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Spending time in Prosperity had been… strange but not unwelcome. Unlike a lot of the settlements Thomas Rush had breezed through, it felt like a community he could appreciate.Of course, having Captain Sydney Crane back in his life and at his side had helped immensely with that.They had been young and in love once. Mila’s existence was proof enough of that. They had been high school sweethearts who ended up in the same bunker and got married and had a child to improve bunker and post-bunker morale.They hadn’t fallen out of love per se- or he hadn’t, at least. They had just gotten in too much danger in too many places and they figured parting ways, acting as strangers and sending Mila off to family had been a decent solution.And then Mickey and Lou had happened, the train got attacked, they had been chased to that cliff and he had pushed her. Because he had loved her. Whether distance and time healed all wounds was irrelevant. She was his light in the dark and the mother of his child- he’d die before he saw her die, so he took that chance.The Twins had tortured him for days, and just when he had started to give up hope Syd head had popped up from that hole in the ground with Carmina Rye and Cal Raylan- the teenagers who had joined up with them on the train in tow, and he was beside himself with joy, even through all the pain. The pair of them had made it. They were safe- for however long of a time that would last.Once they were within Prosperity’s walls, he had met the teens’ parents then- Carmina belonged to Nick and Kim Rye, and Cal was John and Nicolette Raylan’s. He learned that John had owned Prosperity before and after the bombs fell. He had shaken their hands eagerly and told them they had brought up brilliant, brave kids, and their parents had proudly agreed. It was all smiles, so when Syd had done an absolute turn-around on him, he wasn’t sure what to think. Once the Raylans and Ryes departed, he had returned to Syd’s side and offered a tired smile and an equally tired “Hey” in official greeting- and she had slapped him so hard his mind spun for a few seconds. The sound of it echoed off of every single wall in the place.“ ‘Hey’? You almost die, you almost leave me alone in all this and you give me ‘save yourself’ and ‘hey’?!” she blurted. She bent down, picked up a rock and threw it at him to drive her point home.He barely managed to duck in time to dodge it.She, however, wasn’t done: “We have a fucking daughter, Thomas!”Well, there went the big secret of their lives. And he had tried so hard to keep Mila hidden from everyone he ever encountered. He hoped he could trust everyone in Prosperity. And then the other most important bit of that statement registered in his brain. Oh, full name. He had always been 'Tom' early on in their relationship and Rush after that, there had never been an in between. She was really angry. Cal, ever so helpful, muttered the same thing about it being serious to Carmina, and Carmina mumbled something, took Cal’s hand and dragged him off to leave them alone.Thomas had stared at Syd after that, fairly terrified to break eye contact.And then she had let out a sound that neighbored a sob and had launched herself at him and threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into as tight of a hug as she could muster.He pulled her closer still and tucked his chin into her neck. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”“You better be,” she mumbled into his neck.The pinch to the side she gave him when he laughed at that was almost worth it.After that, Thomas had expected trouble from Mickey and Lou, which was what they got a handful of times- the biggest example being the first big attack on Prosperity that had occurred shortly after he had arrived and started helping things develop.What Thomas hadn’t expected however, was John Raylan. Mickey and Lou’s biggest mistake had been threatening his and Nic’s other children, their own twins. Thomas didn’t know how it happened. One second he and Sydney were glaring Mickey and Lou down as the Twins told them to surrender or face consequences. And then Lou had pulled the pin on the grenade and handed it to one of the kids they had taken and then turned her back- the exact tipping point of the fight against the Highwaymen and his life in general, all at once. Suddenly there was gunfire, and then Mickey and Lou were bleeding out on the ground, and their entourage soon shared their fate. It turned out that Thomas had entirely missed that John had lifted Cal’s gun from his holster, raised it and shot Mickey and Lou within the window of time they had given by turning their backs. A rookie mistake, really. Still, it was dangerous and reckless considering the lives that could’ve been lost, so he had confronted John about it. John, in turn, shrugged nonchalantly, replied that, ‘no one threatens my children’ and that had been that.Once he put it like that, Thomas couldn’t really fault him there. He would’ve done the same if someone threatened Mila. Her safety being put into question was a berserk button of his, too. That night, Prosperity’s residents had thrown a victory party. Thomas had mixed feelings about it. Sure, the Big Bads were taken