Nick looked across the table at Tom. "Do you want another drink? I know you're not supposed to have any alcohol on Navy ships."

Tom chuckled. "I'll take you up on that.” Nick could feel Tom's dark eyes on him as he poured more wine into Tom's glass. "You know, I don't even miss it until I hear that irritating word, can't. Then it's like everything in me wants to smuggle a giant gallon jug of cheap rum on board, just because I'm not supposed to."

Nick made a face. "Cheap rum will give you the worst hangover ever.” He sat back down. Now that Sammy had gone off to bed, the table felt huge. It was probably safer for both of them if they stayed at the table instead of heading over to the couch, though.

Tom waggled his eyebrows at Nick. "Oh? Speaking from experience, are we?"

Nick laughed and topped off his own glass. "Yes, but not the way you're thinking. I finished my BSN in Boston, while I was working as a nurse. There are other kinds of nursing you can do with just an associate, you know. Anyway. Boston is probably the single drunkest city in the Union, and most of your drunks are college students. Which means they're drinking some seriously cheap stuff, because they're broke and they're not supposed to be drinking in the first place.”

"I will never forget the first time I got some eighteen year old kid coming into the ER, puking his guts out and insisting he had a brain tumor. It wasn't a brain tumor. It was a hangover. The kid had downed an obscene amount of cheap rum, the kind that comes in a plastic tub, through a funnel at a frat party the night before.” He shook his head. "I mean I get being young and exuberant and everything. I do. But the kid almost died. And have you ever had to try to clean vomit out of an MRI machine?"

"Oh, man.” Tom looked a little green at that. "I could wish you hadn't had to do that.” He looked away for a second. "We should've been those kids. Drunk as skunks at college, living it up without a care in the world."

Nick smiled. "It's a nice thought. I wouldn't trade Sammy for the world, though. I mean I wouldn't advise that course of action to anyone else, like ever, but it's not like there wasn't one really giant good point to it.” He sloshed his wine in his glass to watch it cling to the sides. "I was pleasantly surprised when he said he wanted to come see you get back home."

"No one was more surprised than I was, let me tell you.” Tom took a sip of his wine. "It was...well, it was weird. Most of us guys are young. And most of the guys don't have local family to welcome them back. Just Chief and Kelly. But I never thought about it until I knew I had a son. Then it was like, I was going to see other people with their families, and I knew mine wasn't going to be there. And then you were.”

Nick's heart caught in his throat. "It really meant that much to you?"

"More than I thought it could, until it happened.” Tom didn't hesitate. He looked right into Nick's eyes as he spoke, too. He meant every word. "I thought my heart was going to burst right out of my chest. Which would have been messy, trust me."

"Oh, I know.” Nick put his glass down so Tom wouldn't see his hands shake. "It's just...I had no idea you felt that way.” He rubbed at his face for a second. "I mean, I know you wanted to do right by Sammy, once you knew about him. I believe you about that."

"Good.” Tom huffed out a little laugh. Then he reached over the table and took Nick's hand. "It's not just him, though. It's you, too. Once we ironed out all of that crap with how we got separated in the first place, or the basic gist of it anyway, being around you just makes my mind easier. Coming over here and hanging out, just being together in whatever way, it makes me feel whole. Like some part of me that I'd lost came back."

Nick's head was spinning. He hadn't had much to drink at this point, so it had to be coming from Tom's words. "Tom.” He covered Tom's hand with his other one, like he could somehow keep Tom right where he was and extend this moment forever.

"I understand if you don't feel the same, or even if you don't feel like we should do anything about it. I get it. There are complicating factors right now. But life is short, and you never know what could happen. It's important to me to let you know where my head's at, just in case. You know?” Tom's eyes reflected something in the light. It made them look almost watery. "Even when I thought you'd just bailed like everyone else, I never stopped loving you. I was mad, yeah, but I never stopped loving you."

