"Alright, give it a try," Alejandra said.

"You're sure about this?" Lucas asked, glancing first at the band on his wrist, then at the coin in his hand, then over at his father standing about thirty feet away. "I mean, last time…"

"It should be okay," Olivia said from where she stood nearby, still holding on to her new staff like it was her first born child. "Last time when we used it, we were drawing on the busted powers of a dead system. This time we're using the coins to power it. Or we should be, anyway. Just do it like I showed you, and it should all work out."

"Go ahead Luc," Matty called out, giving their son a thumbs-up. "Even if something happens, we've got medicine, and you've got that healing skill. It'll be okay, and we need to make sure it works."

Luc glanced back at Alejandra one more time, then drew in a breath and nodded. "Okay, here goes." He pressed the coin against the single softly-glowiong gem in the middle of the bangle.

"Dad!" he said with authority. The coin sparked and vanished, and an eyeblink later so did Matty, only to reappear an instant later standing by Luc's side looking none the worse for wear.

"Whoo," Matty let out a breath. "That is still a weird sensation. Like an ice bath and a full-body slap all at once."

"Did it hurt?" Luc asked, his eyes searching his dad's body for signs of injury.

"Not really, just… strange." Matty shrugged. "But at least it looks like we've got our confirmation. The coins can power the bracers and summon me if need be."

"You know," Olivia said, coming up to stand beside Alejandra while looking thoughtfully at her own bangle, "the description said these could be used once per day, but Tori said that the whole system used to be built on those kinds of rules and the coins kind of circumvent that. We might be able to use the Summon Dad spell more than once per day with the coins as power."

"Well, let's give it a try to make sure," Isabel said from where she was leaning against one of Billy's trunks. "Dad," she said, manifesting and using a coin on her own bangle. Matty let out a squawk just before he disappeared, only to reappear in mid-squawk right beside Isabel at roughly the same distance he'd appeared beside Luc.

"Okay Luc," Bel called before Matty even could finish turning around. "Try it again."

"'Kay!" Luc pulled another coin from the Somewhere. "Dad!"

"Now wai-" poof

Poof "-t a minute…" Matty trailed off as he reappeared next Lucas again. He gave first his eldest daughter then his son the hairy eyeball. "Can we please–"

"Dad!" Isabel called out, grinning wickedly.

Poof. Poof. "Now cut that–"

"Dad!" Luc crowed.

Poof. Poof. "-Out!"

"Heh," Dinah snorted, walking up beside Olivia to watch the fun. "Dadminton."

"Oh, ugh," Liv gave her friend a shove. "That was even worse than the ones dad makes."

"Okay ninas," Alejandra clapped her hands together. "Enough playing with your father. We have now established that the bracers work the way they were meant to, and even beyond, to our satisfaction. More testing is not necessary at this time, I should say."

"Awww, okay," Luc said, putting away the coin he already had out in preparation for the next serve.

"Worth noting," Bel said as she came over, "it doesn't look like Dad can reject the summons. So we'd better make sure there's a good reason to use it, and that it won't put him in danger if we do use it."

"Right," Liv nodded. "No summoning Dad when we're dangling from a rope over the side of an active volcano. Got it."

Dinah gave her friend a look. "That was a awful specific example, Livia."

"Look, I'm just saying, if there's a volcano, and we're dangling over the edge, no summoning Dad."

Matty made his way over to Alejandra as the kids fell back into chirping and chatting at each other. Alejandra was already kitted out, her rifle slung over her shoulder, her replacement pistol on her belt–they never had recovered the one she'd lost fighting the cats, she assumed either it had fallen into the river or…

Or the unknown watcher had taken it. She didn't remember if she had reloaded it before she lost it the first time. She rather thought she hadn't, but the brain could play tricks sometimes, and she couldn't be positive. Which meant there could be a potential enemy out there with a loaded pistol.

Which was one of the reasons she had brought a plan of action to her husband.

"I still don't like it," Matty said quietly so the kids wouldn't overhear. "It's too risky."

"There is risk, yes," Alejandra said patiently, explaining it now for the third time. "But it must happen, Matty. We need information about our surroundings, we need to expand out territory so Billy can make more of his watcher trees, and we need to also see if we can find animals that we can hunt for food. We need to scout out the area."

"Then we should all go," he said, getting a mulish set to his jaw. "Everyone. It'll be safer that way."

There were a dozen different responses that flashed through Alejandra's mind, everything from cajoling to commanding. But looking at her husband, simple pragmatism won out.

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"You need to stay here and build our home," she said quietly, turning her head to look up into the massive canopy of branches overhead. "It is where your skills lay, mi corazon. My skills are in the field, leading young warriors into the unknown. We both must use our skills, if we are to not only survive but thrive in this place."

"I could start tomorrow," Matty said, "after we've gotten everything scouted out. We could…" She wasn't sure what stopped him, but his shoulders drooped and his eyes lowered.

"Except I'd just find some other excuse tomorrow, wouldn't I?" he muttered, half to her and half to himself. "Allie, I don't want you going out there alone."

"I will not be alone. Dinah and Isabel and Olivia will be with me. And between our weapons and our new powers, we will have nearly as much firepower between us as my old squad used to go on patrol with." Alejandra reached up and cupped her husband's jawline. "We will be safe as we can be in this place, Matthew. I promise."

"You should take Luc then. His healing skills–"

"We will want to move quick and quietly," she said, reminding him of what she'd told him the first time. "Much as I love Lucas, as long as Harry tags along with him he is neither of those things. He will be of more use to you here at camp, helping you."

