The run back to Haven is relentless. Everyone except Damien donates in rotation; he compensates by hauling gear and enduring his ankle injury. As they near Haven, members of other units—Kaleo and Jaxon— come out to assist and then sprint ahead to alert Dr. Kumar. Inside, Tristian carries Levi directly to the Ward, where Kumar takes over after Sasha delivers a full report. Tristian then pulls Sasha into a storage room. She becomes emotional, overwhelmed by the parallels to carrying her late sister, Lily, through these same halls. She confesses that she was the one who diverted the unit toward Tristian. Blaming herself for Levi’s injury, she flees before Tristian can respond. Back in the living quarters, Rumi helps remove Sasha’s suit and notices the unsealed chest plate; Sasha makes her promise not to tell the others.

During 48 bells of rest, two flashbacks surface. In one, Sasha remembers her father teaching her sutures and urging her to let others help her in survival scenarios. In another flashback to after his death, Sasha pleaded with her declining mother to stay alive for Lily and Eli’s sake. Julia insisted that Sasha had never needed anyone, but Sasha refuted this, saying that she always needed her mother. However, her mother died alone the following day.

By the third morning after the unit’s return, Levi is awake. At Formation, Burdon’s speech about his injury sounds more like a eulogy than a commendation, unsettling the unit. Later, Tristian approaches Sasha privately and systematically counters her self-blame by listing every decision she made that kept Levi alive. He confesses to arranging for her transfer from Expansion and asks her to redirect her anger at him. However, Sasha finds that she can’t hate him. Their conversation is interrupted by Burdon and Jaxon. Burdon announces that Jaxon has been assigned to Unit Seven as Levi’s replacement and is now Sasha’s new partner.

Tristian informs the unit about Jaxon, whose past track record of arrogant behavior prompts the group to respond with immediate outrage. Ingrid insults Sasha over her previous sexual relationship with Jaxon, but Rumi delivers a pointed defense, stating that Sasha saved Levi’s life and that Ingrid has been directing her grief over Lily’s death at the wrong person. The room goes quiet. Damien gives Sasha the call sign “Beast” in appreciation for her heroic efforts in saving Levi. Sasha, who has habitually thought of her own worst emotions and tendencies as an inner “beast” of sorts, has an ambiguous reaction to her new call sign but ultimately accepts it. Tristian removes Ingrid from the witching-hour roster and sends her to the Kitchens to visit with her sister, Bretta. Alone with Sasha afterward, he offers to reshuffle partners and then reveals that he had Murray expelled from the Force. He promises to petition for her return to Expansion once enough medics have been trained. Sasha reassures him that she does not and cannot hate him.

At the next Formation, Jaxon taunts Sasha under his breath; when he praises Levi’s injury for creating his opportunity to sabotage Unit Seven from within, she lunges at him, and Damien restrains her. At the range, Sasha shares her knowledge of marksmanship by coaching the unit members individually and correcting each person’s technique. Tristian quietly credits her father for the teaching. On the obstacle course, Jaxon shoves Isla off the bars, inflaming tempers. At lunch, Damien formally thanks Sasha for saving Levi and tells her that she’s one of them.

In the pre-mission holding room, Tristian tells Jaxon that he hasn’t earned the right to use the unit’s call signs. Over the private partner channel, Jaxon reveals to Sasha that Kaleo has promised him a place with his unit if Jaxon can get Tristian detained and get Sasha expelled from the Force. Jaxon then makes degrading sexual taunts to Sasha, broadcasting his words to the entire team. The discomposed Unit Seven fails the mission badly, and a brawl nearly erupts before Ingrid slams Jaxon against the wall. Burdon and Kaleo, watching from above, intervene, and Burdon orders Tristian to her office. Sasha resolves to get Levi back onto the team, regardless of the cost.

