The next morning I woke up to a splitting headache and an empty bed. Recalling all the nights Morgan and I fell into bed together; she was usually always gone before the sun rose. Just once I wish she would stay. I dug my face into the pillow a little bit more and then sighed. Hiding here will do nothing. It didn't stop me from staying in bed for another five minutes before I rolled out from under the covers. The cool air of the morning made me shiver as I pulled my bedroom door open.

The house was quiet as I checked Robs room to find it also empty. I made my way down the stairs and found Dominic sitting at the table with sunglasses on sipping from a hot mug. As I sat down across from him a pair of pills appeared in front of me and a mug of coffee. Peyton sat down next to me a second later as I took the pills and washed them down with some coffee. Nobody said anything as I downed the coffee. Peyton left her seat and kissed the crown of my head before disappearing down the hallway towards mom art studio.

Dominic and I sat in silence and drank our coffees. As I got to the end of my mug, I started to feel my headache slowly start to fade and I got up to make myself something for breakfast. Before I got far, I found a basket of bagels and rolls sitting on the counter. I picked up a bagel and found some cream cheese in the fridge. It didn't take long to slater the bagel in cream cheese and I returned to the table with a cup of orange juice now that the coffee ran out.

About half way through my bagel the front door opened and Morgan and Rob walked in slightly sweaty. Looks like both of the opted for a run this morning. Rob gave me a wave before taking the stairs two at a time to take a shower. Morgan joined Dominic and I at the table and took a seat. She looked longingly at my bagel so I got up and made her one. Her smile was bright when I put the plate down in front of her as I went back to my own breakfast. Rob joined us a little while later and made his own breakfast and joined us. Dominic I think had enough of all the noise and grunted out he will see us later.

After Morgan was done with her breakfast she went upstairs to shower and I took some time to look over some emails when I saw a few from command. They contained some new information regarding what's happening in Russia. Things are slowly starting to fall apart and I don't know how much longer it will be before we all are called to go overseas. As I finished one of the briefs, I heard some footsteps come from down the hall and found Mom walking toward us with Peytons hands on her shoulders. I put the brief away and took in mom's tired eyes and paint covering her hands and arms.

"This one has been up since 4am painting. I think it's finally time for her to finally take a much deserved break to have some food." Peyton said and sat mom down in the chair Dominic vacated.

"Definitely, looks like you could also use a nap mom." I said and sighed.

"I couldn't sleep, so I went to paint and I just kept going." Mom said slummed in her chair.

"Okay well now, you need some food, a shower then a nap. We still have some time before we need to leave for the wake." I said and patted her hand. Mom only nodded as Peyton came over and gave her a roll with butter on it.

Just as I was going to pick up my phone again to finish the brief, Rob spun the paper around and pointed at an article. His eyes connected with mine and I saw the look in them. His 'this is going to be bad' look and I read the article title. More Images of Increased Russian Troops Near the Ukraine Boarder. I didn't read the article and looked at Rob with an I know face. Before either of us could close the paper mom spoke.

"You're going to get deployed, aren't you?"

The sentence was a knife in my heart and I had a hard time looking in moms eyes without the truth bleeding through. The words took a few moments to come as I carefully crafted a statement that wouldn't completely make this weekend any harder.

"There is a lot of chatter to what is happening. With the pull out of troops in Afghanistan, there is a chance we will be sent to Europe to support NATO and our allies. Since Ukraine isn't a NATO country, things are complicate about how we can, or if we would respond if things escalate." I had a feeling that Peyton would be able to read through the lines of my bullshit quite easily, her being former military, she knows the run around. One look at Rob and he knew we are most likely going.

Before I could close the article, mom picked up the paper and ripped it in half then threw it towards Morgan who just came back downstairs. Mom put her head in her hands and all the paint transferred to face and I had to bite back a laugh at the colors now all over her face.

"You're on leave, they have other teams that can go." Mom said, pain written all over her face and the bagel I had for breakfast started to roll in my stomach.

"If they call for my team, I have to go mom. There isn't anything I could do about that." I said and looked at Peyton for help. She nodded and I knew she would help if I needed her. Mom dropped it for now as Morgan stepped around the remains if the newspaper paper littering the floor to sit next to me.

"So, what'd I miss?" She asked taking in the serious expressions on our faces and I couldn't help but laugh to relieve the tension.

Mom still didn't look happy so I got my friends up and we took ourselves outside. The warmth of the morning made the chills of the AC inside disappear and I took in the sun for a few moments.

