Nick's Allegiance (during Season 5, episodes 9 and 10)

"Blessed evening."

"Hello, Commander, it's Mark Tue—"

Nick Blaine interrupted as soon as he heard the word 'Mark,' and spoke loudly on top of the American. "Hey, I can barely hear you. Let me go to a different room, hold on." He pressed the mute button on the satellite phone, and hurried outside to the fenced backyard. There were Guardians lurking there, of course, but not too closely, and he knew most of them personally. They probably wouldn't eavesdrop. Nick could always blackmail them if he needed to.

"Sorry, Mark. I think my house is bugged nowadays, so I had to move outside. I trust you're well?"

"Pretty well. Who's bugging you?"

Nick scoffed. "Everything here bugs me. But who? Commander Kyle MacKenzie, if anyone is. He's a suspicious bastard."

Tuello thought for a moment, connected some dots. Agnes MacKenzie. "He has reason to be suspicious of you."

"For sure." Nick paused. "What's up?"

"Did you hear about the American planes that were shot down over Montana?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry about your men."

"They were good people. Patriots." Mark swallowed the lump in his throat. "Does your leadership have any idea where they were headed?"

"Colorado Springs? That's what the Council here thinks." Nick had just returned from dinner with some of the Commanders, including Lawrence and MacKenzie. They'd all congratulated each other over the killing of Americans. Their former countrymen. Fucking traitors, Nick thought. Of course, he had also been a traitor once, duped into joining the Sons of Jacob early on, fighting his countrymen in Chicago. But he'd wised up since then.

"Do you know why we were headed to Colorado?"

Nick spoke very quietly. "Well, I assume June got my package and you decrypted the data. But I don't know how Gilead knew of the raid, or who ordered the planes to be shot down. I'm really very sorry about that. I thought it was a pretty good plan to get the girls out."

"Who'd you tell about that DVD?"

"Just my friend in Colorado who filmed Hannah at the school. He's long-time Resistance and he's still active; I can't imagine him double-crossing me. If he had, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"You didn't tell Commander Lawrence about the video?"

"No way. He's being more…well, orthodox, I guess…lately. He's stepped into Putnam's shoes and is trying to be the man in charge. I don't trust him right now. Or MacKenzie might have ordered anti-aircraft guns to be spread along the border north of Colorado, without knowing specifically about your raid. He's pretty paranoid about his daughter's safety. It's also possible someone at your end is a double agent and told Gilead about the raid."

Tuello had already considered that. "Yes, we're aware that could be a problem. Keep your ears open, just in case you hear anything. Please."

"Sure." Nick added, "Please tell June the MacKenzies are considering moving Hannah to a Plum school closer to DC, since Colorado Springs is compromised. A school somewhere on the east coast. Closer to me. This is very good news; I can access her better."

"I'll let her know. Speaking of Ms. Osborne: this evening, the American Consulate held a vigil in High Park for our lost soldiers. She was there." Tuello paused for a beat. "Somebody shot at her."

Nick breathed deeply. "Is June okay?" She can't get a fucking break. Not here, not there. He had a fleeting image of her sun-tanning peacefully on a pristine Maui beach. That's where she belongs.

"Yes, she's all right. They didn't hit her. She's fine. Nobody was injured."

His shoulders relaxed a little. "I thought there weren't any guns in Canada."

"Not legal ones. Not many, anyway. We have a suspect in prison, John Lanison. He's a Canadian, no criminal record but lots of far-right social media posts. A baker."

Nick filed that information for later. Lanison. Maybe he has relatives in Gilead that can be arrested? Because…fuck ethical morality. Nick would lose no sleep over punishing that asshole's relatives.

"The shooter," Tuello continued, "moonlights part-time for Ryan Wheeler. Lanison says Wheeler told him about the vigil and encouraged him to go to the protest, armed. Have you ever heard of Ryan Wheeler?"

Nick steeled himself. He had the name of someone who had tried to kill June: it was game over for that guy. Tomorrow. He was finding it easier and easier to kill people, particularly men who endangered his lover. "No, but I'll find him. And take him out."

"I'm sure you could, but he's here. Lives outside of Toronto, has made a fortune off of trade with Gilead."

"Despite the trade embargo."

"Right. The Canadian government looks the other way with influential millionaires who give lots of money to their reelection campaigns. Wheeler is a religious zealot, very much a Gilead sympathizer."

"Okay, so if he's in Canada, you take him out."

Tuello smiled indulgently. "He's a Canadian citizen. The United States has no authority here."

"Oh, right," Nick smirked. "The CIA would never assassinate a foreign national abroad."

"Well. Not anymore. Not in our neighborly ally state. You should know, though, that during the interrogation the shooter bragged that Wheeler has direct contact with Commanders in DC and Boston. He said those two cities, without prompting. So I suspect Joseph Lawrence was behind the attempt on Ms. Osborne. Or at least knew of it."

