Sometimes it was almost impossible to imagine just how they'd all come to know each other, just how crazy the craziest days were, when one of the people that had helped create the craziness was suddenly a lot calmer. It was sort of surreal how one person could change so much. And yet, it had a sneaky way of becoming sort of normal, as if really this was the way things had always been, a bit odd in comparison, but natural in reality.

The only catalyst to this change was for Jeff to no longer sleep in his van, with it running a steady rhythm underneath him, the van that once had given him carbon monoxide poisoning, so much so that after no longer sleeping there, he slipped from his eccentric self to a much calmer person.

It called to question just how long he'd been the Jeff they knew and just how much remained of that Jeff, as well as how long it had been since he'd last been like this: enjoying a good book during the quiet from a lack of busyness, the quick and careful way he thought through his decisions, and of course, the way he became observant in a way that was much more thoughtful, most of the time.

However much Jeffrey Barnes had changed, he did not stop being who he is. He still enjoys some of the same things that he always has, and his love of keytar has definitely not evaporated or even his love of outlandish adventure, just there's a little more clarity behind it all, a little of the bigger picture pokes through all the same.

It was this Jeffrey Barnes that became a hero, a little outlandish at times, but with more intentionality towards what he does, better able to follow a plan and stick to it. This time Jeff and Lester would not be left out, and as Lester provided the perfect distraction with enough fire power to legally kill a man in more than a few ways, Jeff provided the surprise attack, full of enough fire to easily kill a man as well.

It's only then that the bad guys backed down, and Jeff and Lester became heroes, made aware of how much had been hidden beneath the surface, that they'd slowly been edging toward knowing. And truthfully, while Lester longed to be a hero, Jeff longed for the truth, and together that made them a pretty powerful team. The dangerous one and the thoughtful one were enough together to stop any bad guy or at the very least the ones that had kidnapped Morgan, Devon, and Alex that day.

And Jeff and Lester will hopefully not soon be forgotten. Jeff may have changed in some ways since he first started working at the Buy More, but deep down, he's always been a great guy.