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The next morning, Weaver found Tom in his office. It looked as though he had been there for awhile. Maps were laying on the desk that he seemed to be examining.

"What are you doing?" Weaver asked as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Trying to figure out where Karen is. According to Cochise, the outpost where they found Hal was in New Jersey, but she obviously wasn't there when they attacked, so I doubt that was her new permanent base. It was probably some random spot she hid him so that if we found her, we wouldn't find him." Tom explained.

"You're planning to attack her." The Colonel realized.

"Absolutely. She's been nothing but a menace, to Charleston, the 2nd Mass, and to my kids. It's time we take her out, for good this time." Tom informed him.

"And Hal? Are you planning on telling him about this, and letting him come along?" Weaver inquired.

"I don't know yet. Karen's made it very clear that she's targeting him. Bringing him along is just going to put him in more danger, and that is the last thing he needs. We still don't know what all she did, why she did it, or what could happen if they meet face to face. I don't want to risk what all could happen." Tom explained.

"Before you make a decision though, do you remember back before we got to Charleston? Back when Jimmy died?" Weaver asked. Tom looked up in confusion.

"Yeah." Tom answered.

"Do you remember what you told me? You said 'We can't protect them anymore. All we can do is prepare them for the world that's in front of them and it's a world where kids have to grow up too fast. And there's going to be consequences, and there's going to be casualties.'"

"I know, protecting your kids is your first instinct Tom, it always has been. But you can't. Hal's not a kid anymore. He's a man, capable of making his own decisions. And you know what he'll choose. He will do whatever it takes to stop Karen, and anything that threatens the people he cares about, just like a man should." Weaver finished his speech.

Tom looked down at his desk, remembering how he made that speech about Ben and Jimmy. At that point in time, he was trying to comfort and assure Weaver about what they were doing by letting them fight. Now, here was Weaver doing the exact same thing, but not with Matt like one would normally think, but with Hal.

"I know, I know. I just, hate that he's in this position." Tom replied.

"But he is. So, what are you going to do?" Weaver asked.

"It's his choice. If he wants to come, if he wants to get back into it, then I'll respect that, but, that doesn't mean he's going alone." Weaver smirked at his friend's answer.

"Wouldn't expect anything less."

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Maggie slowly opened her eyes. She was lying in the bed, tucked into Hal's side, her head on his bare chest, his arms wrapped around her. Pushing herself up on her elbow, Maggie looked down at his face. Hal looked completely peaceful, and she smiled. As far as she could tell, he didn't have any nightmares last night. Finally.

She brought her free hand and laid it on the man's cheek, cupping his face. As she started rubbing his cheek with her thumb, Hal's deep brown eyes opened, and immediately locked on her. Then he smiled.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Hey. Did you sleep okay?" Maggie asked, a smile coming on her face when Hal nodded.

"You?" Hal wondered, the hand that was on her back started traveling up and down her spine.

"I can't remember the last time I slept that great." Maggie told him, then lowered her lips to his in a kiss, which he returned.

The moment was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Hal quickly threw his pants on and went to the door while Maggie brought the blankets up to her neck. As Hal opened the door, he found Weaver on the other side.

"Your Dad wants to talk to you. He's in his office with Kadar." The Colonel informed him.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Hal replied, and shut the door as Weaver headed back down the hallway.

"Guess it's time to get back to work." Hal stated as he finished getting dressed.

"I guess so." Maggie agreed and got dressed herself.

"How long are you on guard duty today?" Hal asked, remembering that Maggie was supposed to be on the perimeter duty with Tector and Anthony. Due to the increasing number of attacks, especially the one last night, his Dad and Weaver had put more soldiers on the perimeter, and increased the number of patrols they set out.

"Until after supper most likely." Maggie answered, putting on her jacket. As she started putting on her gloves, Hal went over to her and grabbed her hands.

"Are you okay?" Hal wondered, remembering what she said last night, and how she cried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Maggie assured him, though he could tell she was forcing it. He couldn't remember ever seeing her cry before, and he knew she was probably a little embarrassed about it. The first thing he learned about the woman in front of him, was that she hated being vulnerable.

