Epilogue
The "Cavalry" returned to the States on a transport plane, with Alex in their custody. Oscar would be flying back on a private plane, and Jaime and Steve were being sent home in style, aboard a private luxury jet that Oscar told them they'd more than earned.
"But we didn't prevent the attack; Alex did," Jaime pointed out when Oscar re-joined them after making his sixth or seventh phone call from the villa.
"True," he agreed. "But you both did an outstanding job on an assignment you didn't want in the first place. And believe it or not, Marcos wouldn't have been able to do what he did if the two of you hadn't come here."
"How do you figure that?" Steve asked, holding Jaime in his arms, just as he'd been doing for the last hour.
"Alexander was partially correct," Oscar explained. "Pal, one of the women you...ah...befriended...was sent by the terrorists to ensure the rescue plan wouldn't be carried out. You kept her too occupied for her to make her move, and Jaime was sticking to Marcos like glue, so -"
"Kept her occupied?" Jaime said teasingly. "And how'd you manage to do that?"
"Our plane's here," Steve dodged. "How 'bout we get on board, and then I'll show you."
"It is a private plane," Oscar said, smiling, "but bear in mind you're both hurt, and you haven't been checked over yet -"
"I'll take good care of her, Doctor Goldman," Steve assured him. Once they were aboard the aircraft, Steve gazed at his wife. "You know, Sweetheart, once we get back, Rudy's gonna make us both spend a night or two in the hospital -"
"That means we'll have to wait even longer," she lamented, not needing to complete the sentence. She knew Steve understood.
"Well..." he said, flashing a semi-evil grin, "I know the best possible medicine; soothes the soul as well as the body..."
"Is that a fact?"
"Prove it to ya," he challenged.
When Rudy met the plane in DC, he was struck by the fact that his two injured patients - one shot and one quite battered - had the broadest smiles he'd ever seen.
END