Evanesce

Chapter Nine
There...

There are times when arguing with Neil can be as productive and fun as arguing with a brick wall. The one exception is that against brick walls I usually have some chance of winning. With Neil I either lose or get him pissed off enough that he goes off to sulk somewhere. There is no win.

I did the stupidest thing. I told him the truth about Ryan and Kris, the hospital, sanitarium - whatever it was... me, him, Cpt. Edwards, what we'd been through, and why and when. Everything I could think of that was important, and that I felt comfortable with. He took it quite well, really… although I don't think he believes me in the least.

He decided he would do me a favor and tag along when I went to Chicago. I tried talking him out of it, death threats, and reasoning with him, but got nowhere. I asked him why, but all I got was a 'because' response.

I guess it's not the worst thing that could have happened. Hell, I actually missed some of the stupid things Neil tries to pass off as conversation. It's just that now I've got to take care of him while watching my own back, and I'm afraid of what might happen if I can't do that.

I'm not sure what I'm worried about. There are no Phantoms anymore, and I don't think whoever'll be after me cares about him anymore.

Still, sometimes it pays to be paranoid.

The Chicago Military's airfield was a busy place. We were lucky; no one noticed us creeping out of the transport that we'd snuck aboard. I don't know why Neil is doing this. If he gets caught, he'll be… I don't know; I hope the worst scenario is that he won't have a career in the military anymore. If he hasn't changed too much, maybe he'll be able to get out of it; or that could be what he thinks.

No time to worry about that.

Finding them wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined. Officers get officers' quarters. Neil figured that one out, actually, and I'm still waiting for him to get smug about it. This was after he discovered I had no clue where I was going. I've never been to Chicago before, strangely enough.

There were few enough buildings to choose from, and it only took a little checking around to find the one we were looking for.

My mind was oddly blank when we reached the place. Even the voices in my head were reduced to something distant and fuzzy.

Apparently, no one was home, but…

"Good morning," we both turned to face him. I'm never going to get used to this. He looked exactly like he had the last time I'd seen him, when we left the woman's spacecraft. Except that he's carrying a kid instead of his rifle.

I lost my nerve right then. I had no plan, nor an explanation or anything, and I was standing on this man's doorstep like an abandoned dog. I did the only thing I could think of at the time, and all it was was a reaction of years' conditioning.

Neil was only following my cues. I guess the whole experience could have been a disaster. Cpt. Edwards had a strange expression on his face, something amused or… I don't know. It was alarming for a minute, and then he laughed.

"What did I tell you about that?" he asked, and I faltered. He knew me, and I suddenly wondered why he shouldn't.

"Not to," I dropped my arm to my side with little contempt, "Unless I wanted to make something of it."

"I'm glad you remember," he shifted the weight of the baby when it started squirming, "Do you want to be let in or are you comfortable where you are?"

We decided we'd like to come in. No harm, I suppose. It's what we're here for, after all.