Nick looked down. He squeezed Tom's hand. "I couldn't let myself hope. When it was clear I was on my own, I had to accept that you weren't coming back.” He took a deep breath. Could he afford to be honest here? "I never stopped dreaming that you would."

Tom stood up. He moved slowly, like someone dealing with a half-wild dog. "Is it all right if I kiss you?"

Nick nodded. He didn't have to think about it. He stood up to meet Tom's lips with his own.

Of course, once the kiss began, Nick's anxieties rushed up to join it. It had been a long time since anyone had kissed him like this. He hadn't exactly been celibate in the time between high school and now, but a few furtive meetings in workplace bathrooms wasn't the same as a deep, lingering expression of affection and desire. What if he'd forgotten how to kiss?

Tom cradled Nick's face in his hands and deepened the kiss. Nick relaxed and let himself surrender. Tom was an alpha, and a damn good one at that. He could control the kiss, dominate it. If Nick just followed Tom's lead, he'd probably be okay.

Tom's lead soon had Nick with his back to the old moulding that lined the door frame. Nick could just let the wall hold him up, that wouldn't be a problem at all. He could focus on re-learning Tom that way. Tom tasted like tonight's dinner, lasagna and red wine and a little bit of something unidentifiable near the back of his mouth. He claimed Nick's mouth like it was his property, something he needed to remind the world belonged to him.

Once upon a time, that hadn't been far from the truth. Maybe, if the pair of them could manage to overcome their obstacles, it would be again.

Tom had always been athletic, but since he'd become a SEAL his body had become a living weapon. This close, Nick could feel the inexorable press of all that honed muscle. He radiated heat, too, because all that muscle burned at a higher rate than normal bodies. Nick didn't think the muscle itself was why his body was already heating up under Tom's touch, although it didn't hurt.

No, Nick was melting because Tom had always known exactly how to get his motor running. Sure, the Navy had taken Tom's good body and turned it into a showpiece. That scent that Nick picked up, right at the junction of Tom's neck and shoulder? That hadn't changed since high school. Neither had the way Tom grabbed his ass, lightly cupping the round muscle and kneading like a cat.

Nick let out a soft moan, and Tom pulled back with a little laugh. "We should move this upstairs," he murmured.

"Yeah, maybe.” Nick bit his lip. He wanted to. Good God, he wanted to. But he didn't want to wake Sammy. Sammy had made a pretty abrupt turnaround on the subject of Tom, but being awakened to a live-action sex ed class might change his mind back.

They might have been separated for a long time, but Tom could still read his mind. "Don't worry. We'll be quiet."

In a more rational frame of mind, Nick might have demanded specifics. Instead, he just nodded.

Tom led him up the stairs and over to the larger bedroom. The realtor had euphemistically called it the "master," but Nick had thought the man had delusions of grandeur. Right now, all that mattered was that it fit his bed and both of them.

The bed would have to work hard to accommodate both of them. Tom lifted his eyebrows when he saw it but didn't say anything. Instead, he closed and locked the door behind them both. "No surprises.” He smirked. "He's a good kid, but."

Nick snickered and stripped off his shirt. "You're not going to get an argument out of me."

Tom peeled his own shirt off and licked his way back into Nick's mouth. While they kissed, he steered Nick over to the narrow bed. Nick let himself be guided down onto the mattress, where Tom mouthed his way down Nick's neck to his clavicle.

"Did anyone tell you about the rules?" he murmured. He adjusted his position so he was on top of Nick, grinding down onto him.

The friction made Nick grip the sheets in frustration. "Rules?" he asked, through gritted teeth. "You couldn't have said something before?"

"No hickies where they'd show in uniform," he said, and dropped his lips right over the middle of Nick's chest. Nick gasped as the suction played at his nerves. "Can't," Tom continued, once he'd left his mark. "It's considered defacing Navy property."

"Are you kidding me right now?" Nick picked his head up and glared at Tom.

