How quickly things changed, Jennifer thought grimly. She sat in the dining area of Vi's house on the third day after she should have been home, eating by herself. She had continued her habit of getting up early to eat her breakfast in peace and quiet (as long as you could count Max chattering along beside her as peaceful…and somehow, she did) even before the incident at the hangar, and had taken every opportunity she could to eat dinner quietly in the kitchen with Vi and Lottie to avoid the other boarders. Now, she didn't have to worry about being overwhelmed by the others staying there. No one wanted to make small talk with someone like her.

It hadn't taken long. Word had gotten around about the Council's actions, and about her past along with it. Jennifer was fairly certain it had been done on purpose. It would be an easy way to discourage her, to make her hide. It was a sound – if cruel – tactic.

And it was working.

Vi was out running errands, and Lottie's sister was visiting her that evening and helping out in the kitchen. Jennifer hadn't wanted to disturb them, and since she was ravenous (having skipped lunch to avoid a similar problem) she'd decided to brave the dining room for dinner. She had purposefully arrived early during the meal and sat at one end of the huge table. As always, people slowly filed in to eat, laughing and chatting with friends or family. And, as had become the custom lately, the other end of the table filled up quickly. No one ever said or did anything blatantly rude…it's just that no one even looked at her, let alone attempted to talk to her or even sit near her. It was as if she was contagious, she thought grimly to herself. Don't sit too close to the traitor – you might catch something. She tried to eat quickly so that she could escape.

"Corporal Chase?" Surprised, Jennifer looked up. Hannah stood there with a plate in her hand. "Can we sit with you?"

"Oh – of course," Jennifer stammered. Hannah sat down right next to her with a shy smile, and within seconds Max was at her other side.

"Hi, Corporal Chase!" he said brightly. "Grandpa said you looked lonely. Are you lonely?" he asked innocently.

Jennifer couldn't believe such a simple question could cause her to tear up. She used to be able to control her emotions a lot better than this. She looked up at Shawn Barton with a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do this."

"Do what?" Barton was a fairly serious man who seldom smiled. But there was a definite gleam in his eye as he sat down across from her. "We figured we'd sit down here where there was a little more elbow room. Besides," he said, looking at her knowingly, "we haven't seen you around much the past few days." He saw her look down for a moment. He picked up his fork, waiting to continue until she looked back up at him, and held her gaze. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright," she said simply. "Not great, but better than I was."

"I thought you were going home, Corporal Chase," Max said. Hannah attempted to shush him, but she just smiled sadly at him.

"I did, too, Max. But the plans changed a little bit. It looks like I'm going to be around for a little while longer."

"Really? Then maybe you can come and help us build a tree house at our new place!" Max said excitedly.

"Your new place?"

"Grandpa found a house we can rent," the little boy said, bouncing in his chair. "It has this great big tree in the backyard. Grandpa said it would be great for a treehouse like my dad used to play in, but he's really busy at the store so he said it might take a little while. Could you help us build it?"

"Max!" Hannah hissed at him, shaking her head.

"Actually, I seem to have quite a bit of free time on my hands at the moment. A new project would be good to keep me busy," Jennifer assured him. "When will you be moving?" She was trying hard not to think about what it would be like here at Vi's without this small family to keep her company.

"In just a few days," Barton said, catching her eye and smiling sadly. Jennifer knew he'd guessed what she was thinking. "It's time these two had a place of their own to call home. Though I'm going to miss Lottie's cooking," he chuckled. "I'm not really much of a hand in the kitchen."

"Dad taught me to cook a few things," Hannah said in her quiet voice. "I can get dinner started when we get home from school. I'm old enough to help."

Barton regarded his granddaughter with a smile. "I know you are, Hannah." Just then, Lottie emerged from the kitchen with a large plate of cookies. "Ooh – why don't you two go snag us a few of those before too many of the others get them," he whispered loudly. The two children shot off to greet Lottie and fill a plate. Barton watched after them for a moment. "That's one way to manage to get a word in edgewise with Max around," he said wryly. "Fill his mouth with cookies."

Jennifer laughed. It felt good – she hadn't done much of that these past few days. "You all seem to be much more comfortable with each other these days," she commented.

"Time will do that, I guess. I can't really imagine them not being around now." Shawn looked at her closely, sizing her up. "You sure you're hanging in there alright, Jennifer?"

