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Pallas sat up in bed, the light sheet he’d draped over himself just an hour or two ago slipped down to pool over his thighs. He narrowed his eyes at the alarm clock.

It was just shy of four in the morning.

“Is everything-”

“I’m staying, boss. I’m not leaving the service.”

His surprise at Buck’s interruption relaxed as he heard his friend’s voice.

There was a lightness in Buck’s voice. A vitality that had been missing for far too long.

“You’re serious? You’re staying in the team?”

“If you still want me in, I’m in.” Buck’s tone was rough and Pallas felt like he could hear a note of worry in his tone.

“Of course,” he told his good friend and teammate. “If you hadn’t made the right decision,” Pallas told him, “I would have been forced to change your mind.”

Buck chuckled on the phone, but his voice sounded raw. “Well, I’m glad I came to the right decision then.”

“I knew you would.” Pallas rubbed his palm over the short clipped hair at the base of his skull. “We need you, man.”

There was a long moment of silence before Buck spoke again.

“I need the team, too. I didn’t realize how much I did, but after today… after the flood,” Pallas heard the rough scratch of Buck’s voice through the speaker on his phone, “I remember why I joined up in the first place. I remember why I stayed in all of these years. And now I know I need to keep doing the job I signed up for, because it’s who I need to be. It’s who I am.”

Pallas smiled and nodded, speaking to his old friend. “A big, damn hero.”

They both laughed then.

Softly.

Pallas realized that Buck must have Mari in bed next to him. He’d used the same tone when he got a work call and Kawehi was sleeping beside him. “Get some rest and when you wake up, come to KBay and we’ll complete the paperwork to put you back on the team where you belong.”

“Thanks, man.”

“It’s my job, Buck. Paperwork sucks balls, but it’s a necessary evil.”

“Yeah, it does,” Buck chuckled. “But it’s not why I’m thanking you. I’m thanking you for believing in me.”

“Well, fuck, man.” Pallas let out a long breath. “You’re family.”

There was nothing else to say.

It was the truth.

Something that would never change no matter what.

EPILOGUE

MARI

She’d been to other lantern ceremonies before. The one for her parents had been the latest.

Until now.

Standing there beside Heath and surrounded on either side by the rest of his team along with Marines and families from KBay, she felt a different kind of energy moving through the assembled group.

Back then, she had Reiko and a few other hanai family bolstering her spirits.