Lisa and Sonny pushed through the door finding the Bulkhead more crowded than normal. They quickly located Bravo gathered in the corner laughing while Trent animatedly flung his hands around, clearly telling a story. Omar spotted them first and yelled out over the din of music and other customers, "Sonny! Davis!" The eyes of the entire team were on them now, each one shouting out greetings. Lisa's heart warmed at the men that had become her brothers and the team that had become her family.

Mandy, who was standing at the bar, turned around to catch Lisa's arm just as she was passing. "HEY!" She drew Lisa into a hug. "Big moves ahead for you, I hear. Congratulations!"

"Thank you. Still doesn't feel quite real." Lisa smiled as she hugged Mandy thinking you don't know the half of it.

"And you,"…Mandy said, giving Sonny a questioning look. "Retired? That's a story I want to hear!" The excitement Lisa had been feeling earlier was beginning to turn into nervousness and she was hoping that Mandy wouldn't notice.

Sonny tipped his hat at Mandy, "Yes Ma'am. But first, liquid refreshments… Lisa, grab us beers?" Lisa nodded and Sonny gave her a wink before heading to the table.

Mandy picked up on the wink and the warmth in Sonny's tone. Maybe the rumors were true, she would have never put them together but in that moment it did make sense. They had been friends forever and they shared a closeness that boggled all of Bravo. She knew this wasn't the time to question Lisa, but made a mental note to find a time to probe her later. Mandy turned her attention back to Lisa, "Assistant to Admiral Reves? That's huge, why didn't you say anything before?"

Lisa and Sonny had anticipated questions and had rehearsed their answers several times. They planned to answer as honestly as possible without exposing the full truth. Even though Sonny had retired, they still had to be careful. If the full story were ever to get to command it could ruin Lisa's career. Not just the story about Decker but their relationship timeline as well. All their answers tonight would have nuggets of truth, no lies and lots of omissions of damning details. It was the best way to keep from tripping up. Mandy was a trained interrogator afterall, so Lisa knew she would have to be on her A game.

"It seemed like such a long shot," Lisa began, sticking to the facts. It was a long shot since she had every intent on protecting Sonny's trident at the cost of her dream job. "It was a total shock when they brought me in and told me to report next week." Again, the truth. She didn't know Sonny was going to confess to his actions and cover for her until she met up with him at The Bulkhead after the hearing.

The bartender handed Mandy her drinks and Lisa ordered two beers. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow." The finality of that one word seemed heavy to Lisa.

"Wow," The shock showed on Mandy's face, "Bravo will not be the same without you. Jason is going to have to break in a whole new intel officer." Mandy shook her head.

"You can thank me later. You know how much he loves breaking in a new team member." Lisa let out a little chuckle thinking of how frustrated Jason got each time a new member joined the team. "Speaking of Jason…" Lisa tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. "Did I hear right? You guys moved into a trailer at the beach?"

Mandy laughed, "Yeah, you know, it's been Jason's dream. As much as the two of us are gone, it really makes sense. I actually love it and so does Cerberus. The sunrises are spectacular!" Lisa saw a renewed spark in Mandy's eyes. She was

genuinely happy that Jason and Mandy were making a life together. They deserved some happiness after all the years filled with the brutality of war. Each understood the demands of the other's work and the resulting demons better than any outsider could fully grasp. It was the same bond that Lisa and Sonny experienced in their own relationship. "I better get over there, I can see Jason looking for me," Mandy observed.

Lisa nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to the bar while Mandy headed over to the team. The bartender handed Lisa two beers and she walked over to be greeted loudly by the guys. "Davis! Ensign Davis!" Lisa greeted the boys and handed Sonny his beer. Sonny found it monumentally difficult to control his urge to thank her with a peck on the lips. They were in uncharted territory. Not imprisoned by the UCMJ anymore but still not totally free. Command not having any say over his actions and life but total control over Lisa's. Not having to worry about how his and Lisa's relationship affected him but astutely aware of how they could affect Lisa. He had to remind himself that they had waited years to be together and they were nearing the end of the secrecy. Just a bit longer till they could be all in and out in the open.

Jason interrupted Sonny's thoughts, "Now that the team is all here I think we have some unfinished business." Just then the bartender set two 3 yard beer glasses secured by large wooden stands on the table and Jason moved one in front of Ray and one in front of Sonny. "Ray, Sonny! Time to Yard out!" The group burst into cheers, whistles and claps. Jason continued, "Blackburn, take the floor!"

