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More Than Darkness	By : SaMe Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time In Mexico Views: 4591 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the movie that this fanfiction is written for, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-1
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-33
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 47-47
- 48-48
- 49-49
- 50-50
- 51-51
- 52-52
- 53-53
- 54-54
- 55-55
- 56-56
- 57-57
- 58-58
- 59-59
- 60-60
- 61-61
- 62-62
- 63-63
- 64-64
- 65-65
- 66-66
- 67-67
- 68-68
- 69-69
- 70-70
- 71-71
- 72-72
- 73-73
- 74-74
- 75-75
- 76-76
- 77-77
- 78-78
- 79-79
- 80-80
- 81-81
- 82-82
- 83-83
- 84-84
- 85-85
- 86-86
- 87-87
- 88-88
- 89-89
- 80
- 81
- 82
�Oh don�t you bother feeling sorry for them, Sus. They were in
league with the whore they spawned. You
know that as well as I do,� Emily assured Susannah in a kind voice as Sus placed the still smoking gun back in the holster at her
hip. She had shot Mr. and Mrs. Grant
twice each in the chest when they had lied to her. They claimed they didn�t help free the whore
but Susannah knew that was a lie. �They
still didn�t tell you anything though. You
have to admire that. They had spunk,�
Emily said with an almost fond tone to her voice.
Roland rolled his
eyes and rose up from his seat on the couch to greet Susannah. �Don�t listen to her. You did the right thing, Susannah. They were your enemies. Once the whore hears of this she�ll come back.
And we�ll get her then. You know we will. Isn�t that right, Em?�
Roland asked with a grin in Emily�s direction, moving to wrap an arm around his
lover�s waist.
Emily smirked but
allowed Roland the embrace. �You bet,
sugar. And hell if she doesn�t we can
just kill more of her family. Can�t we, Sus?�
Susannah grinned at
her two friends, her eyes gleaming in the dim light of the darkened house. She had surprised the Grants as they had been getting
ready for bed. Mr. Grant was in a
dressing gown and Mrs. Grant still had toothpaste lining her lips. An ignoble way to die, but they had brought it
upon themselves.
�Time to go, Sus. You might have
used a silencer, but you wouldn�t want to be caught here when the flatfoots
arrive. They won�t understand that this
was necessary. Idiots,� Emily muttered.
Susannah nodded and
the crazy CIA agent and her imagined companions stole silently into the night.

****************************** ***
******************************

�I�m coming, I�m coming,� Salida murmured as she hoisted
herself out of bed. They were in a house
now in Martinique. Sands and Jeffrey
were both jumpy about staying in one place for too long; she�d put her foot
down though about traveling long distances with two newborns. Who aren�t
even sleeping through the night yet. . .
She left her
bedroom as she pulled on a light robe and made her way to the nursery. She was a bit surprised to find Jeffrey there
ahead of her. Her surprise grew when she
deduced it wasn�t Jeffrey but an utterly clueless � and almost adorably
helpless � Sands.
Sands blinked up at
her upon hearing her weary footsteps stomp down the hall. �I was already up and I heard the crying . . .
but I don�t know what to do. They won�t
stop crying.�
�Probably hungry. They always are.� She just watched him for a moment before
shrugging. �You�ve got Julian,� she
informed him as she went to pick up the quieter but still fussing Maeve. �Support his head a bit more and bring him
into the kitchen. I�ll heat up some
bottles.�
Sands opened his
mouth to call for her to stop but she had already left with the baby girl
leaving him to stare at the fussing child within his arms. Oh for
god sakes. It�s just a baby. You�re going to have to learn how to do this
for yourself before too long you know? He huffed a sigh and moved his arms and hands
to do what Salida had suggested � he vaguely recalled that that was the chief
thing to remember when dealing with babies � hoping the little blue-eyed brute
wouldn�t spit up on him as he walked slowly into the kitchen as if he were
carrying a bomb instead of a baby.
Salida just looked
at him out of the corner of her eye as she held Maeve in the crook of one arm
and used her other hand to put two bottles in the microwave. Thirty seconds later she had two warm bottles
of milk prepared; bringing them to the kitchen table, she let her baby girl
latch on to one with a hungry mouth and motioned for Sands to do the same.
Sands looked down
at the bottle in one hand and the baby in the other and grumbled that this was
supposed to be Jeffrey�s job, not his. The fact that the child within his arms � and
indeed his sister as well � looked like him only served to irritate him
further. But he wasn�t going to begrudge
a baby a meal, even if it wasn�t his baby. He tipped the bottle to the boy�s waiting
mouth and watched it work furiously on the rubber nipple.
�Thanks for helping
out,� Salida sighed as she let her head fall back against the back of her
chair. �The greedy little monsters
complain if they have to wait for their meals and I�ve only got so many hands.�
Sands nodded. �I was already up, the kids were loud,� he
shrugged.
�You could have
woken Jeffrey up to take care of them.
They are his responsibility after all.�
Sands frowned. Why hadn�t he? �I guess.�
Salida eyed him in
a annoyingly knowing way. �Curious?�
Sands scowled and
glanced back down towards the child in his arms. His silence acted as an accord with her
statement however.
�You wondering what
you�ve gotten yourself into?�
�Perhaps,� he
allowed.
�You can go ahead
and ask, you know. I wish there had been
someone around for me to question at length.�
�What�s it like?�
he asked after a long silence. He didn�t
know how to simply ask his question. That
was what he wanted to know, so that was what he asked.
�I won�t lie to
you: it�s tough. It�s a lot of work, a
lot of near sleepless nights, a dramatic decrease in one�s sex life, and all
for someone who can�t even talk yet.�
Salida glanced down at the bundle in her arms. �But somehow it�s worth it. For some reason I wouldn�t trade them for
anything.�
He took this into
consideration with a slow nod. �Regrets?�
�I miss having sex
. . .� Salida murmured. �But I miss
getting sleep too. As long as things
balance out in the end, I don�t think I�ll have many regrets.�
�You and Jeffrey
don�t have sex now?� he asked incredulously, focusing on that rather than the
no sleep.
She shook her
head. �Just thinking about it wears me out.�
�God,� Sands
muttered. He didn�t like the sound of
that at all. Would Aida not want to have
sex once she had her kid?
Salida just
laughed.
�Shut up,� Sands
muttered, though it was very nearly good-natured. It was a legitimate fear, damn it!
�It�s just . . . your
reaction. . . .� After taking a second
to compose herself, Salida continued, �It�s just that Jeffrey�s so anal about
these kids that I don�t think he�s even noticed.�
�Oh I�m sure he�s
noticed,� Sands muttered. How could anyone
not?
�Maybe you should
ask him.�
Sands made a face. He didn�t really feel like discussing Jeffrey�s
sex life at . . . 3:47 in the morning. . . .
God. �I�d rather not.�
�Well, if you ever
get around to it, $50 says that he hasn�t noticed.�
Sands smirked. �Fine. I�ll
take your money.�
Salida set Maeve�s
now-empty bottle down and tossed Sands a rag from a nearby pile of clean
laundry. �Time to burp �em.�
�And how . . . ?�
Salida propped
Maeve up on her shoulder, allowing Sands to see how she arranged baby and burp
rag before starting to pat the baby firmly on the back.
Sands sighed, once
more asking himself why he was doing this, but mirrored Salida�s actions
exactly as he attempted to burp the child over his shoulder. And people
actually like these things? He hadn�t
been lying to Aida when he said that he wanted a child with her, and he didn�t
have nearly as much animosity towards children that he once had, but still. How could he ever understand any of this?
The baby � Julian
he recalled its name was � burped loudly in his ear and Sands winced at the
sound. Charming, he thought dryly, seeing that the baby had spit up a
little on the towel placed on his shoulder.
�That�s why you�ve got a rag,� Salida murmured
upon seeing the look on his face.
�I figured as much,� Sands said dryly, setting
down the bottle and holding the child out at arm�s length to get a better look
at him.
�Looking for anything in particular, or are
you trying to tick me off?�
Sands glanced at her before
returning his attention to the now yawning child. �Neither.
I�m just . . . this is the closest I�ve ever been to an infant before.�
�I�d get used to it if I were you.�
�Yeah, I suppose so,� Sands murmured. �Now what?� he asked, returning the child to
his arms.
�Keep burping.
If any air bubbles get caught in their little stomachs they do nothing
but fuss.�
Sands blinked at her, about to
nod his assent when Jeffrey arose with a yawn and a confused look at his son
within his arms. �Sands was playing
nursemaid?� he asked incredulously, poking at Julian�s nose and causing the
child to smile.
�Yes, he was giving me a hand since you were
nowhere to be found.� Salida made note
of how absorbed Jeffrey was in his son, then asked, �Jeffrey, when was the last
time we had sex?�
�Hm?� Jeffrey asked
with a puzzled look before his attention caught up with what had been asked of
him. His eyes widened mildly as he
couldn�t fully remember. �Fuck,� he
whispered at last.
She smirked. �Sands owes me fifty bucks.�
Jeffrey shook his head. �It�s not something I�ll overlook again,
vixen,� he promised her with a pointed look.
�Don�t look at me like that,� she warned.
�Like what, vixen?� he asked innocently.
�Like you�re about to correct your
oversight. I happen to be very content
with the miniscule scraps of sleep I get now.
You�re not stealing any more of them.�
�But . . .� Jeffrey started, all but pouting.
�I�m tired,
Jeffrey.�
Jeffrey sighed. �Give Maeve here. Go get some rest, love. I�ll watch over the brood.�
�Be sure to tell Sands that I won. I want that fifty bucks.�
�I will vixen. You�ll get your money.�
�Good.
Because I�m using it to hit the spa.�
Jeffrey laughed. �Whatever you like, vixen.�
�And I�m leaving you behind to babysit.�
�I figured.
Won�t that be . . . fun?�
�I hope it is for your sake.� Salida stood and handed her daughter
over. �Say goodnight to Sands for me.�
Jeffrey nodded and looked down
at his two children, one balanced on either arm. �I will.
Goodnight, vixen. I love
you. I�ll come back to bed sooner or later.�
�That would be nice.� She kissed his forehead.
�It would, wouldn�t it? You hear that you two?� he addressed his son
and daughter. �Your mother wants me to
come back to bed with her so it�s near to bedtime for you two.� He turned his attention back to Salida. �Goodnight, love.�
�Remember to check their diapers,� she
reminded him as she trudged back to her bedroom.
Jeffrey made a face and looked
back down to the twins. �You wouldn�t do
that to me, would you?� He didn�t get
anything but sleepy grins in return. �Of
course you would. You�re mine,� he said
with a sigh. �Well are you two done or
not?� He stood up and set Julian down on
a placemat in the middle of the table and bent Maeve over his shoulder to burp
her again. When she let out a rather
large belch he laid her down on the table and scooped up her brother, repeating
the process. He then lifted them both
back up and carried them to the nursery so he could check on the state of their
diapers.
�Don�t you do it to me,� he muttered as he
set out to change both Julian and Maeve�s diapers. He groaned as Julian�s was in definite need
of changing. �You little brat,� he said without
animosity. �At least your sister�s well
behaved,� he murmured, holding the dirty diaper out at arm�s length to be
thrown out. Once his son�s butt was
dried and cleaned and re-diapered Jeffrey settled both children into their
cribs. �Goodnight my treasures. Do your mother a favor and sleep for awhile,
ok?� He set their mobiles spinning and
left their nightlight glowing, silently stepping out of the room to join his
wife.

