"Danvers." Maggie tried to wake her up by saying her name. Unsuccessful, she tried again a little louder. "Danvers." Still not working.

Maggie had been sent in to wake her up and had found her twitching and mumbling in her sleep. It didn't take a genius to know what she was stuck in a nightmare.

Maggie reached out a hand and gently shook Alex's good arm. "Danvers!" That time it worked. Alex startled out of her dream and sat bolt upright coughing from the pain in her chest and her arm.

"Easy, easy." Maggie said and handed her a cup of water. Alex took it gratefully and drank it all. She put a hand to her ribs, trying to breathe properly again.

Once she was calmed down and had her breath back, she looked up at Maggie expectantly. "Major McNeil sent me to wake you up. You need to eat something before the send off." Alex looked at her left wrist for her watch and remembered that it was in a sling and out of view.

"It's 1700 hours right now. You've got two hours to eat and do whatever you need to before it happens."

Alex nodded and tried to stand up, realizing that was a lot harder than she expected. Maggie held out her hand and when Alex took it, she pulled her up. Alex felt like she had been run over by a tuck and currently had a large animal sitting on her chest and lungs.

"Ugh this sucks… You ever been shot before, Sawyer?" Maggie chuckled, "yeah I have. And it sucks, but I've never been shot that many times in one night. Just once." Maggie lifted up her pant leg to reveal a healed bullet wound.

"Do you need another dose of pain meds or are you okay for now?" Maggie asked her. Alex rolled her head around to try to loosen up her stiff neck. "If I take them now, I'll be asleep before the send off and definitely be out before I have to talk to the CNN guy. I'll wait until I'm ready to crash tonight." Alex really needed to take them but she needed to be awake more than she needed to be comfortable.

Maggie nodded, "alright then, let's get you some food."

…

Alex was dressed with her jacket on and hair neatly brushed back into the low bun. It was barely long enough to do that, but it still make a bun. She had plans to cut it shorter as soon as she rotated home and didn't need to have it pulled back all the time.

Maggie had to do her hair for her since she had an arm in a sling. Hat, boots, and sling on over her arm in her jacket, Alex took as deep a breath as she could, steeling herself for what she was about to do.

"Do you want to talk about it before going out?" Maggie asked Alex once they were both ready. Alex shook her head, "no." She said in nearly a whisper. "Um, you go on ahead… I'll be out there soon." Alex said to her. Maggie held eye contact with her for a few more seconds before nodding and heading out. Alex needed at least a few minutes alone before going to do what she was about to do.

The sun was setting outside causing the desert to have an almost glow to it. It was beautiful, and the setting sun was ceremonial for what they were doing. The end of a day, the end of a life.

…

Alex was the last to arrive, but still right on time. Everyone was lined up and ready to go with a runway created by soldiers that lead to the back of the helicopter. Alex did her best to ignore the intruder with a camera invading on this private moment, that intruder being the guest reporter.

They lost soldiers far too often at this base because of the missions they run. It never gets easier. And this one was personal for Alex.

Alex stepped up to casket covered with an American flag. It was resting on a table to allow them to pick it up easier. Alex nodded to them all and the six of them carefully lifted it while another pulled the table away. She ignored the amount of pain she was in. If anything, it was easy to do so now, the situation numbing her.

Each of the six that were now carrying Donovan were all a part of the original group that was sent out on this tour with him, Alex having served with him the longest.

They slowly walked forward, all of their heads up looking straight ahead. Each soldier stood at attention in a salute as they made their way to the back of the helicopter. It was quiet. Not a sound was made.

Alex kept her jaw set and eyes cold but even that couldn't stop the single tear that trailed down her cheek. Even if she did have use of her second hand, she wouldn't have wiped it away. This was an acceptable time for a tear to escape, to show some small form of emotions.

They're soldiers. They're cool, calm, collected, and trained. But they're only human, too.

They loaded Donovan into the helicopter and the six of them stepped back into a line to salute him one last time. When that ended, Alex stepped up and put a hand on the end of it taking a moment.

She put a fist to it lightly and then wiped her eyes before walking away. Everyone else was heading back to their duties already and Alex was going to head straight back to her tent before she was stopped by McNeil.

"Mr. Davis would like to do the interview now. He held off doing it earlier so you could get some rest. My office is available for your use." Alex nodded.

She turned to Mr. Davis, not saying anything. Nothing needed to be said, he just wordlessly followed her back to the designated tent. Alex stopped in front of her quarters. "Wait here," she instructed him and ducked inside.

