Puffs and pants of exertion were drawn forth from the rangers as they made another lap around the tarmac. While they’d been given the sudden luxury of extra time, JSOG couldn’t rest for a minute with their work, and that went for physical training as well. They still had to get used to their new bodies in every way, so that meant a strict regime from the moment they woke up to the time they fell back asleep.

Flitter led the pack, setting the pace and calling cadence as they jogged. Sweat built up on her thick eyebrows, prickling and stinging her eyes with every footfall. Despite her cadence, her mind had marched far ahead of her body. She had to formulate a plot, some way for her to make a difference. She had to learn to be human.

As they came to a stop, sweaty and groaning from exertion, Minerva moved up to Flitter’s side. “Captain?” The woman looked pained as she held both of her hands down on top of her prodigious bust. “What’s next?”

“Get back to setting up hangar one. I want the planning room finished by the end of the week at least.” Drinking deeply from a water bottle, Flitter glanced over at her sergeant. “Minerva, what are you doing?”

“I’m holding these stupid jugs down, every time I run they hit me in the face!” Minerva complained loudly, earning a few nods of agreement from the more busty of the squad.

Nodding in sympathy, Flitter really didn’t know the pain. “I’ll talk to Jessica, I’m sure she knows what to do.”

Rolling her eyes with a disparaging grunt, Minerva didn’t seem pleased with the prospect. “Those two are useless. I tried asking the human Walter how to use their baths, and he just went red in the face and started mumbling incoherently.”

“...You were naked, weren’t you?” Flitter asked quietly, and earned a nod.

“Of course I was, I was going to wash up!”

A small smile spread across Flitter’s features as she shook her head. “I’ll handle it. Make sure everyone gets some water and something to eat.”

“Alright, see you at the hangar, Captain. Alright you lot, up and attem!”

Smiling briefly to herself, Flitter set off for the barracks with the intent of finding one of the humans. The interior of the building was blissfully cool thanks to the air conditioner humming away on the roof, though with the sweat slicking her pale skin, Flitter soon found herself downright chilly as she began her search.

“Hello?” Flitter called out as she paced through the halls. “Anyone here?”

“Yo.”

Nearly starting, Flitter laid a hand over her chest as she looked over at Jack. “Gods, you can be sneaky when you want to be...”

Ambling by her, Jack flicked her on the tip of the nose, causing the woman to yelp. “You just weren’t paying attention.” He continued limping down the hall, toward the mess. “What’s up?”

Huffing lightly before following after him, Flitter took a moment to look him over. “Just had some questions. Are you feeling alright? It looks like that limp is getting worse...”

His answer was a long time coming as he neared the mess door. “I’m not.”

Inside, both Walter and Jessica stood around the coffee machine, chatting. At the pair’s entrance, Walter’s hand went up in greeting, and Jessica lifted her head in acknowledgement.

Jack was the first to speak as he hobbled over to the machine. “I need a car.”

Nodding despite himself, Walter glanced at Jessica. “I think it’d be alright if you borrowed my truck for a little bit. Planning on doing some sightseeing?”

With a shake of his head, Jack placed a cup under the machine and waited as it churned away. “I’m going home.” He brought the cup up to his lips and sipped carefully as the others went dead quiet. “I’ll be gone for a week, maybe more depending on the roads. I’d rent, but my credit card’s been overdrafted for almost a century.”

“You can borrow my car.” Jessica spoke as Walter searched for words. “It’s batteries last longer anyways. Soo… where’s home? New York?”

“An hour outside of Saskatoon.”

“Huh?” Both siblings looked at him as if he’d grown another head. Flitter stayed silent, her own concerns remaining unsaid before company.

Ignoring the pair’s confusion, Jack finished his coffee and looked to Flitter. The bag under his eye had grown deeper, and the light that used to lay behind his eyes was all but gone. “You needed something earlier.”

“Right.” She looked to the three humans and smiled weakly. “Could one of you help show my platoon where we can wash our clothes and how to use the showers here? I’ll admit, it’s a little… beyond me.”

As Jessica quirked a brow, Walter went bright red. His sister glanced over at him, and stared in suspicion. “What did you do, Walter?”

“I didn’t do anything! I-”

“He had a minor run in with Sergeant Minerva regarding the showers.” Flitter filled in, though her help only saw Jessica looking more suspicious and confused, and Walter looking more embarrassed.

“She forgot about the clothes thing, didn’t she?” Jack muttered, and earned a nod in return. Huffing softly, he shook his head. “I live in a fucking nudist colony.”

Jessica’s mouth slowly fell open as her confusion overcame her suspicion. “What? They’re all running around without clothes on!?” She quickly turned on her heels, and grabbed Walter by the collar. “Why didn’t you tell me!?”

Shaking his head, Jack pushed away from the machine and started for the door. “Keys in the car?”

“Oh, yeah! It’s a push start, keycode is one six two four. Now!” Jessica turned her attention back to Walter. “YOU!”

“Oh come on!”

Watching Jack head for the door, a sudden wave of anxiety washed over Flitter. “Hey!” She barked, earning the attention of the squabbling siblings. “Can one of you please show my guys what I asked?”

“Yep!” Jessica all but climbed over her brother to grin at Flitter. “I’ll take good care of your nudist weirdos.”

Walter swiftly turned red in panic. “Jessica!”

“Walter!”

Shaking her head, Flitter turned on her heels and set off at a jog. She quickly caught up with Jack as he was tossing a small backpack into the backseat. “Jack! Jack wait up!”

Crossing his arms over the roof of the sedan, Jack looked over at her as she slowed her jog. “What do you need?”

“I’m coming with you!”

A pained wince flashed across his features for a scant moment, before he shook his head. “That’s not a good idea, Flitter. You need to watch over your guys. You’ve got way too much shit on your plate to be worrying about me, let alone be chasing after me.”

Shaking her head vehemently, she rounded the car before coming to a stop just before him. Looking him in the eye, Flitter had to pause herself for just a moment to get used to being eye to eye with the once towering marine. “Don’t you pull that shit with me, Jack. I’m coming with you.”

His shoulders slumped as he looked away. “Flitter-”

“Jack. Don’t make me pull rank on you. Please, don’t.” Her tone had softened considerably, but she stayed her ground.

A long moment passed between the pair, before Jack nodded. “Okay. You've got five minutes to get your go-bag.”