The sigh that escaped her kept her from trying to fool him. "Am I happy? No, not really. Do I enjoy people avoiding me here at Vi's or when I run to the market for Lottie? No, not really. But honestly, I've experienced worse. I think, deep down, I know I always will have to deal with this at some level."

"I should hope not," Barton argued gruffly. "I still can't see how they think that anyone who's fought as hard as you and your team have could betray anyone to Dread."

Jennifer smiled at him. "You sound a bit like a friend of mine back home. He's always had a hard time understanding why anyone sees me any differently than he does. It's a nice feeling, so thank you."

"Well, everyone here came because they wanted a real life, not one where they had to hide from Dread," Shawn said simply. "I imagine that, eventually, that's what you want, too."

"Yes, of course," Jennifer said, not sure where this conversation was going.

"You don't want to have to hide from Dread – or from anyone else, right? So why should you accept that this is something you're always going to have to deal with? Don't you deserve to live your life, too, when this whole mess is over?"

Jennifer just stared at him for a moment. He sounded so much like Hawk…the member of the team they'd always teasingly called "the voice of wisdom," though Tank called him that more as a tease about his age than anything else. The voice of wisdom... "Yes, I do," she said. She wasn't focusing on him anymore, though. What Shawn had said had her mind whirling. She was looking down at her hands…hands that still bore calluses from her years as a pilot, though they weren't as defined as before. Hands that could repair just about anything. She'd never doubted that she'd be able to find a way to fix something before. She'd never shied away from anything that was asked of her as part of the team. Why should she start now?

"From the look on your face, I like what's going through your mind now a lot better than I did when we first came to dinner." Barton was smiling at her now. "So…What's next?" he asked, glancing up to be sure the children were still talking with Lottie.

Jennifer had done her research. She just hadn't acted on anything…until now. "According to official procedure, one of the members of The Council must agree to sponsor my petition asking them to reconsider their decision. Once I can get someone to do that, I'll get a chance to go to a Council meeting and make my case. Then they'll have to decide to either keep the ruling the same or amend it." Jennifer realized she'd been pushing her food around her plate, and put her fork down. "So my job is to convince one of those eight people that they were wrong, and that I deserve to have a say in it."

"Sounds fair enough," Barton commented.

"It would…if I could get one of them to listen to me. They're all afraid of a particular person, apparently – a Mr. Stanton."

"Stanton? He owns the bank, and quite a bit of land, from what I understand. A lot of the people who come here end up renting a house from him at some point."

Jennifer nodded. "Apparently, he has enough credits to convince almost anyone that his opinion is the only one. Vi says he's been here longer than almost everyone, and he's managed to work it so that almost everyone ends up owing him a favor at some point or another. He's never run for a council seat, she says, because he doesn't have to. He's got enough control where he is."

Barton shook his head. "Sounds like his opinion is pretty set. But…have you thought about going straight to him?"

Jennifer stared at him for a moment. Even with all of the suggestions her friends had given her in the past few days, that hadn't come up. She thought she knew why – they didn't want her to go up against someone as hateful as he was. But she couldn't just hide in her workshop forever. "You know, I think I might start there. And I have a few other options. Vi knows one of the Council members pretty well, she thinks she could get me a meeting with him. So even if I can't get through to Stanton, I can try to convince someone on the Council to listen to me. Eventually, someone has to listen."

As Hannah and Max returned with a plate full of cookies, Barton nodded and looked Jennifer in the eye. "Don't give up," he said simply.

"I don't plan on it," she answered him back, glad to be able to smile as she said it. "It's not really in my nature."

"So, Corporal Chase, can you really build us a tree house?" Max asked excitedly as he sat back down.

"I think so. I'll need a picture of one, though. I've only read about them in stories. I've never actually seen one."

"I think that could be arranged," Barton said. "We can head to the library and find something. You're sure it wouldn't be any trouble?" he asked.

"No, not at all. It'll keep my mind off home," she said simply. She picked her fork back up. "So…how was school today?"

For the first time in a while, she allowed her mind to drift off to something other than the fact that she wasn't home as Max chattered about his day, with Hannah chiming in from time to time. It wasn't dinner with the guys at the base, like she wanted it to be, but she was so thankful for having it that it didn't matter.

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"Captain! I'm sorry – you've been waiting."

Jon shook his head. "Only because I was here almost an hour early. I couldn't wait at the base any longer. Of all the weeks for us to hit a slow patch, it had to be the one where I've been more worried than I've been since she left us."

