It's New Year when Casey gets a call on his cell phone.

'We have a situation. We need you to come back.' It is General Beckman, and Casey feels his stomach tightening.

'I still have another two months of leave,' he points out, keeping his voice reasonable.

'A car will be with you inside twelve hours.'

He doesn't hesitate. 'No.'

There is a pause, before Beckman says, 'Is there a problem, Major?'

'I said no. I'm not coming back.'

'That wasn't a request.'

Casey nods, although he knows she can't see him, takes a deep breath.

'I quit.'

There is another pause. 'I see.'

He closes the phone.

It's only six hours later that a helicopter lands in the lower pasture, sinking half-way up its runners in snow. Casey and Chuck are playing cards in the bunkhouse with a couple of the other ranch hands, but at the sound of the helicopter they stand, look at each other and, without saying a word, run up to the house.

Casey has time to grab a pistol, check it and tell Chuck to keep behind him before footsteps stop outside Casey's door. Quickly he tucks the gun into his waistband, somewhat reassured by its weight at the small of his back. Then the door opens and General Beckman walks in.

She's smaller in person than Chuck had thought, but her sharp eyes miss nothing as they take in the room.

'Major.'

Casey salutes. 'General.'

She stares past him at Chuck, frowning. 'Ah. I see.'

Casey tilts his head, puzzled.

'I take it you're Peter Kaminsky?'

Chuck nods. 'Yes ma'am,' he says, making his voice as low and un-Chuck-like as possible.

'Did Major Casey ever tell you who you resemble?'

'Not that I recall,' he admits. 'Why?'

Beckman sighs. 'Would you mind waiting downstairs? I need to speak with the Major.'

Chuck leaves the room, nearly hyperventilating as he walks right past the General.

'I hadn't realised just how compromised you were by Charles Bartowski,' she says, and her tone is unusually soft.

'I'm not sure I follow you, General,' Casey says, face and voice giving nothing away.

'I realise your boyfriend is, what, a couple of inches taller? And he's clearly four or five years older, but to all intents and purposes you appear to have found yourself Chuck's double.' She takes a step forwards. 'Major, that situation was difficult for everyone concerned, but it wasn't your fault that he died. I knew I should have brought you in for assessment rather than letting you take indefinite leave.'

'I take it you've run a background check on Pete?' Casey asks.

'Of course. We didn't find anything more than a couple of speeding tickets from when he was a teenager. I have to say, he looks a little different in his DMV photo.'

Casey snorts. 'Don't we all?'

She lets herself smile, just a little, before her face falls back into its usual severe expression. 'Major, we really do need you.'

Casey shakes his head. 'Not this time, General. I've defended this country for over half my life without question. I've helped keep its inhabitants safe so they can have their houses and kids and white picket fences. I've done things no one should ever have to, just so that ordinary people can sleep at night. When Chuck died, I realised I've lost my taste for it, my edge. I thought I'd be dead years ago, but I'm not, and now I have someone in my life, someone to care about.' He sighs. 'Don't make me come back, General. I can't do it.'

The General looks long and hard at Major John Casey. She sees the grey creeping in at his temples, the way in which, in some indefinable way, he looks freer, more at ease than she's ever seen him before. In all the years she's known him, which, yes, is probably half his life, he has never said no to her, to duty. He's never said 'enough' or asked for something for himself. She looks around the room, which is plain, devoid of high-tech equipment, and she sees his two bonsai trees, clearly still lovingly cared for, and she makes her decision.

'All right, John. I'll get someone to send through the paperwork. Enjoy your retirement.'

Downstairs in the kitchen, Chuck leans back against the counter, sipping from a mug of coffee with what he hopes is casual detatchment. The two men in suits standing beside the back door are clearly armed, though, and are making his attempt somewhat more difficult by staring at him. The silence is strained, painful, and Chuck jumps when General Beckman walks in.

She regards him much as he imagines she'd regard a novel species of insect that crossed her path.

'Remarkable,' she murmurs, then nods sharply to the two men. They go outside, and Chuck starts to relax, but the General crosses to stand in front of him and holds out her hand. Dumbly, Chuck takes it and shakes the hand of the woman who, for a time, controlled his world.

'Thank you,' she says, and there's a look in her eyes which Chuck only identifies as pride after she's gone, closing the back door behind her.

Casey is standing in the other doorway watching him. A weight has been lifted from his shoulders and he looks years younger. He smiles, a large, open, honest smile that Chuck finds irresistable.

Later, in bed, he watches Casey sleep. Chuck doesn't have the heart to tell him that the General knew. She knew, and she let them live anyway. 'Thank you,' he murmurs, and lays his head on his lover's strong shoulder, and sleeps.