****************************** ***
******************************

Aida woke up alone, but with a settled stomach. Seeing as how there was no reason to laze
around in bed but no reason to rush out of it either, she took her time to roll
out of bed and don her robe. Coffee �
decaf for the time being � and the morning paper were in order.
Coffee was made with minimum
fuss � along with some toast with strawberry jelly � and Aida settled into her
favorite chair. Precariously balancing
breakfast and beverage on the arms of the chair, she opened the newspaper.
Her heart stopped. She didn�t feel the burning sensation caused
by her coffee as it spilled over her lap.
She just screamed for her husband as she sat paralyzed in her seat.
Sands literally fell out of
bed at his wife�s sudden scream, startling Salida who now lay in the bed above
him alone. Blinking sleep out of his
eyes he rose to his feet and ran to his wife�s side, but not without enough
presence of mine to grab his gun from the bedside table in fear that she was
somehow being attacked.
Aida stood when she saw her
husband, thrusting the coffee-splattered paper into his hands. �Look!
Tell me it�s not real.�
Sands put the gun on the table
away from her and opened up the sodden newspaper to try and understand what had
distressed his wife so. There it was in
big print, ESCAPED CONVICT�S PARENTS
FOUND MURDERED IN HOME. His eyes
widened and he read on frantically, not believing what he was seeing. �But . . . it can�t be,� he murmured aloud
upon reading Mr. and Mrs. Grant�s names, stark in the newsprint like fresh
blood.
Aida wailed something
unintelligible as she collapsed into him.
Sands just held her close, not
knowing what more he could do than that.
After a moment he directed her to the living room where they could both
sit down on the couch without breaking the contact.
�They didn�t do anything,� she moaned. �They just loved me. Why them?
Why!�
�I don�t know, Aida. I don�t know,� he whispered, not
understanding it himself. They had had
no part in this. They were guilty of nothing
but loving their daughter. He vowed to
make whoever had slaughtered them so mercilessly pay dearly for this.
�Why didn�t I tell them where we were? Then they�d be alive now.�
�That wouldn�t have made any difference,
Aida,� he murmured.
�You don�t know that. They wanted me. Whoever it was.�
�And you don�t know that either, Aida. It might not have had anything to do with
you.�
�My parents are murdered and you don�t think
it has anything to do with me?!�
�That�s not what I meant, Aida,� he said
calmly. �Of course it has something to
do with you. They were your
parents. But they weren�t necessarily
killed because of you.�
�Ha!�
Sands wasn�t going to argue with her so he
simply remained silent.
�You don�t believe that. You can�t
believe that. Momma. . . .� Aida�s voice cracked with pain, �she said
that the police had been . . . they didn�t stop hanging around the house for weeks.�
�You can�t honestly think that the police
did this?�
�Why are you being so reasonable?� she
demanded, pushing away from him. �My parents . . . oh god. . . .�
Aida slid off the couch and onto the floor, trying to contain her sobs.
�I don�t know what you want me to do, Aida,�
he said helplessly. �I don�t know what
to say but I�m sorry.�
�I want you to kill whoever did this!�
Sands was taken aback by her hissed demand. �If that is what you need, Aida,� he said
softly after a moment. In truth, he had planned on killing the culprit anyway.
�I need to know that the person who murdered
my parents is punished. You�re just handy,� she muttered bitterly. It�s
all our fault anyway. One of us should take care of it.
�You don�t need me to kill them.� He wasn�t going to candy words and use punish.
�You want revenge.�
�What�s the difference?�
�You want murder, Aida. You don�t want justice.�
�That would be justice! They murdered my
parents without any cause at all!�
�And that�s cause for you to become a
murderess? There�s no going back from
murder, Aida. Never.�
�I
wouldn�t kill them. You would.�
�You would have me kill him. That makes you an accomplice to murder, Aida.�
�And that�s supposed to be news to me?�
Feeling more alone than she ever had in her life, Aida stood up. Even
when she thought Sands was dead she hadn�t felt this alone, because at least
then she�d had her family. And now she�d never be able to see any of them
again because her siblings would all blame her for their parents� death, and
Sands was refusing to help her. dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Fixing
those empty eyes on her husband, she asked him in a low voice, �What good is
being married to a mass murderer if you can�t reap any of the benefits?�
Sands went very still and his eyes narrowed.
�Whether you believe me or not I am
sorry your parents are dead, Aida. But I�m
not going to do your dirty work.� He
remained seated on the couch staring straight ahead across the room as he spoke
to her.
�Fuck you.� Aida ran out of the room
to disappear in the back of the house.
Sands just stayed seated, not bothering to
chase after her. She would be immune to
reason now anyway. He was bluffing
however. If she insisted on this course
of action, if she threatened to kill the man who had murdered her parents herself,
then he would do what she demanded of him. He would not let her hands be bloodied ever if
possible, and never directly if it wasn�t.
Aida didn�t come back though. She hid
outside, under the porch. As a young girl she�d spent many an hour underneath
the family porch. If she closed her eyes and ignored the tropical smells,
she could almost be back home again, young and innocent. Yearning for
adventure, but still content in the arms of her family. And she told
herself over and over again that it was her fault that she couldn�t go home
again, that her parents were dead � murdered � and that she�d never be able to
hear their voices even for a split second. Her mother had died while
thinking that her youngest daughter had totally screwed her life up. Even
her father would have had a hard time getting over that one. And now he
never would. They�d died thinking the worst of her. sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

It
was unbearable.
Sands still didn�t bother to go and find
her; he simply wandered through the kitchen in silence, cleaning up the mess of
breakfast that Aida hadn�t even seemed to notice after reading the newspaper. As for the newspaper itself he read the full
article before folding it shut and setting it on the countertop. He didn�t like to think what Aida was going
through right now � he understood the need for revenge, he felt it himself and
they hadn�t been his family � but he couldn�t let her sink to his level. He just couldn�t. He wouldn�t let her become a murderer, even
only by proxy.

****************************** ***
******************************

The sensation of rain
falling on her face woke Aida. Or perhaps it�d been the sound of someone
walking on the porch above her head. Whichever it�d been, she wasn�t
about to come out until whoever it was up there left. She was in no mood
to speak to her husband � or anyone else for that matter � even if it meant
getting wet.
After near a half an hour�s searching, Sands
had finally located his wife tucked away beneath the front porch of their
current house. He could hear her
stirring beneath his feet and sighed, sitting down on the wood and crossing his
legs. �Come out of there, Aida. It�s starting to rain,� he murmured slowly.
�It doesn�t matter.� Nothing
matters.
�Are you just going to waste away down
there?�
�Maybe.�
�And our child? Your parent�s grandchild? What about it?�
�Stop it, Sands. Stop being so fucking
reasonable!�
�How would you have me act, Aida? Would you like me to lose all reason
whatsoever and drag you out of there by your arm and smack some sense into you?
Is that what you want?�
�You know what I want.�
�You want me to go hunting.�
Aida didn�t answer. He damn well knew
what she wanted from him.
�And if I agree to this, if I agree to kill
the man who killed your parents, then what, Aida?�
�What do you mean?�
�Say I bring you the head of your parent�s
murderer. What comes next? Will that be enough?�
�Why wouldn�t it?�
He sighed. �Alright. I will do this for you, Aida.�
�When?�
�I imagine you�d want me to do this as soon
as possible.�
�Yes.�
�So be it.� He said with the air of a judge announcing
sentencing. �Are you going to come out
now?�
�No. I�m too stiff.�
�You�re
not going to get any less stiff by staying down there, you know.�
�Leave me alone. If you can�t . . . if
you can�t just take care of me, then leave me alone.�
�Tell me how to take care of you, Aida. I�ve already agreed to avenge your parents. What else do you want me to do?�
If he didn�t know how badly she just wanted
someone to hold her, support her, and comfort her, then she wasn�t going to
tell him. There were some things a husband should just know.
�Forget it.�
Sands sighed. He wished he knew how to help her, but he
couldn�t find the words. He had tried to
just be there for her but she had turned on him. �I�ll just stay right here, Aida. You can come out when you�re ready.�
�I�d rather you didn�t,� she said tightly.
�Why?�
�Do I really need a reason right now?�
�I guess not,� he muttered, rising to his
feet. �Goodbye Aida.� He left without another word.
Aida crawled out about ten minutes later,
muddy, tired, heartsick, and with a horrible plan churning in her mind.
She tiptoed through the house, not wanting Sands to see her and somehow know
what she was thinking. After all, perhaps she wouldn�t go through with it
. . . dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

Changing
out of her dirty clothes, she quickly washed and pulled on her most ratty
pajamas before climbing into bed. Hopefully Sands would get the message
that she wasn�t in the mood for anything.
Sands heard her moving throughout the house
and simply watched her, neither moving to intercept her nor commenting in any
way. He could sense her mood and decided
it was best just to leave her to her grief for the time being.
It was one of the worst mistakes of his
life.

