“Taeyeon you are being irrational.”

“I am not. It feels perfectly fine.” Taeyeon itched at the cast wanting to rip it off herself while Jessica swatted the impatient girl’s hands away.

Just as the two girls were to get into another argument, the doctor came in, “Alright Taeyeon I have your scans. You were looking at 2 more weeks but I don’t see why we can’t take the cast off now and put you on a walking cast.”

Jessica looked up surprised, “Is she really healed?”

The doctor put up the x-rays on the board, “her bones reset and look to be healed. She could be at risk of fracturing the area again with the reduced bone density in the areas she broke before but if we can get her muscles strong again, the possibility of that happening is very low. I think light physical therapy for now Taeyeon and we will push it up after a few weeks.”

“I can train harder…”

“No. That could make your recovery time longer. Just listen to the therapist and wear the walking cast all other times. No buts on this because I know how you are.” The doctor glared at Taeyeon sending shivers down the other woman’s spine.

“Yes doc…”

Patting the defeated girl on the back, the doctor smiled at the girl, “Good so how about we take this off?”

Jessica stepped back in fear when the doctor pulled out a motorized saw. The sharp blades spun fiercely as the motor hummed cut into the cast with ease. Inch by inch the cast opened up and the rush of cool air brushed past Taeyeon’s bare leg for the first time in months. It was a strange feeling when the doctor ripped open the cast to reveal a pale leg underneath. Freedom at last!

“Taeyeon I will do a sponge bath quickly before putting you into the other cast.”

Jessica watched on as the doctor took care of her patient and replaced the clunky old cast with a removeable cast for therapy. The look was different and she couldn’t help but match the goofy smile on Taeyeon’s face. She knew how happy the girl was to be fully healed.

Taeyeon hobbled around on the new cast with her smile never fading, “do you want to get something sweet? I know a place with ice pops.”

“Are you treating me for being a good patient?” Taeyeon said as she leaned on Jessica for support.

Jessica leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “I thought you were being stubborn so it is to say I am sorry.”

Taeyeon loved all the affection she was getting today and was more than happy to receive it, “I want a lemon pop then!”

Jessica giggled at her unusually childish girlfriend to help her along to the shop that sells the sweet treats, “Ah Taeyeon you are back. You like lemon right?”

Taeyeon found a seat near the stand, “Yes!”

“And you miss?”

Jessica looked at the menu, “Original flavor is fine.”

“Nice choice. That is 2 coins.”

Jessica smiled at the cheep price so she handed over 2 coins over to the man and went to sit down with Taeyeon at the table, “Your lemon.”

Taeyeon popped the icicle in and hummed in approval of the tasty snack, “I forgot how much I loved these.”

Jessica hers in pleasure too, “I don’t think I had one of these since I arrived.”

Taeyeon reached over to rub Jessica’s leg, “I should take you on more dates. I love doing things like this with you.”

Jessica gave her a quick eye-smile, “gladly whenever we are not fighting an endless war.”

Taeyeon knew the Resistance was her priority and what was coming could mean less time with Jessica, but she didn’t want to put Jessica second in her life.

“Geez Taeyeon pay attention or it will all melt,” Jessica went over to get a towel to wipe of Taeyeon’s hands.

“Thanks.”

“Any time.” Jessica leaned forward watching Taeyeon eat the popsicle as if there were no worries in the world. She knew Taeyeon liked to put the weight of the Resistance on her shoulders at times but having her content like this made the moment even more perfect.

“Done!” Taeyeon tossed her tissue in the garbage, “what should we do now?”

“Humm I am not sure. What fun things are to do in this bunker? I used to love our time together in the Party like riding the train.”

“That didn’t really end well if you remember right.”

“It was fun before I got kidnapped.” Jessica joked.

Taeyeon still felt guilty about that incident so she led Jessica around to the other stalls, “do you like shopping?”

Jessica looked around the stalls, “I remember how hard it was to get my sister new shoes…I think knowing you couldn’t spend any money ruins the joy of shopping.”

“You have enough coins to buy anything here.” Taeyeon knew how much she got in currency for her current job. “I think I was spoiled as a kid. My real parents…I never knew but the man I call father now…he was well known and people loved him. If I was seen around here with him, they would just give things to me.”

