It had been a week since they had first met his new doctor, the Chief of Staff herself Soltia who had far better bedside table manners than Dickson. Although that wasn't hard to do, what was hard though was all the paperwork that Brandon had to sign in the past few days. During this time, neither he nor Anna talked about this world as they seemed to have a silent understanding to enjoy it for a bit. Even if they didn't know what effects or how much time had passed.

"Well, thanks to both of your help this should be the last of the paperwork done. Now, this doesn't mean your dismissal, that has to be been completely done by me and I think staying a few more days won't hurt," Soltia said making Brandon give a sigh.

"Can I at least know why? " Brandon asked making Soltia nod.

"Of course, as I'm sure you're aware it is extremely rare for people to go into a coma let alone one that lasted so long. Just got to be safe and make sure that there aren't any immediate aftereffects," Soltia explained and although he had figured as much he was hoping to be out sooner to at least see more of the outside. "Now, I think Anna is waiting for you so since we're done for now you should go."

"Yeah, well see you later," Brandon said as he stood up returning the smile Soltia was giving him before walking out of her office. Going back down to his room he saw Anna there, with her still slightly wet hair.

"So, what did she say?" Anna asked as she spotted him.

"Wants me to stay for a few more days as a precaution, how was your shower?" Brandon replied making Anna roll her eyes a bit.

"It was very full, took a minute to get a stall. Not to mention that I couldn't get the water as hot as I like it," Anna answered making Brandon give a little smirk. "Get those thoughts out of your head, and I mean both of them, 'cause we are not doing that here! As I said the showers were packed. At least the woman side was, and I don't really feel comfortable with the unisex one or trying to sneak into the men's."

"Well shit, 'cause I was really looking forward to it," Brandon said making Anna roll her eyes.

"Once we're home, then maybe. But you know you can stop imagining me naked when you could just ask," Anna said with her best sexy look which only made Brandon give chuckle.

"Sorry, you've always been bad at forcefully giving the bedroom eyes, but I do appreciate the offer. But we run into the risk of putting on a show here, probably even more so than the showers," Brandon said as he sat on his bed. "Though I would like to relieve some stress either way."

"Hmm, well what are you suggesting that I do?" Anna asked getting up from her seat and moving closer to him. Leaning over to give him a kiss, she placed a gentle hand on top of his covered but already stiff member making him give a little moan as she rubbed on the outside a bit. "You really do need help relaxing..."

"Hate to interrupt this "massage", but afraid it's time for another physical therapy session," Selene said suddenly in the door making Anna yell and jump in surprise while Brandon just coughed as he turned red. This all made Selene laugh a bit. "Again, sorry for intruding on the private moment, but this is your last session."

"Right, right, guess I'll see you later. Oh, and I'll hit the showers after," Brandon said giving Anna a wink making her give an exasperated sigh and roll of the eyes.

"Sounds good to me," Was all Anna said as he followed Selene to his session.

"Oh, and I should mention that the men's showers are out of order. Nothing bad or anything, the hospital is just upgrading all of them starting with the men's," Selene explained.

"Ah, so gonna have to use the unisex one, got it," Brandon said. "So, um, about what you saw..."

"Please, I've seen people in more compromising positions. I'm glad I got there before clothes started coming off, and don't worry, I pride myself on keeping these things secret. After all, everyone needs some stress relief every now and again," Selene said giving him an understanding smile. "Now, let's get you into this session."

As they entered the physical therapy area he was welcomed with a big smile as Selene handed him off to the physical therapist. After some warm-ups, they got into the exercises that had become much easier over the past couple of weeks. Once the routine was over and he was given the all-clear that he didn't need any more physical therapy he made his way to the showers.

He had been lucky to get a locker earlier on in his stay, which had helped tremendously since he already had a towel, provided by the hospital, and a change of clothes. Not to mention the shampoo and soap, once again given to him by the hospital but he was thankful for it nonetheless. By the time he was ready to take a shower the unisex room didn't seem to have much traffic at the time, in fact, he only heard one shower going.

Brandon went in and sure enough, only one other shower was running which did make him a tad bit nervous since, for whatever reason, the unisex showers didn't have individual stalls. Which did make him understand Anna's hesitation to use it, but he didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't nervous about running into another guy, but a woman since he knew it would be completely awkward for at least her.

"So hope that this doesn't freak them out either way," Brandon muttered to himself as he undressed and went in, and once he saw who was there it made him freeze in shock.