Tom chortled and brought his hands down to Nick's fly. "I'll bring it up when you've got some blood flowing to your brain.” He unbuttoned Nick's fly and let his hand brush against his aching cock before slowly drawing the zipper down.

Nick lifted his hips. It wasn't a subtle hint, and it wasn't meant to be.

Tom rolled Nick's jeans and boxers down with a practiced ease that sat a little uneasily on Nick's mind. He resolved not to focus on that, but instead on the way Tom's hands on his bare flesh made him light up. He felt almost as if there were little sparklers under his skin, tiny incendiary devices that only went off when Tom made contact with him.

They'd stopped at the pharmacy for condoms and lube. Nick didn't have any on hand, and Tom didn't have any in his duffel. They had some now, though, and Tom slicked up his fingers before he got into the process of stretching Nick out.

This, at least, hadn't changed. Tom hadn't ever wanted to hurt Nick, and he took his time because of it. With anyone else, that would have irritated Nick. He'd gotten used to not having the time for long, drawn-out foreplay or prep. It had always been such a part of Tom, though, and Tom made it so damn good, that he just relaxed and got into it.

Tom had him flip over when he finally decided to take him, though. Nick had hoped he could watch Tom's face while they made love, but as soon as Tom worked his way inside he understood the decision. He buried his face in the pillow and let out a long, low groan.

Tom stilled immediately. "You okay?"

"I'm good. Just give me a minute.” Nick turned his head to the side, so he could at least see Tom while he breathed through it. "You feel amazing, Tom."

"I wish you could feel it from this end. There just aren't words.” Tom inhaled sharply and put his hands on Nick's hipbones.

Nick rocked back. "Move."

Nick buried his face in the pillow again as Tom snapped his hips back. This was no furtive assignation in the stockroom. Tom’s hands on Nick’s hips were gentle, and fit exactly where they were meant to be. Every thrust brought a kind of drag Nick thought had been lost to him. He hissed out a cry, conscious of the need to keep quiet but unable to hide, though the pillow was helping to muffle the sound.

Nick reached for his cock when he felt Tom’s rhythm falter. It only took a few quick strokes to bring him over the edge, and that was all Tom needed to finish.  He hadn’t timed it. He hadn’t had the ability to focus in that way. He’d be surprised if it lasted long, though. For him, the intensity of their coupling, after so long apart, had overwhelmed him.

They fell down onto the bed together, gasping and sweating, before Tom pulled gently out and went to clean up.

He brought a cloth back for Nick and cleaned him up too. Then he squeezed into the narrow bed beside him. "You okay?" he asked, as Nick moved to accommodate him.

Nick gave a quiet laugh. "I wonder if we'd be able to pull this off without the wall here to keep us both in the bed."

"Probably not.” Tom wrapped his arms around Nick and gave a happy little sigh. "Let's not chance it, though.” He looked down at Nick. "Thank you for that. It was good. I missed you, while I was gone."

Nick adjusted his arms. They weren't going to fit comfortably, but he could at least find a position where they could sleep without cutting blood flow to one another's limbs. "I missed you too.” He bit his lip. He didn't want to tell Tom about his parents' interference. Not now. Not when things were going well.

"I guess you and Mal have gotten pretty close since we left.” Tom gave him a little squeeze.

"Yeah. Yeah, he's been a real godsend. I don't know what I'd have done without him.” Nick smiled. "We've been exploring. Tony's gone with us, Tony Boone."

"Chief's husband? That's cool. Chief mentioned our sons have been getting along. I think that's good.” He paused, muscles tense like he had something else to say. "Did they put any pressure on him, about me?"

Nick shook his head. "They talked to him, but wasn't like a pressure thing or a sales thing. I know Noah and his dad haven't always had a good relationship, so he'd have been the last one to give Sammy a hard time about you. I know Sammy's been asking questions about alphas.” Nick swallowed. Was this conversation about to get weird? "His test results came back, and he was kind of upset at first. He thought they were all like that Baudin guy, or like the stereotype. So I told him about you, when you were younger."

