-Domino Choptank, District 1-

He had no idea how they could possibly sleep. He looked at Mari and Ryder together. Maybe that was how – because they had each other. He wouldn't know what that was like. Sure, he had spent many nights with the crew back home, and even then he barely slept a wink.

What Mari and Ryder had… It was special. It was different. It was something that Mino couldn't even fathom.

Well… He had something like it once. Back home in District Six, growing up. But was that even real? Probably not. She was beautiful, she was nice… Sometimes. She was just troubled. It was drugs. What else would it be in District Six? He thought that she was going to be cleaning up her act after she fell pregnant by him. He thought maybe that was the ticket to being happy, a family like he always wanted to have. He was getting ready, he knew it was going to be hard, but he was going to fight for them.

Then… Poof. They were both just… Gone. He should have known to keep his eyes on her. He should have noticed that she wasn't providing a single paycheck despite saying she was going to work. He should have known that she would do anything to bet her next fix. Even if that was a back-alley coat hanger abortion that wasn't safe. Boom. Neither survived.

Just like Mom. All it took was one argument and boom. That was all. His damn fault. If he wasn't in the world, both of them would still be alive. He didn't think an argument about work would make her do something like that. He just wanted to keep moving forward with school – his teachers told him he could probably test into a University and make a lot of money someday. But their family needed the money now. No time for him to continue the last two years of school and four of Uni.

His shitty decisions all brought him here. Surrounded by doctors and nurses smarter than he was, doing better things. He was just waiting for a weapons delivery for the runners to go receive so that he could start forming a militia, and teach them to fight and shoot – skills he picked up along the way.

Once, he looked at the world around him and vowed he would be a good kid that would stay out of crime. Now it was the life he was damned to. But he was going to try to make sure that others didn't fall down the same trap.

He heard footsteps come down the ladder to the attic, and sat up a little bit when he saw the young nurse coming down from where he and the surgeon stayed up with Dr. Nox and Bella, monitoring the few patients they were seeing up there while Baldur was in his room organizing and delegating the prescription doses the runners stole that day.

Maybe Mino could have been a nurse if he was able to continue going to school. He was a high-achiever, he liked learning. School was something he felt passionate about, once. Now the only thing he felt passionate about was trying to be good, and make the world better even as a stupid fucking criminal.

"Oh!" said Laz, putting a hand over his heart as his eyes were wide in shock. He quickly dropped his voice when he saw Mari and Ryder sleeping together like that. "Sorry. I didn't think you would be awake."

"Don't apologize," Mino said, putting his hands up. "You going to bed?"

"I didn't want to, but… Nox insisted, especially with Ms. Bella here."

"Rest is good," Mino said. "Are you going home?"

"I don't know," Laz said, sighing a little bit and just getting some water, taking a moment to sit down and just sip it. "I want to, but…"

"But…?" Mino asked, looking at him in the dark.

Domino Choptank liked the darkness. It helped him feel like maybe… He could pretend to be good. Pretend to be someone else, for a little bit.

"Daph says she stays here all the time. What if a patient needs me?" Laz put his face in his hands and stared at the ground as he took a small sip of water. "I've always been the only nurse here. Lives are in my hands. Our hands."

Mino narrowed his eyes. "The surgeon?"

"Yeah," Laz said with a sigh. "I do care about this. If I cared more, maybe I could do more. But I'm only one person…"

"You're doing everything you can," Mino said. "You're one of the good ones, I-I'm just confused."

"I don't usually feel like it," Laz said quietly, shaking his head a little bit and sounded… Troubled. That upset Mino greatly – and it perplexed him. "I feel like I could give more."

"That's how you know you're a good one," Mino said, but Laz just put up his hand.

"Please," he said, sounding hurt. "Daph pulled me into this because she cares about it so much, but it was never my passion. It took me over completely and I stopped being a brother to Presley when they needed me. They always acted out, I never should have let them join the group. Even with them running missions, I never really got to see them, I was working constantly. I was fucking blind." He sighed a little bit and sniffed a few times.

"What?" Mino asked, shaking his head a little bit. "I-I don't follow."

"I made mistakes. I should have told Daph no sometimes and saw my Mom and sibling before it happened. But suddenly I had to watch her surgically amputate his foot after he got shot, because I dragged him into this against his will. Just like she did to me to start with."

"That's… No, that's not right," Mino said, his heart breaking a little bit. "That's not fair."

"I know," Laz said, rubbing his face. "Daph said that Presley volunteered to do this knowing that could happen and that's just the sacrifices of war, making the country a better place. But I kept on thinking about it and wondering what would have happened if this cause made me lose him."

"No, that's not going to happen."

