Chapter 102
Hey Everyone, I just finished this one and I wanted to update before I went to sleep. I have no idea when the next update will be but as soon as it's down I'll upload it. So here it is. Let me know what you think.
November 15th, 2014 –Third Person's POV
After discovering they only had six months left to live most people would probably have told their significant others or they would have gotten ready to start treatment. They wouldn't be sitting at a Russian tea shop in New York City waiting for a Russian assassin to walk in.
Wren sat down looking at the time. He wished Natasha would hurry up he only had half an hour until his neuro consult and an hour until he had to pick up Connor from preschool.
"Wasn't expecting your call." Natasha said as she sat down.
"Wasn't going to call but didn't have much of a choice. I need you to call your contacts and see if you can find anything on Aiden." Wren said.
"I thought you said it was taken care of?" Natasha answered.
"Apparently breaking his neck isn't enough to kill him." Wren said.
"Then what, decapitation?" Natasha asked.
"I don't want to kill Aiden, I'm going to save him." Wren said.
"Wren there's a point of no return and Aiden is well past that." Natasha said.
"I thought so too but that was before I saw this." Wren said sliding and envelope over.
Natasha looked at him skeptically before opening the envelope and reading its contents. Her eyes widened a bit but she quickly composed herself. No one would have noticed but Wren knew her well enough to know that she felt just as shocked as he did when Nora told him the results.
"Someone's controlling Aiden." Natasha said.
"By the looks of it, the same people who raised and trained us." Wren said.
"That's not possible, SHIELD took them out." Natasha said.
"SHIELD was HYDRA." Wren deadpanned. "How many missions for SHIELD ended up being HYDRA's dirty work?"
Natasha looked at him and a flicker of realization appeared in her eyes. "It was a cover up, we eliminated the expendable and easily replaced parts of the organization but not the head."
"They're the ones that sent Aiden after me." Wren said. "It's the only explanation for why he showed up with friends."
"How did you figure this out?" Natasha asked.
"I didn't my wife did." Wren said.
"You finally told her?"
"Didn't get much of a choice considering Aiden showed up and one of her father's events. She took it surprisingly well. I have to run, can you try to see if you can find anything a lead or anything, all of my contacts have nothing." Wren said.
"I'll get back to you." Natasha said.
"Thanks and Nat, the sooner the better." Wren said before walking out.
He walked into an alley and teleported to Metro General Hospital. He had made some calls to his supervisor in the army, Sergeant Major William Montgomery. He was a serious guy but with a big heart and he genuinely cared about his patients. When Wren called to ask him to get him an appointment for a patient he was hesitant but he must have understood the urgency in his tone.
He walked to the ER and looked for Doctor Christine Palmer. Montgomery told him that making an appointment with Strange himself was a horrible idea. He would look at the file and either not show up to the appointment or he would just refer him to one of his residents. Doctor Palmer was the one that would make him sit down and actually read his file.
He noticed her immediately. She was just finishing stitching up a nasty gash on a teenagers arm. He walked up to her and she looked up.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Wren Spencer, Will Montgomery said to come see you." Wren said.
"You're the guy who got Montgomery to swallow his pride and call a favor? You look just the way he said you would." She said.
"How did he describe me?" Wren said.
"You've been watching me work for the past ten minutes out of the corner of your eye. You're very polite and you're the only person with an English accent that's come in here all day. Christine Palmer, good to finally meet you." She said.
"Pleasure's mine, your stitch work is impeccable." Wren complimented.
"Thank you but it's probably noting compared to yours, Will told me about a intestinal wall repair you managed to stitch back together in half the time of a normal surgery while being pined down in the middle of a fire fight." She said.
"Just another day on duty." Wren said.
"Well, Doctor Strange is just finishing up a surgery he should be up here in ten minutes. You mind waiting here while I let him know you're here?" She said.
"You mean let him know he has an appointment he has no idea he's walking into?" Wren said with a smirk.
"Will told you about that?" She said.
