I had just finished brewing a pot of tea when I heard the knock at the door. I wasn’t sure whether I was more surprised that it had taken them so long, or that they had bothered to knock.

“Come on in, it’s not locked. At least, not from the inside,” I called.

Wallace pushed the door open and entered, followed closely by a somewhat chastised-looking Tom. I gestured for them to join me at the little table and Wallace pulled out a chair and made himself at home. Tom followed suit, but his shoulders were slumped, and he kept his eyes on the ground as he collapsed into a chair. It was clear he hadn’t been having an entirely pleasant chat with Wallace for the last couple of hours. Perhaps letting him take all the heat for today was unfair, but if it managed to sour his relationship with Pete Wallace at all, it was worth it. Driving a wedge between them was somewhat necessary, if I was going to convince Tom to give up on this insane scheme. I uncapped my flask and took a long pull before pouring some into my mug.

“Did we come at a bad time?” Wallace raised an eyebrow.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. As if he cared.

“No, perfect timing, actually. If you’d shown up any sooner, I would have been way too sober to deal with you,” I winked.

Wallace laughed, even though we both knew it wasn’t precisely a joke. Honestly, giving Wallace shit was the most enjoyable part of all of this. The last time we had worked together there had been at least a veneer of professionalism. That was not currently the vibe I was going for, though. And why should I? I was retired, and if this was my new job, I hadn’t seen a paycheck, yet.

“Tea?” I offered.

“Thank you,” Wallace smiled. “I didn’t realize you were a tea drinker.”

Tom didn’t answer, but I grabbed two mugs anyway.

“It’s a recent interest. It can be very calming, and I have found that helpful, of late. How do you take your tea? With whiskey or plain?”

Wallace checked his watch,

“I suppose a splash couldn’t hurt. Tom?”

“No, thank you,” he replied, stiffly, looking up for the first time since he entered. “How did you even get that back?” he nodded at the flask in my hand.

“The guard who cleaned up the interrogation room brought it to me. Nice guy.”

“And who keeps bringing you liquor in here, anyway?”

“Does it matter? This isn’t a dry facility, is it?” I shrugged, pouring a splash of whiskey into Wallace’s mug. “I mean, if this is supposed to be some sort of rehab, you guys are terrible at it.”

I slid two mugs of tea across the table.

“Oh?” Wallace blew gently on his drink before taking a sip. “This isn’t too bad.”

“I know, right? It’s Darjeeling. But yes, this is a genuinely awful environment for any sort of recovery, so get off my back, Tom.”

“I just…” Tom began, but Wallace held up a finger to silence him.

“What do you mean by that? Is there something insufficient about your accommodations?” he asked.

“I mean, this isn’t exactly the Ritz, is it?” I gestured around the room. “But that isn’t really the point. It’s more… everything else. I mean, today alone I had to interrogate the incubus who almost killed me, then nearly reenacted the circumstances of that event. And then, I had to shoot someone, again. On top of all that, the incubus got away. So, yeah, none of that has been especially helpful for my overall mental health.”

“In our defense. You were not supposed to do any of those things,” Wallace glanced pointedly at Tom, who was suddenly very interested in his teacup. “You should not have been involved in an interrogation, and you certainly shouldn’t have left the building, for any reason.”

He wasn’t saying it, but I could tell that Wallace was at least a little bit surprised I had come back here, at least willingly. Admittedly, I had considered making a run for it with Jessica and Britton, but I still didn’t know enough about what Tom and Wallace were planning. They clearly had something big in mind, and until I had learned more, I couldn’t just leave. Hopefully returning of my own accord would earn me some trust.

“Oh yeah? Who else was going to do it, Wally? You don’t seem to have anyone here with any experience in these things, and someone needed to find out what Cramer had done with those women.”

“Well, you did get them back safely, and it’s hard to argue with that,” Wallace admitted. “Although, I am less than pleased that Britton managed to slip away.”

“That was not my fault. I prioritized protecting the victims. My backup was supposed to be watching his car.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Hey! I went in because I was worried about you!” Tom blurted.

“Tom and I have discussed that,” Wallace interrupted. “He now understands that, while I don’t necessarily agree with his decision to bring you out into the field, once he did, he should have stuck to the plan, and considered his actions more carefully, right Tom?”

He nodded sullenly.

“It is unfortunate. But, like you said, Tom’s field experience is also limited. These things are bound to happen, time to time, while people are learning. Still, I have decided to consider this a successful endeavor. I have people out canvassing the clinics and hospitals, Britton will certainly show up, it’s only a matter of time,” Wallace nodded, satisfied. “And our medics have told me that the victims are in surprisingly good condition. They are physically healthy and much more mentally stable than many of the ubarae victims we have seen. Hopefully, they will be able to return to their families very soon. All in all, a positive outcome.”

“That is good to hear,” I meant that, genuinely.