"Oh, came to get a shower did ya?" Soltia asked standing under one of the shower heads completely exposed. From her c-cup size breast to her round ass, not to mention how her wet hair clung to her hourglass figure. "Yeah, don't mind me, almost done!"

"Um, uh, s-so if you don't mind me asking but why are you the only one in here?" Brandon asked as he walked to a shower in the opposite part of the room.

"Because people find me intimidating because of my height and position here, and this floor has the best water heater if you ask me," Soltia replied as he could hear her turn the shower nob turning it off. "Now, if you'll excuse me I rather not have people assume anything, but I did appreciate the stiff welcoming!"

"Um, you sure you should be making those jokes?" Brandon asked.

"Hm, well, to be honest, you don't seem to mind it and besides I'll be gone by the end of the month so it's not like there's much they'll do. Though I do hope you aren't thinking I'm some kind of pervert or anything," Soltia replied making him shake his head.

"Um, well you are... I mean you have a great body and we are in a unisex shower, both completely exposed," Brandon managed to say making Soltia give a little laugh.

"That's good, and I'll try not to mention this encounter with your girlfriend. But anyway, I will see you tomorrow!" Soltia said as she left the showers leaving him alone. Though by the time he finished others, mostly men, started to come in. So he quickly got dried off and put on a new set of clothes before heading back to the room.

"There you are, you look nice!" Anna said as he opened the door.

"Yeah, though had a bit of an awkward run-in with Soltia," Brandon explained making Anna give a raised eyebrow.

"Wait, you mean in the showers?" Anna asked and his only response was to nod. "Oh, d-did anything happen?"

"Outside of seeing each other completely naked? No, we made some small talk before she left. According to her, she likes the showers on this floor the most and while I didn't ask got the impression she doesn't really like to shower with others," Brandon explained making Anna give a sigh of relief.

"Man, that must have been completely awkward, especially since she is a beautiful woman," Anna said making him bite his lower lip.

"Yeah, not gonna lie she is very attractive, though not exactly my type," Brandon said sitting down on the bed and giving a hard sigh as he locked eyes with Anna. "I think it's time we talk..."

"Brandon, can we not, at least not right now?" Anna pleaded her tone one of desperation. It was one he knew meant she wasn't fully ready to let go of something, but it was also one that let him know she was on the verge of accepting it.

"Anna, like I have told you and I will tell you again, that I love you. But the next time it has to be real, with you actually here in front of me," Brandon said with a more forceful tone.

"P-please... I-I don't want to... to..." Anna started but she was cut off by her own sobbing making him wrap her in a tight hug.

"I know, but you didn't lose me because I am very much still alive. I will always be waiting for you, and the rest of our friends to find me," Brandon assured her as she cried into his shoulder.

"I-It's been s-so difficult..." Anna sobbed. "T-then I w-woke up here w-with you i-in..."

"I know it's all confusing, I'm not even sure how but I do have a good guess," Brandon said managing to get Anna to look him in the eyes again.

"Y-you mean w-what you told me a-about the w-world..." Anna started though went quiet and averted her eyes, but this time was not breaking down.

"Yeah, everything I told you about that world and what all happened to me since I went there. This includes what I was developing..." At this Anna spoke up.

"But how? I mean from what you told me it only lets you see connections between people..." Anna said her tone changing to anger as she spoke.

"Yes, but keep in mind I just started to develop that magic to where I didn't, and still don't know how to control it. So it is more than possible that I managed this..." Brandon said as he motioned around them. "Before you ask, the reason why we're here is because of our connection, and what I believe is you guys trying to open another portal."

At that, Anna looked away which only confirmed his suspicions of what all has been going on and the nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Somehow he had connected with her with his magic through one of these small tares he and Luna had been seeing. But once the connection had been fully made their minds created the false world they were both in.

"I-I still don't understand," Anna spoke up after a moment of silence.

"The best way to explain this is what I was thinking," Brandon said before starting to explain his thoughts with Anna taking more and more interest.

"I-if true, t-then how do we get out?" Anna asked though he could tell she already knew the answer to that.

"We have to come to terms with what happened. For me, it's to get the last piece of memory I haven't been able to get, although I have an idea of what happened," As he said that he could see her wince a bit. "For you, you need to confront it and accept what happened."

"I-I don't think..." Anna started before Brandon interjected.

"Yes you can, no we can do this. You've always been able to pull through much worse things than this," Brandon assured her, grabbing one of her hands to try to give her more courage.

"P-please, w-why can't we stay here?" Anna asked as she grabbed his hand as well.

