Page 528 of Chaos has a Name
Then, taking the hardest steps in his life, even more difficult than when he left here at eighteen, Ethan Jackson Blackhawk walked away.
“Goodbye, EJ,” she said, not sure what else to say. In all honesty, her mind was going a million miles a minute.
It astounded her that at their best, they were actually at their worst.
Trauma had won.
And she’d lost the other part of the foundation that held this whole family up.
When he was gone, Gene hugged her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know how much this has to hurt you, and he didn’t mean it to. He’s been struggling with this since the day we found out Wyler left. What happened to him changed him, and he needs to find a way through it.”
He wiped her eyes, using his sleeve.
“You should have told me,” she whispered. “This hurt,” she said, that ache in her chest. “This blindsided me, Gene.”
She never knew Ethan was in this bad of a place, or she wouldn’t have let him come here.
Gene kissed her on the tip of her nose, and lifted her chin so they were staring into each other’s eyes.
“I couldn’t. I broke him once, and like I hold your secrets, I have to hold his too. I’ll make sure he’s safe. We can’t take Willa from her siblings. Please forgive both of us. If we both leave him, he’ll never make it. Someone has to stay here to protect him as he embarks on this journey. He’s not strong enough to do it himself.”
Elizabeth’s brain was screaming in warning.
She was losing her husband.
Immediately, she felt nauseous, and wanted to be sick.
As Gene set her free, she had to let her FBI partner go too. Her ride or die, had rode off with Ethan.
This was a new thing for her. Now, it was just the three of them.
In DC alone.
She lost her profiler.
As he disappeared, too, Elizabeth looked up at the totem, there was a raven with spread wings, much like the one on Ethan’s chest.
All the memories came back.
Them showing up here, and buildingFBI Westas a team. Them leaving as a team.
Them coming back as a team.
This was an end to an era—one she never saw coming. For Elizabeth, she couldn’t even rage or cry. She told Ethan once that if he just told her the truth, she’d never hate him.
And he’d told her the truth.
Turning, she walked back to the car. Now, she had to do the hardest, most difficult thing in her life.
She had to say goodbye.
To one of the men she loved.
Once inside of Timothy’s cabin, Gene found Ethan crying.
He was silently sobbing as he did war with what he needed to heal, versus what he was obligated to do for his family.
