AN: Thank you all for sticking around for so many chapters! Your reviews truly make my day!

Hanson stared blankly at Sam for a long moment. He had been shocked at the words from Braddock. He knew Braddock had been there, but didn't realize the man had been tortured twice. But that didn't change anything. He had been there when Johnny was killed. He could have helped his brother. He could have done something, anything to bring Johnny home! But he didn't, and now his older brother was six feet under. In that moment all he saw was his brothers flag draped casket and his blood boiled.

Hanson made the decision. Braddock was responsible. Braddock would pay.

The sound of a single gunshot echoed through the woods and a man fell to the ground, a bullet between the eyes.

Chapter 46 - A Great Future Ahead

Woods surrounding Richmond's Military Academy

Spike took a long, deep breath as the sound of the gunshot echoed through the woods. He hadn't expected today to go the way it had. It was Samtastic's first day back on the job after all. Who would have imagined that they would have ended up at Sam's old school, with the brother of one of his best friends out for revenge. He had never imagined that his friend went through what he had in his life and the fact that Sam came out the other side a better, stronger man said a lot about him. Sam was a fighter, always had been, always would be. That's why he did what he did.

Sam blinked several times as the gunshot echoed in his ears. He turned slowly to look behind him and met the eyes of Spike who held the smoking gun in his hands. It wasn't often that Spike had to take a lethal shot, but he had done it today. Spike had saved his life, again. He swallowed hard.

"Sam." Ed placed a gentle hand on Sam's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just need a minute." Sam answered as he looked his friend in the eye.

"Take all the time you need. We'll be here." Ed replied.

Sam nodded his head before turning and walking several paces away. When he approached a large boulder he paused, closed his eyes, placed a hand on the boulder and drew in a deep breath. He had spent years dealing with the death of his sister, his treatment at the academy, the death of Hanson, and the utter hatred from his parents. Today, though, had brought all of those things back to the forefront of his mind and he took a long minute putting them all back in the locked chest in the furthest reaches of his heart once more. He now had a family that loved him, friends that would never leave him, and a job that he lived for. His life couldn't get any better than it was and he reminded himself of that as he drew in several deep, cleansing breaths.

Five minutes after the shot that killed Hanson was fired Sam turned back to join the rest of his Team, the teens from the Academy, and his parents. He completely ignored the glares that his mother was shooting his way and instead went directly to Ed.

"Need help?" Sam asked as he glanced at Hanson's body. Good shot Spike. Sam thought as he took in the bullet hole in the exact center of the Captain's eyes.

"Nah, there are uniforms on their way. Should be here shortly. They'll take care of it." Ed answered as he turned to Sam.

"We need to get these kids out of here." Sam commented tearing his gaze away from the dead body to the gathered teens nearby. "We have a young man that needs to see his brother."

"Agreed. Cooper, Jackson, stay here until the Unis get here. Everyone else, we're going back to the Academy. Please, follow us."

Ed, Spike, Sam, and Leah organized the group together. They would have to take the teens into custody once they reached the Academy but Sam was going to speak with the judge. Their actions here today were made under duress. He hoped he could get the charges dismissed, or at least a sentence of community service for the young men. Spike and Leah took the responsibility of guiding Sam's parents as Sam and Ed guided the boys. Spike had volunteered for the job as he knew that if Sam was subjected to them for the amount of time it would take to get back to the Academy he would be likely to Scorpio their asses. The group headed out with Leah in the lead followed by the Braddocks, Spike, Ed, the teens, and Sam took up the rear.

As they walked Jason hung back a bit to walk beside Sam.

"I'm sorry you had to experience all those painful things." Jason commented as he carefully watched the trail before him. "No one deserves to have to deal with that."

"When I was your age I thought that everything that had happened to me was my fault. It all started that day that my sister died and only got worse from there. But, then I found a friend, someone who believed in me. He helped me see that there was more to life than the bad things. That good still existed. If it weren't for him I wouldn't be here today." Sam said retrospectively.

"You said believed. Past tense. What happened to your friend?" Jason asked curiously.

Sam chanced a glance at the young man. He was very observant young man.

"He died in Afghanistan." Sam answered simply, turning his attention to the trail once again.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Jason and Sam walked in silence from that point on. Both were lost in their own thoughts. Sam was still trying to ensure all the memories were once again locked away where they belonged. Jason, however, hadn't missed the brief yet intense look of sadness and loss in the officer's eyes when telling of his friend. Jason had a feeling that there was much more to the story, and that Sam most definitely didn't want to talk about it.

After over an hour of hiking through the woods in a light drizzle the Academy finally came into view. As the group approached the clearing and headed towards the center of campus they were greeted by EMT's, uniformed officers, and Commandant Lincoln. The commandant and EMT's immediately went to the Braddocks, ensuring that they were alright after their ordeal.