"Check your phone, I got briefings from command about what's going on in Ukraine." I told Morgan and she disappeared inside. She came out a few moments later with her laptop and started to go through her documents while I continued to read up on my phone.

"Well, I don't have any deployment emails so that's good." Morgan said as she continued to read through her inbox.

Rob stay quietly with us while we went through the briefings. It took us about an hour to get through them and it left me a little bit settled. All it was, was just an update on the latest political chatter. Russia is sending troops to be stationed close to the boarder of Ukraine along with what looks like tanks and other military style vehicles from the latest fly over. I was hoping to have some time at home to help with everything that Dad left behind, but the reality is, we could still get spun up at any time.

Finally I had enough and closed out of all of the briefings and put my phone down not wanting to think about it anymore. I couldn't help but just sag into the patio chair and turn my face up to the sun, wishing for this weekend to be over already.

"Fuck" Morgan said and my somewhat settled mood turned sour. I didn't even open my eyes or turn to her.

"When are we leaving?" I asked.

"We aren't, well at least not yet. I just got a new target package to help on, you'll never guess who it's for though." Morgan said.

"It better be someone good." Rob said from the other chair.

"Abu Ilbrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the ISIS leader who gave the orders to bomb the airport." Morgan said and my blood ran cold.

"They found him?" I asked not believing what she was telling us.

"You know I can't tell you that, I shouldn't have even told you who the target package was for. I don't even know if you will get in on the action, just they wanted another set of eyes on this target package and they already have two other teams already over there training for it." Morgan said.

"If they are pulling you in on this, then they are going to call us in." I said and stood from my chair; I couldn't sit still any longer.

"Hey, this doesn't leave this deck. You know we could all get court marshalled if this gets out." Morgan said and leveled me with a stare.

I couldn't reply, just as I was about too the backdoor opened and Peyton stuck her head out. She could read our reactions and knew something was amiss but didn't call us out on it.

"We need to get going soon if you guys want to start getting ready." Peyton said and closed the door behind her.

"We cannot be late today with how many members of the brass are coming, so lets get moving." Rob said and stood from the chair.

Rob held the door open for Morgan and I as we walked inside before following in after us. Together, the three of us made our way upstairs and went into our rooms. Morgan and I got changed in silence even though I had a million different questions on my mind. I don't know how long its going to take to get answers for them. For all I know, they could never be answered. The army can send a different team and we will never know what could happen if this mission gets green lighted. I sighed and tried to push it all from my mind as I tucked my dress shirt into my pants.

It took about a half an hour to get into my shirt, pants and shoes. I left my jacket off for now as I went into the bathroom to tuck my hair into a tight bun. When I was done I went back to my room and Morgan and I switched. I pulled my jacket on and started to do up the buttons as Morgan came back into the room to do the same. When we were both done, we headed downstairs and found Peyton talking to Rob.

I stopped in my tracks when I notice Peyton is wearing her uniform from when she was in the Marines. I've only seen her wearing it in pictures, never in person. When she noticed Morgan and I she turned to us both and saluted.

"Lieutenant, Staff Segreant." Peyton addressed us both. Morgan and I got into position and saluted her right back.

"Segreant." We both said and broke our salute. Peyton did the same as I took in her uniform. She collected a few ribbons on her chest, ones that are the present even on my own chest.

Global War on Terror, Global War on Terror Expeditionary, Purple Heart, wait, purple heart. My eyes met Peytons and she knew what I was about to ask. Before the words could leave my mouth, my mom came around the corner and looked at us all for a moment. It took a second for her to get her barings again but once she did, she walked towards the front door and grabbed her keys.

"Lets go, we cannot be late today for any of your sakes." Mom said and walked right out the front door. The four of us scrambled around to grab everything we needed before we got into our separate cars.

I drove us behind mom to the funeral home again and parked near the front door. When we got outside I made sure my jacket was fully buttoned before I put my beret on and together the three of us walked into the front door. Mom and Peyton were talking to the army's liaison and I took a look down at the end of the room and saw two soldiers standing guard on either side of dads casket.

The liaison just went over the details for the burial tomorrow and what we could expect. At twelve hundred hours the Army's honor guard will start the transfer from the funeral home to the cemetery. At the burial there will be time for Dominic and I to say a speech and then there will be a 12-gun salute before the playing of taps. When the song is complete, the honor guard will fold up the flag and hand it over to me. Before I could object to say it should go to mom, mom interrupted me and told me, she wanted me to be the one who receives it. She know how close we are and she thought it would only be right to have his flag with me. Fuck, were.

