by DuBoff, Amy
“This is nice,” Wil commented.
“Nothing like your family home.”
He shrugged. “This feels lived in. I like it.”
Saera noted how she was suspiciously absent from the family portraits hung on the wall. Apparently it didn’t take long to be written out of the family. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like over all these years if I’d stayed.
A whistling kettle sounded in the other room. A minute later, Steven emerged from the kitchen carrying two mugs, which he handed to Wil and Saera.
“Nothing for yourself?” Saera asked as she took the mug. She swirled the teabag in the water with its string.
“Not right now.” Steven sat down on the other couch facing them. He paused in thought. “I have so many questions, I don’t know where to start.”
“Some I won’t be able to answer,” Saera admitted. The TSS, who Wil really is…
“Well, are you both in the same secret program?” Steven asked.
“Yes,” Wil replied. “I joined before Saera, so I graduated a few years ago. I was just finishing up training when we met.”
Steven tilted his head. “You can’t be much older than her.”
“No, I’m not. I started young,” Wil said.
“None of this makes any sense.” Steven crossed his arms, brow furrowed. “What you’re describing isn’t how the military or government operate.”
On Earth, anyway… Saera leaned forward. “Well, I’m just here for a day, so we can spend it arguing or communicate like civilized adults.”
“How am I supposed to have a conversation with you if you won’t tell me anything?” Steven asked.
“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Saera responded. “For starters, I found my mother.”
Steven froze. “Mary?”
“She goes by a different name now, but yes.”
“How did you find her?”
Saera scowled. “It was kind of an accident—” Footsteps sounded on the front porch, accompanied by voices and a jingle of keys in the lock. I guess everyone’s home.
“Don’t say anything about Mary,” Steven cautioned as he rose.
“Of course not.” Saera stood up but stayed by the couch. Next to her, Wil got to his feet and took her hand, giving it a supportive squeeze.
The front door swung open. Ashley was the first through—glued to her phone even as she walked. She barely glanced up as she stepped inside, so it took her a moment to acknowledge Saera. “Oh shit.”
“Language!” Saera’s stepmother, Linda, chastised as she followed her through the front door, a grocery bag in her hands. Then, her gaze rested on Saera. “Oh…”
“Hi,” Saera greeted, shifting on her feet. Wil’s touch offered a much needed sense of comfort and grounding.
“How are you?” Linda stammered, her face flushed.
Saera forced a smile. “Great.”
“You’re not alone,” Ashley said, looking Wil over from head to foot and pausing on his hand holding Saera’s. She brushed her dark brown bangs to the side.
“Wil is my fiancé,” Saera explained.
Linda shifted the grocery bag to her hip and closed the door, locking the deadbolt. “Lots of catching up to do, it seems.”
More footsteps sounded on the porch, followed by a knock on the door.
“That’s probably Daniel,” Linda said as he headed for the kitchen. “Will you let him in, Ashley?”
Ashley rolled her eyes and stomped back to unlock the door her mother had just closed. “Hey,” she greeted her brother in an unenthused monotone.
A man in his mid-twenties stepped through, but he was accompanied by a slightly younger woman carrying a baby. It took Saera a moment to process that they were her siblings.
Daniel had gained weight since she last saw him, and he had none of the energetic spark that was once so core to his character.
Bri walking up behind him was fighting to keep a squirming child contained in her arms. The bags under her eyes indicated that the challenges weren’t an isolated incident. However, her expression was one of amusement, not frustration. There was love in her eyes. The fair-haired child paused his writhing when he caught sight of Saera and Wil, seemingly captivated by them.
Ashley closed the door, then took the diaper bag from her sister’s shoulder. “Bri’s here!” she called toward the kitchen.
“Hi, honey!” Linda greeted from the kitchen.
Steven walked over to welcome his children, giving each a hug. “I should help your mother. Get settled.” He rushed to the kitchen with barely a glance back toward Saera and Wil.
“What are we even doing here?” Saera asked Wil telepathically.
“Gaining perspective,” Wil replied. He smiled at the new arrivals. “Hello. Nice to meet you.”
“And you are…?” Bri inquired.
“Wil. Saera’s fiancé.”
Bri’s eyes widened. “Huh.”
“Didn’t realize she was bringing anyone home with her,” Daniel commented.
Wil nodded. “Well, the entire trip was on short notice.”
“What now?” Bri asked. “Do we pick up like you were never gone?”
“No,” Saera cut in. “We’re just here for the day. I’m gathering some of my old things.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “After all this time?”
“I’ve been busy.” Is the entire day going to be one unending interrogation?
Ashley sauntered into the living room and plopped down on the couch across from Wil and Saera. “What’s with the sunglasses?”
“Fashion statement,” Wil replied.
The teenager narrowed her eyes. “Are you a model or something?”
“It’s more like a uniform,” Saera tried to explain.
“For…?” Ashley prompted.
Saera’s mind raced to settle on an explanation that would settle the matter once and for all, but was granted a reprieve by her father returning to the room.
“Who wants appetizers?” he asked.
