Things Left Behind (1/?)
Title: Things Left Behind
Character/Pairing: Wash/Taylor, Guz/Mira, Carter/Skye, Jim/Elisabeth, Mark/Maddy, Malcolm
Word Count: ~2500
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Romance (Always)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Over three years later, they realize that something was left behind in the Badlands, and going back for it will be more trouble than they ever expected.
Author’s Note: Fill for morganel’s Week 30 Friday one word prompt “Force” for Wash and Taylor. Not entirely sure where this one is going. Will be fun to figure out…
This is set in the context of my other stories, post-series.
Disclaimer is the same as always - don’t own them, just borrowing, no profit here.
“We probably should talk about what we’re going to do for a security lead for the three weeks that Guz wants to take off when the baby gets here.” Alicia looks at Nathaniel. They’ve been going over some personnel issues, and this is one she’s been wondering about.
Last week, Guz asked her if he could take some time to be with Mira and the baby after the baby’s birth, and she’d agreed without hesitation. It was something she and Nathaniel had already discussed, and she’d actually been about to offer it to him. Mira does more consulting for them than anything else, so her work doesn’t really need replacing, but Guz manages all the personnel rotations and security team assignments for day-to-day purposes.
Nathaniel looks thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe it’s an opportunity for us to give one of the kids a little leadership time? Maybe give them a more realistic picture of what we do every day?”
She nods. “I was thinking along the same lines.”
“Who do you have in mind?” He gets up and comes over to the conference table, where she has several plexes piled up around her.
“Reilly or Reynolds?” She lifts a questioning eyebrow at him.
“I was thinking Reilly as well. I think Reynolds already gets a lot of that type of experience through direct assignments from both of us. Reilly needs more exposure, because I can see her climbing fast.”
She smirks at him. “Should I feel threatened?”
He laughs and rolls his eyes, but before he can retort, Malcolm bursts into the office. “Taylor!” He stops, dropping his hands to his knees, clearly winded.
Alicia and Nathaniel look at each other. She shrugs, having no idea what this might be about. Nathaniel looks back at the scientist. “Malcolm? What’s going on?”
After another moment, Malcolm says, still slightly out of breath, “Sorry about that. I just got word back from the team that has been setting up the new monitoring equipment at the northern outposts.”
He takes another moment to breathe, worrying Alicia. He has continued to struggle now and then ever since he had the most severe infection during an outbreak of a respiratory illness last year. She shoots Nathaniel a concerned look before turning back to Malcolm. “Take your time, Malcolm. Do you have your inhaler?” She refers to the albuterol inhaler Elisabeth gave him.
He grimaces and shakes his head. “Left it at the lab, but I’m all right.” He takes another deep breath, and Alicia notes that his breathing does seem to be settling down. “The team finished their set up of the new sensors, the ones we finally finished prepping to pick up possible temporal shifts like the portal, and they immediately picked something up.”
Alicia and Nathaniel exchange a glance. Nathaniel furrows his brow. “Which outpost?”
“The northernmost one.” Malcolm nods, “And yes, before you can say it, that’s the one closest to the Badlands.”
“What did it pick up?” This time, it’s Alicia who speaks.
He looks at her. “Honestly, Wash, we’re not certain. It could be a time shift, but it could also be an electromagnetic force field of some sort. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not native to this time stream.”
Nathaniel cocks his head. “What’s the so what to this, Malcolm?”
He shrugs a little helplessly. “Until I can put eyes on the source, Commander, I don’t know. It could be residual effects from your son’s work, which could very easily be completely benign. It could also be an EM field generator, which, if overloaded, could be problematic. Not catastrophic, but you remember how long it took us to recover after the meteor’s EM pulse. I only bring up that possibility because I once heard Lucas talk about setting up a field to protect his work. I always thought he was joking, but I later realized that your son wasn’t much for jokes.”
Nathaniel is silent at that, worrying Alicia. She decides to leave it alone while Malcolm is still here. She looks back at Malcolm. “You said it’s coming from the Badlands. That’s a big area, Malcolm. Can you get a search area, or is there a way we can track the signal?”
He nods. “I have some more of the sensors we developed. I want to adapt them to a hand held scanner. That should help us track down the source of the energy force.”
Nathaniel stays silent, so Alicia just keeps on. “OK, get on it, Malcolm. Report back as soon as you have one ready. I assume you want a team to go into the Badlands.”
