"This message goes to every army in the interstellar confederation: Here is command. The war is over. Cease fire and wait for further instructions. I repeat, the war is over, this is not a drill. Cease fire and wait for further instructions. Ships will come to pick you up, give us your coordinates. I repeat, ships will come to pick you up, give us your coordinates. This message goes to every army in the interstellar confederation: Here is command. The war is over. Cease fire and-"

Bleary-eyed and with tousled hair Grif stumbled in the big mess hall of the base they lived at on Chorus. Followed short by Simmons. He also looked a bit sleepy, but more awake than his boyfriend. He was always one to be awake fast if he woke up. Grif always needed his time and some reminders to get up. Otherwise he would fall asleep again right away.

"Man, it's in the middle of the fucking night, why are they waking us-" began Grif complaining, but shut up immediately as he heard the broadcast repeating itself again and again, coming from the speakers at the wall of the mess hall

It was 34:54 on Chorus. In the middle of the night. (Days on Chorus have 36 hours. 20-24 hours working, rest of the hours resting, relaxing and sleeping).

Beside Simmons, there were some recruits standing and talking about the broadcast. As of their talking, this repeating broadcast began about 40 minutes ago. The last of the army stationed here were just arriving. It took some time to find and wake everyone up, waiting for them to get dressed in their armor and showing up in the mess hall.

Grif and Simmons were late because of Grifs sound sleep. The recruits trying to wake him up had no chance to achieve the order given, as Grif was sleeping so soundly. They tried all different ways, until Tucker showed up, throwing a bucket with cold water at Grif – Bucket included. Luckily Simmons was already awake and up as Tucker woke the 'sleeping beauty' – As he liked to call Grif – up.

Unfortunately, the teal armored soldier wouldn't have to deal with a cranky and whining Grif. He was always like that when he got woken up in the middle of the night with such harsh measurements. At least Simmons thought that Grif would be cranky and whiny.

Instead of bitching around for getting woken up in the middle of the fucking night, Simmons saw him blinking hard, trying to proceed the information coming out of the speakers in the hall. And he wasn't the only one. As Grif turned his face to look at Simmons, the cyborg saw a perfect mirror of his own expression on the face of his boyfriend. It took some more time until the Hawaiian finally seemed to be able to say something.

"Dude, they aren't shitting us, right? Tell me they don't. That would be the biggest dick move ever."

"Uhm, I don't know exactly…" began Simmons, but immediately corrected himself as he saw Grifs pleading expression. "But I don't think they would make a joke of such an important thing." assured the cyborg with a smile.

Gently, the irish-dutch man laid an arm around Grifs shoulders, pulling him close with a gentle tug. The tanned man complied, shuffling closer. The cyborg could feel how an arm also snuck around his waist. Grey had kept her promise and operated Grif, cutting away the loose skin and treating the hard flesh of the scars, making it possible that there would also appear smooth skin. Tracing his fingers over Grifs body he couldn't tell where the scars were by now, because Grey made such an awesome work.

Since the surgery, Grif was a completely different person. At least on the outside. He had been fat some months ago, later the skin was hanging loose as he lost weight. The scars had bothered him because they often hurt. They even hurt when he got touched. Simmons often felt and saw him squirming away when he touched one of the scars. Since the surgery it was different. The cyborg could trace is fingers over the scars, caressing and kissing them, and Grif wasn't squirming away, not even showing the slightest sign of pain.

Okay, Grif still was a bit chubby, but he looked much better now. And to be honest, Simmons liked it when his boyfriend was a bit chubby. Being slightly chubby was something what made Grif out. Being chubby belonged to Grif like the freckles to Simmons.

Thanks to Greys surgery skills and Washs drills, Grif had gotten pretty damn handsome.

Speaking of Wash and the Freelancer. Carolina just appeared on the stage at the back end of the mess hall. Since Felix and Locus disappeared, she had taken over the place of the advisor and reasonable voice of him. Unlike Felix, she did a much better job than the merc ever could have done, because her intentions were different from them of Felix. Better. Actually, with the goal to stop the war and lead Chorus to a stable peace which would stay even after they left.

Right behind Carolina, Kimball appeared, and on one of the thousands screens in the hall, Doyles face appeared.

"I'm sorry to wake you up so late, but as you already heard, we received an important message." With a motion of her hand the volume increased and all attendees listened to the radio call, repeating itself since an hour without interruption. The volume turned back and Kimball spoke up again. On the muted screen to her left, Simmons saw Doyle talking to 'his' part of the army.

"This broadcast goes to all armies in the universe." Explained Kimball superfluously, before getting to the point. "Command, most important the Chairman, is dead! The war is over!" her face darkened a bit as she continued. "But that doesn't mean for us to lean back and relax. We still have work to do here. We are far from having a stable peace here on Chorus. And as long as this peace isn't established and stable, we cannot rest. But when we achieve this goal, we can finally relax and enjoy the peace which is long overdue, after years of constant fighting." There were some single cheers, but shut immediately as Kimball continued. "The only bad news I have for you is, that our friends," with this she made another motion with her hand towards the Blood Gulch Crew before continuing. "will leave us to return to their home world." Immediately all eyes were on the guys and girls of said team.

