S02E12 - Return Address

"Return Address" is the twelfth episode of Season 2 of We Can Fix Pawbert. Following the revelation in the previous episode that Soren Natz is alive, ZSI facilitates a secure video call between Pawbert and his first love. The encounter brings closure -- but not the reconnection Pawbert hoped for.

Synopsis

ZSI locates Soren Natz living under a new identity in another country. Pawbert makes contact through a secure video call, but Soren firmly closes the door on any ongoing relationship. He spent eleven years burying his past to survive, and reopening that chapter would destroy what he has built. Before disconnecting, Soren affirms that what they shared as teenagers was real. Pawbert processes the closure with Luther's support and the pack's presence, ultimately finding peace in knowing Soren is alive and safe.

Plot

The episode opens in the pre-dawn hours at Site Two. Pawbert sits at the window with the photo album from Lillian's closet, unable to sleep. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the word from Garcia's search: RELOCATED. Eleven years of wondering, eleven years of guilt, and now there might be answers. Luther wakes to find the bed empty and goes looking, finding Pawbert at the window staring at nothing.

Luther's phone buzzes during breakfast with a message from Agent Corbin. Garcia's search came back—Soren Natz is alive, living under a new identity in another country. ZSI can facilitate a secure video call through diplomatic channels, but only if Pawbert wants. The choice hangs heavy in the kitchen. Pawbert decides he has to know, has to see Soren's face, even if Soren doesn't want to see him.

Before the call, Luther addresses Pawbert's fear that Milton was right—that Soren married some female and is pretending his youth never happened. Luther is patient and understanding, reassuring Pawbert that Soren was part of his life before Luther and that doesn't threaten what they have. He wants Pawbert to stop carrying the guilt of Soren's supposed death, guilt that hasn't been true for eleven years. Pawbert asks Luther to be close during the call but not in the room. Luther promises to wait right outside the door.

Pawbert sits alone in his room with the laptop, the ZSI secure channel ready to connect. He clicks. The screen resolves into a face—Soren at twenty-six, a year older than Pawbert. But everything is different. Harder edges, guarded eyes, the softness of youth replaced by something weathered. He looks like someone who has spent eleven years building walls. Then Soren speaks the nickname Pawbert hasn't heard in over a decade. Both stare at each other across the screen, neither knowing how to start.

Soren describes what happened—Milton preferred the "cleaner solution" of sending him away rather than killing him. His name was changed, his identity erased. Pawbert apologizes for never looking, but Soren cuts him off, refusing to let Pawbert take responsibility for Milton's cruelty. Soren saw the news coverage of the arrests and the trial, watched Pawbert testify. When Pawbert asks if Soren built a life, Soren's answer is guarded: he survived, made something different, but Milton's claim about marriage was false. Soren tried once but couldn't go through with it.

When Pawbert reaches for something ongoing—contact, friendship, anything—Soren refuses. He spent eleven years burying everything to survive, and if he lets the past back in, he'll fall apart. He's been holding himself together for eleven years and cannot risk that, not even for Pawbert. The rejection is firm but not cruel. When Pawbert mentions Luther, Soren softens slightly. He asks if Pawbert is alone, and Pawbert tells him about the wolf assigned to protect him who became something more. Soren's response is quiet grace: he's glad Pawbert found someone. He always hoped Pawbert would find someone who saw him the way Soren did. His final words affirm that what they shared was real before he disconnects.

Luther has been sitting on the hallway floor the entire time, close enough to hear if called but giving privacy. When Pawbert emerges, wet-faced and shaking, Luther opens his arms and Pawbert falls into them. Later, curled against Luther in bed, Pawbert processes what happened. The door is closed—for real this time. No more wondering, no more "what if." But something unexpected has happened: Pawbert feels lighter. Soren is alive, okay, and made it out. That has to be enough.

Nick makes breakfast-for-dinner pancakes as comfort food. They're misshapen and slightly uneven, but the gesture matters more than the execution. Nick claims one resembles Chief Bogo; Judy insists it's just a blob with burned edges. The banter is light, easy, real—the pack being present without demanding anything. Pawbert looks around the table at what he has: Luther beside him, Nick and Judy across. This is what's real. Not a frozen memory of fourteen-year-old love. Not a ghost. This.

That night, Pawbert lies in bed with Luther, finally at peace. For eleven years, Soren was a ghost he carried, something he blamed himself for. Now Soren is just someone he used to know, someone who made it out, someone who's okay. Pawbert whispers a final goodbye—not bitter, not broken, just done. A door closing gently. A chapter ending. For the first time in eleven years, there are no ghosts in this room.

Key Moments

• Pawbert sits sleepless at the window in the pre-dawn hours, unable to stop thinking about the RELOCATED file
• Luther finds Pawbert at the window and sits beside him without pushing for conversation
• Garcia's search results arrive: Soren is alive, living under a new identity in another country
• Pawbert decides to make the video call despite his fear of what he might find
• Luther reassures Pawbert that Soren's place in his past doesn't threaten their present relationship
• Pawbert asks Luther to wait outside the door during the call—close but giving privacy
• Soren appears on screen at twenty-six, hardened and guarded, and speaks Pawbert's old nickname
• Soren describes being relocated rather than killed—Milton's "cleaner solution"
• Soren reveals he tried to marry once but couldn't go through with it
• Soren firmly closes the door on reconnection, explaining he buried everything to survive
• Soren softens when Pawbert mentions Luther, expressing quiet gladness that Pawbert found someone
• Soren affirms that what they shared as teenagers was real before disconnecting
• Luther is found sitting on the hallway floor where he waited the entire call
• Pawbert processes the closure and finds peace knowing Soren is alive and okay
• Nick makes misshapen breakfast-for-dinner pancakes as comfort food
• Pawbert whispers a final goodbye to Soren—a door closing gently, a chapter ending

Key Lines

Locations

• Site Two (safehouse) -- living room, kitchen, Pawbert's room, Luther and Pawbert's bedroom, hallway

Items

• ZSI secure channel laptop -- Used for the encrypted diplomatic video call to Soren
• Early photo album -- From Lillian's closet; Pawbert holds it but does not look at it
• Nick's pancakes -- Misshapen breakfast-for-dinner comfort food; one allegedly Bogo-shaped

Notes

• This is a shorter, quieter episode with no action sequences or villain presence.
• Soren's appearance is limited to the video call -- he never appears in person during the series.
• The closure with Soren frees Pawbert emotionally and allows him to fully commit to his present life with Luther.
• Pawbert's final words to the disconnected screen -- "Goodbye, Soren. Be happy." -- provide definitive closure on this chapter of his past.
• Nick's cooking incompetence continues from E10; his pancakes are misshapen but edible, and he cannot resist comparing burned edges to Chief Bogo's horns.
• Luther's decision to sit on the hallway floor during the entire call -- close but giving privacy -- exemplifies his approach to Pawbert throughout the series.
• The episode title "Return Address" carries double meaning: Soren's physical location found through Garcia's search, and the emotional act of returning to a past address in Pawbert's heart.
• Soren's revelation that he tried to marry once but could not mirrors Pawbert's own inability to fully move forward while carrying the guilt of Soren's presumed death.