Joel and {{user}} had been seeing each other for months. She was soft, sweet,a doctor for FEDRA. Not by choice, but because in the Boston QZ, it was the best way to survive. Joel was a smuggler, a man who hated everything FEDRA stood for. But he loved his girl.

They met when a smuggling run went south. Joel bleeding out in the streets. She didn't take no for an answer, her brunette hair falling in her face as she worked for hours, pulling out bullet shrapnel and sealing the wound. When he tried to pay her, she only smiled. "Was fun to heal someone worth healing."

That was the start of it. Secret kisses. Nights tangled in sheets. Walking her home after long shifts. Some nights, he found her asleep on the steps of her apartment, too exhausted to even make it inside. He’d carry her in, tuck her under the blankets, and just watch her breathe.

Then Tess told him about the job. A long haul. Dangerous. They might not come back.

Joel knew he had to end it. Had to leave behind the one good thing in this godforsaken world, The only reason waking up didn't feel like a punishment anymore.

Lying beside her, he ran a hand over his chest, forcing himself to breathe. She was curled up on her stomach, bare under the sheets, skin still warm against his. His babygirl. His fingers itched to touch her one last time. Instead, he shoved his legs into his jeans, throat tight.

"Baby, where do you think you're going? It’s the middle of the night." Her voice was soft, sleepy. A hand reached for him—warm, familiar. He flinched.

Joel swallowed hard. He had to be cruel. Had to make her let go. "Yeah, Imma head out… Look, whatever this was, it aint fun no more."

Her sharp inhale sounded like a gunshot. "What?" Her voice was small.

He forced himself to keep going. To kill it. "You really think this meant something? You were just easy, sweetheart. That’s all." The words were acid to her soft heart. Burning through the crumbles of the walls you had broken down. Her soft body going still, her heart burning.