“I think we need to, Wash.”
“Agreed.” She nods. “You get me your list of names to go, and I’ll get the security side set up.”
“Will do.” He looks briefly at Nathaniel, who is now staring out the window. Malcolm’s eyes sweep back to Alicia’s, and she gives a subtle head shake. “I’ll contact you shortly.”
With that, he leaves, and Alicia walks over to Nathaniel. She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “Nathaniel? Are you all right?”
He starts a little, turning to look at her. “I’m fine, Alicia. I hoped we were clear of this. He’s buried, and I guess I hoped that any damage he was capable of would already be done.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I hoped he was completely laid to rest.”
She hugs him to her. “I know.” He wraps his arms around her, hugging her close, dropping his forehead to her shoulder. She doesn’t know what else to say, so she just holds him.
After a minute or so, he pulls back. “You want to lead the security team, don’t you?”
She sighs. “You know I do, Nathaniel. It shouldn’t be you. You know that. It’s too much and it’s too close. But it should be one of us.”
“You’re right, and I’m not going to fight you for this one. I’ll stay behind with Gracie.” She must look surprised at that, because he says, “Normally, you know I’d do this. But, even though he’s been gone for over three years now, I still sometimes feel haunted by him. I’m taking that as my signal to sit this one out.”
“OK. I’ll start putting my team together. I want to take Carter, Nathaniel. He spent a lot of time in the Badlands. I’d actually prefer to take Mira, but given that she’s due in four weeks, I somehow think Guz would disapprove.”
He snorts out a laugh at that. “Take Shannon, too. You three, Carter, you and Shannon, that is, seem to work well together.”
She grins. “Malcolm will be so pleased.”
He returns the smile, looking a little devious. “He’s going to be even more irritated when I tell him that you’re leading the group, not him. He may have the scanner, but the final call on following it and the like will be yours.”
“Great. Just make sure he knows that if I encounter some sort of ‘accident’ that Shannon will be in charge. I’ll be golden.” She rolls her eyes. “And Carter is third. Poor Malcolm.” She’s glad that he’s laughing as he heads back to his desk, but despite his outward appearance, she can see the ghosts behind his eyes.
*****
“Mama, why you have to go?” The next evening, Gracie sits on Alicia and Nathaniel’s bed as she loads her pack to head for the northern outpost. Malcolm finished the scanner this morning, and, much to his chagrin, he was informed as to the makeup and leadership structure of the team.
True to Alicia’s plan, the only way Malcolm gets to be in charge is if something happens to her, Shannon and Carter. From his grumbling, Alicia could tell that he was less than pleased by the turn of events, but she doesn’t really care.
As for the rest of the team, from a security standpoint, she’s bringing Dunham, Reynolds and two of the youngest members of the military, both privates, who need more OTG experience. Interestingly, Malcolm is bringing one of his scientists and Maddy.
That revelation made both Jim and Mark protest, so much so that it made Maddy angry, because she took it to mean that they both think she’s too weak to handle the trip. Jim, as her father, ended up able to get away with it, but she overheard Mark repeatedly apologizing as he followed her out of the command center after their meeting this morning.
Alicia looks at Gracie, who is dressed in her pink nightshirt and clutching her stuffed dinosaur. “Bug, you know this is my job.”
Gracie blinks and sticks her lower lip out. “Wast time you went away with Uncle Mowcome, he bwoke you. Auntie Wisabeth had to fix Mama.”
Alicia smiles a little, sitting down in front of Gracie, whose Rs and Ls really suffer when she’s upset. “Gracie, Uncle Malcolm didn’t break me. I just fell and hurt my knee. I promise I’ll be really careful, though. And your Uncle Carter and Uncle Shannon will be there too.”
“Dey was there wast time, and they got bwoken too.” She now has fat tears forming in her wide blue eyes. Alicia notices Nathaniel at the door, and he looks concerned. “Not want Uncle Mowcome bweak any of you. Dat make Gwacie mad.”
Alicia does her best to maintain a serious face, but she has to admit that she can’t wait to tell Malcolm that if he “breaks” her, Carter or Shannon, he’ll apparently have to answer to Gracie. “Bug, I’m sure he’ll be very careful with us.”
“I know he will be,” Nathaniel cuts in, coming over to the bed and sitting on Gracie’s other side, He pulls her into his lap. “He wouldn’t dare break anyone and risk both my wrath and the wrath of the Graciesaurus.”