“Me!” Daniel answered first. “I’m starving.”
Quieter murmurs of affirmation from the others followed. Steven disappeared again to retrieve the requested items.
Saera continued to think through an explanation for where she had been over the last six years. All of the scripts she’d imagined leading up to the meeting now sounded stupid in her head. They’ll never buy any of it.
“So, you were saying about the sunglasses?” Ashley resumed.
“And where were you?” Daniel questioned.
Why am I even trying to get their approval? Saera smiled, relaxing for the first time since setting foot on her home planet. “I’ve been away learning to fly spaceships, and these sunglasses make me look badass so others know not to mess with me.”
Her siblings paused in dumbfounded silence for a moment, then burst out laughing.
Saera smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Suffice it to say I’ve been around. Now, how about you introduce me to my nephew?”
* * *
While Saera cooed over baby Brandon with her sisters, Wil found himself waiting awkwardly along the wall of the living room near Daniel. He had long since finished his mug of tea, but he wasn’t sure where to set down the empty cup so it remained in his hands.
Nervous energy emanated from Daniel. Wil wasn’t sure if it was from being around him or a more general anxiety related to the family. It must be tough being the oldest and yet having the least direction in life.
Being away from the others was a prime opportunity for Wil to put the next stage of his plan into action. Reuniting with her family wouldn’t get Saera what she really needed. Another hurt ran far deeper.
“Does Saera have any old acquaintances who might like to see her while she’s back?” Wil asked, searching Daniel’s mind. Normally, delving into the mind of anyone who wasn’t a suspected enemy would have been against his code as an Agent, but it was necessary in this case.
Daniel’s thoughts flitted through vague
memories of some of Saera’s former female friends, and a flash of Michael. Then, another memory floated to the surface—a friend of Daniel’s who commented on Saera’s absence. The memory would have been innocuous if Wil didn’t already have a window into Saera’s past.
“Or one of your friends?” Wil pressed, guiding Daniel to the memory with subtle mental cues in his subconscious.
“Lucas, maybe,” Daniel mused in a trance state so subtle even a trained eye would have difficulty detecting.
“Does he still live around here? Maybe you should invite him,” Wil suggested.
“Yeah, I guess I’ll do that,” Daniel agreed, unable to resist Wil’s manipulation. He pulled out his phone and started typing a text message.
Wil released Daniel from the hold, feeling a pang of guilt for what was to come.
Saera beckoned to Wil from across the room with a nod of her head. She handed her nephew back to Bri and skillfully extracted herself from the conversation, gesturing for Wil to meet her by the entry.
“My parents said we could go up to my old room. There’s some memorabilia in the closet I’d like to take back with us.”
“Sure,” Wil said.
She headed up the stairs and checked over her shoulder to make sure no relatives were nearby. “Brandon is cute, but… Please tell me you don’t want kids right away.”
Wil chuckled. “No worries there. I think I have a few other things to deal with before that.”
* * *
Saera took in her old room. Little touches of her remained—a fairy figurine on the bookcase, some participation trophies from childhood activities, her plush horse resting on the chair in the corner—but it didn’t feel like home. The bed was made up in a boring geometric gray and blue bedspread that was well suited to a guest room. Her former desk was configured as a compact home office adjacent to the door.
“It’s so strange seeing all of this again,” Saera murmured.
“I can only imagine,” Wil said, coming up behind her. He placed a hand on the small of her back.
“I never wanted to see this room again.”
Wil rubbed her back and stepped further into the room, examining the bookshelf. “Well, I’m glad I got this insight into where you’re from.”
“And what do you think of me now?”
“I appreciate you more every day,” Wil replied.
“Such a diplomatic answer!”
Wil grinned. “It’s true! But, seeing this does put things in perspective for me. It’s pretty remarkable that you adjusted so quickly to the TSS.”
“Maybe my mom had something to do with that.”
“Possibly.”
Wil picked up one of the books from the shelf in the wall. “I sometimes wonder what experiences we miss out on by being surrounded by high technology. I can honestly say I’ve never read a physical book.”
“That is a loss.”
Wil set the book back. “And I know I’ve missed out on a lot more.”
“But you’ve also had a lot of opportunity,” Saera said. “I would have given anything as a kid to be able to travel across the galaxy.”
“Well, there are some days when I would have given anything to be anyone other than who I am.”
Saera’s chest constricted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Wil shook his head and smiled. “Don’t. That all changed when I met you. Being anyone else, you might not have come into my life. And that’s something I wouldn’t change, no matter what.”
Saera melted. “And there’s no one with whom I’d rather travel across the galaxy.”
“Even into a war zone?” Wil pulled Saera toward him, placing his hands on her hips.
“Admittedly, that’s not high on my tourist list.”
“We’ll find a way to make the most of it.” Wil pulled her in for a kiss.
She leaned against him, but then remembered where they were and pulled back. “Let me find that box.”
Wil let her go. She sensed that he was aware of her tension, and he knew enough of her past to be aware that the room was wrapped up in some unpleasant memories.
