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Funeral

"Your funeral is on Wednesday." Those were the words that kept running through Sean's head as he woke up. Today was the day. To the rest of the world, he would officially be dead. To his sisters. To his comrades. To the government. To everyone.

To say he was upset was an understatement. He was furious. Sure, he had made the choice himself, but it still angered him. He wanted his sisters to at least know the truth. But it was too late for that. The past five days that he's woken up, he's found himself wishing he had actually died. He knew that was something that shouldn't be running through his mind, especially considering all the trouble everyone went through, and everything Alex did to let it be his own choice.

Alex. He turned to his side, hoping to see her lying there, but deep down he knew she wouldn't be. He had pushed her away completely, in such a short period of time. Sure, he felt bad about it, but he couldn't help himself. He was angry, and frustrated. He didn't know how to deal with what was thrown at him. So he took it out on her.

He got out of bed, and headed down to the training area, hoping Alex would be there. It was finally starting to sink in, and he knew he needed to apologize. As he got downstairs, Alex was nowhere in sight. He did see Michael though. "Hey Michael, have you seen Alex by any chance?" He asked, walking past him towards the corridor. He knew Michael would respond fast enough so that he didn't have to stop.

"I think she's in Amanda's old office with Nikita. Why?"

Sean didn't bother answering his question. Instead, he started walking faster towards what he knew was Amanda's former room. He knocked quietly, knowing the two girls would hear him, and slowly opened the door. He saw Alex, standing there in a knee length black dress, with sleeves down to her elbows, and black heels. Nikita was on her knees, fixing the bottom of the dress, when Alex looked up and saw him. Nikita soon followed her gaze, and stood up.

"What are you doing here?" Nikita asked him, as he stepped inside.

"Michael said you guys were here. I actually wanted to talk to Alex for a minute. What's with the outfit?" He asked, looking at the dress again.

Alex scoffed and looked away from him. She had had enough of him pushing her away. He got what he wanted, and now he wants to talk to her? Well that wasn't going to happen.

"Well, considering the press knows that Miss Udinov here was dating the most wanted SEAL, she has to make an appearance at his funeral. Not only that, but she has to give a speech about how much she misses him, and how great he was." Nikita spat, going back to fixing the younger girl's dress.

Alex rolled her eyes, and decided to speak for the first time. "Now, if only all of that were true. But it turns out that one bad thing happens in his life, and he takes it out on the people he claims to love. Funny, that doesn't seem like a 'great' person."

Sean sighed, and walked closer to them. "Alex, can I please just talk to you alone for a minute?"

She looked up at him, and then gave Nikita a look, signaling that it was okay for her to leave. "Make it quick. I have to be there in 20 minutes."

"In that case, I'll put this as simply as I can. I'm sorry for being such a jerk. And I'm definitely going to apologize properly when you get back. But since you're going to the funeral, I need you to do me a favor. This is the only thing I'm ever going to ask from you. I take it you're going to be seeing my sisters. Take a comm with you, and have it on. I need you to talk to them. About anything at all. Even if you just talk about the weather. I just... I need to hear their voices one more time. Please?" He begged, tears clouding his eyes.

Her eyes softened at his desperate tone, and she nodded.

"Thank you," He whispered, and pulled her in for a quick hug.

"No problem, Sean," She said, pulling away and walking outside.

Alex stepped out of the black limo, and made her way to the front of the crowd. Only when she arrived did she notice the large crowd behind her. Many of them in their Navy uniforms, who were most likely his teammates, but a lot more that seemed to just be regular citizens. Sean probably didn't know any of them, and yet they still felt the need to attend a fallen soldier's funeral. That's when she finally realized how much she had taken away from him. All of America was mourning his loss.

She recognized Sean's sisters from the multiple pictures he had of them in his apartment, and quickly made her way over to the two women.

"Hi, you must be Jill and Sandy. I'm Alex," She said, turning to them.

"Alex? It's so nice to finally meet you!" The taller girl said. She assumed that was Jill, considering she was holding a little boy's hand.

"Well, I wouldn't say nice. Your boyfriend's funeral isn't the ideal place to meet his sisters for the first time," she said, putting on her best fake, sad smile.

"Of course not. I'm just happy to finally meet you, even if it's not the best time. Sean... Sean told me... He told us all so much about you. He is... Was very fond of you," Jill replied, stumbling over her words.

Alex felt awful about what happened. She didn't know these girls, but she knew from Sean that they were a really close family. And here they were, desperately trying to hold their tears in, while Alex was faking all of her emotions. His own sisters would never get to see him again, but she, someone who's only known him for a little over a year, would see him again in just a few hours. Sure, they might not be on speaking terms at the moment, but she would still see him. She didn't know how she would be able to deal with actually losing him.

She forced herself to remain upset as the funeral ceremony began. She vaguely paid attention as his former teammates carried what they thought was his body in a coffin. She mostly drowned out the minister talking, telling the crowd who Sean Pierce was, and what he did. She already knew all of this. She barely paid attention as both of his sisters wen up, one by one, saying something about their loving brother. She already knew all of this, and she was nervous about having to speak herself in a few minutes.

When it was her turn, the words flew out of her mouth. Knowing Sean was most likely listening through the comm, she made sure that he knew she really meant what she was saying, but nobody else would know that she was speaking to him. Just like she did with her mother, so long ago, on national television.

The rest of the funeral passed by in a blur, and she watched them lower his coffin into the ground. She forced herself to let out a sob, so that she didn't look like a heartless bitch of a girlfriend, and before she knew it, Jill's son had went over to her, and pulled on her hand.

"It's okay lady. Mommy says he's safe now," she heard the little boy say to her, and she just wanted to smile.

"Thomas, honey, don't bother Alex right now," She hear Jill say to him, calling him away from her.

She smiled sadly, and walked over to them. "He's a cute kid."

"Yeah, he really loved his Uncle Sean," Sandy spoke up, smiling down at her nephew.

They made small talk for a few more minutes, until Alex finally excused herself, saying she needed to head home. Half an hour later, she made her way back into Division, and immediately found herself being pulled into another hug from Sean.

"Thank you," He whispered again, and held her closer for a while.