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“You are lucky men,” he said, his French accent more pronounced in exhaustion. “To have her. On your team. On your side.” He glanced at Joker. “I have been in trauma medicine for twenty-two years. Still I learned something tonight.”

Everly blinked, stunned by the sincerity in his voice.

Jules gave her a nod of absolute respect. “You didn’t just save them. You taught me what it looks like when someone fights with everything.” His eyes softened. “Loves without apology.”

He turned to the others. “Bear is stable. He is strong, yes? Like his name.” A tired half-smile curved his mouth. “He asked for you, Lieutenant. All of you, and for the dog. I told him you would be there when he wakes.”

Then, he said quietly to Everly, “He is alive because of you.”

He stepped back. “I’ll check on the transfer team. Let you be together now.”

Then he was gone, walking down the hallway like the closing line of a poem that would stay with them all.

As Jules disappeared down the hall, the silence settled again, fuller this time, threaded with something steadier than just breath.

Then another figure approached, walking with quiet purpose, a man in teal scrubs with a stethoscope still slung around his neck. His dark hair was tied back neatly, and there was mud on his boots that hadn't quite been scrubbed out.

“I’m looking for Lieutenant Jackman?”

Joker turned. “You found him.”

The man nodded, offering his hand. “Dr. Adriano Pereira. I’m the attending veterinarian who treated your military working dog, Flint.”

Joker’s brows lifted, but he took the hand without hesitation.

“Fine animal,” Dr. Pereira said. “Smart. Loyal. I’ve rarely seen a dog so…deliberate. Your handler takes excellent care of him.”

“How is he?” Joker asked quietly, and every person behind him stilled to listen.

“He sustained a mild concussion, multiple contusions, and a deep laceration along his left flank. I cleaned and stitched it. No internal damage, though he’s favoring the leg.

I’ve prescribed fluids, pain control, and mandatory rest.” The doctor gave a faint smile.

“Yes, he’ll be allowed to recover in Petty Officer Locklear’s room.

I’ve already arranged for a crate, but I suspect he won’t stay in it long. ”

A few of them chuckled softly.

Dr. Pereira’s gaze swept the group. “Anything else I can do for him or for you, please don’t hesitate.”

Joker nodded once, quiet gratitude in his eyes. “Thank you. He’s not just a dog. He’s family.”

“I could tell,” the vet said simply. “It was an honor.”

Then he turned and left with the same quiet dignity he’d arrived with, leaving behind a room that, for the first time in hours, felt like it might just hold.

The hallway had quieted, the crisis past, but its echo lingered. Breaths still came too fast. Muscles were still coiled with adrenaline. But Zorro and Bear were alive. Flint was resting. The team, for the first time since the world went to hell, was standing whole again.

Joker turned to Everly, his expression unreadable for a beat, then softened just enough to give her something like a smile.

“I think at the very least,” he said, “we owe you some lunch.”

D-Day snorted. “None of this hospital crap either. We’re talking real food. Steak. Potatoes.”

Buck said, “I need liquor.”

Before Everly could respond, a blur of motion caught her eye. The women crowded around her, Pippa, Julia, Izzy, Bree, Maritza, Helen, closing the distance in a rush of limbs and breath and grateful noise.

They all spoke at once, voices overlapping like birds at sunrise.

“Oh my God, you were unbelievable?—”

“Someone said you knocked Joker on his ass while barking orders?—”

“Jesus, Everly, you need water, food, a blanket?—”

“You’ve got free coffee for life?—”

D-Day muttered affectionately, “Bunch of magpies.”

Everly laughed weakly and turned toward Pippa, breath catching. “I’m afraid I ruined your beautiful outfit. Blood doesn’t wash easily out of silk and lace.”

Pippa waved her off with a smile and a gleam in her eye. “Not to worry. I can replace it easily.” Her hand found Everly’s and squeezed tight. “You saved what is irreplaceable.”

Julia pulled her into a hug that was gentle but unshakable. “You did more than save them. You reminded all of us who we are. You’re part of us now, Everly. You don’t get to forget that.”

Maritza cupped her face in both hands, kissed her cheek, then said fiercely, “I will never forget what you did. Not ever.”

Izzy’s hug came last, quick, hard, protective. “If you ever doubt it again, I’ll personally drag your ass into the next family dinner and seat you between Joker and Gator so you can't escape the truth.”

Everly smiled through the tears that wouldn’t wait anymore. “Exactly what I needed.”

She was passed back into the circle of SEALs then, where D-Day stepped forward, his expression gruff but unguarded now. “You proved me wrong, Doc.” He gave a short, breathy laugh, more exhale than humor. “Didn’t think I’d be glad to eat my words.” His eyes met hers. “But I am.”

Everly reached out and squeezed his hand, firm and steady. “I’m glad about that, too…Drew.”

His brows lifted, but his mouth twitched. “Gonna have to stop giving you shit now, huh?”

She tilted her head. “Nope. I need the training with you all.”

He grinned. “Damn. Zorro’s doomed.”

Buck muttered, “She’s already running the team.”

Gator folded his arms. “I’m okay with it.”

Professor gave a quiet nod, deadpan as ever. “Checks out.”

Laughter circled the room like a balm, low, tired, real.

Everly smiled through the tears that wouldn’t wait anymore. “God. You all are…”

“Loud?” Bree offered, grinning.

“Terrifying?” Helen added dryly.

