Thank you to all those that have reviewed, followed and favorited, and thanks for waiting. A huge shout out to MarenMary93 for taking time from her RL stuff to get part 8 of this story posted. Which, if you haven't read that yet, Go to her story Mail Call (even number chapters) and read part 8 before this one.

This is the final chapter of the story, and once again, Dlwells51 has given Mac his voice in this. She really gets him, so all the good Mac parts belong to Dl. Send her a PM if you like this. You guys have no idea what my stuff looks like before Dl gets her hands on it. She translates my descriptions, knowing what I'm trying to say and fixes it with just the right words. Her vocabulary knowledge still kicks my ass in wordchums. ;-)

intepaz, I hope this does the trick for your prompt.

Longer A/N's at the end.

0-0-0

And so it went. Every few months, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, the unit would gather together and open their care packages. Jack would always get something useful from his father, something to remind him of home from his mom, a new pack of disposable razors with the same note that said please use these, and a few snacks his mother knew he would enjoy.

Box would get his beloved jerky. Thankful that his mom and dad didn't send any more rattlesnake jerky, which, despite his feelings on the subject, had taken Duncan up on his offer to use some of his hot sauce.

Boxer would never admit it to his teammate but the hot sauce did make the rattlesnake jerky more palatable.

Mr. And Mrs. Boxer included in their packages a stack of postcards with scenes from their latest travels, including quite a few from Germany.

Duncan received more comics, packs of various hot sauce and enough crayon and pencil drawings to wall paper his small corner of the barracks.

His foster brother, as a joke had started to send romance novels along with the comics, saying that they might help with the loneliness of Army life. Which of course, he never heard the end of from his colleagues after they'd discovered he was disguising the romance novel covers with covers from some of Pete's more worn out military or sci-fi books in order to get some reading done in public.

Cooper, who had claimed that romance wasn't his thing, would, on occasion, pick up one of the romance novels by accident, and be so engrossed in the story, he would disappear for hours on end during their down time. When he was caught putting one of the novels away, he said since he'd spent so much time reading the beginning of the story, he figured he might as well finish the book. But, romance still wasn't his thing.

Pete continued to receive home improvement articles, pictures of family and the latest books from his favorite authors, along with a new stack of greeting cards for any and all occasions Becky thought might come up.

No one ever found Pete's stash of "For when you get lonely" cards, and it definitely wasn't for lack of trying.

When the guys were especially bored, they made looking for the cards their priority mission under the guise of cleaning the barracks.

Boxer was the most determined of the bunch, usually using Mac as a look-out while he searched. Just the thought of what could possibly be in the cards made Mac blush.

Coop continued to get packages from his loving grandmother, bless her heart, and they continued to draw cards to see who the unlucky man was that got to open the mystery package. When Mac had drawn the low card, having come up with a plan months in advance, he excused himself, promising he would be right back. True to his word, he returned ten minutes later with a face splitting grin, holding a remote control, with an EOD robot trailing behind.

On one occasion, Coop was pleasantly surprised to find the inside of the package wasn't moldy, or slimy and didn't put off an odor that could make the most iron willed combat vet want to vomit. Instead, he pulled out a Marius sweater with a note that read "In case you get cold." He actually put the sweater on and had the guys take a picture to send back to his grandmother thanking her for the gift saying it would come in handy one day.

He had a complete stash of bubble gum to go along with the sweets his parents sent.

0-0-0

After that first time Mac had participated in the group's mail call tradition, Jack had pulled the operators aside one day, asking if they'd noticed that Mac never received anything other than the occasional package from his friend Bozer when the regular mail arrived. And while Jack loved the world famous waffle mix, he felt bad for the kid, having him sit there while they opened packages from family. They had waited a while, thinking Mac would receive something from home other than from Bozer, but he never did.

One night, after a particularly long mission, Jack couldn't sleep. He took out his notebook and began to put together a plan. He waited until he knew the young EOD tech had fallen asleep and stealthily crept through the barracks. He carefully woke each of his men, using long practiced hand signals to keep them quiet and direct them outside. Not an easy thing to do, considering what a light sleeper Mac was.

None of the men had known exactly why Jack had woken them or his need for stealth, and considering their current location, they'd figured the worst and had armed themselves appropriately.

Each man in various states of dress had piled out of the barracks armed to the teeth, looking for the enemy. Boxer had donned his helmet, Duncan was wearing his vest, Pete had at least put his shirt on and Coop, well, Coop was crouched, holding his rifle in nothing but his boxers and flip flops. Jack took in their appearance and shook his head. Before they could fan out, Jack stopped them with a light laugh. "Stand down boys, at ease." He whispered, not wanting to take a chance to wake Mac.

At their confused and somewhat annoyed looks, Jack had explained the reason for the impromptu meeting, which had the desired affect as the men smiled and relaxed.

In true Army fashion, the meeting was held like a mission brief, Jack laid out the outline and the end goal while each man offered their own ideas that would contribute to mission success. Everyone agreed that since they didn't really know the young man's likes and dislikes, intel was the highest priority. Jack assigned each operator with a different category, and with the plan in place, they all returned to the barracks and slept through the night.

The next day the intel gathering portion of what they had named "Operation Don't Blow It," was a go.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, It had taken every bit of their special ops training to subtly find out what Mac's likes and dislikes were before they put the actionable portion of the operation into motion.

