Almost there. Almost there. Alex squinted slightly at the brightness surrounding the shuttle as they made their way towards the landing strip. Her head was throbbing and she felt her stomach revolting at the bumpy ride home.
"Kennedy, we see you," Sharp radioed in. "And you never looked so good."
"I never told anybody this before but I hate flyin'," Chick confessed, gripping his seat tightly. "So it'd be an awful shame to die now."
"That's easy for you to say," Rockhound countered. "I owe a hundred grand to a bad-ass loan shark which I spent on a stripper named Molly Mounds."
Chick shook his head. "Boy, that's bad."
Alex tuned out her friends and focused on finishing her job. "Kennedy, we are one hundred percent," she radioed. "Flap suspension control on full."
They braced themselves as the landing gear made contact with the runway. She flicked a switch and parachutes shot out of the rear of the shuttle to slow them to an easy halt. Alex blew out a breath when they came to a full and complete stop and the men around her began to unbuckle and move around the cockpit.
"Welcome home, astronauts," Sharp announced.
A.J. punched button that blew the exit off the shuttle and began to inflate the ramp they would use to finally touch down to earth once more. The crew gathered around the opening, waiting for the ramp to become full of air so they could descend.
"Hey, guys, remember: we're heroes now," Rockhound began. "So that incident with me and the gun on the asteroid, let's keep that under wraps, all right?" He clapped Chick on the shoulder as they all chuckled.
"What incident with the gun?" Alex asked.
Will motioned for her to go ahead of him to line up. "I'll tell you all about it, I promise."
A.J. and Chick jumped out of the door and made their way to the ground, followed by Rockhound and Bear, and then Lev. Before they took their turn, Alex gazed around the shuttle, trying not to feel sad.
"Hey, you ok?" Will inquired, his hand on her arm.
"Yeah, it's just," she paused for a moment, trying to find the right words for how she was feeling. "So much has changed in such a short amount of time." She looked towards the door. "The moment we set foot out there, everything is going to be different." Will squeezed her arm reassuringly and she gave him a small smile. "Ok, let's go."
Will let her go first down the ramp and A.J. helped her keep her feet at the bottom. They looked up and saw a huge group of people coming down the runway towards them and they began to walk to meet them. A.J. stayed close to Alex, surprising her, but she was glad. Three times during the mission she had thought she had lost him and it made her cling to his hand. If it hadn't been for Harry's choice, she would have been left all alone in the world; she didn't think there were enough ways in the human language to thank him for his sacrifice.
As they got closer to one another, one person broke away from the group coming from Kennedy, running ahead of them.
"Grace," A.J. breathed. He glanced at his sister and she squeezed his hand before letting go so he could race to his fiancé. Alex smiled in genuine happiness to see her brother twirl Grace around, holding her tightly. The group behind the couple exploded into applause as everyone converged on the astronauts and drillers. As Alex joined her brother and future sister-in-law, Grace wrapped her in a welcoming hug as well, which Alex gladly returned.

"Miss Stamper?" Will came over to stand beside Alex, his gaze on Grace. He stood tall as he saluted her. "Colonel Willie Sharp, United States Air Force ma'am. Requesting permission to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man I've ever met."

Grace's face tightened and she glanced at Alex, who gave her a small smile, before extending her hand. Sharp enveloped her hand in his and shook it firmly, glancing at A.J. before letting go. Alex squeezed her brother's arm before walking away beside Will. She watched as Chick bent low to scoop up a small boy, holding him tightly as a curly-haired woman joined them. A few feet away, a woman pounced on Rockhound, knocking him to the ground as the kissed and Bear was clutching an older woman half his size as he wept with happiness. Suddenly, they heard the chorus of little girls yelling, "Daddy!" and Will spotted Rebekah and Sophie sprinting towards him. He dropped to his knees and they collided into him, one right after the other, almost knocking him over. Alex took a couple of steps back to give them privacy, but Rebekah spotted her and raced to give her an equally enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you for helping Daddy come home," she told Alex, tears on her cheeks.

Alex's heart clenched as she returned the hug. "Of course, Becky."

As Becky went back to her father, Alex began to make her way to the bus that would be taking them back to the main building. But every step seemed to require more effort than the last and her headache felt like it was growing worse. The light from the sun also seemed to be brighter than before making her squint to try to focus. Her gait faltered and she brought a hand up to her nose when she felt liquid dripping from it. She gazed quizzically at the blood, not fully processing what she was seeing when her legs gave out on her and she dropped to her knees. She had only a moment more of consciousness before darkness took her and she collapsed to the ground.

Will held his girls tight as they talked over each other, each trying to be heard. He smiled at his ex-wife as she stood in the background. He was grateful she had brought his children to see him.

"Daddy, Lexie fell down," Sophie told him as she looked around him.

"What?"

Sophie repeated herself and Will turned to see Alex laying on the tarmac before a group of medics converged on her.
"Girls, stay with your mom," he ordered them as Jenna placed a hand on each girl's shoulder. "I'll be back, ok?"

