“Jamie!” Phaedra shouted in excitement as she made a beeline for him.
She wore a yellow dress and white dress sandals, the colors standing out brightly against her dark skin. Phaedra seemed to be mostly legs these days, the preteen racing toward her teenage years under the watchful eyes and loving care of her adoptive family.
Jamie scooped her up in his arms and gave her a big hug. “Hey, Phaedra. How are you doing?”
“Fine,” she told him as he set her back down. “Mama said there’s going to be other kids. Do you know when they’re arriving?”
“Soon,” he promised her.
The sound of the elevator arriving through the open front door heralded another arrival. Jamie and Kyle spent the next thirty minutes or so greeting their friends and family as they arrived. Phaedra, Donovan’s niece and nephew, and Madison’s nieces were directed to the game room where Kyle had set up a couple of gaming consoles to entertain them while the adults mingled.
No one brought gifts, just themselves, and Jamie was happy to see how relaxed his former teammates looked. The hardest thing about transitioning into civilian life was not seeing everyone on an almost daily basis. Calls and uplinks just weren’t the same compared to getting to see everyone in person.
“Is that your mother’s pelmeni?” Jamie asked, eyeing the sealed container Matthew was holding while Jamie hugged Katie when they arrived.
“I know you said no presents, but she wasn’t going to be persuaded,” Katie told him.
“Where is she? I need to say thank you. I love her pelmeni.”
It went like that for the first hour, he and Kyle mingling with the people close to them and those they all cared about. Conversation bled from one person to the next, the happy mood affecting everyone.
Kyle came and went, orbiting Jamie as they made sure everyone was having a good time, neither far from each other. Their eyes met across the room from time to time, fleeting moments shared where it seemed like they were the only two in the room.
“It’s a very nice home you have here, Callahan,” Nazari said when Jamie wandered over to where the director and Stirling were chatting amicably with Donovan’s grandmother.
“Thank you, sir,” Jamie replied.
“I hope you’re both doing well?”
Jamie nodded, thinking about the therapy sessions he and Kyle were attending with Dr. Elizabeth O’Malley. Just because they were in the MDF Reserves now didn’t mean they could escape their time with her. Truth be told, Jamie was grateful for the private counseling he was going through.
“We’re good,” Jamie said, catching sight of where Kyle stood across the room.
He seemed to be arguing with Alexei about something while Sean and Tatyana ignored them. Valentina was chattering away with Sean’s three brothers, gesturing wildly, and whatever she was saying caused them all to laugh. Kyle looked over at Jamie and rolled his eyes.
Jamie didn’t bother hiding the smile on his face. “Real good, sir.”
“Glad to hear it,” Stirling said while Nazari hid his own smile behind his glass of scotch.
Extra chairs and small tables had been ordered from an event company and set up in the first level of the apartment, draped with white linen and decorated with exquisite centerpieces. When it was time for dinner to be served, the line for the buffet table went fairly quick.
The chef his mother had hired had outdone herself, with a range of seasonal vegetables, soups, salads, side dishes, and a carving station that offered up five different kinds of meat. The dessert table was overflowing with miniature cakes, cookies, tarts, pastries, and puddings that would be demolished before the night was over.
Guests took turns serving each other, joking around, and piling their plates high with good food. It probably wasn’t the sort of party people would expect of a billionaire’s son, but it was one Jamie knew everyone he’d invited would enjoy. Jamie and Kyle didn’t stand on ceremony with anyone as they laughed and talked their way through dozens of conversations. The point of the engagement party was to spend it with friends and family.
So that’s what they did.
The fight happening on the other side of the country never registered in Jamie’s mind beyond a passing thought acknowledging that, if they’d still been active duty, it would be his Alpha Team still fighting that good fight.
Jamie was okay with letting someone else take on his team’s name and stand guard.
He, and those he’d served with, had put in their time.
“All right, all right,” Donovan said after the sun had set and everyone had a drink in hand. “Let’s gather ’round, because we got some toasts to get through.”
“You realize this isn’t our wedding?” Kyle said as he leaned against Jamie.
“You realize we’re saving the best stories for those toasts?” Madison said with a laugh. “Better block out an hour at least for everyone who wants to talk.”
“There’s going to be a two-minute cut-off for toasts at the wedding. I’m implementing that rule now,” Jamie said.
“Overruled!” Katie said with a laugh.
“What she said,” Annabelle agreed.
Liam gave Jamie a mock-pitying look. “I wouldn’t dare cross her, if I were you, Jamie.”
“Can say whatever I want at your wedding,” Alexei said.
Sean elbowed him in the side. “Within reason.”
“In conclusion,” Trevor interrupted, holding his glass high. “We’ll toast you again at your wedding, but the truth still stands. We’re all happy for the both of you. And you, Jamie. You got us in and through and out. We’ll never have a better captain.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Kyle said, raising his glass higher.
“And you, Kyle,” Donovan said, holding Gracie close to him. “Without you, Jamie never would’ve been this happy.”
Jamie nodded, wrapping an arm around Kyle’s shoulders. “Yeah, and I’ll drink to that.”