care of, but they had come a long way for such an anticlimactic fight, and Thomas had felt a little lost at considering it was a lot of buildup for something that had been solved with a handful of bullets. Especially considering it wasn’t even him that had done the killing blow. He wanted to know what the Hell he was going to do with the next few weeks his life after that. But something about the place still screamed ‘home’, so he had decided to stay- just for a bit. He still had to recover from the dislocated knee, after all. So he let himself relax for the first time in ages.As it turned out, ‘relaxing’ meant he had watch Syd run off on her adventures, still risking life and limb getting rid of the last dregs of Highwaymen in the area with Cal and Carmina in tow and praying they all came back in one piece. It was enough to make his head spin.One such adventure was them setting off to scavenge ‘The Baptist’s Grave’- he had waved the Raylans, Carmina, Cal and Syd off bright and early in the morning, meeting the teens’ and Syd’s optimism as much as he could.When the group got back, however, Carmina had looked eager to leave their company, Cal looked ill, John looked like he had been shot- metaphorically, thank God- and Nicolette flitted between her husband and son, trying to diffuse whatever had transpired at the old bunker. Syd and a tired-looking John had filled him in later that night.He wasn’t John Raylan- technically. He was John Seed, one of the siblings who had started all this cult nonsense he heard about in the Valley. The poster boy for the cult. Little brother to ‘the Madman in the Mountains.’ Thomas felt idiotic that he hadn’t seen the resemblance between John and the man on those 'we love you and we will take you' signs sooner.John had been halfway through explaining when Thomas interrupted, “Wait, so, you’re the ‘Yes’ guy?” “It was a… marketing thing,” John said defensively, then after a beat, “Why?”Thomas had leaned back, realizing he had boxed himself in hard. He hoped John never went to that church he had found a while back. “No particular reason. Just… if you come across any tapes where you hear me going over some of the shit I’ve seen here so far… don’t take it personally.”John had thankfully laughed it off.Thomas was grateful. Between seeing the man kill over less and realizing this was the man that did a lot of fucked up shit, he had been worried that talking too much about it would make for more trouble. But John had apparently come along way. Especially considering that Nicolette was the apparently famous Deputy- the hero of the county before Syd had showed up, and the pair were very much in love. John hadn’t said much else outside of the fact that things between him and Joseph were ‘strained.’ Sydney had joked Nicolette after that, playfully calling the first two thirds of the story romantic and such. And then she had glanced at him over the fire, and Thomas tried not to read too much into the look. Their ship had sailed, that was certain.Of course, it didn’t stop the back of his mind from hyperfocusing on what was and what could still be. It was enough to get him to notice things.Naturally, because apparently his brain had nothing better to focus on, he chose to spend a little too much attention watching Syd and that helicopter pilot Roger interact in the days after that instead.Roger was a flirtatious bastard. He was a charmer, a ladies man- Hell, a man’s man too, if Roger giving the same treatment to him and the other male residents of Prosperity that he gave the female residents was any indication. But Roger laid the flirting on extra thick with Syd, and Thomas was absolutely torn at how good they looked together- how happy Syd looked when Roger was around and cracking jokes with her.It was nice to see. And then things had shifted, because the Universe apparently wasn’t done with him.He had been talking with Kim off to the side of the helipad when he had seen Roger sneaking up behind Syd. He had arched an eyebrow and waited for anything- and got the… fairly unexpected.Roger had looped an arm around Syd’s shoulders, and Syd had beamed, brought her hands up to hold his arm steady and leaned into him.“I told you I’d find you later!” Roger pointed out before he bent to place a sloppy kiss on her cheek.Syd had full on giggled at that, and Thomas felt a knot form in his chest- especially when Roger turned the pair of them in order to carry on a conversation with the girl currently working on the chopper. Roger had pulled her closer and rested his chin on her shoulder, and neither them nor the onlooker seemed like that move had been in uncharted territory. It looked like it was a standard thing they did. They were picture of a happy couple.Thomas was not as put out as he expected he would’ve been when he considered the possibility that she’d move on and find someone else.Weeks passed, and they had stayed in Prosperity. Thomas was starting to realize that his leg had started to be more of an excuse to stay rather than a logical reason. It had healed up nicely. He just liked Prosperity too much, and now with Mickey and Lou gone, reports of the Highwaymen in the area and the neighboring ones had started to dwindle. He had called it a vacation for a