Gracie sniffles, but she lets out a small, “Rowr!”
Alicia smiles at that, tucking a strand of hair behind Gracie’s ear and giving Nathaniel a grateful look before replying, “Rowr, Graciesaurus.” She climbs further onto the bed, kneeing her pack out of the way as she does, and curls up next to Nathaniel and Gracie. “I’m going to miss you two.”
Nathaniel wraps an arm around her, and Gracie moves closer, snuggling into her chest. “We miss you too, Mama.”
The next morning, they’re all gathered at the gate. She and Nathaniel already dropped Gracie at school, as they’ve found that it’s easier to distract her there than it is at the gate, where it’s hard to forget that it’s to say good-bye.
They’re taking a rhino and a rover, Alicia, Carter and Jim in the rover. Alicia, Nathaniel and Elisabeth watched, laughing, as Carter informed Jim that since Jim got to ride shotgun last time, this time it’s his turn. Carter was subsequently admonished by a slightly weepy Skye to behave himself. As he hugs her, trying to calm her down, Alicia turns to Guz and Mira, who are both there to see them off.
“You aren’t allowed to have that baby while we’re gone, you know that, right?” Alicia grins at Mira, now thirty-six weeks along.
Mira snorts. “According to Elisabeth, absolutely nothing is currently going on. I’d say the odds are good that he’ll still be in residence when you get back.”
Alicia nods and goes to stow her pack in the rover as Nathaniel talks to Guz and Jim. Elisabeth is at the rhino, set to be driven by Mark and carrying the other soldiers and the science team. Elisabeth is there, fussing over Maddy and warning Malcolm that her family members, not just Jim and Maddy, but also Mark and Alicia, better all come back in one piece.
Alicia chuckles quietly at the look on Malcolm’s face. “What’s funny?” Alicia turns to see Mira behind her.
With a grin, Alicia replies, “Malcolm. Gracie insisted we go by his lab so she could warn him that Carter, Jim and I better come back in one piece, or he must face the wrath of Graciesaurus,” at Mira’s incredulous look, Alicia says, “Seriously. And now it looks like Elisabeth is reading him the riot act.”
Mira smiles and nods. “Well, it really hasn’t been that long since the three of you had to climb down a mountain on one of his little excursions.”
“True. But none of that was actually Malcolm’s fault.” Alicia is actually starting to feel a little sorry for him.
“I know that, and you know that, but that doesn’t really help when folks are feeling irrationally protective, Wash.” Mira shrugs. “And that brings me to something else.”
Alicia gives her a questioning look, and she explains, “We just want you to be careful,” she motions to Guz with her head, “We, Isaac and I, decided we want you and Carter to be the godparents, and I’d prefer that you both be in one piece for that, OK?”
Alicia blinks in surprise. “Mira…”
“I know it’s weird. We used to hate each other. But these days, the only person I trust as much as Carter is you. Isaac was good with that, even though he probably would’ve preferred to have Taylor instead of Carter.” She grins. “Don’t tell Carter yet, though. I don’t want him to get a big head.”
Laughing, Alicia reaches out and takes the hand of her very unlikely friend. “If that’s my invitation to the role, I accept it, Mira.”
“Good. This kid needs as many bad ass women in his world as possible. Will help keep him humble.” She grins at Alicia.
“Definitely.”
They’re both still smiling when the others come up to the rover. Nathaniel pulls her to him and drops a quick kiss to her lips. Before pulling back, he murmurs, “I’ll miss you, Alicia. Please be careful.”
She leans away, reaching up and cupping his face in her palm. “I will be. I love you, Nathaniel.” He releases her, and she steps back. “You guys ready?” She addresses Jim and Carter. They both nod, and after hugging their respective spouses, they climb into the rover, Carter taking the front seat.
Nathaniel smiles down at her. “Guess they worked it out.”
Jim must hear, because he calls out, “Yeah, I get the front on the way home.”
Alicia laughs and rolls her eyes again, and she leans up to drop one more quick kiss on Nathaniel’s lips. After looking over and getting a nod from Reynolds that they’re ready to go, she smiles at Nathaniel and climbs into the driver’s seat of the rover. She hears him call to the guards to open the gate, and a moment later, they’re underway, speeding towards the northern outpost and then, tomorrow morning, on to the Badlands, a place she never really ever wanted to go again.
