Warren Putnam closed and locked the door to his study. He placed two glasses of pre-war Kentucky whisky upon the wooden desk, making sure the glasses lay squarely on the coasters. His Martha would complain about water stains otherwise, and he didn't like dealing with any unhappy women in his household. He lowered himself into his overstuffed chair, smiling pleasantly at the man across from him.

"Thank you so much for meeting me here, Commander Blaine."

"Thank you for the invitation. It's an honor to be in your lovely home." His voice was flat, neutral. Putnam waited for flattery or questions, maybe about why he had been summoned. Blaine, however, didn't add anything.

"Well," the High Commander finally said, "I think it's better to be in a more informal setting. This isn't really a business meeting." He paused, sipped his drink. The truth was, his office at the Chancellery was probably bugged by the Eyes, and he needed this conversation to remain absolutely secret. "So. You're probably wondering why I asked you here. Serena Waterford is about to be tried in Canada."

That barely registered with Blaine. The muscle in his cheek twitched, that was all. "What's she being accused of?"

"Rape and sex trafficking."

Putnam studied Nick's face carefully. He briefly seemed pleased by this news, maybe even amused, before the serious mask fell again. "I thought the Canadians weren't trying wives for, uh, Ceremonies, since it's legal under our law. And required of wives to participate."

"That's correct. But Serena is being charged with an extralegal rape, even from Gilead's standpoint."

"What?" Surprise, the first genuine emotion from the Eye-turned-Commander. "Who'd she rape?"

Putnam leaned back in his chair. "Well, you, apparently."

Nick laughed shortly. "By His hand, Commander Putnam, I would never, everhave touched that woman. I don't know what the Canadians are smoking."

"No, the accusation isn't adultery. The prosecution is claiming that Serena used her absolute power over her handmaid and her driver"—he inclined his head towards Nick—"to force them into a sexual relationship, in order to conceive a baby for her." Before Gilead's founding, Warren Putnam had been a lawyer. He now found it easy to slip into the role of law professor. "Let's say a pornographer kidnaps two teenagers and forces them to have sex on camera. Then he sells the video and profits financially from it. He can be charged with child sex trafficking, kidnapping, and two counts of rape, one for each of the two children. Even if the teenagers enjoy the act, they can't consent because they're underage. And because the man earns something from the video, it's trafficking. So from the Canadian point of view, forcing so-called 'slaves' to copulate is the same; servants can't consent any more than children. And in this case, they're arguing that the gain for Serena was the baby rather than money."

Nick looked flustered. "But…but they'd need proof to claim something like that."

The cold, completely detached look June gave me as I unbuckled my belt, as if I were just another commander preparing to rape her. The embarrassing squeak of the old bedframe. Serena shifting from foot to foot, looking bored, awkward, or maybe curious. Trying to make it gentle, quick, professional, pleasurable for her…it was probably none of those things. But there had been a moment of connection, when June looked straight at me with those beautiful clear blue eyes, making my breath hitch and my hips grind against hers. She grasped my arm for a second, in affection or just commiseration, then let go before Serena noted it. It was enough.

Putnam noted that he didn't immediately deny the accusation, or even laugh it off like he had with the implication of adultery with Serena. "Their proof is that handmaid Offred. Or June Osborne, nowadays. Her witness statement. Somehow, she made it to Canada." He opened the folder on his desk, showed a paper to Blaine. "She testified a few months ago against Fred Waterford, may he rest in peace, and she mentioned Serena. And you. Our contacts in Toronto got a hold of the transcription."

Nick's dark eyes slowly read what June had said in closed court. She was covering for him, that was for sure. June made it sound like Nick had absolutely no free will in Gilead. She claimed Serena had forced them both, just once, and that had been enough to conceive Nichole. He read the rest of her testimony: no other mention of him, except that he and Rita had witnessed the prelude to Ceremonies.

He sat back, marveling at June's ability to simultaneously tell the truth to the court while also completely misrepresenting the nature of their relationship. He knew how painful it must have been for her to imply that their sweet Nichole was born out of one horrible experience. June didn't lie under oath; she said they did it in front of Serena, and then became pregnant. Technically true…though the conception was later, and sure as hell not in front of Serena fucking Waterford. They had both agreed to forever ignore that awkward afternoon, and consider the official beginning of their relationship the following night, when June first came to his apartment.

