Author's note: And now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain...

Chapter 16 – Over

Ruth's body fell to ground, and the moment of silence that followed the gunshot was broken by the sound of Kat's revolver hitting the earth as it dropped from the Lieutenant's fingers, right before she dropped to her knees.

Sasha drew in a breath, something that suddenly felt like the most incredible privilege, but before she could move, Ashley was flinging her arms around her. Sasha held her close, squeezing her tightly, still trying to process what had just happened.

"I thought-" She started, but Ash was already speaking.

"She was going to kill you!"

"Better me than you." Sasha told her, and Ash looked up, tears rolling down her face.

"You called me your daughter."

"Of course!" Sasha fought tears of her own, "Of course you are."

Rachel had slumped against the wall of the control centre, her face white, and Kat was frozen like a statue on the grass, her eyes fixed on the body of her girlfriend. And in that moment, when Sasha heard the dearest voice in the world to her, for a second she really thought she was hallucinating.

"What in the hell happened here?" It took a lot to shock Admiral Tom Chandler, but the scene in front of him achieved it. His eyes moved from his wife and daughter to the two bodies on the lawn, to Rachel's uncontrollably shaking form, to Kat's frozen despair. And as the yard started to fill with military personnel, he stepped over to Sasha and Ashley, still locked in each other's arms, and put his own arms around the pair of them, as if trying to shelter them completely from any further harm.

As the other two tactical teams arrived outside the house, Nina jumped nimbly down from a commandeered van and stepped straight into an incredibly familiar body.

"Kansas?" She looked up at her husband in shock.

"Can't let Tom and Mike have all the fun." He grinned down at her, "Hey there Callaghan. That is a very nice gun."

Nina glanced casually at the M16 rifle in her hands. "Well, you did tell me to keep one hand on my belly and the other on a gun!"

"Yes I did." He was about to pull her in for a kiss when a voice shouted out from inside the house.

"We got casualties here!"

Nina's eyes met Tex's in shock, and they sprinted into the building as one.

Mike Slattery had heard the shout as he climbed out of his own vehicle, which had JB trussed up like a turkey in the back, closely guarded by Burk and Green. Fuelled by a surge of fear, he ran in after Tex and Nina.

Nina had the advantage of immediately knowing who the bodies in the yard belonged to, and what their deaths meant, but all Tex could see was his daughter kneeling on the ground.

"Kat?" He fell to his knees next to her. "What happened?"

Nina crouched the other side of her and gently touched her arm. "Kat?" She was close to tears as she looked at the body of the young woman who'd worked alongside them. "Kat, who killed Ruth?"

"I did." Kat rasped, her eyes never leaving the body. "I did."

Mike didn't see a single thing except Rachel. He strode across the yard, oblivious to the bodies, the milling personnel, his friends. All he could see was his pale and shaking wife.

"Sweetheart?" He ducked slightly so he could look into her face, his heart pounding. "Are you hurt?"

Rachel threw herself into his arms and he kept his body between her and everyone else as he held her, running his hands over her and assessing for injury even as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"I'm so glad you're here." She managed in a shaky voice, and he held her even tighter.

"Where the hell else would I be?"

Tex and Nina were trying to coax Kat into moving away from Ruth's body, but she was unresponsive again. Then a familiar figure was shoving his way through the pockets of people filling the yard and crouching down in front of her.

"Kitkat, I'm here. It's okay. I'm here now."

Tex looked astonished as Ray Diaz almost pushed him out of the way, but Nina gave the smallest smile as Kat's eyes finally flickered away from Ruth's body.

"Ray?" She croaked, and then she burst into tears and fell forwards into his body.

"I'm here Kitkat, I've got you," He scooped her into his lap, letting her cry into his chest. "I promise, it's okay now."

Tex stood up, moving just a step away, and caught Danny Green's eye, raising his eyebrow in a silent question.

"The kid threatened to go AWOL if we didn't let him come with." Danny told him. "He's in deep shit when we get back."

Tex managed a half smile, "Doesn't look like he's gonna care."

Standing with Eric Miller against the wall by the kitchen door, Wolf Taylor reviewed the scene. From what he could work out, everyone he cared about was fine, and the bad guys were either captive or dead, so the mission was a success. He glanced at his watch and made a face.

"What?" Miller asked.

"Just wondering if this mess will get cleaned up in time for us to fly out tonight. Hope's going to shit a brick if I don't get back."

Miller's face creased in confusion. "I thought she was fine about your job?"

"Mate, it's the hormones. Pregnancy makes her crazy. Even more beautiful, but crazy. I'm trying to avoid setting her off."

Miller's mouth dropped open slightly. "Shit, man. What are you going to do?"

"Do?" Wolf looked at him in confusion. "Look after her and our kid, of course. I bloody love that woman. Her crazy is my privilege."

Tom had managed to steer the key players inside, and Sasha found her hand reaching for Rachel's as they sat side by side on the couch. Ashley was on the other side of her, cuddled under her arm, and every time she looked at her, Sasha found herself fighting tears. Mike stood behind them, his hands on Rachel's shoulders, and Kat sat in an armchair opposite, guarded by Tex, Nina and Ray - who hadn't taken his eyes off her once.

"The Army will be here in a couple of hours to take over." Tom told them. "Not sure they appreciated us taking point, but we weren't going to trust anyone else with this."

"Where are the kids?" Sasha asked, and Tom smiled slightly.

"They're with Dad and Sam - Jack too." He nodded towards Nina and Kat. "Everyone's fine."

Mike squeezed Rachel's shoulders. "Jamie's with Lissy."

"We have helos outside of town," Tom continued. "If we leave soon, we can be back home before they wake up. I figure debrief can wait until tomorrow."

Sasha finally felt the adrenaline starting to leave her body as she nodded. She needed to hold her children, all of her children, in her arms.

"Yes." Rachel agreed quietly.

"I can't." Kat's voice was still a little raspy, but she no longer looked shell-shocked. "I have to go and find Timothy. I have to explain what happened to his brother and sister." She gagged slightly on the last word. "He deserves to hear it from me."

"I'll go with you." Ray took her hand as she looked round at her father and stepmother.

"You should go home to Jack. I'll be okay."

Tex looked torn, but Nina laid a hand on Kat's shoulder.

"Come back with the rest of these guys tomorrow, okay? You need to be home too, kiddo."

Kat nodded, and her eyes suddenly met Sasha's. "I'd do it again." She said quietly, and Sasha had to squeeze her own eyes tight shut for a moment to avoid breaking down.

An hour later, as the helo rose up and away from Cross River, Sasha's gaze was drawn to the lights of the town below them. She knew that it was chaos on the ground as the Army swept through, swarming the Church compound and no doubt the hidden lab beneath it, but from up here everything looked calm.

She looked away from the window and around the small space, seeing Ash also gazing out the window, and Mike and Rachel gazing at each other. When her eyes reached Tom, they locked with his, and he squeezed her hand.

We did it, she thought, finally realising it was over. JB's plan would never be realised, the neurotoxin never released. Cross River would recover, and so would she and her team - her friends.

She looked back at Tom and smiled.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! This story will soon get a standalone homecoming epilogue, definitely in the M rated section for happy smutty goodness, so follow me to make sure you don't miss it!

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