On to Part Two
Character/Pairing: Wash/Taylor, Guz/Mira, Carter/Skye, Jim/Elisabeth, Mark/Maddy, Malcolm
Word Count: ~2500
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Romance (Always)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Over three years later, they realize that something was left behind in the Badlands, and going back for it will be more trouble than they ever expected.
Author’s Note: Fill for morganel’s Week 30 Friday one word prompt “Force” for Wash and Taylor. Not entirely sure where this one is going. Will be fun to figure out…
This is set in the context of my other stories, post-series.
Disclaimer is the same as always - don’t own them, just borrowing, no profit here.
“We probably should talk about what we’re going to do for a security lead for the three weeks that Guz wants to take off when the baby gets here.” Alicia looks at Nathaniel. They’ve been going over some personnel issues, and this is one she’s been wondering about.
Last week, Guz asked her if he could take some time to be with Mira and the baby after the baby’s birth, and she’d agreed without hesitation. It was something she and Nathaniel had already discussed, and she’d actually been about to offer it to him. Mira does more consulting for them than anything else, so her work doesn’t really need replacing, but Guz manages all the personnel rotations and security team assignments for day-to-day purposes.
Nathaniel looks thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe it’s an opportunity for us to give one of the kids a little leadership time? Maybe give them a more realistic picture of what we do every day?”
She nods. “I was thinking along the same lines.”
“Who do you have in mind?” He gets up and comes over to the conference table, where she has several plexes piled up around her.
“Reilly or Reynolds?” She lifts a questioning eyebrow at him.
“I was thinking Reilly as well. I think Reynolds already gets a lot of that type of experience through direct assignments from both of us. Reilly needs more exposure, because I can see her climbing fast.”
She smirks at him. “Should I feel threatened?”
He laughs and rolls his eyes, but before he can retort, Malcolm bursts into the office. “Taylor!” He stops, dropping his hands to his knees, clearly winded.
Alicia and Nathaniel look at each other. She shrugs, having no idea what this might be about. Nathaniel looks back at the scientist. “Malcolm? What’s going on?”
After another moment, Malcolm says, still slightly out of breath, “Sorry about that. I just got word back from the team that has been setting up the new monitoring equipment at the northern outposts.”
He takes another moment to breathe, worrying Alicia. He has continued to struggle now and then ever since he had the most severe infection during an outbreak of a respiratory illness last year. She shoots Nathaniel a concerned look before turning back to Malcolm. “Take your time, Malcolm. Do you have your inhaler?” She refers to the albuterol inhaler Elisabeth gave him.
He grimaces and shakes his head. “Left it at the lab, but I’m all right.” He takes another deep breath, and Alicia notes that his breathing does seem to be settling down. “The team finished their set up of the new sensors, the ones we finally finished prepping to pick up possible temporal shifts like the portal, and they immediately picked something up.”
Alicia and Nathaniel exchange a glance. Nathaniel furrows his brow. “Which outpost?”
“The northernmost one.” Malcolm nods, “And yes, before you can say it, that’s the one closest to the Badlands.”
“What did it pick up?” This time, it’s Alicia who speaks.
He looks at her. “Honestly, Wash, we’re not certain. It could be a time shift, but it could also be an electromagnetic force field of some sort. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not native to this time stream.”
Nathaniel cocks his head. “What’s the so what to this, Malcolm?”
He shrugs a little helplessly. “Until I can put eyes on the source, Commander, I don’t know. It could be residual effects from your son’s work, which could very easily be completely benign. It could also be an EM field generator, which, if overloaded, could be problematic. Not catastrophic, but you remember how long it took us to recover after the meteor’s EM pulse. I only bring up that possibility because I once heard Lucas talk about setting up a field to protect his work. I always thought he was joking, but I later realized that your son wasn’t much for jokes.”
Nathaniel is silent at that, worrying Alicia. She decides to leave it alone while Malcolm is still here. She looks back at Malcolm. “You said it’s coming from the Badlands. That’s a big area, Malcolm. Can you get a search area, or is there a way we can track the signal?”
He nods. “I have some more of the sensors we developed. I want to adapt them to a hand held scanner. That should help us track down the source of the energy force.”
Nathaniel stays silent, so Alicia just keeps on. “OK, get on it, Malcolm. Report back as soon as you have one ready. I assume you want a team to go into the Badlands.”