Without another word, Flitter set off again at a jog as Jack pulled open the car door and plopped himself down into the driver’s seat. Slowly exhaling, he gripped the steering wheel, and stared at the barracks door. His eyes flicked down to the dash clock, and he began to count down the seconds as he keyed in the code and started the engine. He had to pause for a moment and lean in to listen, just to make sure the vehicle had actually started. As the seconds turned to minutes, he familiarized himself with the advanced corolla, before setting his fingers over the paddle shifter. As he looked down, and found the five minutes nearly up, he stuck the vehicle in reverse, and slowly pressed down on the accelerator.

With the car creeping backwards toward the open gate, the door to the barracks banged open, and Flitter exited at a sprint. Pulling open the passenger side door, she fell into the seat, and tossed her go-bag into the back seat. “Thank you for waiting.”

He simply shrugged as he rolled the vehicle out of the gate, and set off down the dirt road. After a moment, he glanced over at Flitter as she shifted around, trying to get comfortable. “Seatbelt.”

“What?”

“Put on your seat belt.”

“I don’t know what that is.” Flitter set her hands between her knees and stared at him with bright, curious eyes. Faltering for a moment as he stared at her, Jack had to shake his head to free himself before he slowed the car and pulled off to the side of the road. Leaning over, he pulled her seatbelt over and clicked it into place. Looking down at the belt, Flitter glanced at Jack. “So… what’s it do?”

“Keeps you from flying out the window if we hit anything.” Turning his attention back to the dirt road, he tacitly ignored the look Flitter was giving him.

“Is… flying out the window something that happens often?”

“I don’t plan on hitting anything. Before the war I had a spotless record.”

She shifted mildly in her seat as she looked back to the trees as they whipped by. “So… what about during the war?”

“I’ve never been in a crash that wasn’t on purpose.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better…” Flitter mumbled quietly as she glanced over at him. “So… what’s the plan?”

“We’ll stop in town for some snacks, and follow the gps.” Jack gestured toward the dash. “Depending on the roads, we shouldn’t be gone for long. I was planning on just sleeping in the backseat, but now… we’ll figure something out.”

Smiling slightly, Flitter turned her attentions back to the road as it passed by under them. As they rolled by towering trees, Flitter found herself leaning against the window and staring up at the bright blue sky. Eventually, the trees thinned, and their dirt road turned to asphalt. “Your world really is beautiful, Jack.”

“I don’t remember it being so green.” He remarked quietly as they started down the highway.

“What do you think changed?” She asked lightly as she stared off along the long, snaking highway as it weaved between hills.

“Less people.” He flicked the turn indicator and slowed as he took a right down the road leading toward the small town. “Large scale terraforming project, probably. I read something along those lines.”

“How many people live on your earth now?” She continued to stare out the window, though now her eyes were drawn in by the signage of the town, and the other vehicles.

“Little over a billion, apparently.”

“Wow…” Flitter went quiet, and began to admire the rustic human town as they passed through the outskirts, and exited the highway. Despite it being a smaller town, it was fairly busy. People milled about, and vehicles drove every which way. “You could mistake it for Ponyville if you closed your eyes…”

“If you ignored the lack of clip clops and the stench of thatch roofing, sure.” Slowing the sedan, he hung one more turn, and pulled into an empty stall before a small market convenience store. “Did you want to come in, or wait in the car?”

“How do I-” Flitter rattled her seatbelt as she tried to figure out how to release it. “I want to come but I can’t get the belt off!” As he reached over and depressed the bright red button, Flitter huffed in irritation. “Silly thing…”

“Come on, Sparky.” Jack pulled himself from the car, and stretched heavily before he pulled on his exo skeleton. Even with it, he limped badly. Flitter was quick to exit the vehicle, closing the door behind herself as she jogged to Jack’s side.

The market door dinged open merrily as the pair entered side by side. The attendant barely gave them a glance as she stared at her omnilink. Quiet music played over the speakers as the A/C unit’s chilly air washed over the store.

“Wow… So this is where you get all of your food? It’s so… compact.” Flitter did a little spin as she rubbernecked around, taking in the store.

Picking up a small basket, Jack couldn’t help but smile softly at her wonderment. “I forgot you guys still have open markets. I wonder if walmart still exists…” He began picking his way through the thin aisles, idly grabbing some snacks for the road. “Grab anything if it looks interesting. I don’t know what brands are good anymore.”

With a nod, Flitter trailed behind him, ogling at the vibrant packaging. It didn’t take long for them to go through and grab a basket’s worth of cheap snacks and sports drinks. As the cashier was ringing them up, another customer looked over at Jack. The other man was considerably older, with his hair having gone a curly white to clash with his dark skin. “S’cuse me, sir?”

“Yeah?” Jack glanced over at the older man as he tapped his credstick against the card reader.

“Did you serve?”

With one nod, Jack grabbed the two bags of groceries off the counter. “Staff Sergeant Kessle, Marine Corp EOD. Retired.”

Cracking a smile, the older man set his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Is that right? My grandson told me one of you boys saved his hide back in one-ten when the Gorsians hit Argus Prime.” The man’s smile turned up slightly. “I just wanted to thank you for your service, you Space Marine boys are the real deal.” He offered his hand to Jack to shake, which Jack took after a slow moment. “Semper Fi, son.”

“Yeah, Rah.” Jack gave him a brief nod, before glancing to Flitter. “We’ve got to get going. It was nice meeting you.”

“Enjoy the day with your missus, sir!”

With a cough, Jack nodded once more before exiting the store with the now beet red Flitter. As they climbed into the car, Flitter fidgeted awkwardly. “Does um… that happen often?”

Slouching his shoulders as he put the car into reverse and pulled out, Jack nodded. “Yeah. It’s a… cultural thing, it happened a lot when I came back stateside the first time. People just can’t stop thanking you for your service. They don’t mean it, mind you. It’s a courtesy.”

“He seemed like he meant it. You shouldn’t blow things like that off so casually.” Flitter turned in her seat to look at him, though the seatbelt made it awkward.

Sighing as he pulled back onto the highway, Jack glanced back at Flitter. “He doesn’t know what my service was. Nobody does. For all they know, I could have spent a single tour up in a watchtower, spanking the snot out of Jojo while I watched some convoy wookie take a shit on the side of the road. It’s meaningless thanks that makes people feel all warm and fuzzy inside for a couple minutes.”

“They might not know what you’ve done, but I do.” She responded softly. A long silence fell upon the pair as the car picked up speed and the road buzzed by under them. Slowly exhaling, Flitter looked over at the bags, before reaching in and rooting around.