"It still could," Laz said, shaking his head. "I just couldn't take it any way after she didn't even shed a tear for Pres. She said it was because she has to be business as a surgeon, but…" he shook his head. "When it's my sibling, I couldn't see her the same after. She barely seemed to care if he had died."

Mino felt incredibly heavy-hearted. "Well that's not right," he said, shaking his head. He just wanted to make it right…

"I'm trapped here," Laz said with a sad sigh. "They need me, I know that patients will die if I walk away. And now that Pres is recovered, they still hate me for this happening to them, but they're too stubborn to step back because now they know it upsets me. I just wish none of this had ever happened."

Mino blinked a few times. "But… You're a nurse. You're saving lives and you're like… Good. As good as they come!"

Laz just sniffed a little bit and shook his head. "Doesn't feel very good after everything that happened. It feels like a big mistake."

Mino looked upstairs with a new horror on his expression. "You need to go home," he said finally. "To your Mom and your sibling. And stay there."

"I can't do that now."

"It's because you're just too good," Mino said, noticing how he seemed to put everyone before himself. "Thankfully Ms. Bella is here now to pick up your duties so you can focus on what's important to you."

"What's important to me is selfish, people have died."

Mino could hear the pain in his voice, he was so close to tears and it broke his damn heart. "Yeah," he said. "But I'm one of those people. And I know it, and I'm willing to fight to make this world a better place for the good ones. Like you."

"You're a good one," Laz said, looking over at him. "I know you're going to train some of us to fight. Actually fight, and stand a damn chance. That's so brave. I wish I was brave like that."

Mino was even more dumbfounded. "What?!" he asked. "No."

"Yeah," Laz said, blinking back in confusion at him.

"No, I'm not brave," Mino said, shaking his head. "I've just lost too much."

"Oh," Laz said quietly, frowning at him. "I'm sorry for your losses. You don't have to talk about it."

"I'm just thankful for the little I have left. Fourteen and sixteen, my two kiddoes. Nothing more than street family, but they're the good ones."

"Aha," Laz said. "Pres is fifteen. No wonder Mizuki and Pep think you're so cool. You're used to their kind, teenagers."

Mino chuckled, but he puffed out his chest a little bit. "Guess I have a way with them. Not Pres though."

"Don't take it personally," sighed Laz. "He's going through a lot right now." He looked down and frowned again. "He doesn't like me either."

"Well…" Mino said. "You're still in the same state with him than you were before. Overworking yourself for this, while he's a runner. Maybe it's time to let Ms. Bella do a shift or two and take a few days at home. I know I would be lost without Tow and Whis… They're all I have left. I would do anything for them."

Laz frowned a little bit. "I want to show her that I do care."

"Why?" Mino asked, frowning. "If Bella's caring for the patients, the job is being done. Let her do it and rebuild a little bit. I don't really know how to help you, Lazar, and God I wish I could. But maybe that's where to start to help yourself."

Laz sniffed a few times and stayed quiet for a long moment. "But…"

"She is willing to sacrifice your family. She doesn't care about you or your family, and never did. Maybe it's time to show your family you care about them now. Because who knows where any of us will be tomorrow?"

Laz hiccupped a few times and Mino went over to sit next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry," he said through his slight tears. "I'm so-sorry. N-Nobody has ever told me these things before." And he thought he was crazy for feeling these things.

"Don't be sorry, I just want to help," Mino said, frowning at him.

"I wish I never gave up everything for her when she never cared," Laz said, shaking his head a few times. "I was so blind."

"Tell them that too," Mino said. "Your heart is soft and fucking jerks like her will take advantage of it."

"Not a jerk," Laz said, shaking her head. "Just passionate about the greater good."

"Well she didn't treat you good – er, well," Mino corrected himself. He felt so soft for this good, sweet man. He just wanted to help him. He took his wrist and pulled up on it a little bit. "C'mon, Laz."

"What?" Laz asked, but he was so trusting and didn't even resist being pulled up.

Mino put a hand lightly on his back. "I'm going to walk you home now. And you're not going to come back for a day. You don't have to keep torturing yourself anymore."

Laz opened his mouth to protest, but then he closed it because he didn't want to fight the first man to take good and true care of him. "Okay," he said softly. "But how will you get home?"

Mino swatted his hand in the air. "I could use some fresh air, I'll find my way."

"Don't, you'll stay with us," Laz said, because he wanted to keep spending time with Mino after he was so nice. "If you're going to be so kind."

Mino was going to say no, but he was just so good. Too nice to crush him. Maybe he could learn something about being good from him. At least being a little better than he was already.

"Alright. Guess we're both going home tonight."

~.~.