Mark saw the tiredness in his eyes – had the man gotten any sleep since the last time they'd met? "I think she knew you would be…this bunch of letters is particularly thick." He handed it to Jon. "She's ok. When I got back, we took your advice and Kelly made sure she knew we were ready to listen. She admitted how frustrated she was – that all of this makes her think of Volcania, especially the tracking device."

"Being watched all the time…having decisions made for you…I knew it would dredge up bad memories," Jon said softly, staring at her handwriting on the envelope on the top of the stack.

"She told us a lot that night, once we got her back to the house…" His voice trailed off for a moment. "Look, we all knew she was strong. But to hear about what she went through back then? What Dread does to those kids?"

"It's horrific, isn't it?" Jon knew the feeling all too well.

"I know you said she's stronger than she looks, and that Pipsqueak wasn't the best nickname for her," Mark smiled. "But I was thinking about physical strength more than inner strength."

"She's got both, really. She's honestly one of the strongest people I've ever met," Jon couldn't help but smile back.

"We know that now. We finally got her to talk about her feelings, too – about how disappointed she was to not be home, how much she misses you." Mark's face clouded over. "That's even worse for her than how she's being treated. She just wants to be back with you, and with the guys. You're all her family, and she's been away too long."

Jon understood the sentiment completely. But he was trying to see the positives in the situation…it was the only way he could keep from going crazy. "I know, Mark, but I can't tell you how much better I feel – we all feel – that she's found all of you," he said firmly. "There's no way I could do this if I couldn't tell from her letters how much you've all come to mean to her. Knowing she has people to lean on…it makes a big difference."

"We'll be there as long as she needs us." The conviction in his voice buoyed Jon's spirits another notch. "She's petitioned the Council for a hearing, but they're hiding behind procedures right now. She's determined to go see each of them individually to plead her case." He laughed again. "She has no fear, that one. They have to see her eventually. In the meantime, we're trying to keep her busy. Vi's still letting her stay at the house for free because of all the repairs and upgrades Pip's doing for her. Of course, the rest of us know that the real reason she's refusing to be paid for the room is because of how your Major Masterson feels about her. Vi says he talks about her like he used to talk about his daughter sometimes."

Jon smiled. "Yeah, I've noticed that, too."

"Well, even everything Vi has for her to do isn't keeping her completely busy. And, unfortunately, word has gotten around about her past. She's gotten the cold shoulder from more than a few people." Mark's voice was a growl now, which helped Jon feel moderately less like punching something. "Lottie's letting her help out in the kitchen, and Kelly and I have gotten her out of the house a few times. I think if we let her, she'd stay holed up in that workshop of hers all day except for the appointments she's trying to make with people to plead her case. It's good to get her out from time to time. Sam and his wife, Patty? They've invited her over for next week. And we all got together on Sunday at Vi's, had a big old-fashioned Sunday dinner out in the garden."

Jon thought of how well they knew her – they were working hard to keep her busy. "All the visits, the repairs – it's exactly what she needs. She hates being idle."

"Yeah, we've all realized that." He reached into his pack and pulled something else out. "I, uh…I thought you might like these. They're photographs. I convinced Sam to bring his camera on Sunday. It's a hobby of his. She doesn't know he developed them in time for me to bring them to you. I wanted you to see…really see that she's ok."

Jon reached for the photos, hardly believing that they were real. There she was. All he could do was drink in the proof that she was alive and whole and well. It was several moments before he realized that there was someone beside Jennifer in the picture Eventually, he noticed that she was smiling down at a young girl with dark pigtails who was speaking to her. "Who is that?"

Mark leaned in to see who Jon was pointing to. "Oh, that's Hannah. She's staying at Vi's with her brother and grandfather. Those two kids think the world of her – she's probably asking Jennifer a question about something. They're pretty convinced she can make or fix anything"

"They're not far off," Jon said quietly, staring at Jennifer's face.

"That's her and Kelly, laughing at something. Probably me," he admitted, as Jon moved to look at the next picture. Jennifer was sitting next to a tall, thin woman with chocolate-colored hair. Kelly had her hand on Jennifer's shoulder, and they were laughing as they looked at someone off camera. "There are several here - and there's one of Jennifer and Vi for your Major. Figured I'd spread the wealth. And there she is with Max. I think he tired her out – she played tag and hide-and-seek with them for a while after dinner. Then she was supposed to be reading to him, and we found the two of them like that a while later." There she was, with a small, red-haired boy on her lap. There was a book in her hand that was about to fall because they'd both fallen asleep. When Jon managed to tear his eyes away and look at the other man gratefully, Matt just smiled at him. "She's there, and she's ok. She's not as good as she'd be if she were with you, but she's ok. And I think that you can see – really see for yourself – from these pictures that she's not alone."

