The Woods family home sat at the eastern edge of town, a split-level that had survived the portal overflows through luck and the stone wall with the railing atop surrounding the property that Colonel Woods installed before the system. Danny counted three vehicles in the driveway before Zoe pulled into the last remaining space: two SUVs and a beat-up sedan, which meant most of the family was already here.

  "You sure this is okay?" Danny asked, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I don't want to intrude on family time."

  Zoe laughed and reached over to squeeze his hand. "My mom always makes too much food. Trust me, they're expecting you."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Besides, you're family now. Whether you like it or not."

  A grin spread across his face. "I like it."

  They made it halfway up the walkway before the front door flew open and a girl who couldn't have been more than fourteen launched herself at Zoe with a shriek that probably woke half the neighborhood.

  "You're back! Oh my god, you're actually back!" The girl wrapped herself around Zoe and refused to let go. "We watched the broadcast and I told everyone you were going to be famous and Dad said to stop being dramatic but I was right!"

  "Brooke, I can't breathe."

  "Don't care. You left for five months."

  Two more girls appeared in the doorway, both younger than Brooke. They talked over each other and rushed forward to join the pile.

  The front door framed a woman in her fifties with the same striking features as Zoe, though her hair was shorter and streaked with gray. Mrs. Woods stood there with her arms crossed, but her smile gave her away.

  "You planning to stay on the porch all day, or are you coming inside?"

  Zoe extracted herself from her sisters and climbed the steps to hug her mother properly. Danny hung back on the walkway. His own family dinners had been silent affairs before everything fell apart, and now here he was about to sit down with nine people who actually liked each other.

  Mrs. Woods caught his eye over Zoe's shoulder. "Danny. You going to stand out there in the cold, or are you coming in to say hello?"

  "Sorry, ma'am." He climbed the steps, and before he could figure out what to do with his hands, Mrs. Woods pulled him into a hug that smelled like brown sugar and cinnamon.

  "None of that 'ma'am' nonsense. You call me Diane." She stepped back and looked at him. "You've been taking care of my daughter out there?"

  "She's been taking care of me, honestly."

  Diane laughed, the sound filling the small space between them. "That sounds about right."

  Heat and noise hit Danny the moment he crossed the threshold, layered with the smell of cooking that made his stomach clench. Walking into a loud family dinner made his chest tight in a way combat never did.

  A man appeared from the kitchen, tall and broad-shouldered with close-cropped graying hair: Colonel Joseph Woods.

  "Zoe." He spoke with a low rumble, and when he hugged his daughter, there was something careful about it, like he was holding onto something precious and didn't want to let go too tightly.

  "Hey, Dad."

  The colonel stepped back and turned his attention to Danny. "Danny. Good to see you again."

  "You too, sir."

  The colonel studied him for a moment. "You kept her safe out there."

  "We kept each other safe, sir."

  Something shifted in the colonel's expression. He gave a single nod and turned toward the living room. "Dinner's almost ready. Everybody, get washed up."

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The dining room table was packed with food. Glazed ham sat at the center, surrounded by candied yams, collard greens, mac and cheese, and cornbread.

  Zoe's older siblings, Joe and Shanice, hugged her and shook Danny's hand with varying degrees of curiosity and protectiveness. The younger sisters filled the rest of the seats with teenage energy Danny found both overwhelming and strangely comforting.

  Zoe guided Danny to a chair near the middle of the table. He sat down before the realization hit. This is where Darron used to sit.

  Mrs. Woods froze mid-reach for the serving spoon, her hand hovering over the ham. The Colonel's jaw tightened. The table went quiet.

  The silence stretched, heavy enough to choke on. Mrs. Woods' hand trembled, the spoon clinking against the ceramic dish. Brooke launched into a story about school and the moment passed, but the silence pressed down on Danny while Mrs. Woods finished serving with hands that weren't quite steady.

  Colonel Woods said grace. The table erupted into motion and noise as dishes passed and conversations overlapped, with Brooke and Amara already arguing about basketball.

  The Colonel let it flow for a while before he looked at Zoe. "The IFC runs a tight operation in New England. Portal response times are good, civilian casualty rates are down." He paused. "But four light-years from home with no way back if something went wrong? That's a hell of a risk."