During the Ward’s late-night shift change, Sasha swaps her identification number and perfect health record with Levi’s, attempting to transfer his damaged score onto herself. Dr. Kumar enters; he has been expecting her. While walking her toward Levi, he explains that he named her “Death’s Angel” after she arrived at the Ward and was still reeling over Lily’s death; he always knew that Sasha had been manipulated the filing system to protect patients’ health scores, and he chose not to intervene. He adds that her actions in the field inspired three doctors and six nurses to volunteer for medic training, and he introduces Edra, a 19-year-old Kitchen transfer who was the first to enlist.

Before reaching Levi’s room, Sasha overhears him definitively end his romantic connection with Isla, telling her that he won’t be a substitute for Patrick. Sasha enters after Isla leaves and tells Levi that he’s still her partner. He worries that his health score is permanently damaged, but she assures him that they’ll find a solution. He says that if he had chosen her call sign, it would have been “Phoenix,” not “Beast,” because she always rises from the ashes. He then recounts his history with Isla, revealing that he got her into Haven by lying for her. He then trained her and fell in love with her. However, she chose Patrick. Sasha stays the night, falling asleep at the edge of Levi’s bed.

Rumi wakes Sasha in the Ward, bringing coffee. Before they leave, Levi and Rumi share a theory with Sasha: The meteorological observatory, which monitors weather and radiation levels above Haven, may be falsifying reports to control Exploratory Unit access to the Abyss. The observatory is now sealed, and Terrel, the Expansion leader, recently failed to bring it under his sole jurisdiction. On the way to Formation, Rumi asks Sasha to quietly check the Ward’s deceased files for three people from Expansion whose deaths she suspects were staged; she warns Sasha to tell no one.

Two more days pass in a fragmented routine, and Tristian and Sasha haven’t spoken privately since their conversation in the Exploratory Room. On the mats, Jaxon, paired with Damien, deliberately lands on Damien’s weakened ankle. As Damien collapses, Tristian steps onto the mat and challenges Jaxon to a bout. When Jaxon makes a calculated taunt about Sasha and glances toward her, Tristian takes advantage of his opponent’s distraction and wins the bout. He then forces Jaxon to promise never to speak of Sasha again. Kaleo, watching from the sidelines, taunts Tristian, who confronts him before storming off. Sasha drops to Damien’s side as he clutches his ankle.

Sasha and Isla help Damien back to the living quarters, where Damien reveals that when his ankle was first injured during his initial journey to Haven, his cousins left him behind. He freed his own ankle and walked alone for a month to reach Haven. Ever since, he has hidden the injury’s severity to protect his health score. He begs Sasha to tell him that he’ll be fine. She can’t lie, so Isla provides the reassurance instead.

At the Ward, Sasha retrieves medication for Damien and slips into the deceased files room to search for Rumi’s three names, only to find the files impossibly disorganized. There, she encounters Owen, a young doctor under Kumar with whom she had a brief fling years ago; he had developed feelings that she never reciprocated. Now, Owen informs her that a serious illness originating in the Kitchens has already claimed one life and is rapidly spreading.

Sasha brings the charts to Kumar and demands Levi’s release, fearing his exposure to the unknown illness. Kumar reveals that Burdon has ordered Levi to be held long enough to permanently ruin his health score and ensure his removal from the Force. Kumar confirms that he will begin releasing noncritical patients due to the outbreak, but he warns Sasha that her surreptitious chart swap won’t shield Levi from the public record of his injuries; he tells her that she herself will face irreversible consequences. Kumar asks her to keep the unit away from the Ward and to tell Tristian that he will reach out when the time is right. Sasha updates Rumi, telling her that the file search is impossible, that the Ward is off limits, and that Levi will be released soon.

She goes to the Exploratory Room intending to treat a cut that Tristian recently sustained. While doing so, she notices that he has filed a misconduct report against both Jaxon and himself. Tristian tenderly tells Sasha that she deserves far more from life than she believes. He kisses her gently, and the sexual tension accelerates as she pulls him toward her. Tristian sweeps the table clear and lifts her onto it, but suddenly, the door opens. Levi, discharged from the Ward, leans in and remarks dryly that he appears to have missed quite a lot.