It took a minute before Jon trusted himself to speak. "Thank you, Mark…thanks."

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Jon walked slowly back to his quarters, trying not to notice the fact that he passed the room they'd set aside for Jennifer on the way. Once he was alone, with the door shut behind him, he allowed himself to pull out the pictures he'd been carrying with him ever since he'd seen Mark that morning and look at them again.

The effect of the pictures on the team was palpable. They'd all been so grateful to see her, alive and well. It wasn't as good as having her home – not by a long shot – but it was still a reason to celebrate. Their plans for Jennifer's homecoming celebration had been delayed indefinitely. Mark had been pretty clear that there would not, unfortunately, be a quick fix to the situation. But seeing her face smiling back at them from the pictures still lifted their spirits. The four of them had lingered after dinner, talking and laughing – mostly memories of times when they'd all been together. But the atmosphere at the base had lifted a little.

Now he sat alone at the workstation in his quarters, staring intently at the pictures. The sight of her smile, even though it was frozen in a photograph, lifted his heart immeasurably. But the longer he stared at the images, the more he missed her. While the pictures were reassuring, they almost made him miss her even more sharply than he already did. He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted to see her eyes sparkle at him.

Sighing to himself, he picked the first letter up off the stack and dropped down onto his bunk. He opened it without even thinking, and began to read.

Dear Jon,

I almost don't know what to say. I didn't think I'd be writing you again. I thought I'd be with you right now, actually talking to you. The last few days have been really bad. I went back to old habits…worked incessantly for a little while, and hid myself away in my workshop. I was so angry, it was all I could do.

But I wasn't just mad. I hurt. I missed you so much I thought I'd be physically ill. I wanted to be ill, really, because then people would leave me alone and I could curl up in a ball like I wanted to. I went from being beside myself because I was so excited to almost not being able to move because I was so disappointed. I never want to say I'm sorry I feel emotions…but I could do without too many more of those days.

Mark said you told him how to get me to talk. Again, even from so far away, you're taking care of me. And you even wrote to me. One of the worst parts about that day was knowing that Mark was going to have to meet you without me, and that you'd be upset. I don't want to hurt you any more than you've already been hurt, Jon. You have too much to worry about as it is. Please, please don't beat yourself up for not coming here. As much as I miss you, I don't want you to feel like you have to make a choice between me and the Resistance. I know how deeply you believe in what you're doing. I will be ok, and I will be there eventually. It's just not going to be on our timeline, I guess.

It took me several days, but with the help of some of the people here I've realized that I can't just hide in my workshop all day (or just hijack a transport and set out to find you, either). The people who made this decision did it without ever having met me. They looked at information in a file and made a decision. I can't let them get away with that. That's not what we're fighting for. We're fighting so that people don't have to hide anymore – from Dread, or from anyone else. And if they can do it to me now, they'll find a way to do it to me or someone else once this war is over. As much as I just want you guys to come in 'bust me out of here', as Scout would say, I'm going to have to fight this on their terms. So I have some people to talk to, and I've already started making some contacts. Kelly said it took me long enough – she said that it wasn't like me to mope, and she had been waiting for my stubborn streak to wake up. I guess it has. You know, between them standing so solidly behind me here and you and the guys pulling for me back home…I'll make it through this. We'll make it through this.

I love you. And I miss you more than I ever thought was possible. But I'm going to be ok. Please don't worry about me – I promise to eat, and to rest. And to not give up. Don't you give up either, ok?

Love,

Jennifer

By the time Jon finished the letter, there was a small smile on his face. She'd always been fairly intuitive, but how she was able to do it from such a distance was beyond him. She knew him so well that she was able to ease his mind, even though he couldn't actually talk to her and tell her how he was feeling at the moment. And the determination he'd heard from her as she talked about fighting back…that was the strong, independent woman he missed so much.

He needed some sleep so that he could clear his head. He had worried all week, but now that he had proof in his hands that she was coping, he could rest. Before he laid down for the night, he took one more look at the picture of Jennifer when she'd fallen asleep reading to Max. She was there, and she was fighting to get back to him. For the first time in a week, he was out when his head hit the pillow.