With as much intel as they could gather about the young man, right down to his underwear size and the kind of toothpaste he preferred, the five Delta operators each sent a letter home, complete with the operator's equivalent of an intel packet, explaining that they had a young EOD tech with them that didn't have any family to speak of, and only received the occasional package from a childhood friend.

0-0-0

In the months that followed, they had been on a non-stop mission schedule, only returning to the base long enough to sleep for a few hours, get some hot food and re-arm before they were sent back out again. Everyone had forgotten about the letters.

Finally, the back to back missions came to an end. When the weary, worn out dust covered bunch returned to the barracks, they were greeted by a stack of boxes and packages neatly arranged inside the barracks. It was a well timed event that gave them all a much deserved boost.

Mac knew at a glance there was nothing in the piles for him. Bozer always sent his packages in brightly colored boxes. He suppressed a sigh and retreated to his room to grab a fresh set of clothes, planning on heading to the showers. Not that he didn't thoroughly enjoy watching his friends going through their ritual. Learning so much about each man and his family and background had been a whole new experience for him. It was almost like he had become a member of a big loving family. Almost. The recent string of missions had been really rough on all of them and Mac couldn't remember a time he had felt so exhausted. He just didn't think he could muster up the energy to participate this time. He was just too tired to put in the effort today.

As he was almost to the door, on his way to the shower, he was stopped by Jack's call.

Mac turned, facing the group in their usual semi circle arrangement with packages stacked in front of them.

"Jack I really need to take a shower, you guys just go ahead without me." He said waving tiredly, turning for the door.

Jack stood up and in his most serious commanding officer tone said, "Specialist! You will partake in this unit's mail call tradition and that's an order soldier! Now, front and center!"

Mac was taken back at the team leader's tone, he knew they took their traditions seriously but he'd never expected to be ordered to sit and watch the festivities.

As Mac shuffled toward his usual spot between Box and Duncan, he noticed a stack of boxes varying in size sitting on his chair. He looked at Box and Duncan thinking things couldn't possibly get any worse, having to ask the men to move their packages so he could sit down and watch them open what was obviously some type of special occasion considering the number of packages just added to his depression.

As he passed, Jack smiled and winked. "Sargent Duncan!"

Duncan snapped to attention, "Sir!"

"Sargent Duncan, who in this bunch of misfits do you suppose should go first today and get this fine tradition started?"

Duncan remained at attention, trying to hide his smile, "Sir, I believe a certain EOD tech should be the one to start considering he does have the most packages sir."

Mac looked at Duncan confused and looked down at the packages. The surprise on his face when he read the name on the address label made everyone in the room smile.

Boxer picked up the stack of packages and patted the chair. "Have a seat Mac, you got yourself quite the haul here son."

Mac sat, still stunned, as Boxer set the packages in front of the young man. "But I…" Mac started but suddenly couldn't find his voice as he picked up the first package.

His eyes started to water as he looked up at Jack. "This is from your parents, but it's addressed to me?"

Jack grinned, "Don't worry, I told mom you didn't need any razors cuz that face of yours couldn't grow anything but peach fuzz anyway." He teased, wiping the corner of his eye.

Mac looked down at the next box. "Coop, this one's from your family?"

Coop nodded, "Don't worry little brother, I told my family not to let grandma send you any food."

Mac looked around the group, "I don't understand, this is… This is, they didn't have to do this."

Duncan put a hand on Mac's shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. "Your right, they didn't, but you're family kid," He smiled and winked. "Whether you like it or not."

Jack stood up and handed Mac a small box. "This one's from all of us, didn't have time to really grab anything, but we figured you could maybe use 'em for whatever." He shrugged, as he handed Mac a box of paperclips.

Mac took the box and laughed as he opened it. "You're right, I can." He said, pulling out a single paperclip, and began to twist it between his nimble fingers and looked at Duncan. "Alright Dunc, who's next?"

Duncan laughed, "Dude, you're up."

Mac shook the box of paperclips. "I just opened."

Pete laughed, "Mac, a box of paperclips doesn't count man, go ahead, open the one from Becky, you're gonna love it if it's what I think it is."

Mac shook his head, "I'm good Pete, and this isn't just a box of paperclips," He held the small box and shook it making it rattle and smiled at the sound. He dropped his head and said quietly, "It's so much more."

THE END

A/N: So there it is, I really hope you enjoyed this. I had a blast getting together with MarenMary93, going back and forth through messenger and PM's, giggling as we decided what the guys would get, their families and all the other background stuff I would have never thought of if it weren't for her. Thank you so much MM for taking such an interest in these guys and getting them fleshed out, making me think way beyond the guns and ammo, and going along with the idea of this round robin. You have no idea how much fun I had with this, it's been an awesome ride. Thank you my friend!

Dlwells51, what can I say other than thank you so much! You are an amazing writer, beta and good friend. When I say write Mac and change anything you want to, I really do mean it and absolutely love everything you do. You channel Mac like no one else and always seem to come up with just the right words. You are a special person and I can't thank you enough.

To everyone that reviewed, followed, favorited or just read and enjoyed, thanks. I have no idea when I'll write another story, I do have an idea or two but, as of Saturday, I'll be without internet or cell service. Headed to Wyoming on a cattle drive, so unless I can find an internet calfé *grin* I'm going to disappear from FF for a while. Can't wait to see what ya'll have come up with while I'm gone. Have a great summer!

-Gib-