This has been a heck of a journey – both for our favorite characters and for me as a writer – and I want to thank everyone who has come along and read and followed and favorited and reviewed. Thank you to Kamilad, Chilllll, Scousedancer, Starfoxtwin, EarlyMorningWriter, JAG389 and Tea-induced Scribbles for staying with me throughout this process. (And a special shout out to Anonymous 120 and congratulations on the new job! Glad to see you back on the page. )

For those of you who are looking to read more about Danny and Kara, I can't recommend EarlyMorningWriter's stories enough.

For those of you who like their Danny and Kara with a side of Tom and Rachel, go check out Tyger Tyger by Scousedancer.

And for those of you who are fans of the most amazing bromance ever – Wolf and Miller (plus a side of Tex and Kara and Danny and shag-rugs) – go check out Reunions by Tea-induced Scribbles.

And now, here we go for the last chapter of Journey. I would say goodbye, but I won't be far and we all know that it won't be long before I am writing again.

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"You should have seen Cameron's face," Carlton snickered. "I thought for sure he was going have a stroke when Admiral Chandler said that Green was the one who recommended him as the James's TAO."

Wolf chuckled. Green's method of dealing with Cameron Burk wasn't one that Wolf himself would have used, but it had been amusing to watch, as well as a decent test of Cameron's skills under pressure.

The two were so involved in their conversation that they didn't notice Tex approaching until the gruff Nevadian was almost on top of them. "Didn't expect to run into the two of you. Going to check on Miller?"

"Just thought we'd see how it was going," Carlton protested. "Making sure that he didn't need any help."

"What do you have riding on it?" Tex asked shrewdly.

"Twenty on my boy Red," Wolf replied.

Carlton shot Wolf a disgruntled look. "We're not going to stay. Just take a peek and maybe get some of that food to go. Has to be better than the cafeteria."

"What are you doing here anyway, mate? Figured you'd be with your girl." Wolf commented.

"She picked Master Chief over me," Tex replied grumpily, although he appeared less put out than his tone would suggest. "Apparently shadowing Jeter on the bridge was far more tempting than a night out with her old man, even when I promised her breaded mushrooms."

"Breaded mushrooms?" Carlton gagged. "No wonder she turned you down. Should have offered her pizza."

"Some people can appreciate the finer things in life," Tex retorted.

Wolf chuckled. "I might just have to try these breaded mushrooms."

Wolf opened the door, allowing Tex and Carlton to proceed into the café, where they were immediately accosted by a rather large man wearing a formal black suit and an honest-to-god boutonniere. Wolf and Carlton exchanged looks as the man barreled towards them.

"Tex! My friend! Please, come in! When did you get back to town?"

Wolf shook his head wryly. Of course Tex was on excellent terms with the owner of the café.

"Marcus, you old dog." Tex slapped the man on the back, then dropped his voice conspiratorially. "Just got back into town today. See the kids over there in the corner?" Everyone glanced across the restaurant to the small table where Rick was bent towards Nicole, his eyes fixed on her face as she fiddled with her silverware before looking up with a shy smile. Neither seemed to have noticed them – yet. "Miller's one of my guys. This is his first date with the lovely Ms. Clark over there. I told him that this was the place to go. I knew that you would take care of them."

"First date?" A crafty look crossed Marcus's face. "I'll have a little bit of wine delivered to their table."

Carlton opened his mouth, presumably to object on the grounds that Nicole wasn't twenty-one, but Wolf cut him off with an elbow to the stomach.

"What the hell," Carlton muttered, throwing Wolf a dirty look, which Wolf disregarded. Americans were so weirdly priggish about alcohol.

"I also have this," Tex pulled a block of baker's chocolate out of his jacket. "Thought you might be able to work your magic. I need three of something to-go, whatever you do for the love-birds, and you can keep the rest."

Marcus's eyes gleamed as he took in the brick-size package, wrapped in white wax paper. "Oh, my friend. Your young Romeo is about to have the best date of his life."

"Probably the only date of his life," Carlton observed as the three men settled into a booth on the far side of the café, one that offered a slightly obstructed line of sight to Rick and Nicole.

"He seems to be doing pretty well for himself, bro," Wolf replied, watching as Rick finally got up the courage to slide his hand across the table to where Nicole's hand was resting. In response, she turned her hand over, intertwining their fingers. Wolf leaned back in the booth, sipping from the beer that had appeared before him without prompting (a benefit of arriving with Tex, apparently), and grinned devilishly at Carlton. "Hope you brought your wallet."

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"Give it up, mate, he's not going to screw it up now," Wolf commented as he fished another onion ring off the plate of "snacks" that had arrived at their table, free of charge, with their last round of drinks.

"Is that Green?" Carlton asked suddenly, lobster fork halfway to his mouth. With constant food shortages, Norfolk had turned to an age-old tradition and begun farming the sea, resulting in surpluses of lobster and crab, which had gone from a delicacy to a staple.

Sure enough, the couple was just entering the café, their expressions relaxed and happy as they walked arm-in-arm.

