“At ease, soldier,” General Castle told me. “Now, give me your report.”

The General sat at a table, with August and several official types I did not recognize. I stood in front of them, in uniform, about to explain myself officially. Lucky for me, they decided to give me a day to recover from the bullet wound, so now I was just suffering a severely bruised and stiff leg.

August knew the story already, as I’d told him everything in the ambulance before the helicopter flew me away from the city. Now I recounted everything I could remember, especially about Mr. Nameless Nutjob, to them. The only thing I left out was his warning that there was a traitor on the base; I’d not figured out who I was going to approach with that, but I was not going to do it in a group setting. When I was finished, they asked me a few questions, specifically about Mr. Nutjob and whether I believed him to be a Changed.

“I did not feel his presence at all,” I said, “and I’m usually good at detecting other Changed, so I would have to say that no, I do not believe that was what he was. Unless there is some ability to remain undetected I’m unaware of, Sir.”

This created a flurry of hushed conversation between the men. August then asked, “Do you have any supposition on the nature of the effect he had on Corporal Stone?” Not a ‘no’ then. That was worrying.

Ah, yes, that was a good question. I’d not seen Stone yet to ask him, but from what I understood, he got dragged over the coals yesterday.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

After that, they asked me a few more questions and then General Castle dismissed me. I saluted and then retreated. It was not the end of my discomfort though. Even though I was technically on medical leave, I had a full day of doctor inspections and shrink visits to look forward to.

I did my best to grin and bear it as the day continued with more and more invasive questions and procedures. Around lunchtime, Stone came to visit me. He walked in with a box of chocolates and a big bunch of flowers, trailing Johnson and the others behind him.

“Hello, soldier,” he said.

“Oh my God, you guys!” I said, overwhelmed.

“We, uh, we brought you this as a sort of apology,” Johnson said.

“For, well… you know,” Stone added, setting down the chocolates and turning a bit red in the face.

“Just tell me this,” I said, pointing at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Tell me that Thompson didn’t hook up with a stripper. That would be intolerable.”

Everybody laughed. Well, except Thompson of course.

“You need to stop ending up here,” Stone said.

I nodded. “You are telling me. I’m sick of hospitals!” I turned and put my feet on the floor. “But hey, check this shit out.” I stood, balancing on my wounded leg for a second.

“Ho-lee shit,” Stone said, as the guys hooted and clapped. “Didn’t you get shot?”

“Yup,” I said, grinning. “Pretty much all better now.”

Everyone agreed that that was pretty awesome. We spent the next half an hour catching up. Stone got my message after he went outside for some fresh air. That prompted him to contact the base and commanders. Then everything went nuts. They busted ass to get to the stadium, an activity made more difficult by the fact that half of them were so wasted taxis did not want to pick them up. Stone drove a few over, but by the time they arrived the place was covered over by police and federal agents. And then they got the order to withdraw and immediately return to base.

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As the afternoon wore on, the guys drifted away in ones and in twos until it was just Stone left. “I’m really sorry,” he said, “I should never have let you go on your own.”

“As I recall, you didn’t really have a choice,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess not,” he said, looking away.

I reached out and touched his face, turning it back towards me. “Hey, what is it?”

His face darkened as anger boiled up from within. “They tell me that something happened to me. Some guy got in the taxi with you? Is that true?”

I nodded.

“What the hell?” he said, pulling away from me. “How is that? I don’t remember anything like that.” He stood up, his large frame dominating the small room as he paced back and forth. “Tell me what happened, please.”

Drawing my legs up, I lay my chin on my knees. “Well, you were being really nice and looking out for me.” It was so weird, thinking back on it. I did not really know what happened. “You were going to take the taxi with me and ride with me till I figured out what I wanted to do and then catch up with the guys after. You opened the door and let me get in ahead of you.”

“Yeah, I remember all of this,” he said, interrupting. “But I don’t remember any of what I’m told happened next.” He crossed his arms and stared at the wall.

“Look,” I said, as calmly as I could, “I don’t know what happened. We were talking and I thought you were right behind. The next thing I know there is this grunge-rocker-looking-wannabe sitting next to me telling the cabby to drive. I look back at the window and there you are, holding your arm out like you were still holding the door. You just looked… frozen in place or something. It was really strange.”

Stone turned back to me, his face begging me to make it all make sense. “That’s not what I remember. I remember you telling me it was ok, and somehow, convincing me not to follow you, even though I damn well intended to from the moment we left the bar. Hell, I was embarrassed by the guys and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to join up with them. But you convinced me I should, told me it’s what you wanted me to do.”

I chuckled, causing him to narrow his eyes and glare. “No, no, I’m not laughing at you,” I said, hands up plaintively, “It just sounds like something I’d say.” More gently, I asked, “What happened next?”

He shrugged. “I waved goodbye and then went and found the guys. All my concerns just sort of faded away. I was sure you were ok and that was the end of it. Next thing I know we get your message and come running. Yesterday, I get dragged in to see the General and a bunch of officers I’ve never met. They ask me all these questions about your version of the story, about who was the guy and why did I let ‘im in the taxi? But I had no idea what they were talking about. Hell, I half think that they figure I was working for the guy or something.”

“Oh, Stone, I’m sorry. I never said anything like that. I could tell something was done to you, and even the nut job made that clear, that he had somehow… put a spell on you or something. I didn’t mean to get you into any trouble.”

Stone sat back down on the bed. He seemed a bit calmer now. “You know I wouldn’t let something happen to you if I could stop it right?”

“Um,” I said, feeling uncomfortable all of the sudden, “Sure man. You look out for all your men… soldiers I mean.”

Stone looked at me, his eyes saying something that his lips could not quite manage. I just wasn’t sure what it was. His jaw worked for a moment but nothing came out. Breaking the awkwardness, he nodded his head then stood back up. “I’m glad you are all right, Delaney. Don’t do anything like that again, all right? You scared the crap out of us.”

“Don’t worry, Corporal, getting shot is low down on my list of activities I want to repeat.”

Smiling, he left the room, and, in his absence, it felt huge. After I’d sat in my empty room for some time, I realized I had not wanted him to leave. But of course, it was too late for anything to come of that.

I wandered around the infirmary in the afternoon, having little else to do. I visited Claire, who physically looked better, but was still in a coma. I talked to her, telling her all the crazy shit that had happened to me since she went to sleep. I told her about getting shot. I cried when I told her about shooting those guys.

It felt better talking to her than it had talking to the shrink.

“Dammit girl,” I finally said, my anger bubbling out of me. “What’s taking you so long?”

Only the beeps of her life support machines answered me.