Page 2 of Peaceful Chaos

"I'm going with her," Ford insists.

"Like hell you are," Holbrook snaps. "We're done doing this your way. Damien is going to be watching you. If you disappear, he's going to be more suspicious than he already is. Neville is waiting to take them somewhere safe. This time you're going to trust me to do my fucking job."

"How?" Raven asks. "We saw you shoot them. There was so much blood."

"We're in California. It wasn't hard to get our hands on some blood packs, and my gun is filled with blanks."

"Raven, Lucien, I need you to listen to me. I don't know when we'll get to see each other again," Natalie says. "Grant is my brother, your uncle. Believe me, I know the lingering distrust Damien leaves behind him, but Grant is family. Everything he's done from the moment I was taken has been to save me. Let him help you."

She hugs them quickly and leaves with an agent who stands waiting at the door to take them into protective custody. Ford takes a moment longer with Tessa, whispering something to her. We turn away and give them this moment of privacy.

"Leave now," Holbrook says again. "I'll deal with the rest of you tomorrow."

Dismissed like naughty children, we stop fighting and follow Marks to his car.

* * *

"How exactly arewe all supposed to stay here?" Shane asks. "Don't get me wrong, it's far nicer than that dump we call an apartment, but there are, what, three bedrooms?"

"We've got a guestroom, and a pull out couch," Lucien points out.

"Yeah, but how's that going to work with five extra people?"

Lucien smirks at Ted and Amber. "Care to share my king size bed? You know, to help out with the sleeping arrangements?"

Ford rakes his hand through his hair. "Shane and Jen will take the spare bedroom, and I'll take the couch. Once again I'm the odd man out."

"Like you sleep alone often," Jen teases.

"This has been a shitty night. Can we not go through who has shared Ford's bed?" I grumble.

Shane raises his hand. "I second that."

"Come on you jealous Neanderthal, take me to bed," Jen says, tugging on Shane's arm.

Raven squeezes my hand. "I'm going to turn in too."

I pull her close and kiss the top of her head. "I'm going to help Ford set up the couch, then I'll join you."

Everyone makes their way down the hallway, leaving Ford and me alone. "How are you hanging in?"

"I don't even know. I mean, Tessa's not dead, so that's good. But, fuck, man. When I thought she was gone, I missed her. I can't forgive her, but I miss her."

"There's time to figure that out. Let's live through this mess, and then you can see where things stand."

He shakes his head. "Some things are too broken to fix. I want her safe, and I hope she'll be happy, but the two of us together are toxic."

I lift the lid on the ottoman and take out some blankets. "Maybe you can at least go home tomorrow."

"This is hardly the worst place I've slept." He takes the blankets while I pull out the bed. "I can do this from here," he says.

I leave him to get set up and follow Raven to our room. I find her sitting in the middle of the bed staring at the pattern on the blanket. My wife is strong, but not for the first time, I wonder if this is the event that will break her. Seeing your mother shot, even if she turns out to be fine, is a shock.

The door closes with a quiet click, and her head lifts to look at me. "I'm not pregnant," she murmurs.

Despite the bad timing, I find myself a little disappointed. "Did you get a message from the lab this late?"

She licks her lips. "No. I got my period."

I join her on the bed and wrap my arms around her. "Are you okay?"

A hysterical laugh bursts free from her, and she covers her mouth. "Hardly, but not because I'm not pregnant. I'm relieved. This isn't the right time."

"We'll have our time, when we're not fighting for our lives" I promise her. I'm not sure how I'll keep that promise, but someday I'll give her a life not spent looking over her shoulder.

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