"Okay, then what if we–"

"Stop," this time she let some of her Sergeeant voice leak through. "Matt, we have been over this. We must have that information. Taking all of us to gather it is too unwieldy. I must go out, because I am the most skilled at this kind of thing. You cannot go with me because we cannot leave any of the children alone. You have your job, mi corazon, and it is here in the heart of our new home. And I have my job, and right now that is outside the walls, in the jungle. I could go by myself–"

"No," Matty almost snarled the word.

"But that would be foolish," she agreed. "So. We must divide ourselves for the tasks at hand. I will take enough of our children with me that we will have the power to fight or flee as it becomes necessary. You will remain behind and begin building our future. Because we will need something to come back to after a day out in the jungle."

Matty's jaw flexed under her palm, and she felt him tense up. His eyes darted around, looking for another option, looking for flaws in her logic, looking for something he could say that would change the reality they faced.

And when he couldn't, he slumped.

"I thought I wouldn't be doing this anymore," he whispered so softly she almost missed it.

She winced, knowing exactly what he was talking about. How many times had he seen her off, watching her leave on a tour of duty, not knowing what awaited her on the other end of that plane ride.

She came close and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. It wasn't so hard to do these days. She still felt a quiet jolt in her gut, telling her she shouldn't be this close to another human, but it was easier to ignore since the battle with the bugs. And, well, last night had helped as well.

"I promise to be careful," she said, pulling back and looking into his deep blue eyes.

"Promise to be dangerous instead," he said, and this time his smile held just a bit of spark to it. "For me, for our kids. And if something does go sideways–"

"The girls have their bracers. We will summon you to our side so you can use your abilities to cover us while we retreat back to Billy."

"And now it is my turn," Alejandra said, meeting his gaze once more. "Be careful. You will not have me around if any of the bugs show up. Be smart, do not take chances, and keep Lucas close by your side."

Matty smiled. "Hey, we've got a sentient tree that can shoot its branches out like a howitzer. We're gonna be fine."

Alejandra smirked. "Do you know how many times I've had this exact conversation with green officers, and how many times they've discovered things go wrong when they thought it would be simple?"

"More than once, I'm guessing." Matt sighed. "A fine pair we make, mi amor. You're worried about me, I'm worried about you, and the kids are just along for the ride and think everything is great fun."

"They are children, it is good that they do not dwell on these things. Give them their safety and their security, it is our job to make it reality for them."

Matty nodded, then drew in a deep breath. "I still hate it."

"I know," she patted his jaw again, then withdrew a step and took a breath of her own. "I do not like it either. But it must be done. Are you ready?"

"No. But let's go ahead anyway."

They turned from each other to find that they had an audience. While they had been talking, the kids had been preparing. Isabel, Dinah, and Olivia all stood at what they probably thought was Attention, lined up with their weapons slung over their shoulders each wearing some kind of pack, from knapsacks to fanny packs.

Alejandra let her eyes linger on the packs for a moment. They had come with the boat and with her and Matty's possessions returned, but they were really woefully inadequate for anything other than simple day trips. They bulged with spare ammunition, water, and easily-portable foodstuffs. Which, in this case, meant the last of their granola bars and Isabel's tins of spam.

"We really need to put some backpacks together. Or sacks. Or something we can use to carry more than just a couple things at a time.

"We need a lot of things. That'll be one of the first things Luc and I do, test out the abilities of our new stations and see what we can make with them. You've got your radios?"

Alejandra held up the little motorola that had seen them through the past week. "And fresh batteries."

Matt nodded. "I'll keep mine on. Regular updates every half hour."

"Si, I know."

"Don't make me new swords," Isabel said suddenly, giving the bug-nose swords in her hands a heft. "I want to do that myself. Don't ask me why, I just… Have a feeling it'll be more effective if I do it myself."

"Fair enough," Matty said easily. "For all we know, it could be that instinctual part of the system telling you what you need to know. I'm not gonna question the weirdness right now."

"And yet when I asked you for a Ren and Stimpy artbook for my last birthday…"

"Different types of weird, Shortstop."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. Listen, when you're checking out the stations, see if Tori has any crafting recipes you can go through."

"Crafting…" Matty blinked.

"Recipes. These kinds of things almost always have recipes you can follow that make different items and stuff," Liv said nodding at the new crafting stations around the clearing. "It'll be easier to get what you want if you follow the recipe than if you just randomly try different things. Ask Tori, she'll probably know some."

"I will." Matty took a deep breath and let it out, then beckoned everyone closer.

"Alright guys," he said once everyone had gathered around. "Listen to your mother. Be smart, be safe, and if things go sideways, call me and your mother and I will get you back home. Got it?"

"Got it," their girls said, each one looking as serious as a PFC getting ready for their first patrol.

"We're gonna be okay Dad," Isabel added. "Trust us."

"My teenage daughter asking me to trust that she'll make good decisions," Matty said with a chuckle. "I'd really hoped this day wouldn't come so soon."

"Oh shut up," Isabel punched her dad lightly on the shoulder. "Just pray for us and let's get this show on the road."

And that was what he did.

"Dear lord, bring us all safely together at the end of the day, having made progress in all the areas of importance," he said, quick and heartfelt. "Amen."

"Amen," said everyone else in the clearing. Then Alejandra clapped her husband on the shoulder, squared her shoulders, and turned to her daughters.

"Alright ninas," she said, all business now. "Let's head out."

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