Dear Jennifer,

I love hearing that you're making such great progress in therapy. I just hate knowing that I'm not there physically to cheer you on! Thank Sam for me for being there for you. And tell him that your captain is just as anxious to have you back here as you are. Mark told us you should be dismissed any day now – I can't wait to read that in your letters, since that means you're closer to coming home.

Scout is pretty jealous of your chocolate chip cookies. Actually, most of us are. We had an argument the other day about whose mom's cookies were the best. Tank just shook his head at us – not many cookies around at Babylon 5. So we decided that someday he's going to have to try them. I'm glad you're getting to try things like that…

Jennifer smiled as she read Jon's letter. She was waiting for Vi to come and take her back to her place, where Jennifer would stay until the doctors deemed her ready to resume her duties on the outside. The few possessions that she'd managed to collect while at the hospital - mostly her letters - were in a small bag sitting next to her on the bed. She'd been ready for a while now, and had decided to let herself read another one of Jon's letters to pass the time. Now she was sitting there imagining her team having a good-natured argument about treats that they hadn't had in years. All except Tank, that is. She thought warmly of her friend whose background was similar in some ways to hers. Tank had missed out on a lot of things in his life, as well - even things as simple as chocolate chip cookies. She wished Tank could try them.

Well...If Mark could bring letters back and forth…

"All ready to go, I see." Vi was at the door to Jennifer's room, smiling at the sight of her already completely dressed and waiting.

"Yes, ma'm." She eyed Vi for a moment, still thinking about Tank, and then decided to just ask. "Do you think Lottie would do me a favor?"

"Good afternoon, Captain," Mark called out as he came around the corner of an abandoned building. Their latest rendezvous point was a former settlement in what had been Nevada.

"Mark. Good to see you." Jon reached out and clasped the man's hand with the arm not in a sling.

"You look a little worse for wear," Mark commented, watching him limp towards a crumbling wall and sit down gingerly.

"We delivered a little surprise to Dread…unfortunately, he surprised us back a bit. We hurt him, though – hurt him pretty well."

"Good to hear." He glanced up as Scout and Tank exited the Jumpship. "Gentlemen," he said in greeting. He waited, expecting to see Hawk following them, and was surprised that he wasn't. "Major Masterson not with you today?"

"You think this one looks bad, you should see Hawk," Tank said. "Old man thought he could take on Soaron and several drones on his own…he's back home in the regenerator."

"Ouch. Nothing serious, I hope."

"We got him home and treated before anything got too bad," Scout said. "He's just going to be staying put for a while."

"Glad to hear it. I'd hate to go back and tell Pip that he's seriously injured...not to mention Vi."

Jon looked at him strangely. "Pip?"

Mark laughed. "Yeah…it's kind of my nickname for your corporal."

Jon looked confused. "It's an odd nickname."

"There's a story behind it," Mark assured him, sitting himself down on a nearby pile of rock. "See, the first time Kelly took her outside the hospital, she asked me to come and help her make sure she could get Jennifer into the transport on her own. I teased Kelly about needing help, since Jennifer was such a pipsqueak." He saw the incredulous looks on their faces, and chuckled. "Yeah, the corporal wasn't very impressed with the term, once I explained it to her. Got pretty riled up, actually, or as riled up as she could get at the time. So, of course, I had to keep calling her that," he grinned. "Shortened it to Pip…and it's kinda stuck."

Scout whistled low, and Jon just shook his head. "I can't believe she's letting you get away with that."

"I'm a bit bigger than she is, Captain. Besides, she knows that it was just to get a rise out of her at first. Now it's just habit, though she still argues with me from time to time."

"You do know that she's taken down Dread soldiers your size – or larger – in hand-to-hand combat?" Tank asked.

Mark laughed…until he realized that they weren't joking. He might not be Tank's size, but he was a pretty big guy. "My size? Pip? Come on. There's no way."

"Hawk told you the first day we met you not to judge her by her size," Jon said with a gleam in his eye. "Ever heard the saying, 'small but mighty'?"

"Well, I know she's got a temper on her that's twice as big as she is," Mark said with a grin. "I've had to learn when to call a truce with her."

"That's not the only thing you'd have to worry about if you weren't on her side. No offense, but if it came down a match between the two of you? I'd be betting on Jennifer," Jon grinned.

Mark looked at him, surprised, but decided to let it go. "Think about this - you know how bad she is on her own. When she gets Kelly in on it, she gets even worse. Those two together are a force to be reckoned with, Captain."

"She's mentioned that they're pretty similar," Jon said.

