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Xander growled.
Faith laughed. "I'm clear across the country, Xan. You can't scare me with growls any longer."
"I'm convincing your father to move," Xander teased.
"Where are we moving?" Matt walked up.
Faith sighed. "Nowhere. You and Xander don't need to be spying on me anymore." She loved her fathers, but both of them could be a little overbearing. Hell, the whole team could be. "I'm too busy with classes to worry about dealing with you guys."
Matt kissed the top of her head before taking a seat on Xander's lap. "You know you miss us teasing you all the time."
She held up her phone. "Facetime. I still get to deal with you almost nightly."
Trenton smiled. "I'm going to miss this."
"You going somewhere?" Matt asked.
"Not going anywhere, just not coming back to the team," Trenton explained.
"That doesn't mean you're going to miss anything." Bryon walked over, his arm around Becca's waist. "It just means we get together more often like this." He waved his hand around the backyard as he came to stop beside Trenton. "You've been tired for a long time. I'm not surprised to hear you say you're done. We completely understand. Just promise us that you won't disappear on us completely."
Faith fought back the emotion that was building in her chest. She hated change but knew sometimes it had to happen. It would be so much easier if she was closer.
"I'll never disappear on you guys. Ben and I are staying at my apartment for now. We might do a little traveling while we both decide on our next steps." He glanced up as Ben and Noam walked over. He reached out, taking Ben's hand. "I don't know if I ever said it, but thank you for rescuing me. I know you guys might not have been the ones to come in, but you sent the SWAT Unit in. I owe you guys everything." He looked up at Ben. "Especially you."
Ben bent and kissed him.
"I know I've been having some issues getting back into the swing of things. I'm still not a hundred percent, but I'm working with Katie to get there. There's a lot of things I'm dealing with, some from recent weeks, and some from my past. I'm trying. I really am."
Faith stood and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you."
"I love you too." He brushed her hair back and smiled at her. "And I'm so proud of you. You have come so far. When I start to falter, I remember all you faced and I know if you could do it, so can I. But I'm going to keep you on speed dial for those times when I need a pep talk."
"You know I'll always answer." She hugged him again, the turned to Ben. "And you have my number and will call if you need anything. I know we've been focusing on Trenton, but you went through some shit too. Don't deal with it alone, okay?"
Ben smiled. "I'm working with Katie as well. Trenton and I are learning that talking things out sometimes really does help, but I promise if either of us needs anything, we'll call."
"Any of us," Noam insisted.
As the rest of the group wandered over, and kids started to beg for food, Faith smiled, looking at how her small family had grown into something so amazing. One day she'd be back, and when she was, she'd have her own kick-ass team, but even then, she'd have these guys. They were always going to be her family, and no matter what the future brought, they'd stand by one another forever.
EPILOGUE
Trenton sat beside Ben on the balcony of their hotel room, watching the waves as the sun seemed to melt into the ocean. He sighed contently, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while. "We should have done this sooner."
"I agree, but I'm not sure you were ready. The airport and plane were a bit harder on you than we expected." Ben took Trenton's hand. "You did amazing facing your fears."
It was true. The airport had been so busy, and the plane so confined. Even with first-class tickets, he'd struggled with the thought that he was trapped with nowhere to run if someone was after him. It wasn't until they were on the ground and Ben had pulled him off to a quiet area outside the airport that Trenton had started to relax.
"At least I won't have to deal with it again for two weeks." He didn't want to think about the flight back right now. He liked that the hardest decision he'd have to make was what to have for dinner.
The trial had taken almost six months once it started, and while Trenton only had to testify once, he'd paid attention to all of it. With Ben and the team's support, he'd sat in front of everyone and told in detail everything that had been done to him and by who. The police chief now was sitting with a life sentence in the state prison, and a huge list of other elite and political names were also serving time. Ben's captain had a shorter sentence, but that was only because he'd made a deal in exchange for giving up information on other political and police leaders who had been involved. The one thing he regretted was they'd never found Isaac. His team was looking, and he trusted if there was a lead they'd find it, but he wished he'd been caught.
As expected, the chief had decided to keep the undercover team at the mansion until Isaac had sold off everything to traffickers in Spain, Mexico, and Canada. Things had gotten too hot for Isaac in Los Angeles and he had planned on moving to Arizona, closer to the border. Trenton was sure Isaac would have killed Ben and any others he didn't trust once things had been closer to shutting down. If Ben hadn't acted when he did, it could have been deadly.
The worst news he'd found out at the trial was that Ian had committed suicide several months after being rescued. As hard as it was to hear, Trenton understood why. If it hadn't been for Ben and the support he had from the team, he could have ended up the same way. If Ian hadn't had a good support system, it would have been hard to move forward. Trenton wished he'd contacted him after. Not that he could have been much help, but he could have maybe got him talking to Katie or someone.
"You up for a walk on the beach once the sun goes down and the crowds ease?" Ben asked.
