening again.

Rex‘s curly head peeked around the corner.

“Hey, Trinity,” he said. “Hey, Hawkeye.”

“What’s up, Rex?” Trinity asked quickly, hoping the admin didn’t sense the tension in the air from the conversation he’d just interrupted.

“Oh, I wanted to let you know that they’re going to be fumigating the chapel tomorrow,” he said. “You’ll have to stay out for twenty-four hours.”

“What? Why?” Trinity asked. “We’re almost done with this project. Can’t you put it off a week?”

“Sorry, Trinity,” Rex replied. “Cleaning staff saw roaches in here the other night. Captain Henderson hates bugs.”

“Roaches, really?” Trinity asked, horrified. She’d never seen any bugs in the chapel.

Rex shrugged. “Just stay out for twenty-four hours starting tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Trinity sighed. “Thanks for letting us know.”

“You must be getting close to finishing, huh?” Rex asked sympathetically, eyeing up the boxes around them.

“Yeah,” Trinity said. “We’ve really only got about the last eight years of records left to go.”

“Very cool,” Rex said, nodding. “Well, good luck with it.”

“Thanks,” she said.

He waved and headed out the way he had come in.

Trinity took a deep breath and prepared herself to face a few more hours alone with Hawkeye.