**A Woman Can Take It, And She Can Dish It Out, Barbara Carr**

Danny raised his beer and took a look around the crowd in the hotel bar, his gaze stopping on Ray. "And then we walked out, met up with Wolf and Tex, and headed home on the Yukon. I almost can't believe they fell for it."

Despite being just barely lunchtime they had drawn quite a crowd and Ray blushed a little under the attention. All he had done was follow directions like a school kid but people kept coming up and shaking his hand and saying crazy nice things. Really, it was just his job; there was no need to make a fuss over it. "I can't believe you had the balls man." Colin slapped his shoulder. "I would have freaked out the minute that gate shut behind me." Sitting on the other side of her father, Kat was nodding in agreement. She'd shown up about fifteen minutes after they got back. Ray wondered how soon they could leave, or at least sneak into the coat closet, without being rude. She looked fine, happy even, but he'd like to hear her say so herself. And he'd like to do a few other things, definitely in private.

"Believe it. Ray here is one cool cucumber." Danny admitted, "He kept it together so well that weird warden took a real shine to him. He gifted Ray with the opportunity to beat the crap out of me, volunteered to make it look like he had to kill me as I tried to escape, and offered him a job. The pay was pretty good too so I guess I should be glad he didn't decide to take it."

Ray cleared his throat, alarmed that Green would even think he could do something like that. "Just thinking about that guy gives me the willies. I keep thinking he's going to show up here and want payback."

Tex shook his head. "I wouldn't worry too much about him. Sometimes when people are that deep into crime, they assume they are the baddest baddies around and they are blind to other people pulling the same shit on them. And besides, if he does, we got your back kid."

There was a commotion in the doorway and he looked up to see Ethan, Luna, and Sadie pushing through from the elevator lobby. Behind them, Debbie Foster smiled warmly. "As soon as we heard you were back we came right down. The rest will be on the next car."

"You're back!" Luna practically leapt into his arms and the rest of the trio crowded around. She flattened her warm little body against him in a death grip.

"Look, Kat took me to get my stitches out and now I have a scar like a superhero!" Ethan lifted his shirt to show off a jagged arc on his side.

"Mrs. Foster took us to a play day at school and we met some girls who will be in our summer class!" Sadie practically jumped with excitement. "And my new friend Ginny likes Pretty Ponies almost as much as I do and Kat said she can come over to play on Saturday so you can meet her and..." As much as he didn't care about Pretty Ponies, he suddenly wanted to get out of here, go upstairs, and just hang with the kids.

Luna clung to his neck and whispered in his ear. "I missed you. Mrs. Foster made me eat peas Ray! Can you tell her that I don't eat those?" He laughed. Just like Danny had said when they were a few hours from docking, coming home was an amazing feeling.

By the time he'd visited with all the kids, showered, and accompanied Danny to a debriefing with Chandler and Foster-Green it was 1700 and he still hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Kat. He followed Danny, Kara, and Halsey through the door from Chandler's inner office with a barely disguised grin. It was funny to see older people holding hands, especially knowing it was totally against the rules. Kara leaned in and whispered something to Green and he watched the back of the man's neck turn scarlet. "You two are so cute." Kat giggled from the other side of the doorway and Ray's shoulders tensed as the unwelcome sensation cold sweat springing out in the center of his back hit him. He still didn't know what he was going to say.

"Oh, well, uh," Danny stumbled over his words. "Commander, I will see you at 1800 for dinner." Danny dropped Kara's hand with a sigh. "Come on Diaz, next up you get to learn the joy of the debriefing paperwork, weapons log, and expense reports."

Kara nodded toward Kat who was gripping the side of the desk like it was the only thing keeping her tied to planet Earth. "Oh come on, let him relax a while. He can learn that stuff anytime. I don't think they've had a chance to catch up."

Kat opened her mouth to say something but he never found out what it was because Green shook his head. "No can do. I need this done so that I can talk with Val about a few things we need for Albuquerque before dinner with you. Sorry kids but I am still a newlywed and it's my right to be selfish about my limited time with my wife."

Kat glanced at him but he couldn't tell if she wanted him to make a case for a visit or was relieved that it would be put off. "Get out of here then." Chandler had come through the doorway behind them. "Because I hate to tell you but I expect we'll be working long into the night Green."

Sure enough, shortly after dinner Chandler collected the Greens, Granderson, Master Chief, and Burk and retreated to the courthouse. Mrs. Foster sat with him a while and filled him in on all the things she thought he should know from her two weeks as substitute parent. Apparently Gabe's mother had turned up and she wanted to have breakfast with Ray tomorrow before taking her son home to Georgia. Rena was taking the impending separation pretty hard and had been debating asking if she could go with them. The boys had gotten together 47 kids for their soccer club which would have its first meeting at the school next week. And the mayor had announced that St. Louis was going to trial an all ages work-study boarding school option for older kids without a parent or guardian and elders who needed assistance. They didn't expect to get it going for a while, but he had personally stopped by to tell Ray about it in case some of the older kids were interested in enrolling instead of going to Kansas with Vince and Debbie.

"Wow! A lot happened while I was gone!" It was hard to take it all in at once. So many new developments in their lives and in St. Louis. Had it really only been two weeks since Kat had ranted that he'd better get used to missing things?

Debbie reached over the table and took his hand in a gentle grip, her wrinkly knuckles warm and soft in his hand. "It does seem like a lot at first but that's because you are hearing about what happened to all the individuals of a large group all at once. You're doing great." He breathed a little easier. It just about crushed him to think of how soon he'd be gone again, and how long the next trip might be. He was truly glad to see the kids were doing just fine without him but his heart was breaking a little too. She continued, "Make no mistake about it, the kids certainly missed you. But in a way it worked out for the best because they had a short duration to get used to the idea. And they had Kat here of course. It would have been a lot harder on them if your first time away was when they just had me in Kansas." His gaze flew up to hers. Was she saying Kat wasn't going to Kansas? He hadn't asked her to go but he realized that in his mind, he'd been building a picture of her waiting there for him. That was assuming she wasn't pissed at him for Mobile. Now more eager to see her than ever, he thanked Debbie but excused himself, half of his dinner still uneaten. Things were worse than he thought.

Before he could even clear his place Chandler returned to the dining room and whispered something into the President's ear. The President grinned and stood up. "Given that I have the rare opportunity to be the bearer of good news, I can't keep it in! We just had an update from the Nathan James and they have been welcomed as heroes in Havana. Despite the immunes' activity in the Gulf a few short months ago, the contagious cure and the stories of the brave men and women of the Nathan James began spreading there last week!" There was a round of cheers. "Soon they will be in the Pacific, helping to spread the cure to the rest of the world!"

Chandler tipped his head to Green and the two of them edged off to a private booth to talk for a few minutes. Debbie leaned over and asked Kara, who had returned from the meeting much more subdued than Master Chief and Chandler. "Any idea what that's about?"

Kara sighed heavily and smoothed her shirt over her round belly. "The original plan was to wait for the Nathan James to clear Panama before heading over land but Michener and Chandler have decided they want to push on with the plans to get what they need from the lab facility in Albuquerque immediately. Plus there are complaints about fuel shortages up north that need to be investigated. The land teams leave at 0700 tomorrow."

Ray had been trying not to look like he was eavesdropping but he couldn't help but interrupt. "Both teams are going tomorrow?" He looked across the room where Kat's eyes were narrowed on Tex, her jaw clenched. Looked like the news was spreading fast.

Before Kara even had a chance to answer, Master Chief began calling out names. "I need these people in the conference room, ASAP!"