“That must have been nice,” Jessica picked up a handmade doll, “Everyone things the Party gives its workers so many luxuries but that wasn’t true. We may have been more well off than those behind the Party walls but it wasn’t a comfortable life. The Resistance seems like an oasis or what the Party should be. The Party just loves to take more than give…it is the opposite here.”

Taeyeon strolled around looking at the things Jessica touched, “don’t be fooled. The Resistance expects you to offer your life and that could be more valuable than anything here. I think that is a big sacrifice you are expected to make for comfort.”

Jessica nodded along, “I understand. The Party will not go down easy but I trust the leaders here…something that would be impossible for me to say in the Party. There is a comfort in trusting those around you.”

Taeyeon reached over and squeezed Taeyeon’s hand, “no matter what happens in the future, you know you can trust me right? The last thing I want to ever happen is for my friends to get hurt or be in danger.”

“Does that come before or after your loyalty to the cause?” Jessica didn’t mean the sentence to come out harshly but she had this feeling that Taeyeon had a hate so deep inside that it could cloud her judgement one day.

“The reason I put my all into the cause is to keep people I love safe…what is the point of supporting something that would cause harm to people I love?”

Taeyeon and Jessica walked away from the shopping area and towards the lunch room hand in hand. The whole day felt like they should hold onto one another for as long as possible but as they approached, Jessica was the first to break their hands apart when Yuri tackled her, “Nice of you two to finally join us.”

“Woah look at the new gear Taeyeon has!”

The crowd of guys and girls from Taeyeon’s squad gathered around to see Taeyeon’s cast finally off, “So you can train again right?”

Jessica stepped up before Taeyeon could talk, “Carefully. She is doing therapy for now so watch out and stop her from doing more.”

“Aww Jessica you are being a downer.” Taeyeon pouted because she wanted to train more than anyone.

“We will make sure she is fine.” Siwon came over to greet Taeyeon, “although it seems you can be more active with us now.”

“Jessica I will be okay. Everything is healed and I will work on my strength only.” Taeyeon wanted to do her best at pacifying her girlfriend.

“Are all of you going to just stand there or are we going to let our food get cold?” Sooyoung interrupted the praise for Taeyeon’s cast coming off.

Jessica pulled Taeyeon away, “we need to get food before they close.” Seeing Taeyeon walking so strangely, she pushed Taeyeon onto the nearest seat, “never mind, I will get double of what I am ordering okay?”

Taeyeon smiled at her caring girlfriend, “alright.”

----------------------

Tired from her day, Taeyeon peeled off her walking cast to let it breathe, “ah that feels so weird.” Laying on her bed, Taeyeon looked around the room before taking out a piece of paper from her pocket. She carefully unrolled the parchment and read the encoded lines, “I thought there was something up.”

Rolling over to her desk, Taeyeon found a lighter and set the parchment on fire letting the evidence of contents burn away. Too tired to do anything about her current issues, Taeyeon lay back in her bed and fell asleep.

“Taeyeon what I am about to tell you is shocking.”

Taeyeon nodded, “Is it safe to talk here?”

“Yes. The top leaders of the Resistance know most of what I am telling you now.”

Taeyeon moved her chair closer, “I won’t be active in the field for another month.”

“As long as you are healed before the Party Anniversary date.” The elderly man leaned forward, “we have some time but reconnaissance needs to happen now.”

“Yes sir.”

“The Resistance has been infiltrated by several spies.”

Taeyeon nodded, “Are their identities confirmed?”

The man nodded, “Yes. They are the same we had suspicions on for some time now but the intelligence they are sending off is too valuable to continue on. I need you to take them out.”

“Arrest?”

“If you can but they will be on guard more than ever so we are allowing lethal force.”

“You said reconnaissance first? What data am I collecting before bringing them in?”

“These plants have a middle man and not all have been identified. We need solid leads on who they are before they send information about the arrest of their Party plant.”

“I have some people already tracking these people do you want me to inform them to get the information with more force? Some are very close to their target already.”

