Angie and Steve's meeting about future use of tech was blessedly productive. She had to admit that once he had something to focus on Steve was a valuable geek, in the most positive sense, and between the two of them they came up with a scheme to store data on one end, and process it on the other. It was about ten p.m. when they decided to call it a night.

"So the next thing, the big thing, is to figure out how to get the intel back and forth."

Angie didn't bother to suppress a yawn. "Communications isn't my thing, Chris can help you with that. He's not a hardcore geek but he has long experience in comm-tech. And Willie can do any translation needed, I don't want to waste time on my end struggling with my stale Visitor-speak."

"Who's Willie? I don't think he's been here yet."

"Nope. But he will be." Of this, Angie was sure. Farber had told her that Willie was still working at Club Creole, which was untouched by the attacks. Rebel activity there was very low key, if it happened at all, while they had their "remote" contacts scope out how much they may be under surveillance. So far, nothing had been apparent. Angie would have sold her soul to have Willie with them, just to see him again, but Chris gave her a short note from him, written in Willie's weird hand. If it were possible for handwriting to look like a second language sounded, that was Willie's style.

Angie - I am well and Elias and Caleb. I must stay here until we know more. I think of you and will see you soon. Pretonama - Willie

"So he's one of them." Steve did not sound impressed.

Angie corrected him, short and sharp. "He's one of us. In fact he just might have done more for the first rebellion than you and your buddies ever imagined doing. But I'll keep it simple for you... if both of you pissed me off, I'll give you three guesses who I'd shoot."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Steve shrugged and shook his head. "It's just it takes getting used to, you know, seeing them kill so many people, to think any of them would help us."

"Even you must have heard of the Fifth Column, we'd have been toast without them."

He squirmed a little. "Yeah, but... there's a difference between hearing stories about that, but seeing them kill people you know. You know?"

Angie relented. "Yeah, boy, do I know. But you have to trust me on this one, I was there. Willie and Maggie Blodgett and me, the three of us were our own little army in a way. And Willie is more than a fellow rebel to me, he's family."

"Maggie Blodgett... she's that lady that got hit by a car right? I remember because her funeral was such a big thing in the news."

"Not just in the news, believe me. But all you need to know is when Willie is here, you can trust him with your life. I know because I did, and I'm still here. And if you're willing he can teach you stuff about Visitor language that'll make you a super geek. You guys'll do great things together."

He still wasn't one hundred percent convinced. "Okay, I guess." Angie's expression grew angry so he added, "I mean okay! If he's good enough for you he's good enough for me."

Returning to typical tormenter/tormentee mode Angie patted Steve on the head. "Good boy Stevie. No beating today." She was overcome by another yawn. "I'm done, kid. We can pick this up tomorrow after you get together with Farber. Willie will be along later." She got up and left Steve to organize the notes they'd taken and the diagrams they'd drawn. "I got a drunk-ass husband to collect, I imagine." She headed for the hotel lounge.

A few of the Wild Boys were seated at the bar swilling various libations. The enormous stock of booze in the store room and beer in the walk-ins was holding up admirably, considering, and was augmented by periodic deliveries by the Wild boys of the "don't ask" variety.

"You guys see Tyler or Farber?" Angie asked.

One of them waved his beer bottle toward the door. "They took off a while ago, said they needed some air. Maybe they're out front."

She nodded thanks and went to the front entrance, where Donovan had watch.

"The barflies said Ham and Chris came this way, seen 'em?"

Mike shook his head and pointed upward. "Nope. I think they're up there on the balcony, if you listen hard you can hear their voices."

Angie rubbed her bloodshot eyes. "Just what I need, a scavenger hunt."


As she got off the elevator she heard Farber's voice trailing in through the open French doors leading to the balcony at the end of the corridor.

"Sleep it off, man. I'll see you tomorrow if either one of us can stand up without puking."

When she and the slightly weaving Farber met in the corridor she told him, "Looks like you two Big Wild Boys had yourselves a proper party. Guess I'll just head back to the room and let your partner in crime make his way back when he's ready."

"Nuh-uh. He won't mind the company." He stood looking at her a little blearily but his voice was crystal clear in the dimness.

"Okay, but I'll be pounding on your door if I need help carrying him back," Angie warned with a weary smile. She was thrown off balance when he reached down to grab her in an unexpected hug.

"'night Angela Harper, angels and harps. Yer our best good omen, sis."

She laughed in reply as he set her back on her feet. "Thanks, I do what I can. Now you better go follow your own advice and sleep it off."

He nodded and was shambling past her when she called after in a loud whisper, "Welcome back, Big Bear. You're a pretty good omen yourself."

He didn't reply, only nodded and waved vaguely.


