The silence came back, but it felt different this time. However, it was not as oppressive. Instead, it resembled the calm found in a church or a place where significant discussions took place. Feeling hurt and exhausted, Marina cautiously sat down next to Greg.

They sat there for a long time without talking, just being in the same place and trying to make sense of everything that had happened. Finally, Greg said, "I'm sorry."

"I'm so sorry I was late... Kael, Denna, and Ryn might still be alive if I had come sooner or made different choices."

"You might not have had to go through weeks of pain, and... maybe none of this would have happened...."

"Stop it," Marina said in a harsh voice. "Don't treat yourself like that."

"You got here as fast as you could. You got through five levels of this hellhole in record time."

"You fought through a whole army of monsters to get to us. You saved my life when Elias tried to kill me. That's what counts."

"But the other ones..."

Marina cut in with, "The others made their choices," and her voice broke a little. "Kael decided to block that tunnel to give us more time."

"Denna fought until the very end. And Ryn knew exactly what would happen when she stepped in front of that attack."

"They chose to give up their lives because that's what the Crimson Falcons do. We look out for each other. And they kept me safe."

She was crying a lot now. "I'm the last one standing. The only one who lived."

"And I don't know how to deal with that. I don't know how to keep going without them."

"But I do know that it's not your fault. It's that selfish bastard." She pointed to where Elias's body was. "And you made sure he won't hurt anyone else."

"That should be enough."

For the first time since she had asked everyone to leave, Greg turned to look at her closely. At the cuts and bruises all over her skin. The marks on her wrists are from the chains. At the tiredness and sadness in her eyes. She marveled at her ability to maintain composure through sheer determination.

He asked, "How are you so strong?"

"How can you comfort me after all you've been through?"

Marina laughed, but it was a sad, broken sound. "I'm not strong."

"I stay strong because I'm angry and know that if I fall apart now, their sacrifices will have been for nothing."

"I have to keep going, and I need to stay alive. If I don't, Elias wins. And I won't let him have that."

She reached out and took his hand, which was covered in blood, and didn't flinch at the sight of it. "But I don't have to do it by myself. And you don't have to either."

"That's what I wanted to say. That's why I told everyone to go.

Greg's breath stopped. "Marina..."

"I have to say this before I lose my nerve," she said, and now she was the one who wouldn't look him in the eye. "When I was down here, chained up and watching my friends die one by one, there was only one thing that kept me going."

"One thing I held on to when everything else seemed hopeless."

"What was it?"

"You," Marina said simply. "I kept telling myself that Greg would come."

"He said he would come if I needed him. He changed my crystal so we could always get in touch with each other."

"He cares enough to go to hell itself if it means saving me. I was right, though. You did come, and you fought through everything to get to me."

Finally, she looked at him, and the look in her eyes was almost too much to handle. "Listen, Greg..."

"I've liked you for a long time now. My feelings for you began during that trip to the Crystal Coast, or possibly even earlier."

"I kept telling myself it was just thanks, friendship, or respect for your beliefs. But it's not. It's more than that, and it's always been more."

Greg's head was spinning. "Marina, I... I can't..."

"I just murdered someone. There is blood all over me, and now is not the time for..."

"When is it time?" Marina asked. "After we've both had time to deal with our trauma?"

"After we've gotten better from our injuries?"

"After we've dealt with the political fallout from this disaster?"

"Greg, when? I spent weeks thinking I was going to die without ever telling you how I felt, and I won't do that again."

She said, "I love you," and the words hung in the air between them like something valuable and delicate. "I love you for being kind, never giving in to your morals, and making terrible jokes."

"I love you for how much you care about others and how you've made a family out of people you don't know."

"I love you for coming to get me, even though you had to break every promise you made to yourself."

Her voice was shaking, and the tears were coming faster now. "And I know this is the worst time for it to happen."

"I know you're going through a tough time right now. You might think you don't deserve to hear this after what you just did."

"But I had to say it. I wanted you to know that someone sees you, really sees you, and loves you anyway."

"And she loves you for who you are, not in spite of it."

Greg felt something break in his chest, like a wall he had been keeping between himself and the world. "I don't deserve you," he said softly. "I don't deserve love from anyone."

"See what I've done... look at what I've... turned into."

Marina said, "You became what you had to become to protect the people you love."

"You made an impossible choice in an impossible situation, and now you're punishing yourself for it."

"But I'm telling you right now, I don't blame you. I don't think badly of you. Thank you. You saved my life."

"But I killed him."

"Yes," Marina said. "You did. And it's going to haunt you."

"And you'll have to figure out how to deal with it. But you don't have to do it alone."

"Let me help you carry this. Let me help you carry the load. That's how people who love each other act."

"When the pain gets too much, they carry each other."

Greg stared at her, this incredible woman who'd survived weeks of torture and the deaths of her closest friends and was still somehow strong enough to offer him comfort and love. He heard himself say, "I love you too," and the words felt true. "I've loved you for a long time."

"I was just too scared to say it. I'm too scared to lose you and too scared to deserve you."

Marina kept saying, "You do deserve me."

"And I deserve you. We deserve each other and the happiness we can find after all of this."

"Please, Greg. Please don't ignore me."

"Don't let this get you down so much that you forget there are still good things to live for."

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