Unexpected Consequences

21. The New Era

I TURNED AND WALKED away, heart pounding. The words echoed in my head, as they would for as long as I lived. I didn't kill him--all I did was defend myself, and it was his own staff that did the job, but that didn't change the fact that he was dead. He'd won, hadn't he? All the destruction, the fear, the death ultimatum that ultimately came true. Everything had gone his way...or had it?

He'd fought just as hard as I had. There was no holding back, none at all. Lex might have been okay with losing and dying, but he wanted to kill me. To continue his work, to do even worse. So things hadn't really gone his way, not in the end.

I won the game.

"Red?"

I turned around. The police were already here, closing off the bridge. Kavanagh stood there, regarding me with a look I knew too well: careful consideration, like any overstep might break me. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

There were tears in my eyes. Maybe from pain, but more from relief, and I nodded my head, slowly but surely. "I'm just glad it's over."

He looked around. "Me, too."

I exhaled deeply. It hurt, my ribs aching. I wanted to melt, to just crumple into a heap and sleep and wake up in my bed without a care, but things as normal as that were a luxury for me now. I sighed and walked over and hugged Kavanagh, glad he hadn't been injured in the attack. He rubbed my shoulder affectionately, but even in a safe space, I couldn't stop thinking. Lex wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last, and everything he'd done would ripple into the future, but his chapter was over. Our fight was over. Red Soldier won, and I was allowed to be at peace.

I hugged Kavanagh tighter and looked over his shoulder. The body was being recovered, and Nichols was standing there with his hands in his pockets. He noticed me, didn't say anything, and turned back around. Such a simple movement, but it reminded me that we weren't partners, and it made me sad.

I let go of Kavanagh and asked, "Hey, are you and Nichols getting along better now?"

"I'd say so."

"Good."

I walked toward Nichols, who noticed me coming and waited, uninterested. Kavanagh trailed a few steps behind me.

"I know you were only here for Lex," I said to Nichols, "but you know, if you want to, why don't you...stick around? I'm a handful—I'm sure Kavanagh could use some help."

I looked behind me to make sure Kavanagh didn't hate the idea—something I probably should've done before asking. Fortunately, he shrugged, not opposed.

I turned back to Nichols. "I mean, if that's okay. Just a suggestion."

I used to think Kavanagh was hard to read, but he had nothing on Nichols. His face didn't change at all, and he regarded me in the same manner he always had. He simply said, "I'll think about it."

And that was evidently the end of it, because he left us to go talk to another agent.

"Was that a no?" I asked, a little disappointed.

Kavanagh laughed. "As if I know."

☆

I walked into school with an arm of fresh stitches hidden in my sleeve. There was buzz about two things: Dana's second prestigious cross country win and Red Soldier's defeat of Lex. All my congratulations were directed at an identity, not at me, so the one I got when I walked into school was a subtle, almost relieved smile Dana gave me when I passed her in the hallway.

And of course there was Ben, too, who gave me a bone-crushing hug the moment I found him. After letting out an immense sigh of relief, the kind only released after someone you love is finally safe, he was taking things from his locker as I stood just nearby, nervously picking at a hangnail.