“Pass me a gatorade would you?”

“Which one is a gator-aid?” Flitter’s eyes flicked up at him.

“The one that says Gatorade on the label.”

“...Smartass…”

At that, he smirked ever so slightly. “Better a smartass than a dumbass.”

“Pfft!” Flitter let out a gigglesnort as she set the bag down. “Really?” She smiled brightly at him. “Your first joke in forever, and it’s a Dad joke?”

“Just gimme my damn gatorade, woman!”

“Okay okay! Geez!”

As the thick trees gave way to open land and rolling hills, the pair fell silent as music quietly played from the radio. The sun was nearly ready to set, marking the passage of the day while open road passed by underneath them.

“Hey Flitter.” Jack had long since put the car into cruise control, and so he was leaned back into his seat, moderately relaxed.

“Yeah Jack?” It’d taken Flitter several hours of fiddling around with the seat controls, but she was finally comfortable, laying on her side with the seat nearly all the way back.

“Did you tell anybody you were coming with me?”

The suddenly stunned look on her face answered long before she ever could. “Uhuhuummmmmm… Not… exactly?” Flitter smiled sheepishly as she sat up. “I… may have forgotten to tell them.”

“You might want to call them.”

“Oh! That’s right, we have the omni-things!” She turned again, and reached for her bag. Rooting through, she pulled out her omnilink, which was blinking red. “What’s the blinking mean?”

Jack glanced over briefly, not entirely sure himself. “Well, either it’s nearly dead, or you’ve got messages.”

Strapping on the wrist mount, Flitter opened up the display, and was quickly inundated with messages. “Ahah… it means both… looks like they’re missing me already…” Flitter flicked through her messages, as a pained expression slowly spread across her attractive features. “Oh man…”

“Call Mythic. Let everyone know I didn’t kidnap you.”

She quickly nodded, and brought up the call menu. “Just need to- hey!” Flitter cried out in surprise as her whole screen simply winked out.

Jack couldn’t help but smirk a little after letting out a mild sigh. “You’re supposed to keep it charged, Sparky.”

“I don’t know how!”

“Christ on a bike, it’s called asking for help-”

“Oh you’d be one to talk!” Flitter barked back, and not a second later she’d covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I… that was uncalled for…”

He simply shrugged, as if he was shrugging off the comment just as easily. “Not the worst I’ve heard. You can borrow my omnilink.”

“Jack… why were you going to leave without telling me?” Flitter sat up a little straighter, and fixed Jack with a soft, understanding stare.

“Call the boys before they start a search party.”

Frowning softly, Flitter pulled the device from his wrist and started it up. Moments later, she was calling her radioman. His omnilink rang twice, before it was answered. A shaky video link showing the roof of hangar one came through, along with Mythic’s muttering.

“-damn thing on? Hello? Jack?”

“Private Ace? I can’t see you! Can you hear me?” Flitter yelled at the device, earning a muttered wondrous curse from Jack.

“Captain!? Hey guys, I’ve got the Captain on the horn!”

“Give it here!” Minerva’s voice interjected, and the camera jostled about, before showing the Sergeant’s chin and her sweaty shirt. “Captain! Can you hear me? Where are you!? Are you hurt?”

Sighing, Flitter rubbed her cheek as she stared at the jostling camera. “I’m fine! I’m just travelling with Jack right now. Is everything alright back there?”

Taven’s nearby voice yelled over the clamoring rangers. “Tell Jack I said Hi!”

“Oh!” Yuma piped up, earning a groan from Jack. “Is Captain Jack on the magic box? Tell him I sent my best salutations!”

The camera jostled again, and finally showed Minerva’s soft, round face. She squinted her purple eyes at the screen. “I’m not going to tell her that. Captain? Is everything alright? He hasn’t hurt you has he? I’ll kill him if he has!”

“I’d like to see you try, I’ll put you in the fucking ground.” Jack growled, earning a surprised look from Minerva, and a call out from Yuma.

“Hello Captain Jack!”

Sighing in irritation, Flitter put on her best Officer’s expression. “Sergeant Aegis!” She barked, causing the woman to jump. “You and Sergeant Varenikov are in charge until I’m back! I want the planning room finished, and I want everything spic and span, do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Good, because if everything isn’t exactly how I want when I do get back, you’ll be eating nothing but meat for a month, and Taven will eat fruit! Do I make myself clear?”

“C-crystal!”

Flitter nodded once. “Good. Now give the horn back to Private Ace.” She waited as the omnilink was passed over. Once she saw Mythic, she relaxed her ballbusting attitude. “Mythic, if anything happens, call me at Jack’s frequency. My omnilink has died.”

“Copy that Captain. I’ll keep you caught up with things.”

“I expect no less. Over and out.” Flitter tapped the end call button, and smiled as it did so. “Well that could have gone worse. I’m sorry about Minerva, she’s-”

Flitter paused when Jack scowled hard. “She’s got a stick up her ass about me, and if she doesn’t knock it off, I’ll fuck her with it.”

Her pause ended with another sigh, just as the sun dipped below the skyline, and the land turned dark. Flicking on the high beams, Jack continued down the lonesome highway. Eventually, Flitter felt the day weighing on her eyelids.

“Do you… mind if I take a nap?” She asked before yawning quietly.

“Go right ahead.”

Nodding slowly, Flitter turned in her seat, and laid her head down. It wasn’t long before she was completely out; Jack could tell from the soft, dainty snores playing against the quiet music. Casting a glance over at the sleeping woman, he allowed himself to relax, and the weight of everything to finally show on his features. Slowly, he pulled his old phone from his pocket, and unlocked it. Dialing his voicemail box, he plugged in his earphones and leaned back to brace for the pain.

Starting from the beginning, he set the machine to simply play it one message after the other.

“Playing message, June sixth, twenty thirty three.”

“Hey Jack… It’s me, Elissa. I uhm… God this is weird…” The woman on the other end sighed quietly. “We’re holding a little wake for you. Just me and your folks. Supposed to call you, hear your.... your voice, one last time. Leave our last words with you.” There was a long pause as Jack gripped the wheel and focused on the road. “I suppose I should start off with an apology, but I just don’t know what to say, honestly… I’m sorry that I sent you there to die. I’m… I’m sorry that I…” Elissa sniffed softly. “Shit… Get it together…” She sniffed again, before clearing her throat. “I’m sorry I never loved you as much as I thought I did. I’m… The thing I’m most sorry about, is… that I never got to say any of this to you, in person. That you died hating my guts and I was too much of a coward to try and fix anything… so… yeah… I guess this is… goodbye.”

