This chapter has a bit of that Eric silliness (though not stupidity) that I felt had been lacking. I guess it compensates for the drama going on in the rest of it. I will also be addressing something with Shawn that I don't feel the writers did justice with on the show. It was treated as just another one of Shawn's dramas of the week and it's always bugged me. Hopefully I don't come across as too harsh on him. The show neglected showing real consequences for most of his actions that addressing it almost feels like piling even more crap onto him to where I worry I'm either victimizing or vilifying him and neither is my goal.

As always, thank you for all of your feedback and endless patience. :-) I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I truly appreciate it.

"I'll kill him."

"Dad, no, that's not necessary," It had taken a few days, but Angela finally told her father everything that had gone on between her and Shawn. "At ease, sergeant." It was nice, though, to have him offer to kill. Sometimes she missed his over protective side. Sometimes.

"That's Master Sergeant to you, private." Alvin couldn't help but smirk at his daughter's use of military lingo. She would often use it as a small child in an attempt to get what she wanted. "And after the way he hurt you? Nope, Hunter's a dead man."

"Really, no. It's okay. I'm okay. I..." She paused and pondered her feelings. "I think I'm over it- over him."

"You're not just saying that to avoid the killing?"

"I mean it. We've been over for nearly eight months. If anything I'm mad at myself for not taking control of the situation sooner. Shawn's always going to be special because he was my first real boyfriend and for a little while he was able to love me, but he changed. He decided he needed something different and doubted what we had. I never did."

"And now?"

"It was nice while it lasted and I learned a lot." She shrugged, not entirely used to this feeling of peace when talking about the end of her relationship. It was a relief to no longer be pained by it. "I just hope Shawn gets his head together for his sake. He needs to do that before he's ready to be anyone's boyfriend again. If he wants me around as a friend, great, it's how we started, but I refuse to be jerked around emotionally by his ever-changing moods any longer."

He reached across the table and patted her hand. "I'm proud of you for being able to stand up for yourself. Those are lessons that can be difficult to learn at any age. A lot of people are so afraid to cut ties even if ending is the best for everyone involved. They hold out hope for something they can never get back."

Angela rested her free hand on top of his. "You and mom?"

His eyes widened in surprise. She never mentioned her mother. Ever. Perhaps she got that from him. If he couldn't fix something he didn't want to deal with it and shoved it to the back recesses of his mind. Of course then he ran the risk of letting it fester too long and have it blow up in his face sooner or later. "Our marriage was in trouble long before she left but I refused to see it. I didn't want to think of myself as a failure at marriage so I buried my head in the sand like a fool. I don't know, sometimes I wonder if I hadn't of been so blind and stubborn if things would've turned out differently- as far as your relationship with her is concerned."

"You mean we'd have a relationship," she quipped in a failed attempt at a joke. "What does it say when I can't remember the sound of her voice anymore?" Even after a decade the wound still wasn't healed. She suspected a family never fully got over their wife and mother walking out and never looking back.

"I still have the old home movies if you wanted to-"

"No."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"It's not your fault. She made her choice. I will never understand her reasons, but whatever those reasons are it's not your fault. She didn't need to have a relationship with you to continue being my mother."

"You know it's not your fault either, don't you? Your mother...she wasn't a happy woman. She didn't love me anymore. I don't know why she chose to surrender her life completely, but what you said is true. They were her reasons, her choices, and no excuse will ever be good enough to justify it."

Angela clenched her father's hand a little tighter, clinging to his words- though she still struggled with it sometimes. "Shawn's mother left him, too."

"Oh?"

"She was more in and out of his life, like a revolving door mom. Then his dad died recently, right after Christmas. And his dad, well, wasn't that great either, also a revolving door."

"Well, I'm sorry he's had a rough go of it, but that doesn't excuse how he treated you. Is that what drew you together initially, your lack of…maternal influence?"

"No, I've never even told him about mom. He knows you guys are divorced and I lived with grandma in high school, but…I don't know, I couldn't bring myself to tell him."

"Why not? Don't you think it would've brought you closer together? Maybe you would've been spared the pain of the breakup."

"I didn't want to be closer to him because of a lack of a mother. That's not a reason to be together- because someone else left."

"Or maybe you were afraid to get closer for fear one of you would turn around and leave like your mothers."

