Carry me home, there's no sorrow down in the ground
Carry me home, don't you weep for me I am freedom bound
Lay down my bones, there is peace within the light I've found
Release my soul, carry me home
- Carry Me Home, The Sweeplings

Epilogue, Rick

It took another week for Thomas to be strong enough to be released from the hospital, and even then, Dr. Yeats didn't want him to be alone for a while. Juliet had offered to let him move into the main house where she could keep an eye on him, but Rick saw the panicked look in Thomas' eye at the thought of his recuperation being at the mercy of a former MI6 agent.

So, Rick volunteered to sleep on the couch for a bit, making sure Thomas didn't do further damage and truly healed up before he took on any more cases that landed him in the jungle for an extended period. He tried to hide how hard it was to see Thomas so weak; as though it was expected, Thomas tried to turn away the wheelchair, but there was no way the man could have walked the length of the hospital to the car.

He fell asleep on the way to Robin's estate, and then slept again once they got him settled, but Rick supposed that was good. So far, his babysitting job was a breeze.

But then he woke up the next day to find the house empty.

At some point during his hospital stay, Juliet had apparently invaded Thomas' room and cleaned up. When they'd returned there, the mess of clothes that had been strewn all about the floor were collected, cleaned, and stacked neatly on top of his military footlocker, next to his bed.

When Rick entered the room around ten the morning after arriving back to the estate, he had a clear view of the bed. Finding it empty had his blood pressure spiking. He immediately looked to the darkened corner of the room where he'd found Thomas before when the nightmares grabbed him, but saw it was empty as well.

"Where the hell are you?" Rick grumbled as he tore through the small guest house, trying to figure out where a weak, wounded man would have wandered off to without him so much as stirring.

"Have you checked the beach?" came a voice from the lanai.

Rick flinched, startled, and whirled around to see Juliet leaning against the opened doorway, arms crossed over her midsection, a curious tilt to her blonde head.

"The beach?" Rick moved out to the lanai and looked toward the water. Sure enough, there stood Thomas, cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirt, Dodgers baseball cap and all, looking for all the world as though he was sizing up the next wave instead of recovering from nearly dying. "What the hell is he doing out there?"

"I see him out there quite often, actually," Juliet revealed. "I always thought he was…goofing off. Figuring out the next thing he could borrow from Mr. Masters. The kayak, surfboard, who knows what else."

"Well, he's damn sure not going surfing—"

"But now," Juliet continued, pushing away from the doorway. "I think it's because there's nothing bigger than the ocean. You could look for days and not see all of it. There are no walls, no cave ceilings, no bars. It's truly as open as one can get."

Rick felt himself freeze as he listened to her, watching Thomas as the ocean breeze pressed against him. She was right. The one thing Thomas had done both in the hospital in Germany and just this past week was ask them to pull the curtain from the window so he could see outside. And on the way home, he rested his head against the opened window to feel the wind in his face.

I probably should have anticipated this.

"Hey, call TC, will you?" Rick asked her as he moved across the lanai to the lawn. "Tell him our boy needs us."

"Already did," she replied, and smiled at him when he turned around to face her, surprised. "And Kumu sent this," she picked up a vine covered in small, fragrant flowers.

"A maile lei?" Rick asked, taking it from her.

"She said that it was to help you all find peace," she tucked her hands into her jeans pockets and turned away with a small smile as Rick saw TC's Island Hoppers van pull up.

"Hey, Jules," Rick called, waiting until she paused. "Thank you."

She smiled again, tipping her chin down in a nod. "I believe I have quite a way to go before I learn who Robin invited to stay under his roof," she said, eyes drifting past Rick toward the beach. "But something tells me it's a worthy journey."

She nodded to TC as they passed each other on the path and Rick showed TC the lei.

"For Nuzo?" TC guessed.

"She said Kumu sent it to help us find peace," Rick explained.

TC nodded. They made their way down to the beach, being careful to make enough noise with their approach that they didn't startle Thomas.

"You're not thinking of going for a swim, are you?" Rick asked as they reached him, standing on either side of the smaller man. "Kind of think the good Dr. Yeats would have a thing or two to say about that."

