It looks like a simple pine box, but it's so much more. To it's owner, it represents peace and freedom. To the country at large, it represents a patriot, a true hero. To K Unit it represents failure. Failure as a leader, as a medic, as a friend, as an older brother. To the heads of MI6 it represents the end of an era; the last of the Riders. To Jack and Tom it is regret and terror and pain and sorrow and loss. Regret for never taking action and the terror for every time he left that this is how he would return. Pain that he suffered through this for their sake; loss, because he truly lost all chances of being innocent, a normal teenager. Sorrow because they know the reality of what that box represents and they know that nothing can fix this. It looks like a simple pine box, so small and heartrendingly lite, draped beneath a flag. It may seem like a simple pine box, but to many it represents so much more.
So, this just kind of popped into my head after re-reading Point Blank, specifically the scene where they fake Alex's death. I just thought, what if, one day, this really did happen. What would they see in that simple box?
To anyone following my other stories, I promise that I have not abandoned them, I'm just having a terribly difficult time trying to format a sequel that fits The Final Battle.