"He ended up leaving me anyway, so…."

"And now he's trying to come back?"

"Yeah, but I'm done playing his game."

"And how does Eric factor in?"

"I told you already, he's a friend…a really good friend." She was no longer focused on her father. Instead she was looking past him to the fridge. He still had a picture she drew when she was nine or ten. It was just the two of them- along with the dog she'd been begging for. She never did get that dog. "I can't believe you still have that picture. No, wait, I can believe you have it, but laminated and on your fridge? Why? It's barely passable stick people surrounded by colorful scribbles, practically crayon vomit."

"They're your colorful scribbles and crayon vomit. I love that picture. It's always the first thing that is put up any place I live, well, first following your actual picture."

"Good to know you have your priorities straight…sometimes."

That last part was mumbled, so Alvin didn't quite catch it. "What was that?"

Angela shook her head. "Nothing. Forget about it."

Alvin didn't want to forget about it, but the ring of the doorbell followed by swift knocks put an end to the conversation for the moment. When he opened his door he found Eric on the other side, looking sheepish and accompanied by a private.

"I didn't mean it," Eric exclaimed, wanting to beat the other guy to the punch. "It was an accident!"

"Matthews, what did you do?"

"I-"

"He wandered into a restricted area, sir," the private answered.

"I was given bad directions," he offered in an attempt to defend himself.

"I gave you the directions and there was nothing wrong with them. They should've taken you directly to the visitor's area. Where did he end up, private?"

"We found him in the yard where the tanks are kept, sir."

"That's on the complete opposite side of the base! How the hell did you get there?"

Angela came up behind her father. "Staging a coup," she questioned Eric with a grin. "Was that your real reason for bringing me here?"

"Please don't try to help me." He had been attempting to give Angela and her father some time alone. He felt bad for being the third wheel, though they didn't treat him like one. Still, until weather conditions were cleared up he was stuck.

"Any damage," Alvin asked.

"The civilian did stand on one of the tanks," the private began, glaring at the unintentional intruder, "but no, no damage."

He nodded. "I'll handle things from here, thank you. Dismissed!"

Eric slinked into the apartment and took a seat on the couch. "So, you really say dismissed and all that? Cool."

"Dad," Angela began, watching as her father paced in front of her friend. She could tell by his expression there was about to be quite the lecture. "At least give him a chance to explain." She sat next to her confused friend. "Eric, please be as specific as possible because I am dying to hear this one."

He looked to her father and was instantly reminded of his own dad when he was about to dish out lectures and punishments. "Well, you see, it started out fine and followed your directions, but I think I took a wrong turn. Then I saw a group of your fellow army people standing in a field and asked the leader guy which way to go."

Army people? Leader guy? It was all he could do not to yell. "And then?"

"He started calling out directions at me. He told me to take three lefts, a right, and then another left. So I did."

"But that doesn't sound like the way to-" He looked to his daughter when she doubled over, laughing hysterically. "You find this funny, young lady?"

"Absolutely," she choked out. When she saw that her dad was ready to blow, she made a more serious attempt to compose herself. "Eric, did it sound like he was both singing and yelling at you?"

"Yes! You've run into that weirdo, too?"

"He wasn't giving you directions," Angela stated between intermittent chuckles. "He was leading a cadence call."

"What's a cadence call?"

Alvin stared incredulously at the young man before him. "It's used to keep soldiers dressed- and before you say anything about clothes- that means keeping them moving as a unit in formation."

"Oh, so left, left, left, right, left weren't directions to the visitor's center? I guess that makes sense. It seemed like too many lefts to me," Eric mused, confused when Angela cracked up again. "What? Anybody could've made that mistake."

"Not anyone with common sense."

"Dad, be nice."

"And when you saw that you were getting closer to the tanks you didn't think to turn around?"

"I thought they were displays like at a museum. A few weeks ago Angela and I went to the planetarium and they had replicas of different space shuttles that we could sit in. I thought it was the same kind of thing."

"Definitely not."

"Can you answer one more question for me?"

This ought to be good. "What?"

"Who's Jody? Because they were yelling about them a lot, too."

The question did make him smile just a little bit. "He keeps Susie company during deployments."

Eric furrowed his brow, more confused than before. "Who's Susie?"

