Chapter 28

Friday Evening
Nexus Ranch
Near Harborton, Washington

Lizzy couldn’t sleep yet again. She punched her pillow and rolled over, but her mind wouldn’t stop churning. She was so tired that even her ‘Ben effect’ enhanced body was failing her. But she couldn’t rest. There was so much to do. She had set her Athena driven bots loose on finding out all the details about who all had been involved in the attack on them. They were amazingly sophisticated but someone still had to collate and analyze the terabytes of data that was flowing in. She also had to create and promote a false digital story on what had happened to the former mercenaries. They had to keep the sponsors of the attack mostly in the dark until the Nexus team decided how to deal with them.

Maybe if she could just sleep better, but every time she closed her eyes she saw the shot on the last remaining bomber go wide and relived the next seconds as he disappeared around the corner of the pole barn. She again saw the huge fireball of the explosion light up the night. It didn’t help that she had to walk by the small infirmary room they had set up for Billy while he healed. She had tried to apologize to him scores of times but the right words would never come. He was also so damn sweet and nice that it made her failure even worse.

Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this after all. Sarah or Mei wouldn’t have failed. Maria was tiny but the bravest and steadiest person she knew. Kelly had been at the mercy of her worst nightmare and shot him in the dick. Diminutive Siofra saved herself and her child by slaying a hellhound three times as big as she was with a single blow. She wanted to be like them, to never disappoint them or her Ben. But maybe she just didn’t have what it took to be a real member of the Nexus team.

The worst thing is that no one said a word to her about her missed shot. No one acted any differently toward her at all. Ben had even said how amazing she had been in taking out the first target, but she knew she had let them down and but for the bravery of Billy and the incredible shooting of Ben it could have ended very badly indeed.

Lizzy didn’t know what she was going to do, but she was terrified that she was going to let them down again.

Saturday Morning
Nexus Ranch
Near Harborton, Washington

“Attention to orders!” Tom barked at the assembled Nexus and Fae members and assorted onlookers. They were gathered in the large grassy meadow just in front of the ranch house. Behind him stood all the members of his furry auxiliary militia. All were on best behavior and standing rigidly in line, well all, but the very youngest and one very large horse who towered over them.

“Be it hereby known, that privates Eenie, Meenie, Meinie Moe, Awhoo and Montana Joe are henceforth promoted to private first class meritoriously,” Tom intoned.

Ben stood behind Tom and provided translation for those present who were not able to understand furry talk yet.

“Gee I didn’t even know I was a member! Do I get a gun?” said Joe sotto voce.

“Shhh! Pay attention!” whispered Meinie Moe.

For a pound of fur she sure could be bossy, thought Joe. Joe didn’t know what to make of this whole production, but it was really exciting. He didn’t feel he had done much but he was glad he had been able to help prevent the escape of the bad man. This was much better than playing dress up with the girls!

Joe could tell Eenie and Meinie were, for once, trying to act dignified. Joe thought they had about 30 seconds left on the good behavior clock before they once again exploded into mischief. Awhoo was, of course, proudly sitting perfectly still. Joe really liked Awhoo, his newest friend. He was born for this kind of thing!

“Be it also known that for their valiant actions on the night of the assault all the aforementioned are hereby awarded the Order of the Gold Star medal. This is a new award and recognizes not only bravery in the face of the enemy but initiative and quick thinking under extreme duress,” said Tom.

Joe watched intently as Kelly then stepped to the end of the line where Meenie was. She was carrying a decorated gold and black box. The Fae must have made it thought Joe, it was so pretty with inlaid swirly lines. Kelly knelt and then retrieved a fancy black collar from inside the box. It looked to Joe like there were some bright dangly bits attached to the collar. Would he get one too?

Kelly kissed the kitten between the ears, whispered to him and gave him generous chin scritches. She then buckled the ornate collar around his neck and sketched a salute. Meenie returned the salute, sort of, then meowed and started purring so loud Joe could hear him all the way at the other end of the line.

Kelly then moved down the line and repeated this with each of the other kittens and Awhoo who looked like he was going to burst with pride when Kelly hugged him tight.

Now it was Joe’s turn. He was so excited he wanted to prance back and forth but if the kittens could hold still, then so could he, dangit! His hopes were dashed though when Kelly paused and left the line.

Oh shoot. No matter, I guess, Joe thought. He hadn’t really been brave like the others. He understood, but he was a little sad and his proud head sagged slightly. Wait! She’s coming back! Joe’s eyes opened wide as he saw Kelly carrying a much larger box decorated just like the others.

“Sorry for the delay Joe, I couldn’t carry all the boxes,” Kelly said with a smile as she stepped up to him, opened the ornate box and withdrew an extra large ribbon with a highly polished five pointed gold star medal as big as her hand depending from it.

“We’ll get you a small one to wear on your bridle for everyday wear,” Kelly whispered to him as she fastened the ribbon around his large brindle neck. “Joe, thank you so much for what you did. He was a very bad man who did many horrible things to people, including me, and I’m so glad he didn’t get away!” she finished and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on his cheek.