They all did, everyone’s voices echoing through the home he and Kyle were just beginning to live in.
Guests began to trickle out within the hour after the toast, saying lingering goodbyes, until only ten people remained. After the door was locked behind the last straggling guest, Jamie looked at the people who would always be his family in one way or another. Kyle, Katie, Alexei, Sean, Madison, Annabelle, Donovan, Trevor, and Liam all lounged around the living area with the last two bottles of champagne ready to be drunk.
For a couple of hours more, it was just Jamie and his team and Liam, all together one last time, reminiscing about things no one else at the party would understand. It was bittersweet and it wasn’t, because Jamie had them all in his life still. He hadn’t left their ghosts on the sands of Libya nor lost them in the shadows of all the missions they’d run through the years.
They were his family—his Alpha Team—forever and always.
That would never change.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Katie said on her way out the door with the others just after midnight.
“Like you’d let me,” Jamie replied with a chuckle.
Katie laughed, throwing him a lazy salute as she headed for the elevator. The front door slid shut, blocking Jamie’s view, and he set the locks and security.
“See you both in the morning,” Liam said, giving them a wave as he headed up to the second-floor guest bedroom he was staying in while visiting.
“Night,” Jamie called out as he wandered back over to Kyle.
Kyle stared at Jamie from his sprawled position on the couch, empty glasses strewn over the coffee table. The place was still a bit of a mess, but the cleaners were coming over tomorrow to deal with it.
“Been a long day,” Kyle said.
“Yeah,” Jamie said, reaching out a hand to him. “But a good one.”
Kyle took his hand and Jamie hauled him to his feet. Together they headed upstairs to their bedroom, the smell of sex from earlier having dissipated. Jamie went into the bathroom to take a piss and brush his teeth. Whe
n he came back out, he didn’t see Kyle anywhere in the bedroom.
Craning his head around, Jamie caught sight of him standing outside on the dark balcony, and he headed outside to be with Kyle. The warm night breeze—or early morning, depending on how one counted time—brought with it the sound of the city at night.
Kyle was leaning against the balcony wall along the far side of the patio. The infinity pool cast a soft glow from the bottom that melded with the moonlight and city lights, making it easy for Jamie to see. Kyle didn’t look at him as Jamie approached, keeping his gaze trained on the cityscape rising up to meet the night sky.
Jamie pressed himself up against Kyle’s warm body and wrapped his arms around him, holding him close. He thought about what Kyle had given him that morning in the throes of passion—a forgiveness he wasn’t sure he deserved, but which he would accept, because Jamie would never turn away any gift that Kyle offered him.
“What are you doing out here?” Jamie asked softly, pressing a gentle kiss to Kyle’s temple.
“Thinking,” Kyle said after a moment.
“You could do that in bed.”
Kyle laughed quietly, tipping his head back against Jamie’s shoulder. “With you?”
“Yes,” Jamie told him.
Kyle reached up and settled his left hand over Jamie’s, where it covered Kyle’s heart, a spot Jamie’s touch seemed to unconsciously gravitate to these days.
“I just needed a moment,” Kyle said.
“If you want to be left alone—”
Kyle’s hand tightened over Jamie’s and he shook his head. “Stay.”
A gust of wind blew over the balcony, ruffling Jamie’s hair. Kyle pressed a little closer against him. Below them, the Potomac River was a dark shadow twisting between buildings, Washington, D.C. stretching out before them. Hidden in the dark were the damaged areas still being patched over these many weeks later, both in Washington, D.C. and within themselves. But like the megacity they called home, they were healing.
“I’ll always be here for you,” Kyle said into the quiet cocooning them in the night. “Even when I’m not.”
Jamie tightened his hold on Kyle, thinking about how close that had come to being his reality. He’d had a lot of second and third and fourth and more chances over the years where he’d survived things he really shouldn’t have, but Jamie knew this was probably his last one on the road they called life.
For all the weight Jamie carried on his shoulders—all the memories that would haunt him through his dreams—everything he’d done and lived through and survived up to now, it was all worth it to hold the man he loved once more. To wake up every day for the rest of his life with Kyle lying beside him, ready to share each new day together.
To live.
To love.
Their future together was far more than Jamie had believed he would ever get all those years ago when he thought he was dying in the sands of Tripoli. But he could see it now, and he was never letting Kyle go.
“Come to bed,” Jamie murmured, feeling Kyle’s heart beating strong and steady beneath his hand.
Kyle smiled, his teeth flashing in the moonlight as he turned his head for a kiss Jamie couldn’t deny him.
“Yes, sir.”
INDEX
Short descriptions of words, acronyms and phrases used in the story that weren’t readily explained in text. Included as well are character names.
Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy. A four year service academy that educates officers for commissions into the Navy or the Marines. You graduate either as an Ensign into the Navy or a Second Lieutenant into the Marines.
Ate-up: Military slang. Used to describe a soldier who is sloppy and has little to no military bearing.
Bennett, Carter: CIA Deputy Director in the story.