"I'll fill you in later," Angela said. "It's a military thing."

"You're lucky you didn't get into more trouble for trespassing onto that part of the base. It's quite the security breach."

"I told the guys who busted me that I was with you. Apparently you scare them. That's got to be a first for a guy named after a chipmunk."

Angela hid behind Eric in an effort to hide her hysterics. "It was nice knowing you."

"What did I do?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You're calling me a chipmunk?"

"No, but you share your name with one. Or have you never seen Alvin and the Chipmunks? I mean, really, they've got songs. Good ones. You know that Christmas one where someone wants a hoola hoop? And who can forget the theme song to their cartoon?" He started to sing.

She clapped her hand over his mouth. "Seriously, shut up. Even Cory doesn't Cory things up this badly."

"I Coryed it up?"

"You big time Coryed."

"Crap, I'm sorry, sir. I guess it's a good thing I shut up before I asked if you had brothers named Simon and Theodore, huh?"

/

/

"…and I saw the most beautiful dress in the window. I wasn't going to try it on, but mom talked me into it." Topanga sighed happily into the phone. She was visiting her parents in Pittsburgh for a few days and was having a lot of fun discussing the wedding with her mother. "It was every stereotypical notion of finding the perfect dress come to life. Unfortunately I can't wear it. It has long sleeves and I don't think it will work for the summer wedding we're planning. I'd overheat and pass out long before we're pronounced husband and wife."

"Uh-huh, that's a great idea. I'll get right on that."

"What? Cory, are you even paying attention to me?"

"Of course I am," he lied with an indignant tone. "I always listen to you."

"Then what did I just say?"

"Um…uh, you wanted me to take care of the thing…the thing at that place...the thing at that place you love." He was quiet for a moment. "Am I close?"

"Not even a little bit."

"I'm sorry. It's just Shawn and-"

"Is this what your break is going to be about? Obsessing about Shawn?"

"No, I made sure to leave time to obsess over Angela and Eric, too."

"Cory," she spoke through a groan. "Go to a movie or get some lunch. Didn't you say something about wanting to go to a baseball game with your dad?"

"It's still another week or two until Opening Day."

"Oh, well then go help him at the store. Surprise him. Or go by your mom and help with Josh so she can take a nap. Think about all of the brownie points you'd earn."

"But Shawn-"

"Shawn's a big boy who has to deal with the consequences of his choices and learn to move on with his life. I know you think you were too harsh with him the other night, but you were one hundred percent correct. He made his own bed."

"Please, Shawn's never made his bed a day in his life. I make it for him."

"Maybe that's the problem."

"What do you mean? If the bed doesn't get made-"

"Cory, I didn't mean his literal bed! I'm speaking figuratively."

"Well…stop that."

"And you stop trying to make the save. Shawn's never going to learn how to be happy if you keep trying to fix things for him. He needs to learn how to fix himself. It's sink or swim time."

"Who are you and what have you done with my fiancée? My Topanga would never say to let Shawn sink or swim. She would know that he needs us."

"That was before my best friend stopped confiding in me and then took off without a word. I'm not losing Angela just because you guys can't accept that their relationship is over." She was beyond exasperated at this point and was grateful to be tucked away in Pittsburgh with mom and dad, far from the insanity. Things always made sense when she was with her parents. They centered her. "Or do my friendships not count? Is it Cory and Shawn or bust? Screw everyone else? I know we always joke about it, but is it how you really see things?"

"I'm sorry. I guess we have put you in kind of a weird position with Angela."

"Yes, you have." She checked the time. "I have to go. My dad is taking me out to lunch and then I'm meeting mom for dinner. My poor parents are working so much and almost never home at the same time. I'll call you later, okay? Do not forget to check out that reception hall in Fairmount Park. They have two holes in their calendar for June and the coordinator said they won't last long."

"Just one more thing."

"What?"

"What did Angela say when she called you? Word for word, exactly what did she say?"

They had gone over that about twelve times by now. "I'll talk to you tonight. I love you. You're tap dancing on my last nerve, but I love you. Good-bye."

/

/

"…and then she threw a fit and tossed her plate on the floor because we were out of turkey for her sandwich."

Eric nudged Angela with his elbow. They were eating lunch with her dad and he started to tell stories of what she was like as a child. "Way to go, Miss Stellar Table Manners. And to think you lectured me for having my elbows on the table at the pizza place last week."