“Message ends.”

The rotten knot of flesh on his shoulder ached as he ran his hand down his features, willing them to stay neutral as the next message began to play.

“Hey sweetie…” His mother’s voice immediately caused him to tense, and his frown to turn downright painful. “We’re holding a little wake for you with Elissa, I hope that’s alright… I know it’s probably nothing compared to the ceremony they held when they gave you that big medal posthumously, but we-we’re… we’re both here for you, and it’s… it’s just so nice to hear your voice again, even if it’s just for a few seconds…” His mother, Sandy, sniffled on the other end.

“Aw momma…” Jack murmured softly as he listened to his mother whimper on the other end of the phone.

“I miss you all so much, you know that? I missed you when you were gone, and I miss you so very much right now… But now I know that none of you will ever be coming back, ever, and I just… uhuhn-”

Jack pushed his skull back into the headrest as his mother set the phone down, and the distant sound of his father comforting her replayed again in his ears.

“I’m sorry… I was all weepy at your funerals too… They gave us so many flags, I don’t know what to do with all of them… I buried yours in the backyard, with your time capsule. Do you remember when we made those? You all had so much fun… Oh goodness, I can’t… It feels like it was just yesterday that I... “ There was another short pause as Sandy let out a ragged breath. “I wish I’d never put any of you down… I would give everything, just for five more minutes with any of you… I love you, Jack… so very, very much. I’ll see you in heaven when my time comes. Goodbye, sweetie…”

He’d been putting this off. He’d already gone through the files, read all the history long passed. He knew how it all went down, but the moment he saw the missed calls, and the numbers belonging to them, he’d avoided his voicemail like a plague carrier. But now, with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glock in his bag, he was homeward bound, and it was high time he faced the ghosts that had waited eighty five years for him. His mind wandered to the woman sleeping soundly next to him, and an intense wave of guilt washed over him. Looking over at her, his features wrinkled in pain as he reached over, and rested a hand on her side.

“I shouldn’t have let you come… I was weak, and I dragged you back into my shit…” He gave her side a soft squeeze, which earned an equally soft murmur from her. Closing his eye briefly, Jack soon removed his hand from her, and cycled to the next voicemail, the voicemail belonging to his father.

“Message begins-”

“Hello, Jack’s voicemail.” His father’s gruff voice sounded emotionless and brittle. “Do we really need to do this, Sandy? We have the home videos, we-” He paused, before sighing. “Right… Okay. Jack... “ There was a long pause as Guy Kessle collected himself. “I miss you. Ever since you left that last time, I’ve missed you like I’d miss an organ. I’ve gone over our argument in my head, just… I should have supported you more. Tried to help you through that awful mess, but… I couldn’t. I wasn’t… I wasn’t strong enough, and I ended up driving you away for good. Hold on.” The sound of the phone being set down met Jack’s ears as Guy went to console his wife.

He returned a minute later. “We saw you on the TV, in one of the evacuation centers. We were there with the twins, Mary, Joey, and Sofia… and you popped up on the TV in that fancy armour of yours. You’d just liberated Washington, and the whole center went up with cheers. I just… I saw you, and it felt like everything was going to be alright. I felt hope.When I saw you with the flag... I started yelling, ‘that’s my boy! That’s my Jack!” Guy let out a shuddering breath. “We lost Mary the next day… We lost them all. To this day, I just… I keep going over it all in my head, what I could have done differently… Just like my argument with you… There’s nothing I can do to bring any of you back, and it feels like there’s this… this black hole where my heart used to be… It’s wrong for a parent to outlive their children... Ughuh… dammit, god dammit, look at me, crying to a damn machine… Jack, I was always proud of you. I always will be, you as much as all of your brothers. I never stopped being proud of you, I never loved you any less, and I am… I am so… so sorry , that I never told you that to your face… that I never said it to any of you when it mattered the most… I love you, and my world’s become so grey without you… I just hope you’re comfortable in heaven. Good… g-goodbye, Jack.”

The message clicked over, leaving Jack to the soft music, and the irregular pains in his heart. “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t have been you apologizing, dad. I’m just fucked up, and it ain’t your fault… It ain’t nobody’s fault but mine…” He slowly shook his head, before gripping the wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white.

He could feel the exhaustion setting in, the pain that crept across his limbs like acid. From the heartache he’d inflicted upon himself, he wanted to just sleep for a million years. His eye felt heavy, and he knew he had to pull over. Opening up the gps, he flipped ahead, and found them a rest stop not too far away. It didn’t take long getting there, and he swiftly found the small turn off completely deserted, save for a lonely street light and a bathroom. Turning off the car, Jack made sure to lock the doors before setting his seat back. Once there, he stared up at the roof for a long, long time, before his aching heart and pained mind would allow him the privilege of sleep.

She was alone.

Alone, and cold.

Flitter shivered, casting snow off her uniform as she hunkered down in her foxhole. Her rifle was empty, and her sidearm was lost.

She was scared.

Not because she was alone, but because she knew she wasn’t as alone as she’d have liked.

It was out there, hunting her, stalking her. It was waiting for the perfect time to strike. It was toying with her.

Dread gripped her heart as she slowly peeked over the berm of her foxhole. Her platoon lay dead around her, slaughtered by her incompetence. Slaughtered by the thing waiting for her. She swallowed thickly as she rose, her hooves crunching in the snow were like gunshots in the dark. She was going to die in the light cast by their burning ship. Her gun muzzle tracked back and forth, searching for the fell monstrosity as she gingerly crept over the eviscerated bodies of her friends, her family.

By the time she heard it, it was far too late. The heavy thud of the beast landing, and the swirl of snow was all the warning she ever got before it crashed into her from behind, driving the wind from her lungs. With a childish grin on it’s face, the Progeny giggled gleefully as it grabbed her hoof and wrenched.

Flitter lurched awake with a pained gasp; her body slick with cold sweat and her shoulder aching as if it were on fire. Squeezing her eyes shut and pinching her lips into a thin line, she let out a ragged breath. Lifting her prosthetic, Flitter paused, before lowering it and lifting her flesh and blood hand to brush tousled hair out of her eyes. Her whole body ached from being bent in an awkward position for too long; she desperately needed to stretch. Looking over her shoulder to the driver’s seat, she let out a soft breath of relief when she found Jack soundly asleep next to her.

