Long Lost Lady

Chapter 4

                         ~2 years later. 8th grade~
                    ~Washington D.C field trip~

The class exited the bus with excitement, and the children gazed in amazement at their new surroundings, the chaperones doing their best to keep everyone in check. Gary and Sandra exited last, holding hands as they walked through the grass towards the steps of the U.S. Senate building. Sandra stopped walking for a moment, sucking in air between her teeth. A tightening sensation in her abdomen made her hunch forward some, her hands on her stomach.
"Oh my god, Sandy, are you ok?" Gary asked worriedly. He'd never seen that happen to her before. Sandra took a deep breath and straightened herself back up, the pain subsiding.
"I don't know...I woke up feeling these cramps all morning." she looked around for her mom, as she had volunteered to help watch the class. "I'll be right back. Good luck, Gar-bear." She added and gave Gary a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.
The teacher and chaperones gathered the children to their places on the steps, getting ready for the flag presentation; welcoming Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell into the Senate. Gary stood a few feet in front of the group, clutching onto the flag nervously. He looked around to see if Sandra was coming back, but there was no sign of her yet.
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Off on the far side of the Senate steps, three men of the Monarch stood patiently, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Now we gotta get this right. If we don't nab this senator, it'll be our butterfly butts in a sling." One henchman whispered to the others.
"Ok, here's the plan: 24, you help carry Campbell while he's in the net, and 30 you release the knockout gas on the crowd." The two henchmen nodded, giving a thumbs-up in agreement.
"Yes, number 19." They whispered in unison.
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Sandra and her mom began to make their way back to the group, Sandra keeping her head down the entire time. Before they reached the others, Sandra's mother got down to her eye level, trying to comfort her distraught daughter.
"It's going to be alright sweetie, every girl starts this around your age. It's completely natural, and it's going to stop in a few days." She explained. Sandra looked at her, wide eyed and panicked.
"DAYS?!" she exclaimed. Her mom gently shushes her and calms her down before a panic attack sets in.
"Since this is your first one, maybe 2, 3 more days tops." That still didn't really help Sandra. Her mind was coming up with so many questions, she didn't know which one to start with. Sandra's mom directed her to take some deep breaths and gave her one more hug.
"How about this: when we get back to school, I'll tell your teacher you're not feeling well, and I'll take you back home and we can spend the day answering your questions and I can explain everything better. We can even stop for some ice cream on the way home. Sound good, sunshine?"
Sandra nodded silently, breaking the hug. Her mom giving her a kiss on the forehead, and leading her back to the group, walking towards the front of the stage at the base of the Senate steps. She saw Gary standing nervously, the flag clutched tightly in his hands. She smiled, silently encouraging him, planning a big hug once the procedure was over. Sandra and her mother sat with the small audience, not wanting to interrupt by joining the other children.  
Once Senator Campbell was finishing his speech to the crowd, Gary walked towards the podium, the folded American flag extended out in front of him. Before the Senator was about to take it, the henchmen rushed out from their hiding spot and executed their plan. It went off with only one hitch: the wrong person was in the oversized butterfly net.
"Gary!!" Sandra yelled as she ran after them, her mom following suit to try and stop her. Henchman 30 reached into his hip bag and pulled out a handful of purple balls, that once thrown on the ground, erupted in a deep purple haze. The crowd of children, government officials and members of the press became woozy and fell sleepily to the ground. Sandra managed to keep her balance for a few moments, taking one step, then two, then none as her body met the smooth stone stage. Her vision fading as she saw the men haul Gary off in a light purple van.
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Sandra and Gary sat on the floor of their room, with a nearly empty bottle of wine in between them and another empty one off to the side. They talked for hours, catching each other up on their lives and how they've been doing for themselves. Gary talked about his exploits with The Monarch and his favorite memories of him and his late best friend, 24. Gary pulled out a small snapshot from his wallet of him and 24, posing with an obviously annoyed Monarch. A somber look came across Gary's face as he looked at it, trying his best to suppress the tears trying to well up in his eyes.
"You really miss him, huh?" Sandra asked, looking over the photo. Gary let out a deep sigh and put the photo back.
"Yeah, but I'm getting better with the grieving. A lot of the time, I feel like his spirit is near, watching over me." Gary had a soft smile on his lips.
"He sounds like a really great guy." Sandra added.
"Yeah, he was." Gary replied fondly. "I think he would've liked you; he'd then at least believe that you were real." He laughed. Sandra raised a curious eyebrow.
"Why would he think that?"
"Well, when I tried talking about you before, he thought I was pulling the whole 'girlfriend who lives in Canada' thing. We were pretty much the nerds who weren't that great with the ladies." He answered. Sandra's eyes lit up for a moment.
"You talked about me? I figured you forgot all about me."
"As much as I could, yeah. But like I said, 24 didn't really believe me, so I just kept to myself. I never stopped thinking about you though."
Sandra felt her cheeks grow warm at that. She was surprised to hear that she was still in his mind, after all this time. There was now one question in her mind:
"How come you never tried contacting me?" Gary took a sip of his wine before answering.
"I wanted to Sandy, I really did. But most of it was the whole secret identity thing, and me not knowing how you'd react to me pretty much being a bad guy, plus I wasn't even sure if you were still in the same area we grew up in. I know that sounds like a bunch of excuses, but I genuinely didn't know where to start."
Knowing this now, she realized that she couldn't be mad at him. For his new life, those were valid reasons – for his safety as well as her own. 
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm just happy you're doing well for yourself." Sandra finally answered. This gave Gary a sense of relief, worried that she was angry at him this whole time, over unintentionally abandoning her and their relationship.  They finally reached a lull in their conversation, as the pair enjoyed their buzz in a moment of silence. It was then broken when Gary started to softly laugh to himself.
"What-what's so funny?" Sandra said, finishing off her last glass. Gary brought his glass to his lips but spoke before downing it.
"You called me a 'scoundrel' earlier...I almost forgot we had those pet names." he laughed, making Sandra laugh with him.
"Well, 'Empire' was our go-to movie, so it made sense. Honestly, I think it's better than the standard 'baby' or 'sweetheart.' Makes it a bit more personal, you know what I mean?" Gary poured the remaining wine into both glasses, then held his up in the air to make a toast.
"Well then, here is to a long and happy life with my Princess."
"And with my Scoundrel." Sandra added, clinking her glass against his. As they finished off the last of their drink, Gary looked into Sandra's eyes, his expression turning serious for a few moments. Sandra noticed and became concerned.
"Everything ok, Gary?" Gary was quiet for a second, unsure of what he wanted to ask. Without thinking, and almost without hesitation, Gary cupped Sandra's cheek and pulled her in for a soft kiss. Sandra was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, she melted into it, kissing him back – showing that the feeling was very mutual. They broke for a moment, gazing softly into each other's eyes, Sandra letting out a soft sigh.
"Seeing you for the first time in all these years, and you're still a great kisser."