Kelly then stepped away and gave Joe a salute and a smile. Joe wasn’t sure how to salute exactly. There was no way his hoof was going to reach his head so he just lifted a forefoot and stomped it down. That seemed to be okay as Tom gave him an approving nod.

“Comp’ny Dis-missed!” commanded Tom.

All the animals cheered and swirled around and congratulated the medal winners. Joe was in heaven as he pranced and whirled showing off his new sparkly to all of his friends. He was never going to forget this day!

Saturday Afternoon
Nexus Ranch
Near Harborton, Washington

Eesha was bone tired, but satisfied as she sat down on the broad wooden porch of the ranch house for a brief rest in the late spring sunshine. It had been a long week between caring for Billy and helping to manage the aftermath of the attack. She had done all the grunt work of getting the former mercenaries settled in and making sure their Fae allies had all the resources they needed to handle them.

She was also helping coordinate the meetings with all their allies in law enforcement and government. Lanie had become a regular feature at the ranch as she flitted between agencies as the Nexus liaison. Eesha knew that Nexus was getting ready for a big response to the attack but the details were being held pretty closely.

Eesha never thought of herself as a vengeful person, but truthfully, she was really hoping they put an end to whoever was responsible for the assault and for nearly killing Billy, her Billy! Eesha was a simple unsophisticated village girl from the middle of nowhere, but she knew what she felt. She also knew what it took to make a good mate and Billy had it all.

There was an effort made to keep all the rescued women separate from the male personnel as so many of the women had been traumatized by men, but even so, Eesha had seen the unassuming young man about the premises occasionally as she took on more and more responsibilities. She had thought of him as kinda cute but he never really caught her eye the way he had recently.

One reason for that was that for months she had had a huge crush on Ben. She didn’t really understand why at first and then the other girls had all helped her understand about these ‘pheromone’ things. Now she just took it for granted that she was going to get sexy feelings whenever Ben was close to her but other than that he was more like a favorite uncle than a love interest. She knew the Nexus women felt totally different. For them it was a deep and lasting bond that they had chosen to be a part of and that couldn’t be broken.

Her feelings for Billy were different now. It all seemed to fall in place after the attack. He was brave, kind, and modest. He treated her and everyone around him with courtesy and respect but was in no way a pushover. He was perfect for her and she thought she would be perfect for him.

Now she just had to get Billy to realize it. She had tried everything from her admittedly limited repertoire of flirting. She had leaned over his bedside with the top buttons of her blouse undone. Nothing! Just a brief glance and then a blush as he quickly looked away. She had also attempted to highlight her rather delightful derriere (if she said so herself) by bending over straight legged to pick up items from the floor when she knew he had to be looking. Even more blushing! And he still wouldn’t say anything to her!

Whenever she talked to him he seemed enthralled with anything she said but he wouldn’t say hardly anything back! It almost seemed that he was afraid of her, as ridiculous as that was. She had to be having some sort of effect though. Once while changing his dressing she had managed to push her small breast into his arm. She immediately saw a tent rise in the sheets and thought Aha! Finally, a reaction. But no, he just blushed so hard she was afraid his skin was going to blister and quickly snatched a pillow over his midsection.

She was running out of ideas and was beginning to be afraid that Billy just didn’t like her ‘that’ way. But that couldn’t be it, could it? Everyone said she was delightful and cute and although she had next to zero experience with men, she didn’t think that she was without charm. No, maybe she just needed some help and advice. Who to ask though? All the women were wonderful to her but they were so much more sophisticated than she was, would they understand her problem? Then it struck her. Lizzy! She was perfect. From what Eesha knew Lizzy had some experience with getting a reluctant man’s attention. She was also always so nice to her and only a year older. Yep, Lizzy would help her!

Eesha smiled to herself’ Billy didn’t know it yet, but he was a goner.

Two Week Later
Nexus Ransch
Near Harborton, Washington

Gabriel sat perfectly still among the meadow flowers. He was transfixed as two of the Fae children adroitly wove daisies and buttercups about his head and through his battle dress blouse. One girl was elven and the other a troll. Both were as cute as you could possibly imagine. The other children ran around him playing some version of tag with rather elaborate rules that he couldn’t even pretend to understand.

If you had told him two weeks ago that the hard bitten former IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldier and Mossad operator would be running a daycare for magic children he would have wondered what kind of drugs you were doing and if you had any extra. He also was stunned that the Fae would trust him with their children. He had done some horrible things and for much of his life had operated around the gray areas of the law, but he would never hurt a child. But how did they know that and why would they even take a chance?

Gabriel didn’t understand their methods or motivation, but he did know that for whatever reason, his eyes had been opened to a new world and he now understood better the failings of his old one. Small magics were common here and the unseen was seen. It was truly a world of wonder. In addition to the magic, there were the people themselves. The Fae easily forgave, and were generous beyond belief with an open, honorable manner and had a wickedly sly sense of humor. Why did humanity ever turn their backs on these amazing people?

Gabriel’s life was now full of more questions than answers. But for whatever reason, he was happy here. As happy as the children around him.

One Month Later
Nexus Ranch
Near Harborton, Washington