Respect between Enemies – The BetanWerecat

Gundam Seed: "Descending Sword" and after. OCs with appearances by canon characters. The actions of Kira, Athrun, and the others have far reaching effects. Rated T for language and off screen activity. (Reviews are welcomed but not required. This is written only for my own enjoyment. Flaming me will still get you ignored.)

I now have a beta reader! A very good friend with some of the sharpest editing judgment I know of has agreed to help keep me from rambling all over the known universe and beyond. So from now on, it will all be beta'd by T'Amara.

Sorry about the length of time between updates. Trying to get two sets of characters to talk to me at the same time is not always working. The trip continues. Other things happen. Enjoy, I hope.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed.


The very old are often prone to insomnia. At least that was the excuse she used when the family found her out of bed at two in the morning. But the issue was rarely any inability to sleep. Rather she simply seemed to need very little some nights. This was one of those nights.

Agnes Bear sat in her grandson's kitchen and listened to his house whisper around her. It told her many things. That it was a happy place. That it needed someone to check on the wood ants that were trying to chew their way through the lowest log of the southwest corner of the library. That there had been great anger and serious grief here lately. That there had been equally great love and joy present too. But most of all, the house told her there was evil under its roof tonight. Her grandson's mother-in-law was a fine woman and worthy of the honor she was held in but her youngest brother was another tale altogether.

One hundred and twelve years is a long time, even for the most dedicated of Medicine people. Agnes was tired of dealing with the breakage left by evil; be it the physical damage of an angry mob or the emotional anguish of the desperate, the trapped, or the abused. Unfortunately, such a lifespan also taught one well. She knew what the faithless one would do as soon as he was allowed to leave the house. He would happily bring dishonor, even death, to avenge the slights done to his crooked soul.

In the morning, his time of restraint would end. He would go. But he would come back and destruction would harass his footsteps like the well-trained dog he had made it. He would bring it to this house. And he would leave it here if he could.

She frowned. She did not want it here. The children had done nothing wrong and much that was right. The science-made ones born among the stars had proven to be fully human. They could see the Spirits. And the Spirits chose to both see and speak to them. It was not right to treat them as though they were soulless creatures. They did not endanger anyone simply by being alive.

"You must decide, I can not do this for you." Timber Wolf told her gently.

"I know." She replied, one small hand reaching out to gently rub his ear.

The Spirit tolerated it for a bit, then stepped back. "You must decide soon. The first of the family will wake within the hour."

"It is an ill thing." Agnes told him quietly. "Two ill things do not cancel each other out."

"True." Wolf agreed.

"What does Buffalo say to this? He was once that one's Guardian."

"What he has said before; that he could not remain a guardian spirit for one who chose evil with knowing heart and eyes."

"What else?"

"Nothing else."

The ancient woman sighed. She hadn't really expected any more from Buffalo. The Spirit grieved still for the bright young man he had once walked with, and had lost to the darkness in a door opened by the boy's own bitter jealousy and unrequited love. She had seen too the sad Angel of his chosen God going behind him, trying to speak to his heart again, striving still to turn him back to the righteous path he had once followed.

She nodded once and asked the question she had to. "What does Spider tell you?"

"That the pattern of the web has not changed."

"So be it." Agnes bowed to reality. "Will you sit with me?"

"I will."

She stood with care, making very sure the cane was well placed. This wasn't the ceremonial stick she'd used at the children's wedding. This was a modern, ergonomically designed device that allowed her even at her age to walk freely, if slowly, where she would.

It enabled her to reach the far corner of the living room and the massive Spirit Drum the shamen had brought for the wedding. It, too, would be leaving today. But it had not gone yet, and she had need of it.

She lifted the largest, and softest, of the drumsticks from its place on the rack and settled herself in the chair that sat behind the drum. No, this would not be a good thing, but she could not see it as a bad one any longer either. And it was her duty to drive out evil.

Agnes struck the drum softly, awakening a deep sound more felt than heard. Yes, this was the way it must go. All doubt fell aside. She began the chant in a soft voice, one that matched the sounds her rhythmic beat was bringing from the drum. She would do her duty. She would cleanse what was evil. She would protect what was good. One last time.

Timber Wolf sat silently at her side until both voice and drum stopped.


Lance Thoms chewed the carrot stick thoughtfully as he mentally counted up days. The number he came up with was fifteen. He blinked. Fifteen? He'd only known Rebecca fifteen days? That was idiotic! No one toppled head over heels like this in only fifteen days!

Did they?

Commander Thoms frowned. How long had it taken that idiot boy to fall for the Grayhawk girl? He winced when the tally came up at nine days. So, all right, it was possible. Undignified, probably brain-chemistry based, but possible.

Damn pheromones!

Damn Roland Ito!

He glared at the remnant of the carrot stick. He liked the delusion of romance! He did not appreciate having it reduced to chemistry no matter how complex.

"Are you eating that Dad, or getting ready to shoot it?"

