Luke was leaning against a fence post, swinging a blade around in his hand. The Runners were gone for the most part, he had sent the majority of their chapter down to Central. Only a few remained, and they remained because of Malia. She hadn’t been fit to travel, not yet, and he wasn’t planning on leaving her alone. Him and Max were who had been caring for her, mostly. The others were merely there for protection.<br/><br/>He looked up as he heard yelling, pushing off and jogging towards the gate. Everyone had been on edge, especially with what Malia had recalled to them. They had been expecting an attack, though none had come yet. “Hey, what’s goin on?” He asked a nearby guard. They pointed to the man striding through the town. Luke narrowed his eyes, and then widened them.<br/><br/>He jogged over to Carson, stepping in front of him. “Carson, what...” he saw the pain in his expression, the tears in his eye, and he then knew what he must be here for. Carson didn’t look good, he looked lost. Broken. Luke took a breath then, giving a thin smile. “Malia.” He looked towards her mother’s house, then back to Carson. “Come on.”<br/><br/>Luke walked with Carson down the road, his arms crossed. “What happened to your eye?” A simple question, he didn’t know if he’d get a real answer, Carson wasn’t there. Not really. They walked a little further until Luke held his arm out for him to stop for a moment. “Max!” He called for the blonde, who jerked his head up, before jogging over to the pair.<br/><br/>“Hey, what’s u— holy fuck, Carson.” His eyes were wide. “Dude, we’ve been—“<br/><br/>“Max,” Luke spoke softly, nodding towards Malia’s mother’s house. “Go get her.” As far as Carson was concerned, Max was off to fetch Malia’s mother. But he wasn’t. No, he was going to get the raven haired girl herself, in all her healing glory. Luke turned to Carson then, putting a hand in his shoulder. “Max did find her, carried her back here. He knew you must’ve been alive because she was the only one left there, and there’s no way she could’ve taken all the Vanguards alone. But, Carson, it isn’t over yet. Not for you.”<br/><br/>A few minutes later, Max could be heard bickering with someone as he walked down the stairs. “Just keep your eyes closed, woman.” He has her hands in his, a limp accompanied her step.<br/><br/>“Why, Max I can’t see anything.” A familiar voice.<br/><br/>“That’s the point.”<br/><br/>“I swear To—“ there was a yelp, she tripped down the stairs, but Max caught her before she hit the ground.<br/><br/>“Fuck, sorry, sorry.” He grimaced, backing as he led her down then. Carson could only currently see Max’s back, but then, the other individual shoved him.<br/><br/>“No, no I’m opening my eyes, I’m done. You know, you’re a real piece of—“ she paused. Her eyes had flickered over to the Strider where he stood, and her arms hung limply at her sides. Her lips parted as she stared on, in complete disbelief. Her eyes filled with tears, her eyebrows pulling together as she opened her mouth, tilting her head.<br/><br/>“Carson?”<br/><br/>She flickered her eyes to Luke, who gave her a slight nod. Max carefully let go of her, holding his hands out in case she ended up needing help, but it didn’t matter at that moment. It didn’t matter if she could walk, is she crawled, it didn’t matter. Because he was there. After two weeks of asking, two weeks of watching as her friends returned without any news of him, he was standing there in front of her. She took one step towards him, grimacing at the effort, but she wasn’t stopping there.<br/><br/>The love of her life, her soul and body, he was right there. He was the only thing that kept her alive, the only thing that pushed her to keep fighting. Two long weeks, and here he was. She pushed herself forward, limping at first, befor ethe adrenaline of seeing Carson filled her body, holding off the pain. She broke into a fast walk, a tear rolling down her face as she made her way to him. And then she wrapped her arms around him. She stood on her tiptoes as her arms linked around his neck, her face pressed into the crook of his neck.<br/><br/>She wasn’t even sure this was real, what is this was just some cruel joke. What if she really had died, and this was...whatever remained. But no. She could smell him, he was so familiar. The way he wrapped around her, his warmth, she knew it all. This was Carson, her Carson. Her shoulders shook as she cried into his neck, one hand tangling in his overgrown hair. She couldn’t believe it, but she did.<br/><br/>Eventually, she pulled away, her eyes red, still full of tears. She cupped his face in her hands, studying him. Immediately, she took notice of the path on his eye, and her thumb ran gently under the spot. But, he could explain later. Right now, all that mattered  was that she found him...or he found her. Finally,<i>finally</i>, for the first time since the day she lay dying, she smiled. Pulling him down, her lips connected with his, the same spark she always felt lighting up her being. The war was far from over, but it was as if every piece fell into place, as if everything was right in this horrid world.<br/><br/>Luke and Max had given them space, walking inside. Malia rested her forehead against his, sniffling. “I love you, Carson. So fucking much. I missed everything about you, I wanted to come find you I just couldn’t.” She kissed him once more. “I’m okay. We’re okay.”