The old man nodded, “Yes. Do that and see if they can get the information first. If not, you are to do everything in your power to find it.”

“I got it.”

“There is one more thing you need to know about.”

“Yes?”

“Our outside intelligence found an underground facility.”

Taeyeon leaned forward, “what kind of facility?”

“It was a medical lab. It could be used for chemical weapons or some kind of human experimentation, but the place was abandoned before we found it.”

“Where was this place?”

“Sector 11. We think citizens from that sector that disappeared were sent to this facility. Outside intelligence is trying to gather more information on the activities of that place but it is difficult with extra security in the area due to the bomb going off that you were supposed to diffuse.”

Taeyeon hung her head low, “That was a mistake.”

“A big one so it will take more time on the outside end. We will keep you informed about that issue but your team needs to be on alert if there is new chemical warfare in the Party’s hands.”

“I understand.”

“Good. I will moving into the Resistance again after a week. I have things to wrap up on the outside first.”

Taeyeon smiled, “it feels like forever since I saw you here again.”

“You will see me more often and I will try to help you the best I can.”

“Thank you.”

The man got up, “I will see you soon.”

Taeyeon lifted herself up and leaned in to hug the man, “see you soon dad.”

------------------------

A week after getting her cast off, Taeyeon finally got the hang of walking with her new cast. She was so good that her therapist was surpirsed Taeyeon’s leg strength was progressing very fast. Still she was instructed to not go around without it on and still no training so Taeyeon obeyed and did upper body strength conditioning with her team. She was happy to be training and hanging around with her team more these days.

Although a week passed since she heard of Yunho, Taeyeon wasn’t sure what the consensus was for him. Level 1 hasn’t released any information yet but she was sure they were still interrogating him and making sure he was fit to come back to the Resistance. Taeyeon tried her best to keep her mind away from thoughts of Yunho because she had other things to focus on. One was Jessica.

“Done with work?”

Jessica nodded happily seeing Taeyeon pick her up from work again, “You have been her e nearly every day.”

“I can move around better,” Taeyeon reasoned.

“Oh Taeyeon you are here again! Wow such a great girlfriend always picking you up like this. I wish my wife would come around more often but the little one requires so much attention.” Won Bin said as he watched his former pupil.

“How is the wife doing?”

Won Bin nodded along, “Just fine. I tried convincing her to get a babysitter for our baby but she thinks he is too young to leave and return to work.”

“Oh well if you need alone time together I could babysit if she would allow.”

Jessica looked at Taeyeon curiously wondering if Taeyeon was good with kids.

“That would be great! I would have to ask for her approval of course. I can’t remember the last time we both walked away from our work or the little one.”

“Great! Just tell Jessica and she will get me the message. I would love to help out where I can since I got hurt.”

Won Bin looked down at the footwear, “it seems you are nearly healed up so that is good. I am sure your team is suffering without its two top commanders.”

Taeyeon shook her head, “we are doing fine. I am not as important as I thought I was.”

“Aww don’t say that. Everyone knows you are a great asset to the Resistance.” Won Bin looked down at his watch, “Oh I have to go to a meeting. See you around and I will take you up on that babysitting offer soon!”

Taeyeon and Jessica waved the man off before Jessica turned to her girlfriend, “I didn’t know  you liked kids.”

Taeyeon shrugged, “I am close with their family.”

Jessica didn’t buy that but she continued to follow Taeyeon down the hall to the food hall. She was happy that they could always get dinner together these days. A little bit of routine was something Jessica treasured these days since it was something scarce before Taeyeon hurt herself, “what are you eating?”

Taeyeon looked around at the food selection, “Humm the rice and noodle soup.”

Jessica patted her girlfriend on the back, “Okay. Go get a seat.”

Taeyeon nodded and went off.

Looking around at the food, Jessica wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and bumped into a man, “Oh sorry.”

The man bowed, “my fault.”

Jessica stopped bowing and looked up at the man in front of her. At first she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, “Mr. Ok?” The man that practically raised her when her parents passed was right in front of her and Jessica couldn’t imagine why.

The elderly man smiled softly at the girl he thought as a daughter, “It is nice to see you again Jessica.”