****************************** ***
******************************

Susannah paced
furiously back and forth in the dingy hotel room she had holed up in,
half-heartedly listening to Emily and Roland argue. They had been at each other�s throats as they
had once been in life lately, and it was giving her a headache. �Would you two just please shut up for two
seconds! I�m trying to think!� Emily and Roland immediately silenced. �Thank you,� Susannah breathed. It had been almost a week since she had killed
the whore�s parents and she had learned nothing. Nothing! The whore herself refused to show her face
even for her parent�s funeral. It pissed
her off. How dare she thwart her plans
like this! She paced some more before
halting with a curious frown as she heard a phone ringing. Was it her phone? ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

�Check your pocket, dearie. I
think it�s your cell,� Emily offered. ddddddddddddddddd

Susannah
nodded her thanks and answered the phone with a grunt, �Agent Cartwright
speaking.�
Aida felt a near manic urge to laugh, but
mastered it for the time being. �He�s coming.�
�What? Who�s coming? Who is this?� Susannah snapped. �How did you get this number?�
�Does it really matter? I thought you
just wanted to get your man.�
�Sands? That bastard is coming home to us?� Susannah
asked, not daring to believe it. �How do
you know? When?�
�Because I sent him. None of this
would have happened if not for him.� Aida�s voice broke. Am I
really doing this? Why am I doing this? It can�t be right, can
it? It doesn�t feel right . . . but I know it is. Oh god . . . I
can�t �
�Then he�ll be caught and charged,� Susannah
interrupted her thoughts. And killed.
But we won�t tell her that. �You�ve done us a great duty, Miss.�
�It�s Mrs. Not Miss.�
�Mrs? Mrs what?� Her voice sounded so familiar, ticking some
memory within the back of her brain. Roland
and Emily were no help. They couldn�t
seem to remember either.
�No . . . can�t tell you. You�ll tell
him.�
�If you prefer to be anonymous, that is your
right,� Susannah said after a moment. �But
you should know there is a substantial reward offered if your information leads
to his capture.�
The laughter burst through despite Aida�s
best attempts to stop it. And once the laughter won out, so did the tears
she�d been fighting to hold back.
The commotion roused Salida who came out to
see what was going on. �You alright?�
�Fine!� Aida replied immediately, clamming
up. Her behavior was suspicious, she knew that, but this was the best she
could do. �I�m fine.�
�Right.� Salida noticed the phone in
the other woman�s hand. �Who are you talking to?�
�No one. It�s nothing important.
And it�s none of your business either. So leave me alone.� Aida
glared, but it was her erratic behavior that made Salida leave the room. �Sorry.
I didn�t mean to get interrupted.�
�The service you�re providing is more than
worth a short interruption,� Susannah assured her. �But . . . how can I be sure what you�re
telling me is the truth?� she asked warily.
�It is. It just is.� The
enormity of what she was doing spurred a bout of second thoughts. �What
am I doing? I can�t do this. Can�t turn him in. . . .�
�Are you serious? Of course you can! The man is a murderer!� Susannah seethed, her
good will having vanished.
�But he loves me. . . .�
�He what?!� Susannah exclaimed before Emily
whispered a little something in her ear and everything became clear. �You�re her, aren�t you? The coward. The whore. We�ve been looking for you.�
�I can�t . . . I can�t do this. I didn�t
call. I have to go.�
�They begged for mercy, you know. As if they deserved any,� Susannah hissed with
a snort.
�Wh-what?�
Aida brought the phone back up to her ear instead of hanging up like she knew
she should.
�Your parents. We killed them, you know. Shot them both twice in the chest while they
were getting ready for bed. Your mother�s
mouth was still coated in toothpaste. Did
you see the photo they took? I agree it
doesn�t do the traitors justice, but we can�t have everything.�
Aida felt her heart freeze over. �He�s
coming for you then,� she said faintly. �He�s going to kill you.�
She laughed. �Not now that I know he�s coming, he won�t. I�ll be the one doing the killing, Mrs. Sands.
Your husband is as good as dead. Thank you so much for the warning.�
The line went dead in Aida�s hand. She
stared at the phone in confusion for a moment before passing out.
The thump her body made as she hit the floor
brought Salida back into the living room. She stared at Aida�s body for a
moment before hauling the unconscious woman into her lap and slapping her face
firmly but gently. �Wakey-wakey, Aida.�
Aida turned her face away but Salida wasn�t
content with that. �Come on, you know Sands asked me to keep an eye on
you before he left. He�ll be upset if I tell him you passed out while he
was gone.�
�Won�t have to,� Aida mumbled. �He�s
not coming back.�
Salida froze. �What?�
�I just ratted him out. It really did
have to be done. It�s his fault my parents are dead.�
�Shit,� Salida breathed before thrusting
Aida none-too-gently to the floor and running for the phone. Maybe she
could get a hold of the men at their hotel, or on a cell phone, or
something. She had to.

****************************** ***
******************************

�I don�t fucking like
this, Sands. Did you even have a plan
before coming out here or are you just acting as kitty�s mindless assassin?�
Jeffrey asked with a scowl as they walked from their hotel to track down
Susannah for information about the death of Aida�s parents. They had figured that if anyone knew who had
killed them, the crazy bitch of a CIA agent would. gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

�I promised her I would take care of this, Jeffrey. I can�t turn back now,� Sands argued. He was feeling much the same way as Jeffrey
about this whole mess, but he had made a promise. He kept his promises whenever possible.
Jeffrey sighed. �I still don�t fucking like this. I should be back at home with my kids, Sands. Not out on your adventures in vengeance.� gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

�You don�t have a choice, Jeffrey. Now shut up. We�re almost to her hotel room.� It hadn�t been terribly difficult to locate
Susannah either. Yet another thing that
bothered them both. ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

Both
men fell silent as they walked across the motel parking lot to the room they
knew Susannah to be in, occasionally glancing over their shoulder as they
walked. No one seemed to be there, but
neither man could shake off the feeling of being watched.
It wasn�t a lack of stealth that gave them
away in the end. It was Salida�s desperate attempts to get a hold of
them. The ringing of the cell phone wasn�t loud, but it was enough to
make them jump. And to catch the attention of Susannah. And luckily
� though few would see it that way � of the two agents in the room next to
hers.
�Oh . . . shit,� Sands muttered in the face
of two screaming men and their guns pointed not so kindly straight towards him.
g

�Clearly,� Jeffrey breathed as an irate Susannah came storming out of
the hotel room they had approached. g

Susannah
was furious. How dare those two agents �
one of them was even a rookie! � interfere with her work! Sands was theirs! Theirs! This was not to be suffered! �Just what are you two doing?� she all but
screeched at the two agents.
�Doing our job, ma�am. You know how
badly this man is wanted by the DA�s in several states. We were . . . advised
. . . to make sure he made all his appointments.�
Susannah fumed, a hairsbreadth away from
blowing these two idiots to kingdom come. Only Roland�s cool reassurance in her ear
prevented her from doing just that. She
would have her chance. She could be
patient. She had to be. For Roland and Emily�s sake. �Very well.� g

�We were set up,� Jeffrey hissed, flinching as the phone in his pocket
started ringing again.

�How?� Sands asked. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

�Shut up! You�re not to speak!�
Susannah hissed at them before turning to the two agents. �Why haven�t you cuffed him?�
�Wasn�t sure if you were going to let us,
Agent Cartwright.�
�Oh? And
why wouldn�t I do that?� she asked in a falsely calm voice. ffffffffffffffffffff

The
older agent stomped on the rookie�s foot. �Mac here was just about to do
that.�
Aida. Aida set us up. She had to have, Jeffrey whispered within
Sands� mind, something he had not had to do for such a long time that he had
nearly forgotten how.

�What? No. She couldn�t have!� Sands hissed. ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

�Did I or did I not just tell you to shut up?� Susannah asked him
evenly. Sands shut up.
You
can�t just let him cuff us! Do
something! Jeffrey hissed. gggggggggggggggg

And what would you have me do? I don�t particularly like being shot. Do you? If you want to see your children again I
suggest you keep calm. And mention
anything regarding Aida in that manner again and I�ll kill you, Sands
responded coolly.
The rookie stepped forward, visibly nervous
but backed up by two cool gun-wielding agents. One of whom would like
nothing better than to watch Sands die a slow, painful death.
�Boo,� Jeffrey muttered, causing the rookie
to jump. gggggggggggggggggggggggggg

Fucking stop that! Do you want to get killed? Sands screamed
at Jeffrey.

�You�re charged with the crime of murder, Sands. Not to mention the attempted murder of an
officer of the law,� Susannah murmured dryly as the rookie moved to remove
Sands� knives and gun. �Your ass belongs
to me now. And do you know why? Do you know how we were able to catch you so
easily?� fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

�I�m sure you�re going to tell me,� Sands said dryly as the squeaking
little man stole his knives away amongst Jeffrey�s mental cursing. ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

�You know what? I don�t think I
will. Not yet. I think I�ll save that little bit of
information for a more opportune moment,� Susannah said with a wide grin.

