Hunter ran and jumped onto the bed startling Logan and Veronica. They both shot up and looked around wide-eyed trying to pinpoint the intrusion of their deep sleep. Their eyes found Hunter at the same time and they both laughed at the wide grin on Hunter's face.

"Logan's back." He exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

"Yup. You were asleep when I got home last night." A huge yawn obscured the last part of Logan's response.

"What's wrong? You seem sad." Hunter asked picking up on the depressed vibe in the room. To avoid answering the question Logan lunged for Hunter picked him up and threw him on the bed. At this point Veronica and Logan were both expertly tickling the shrieking little boy. After a minute Logan and Veronica stopped. All three breathing heavily, Logan leaned down and whispered something in Hunter's ear. Mischievously Hunter turned his head to Veronica and began tickling her. Veronica's escape route was blocked by Logan, who had ventured around the bed to trap her. She and Logan made eye contact, Veronica was threatening him and Logan was daring her to do something. And then all silent communication was over and Logan joined Hunter in torturing Veronica. Ten minutes after the whole ordeal began, all three were lying on the bed breathless, laughing, and all tickled out.

Logan was the first to speak. "So Hunter no school today right?"

"Duh it's Saturday."

"Logan and I thought we might take a trip. Want to come with us?" Veronica continued the questions.

"Where are you going?"

"It's a surprise." Logan responded. They were getting really good at the whole silent communication thing. And knew when the other wanted to talk.

"Sure."

"Ok then, I recommend you go put some actual cloths on then." Veronica said getting up from the bed.

Hunter ran back to his room, which gave Logan and Veronica about ten minutes to get ready before he was back. Logan got up first. He was ready in seven minutes, which included shoes tied. It truly amazed Veronica how different he was at times. She loved the older Logan just as much as the younger Logan, but it was still amazing how much older they both were. Sometimes Veronica simply sat and thought about the how long it took for both of them to get to this point and other time she thought the time flew by. She was not so gracefully watching Logan walk from the closet to his nightstand where he grabbed his phone and wallet. His demeanor was rightfully different this morning. One of his best friends died in the middle of the night because of an electrical malfunction. Veronica noticed how shaken up he was by this. The reality of how dangerous flying fighter jets was finally setting in for her. She knew it was dangerous and that death was an incredibly real possibility but she chose not to focus on that aspect but it was extremely difficult right now. Someone close to Logan died doing the same job Logan loves. Despite not knowing Alex personally, it still hit close to home and made her realize that one day Logan could be the one lying unconscious on the brink of death.

Logan looked behind him and saw that Veronica had her thinking face on. He took the two steps necessary to reach her side of the bed and sat down. "What's wrong? You have thinking face on."

"Nothing really. I just feel bad for you that's all. I'm sorry that you lost one of your good friends. And I'm sorry that I never got the chance to meet him…" she paused not sure if she should continue. While she was talking to Logan she walked away from him. Veronica stopped next to her dresser. She picked up the necklace Lilly gave and starred at it.

The sound of feet got louder until Hunter was standing in the doorway expectantly still slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. Both Logan and Veronica turned to him hiding any emotion other than happiness. Both Logan and Veronica chuckled at the sight of Hunter. He chose to put on jeans and a navy shirt Logan had gotten him that said U.S. Navy Flyboy on it. "Hunter, why don't you go down stairs and decide what you want for breakfast and I'll be down in about 10 minutes to make it." Logan suggested trying to get a few more minutes to talk to Veronica.

"Is there anything I can't have?"

"Nope. As long as it's in this house you can have it." Logan answered.

"Yes sir." Saluting Logan. And with that Hunter was running down the hall and stairs thinking about and weighing his options for breakfast.

Logan stood up and so that he was behind her with his hands on Veronica's arms. She leaned back into him ever so slightly and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry that you two never got to meet too. He was great. He taught me how to control my anger and move past it as much as possible. Because of him I learned different tricks and ways to redirect my anger and turn it into something productive and pinpoint exactly how I feel. But that's not what's bothering you, at least not everything that's on your mind." Logan pushed knowing they didn't have much time.