"That's only because your sleeve kept going into the garlic butter."

"It was something for later," he joked before turning back to Sgt. Moore. "So, what happened next? Was she grounded?"

"She was four, so no. But she was insistent that she couldn't just have a cheese sandwich because something was missing."

"Oh, so what did she get: ham or chicken?"

"That would've made sense, but no, she insisted on peanut butter."

He made a face. "Seriously? I've come up with some weird food combos, but peanut butter and cheese? I bet you were throwing up the rest of the day."

"You would think, but she not only ate all of it, she demanded another sandwich. Her mother and I were horrified."

Angela ignored the Eric's disgusted face. "I was four! But it's still good."

"You still eat it?"

"Not since I moved out of grandma's house because a mini fridge can only hold so much. The best way to eat it is grilled. It's just like grilled cheese but better."

"We must have different definitions of better."

"No, you watch. When we get back to Philadelphia I'm going to your place and I'm making you dinner."

"I'll have 911 on speed dial."

"Hey, I tried your Oreos and orange juice combo. You owe me."

"Fine," he said, sighing dramatically. "But if I puke I get my choice of the next two…no, three activities."

"Deal."

Alvin closed the lid on his takeout container, the conversation having killed his appetite. Instead he focused on the rapport between his daughter and the boy who's spent the past few nights camping out on his couch. Their jokes, laughter, and smiles seemed to come easily. When telling him about things they've done they finished each other's sentences. They were very comfortable together. He was about to ask a question about an upcoming exhibit they were discussing when his phone rang. "Excuse me," he said as he got up and went to the living room. "Hello? Oh, yes, hi. Right, so tomorrow at thirteen hundred hours instead? Okay. Yes. Sure. See you then." When he went back to the kitchen Angela was burning a hole right through him. "What is it?"

"What do you have to do tomorrow?"

"They need someone to assist at a recruiting event at Fort Knox. I'll be home in time for dinner."

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "You made plans when you knew I would be here?"

"No, they called me right after you told me about your flight cancellation."

"And when I showed up you couldn't call back and say, 'Sorry, my daughter's here. I can't?' It's so typical."

"Sgt. Meyer was supposed to take care of it, but he's sick and under strict orders to take it easy. Angela, it's an afternoon. What is the big deal?"

"You always do this to me. You promise that we're going to spend all this time together but then the army calls and our plans go out the window."

"I don't always-"

"We haven't seen each other in nearly a year, dad. How many visits between the summer and now have you had to cancel?"

"One or two."

"Five."

He hadn't realized it had been that many. All he knew was that he dreaded the phone call he'd have to make to her every time. "Things come up that I have to take care of. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with my position."

"There's a lot of responsibility that comes with being my father, too, but apparently that doesn't mean as much to you." Angela stood up and stared her father in the eye. "I always knew the army outranked me in your life, but I never thought you'd flaunt it in my face and expect me to be okay with it."

"Angela-"

"No. Go to Fort Knox, don't go, freaking move there for all I care. Don't expect me to be here when you get back. Eric, I'm going to pack. We're leaving."

"But the roads are still a mess. They were saying on the news there's risks of mudslides and-"

"Fine, then I'll fly and you can stay."

She rushed out of the room and Eric winced seconds later when her door slammed shut. When he finally looked at her father he didn't see the tough, intimidating military sergeant always described to him. The man standing before him was neither tough nor intimidating. He was completely lost.

/

/

"This is just too weird," Rachel said, pushing Jack away and scooting to the other end of the couch.

"What's weird?"

"I keep expecting Eric to come barging in and catch us."

"But that's not going to happen. He's hundreds of miles away."

"I know you're right, but it's still weird and we need to talk about it."

He sighed and rested his head on the back cushions to stare at the ceiling. With Eric gone Jack had hoped to take advantage of the time alone with Rachel and focus on being a regular couple. They weren't supposed to be watching their backs for Eric right now. "Talk about what?"

"What are we going to tell Eric when he comes back? He's been avoiding us lately to the point where we didn't even know what was going on with him. We didn't know he was hanging out with Angela or doing better in school and getting B's on papers."