“I thought that might make you feel better. But, even if this was a successful endeavor, let’s not repeat it anytime soon, alright? Stick to teaching the students, at least for now.”

“Fine by me,” I shrugged. “Speaking of, I have some ideas for that, but I think it is going to need your approval.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well, if you are going to have these kids out fighting ubarae, I need to see who is able to sense their influence, and train them to pick up on it, so that they can be of use identifying them in a crowd. That requires experience.”

“And how do you intend to give them experience?” Wallace could already sense that he wasn’t going to like what I was about to suggest. “We aren’t exactly partnered with any friendly ubarae, after all.”

“Obviously. But that’s fine. It’s not like that system worked so well the last time,” my upper lip curled as I thought about Carmine and Suzette. “No. I don’t need any ‘friendly’ ubarae. But I could use an unfriendly one. And fortunately, you seem to have plenty of those here.”

“You want access to one of the prisoners, then?”

“I do. I even have one in mind. I just need your permission to use her for classes.”

“Who?”

“Vicki Carter.”

“You can’t be serious. Why on earth would you want to use her!?” Tom interjected. “Pete, you can’t consider this, Vicki is dangerous.”

“They are all dangerous, isn’t that the point?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Why do you want her?” Wallace asked, thoughtfully.

“Because we’ve interacted several times and I know her well enough, at this point. She’s not Domini, like most of the rest, which means she isn’t tied in to any ideology or group mentality. She has no real friends here, or possibly anywhere, and she is… a mercenary, not a zealot. I think I can work with that. Besides, worst that can happen is she says no. It’s not like I am planning to take her out of the building, this will be a controlled interaction. Sure, there is some risk, but it is necessary for the recruits. And it’s a lot less risky than them encountering someone like her in the field with no preparation.”

Wallace took a deep breath,

“You’re right about that. Look, I will tell the guards you have permission to go in and talk with her. If you can get her to agree willingly, then I will allow it. Under close supervision.”

That worked for me, I didn’t really have any interest in Vicki getting out, either.

“Fantastic. I’ll stop by tomorrow and get her signed up.”

“You are that confident that she will agree?”

“I told you; I know her well enough. I can convince her. Frankly, I think she will do it just to alleviate her boredom. But leave that part to me.”

“Very well. I’ll make the arrangements. But no more unauthorized field trips, is that understood?” Wallace looked from Tom back to me.

We both nodded contritely.

“Good. Alright,” Wallace drained his mug and placed it back on the table. “I’d better go set that up. I’ll leave you two to it.”

He headed for the door but paused on the threshold.

“Oh, and I should have said it before, but good work today. It wasn’t perfect, but you brought those women back safely. And putting a bullet in one of those things doesn’t hurt, either. Even if he might have survived it.”

With that, he left, closing the door behind him. That had come so close to being genuine praise I would actually have appreciated, until the end there. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I hoped that Jess and the incubus had made it safely to Liz and Oliver. Because if Wallace and his people caught up with them, we were all in a lot of trouble. Moreover, there was still the possibility that I had been played, and they were already in the wind, looking for their next victim. Until I had confirmation that they done what they promised, I wouldn’t be able to completely rule that out. I shook myself; obsessing about that was not something I had time for right now. What was done was done. I pushed it out of my head and focused back on the present. Tom hadn’t left, but he hadn’t said a word in some time, either. He just sat and swirled his tea, staring at the mug fixedly.

“So, I take it your talk didn’t go especially well?” I attempted. “I’m sorry if I got you in hot water.”

“No,” he sighed at last. “I’m the one who is sorry. You were right. What happened was my fault, I should have listened to you, and I should have thought things through before I went in. I let the target escape and I’m sorry. Moreover, I was the one in charge, I needed to face the music, not you. I should never have implied otherwise.”

He rubbed a hand over his face.

“This has all been a… learning experience, let’s say. It is just so frustrating to feel like a raw recruit, after all this time. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Being out in the field is new to you, after all. We all understand.”

“It shouldn’t be new to me. If they had just given me the opportunity…” he threw his hands up, exasperated. “I’m sorry, this isn’t your problem. I’ll get caught up. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Tom. That just isn’t how things worked, back then. You’ll get the hang of it in no time, I’m sure,” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you want to come with me to see Vicki, tomorrow?”

“I’ve got some things to take care of, but I will try to stop by for the training. In truth, I am pretty curious about how you are going to pull this off. Vicki Carter is not the cooperative type.”

“Trust me, I have a plan.”

“Yeah, I guess I have to work on that,” Tom rose from the table, eyes lingering on the flask on the table. “You should get some sleep, huh?”

“Sure, mom. Don’t worry,” I pulled out a pill bottle and shook a sedative into my palm. “I have that covered.”

Tom shook his head.

“Goodnight, Ray.”

“Night, Tom.”