I would really like to thank sunsaturn for all the reviews that you leave after every chapter! It means a lot to me! And I want to thank Shiranai Atsune too!
You both are great!
Also: This is gonna be more different then Last Stand part 1 and 2! I tried, and this thing came out.
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Cadet James Griffin ran around a corner at a high speed - and crashed hard into somebody, making him fall backwards and land on his butt. "Hey!" He complained as he rubbed his rear.
"Excuse me?" The familiar hard voice had him look up and his eyes grew.
"Admiral!" He quickly stood up, then his eyes landed on Commander Sam Holt. "Commander!" He gasped, his blue gray eyes growing even more. "You're alive!"
Sam Holt smiles. "I am. It's good to see you James."
James nods. "It's good to see you too, sir." He pauses as he realizes. "If you're alive, then that means that so is Shiro! And Matt!"
Sam nods. "They are."
James turns to the Admiral. "You lied! You knew they weren't dead!" He accuses hotly. "My sister lost everything because of you!"
Sam frowned. "Where is Piper?"
James turned to him. more calmly. "She no longer works here sir."
"Commander Holt, we need to talk."
He turns to Sanda. "In a moment, Admiral." He turns back to James. "When will you be able to see Piper, James?"
"Tonight, sir."
Sam searches all his pockets and pulls out a small device. "I was told by Shiro that this is only for Piper." He gives the device to James. "But, I don't think he'll mind that both of you watch it."
James looks at the device, then at Sam. "Is Shiro ok?" He asks as he pockets the device in his pants.
Holt nods. "He is. He's different, but he's ok."
James nods. "Good."
"Commander Holt, please." Sanda's voice is firm and hard. "We must talk."
Holt sighed heavily and turned to her. "Of course." He turns slightly to see James. "If you'll excuse us James."
The Cadet nods. "Sure." He watches as the two start to leave. "Wait! Commander!" He calls.
Sam stops and turns to him. "Yes?"
"Welcome back home, sir."
Sam smiled. "Thank you James."
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That night, near 11 o'oclock. James drove his red Chevy Cruze drove through a neighborhood. The neighborhood wasn't beautiful, but the neighborhood wasn't a rundown one either.
As the left turn signal blinked, James pulled into the driveway of a dark brown house and parked his car in front of his side of the closed garage. After climbing out of his car, James made sure to hit the lock twice to hear the horn. He paused when he saw a silver Honda Civic parked in the driveway.
He sighed heavily before he moved and walked up the little hill towards the front door.
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Locking the front door once he was in the house. James walked through the kitchen and into the living room, finding a pretty woman sitting on the couch, the only light in the room is the lamp that's next to the couch.
"Madison." James greeted as she stood up as she faced him. "What are you doing here?"
"Edith called me." The pretty woman answered simply as she walked up to him. "Piper had a huge melt down around noon, Edith begged for me to stay until you came home."
James let out a curse as he ran his hands through his hair. "Where's my sister now?"
"She's in bed."
"And Edith?"
"Right here." The small voice had the two turn to see 7-year-old Edith Griffin. James set his backpack down on the floor before walking over to her.
"How are you doing sweetie?" He asked as he knelt down in front of his niece.
"I'm ok, but mommy lost it again."
James nods. "Go back to bed, ok?"
"But I can't." She argued.
"Go to bed Edith." He told her a little more firmly, but gently. "We can talk tomorrow."
"Will Maddie still be here?" She asks hopefully.
James stood up and turned to the woman who was now sitting back on the couch, standing up he walked over to her. "Why don't you stay the night?" He offers.
"Ok." She nods, taking the offer.
James turns back around and over to Edith. "She'll be here." He frowns when she takes his hand and leads her to her bedroom.
"Mommy got mean today." She revealed, then tried to cover a loud yawn as she climbed back into her bed and hugged her favorite teddy bear.
James sat on the edge of the bed. "Your mom has had a really hard life." He explains as he tucks her in. "And it has nothing to do with you."
The child nodded before she fell back asleep.
James walked back to the living room, he poked at the fire in the fireplace before standing up and turning to face Madison, who just sat down on the couch.
"What happened today?" He asks her as folds his arms.
"I don't know." She said with a shake of her head and a shrug. "Edith said everything was fine, until the dishwasher broke, then when the washer broke." She sighed. "Your sister had a meltdown."
James ran a hand through his hair. "I should've saw this coming." He sighed heavily. "After yesterday when she called Mrs. Holt after her car broke down." He moved and picked up a folded blanket. "Here, you can use this blanket for tonight." He hands it over to her, once she takes it he starts to leave.
"James!" She calls, watching him as he turns back around to her. "What happened to us?" She couldn't stop the burning question.
He pauses for a long moment. "I don't know." He turns and walks to the end of the hall, he slowly opens the master bedroom door and pokes his head into the simi dark room thanks to a little nightlight that shown from the master bathroom.
James silently closes the door and walks towards his own bedroom and closes the door. He strips to his boxers and pulls out the little device that was in his pocket. "Tomorrow." He promises himself firmly as he clutches the disc.
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Merry Christmas!