Sands
rolled his eyes.
Just as the rookie was reaching for Sands�
phone, it started ringing again. Susannah took it, then pressed it to
Sands� ear with an evil grin. �Start talking,� she hissed just loud
enough to be heard over Salida�s frantic cries of his name. �Last chance
probably.�
Jeffrey clamored for control in order to
speak with his wife. As his hands were
cuffed Susannah had to stand beside him as he talked, able to take the phone
away any time she wished. �Vixen?� he
said in a curiously thick voice.
�Oh god.� Salida�s knees nearly
buckled with relief. �Oh thank god. You have no idea how worried I�ve
been. Aida�s . . . she�s snapped or something.�
�She told Susannah we were coming.� It wasn�t a question.
�I don�t know. She called someone
though. I think you need to come home right now.�
�I�m afraid I can�t do that right now,
vixen,� he said softly.
�I don�t care. Make it happen,
Jeffrey.�
�It�s not up to me. It�s too late. I know I�m all for the occasional session of
bondage with you but when the CIA does it its not nearly as fun,� he said
dryly, glaring at Susannah.
�What?� This time when Salida�s knees
buckled, it was with shock. �Don�t joke, Jeffrey.�
�I wish I were, love. I�m standing in front of a cheap-ass motel
with my hands cuffed behind my back and the phone held up to my ear by the
crazy bitch herself.�

Susannah
nearly yanked the phone away from him for that but she couldn�t be made to fall
apart before her fellow agents.
�No. . .�
�I love you vixen. I�ll see you again soon. Take care of ��

�I think that�s enough, don�t you?� Susannah asked through the phone she
had taken from Jeffrey�s ear. �And you
won�t be seeing him. We�ll be seeing
you, in fact. Very soon. Oh and tell Mrs. Sands she has our thanks. The reward is still hers if she wants it,�
Susannah said sardonically.
�I�m going to kill that bitch,� Salida
hissed. �And then I�m coming after you.�
�I�ll be seeing you then,� Susannah said
with a laugh before hanging up and turning to Jeffrey who struggled against the
two agents� grip. �Charming woman. I dare say I fear for Mrs. Sands� life now.� She nodded towards the two agents. �I suppose you can take him. I assume you�ve already called the police. We can continue this later. I think I�m going back to bed.�

****************************** ***
******************************

Aida ran. In shock
from what she�d done, fully aware that Salida was capable of doing her physical
harm for taking her husband away, feeling strangely free, curiously depressed,
almost overwhelmingly guilty . . . she felt them all. If not for fear of Salida�s retribution, she
probably would have spent countless days doing no more than staring at walls
until she could process everything that�d happened. But she did fear Salida, so she silently
gathered what money she could and she ran.
�Miss? Miss?�
�I didn�t mean
it!� Aida whirled around to see that a
young couple had pulled up behind her in a car.
They were looking at her strangely, not just because of her senseless
outburst but because she was shoeless and walking down the middle of the
road. �Oh . . . I�m-I�m sorry.�
�Are you alright,
miss?�
No.
Never be alright again. Sands is
going to die because of me. And if he
doesn�t, he�ll probably come to make sure I
die for what I�ve done. She had to
get off the island. Had to run.
The young couple
was unnerved by this strange woman who did nothing more than stare off into the
distance, but they could tell she was in distress and that she was getting
along when it came to her pregnancy. So
they continued to try to gain her attention.
�Can we take you somewhere?�
�Oh . . . yes . . .
please. That would be very . . . nice.� Aida walked towards the car, wincing as the
rough pavement abraded the soles of her feet.
The man got out of his vehicle to help her into the bed of the small
pickup. �If you�d just give me a ride
into town . . . �
�No problem. You just rest.�
�Thank you,� Aida whispered, knowing that
while she may be able to rest her body, she�d never be able to rest her mind.
When they arrived
in town, Aida thanked the couple and went to the nearest bodega-style
store. There she bought some cheap
sandals and a few touristy shirts along with a toothbrush, some toothpaste,
some semi-nutritional snack food, a hat, and a bag to put it all in. After paying for her purchases with what cash
she had, she headed for the bus station so she could make her way to La Salette and it�s airport.
Sands had secret bank accounts that he�d set up in case of
emergency. She�d use one to get away and
support herself until after the baby was born.
After that . . . after that she�d rely on herself. She had to.

****************************** ***
******************************

Sands sat in the dull grey prison cell and stared at the
walls trying to make sense of the nightmare that was now masquerading as his
life. He couldn�t believe it; he couldn�t
understand it and he certainly couldn�t make sense of it. Aida had betrayed him. He couldn�t deny the bald truth of that any
longer. She had set him up. His own wife and she had sold him out. But why? Why had she done it? Had he done something wrong? What had he done? He was going to do what she had asked of him. He had agreed . . . and she had turned on him
as if she had been waiting to do that all along. A part of him accepted this as the way of the
world. Never trust anyone. Not even
yourself. Others will betray you and you
will always figure out a way to let yourself down.
He had known that
truth once. He had lived by it. But she . . . she had led him to believe that
there were people you could trust. That
she was one of them. But it was lies. She must
not love me anymore. I�ve done something
wrong and . . . and she did this.
Jeffrey sighed as
Sands sent himself spinning into mental circles over Aida�s betrayal. He could feel the man withdrawing back into
whatever hole he had dug himself in when he had been �dead� but he didn�t care.
He had other bigger things to worry
about than Sands� current state of mind.
Despite how closely it seemed to be linked with his own. He could survive without Sands. He had done it before and he could do it again.
He would
do it again. He would get out of this
godforsaken place with its damp concrete and barred windows. He would stop driving himself to madness by
staring at the cracks of the walls as if searching for worlds within and figure
a way out of this hellhole before it was too late.
He hadn�t been
charged yet and he hadn�t been transferred. At present he seemed to be at the local PD�s
mercy but that would change. He could
visualize the battle that ensued over him as to who got the bigger piece of his
hide. He and Sands had committed their
first crimes in DC so theoretically the DC police should have jurisdiction, but
it had been against the CIA. He laughed
a little to himself at his newfound knowledge that the Feds had stuck their
nose in as well saying that any crimes committed here were their business not
the CIA�s. I�ve never been so popular before.
He looked up from
his musings as he heard a set of keys rattling in a lock. Oh joy. More visitors to taunt the psychotic.
�You�re being
transferred back to DC,� Susannah announced without preamble, coming to stand
in front of his cell. He was currently
somewhere in Georgia if he remembered correctly. �That�s where you�ll be tried.�
�It�ll be good to
be home again,� Jeffrey said with a scowl, rising his feet to stand in front of
her, the arm and leg irons they insisted keeping him at all hours of the day
clinking together as he moved.
�Glad you agree. Guard!� Jeffrey�s cell was opened and he was pulled
out by the front of the orange jumpsuit they had put him in. Apparently his captors weren�t a fans of silk
and leather.
�Fuck, I�m coming. You could have just asked nicely,� Jeffrey
muttered as he nearly tripped over the chains connecting his ankles as the
guards pushed him down the hall way back to the rest of the police station. That comment earned him a baton prod in the
right kidney. He breathed out haltingly
through the pain and kept walking. They
wouldn�t have allowed him to stop anyway.
�As you may be
aware DC doesn�t believe in the death penalty. We�re working on ways around that though so
don�t you worry.� Susannah apparently felt the need to chat. Jeffrey had spent a considerable amount of
time with her in the last few days � thankfully always with an escort as he
believed she wanted to do him harm � and he knew that she was every bit as
insane as he could claim to be. Perhaps
even more so.
�Good to know,� he
muttered. It was the last comment he
made as they shipped him home like a gaudy souvenir.

****************************** ***
******************************

The trial had gone on
for months. Witness after countless
witness had brought in against him to announce his guilt to the jury. He wasn�t given a chance to speak, wasn�t to
look at anyone but stare straight ahead like a good little boy as they
denounced him as the monster he was. At
times throughout the proceedings he�d stop and wonder if Salida was reading
about this. If she was looking through
the sketches of him made out to be some kind of cold-blooded devil sitting
unaffected in the whirlwind of a murder trial he found himself in. He knew he would be found guilty. That was never in doubt. He was guilty. Not even the best lawyer in the world � and he
could afford some pretty decent ones � could get him off of that. The only choices were prison or hospital. And they were big choices.

He
suddenly looked up to find himself pulled up out of his chair, the ever-present
chained accessories clattering like gunshots in the now deathly silent
courtroom as they waited for the foreman to announce the jury�s findings. Jeffrey barely listened. The word guilty was enough. Well, almost. He listened a little harder, finding it hard
to hear through the joyful din that had erupted in the courtroom at the
announcement. Apparently there were
quite a few members of the family�s he had stolen lives from. A few of the more vocal of them had been
called to the stand, and he�d been almost amused to hear their stories of the
evil monster that had come to steal their sons and daughters � it was more
often daughters � away from them.

Prison.
For at least twenty life sentences, one
for each of the murders they
knew about. If they had known about them
all it would have been even more years added on to the pile but he didn�t feel
like sharing. The judge clarified. Life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole, yada yada, at some
place called Fort Bennington. He didn�t
know where that was, he didn�t really know his prisons as well as he probably
should, but he figured it didn�t matter. It would be a cell like all the others. It would be separation from his wife and
children for the rest of his life unless he could figure a way out. He had to figure a way out. He had no other choice. . .

****************************** ***
******************************

CONVICTED MASS MURDERER ESCAPES AFTER SUFFERING SEIZURE

Sheldon Jeffrey Sands, billionaire
and convicted mass murderer, escaped from the Fort Bennington Maximum Security
Prison yesterday evening, killing six prison employees and inciting a prison
riot before disappearing.

Sands was removed from his cell at
5:17 pm yesterday evening when a guard noticed he was in the midst of a grand
mal seizure. He was taken to the prison
infirmary where he killed the doctor and the nurse tending to him. Four dead guards clustered in the area of a
service exit had led police to believe that Sands somehow escaped either on
foot or in a delivery van after opening all the doors on the third and fourth
levels of the prison. Six additional
guards were killed in the riot before the inmates were subdued by a unit of the
local National Guard.

Authorities have not said if they
have any leads in the case, but �warn locals and indeed, all citizens of the
United States, that SJ Sands is extremely dangerous and should not be
approached at any cost.�

Sands was convicted in the
slayings of over 20 people. . .

Salida folded her newspaper, grinning wildly. It wouldn�t be long now before Jeffrey came
for her and they could resume their life together.
�Momma, Momma . . .
where�s kitty?�
She looked down at
her children fondly. They were so big
now, less than half a year away from their third birthday. Jeffrey had missed so much of their growing
up. . . Rather than dwell on that, she
gathered them in her arms and told them, �Daddy is going to come home soon.�
�Daddy?� Maeve
asked excitedly. She was the more
dominate and outspoken of the twins although she often showed less emotion than
her brother. But apparently the chance
to meet the myth of a man that Salida had built up for her children was enough
to break even Maeve�s reserve; Julian was already clapping and chanting
�Daddy�s coming home,� in his sweet little voice.
�Yes, Daddy,�
Salida whispered happily.