Wash cleared his throat to get the attention of everyone. The recruits were all waiting for something of the Blood Gulch Team. Just something. A denying or approving statement, something to explain the further steps of their friends and heroes. "That is true. But first it'll take some months until we're actually able to return. The ships of the confederation won't be here so fast. Besides, we all decided to help you through the process to build up a stable peace here on Chorus. We won't leave in the middle of it." The other Sim-troopers nodded approvingly and some of the Chorianer applauded.

"Secondly, we're in the time in which interstellar travels are like driving to the neighboring town." Explained Wash with a smile, Kimball making him continue with an arched eye brow and a motion of her hand. "Meaning, we still can visit each other You can visit us on earth and we can visit you guys here on Chorus. We promise that we won't leave without return. We are friends and we stay friends and we can stay in touch if you wish so."

"Absolutely, we would be honored if you really would visit or invite us to your home planet." Replied the leader of the rebels with a wide smile and this time the soldiers of said army began cheering and applauding. The same emotions came over from Doyles side, as they apparently had broadcasted the speech of Wash to the feds. And they also seemed to be happy about the decision of the Blood Gulch Team.

"Okay, we'd like you to fill in the form which is sent on your data pad. This form will help to organize and schedule the transports to your home effectively and as fast as possible. So it's necessary that you fill in the information as correct as possible. Please try to do it in the next two days." Several soldiers took the data pad and indeed, there was an envelope on the screen, indicating an arrived and unread message. Kimball continued. "To celebrate this victory, Doyle and I decided to give you the next three days holidays. To collect new strength for the last way to our goal."

Loud cheering came from everywhere in the mess hall, accompanied by applause, also of the Blood Gulch Crew. Now that the Chairman was defeated and the war was over, even with the aliens, the peace talks on Chorus would be much more relaxed than before. And hopefully they will go on faster now.

Returning to the house the Blood Gulch Crew lived in, Simmons already read the form and what information they needed. He knew that he would have to do Grifs too if he wanted it to be filled in correctly. But Simmons didn't mind. He already suspected it to be like that.

Up in the room, Grif immediately stripped out of his armor and flopped onto the bed. Also the cyborg got rid of the armor and slipped in his civvies. But he decided to fill in the form now, otherwise he would forget it.

Taking Grifs data pad, he filled in the information of his name, rank, actual location, home planet (Incl. country), planet where he wanted to go after the war (incl. Country), additional information (health state, allergies, etc.), and much more other information. The same was with Simmons form. He filled in the information, but stopped shortly as he wrote in the country he wanted to go to. He almost wrote Minnesota in the form of home country, where he wanted to go to after the war.

After some moments of thinking it through, he deleted the entry, to replace it with the information 'Hawaii'. Grif always said he wanted to go back to Hawaii when the war was over. And they were a couple since some months. Simmons didn't want to leave Grif to go back 'home'.

The place where he grew up wasn't his home. His home was where Grif was. And the words of Grif were still very fresh in his mind. 'Simmons, if your parents treated you that bad, I wouldn't return to them. It's only my personal opinion, but I would move somewhere else, building up a better, and most important, my own life.'

Sending the form he put his maroon data pad on the bedside table. Right beside Grifs orange one. Said Hawaiian was lying on his belly, observing the irish-dutch man through a half closed lid. The aqua blue eye shimmered under the sandy blonde hair.

He was already halfway back asleep. Simmons laid down, turning around and embraced his boyfriend.

"Are we really going back home?" muttered Grif, nuzzling his face in Simmons chest, exhaling deeply.

"Yeah Grif, we're going back. We're going to Hawaii."

Grif seemed to stop shortly before lifting his head and looking up to Simmons. "You're coming with me?"

"Yes, I come with you. I wrote in the form that I want to go to Hawaii. The place I grew up isn't my home. You're my home now."

"Heh…" Grifs genuine and open smile was absolutely infectious. Simmons couldn't help but smile too, before leaning down and kissing his love.

"Let's get some sleep. I don't think that Wash would let you slip the drills just because Kimball agreed in giving us some days off." Simmons nuzzled his face in Grifs hair as they separated.

The only answer of Grif was a whine, like he got kicked, but didn't beef about it. He just shuffled closer, making sure to be as close as possible to Simmons before falling back asleep again.


It was almost midnight – according to the time on Chorus – and Carolina, Wash and Ala still were working. They somehow managed it to get the holographic room running without bigger issues. As they managed it, the Special Ops made a short training round, just to test out the room and to blow off some steam. Ala soon would coax Wash into stopping work and getting some sleep. Was often forgot to sleep because of his insomnia. Of when he would be ready for some sleep, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep because he was too tired. It was schizophrenic. Sometimes you were too tired to sleep.

