PROJECT SPARTA

CHAPTER 49

GREAT FALLS, VA

2016

Xander's Jeep had just sped down the gravel road and over the wooden bridge that led through the woods of Great Falls, VA and to his house. There were still Skeptics at large and there were still growing questions about The Collective. Ezra had uttered the same thing as Bashfield before she died.

We are the Collective... are you?

He would have to deal with that another day. But for now, he was finally home. Xander pulled into his garage to see the 4Runner parked in the other spot. He walked into his house and threw his keys on the granite island before him. The flowers he had left had been arranged beautifully. He grabbed himself a glass from the cabinet and filled it up with water as he noticed. The green digital numbers on the clock reading 3:14 AM. He had just finished his debrief and said his goodbye to his team. Xander knew he most likely wouldn't see most of them for a long time.

After gulping down the first glass of water he filled it up again and began sipping on it slowly. He stretched and continued on upstairs toward his bedroom. Xander opened the door and walked through his room into the bathroom. He met his reflection in the mirror for a long moment. He saw the bags under his eyes and his rough skin that lined his jaw. He had met someone that day that he had previously though was dead. Xander recalled the Credo that was oddly relevant.

I am a Spartan for life, death is the only discharge.

You have to die to get out...Through death you find life...

He remembered a thousand times over the times Project Sparta's motto was proven true.

Nothing is as it seems...

Xander stripped to his underwear before his reflection. His scars littered over his body only reminded him of his years of service and sacrifice to his country. Xander gave his life for his country. His youth was no longer his, his clothes were no longer his, his interests and friends were no longer his. His life was no longer his. Project Sparta was a controlled environment and his life of active duty was still to this day as controlled by its commitments. He sacrificed his freedom so that others may live theirs. His hand reached for the cross around his neck, grasping as he so often did when he didn't know something.

"What is mine?" he asked himself in the mirror. After only a moment of brief reflection, an answer came that gave him a smile.

His eyes left his reflection and turned toward the bedroom. He found his bed in the dark and plopped down on it, letting out a sigh that carried with it all the stresses and tensions of the past week. His hand found his bedside table in the dark and opened the drawer. It reached around until it found a smooth silver ring. Xander picked it up, closed the drawer and put it on his left ring finger. He turned onto his side and found the figure next to him. Careful not to wake her up, his hands rose to a set of red curly locks. His fingers began to twirl while his other arm wrapped tightly around her, holding on to the only thing in his life that he could call his own.

The End.

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