****************************** ***
******************************

Jeffrey paced back in forth without stopping in front of the
bound woman he had hunted and eventually found.
The former CIA agent Susannah Cartwright had become a ghost after his
first year in prison. Apparently she had
given up hope of ever giving him the justice she had been so fond of assuring
him that�d he�d get throughout their many visits over that first year. �You stole two years of my life. Two years away from my wife. Two years away from my children. And for what? Your friends are dead. They�ve been dead. They weren�t even murdered. The were killed in the line of duty and you
fucking know it. They killed themselves
by coming against me. Just as you have.�
Susannah tried to
speak but she couldn�t manage anything save muttered vowels through the
dishtowel he had twisted around her mouth.
�I don�t want to
hear it. I don�t care how crazy you�ve
gotten over their loss. Hell I don�t
care if you dance naked by moonlight every night. You cost me the chance of seeing my children
grow up and for that you�re going to die.�
He leaned in to slice her throat � he had grabbed two of the larger
knives from the butcher�s block from the kitchen and hadn�t been shy about
using them � but he held back, enjoying how she trembled with fear. He had already cut her many times, spilling
red jewels of blood onto the beige carpet with an equal measure of grimness and
glee, and he relished in her terror of him.
�You deserve so much worse than this but I simply don�t have the time to
do with you what I�d like. If I had my
way I�d let you live for days before I finally killed you. I�d always wanted to try my hand at torturing
someone. Oh I know I tortured your pal
Rivers, but I mean really torturing
someone with the rack and the special curved sharp things.�
He let out manic
laugh that he couldn�t seem to stop for the longest while. Time in prison had not served him well. He wasn�t fully sure if he was crazier than
when he had gone in, but the doctors that had come to see him over that time
surely seemed to think so. He found he
had trouble concentrating on all but the most basic of things. Kill
Susannah. Find Vixen. Find Kitty. Kill Kitty. That was pretty much all he thought about
now. He knew there was more than that,
but he didn�t care about it.
Susannah eyed this
man before her with a mixture of abject horror and grinning acceptance seasoned
by impotent rage. He had come to kill
her. After these past two years, he had
finally come. She would be with her
friends now. She wouldn�t have to keep
on trying. Emily and Roland were yelling
at her, that�s all they seemed to do these days, but she ignored them. She had done her best. She had caught Sands where they
couldn�t. She had done her job. They could not ask more than that.
Jeffrey breathed
heavily, finally able to get his laughter under control. Mustn�t
let that happen again. Must stay here in
control. Have to find Vixen. Again, he knew her name wasn�t really vixen;
he could remember what she looked like, even what she smelled like but he
couldn�t remember her real name and that worried him.
�I�m bored with
you,� he announced dryly, shoving both of the knives through her throat and
pulling outwards.
The result was a
warm wave of blood covering his shirt front and he leaned into it with a
grin. He�d never thought he�d be warm
again after leaving that . . . place. He
was wrong. He gathered up the knives and
walked out of the house, not bothering to give Susannah a second glance. She was dead now. She no longer existed for him. Only she
existed. He had to find her. He knew of only one place to go . . . Vegas.