bit- they had almost died, they had earned it.And then because he was so elated for the first time in a long time, he had sent for Mila. His brother had joined a convoy and brought her down for a while.Thomas wasn’t a jealous man, but he knew there should’ve been some arrogance when Roger had seen Mila for the first time, looked from Syd to Thomas and figured out the big secret of her parentage in seconds, considering he hadn’t been there for Sydney yelling about it a month before. But there was nothing negative as far as his emotions went. The only thing remotely prideful that came from him concerning Mila being theirs when he interacted with the pilot was when he showed off the keychain Mila had made for him a couple of years prior and going on about how he had promised the girl he'd never take it off. Again, Thomas wanted to hate Roger; to rub it in his face that he had been involved with Syd first, and there was still the ghost of a chance they could still be something. But then Roger had to go and be decent and had backed off of Syd a bit when Mila was around- for whose sake he did it for, Thomas wasn’t sure.Thomas still watched them like a hawk around Mila, though.It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Roger, he doesn’t trust people. Hell, he had tried to keep constant contact with his brother when they had started the trip to Prosperity just because he was weary of semi-public transportation after the train disaster. Alas, the need to have Mila back in his arms won over the risk. It just figured that Mila immediately took to Roger upon meeting him. And that Roger was absolutely brilliant with her.He had seen Mila hanging out by the helipad, sitting on one of the crates and kicking her feet and telling the pilot whatever story she could think of.Roger sat and listened to each one with such rapt overdramatic attention it made Thomas question his own capacity to look so enthralled listening to those same stories.Mila became Roger’s shadow after a while, constantly following him and asking questions about the Grosse Patate, how he fixed it, and flying in general.Roger was there to answer each of them. He took her by the hand and showed her around the chopper. He even let her lug around his tools when he did repairs. Mila loved every second of it, and it made Thomas’ heart soar.If he and Syd were done, Syd could’ve done far worse replacing him. Roger was good man.Thomas hated that he didn’t hate him.It was a few days later when the remnants of the Highwaymen in the area gathered all their numbers and mounted one last attack in retaliation for Mickey and Lou’s demise.The Highwaymen had been thwarted within minutes, but not before Sydney had taken the brunt of some sort of gas grenade attack. She had been out for days after that, alive but just barely.Of course, it was after that that Thomas realized that there was no denying or beating around the bush, he was still very much in love with her. And it almost took the “You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” cliche to send the point home.Again, he hadn’t exactly fallen out of love, he had just long assumed time healed all wounds.But she was with Roger now, if the fact that Roger has split his time between duties with the Grosse Patate and sitting on the other side of her bed was any indication.And then Mila, bless her heart, spent her visits sidled up between her parents or between Roger and Syd, providing comfort wherever and whenever it was due.After the doctor left on the third day she was out, Roger had stepped away from her beside for a while to help Sharky Boshaw out with moving supplies. Thomas had scooted closer to Syd, leaned over her and promised her the world if she made a fast recovery - all she had to do was wake up. He had kissed her forehead to finish his request.And then the door had clicked open and there was a French accented,”Oh, sorry.”Thomas was mortified and looked at Roger, but couldn’t meet his eyes for too long. “No, I uh… that was… nothing, it was just I was worried and-““You love her, don’t apologize.”Thomas looked up at him. “What?”“You love her, she loves you. No time away will change that,” Roger shrugged.Thomas looked between them again. “Aren’t you two…?” when Roger blinked at him, he continued. “Together…?”Roger stared at him, then laughed. “I thought she was with you, Man. That’s why I backed off.”That was… new. “We’re not together," he heard himself say. Roger laughed. “Right, because Mila, that kiss and the way you look at her all the time means absolutely nothing.”Thomas rubbed his neck. “Doesn’t mean we’re together.”“Then fair warning, your petite fille is trying to Parent Trap you. She told me her whole plan. It was adorable as shit.”He stared at her then sighed. “I’ll talk to her.”Roger waved dismissively, apparently seeing right through the lie. “If she’s got a point, why not be with her again?" “It was a mess,” Thomas explained after a moment. “It… we didn’t drift apart. Life got in the way. It was dangerous.”“And that’s worked out so far for you two when you’re like that,” Roger motioned between them.Thomas sighed. “She looks happy with you.”“We’re friends. We flirt. Nothing happened. She misses you.”“How do you figure that?”