Veronica didn't know how to phrase it, how to tell him that she was afraid it might be him next. How can she tell him that? Everything she's researched online says that the less someone in the military has to worry about the more focused they can be and that keeps them more safe. If that's true then telling him how scared she is, is bad isn't it? She stood their looking between the necklace and the floor. Pretty much anywhere but his eyes. "It's not important. You should probably go check on Hunter. Giving him freedom to choose anything was a bold move buster."

"Oh no you don't. We aren't doing that anymore remember. We are grownups who communicate with each other. I know, I know it's a new concept for us but I hear it works pretty darn well. So out with it woman."

"Honestly it's not a big deal. It's just that… hearing about Alex and seeing how upset you were… I just, it made me realize how dangerous you job is. Don't get me wrong I knew it was dangerous to fly jets in enemy territory or what not. But you knew Alex and were friends with him and seeing how close you were to this man I never even met, it made the possibility of you getting hurt more real. I mean you didn't even tell me about the crash. I don't know what the rules are for this. Everything I've read tells me that I should talk to you about being afraid so that you can focus." Veronica let out a long sigh and unsuccessfully fought to keep the tears that had formed at bay.

"I'm not going to lie to you Veronica, one day it could be me fighting for my life. But I promise that as long as I have you to come back to I will fight like hell to come back. I didn't tell you about Alex because I didn't want you to worry and I was struggling to face the truth. And everything that you've read about keeping me safe by keeping your feelings from me, ignore it. That may be true for some guys but as you well know, I'm not like most guys. I can tell when you're keeping things from me and that's when I get nervous and loose my focus. I need you to tell me what's going on because then, if nothing else, I can try to comfort you. All right?" Logan reached up and wiped away her tears. Veronica couldn't talk right now and simply nodded her head and started toward the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of them.

For breakfast Hunter chose pancakes, bacon, and chocolate milk. Veronica and Logan had the same thing but coffee instead of milk. As they were eating Hunter asked again where they were going. Quickly Logan and Veronica glanced at each other. They didn't know how much to tell Hunter. Obviously they wanted him to know enough so that he would be prepared for the incredibly sad situation, but they also didn't want to scare him. Veronica let Logan take the lead because they were going to be with his friend's family and she wasn't sure she would be able to talk about it without crying.

"Well Hunter we are going to San Diego. I got a call last night from a friend and she told me that her husband passed away. Her husband, Alex, has flown with me ever since I started flying. Veronica and I were going to go and be with her and we thought maybe, you might like to play with her son. What do you think?" Logan spoke slowly and carefully chose his words. Her knew how difficult the topic of death is for kids sometimes and he wanted to make sure he wasn't overwhelming Hunter. Even though Hunter had already been through a lot he didn't want to add to the stress of his life.

"I think that sounds like fun. I'm sorry about your friend Logan." Hunter whispered, focusing on his breakfast again.

"Thanks buddy." By 10:30 Logan's car was merging onto the free way. Hunter was watching a movie on the portable DVD player they got him with headphones on. Veronica and Logan sat in companionable silence with music playing in the background, up front holding hands.

An hour and change later they pulled up in front of a house on base. The house was two stories with very green lawns on either side of a walkway leading up to a red front door. Off to the right of the front door was a patio area with a couple chairs. To the left was an American flag and right next to that was a United States Navy flag. Just as Logan was about to knock the door swung open and two women walked out and drove off in the only other car in front of the house.

Nancy saw Logan and reached to hug him. Veronica could tell Nancy was doing everything she could to keep herself together. They parted and Nancy finally noticed Hunter and Veronica.

"Thank you for coming I hope this didn't ruin any plans you had?" she spoke shakily. "Please come in."

"I don't think we had anything going on today and if we did it wouldn't have mattered much." Logan responded following everyone in the house and closing the door.

"A.J. come here please." Nancy called not really hearing Logan.