"You could say that again." Mark reached into his pack and pulled out several readers and a stack of letters. "Here's the mail this week. She's doing really well, Captain. Lately, she's been up and out of bed a lot of the time, which was driving Kell nuts. She was back to contemplating strapping Pip into her bed. But the good news is that the Corporal's moving into Vi's today – maybe even as we speak. My guess is it'll only be a month or so until I'll be bringing her back."

"Now that is some good news," Jon beamed. He handed Mark his letters, and the others passed over a set of readers too.

"As much as I'm enjoying the visit, gentlemen, I need to get going. Richards will be getting antsy. But before I do, these are for you as well, compliments of Vi and Lottie." He tossed a package to Tank as he backed away and gave them all a wave. "Pip said to give them to you, Tank. Next week's coordinates are in the letters again. Take care, Captain."

Jon sat for a moment after Mark had left, reveling in the fact that Jennifer had finally been dismissed from the hospital. He wondered briefly how she would adjust to living at Vi's. Would she be comfortable there? Would it be easier for her to stay busy? He couldn't help the grin that was growing on his face. They were even closer to getting her back…nothing that had happened in the last few months had made him feel close to this happy. He looked up and saw Tank beginning to unwrap the package Mark had tossed him. He stood up carefully and walked over to the other two, curious as to what the gift was.

As the last few layers of packaging were exposed, Scout sniffed the air. "Wait – is that what I think it is?"

Jon's eyes widened. "It couldn't be!"

"I'd know that aroma anywhere, Captain," Scout assured him as Tank finally unearthed a pile of chocolate chip cookies. "I don't believe it!"

Jon laughed out loud. Leave it to Jennifer to make sure Tank didn't miss out on something she'd discovered. "Wait till Hawk sees those. He'll think we've given him too much pain medication."

Jennifer eased quietly down the stairs of Vi's boarding house in the early morning. She'd been raised an early riser – you only got the sleep that was necessary in the Youth – and it was a habit she hadn't bothered to try to break. Besides, by heading downstairs this early she hoped to grab a quiet breakfast from Lottie without having to deal with the other boarders.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be around people – she just didn't quite know what to say to these people who had come to Eden to make a new life. She had tried making some small talk with them during the two days she'd been there, but conversation had inevitably swirled around to either where she was from (she was running out of things to say that weren't outright lies, but also weren't Volcania…that, she knew, would be a conversation killer) or what she was planning on doing with herself now that she was here in Eden. At the hospital, it was common knowledge that she wasn't planning on staying. Here, she felt like she was trying to explain her reasons for leaving to everyone Mark and the other couriers brought with them. And at the hospital everyone had something they had to do or someplace to go. It had made her a bit lonely, but it had given her some privacy. Here at Vi's, many people – especially the newest arrivals – seemed to have a good deal of time on their hands as they got acclimated and decided what they'd be doing. She had the distinct feeling that a few of them had put off deciding on anything just so they could enjoy a little vacation…not that she could blame them, really, but she had trouble empathizing with them. She'd had more than her share of having nothing to do, and she didn't understand people who actually enjoyed the sensation.

She could tell, however, that getting up early hadn't worked that morning. As she walked down the hall she could hear voices coming from the dining area. She paused in the hall and let herself groan quietly, then steeled herself. After all, she didn't need much to eat – just enough to keep her going and pacify Lottie, whom she knew would be watching her like a hawk, as always. Then she could bury herself in some of the repairs that Vi had given her to do. She straightened her shoulders and walked around the corner into the room.

"Good morning, Jennifer!" Lottie's ever-cheerful face greeted her warmly from where she stood, visiting with three people at one end of the long table. "You've got some company this morning. It seems like we have a few other early risers."

Jennifer put on what she hoped passed for a friendly smile as Lottie handled introductions. "Shawn, this is Corporal Jennifer Chase. Jennifer, this is Shawn Barton, and his grandchildren, Hannah and Max."

The man that stood to shake her hand was taller than she was, but Jennifer knew that wasn't saying much. He probably wasn't much taller than about 5 foot 5, and his grey hair was cut close to his head. "Good morning, Corporal. It's good to meet you."

"You too, Mr. Barton. Did you arrive yesterday?"

"Yes, we did –"

"We came on a transport. It took us forever to get to it. Then we had to hide for days before it got there. But when we got in, it was so fast! And we had to stay inside a little room so we couldn't see where we were going. We didn't have anything to do. It was really boring. But it's really amazing here! I can't wait to go outside –"

"Max!" Barton held a hand up to his grandson who, to Jennifer's amazement, hadn't even taken a breath during his excited little speech. "Excuse us, Corporal Chase. We've been running and hiding for a long time, and we don't always remember our manners." He looked meaningfully at the small, thin, red-headed boy who couldn't have been more than four or five years old. Max's mouth closed and his eyes flickered downward. His sister tugged on his arm – Max had gotten up on his knees in his chair as he'd spoken – so that he would sit down. Jennifer saw that she looked to be several years older than her brother – maybe eight or nine? She wasn't very good at estimating children's ages, not having much experience with them. Hannah's eyes never left the plate in front of her.

