In the last three days, he'd said goodbye to his family (mom, dad, kid brother), traveled to another galaxy (specifically, to Atlantis), lost his CO (a real marine), and seen the security of his home base severely compromised by strangers from a different planet (and it bothered him slightly that he still wasn't sure which of the last two upset him more).
As he sipped champagne on a seaside balcony, Bates told himself that none of that really mattered because whatever else had happened in the last few days, the most important thing was that he was still, undeniably, alive.