Charlie"s ribs were cracked. His lips bled when he smiled, and the dull ache that liked to sit in his back had moved up to his shoulders. It took them three days to make it back to S"aven. Three days of sleeping in shifts in the back of their vehicle. Three days of sharing the same stinking space, surviving on protein bars and Roxy"s bad jokes. Any other time Charlie would have been disheartened, but not now. Despite the pain, despite the hardship, they had won.
As they broke over the S"aven border, he took Rachel"s hand. She was distant and distracted, but she afforded him a smile. The Institute had come too close to her, and the haunted glaze to her eyes would be there long after her body had healed. She had faced her fear without ever having the opportunity to overcome it. But he would