"Everything I said last night, I meant every word, you know that right?" Hal asked.

"I know. I meant it too." Maggie told him. Hal smiled and they shared another kiss before they left the room and went their separate ways.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Hal was about to knock on the door to his Dad's office, but Tom was already calling out, "Come in Hal."

Sometimes, it was nice that the doors were glass, though they weren't clear which still allowed people their privacy.

Hal entered the room to find his Dad sitting in his chair behind the desk, while Kadar sat in one of the two chairs in front of the table.

"Hal, sit down. I want you tell Kadar what you told me last night." Tom told him. Hal sat down in the empty chair and started talking.

As Hal explained what he remembered about what he saw to Dr. Kadar, the man stared silently, thinking about all the possibilities the glowing object could be. When the young soldier finished explaining, the doctor thought for a moment before he spoke.

"It's possible it could be a power source. But it could've been something else too. What I don't understand is, if it was that bright, why didn't you notice it before?" Kadar inquired.

"The lights in the room were on, and from what I remember, it wasn't glowing before." Hal answered.

"Well, if it wasn't until the power got knocked out before it 'turned on' it might have been a generator of some kind. Honestly, it could be a number of things. Espheni technology is something we still don't understand. The Volm are probably better suited to ask." Kadar replied.

"Thanks Kadar." Tom replied. The scientist nodded and left the room.

"So, dead end?" Hal asked for confirmation.

"No, not necessarily. We can talk to Cochise when he gets here tomorrow." Tom responded, standing up and coming around the desk to stand in front of the desk. Leaning against it, he asked, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. The headache finally let up." Hal told him.

"Good, but how are you doing?" Tom repeated, putting more emphasis on the question. Hal realized what his Dad was really asking and wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm fine. Be doing a lot better if I didn't have to worry about Karen, but can't really do much about that at the moment." Hal said, purposely leaving out his exact emotions. He still wasn't sure what he was feeling about everything himself and didn't want to burden his Dad with that. He had enough on his plate.

"Don't worry Hal. The minute we find out where she is, we'll get her. Karen's not going to get away with this." Tom assured him. His voice left no room for argument.

"New York. She's in New York City. I saw the Statue of Liberty when I was pushing her out of my head." Hal revealed. Tom stood up straight from where he was leaning against the edge of the desk.

"Are you sure Hal?" The President asked.

"Positive."

"Then when Cochise gets here tomorrow, we'll see what e can find out. And if you're right, then we'll start planning an attack." Tom told him.

"I want to go with you, when you attack." Hal let his father know, and Tom instantly started to protest.

"Hal, it's too risky for you."

"Maybe, but you and I both know I can get close to her. If Karen's really coming after me, then she'll let me get close. And because of what happened last night, we know I can stop her if she tries to control me again." Hal explained.

"What if it's a trap? What if she planted that image in your head?" Tom argued, his voice getting louder.

"Then there's no way I'm letting you or anyone else risk your lives like that while I'm safe in Charleston." Hal replied.

Tom didn't say anything. Instead, he stared at his eldest, not even bothering to hide his frustration. Hal looked up at Tom, and stared back, completely determined to win this argument. After a few minutes, Tom realized Hal was not going to back down, and Weaver's words from last night and from this morning came back to his mind, as did Anne's from the night before. Reluctantly, Tom looked away and sighed.

"I know, I know you won't. I swear you are just as stubborn as your mother." Tom said.

"Is that a good thing?" Hal asked cautiously, not wanting to antagonize the older man.

"For you, yes. I barely ever won a fight with her." Tom remembered fondly, a small smile coming onto his face, then continued.

"I know I've been a bit, overprotective, of you since you got back. And if it was up to me, you wouldn't be in this situation at all. But Hal, you have no idea how terrified I was while you were gone."

"I get that, but Dad, you can't just lock me in a safe room for the rest of my life."

"I want to, wrong or not, I truly want to. All I can think about, is if I didn't tell you about the deal Karen offered, you wouldn't even be in this mess. But you're right, you have the best chance of taking Karen down, and I have to let you." Tom answered, his eyes becoming wet.

