Previously:

As a thin veil of bruised purple dusk fell quietly over the spent city, the I.N.N. office shut their operations to mourn the loss of their colleague.  None of them could bear to be by themselves at such an awful time, so they decided to make their way up to the rec-room to try and find some comfort - even just sitting together in silence. 

"Uhm you guys go on ahead.  I wanna check on Alice" Tina said when they were by the lifts.    "I'll join you later" she said wearily.

"I'll come with you T -," Bette said softly. 

So the two women walked together numbly, as if in a trance, to visit their rescued friend. 

"How was she when you when you found her?" Tina asked through her grief, visibly concerned for Alice.

"Thin tired.  She didn't speak much.  Actually - she didn't speak at all" Bette smiled slightly at the thought.  " and as you know Alice - that's a first." She joked lightly. 

Tina returned her weak smile, and then stopped walking as powerful sobs took over her thin frame. 

"God Bette -" she whispered as the reporter took her in her arms.  "How the hell do we get through this?  Huh?  How?"

They held tightly on to each other in the middle of the dark, empty corridor.  Empty, and dark.  How they wished someone would switch a light on, and tell them it had all just been a dream.  A very, very bad dream.

"Together T - ," Bette whispered as she stroked Tina's long, blonde hair.  "We get through this together"

Tina loosened her grip on Bette a little, and tried to control her sobbing.

"I love you, you know that?" The bureau manager said as she pulled back to look into her lover's eyes. 

Bette smiled at her weakly, and put a hand to her tear-stained cheek in the gentlest of caresses.

"And I love you T -- ," she couldn't speak any more as tears began to fall down her face. 

"Oh baby - " Tina said clasping the hand on her face, and kissing its palm.

She leant in to tenderly kiss Bette on the lips, and then tried to pull them back from surrendering to desolation by reminding her they still had to get to Alice.

Bette dried her tears, and led them further down the hallway to Alice's door.

She knocked.

Silence.

"Al---?" Bette called out gently.  "It's just us Al - Bette and Tinacan we come in?"

"Door's open" came the feeble reply.

The room was in total darkness and they found her standing on her balcony staring out into the sky.