****************************** ***
******************************

Salida was more than ready for the knock on the door when it
finally came. It was evening, Maeve and
Julian had fallen asleep in front of �The Wizard of Oz,� and she . . . she knew
without looking who was on the other side of the door. He�d come.
He�d known where to find her.
With trembling hands she opened the door. . .
Jeffrey didn�t
fully know if she was going to be here or not, but this was the place he
remembered. This was where they had
first made love. He wouldn�t have ever
forgotten that. And yet he still wasn�t
sure. When the door suddenly opened
after his hesitant knock and she was standing there right in front of him like
an image out of a dream he didn�t know what to do. He could only look at her, waiting for the
dream to end; waiting to find himself back in his all white cell, isolated from
the world once more. �Vixen,� he
whispered, her name spoken as a sort of talisman as he prayed for the dream to
go on.
�Jeffrey.� There were tears in her eyes. �I knew you�d come.�
�Is this . . . is
this real? Are you really here? Am I?� he asked not yet daring to hope. It had been so very long. . .
�Yes.� She felt her face split into a watery grin as
she opened her arms to him. �You�re
home.�
He didn�t know if
he should step forward, didn�t know if falling into her arms would be right,
but god it felt right. He knew her.
He had loved her once. No, he
loved her still. He wasn�t sure he fully
knew what love was anymore but he knew that he loved her. �Salida.�
The name appeared on his lips as if it had never been lost. He moved towards her, desperate to feel for
himself if she were real or not. The
dreams had always ended at this point. . .
Her arms wrapped
tightly around him and she dragged him into the room. It was all she could do not to slam him into
the wall and start making love to him, but she didn�t want to do that in front
of their children. Once Julian and Maeve
were in bed however. . .
He stiffened
involuntarily in her touch, wanting to melt into it but unused to human
contact. They had kept him alone and by
himself nearly all his time in prison. They
had kept him in chains saying he was too dangerous to be around others. They had shaved off all of his hair so that he
couldn�t hide things in it. He didn�t
know how to do this any longer.
Salida felt his
uneasiness and backed away. �I�m sorry,�
she whispered, her worry plain in her eyes.
�I don�t mean to make you uncomfortable.
I understand that things are going to be different now. That you�ve gone through hell and will need
time to adjust . . . I�m just so glad
to have you back.�
He nodded, not
knowing what to say. �I am back,� he
stated. It was a hesitant statement but it was a statement none the less. �I escaped.
She � Susannah is dead.�
�Good,� Salida
hissed, hate in her voice. �You don�t
know . . . I would have come for you myself, I would have taken care of that
bitch, but. . .� She glanced over her
shoulder at their children. �I. .
.� How could she say that the children
had been her first priority without hurting him?
He nodded. �It doesn�t matter,� he said softly. �I wanted to do it.� He grinned and it was so sudden it seemed almost
garishly out of place. �I did do
it. You should have seen it.�
�I�m sure you�ll
tell me all about it.� Unable to help
herself, Salida reached out to touch him, needing the reassurance of his heat
under her fingertips.
He frowned at this
touch but allowed it, forcing himself to remain very still. He knew somehow that she wasn�t trying to
hurt him, but he couldn�t help his body�s response to her. In two years the only people who had ever
touched him had hurt him. �I will,� he
whispered.
Her fingers
entwined with his and she gently tugged on him.
�Come see Julian and Maeve.
They�ve been so excited to see you.�
For a moment he
didn�t comprehend, but he remembered.
His children. The children he had
barely gotten to know before he had been taken.
What would they look like now?
Would they be the same? No . . .
they couldn�t be. Time had passed. They had gotten older. Hadn�t they?
He simply nodded and allowed himself to be led.
�They fell
asleep. They always do even though they�ve
� we�ve all � been on pins and needles since I read about your escape in the
newspaper. They�re still young
though. Two years, seven months.� They came within sight of the couch � the
same couch they�d consummated their marriage on � and Salida stopped. �Just look at them.�
Jeffrey
looked. He stepped forward softly, his
footfalls not even sounding on the carpet as he tried to keep quiet. The last time he had seen them they had still
been infants. And now . . . �They�re beautiful,� he whispered
reverently. �I�ve missed . . . how long
have I been gone? My life was stolen,
vixen. Snatched away by a whore under
the guise of a friend. I tried to get to
you. To them. They wouldn�t let me. I tried.
God I tried.�
�I know,� she
breathed, the pain in his voice bringing tears to her eyes. �Sometimes I thought I could feel it; your
frustration, desperation, loneliness. . .
Those were the times I had to force myself to stay put. I wanted to come to you so badly, but I
couldn�t risk anything happening to me because what would have happened to them
then? And I knew you�d want them safe.�
�You wouldn�t have
gotten me. Locked up tight. The key was swallowed. I was swallowed. They threw me into a pit of white and left me
there. Always chained. Always alone.
I learned to fear what monsters lurked in that aloneness. I had you but I didn�t have you. I had them.
I talked to them. Sands is . . .
was . . . is . . . gone. I don�t know. I was almost gone but there was no one
else. No one to take my place. I had to remain. Had to see you. And them.�
He looked upon his children again.
�Two things I had. Memories and
hate.�
�I�m so sorry,
lover.�
�Why? You didn�t . . . you didn�t do it did
you? I thought . . . we thought it was her.� He took a step back and narrowed his eyes at
her. �Did you do it?�
Salida eyes
widened. �No,� she whispered. �Never.
I never would have. . . I�m sorry
you�ve missed so much, that you�ve had to survive on so little.�
Jeffrey was so
relieved that it hadn�t been her that he hadn�t fully heard what she said
next. He was lost within his own
thoughts again. It wasn�t her. She didn�t do it.
She�s still good. He blinked as she squeezed his arm, bringing
him back. �Can I rest now? Is it . . . safe?� He had neither slept not ate since his
escape. He hadn�t known how to do
anything but make his way back here after killing Susannah. Getting here was now a blur. He didn�t know how he had managed it. He couldn�t remember.
�Yes. Oh yes.
Would you like me to make up a bed here so we can all sleep
together? Or would you prefer the
bedroom?�
�I don�t . . .� he
shook his head. He couldn�t choose.
�It�s alright,
lover. Anything you want, I�ll try to
get for you. I�ll take care of you.�
�Hungry,� he
murmured. �Tired. Haven�t stopped until now. Needed to get to you.�
�I�m here,� she
assured him, lightly running her fingers up and down his arm. �I�ll order you some food. Steak?
Is that what you�d like?�
�I don�t care. Something other than prison food,� he
muttered.
�I�ll order you a
nice steak then, as rare as they�ll send it.
What else would you like? A baked
potato? Bread? Something to drink? Or will anything be fine?�
God it was too
unreal to contemplate. �Anything? Everything?�
He tried to settle his racing thoughts onto something tenable. �Chocolate.�
He hadn�t had chocolate in two years.
Someone somewhere had decided that prison inmates didn�t deserve
it. Especially the psychotic serial
killers.
�Alright. I�ll get you some chocolate.� She kissed his forehead and went to the
phone. After quietly ordering a rare
porterhouse with hot rolls and a potato with butter, sour cream, etc. on the
side, five different desserts with chocolate, and a few microbrews, she went
into the bedroom and returned with armfuls of pillows and blankets.
Jeffrey was right
where she�d left him, though she could tell by the way his eyes were locked on
her that she�d made him nervous by disappearing from view. She tried to reassure him with a smile that
everything was alright now before making up a bed on the floor for Maeve and
Julian. They were so deeply asleep that
they barely stirred when she relocated them to the floor. That taken care of, she piled the rest of the
pillows and blankets at one end of the sofa, finishing just in time to answer
the door when the hotel employee with Jeffrey�s meal arrived.
Jeffrey watched
with thinly veiled trepidation as the cart was rolled in by a man in uniform. He did note that it wasn�t the uniform of a
guard but it still made him uneasy. Soon
however the stranger was gone and he was following his nose to the smell of
food before him, suddenly more than ravenous. He looked down at the meal spread before him,
a hint of a smile coming to his face as he saw the knife and fork. He had been forced to use only a dulled spoon
for so long while eating that the sight of knife and fork at the sides of his
plate nearly floored him.
Salida uncovered
the second tray, revealing the chocolate he�d asked for. There was a slice of chocolate cake, a bowl
of chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and a cherry, fudge, fancy
chocolates molded into the shapes of seashells and flowers, and a batch of chocolate
covered strawberries, cherries, and orange slices. �I didn�t know what you�d like,� she
murmured.
�Right now I could
eat all of it,� he said softly. �Thank
you.� He took a seat at the small table
and picked up the fork and knife in his hands, weighing them as if to test
their reality. It didn�t last long as
his hunger outmatched his bemusement about such things. The steak was first to disappear, but not
without taking the potato and a couple of the rolls with it. It was then, once he had satisfied his hunger
that he paused and took time to consider the chocolate. He would have killed for such a thing only
days ago and now here it was. �I almost
don�t want to touch it,� he whispered.
�I worry that it�ll somehow vanish.�
Salida picked up a
piece of chocolate-dipped orange and raised it to his mouth. �Let me help, then.�
He opened his mouth
to accept was offered and nearly moaned in bliss. �God.
I missed this. Appreciate
chocolate,� he instructed her before cocking his head to the side and looking
at her closely. �You�re thin again. And you�ve cut your hair.�
Salida shook her
head, a bit bemused. Thin wasn�t the
word she�d use to describe herself although it wasn�t necessarily untrue. And yes, she�d cut her hair, but it was still
well below her shoulders. She hadn�t
wanted to cut it too short because that would mean giving up on Jeffrey; he
liked her hair long and it would be that way until he decided he�d like it
shorter.
His hand moved up
to his shorn locks. �They took all my
hair. They wouldn�t let me keep it
long.� He knew he was thinner as
well. Prison food wasn�t terribly
nourishing.
�It�ll grow back,
lover.�
He nodded. �Until they cut if off again,� he muttered
without thought before frowning.
Something was wrong with that statement but he couldn�t immediately
figure out what it was.
�No one will cut it
off again, Jeffrey. You�re free now.�
�Oh. Right.
I forgot,� he murmured dully.
�That�s
alright. I�ll be here to remind
you.� Salida spooned up some pudding and
raised it to his mouth. �I�m your
wife. I�ll take care of you. I promise.�
He accepted the
spoonful of pudding but frowned at her words.
�Wife?� It struck a chord within
him, he felt she was telling the truth, but where was the proof? Where was his ring?
�Yes. Your wife,� she murmured, worried at this
latest development.
�But . . . but I
don�t have a ring,� he said, confused.
He remembered something then, something about a ring in the first days
of his captivity. Those days had been
filled with misery and pain making it hard to focus on details. But the mention of a ring clicked somehow and
he rubbed at the ridge of scarred flesh he felt on his left ring finger as he
thought about it.
�We didn�t have
rings. We have tattoos.� Salida extended her left hand for him to see.
�I don�t see a
ring,� he whispered, suddenly fearful that he was losing control again. Was he supposed to be seeing something? Why couldn�t he see it?
Salida pulled his
hand into hers. After a brief
examination, her face tightened with anger.
�The bastards,� she hissed. �They
lasered it off.�
A memory passed
before his eyes and he frowned in concentration, trying to catch it. �She . . . did it. Knew what it meant to me. She had them take it.�
Forcing herself to
bite back her curses and take the time to relax, Salida just squeezed his hand
reassuringly. �It�s alright. We�re still married. They couldn�t take that away, not in a
million years. We�ll get a new
tattoo. I promise.�
He simply
nodded. A tattoo would be good. Something to mark his existence in history
again. Something real. Something he could look at and remember by. �I�m not hungry anymore,� he murmured
apologetically. �Do I have to eat it
all?�
�No!� she exclaimed
softly. �You don�t have to do anything
you don�t want to.�
�Can I rest now?�
�Absolutely. Unless you�d rather shower . . . ?�
He considered
it. Showers at gunpoint had been terse,
embarrassing affairs but he had learned to live with them. At least he had been unchained then. It was the only time he ever was. �Will I be alone?�
�If you want to be,
yes, I�ll leave you in privacy.�
He frowned and
shook his head. �I don�t want you to
go. I just didn�t . . . I didn�t know if
there would be a guard.� He bit his lip
and closed his eyes. �No guards. Free,� he reminded himself softly.
�Yes. Free.
And I have all your things. I
bought the shampoo you like, the soap, the shaving cream and aftershave, your
cologne . . . even your favorite toothpaste.
I have it all.�
�A shower . . .
would be good.� That was an
understatement.
�Alright. A shower it is then. And then I have your pajamas � the red silk
ones � and we�ll watch some TV. Or you
can go to sleep and I�ll stay right beside you.
Whatever you want.�
�Whatever I want,�
he repeated as he waited for her to stand up before rising from the table and
following her into the bathroom. He
undressed methodically, unashamed of his nakedness before her as always but for
different reasons now. He was unashamed
because he was used to the utter lack of privacy during such things.
Salida turned on
the water, testing the heat. He�d want a
hot one, she knew, as hot as he could stand.
�Here we go,� she murmured when it�d reached the perfect
temperature. �Into the water with you.�
He flinched at her
words, remembering many times his guards had said things very similar. He did as she instructed however, ducking
into the near scalding spray with a moan.
Always, always, always his showers had been lukewarm to cold. Never like this. This was heaven.
Very slowly, Salida
pulled the shower curtain shut. To let
him know that she was still in the room with him, she started telling him about
his children. About how he shouldn�t be
surprised if Maeve was a little reserved when she met him because that was just
how the girl was, just like Julian would likely be clingy and chatty. Her voice was as calming as she could make
it; she wanted Jeffrey to be comfortable, no matter what it took, no matter
what it cost her.
Jeffrey reached for
the soap and shampoo he knew had to be there as he listened to her talk about
his children. His children of whom he
had missed so much that he was little more than a stranger in their lives. �Do they know me? Have you told them about me?� he asked as he
cleansed himself of at least three days worth of filth.
�Every day. And I had a few pictures of you. I framed them and put them in their
room. I told them that you loved them so
very much, and that you wished you could be here with us but you had to take
care of some other things first. I told
them that when you came back you�d love them as much as I do and that we�d be a
family and be happy together. Julian�s
already asked if you would take us to the zoo.
I told him yes, but that we�d need to travel a long way to get to the
zoo. I figured you�d want to get out of
the country as soon as possible.�
�I haven�t thought
about it,� he murmured, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. Short showers would be a hard habit to
unlearn. He turned off the water and
pushed back the curtain, blinking his surprise that there were no armed guards
there.
Salida held out a
towel for him � the big, fluffy, white kind that was standard hotel fare.
He took it
gratefully, shivering in the sudden change of temperature. He just barely stopped himself from looking
for his orange jumpsuit. �Clothes?�
She handed him the
red silk pajama bottoms she�d bought him so long ago. They were nice and warm because she�d set
them on top of the heating vent.
�I remember these. Red,� he murmured as he pulled them on. �I missed red.�
�We�ll buy you an
entire wardrobe of red clothes,� she promised.
�As long as it�s
not orange,� he muttered around a yawn.
�No orange.� Salida took his hand again and led him back
into the living room. Dorothy was just
informing the room at large that there was �no place like home,� and Salida
agreed. Jeffrey was here, her children
were here . . . this was home.
�Where am I . . . where
am I supposed to sleep?� he asked softly.
�Do you want to
sleep on the couch?� she asked, looking worried again. �I thought you did. Was I wrong?
Because you can sleep anywhere you want.�
�No, no,� he
hastened to please her. �The couch is
fine. I just, I just didn�t know.�
�You can sleep in a
bed, if that�s what you want. A real bed
with blankets and pillows.�
�Where will you
be?�
�Where do you want
me to be? I understand if you don�t
really want me to sleep with you. . .�
�I don�t want you to
go,� he said simply. �The couch is
fine,� he said again.
�Are you sure?�
He shook his
head. �Don�t ask me. Just . . . just sleep,� he said wearily,
making his way towards the couch. He
didn�t care where he slept he just didn�t want to talk about it anymore. The floor would have been good; familiar
even.
�Alright. The couch then.� Salida quickly arranged the pillows and
blankets so Jeffrey could lie down. He
did so without fuss, curling in on himself as if for warmth even as he was
covered by a light blanket. His eyes
slipped shut without another word.
Salida watched him,
wishing with all her heart that she could hold him through the night . . . but
he hadn�t liked it when she�d held him before.
It was hard not to
be selfish, to want him to satisfy her needs.
The last two and a half years had crawled by. If not for the twins, she wouldn�t have made
it. And now that she had Jeffrey back .
. . now that she had him back she still couldn�t collapse or show
weakness. He needed her to be strong.
With a deep sigh,
Salida fetched a blanket and a pillow for herself, laying down on the floor
between the twins and her husband.