"Why are you complaining? It's been peaceful around here lately. And better grades? Hey, if Angela can translate information into Eric-ese and get it through his kooky brain in a way that makes sense to him, more power to her."

"You don't miss him? I kinda have."

"I guess it has been a little boring around here."

"Nice thing to say to your girlfriend and roommate. How long have I been boring you?"

"Oh, no, you don't. You started this whole Eric conversation. You don't get to turn it into a knock against you when I agree and say things have been different."

She scooted back over to Jack's side of the couch and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay. If anything I'm dreading when they come back home."

"Why?"

"I'm going to be in the middle. Eric's…let's face it, he's my best friend."

"But?"

"Shawn's my brother. If there is something more serious going on between Eric and Angela I'm going to have to pick a side. Hell, even if there's not and they're just friends he's still probably going to see it as some form of betrayal. Shawn loved…loves Angela, I know that, but he wasn't always good to her."

"He's been through a lot. It's only natural that it took him a while to decide what he wants. Not that it's fair to put Angela through the roller coaster, but it's sort of understandable."

"It's not just that." He ran his hand through his hair. "Forget it. It was a long time ago. I don't know why it still bothers me."

"What is it?"

"Promise it won't change the way you see Shawn?"

"Jack, you're scaring me."

"You remember how I told you that Shawn experimented with alcohol a bit in his senior year?"

"Yeah?"

"This one day Angela was here and we were trying to talk some sense into him. He ended up pushing her against the door. It wasn't a gentle thing either. He shoved her hard."

"Oh."

"I know it was the alcohol and he would never soberly act like that, but…" He shook his head. "I guess what gets to me the most is how I handled it. I just stood there. We all stood there as though we couldn't believe what happened. The look on Angela's face was just…hurt, fear, betrayal- you name it and it was there. I didn't even check to see how she was. Neither did Cory. Topanga did, but she came back after a few minutes. Even then I didn't ask her how Angela was. Honestly, it was like we were all in shock."

"Jack, you can't blame yourself for-"

"No. I could've done something, helped her in some way…given her a ride home. I don't know." He shook his head. "It woke Shawn up and convinced him to get help, but I still can't get Angela's face out of my mind. The only other time I've seen someone look like that was my mother with Chet."

"I thought she left him when you were really young."

"She did. It was when he came over for a visitation. He showed up drunk and got in her face. He grabbed her arm and she looked terrified. Seeing my mom scared like that scared me and I started to cry. After that day I didn't see Chet again for a very long time. Would you believe that's one of my earliest memories," he asked with a humorless laugh. "Nice, huh? What a lasting impression to have of your dad."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that." He shrugged her off. "What does this have to do with Shawn and Angela?"

"Yesterday he asked me if I would talk to her when she gets back and tell her that he means it when he says he loves her. All I can do is wonder why I would ever tell Angela to be with someone who put that look on her face even once. I know he got help, did what he was supposed to, and as far as I know hasn't touched alcohol since. I feel like a bad brother for thinking like this. Shawn's not some monster. He got drunk and made a mistake."

"You're not a bad brother. I think it's honorable to consider things beyond familial harmony and be willing to see beyond what he wants."

"Shawn's not going to think so when I refuse to pick a side."

/

/

"Angela loves you sir. I'm sure she didn't mean it when she said she didn't care where you are. She just misses you."

Alvin stared at the chipped woodgrain of his kitchen table and wondered how he got into the position where he was being reassured that his daughter loved him. "I miss her, too. These separations aren't easy for me either."

"You're the one who's always cancelling on her so can't you see why she might think they are?"

He was going to express his outrage, but realized he didn't have a proper counter. "You've known Angela for a long time, correct?"

"I wouldn't say that. Sure, we met a couple years ago, but I don't feel like I really got to know her until a few months ago. It's almost like that's when we really met. A random meeting kind of changed everything."

"What do you mean?" He listened as Eric told him about the night at the museum and the following dinner and ice cream. And how after that they started hanging out and spending more and more time together.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I feel like because we didn't know each other very well that I was able to be myself around her because she wasn't expecting me to act a certain way like everyone else. And I like to think she's let her guard down and been herself, too."

"How does everyone else in your life expect you to behave?"

"Like a crazy idiot."

"Why would they expect that and does it have anything to do with you singing to the principal like a madman at her graduation?"