"Among other things. Thank you again for doing this Doctor Palmer." Wren said.
"Don't thank me yet." She said before walking out.
"Wren sat down and looked around the office. There were many awards displayed and a couple of framed articles. Stephen Strange was very accomplished surgeon.
"Uh, hello." A voice said as he walked in. Wren stood up and turned to see said neurosurgeon.
"Doctor Strange, It's good to meet you, Your article on using angioplasty balloons to separate tumors from vital parts of the brain was quite fascinating. Wren said remembering what Montgomery said about stroking his ego to get what he needed.
"Why thank you Doctor Spencer. Doctor Palmer tells me you're here for a consult. May I?" He asked pointing to the patient file in Wren's hand.
"Of course Wren said handing him the file.
"Nasty little tumor." Strange said. "Did the neurologist at your hospital get a look at it?"
"Him and the heads of Neurology at Mass Gen, Stanford, London Bridge, and UCLA." Wren answered. "They all said the same thing Inoperable because of its location and how spread out it is, without Chemo or radiation the patient only has six months left to live, maybe less."
"They were wrong, how long ago were theses scans taken?" Strange asked.
"Two and a half maybe three weeks ago." Wren said.
"With it's location and how spread out it is it's probably progressed, started metastasizing your patient doesn't have six months, I'd say five maybe less. I'm sorry but tell your patient there's nothing left to do." Strange told him.
"You were my last hope." Wren said.
"I'm sorry?" Strange said confused.
"These scans aren't a patient's they're mine." Wren admitted. "You were my last hope well second to last but Kate still mad I broke up with her."
"Oh." He said looking uncomfortable.
"How do your patients tell their families they're going to die?" Wren said.
"Not sure, I never asked." Strange asked.
"Figured, thank you for your time." Wren said walking out of the office. He found a broom closet and teleported back to Dallas. He walked into the administration building and picked up Connor.
"Uncle Wren!" Connor cheered when he saw him.
"Hi bugger." He said picking him up. "You have a good day?"
"Mhm." Connor nods "We had art class."
"I can see that, you're going to need a bath when we get home. Just gotta pick up your sister." He said.
"Okay." Connor said.
Wren knew he had to tell Nora he just didn't know how to break it to her. He was hoping to find a solution before he had to tell her but there was no solution. This was how it ended for him. If he had gotten this news before meeting Nora it wouldn't have mattered but know he had friends, family, a life… the kids had lost their mother, their dad was off trying to put himself back together, and Nora was barely keeping herself together.
"Uncle?" Connor said.
"Hm?" Wren said snapping out of his ramblings.
"Why are you so sad?" Connor asked.
Wren sighed and looked at his nephew fondly. "I was just thinking about something. No matter what happens you know I love you right?"
"I love you too Uncle Wren." Connor said before hugging him. "Let's go get your sister."
The Next Morning- Nora's POV
I woke up early and rolled over and noticed Wren wasn't in bed. I got out of bed and walked to the kitchen where he was beating eggs and cooking bacon while looking in the fridge.
"Morning." I said.
"Hey." He said.
"What are you looking for?" I asked.
"Milk, I was thinking of making French toast but I don't see any milk for the batter." Wren said.
"We ran out, Ellie woke up Connor last night and I made us some hot chocolate." I said.
"Nevermind then. Sit down I'll get you some coffee." Wren said. He poured a cup and made it the way I liked it.
He set it down in front of me. For some reason it reminded me of the first time I met Wren. He looked exactly the same and he was wearing the same clothes and holy crap I'm an idiot. This is the day we meet. Wren mentioned I showed up a couple of months ago but I had completely forgotten.
"There's something I need to tell you. I probably should have told you sooner but I wanted to get a couple of second opinions before I said anything." Wren said.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Uh, A couple of weeks ago I had that appointment with Doctor Benson to go over my scans and as it turns out something came up. A glioblastoma multiforme." Wren said and I froze.
"You have a brain tumor? Is it benign?" I asked.