****************************** ***
******************************

After a few days Jeffrey was finally beginning to fully
understand the situation he was in. It
was going to take time to adjust � two years with the same routine every living
moment wasn�t exactly something you easily forgot � but he was managing. He was still rail-thin but his hair was
beginning to fuzz from the close shave the barber of the prison kept it
at. That helped. And his children were . . . well they were
marvels in their own right.
�Are you awake?� he
asked her � his wife � softly.
�Mmm . . .� Salida
sighed, turning her head so she could sleepily gaze at him. �Do you need something?� This was the first night they�d spent in the
same bed, even if Jeffrey had kept to himself the entire night. He was still wary of being touched too much
or too often, though he seemed to handle the twin�s closeness better than
hers. She figured it had something to do
with the twins being children and barely two feet tall.
He blinked down at
her, fully taking in her scantily clad form.
He couldn�t help but be affected by it.
�It�s been a long time,� he said softly, knowing that she knew what he
referred to. �A very long time.�
His words brought
her to instant wakefulness. �Yes. It has been,� she said slowly, unsure of
where he was going to take this.
With trembling
fingertips, he took her hand in his and placed it on his cheek. �I want you to touch me. I want you to love me. Show me.
Please, Salida,� he whispered. �I
don�t want to be afraid anymore.�
�I don�t . . .� she
bit her lip. �Tell me if you need to
stop.� And with that, she started to
soothingly stroke his cheek. Give him time to adjust. . .
Jeffrey sighed and
grabbed her hand again. �I�m tired of
waiting.� He brought her fingers down on
his slowly hardening arousal, needing to feel her touch. �Do you understand?� he hissed. �I want this.
I need this.�
His vehemence
surprised her and she started to stroke him more out of habit than anything
else.
�Kiss me,� he
sighed, moving into her touch.
She did, starting
tenderly but responding when he pressed one hand on the back of her neck in an
effort to deepen the kiss.
He thrust his
tongue past her gasping lips and tasted her, trying to show her the color of
his desperation as he kissed her. After
a long moment they finally broke apart for air and he captured his eyes in
hers. �Do you understand yet? No. Hesitations. Fuck me, Salida. Take me.
I want you to.�
�It�s been so
long,� she whispered. �I�ll need to
start slow.�
He groaned. �Fuck slow.
Tell me what to do to make it fast and I�ll do it. I�m not asking for a leisurely love-making
session here, vixen. That can come
later. What I need right now is a good
hard fuck to see if everything still works.�
�No, you don�t
understand. My body ��
�Tell me what to do
and I�ll do it,� he repeated again, cutting her off.
�Give me a few
seconds to adjust. That�s all I�m asking
for.�
�I think I can do
that,� he agreed.
�Alright
then,� Salida murmured as she moved over him. �I�ve wanted to do this for
so long. I�ve missed you so much.�
�I know,�
he said softly. He had missed her too. Everything else that he thought he had missed
� the amenities of modern life � paled in comparison with her companionship.
�I love
you, Jeffrey,� she murmured as she pushed down the waistband of his
pajamas. �I love you so much.�
�I . . . love
you too, Salida,� he said even softer. He
was relearning love slowly but surely and it felt right to say such a thing to
her. He warred with himself though. This felt so very right and it was what he
wanted, but yet all this contact still gave him pause. He was unused to such kindness. Stop it. It�s her. Vixen. Surely you remember this? He did. Fleeting moments now and then were coming back
from wherever they had gone and he did remember. He remembered her passion.
�Take off
my panties, Jeffrey,� she whispered in his ear before nipping at it.
He smiled at her words and actions and did as
she had commanded, his hands moving to her hips to hook the line of panties and
he pulled them down quickly. He was
remembering his own passion as well.
Nipping at his ear a final time, Salida quickly
drew her nightgown over her head. Straddling his waist, she sat still in
front of him unashamed of her nudity.
His hands went out to touch her, hesitant at
first but with growing confidence as he remembered the texture of her skin. They had been apart longer than they had been
together and he felt as if he were starting at the beginning again. But he wasn�t . . . he wasn�t because this was
his wife. He knew her. He knew her pleasures her joys; her sorrows
and pains. He knew how to make her
happy. Or he had . . .