Above the garage. Three knocks on my door. The ever-present faint smell of gasoline from the Benz below. June taking off my dog tags, t-shirt and pants before stripping herself. No words necessary, no flirtation or seductive clothes, just open honesty. That was how Nichole had begun.

Blaine brought his thoughts back to the present. "She's lying. I don't know why, but Osborne is making this all up. Probably to get Serena charged with something. She hates the Waterfords, both of them. She'd love to see them both in prison." He tried to look earnestly innocent, a bit befuddled by the whole story.

Putnam nodded. "That was my first impression as well. I mean, I know you. You wouldn't agree to a scheme like that. I know you were acting as the driver in that household, but you were an Eye the whole time. Andrew Pryce's pet. You would have gone straight to him if Serena had told you to bang the handmaid, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Right." Putnam opened another manila folder on his desk. "Just to make sure, I looked up the Waterford file. As High Commander, I naturally have access to all the Eyes' reports from previous years, written for Commander Pryce." He gestured to the binder: it was at least two inches thick. "You wrote a lot of reports."

Nick winced. "I did." He knew what was coming.

He opened to a bookmarked page. "Including this report here, dated two and a half years ago, in which you wrote that Serena Waterford had ordered you to have intercourse with the handmaid, in order to conceive a child for the Commander and her. You went on to explain that refusing her order would have let Mrs. Waterford know that you were an Eye, and you didn't want to blow your cover, so you went along with the act. You emphasized in the report that the handmaid, like you, had no choice in the matter, that she was obedient but completely blameless." He looked up at Blaine, more curious than accusatory. "You really tried to protect her. Why bother?"

He shrugged. "She really was blameless. Mrs. Waterford would never have taken no for an answer."

"Yeah, I don't know, Nick. I got to reading more about what went on in that house, and it became increasingly clear to me that June Osborne was unnaturally lucky. She should've been put on the Wall several times over, and yet she always seemed to have someone intercede for her." He looked straight at Blaine. "Someone like you. An Eye, with connections."

"Why would I stick my neck out for a handmaid?"

"Gee, that's a very good question. Why don't you tell me?"

I'm trying to keep you alive, he kept reminding her. It was all he really wanted: June and Nichole safe, and maybe even happy. "She was just lucky, I guess."

"Osborne ran away no less than three times from the Waterford house. Twice even while she was pregnant! The first time, she disappeared for months before being found and brought back. And the next day, Waterford had you arrested and physically chastised, isn't that right?"

"I don't really remember. It was a while ago."

Putnam arched his eyebrows. "You don't remember a whipping? I'd think you'd remember that pretty clearly."

"Well, yeah. That happened once. But as you said, she bolted a couple of times. I'm not sure when it was that…Commander Waterford was very upset about those incidents. He didn't want to lose that child, and neither did his wife. So he was lashing out at everyone around him, including me. I was in charge of security in the house, and from his point of view, I let the handmaid get away."

"You sure did. You let her get away three times. Did you orchestrate her escape attempts?"

"That would be a felony, Commander." Again, not a denial.

"I just can't believe a handmaid could plan that sort of thing herself. It's not like she could drive a getaway car or pay anyone anything. She must have had a man's help, and you're the logical choice."

Blaine said nothing. Putnam was obviously not going to believe 'she did it all herself,' nor should he. There was no credible lie Nick could come up with. So he just sat back and listened to Putnam pontificate. The guy was so proud of himself for figuring this all out. Only took you two years, Nick thought ruefully. Great job, Warren.

"Unless Waterford himself was trying to help her escape, and you found out. But then you would surely have written that up in your reports to Pryce. You ratted him out on every other matter."

"June Osborne is a very resourceful person. Maybe she found friends to help her."

"She's not a person—she's a handmaid." Putnam tilted his head. Blaine seemed to have forgotten the party line. "She can't reason like a man, and she's not capable of organizing this sort of thing on her own." He continued presenting his case. "The second time she ran away, she was found at the MacKenzies' summer house in New Hampshire, after you, Commander, drove her there. Hours away, to New Hampshire! Where you somehow got yourself arrested, while she had to give birth alone to your baby…I presume you knew it was your baby?"

Damn right she's my baby. But internally, Nick cursed himself for not deleting that report from the Eyes up north. He didn't want Putnam to figure out the connection between June and the MacKenzies…specifically June's connection to Agnes MacKenzie. He tried to think of a plausible reason he'd have to be at that house.