Wren shook his head. "It's very advanced and spread out. It's invading too close to one of the principle arteries that it's impossible to operate. I went to New York, Boston, London, I even called Kate, they all say the same thing. Six months maybe less." Wren said.
My sister died a month ago and my best friend, my husband had an inoperable brain tumor. I was going to be a widow in six months, maybe less. Am I the reason everyone around me leaves?
"Uh, I should go get some milk before the kids get up." I said. I grabbed my keys but stopped for a second. I went over and hugged Wren from behind and kissed his temple, "I'll be back."
I got in the BMW and drove to the grocery store. As I was driving past the lake I stopped driving because I couldn't see trough my tears. I parked the car and sat down under a tree close to the lake. Everything I had tried to keep bottled up just came out. The last words Jess had ever said. What would Wren's last words be? What would I say in the eulogy? I thought back to the day I met him. Today, how I was probably threatening him with a kitchen knife right now. It felt like a life time ago.
There wasn't a solution in this world for this problem. This world… Son of a bitch.
"Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!" I shouted just like I had heard Thor do before. "Please, I could really use some help! Oh come on I'll even buy the first round!" Then a beam of light came down on me and I was in the Aesir.
"Nora, it has been a long time." Heimdall greeted.
"Since the incident with the dark elves last year." I said.
"Aye, you said you required assistance?" Heimdall said.
"Yes but not for me, Asgardian medicine is a lot more advanced than medicine on Earth. My husband Wren was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and I want to know if there's a possibility of a cure here." I said.
"I offer my congratulations on your marriage but I am afraid there isn't anything here to help cure your husband of his ailment. I have been keeping watch I saw what has happened to him and have already consulted our healers they have agreed with your healers on Earth there is nothing they can do." Heimdall said.
I sat down on the steps of the Aesir and tried to pull myself together. I could cry when I'm alone in my room not here.
"Something troubles you?" Heimdall said.
"No, just been a rough couple of weeks." I said wiping my eyes.
"I saw, you have suffered a terrible loss." Heimdall said.
"And I'm going to suffer another one very soon." I said.
"Your sister's death was an unexpected occurrence but you honor her last wishes. Your husband has lived the life of a warrior, he has fought since the day he was born and will do so until his last breath. You can spend the rest of his days looking for cures or denying the inevitable but you have something most warriors never get, a chance to get affairs in order and being able to make sure that when the time does come your husband can rest in peace." Heimdall says.
"What happens to me?" I said. "As much as I hate to bloody admit it there are days where Wren being there is the only thing that gets me out of bed. In six months I won't have that, I won't have Bucky, I definitely won't have Steve. My father hasn't spoken to me in months."
"Only time will tell. You are stronger than you think Nora. You overcame impossible odds before and you will do it again." Heimdall said. "I believe it is time for you to return to Midgard."
"I have to go get milk for the kids breakfast. Thank you, for everything." I said.
"Until next time old friend." He said before sending me on my way. I got in the car and drove off to a gas station down the road. I grabbed the milk and drove back to the house.
"Auntie Nora?" Connor said sounding confused.
"Hey buddy, I went to grab milk. You okay sleepy head." I said kissing him.
"You're hair's short again." He said running a hand through my hair.
"Yeah, you picked out the haircut remember?" I said.
"But you had long hair?" He said.
"That's a long story, a story I'll tell you at bed time, how's that sound?" I asked.
"Okay." He said. "Can I watch another movie?"
"That's enough TV for now how about you color for a bit?" I said.
"okay." He said before running off to his room.
I walked into the kitchen and put the milk in the fridge before sitting down. Wren walked in and sat down.
"You stopped by earlier." He said.
"Yeah, I figured. I recognized the outfit you were wearing and how tired you looked." I said.
"I forgot how young you were when this all started." Wren said.
"Eighteen, seems like a lifetime ago now. That girl has no idea of the shit storm heading her way." I said.
"It made me realize that we've known each other for almost three years… almost married for one year. And even with all the good and bad things that happened I wouldn't trade them for the world." He said.
