atomic man, john murphy.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

"Raven," Clove approached the girl who laid on the cot with a frown. "You okay?" 

Clove had kept a careful eye on Echo for the last day. Echo had gone to Diyoza about something, which clearly made Raven upset, and then Shaw comes back beaten to a pulp a couple hours later. 

Raven looked up at her and she sat up. "Yeah, I'm okay," Raven's eyes drifted towards Shaw and Clove followed her gaze. 

"He'll be fine. They can't kill their pilot, right?" Clove assured her. Raven nodded in agreement but still frowned. "You sure you're alright? You seem down." 

"Yeah. It's just..." Raven glanced at Echo, who was in the corner, and sighed. "Monty gave us this key logger to let him into Diyoza's system and Echo went behind my back and threw Shaw under the bus." 

"Oh," Clove mimicked her frown as she thought of something to say. "So not cool." Raven sent her an astonished expression. "Sorry. I'm still not good with feelings." 

"Guess you haven't changed completely," Raven smiled. 

Clove laughed and shrugged. "Maybe not." 

"You hear that?" Raven furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. She walked towards the window and Clove followed. 

"Yeah, something must be happening out there," Clove responded blandly. "It isn't our problem though." 

Raven ignored her and was desperately trying to see something out of the window but the shouting was clearly coming from in front of the church and all the windows were on the sides. "I can't see anything," Raven shook her head. 

"Hey," Echo muttered as she approached them. "Keep your guards up. We don't know what these people are going to do." 

They sat in the dim room on edge as the yelling continued outside. Finally, the doors to the church flung open, banging against the wall behind them. The prisoners led in two more people and tossed them to the ground like rag dolls before leaving and slamming the door behind them. 

Clove choked on the air in her throat as she realized who the two newcomers were. Raven chuckled then Echo and her went to greet Emori and Murphy. Clove stood still as she tried to comprehend that she was seeing John Murphy for the first time in six years. In the bunker, she was often left alone with her thoughts and she always found herself wondering how she would react when she saw him again for the first time. Clove was convinced she would hug him and be glad to see him, but still be pissed for what he did to her. But seeing him standing there against all odds, Clove realized she didn't have it in her to me mad. She just loved him too much. She still stood there, racking her brain of what her first words should be, but her mind was blank.

"Hey, Murphy," Raven smirked and he glanced at her with a curious expression. "I found you something. Or should I say someone."

Raven then stepped to the side, no longer obscuring Clove from his view. Murphy's expression fell and he stared at the girl in awe, leaving them both to make intense eye contact from across the room. Emori sighed and pushed Murphy forward, causing him to stumble slightly. When he regained his balance, Clove and him both started walking towards each other. Clove wiped her sweaty palms against her pants and gulped just as she stopped in front of him. When they were finally face to face, she inspected him carefully and cleared her throat. "So," Her voice was meek. "You have facial hair now." 

Murphy grinned and captured her in a tight embrace. Clove quickly returned the gesture and they both had their eyes closed as they hugged. "I love you," He mumbled to her. "I'm sorry for leaving." 

They both backed out of the hug but remained only centimeters away from each other. "What, you mean when you left me before the world ended?" She questioned rhetorically before bringing her hand up to his face, the facial hair scratching Clove's palm. She smiled at him as she gently pulled Murphy's lips to her own and molded them together. When they separated and placed their foreheads against one another's, Clove whispered breathlessly, "It's already forgotten."