With all of the details seemingly ironed out, the liaison left us to prepare a few things for the wake today. I just took a seat at the back of the room and tried to fight the way my chest just kept getting tighter. All of this is happening to fast for my brain to keep up and now I just want it all to stop. Before I could spiral harder, Morgan sat down next to me and put her hand on my thigh. She gave it a hard squeeze and it felt like that was the pressure release valve I needed because I could take a breath finally.

We didn't say anything as it got closer to show time and Morgan's hand didn't leave my thigh. The pressure was what I needed to keep my head from falling off at this point and I don't know if Morgan knew or she needed to hold onto me to keep her own sanity in check. Dominic dropped into the chair in front of us and turned to look at us.

"It's almost time if you guys need a second to get yourself together." He said quietly. I could only nod and I bowed my head for a moment.

Morgan slowly eased her pressure off my thigh and she got up. When she left me alone I finally stood myself and wiped my sweaty hands on my slacks before following after her. As I turned up in the front room, the door opened and in walked the remaining ten soldiers in my unit. My unit was one of the few that is a mix of men and women and the only one lead by a women. I've been in command for about two years now and after the first few months, I finally found the perfect group to have as a team.

As everyone filed in, they all are clean cut and dressed perfectly. Monica was the last one in the door, almost like she was leading everyone inside to make sure everyone was on time and in the right place and I gave her a thankful smile. Before I could say anything mom, Peyton and Dominic came around the corner and stopped in their tracks.

"Mom, Peyton, Dominic, I want you to met my unit. Team, this is my mom Shannon, step mom Peyton and younger brother Dominic. When I'm gone, this is the team I lead, with Rob and Monica's help." I said and gave mom a soft smile.

"It's really nice to finally get to meet you all in person." Peyton said and nodded.

"You as well ma'am." Monica said.

"Before anybody gets here, can you get a picture of us? I can't even remember the last time we were all dressed up." I asked.

"Sure chicken." Mom said and then there was a flurry of movement to get everyone in place long enough for mom to get a good picture of all of us. When she got one that had everyone's eyes open and I grabbed Morgan and pulled her into the photo. Even though she's not officially part of the team, without her we would have no target packages.

It didn't take long to get a good picture then we all broke up and started to move around the front end of the funeral home. After the photo, it didn't take long before other people started to come through the front door. My unit started to move into the sitting room while I greeted other officers and NCOs who wanted to come and pay there respects. It started with low level officers and NCOs then as all of a sudden I was starting to greet majors, colonels and generals. Every time I tried to salute them as they walked through the door they waved me off, told me that today was not the day for rank.

As the wave of soldiers finally started to slow I was going to join the rest of my family in the sitting room when the door opened again. In walked Mallory with Logan in tow. Oh how I did not have the patience to deal with her today. Just like the day before Logan broke away from Mallory and ran over to me and hugged my legs. I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face and I hugged him back.

"Hi Logan." I said as he looked up at me.

"Hi Dani!" He said all excited.

"What brings you back?" I asked Mallory trying to let go of yesterdays conversation.

"Robert let it slip yesterday that the rest of your unit was going to be here today. Logan begged me all night and this morning to come and meet them. Like I did pretty much everything I could think of to try and get him off the subject but he wouldn't take no for an answer." Mallory said as Logan let go of my legs.

"I'll gather them all up later, there are too many high-ranking officers here for me to not be on my best behavior right now." I said to Mallory.

"I understand. We'll stay towards the back and I'll explain it to him, if you need to go, don't let us hold you up." Mallory said and I nodded before turning around and walking into the sitting room to take my seat all the way in front of the room.

As I took my seat I pulled my beret off and left it hanging over my knee. A few second later a general walked up the podium and looked at all of us who were here. Then his eyes landed on me in the front row. They lingered on me for a moment and I was about to stand up to salute him when finally his eyes moved over to Dominic next to me and then mom at the other end with Peyton next to her.

"I'm not going to take up much time, I just had some words about Peter." The major general said and sighed before looking back at dad in the casket.

"Peter and I have served together for about as long as we've been in the service. We fought side by side in Vietnam, and Desert Storm as we moved up the ranks. I felt like I could do anything with my battle buddy by my side. Pete was always a good one. Someone I could always rely on when we were up the creak because I remember a few of those missions to this day."

"As he rose the officer ranks, Pete found a true home working with the teams. Working with almost all of the Delta Force teams and our special operations unit of the Rangers, he truly found his calling. He pioneered the change to allow women get the same opportunities in our special forces units and in more combat rolls overseas. I'll never forget the day when he called to tell me that you graduated Ranger School Daniella. It was one of the proudest moments of his life, almost as proud as when you told him you were going to lead your unit when your staff sergeant retired from the teams." Major General said and gave me a smile.

