He didn't understand. The entire battle had come to a stand still as Thomas was dragged out from his hiding place by his collar. He saw every face looking at him as the gun was held to his head. He was now the deciding factor; his signature could end all of this. And Thomas just didn't understand. The grip on his collar became tighter and the gun came closer to his temple. How did he get himself into this mess? All he wanted was collage credit, he hadn't signed up for this. Hell, he couldn't even remember the names of the park workers…well…he did remember one. The blue jay Mordecai, a name like that was hard to forget. But remembering one name didn't matter. Nothing about this park really mattered to him. This wasn't his home, this wasn't his life, and above everything else this wasn't his-

"This isn't his battle."

Thomas looked up for a moment and looked at Mordecai. He had just said the exact words Thomas was thinking so why did it make him feel so bad? Why is it that the same words made him feel so guilty when coming from someone else's mouth. Because, unlike Thomas, this was Mordecai's home. This was the Mordecai's job, his home, his life and he was willing to admit defeat for someone he didn't even know. That alone made Thomas feel a painful guilt in the pit of his stomach. This wasn't his fault. He realized that this park was important to these people but this wasn't his fault. So why did he feel like he was taking everything away from them?

Mordecai had done something for Thomas that no one else had ever done for him; he helped him. Mordecai was willing to let his whole life go for some high school kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thomas wished that he hadn't.

"Inter, go get us some coffee. Iced."

Thomas was let go and rushed to fulfill his boss's need. He was a coward. These brave people had given up everything they had ever known to save him and what was the first thing he did? He got victory coffee for the bad guys. Rage built up inside of Thomas. It was rage for himself and his jerk boss. Thomas was a coward and a push over but he refused to be a traitor. With a yell he launched cold coffee at his boss. He felt a pain swell through his body as he was pushed off of Exit 9B. His body fell down several stories and just when he was about to hit the bottom, something caught him.

The real document was only inches from his face. He could see the line that was meant for his signature and didn't hesitate to sign it. This wasn't just their battle or their home anymore. As Thomas signed the document only one though was going through his mind.

'This is my battle.'

Several days latter, Thomas was sitting on the porch next to Mordecai. They were both on their break at the moment. Mordecai was sipping at his millionth cup of coffee as Thomas bit into his peanut butter and jam sandwich. They weren't talking and were just savoring the moment of relaxation before Benson came and yelled at them about being fired, which had been happening more and more often to Thomas. Thomas had been keeping a ratio of how often he was threatened and how much time he spent with Mordecai and Rigby. Thomas had decided that the jury was still out even though he knew the results good and well. Apparently slacking off was contagious. Thomas stayed silent for a moment. He and something he had been meaning to say. It was a quick decision to break the silence; one Thomas had not thought out much.

"I-I never said thanks." Thomas said to his superior

"Uh…you're welcome?" Mordecai gave Thomas a quizzical look.

"You stood up for me during the whole Exit 9B fiasco. I never said thanks so…thanks."

"Oh. Dude, don't worry about it. Me and Rigby had a plan for that, no biggie. You're still welcome I guess."

Silence returned to the two for a moment. Somewhere in the house they heard Benson calling for them but then ignored him. Thomas looked at Mordecai again and smirked.

"I think you mean 'Rigby and I.'" Thomas corrected.

He had come to figure out that Mordecai was accustomed to being right and being proved wrong seemed to be a big pet peeve for him. Mordecai slouched a bit and buried his beak in his coffee cup. Thomas thought he heard him mumble something along the lines of 'smartass'. Thomas couldn't help but laugh. This must be what it felt like to care about something. This was the feeling you got when you knew without a doubt that you were home.

Can you say half-assed cheesy ending? I know I can!