He gave his son a very dry look but Jiro wasn't watching. He was grinning at his own cereal bowl. Sometimes, the degree of sophistication Coordinator children could develop at very early ages was a right pain.

Most didn't of course. Most had a development pattern very similar to, if slightly earlier than, those of Naturals. But not his son. Oh no, he had to have one of the real quick ones. He still didn't have the experience to go with his budding grasp of concepts of course but every now and then the level of Jiro's comprehension was startling. And he'd caught on to how much his father liked Rebecca Grayhawk several days ago. Meals had not been the same since.

He cocked his head thoughtfully. Jiro. This concerned the boy almost as much as it did him. He gave a few minutes thought to how the boy had been acting with Rebecca and the children. He managed to nip his own finger before he came out of that brown study to realize he'd just munched the rest of the carrot stick.

"Maybe you should let Rojas lead the Team today Dad." There was a surprisingly wicked gleam in the boy's eye. "Bet he didn't bite himself at breakfast!"

Lance ignored the comment, being wise enough in the ways of his son to know letting him open that can of worms would see the incident still being beaten to death a year from now; it was better to change the subject. "How are you and Larry getting along?"

"Pretty good." Jiro replied cheerfully. "He's learning how to be polite from Dr. Serin and I'm teaching him how to find his way around in a Plant. He's smarter than I thought he was too."

Yes, that had been a problem. The children had already been started in a Blue Cosmos approved school. Larry hadn't found it mentally challenging and poor Shiloh had been getting the 'males before females' treatment her mother had been raised with. It hadn't done anything good for her development, physically or emotionally. Both children were well behind Plant-raised kids their age. Fortunately, they were also bright and actually wanted to learn. They should catch up in a few months and be just fine.

"Would you be willing to share the house with Larry and Shiloh?" Lance asked abruptly, suddenly unwilling to beat around the bush any longer.

"Ah, . . . . . . . . ., can I think about that?" Jiro was obviously caught by surprise by that one.

"Yes. I would appreciate it if you would." His father told him quietly. "You're very observant, I know you've seen how much I like their mother. If things get serious here, they'll come with her. But you were here first and I want to know how you honestly feel about all this. I don't want you to tell me though until you've really decided what it is that you are feeling. That may take you a few days to work out. I understand that. I'll wait."

"I kinda like them." Jiro told him slowly. "I mean when they're not saying nasty things that is. And it's kinda nice to have someone who thinks I know everything too. But that's not like they were here all the time."

"No, it's not." Lance agreed gently. "And I need you to give some long and hard thought to having them here all the time."

The boy frowned at the nearly empty bowl and the few fragments of cereal left in it. "Dad, would we hafta move? I don't think Grandma likes Larry real well."

"She doesn't like his mouth." His father grinned. "But she's not sure about the boy himself. She does like his mother and sister though. So, no, we wouldn't have to move. I've already asked her about that."

"Ok, that helps." Jiro told him solemnly.

"Good. Keep thinking then and let me know in a few days how it goes."

"All right."

Well, that went better than he'd feared it might. The question remained as to just what Jiro's decision would be but Lance rather thought it would end up positive. Jiro was getting fond of Rebecca himself. He'd also developed a strong protective streak where Shiloh was concerned. It was going to come down to the interplay between the two boys that would be the deciding factor. And while young Lawrence had a big mouth and a ready fist, he also had a lot of insecurities that Jiro made seem much smaller to him. There was a form of hero worship developing there that could be the factor that tipped the scales. Because his son was no more immune to the flattery that brought with it than the next boy his age would be.

Commander Thoms was under no delusions that melding the two disparate families would be either simple or free of problems. The Grayhawk children had been raised as Coordinator-hating Naturals right up to the moment some doctor had discovered they weren't what they'd assumed they were. There would be a lot of anger and pain to be dealt with there before they were fully ready to move on to their new lives. If he brought them into his household, that anger and pain would be worked out right here.

Jiro on the other hand had grown up with the attitude that Naturals were lesser beings. It wasn't something his grandmother had encouraged and he'd stepped on it every chance he got but the attitude was pervasive in the Plants. Some of it had rubbed off on his son. And Larry Grayhawk didn't like that aspect of Jiro at all. Both times the boys had really fought, it had been over some remark of Jiro's that implied Larry's Natural relatives weren't as good as Coordinators.

No, building one family out of the pieces of two would not be easy. But then, the really important things rarely were. He saw his son off to school before he headed for the Ito Project offices. If he was going to try this, he really should get Rebecca's approval first.


The sky was beginning to pearl out with the first haze of false dawn when they pulled out of the parking lot. There had been very little discussion after Lt. Rockway told them he could get them to this White Rock truck stop. The five of them had just gone out to the odd vehicle, pulled their bags out from under Eric's van, loaded the land crawler and started out.

"The timing here is exquisite." Justice suddenly said evenly. "Here comes the Phantom Pain convoy."

He swung them out onto the highway before the oncoming trucks could pin him in the lot as they turned in. Adrian looked out the back and counted four large vehicles that pulled in to the place they'd just left. When close to two dozen men clambered out of the first one to stop, he found himself almost frighteningly happy that they'd gotten away.