Opening the door of the car, Flitter stepped out, and stretched high toward the sky. A long groan escaped her lips as she felt and heard her body popping loudly. Casting a brief look around the rest stop, she pulled her shirt off, and willed her wings out. Her now huge wings spread outwards, the leading pinions shivering as she stretched. Bringing her wings back in, Flitter gave them a look over, but only found herself displeased. “I need a preening… but first…” Her eyes went to the enclosed restroom, and her feet swiftly followed.

The door clicked closed behind her as she entered, and the old light above flickered to life. After relieving herself, Flitter found herself before the mirror, doing her best to wash up with the sink. The sweat from the day prior hadn’t been washed away, and now she stunk. “Human bodies need so much maintenance…” She murmured softly as she rubbed herself down with luke warm sink water. While she was there, she took the time to admire her new body yet again, as well as her truly impressive wing span. The place where her prosthetic met her shoulder was an ugly mess of angry flesh and metal, and the scars from the surgery were still vibrant on her pale flesh. Besides that little hiccup of ugliness, and the scattered scars that shone against the light, she was, as far as she could tell, a very attractive human woman.

The bathroom door opened slightly, swiftly drawing her attention as he hand went for her sidearm, and her metal arm covered up her chest.

“Flitter?”

Immediate relief washed over her as she set the pistol back down. “Yeah, I’m just washing up.”

“Kay.”

The door quietly closed again, leaving her to finish her business. Turning back to the mirror, she continued to clean her washboard abs with sink water and hand soap.

When she exited the restroom, she found Jack leaning against the car, staring off into the distance as he slowly chewed down a swiss roll and sucked back a cigarette. Taking her place next to him, Flitter shot Jack a soft smile. “Morning.”

“Morn.” He mumbled in return as he offered her a packaged set of rolls and a yoohoo.

Taking the offered breakfast, Flitter relaxed, and looked up toward the horizon, only to start and nearly drop her food. “What in the flying fuck is that!?”

Off in the distance, a truly monstrous structure squatted on the plains. It looked like a tower of steel pipes and ceramic armour, and had six equally massive crab-like legs. The structure was covered with blinking lights, and was steadily pouring white steam into the air from its myriad of vents and pipes.

“Terraformer.” Jack answered between bites. “Two kilometers tall. Mobile.” He snubbed his cigarette against the palm of his hand. “Just about shit myself when I saw it too.”

“Gods above… It’s… certainly one hell of a conversation piece!”

“I’ll send you a picture.” Remaining against the car, Jack let his gaze fall back down to the ground as he squashed his snubbed cigarette butt into the ground with his prosthetic heel. “We should get going soon.”

Nodding in return, Flitter set upon her snack breakfast. By the time she finished licking her fingers clean, Jack had already started the car. As they started back onto the highway, Jack spoke once again.

“We should be able to reach the border by nightfall. We’re crossing from Montana to Alberta, then skipping to Saskatchewan some time tomorrow.”

“I’ll assume we’re making good time. I’ll be honest, I kind of expected…-”

“A little more excitement?” He asked with the barest hint of a smile.

Flitter returned the hint with a smirk. “Something like that. Course, I wouldn’t trade this time for anything in the world.”

“Kiss ass…”

The pair made good time crossing Montana, and as Jack predicted, they crossed the old border by nightfall. The unmanned posts offered no resistance as they passed by, and entered what used to be known as Canada. The flatlands stretched on for as far as the eye could see, and with the brilliant palette cast across the sky by the setting sun, it was truly a breathtaking sight for Jack’s passenger.

“Can you take a picture of that too? I’ve never seen a sunset so beautiful…”

“That’s because Sunbutt is in too much of a hurry to go to bed.” He muttered lightly as he took a snapshot of the blazing skies. “There.”

Smiling softly, Flitter took a chance and reached over to grasp his hand in hers. “You’re the best.”

Jack blinked in surprise as he looked to his grasped hand, before his eye flicked up to Flitter. The woman holding his hand offered him a soft smile, and a gentle squeeze. All he could offer in return was a redirection of his eye to the road, and a reciprocated gentle squeeze.

As the light completely faded and the land turned pitch black, Jack began to frown. “I expected to see more people on the roads. They’re just about empty.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Imagine not seeing a single soul on the road to Canterlot.” He flicked on the high beams as they continued down the road.

“Oh. No, that makes sense now… maybe everybody just uses the trains?”

“Maybe…” He sighed quietly, before opening the gps again. “I’ll find us somewhere to stay for the night.”

Smiling slightly at him, Flitter relaxed into her seat. “Sounds good… I need to stretch my legs anyways. Maybe wash my clothes…”

“Have you still not washed those?” He asked quietly as he glanced over at her.

“No?”

“Good lord… alright, here’s something. The Oil Derrick motel, forty klicks from us. Looks like there’s a small stripmall near that. We’ll get you some new clothes if we can.”

Smiling a little brighter, Flitter nodded and turned in her seat. “Sounds like a plan.”

The Derrick Motel was a small affair; a throwback to a bygone era of stucco walls, heavy metal doors, and awful wallpaper. The room cost was low however, at fifteen hundred for a night, and for a single night it would do. Setting down his bag in the old armchair that sat in the corner of the room, Jack glanced over the pair of small beds just as Flitter collapsed onto hers face first.

“Ow… not as soft as I thought it would be… ow…” Rolling onto her back, Flitter groaned loudly as she looked to Jack. “So, what’s the plan then?” The chittering clicks of his releasing exo skeleton was all the answer she got for the moment. Carefully setting down the metal jacket, Jack struggled to stumble the five steps to his own bed. Flitter slowly frowned in concern as she watched him struggle to just walk. “How bad is it?”

“Well…” Jack grunted in pain as he slowly eased himself down. “Celestia managed to crack six of my ribs, and break another five. Compacted three vertebrae, hairline fractures in my pelvis and legs, dislocated shoulder and one finger that’ll never move again.” He slowly laid back, letting his breath slowly escape his lips. “Nerve damage. Brain damage, probably. Not like that would change much. Malnutrition.”

Wincing in sympathy, Flitter gently rubbed her shoulder, where metal met flesh. “You can’t live without that exo-skeleton anymore, can you?”

“Can’t really walk. Docs did what they could, but I don’t think they tried all that hard after I donkey punched the queen bitch.” He slowly closed his eyes as he exhaled. “Hurts to be alive. Could you get the light?”