“I have eyes,” Roger deadpanned.Thomas sighed. There was no sense in talking in circles.Luckily for them, the Universe did them the favor of sparing them any more awkwardness because Sydney had chosen the next minute to wake up, and it had been a lot of whispered endearments and relief after that.Sometime later, Thomas had taken Syd aside for a walk around the grounds and they had settled at the spot overlooking the sunset.It was all terribly romantic, and Thomas felt his hopes rise up a bit. It didn’t stop him from freezing up a bit when she leaned into him.They had watched in silence for a whole until Syd apparently couldn’t take it anymore.“You ever think of retirement?” she asked after a while.Thomas looked at her. “What?”“It’s just… we’re coming up on being forty, and we’re not getting any younger, and… I sorta like it here. A lot. Mila likes it, I’ve got friends here, so does she…” she trailed off, then sounded pained and pleading all at once. “So do you…”Thomas sighed. “I… Syd…”“Yeah, I know. I just… we deserve a break. We’ve been part of this fight for a good portion of our lives and I’m… it’s cost us so much. And I… would it be so terrible to settle here?”“ ‘We’?” Thomas asked.Sydney lifted her head. “I missed you. A lot lately. Before I got on the train and after. I could handle it but I couldn’t, and then I almost lost you three times in the last two months and it messed me up. A lot.”She couldn't meet his eyes, and Thomas wasn't sure how to take it. Still, her words were enough to make his heart leap. She felt the same. She hadn’t given up on him in any aspect of her life. It was beyond just her duty to her country, her job and their kid. leaned into her. “Same to you. Down to the last detail.”She considered his words leaned up to kiss him at that. It was a quick, chaste thing, over far too quick for his liking. Still, he returned it. She sighed and pulled back. “Think about it” she suggested.“Oh, so that was a ploy?” he teased.“Only a little,” she countered.He scoffed affectionately and looped an arm around her. He dropped a kiss on her forehead for good measure.“Let me think about it?” he asked after a few seconds, and knew fully well she understood he meant it about everything that had just transpired in the last few minutes.She nodded warmly, and then leaned back into him.And for that moment, that was okay.A couple of weeks later, Thomas had made absolutely no leeway in the retirement decision. He had helped start all of the settlements, other people needed help, but he was getting older. And his damned leg was never going to be the same. It was going to slow him down. A lot. And then the fact that he, Syd, Barnes and the others had only been one train of many. Sure, he was a major player, but he wasn’t alone. There were more people out there supporting the cause of saving the world and making it livable once more. He did enjoy his time with the Ryes, the Raylans, the kids who looked at him like he was a goddamn superhero. It was nice. And he could get used to it.He had been mid-conversation with John and Nicolette, asking if they had the room for another set of people permanently when he saw Roger and Syd turn the corner from the helipad, shoving each other and going back and forth about who was ‘more badass’ from the mission they had come back from.Syd had run up to him and hugged him, and Roger had waved at Thomas and returned the grateful nod he gave him before he had peeled off to go talk with Nick.“Have fun knocking some heads around?” Roger asked her.“Oh, loads,” she countered.”What’re you guys plotting?”“An extended vacation,” Thomas replied.“Vacation, huh?”Thomas shrugged. “We’ll see.”That had been good enough for her, too. She had smiled that warm smile of hers that usually got him straight in the heart and that had been that. Nicolette had stolen her away moments later, citing ‘girl hero talk.’Another month passed, and they still hadn’t left, and Thomas was finally willing to admit that there was a good chance he would stay. Prosperity was perfect, Hope County was secure- Hell, Montana was secure.There had been another party in Prosperity, this time for Carmina’s eighteenth birthday. The mood had been extremely light, especially when Nick had taken Carmina down to the boatshed to show off the fully repaired plane Carmina and the airstrip he and John had cut out of the vegetation around the place and the partygoers had heard her excited shrieking from the top of the hill.After a while it had just been him, Syd and Roger left, and they had taken their drinks and retreated to the further helipad.Syd had plopped right down between them, and Thomas tried not to focus on how much that very action had basically shone a spotlight on the elephant in the room.“So… you two decide that we’re worth staying around for in humble old Prosperity?” Roger asked after a while.And there was the other elephant.Sydney looked at him. “If the Raylans will have us, I’m gonna stay. Tom?”“They deny either of you, I’m gonna have to beat their asses,” Roger pointed out.“John could take you,” she countered.“Ah, but that’s why I would confront Nic about it. Yes, I’d die, but by her hands? Mm. What a way to go.”Sydney giggled at that, and even Thomas managed a laugh. She swatted his chest, then looked back at Thomas. “You were gonna answer?”Thomas sighed. “I… there’s gotta be a lot to keep me here.”