-Rory Kwan, District 8-

It was nice to have Kodi here, but the house felt empty with the new additions gone as soon as they arrived. Now Pit's house in the Victor's Village was back to being pretty quiet. Kodi went on his mission and did what he felt like he had to do – and Rory had nothing but respect for him. But right now, she was only focused on one thing and that was her baby girl. Two was close to Eight, and sometimes Rory dreamt about getting back there to go get her. But she knew that was dangerous and only increased the risk that she would get caught and killed – or worse, something would happen to Chiwi because of it. She just had to trust that her family home was going to be safe.

But Cadmus thought that about his family too, and now she had heard what happened to them. There were some survivors, but they were in the rural part of the District, and so few.

It kept her awake at night. While Chiwi definitely had a piece of her heart, Elaina was her heart in a way. Who knew what was happening to her at home?

"Hey." Rory jumped when she heard the voice in the doorway, and barely relaxed when she saw that it was Pit. Pit was still pretty damn intimidating. "Where's your little girlfriend?"

"I don't know if I like you saying it like that," Rory said honestly, narrowing her eyes at her just a tad. She wasn't really in a sharing kind of mood.

"Meant it more as teasing," Pit said, but she looked a little troubled as she focused on turning and readjusting a little silver monkey instead of looking at her. "But I've always struggled to get the right point across."

"Oh," said Rory, because she was way more used to Pit throwing furniture than… This. "

"We all do what we need to in order to cope," Pit said. "Coping with all this war is a beast."

"Yeah," Rory said with a small frown. "Guess so." But she could tell something was wrong. "What happened? My home? My daughter? Please, no," she said, her eyes getting wide and fuck her, teary. Being here has broken down all her fucking boundaries faster than anything else could have.

"No, no, that's all fine for now. Your fam is all okay, as far as we know." She frowned at the look on her face, the fear in her eyes. "I should have started with that. I'm sorry. Mom to Mom."

Rory blinked a few times in surprise. Sure, of course she knew Pit was a Mom, and had now met her daughter and grandson. They were weirdoes… Or, whimsical, as Pit liked to say. But when Rory thought of Pit Hollenbeck, she thought… Strong, brave, intimidating, hot-headed Victor. But right now she didn't see any of those things in front of her. She just saw… A scared Mom. Just like Rory. "Oh."

Pit just chuckled a little bit. "I struggle too, you know. To be soft. To be vulnerable, more like it. I'm an old woman now, but I learned something very important and that is that there's strength in vulnerability. Not a lesson easily learned in big buff Career District Two. Can't have any lousy Careers coming out of our District."

Rory tapped her fingers on the table a few times. "Is it that obvious?" she asked. "Of course I don't like opening up. I have a lot of reasons to be closed."

"We all do," Pit said. "And it takes an incredible amount of strength and effort to be open with others, and put any trust in them again after they do what they've done to us. I think she's already made you better at that."

Rory's cheeks blushed. "I guess," she said, but she knew Pit was right. "She's already made me better at a lot of things."

"That's how you know you've found something good," Pit said, a little glint in her eye as she looked at the Live, Laugh, Love plaque so lovingly hung up by her husband. "After his Games, I don't know how Nikko didn't shut down. I was shut off before my Games even started. But he's found a way to wrench it outta me. His blue eyes hide a stubborn motherfucker. That I'm lucky to have made a life with like this. At an incredible cost of course, but… We can't live on that for too long, too many ghosts to haunt."

Rory just nodded slowly, but she felt both weird and honored to see this rarely-shown side of Pit. "Guess not," she said, not understanding that at all. "Trusting people's not been in my nature. And that distrust has been reinforced by trusting the wrong people. But this time, I just have a feeling that maybe, just maybe, despite what my anxiety is trying to tell me… I got it right."

Pit chuckled a little bit, leaning back in her chair and giving Rory a proud smile. "Yeah," she said. "I think so too. I mean either way, at least the sex is good."

Rory's cheeks heated up quickly and immediately at that comment. "What?!" she asked, before putting her face in her hands. She really thought she and Chiwi were being quiet. Kodi didn't even hear them and despite liking him, Rory knew he was weird and probably listening for it to tease Chiwi about! Or worse, to try and evaluate Rory's performance based on the sounds Chiwi made. Which would not be accurate because Rory knew she was able to rock her world and Chiwi always did a good job of staying quiet on purpose.

Pit stared at her for a second before she burst into laughter, slapping her legs a little bit as she cackled and grabbed her stomach. "I knew that would getcha!" she said loudly, and Rory's cheeks burned more as her lips pulled into a pout of offense. Yep. That was more like the Pit she knew.

"I should have known," Rory deadpanned, because she really should have with Pit. She thought she was going to have a heartwarming albeit depressing conversation without a crude joke made to embarrass Rory? Foolish.