Everly pointed at Bree, voice raspy but playful now. “Y ou , Pretty in Pink with your brazen bravado…” She shook her head. “I want your glute regimen, because sister, that was one tight ass.”

The room roared .

Bree burst out laughing. “Well damn, Doc. Buy me a drink first.”

Blitz groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face. “Please, no. I can’t be here for this.”

D-Day clapped him on the back. “Oh, you’re here for it. You’re so here for it.”

Buck pointed. “Your woman just got medically confirmed as a WMD. That’s a Weapon of Maximum Donk.”

“Permission to throw myself into traffic,” Blitz muttered.

Gator grinned. “Negative, sailor. You die with honor or at least blushing.”

Izzy let out a snort. “Told you she was one of us.”

For the first time since the OR doors had closed behind her, Everly laughed too.

They were hers now. She felt it in her bones. The family she never had, and the man who would light up her life forever.

Hospital Copa D'Or, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Twenty-four hours later

The world came back to Bear in fragments. Light. The sharp scent of antiseptic. The distant thrum of a heart monitor that wasn’t his. Pain twisted low in his side, warm and dull. He blinked, throat dry.

White walls. A cooling IV drip. The faint shimmer of sunlight through closed blinds.

Flint. Relief rushed through him. His partner lay at the foot of the bed, head resting on crossed paws.

One eye cracked open at the shift in air.

The nurses had clearly tried to protest his presence.

Bear could tell by the blanket folded oddly at the corner of the mattress, like someone had attempted tidiness around a stubborn shadow. But Flint hadn't moved.

Bear's voice rasped, gravel-scraped. “Zorro?”

A chair creaked beside him. The sound was soft, but it carried authority.

“Of course you ask about someone else.”

He turned his head.

Claire Martinez sat by his bedside, her silver-blonde braid draped over one shoulder, expression calm but alert. She wore jeans and a soft blue top that looked like it belonged in a sunlit garden, not a trauma ward. But her presence fit. Strong, grounded, quietly luminous.

“How is he?” Bear asked. “Zorro. Javi. The team. Civilians?”

She rose without answering immediately, adjusting the pillow behind his head, smoothing the blanket over his chest in a way that reminded him of mothers he didn’t grow up with. Not really. Not consistently.

“Javi’s wound wasn’t critical, thank God. He’s resting comfortably. Zorro made it through surgery,” she said at last. “Stable. You did too. Barely. The rest of your team is whole, bruised, bandaged, but intact. The civilians…” She paused, met his gaze. “Many were saved because of what you all did.”

He exhaled, tension leaking out of his shoulders, but his body still hummed with unease. “Why aren’t you with him?”

“My husband needed to be with him,” she said, her voice catching. “He’s a very sensitive soul, my Gabriel. But you needed someone to be with you.”

Bear swallowed hard. The words hit somewhere he didn’t know he’d left open.

Maybe he wasn’t as stoic as he thought.

Maybe she saw right through it, through the quiet, the discipline, the silence he wore like armor. Maybe she saw the starving boy inside the soldier.

Maybe…he was okay with that.

He looked away, toward the window, and watched sunlight streak across the far wall. His mom had done her best. He didn’t doubt that. But most of the time, she was working, tired, barely treading water. His father? The memory of him was more shadow than substance.

He envied Zorro. Not just for the family he had but for the ease with which they showed up .

Claire’s voice was gentle now. “Would you be up for a short visit? Dani’s outside. She brought the girls. They’ve been waiting.”

Bear blinked.

“Fifi and Cami?” he asked, voice still ragged.

She smiled, soft and real. “Yes. They insisted on seeing you. They’re worried.”

Flint lifted his head slightly at the names, ears perked.

Bear’s chest tightened. He felt like hell. He probably looked worse. But somehow, that made it matter more.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’d like that.”

Claire moved to the door, leaned out, and whispered something.

Moments later, two small figures raced into the room. Fifi climbed up onto the chair with the practiced grace of a kid who didn’t see lines she wasn’t allowed to cross. Cami ran straight for the bed, skidding to a halt beside Flint and leaning to rub his ears.

“Uncle Bear!” Fifi announced. “You look like a mummy.”

“I feel like one,” he said, lips twitching.

“You scared everybody,” Cami said solemnly, not looking up from Flint. “Even Mommy cried a little.”

Bear swallowed around the lump in his throat, meeting Dani’s soft eyes, holding them for a moment, absorbing her thank you embedded there. He reached out and ruffled Fifi’s curls. “I’m sorry about that.”

“You better be,” Fifi said primly. “Next time, wear better armor.”

“Fifi,” Dani scolded. “So bossy.”

Bear chuckled. It hurt, but it felt so good. “I’ll do that.”

Cami finally looked up, eyes bright. “Flint’s okay, too. He’s very brave.”

“He is,” Bear agreed. “He always is.”

Claire watched from the corner, hands folded gently, and Bear caught the way her eyes shimmered just before she looked away.

Bailee.

He thought of her suddenly, fiercely. Her hands bloody from battle. Her eyes blazing with rage and fear when she found him. The heat of her palm against his chest. She had held him in the fire and refused to let go.

She was probably still here. Somewhere nearby. Ancestors help him, he wasn’t sure what would hurt more, seeing her, or not seeing her.

But that reckoning would come.

For now, there were girls to comfort, a partner at his feet, and a woman beside him who had reminded him, in the quietest way, what it meant to be seen.