“I think we need to, Wash.”
“Agreed.” She nods. “You get me your list of names to go, and I’ll get the security side set up.”
“Will do.” He looks briefly at Nathaniel, who is now staring out the window. Malcolm’s eyes sweep back to Alicia’s, and she gives a subtle head shake. “I’ll contact you shortly.”
With that, he leaves, and Alicia walks over to Nathaniel. She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “Nathaniel? Are you all right?”
He starts a little, turning to look at her. “I’m fine, Alicia. I hoped we were clear of this. He’s buried, and I guess I hoped that any damage he was capable of would already be done.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I hoped he was completely laid to rest.”
She hugs him to her. “I know.” He wraps his arms around her, hugging her close, dropping his forehead to her shoulder. She doesn’t know what else to say, so she just holds him.
After a minute or so, he pulls back. “You want to lead the security team, don’t you?”
She sighs. “You know I do, Nathaniel. It shouldn’t be you. You know that. It’s too much and it’s too close. But it should be one of us.”
“You’re right, and I’m not going to fight you for this one. I’ll stay behind with Gracie.” She must look surprised at that, because he says, “Normally, you know I’d do this. But, even though he’s been gone for over three years now, I still sometimes feel haunted by him. I’m taking that as my signal to sit this one out.”
“OK. I’ll start putting my team together. I want to take Carter, Nathaniel. He spent a lot of time in the Badlands. I’d actually prefer to take Mira, but given that she’s due in four weeks, I somehow think Guz would disapprove.”
He snorts out a laugh at that. “Take Shannon, too. You three, Carter, you and Shannon, that is, seem to work well together.”
She grins. “Malcolm will be so pleased.”
He returns the smile, looking a little devious. “He’s going to be even more irritated when I tell him that you’re leading the group, not him. He may have the scanner, but the final call on following it and the like will be yours.”
“Great. Just make sure he knows that if I encounter some sort of ‘accident’ that Shannon will be in charge. I’ll be golden.” She rolls her eyes. “And Carter is third. Poor Malcolm.” She’s glad that he’s laughing as he heads back to his desk, but despite his outward appearance, she can see the ghosts behind his eyes.
*****
“Mama, why you have to go?” The next evening, Gracie sits on Alicia and Nathaniel’s bed as she loads her pack to head for the northern outpost. Malcolm finished the scanner this morning, and, much to his chagrin, he was informed as to the makeup and leadership structure of the team.
True to Alicia’s plan, the only way Malcolm gets to be in charge is if something happens to her, Shannon and Carter. From his grumbling, Alicia could tell that he was less than pleased by the turn of events, but she doesn’t really care.
As for the rest of the team, from a security standpoint, she’s bringing Dunham, Reynolds and two of the youngest members of the military, both privates, who need more OTG experience. Interestingly, Malcolm is bringing one of his scientists and Maddy.
That revelation made both Jim and Mark protest, so much so that it made Maddy angry, because she took it to mean that they both think she’s too weak to handle the trip. Jim, as her father, ended up able to get away with it, but she overheard Mark repeatedly apologizing as he followed her out of the command center after their meeting this morning.
Alicia looks at Gracie, who is dressed in her pink nightshirt and clutching her stuffed dinosaur. “Bug, you know this is my job.”
Gracie blinks and sticks her lower lip out. “Wast time you went away with Uncle Mowcome, he bwoke you. Auntie Wisabeth had to fix Mama.”
Alicia smiles a little, sitting down in front of Gracie, whose Rs and Ls really suffer when she’s upset. “Gracie, Uncle Malcolm didn’t break me. I just fell and hurt my knee. I promise I’ll be really careful, though. And your Uncle Carter and Uncle Shannon will be there too.”
“Dey was there wast time, and they got bwoken too.” She now has fat tears forming in her wide blue eyes. Alicia notices Nathaniel at the door, and he looks concerned. “Not want Uncle Mowcome bweak any of you. Dat make Gwacie mad.”
Alicia does her best to maintain a serious face, but she has to admit that she can’t wait to tell Malcolm that if he “breaks” her, Carter or Shannon, he’ll apparently have to answer to Gracie. “Bug, I’m sure he’ll be very careful with us.”
“I know he will be,” Nathaniel cuts in, coming over to the bed and sitting on Gracie’s other side, He pulls her into his lap. “He wouldn’t dare break anyone and risk both my wrath and the wrath of the Graciesaurus.”
