Chapter 10

My Family's Keeper

Maggie wasn't sure how long she stayed beside Hal. He had fallen asleep pretty quickly, and so far, slept peacefully, but Maggie stayed in her spot. She didn't take her eyes off him, until she heard the front door open.

She turned her head to look, and wrapped her hand around the gun she had hidden in her coat. When Maggie saw that it was only Tom, Ben, and Anthony, she let go of the gun and turned back to Hal.

Tom entered the room as quietly as he could when he saw Hal was sleeping. Maggie was sitting on the floor beside him, holding his hand in both of hers. The father came and sat down beside her. She didn't even look over at him, instead, she kept her eyes on the young man lying on the couch.

"How's he doing?" Tom asked.

"Okay, given the circumstances. He woke up from a nightmare a few hours ago, but has been sleeping soundly so far." Maggie answered, still watching Hal.

"Did he eat or drink anything?"

"Yeah, he had a power bar and some water." Tom placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping that she would look at him, but no, she kept her gaze on his son. He wondered what exactly happened while he was gone.

"We got enough gas to get to Fayetteville. We're leaving as soon as we get the vehicle packed up. We could use your help." At that, Maggie finally turned her gaze to Tom. She looked back at Hal, then nodded. She stood up and left the room.

Tom moved to where Maggie was previously sitting. He lifted his hand and placed it on his son's shoulder, gently shaking him. Hal immediately opened his eyes and looked all around the room before his found Tom.

"What time is it." Hal asked, his voice groggy with sleep.

"Around 6 in the morning. We're getting ready to head out, back to the 2nd Mass." Tom told him. Hal nodded and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Sounds good." Hal responded. Tom gave Hal's shoulder a slight squeeze before crossing the room to wake up Matt.

As soon as his youngest was awake, Tom left the room to go wake up Anne while Matt came over and sat down beside Hal.

"Hey buddy. Sleep okay?" Hal asked.

"Yeah, are you feeling better?" Matt turned the attention back to his brother.

"Yeah, I'm doing good." The older brother answered, giving the younger a smile. Matt tried to smile back, but couldn't. All he could see was the bruises and cuts that marked his big brother's face and neck, knowing that it was a man he considered to be a friend who hurt his brother.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Hal questioned, seeing Matt's face fall. Matt turned his head down to look at his lap.

"I'm sorry." Matt apologized, keeping his eyes down and away from Hal.

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"Pope was my friend. I didn't want to think he was capable of doing, all this. I thought he was a good guy, but I was wrong." Matt felt Hal's hand come under his chin, gently pulling his head so Hal could look at him. Hal's eyes were soft and compassionate. There was no anger like Matt had been fearing.

"Matt, never, ever, apologize for wanting to see the best in people. That's a great quality to have. Sometimes, those people will disappoint you, but don't ever lose that. This is not your fault, okay?" Matt nodded, then leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Hal's waist tightly. Hal again bit his cheek to stop himself from groaning in pain, and wrapped his arms around his little brother.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Maggie, Anthony, and Ben worked in silence, completely focused on their task of packing the vehicle. Anthony kept his head down, almost in shame. You should be ashamed, Ben thought angrily to himself, shooting Anthony a glare, though he didn't see it. Maggie, however, did.

She could feel Ben's anger at Anthony through the spikes. She couldn't say that she wasn't angry either, but Pope was the one who hurt Hal, not Anthony. True, he did help the criminal, but he did also help Hal and Tom. And Maggie could see how easy would be to feel lost after the death of someone close to you, and to be manipulated when dealing with that grief and PTSD. Ben though, was obviously too angry to see that.

"I'm going to let Tom know that we're ready to go." Maggie told them and left the garage, leaving the guys alone. Anthony turned to look at Ben.

"Ben, listen-"

"Anthony, just stop. I'm this close to shoving you to the ground and kicking the crap out of you. Deni was my friend too you know, and her death hurt me too, but she volunteered to fight, just like we all did. Her death wasn't my Dad's fault, and it sure as h*ll wasn't Hal's fault either." Ben explained to him, barely holding in his anger. Anthony could actually see Ben's clenched fist shake a little, as though he was imagining punching him in the face.

"I know. And I am sorry. I know that no matter how many times I say it, it will never change what I did. But please know that I am truly sorry." Anthony told him, his eyes filling with tears.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I trust you, especially not around my family. Dad said you can come back with us, but that doesn't mean we trust you, or that I'm going to forgive, at least not yet."

"I get that." Anthony replied.

"Good."

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

When they got back to Fayetteville, the entire 2nd Mass gathered to welcome them, Weaver leading the crowd.

"Welcome back," Weaver said to Tom, clapping him on the shoulder as Tom got out of the car, "How's Hal?"