"Neither would I." I said tearing up. "So what happens now?"
"I have six months… Guess I should work on that bucket list." Wren said chuckling awkwardly. "I have one thing written down and I wanted to talk to you about it before I actually do it."
"Okay." I said.
Later that Day-
"Auntie are you going to tell me the story now?" Connor asked.
"Okay buddy but it's a long one so we might have to space it out." I said.
"Okay." He said.
"Once upon a time there was a king who lived in a castle right by the beach. The king was married to a beautiful queen and they were happy together. One day the king and queen were about to have a baby but the queen got sick and died. The kind was really sad so he sent the baby princess away to keep her safe. The princess grew up in a big house in the middle of the forest with her nurse. On the princess' thirteenth birthday she woke up with two names on her wrists, the names of her two soulmates. When the nurse saw the names she recognized them and pleaded with the princess to keep them hidden from everyone even her father. The princess agreed to do so but only if the nurse told her why. The nurse and the princess journeyed to a land far away to visit the nurse's friends. There they recognized the princess for who she really was and she showed them the names. The names belonged to two brave knights that died over seventy years ago. The princess was heartbroken but she didn't let that stop her, she grew up and trained to become a doctor.
One day the king went to a far off land to visit soldiers and show them the new swords he had made for them but his enemies captured him and locked him away in a cave. They wanted him to make him swords like he had for his soldiers. He agreed to do so but instead of building swords he built himself a magical suit of armor. He used that armor to escape and come back to the princess. He came back and decided to stop fighting and build his kingdom stronger than ever before but his advisor was not happy. He was greedy and wanted the treasures from all the other lands. He built his own magical suit of armor that was bigger than the king's and fought the king. Of course the king won because with that sloppy design and it was so bulky it slowed him down. Not to mention the king's daughter was a bit of a genius…" I looked down and Connor just looked at me like I was crazy.
"Sorry, got side tracked. The king won and he went on to continue protecting his kingdom. His daughter stayed hidden but was so proud of her father." I said. "And that's enough for tonight." I said.
"But Auntie…" Connor said.
"I did say it was a long one." I said. "I'll continue tomorrow."
"Okay…" he said.
"Night sweetheart." I said.
"Night auntie." He said. I closed the door and walked to Ellie's room to check up on her. She was sound asleep.
I grabbed a beer and walked out to the porch where Wren was sitting on the porch swing.
"So your dad's a king now?" Wren said with a smirk.
"It sounded more kid friendly than merchant of death." I said.
"I have to give you that, I was thinking…" Wren started.
"Oh that's not good." I said.
"haha, As I was saying, we only have a week until Thanksgiving and Connor has that entire week off for school, how about we spend it at the beach house? Or maybe a few days there and a few in Boston. We have to get Connor out of his rut and us being locked in here going crazy waiting for Aiden to show up isn't good for us either." Wren said.
"It's a bit cold for the beach but it's isolated and good for nights. During the day we can take the kids out somewhere, maybe Disneyland Tokyo." I said.
"We need to start putting together a list of everything we need." Wren said.
"I'll let Sam know, hopefully he actually picks up." I said.
"I don't think he's there yet. He gave us temporary legal custody Nora, I don't think thanksgiving will change his mind." Wren said.
"I know, I just want to give him the option. It's Ellie's first thanksgiving you know. Giant milestone." I said.
"She's a month old she won't know the difference." Wren said.
"Dad said the same thing about me and now I know he wasn't around for three years." I said.
"Is that why you haven't called him?"
"It's a two way street, besides I can't risk Steve overhearing that conversation. Super soldier hearing and everything."
"Right." Wren said. "You sure about this?"
"Thanksgiving at the beach house, yeah brand new kitchen I haven't tried out yet." I said.
"I meant Monday?" Wren said.
"It'll be fine." I said.
Monday Morning-
I got dressed in black skinny jeans and a white button up. It was a bit chilly today so I layered on a black sweater with white squares and a white coat.