“Sure…” Slowly rising, Flitter cast a brief glance over at him as she crossed the room to flick off the light. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night, Flitter.”

Carefully feeling her way back to her stiff bed, Flitter clambered in, and laid back. Sleep refused to come, as her eyes adjusted and the sound of Jack’s laboured breaths met her ears. Rolling onto her side, she stared at him in the dark as she wracked her brain for any way she could help him.

Despite her best attempts, sleep found it’s way into her brain, and Flitter fell back into unconsciousness.

The nightmares came for her again, just as they had every night since coming to earth. Every night was the same, with the feeling of dread and terror lacing her brain as she rolled and murmured. She would be hunted, toyed with, and blamed for the deaths at her hooves. Every night, she would jerk awake in a cold sweat, panting in fear and shivering from the adrenaline.

Tonight was no different, and when she jerked upright, she only just barely managed to cover her mouth in time to stifle a cry of terror. Hints of tears stung her eyes, but she forced them back down.

Light played through the thick drawn curtains, and the sound of life outside drew her attention for a brief moment before she flopped back down into the bed and ran a hand over her face. Letting out a low groan, she pulled herself up, and fixed her prosthetic arm back into it’s socket. She winced as the limb made it’s connection, and as a reflex she flexed her reattached fingers. Looking over in the low light, Flitter found Jack still sound asleep, he apparently having not been woken up by her thrashing.

Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Flitter pushed herself up, and went to her bag. Fishing out the cred-stick, she fixed herself up, before heading out the door.

While the prospect of going out among the human populace without Jack was an intimidating one, she couldn't stand to wear the ruined uniform a day longer.

The bright sun nearly blinded her as she stepped out, and the sound of life became immediately louder. Shielding her eyes with a mechanical hand, she squinted down at the ground floor. A few cars were now parked in the lot, and close to a few dozen people were milling around the small plaza. With a breath, Flitter descended the stairs, and began her very first human shopping experience.

While her growling stomach in mind, she forced herself to enter one of the stores in search of clothes. She felt immediately relieved when she spotted the racks upon racks of assorted items, and the wall of accessories. The relief quickly washed away when she realized how many options she had, and the pressure was applied.

“Dammit… okay, I can do this… It’s just like getting something from Rarity’s.”

Striding into the shop, Flitter would begin her first foray into the treacherous realm of women’s clothes.

He awoke to his constant companion, pain, nagging him awake in the form of a full body ache that stretched into the marrow of his bones. Slowly cracking open his eye, Jack found himself perfectly willing to stare at the ceiling for what felt like an eon, before the opening door drew his attentions.

Slipping inside, Flitter closed the door and visibly heaved out a breath of exertion as she struggled with a number of bags, and what smelled like breakfast. His sleep addled brain took far too long to realize she wasn’t wearing her uniform, and was in fact dressed in civilian clothes. Slowly sitting up, he watched as Flitter struggled with her load.

“You gonna be alright?”

Flitter looked up from behind a set of overlarge sunglasses as she set down breakfast. “Jack! I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No, I’ve just been laying here for awhile. It looks like you took a stab at dressing yourself.”

“Yeah! Do you like it?” Flitter stood tall and displayed herself for his judgement.

Despite the chilly weather, she was clad in a blue tanktop, grey cargo pants, and had a pair of blue and black striped cotton fingerless elbow gloves on. He coughed lightly when he noticed her lack of support, but decided against saying anything about it. “I was halfway expecting a fashion disaster. You look...good.” He chewed his cheek idly for a moment. “Did you just get tank tops? You’re going to get mighty cold.”

“I didn’t need anything else, because I brought this!” Marching over to her bag, Flitter drew out an article of clothing Jack had completely forgotten about, his old ACMC hoodie.

“Jesus, you kept that old thing?” He scratched the back of his head self consciously as she pulled it on, and hugged herself. The sight was… pleasant, he decided.

“Well I wasn’t going to leave it behind.” She smiled at him, before offering breakfast. “There’s a store called ‘Tim Hortons’. They had breakfast and coffee, so I-” Flitter nearly jumped out of the hoodie in surprise as Jack rolled out of bed, threw on his exo, and crossed the room in under five seconds to snag one of the coffees. She stared in shock as he moaned and groaned while sucking down the steaming drink.

“Oh Fucking Canada.” He said with a content sigh.

Shaking herself out of her stunned silence, Flitter slowly sipped her drink. “It um… I got you-”

“Large double double dark roast. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I had Timmies? God, fucking… worth it. “ He sipped his coffee a little slower, though his content moan remained the same.

Giggling at the absurdity, Flitter dug through the bag, and offered him a breakfast wrap. “Did I do good?”

“I could kiss you if I wasn’t eating.” He murmured around his drink and food.

Fighting the blush that was steadily spreading across her cheeks, Flitter turned to her own food. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Breakfast was a swift ordeal, though as they checked out and got back into the car, Jack made a point of swinging through the Tim Hortons drive-thru. Before long, the pair were back on the road, and their journey was begun again.

Crossing over the provincial border, Jack’s pleasant thoughts toward his companion were swiftly replaced by the growing sense of dread he felt with every kilometer they got closer to the destination. He knew what was there, but the prospect of seeing it with his own eyes became a monument of fear in his heart.

Quickly picking up on his change of attitude, Flitter began to dread the moment the journey would come to an end. Everything before had been… almost perfect, she thought. For those two days, she could have pushed everything else out of her mind, and reveled in the freedom the roadtrip had given her. But she hadn’t, and now she was forced to face the nature of it.

As the triple digit kilometers turned to double, and then to single, Jack gripped the steering wheel tightly and forced himself to take slow, steady breaths.

“Jack?” Flitter set her hand down on his thigh as her features softened in concern.

He swallowed thickly as he slowed the car, and turned on the blinker. Turning off the highway, he started down the driveway to his home. The wheat fields were tall, blocking a good portion of his view with windstruck gold. Despite that, he found himself nearly shaking. The two hundred meter long driveway seemed to go on forever, and yet it ended all too quickly. Jack slowed to a stop, before shutting off the engine. As the warm vehicle ticked away, he stared at the time ravaged, dilapidated two story prairie home. Almost all of the siding drooped, and in some places it was missing entirely. The front door stood open, kicked in at some point by a delinquent with big boots. The porch was halfway collapsed, and the roof looked ready to cave.

