Killed in Action - A Spy School Story

Chapter 15: Moving Forward

Hale Household

McLean, VA

August 5th, 2018

1830R

Alexander POV

If there's one thing that never changes about life, it's that changes are always occurring.

Okay, okay, forget the cliche. In the past few months, while I was currently working in the Counterintelligence Mission Center, Erica had returned to regular duty in the Counterterrorism Mission Center, where Dad was also working. Moreover, the SIS had permanently assigned Cath to be a liaison officer within the CIA's Regional and Transnational Issues Divisions. As such, she was now living with me.

In short, things were changing for the better, especially with Erica. She continued to see the psychologist—with the psychiatrist ultimately deciding against the prescription of meds, instead providing a series of lifestyle changes—and seemed healthier. She was more open to spending time with the rest of us, which was easier as Cath was now living in the US and because Dad was keeping in touch regularly. Shockingly, he was actually using the cellphone that I gave him (which was, of course, a highly secure model with a number of security softwares in place).

Now, we were enjoying a warm Sunday evening. Dad and I were having yet another rematch at chess (43-6, his favor) on the porch while Cath once again tried to teach Erica how to cook—because nothing but instant ramen, cereal, oatmeal packets, and tea is a shitty diet. Displeased as I was at Dad capturing my queen, I was happy at the fact that I didn't smell anything burning this time.

"Alex, you lost your queen this exact way last time," Dad bluntly pointed out.

"You don't say?" I replied sarcastically. "I was distracted by the fact that nothing was burning for once."

"Really?"

"Don't worry, there's plenty of meat in the soup."

"Catherine might just make a decent cook out of Erica yet."

"Dinner's ready, gentlemen!" Cath called from the kitchen. "It's good this time, I promise!"

"Moooooom!" Erica groaned.

Lord, give me strength...

But as it turned out, Erica did a pretty good job this time, crafting a delicious beef and vegetable soup and serving it with perfectly toasted buttered bread. Based on the taste, Cath was heavily involved in the process, but Erica was still putting in most of the work. And with plenty of beef in it, Dad was a very happy man. And with all of us satisfied, Erica was too.

Holy shit... she's holding a smile... and laughing.

For the first time in a long time—if not ever—Erica was genuinely joyful. Now granted, she was more quiet and aloof amongst others, but here she seemed downright normal. And for me, that made this Sunday evening one of the better ones I had in a long, long while. Not to jinx it, but things were looking up.

We finished off the evening with some old favorites of mine: Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel. And once again, happiness reigned in the house as we popped popcorn and enjoyed two cheesy, hilarious masterpieces. Erica and Cath kept asking questions while Dad was barely repressing his manly giggles at the more... inappropriate humor, shall we say... along with the politically incorrect stuff.

In his defense, though, the jive sequences were among the funniest in the movie, especially Barbara Billingsley's.

Some pans of popcorn and a thousand laughing fits later, we finished the high-flying marathon of hilarity and absurdity. Cath had fallen asleep on my right shoulder while Dad was snoring away in his reclining lounge chair. Erica meanwhile, was looking through the credits for any remaining jokes (which there were, including the "Worst Boy").