The hangar was cold. Colder than it should have been on a normal basis. Two small blue lights, spinning together, twisting, occasionally colliding, were floating down towards two immobile bodies on a platform below. The first one touched first, but the other lingered, as if watching for what the reaction would be...

Neil's hand twitched. Once. Twice. Again. A groan escaped his lips, somewhat pained, somewhat confused. Was he dead? Was he in Heaven? Hell? Aki's 'Gaia'? Opening his eyes, he groaned again. Since when were dim lights so insanely bright?

Then, he remembered. Everything. The phantom, reaching through him, pulling out his spirit. He shuddered at the thought. But what about...?

"Jane!" His mind shot to full attention as he sat up straight, his back rigid, eyes wide. Turning, he looked down at the prone form of the young woman who had been there with him, and he almost burst into tears. She had gone with him. She had let the phantoms take her too. "Stupid bitch... why did you have to... do...... that...?"

His angry, grief-stricken protest was cut short. The little blue light that had not yet fallen completely was lowering in front of him, and all his attention was fixated on it. It glowed for a moment, flickering, warm, before lowering completely into a spot directly beneath Jane's collarbone. What was going on?

This time, it was Jane's turn to flinch. Her entire body felt cold for a fleeting moment before warmth returned, so quickly that she shuddered heavily. She should've been dead. She had let the phantom take her when she'd seen there was no chance... no chance of saving Neil...

Tears came to her eyes at the thought, but they would not flow. She had to wake up first... she had to sit up, look at him, make sure that it was real. She didn't want it to be, but if it wasn't real, she wouldn't have to cry...!

"Jane...?! Jane, are you alive?! Speak to me!!"

That voice was unmistakable... and neither was the fact that someone had lifted her into their arms and was shaking her enough to make her head hurt. She groaned, partially of frustration. "Stoppit, stoppit, STOP. That hurts..."

The shaking stopped, thankfully, and Jane finally opened her eyes, looking up to find Neil, his eyes wide as he bit his lip nervously. He broke into a grin when he saw her eyes open, however, and instantly hugged her as if he hadn't seen her in a thousand years. "You're alive! Thank God! Aki was right all along, Jane, that Gaia thing! It does exist! It brought you back!"

"Well, if I'm back, that means it brought you back too." Jane pushed back from him, tilting her head to one side as she looked at him. He was like a little boy who had just found the one thing he cherished most after months of searching. She grinned. "That crazy woman was right all along."

A few moments of uneasy silence sat between the two before Jane's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait... what happened to Ryan?!"

The small truck sat quietly in the darkened side of the hangar, lost in the flickering lights of the nearby fire. Ryan lay quietly, dead to all, as another tiny flicker of blue floated down towards him, oblivious of Neil and Jane's approach, both of them shouting at Ryan to wake up. The flicker entered at the same place it had on Jane. Just below the collarbone. And Ryan flinched.

"See, Jane, I told you!" And Neil's grin was proud. "It's bringing us back! Aki and Gray did it!"

"I don't under stand why it's only us, though..." Jane mumbled, looking around at all the bodies in the hangar.

Neil snorted. "Hey, don't knock it. We're alive, aren't we? Ryan!"

Conversation was cut short. The two ran over to where Ryan was shaking his head, once again trying to dislodge the bar that had jarred through his midsection. "Damn... what happened? How'm I still here?"

"It's a long, trying story, Sarge," smirked Neil. "You hang on, Ryan... we'll contact Dr. Sid to come and pick us all up. We'll all be fine."

What good were tears now? Aki sighed, resting her cheek against Gray's head again, watching the spirits rising, flowing up towards Gaia, as Dr. Sid lifted she and the body of her now-dead lover out of the impact crater. A tear escaped and flowed down her cheek, and once again, she fought a sob. It was over, but at what price...?

Suddenly, she blinked. A little blue light was making its way down instead of up, floating towards Gray. She thought for a moment to swat at it, but didn't, intrigued by whatever it was as it slipped in beneath Gray's collarbone...

Aki almost screamed as Gray's body flinched with the sudden return of warmth. His head turned to one side, then back, as his eyes opened to look at her. "Aki...?"

"Gray!" Sobbing in relief, Aki threw her arms about his neck, hugging him. "Gray, you're alive...!"

Disoriented for only a brief moment, Gray blinked at the girl, then hugged her back. "I told you I wouldn't leave you, Aki. I love you."

"I love you too, Gray... but..." Her voice shook. "What about the others...?" At that moment, Aki's comm flickered to life. "Dr. Sid...?"

::Aki, I've incredible news! Neil just contacted me! He, Jane, *and* Ryan are all alive and awaiting our return back at New York! We need to depart immediately!::

Gray smirked. "I told you they'd take care of things." He gave her a squeeze, then kissed her cheek. "We did it, Aki... it's over..."

Smiling, Aki leaned down and kissed Gray full on the lips before leaning back and smiling. "Yeah... we're finally free..." She lifted her head and looked around. A landscape with no phantoms, no more living in fear... "Finally..."