A tear fell from my eye as he continued about dads service. When I got the news I was being promoted to team leader, dad was the first person I called. He was actually in a meeting and didn't answer so I called his secretary to pull him from the meeting so I could tell him. After I got him on the phone and told him, dad ran out his meeting and canceled the rest of his calendar for the next two days and drove down to see me. We celebrated together and it was one of my favorite nights. I pulled myself back together and tuned back into what the major general was saying.

"...From the secretary of dense which I will give to Daniella. The flag that will be draped over the casket tomorrow to Peters final resting spot has been flown over the white house and is accompanied by a letter from the president speaking to Peters years of dedicated service to this country." The major general continued but I toned him out. A folded-up flag is the last thing I want, the only thing I want is my father to be alive.

The major general wrapped up his speech then came over to me and shook my hand to offer is personal condolences. It was only then did I actually remember who he was. Major General Alexander Karako. He was one of dads good friends. Often times when I would just walk into dads office when I visited him on base, Alex would be in the office. When his identity clicked in my brain, I knew all his words were genuine and it made it hard not to lose my composer as he handed me a folder.

After the major general shook Dominic's hand and gave mom a hug he went to sit down. Another man came up to the podium next and I knew right away who he was. Segreant First Class Ryan Strome. The red shoulder sleeve insignia gave him away, Alpha One.

"I'm not going to take up a lot of your time today. My name is Ryan and Lieutenant Commander Donovan was our Major for the longest time before he moved up in rank one final time to become an LC. He deployed my team more times then I can count now on missions all over the world during our time together. He was one of the best Majors I had the pleasure of working for and he is going to be fiercely missed amongst my team and other Delta Teams.

"When we heard of his passing we were deployed on mission and my team and I got special approval to be here today and tomorrow. On behalf of my team and I, I would like to present Staff Segreant Donovan with a shadow box of all of Peters ribbons and awards. Even though he never showed them off, he collected quite a bunch during his service. You will be greatly missed my friend." Ryan said and stepped in front of the podium and gave me the shadowbox.

I stood to receive the box and shook Ryan's hand. Looking at the box right now doesn't seem like the best idea. Ryan went down to Dominic and mom as well before he took his seat somewhere in the back with his team. Just when I thought we would be done with the speeches Morgan stood from her seat next to me and walked up to the podium.

"For those who don't know me, my name is Morgan. When I enlisted in the army, it was a decision my parents did not understand. They did everything they could think of to get me out of my service contract, but I still got onto the plane that took me Fort Jackson. I went through basic with Daniella and together we made it out the other side as soldiers.

"I was lucky enough to be placed in the same platoon as her and we have basically served together our whole careers. The more time I spent with Daniella I got to know Peter. Whenever he could, he would come down to Fort Benning and visit. Over the years we built our own relationship. As I continued to serve, my parents continued to disapprove of my choice to the point where I don't have a relationship with them at all.

"Throughout the years, Peter became the father I wish I had. He was always there for me when I needed advice and even pushed me to following my dreams and enrolling in Officer Candidate School. Without his push and encouragement, I wouldn't be a lieutenant today. He saw something in me I didn't see myself and pushed me to go because he knew I could do it and I did.

"The last time we spoke it was about a new opportunity to work with the DOD and he put my name into the ring of consideration to be selected. I actually found out this morning I was accepted into the fellowship and I'm going to do it for him. So I just wanted to thank Peter for always believing in me when I didn't." Morgan said and I couldn't help but smile at my friend.

Morgan told me about this fellowship with the department of defense a while ago but didn't really put to much thought into it as we were deployed at the time. She told me that my dad put her onto it and she thought it was something she would like to work on as she would be coming into this with a different perspective then the other candidates. With Morgan's continued work with special operations teams it sets her apart from them. Dad saw that and Morgan's brilliant mind and submitted the application on her behalf. I'm just happy that she is going to be able to work on this project not only for herself but to make him proud too.

Morgan sat back down next to me and I squeezed her leg. We are definitely going to be talking about this later. Nobody else got up to speak and just as I was about to get up Dominic stood from his chair and and walked in front of dads casket and turned around to face the room. He swallowed hard and I gave him a smile before he look around the room again.

"On behalf of my family, I would just like to thank you all for coming out. I know dad's work meant the world to him and to know that all of you are here today isn't lost on us, so thank you again for coming." Dominic said and came to sit back down. Dominic took my hand in his and I sighed. When can all of this be over?

a/n: slowly building, next chapter is going to be a doozy.