A few seconds later a boy, not much older or taller than Hunter, came running into the living room. Seeing there were other people besides his mom in the room he slide behind Nancy hugging her leg and peered around her hip with one eye. He was assessing the people in his house when he noticed Logan. "Hi Logan."

"Hey A.J. How you doin' buddy?" A.J. shrugged in response. Logan crouched down so that he was about eye level with the two boys. "A.J. this is Hunter why don't you take him to your room or out back and play for a while. Is that ok?" He asked addressing the two boys. Hunter nodded and A.J. shrugged again but they both walked out of the living room. Logan waited for a door to close before he continued. Nancy this is Veronica, Veronica this is Nancy."

It's nice to meet you Nancy."

"It's nice to finally meet you as well Veronica. I have heard a lot about you."

"Everything he said is a lie unless it was good." She quipped making everyone smile a little.

"Please sit down. I'll go get some water for everyone is that all right?"

"It's perfect thank you." Logan answered.

Logan and Veronica sat next to each other quietly still holding hands. Nancy came back in with a pitcher of water and three glasses on a tray. Logan reached forward and poured three glasses of water. Then he turned to Nancy and soothingly asked, "What can we do for you? Do you need anything? What about A.J.?"

"The only thing I need is my Husband back. But that's not possible. Honestly just having you here is a big help. I keep expecting to see him walk through the front door, ya know."

"I'm so sorry." Both veronica and Logan said at the same time.

"Thank you and thank you both for coming. I just… I don't know what to do. Before the last tour we updated his information. They make you plan for just incase so everything's done. I've already called his parents and they said they would call everyone else. The two women who were leaving came to drop off meals for the net few days. I know everyone's trying to help but now the only thing left for me to do is sit here and twiddle my thumbs. And when I do that I think about Alex and then I start crying. Much like I'm doing right now.

Out in the backyard A.J. and Hunter were sitting in the play set dragging toy military planes through the air with their hands. A.J. started playing less and less and eventually stopped. Hunter put his plane down too and then looked away sheepishly. "This is a cool swing set." Hunter muttered.

"Yeah. A couple years ago when my dad came back from flying planes, he and mom bought it. Then he let me help put it together. It was a lot of fun." Hunter started excitedly and ended in a whisper.

"I'm sorry about your dad."

"Thanks. I miss him."

"I miss my dad too."

"Did your dad die too?"

"No he went to jail cause he did something bad."

"Is that lady in there your mom?"

"No that's Veronica, my sister."

"Where's your mom."

"They put her in jail too, but Veronica says she didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why did they put her in jail?"

"I don't know. Veronica said sometimes even if people don't do bad things they still get in trouble."

"That stinks."

"Yeah. These planes are pretty cool."

"My dad got them for me. One time I even got to sit in the cockpit of the plane he flies."

"That's so cool I wish I could do that."

"Maybe Logan can take you. He's a lot of fun."

"Maybe. Maybe he could take both of us."

"Maybe."

The boys sat in silence for a while. "When I grow up I'm gonna fly just like my dad." A.J. exclaimed.

"That's cool. When I grow up I'm gonna make music."

"Sweet. Do you wanna go see my room I have more planes up there."

"Ok."

Hunter and A.J. ran back into the house. They had to go through the living room to get to the stairs, which means that they had to go past the adults. They tried not to bring attention to them selves but being six-year-old boys that is hard to do. They made it to the stairs when Logan called out to them. "Hey guys come here for a second." Hunter and A.J. slowly made their way back into the living room. Logan looked at A.J. "Your mom, Veronica and I were talking and we thought it might be nice for you two to get out of the house for a little bit. What do you think about coming back to Neptune with us? You guys could have a sleep over; we might go out in the ocean… What do you think?"

"That sounds awesome." A.J. exclaimed excitedly for the first time in about 12 hours.

"All right well then why don't you go upstairs and pack. Hunter can help you."

"Ok." They shouted already running towards the stairs.

An hour and a half later Logan was leading the way back to Neptune with Hunter and A.J. in the back seat while Veronica and Nancy drove behind him. Unbeknownst to them, back on base multiple people from Logan's crew were being arrested for drug use.