"What the actual fuck," Nick muttered. "Okay, I'll handle him. But why would he? She's not a target." He mulled it over. "Lawrence wants June to come to New Bethlehem. It'd be good for his image to get somebody well-known like her to return from Canada. He might have pulled this stunt to convince her she's not safe in Toronto anymore. And it was just a stunt—if Gilead really wanted her dead, they would've sent a professional killer. Someone was trying to scare her."

"Well, she's scared."

"I bet." Nick had met with June just a few days previously, and he'd told her he wished she'd taken the New Bethlehem deal. Now he felt like a fool, betrayed by Joseph Lawrence. They would certainly be having words. "Mark, can you get her some protection? She used to have a detail."

"Well, Anchorage keeps cutting our budget, although the anti-refugee crowd is growing and all Americans here are in more and more danger. I don't have the funds for a security detail for June, not anymore. But I'll encourage her to be more vigilant. I can get her a Kevlar vest."

"Thank you. I need her to…she needs to be kept safe. Please."

"You keep this chain of communication going, Commander Blaine, and I'll keep an eye on Ms. Osborne for you. And Nichole."

"I don't want to be an official asset of the US," he cautioned. "But I'll exchange your occasional information about June for Gilead intel."

"I get that. Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. Take care."

Just a few days later, the satellite phone rang again. "Blessed morning."

"It's me," said Mark, this time without stating his name.

Nick started to walk outside, taking the satellite phone with him. "People will say we're in love," he joked. He was beginning to adopt Joseph Lawrence's sense of humor.

Tuello said nothing to that, and instead just waited silently for Nick to be in a safe place to talk. When he was taken off mute again, he said simply, "There's been another attempt on June's life."

"Goddamn it," Nick growled. "Somebody shot at her again?"

"No. A Canadian ran her over. With his pick-up truck."

Silence on the line.

"She's alive," Tuello added. "She's all right."

Blaine's voice suddenly sounded more distant, like he was holding the phone away from his mouth. "Tell me the truth, Mark. Just, uh…tell me."

"She is all right, Commander. He wasn't driving very fast; she was on a residential street, right in front of her home. She has a smashed arm, bruised pelvis and ribs, some cuts from where she fell on the pavement. It was a deliberate act. Her hus—Luke Bankole saw what happened, ran out and beat the driver unconscious before he could do any more damage."

"Luke didn't kill him?"

"No."

"Why not?" Nick shook his head. Dumb question; Luke didn't think like a Gileadean. "Who hired this guy?"

"We haven't interviewed him; he's still unconscious. The driver's name is Andrew Thorpe. Canadian citizen, record of assault, domestic violence, drunk and disorderly conduct. He's a truck driver who works for Ryan Wheeler's import-export business. We've found phone calls within the last week between Thorpe and Wheeler, as well as between Wheeler and Joseph Lawrence."

"Lawrence again," Nick breathed. Okay, now I'm gonna ruin Joseph's wedding day. How dare he. How fucking dare he. Returning to the most important question, though, he repeated,"So, June's really okay?" He still sounded incredulous. "Run over by a truck, but okay?"

"She'll be fine, though she's been hospitalized until at least tomorrow. Just in case. They're checking everything."

"Was Nichole with her?"

"No. She was inside the house. Nichole is perfectly fine."

But she could have been taking a walk with our baby. Nichole's crushed body could also have been under that pick-up. Nick reached a decision suddenly, calmly, without fanfare. "Mark, can you fly me to Toronto to see June? And bring a contract for me to sign? If so, I'll work for you now."

A short pause. "Just to clarify, you mean you'll formally work for the US Government, as our asset within Gilead? In exchange for amnesty when you move north?"

"I don't even need amnesty, Mark, although it'd be nice. You just ensure June and Nichole's safety. Get them the hell out of Toronto and over to Hawaii, get them a security detail, get them into witness protection, get them new identities, get them a private fucking army. I don't care which measures you take, it's up to June, but I just want you to keep them safe. That's my price."

"Sold." Tuello glanced at his watch. It'd take Blaine about four hours to drive from Boston to the Vermont-Quebec border. "Can you meet me at Rock River Bridge tonight? Seven p.m.? I'll have a plane standing by to take you right to her hospital."

That was the bridge the two governments had used before to exchange prisoners, including Fred Waterford. Blaine knew it well. "Seven o'clock. See you then."

Once you get in bed with the government, they own you, Nick had once warned June. He hoped this deal was worth it. Mark Tuello seemed honorable enough; Nick just hoped the American was up to the task of protecting June and their daughter. Even if June wanted to keep stubbornly taking risks. Just feed Tuello intel until June gets somewhere secure, then grab Hannah along with Rose, and run north. That's my new game plan.

That, and stay off the Wall.