"KFG!" Tex called. Danny was the first to notice them, turning towards their booth with a resigned look on his face.

"What are you doing here, man?" Carlton demanded as he stood to give Kara a hug.

"I was trying to take my wife out to celebrate," Danny replied. "You are looking at President Michener's new senior military advisor."

"Danny," Kara protested, her cheeks pink. "It's not public yet."

Green grinned at his wife, his pride in Kara unmistakable. "Pretty sure the guys knew before you did, sweetheart."

"Congratulations darling. Always knew that you were the brains of the operation," Tex said with a wink.

"How about you?" Kara asked Tex. "Made a decision yet?"

For a second Tex's jovial mask slipped and Wolf could see the man's internal struggle with what he was about to do. "Kat's spent eight months on the Nathan James. I think it's time for me to give her a real home. St. Louis sounds as good as anywhere else and babysitting Michener can't be worse than Gitmo."

"New head of security for the president. Congratulations mate."

"I don't know, man, you might get stuck dealing with Samuels again," Carlton teased.

"At least he doesn't snore," Tex retorted.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Danny asked as he snagged a crab cake.

"Just getting something to eat," Carlton replied a little too casually.

Kara narrowed her eyes at all of them. "In other words, you're spying on Rick."

"Now, darling, would we…"

Kara cut Tex off with a wave of her hand. "Don't even try. I saw Rick as soon as we got here and I know all of you too well to believe that it was a coincidence."

"Want to join us?" Tex's eyebrows wiggled up and down.

Danny looked at Kara inquiringly. She shrugged, sliding into the booth next to Carlton. "At least this way we get a seat. I have never seen this place so crowded."

"They're serving chocolate cake," Wolf explained. "Apparently the news spread quick."

"Chocolate cake?" Kara asked, eyes growing wide as she turned to Danny. Wolf snorted in amusement as Green immediately stood back up and went looking for a server.

"By the way, I owe you fifty," Danny said to Tex once the requested slice of chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream materialized, along with a beer for Danny and an iced tea for Kara. "You were right about Eddie and Kelly."

Carlton choked on his beer. "Eddie and Kelly? As in Kelly Tophet?"

Tex reached over to smack Burk's back. "I knew I liked Ward."

Before Carlton could respond, an mocking female drawl sounded from behind them.

"Do you people ever spend time alone?"

"Sure we do darling. Green gets pissy when I try to shower with his wife," Tex responded.

"Lish!" Kara climbed over Danny to give Granderson a hug. "I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"We thought it might be nice to get out…" Val began, but Alisha cut her off with a snort.

"Val put an alert on the word chocolate. As soon as someone connected to the base computer typed the word, her laptop went crazy."

Kara laughed as she patted the seat next to her. "I think they have a few more slices. Believe me when I tell you that this cake was worth interrupting whatever you guys were up to."

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"What are you all doing here?" Rick asked, his voice only slightly slurred. The guys had planned to hide when Rick and Nicole rose from their table, but Kara and Alisha had immediately vetoed that idea, waving the young couple over to join them. Nicole had blushed becomingly when Rick introduced her to Kara and Val as his "girlfriend."

"Celebrating." Danny was the first to answer. "You are looking at the president's senior military advisor and the new head of the Secret Service."

"Right on," Rick responded. "Where's Cruz?"

"Neither he nor Caro made it back to the house," Kara noted.

"I'm guessing that those two are having a more private celebration," Tex said, his eyebrows waggling.

Kara looked to Danny. "Think he popped the question?"

"Yup. Although God knows why he wants to get married," Danny replied, his arm tightening around Kara's shoulders before she could slug him.

Tex turned to Wolf and Carlton. "If I were a betting man, which I am, I would put money on Cruz making things official before the James leaves town. That just leaves the two of you. Think you can muddle through without Papa Tex around to help you?"

"As if I need any help," Carlton scoffed, but Wolf could see the shadow that crossed Burk's face. Wolf was not naive enough to believe that all of the questions Tex had asked when Wolf and Ravit first boarded the Nathan James were mere curiosity. In fact, he was certain that most of the information had been for Carlton's benefit.

As he scooted into the booth to make room for Rick and Nicole, Wolf glanced around the table at the faces surrounding him. At the people who had become so much more than his teammates. His conversation with Rick yesterday came to mind.

"What is it like? Having brothers and sisters?"

"It's kind of like being on a team. You don't get to pick them but you're stuck with them so you make the best of it. You laugh and you fight and after a while you don't know what you would do without them."

And as thankful and blessed as Wolf was to know that his mother and siblings had survived, Wolf knew that he would mourn the loss of any of these people just as deeply. Because they had become members of his family just as much as Winona and Magnus and Lakota and Tyee and Skye, and he had no idea what he would do without them.

Wolf caught Carlton's gaze. "Lot of sheilas in Australia, mate. Maybe I can introduce you to one or two."

Carlton turned to Wolf and, his lips curling into a smile. "You are on, my man. You are on."