He got to his feet and raced the short distance to where Alex lay, the medics working on getting her onto a stretcher. A.J. and Grace got there just before Will and they all began bombarding the EMTs with questions.

"What happened?" A.J. demanded, seeing the blood on his twin's face. "She was fine; she was safe on the shuttle!"

"She hit her head," Will remembered. He grabbed an EMT. "She hit her head when we were on the asteroid. She said she threw up and that she thought she had a concussion."

"We'll let the doctor know."

"I'm coming with you," Will demanded.

"No, sir," the EMT argued. "Sorry, sir, but we need to get her straight to the emergency room. You all need to be checked over with the docs here before you're cleared to be anywhere."

"Bullshit," A.J. argued. "I'm going with my sister. The docs can look at me there."

They left no room for argument when both A.J. and Grace climbed into the ambulance with Alex and the EMT shook his head in defeat.

"We'll keep you in the loop," Grace told Will as he watched helplessly.

Will shook off more doctors as he made his way to the waiting room of the hospital they had taken Alex to. It had taken over an hour before he'd been able to convince them to give him a ride and it had finally come down to Truman ordering it. Grace stood up as he came in; A.J. stayed seated beside her.

"Colonel," Grace began.

"What's going on with her?"

"'She hit her head'," A.J. parroted Sharp's words back at him. "That's what you said, right? You knew she was hurt and you still did nothing," he accused.

"A.J.," Grace chastised.

"What was I supposed to do?" Will demanded.

"You were supposed to keep her safe," A.J. reminded him as he stood up to face the colonel. "You should have made her rest."

"Have you met your sister? I couldn't have forced her to rest unless I taped her up like Rockhound!"

"Hey, guys," Rockhound interrupted meekly. "Keepin' that under wraps, remember?"

"Shut up, Rock." A.J. faced Sharp again, needing someone to be angry with but realizing it was a useless battel. The colonel was right; Alex was going to do whatever she wanted.

"Please," Sharp implored A.J. quietly. "Have they said anything?"

"Not yet," Grace answered. "They took her for some tests a while ago. We're waiting for the doctor."

"And the doctor is here." They all turned as a small balding man entered the waiting room, his hands in his lab coat. "Am I to assume that you are the family of Miss Frost?" His eyes lingered on Bear before flicking between A.J. and Will.

"Yeah, she's my sister."

"Miss Frost seems to have taken quite a spill during your excursion in space," the doctor began. "It's caused a slight cerebral hemorrhage."

"A-a what?"

"There's a small bleed in her brain," he explained. The waiting room erupted into movement as everyone processed the new information. "Luckily, it is a very small bleed, but combined with the level of exhaustion and anxiety, not to mention emotional distress..." he paused. "I honestly think the only reason she remained conscious for as long as she did was due to adrenaline."

"She needed to get us home," Bear explained. "She did what she had to do."

"Lord knows she's stubborn enough to ignore bleeding in her brain if it got in her way," Chick agreed.

"Will she be ok? How long until we see her?" Will asked.

"With some rest and medication, she will be fine," the doctor assured him. "I doubt I'd be remiss to say you could all do with some rest."

"When can we see her?" Will asked again.

"She is currently sleeping," the doctor reminded him, but seeing the colonel's drawn face he relented. "But you are all able to see her now. I will take you to her room but only if you remain quiet. As I said, she needs her rest."

He led the way to one of the rooms that had security posted outside the door. When Chick asked about it, the doctor chuckled.

"My friend, you all saved the world. Needless to say there are plenty of people wanting to sneak a peek at their newfound heroes."

"But you're keeping everyone away, right?" Grace asked. She knew how upset Alex would be for anyone else to see her like she was.

"Yes, ma'am," the doctor reassured her. "These gentlemen are the last of a long line of defense against the paparazzi. And the staff here have all signed non-disclosure agreements when it comes to treating you."

"Thank you."

Everyone made their way into the room, gazing at Alex as she slept. As they settled into the available chairs, Bear left and reappeared carrying the additional seats they would need.

"How long until she wakes up, do you think?" Lev asked.

"Doubt it will be today," A.J. answered. "You heard the doc, she needs lots of rest."

A knock sounded at the door as Dan Truman entered. "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but we do have to debrief you all. I know it's not a good time but we have to get this done."

"It's as good a time as any," Rockhound argued. "I wouldn't be too happy waking up to a bunch of people staring at me."

"We'll take you in groups, then?" Truman offered. "That way someone is here with Miss Frost."

"Thanks, Mr. Truman," A.J. said. "I appreciate you thinking of that. Colonel, why don't you go ahead and go? I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind."

Will glanced up at A.J. and then over to Truman. "I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening."

"Debrief, Colonel," Truman explained. "We'll try to make it as quick as possible."

"Oh, right." Will glanced at Alex again.

Grace reached over her friend and took Sharp's hand. "She won't be waking up anytime soon, Colonel. Go ahead. We'll be right here with her."

Will nodded, squeezing Alex's hand before letting Truman lead the way for himself, Lev, and Bear.