Page 114 of Homecoming

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Kat musters the courage to look directly into his eyes. “Are you not listening to me? I’m sure you mean well, but I don’t want to hear it right now. Sorry... sorry, it’s not you, it’s… Riley’s father died. Matthew, he didn’t recover from the accident.”

“What the hell…” Darius lets her go as he's barely able to mumble, “What?I mean, how? When?”

“Yesterday, while we were gone. I called home as soon as we got back to check on the pups, and that’s when Noah told me. I feel sick. I want to be with Riley so much, but I can’t. He’s gone to stay with his mom for a few days and Amy went with him; she has to be there for him now and he doesn’t need me.”

“Kat, he’s always going to need you. Just give him some time. He'll have a lot going on and this will be hard on him—on all of them. C’mon…” Darius wraps her in his arms and holds her tight as he kisses her hair, “you know I love you.”

“Don't you think I know how hard this will be for him?" she snaps. "I'm sorry, I really can’t do this with you right now. I need to go. Noah’s waiting. I’ll call you on the SAT phone when we get there. Just let me have a couple of days so I can get my head straight.”

“Okay, sure. Did you tell Digby that you were going away?”

“Yeah, I just told him. He was fine about it. Look, it’s not about you—or this thing with the team. I just need some fresh air to clear my head. Luna needs to be with her pups, and I need... I need to be with Noah right now.”

“Sure… I get it. Everything’s been pretty intense these past few days. You go. Take a breath and Kat… don’t worry about anything. It will wait until you come back. Hey, come here.”

The corridor is quiet, and Darius can hear his own heavy breathing, as he pulls Kat close and presses his lips to hers he can taste the salty wet of her tears.

Her heart pounds with a hard thud in her chest and she swallows the large lump choking the back of her throat. “Darius, I do love you.”

“I know. And I love you too. Now go. We’ll be fine. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Thank you for being so understanding.” She lingers for one last kiss, then disappears, hurrying along the corridor out of sight.

Darius can hear her continued sobs as she leaves and, taking a minute to breathe, he thuds his fist hard against the wall. “Grrrr… Fuck,” he growls under his breath.

“Dee… everythin’ okay?” Digby frowns with obvious concern.

“Yeah... Yeah, sure. What is it?”

“Did Kat tell you about…”

“… Riley? About his father? Yeah, she did.”

“Total shocker, right? I mean, he really has to be feelin’ it.”

“Yeah, Kat seems to have taken it pretty hard too.” Darius sighs as he again clenches his fist.

“Oh, you know what she’s like about him. She feels like she wasn’t here for him when he needed her the most. Hey, did she mention anythin’ about her place on the team?”

“No, only that Rocky was a good guy, and we are lucky to have him.”

“Yeah, on that I actually have to agree. I really do think he’s goin’ to be a good addition to the team, but… he’s not Kat. Can’t you do anythin’ about that? About her place… Darius, she really needs this right now. It would help her feel like she had a place in the world if she had this to focus on. C’mon Dee, you gotta be able to do somethin’. Pull some strings? C’mon, she needs you to figure it out for her.”

“Yeah, I know. And that’s what I wanted to talk to her about.” Darius smiles. “I didn’t get the chance to tell her, but I spoke to Edwards when we got back. Said how well she did and considering everything that, given another month, she would have been right there. I also told him that despite his damn cheap aftershave, I like Rocky. The guy has plenty of potential and I think he’ll be a good fit for this team.”

“So what did Edwards say to that?”

“Well, he didn’t speak for a minute or two. I think he was pretty dumb struck that I actually liked one of the medics they sent. You know the first thing he said? He said, ‘you can keep them both’. That go-ahead solves all the team’s problems. If Kat needs more time with the pups, we don’t have an issue finding a medic, but as Rocky’s sniper skills are pretty damn close to QT's... Edwards said I can keep him too.”

“Hell, he actually said that?” Digby smiles. “Well, that’s great! So that means Kat gets to keep her place after all?”

“Yeah, but just slow down. There are some conditions. He gave her a month to improve her fitness, but if she can pull it off, she can keep the place. He said for now, he would authorize her to deploy under a supervision order.”

“So like a green teamer?”

“Kind of. But I figured you’d be keeping a close eye on her anyway, so problem solved.”

“Hell yeah… yeah, I have no problem with that! So did you tell her before she left?”

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