.
I fixed Connor's lunch and breakfast before dropping him off at school. Wren and I dropped Ellie off at daycare before walking into Chief Matthews's office.
"How do you think he's going to take it?" Wren asked.
"Don't know, He'll either cry or scream blood murder." I predicted.
"Let's get this over with then." Wren said knocking on the door.
"Come in." The Chief answered.
"morning sir." Wren said.
"Morning, we got you a cup of coffee just the way you like it." I said putting it down in front of us. He peered out of the top of his glasses.
"What did you do?" He said.
"Nothing we just need to talk and you look like you needed it." I said.
"Sit down, what's going on?" He asked.
"Uh, I've been having headaches and dizzy spells for a few weeks now so I decided to get checked out. Doctor Benson ordered an MRI and something came up." Wren started.
"So you need a few weeks rest?" he asked.
"No chief, I have an inoperable glioblastoma. I have six months, maybe less." Wren stated.
"uh, oh." The Chief said taking off his glasses and pinching his eyebrows together.
"I can't operate on anyone anymore, it would be a risk to any patient and As such I am handing in my resignation." He said handing him the letter he had written the day before.
"And I'm resigning as well. I want to spend as much time as possible with Wren getting everything ready and enjoying whatever time he has left." I said placing my letter as well.
Chief Matthews got up and walked to the other side of the desk.
"Have you looked at any options or gotten any second opinions?" He asked Wren.
"I got four other opinions, I even called Kate, they all said the same thing well except Stephen Strange, he said I probably only had four or five months if I was lucky." Wren said. "I don't want to spend my last days in bed chief, I want to make the most of the time I have left."
"I can see you've thought this through." He said.
"All right then, Doctor Spencer Please hand in you key card and take any personal belongings from your office. Doctor Spencer you have the next two weeks off then I will need you to come in for an exit interview. I want you to know that if at any point in the future you would like to come back you are more than welcome and I would appreciate it if there is ever an emergency or we are ever shorthanded I could possibly call on you for help?" he asked.
"Of course Chief." I said.
"If there is anything and I mean anything either of you need please don't hesitate to let me know." he said.
"Thank you Chief." We said at the same time. Wren got up and shook his hand and was surprised when Chief Matthews pulled him in for a hug. I shook his hand as well and he also pulled me in for a hug.
We walked out of the office and went to pick up Ellie before going back to the house.
"So we're officially unemployed," Wren said.
"It feels strange, what do unemployed people do all day?" I ask.
"Look for another job." Wren said.
"We already have a job, hunting down brainwashed assassins." I said.
"Assassin." Wren corrected.
"Well so far we've got nothing and I don't think we're welcome back at Sister Margaret's so what do we do?" I ask.
"Natasha wants to meet, her contacts heard whispers that might turn into something." He said.
"Then let's go." I said.
"You're forgetting one tiny thing, Ellie?" He said.
"We take her with us, Central Park has a restaurant at the boat house. I'll sit at a separate table and you go do your thing. I can overhear the entire thing." I said.
"You're not talking to her at all, and no powers whatsoever." Wren said.
"Wouldn't dream of it." I said.
"Alright go get Ellie into something warm" He said. "I'll call Natasha and set the meeting up."
"Yay." I said.
An Hour Later-
Something Wren didn't know was that I knew the boathouse had great acoustics. There was one table by the entrance where you could here everything in the back corner of the restaurant where I was sure Wren would be sitting.
We walked in and I saw that the table was empty. I quickly sat down and moved the stroller so it was not in anyone's way. Wren went to go sit down at the back table as I had predicted.
A waitress came by and took my order I stuck to a tea and strawberry shortcake. I asked for a copy of today's paper and they brought it over too. I heard the door open and out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar red head she looked at the stroller and smiled before walking to the back of the restaurant.
"You got here fast." She told Wren.
"Quit my job, what do you got?" He asked.
