The Soldier and The Spy: Jay Halstead- Episode 7

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Present Day

Halef Selim wants to speak with me.

It had been a long time since Jay had heard that name, fourteen years so it crashed around in his head for a minute before he made sense of it, of what she was saying.

Selim wanted to speak with them.

With her.

"I'm going-"

"I said we didn't I?" Tess asked wryly, raising her brows even as she took a slow breath. "We need pants. And shirts. And we need to talk to Voight."

"I'll call him on the-"

"Absolutely not."

Jay froze where he was heading to the wardrobes to look back where she still sat naked on the bed, he'd been very firm on no clothes the last few days but that ended now, though he was pretty sure the stunned but firm refusal on her face had nothing to do with that. Or with his fashion sense, though she had let him know for future reference that crop tops were inappropriate for work.

He'd thought she'd looked pretty but given how the day had progressed that was probably a good rule to follow.

"You are not telling him that I'm taking you out of the country to speak with a dangerous Taliban leader over the phone. This is an in-person conversation." She said with a shake of her head but as steady as she was on that point he could see the nerves for the larger situation beneath.

"I don't think we have-"

"We can make time." Her voice stayed firm as she made her way over but her face relaxed, mostly because this was fucking nuts, the hand she laid on his arm gentle. "I want to do this right. Especially after what just happened."

Right.

Fair.

And smart.

"Okay."

She nodded and let out a quiet sigh of relief but her hand stayed on his arm, each taking a minute to let what was happening really sink in. It had been fourteen years since they'd seen Selim, almost to the day, thirteen years, eleven months and twenty-eight days so it would be in-

In three days.

Jesus.

And yet in all that time his memory of what the man had done to her hadn't faded. Not one bit. Not her injuries or her terror, both blind and justified, not the venom in his voice as he'd spat at her or the glee in his voice as he'd laughed at them, not the pure, dark hatred in his eyes. For a second Jay saw a different look, the confusion the man had when she'd shown him mercy, far more than he'd deserved. Fourteen years later what did he think of what she'd done?

Was he really reaching out because he wanted to help?

Or had he gotten bored in his imprisonment and was looking for some new way to feel, to hurt her?

When his eyes found Tess's he knew she was wondering the same and quickly wrapped his arms around her, especially grateful for their undress when it meant he could feel the hard thump of her heart slowing against his chest. They had beaten him last time, practically as kids back then- they could do it now.

They would.

"To whatever end." Jay whispered into her hair, squeezing her tighter when she pushed closer, her hands sliding up his back to grip his shoulders.

"To our end."

Theirs.

They took a couple more minutes to soothe and steady themselves and each other and then got focused on the task at hand, which was getting dressed and readying their go-bags- his anyway because she already had one for herself. She had several actually, one for every climate though she must not have them fully packed because he caught her rifling through her wardrobe before stuffing something into a dark green leather backpack whose scruffiness told him she'd either had it for awhile or been through a lot with it. And given that he didn't recognize it he was going to guess the latter.