“I’m here. Mila wants to stay," Sydney offered. Thomas rubbed the back of his neck. “Syd…”“Don’t ‘Syd’ me. I’m serious.”“You’ve got a life here,” Thomas pointed out. “I just… I could make one, but…”When he looked towards Roger out of habit from the last few days, Sydney sighed and shifted her weight to kneel instead and bent to kiss him.“Alright, tourtereaux, that’s my cue to leave and give you some alone time. Sounds like a conversation I shouldn't be around for,” Roger pointed out.Sydney caught his wrist.He arched an eyebrow at her, and looked absolutely baffled when she proceeded to kiss him.As far as Thomas was concerned, he should’ve been a lot more jealous again. And that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was. And maybe it just didn’t hurt because Roger had become a damn good friend.Sydney pulled back from Roger and inhaled sharply. “Okay, so I know this is a lot and I had a whole speech planned after I heard you two bozos talking when I was coming to in the infirmary…”
Goddamn it.
Roger had the mind to laugh at that. Thomas… did not.“And I took some advice from uh… someone who’s in the exact situation, and I just… Tom, I love you. Roger, I… we’re good together and I’m super attracted to you and I could love you eventually, but I just… don’t wanna lose either of you. Friendship or otherwise. So… I figured my choice that you two were agonizing over is not to choose.”“Are you implying…?” Thomas began.“We try… This,” she motioned between the three of them. “No expectations, no obligations outside of the obvious, just… us being us without walking around on eggshells.”That… hadn’t been any sort of outcome he saw coming. And he didn’t exactly hate it. It wasn’t like he and Syd had never tried anything on that side of adventurous. There had been that guy Michael back in 2024, but that had been short lived and just for sex. But this- this was going to be different. On all counts. But he loved her, Roger was decent, if he made her happy, he was happy and… they could’ve done worse “… Okay.”“Been there. Trust you two more than those other two I was with…” Roger mused.Sydney looked between them, finally the only one stunned for the first time in a while. “Wait… just like that?”“… You expected different?” Thomas asked.“I… didn’t know what to expect, I just didn’t expect immediate agreement,” she admitted.Roger opened his mouth, and she immediately clapped a hand over it. “Except I did see a menage a trois joke and that’s just gonna kill whatever’s going, so…”Roger hummed in agreement and the way his eyebrows rose then fell made Thomas realize she had been spot on and Roger was agreeing, and he couldn’t help but laugh again.Sydney put her hand down, and Roger finally took the chance to speak. “Well, I mean, we’re all annoyingly good looking. My jaw, your everything,” he nodded at Thomas. “That connard with those beautiful eyes you just wanna get lost in…” he reached behind Syd in order to give Thomas’ cheek a light, teasing smack.Thomas didn’t mind that he didn’t hate that, either. He swatted Roger’s hand away playfully, then looked back at the horizon. “So… how’s this gonna work?” he asked after a moment.Sydney shrugged. “One step at a time. We got the awkwardness over. There’s gonna be more, but… I’m not rushing it. I’m happy with just us now, sitting here, and enjoying this.” She motioned at the horizon, the last dregs of sunlight casting an orange glow over the new trees and the wasteland beyond. It was beautiful.She took their hands after a few seconds for good measure, and they both hummed in agreement and gave a reassuring squeeze.Thomas wasn’t sure where they were headed or how this would end, but the more he thought about it, the more it was the most welcome uncertainty he’d experienced in a while. He had his girl, he had his family- both blood and found, and…. Well, he could probably call this place home eventually. It was big enough that he’d always find something to do. Hell, maybe Cal, Carmina and Mila could be the next generation of their team. They’d need mentors at some point rather than just more people in the field with them.Roger giving a soft “hmm” drew him from his thoughts and he looked at the other man expectantly.“Who’s the ‘someone in this exact situation’?”“Oh. John and Nic. Apparently they’re a thing with Sharky. Told me on Carmina’s birthday. I didn’t ask questions. Didn't want to." “Huh,” Thomas nodded, considering. He wouldn’t have expected that one.“Huh,” Roger agreed, then after a few seconds. “Well, we’ve got them beat for best looking people in a poly relationship.”Thomas scoffed. “You get tripped up on some words but know enough to say that?”“I’ve… thought about uh, us, so it’s not as much of a stretch,” Roger admitted, tone somehow light and guarded all at the same time.“Thought about it, huh?” Sydney grinned a little too teasingly at him. “Were we good?”“I can neither confirm nor deny, mon amie.”Thomas laughed at that, too. He was still surprised that he was taking everything from the last few minutes in strides. It was… nice. He could get used to it. Maybe he did have a life, here. A home. He didn’t hate that, either.