"I called in a few favors from Kiev, he's been flying in and out of Sokovia but You should stay out of it, the country's in turmoil, chances are he's only there to perform hits and incite riots not that there wouldn't be any without him." Natasha said. "There's only one place I can think of that might give you an advantage."
"And where's that?" He asked.
"He's been spotted at a pub in Belfast, I didn't think much of it but he's been there at least four times in the past two months. It's the best lead I've gotten so far." Natasha admitted.
"That's a bit too close to London for my comfort." Wren said.
"Have you been back since…" Natasha started but didn't finish for some reason.
"Other than a quick visit and some fish and chips no." Wren said.
"Might be time." Natasha said.
"When was the last time you went back to the mother country?" Wren deadpanned.
"Few months ago. You should take your wife, taking care of a newborn must be exhausting." Natasha said with a smirk.
"No idea what your talking about." Wren said.
"Sure you don't, I'll be in touch." She said getting up. She stopped by the table and took a look at Ellie before looking at me. "It's good to finally meet you Nora. Thank you for patching Clint up and for the lasagna." She said before walking out.
I turned to look at Wren and gave him a shrug.
December 2014-
We decided to wait on Belfast until after the holidays, that and Wren decided that at the end of the weekend he should tell Connor about him being sick. He set up an appointment with his grief counselor to find the best way to explain it to him.
Connor had taken the news really well. He thought that since they caught it early it could be cured. He even googled it. Then we explained that it didn't work that way and he didn't take it so great anymore. He was at Wren's side constantly. There were some nights where if he woke up in the middle of the night he would crawl into bed with us. Normally I wouldn't have minded but Wren and I got into the habit of sleeping with weapons and it made things weird.
At that point we decided it might be time to go back to separate bedrooms but neither of us could sleep without the other so back to the downstairs bedroom we went.
On the last day of school before winter break one of Connor's classmates had invited him over for a sleepover. We took advantage and encouraged him to go letting him know that if he at any point wanted to come home we would go and get him right away.
Ellie we hired a sitter from an agency. We did thorough background checks before we put nanny cams all over the house we could access with our phones.
I got dressed in some black skinny jeans a loose fitting grey tee shirt and a red jacket before topping it off with a chunky knit sweater and some black leather booties.
.
"We got in the car and drove off to a hidden back road before teleporting to Belfast. It was pretty early in the morning there but the bar was packed.
"Kind of reminds me of Sister Margaret's." I said. "Except more formal."
"Stay close." He said.
We went to the bar and ordered two pints of beer before sitting down at the booth.
"Something feels off." Wren said.
"What makes you say that?" I said.
"Bartender hasn't taken his eyes off of you or me. He's checking us for weapons." Wren said.
"You bring any?" I asked.
"Did you?" He said knowing the answer.
"You take the twenty on the right I take the twenty on the left?" I asked.
"Leave the bartender he has all the answers." He said, "Oh and Nora, anything goes."
"Security cameras?" I asked.
"Taken off line… now." He said. The waitress came up and I saw the gun under her waistband via the mirror behind the bar. When she got close enough I shot an energy blast that sent her flying behind the bar. He got out of our seats and everyone started coming at us. Everything after that was a blur punches were thrown and deflected. Then some moron pulled out a machine gun and I teleported to Wren's side and shielded us both. The bullets bounced off the shield and hit other people knocking everyone around us out. The bartender was still conscious. He was clutching his shoulder and was terrified when he saw us.
"I'd like a word if you don't mind." Wren told him before he pulled him over the bar and sat him down on a chair. "You've been looking at us since we walked in, Why?"
"H-he said you would come." The man spat out.
"Who did?" I asked.
"Your brother." He answered with a smirk. "You're exactly as he described you, he said your bitch would come with you." Wren punched him when he heard that.
"Where's Aiden?" Wren asked.
"Don't know." he answered. Wren punched him again.
"Where's Aiden?" Wren asked again.
"Drinking Meitei's in Fiji." He said.
"Call him." Wren said.
"Doesn't work that way." He said.