Tom relaxed. "So he's looking for a mentor or something?"

"Well, that's part of a father's job, isn't it?” Nick looked up at him.

"Of course it is.” Tom smiled. "I'll be whatever he needs. I just don't want to show up with a football if he wants someone to chase the bullies away, you know?"

"I think you'll do just fine when you both get your feet wet.” Nick squeezed Tom's hand and closed his eyes. Making it would be a challenge, but most families were.

***

Every deployment changed a man, and Tom was no exception. He'd come back scarred. He'd come back wounded. He'd come back haunted by the memory of comrades lost, of the things humans could do to one another, and of the things he'd never known he was capable of until he'd made himself look.

This was the first time he'd gone away a single man with almost no attachments outside of his platoon, and come back with a family.

It wasn't quite the ideal apple-pie family used to advertise packaged bread and dairy products all over the Midwest. Tom lived at his condo. Nick and Sammy lived at their tiny little house in Portsmouth. Everything in Tom wanted to ask them to move in right the fuck now, because that house was too tiny to live in, and the bed was barely big enough for one person to sleep in comfortably, never mind two. He held off, because they'd only been reunited for a few months, and it wasn't right to just pick a kid up and move him like that.

Besides, Nick had worked hard for that house. There was no way he was going to be willing to pick up and just move.

Tom did go out and buy an air mattress, though. And he asked both Nick and Sammy, because Sammy was old enough to have his opinion consulted about these things, if he wanted to come over to Tom's place on at least some weekends.

Surprisingly, he did.

Tom quickly designated one of his guest rooms as Sammy's room. He even got Nick to help him pick out bedding and a few decorative items from the big-box store on the sly so Sammy could see Tom's commitment when he got there. Sammy didn't say much when he saw it. He just blushed, but Tom overheard him waxing rhapsodic to Noah over the phone.

Tom shook his head at himself when he spoke to Kelly on base. "Sometimes I feel like I've stepped onto another planet. On weekends, they stay with me. I stay there on Wednesday nights. The rest of the time I'm on my lonesome in the condo, and it sure as hell seems lonesome to me. You know what I'm saying?"

"Oh, I know what you're saying.” Kelly snorted. "I was doing the same thing last year when we were in Crete, remember? There just wasn't a kid there. It's a weird situation, right? You hadn't felt particularly lonely, but once you've had that little bit of bliss, it's like you can't sleep when you're alone anymore."

Tom rubbed at the back of his neck. He hadn't understood that about his buddy. He hadn't seen him going through that. Of course, who was Kelly going to tell at the time? The only guy with a family was Chief. "It's the weirdest thing," he said instead. "Part of me feels like I'm totally jumping the gun here. And then part of me is like, go to the jewelry store now, buy a ring now, before he realizes how much better he could do and goes out and does something about it."

"Right?” Kelly snickered. "I'll go shopping with you sometime, if you want me to. We can be useless in the jewelry store together.”

Brass had pulled them out of North Africa for reasons of their own, reasons that seemed to involve White Dawn, but that didn't mean they weren't getting ready for other jobs. The world was a dumpster filled with highly flammable material. It could ignite at any moment. Their ultimate superiors had started including training for areas around the Black Sea, which included some serious snow training. They flew up to the Great Lakes and the Rocky Mountains for a week at a time to do survival training or to practice winter combat.

They trained for amphibious warfare, too. That was supposed to be their bread and butter. Tom couldn't quite figure out exactly what they were supposed to be getting ready for on that front, but it didn't pay to let those skills get rusty.

They had language training sessions, as well. Everyone in the platoon spoke Arabic and spoke it fluently. Now they worked on some other languages, like Turkish or Ukrainian. That raised a few eyebrows, but Tom just went with whatever he was told. It would come in useful or he'd forget it, like all the Latin he'd learned in high school.