"Ah, that was funny," Pit said with a grin as she put her chair back down. "Don't tell Chiwi I said that, I bet I'm going to get an even better reaction out of her with that one."

"Of course I'm going to tell her, I don't want her to get all embarrassed," Rory said right away, not caring that the Victor was intimidating when it came to her.

"Aw, why now? I bet it's adorable."

"Well…" Rory said, putting up a finger to protest her, before putting it back down. "Okay I mean, yeah, of course it is adorable." Pit grinned and Rory put up a hand again. "But no, I will save her from that because I…" What? Love? No. The war made things go fast between them, but it didn't have to go that fast. "Because she's my girlfriend."

"Aha," Pit said, and Rory could involuntarily feel her cheeks heating up as Pit just stared her down.

"It's not anything like that. There's just… Some trepidation. I don't need a lecture about it right now, we just started dating."

Pit chuckled lowly at her being so indignant for a second before just crossing her arms and leaning back. "A little trepidation is smart," she told her. "We ain't all fairytales up in here. My story with my husband is rough, bloody, and straight-up ugly at times. I know that Chiwi is important to you, but in war sometimes you come first. It's not a bad thing that needs to be grown out of. A hero's attitude isn't always the right one. Sometimes that little trepidation will be the difference in your daughter's entire life." Rory sunk back, suddenly a little uncomfortable again at the slightly unsavory thought of having to choose to die for Chiwi, or stay alive so she could raise her daughter right.

"I just want both of us to stay safe," she said, a little softer.

"And we'll do everything we can to keep you that way," Pit said, giving her a smile and a salute.

Rory had some trouble trusting others, but when Pit said it like that… She believed her. A small smile spread across her face. "Thanks, Pit."

Pit smiled back – a real one, not a chaos smile or one of teasing amusement. It was different. So different that her brown eyes looked a shade lighter. Rory had a feeling it was pretty rare. "You're welcome," she said. But that glint reappeared when she heard footsteps coming from Chiwi. "Just as long as you stop having sex so loudly in my house!" she said much louder, and Rory turned around to tell Chiwi that it was just a joke before she saw how embarrassed and horrified Chiwi looked. And… Well yeah, of course it was so adorable. She put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile at Chiwi gaping in shock like that.

"Oh my God, Pit I'm so sorry! I didn't know, I had no idea!" Chiwi's eyes were wide and she was gaping in pure shock and horror as her whole face was turning red as a tomato. "I'm so sorry! I thought we were being quiet! I told you I was being too loud!" she said, turning her indignance to Rory for a moment. "I said so!"

"Okay okay, it's a joke!" Pit said, but she was laughing more at Chiwi quickly blaming Rory. "Oh, yeah, get good at pointing fingers in your relationship over petty shit, it's a good skill to have. I do it all the time. It gets you whatever you want."

"It was just a joke, we're fine," Rory said, but she was quick to get up and go comfort Chiwi when she was so frantic and guilty like that. "She was just making an assumption that just turned out to be true by dumb luck."

"What she said," Pit said, still chuckling a little about that. "But she was real quick to deflect the blame. Better get used to that," she teased Rory.

"She's fine, it was something stupid," said Rory, not believing for a second that Chiwi would ever throw her under the bus for something serious. She pulled her girlfriend down to sit next to, putting her arm around Chiwi's shoulders. It was still a little weird showing so much PDA, but at this point everyone knew because of Kodi's gay big mouth. Might as well lean into it.

"It's good to see you find a little happiness in the midst of the deep pit of despair," Pit said, but slowly her smile started to fade. "I have some news you're not going to love. But it's not any of your direct family members. See, I remembered to preface it this time for the scared Moms in the room."

"Thank you," said Rory, and Chiwi tried to smile at the little quip, but she was still nervous. It was a deep pit in her stomach.

"Eve and Mako were intercepted on their way back from dropping you off with us. We wanted them to stay longer but they wanted to do bigger and better things, of course. Can't stop those kids." Pit sighed a little bit and Rory slowly frowned, looking over at Chiwi who was crying a little bit. Rory hated to see her cry and knew she had to put it aside and be strong. "We don't know exactly where they are but all communication with them stopped pretty soon after leaving. Since Harper and Kodi didn't find them, we have to suppose they're somewhere in the Capitol. All the other Districts have shit prison systems, ask anybody."

"There are a lot of people I wish would be brought to justice back in Ten, that's for sure," Chiwi said quietly as she sniffled a little bit.

"Yeah, Eight too," Rory said, thinking about it for a moment.

"That's the deal," Pit said. "It's not at all your faults, I see your little teenaged minds going around in circles like that. It's hard not to feel responsible for that shit. But it's war right now, and if you count deaths on your fingers pretty soon you'll run out. And then toes. And then what else are you gonna count?"

