Falling Skies Invasion Alone

Victory

The water was still for the situation. We were heading for Boston to hopefully take down the Espheni base, a final strike. We were hyped up and tense, adrenaline pumping through the entire boat, but the water around us was barely choppy. It didn't match.

"How you feeling?" Ben's hand touched my back as he came to join me, walking away from his father, holding a Volm gun identical to the one I had clutched in my palms.

I took a breath. "Anticipative. But positive."

"It's almost time." I heard him whisper, eyeing the fast approaching harbour. Everyone had come out of the cargo containers to stand on the deck in preparation.

"Keep out of laser fire." I glanced up at him with a smirk. Ben looked down and grinned back.

He didn't have to touch me or kiss me or even speak to tell me he loved me. It was all in that grin, that half smirk.

"Alright, we all know what to do!" Tom yelled out to us all on the boat. "Fire!"

I steadied myself, spreading my feet apart, prepared for the jolt when the massive Volm weapon mounted on the boat fired it's shot. And shoot it did.

The blue ball of energy, shot through the sky towards the sky scraping Espheni base. It was silent on the boat, we all waited for the base to get hit. And it did. It took out a leg of the base, sending the alien creation crumbling, but not decimated. Before we could hit again, Maggie called out frantically that there were beamers approaching.

Hal readied his machine gun to shoot down one, Ben and I used the Volm weapons to take down one each. As soon as they tunnelled down, skimming over our heads and plunging into the depths of the river below us, Matt yelled, getting our attention back to the base. This time it wasn't crumbling, it had crumbled. One leg gave out, leading the tripod like construct crashing into the ground.

There was a delayed reaction from us all as we watched the base fall. And then the jubilation hit. The joy and relief struck all of us simultaneously.

It was done. How could it be done? After everything, we had destroyed it. And it felt unbelievable, but it felt good.

"The grid is gone!" Matt exclaimed, his voice carrying over everyone's cheers. We ast our eyes to the sky to see that he was right. The beams that had been shooting in the sky for over a week now were collapsing, disappearing.

We didn't have to wait minutes; only seconds had passed when the Volm ship- bigger and vaster than any of the ones we had seen before- came powering down from the sky, breaking through the cloud and crushing the Espheni base beneath it.

They were here.

-

The atmosphere was happier then I had experienced in months, maybe even over a year. There was music and laughter as we sat around the crackling fire, just happy, just celebrating. We had gotten over the hurdle. And so we relaxed before the next one presented itself.

My head was resting on Maggie's shoulder, smiling at the scene, hazily. A roar of cheers spread through the camp, alerting me. I looked up to see the source of the happiness; Weaver and his crew were returning from their distraction mission. I watched them all trail in with looks of positivity on their faces. My eyes met Pope's- who I still hadn't really spoken to. We both nodded and then moved our gaze away. We were nothing to each other.

Ben got my attention anyway when he threw himself down on the bench next to me after emerging from the tent with his father. "How's your dad?"

"On edge." He sighed, taking my hand in his rough palm. I smiled as he kissed the back of my hand.

"Don't freak out about it. He's still grieving, he's still worried." I squeezed his grip. "Just don't think about it. For tonight at least. Tonight's for celebrating."

"I know." he smiled down at me. I locked eyes with him and tilted my chin up for a kiss from him. Ben went to lean down but was stopped when Tom's voice barked through the group. With a roll of his eyes, Ben turned away from me, to look where to his father who had grabbed a bottle of whiskey.

"I want to make a toast." Tom raised the bottle up to us. "Not a speech or a lecture, a toast."

We all stood. I clasped my hand in Ben's and wrapped my other arm around his elbow. My gaze went to the people surrounding me- the people I genuinely loved. My eyes went to Maggie who was now standing just a step or two away from me. She looked so happy, so relaxed with Hal's arm wrapped around her waist, her hand clutching Hal's. And then I looked at Hal, who was just so in love with Maggie, so pleased to be alive and be with his brothers and his father and the love of his life.

Matt stood a little in front of Ben and I, biting into a red vine I knew he had saved for over two weeks. He had grown up so much since I had met him. He hadn't replaced my little brothers, but he had filled the hole left by their deaths.

Tom cleared his throat and started his toast, which became more of a speech. "I want to make a toast. Words sadly are just words and they can't possible convey the gratitude I have in my heart for those that it has been my privilege to call family since this nightmare has begun. My sons, my apparently adopted daughters," Tom looked at Maggie and I, prompting us both to laugh. Ben tightened his hand hold on me. "And all of you, my brothers and sisters who have fought alongside me. But now we are at the beginning of the end, and that faint light at the end of the tunnel is finally shining upon us. So," Tom raised the bottle higher. "To the end of our journey."

Cheers erupted louder than before. I clapped and cheered along with everyone else, the sense of community pulsating through me."

"To the fishheads." Pope jumped down from the truck he had been perching on and into the middle of the circle. I tensed up a little. As did the Hal, Ben and Maggie. We expected him to rile everyone back up, in a bad way. "May they freeze their asses off in the north pole."

I let my held in breath out in relief and smiled softly: he wasn't all bad, I guess. I watched as he tilted the bottle to Weaver, offering it to the Colonel.

Hesitantly, he grasped it in his fingers. "To victory." Weaver was always concise, to the point- the opposite to Tom. "May it be swift, may it be complete and may it be forever." He took a swig from the bottle and made a face. "And I hope it tastes a lot better than this rat gut."

I laughed and the music started back up, the drumming. Matt had a tambourine. I don't know where the hell that came from.

We clapped, we cheered, we danced. I relished in the relaxation.

A few hours later, everyone was trailing off to bed. Ben and I headed for the cramped tent we had staked our claim on. We wandered slowly. I had my arms tight around his waist, tired and drowsy but alert enough to respond to what he was saying.

"Did you hear that Lourdes was here?" Ben asked me, pulling me even closer into his body, his hand gripped on my shoulder. I could see our tent just a couple of metres away.

I nodded silently. I had done my best to try to keep that whole issue out of my head.

"And...?" I could practically hear his raised eyebrows.

"And I...don't know." I sighed, speaking honestly. "I know it wasn't Lourdes. But I still feel betrayed. And I feel bad about that."

"It's okay to be confused. I get it. Maybe you should go to see her." Ben stopped outside our tent. With a deep breath, I pulled back from my tight grip on his waist and just loosely clutched his jacket.

"I don't want to think about Lourdes, I don't want to think about anything. I just want to be with you, Ben." I whispered.

As soon as I saw his smile, I was pretty sure I was safe from more thought provoking questioning. And as soon as he leant down and kissed me, I knew I was.