Thomas gave them a smile—not quite his usual little-boy grin, but it was starting to get there.

"Naw, nothing like that," he said, reaching up and adjusting his hat by tugging on the bill. "Just…felt a bit closed in is all."

"It's good to have you back, T.M.," TC said, resting a hand on Thomas' shoulder. "I'm not a fan of hospitals."

"Me either, TC," Thomas agreed. He glanced over at Rick. "What's that you got there?"

"A maile lei," Rick told him. "It's a Hawaiian tradition when you lose someone to paddle out into the surf and put a lei in the ocean."

They were quiet a moment. Rick felt Thomas' shoulder brush his as the wind from the ocean pushed against him once more.

"You think it still works if you don't paddle out?" Thomas asked.

"I think it works however we need it to," Rick said, glancing askance at his friend.

The bruises had faded to nothing more than a yellowish green, but there were scars on Thomas' face—above his eyebrow and along his occipital bone—that hadn't been there before. And he knew there were more on his stomach and chest. Adding to a collection that told a story.

Witness marks to a life of pain…and a life of survival.

"You think he'd have wanted this?" Thomas said quietly.

"He'd have wanted anything that kept us together and eased our pain," TC said with certainty. "He'd have wanted us to watch out for each other. And he'd have wanted to be commemorated in one of Robin's books as a big damn hero."

Thomas and Rick chuckled at that.

"Yeah," Thomas laughed, pressing a hand almost instinctively against the still-healing wound on his side. "Yeah, that he would. We'll have to make that point to Robin."

"He already knows, man," TC grinned. "You know that guy—he started planning it the minute he walked away from the funeral."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Thomas agreed.

They stood quietly together, watching the waves, filling their eyes with the sky.

Rick handed him the lei. "You do it, Tommy," he said. "It should be you."

Thomas took the lei, letting the delicate flowers slide through his fingers. "I miss you, Nuzo," he said softly. "I'm gonna miss you every day for the rest of my life."

"Thank you, man," Rick said, matching Thomas' tone. "Thanks for saving our lives, and for keeping us together."

"You were our rock," TC said. "And you kept us solid."

With that, Thomas stepped forward, and with one hand bracing his wounded side, he tossed the lei out into the ocean. He moved back to stand shoulder to shoulder with his friends, watching as the current captured the flowers and pulled it further and further away.

After a beat, he reached up and adjusted his hat once more, then dragged his hand down his face.

"You good, Tommy?" Rick asked, feeling hyper-vigilant about his friend's every motion.

"Yeah," Thomas replied, his voice subdued. "Just…closing some boxes."

Rick nodded, and felt the younger man lean closer. There were a lot of boxes to close, and some lids were heavier than others. He slung an arm around Thomas' shoulders as though in camaraderie but allowed Thomas to transfer his weight a bit more.

They stayed for several more minutes until Rick felt Thomas shiver.

"Who's hungry?" Rick said, gently turning Thomas away from the ocean and guiding him toward the guest house.

"I could eat," TC commented, his long strides bringing him into the lead.

Thomas didn't reply, but Rick felt him match his stride.

Some things Rick just knew.

And this time, what he knew was that it wouldn't be today, and it wouldn't be tomorrow, but Thomas would be back to his old self. One day he'd just give them that Cheshire cat grin and call them up for a favor to help him handle a client, and they'd be there to answer his call. Hand him a beer. Bail him out of jail. Give him a ride.

They'd be there to keep him on this side of that line he still saw. Keep him from having to make a choice he couldn't come back from. Because Rick didn't want to live in a world where there was no coming back for Thomas Magnum.

That much he knew.

a/n: Thanks so much for reading. I truly appreciate the gift of your time. This was a fun ride, spending time with these characters.

One thing I've learned about myself in the last year of changes and losses is that I'm a storyteller. Whether it's playing in someone else's sandbox, or building my own, I love taking characters through a plot and watching them come out on the other side—a little different, a little changed, perhaps, from spending time with me.

I suppose I'll have to see where this epiphany takes me next.