Always Standing Steady

Soon Everything Ends

070900SJUL16: July 7, 2016. 0900. Topeka, Kansas, United States of America.

"Is it pep talk time?" Diego asked me.

We stood in our hotel room all geared up and ready to go. Between the five of us, we had enough guns to supply a small island's army for years. We were going to war: there was no other way to put it. We were disobeying direct orders, committing treason in the process, and dragging others in with us. Ezra and Nazirah had called up their own backup; they had touched down hours earlier and would meet us at the terrorists' location.

"Do you want a pep talk?" I asked him.

"Considering what we are about to do, yeah, a pep talk would be nice."

I looked around at my team. There were moments where your life seems to stop, then the choice you have has so much gravity that you get sucked in. This was not one of those moments. I knew it should have been, but it wasn't. There was no choice.

"We are about to commit treason. We are disobeying direct orders. Once we do this, we have to run. We have to disappear. Now that Angelus knows that we are going rouge, she will likely send in a team to take us out. They will not succeed. We are better trained, better prepared, and our balls are a lot bigger." That got laughs. "If anyone has decided that they don't want to spend the rest of their life running, now is the time to step out. We will not hold anything against you if you decide to leave now."

Sicily burst out laughing, "that was very dramatic."

"I try," I found myself laughing too. "We move out in ten minutes. Canoodle while you still can."

I paced to the bathroom to pin a few stray strands of hair back. Nazirah followed me in.

"You have to tell him," she murmured.

"This is a horrible time to tell him."

"He proposed to you as you were dying," she pointed out. "This is revenge." She slipped a hand and something else into my pocket, "at least have it in case you decide in the middle of the gun fire that he should know."

"Fine," I sighed. "Shouldn't you and Sic be having one of your romantic moments right about now?"

"We already did. After this is over, I'm taking her home to meet my family. We can live in Bombay or maybe Jaipur. I didn't realize that I wanted the whole big wedding and many kids deal until now. But imagine trying to find two saris that match. It'd be impossible."

"If anyone can pull it off, you two can," I assured her.

"Maybe with a little help from my mom," Nazirah sighed. "How about you and Ezra?"

"We were thinking Killarney. Remember that tiny house? I think we both deserve some peace."

"We all do," she glanced across the room to where Diego was talking on the phone to someone.

"It's that cutie with the IRS, isn't it?" I guessed.

"Yeah," Nazirah sighed proudly. "If anyone can hide in plain sight, it's him. It's too bad things didn't work out with that English Prince."

"They could have been happy together. Might be better this way. I know Diego wants to occasionally sneak back home sometimes. Maybe staying stateside will work out for him."

"Whatever happens, we did good."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We did the right thing."

"Time to move out!" Ezra shouted to us all.

I glanced at Nazirah, "I'll tell him," I promised.

I threw my bag over one shoulder and grabbed my husband's hand as we left. I threw my bag in the SUV while Ezra went to turn in the keys to our motel room. Diego hopped on the motorcycle and Sicily and Nazirah took the Audi. As Ezra drove, he rested one hand on my thigh; I played with his fingers and twisted his wedding ring around.