"Of course, Gentlemen, listen up!" The group laughed in unison. "Today we honor two men who are indeed a special breed. Men who were forged in adversity and have humbly served the citizens of the United States voluntarily, often to their own peril and without recognition of their sacrifice. They both have fought and upheld the proud tradition and feared reputation of the SEALs who came before them. Their legacy will last well beyond their years. They have succeeded at the most difficult missions and for that we thank you for your lives spent defending those unable to defend themselves. It's been an honor and privilege to serve with you both. Gentlemen, and ladies, raise your glass to Warrant Officer Perry and Chief Petty Officer Quinn. Perry, Quinn… YARD OUT!"

Bravo shouted in unison "Hoorah!" followed shortly by "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" Their voices drowned out any other noise in the Bulkhead. Ray and Sonny grab the tall glasses and glanced at each other and nodded. They clinked the glasses and started guzzling the enormous beers. Members of the team alternated from spewing out disparaging remarks to encouraging them to go faster. Sonny got his down with only a minor pause for a breath and slammed the glass back into its wooden stand. Ray struggled a bit more but finished shortly behind. Jason placed the wooden plaque with metal plates onto the table pointing to the two newly engraved names. Sonny touched his name and clearly was holding back the emotion of the moment. The team moved about hugging each man with slaps on the backs accompanied with many "love you brother."

Trent had already procured a round of shots for the table and set them squarely in the middle.

"A toast, to Ray Perry, the best 2IC a man could ever ask for and an even better friend! And to Sonny, the biggest pain in my ass but the most loyal knuckledragger a team leader could ever ask for!" Jason raised his shot glass and everyone followed, "May you both find purpose and fulfillment beyond your wildest dreams in this next season of your lives. Love you, brothers!"

With that, the team clinked glasses, threw back the shots and began retelling tales, some true and some no one really knew if they were factual or rumors. The alcohol flowed and they regaled in times past and the extraordinary life they had lived within the bonds of this incredibly unique brotherhood they shared. None of them were concerned about going home as each one recognized the significance of this time together. Lisa slipped away to use the restroom without anyone noticing, or so she thought.

When she came out of the ladies room, Sonny was standing in the hallway. "Is everything ok?" Lisa asked while putting her hand over his heart. She could tell that Sonny was emotional, not from the alcohol, but from the finality of the time. Sonny placed his hand over hers and held it there while looking down into her eyes.

"It's never going to be the same is it?"

Lisa saw what she thought was regret flash behind his eyes. Her heart dropped and she sighed heavily. She knew this was going to be a journey fraught with emotion and she wanted to make sure she handled him as delicately as possible. The only thing she could think of to say at that moment was, "It's not. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Sonny gave her hand a little squeeze but continued to hold it to his chest.

Lisa's heart broke a little in that moment and her eyes began to glisten. "Sonny, I am going to spend however many more years we have left, making it up to you." Sonny began to reply but his voice caught in his throat. Lisa pulled her hand away and turned back towards the table. Sonny reached out and grabbed her and spun her around and pulled her towards himself.

"I have NO REGRETS! Do you hear me?" Lisa dropped her head, he reached out and lifted her chin and gently kissed her. Lisa didn't respond. "NO regrets."

Lisa echoed him, "No regrets. Okay, got it."

They headed back to the table and Lisa noticed Mandy eyeing their return. She shot a knowing glance Lisa's way and Lisa just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. Mandy couldn't help but smile and nod approvingly. Blackburn's phone rang, he was being called in. He quickly said his goodbyes and spent a little extra time with Sonny. He asked Lisa to walk him out, Lisa couldn't help the rush of panic that flushed through her.

As they walked out into the considerably quieter parking lot Eric began. "Lisa, I just wanted to have a chance to talk privately." Her stomach did a few flips. "It has been a great pleasure watching you grow into your potential and then surpass it. You haven't taken the easy path and your sharp intellect, ability to problem solve and courage to lead even when it was an unpopular opinion has saved your brother's lives more times than I care to count. And in that you saved the lives of countless other people. I know that your unique perspective and work ethic will have a massive positive impact on your fellow brothers and sisters in the armed services. I wish you nothing but the best and can't wait to watch your career soar from afar. Please know if there is anything I could ever do for you, I am here."

All the fear of what he was going to say melted away and was replaced by shock. Eric was a mentor, her commanding officer and being a female in the heavily male DEVGRU meant she didn't often get accolades like this. She was dumbfounded and found herself searching for words. After an extended pause Lisa collected herself and began, "Eric, I don't know how to repay you for mentoring me all these years. You gave me the honest truth about my white paper but never discouraged me from submitting it. You hid me away when you thought I was in the crosshairs for the Decker investigation. I learned so much from watching you and listening. I grew in my leadership abilities from my time with you so much more than anything they taught me at OCS. I will forever be in your debt for your example and guidance."

"I was just doing my job." He winked and reached out to shake her hand. Lisa pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, sir."