"He'll be fine. Still, I'd like to get him to the infirmary, just to be on the safe side." Anne answered, stepping out of the SUV herself before heading to the other door on her side which Hal was getting out of, with Ben and Maggie's help. Matt climbed out right behind his big brother. It was Anthony though, that really captured Weaver's attention when he got out of the vehicle.

"It's a long story," Tom said to Weaver's questioning expression before asking, "What all happened while we were gone?"

"Another long story," Weaver replied, remembering the ambushed and Marty, "We found something here though that you need to see."

Tom turned to look at his oldest son, still standing by the car, arm thrown around Ben's shoulder, and Ben's arm wrapped around Hal's waist supporting him. Hal quickly caught the look on his Dad's face.

"I'm fine Dad, go ahead." Hal told him. Tom looked very reluctant to leave his son, but when he saw Hal surrounded by his brothers, Anne and Maggie standing by him, he followed Weaver into the building while the rest of the group headed to the infirmary.

Hal sat down on the nearest cot he could find in the infirmary. Despite having Ben's help, and it only being a short walk away from why they got out of the SUV, he felt like he had run a marathon with the way his injured leg throbbed. Anne quickly put an IV in his right hand to give him some antibiotics, just to be on the safe ide, and apparently, he was still too dehydrated and malnourished for his stepmom's liking.

The minute Matt heard that, he jumped off the bed where he'd been sitting beside Hal, and went to get his brother some food. Maggie decided to go with him, while Anne left to talk privately with Anthony about his PTSD and whether or not if he was going to stay with the 2nd Mass.

Hal and Ben were left alone in the room, Ben glaring at the door that Anthony just exited through.

"You look like Superman trying to use his laser eyes." Hal half-heartedly joked. Ben turned around to look at him.

"You can't seriously tell me you're okay with him being here, that you actually forgive him."

"No, I can't. But I do know what it's like to lose someone when you feel like you, or someone else could've prevented it," Karen's face came to Hal's mind, "Then to have something else that made you feel useful taken away," Hal paused, remembering what he had felt back when he was paralyzed, "It's enough to make you crazy. Not to mention, easy to be manipulated. I'm not saying I trust him, but I do understand what he was probably feeling. But if it were you, or Matt, or Dad that Pope took, I'd probably be just as mad as you are right now."

"I feel like it should've been me. I always thought that if Pope was gonna go nuts, he'd take it out on either Dad, or me, because of my spikes." Ben informed Hal.

"I'm glad it wasn't you, or Dad. I'd rather it have been me kidnapped than any of you." Hal told him.

"I know, but I hate that it happened to you." Ben replied, sitting down beside his brother on the bed.

"Well, it's over now. I'm okay, and Pope's dead. Let's just, leave it at that." Ben could see that Hal was already starting to bury any memories of what happened, and his feelings about it, which didn't surprise him.

As Ben had gotten older, he realized that Hal always did that, and probably always would. It was in his nature, just like their mother. Ben was still amazed that their Mom had somehow, in the form of an alien, still managed to reach out and keep an eye on her oldest son. She always did, because Hal would never really take care of himself, he put everybody else first, and ignored his own emotions.

"I'm glad you're okay." Ben broke the silence, and wrapped his arms gently around Hal, careful not to hurt him. Hal thought he was doing a good job of hiding that he was fine, but he knew there was more damage than what was visible, had seen him cringed when Matt hugged him. Hal returned the hug whole heartedly, and held his brother close, grateful that Ben somehow seemed to be aware of his bruised ribs.

As Ben hugged his brother, he made a silent promise to himself, that he would never let anyone hurt Hal, or any one of his family members again. He had hurt Hal far too much recently and hated himself for it. He wasn't going to let anyone else do, his brother had been through too much, and needed someone to look out for him, especially since he wasn't going to do it himself.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Matt and Maggie quickly found where the 2nd Mass had set up the food table, and grabbed enough for Hal and themselves. As they started heading back to the infirmary, Maggie saw Cochise coming out of the building that Tom and Weaver had entered earlier.

"Hey Matt? I just need to go talk to Cochise for a moment. You go on ahead, I'll be right there." Maggie told him. She didn't wait for a response, and headed straight for the Volm. Matt watched her approach the alien before turning away and continued his way back to his brothers.

"Hello Maggie. Is there something I can do for you?" Cochise asked. He had felt someone touch his arm and turned around to see her right behind him.

"As a matter of fact, there is. I was wondering if you could take my spikes out."

AN – And that is the end of the story. It goes right back into the plot of the show. I have decided to end it here. If you guys want me to continue, I will, but keep in mind, I will be starting another story that is filled with missing scenes from episodes in all seasons. Thanks so much for reading, and for reviewing, I hope you enjoyed the story and I will start my next story soon. Bye for now.