"Sawyer," Alex said when she saw she was inside with her notebook and pen. Maggie looked up. "My computer's open. Kara is supposed to skype tonight and soon… Would you mind answering for me and see if she can reschedule for tomorrow or something?" Maggie nodded, "of course." Maggie had joined in on their skype calls regularly now and was no longer a stranger to Alex's sister.

"Thanks," Alex said, taking her next dose of pain medicine before leading Mr. Davis the rest of the way to the tent. She wanted to hold off until just before bed to take another dose, but her pain tolerance was only so high. Carrying the casket had pushed her over the edge.

They took seats facing each other and Mr. Davis pulled out a small device. "Do you mind if I record this?" He asked her.

"That's fine."

Davis paused before hitting the start button. "I just want to say, I know you don't want to do this, and I don't blame you. I talked to Major McNeil already. He gets the final lookover on the interview. I don't want to take up too much of your time. I know you need the extra rest right now… You're allowed to not answer anything that you don't want to… And I'm sorry for your loss."

Alex acknowledged his words with a nod.

Mr. Davis hit the record button. "Please state your name."

"Staff Sergeant Alexandra Danvers."

"How long have you known Mr. Donovan?"

…

"Hey, Little Danvers, how's it going?" Maggie asked when she answered the skype call.

"Hey Maggie! Things are good. The shop's been busy recently, but I'll never complain about more business!" Kara paused briefly before continuing, "not that I don't like chatting with you, but where's Alex?"

Maggie gave a sympathetic smile, "she asked me to reschedule on her behalf. We've had a long day and there was something last minute that she had to take care of… Would this time tomorrow work?"

"Hold on, let me check." Kara looked at her phone.

"I can't do this exact time, but I can do two hours later?"

"That should be fine." Maggie smiled at her.

"Is everything alright over there? You sound casual and calm, but Alex has only ever pushed back times twice before and each time…" Kara trailed off and her smile fell. She had a knowing look. "You lost another soldier today, didn't you?"

Maggie didn't answer, but that's all it took for Kara to know it was true.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Kara said to her.

"I appreciate that, Kara, thank you. It's a loss for all of us, but this was someone Alex had spent a lot of time with. She knew him well."

Kara nodded. "I'll let you go then. Again, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, Kara, take care."

Kara smiled lightly, "you too. Tell her I love her and I'll see her tomorrow."

Maggie nodded, "I will."

They ended it with a wave, and Maggie closed the laptop. It wasn't terribly late, but she was exhausted from the previous night having not slept well. She hadn't meant to, but she drifted off to sleep hunched over at her own table.

…

Maggie was asleep for at most ten minutes before she woke to the sound of Alex coming back in.

"Hey, how'd it go?" She asked, voice slightly rough from her brief sleep. She ran a hand over her face trying to wake up a little more. "And Kara says she loves you and will skype two hours later tomorrow."

Alex didn't say anything, choosing to lay down and groaned quietly in the process. After another minute of silence, Maggie assumed Alex wasn't going to answer and just fall asleep. Just as Maggie got herself situated and ready to go to sleep, Alex spoke up.

"I met Donovan right after we both enlisted…" She began, voice hollow and distant. Maggie sat up looking over at Alex who was still laying down, staring upwards as if she was looking through the ceiling.

"He was barely eighteen and I was twenty-one… We ended up at Basic together and got lucky enough to be stuck with each other for all three of our tours…"

Maggie knew Alex wasn't one to open up like this. She was halfway between blissfully drugged on painkillers and pure exhaustion making her defenses fall and her thoughts unfiltered as she spoke. It was a rare moment and Maggie wasn't sure Alex would even remember this conversation tomorrow but she knew Alex needed to say this, so she didn't stop her.

"He was practically my brother… And he was my best friend… I met his girlfriend when I flew up to Washington. His girlfriend then became his fiancée and then his wife… I was in his wedding… They were really young to get married, but they were so in love…

"The next tour, our second, I saved his ass twice and he even saved mine once… He had a baby during that one. A little boy… I even got to meet him before we were deployed again… I cried the day I met him when Jeanie told me what his name was…"

Alex's words were becoming more drawn out, exhaustion starting to win, but she kept going.

"She said that after hearing how Donovan almost died twice and saved me once, she wanted their little boy to be named after the two strongest people she knew… She said that she wanted her son to be just as strong as them. She named him after her husband, Jacob, and me...

"Jacob Alexander Donovan… He's starting preschool next year…"

And that was the last thing Alex said before succumbing to sleep. Her soft snores filled the quiet of their quarters, leaving Maggie stunned and heartbroken as she took in all that Alex had said…