Angie found Tyler on the balcony, leaning heavily on the railing with his head down on his clasped hands, an empty bottle at his feet. She didn't think she'd ever seen him drunk, a little buzzed with champagne maybe, on some of their elegant nights out, but never full-on plastered like he was now.

"Uh-oh" she clucked, "looks like somebody lost the battle with demon rum."

"Tequila," he corrected, then belched and pushed himself upright. He kept one hand on the rail as he turned (carefully) to face her.

She almost wanted to laugh at his sodden attempt at dignity but something held her back. "Wow, compadre, look at you." She reached for his free hand and tugged. "Well c'mon Fixer, time to crash. I'm fried and you're blasted and we got another long day tomorrow." He didn't move.

"Some Fixer," he muttered. "Fixed plenty lately, didn't I?"

Angie stopped, turned, and stared. "Wha..." His expression was as wide-open as she'd ever seen him, but his voice was harsh and bitter as he went on. Like Chris, his intoxication didn't seem to affect his enunciation in the least.

"Fixed your life good, didn't I." No question mark. "Back in the trenches, no home, no books, no cat, no life you wanted."

Angie had no idea what to say as he reached out to touch her face in a clumsy caress.

"Angel... fell in with the devil and he took you straight into hell."

She found her voice then, but just barely. "You didn't take me anywhere I didn't go of my own free will. And it's been hell for everybody, not just me, and there wasn't a thing we could have done about it, except exactly what we did."

Now Tyler reached for her left hand, lifting it by the ring finger.

"Like to think I promised you more than that."

"What you promised me is written right inside here." She gestured with her hand, still held by his. "And you deliver on that just fine." His somber expression made her uneasy. She was beginning to realize that while booze made some men mean, it made this one contemplative, and that was something she wasn't used to. He dropped her hand and began to turn away again, but she grabbed his arm with surprising strength and pulled him back.

"Look, we'll get a new home, and new books, and Max is out there somewhere whether we find him again or not. And any life with you, any life, is the one I wanted and the one I got. I know it's Reno has you thinking of all this, and what you did or should have done or shouldn't, but if I can believe it wasn't my fault you have to believe it wasn't yours. You weren't even there."

He pulled loose and stood in the doorway to the corridor, not facing her. "You got that right."

"Oh, Hamilton..." she sighed, and circled around to look at him not looking at her. "And if you'd been there, what then." No question mark. "I'll tell you what, you'd have been right out there with Reno to catch the first wave." She shuddered. "And I'm not going to think about that again. Tyler, look at me!" Angie demanded, and when he did she went on, "A life I never wanted? What are you thinking! When you asked me what helped when I lost Maggie and I said 'nothing' that was plain bullshit."

"Yeah, well Willie..." Tyler began but she cut him off.

"Not Willie, not all Willie. Sure he helped me make sense of it but you were there every minute, next to me or around the corner and you did whatever you could think of to keep me from disappearing inside myself, which was where the real hell was. You talked to me and at me, you held me and made sure I ate and slept and you read to me, and made me that bubble bath with so many bubbles I thought I'd never find the tub..."

Tyler smirked a little at the memory but didn't say anything.

"And when you couldn't think of anything else you'd pick up Max and bring him to me wherever I was. It all helped whether you knew it or not. And right now I know there's a hole inside you and I know I can't fix it, but I wish you'd let me get close enough to try. Sometimes you seem to disappear right in front of me and there's not a thing I can do to keep you here."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Is that what you think?" He leaned over to give her a tequila flavored kiss then looked steadily into her eyes. "If you weren't here I'd pull in the drawbridge and never come out again. I can't make a list like you do, you know we don't see those things the same way, we never will." He tapped his chest. "Yeah I got a hole right now, and you just have to trust that whatever you do helps me keep what's left from falling out and getting lost."

Angie couldn't tell if anything had been settled or even explained; that's how it always was with them. It is what it is, as long as we're breathing. She stepped closer to reach her arms around his waist and rested her forehead against his shoulder. He matched her embrace, leaning his chin against her temple. After a minute or two she looked in his eyes again.

"This is me, okay, this is us. Right here, right now, you're not the Fixer, you don't have to fix anything. The only life I want is the one where you are, okay?"

"Copy that." He tightened his arms around her and whispered in her ear, "You remember the day at the end of the war, when you said yeah let's get married?"

"Who could forget a proposal like that. I think your exact words were 'either I gotta marry you or kill you.'"

Tyler lifted Angie's mouth to his for a long kiss.

"Well just so you know, I'm glad you went with Plan A."

She laughed as she led him to their room, noticing how he was leaning on her for guidance.

"Damn, I love it when you sweet talk me."