"We could live here until we both pass on, and we could live a long happy life here. At least in our dreams, we could," Brandon said making Anna look down at the floor. "But as much as I wish this was reality and I had just been in a coma, as much as I want to be that selfish there are too many things that need to get done, too many of our real friends that we would have to leave behind."

"B-but..." Anna tried but hung her head in defeat. "It's funny really, you remember me being a voice of reason but it was only because of you. You always made sure I kept in line, keep me who I am but I guess that's just how memory works. I mean look at you, lost your memory and when you started to remember it of course made you remember some things wrong."

"Yeah, and like always you told me what was wrong. Guess we've been supporting each other more than we thought, at least until..." Brandon started.

"We were separated by force, but if we do this are you gonna go back with them?" Anna asked, in response, Brandon grabbed her other hand.

"Yes, because I love them as much as I love you. I know it's not what we grew up around with our world how it is but this is how I turned out. Whether you wish to be a part of it is up to you, I will not force you nor would I expect you to accept it. Just knowing you are okay, happy, and moving on I will be fine," Brandon explained.

"I-I don't know, but I do know you are right about needing to get past what happened. Otherwise, I will go insane," Anna said with a weak smile.

With that the room around them started to shift and change, though this time around it wasn't dizzying like the last time which was what Brandon figured, it was because Anna had been fighting it. Once everything started to settle and come into focus he looked around to see they were in more of a laboratory. It felt very familiar to him as a wave of sadness and betrayal washed over him.

"This is when it all started after you tried to turn yourself in for war crimes. I had come into contact with Sally because I figured out what you were doing, she had gotten ahold of the judge before you. She convinced both him and you to let you, or us as a team work for her lab as security." Anna explained.

"What exactly is this lab for?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"The study and creation of portals to different worlds where we were the first ones to go through to make sure it was safe on the other side, at least after all the initial tests," Anna replied. "The reason for this is to find other worlds so we can ease the population issue without the need for bloodshed. As of six months ago, they went public with the technology and have started the process of sending people off to settle to some of these other worlds."

"How long have I been gone exactly?" Brandon asked as it had been on his mind, and as he looked at Anna he knew it was more than the year he had experienced.

"It's been over three years..." Anna answered though it took a second for it to sink in.

"Been that long for you guys huh?" Brandon asked with a bit of a shocked tone.

"Y-yeah, w-we actually just had time a little while ago to get a drink to honor you," Anna explained which as she talked and he let it fully digest, along with their surroundings his memory was coming back. As it did start he could feel the color from his face drain. "You're remembering aren't you?"

"T-that doesn't matter right now, but I-I got to know if we had gone on one of these missions before I left?" Brandon asked, to which he knew the answer but just needed confirmation.

"We only went on two, w-we got here only two years prior. We had to go through their training for a year before we got to do the first, and not long after we did our second. It was supposed to be our third when it... it..." Anna closed her eyes taking deep breaths.

"Before Frank tried to blow us up?" Brandon asked but he knew there was more to it than that. "No, we weren't the targets the portal was, wasn't it?"

"Y-yeah, after w-what happened earlier I knew you had figured some of it out. After all, why would either of us imagine Frank after what happened? Even if for you it was more subconscious?" Anna replied her tone full of hate and anger. "H-his final words, do you remember them?"

"Yeah, said he was sorry but he had to stop them from corrupting another world," Brandon answered shaking his head.

"We all had similar thoughts, b-but at least we saw the potential t-then he..." Anna started clenching her fist tightly.

"It's alright Anna, I'm fine, you're fine," Brandon said in a soothing tone gently taking one of her clenched hands. She managed to relax enough to unclench it revealing she had broken through her skin with her nails. "That's good, and I know this is tougher for you than it is for me but how did he get the materials?"

"O-on our second mission, we brought back several samples of food and minerals. One was very abundant on this planet, so F-frank managed to talk them into letting him take some for his own research. O-only he had discovered its use," Anna explained.

"It could be made into explosives, why hadn't anyone else caught on before?" Brandon asked making Anna look at the ground.

"The other researchers did eventually discover it, but by then either they forgot about what they gave him or they just didn't care. I'm sure they thought he didn't have enough to make more than a bottle rocket," Anna replied, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "L-let's just get through this okay?"

"I know this sounds, well hypocritical, we do not need to rush this," Brandon said placing a hand on her cheek.

"Y-you've changed so much, yet this feels just like before..." Anna said before wrapping her arms around him and began to sob.

Author's Note

Um, well hope y'all enjoyed and try to smile, smile, smile!