Chapter 12

Samantha and Spencer reach Washington D.C. in the early hours of the morning. Having to wait for visiting hours to visit Doug Wiltkins, the two decided on some much needed sleep. After a few hours of rest they travel to D.C. General and are taken to Doug’s room. His wife, Crystal, is there by his side. When the two enter she gets up and greets them. “Hello Spence, Sam,” she says giving both agents a hug. “He came out of his coma a couple days ago. You can go ahead and wake him. I’ll leave you alone, I need some coffee anyway.” She gives them a smile and leaves the room.

The two agents walk quietly over to Doug’s bed. He already has his eyes open and starts talking before they reach him. “So you two finally found the time to come visit me,” he says jokingly.

“Well you know, saving Spence’s ass is no small task,” Samantha says smiling at her partner. He responds with a grin and then all three give a heartfelt laugh.

“How are you doing?” Spencer asks changing the subject to something more serious.

“I could be better,” Doug says grimly. “I couldn’t stop her.”

“It’s not your fault,” Samantha intercedes, placing her hand on his. “We’ll get her, I promise.”

“What can you tell us about Roger?” Spencer cuts in bringing the conversation back around.

“What would you like to know?” Doug asks. His eyes and face become serious. He seems to forget his sorrow and pain and reverts to his soldier mode.

“Anything and everything,” Spencer blurts. “I thought, we thought,” he corrects looking over at his partner, “we knew everything about him.”

Doug gives a snort. “At one time I thought the same thing until he told me the truth. Please sit down; there is a lot you don’t know.” They grab two chairs and pull them up to the bed. “I was told the truth when I was in the Special Forces with him. I learned he was a Magi, a descendant of the legendary Atlanteans. Imagine my surprise and disbelief of his story. Being his friend though, I listened to what he had to say and I’ll admit some of it I believed, but most I did not. It wasn’t until many years later after we joined the FBI did things happen and I fully believed him them. He had knowledge of things no one else did. He had connections to people and organizations, many of which weren’t supposed to exist.” The man shifts a little in the bed, trying to get comfortable. “Everything Roger did was for a purpose, from the formation of the TDF to your paring together as partners. Roger knew of your abilities. He also knew of you being part Goji. I’m sure there were times he’d have liked to talk to you about these things, but he always believed in people learning about themselves and the world on their own accord. What’s better way to accept something to learn of it on your own than to have it thrown at you?”

“I can understand that,” Spencer says. “What about Senator Rustlin?”

“The entire situation with the senator was orchestrated by Roger with the exception of his assassination. It was to put the TDF in a position to be where it is now. With Roger’s connections and assets, the TDF could do almost anything, and what better way to fight the Goji? Unfortunately, he was unable to predict or prevent Natalya’s vengeance. He had wards in place which should have prevented any Goji including an ancient from entering. Somehow though, she was able to get past the wards.”

“What’s her connection to Roger?” Samantha interrupts, suddenly eager to know more about this feud.

“I don’t know the details,” he answers, “but Roger was sent over by the FBI to the CIA to act as a liaison and help investigate a mole in their DEeP division. He returned successful but he didn’t seem happy. It was like he didn’t quite accomplish a task he set out to do. That was a trait he carried. When Roger set out to do something, he did it until it was complete, nothing half-assed.”

“Wait a minute, you said DEeP? Does that have anything to do with DEeP Six?” Spencer questions holding up his hands and waving them side to side.

“From my understanding, DEeP was shut down after Roger’s help in the case. DEeP Six was created by a government program called Section 8. Not much is known about it and not even Roger knew much. His only contact with the organization was...”

“Major Duncan Graves,” Samantha finishes for him.

“Yes, that’s him,” Doug agrees. “I guess you know him as well.”

“More than we would like,” Spencer says with sarcasm.

“If I know Roger then Grines has been given control of the TDF and he knows everything Roger did.”

“What do you mean?” Samantha asks.