Staring at the abandoned house, Jack slowly opened the car door and stepped out. The smell of the dextri-wheat was exactly as he remembered it; he closed his eyes for a.moment to breath it in deeply. If he kept his eyes closed, he could pretend that he’d be called for dinner at any moment.

“Stay here.” He asked quietly, before walking toward the door with his bag.

“Jack-”

He paused, but didn’t look over his shoulder. “Go home, Flitter… you… don’t need to see this.” Again he started walking for the door, his cybernetic boots causing the long rotted steps to creak and groan under him.

Flitter stood by the car, speechless as she watched him take a deep breath, before stepping inside.

It was as if the entire world had suddenly turned frigid. Flitter’s pained expression turned hard as she reached into the car and grabbed her hoodie, before following after Jack.

“Like hell.”

Striding up the steps, Flitter swiftly found herself inside the ruined interior of Jack’s childhood home. She slowed her stride as she looked around, taking in the sights. It wasn’t hard to imagine the rotten floorboards as the track for a dozen different sets of feet, the split mantel as the resting place of so many pictures and trophies.

The old wallpaper had come off in rotten rolls, leaving great filthy heaps against the walls and trimming. The hardwood floor was warped and cracked, and she could easily track Jack’s movements through the patches of dust and dirt he’d disturbed. It took all of a minute to find him, as he slowly trod through the halls and ran his hand across the walls.

“I wish you hadn’t asked to come.” His strong, gruff voice sounded as if it were made of glass, his words coming through quiet and brittle with pain.

“Why?” Flitter moved up behind him, but didn’t dare reach out.

Again, he didn’t answer as he passed through the hall and started up the creaking stairs. Once at the top, he paused, before slowly opening up a door to his right. Inside was a room, equally empty and filthy as the rest of the house.

“I spent seventeen years living in this room… Me, and my two older brothers. Julian, and… Jacob.” He exhaled as he moved to the center of the room, and slowly turned about. “Julian was killed by a Corvellan lance battery. They shot down the evacuation shuttle, killed everybody inside.” Jack shuddered as he stumbled and leaned against a wall for support. “Jacob… died in Operation Ironguard. Thought that was ironic… So fucking ironic…”

Turning, He began to walk out of the room, and started opening the doors to the others, as if searching for his lost family. “The twins…” He sniffed softly. “Dead. Mary, killed… by some lunatic sympathizer.” Jack closed his eye as he opened another door, and his steps became laboured trudges. “Joey was killed by falling debris. George went missing, just… gone… he always looked up to me, wanted to be a fucking marine because of me … Sophia…” His chest heaved as he opened the last of the doors, and found the rooms behind them equally empty. “Died, with my uncles… tox-darts… died in… fucking agony...” He stumbled as he entered the hall, and fell heavily to his knees. “They’re all fucking DEAD!” He cried out in anguish as Flitter rushed to his side. “I never… got to say goodbye! I wasn’t there for them, and now they’re all gone! M-my family… I’m… I’m alone…”

With hot tears running down his cheek, Jack could no longer maintain his long kept composure, and everything came tumbling down as his whole body convulsed with a powerful sob.

Watching the final sections of Jack’s facade fall away, Flitter found herself froze in place at his side. With every agonized sob, he wrenched forward a little more, before letting loose a wretched howl. Steeling her upper lip, Flitter lunged forward, and wrapped him in the tightest hug she’d ever given anybody. Pulling him close, Flitter grit her teeth and tried to force her own rolling tears back down.

“Jack!” She called out to him with a voice ragged with emotion. “Listen to me, please… You’re not alone, you’re not!” Her wings burst from her back, and shrouded the pair in feathers. Holding him close, the feeling of the once impossibly large man going limp and sobbing against her chest was one she never wished to feel again. “Listen to me, Jack… please…”

“I-I can’t… I can’t do this a-anymore Flitter.. I can’t- keep pretending…” The agony laced deep into every letter of his words cut like razor sharp blades. “I never saved anybody… I’ve only killed, a-and so… f-fffuck… I can’t…” He wretched again as the tears refused to stop coming, now that the dam had been ruptured.

“You saved me.” Flitter lifted his head gently with both hands; looking him in the eye as she tried to give him her strength. “You saved me, a-and…” Flitter sucked in a deep breath, and leapt. “And I love you, Jack. I love you more than anything in the world...” She could feel herself slipping, the pain in her features as they twisted in sorrow.

Closing his eye in a deep cringe, Jack gripped her hand in his own as they shook like leaves on the wind. “Don’t… please, please, f-for the love of god… not you too…” He opened his eye again, before setting a hand against her cheek. “I can’t lose you too… I can’t... “

Shaking her head vehemently, Flitter continued to hold him close with arm and wing. “You’re never going to lose me, Jack. I’m not going anywhere.” Despite the tears rolling down her cheeks and the shaking grip she held, Flitter’s voice was filled with steely resolve.

“Everything I… everybody I love, who loves me… they die, Flitter…” He clutched her hand with both of his and bowed his head until her knuckles touched his scarred forehead. “I’m cursed… I’ve killed everybody! M-my family!” His chest convulsed as he sobbed out the word, and followed it with another. “My fiance! M-mark, Ad… A-ada… My team... I killed them all, and…” He looked away from her in abject shame, but couldn’t bring himself to let her go. “I can’t lose you too…”

“Don’t do this, Jack…” Flitter reached forward, cupping his stubbled chin in her hand as she gently pulled his gaze back to her eyes. “Let me be your family. You’re… you’re my everything, j-just let me be something to you. “

Watching the tears roll from her eyes, Jack shuddered as he leaned forward, and gently pressed his forehead against hers. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

Running a worn hand through his salt and pepper hair, Flitter lifted her lips, and softly kissed him on the head. “You saved me. Now it’s my turn, okay?”

Slowly, he nodded, before wrapping his arms around her waist, and burying his face in her shoulder. There they remained, until the sun burned in through the filth streaked windows, marking midday. Flitter slowly stroked Jack’s back as she held him close, though they had both long since stopped crying. Eventually, he gathered the strength to turn over, and simply lay against her as she hugged him from behind. There, he gently grasped her hands, and idly ran his abused fingers over hers.

“You know…” He started with a rasp, before clearing his throat thickly. “I… I wanted you to meet them. My… my family. Meet my Mom. She would have… she would have loved you so much.” He gave her hand a soft squeeze, and earned one in return. “I wanted you to know what a real family was like.”

