Disclaimer – Still own nothing.

To scienceficfan24 – Thank you so much for your review! So sorry it took so long to post this chapter. Life just got crazy. I hope you enjoy this last chapter of this story!

AN – And I have returned! Not sure if anyone is still reading anything in this fandom, but I wanted to finish this story. This will be the last chapter of this story. I hope you all like it!

Enjoy!

*Anthony apologizes to Hal*

Hal stood off to the side, somewhat hidden in the shadows, and watched his family. He had no idea what his Dad did or where he went with Anne's body after he found that she had died, but he returned with her, completely alive. As though nothing had happened. It was a miracle.

After that, those who all survived the final fight made their way back to the military base they had taken over weeks ago. Campfires were lit, food was made and served and alcohol had been found and brought out. They were celebrating after all. After three years of fighting, the war against the Espheni was over. They had won. The planet was theirs again. Of course, they didn't exactly know what was going to happen next, but all that could wait until tomorrow. For now, they rejoiced the end of the way and remembered those they had lost.

At the beginning, Hal had been with his family and friends celebrating along with them but soon started to grow tired. Due to everything going on in the last several weeks, he didn't really have a chance to rest. Or at least, rest properly. The last time he did was probably at the farmhouse after he was kidnapped. He should probably get some sleep but he liked seeing his brothers, his Dad, Anne, Weaver and the others in his line of sight so happy.

"Hey Hal." The oldest Mason son turned around and saw Anthony slowly walking towards him. Tensing up, Hal stayed still until the former cop reached him and asked, "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Hal answered, despite not wanting to be around the man that helped Pope kidnap him, where he was tortured and nearly killed, along with his Dad.

Anthony stayed silent, looking extremely nervous and guilty. Hal was also a little nervous but he stayed still, knowing that he was safe with all these people around and was hopeful that Anthony wouldn't try anything. That now that Pope was gone, his friend could recover from all his trauma the right way. That everyone could recover. It wasn't just Anthony who had suffered during this after all.

"I… I'm sorry, about what happened, with Pope." Anthony finally brought himself to apologize. "I just, I was so mad and needed someone to blame. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you or your Dad. I'm sorry that I helped Pope kidnap you and that I stood by and let him, hurt you."

"I, um, I get it, somewhat." Hal responded, extremely hesitantly. He could understand the anger of being taking out of the fight when you want revenge and could understand having PTSD. However, he couldn't understand how could he be okay with going to the extremes Pope did.

"But you're still mad, and you have every right to be." Anthony responded, having noticed since he first approached him that he was uncomfortable.

Hal sighed, thinking over how exactly to tell Anthony what he was all feeling. After a minute, he said, "I considered you a friend Anthony."

"I know." Anthony replied, looking down at the ground shamefully.

"I guess I just, need some time but," Hal said, then turned around to fully face him and admitted, "I liked having you as a friend."

At that, he lifted his head again with a hopeful expression and said, "I liked being your friend too."

"So, I think it will, just take time." Hal decided. It was fairly easy for him to understand people and why they sometimes act the way they do, and was usually pretty forgiving of people he cared about. If Anthony was truly sorry and wasn't going to do it again, then he could forgive him to.

"Okay." Anthony agreed. He then turned and walked away, returning to the group, looking ten pounds lighter. Hal however, remained where he was, though his eyes wandered back to his family. They were still sitting around a fire with Weaver, smiling and laughing. Safe.

*Hal and Maggie talk*

By her spot at one of the tables, a drink in her hand, Maggie watched as Anthony walked away from Hal. He looked a little upset but more at ease than before. Like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Same with Hal, though she could tell from his eyes that there was still a bit of hurt there. As far as she knew, this was the first time they had really talked since Anthony rejoined the group. She was too far away to hear what was said but it was clear that the conversation ended well considering all the hurt and betrayal that had occurred. Even though there was a part of her that still wanted to punch Anthony for his part in kidnapping Hal, she would hold it back for Hal's sake as she knew he wouldn't want her to do that.

Suddenly, Hal's eyes locked on her. For the last half hour or so, she had noticed that he was standing off on his own, watching his family. It wasn't a surprise given that Anne had somewhat miraculously came to life. Everyone was shocked when she and Tom came back. Because of that, she had been giving the entire Mason family some space. Now however, it seemed she had an opportunity to talk to Hal, and she felt like there was a lot to talk about. So before she could lose her nerve, she put her drink down and walked over to him,

"Hey." Maggie said as she reached him.

"Hey. You wanna take a walk?" Hal wondered, giving her a small grin.

Smiling back at him, she nodded and said, "Sure."

For the next few minutes, the two quietly made their way through the trees away from the camp and the people. It was quieter out here. Peaceful. They still had their guns with them. Habits die hard after all but neither was really thinking about being ready to use them. The war was over. They had won and there were no enemy aliens on earth to threaten them anymore. It had been the first time in years that either of them had taken a walk through the woods without being prepared for any kind of attack. It was a strange kind of freeing.

"Saw you talking to Anthony. You okay?" Maggie broke the silence, looking over at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hal answered even though he tensed slightly at the mention of Anthony.

"What did he want?" She then gently prodded, wanting to know what happened but not wanting to pressure him if he didn't want to talk. As friendly as he was, Hal was extremely private about his issues.

"To apologize, for what all happened with Pope." Hal revealed.

Seeing the mixed emotions on his face, Maggie asked, "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine." He assured her, turning his head to give her a bright smile, which made her smile back at him once again. She loved seeing him smile.

"So, about what happened in the tunnels." Hal suddenly changed the subject, his expression turning to one of nervousness. When Maggie realized what he was talking about, she felt her cheeks burn and turned to look at the ground.