Rory and Chiwi just stared for a moment.

"Bad metaphor," Pit said, tsking her tongue. "It's okay to feel upset. But we have to keep going with what we've got til the very end. And our job is to keep you safe here for as long as we can. So that's what we're going to do. Eve and Mako will be fine, we hope, but even if they're not, we don't have a choice but to go on. And luckily for you, or maybe not… You get to go on together."

Rory pursed her lips for a moment, looking at Chiwi. Amazing how one woman went from an adversary to… To this. To making Rory feel things that she hadn't felt in so long.

Rory had been through it. Unwanted pregnancy, cheating, heartbreak, rock fucking bottom. She focused on her daughter and started picking up the pieces, but she was never the same. Then she had to watch her daughter be mistreated, just like her. She tried to save her the only way she knew how, by… Jumping into this unsafe situation that she was still trying to process how she could even dream of doing that, in hindsight… There were a lot of things she would have done differently. But even more ways that the District she lived in oppressed the people around her, and failed them. She wanted something more, something better.

And along the way, she met something that made her want to fall in love again. That was something she never even dreamed of. More than she ever thought she would get. Chiwi was more than she ever thought she would have.

So no matter what, they were going to make it out of this in one piece. The moment Rory stopped believing was the moment her heart would stop. She was going to get back home, and who knew what after, but they would figure it out. Chiwi was smart, and committed, and loyal. Elaina was bright, resilient, and loved her parent more than anything. And Rory was strong, protector, and fierce for the ones she loved – er… Her daughter who she loved, and the woman she was… Starting to love. Ugh, oh God. Trepidation her ass…

Chiwi blew her nose and Rory kept a strong arm around her, taking deep breaths to stay strong. That was what she was all about, now more than ever, it was part of who she was. Chiwi changed a lot about her, but nothing would only change that, it would only make her more driven, it would only make her stronger.

"Together, we will always go on."

~.~.

"Are you ready?!" Camellia could barely control herself at this point, knowing that the time was so close now! "Everyone stay calm! Is everyone calm?" She slapped her cheeks a few times. "I feel very calm."

"You definitely don't look calm," Mary commented, but she was starting to not feel so calm either. "Maybe I'll just wait inside."

"NO!" Camellia said, grabbing her. "You wait here for your found family! Right Ember?"

"I'm just here for moral support," said Ember, putting a hand on Bonnie's shoulder because she could clearly tell that he wasn't calm at all.

"No need to be nervous," Kat told Bonnie quietly, reaching over as well to rub his arm a little bit. "Just excited. They'll be so happy to see you that you'll completely forget everything."

"I hope so," said Bonnie, taking another deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth.

"It'll all be A-okay dude," Stellan said, acting like he had some kind of authority over anything.

"Well yeah," Camellia said, but she still was refusing to look at him and only giving a side-eye after he cheated at their warm hug contest. "We all know this already. He's just excited to see Kodi again. And Lester."

"Lester always comes first," Bonnie said right away, and stubbornly as well.

"We got Kodi handled," Arthur said, but while he was older and she was just a child, he would still push Mary out of the way to go greet Kodi.

"And the King and Queen of warm hugs will handle the rest," Kat said proudly, puffing out her chest.

"Okay it was three people judging, don't let it get to your head," Stellan said, still salty that he was given an F-Tier score for cheating. "It was all because she made Bonnie cry anyways."

"Yes she did, because her hug was that good," Camellia said, standing by the events of their gauntlet the previous day. "No cheating necessary."

"Exactly," said Kat, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm just glad to be part of it," Monty said. The man from Eight had also gotten an S-Tier score from the judges and that was why he was here. Camellia had two pouty partners to deal with, but they would get over it. Right now her priority was the best return home for the boy she'd made promises to take care of.

"And you'd better do a good job at it," Camellia said, pointing at him and narrowing her eyes. "Or else."

"Yes ma'am," Monty said, giving her a loyal salute. "Of course."

"Good." Camellia put her hands on her hips and looked at the group of them for a second. "This has to be perfect."

"There's no such thing as totally perfect, you know," Kat told both Camellia and Bonnie, the two who looked more anxious than anyone. "It's just not feasible. We're just all going to do our best to make our new refugees feel welcome."

"Well we're getting damn close to it," Camellia grumbled, crossing her arms. "As close as we can."

"Opening the entryway," Stellan said, and her nervous expression quickly turned to a huge grin as she shook her fists. She was pretty sure she was just as excited for this as she was to see her own partners again! She looked at Bonnie's face and couldn't read him very well, so she just reached over and took his hand for a moment, squeezing it softly.

"No matter what happens next, you have us behind you to help you be strong," she told him quietly, growing serious for a moment because she was going to do what she could to take care of him.