Brannigan, Kyle (Staff Sergeant): Former Strike Force operative, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a sniper, metahuman (rapid healing), code named Reaper, hails from Boston, Massachusetts.
Brown, Annabelle: Former Night Stalker pilot, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a pilot, metahuman (anti-gravity, flight), code named Icarus, hails from Asheville, North Carolina.
Callahan (née Montgomery), Charlotte Jacqueline: Jamie’s mother, billionaire, socialite, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Jamie (Captain): Previously a Recon Marine, currently leading Alpha Team, metahuman (enhanced strength and durability), code named Apollo, billionaire heir, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Leah: Jamie’s little sister, billionaire heiress, socialite, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Richard: Jamie’s father, billionaire, senator, Senate Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Republican presidential candidate for the upcoming election, hails from New York City, New York.
Chan, Madison: Previously a Recon Marine, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a demolitions specialist, metahuman (energy blasts), code named Nova, hails from Los Angeles, California.
Chatter: Chatter is a signals intelligence term that refers to the volume/quantity of intercepted communication, whether between people or electronic methods.
Chest candy: Military slang for the medals and ribbons worn on a dress uniform. It can be used in a positive or negative manner.
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency. Civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information throughout the world.
Delaney, Sean: Former CIA officer specializing in deep cover, currently an agent in the MDF’s intelligence division, metahuman (phase power), code named Wraith, hails from New Seattle, Washington.
DOD: United States Department of Defense. Oversees all agencies in the United States that are tasked with national security and all branches of the United States Armed Forces.
DOJ: Department of Justice. A federal executive department within the United States government responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the nation.
Dvorkin, Alexei (Staff Sergeant): Former Strike Force operative, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a close combat specialist, metahuman (pyrokinesis), code named Inferno, originally from a refugee city in the Ukraine, hails from Boston, Massachusetts.
EAMSG: European Alliance Metahuman Security Group. The European equivalent of the United States MDF within the story.
Exfil: Extraction, also exfiltration. Military term for immediately removing and relocating personnel out of a hostile environment and taking them to a secure area.
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, and its principal federal law enforcement agency. The FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition/All Relief. That’s pretty much it.
Gailani, Matthew (Captain): Current Strike Force operative who used to lead Kyle and Alexei’s old squadron, code named Killjoy.
Gold, Gracie (M.D., M.S.): Gifted surgeon and head of Medical at MDF, metahuman (accelerate a person’s ability to heal), no code name, hails from Los Angeles, California.
GRU: Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye. English translation of the Cyrillic acronym for the Russian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate. Similar to the CIA.
HUD: Head-up Display. Usually found in an aircraft or on a vehicle, but I put it on a high-tech tactical goggles.
JAG: Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Legal branch of a military dealing with military justice and military law. Primarily serve as legal advisors to the command they are assigned to. Their advice covers a wide range of military and civilian laws.
Jansen, Nikolaas: Facilitator of black-market deals between buyers and sellers who run the gamut of social and class status, metahuman (empath), originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, currently from London, England.
LOS: Line of sight. One of many definitions, but basically what you see in your sightlines when s
hooting at a target. If you can’t see your target, you have no line of sight.
MDF: Metahuman Defense Force. A hybrid federal agency/military group in the United States that deploys metahumans and humans on a domestic and international basis to deal with metahuman terrorists.
Metahumans: Humans whose natural immunity to Splice changes them into people with various powers within the story.
MIA: Missing in action. A military designation assigned to combatants who go missing during wartime or peace time.
Nazari, Amir (General): Director who oversees and leads the Metahuman Defense Force.
NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer. A military officer who didn’t earn a commission. Usually they are of an enlisted rank and are promoted to officer. In contrast, a commissioned officer usually receives training in leadership through a military academy and don’t come up through enlisted ranks.
Night Stalkers: A special operations force of the United States Army that provides helicopter and other aviation support.
Ovechkina, Ekaterina “Katie” (Sergeant): Previously a Recon Marine, currently second-in-command of Alpha Team, communications specialist and hacker, metahuman (telepathy), code named Viper, hails from Chicago, Illinois.
Overwatch: Military term for a group, team, or individual who provides support to another unit while they are engaged in combat.
Pavluhkin, Stanislav: Son and heir to a Russian oligarch and the Presnenskaya Bratva, metahuman (precognition), hails from Moscow, Russia.
Pavluhkin, Yakov: Russian oligarch and head of the Presnenskaya Bratva, hails from Moscow, Russia.
PMC: Private military company. A privately owned company that provides armed combat and/or security services to other companies, government agencies, and the military in a support role.
Presnenskaya Bratva: A Moscow-based Russian gang originating in the Presnensky District, the largest and most powerful crime syndicate within the Russian mafia, one with a wide international reach.
Railroad tracks: Military slang for a captain’s ranks, which is two vertical bars.
Reborn IRA: Reborn Irish Republican Army. An organization still fighting in the future for full autonomy from the British government in order to bring about a united Ireland.
In the Requiem (Metahuman Files Book 5) Page 39