Caro once stated that, since Ala was having an eye on Wash, he looked better. He still had the dark rings under his eyes because the three of them were working more and harder than the other soldiers around here. But he at least got regular and decent sleep.

Instead of going back home and sleep, they were now gathering in the mess hall because of a radio transmission they got some minutes ago. The room was almost empty, but within minutes, it was stuffed with people. Even Simmons and Grif showed up, bleary-eyed and slightly swaying because they just got up.

Alaska was standing beside Wash, her back straight and shoulders square. Wash did the same – Even as he spoke. It was like an unspoken agreement that he would speak for all the people of the Blood Gulch Crew.

While Wash and Kimball talked, Ala zoned off a bit. Normally she would call herself back to order, but this time, she thought it wouldn't be that bad to zone off a bit.

The radio call had said that the chairman was dead and the war was over. That they could go home. After years of fighting they were finally able to move on and have a live beside the war. She was unsure. Alaska was so used to the constant fighting and the war here, but she also had the intention that she would be able to accustom to the civilian live soon.

Would they all be able to find back in the lives of civilians? Would they be able to act like normal people after that?

"Earth to Ala. Somebody in there?" snapping back to reality she blinked hard as she saw Tuckers face in front of her. He was waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. According to his face, he had been calling her for several times now.

"Uh sorry, I was in thoughts. What did you say?"

"Pretty obvious. I said you should go and get Wash into bed. He's almost falling asleep standing."

"I planned on getting him to sleep a bit before the radio transmission started."

Tucker nodded satisfied and turned around walking away towards the house.

Beside her she could see that Wash was thinking hard. He seemed even deeper in thoughts than Ala had been. Taking his hand she got his attention. She could see that he was getting back to the world here because he turned his head and looked at her questioningly.

"Let's go back to the house. We should get some sleep."

Wash didn't reply and Ala took it as a positive answer to walk to the house, dragging the Freelancer along at his hand. She knew that a message was on their data pads.

Arrived at the house, showered and dressed in their civvies, Ala began looking through the form on the data pad. She filled in all information except of the country she wanted to go to. She would want to go back to earth. But she had no clue where to go.

The door opened and Wash came in, sitting down beside her and also grabbing for his grey and yellow patterned data pad. Alas was white with a huge blue dragon on it. "You already filled in your form?"

"Almost." Ala sighed and stretched her sore limps.

"Almost?" Asked Wash, looking at her with an arched eye brow.

"Yeah, I didn't fill in to which country I want to go. Because I don't feel like going to Germany. I don't want to be alone and except of me all of you live in the states."

Wash sat there shortly, before he stood up again. "Come with me." Said Wash, taking his and her data pad. "What? Where?"

"You'll see."

Some minutes later, all of the Blood Gulch Crew were gathered in the living room, Wash standing in front of them.

"I know it's late, but I'm sure everyone of you made their thoughts about where to go after the war." Began Wash, getting the attention of the team.

"Some of us are unsure and I would like to help everyone of you to find his place he belongs to."

Donut peeked up, saying. "How about we all move to the same state? We wouldn't be so alone like that."

Wash looked in the round. Not even Sarge was arguing against it. They all were so used to each other, that a separation of several hundred or thousand kilometers seemed impossible.

"Did anyone already fill in the form to where he wants to go?" asked Ala, and Simmons lift his hand.

"Where do you guys go?" asked the Special Ops the two men. She knew that they both would go together.

"Hawaii." Answered Simmons shortly and Ala nodded. Well, that was quiet obvious. Grif came from Hawaii and always said that he wanted to go back there after the war. Simmons just tagged along with the chubby Hawaiian and Alaska was sure that Simmons felt home where Grif was.

Was mustered the other guys. "How about you guys?"

"As long as it isn't snowing." Muttered Sarge. He had some kind of anticipation against snow since the fight with the Meta.

"Everyone else?" Wash mustered each one of the guys sitting there. Each of them nodded and after thirty minutes, they all had filled in the forms, Ala took over filling in the form for Caboose, written that they wanted to move to Hawaii. There still was the possibility to move away when it got too much for one of them.

The forms were filled in and Ala made a short info to Kimball to help the recruits with the forms the next day. Wash already told Tucker and Grif that they were keeping up the drills, no matter if they had some days off. Tucker and Grif commented this announcement with loud groans and a lot of belly aching. But Wash was incorruptible. He stood by his announcement.

After everyone went to bed and Ala told Caboose a good-night-story until he fell asleep, also the two Special Ops were able to finally lay down.

"You think we all in Hawaii would work?"

"I can't tell you, but we try it and if it doesn't work some of us could still move away. But I think it's best to suck and see, ne?"

Wash exhaled through his nose, smiling lightly. "I guess so."

Ala smiled back. "See. Now let's get some sleep."

Leaning over she kissed the Freelancer, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down on the bed, making him lay atop of her.


I hope you enjoyed the story so far.

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