"It'd be easier to just chop the whole thing off." Jade swung her cast encased arm in a wide arc. "Replace it with a cyborg arm. We could be twins."

Tori caught the plaster-covered appendage in midair before Jade hurt herself or anything else. "I'm pretty fond of this hand… I'd rather you keep it. Don't I have any say in this?"

Jade dipped her head and stared at her over the top of her sunglasses. "Really?" She demanded sarcastically, shaking her cast in Tori's titanium hand. "You're a poster child for the cyborg program. I should just steal your schematics." They had yet to review her blueprints yet – both girls wanted to enjoy their well-earned reprieve from science for a while.

"That wasn't my choice! If I could still be fully human I would be." Tori pouted, releasing Jade's hand and crossing her arms. "Besides… I had a whole team of doctors and scientists. Who would you enlist? Sinjin, Robbie and a hacksaw?"

Jade rolled her eyes and scowled; Tori knew it would be her dream come true to be part machine, to be able to tinker endlessly on a part of her own body. "Just give it some time, Jade. The doctors still think you can make a full recovery." Met with silence, she took the girl's uninjured hand in her own and laced their fingers together as they looked out over the lake. They had arrived at the refugee camp, Sanctum, located just west of Calgary, a little over a week ago. Their first priority was seeking medical attention for Jade and Tori – their second was addressing the excited horde of people who had learned a cyborg was in their midst.

Only the camp leaders knew of either of their true identities, immediately offering sanctuary to them and their group once their realized the first cyborg and her inventor's granddaughter had arrived. They interceded on their behalf, addressing the citizens of Sanctum and providing them with an adequate cover story and falsified identities. It was one thing to be a cyborg and an inventor in this town – it was another thing entirely to be the first and a West. The seven of them were put up in a refurbished cabin on the edge of the camp to ensure their privacy. They all had scrambled for the master bedroom, which contained a king size bed, bear skin rug, stone fireplace in the corner and private balcony – remnants of its former days as a ski lodge.

Tori had suggested determining who won the room with an arm wrestling tournament. Jade, made even more cantankerous and impatient by her heavy-duty pain killers, had whipped out her pistol. It was a unanimous decision that Jade and Tori could claim the master suite for themselves. Cat had excitedly called the small room underneath the stairs, babbling on something about being just like the hero from her favorite classic, Harry Potter. The other four boys divided up the two rooms amongst themselves until they decided to find something more permanent. All 7 of them under one roof – Jade's worst nightmare. Tori, however, could hardly contain her excitement – it was like living with the family she had been denied all those years ago.

A week later and Tori was beginning to look less like she'd been hit by a bus and more like she'd gotten hit by a hatchback. A faint shadow stubbornly remained under her eye and small pale scars marred her forehead and right arm from the few stitches she had received. Jade's road to recovery was longer; they didn't have the proper medical facilities here yet to adequately examine Jade's hand. In lieu of x-rays, a handful of doctors manually mapped the damage through a series of painful tests. Tori had to physically restrain Jade in the doctor's office so the younger girl wouldn't rend her examiners limb from limb in a fit of agony-induced rage.

Jade was still coping with the prognosis: the majority of the bones in her hand were broken. They would have to be reset and laid in plaster for weeks before she could begin physical therapy. And while therapy would help her gain better mobility and dexterity, doctors were still uncertain whether she'd fully recover. The damage simply may be too extensive. They would have to just wait and see. Jade had already accepted that the procedure would fail and was looking at alternatives – cyborg prosthetics. Tori, as usual, was holding out hope that things would work out.

After all, hope had gotten her through a lot the past few years. Hope was good enough for her, and it was good enough for Trina, Patrick, and Daniel. She'd just have to convince Jade it was worth being patient, worth being optimistic for a better outcome. As Tori's thoughts drifted to Trina, she realized she needed to check in with one of the camp leaders; he had promised to work on a plan to get her older sister up here. She needed to see how he was proceeding.

"I think I see a moose." Jade yawned, propping her sunglasses on top of her head to pull back her hair.

Tori followed her line of sight, peering through the steam rising from the lake. They had woken moments before dawn this morning, Jade's hand paining her. Knowing her medication would take some time to kick in, she had bundled up and walked out onto the balcony to watch the sunrise in peace, a luxury she was never offered in Los Angeles living in that basement. Tori had forced herself up shortly after and stumbled out behind her, slipping in and out of sleep in the chair next to her. That had been hours ago – the sun was now climbing higher into the sky and the city was beginning to awaken. "I think your pain medicine is a lot stronger than you realized." Tori countered; there weren't any large ungulates anywhere in sight.

"Then I think I see a cheery cyborg that's about to get smacked." Tori was mostly sure she was just teasing.

"And I think I see a cranky scientist that needs a huuuug." The Latina countered, hauling her tired body from her chair and shooing Jade to the other side of hers, squeezing herself in and draping her arm across her shoulders.

"You're such a morning person." Jade yawned, smiling as Tori planted a kiss on her cheek.

"I had a good evening." The tan girl whispered huskily. The pair rested there in silence for some time and Jade listened with a smirk when Tori started snoring lightly – she had fallen back asleep again. The girl was like a cat – give her a few cuddles and some body heat and she was out like a light. It was ridiculous.

And it was one of the things Jade absolutely loved about her.

She found Tori's hand again and clasped it lightly. She couldn't believe how much her life had changed in the past few weeks, how much she found herself changing as a result of Tori's arrival. It scared her still, knowing someone could have such an effect on her, and the majority of her walls were still up out of habit. Letting someone in after years of isolation was a scary thought, one she knew she would struggle with as the weeks and months followed.

And, somehow, she knew Tori would be present and steadfast without being pushy, just as she had so far. She'd wait, unwearied, outside Jade's barricades to prove to her she had no intentions of leaving; they would proceed at Jade's pace, only taking the next step when the younger girl was ready. The girl had the patience of a saint.

Jade loved that about her too.

She glanced down at Tori as she mewled in her sleep, wondering if she was dreaming of Patrick and Daniel again. The cyborg was still adamant she had spoken to the men, surprising Jade with her angry refusal to abandon that conviction. Jade had stopped arguing with her, silently admitting that maybe, just maybe, she had seen something in her dream that didn't have to be reasoned or explained. Maybe part of her had even wanted it to be true – it was comforting knowing her family might still be watching out for her. After all, they had (in some strange way) sent Tori to her.

Funny how things work out. Jade didn't know what their future would bring – this relationship could either shine warmly and brilliantly or combust into a fiery, angry blaze. Only time would tell. The cyborg had planted the seeds of hope though (not that Jade would ever confess that), and she rested easy knowing that, with Tori by her side, things would only continue to get better.

How could they not? Look how far they had come already.

Well... It's over. Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Maybe in the reviews you could convince me to do a sequel... yes/no?