1200 HRS

"I'm so glad that everything ended up alright." Liam O'Riley sighed in relief when his cousins were finished telling him all about their mother's adventure.

"It was rough," Derek remarked solemnly. "Being patient is not something that comes easily to me. I was really worried at one point that we had lost her. I don't know what I would have done in that case..."

"We would have had to learn to move on ... in time," Damon said in all seriousness. "Time would eventually even heal that wound, Derek."

"You should have become a shrink," Derek frowned at his brother's attempt of counseling him.

Damon stuck his tongue.

"Real mature, guys." Liam chuckled. "Have you learned anything from this?"

"Of course, we have," Derek nodded, "I've learned that I can't keep my emotions locked up inside. I need to talk about them and figure out what to do with them. Like a beast that can't be controlled by shutting it in a cage..."

"Whoa, that's deep, cuz," Liam faked genuine astonishment.

Derek gave him a displeased glance.

"Well, I've learned that I can be more level-headed than Derek." Damon smirked proudly.

"Of course, you had to bring that one up." Derek frowned. "But I kept you from going AWOL..."

"And..." Damon shot his brother an annoyed look for interrupting, "I need to be more patient sometimes, because taking action and wanting to help doesn't necessarily have to cause me to abandon my duty station. There are other ways of assisting and dealing with problems."

"I hear you," Liam said, deeply in thought. "I've had to fight my own personal 'demons' this past day and a half."

Derek grinned. "Wouldn't have had anything to do with your visitor from last night, would it?"

"Gotta hot girlfriend?" Damon chimed in.

Liam shook his head and blushed a bit. "No," he answered firmly. "She's not my girlfriend... just an old friend from days past." His thoughts trailed off again. "But... she's married now."

"Uh-oh," Derek smirked, "Does her husband know she spent the night in your room?"

"No!" Liam was getting uncomfortable talking about this. "She didn't spend the night... and... her husband doesn't need to know about it, either. I'm sure she will tell him about what happened when she feels ready."

The Lowe brothers glanced at each other.

"Ok, cuz," Damon halted the awkward situation, "It's none of our business. We won't talk about it any more."

Liam nodded in appreciation.

"Well, the Centurion will leave in about two hours," Derek steered the conversation to their inevitable farewell, "We've gotta say good-bye, Liam. It was fun hanging out with you again, for a while at least. We need to do this more often. Sorry that this thing with Mom got in the way. I really wish we wouldn't have had this emergency and would have been able to spend more time with each other..."

"Yeah, I wish that you wouldn't have had to deal with that either," Liam smiled ruefully, "I really did enjoy your company during the trip, though. Maybe we'll see each other again soon, and then we can paint the town blue."

"Sooner than you might think," Damon grinned mischievously, "Mom has already informed us of her plans for a family reunion in a few months."

"Hm. I don't know. I've just signed on with the USS Tenacious, as you know. They're suppose to pick me up here at 1900 hours," Liam advised them. "I doubt that Captain Price will let me take leave anytime soon. I'll have a lot to learn in my new position as Chief of Security."

Derek whistled. "That'll keep you busy for a while. Well, maybe you can join us for the reunion next year."

"Sounds like fun," Liam chuckled.

"We better go now," Damon reminded Derek. "We still got some things to take care of. And we've got to check if Ashton has survived the repair workers messing with 'his' computer."

The red-headed Engineer laughed.

They all shook hands, before Derek and Damon left McKinley Station to return to the Centurion, leaving Liam alone with his thoughts... thoughts that kept drifting back to... Anabelle.

=/\= - =/\=

1300 HRS

"We've still got an hour before we're scheduled to leave," Damon reminded his brother as they were stepping into the turbo lift. "Let's go surprise Ashton."

"Good idea, little bro." Derek smiled. "We haven't seen or heard from him since yesterday morning. Wonder if he's still in Engineering."

Damon tapped his commbadge. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Ashton Bauer."

"Lieutenant Bauer is currently in his quarters," the answer came back.

Derek and Damon exchanged glances and started chuckling.

"That's even better." Derek grinned. "Take us to deck four then," he ordered.

=/\=

A few minutes later, they arrived at Ashton's quarters, still chuckling wildly.

"Ssshhhh," Derek held his finger up to his mouth, "don't give us away. I still have to override the door lock mechanism," he whispered to his brother.

Damon grinned from ear to ear as he stepped in front of the door, preparing to jump in on their friend.

"Of course, don't forget..." Derek smirked sheepishly, "... today is Ashton's laundry day!"

Damon's smile vanished as the door hissed open. There stood Ashton Bauer, wide-eyed and edged in stone, dressed in a white T-shirt and baby-blue boxers with little Tribbles printed all over them.

"Damnit, you two!" He found his voice.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Damon screamed and covered his eyes. "I'm blind, Derek! I'M BLIND!"

Derek Lowe was out in the corridor, rolling on the floor, laughing until tears came to his eyes and his stomach started aching. He loved it that Ashton, without even trying, could make him forget all those serious thoughts, all those painful memories, and in a flash, return him to his normal life on the Centurion and his silly old self.

- THE END -