Laughing softly as he wings fluttered, Flitter hugged him just a little bit tighter. “I do, though. Thanks to you and the others in my platoon. My family is who I choose.” She smiled softly as she pushed down and nuzzled the nape of his neck. “I chose you a long time ago…”

“And I’ve been nothing but a bastard the whole time.” He murmured softly.

“You’ve had your moments. I never stopped loving you, though… Even when you didn’t love me back.”

Gripping her fingers, Jack did his best to look up at her, but failed in doing so. “I’m sorry. For all the shit I put you through…”

His worries fell away when her wings wrapped back around him. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I forgave you a long time ago.” A moment of pleasant silence passed between the two, before Flitter nudged Jack and rubbed his arm. “Do you want to stay a little longer, or get going?”

“That’s… a hard question.” He shifted slightly, before slowly sitting up with a groan. “There’s something I… need to do.”

“Jack?” Flitter started, before swallowing nervously. “Can I… say something?”

“Of course.”

“You can’t chain yourself to the dead. Nothing you can do will bring them back, and they would hate to see you suffer just for their memory.” She ran a hand through his hair, stroking his head slowly. “But you can keep a little piece of them in your heart and your mind, to replace the pieces you gave them. I… was told that when my Dad died. I’m sorry if-” She paused as he turned, and hugged her. She slowly returned the gesture as a weak smile spread across her features.

Pulling away from her, Jack dug into his bag, and retrieved his glock. Handing it to her grip first, he smiled weakly. “Thank you. I’ll see you at the car in a few minutes.”

Regarding the weapon for a long moment, Flitter stowed it before standing. “Okay. I’m just a shout away.” She gripped his hand tightly, before letting go, and descending the stairs. Waiting until he heard the front door creak, Jack slowly looked around the dilapidated ruin, before descending the stairs himself, and heading for the back door. Every hall held a dozen memories for every step, every room inflicted a call back to better times. Christmas mornings, birthdays, graduation parties, fights, arguments, and ass beatings of mythical proportions… He smiled sadly as he paused in the kitchen, the phantom scent of thanksgiving turkey tickled his nose as he pushed open the ruined screen door. The old tree in the backyard was a giant twisted mass of wood, that had apparently taken upon itself to outlive every generation of Kessles to grace it’s trunk.

Placing a hand on its massive trunk, Jack huffed softly in mirth before looking out across his old backyard. The grass was almost up to his waist in some places, concealing the ground. Thankfully, he already knew what he needed. Heading to the fallen tool shed, he began digging through the ancient wreckage in search of a shovel.

It didn’t take him long to find the old rusted thing, squashed between a beam and the cracked concrete floor. With a bit of brute force, he managed to wrench it free. Turning back toward the yard with shovel in hand. Moving to the trunk of the tree, he closed his eyes, and began to march with slow, steady steps.

Three steps north. Two steps west, nine steps north, two steps west, just by the dog house, three feet down.

He planted the old shovel head deep into the earth, ignoring the pain in his body, and letting the exo do the work for him. As he shoveled the dirt away, he eventually was rewarded with a solid metal thump, roughly four feet down. Clearing away the dirt, he smiled softly when his eyes fell upon the metal box. Pulling it free with a grunt of exertion, Jack wiped the sweat from his scarred forehead as he laid it down on the ground. The sealed metal box had weathered the passage of time far better than the house, though the seal certainly fought him tooth and nail as he pulled it open. The musty smell of old air rushed up to meet him as he waved a hand to dispel the smell. Inside the box was all sorts of mementos of his past life. He sat back, and slowly ran a hand through the contents.

The flag his mother had placed inside was still folded in a gentle triangle, the colours still strong and vibrant thanks to the sealed box. He set it aside, before pausing in shock.

His engagement rings sat under the flag, as if to greet him once again. They sat above stacks of photos he hadn’t put inside the box back when they’d started them as a family project. Back when he’d just graduated high school. He carefully pulled the rings and photos out as he did his best to leave the rest of the contents undisturbed. Setting the photos and engagement rings aside on the flag, he reached just a little further, and pulled out the boxes containing his medals and ribbons. It felt heavier than he remembered.

Cracking open the box, he found a new set of medals on top of his ones from his earthen wars. Before, all he had was a fistful of ribbons, some badges including his senior EOD badge, his purple heart, and his bronze star. The star was laughable compared to the ones he’d earned during the Invasion, and had been awarded posthumously. The Russian Federation’s Medal for Heroics, a German Iron Cross, the Arm-Can Medal of Honour, and finally, the Star of Terra. A dozen minor medals joined them, along with more campaign ribbons than could ever fit on his chest. If he’d remembered to grab the medals he’d earned in Equestria, his stack would be the envy of Generals. Shaking his head, he stuck them all back in the box, and set it aside with the other items. Having grabbed everything that he wanted, he gave the contents of the box one last look over.

They’d planned on opening them in five years after planting them, but they never had everyone in one place again. He regretted having not made the time prior, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Slowly closing the lid on the time capsule, he planted it back in the ground, and reburied it with care.

Turning toward the back of the property, he began to walk. It didn’t take him long to find the gravestone. The stone was roughly six feet tall, and had weathered the test of time with pride, though filth and grime had clogged the names etched deep inside. It wasn’t so much a marker, as it was a memorial to the family he’d lost. Jack sighed softly as his features twisted in pain. Seeing the names of his siblings and loved ones engraved in the stone was like a stake through his heart, the final nail in the coffin that was the life he’d had.

Pulling out the bottle of JD and a single shot glass, he cracked the bottle open, and poured one shot out. Leaving the shot at the base of the monument, he retrieved a rag from his bag, and began using the alcohol to clean the grime from his family’s names. The process was harder than he’d anticipated;the dirt and grime from eighty years of neglect had pressed itself deep into the stone. Shaking his head, Jack pressed harder as tears stung his eye. They rolled down his cheek as he scraped filth from the names, and the siren smell of the bottle at his feet proved almost too much to ignore, yet ignore it he did.

He didn’t know how long it had taken him to clear the long list of names, but as he stepped back, the sun flagged in the sky, and the grass rustled behind him as Flitter approached.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back, snapped his heels together, and sharply saluted. As he slowly lowered his arm, Flitter slipped hers around him, and they looked over the memorial together.

Author's Notes:

I'll be honest, a few portions of this chapter had me misty eyed writing them. I felt guilty enough to actually text my own folks. Anyways, that aside, now the real fun can begin.