Her father had said the box was somewhere up in the closest. Saera slid open the closet door, noting that the roller still caught in the same place as always. She scanned along the top shelf and spotted the box she was seeking. It was just beyond her grasp. After a quick check to make sure the bedroom door was closed, she telekinetically lifted the cardboard box into her hands.
The black pen scrawled on the side of the box marked it as “Saera’s Stuff.” She cracked open the interlocked top flaps and peeked inside. Just what she wanted.
“What’s in it?” Wil asked.
“Some old items from my mom.” Saera pulled out a framed picture of her with her mother. She couldn’t have been more than three years old when the photograph was taken. “If I’d had this with me at Headquarters, you would have recognized who my mother was from the beginning.”
“Maybe. But it would have been so out of context that I might not have noticed. Not to mention, I’ve never once visited your room.”
Saera set down the picture. “That’s true. Still, I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different somehow.”
“You’re making up for lost time now,” Wil assured her. “And we can put up as many pictures as you want.”
Saera smiled. “Thanks.”
The doorbell sounded through the wall.
Wil looked at Saera quizzically. “Expecting anyone else?”
“I didn’t think so.” Saera opened the bedroom door, hearing voices in the entryway. She turned around to grab the box.
“I’ve got it,” Wil said, picking up the box for her. “I’ll take this out if you want.”
“Sure.” Saera handed him the car keys and left the room.
The voices grew louder as she reached the end of the hall. She glanced back at Wil and then descended the stairs.
Halfway down, she froze mid-step. There was no mistaking the man standing in the entryway talking with her brother. The person who had taken her innocence and cast her aside without a second thought. Lucas Moran.
Competing emotions instantly filled her mind—rage, hurt, fear. Her hand trembled as she reached for the banister to steady herself. Why is he here?
Saera shifted her weight and a floorboard creaked underfoot.
Lucas turned to identify the source of the sound. When he caught sight of Saera, he shook his head with disbelief. “You really are back.”
Saera’s breath caught in her throat, her heart beginning to race. Lucas still had that same self-confident smirk that he always sported when he’d paid her a nighttime visit—knowing that she’d eventually give in to his unwanted advances. And he’d leave with the same expression, satisfied that he got what he came for while she huddled in shame, feeling like there was nowhere to turn.
“It’s crazy, right?” Daniel said.
Saera glared at her brother. “Did you invite him?”
Daniel turned up his hands dismissively. “Yeah, so? This is a reunion, after all.”
“Yeah, Saera. That’s no way to greet an old friend.” Lucas gazed up at her, taking her in.
She tensed, sensing the lewd thoughts already filling his mind—blending his memory of her with updated visions of her present self. It filled her own mind, taking her back to that sense of helplessness. Her hand tightened on the handrail as she willed herself to move, to back away and hide. But the horrific visions had her pinned, overwhelming her senses as Lucas’ eyes locked on her. Then, a gleeful sneer spread across his face as he saw that he still had control over her, even after years apart.
And then, Lucas’ eyes flitted behind her at the sound of descending footsteps.
Saera yanked free of Lucas’ hypnotic hold over her, comforted by Wil’s approaching presence—her safe place where no harm could come. She wasn’t alone.
But Wil jogged down the stairs right past her, still carrying the memorabilia box. For a moment she thought
maybe he was going to take Lucas on. Then, she realized that Wil had hardly glanced at the others standing in the entry. He was just… leaving.
“Where are you going?” The question sounded panicked even in her own mind.
“This is between the two of you,” Wil replied, calm and level. “I need to make a quick phone call. Why don’t you catch up. I’ll drop this box in the car.” He reached the bottom of the stairs and slipped out the front door before Saera could conjure words of protest.
“Who was that?” Lucas asked, his brow knit with confusion.
“My fiancé,” Saera stammered, wishing the quaver wasn’t in her voice.
Lucas huffed with surprise. “You’re engaged, really?”
“Is that really so difficult to believe?” Saera shot back, her initial shock beginning to give way to pure anger.
“I dunno,” Lucas shrugged. “I guess you didn’t strike me as the type for settling down.”
“A lot has changed since you last saw me.” Saera took a calming breath. I’m not that person anymore.
“I can see that,” Lucas reposed replied, still undressing her in his mind.
The thoughts churned Saera’s stomach, fueling the loathing boiling within her. “You came here for a reunion? Let’s chat.” She stormed back up the stairs toward her room.
“All right,” Lucas agreed, the smugness thick in his tone. “We’ll be back,” he called back to Daniel as he jogged up the stairs after her.
* * *
It took every modicum of restraint for Wil to keep himself from punching Lucas out as he walked past. The way he was looking at Saera—with such lustful desire to control and possess—was so contrary to his own way of thinking that he couldn’t even understand the impulse. All he knew was it wasn’t his place to intervene. Saera needs to face him. She needs to show herself that she’s the one with the power now.
Wil hit the trunk release on the car key fob and dropped off the memorabilia box, then jogged around the side of the house. He needed to find a good vantage for Saera’s impending confrontation with Lucas.