When Tom was in town, he tried his best to get to know Sammy. Sammy still wasn't ready for a lot of father-son alone time, but they could be around each other without bloodshed. It turned out that poor Sammy had exhausted the local grade school's math resources already, even though it was only October, and he was bored to tears. He'd taken to bringing a book to class, and that wasn't good. Pretty soon he would start acting out, and he was definitely going to start developing sloppy study habits.

The teacher asked for a meeting to discuss the book issue, and much to Tom's surprise and delight, Nick invited him to attend. This, too, was part of being a family. It wasn't just dinner three times a week and a special bedroom in Virginia Beach.

When Tom sat down with the teacher and Nick, with Sammy safely deposited at Mal's for the evening, he was less than impressed with the teacher's solution. Unfortunately, he could understand where she didn't have anything better to offer. "Look, I understand where you both want something else for your son. A mole could see that Sam's a very bright child, but this district isn't set up to accommodate that kind of individualized instruction. I've got four kids in the class who are highly disruptive. I can't get into specifics, that would be illegal, but one of them brought a knife to class today and hacked off another child's hair with it. If Sam's nose is in a book, he's not hurting anyone. That has to be my priority. I'm sorry, but student safety has to come first."

Tom pursed his lips. He wanted to say something about how those kids shouldn't be in a class with innocent kids in the first place, but the teacher probably wasn't in a position to do anything about it anyway.

And Nick just nodded, like he'd heard that before. "I appreciate that you need to think about safety first. I'm just wondering if we can't find something else for Sammy to do during that class, some other way to occupy him during that hour. I don't want him to turn into one of the kids you have to watch out for, and having the other kids see him reading in the back of the room can't be helpful when it comes to class discipline."

Tom sat forward. "What if I could get someone to design a program just for him? It won't require anything else on your part, and you could just maybe take the grades from this other person, look them over, and put them through. It doesn't have to be formal if you don't want it to be, but it would at least give Sam the illusion of working at the same time and pace as everyone else. And then you don't have to worry about what he's getting up to when you think he's reading a book."

Nick turned his head to face Tom, impressed. The teacher just bit her lip. "I don't know, it's a little irregular."

"It's very irregular. How many kids here have already finished calculus?” Tom raised an eyebrow. "Look. I haven't asked anyone on my top three list yet, but they're all Navy instructors. It's not like he's not going to be learning. The only difference would be that you probably wouldn't be able to help him if he had a question.” Tom figured it was probably an assy way to reply, but Sam was his priority.

The teacher sighed. "I have concerns. But you're right. I don't think it's a great idea to let him sit there and read in class. I don't have the resources to do right by him, so I'm going to informally say yes.” She managed half a grin. "On a trial basis, of course."

"Naturally.” Nick sat back and put his hand on Tom's arm.

They left to go pick Sammy up soon after, and Nick couldn't say enough about Tom's great idea. "Where did you get that plan? He'll be thrilled, Tom. Absolutely thrilled."

Tom chuckled. "I was trying to come up with something nicer to say than 'Well expel the stabby kid and your problem is solved.'“ He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "I'm not criticizing your parenting here, not at all. You've done an amazing job with him. I'm just—is it the best idea to leave him in such a violent district?"

Nick sighed and bowed his head. "It was the best place we could afford, honestly. And at least most of the other kids are around our income level. Besides, it's not like richer kids aren't violent. They just wait until they're out on the playground to do the same stuff.” He picked his head up. "We've lived in worse. And at least this time we don't have to worry about a creepy, lecherous landlord showing up."

Tom shuddered. "Okay, I mean I do have the condo in Virginia Beach. I think the schools are pretty good there, considering."

Nick blushed. "It's something to think about.” He looked out the window, shutting that line of conversation down. "I don't think Sammy's ready for that," he muttered into the glass.