"It's not a problem. It's an exciting place." The smile Jennifer gave Max was genuine this time – somehow, she couldn't help it. She was rewarded with an ear-to-ear grin that lit up the boy's entire face.

"Yes, well…still." Jennifer noticed that Barton's face seemed drawn and tired. "Hopefully, once we get a chance to settle down, we'll be a little more polite."

"I really don't mind. I hope that you enjoy it here, Max. You too, Hannah. There's an awful lot to see." She helped herself to breakfast and surprised herself a bit by settling down near the little family.

"We should get to see a little more of it today," Barton said, glancing down the table as if to be sure he hadn't been too harsh with his grandson. "We'll need to get these two signed up for school, and I need to see about getting myself a job somewhere." He sighed and picked up his coffee cup, though he didn't actually drink out of it. He wrapped his hands around the outside of it, seeming to draw comfort from its warmth.

"Do you know what type of job you'll look for?" Lottie asked conversationally.

"Well…a long time ago, I owned a bookstore. I could probably work at any type of store."

"Vi can steer you towards several of those," Jennifer assured him. "She knows most of the merchants in the area."

"I'd appreciate that. I'll talk to her after we've eaten."

"Speaking of that, my coffee cake is probably about done," Lottie said, heading back towards the door to the kitchen. She paused before pushing it open, glancing back at the two children sitting silently at the table. "Anyone care to help me check on it?"

Both Hannah and Max's heads popped up at once. At the word 'cake,' Max's head had snapped up, and now he jumped down to follow Lottie immediately. But Hannah managed to catch her little brother's arm and waited, looking uncertainly at her grandfather. But Barton was staring into his coffee cup again, not noticing. Jennifer cleared her throat quietly, nodding slightly at the children when Barton glanced up at her.

"Oh – yes, of course. As long as they won't be any trouble," he said, looking at Lottie.

"They won't be any trouble at all, Mr. Barton," Lottie assured him, smiling warmly at the two children as they followed her into the kitchen.

Barton sighed once they were gone. "Thanks for the heads-up," he said. "I'm afraid I was a bit preoccupied."

"That's understandable – you have a lot to deal with right now," Jennifer assured him.

"Yes…but I'm afraid I'm not quite used to having them on my own just yet. My son…their father, he was killed a few weeks ago. We'd been moving towards the location we'd been given to meet up with the Eden courier and ran into a platoon of Dread's robots. David…he sent the children and I on and distracted them. He never made it back to us."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barton." Jennifer had heard plenty of sad stories while working with Jon and the team, but she never seemed to get any better at knowing what to say.

"It's just that…well, I don't always know what to say to them. Or how to say it. Or the patience for any of it. David was great at it – he'd been on his own with them for a while. We'd lost track of each other for a time, but when I found him and the children again, and we decided to head here, I thought we were going to make it. Now…now I have those two to look after, and support. I have to find a job, I have to find us a place to stay –"

"Vi will let you stay as long as you need to, Mr. Barton."

"Please – it's Shawn," he said, smiling at her for the first time. "I know she will – we're lucky to have found her. I just want to get things in order. I want them to have a childhood, like their father had." He shook his head, and finally took a sip of his coffee, closing his eyes momentarily as he did. "Oh, that tastes good. It's been so long since I've had a real, hot cup of coffee." He opened his eyes again. "I'm sorry, Corporal – I've been almost as thoughtless as Max. I didn't mean to burden you."

"It's not a burden," she assured him. If nothing else, Barton at least didn't seem quite as sad. "It's hard to start out new anywhere."

"Yes, I guess at least we have that – everyone here probably started out as a newcomer. What about you? Military, judging from your rank. However, you're quite a bit too young to have served in the Metal Wars." Just then, Max and Hannah returned, each holding two plates of warm, sweet-smelling coffee cake. Hannah shyly smiled at Jennifer as she placed one in front of her. Max almost tumbled into his grandfather's arms as he tripped over a chair in his eagerness to bring Barton his treat, but the older man steadied him in time to save his breakfast.

Jennifer simply smiled. Though she had been dreading making conversation earlier that morning, she seemed to have lost that feeling as she got to know this little family. "I'm a member of a Resistance team. I've been here recuperating for a few months…"