When he got back to camp, he was surprised to find Walker sitting next to the campfire, sipping what looked like a fresh beer.

“No traitors in camp,” Sawyer said, rolling up his sleeping bag.

“Hey, I thought I was protecting you.”

“From a three year old?” Sawyer asked with a scowl.

“No, I thought Remy and Colt hooked up.”

That gave Sawyer pause. “That’s fucked up, man. You can go ahead and go now, though.”

“I’m here to report on Shiloh.”

Sawyer arched a brow.

“Your son?” Walker asked.

“Oh.” Sawyer scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t get around to asking his name.”

“No, I see that you’re busy out here in the wilderness,” Walker said, glancing around.

“Well? What’s the report?” Sawyer asked, already impatient.

“He’s doing fine. He’s home with Remy.”

“You went by?”

“No, actually. She called looking for you, told me to pass on the message.”

“Hmm. She’s full of information, suddenly.”

Sawyer pointed to the six-pack that Walker had brought, and Walker broke one off to toss it over.

“So… Shiloh.”

“Yeah, it’s a good name,” Walker said carefully.

“For a kid that doesn’t know that I exist,” Sawyer said, popping the tab on the beer. “Perfect.”

“So you’re still in the heavy sarcasm and anger portion of your trip,” Walker said, waving a hand.

“What am I supposed to feel?”

“I don’t know. Grateful that Remy’s taken care of your son, without asking for anything? Sad that you missed out on his younger life, eagerness to participate in the future?”

Sawyer shrugged. “I feel too many things to be able to sort any of it out.”

“Well… none of that really matters now.”

Sawyer paused. “Sorry?”

“You have a kid. That takes priority over your feelings now.”

“That’s a shitty thing to say to your brother.”

“Yeah? It’s like a tiny, tiny taste of what Remy’s probably been living with all this time.”

Blowing out a breath, Sawyer shook his head.

“Doesn’t make what she did right.”

“Nope. But it explains a lot. Mama bear protecting her cub? She’ll do about anything.”

Sawyer sipped his beer, staring into the fire. Thinking.

“I’m more mad at The Colonel than Remy,” he admitted after a minute.

“Fuck him,” Walker said. “He was a shitty father to us. He’s an even worse grandfather, apparently. Doesn’t change anything.”

“No.”

Walker was quiet for a beat, and Sawyer could tell that he was building up to something.

“This is your chance, man. You get to do better than The Colonel. Make sure your kid doesn’t grow up hating you.”

Sawyer sighed. “Yeah.”

“And… look, I hate to play the tragedy card here, man… but you’re the best off of the three of us. Colt’s leg is all fucked up, I’m fucking permanently alone after Jenny died…”

Sawyer kept his expression blank, though he was shocked at Walker’s words. He hadn’t heard Walker use his dead fiancée’s name since her funeral, maybe.

“You’re right,” Sawyer said, inclining his head.

“You get a chance to apologize to your girl, meet your kid… do it all over. Do you know how many people get a do-over? Not fucking many.”

Walker took a long sip of his beer, as if all the talking was working up a big thirst in him.

“So… what? I just forget that it all happened?” Sawyer asked.

“Maybe start with an apology, instead of expecting one,” Walker said. “You knocked Remy up. You changed her whole life. And yet, you don’t see her throwing a hissy fit about it, running off to hide in the woods.”

“Flattering.”

“Accurate.” Walker set down his beer bottle. “Even if it isn’t really your fault, it’s not truly hers, either. She’s put up with a hell of a lot, not asked you for a thing. I can tell you right now, I’d kill to trade places with you.”

Sawyer considered that. “Yeah, I guess she’s a pretty strong woman.”

“Wife material.”

“Jesus,” Sawyer said, rolling his eyes.

“What, you’ve never thought about it?”

“With Remy?”

“Yeah, with the girl who’s been devoted to you for most of our lives.”

Four years, she’d said. No matter what her reasons were, no doubt complex, she’d waited for him.

“Maybe I should start slow. Meet my son,” he said.

Walker nodded. “Not a bad beginning.”

“Yeah.”

They drank for a bit, poking at the campfire.

“So… you gonna come home, or just live out here like a mountain man?” Walker asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“All right. Well… how about some company?”

“You brought your sleeping bag?”

“I was a SEAL too, you know. I don’t show up for anything unprepared, Sawyer.”

Sawyer smiled, his first in days. “All right.”

“All right?”

“All right.”

And that was enough, for the moment.