"We're not going anywhere," Kat said, rubbing his arm softly and resisting any outward reaction when they were practically blown back by the sound of hovercraft motors and felt the wind coming in on their faces forcefully. "We have your back!" she said over the sound.

"Thanks," Bonnie said, holding his stomach a little bit with nerves and anxiety, feeling just a little bit like he was going to be ill. "I appreciate it." And he actually believed them. When he saw the hovercraft land, he quickly squeezed Camellia's hand. He didn't feel ready! Did he have to piss?! He didn't know! "I didn't pee first!"

"Well that's too fucking bad!" Camellia said, also feeling like she had to go even though she did go first. "It's too late now!"

Kat patted his arm a few times as she saw the door opening. "Alright, you're up kid. Go get 'im."

Bonnie's heart was racing as Camellia quickly let go of his hand and shoved him forward a little bit.

"Go!" she said. "Don't make him wait!"

Even if he hadn't been shoved, Lester had no intention of waiting. He was right there, jumping off before the ramp touched the ground, and running as fast as he could, straight into Bonnie's arms and almost knocking him over if Bonnie hadn't seen him coming and dug in his feet.

He forgot everything when he had Lester back here. Bonnie squeezed him tightly and could feel how thin he was and it made his heart drop. There was so much to say to him and yet, Bonnie didn't even know where to start.

"I-I had words, but they're gone now," he said, squeezing tears out of his eyes but not letting go enough to move his glasses and wipe them. "I can't think of a single thing." Lester pressed his face into Bonnie's neck and hugged him tighter. "I'm so sorry," he said, shaking his head because he still felt like somehow any of this was his fault.

Lester shook his head, finally pulling back just a little bit.

No.

"I-I started learning a few basics," Bonnie stammered a little bit, hit with so much relief to have him back, and yet so much guilt for seeing it in front of him. Lester looked better than he had feared – but still not good at all. "I-It's going to be okay, alright, we'll figure it out," he said quickly. "Okay? We're going to be okay." He finally reached up to wipe his face a little bit.

Lester just showed him a thumb, pointer, and pinky.

I love you.

"I know," Bonnie said, going back to squeezing him and feeling his throat aching with tears. "I love you too, Lester," he said quietly. It was the easiest I-love-you he'd ever said.

Lester was still a little teary, but his smile was ear-to-ear as he finally got another kiss out of those lips.

Lester wasn't the only one running out of the hovercraft.

"Arthur!" Kodi was so shocked to see him that he barely registered it even as his legs were carrying him quickly toward his mentor. It didn't fully strike him until he was being hugged by those big strong arms and the tears quickly formed in his eyes that he tried to blink back. "You're here."

"Wouldn't miss it for anything," Arthur told him, so happy to see him. He looked a little worse for wear, but that pretty face was still perfectly touched up.

"I saw Chiwi – I have so much to tell you, she's great – a-and, oh my God, thank you for being here," he said, just hugging him a little tighter for a second.

Arthur didn't let go first and just patted his shoulder a few times. "Can't wait to hear everything. But I'm not the only one waiting for you."

"Wha- oh," Kodi said, a smile spreading across his face at how Mary had crossed her arms and was tapping her toe. "Right." He opened his arms as he moved towards both girls, taking them both in at once. "Boy am I glad to see you too. Oh I have to tell you guys the tea too – also Ridley and Amiah are in Ten right now and there's just so much to say and so little time."

"Don't make yourself pass out with excitement now," Ember said with a chuckle, and she was really glad that Mary dragged her out for moral support to be here. "We are glad you're back here safely."

"I want to hear it all!" Mary said, bouncing on her feet excitedly. "I'm going stir crazy here!"

"Yeah, what she said," laughed Ember, patting his arm a few times as she looked over at Bonnie and Lester and smiled seeing them kiss, tearing up just a little bit.

"Wait, I'm missing the big kiss! Shani!" Kodi said, quickly going to shake his arm where he was hugging Stellan.

"Stop, Wolf Jansing is hugging me!" Shani complained a little, before he turned to see where Kodi was pointing and slapped his hands on his cheeks. "What?! YAY!" he said excitedly, leaning into Kodi's side just a little bit because he was so happy for Lester, but also… He was a little bit sad because it felt like he was losing him. "Ah, this is so exciting!" he said, looking up at Kodi who grinned back at him.

Camellia couldn't believe her poly eyes. She grabbed Kat and pulled her away from Harper. "Oh. My. God," she said, pointing at Shani. "THERE'S A FOURTH ONE!" she screamed. "What?! I can't believe this!"

"Sh!" Kat said, but she was laughing at Camellia being like this because she wouldn't change it for anything. Camellia was a Jansing-Valentine love child, she helped create this. "Don't spook them."