"Yeah." She mumbled, not really sure what to say.

"I meant what I said. I didn't just say it because of what was going on. If I'm being honest, I've actually thought about it a long time ago." Hal revealed, causing Maggie to stop and stare at him in shock.

"Really?" The blonde whispered. For so long, she never really thought she could ever find anyone who truly loved her, who wanted to be with her for more than a few months, especially someone like Hal. Even when they were together, she didn't know how long they would last, and after everything that happened with her spikes and Ben and Isabella, she thought their relationship had no chance of recovering. Until Hal's surprise proposal only a few hours ago and now.

"Yeah." Hal confirmed, his eyes filled with love and sincerity. "And I understand if you,"

"I meant it too." Maggie cut him off, her voice sounding almost desperate. In spite of everything they had been through over the last several months, she loved him. She loved him so much and wanted to be with him.

"In that case, should we make it official?" Dick said with a bright smile. Getting down on one knee, he looked up at her and asked, "Maggie, will you marry me?"

"Yes." She answered, smiling just as brightly as him with a slight chuckle. He immediately got up, wrapped his arms around her waist and twirled her in the air. Maggie wrapped her own arms around him and laughed at his antics, feeling more happier and lighter than she had ever since she was a child, before she got cancer.

As he lowered her back to the ground, he pressed his lips against hers in a hungry and passionate kiss that she wholeheartedly returned. When they pulled apart, Maggie whispered, "I'm sorry Hal, about everything I put you through."

"I'm sorry too." Hal replied, leaning his forehead against hers, then declared, "I love you."

"I love you too." She said before she kissed him again.

*One Year After the War*

Tom shot up in bed with a loud shout, images of skitters attacking his children still flashing before his eyes. After a few seconds though, they faded and all that was left for his eyes to see was his darkened bedroom, illuminated by the half moon shining through the window. Seeing that there was no threat, the former history professor started to relax and took several deep breaths to calm himself.

"Tom? You okay?" Anne asked, sitting up beside her husband, placing an arm around his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a nightmare." Tom assured her as he reached out to pat her leg. It wasn't anything new though it had slowly stopped being so common.

It had been about a year and three months since the war against the Espheni had finally ended. The time has gone by faster than he thought it would and while they weren't fighting for their lives anymore, life for the remaining humans had not been easy. Society and modern-day living had practically been destroyed and it was taking a lot of work to rebuild it. Electricity depended completely on generators, hospitals had limited supplies but homes had been made livable and food was fairly easy to get. Progress was being made every single day.

Suddenly, the sound of a toddler crying filled the air. The two parents sighed and both moved to get out of bed, but Tom moved faster and said, "I'll go take care of her."

"You sure?" Anne questioned.

"Yup. Go back to sleep." Tom replied and walked out of the room towards the nursery right beside the bedroom Tom shared with his wife.

The room was lighter than his bedroom due to the small star nightlight, identical to the one he and Rebecca had used when their boys were born. The boys who were now men, mostly. Matt was still young, nearly 15, and hopefully still asleep in his room at the other end of the hall while Ben was also hopefully asleep in his bedroom in the basement of the house they had chosen. Hal and Maggie had their own house now that they were married, and had just revealed would be having a baby of their own.

As happy as Tom was for Hal, and as happy as he was that he was about to become a grandfather, he had found it a bit difficult not having his eldest son around. Though Hal was a mature, responsible man about to have a family of his own, when the nightmares and anxiety were the worse, Tom tended to go around to check on Anne and all of his children to make sure they were safe. He couldn't do that with Hal now. And until they got phones working again, which was going to take awhile, he wasn't able to contact him really. So he had to wait until the next time he saw Hal in person. Luckily, he saw him almost daily which wasn't too bad.

Pushing those thoughts away for the moment, Tom walked over to the crib. His little six-month girl was kicking her legs up in the air while her arms waved the little stuffed bunny she slept with. It was adorable and brought a smile to the father's face.

"Hey sweetheart." Tom cooed as his daughter smiled up at him and held out her arms, silently asking to be held.

"Did Daddy wake you up? I'm sorry." He whispered as he reached down to pick up the precious child. Holding her close to his chest, he then moved to sit in the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "I have a lot of nightmares, don't I?"

The precious child didn't respond, as was expected. She simply buried her face into her father's chest, making herself comfortable. Tom lifted a hand to cradle the back of her head, her black hair soft against his fingers. It always amazed him at how beautiful and terrifying it was to hold a baby. Especially a baby that was yours.

"They'll fade eventually, and maybe one day your Mommy and I will tell you about them, but you're much too young for that now. Enjoy it while it lasts. We may be at peace right now, but childhood still doesn't last that long." Tom told her as he started to relax. Looking down at his daughter, he smiled when he saw her eyes getting heavy before they closed and she drifted back to a peaceful sleep.

As much as he wanted to hold her tightly in his arms forever, he knew he couldn't. So he stood up and gently laid her back down in her crib, taking care not to wake her. Stroking her small cheek with his finger, he whispered, "Love you," and headed back to his room, after checking in on Matt and Ben of course. He had a long day tomorrow and at the end of it, his three sons and daughter in law would be coming over for dinner. And he was greatly looking forward to that. If there was one thing he learned the most during the war, it was to treasure every moment you have with the people you love.

AN – And I'm going to end the story here. Yes, the ending was kind of (greatly) inspired by the Hunger Games. I had another idea but it felt too long so I went with this way because as much as the majority of us love happy endings, these guys all went through a lot of trauma that isn't just going to disappear. Thank you to everyone who read this, and my other Falling Skies stories! I hope you all liked it!