Hal stood up from the chair and took a step towards his Dad, getting close enough for Tom to wrap him in his embrace, which Hal immediately returned. He never even thought about how guilty his Dad must've been feeling. When he told Anne to tell his Dad that it wasn't his fault, he hoped that his Dad would believe it. He was wrong.

"It wasn't your fault. It was my choice." Hal told him.

"If it was up to me, you would never have been in that situation, or this one." Tom replied. Hal slowly pulled away and looked his father straight in the eyes.

"It's not up to you. Please, let me help." Hal pleaded. Tom dropped his head to stare at the floor for a moment, then looked back up at his son.

"Alright."

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Matt found Hal on the roof. Usually that was a place Ben would've been, but after Maggie had taken him up there weeks ago, it became Hal's favorite spot. A place where he could be alone, but not closed in.

"Hey buddy." Hal said as he saw his youngest brother come out the doorway.

"Hey. What are you doing out here?" Matt wondered as he sat down beside Hal, his back against the cement railing.

"Just thinking." Hal answered.

"About what?"

"Just stuff. Don't worry about it." Matt looked at his brother. He was looking a lot better than he had when they first got him back. He looked, almost normal, but there was something about his eyes. There were the faint smudges under his eyes, showing how he was still having some trouble sleeping though they seemed lighter this time, but that wasn't it. Hal simply looked like, he had just seen too much, and it was weighing him down. He looked too old for his actual age.

"So, Dad said you found out where Karen is. And that he's letting you go with them when they go." Matt said.

"Yup." Hal responded.

"You sound happy about that." Matt commented.

"I'm just tired of standing on the sidelines. And, I feel bad that Karen is coming after me, but you guys keep trying to protect me."

"What would you do if it was me? Or Ben? Or Maggie?" Matt asked. Hal's only answer was a sigh, he knew what his brother was getting at. If it had been any of them, he'd do the same thing.

"Besides, odds are, Dad isn't going to let you go alone on that mission. You should've seen him when you were gone. It was worse than when Ben was missing." Matt revealed.

"Really?" Hal questioned.

"Yeah. Dad felt bad that he told you about the trade Karen wanted to make, and it was different than when Ben was taken. We knew he was most likely harnessed, but you were targeted, and we had no idea why. He was running himself into the ground, we all were." Hal turned to look at Matt.

"I'm back, aren't I? And I'm okay." Hal told him,

"Yeah, you were just experimented on and are still being targeted." Matt's voice became very sharp.

"Matt, when we end this war, and we will, I'll be fine. What she did to me, won't affect me once the aliens are gone." Hal said.

"That you know of."

"Where is this negative attitude coming from? What's wrong Matt?" Hal asked, turning his body to face his youngest brother.

"Nothing, I just. I just, don't want you to disappear again." Matt answered.

"Don't worry. There's no way that's going to happen again." Hal promised, though he knew he might not be able to keep it. He hoped that Matt just needed to hear it, needed to be comforted, but the youngest Mason son looked up at him completely poker faced.

"You can't promise that." Hal sighed, and shook his head.

"No, I can't. But I promise, I'll try my hardest to stay safe, and come back." Hal told him. Matt nodded, and Hal saw his brother's fear in his eyes, though his face remained stoic. He wrapped his arms around his youngest brother and pulled him close. Matt didn't respond, and Hal was about to pull away, when he felt Matt's smaller arms came around him. They didn't say anything, Hal just held his little brother, wishing he could take away his fear, but knew he couldn't.

FSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFSFS

Cochise and his Volm comrades arrived the next day, in the afternoon. Within two days, the Volm alien was able to confirm that Karen was indeed in New York City, and they started a plan of attack.

Not even a full week later, Hal found himself in a Volm transport ship with his Dad, his brothers, Maggie, Weaver, Anthony and Tector. Maggie, who was sitting beside him, looked over at his him, noticing how tense he was. Hal didn't look at her until he felt her grab his hand.

"You ready for this?" Maggie questioned.

"I'm more than ready for this." Hal assured her, and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"We are here." The Volm flying the ship told them, and Hal gripped his semi automatic tightly.