"Oh my God oh my God. There's four! What do I do?! Dammit, my partners were right, they should be here. But I didn't know there was four of them!" She shook her head in disbelief, looking at Bonnie and Lester, and then at Kodi and Shani. She had to know what was going on immediately! And thankfully she got an opening when Bonnie looked over and noticed him.

Yes, him, but specifically…

Bonnie squeezed Lester's hand before he broke away from him at a run toward Kodi, noticing the little butterfly he drew on the inside of his wrist. Lester just giggled a little bit, quickly absorbed by Kat gently squeezing his cheekies.

"You!" Bonnie said, picking Kodi up with the momentum and spinning him all the way around. "You actually did it! Oh my God, I-I'm so…" He teared up again and shook his head at himself. "Dammit," he said quietly, but he was so happy to see Kodi.

"I…" Kodi said, looking up again to blink away more tears. "Have a lot that matters to me right now," he said, his eyes wandering around. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pull you away from Lester."

"I'm so proud of you," Bonnie said, shaking his head because Lester would be more than happy to get attention from everyone else too right now. "Oh my God. I missed you."

"Just as good as I was hoping when I drew it," Kodi said as a tear broke out of his eye and made a slight make-up trail. "Fuck, I just… Need to feel safe."

"You're safe here," Bonnie said, pulling back to gently try to wipe away the flakes. "Alright? I promise."

Kodi nodded as another tear broke out and he swore quietly. "Thank you," he said quietly, so relieved to be back with him. "I did it, I brought him back for you just like I promised," he said. "You deserve to be happy," he added, clearing his throat as he stepped back a little bit.

"And you're going to be!" Camellia said loudly, smushing the two of them back together before Kodi could step too far away. "Very very happy!" she said, pulling back to pinch each of their cheeks. "Now I need my Kodi hug and also, you need a hug too," Camellia said, pulling on Shani's sleeve a little bit – she didn't need to use much force, he was light as a feather.

Shani wasn't sure who he wanted to step closer to feeling very awkward. Wow, he was so tall! And barely even a little bit blue anymore!

"Go ahead," Camellia said, grabbing Kodi by the ear and dragging him away to have a hug away from those two because she had her work cut out for her now!

"Oh," said Bonnie, looking at him and able to tell he was also malnourished.

"Hi," Shani said. He realized right then that even though he felt like he knew Bonnie from hearing about him from Lester and Kodi, he actually didn't know him at all. He was as good as a stranger. He felt very awkward and cleared his throat. "Hi, I'm Shani. I'm a friend of Lester. And I can help you learn how to communicate with him." He gave an awkward salute and looked at Lester, who was grinning at him while also milking the hell out of that Wolf Jansing hug. Shani's cheeks blushed a little bit. "I heard a lot about you from them both."

"Give him a spinny hug too!" Camellia yelled out with an arm around Kodi, who was going to protest this.

Bonnie blushed at the look she was giving him, but he didn't even really have to think about it. He picked up Shani just a little bit and gave him a gentle spin around. Shani grabbed on tight and held on even when Bonnie set him down. Maybe they were strangers, but his embrace made Shani feel that feeling of old friend. And right now he needed that.

"Thank you for being a friend to him. He needed you."

"No, I needed him," Shani said honestly. "Guess we needed each other." And giving him up was going to be difficult. "Still do," he said a little softer.

"Then I'm glad you have each other," Bonnie said, and his warm hug made Shani tear up a little bit. "You're safe now and we're going to make sure you're okay."

"Thanks Bonnie," Shani said with a slight smile. He didn't really want to let go now that he finally had a sense of security, but he slowly made himself release the hug because he knew that there were more important hugs to be had – also, he totally wanted to hug the hunk with the green and red hair! Who wouldn't want to? So he went over there, staying a little close to his step-mother Ania – Ryder's mom – and watching a little bit. It was barely a few seconds before Monty was there with a warm greeting and an equally warm hug.

"You gonna be okay?" Kat asked, coming up behind Bonnie and gently putting a hand on his back. "Just me."

"What?" Bonnie asked, but he felt his heart pick up a little bit when he saw his godfather there. "Um…" He wasn't sure at first. Uncle Angelo looked a lot feebler than he used to. Far from the strong man that would throw him and his brothers around. But… He had that same familiar look in the eyes. "I'll be alright," he said confidently, pulling up his glasses to wipe his eyes one more time.

"If you're sure," Kat said, looking at the group to make sure everything was okay – and that Camellia was controlling herself. She was having a sign conversation with Lester and she figured that would be fine for now. Kodi was already spilling his guts about Chiwi and Rory to Arthur with Mary and Ember leaning over to hear every word.