His
fingers danced over her breasts, not lingering to arouse but simply touching
for his own benefit. He felt her eyes
upon him as he did so and he looked up.
�My pale
lover,� she grinned, bending down to kiss him passionately. It felt so
good to feel his hands on her, his eyes on her, his skin against hers. .
. She felt as if it was raining after a long drought. He was
refreshing and comforting and familiar . . . and hers. This was not a
husband that�d been gone for so long. This was a lover that remembered
everything about her.
�My dark
goddess,� he responded in turn, his hands moving with purpose now. His deft fingers found the peaks of her
breasts and he teased and aroused, watching her as she responded to him. As she responded, his attentions grew even
more amorous until he was pulling her down to kiss at her roughly because he
didn�t have it in him to be gentle now.
Salida sighed happily into his mouth and let her
hands roam. He�d lost some muscle during his incarceration � nothing
hauling around two toddlers wouldn�t help him regain � but she didn�t
mind. While his body was attractive, it was Jeffrey she loved. And
knowing what he loved, she lightly dug her nails into his pecks, kneading at
him and anticipating his reaction.
Jeffrey moaned softly into her mouth at the
sensation before continuing the kiss even more forcefully than before. His hands had moved to her back and he was
trying to pull her closer to him without fully being aware of that fact.
�I need
you, Jeffrey,� Salida moaned softly. �I need you inside me.�
Instead of agreeing he grabbed her hips and
thrust up into her with a growl before rolling their now joined bodies over so
that he was on top. He began kissing her
mindlessly as his body moved within hers, serving no interests but his own. He bit at her lip because he wanted to,
grabbed at her breasts because his fingers cried out for the feeling of her
flesh, thrust into her again and again in a near back-breaking rhythm because
he needed it.
It was too much, too fast. But Salida wasn�t
going to ask him to stop for anything. Instead she did what she had to in
order to make herself comfortable; she wrapped her legs around his hips and squeezed,
limiting some of the power behind his thrusts so she was more comfortable.
Jeffrey growled at her movements, but he was too
far gone to care. He was ruled by his
lusts pure and simple. His hands and
mouth were bruising where his hips now couldn�t be, and he relished in her
pain. He loved her, he hated her; he
wanted to make her suffer and he wanted only to soothe her hurts. He did all of it, followed every dark whim and
wish, every whispered dream and fantasy. He hurt her and healed her. He cursed her and comforted her. He was without mercy and yet full of love. He didn�t know who he was anymore but he knew
where he belonged; here with her, his body moving in time with hers. That was all that mattered.
When he broke the skin of her neck with his
desperate, biting kisses, Salida shrugged him away and managed to catch hold of
his head. �Look at me,� she commanded when he tried to get back to the
small drops of blood welling up on her neck.
His eyes met hers almost immediately and he
froze, waiting for her to speak.
�I love
you. I�m not going anywhere. You don�t have to devour me.�
Her lips twisted in a wry smile. �At least not in the way you�re
currently going about it.� Then, to prove she wasn�t upset with him, she
attacked his neck in the way he�d been attacking hers.
Jeffrey let out a low moan under the onslaught,
his voice dark with lust and sensation. His
hips moved against her once more almost as an afterthought; a direct response
to what she was doing to him. His hands
balled into fists at his sides and all he could do was respond. He couldn�t grab a clear thought long enough
to attempt to service her own needs. He
simply acted on his passions.
�That�s
it, lover.� Very slowly, Salida loosened her thighs, allowing him more
freedom of movement. �I�ve missed you. I�ve missed this. I dreamed
about this. Did you?�
�Enough
that I wanted to get lost in the dream; that I didn�t know I wasn�t still
dreaming when I first saw you.� The
words were forced out as he attempted to keep his thoughts unclouded enough to
answer her properly.
�Do you
know what I was thinking when I saw you standing in the doorway?�
�Tell me,�
he asked breathlessly.
�I was
thinking, �There he is. My husband. My love, my only love.� I
was overwhelmed. All I wanted to do was make everything go away. I
wanted there to be you and me and our children and nothing else. Just
us. I wanted to slam you against the wall, unfasten your pants, and fuck
you where you stood. I wanted to watch you with the twins. In
short, I wanted you. All of you.�
�Oh I know,� he
moaned, finding it harder to form coherent sentences now. �I wanted you too. I just . . . didn�t know how. Forgot.�
�That�s
alright. I don�t mind.� She kissed him again.
�This is how?� he
breathed, his voice wavering in passion and arousal.
�This is how we
usually make love, yes,� she sighed.
It wasn�t exactly
what he meant but he let it slide, unable to decently hold a philosophical
discussion on what was normal and natural between them at the moment. Instead he simply kissed her deeply,
expressing through the kiss what he could not say in words.
�I love you, I love
you, I love you,� Salida murmured as their conversation trailed off and they
both focused on finding release.
Jeffrey just kept
kissing her, his actions growing more and more desperate as he felt the
pressure building. He was moaning freely
between kisses now, needing an end to this yet somehow wishing it would never
stop. �I . . . love you . . . Salida,�
he groaned, grunting now with each thrust as he was so very very
close to release. Just a little further
and everything would be alright. It
would be good then. But god he just
needed to get there.
�Come now,
Jeffrey,� Salida gasped as she felt impending orgasm creeping up on her. �Come for me, lover.�
Jeffrey just moaned
and did what he could to follow her demand. His hands found their way to her hips and he
was practically pulling her off of the bed with him after each jarring thrust. His breathing was halting and shallow and he
soon found himself giving into her demands, his face slack as his body moved
beyond his control. Bliss. Absolute bliss. And peace, such peace. Peace he had not known in a long time. He was hers and she was his. . . �Yours,� he gasped without thought, needing to
say it at this moment. Needing her to
hear it.
His wife was too
busy sobbing her release into his shoulder to reply though. The sheer physical sensation of intimacy
combined with every feeling surrounding Jeffrey�s returned was enough to
completely overwhelm her, especially in this moment where all guards were down
and she was used to depending totally on him.
This . . . wasn�t right. This wasn�t what he remembered. Why was she crying? He pulled away from her with a frown, doing
his best not to just stop caring and flop face first down onto the bed, jell-o
limbed and content after an end to two plus years� celibacy. �What did I do wrong?� he asked softly, not
understanding.
�Nothing . . . I�m
just so . . . happy. . .�
�But you�re
crying.�
�I can�t help it,�
she sniffled, trying to stop for his sake.
�You�re home, and we still love each other, and that was just so good. .
.�
�You�re not sad?�
he asked with a puzzled frown. He had
moved away from her, his body close to hers but not touching. He hadn�t fully wanted to move away from her
but he couldn�t yet stand to be that close to her for long periods of
time. It was his fault, his problem, and
it was one that wouldn�t be easily overcome despite the intimacy they had just
shared.
�Just sad that we
lost so much time.�
�I�m sorry. I tried to get here sooner ��
�Oh, I�m not
blaming you, lover.� She reached over to
touch his face. �I blame Grant.� A bit of bitterness seeped into her
voice. �I�m willing to try to understand
that a prison stay and the loss of her parents so close together made her
unbalanced, but she had no right � no right! � to do that. If she didn�t want to be around Sands, she
could have just left. I won�t forgive
her for making the rest of us suffer.�
�Is that why she
did it? Because of her parents?� He had been asking himself that question for
two years.
�I don�t know. She ran away while I was on the phone with
you. The night . . . that night. I haven�t seen or heard from her since.�
�And Sands has a
kid now. A kid he�s never seen . . .� he
trailed off as he felt something curiously like pity for his absentee other
self.
�Where . . . where
is Sands?�
�I don�t know. He left.
He just stopped talking to me one day.
I haven�t heard from him since,� Jeffrey said with a shake of his
head. �The others are still there. They�ve tried . . . try . . . to take over
but I�m able to hold them off for the most part. Sands just isn�t there.�
�We thought that
once before.�
He nodded. �I remember.
He�s still there somewhere,� he amended.
�He can�t simply wish himself into not being. He . . . chooses to stay silent.�
�So he�s choosing
not to get revenge? That doesn�t sound
like the Sands I used to know.�
Jeffrey
shrugged. �I don�t know. The last time I talked to him he was
practically babbling incoherently to himself at kitty�s betrayal.� He had barely been able to hold on to the
frayed ends of sanity during that time, something he would not share with her.
�Hmm . . .� Salida thought about the situation for a bit
before dismissing it. �He�ll come back
when and if he�s ever ready. Until then,
I prefer not to think about it.�
�I guess,� Jeffrey
said after a moment�s silence, his face becoming mask as he was lost in
memory. He had relied on Sands. He had needed someone to keep him sane during
the years of his isolation and incarceration and Sands had left him. He had betrayed him and Jeffrey was still
barely hanging on more often than not.
The seizure that had gotten him out of his cell and chains hadn�t been
faked. Others had come and gone in that
time, feeding off of his stress and increasingly fractured mind as time
passed. Jeffrey had taken care of those
he could and ignored the rest. They were
still there now, waiting. He would be
forced to deal with some of them sooner or later.
�Do you have a
different opinion? Because I doubt it�d
take much more than looking at a picture of Grant to get his attention and once
he realizes that you�re out of prison. . .�
Grant. That was her name. Aida Grant. He had forgotten until now. �No, you�re probably right.�
Their conversation
was cut short when the door to their bedroom slowly swung open and two little
heads peeped around it.
Jeffrey sighed as
Salida pulled a sheet over their naked bodies before lifting his head and
nodding towards his two children, a hint of a smile showing on his face as they
scampered into the bedroom. Well, Julian
scampered. Maeve walked.
Maeve murmured a
morning but it was clear she was just curious about her parent�s wakefulness
and more following her brother than interested in interacting with them. Jeffrey had quickly discovered that she
seemed to be a solitary child yet outgoing at the same time. She didn�t show the wealth of emotion that a
girl of her age probably should have, but he didn�t fully understand the
significance of that. She and her
brother were both clearly intelligent and seemed to appreciate being treated as
such. Therefore Jeffrey answered her
good morning with one of his own.
Julian came
trotting in when it was clear that they weren�t going to be told to go away. He climbed up onto the bed and settled
between his parents - on top of the sheets � while Maeve followed more slowly
and took a seat firmly on Salida�s lap.
Jeffrey looked over
his children as he was still getting used to the changes he saw. When he had last seen them they had been in
diapers and now. . . He had missed so
much. While they were not yet three
years old he felt as if he had missed much more than that and in a way he
had. He had missed their first steps,
their first words, he had missed it all.
He looked up and saw that Salida was staring at him and nodded a
reassurance to her. He would be
alright. This was no time to dwell over
things he couldn�t change. �Was there
something you two wanted or did you just want to see if we were awake?�
�I want to go to
the zoo,� Julian declared, his voice just a degree shy of whining.
That was
right. Salida had mentioned something
about the zoo, hadn�t she? �It�s too
early to go to the zoo yet, Julian. But
we�ll go later today if you like. But
then we have to leave.�
Maeve took an
interest in this. �Where are we going?�
In truth, Jeffrey
didn�t know. But they couldn�t stay
here. It wasn�t safe.
�We�re just going
to go on a trip, Mae,� Salida told her daughter. �We�re going to find someplace new to live
now that Daddy�s back. Maybe you and
your brother can help us decide.�
�I want to live in
Madagascar,� Julian pronounced.
Maeve wasn�t
entirely sure what to make of this but nodded.
A new place to live could be neat.
�I don�t want to live in Madagascar,� she announced just to counter her
brother.
�We�ll have lots of
time to decide and we�ll visit lots of places.
Don�t worry. I bet we can find
someplace we can all agree on.�
�We don�t speak any
other languages except Spanish, Mommy,� Maeve pointed out.
�I could teach
you,� Jeffrey murmured softly. Maeve
eyed him and then turned to Salida as if asking for verification.
�He could. Your father knows several languages. Didn�t I ever tell you that? He chose your first names, you know.�
�What languages do
you know?� Maeve asked curiously. She
did know that he had chosen their names.
Mommy had told them that. Hers
meant �goddess� in Latin. Her brother�s
meant �youthful.�
�Spanish, French,
German, Italian, Latin, Russian and Chinese.
And English of course. And I did
pick your name. Your brother�s too. I always liked Latin. I could teach you. If you wanted. Not all of them at once, but perhaps one or
two�
�And Mommy?� Maeve
asked, looking up at her mother.
�She can learn too
if she wishes,� Jeffrey agreed with a nod.
�Of course she
wants to,� Maeve said imperiously. �Only
stupid people stop learning.�
Jeffrey
smiled. �You�re right. And your mother is the smartest person I
know. I don�t think she ever stopped
learning. Even now. She�s also a good teacher.�
�We know,� Julian
said, glaring at his sister for implying their mother could ever be
stupid. �We can read.�
He shook his head
slightly in wonderment at the level of his not even three year old
children. He�d known they would be
smart, but was Sands that smart at their age?
He didn�t know and Sands� parents had never been eager to praise him if
he had been. �What do you like to read?�
�Books with lots of
fights and people dying,� Julian answered promptly.
�Those are the good
ones. I�ll could help you find some
really good ones if you want.�
�I like to read
about spies,� Maeve supplied after a moment.
�And smart people who get away with things.�
Jeffrey nodded. �I like those books too.� He offered her a small smile before glancing
at his wife. �I think you two should get
dressed and then we�ll order breakfast.�
�And go to the
zoo?�
�And go to the
zoo. If we go during lunch time maybe
we�ll get to see them feeding the lions,� Jeffrey offered his young son with a
knowing smile.
�People?�
Salida shook her
head, knowing very well that her son wanted to see people thrown to the lions,
not throwing the lions their lunch.
�They do not feed people to the lions at the zoo,� she told her son as
she urged the twins out of bed.
�Perhaps they
should. It�d be more interesting that way,� Jeffrey murmured for her ears alone
before turning back to the twins. He
nodded at his son and daughter again before falling back on the bed when the
door was shut behind them and he and Salida were alone once more. He did love his children, but being with them
was hard sometimes. They had so many
thoughts and questions � especially Julian, or at least he voiced them the most
� and he was unused to the endless onslaught of noise.
�I�ll have you know
they were bragging shamelessly,� Salida murmured as she climbed out of bed to
get dressed. She�d showered the night
before � a habit she�d gotten into as a single parent to cut back on the amount
she had to do in the morning.
�I�m sure they
will,� Jeffrey murmured, not yet moving from the bed. He heard the door open though and glanced up
to see if the twins had come back but didn�t see anyone from his vantage point
on the bed. A moment later a black beast
of a cat was kneading his chest and he was petting it with a smile. �God you�ve gotten big, cat. What has she been feeding you?� he muttered
as Obsidian purred under his attentions.
He had first come across the cat yesterday and he must have spent at
least an hour just stroking his silky fur, not saying a word. It seemed the cat remembered him and that
just made Jeffrey love it all the more.
�Yes well, they�re
also exaggerating. They can�t read. Not yet at least.� Salida shook her head. �They almost scare me with how smart they
are, Jeffrey. All I have to do is read
them a book once and they can repeat it back to me just by looking at the
cover. They�re nearly word perfect if
they have illustrations to look at.�
�You knew they�d be
smart. We both did,� he murmured,
cocking his head to look at her while his hand moved absently over
Obsidian. They were too young yet for
most types of psychosis to really set in � that would make puberty all the more
interesting � so he didn�t ask about it.
�They�re not just smart.�
Salida came back to sit on the bed.
�I took them to a child specialist a few months ago because I couldn�t
understand what they were saying. He
says they had the vocabularies of five year olds. They were trying to say words their little
mouths couldn�t form yet.�
�Geniuses then?� he
asked, he knew he was intelligent. He
nor Sands had never had their IQ taken to the best of their remembrance but
neither of them had ever had any trouble learning new things. And Salida, didn�t she say that Tess had had
her IQ scored on the genius level?
�Perhaps.� When she glanced over, she noticed Jeffrey
hadn�t gotten dressed yet. �Well, come
on, proud papa. Get a move on.�
He got up without
argument. He found the sometimes he
simply obeyed her suggestions as orders given by shouting guards. It was just easier to do what they wanted. He had learned that the hard way after a few
stubborn refusals ending up in misery and pain.
He didn�t know if Salida noticed the reaction but she probably did. Once he was clothed in his once more standard
black and red outfit he moved to join her.
�We going to leave
tonight?� she asked as they walked out of their bedroom together.
�We should. It�s not safe for me here. They want me back,� he said in a quiet voice.
�It�s not safe for
any of us. And I refuse to let them take
you away from me again.�
�We need to leave
the country,� he said after a moment, silence meeting her statement. �Beyond that, I don�t care where we go.�
�Alright. We can talk about this during their nap. I�ll pack what we need then too.�
He nodded. It was best to leave things to her for the
moment. They both knew this. He was recovering but he was not the same as
he had once been. He accepted this. He did not know if he would ever fully be the
same. Perhaps he wouldn�t. It was a mildly depressing thought but one he
was learning to live with. He only hoped
she could live with it too.
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More Than Darkness