  "It was our choice, Dad," Zoe said quietly. "All of us."

  "I know." He spoke quietly. "And I'm proud of you. But I'm also your father, and I'm allowed to worry."

  "I know."

  The Colonel nodded and picked up his fork. The conversation moved on, voices rising again as the younger sisters demanded stories about space. Danny let himself relax into it. It was loud and warm. People gave each other hell but would defend each other without question.

  ---

  Goodbyes took nearly as long as dinner. By the time they stepped out of the warmth and noise into the January cold, the silence of the street felt heavier than before.

  Meredith Village Cemetery sat on a hill just north of Meredith, the maple trees lining the route. Old headstones that predated the System stood alongside newer markers for those who'd died defending the region.

  Zoe parked near the entrance, and they walked up the hill in silence. The January cold bit through Danny's jacket, but the sky was clear and the late afternoon sun painted everything in shades of gold and gray.

  Darron's grave was near the top of the hill, marked by a simple headstone bearing his name and dates.

  Zoe stood in front of it, jaw set hard against the memories. Three years and it still hit the same way. He'd gotten himself killed standing too close to the barricade when the last wave hit. Stubborn idiot never knew when to fall back. And she'd lived. His twin, his other half, and she'd been two streets over when it happened.

  "I keep thinking he would've loved all of this," Zoe said finally. "The ship. The FTL jump. New Dawn. All of it." She smiled, but it looked like it hurt. "He was always the one pushing for the next adventure, the next impossible fight."

  "Still can't believe he's gone," Danny said quietly.

  She reached out and touched the top of the headstone, fingers tracing the letters of his name. "He would've given me so much shit about dating you, by the way. Would've made terrible Irish jokes."

  "He was such an asshole sometimes," Danny said, pressing her hand.

  Zoe laughed. "Yeah. He was." The anger and guilt were still there, tangled up with the grief, but Danny's hand in hers kept her grounded. Her cinnamon roll, standing in a freezing cemetery because she needed him here. She didn't deserve him, but she wasn't letting go.

  She squeezed Danny's hand and turned away from the grave. "Come on. We should—"

  She stopped.

  Two figures were standing a few rows down, near another headstone. Luca and Emily, both looking quiet in the fading light.

  Zoe and Danny walked over.

  Luca looked up and nodded, and Emily gave them a small smile. They must have stopped here before heading back to the compound

  The headstone in front of them read: Maddalenna Rossi. Beloved wife and mother.

  "Hey," Luca said quietly.

  "Hey," Zoe replied.

  They stood there together for a moment, four people in their early twenties standing in a cemetery because too many of the people they loved were buried here.

  Emily was the one who broke the silence. "Your dad grill Danny at dinner?"

  Zoe smiled despite herself. "Little bit. He passed, though."

  "Good." Emily looked at Danny. "Colonel Woods is intense, but he's fair. If he likes you, you're solid."

  "What about you two?" Danny asked. "How was Mrs. Berrow?"

  "Weird," Emily said quietly. "It's always weird coming home."

  Luca shifted his weight. "Yeah. That's one word for it."

  The conversation trailed off. Nobody wanted to keep talking about the visits when they were standing in front of Maddie's grave.

  Luca crouched down and brushed some dead leaves off the base of the headstone. "I keep thinking I should have something profound to say. Some big speech about how much I miss her or how proud she'd be." He stood back up. "But I got nothing. I miss her."

  Emily put her hand on his shoulder and didn't say anything.

  Zoe shifted her weight and looked past Maddie's grave toward another section of the cemetery.

  Danny followed her gaze, and the breath hissed out of him.

  Three rows over, near the edge of the cemetery where the newer graves were clustered, there was a headstone that read: Riley Donohue.

  His father's grave.

  The man who'd taken control of Sandworth during the worst of the portal overflows. Who'd declared martial law and ruled through fear and violence until the national guard had arrived and strung him up by the gazebo with some of the others.

  Danny hadn't been there when they hung him.

  Luca followed Danny's gaze and swore quietly. "Shit. Sorry, Danny. I forgot—"

  "It's fine." He forced the words out evenly. "He's dead."

  Zoe's hand found his again.

  "We should go," Emily said gently. "It's getting cold."

  Danny looked at the stone from a distance. There was nothing to say.