Harper and Stellan looked way too buddy-buddy already and Kat could just see that he was a fellow weirdo, deep in his eyes. She noticed Ryder's mother alone since Shani was hugging Monty and went over to greet her. She couldn't imagine the anxiety she must be feeling – but she was there to help.

And that left Bonnie by himself. "Uncle Angelo," he said, his voice shaking because if he didn't have words for Lester, he really didn't have them now.

Angelo was shaking his head a little bit in awe, struck with a sudden deep feeling of grief. "You are really his spitting image you know."

Bonnie nodded a little bit, going over to give him a tight hug. "I'm really happy to see you," he said. Because without Kin and Andy, he felt fucking lost.

"I'm happy to see you too," Angelo reassured him. He was so different than he was as a happy little kid. Before his Mom wrenched them away from everyone and stole Simon's life. Before war stole Kin away – he still remembered him singing his ABCs obsessively for praise, back when he was tiny, and he was gone too. He couldn't even imagine Bonnie's grief. But at least now he was here to help. Simon wasn't there anymore and needed him to step up, no matter how woefully unprepared he felt. It was time to stop running away from his mistakes of the past. "I… Don't even know what to say."

"Me neither," Bonnie said quietly, more tears on his cheeks and feeling that deep feeling of loss once more. "Fuck, me neither."

"We'll figure it out," Angelo promised him, patting his arms a few times and just looking at him – even if it hurt and made him want his best friend back. "I think you met my nephew. He knows ASL and he wants to help you with Lester. Just… Take care of him, alright? He's struggling a lot too and he's just pushing it down."

"Huh?" Bonnie asked, looking over at Shani who was signing with Lester rapidly about something. With how they were giggling and looking at Monty, he could fuckin' guess. Aye yay yay. When they looked at Bonnie while signing and Shani quickly looked away and blushed, Bonnie cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah. I'll do my best to take care of him too."

"Of course you would, you're Simon's son," Angelo said, and there was a glint of… Pride, behind those hollow eyes. Just a spark.

"I'm trying," Bonnie said, smiling a little bit when Camellia sent Kodi back to the two of them and hands quickly got tucked away in pockets, but giggles were still slipping out of tight lips. "Trying to… Make the world a better place. Like him."

Angelo patted his shoulder again softly, wiping his eyes. It had been a while since he thought about or even heard those words. As Simon's finance manager, he used to be in charge of managing finances to get that message out as far as humanly possible, so much that he was sick of hearing and looking at those words. But now, there was nothing that he wanted to hear more. "Yeah," he said, but it was obvious that Bonnie's attention wandered elsewhere – back to Lester with Kodi and Shani. There was nobody he would trust more to keep an eye on his nephew right now, with everything that was going on, everything that had happened to their family… He smiled a little bit and squeezed his shoulder. "Go on to them," he said to him. "Don't let me hold you back."

"Oh," said Bonnie, blushing a little bit. "We'll catch up soon," he promised, but it was very much over his shoulder as he was already going over to the other three.

Camellia watched the four of them – and bristled slightly in offense when Kat stole them away to figure out a place for them all to stay. No, she was going to be stuck unloading supplies! And she knew it when Arthur pointed at her to keep her from escaping, gesturing her toward the hovercraft that was loaded up with the contents of Angelo's kitchen and a very fast grocery trip from Ania. Veggies, fruits, baking supplies oo hoo! Arthur snatched those up pretty fast.

"So," Arthur said as she was loading her arms up with stock – chicken stock, vegetable stock, beef stock, oh she wanted the actual bougie stuff! Come on, where were the goods?! "Was that perfect enough for you? Everyone got their hugs and I saw the triangle in action now. I was a little bit unsure at first, but I guess three's just a magic number, eh?" He smiled fondly thinking about his two partners, getting a little worried for them for a second before taking a deep breath.

Camellia found the snack bags – bingo – and picked up just a few. "Perhaps," she said thoughtfully. Everyone looked to be alright. "And you know I like a good triangle, but don't think we're looking at a triangle anymore." This was going to be more work than she thought. But she wasn't going to give up on this yet! Camellia would never give up on love, especially not poly love!

"Yeah?" Arthur asked, stopping her to count the bags in her hands to make sure she didn't steal any as they started moving toward the designated communal kitchen.

"Yeah," Camellia said, putting down a load and crossing her arms as she was in thought. There was a wrench in her trio plans and his name was Shani McCarvill! The surprise Buy One Get One Free! She had to become his best friend, stat.

"It's a square."

~.~.

A/N: Eight.

Next Chapter – After a confession and homecoming, two hated outcasts finally see eye-to-eye, a loyalist held captive is questioned after the return of her 'girlfriend,' and a Big Gay Prison Break changes one ragtag family forever.