"Then find a way." Wren said.
"Dad?" the waitress from earlier said.
"Trinity run!" He said. Wren punched him and I used my energy projection to pull her back.
"Sorry but that's not happening." I said moving her to a chair.
"Please don't hurt her." He begged.
"We won't if you give us what we ask. Where's Aiden?" Wren asked.
"Casablanca, he talked about a meeting there. In a villa over looking some valley." He said.
"When's the meeting?" Wren asked.
"The third of January." He said.
"How do I know this is reliable information?" Wren asked.
"You were trained for this does it sound like I'm lying?" the bartender retorted.
"For your sake I hope not, or else I'll comeback for you and her and there'll be a lot more blood." Wren threatened.
"Nora, let's go." Wren said giving the bartender a knockout punch. "Don't call the cops, you're carrying an unlicensed weapon and half of these people are on Interpol's wanted list." He put a hand on my arm and then we were in Wren's apartment in Barcelona.
"What are we doing here?" I asked.
"I know where he is." Wren said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Aiden and I went on a mission in Casablanca once. There was an isolated villa, snuck in there and eliminated the couple living there and then Aiden impersonated the husband to get some confidential files the target was going to receive from a client the next day. He said that if he would ever retire that would be the place." Wren said.
"Okay but the meeting's not until the third." I said.
"A planned meeting is an obvious trap we have the element of surprise." Wren said. "Grab everything you need."
I looked around and grabbed two 9mm guns and all the throwing knives I could carry.
After one last check we were off. Wren teleported us to a cliff that gave us a good view of the villa. It looked like an oasis in the middle of the desert. There was no sign of civilization around for miles.
"I'll go in the front you go through the back. If you see anyone go for the kill and don't hesitate because they won't." Wren said.
"The place looks empty." I said.
"That's what he wants you to think." Wren said. "Here, put this on."
"Comms?" I asked.
"Yeah, you ready?" he asked.
"After all this is over, what next?" I asked.
"Never really thought about it, we're going to need to detox him, Then deal with the rest of the organization." He said.
"You know I'm with you no matter what but is this really how you want to spend the time you have left?" I said.
"What would you suggest?" he said.
"I don't know, find a beach somewhere and relax. Do everything on your bucket list, make amends, spend time with your loved ones, make sure that when the time comes you don't have any regrets?' I suggested.
"Everyone has regrets Nora, and as for people I need to make amends for, six months or five considering it's been a month since my diagnosis isn't long enough. So this is what I'm going to do Nora, I'm going to fight to free my brother and I'm going to make sure that when I finally do die, they won't come after you, or Sam, or the kids and I'm going to get you ready for life after I'm gone because that is all I can do. Now, can we go find Aiden and get home, we need to relieve the sitter." He said.
"Okay." I said. "See you on the other side." Then we were off.
We teleported closer to the house and split up. I moved to the back of the house and stayed in the shadows. It was to quiet and the fact that no one had notice me wasn't actually comforting.
I walked into the house and still nothing.
"Wren the place is deserted." I said.
"Come to the living room now." He said urgently.
"On my way." I ran through the house and walked into the living room.
"So good of you to join us." Aiden said. I looked over and saw his face on the television screen.
"Wren what's going on?" I asked.
"Don't panic." He said.
"Want to say hi to your auntie love?" Aiden said and stepped back enough so I could see the very familiar baby in his arms.
"Ellie?" I said.
"You really thought that Patrick just happened to overhear that conversation. Though I must commend you, remembering our chat from all those years ago. You said you wanted to retire on a nice island in the Caribbean never thought you'd give that up for a ranch." He said as Ellie started fussing. "SH Sh." He said rocking her a bit.
"If you hurt a hair on her head I will…"
"You're not in a position to be making threats Nora. You should have stayed away. I was going to make my move the first time we met but you and Wren weren't on speaking terms and I wanted to spare you. That time has passed. I found your car parked on the side of the road. I'll be taking it. Meet me where you and I kissed on our date in one hour or this little lady will pay the price." He said ending the video call.