"Probably not.” Tom winced. He shouldn't have suggested it. It was definitely too soon. He could take heart from the fact that Nick hadn't said "no," though. "Anyway, I'll ask some of the instructors on base for help in the morning. Most of them should be pretty on board. If nothing else, it's good PR. Not that I think much of using Sammy for PR, but if it helps?"

"If it helps I won't give even half a crap about it," Nick promised.

Lt. Owens, the first instructor on base that Tom asked, was downright eager to volunteer. She arranged to meet up with Nick and Sammy after work, and they came up with a plan together. Tom felt a little swell of pride in his chest.

He'd done that. He'd solved a problem for his family. He'd been a father. He'd been an alpha. It was more than being a big brash guy with a big dick who could go around and smash things up. It was more than being the jealous type who growled whenever someone so much as looked at his partner. Being an alpha, to Tom, meant providing for his family in whatever sense they needed at the time. His family needed him to get a problem solved, and Tom solved it.

Chief found out about the arrangement a couple of days later. "Nice work," he said. "Believe it or not, you've inspired a great PR push in every school district where we have a base."

"Seriously?” Tom scratched his head.

"Oh yeah. Owens submitted it this week. She's recommending we help struggling districts with programs for gifted students. She's giving you credit, for the record.” Chief smirked. "You're just coming up roses with this whole family man thing."

Tom laughed. "Yeah, okay. We'll see how Sammy feels when he realizes how much homework he's got."

"You're not a family man until your kid's told you to go fuck yourself at least once.” Chief straddled a chair.

Tom sat near him. He thought he remembered Nick telling him Chief and his oldest son didn't get along well. "Everything okay, Chief?"

"Oh, yeah.” Chief waved a hand. "All families have some friction. That's normal. Noah and I have a little more than most. But he's older than the rest of my kids, and he was a little more cognizant when his dad and I were having some problems. He's real attached to Tony—all of my kids are—so he took sides. That's something to be prepared for, you know? They wind up closer to the parent who's with them all the time. It's just the way it is. We can't do anything about it. That's the job."

Tom bit down on the inside of his cheek for a long moment. "Yeah. And Nick's got a good ten years' solo time. I'm not going to be able to muscle in there or anything like that. I wouldn't even want to."

Chief laughed at him. "Of course you'll want to. You'll have times when you're jealous to the point of rage—of Nick and of Sammy. Don't let it get to you. Be aware that it's happening, and do something to distract yourself until you can think like a human being again. It's a normal and understandable reaction. Doesn't mean you're not acting like an ass when you let it show."

Tom snickered. "Yeah. Yeah, I can see that."

"Good. No reason we all have to make the same damn mistakes.” He stretched his arms. "So. This whole White Dawn thing."

Fitzpatrick made a face. "I'm not going to lie, Chief. I understand that we're not going to find out why we keep getting pulled from these jobs. I have to say, though, it's not exactly filling me with trust."

Chief smirked. "You're not exactly filled with trust when it comes to authority, though, are you, Fitzpatrick? Don't worry. You're not the only one. You're not even the only one who got railroaded into enlisting."

Tom jumped. "What, is it in my file or something?"

Chief laughed. "Or something. I don't blame you, or anyone else, for being suspicious. Brass is made up of people. Most of them are good men. The thing with people is that everyone has a price. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that someone got to some of these guys.” He scratched at his stubble. "The thing is, eventually it's going to bite someone in the ass."

"You think it's going to be us.” Tom didn't have to think it was going to be them. He knew damn well who it was going to be.

"Not if we play our cards right.” Chief stood up. "Keep your chin up and your eyes sharp. You never know when we're going to get our chance."

Tom tilted his head a little. "You almost sound like you're making this personal, Chief."

"Maybe just a little bit.” Chief tapped the side of his nose. "I'll see you around, Fitzpatrick.”

Tom watched him go. Was Chief suggesting the brass wasn't united when it came to not investigating White Dawn? And what did that mean for the team?