"... No, really Lee, I got this. There's no sense in hanging you out there, and then disappearing into cryo. I'll be the face fielding questions on [i]both[/i] sides for the foreseeable future. Best to just rip the bandage off now." No matter the pulsating misery in her skull that the maximum allowable dose of aspirin couldn’t begin to touch, the First Sergeant’s encouraging smile was wide and genuine – 

- and barely earned the ghostly glimmer of a smile in Stanford’s handsome mahogany-skinned face. Still, the military police commander nodded, reluctantly she knew. Lee Stanford looked haggard, worry-worn seemingly overnight. Of course last she had seen him was yesterday for her, but three years ago for Stanford. Three long years that had seen the once distinguished silver streaks at his temples travel deep into his wiry black hair. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept in days... Weeks. [i]Months[/i] even. 

He really was a good man. There was no lack of faith in his First Sergeant's ability - far from it. He just hated to leave this in Abby's lap, the razor sharp mind of the former high school math teacher racing through all the permutations, possibilities, probabilities, variables, unknown quantities... 

That perennial Devil Dog greeting, shouted at an already sadistic volume and amplified by the Auditorium’s natural acoustics, rang through Abby’s skull with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to blown glass. 

One of Abby's slightly bloodshot blue eyes squeezed shut as she grimaced almost imperceptibly, and she turned toward the unmistakably exuberant Sergeant Davis with a small groan of pain. Her eyes widened, eyebrows lifted above a too-wide, too-toothy grin that acknowledged that perky bastard's jubilant greeting with a silent, sardonic and genuinely heartfelt [i]'fuck you very much'[/i] blazing in her electric blue gaze.

“Corporal LOPEZ! [i]Darle un puñetazo en la cabeza,[/i] yeah?” Abby nodded tacit encouragement and laughed, genuinely laughed and though it hurt like hell, she felt all the lighter for it. Leave it to the indomitable jarhead with her son’s name to bring the first real laughter she’d had since she woke from cryosleep. Even CPT Stanford’s ghost of a smile became slightly less ephemeral – if only for a moment. 

But that moment could not last long, and Stanford took his First Sergeant’s elbow, leaning to whisper in her ear. Abby simply nodded. 

“[i]Yes sir.[/i] Understood. I will [i]not[/i] forget,” she answered him, her voice low but with a hard edge Stanford knew well meant perfect agreement. They were a good team. He didn’t want to leave his right hand here like this but short of mutiny there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it now. Abby read all that to the last in Lee’s face, but there was no sense in prolonging this farewell.

“You’d best head out before the old man gets here,” she whispered before snapping to attention, lifting her arm smartly to salute her commander. Stanford nodded, returning her salute though he took Abby’s hand in his own when she dropped hers, wrapping hers in a firm shake. He looked very much like he wanted to say… Something. [i]Anything[/i] more, but finally gave up the effort with a sigh.

“Good night, Abby.”

“Good night, Lee. See you when we get home.” 

That earned far more than a ghost of a smile, and the MP commander turned to swiftly ascend the stairs his First Sergeant had descended minutes before. Abby watched him go until he left the Auditorium, and she could finally allow her gaze to roam the newer arrivals, relieved and buoyed all at once to see some of those familiar faces. 

It'd be damn near impossible to miss the azure hair of Connor - hell she'd have to be blind. But the sight of the young mechanic who'd indulgently made a "tool monkey" of Michael where he could made her grin, and she lifted her hand with a quick wave - and read his shirt. She laughed again, hoping to catch his eye while plucking at the corners of her own ACU blouse. [i]'Nice shirt,'[/i] she mouthed silently with a grin and a wink.

Hell, it was even good to see that roguish roughneck Reece - and better still with Gavin leaning over to talk with him, wearing that perrenial Caltech sweatshirt she knew so well. She didn't try to catch their attention - there'd be time enough later to catch up. The Auditorium was filling, the hologram forest slowly filling with its denizens, and the briefing would be starting moments soon enough anyway. 

Abby paced the small landing just below the raised platform, toward the stairs that would take her to the stage, her eye catching a dark-haired form from the corner of her eye. Wide, wet eyes threatened more tear than one as she looked about them at the lovingly rendered forest all around. The poignant misery on her pretty face was impossible to miss, and Abby did not simply walk by as if she saw not a thing. She reached to lay a strong, warm hand on the woman's slender shoulder, squeezing gentle reassurance that she was not alone - not in the [i]least[/i]. Her hand did not linger, though she left the young woman with an encouraging smile before she moved once more to the stage steps.