"How did this happen?" I said. "We vetted that sitter short of a cavity search."
"He must have gotten to the house and seen her. He probably killed her and took her place." Wren said. "Where do we go?"
"The park down the block from that barbeque place on Main Street." I said.
"That's kind of romantic." Wren said.
"It felt weird." I said with a shrug. "Dodged that bullet. We need a plan."
"It's me he wants." Wren said. "I'll take care of Aiden. You get Ellie and get out of there."
"He wants us both. That's why he chose that meeting place." I said.
"Still can't believe you kissed him." Wren said.
"He was charming. If it's any consolation I felt more when I kissed you at our wedding that I did during that make out session." I said.
"You made out?" he said.
"I didn't tell you? I thought I did. Oh no wait that's right I only told Jess." I said.
"You have a type," Wren said.
"Not my fault I'm an assassin magnet." I said.
"You can see why I worry." Wren said putting a hand on my shoulder and teleporting us a block away from the meeting spot. "Okay, I can work with this."
"That won't be a problem." I said.
"Can you take this seriously?" he said.
"I am serious. Aiden doesn't know I can teleport." I said in Mandarin.
"You're a bloody genius." He said.
One Hour Later-
Wren and I were sitting on the bench when Aiden finally showed up but Ellie wasn't with him.
"Where's Ellie?" I said.
"She's fine for now." He said. "Drop all your weapons, Now!"
I looked at Wren and we dropped all our weapons on the ground. Then As I was about to stand back up I teleported behind Aiden and tased him. Once he was on the ground I snapped his neck.
"Bit much don't you think?" Wren said.
"He took Ellie, he's lucky I didn't cut his head off." I said. I checked his pockets and found my car keys.
"I'll get him set up at the house, go get the car." He said.
"What about Ellie?" I said.
"Don't worry, I'll get it out of him." Wren said. "I'll meet you at the house."
"Yeah." I said I walked around the block using the alarm to find the car until I finally found is. I got in and closed my eyes and sighed. I lost my niece and who knows where that insane idiot left her. Is Jess were still alive she would have strangled me.
I'm a horrible aunt. I said hitting my head against the steering wheel.
"AH!" I heard a baby cry. I looked in the back seat and saw a car seat.
"Ellie!" I said jumping into the back seat and moving her into my arms. "I'm so sorry baby." I said over and over kissing her forehead.
I put her back in the car seat and teleported us home. I got inside and put her in the crib. I went down to the lab where I found Wren putting an unconscious and handcuffed Aiden into a makeshift sweatbox.
"He still out." Wren said.
"Ellie was in the back seat of the car." I said.
"Is she okay?" Wren said.
"She's fine. I put her down in the nursery." I said. 'We can't have the kids here, not while he's still…"
"I know. I can't risk moving him without him detoxing. It's the safest place for him to do it." Wren said.
"I can take the kids to the beach house." I said.
"Too isolated, I want you guys close by, where people know where are. Use the Condo. It's downtown. Two bedrooms. Connor can visit his friends, daycare's close by." Wren said.
"That works. We'll go after we pick up Connor tomorrow morning." I said. "I'll get the methodone, the withdrawl is not going to be pretty. Set up an IV with a saline drip."
"I know how to do it. I've just never been on this side of the rehab process." Wren said.
"It only gets worse before it gets better right?" I said.
"I hope so." He said pulling me into a hug. "Why do you put up with my shit?"
"Why do you put up with mine?" I asked.
"I-" Wren started before he collapsed and started seizing.
"Wren!" I said moving him onto his side and waiting for it to pass. It wasn't working to I got up and pulled out some Diazepan and injected it into his arm. The seizing stopped and I sat there sitting with my back against the lab table and his head on my lap. I looked over and saw that Aiden was still unconscious. I quickly injected him with a mild sedative. He couldn't wake up before Wren. He needed to do this. I knew this wasn't just about making amends, it was about closure.