"Some might call that crazy, but Feeny ended up coming back to town so it was totally worth it."

"What about your little stunt with the tanks today? More idiocy?"

"That was an accident! Though maybe I was an idiot for not catching on sooner."

"At least you didn't inadvertently start any wars."

"That we know of," Eric added.

Alvin sighed. "Tell me, in all of the time you've spent together, what has Angela told you about me?"

"Mainly that she loves you and misses you a lot. She's always saying how she'd give anything to have more time to spend with you. To her it feels like whenever you have the chance to choose between her and the army you pick the army."

He closed his eyes, pained by the young man's words. How had he allowed things to reach such a low in his relationship with his daughter? "I enlisted when I was eighteen. I was smart, but was never one for the classroom and couldn't imagine spending four more years voluntarily stuck behind a desk in college. The army provided the order, structure, and discipline I was searching for. I was no longer the kid who wouldn't apply himself. I had a purpose."

"Yeah, that's kind of what my dad said about joining the Navy."

"Your father is a Navy man?"

"He was. He gave it up when I was really little. He came in second place in his weight class for boxing once," Eric bragged, "got silver gloves and everything."

"That's quite impressive. Why did he give it up?"

"He missed Cory's first steps. After that he realized he'd rather be home."

Alvin was fortunate to be there for Angela's first words and first steps. It wasn't until later that he began missing things. "I don't know what Angela has told you about our family, but-"

"I know about her mom."

"She told you?"

"Yeah."

That was not information she easily shared. "Maybe I didn't know how to adapt to being a single parent, but I love Angela. I've always tried to do what I thought was best for her."

"I'm not the one you need to convince."

/

"Angela, can I come in," Alvin question softly, sticking his head inside her room. She hadn't responded to his knocks. When he entered he found that she wasn't packing as she had threatened. Though, he'd almost rather have walked in on her packing than the sight before him. She was curled up on her bed with a stuffed animal clutched to her chest. "You still have your sloth?"

"You won him for me. Of course I kept him."

He smiled at the memory of a carnival many years ago. She'd wanted a stuffed animal so badly and proclaimed him the strongest, best daddy in the world who would win one for her. He wound up spending nearly forty dollars on that rigged game in order to make his little girl happy. "I still can't believe out of all the animals on that wall you chose the sloth." He expected her to pick a teddy bear, maybe a stuffed dog or a duck. But no, not his daughter- his daughter wanted the sloth.

"Sebastian spoke me."

"That's a name from The Little Mermaid, right?"

"Right."

"Sweetheart, can we talk?"

Angela rolled over and stared at the wall. "You can talk, doesn't mean I have to listen."

"I deserve that." He decided to be bold and sat at the edge of her bed. "I'm not a perfect man or a perfect father. I suppose it's easier to be a man…a soldier than a father. As I solider I know what to do, how to act, what to say- it's not a mystery. I almost never screw it up and the rare times I do the worst that happens is a superior yells at me. But being a father, it harder. I don't always know what to do or the right things to say. Everything is a mystery and when I screw up my relationship with you suffers. I already failed at the family thing once with your mother and the thought of fracturing our relationship is terrifying."

She sat up and faced her father. "That's the smartest thing you've said all day."

"I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel like you were anything but the most important person in my life."

"I just need you to be there. I'm getting older but I still need my dad. Call more. Visit when you can. Stop cancelling on me unless it is completely out of your control. Be transferred closer to Philadelphia," she added in a quiet voice. It was either that or ask him to retire.

"I promise I will do everything I can to make that happen."

"Good."

"Are we okay?"

"If you keep your promises we will be."

Alvin nodded. "That's fair. I love you, Angela. I'm sorry I haven't done a very good job of showing it lately."

"I love you, too. And I'll try to be understanding when you have to work. You're right, you'll only be gone for the afternoon tomorrow."

"Actually, I won't. I called and told them to get someone else."

"Really?"

It almost hurt how much her face lit up at the news. "They gave me hell, but you're worth it."

Angela threw her arms around him. "Thank you, daddy."

"How about we spend the whole day together tomorrow, just the two of us? I was just reading about a carnival not too far from here. Maybe I can win you another stuffed animal."

"Sounds great, but what about Eric?"

"I'll send him on another tour of the base…this time with a chaperone."