“Roger was never one to not be prepared. He knew in the circumstance of his death someone would need to have everything passed on to them. So Roger had everything prepared from documents to videos. So if you need to know something I don’t, then Grines is the one to ask.”

A knock raps at the door just before Doug’s wife walks in. “Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I need to get Doug ready to leave and ready for the funeral.”

“Speaking of which, we need to get ready too,” Samantha says, looking at Spencer.

“Yeah,” the man agrees with a nod. “Hey, it’s good to see you are doing well. It won’t be long before you return to work.”

“Then you’ll be waiting a long time. I’m not coming back,” Doug says curtly.

“What!” Samantha says before Spencer can respond.

“That’s right. I’ve seen a lot and been through just as much. I’m also too old for the field and I refuse to sit at a desk,” he explains. “I was ready to retire a couple of years ago, but Roger convinced me otherwise.”

“Now that he’s gone you’re going to just give up,” she says angrily. As soon as the words leave her mouth she regrets saying them. “I’m sorry that was wrong of me.”

“No, I understand and you shouldn’t hide your feelings. I worked with you and Roger through many missions. You’ve just lost Roger and you’re losing me, but I’ll still be around if you need something.”

Samantha reaches down and gives him a hug and whispers a thank you in his ear. When they pull apart they give each other a smile. “See you at the funeral,” Doug says.

Once the two agents are in the hallway, Spencer stops his partner and spins her around. “Why is it I get the feeling there is something going down and we don’t have a clue what?”

“That’s because there is and it’s up to us to find out what it is,” she replies. She gives him a kiss and says, “Come on, we’ll question Grines until we’re blue in the face.”

“Yeah right, that’s all we’ll get done.”

“Ah, he’s cool,” she says. “He just plays things close to the vest.”

The cemetery is like any other one. Roger chose to be buried here because his wife is buried there. They had chosen the plots early on in their marriage and neither one of them expected to be filling them early in life. Roger had lost his wife in a car accident four years ago and though he looked forward to being with her again, he probably never expected it to be so soon. The sky is cloudy and dark, and shortly after Spencer and Samantha arrive, it begins to slowly drizzle. The people that show up for the funeral come from many different agencies including FBI, CIA, NSA, and of course the TDF. Those that aren’t part of an agency are friends or family, including Roger’s daughter. Most of the people Samantha and Spencer recognize. Hands are shook and hugs are given between various people. Roger’s daughter is given condolences and she stands up amazingly well.

“How are you holding up?” Samantha asks Amanda, Roger’s daughter.

“First my mother, now my father,” she answers meekly. “I don’t know how else to feel.”

Samantha throws her arm around the young woman. She had just graduated from high school the year before and was away at college when Roger’s death came. “How are you doing at college,” she asks deciding to try and shift the conversation and help the young woman focus on something else at the moment.

“It’s not bad. It’s a lot like high school but different at the same time.”

“Yeah, I remember when I went to college. It was a whole new experience for me,” Samantha says.

“Roger Tiberius Cornelius was a soldier who served his country through many missions and conflicts. He continued his service when he became a FBI agent and shortly after joining Counter Terrorist Division. He went on to form the Terrestrial Defense Force, which eventually became its own entity before shutting down. Roger was a dreamer, but he was a dreamer that took those dreams and turned them into reality,” the sermon begins. “We will never know what he had in mind next to provide a service for this country, but we do know it would probably have been big. So we now commit his body back to the Earth from which it was made. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

The rain is still coming down, but now at a steady drizzle. The soldiers standing off to the side approach the coffin and fold the flag. When it is neatly tucked and folded one of the soldiers walks the flag over to Amanda and present it to her. She accepts it holding back her tears. Three sets of seven guns rang out saluting a fallen hero. Samantha squeezes Amanda’s shoulder as a sign of comfort. Spencer moves in to give her some words of encouragement when he notices something out of the corner of his eye. “Wait her,” he says to his partner and slowly begins to work his way through the crowd of people.