"And then a few months after that, she ran away a third time, the night the baby disappeared to Canada. I can't believe Waterford could possibly have been on board with the kidnapping of his own baby girl, especially given the tremendous fuss he made about his precious Baby Nichole afterwards. All those propaganda videos, the prayer vigil in The Capital, and so on. She had help, but not Waterford's help. No way did Osborne carry out an international kidnapping by herself: somebody arranged to have the baby driven north, right? Just like someone helped her later escape from a maximum-security prison and get to Canada. The common denominator in all of Osborne's escapades is you."

Nick just shrugged. There was no use denying anything, nor explaining. Warren Putnam had him dead to rights. He felt sick to his stomach.

"How are you, Nick?" June's voice echoed in his head.

"Hanging in there."

"Poor choice of words," she joked.

Putnam was still speaking. "Even Commander Waterford's death connects Osborne to you. Have you read his autopsy report?"

"I have."

"Not the official one, I mean. The real one. It mentions that Waterford's cheek was partially missing. Bitten off."

"Bitten off…by an animal?"

"No, a human bite mark. With June Osborne's DNA. She tore his cheek off."

"Wow."

"You said she hated him."

"Yeah, she did." Blaine wasn't sure where this was going.

"She definitely was there when he died. Her fingerprints and touch DNA were on the shackles we found in the forest."

Oh. That was where he was going. Nick's stomach lurched again. Why didn't I wear gloves? Why am I such an idiot?

"Your fingerprints were also on those shackles, Commander. Yours, and hers. No one else's."

Nick tried to sound reasonable about this one. "Yes, because I took custody of Commander Waterford at the border after he was returned by the Canadians."

"And then you drove him in a big circle back to the border, so the mother of your child could kill him?"

Yeah, Warren, that's pretty much exactly what happened. I brought him to her, and she kissed me. Open-mouthed. Right in front of Waterford. Best fuck-all-y'all moment of my life. He shook his head. "I don't know who killed him."

"So you took custody of him, and then…what? Lost him in a forest?"

Blaine looked away and thought for a moment. "You know, if you really think I'm capable of murdering a commander, you're pretty stupid to be alone with me in your home. What makes you think I wouldn't bite your face off?"

The older man smiled. "Well, for starters, I never had sex with your girlfriend."

That motherfucker never 'had sex' with June. He raped her. Blaine opened his mouth to argue, then gave up. He folded his hands in his lap. He considered killing Putnam. He looked at the faded red carpet next to the commander's chair, the same carpet poor Janine Lindo had probably spent a lot of time kneeling on.

After a few moments of silence, Putnam tried a different tack. "Offred could have gone to Canada with her baby, but instead she went to Commander MacKenzie's home and got arrested there. Why? Somehow you two keep ending up with him. Is MacKenzie your Mayday contact?"

Nick knitted his eyebrows and finally answered a question directly. "No, he's not. He's completely innocent. We don't even know each other."

"So what's your connection to him?"

"There isn't one. MacKenzie has nothing to do with me." Putnam obviously hadn't done much research on that family, or he'd already know the answer to his own question. Getting Commander MacKenzie hanged would put Hannah's future in jeopardy, so Nick couldn't have that. Daughters of commanders got special treatment; daughters of traitors did not. "There's no connection with him," he said carefully, emphasizing the last word.

"With Mrs. MacKenzie, then?" Putnam guessed. "You knew her before?"

Nick leaned back. Sounded like as good an excuse as any. "No, but June knew their Martha. I think she was connected to Mayday. She was hanged for sedition the day after June was caught there."

"The Martha was in Mayday? Some old servant? That seems…unlikely. Are you sure it wasn't the commander?"

"Positive. He's definitely not connected to Mayday at all. Neither is his wife. They're loyal citizens."

"Are you in Mayday?"

Nick actually laughed at that, and counted on his fingers. "Look, so far you've got me on murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, child trafficking, theft of a commander's property, and fornication. Six capital crimes. I'm gonna be hanged by dinnertime; why the hell should I admit to anything else?"

Putnam was silent for a moment, until he finally made the decision to show his hand. "You misunderstand me, Commander Blaine. I don't want you hanged. I want your help. I want you to get my wife and daughter out, the way you got yours out."