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Mason did get several hours in, but somewhere in the early morning he got a phone call. He woke up, saw the number on the phone, and frowned. Slipping out of bed, he walked to the window and answered it. “Sir?”

“How are you?” retired Navy Commander Doran Magellan asked formally.

“I just made it home from the hospital, so I would say I’m somewhat okay,” Mason replied in a dry tone.

“Right, I guess I should have waited a little longer, huh ?”

“Knowing you, sir, I suspect that, for you, this is waiting a little longer.”

Doran boomed with laughter, and he replied, “Yeah, you got that right. Anyway I’ll let you get back to your wife.”

“Maybe you should explain why you called in the first place.”

“I just wanted to know if you were up for a special job.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Do I get a chance to recuperate?”

“ Ha , I figured you’d recuperated enough already.”

“Per the doc, I have another couple weeks,” he noted carefully, masking his tone, “but, once I’m cleared for work, I’m definitely interested.”

“How about you come see me in two weeks?”

Mason groaned. “What if I need more than two weeks?”

“Okay, that’s pushing it, but, if you say so, I’ll wait,” Doran noted drily, “but I can’t wait too long.”

“So, what’s the job?”

“I don’t want to give you too many details in case you’re not up for it.”

“Now you’re just being an ass, sir, and teasing me.”

“Yeah,” Doran agreed, with a chuckle. “I want you to say yes, but I need to know that you’re capable of handling the job.”

“I wouldn’t say yes if I wasn’t capable,” Mason said in exasperation, “and it’s not as if I need anything more than some time to heal physically.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Mason stated forcefully.

“Good. You’re hired.”

“Doesn’t mean I want the job. I don’t even know what it is, remember?”

“You want the job.”

“Now why is that?”

“Because I want you to head up a special division.”

“I’m not sure that I’m up for doing too many missions, too far away, especially considering we have a baby due soon.”

“Right, I forgot about that. How’s Tesla doing?”

“She’s doing great.” Mason chuckled. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Maybe nothing,” Doran conceded, “but you can probably do all the management from town.”

“In that case, I’m interested, but you still haven’t told me anything about it.”

“Nope, I haven’t, but you’ve already said yes, so that’s good enough for me. I’ll touch base in a while.” And, with that, he terminated the call.

Staring down at his phone, Mason groaned and made his way back to the bed.

Tesla murmured, “What did he want?”

“He wants me to head up a special division,” he shared, with a note of laughter, since she’d clearly figured out the identity of the caller.

Her eyes flew open. “You’re not healthy enough for that yet.”

“Yeah, but he’s giving me a couple weeks to get healthy enough ,” he added, still chuckling.

“What kind of special division?”

“That’s the problem. He didn’t say.”

“Oh, hell no,” she stated, sitting up now. “That could have you in all kinds of trouble.”

“It could,” he agreed, “but it does keep life interesting. Besides,… how bad could it be?”

“With him? It could be bad,” she muttered. “ Special division sounds like black ops to me.”

“Sure, and you know that the Mavericks are shut down.”

“I heard that,” she muttered. “I think Doran mentioned it somewhere along the line. So, maybe it’s something like that?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve got to tell you, sweetie, I am interested.”

She groaned. “Of course you are. If it keeps you home and if it keeps you out of trouble, I’m all for it. However, if it means you will bum around the world, getting into shit constantly, I can’t say I’m a big fan.”

He pulled her closer into his arms. “He said I could stay close.”

She shifted up on one elbow and frowned.

Mason nodded. “His words.”

“ Hmm ,” she muttered. “Doran does know that he will have to talk to me about it before you say okay, right?”

He burst out laughing. “I think he is fully aware that whatever I decide will be a joint decision on our part.”

“Except you already said yes.”

“He didn’t tell me the details, so it’s not as if he will hold me to it, especially if it’s not something I want to do.”

She laughed. “Look at you. You’re already beaming. It’s clearly something you want to do, but maybe you should find out a little more before you fully commit.”

“Oh, I’ll find out when he’s ready to tell me,” Mason noted, with a chuckle, as he wrapped his arms around her again. “How about you go back to sleep? You sound like you could use a little more rest.”

“Ha,” she replied, “you’re just changing the topic.”

“I am,” he admitted. “Is it working?”

“No,” she declared, as she hugged him closer and whispered, “But you can keep trying.”

He lowered his head and kissed her, then murmured, “I thought this wasn’t allowed.”

“It’s probably not,” she noted, “but maybe we can get creative.”

He groaned softly and whispered, “Oh, I promise that I can get very creative.”

“And gentle too.”

“Absolutely,” he whispered, as he slowly stroked her body, murmuring over the changes since he’d been gone.

“It was bad enough that you went up north, leaving me alone for months, but then to get shot coming off the plane? Who does that for a homecoming?” she asked.

“I know. I’m so sorry about that.”

“Of course you’re sorry, but it’s not your fault.”

“No, apparently it was the fault of an awful lot of people though,” he noted, “and that’s okay because it’s over.” When he finally slid into her from behind, then held her close, she shuddered in his arms. All too soon he shuddered through his release too. After his breathing returned to normal, he whispered, “Just this, just holding you like this,… it’s everything.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I’m so damn glad to have you back, but I still want to know more before you commit to this special assignment.”

He smiled as he held her close. He’d already committed, and she would be all on board when she knew. Yet she was right. It was time to commit to spending more time with family and to keeping safe everything he held dear, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be out there, doing a whole lot more to keep the rest of the world safe too.

Still entwined, Mason and Tesla both fell back asleep, enjoying what would now be the rest of their lives, in peace and hopefully in harmony forever.