Consideration for Scoundrels

SIXTEEN

It was an overcast morning in Greece., and Rick couldn't help but feel a touch disappointed. France had been a dream, warm and sunny, and he'd been hoping the fair weather would follow them further down the Mediterranean. Still, despite the cloud cover, he couldn't fault the view of the massive vineyard below as he sipped his coffee, hot enough to strip paint off the walls, on the hotel balcony. That and he found the food in Greece to be much more to his tastes then he'd found in France, though it was admittedly an improvement on what he'd had during his time in the legion.

He could hear Evy chatting with Alex on the terrace directly below, but he was uninterested in the archaeology or history of the area, he was just along for the vacation. Sure, give it a few hours before either Alex or Evy had him digging through the olive groves they'd come to see, but for now he could at least enjoy the morning. They'd only just gotten in last night, and other than his coffee, Rick only had three hours of sleep keeping him propped awake. He'd left a brief message with the secretary at Ms. Porters with instructions to call at the number he'd given them at a more appropriate hour.

It'd be good to speak to his daughter, to assuage some of the anxiety, and guilt, that had been pressing on his mind since the other night. Hell, over the last eight years he'd been trying to swallow his guilt. After the bombs had nearly hit them in their beds, in the tense and uncertain days that had followed, it had been Evy who had made the final decision.

"Are you sure?" Rick had asked; "We could take a few days to talk about it, we..."

A sharp look drew him up short, the argument dying in his throat.

"I have survived gun fighting, the plagues, immortal Demi-gods determined to sacrifice me, more kidnappings then one can count." Evy recounted. "I've being flung from the sky and nearly obliterated from the face of the earth. Twice. I've come back to this earth with a second chance." Evy had turned to her husband, eyes glistening. "But, I will not survive burying my children."

"So then, what do we do?"

"I thought Alex might go with Jonathan to Shanghai."

"You really think our son is going to be safer with your brother then with us?"

"If Jonathan knows one thing, it's survival."

Rick couldn't argue with her there. He felt his chest tightening as he asked; "And what about Lena?"

"Alex will be safest with Jonathan, and Selena...there's a school in Bristol. It's in the countryside, isolated, where she'll be safer."

"We can take her to America with us." Rick suggested. "Stay in the states a year or two, see how the wind blows. New York, Boston?"

"No." Evy shook her head. "Intelligence thinks the States might be the next major target."

"Evy..."

"I've already made the call, secured her spot." Evy said firmly. "We take her next week."

"I don't want to go." Selena had clung to her father's hand as tight as a nine year old could. "Please." She dug her heels in to the ground.

"C'mon now pet." Her mother hushed her, prying her hand free from her father's. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Selena turned back to her father, pleading; "I want to stay with you and Mum."

"I know you do, I know." He knelt down to her height. "But right now your mom and I need you to be brave. Alright? This isn't forever; we're going to see each other again as soon as we can."