Gracie sniffles, but she lets out a small, “Rowr!”
Alicia smiles at that, tucking a strand of hair behind Gracie’s ear and giving Nathaniel a grateful look before replying, “Rowr, Graciesaurus.” She climbs further onto the bed, kneeing her pack out of the way as she does, and curls up next to Nathaniel and Gracie. “I’m going to miss you two.”
Nathaniel wraps an arm around her, and Gracie moves closer, snuggling into her chest. “We miss you too, Mama.”
The next morning, they’re all gathered at the gate. She and Nathaniel already dropped Gracie at school, as they’ve found that it’s easier to distract her there than it is at the gate, where it’s hard to forget that it’s to say good-bye.
They’re taking a rhino and a rover, Alicia, Carter and Jim in the rover. Alicia, Nathaniel and Elisabeth watched, laughing, as Carter informed Jim that since Jim got to ride shotgun last time, this time it’s his turn. Carter was subsequently admonished by a slightly weepy Skye to behave himself. As he hugs her, trying to calm her down, Alicia turns to Guz and Mira, who are both there to see them off.
“You aren’t allowed to have that baby while we’re gone, you know that, right?” Alicia grins at Mira, now thirty-six weeks along.
Mira snorts. “According to Elisabeth, absolutely nothing is currently going on. I’d say the odds are good that he’ll still be in residence when you get back.”
Alicia nods and goes to stow her pack in the rover as Nathaniel talks to Guz and Jim. Elisabeth is at the rhino, set to be driven by Mark and carrying the other soldiers and the science team. Elisabeth is there, fussing over Maddy and warning Malcolm that her family members, not just Jim and Maddy, but also Mark and Alicia, better all come back in one piece.
Alicia chuckles quietly at the look on Malcolm’s face. “What’s funny?” Alicia turns to see Mira behind her.
With a grin, Alicia replies, “Malcolm. Gracie insisted we go by his lab so she could warn him that Carter, Jim and I better come back in one piece, or he must face the wrath of Graciesaurus,” at Mira’s incredulous look, Alicia says, “Seriously. And now it looks like Elisabeth is reading him the riot act.”
Mira smiles and nods. “Well, it really hasn’t been that long since the three of you had to climb down a mountain on one of his little excursions.”
“True. But none of that was actually Malcolm’s fault.” Alicia is actually starting to feel a little sorry for him.
“I know that, and you know that, but that doesn’t really help when folks are feeling irrationally protective, Wash.” Mira shrugs. “And that brings me to something else.”
Alicia gives her a questioning look, and she explains, “We just want you to be careful,” she motions to Guz with her head, “We, Isaac and I, decided we want you and Carter to be the godparents, and I’d prefer that you both be in one piece for that, OK?”
Alicia blinks in surprise. “Mira…”
“I know it’s weird. We used to hate each other. But these days, the only person I trust as much as Carter is you. Isaac was good with that, even though he probably would’ve preferred to have Taylor instead of Carter.” She grins. “Don’t tell Carter yet, though. I don’t want him to get a big head.”
Laughing, Alicia reaches out and takes the hand of her very unlikely friend. “If that’s my invitation to the role, I accept it, Mira.”
“Good. This kid needs as many bad ass women in his world as possible. Will help keep him humble.” She grins at Alicia.
“Definitely.”
They’re both still smiling when the others come up to the rover. Nathaniel pulls her to him and drops a quick kiss to her lips. Before pulling back, he murmurs, “I’ll miss you, Alicia. Please be careful.”
She leans away, reaching up and cupping his face in her palm. “I will be. I love you, Nathaniel.” He releases her, and she steps back. “You guys ready?” She addresses Jim and Carter. They both nod, and after hugging their respective spouses, they climb into the rover, Carter taking the front seat.
Nathaniel smiles down at her. “Guess they worked it out.”
Jim must hear, because he calls out, “Yeah, I get the front on the way home.”
Alicia laughs and rolls her eyes again, and she leans up to drop one more quick kiss on Nathaniel’s lips. After looking over and getting a nod from Reynolds that they’re ready to go, she smiles at Nathaniel and climbs into the driver’s seat of the rover. She hears him call to the guards to open the gate, and a moment later, they’re underway, speeding towards the northern outpost and then, tomorrow morning, on to the Badlands, a place she never really ever wanted to go again.
On to Part Two