Crossing Boundaries

Aftermath

After lunch the next day, the boys started gathering at Nathan's house. Sang had conked out after a late bath the night before and had woken up very late. She tried rushing around cleaning the house and preparing some snacks for the boys but Nathan stopped her and forced her to relax with a movie. But Sang, who was not used to doing nothing, felt fidgety at the thought of the family meeting. No doubt Mr. Blackbourne would bring up the kidnapping and rescuing of yesterday and Sang felt nervous for being in the center of it. She hoped that they would go easy on her since it was her first big mission and all.

Sang sat waiting in the sitting room as one by one the boys started arriving. Kota came earlier and was helping Nathan prepare some refreshments in the kitchen. Next bounded in Silas with a kiss for Sang and few words of encouragement. North arrived with a still gloomy looking Luke. Sang watched Luke situate himself in the corner of the sitting room. She watched him with trepidation and wanted to go up to him to talk to him but felt that her involvement with whatever was going on with Luke might not be appreciated. She knew Luke to withdraw when things got emotional or when he got cornered by everybody. She knew each of the boys had their own way of dealing with stress and sometimes you just had leave people to stew alone for a while. When Luke was ready Sang would approach him and they could spend some time together. These were the times when Sang wished there was some way she could split herself up between 9 people; not that she would have it any other way but it wasn't always easy to care so much about them and still find a balance. All Sang could do was try.

The rest of the boys arrived and Kota brought out the snacks. The only person who had yet to arrive was Mr. Blackbourne. After some small talk where Sang got increasingly nervous Mr. Blackbourne finally sauntered into the room and nodded to everyone. He was impeccably dressed in his usual grey suit and maroon tie. His face gave away nothing and it looked more like he was here for a business meeting rather than a family meeting. Sang wondered whether he ever relaxed and what he looked like when he did.

Mr. Blackbourne reclined back in the armchair facing the others. He motioned for Kota to pour the coffee for everyone and once they all had a cup he started the meeting. "Thank you for everyone meeting me at Mr. Griffin's home. And thank you Mr. Taylor and Mr. Lee for submitting the report." Luke hardly glanced at Mr. Blackbourne when he heard his name. Sang was squeezed in between Silas and Victor with a cup of coffee balancing precariously on her knees because Victor held one of her hands and Silas the other. Sang thought this might be because they were trying to lend her moral support. Mr. Blackbourne went on, "Now, it comes to my attention that certain protocols were overlooked which might have led to our near disaster with Miss Sorenson's capture," he paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. Sang sat in the edge of her seat knowing that this would be the moment where everyone pointed the finger at her. "But the mission was a success at the end..." Sang interrupted Mr. Blackbourne, "But they got away. They sped of in their car." For a moment there was silence in the room. Each of the boys stared at her with awe in their faces except for Mr. Blackbourne who maintained his stony look. Sang became aware of her outburst and shut her mouth. She started to apologise for speaking out of turn when Mr. Blackbourne cut her off and explained, "The mission was a success. Mr. Taylor managed to place a tracker on the car as he rescued you from the trunk. We followed them and called Academy backup before infiltrating their headquarters. They are in custody at the moment." While the boys knew about the rest of the operation and it's success, this was new to Sang. She never imagined that all this went on after they left for home. But she was not surprised; the Academy was nothing if not efficient and swift when they needed to be.

Sang relaxed back onto the couch. Silas took her hand and placed it on his thigh, she squeezed his thigh to reassure him she was fine. The rest of the meeting went on with accounts from each of the boys about the mission and what could have been done differently. Luke opted out; no doubt he'll get a chance later to converse with Mr. Blackbourne alone. When it was Sang's turn, she was hesitant to say anything out loud. Mr. Blackbourne saw the trepidation in her eyes and gently said to her, "You are welcome to tell me in private after the meeting. Every member of my team has the option to pass." Sang nodded her thanks and kept her words to herself. After her outburst from earlier, she felt her energy leaving her. There would be a time when she would recount her part but right now, she wanted to just soak up the fact that they were all with her and she was safe where she belonged.

The meeting went on for a little longer and adjourned with each of the boys moving onto doing other tasks. North and Silas left to go back to the diner to work their afternoon shift. Mr. Blackbourne motioned for Sang to follow him. She got up from the couch and started after him. She thought he would take her to the study downstairs; instead Mr. Blackbourne led her to her room upstairs. "I hope you don't mind we speak in here, it'll make you more comfortable," he stated after shutting the door. There was a little wrought iron table and two matching chairs placed under the large windows and Mr. Blackbourne pulled out one of the chairs for Sang to sit. After taking the opposite chair, he stared out the windows for a while letting Sang compose herself. The windows faced the back of the house. The pool gleamed under the early afternoon sun. After a while, Mr. Blackbourne turned to Sang and gave her an affectionate look, "I understand if you don't wish to recount what happened yesterday. This is not an interrogation and I don't want you to feel under pressure." Mr. Blackbourne paused for a few moments. "What you did yesterday and what you went through took a lot of courage, Ms. Sorenson. All I want to do is lend a listening ear to what you might want to share."

Sang watched Mr. Blackbourne under her eyelids. Though Mr. Blackbourne was trying to put her nerves at ease, she felt shy to have his undivided attention and his eyes gazing at her without waver. "You don't have to say anything right now Ms. Sorenson," as if reading her thoughts, "I'm not going anywhere, take your time. Just spend a moment with me." Sang nodded and looked down at her hands. She slowly started speaking, "This shouldn't be anything new to me...but in that moment, when I was getting further and further from you. I wondered if I'd ever see you again." Sang looked up and was startled at Mr. Blackbourne's intense look. "Ms. Sorenson, understand that I would never let anything happen to you. We would have followed you to the ends of the Earth." Mr. Blackbourne reached forwards and took Sang's hand gently in his. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, grazing her knuckles. Sang looked down at his much larger hand and felt a shiver start at the base of her spine. This feeling was nothing new; every time the boys touched her Sang experienced a sense of belonging and also tingling along her limbs and spine. With Mr. Blackbourne, this feeling was entirely new but when she looked into his eyes, everything inside her settled. "I knew going into that house was a foolish thing to do, but they had Shep and that was the only thing running through my head." She continued looking at Mr. Blackbourne and after a slight nod from him, she went on, "We sneaked in and somehow found the room holding Shep. Luke helped me drop Shep out of the window and we escaped into the bushes. When the police raided the house, the doctor escaped notice. He found me. I think he was more scared than anything. But he had a gun and a wounded and cornered tiger is a dangerous one...I did what I had to do." Sang looked at Mr. Blackbourne head on. Mr. Blackbourne said nothing but motioned for her to continue. Sang took a deep breath and kept talking. They talked for almost an hour. The more Sang recounted the night before, the more she relaxed. Mr. Blackbourne never relinquished her hand and never said more than a few words.

At long last, they both resurfaced from the memories. Sang looked around her, she felt as if she had woken up from a trance. After speaking for nearly an hour, Sang started to feel embarrassed for taking so much of Mr. Blackbourne's time but he only smiled at her and squeezed her hand. Mr. Blackbourne folded himself from his chair and said, "We might need to think about getting some armchairs for this room, don't you thing?" His tone was more relaxed. "These chairs are beautiful but not very comfortable." Sang blushed but smiled at him. They crossed the room but before she could open the door, Mr. Blackbourne placed a hand on her arm. She looked back at him in question and was surprised to see him with open arms gesturing for her to place her trust in him. Without thinking, Sang fell into his arms and squeezed herself as close as she could. They stood at the threshold her what felt like a long time. Sang closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of spring soap. This was where she belonged.