Eric walked to his truck and Lisa spun around to see Sonny standing in the shadows near the doorway. Lisa tilted her head as if to ask what he was doing there. As she got close enough, Sonny spoke. "Just making sure you were ok. Didn't want you to have to field questions about us on your own. I wasn't sure what he wanted ya for. You know, we still got to be careful."

"He just wanted to say goodbye."

"I heard. Those were some pretty nice things he said about ya. All true but it must be nice to hear." Sonny was trying to gauge her expression.

Lisa's face contorted as she answered. "I hate lying to him. I feel like I don't deserve his praise when I have been clearly breaking all the rules for a long time now."

"Lisa, did you do all the things he was complimenting you for? Yes, you did. The job you did has nothing to do with whether we were or were not in a relationship. You gotta stop beating yourself up over this. We both have sacrificed everything to do these jobs, we're just holding onto the one thing we can keep for ourselves. For me, that's you."

Sonny hugged her tight. Lisa knew he was right, but she didn't know how she was ever going to overcome the guilt of lying. Lisa finally relented, "You're right. I know you're right and I'd do it all again if it meant ending up with you." They stood motionless until the Bulkhead's door swung open.

"Ya ready to tell the guys?" Sonny loosened his grip.

Lisa's face lit up and a smile spread across her whole face. "I am if you are, Sailor."

"After you." Sonny pulled open the door knowing that the moment he had waited for was finally here. He placed his hand on Lisa's back and guided through the door. It was his stomach that did flips this time.

Sonny stopped at the bar and grabbed a final round of shots. Lisa still didn't know how he planned to tell the guys, but questioned if more shots were wise if they wanted them to remember. Most of the guys were well on their way to having to call an Uber to get home. But Sonny insisted and assured her he had everything under control.

When they returned to the table, Omar was accusing Drew of cheating him out of the last round of darts and Drew was flatly denying it. Typical Lisa thought. They all looked at Sonny as he set a tray of shots on the table.

"OK guys, we have one last person to toast tonight. Ensign Davis…come here!" More hoots and cheers erupted with Brock becoming so animated in his exuberance that he nearly fell off of his stool. Lisa tucked herself under Sonny's raised arm and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Ensign Davis is leaving DEVGRU to go to cake eater fantasy camp at the Pentagon." Lisa gave him a little shot to the gut. He chuckled and continued. "Is there anyone who would like to make a toast?"

Jason piped in immediately. "Well, Davis. What can I say? We prepared you for just about anything. If you can organize a bunch of alpha males, boss us around and still be standing, those politicians won't stand a chance!"

Ray added, "To the best intel officer at command! There isn't one we ever trusted more than you!"

Mandy immediately spoke up. "What about me?" Everyone laughed.

"Yes..right! Okay, you and Mandy," Ray corrected himself.

Lisa laughed and added, "I learned from the best!"

"Damn right you did!"

Trent continued, "To the best logistics officer who always made sure we had fresh batteries in our NODs and the right beer in the coolers!"

"You welcomed me into Bravo with open arms and for that I will be forever thankful!" Omar gushed.

Brock just smiled, "Thank you for everything, please don't forget us!"

Drew rounded out the table, "How you managed to navigate all these egos and still do your job as professionally as you did is a mystery! I would say Good luck, but I don't think you need it!"

Sonny took back the floor. "Ok we saved the best for last! To Davis. You have been my best friend and my right hand woman for over a decade. You saved our asses over and over and you pulled me out of stripclubs more times than I care to remember. You performed miracles for us in and out of the wire. You were just as important to Bravo's successes as any one of us and no one deserves this promotion more than you. I'm proud of ya and know that you will still be kicking ass and taking names in DC." Sonny's voice cracked with emotion that was building. Lisa held him a little tighter. He looked at her and smiled. "It may have taken me a while to realize that I was actually in love with my best friend but I am all in and I can't wait to start our life together in DC. ….I love you!" He gently placed a kiss on her lips. There was stunned silence as the guys tried to process what they had just heard and witnessed. Then slow murmurs grew, then the table erupted in noise, the entire team was cheering!

The comments and questions started flying in rapid succession.

"That was some off ramp Sonny!" - Ray

"When? How? WHAT?" Jason was clearly caught totally off guard.

"I knew it!"- Omar

"I called it in Honduras! And I take it back, with Sonny you're going to need all the luck!" - Drew

"Does she like you back?" - Trent

"Way to go, SONNNNNY!" - Brock

Mandy looked at Lisa and mouthed the word congratulations!

Lisa and Sonny just took it all in and laughed, not even trying to engage with the rowdy team.

Sonny turned to Lisa and whispered in her ear.."Look at us…the exception."