Page 133 of Single Teddy
I snapped out of it and turned my attention to Valentin and Niko, who were hiding behind Wesley, shaking like leaves.
Fuck.
In all my worry to save them, I didn’t even pause to think about what I was doing in front of kids. Children the same age as Bear. Kids who looked at me with big, wide eyes, quivering lips, and tears staining their cheeks.
“God,” I exhaled and glanced back at the dead bodies. “I’m…I’m sorry.”
I took a minute to scour the place, and when I found a sheet, I pulled the two bodies close to one another and covered them. Before I turned to Wesley and the twins, I glanced at Slade through the window and spoke into my comms.
“Targets eliminated.”
Slade came out of hiding, and I walked over to Wesley, Valentin and Niko and cut them loose.
“Boys! Are you okay? Did you close your eyes like I told you to?” Wesley turned to them and pulled them into his arms, and I would have expected nothing less from him.
The boys nodded, and Wesley squeezed them harder.
Slade walked in behind me, but he’d been joined by Joey and Wyatt, who were all surveying the aftermath with the same calculating expression.
“We need to get them out of here.” I pointed at the boys.
But when Slade and Wyatt stepped forward, the boys cowered away, clinging to Wesley.
“It’s okay. They’re not here to hurt you. They saved us. They’re here to help us. It’s okay.”
They turned their eyes to them, hesitantly, but even though Slade beckoned them closer, they didn’t move. Not until Joey crouched to their level and smiled at them.
“You boys were very brave today. I know you don’t know me, but I’m very proud of you. You handled this very difficult day like superheroes. Do you like superheroes?”
They both nodded.
“You’ve had an awful and confusing day. How about we all get out of here and go somewhere warm?”
One of the boys shrugged.
“There’s pie. Like lots of it,” he added, and a couple of shy smiles poked through.
Joey offered them his hands, and they checked with Wesley before they followed Joey and Slade outside, leaving just Wyatt, Wesley, and me behind.
“I can’t believe I killed their dad in front of them,” I stumbled backward and collapsed next to Wesley.
He put his arms around me in an instant and pulled me in to kiss the top of my head.
“You didn’t,” he whispered. “He wasn’t their dad.”
“What?” Wyatt frowned.
“He wasn’t their dad. Their dad died last year in one of your past missions, and he took over. No idea why. He was a stranger on a power kick,” Wesley said.
“How do you know that?” Wyatt asked as I nuzzled in closer to Wesley.
An immense weight lifted off my shoulders, and I relaxed in his embrace. My eyelids became heavy. My heart was content. It was good to have him back. To know he was safe. To know that his kind smile would continue to shine bright for years to come.
“He told me,” Wesley said. “He thought I was as good as dead, so he went on an end-of-the-movie villain rant.”
“The hell is that?” Wyatt asked.
“It’s when the bad guy reveals his plan at the end of the movie for no reason other than to tell the audience what he’s been doing behind the scenes all throughout the movie,” Wesley said.
