A/N: Back to the spring of '73 now... though this set wanted to be a couple different things on the way back here, but first I apparently needed to take Viper to church with the Bradshaws and Pete and the Jenkins family. Am I still grumbling about plot elements I can't change? Yes. World of yes.

Week 17 - UDC 8

81. History

It had been so long, Mike realized as he sat in the pew with Pete on one side and Alan and his wife and kids on the other. So long since he'd been in an actual chapel that wasn't on base or on an aircraft carrier. He felt out of place and yet not at the same time and caught Pete, more than once, glancing up at him and then looking away just as quickly.

Mike glanced over Pete's shoulder to Nick and beyond him to Walt to find that the man was shaking his head in what seemed to be amusement. Whatever it was, it likely was not the sermon, being preached from the book of Mark. Realizing that, specifically what week it was, made him pause and glance down at Pete. How many Easters had he spent, not being properly cared for? Too many.

82. Write

When the service let out, Helen watched as Pete led Mike to the table where the candles were set up. "Nick?"

"Join?"

"Discreetly," she told him quietly and Nick nodded. She leaned into Walt and then they followed. She saw Pete say something and then hand a match to Mike, who took it with a nod and lit five of the candles. Then he handed it back to Pete, who lit two.

"So that's what he wanted," Walt muttered into her ear. "Makes sense."

"It does."

83. Archive

Standing there, staring at the candles, Pete wanted to ask the question that had been on his mind, but wasn't sure where to start or how to phrase it. He'd wanted to do this, for Mike who seemed as lost emotionally as he felt sometimes, but the next step... "Didn't get to, before."

Silence greeted him, and then Mike gently put a hand on his shoulder. "No time out there, you know? Time for duty and not much else."

Pete blinked, tears starting to sting his eyes, for he understood or thought he did. "Is it enough?" A squeeze on his shoulder and Pete looked upward to find the man looking back at him with a slight smile. He nodded.

"It's enough," Mike told him. "Remembrance is good. Means we know what came before, even if the memory is unpleasant."

84. Artifact

Standing in the parking lot outside the terminal, with Alan's family seeing him off, Mike wished he'd come prepared. To be able to give something to Pete that had been his father's, but he hadn't known what he'd been heading out to find and Linda had not given him the time to even consider it. The box was still at home, in the closet.

Alan clapped him on the shoulder and handed his suitcase to him and Mike stared down at it for a moment too long. "Feels like a million years since Wednesday, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Mike answered, voice full of emotion he didn't dare express. "And I feel like I managed to turn your world on it's ear."

"Only slightly," Alan told him humorously. "And this wasn't so bad, really." He handed a business card over. "Call if you want updates. I'm pretty sure Helen got contact information from your wife, too."

85. Memory

He was still figuring out where to put the business card when Sonia handed a flat package to Alan, which was then handed over. "What is this?"

"Pictures from the last month," Alan explained. "From Helen. She wanted you to have something, and figured Linda would like to see."

Mike nodded slowly. "Thank her for me?" He nodded to Sonia and the kids. "And thank you for letting me stay on your couch."

Sonia smiled. "It was our pleasure, Officer Metcalf."

He got the feeling that she meant every word.