Uniforms began the task of taking the boys into custody. Sam observed Jason as a uniform officer approached him. At the same time the door to one of the dorms flew open and a boy began running full speed towards the group.

"Jason!" The boy yelled, his arms outstretched as he ran.

Sam immediately saw the family resemblance and motioned for the officer to hold off cuffing the young man for a moment.

"Mikey!" Jason fell to one knee as his little brother slammed into him.

Both boys tightly wrapped their arms around each other. As Sam watched both broke down into tears.

"Is he going to hurt me again?" Sam heard Mikey ask.

"Never again! I promise! Mikey, I am so sorry for everything! I should have protected you better. I love you so much!"

"It's okay Jason. I trust you. You always take really good care of me."

"Hanson can't hurt you anymore. My new friend Sam made sure of that. We don't have to worry about Captain Bully anymore!"

Sam watched for two long minutes as the brothers simply held each other. He hated that these boys would be broken up simply because a Captain abused his power over them. The officer was about to break up the group when Commandant Lincoln strode out of his office where he had gone with the Braddocks and walked quickly towards the group of officers and students.

"Officers, there is no need to take these young men into custody." Lincoln stated as he approached Ed. "These boys were acting under duress. Is there a way we can simply pass this off as a training exercise? I don't want any of these boys to suffer anymore due to he horrendous actions of a man that can no longer do anything about it."

"I'm sorry Sir. We have to take them into custody. They abducted a couple..." Ed tried to explain.

"The Braddock's don't want to press charges." Lincoln quickly stated. "The understand that all the actions taken here today were those of boys who were being manipulated by an authority figure."

"Sir, how do you expect us to explain the situation then?" Ed asked pointedly.

"I've already put a call in to the local judge that would handle the case. He said that since the boys were acting under duress, that Hanson's actions caused his own death, and since the Braddocks were not harmed nor did they want to press charges he would allow it the boys to go without jail time. They will be expected to perform some community service and psyche evals but other than that he sees no reason to subject them to further discipline." Lincoln explained.

Ed's eyes widened, as did those of everyone who was in ear shot which included Team One, Jason, and Mikey.

"What does that mean?" Jason asked as he turned to Sam.

"That means that you're free to go. You're not going to jail. You'll have to do some community work but they are letting you go." Sam answered with a smile. "It means you'll be here to look out for your brother and take care of him, just like you always have."

Jason turned to his little brother and once again the brother embraced. They were free, or Hanson, of prison. They were free to be themselves and that was the best freedom that they could have been granted.

Richmond's Academy for Boys - Inside Commandant Lincoln's Office

General Braddock stood gazing out the office window as Commandant Lincoln was explaining the situation to the gathered officers and boys outside. He was ignoring the running obscenities coming from his wife. She was pretty pissed at him for not pressing charges but he could care less. During his captivity he had learned a lot about his son, and even more today. He didn't think Samuel was ever going to forgive him for what had happened in the past, for what he did. But, he decided that the boys here today wouldn't get the same treatment from him that he had given his son.

He had learned over the last year. General Braddock knew that no one deserved to be treated the way he had been treated his own son. He knew it was too little too late but he hoped that his refusal to file charges against the boys would be a start to redeeming himself. He still had a long way to go though, that he knew well.

SRU SUV En Route to Toronto

Ed looked to his right where Sam sat staring out the window of the SUV.

"You alright Samo?" Ed asked, slightly worried.

"It's just been a very long year." Sam answered simply.

"You're telling me. But today...today is the start of a new era for Samuel Braddock." Ed smiled.

"What makes you say that?" Sam turned to look at Ed curiously.

"You may have a past from hell, but you've got a great future ahead of you. You don't have to worry about being recalled again. You've made a difference in the lives of some boys that are going through some of what you went through. Now you're going home to a beautiful family. You have a life ahead of you that some can only dream of having. You did good today Sam. Now it's time to move on and enjoy life."

Sam simply stared at his friend.

"You're right Ed. All the bad stuff, that's in the past. Even my relationship with my parents is in the past. I'm not going to let them control me anymore. Now I've got Jules, Sadie, and Matt who is the happiest baby I've ever seen. I've got my job that I love and that allows me to help those who are having the worst day of their lives. And I've got my SRU family. I don't know what I would do without you guys."

"Right back at you Samtastic!" Spike piped up over the comms. "We don't know what wed do without you brother."

Sam smiled as he gazed out the window once again. He was home. He was finally home and he'd get to stay. When he had been recalled he didn't know if he'd ever get to come home. But now? Now he was not only home, but he'd get to stay. What could be better than that?

AN: Well, this is the end of this story. I hope you've enjoyed this journey with me! I'd love to see your thoughts in one last review. Thanks everyone for sticking around!