"They travel in packs like that normally?" Yuri asked.

"Always." Rockway answered coldly. "Heaven forbid they should go anywhere alone where there weren't a dozen buddies to keep them on the straight and narrow."

"They give you problems, do they?" Voril was curious.

"Excuse me, but you know enough about me to not ask stupid questions." There was a very sharp anger in the soft voice, more than Adrian had expected for so simple an issue.

"Yes and no, Lieutenant." Voril replied. "Remember, we only met the one time. And a chance meeting in a public park isn't always the best place to get to know someone wearing an enemy uniform."

"Bridger said he'd talk to you. He keeps his word."

"He tried to." Voril told him. "But there was never a good time. About all he got the chance to tell me was that you nearly got yourself beaten to death once for refusing to denounce him."

"It was more than once. He only found out about the one time." The tone now was bitter. "Do you know why Mom and Dad named him Bridger?"

"Because that's what they wanted him to be, a bridge between both peoples." Voril sighed. "Since he's a ZAFT Commander and you're an Earth Forces Lieutenant, I'd sorta guessed that fell through."

"Yeah, kinda like the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge, whipsawed by both sides until he either fell apart like it did or got out of the middle." Rockway's voice was both bitter and tired. "I'm glad he decided to just go. He deserved better than he could ever have here."

"So, Captain, you want to tell me how you ended up with these three?" Justice abruptly changed the subject.

Kayla nodded, accepting the change. "Yeah, I married Adrian day before yesterday."

The crawler nearly swerved off the road. Rockway's shock was impossible to miss; sudden bad driving aside the look on his face was classic. It took him several seconds to get his machine straightened out and his mouth closed.

"You married a serving ZAFT Lieutenant day before yesterday!" he said in a stunned tone.

"Adrian's a Captain now and yes, I did."

That was apparently more than the small youth could deal with and drive. He abruptly pulled off the road and stopped the engine. He sat there, hands on the wheel for a good three minutes before his breathing evened out again.

"And before you start, he caught me at Josh-A just before the Cyclops went off. It went from there."

Rockway nodded. "I see, I think."

"I love him, Justice." Her voice held an unmistakable warning. "And the kids are important to both of us."

"It happens." Rockway said softly. "It's not a bad thing. You're just going to be living what my parents hoped would happen with my brother. I have no issue with that."

"I'd like to know just why a Navy officer would help someone he knows is ZAFT," Adrian said evenly.

"I told you, I owe Yzak Joule. I'm paying him back."

"Owe him for what exactly?" Yuri asked with interest.

"Not blowing me to hell."

When the silence stretched, Kayla just sighed and prodded. "Some details would be useful here."

Rockway shrugged. "I was almost too close to that Genesis shot myself. The last analysis I saw said I was the third closest to the actual beam itself to survive. But the light off of it has done permanent damage to my eyes, which is what the visor is for. At any rate, I was floating out there in a mobile suit fast running out of power, unconscious because someone messed with my med-kit, and Joule's team stumbled across me. He didn't blow the suit up. He did drag it, and me, back to one of your support ships. He also argued for letting me have a chance to go to the Vision Research Center. So I owe him my life, my sight, and my hope for real recovery of most of it. End of nutshell story."

Yes, and the end of the details this small young man was going to give them, Adrian realized. Too bad. There was a real story here and he'd like to have it. The admission that someone had done something with the med-kit for his mobile suit opened a fascinating series of possibilities all on its own. Just the fact that someone this short and slight could manage a mobile suit had to be another interesting tale.

"So, you did get into the mobile suit program." Kayla said thoughtfully.

"Yes. I qualified high enough that Burns couldn't keep me out."

"What do you have?"

"105 Dagger."

She whistled appreciatively. Adrian was impressed too. The 105, a serious upgrade to the Strike Dagger, was still in limited enough production to have the suits available going to commanders, aces, and the training program graduates who would be the equivalent of a ZAFT redcoat. Rockway was definitely not a commander, he wasn't wearing the collar pins for it. He was also too young to be a veteran ace, which left redcoat equivalent. Interesting.

"I'm surprised you're still on active duty," Voril said quietly.

"My vision, with the visor, is better than 20/20. There is no exclusion for needing visual aids if they bring said vision up to standard. The Glittering Cursed Star, Jean Carey himself, wears glasses. And my sight is the only thing that took long term damage from the beam."

"Do I get an answer if I ask how bad?" Yuri enquired.

"My low light vision is now so far outside the human norm it isn't funny. But I can't handle any level of standard lighting at all. The visor cuts the input to my eyes to about the equivalent of a moonless night. The hope is that this will improve and I'll eventually recover to the point where I can get by with very heavy sunglasses but there is no assurance of that."

"That's a real abnormal response to getting your eyes burned," Kayla noted.

"Too true." Justice agreed. "But whatever it was that went wrong when they were making me seems to have a few unexpected side effects. Instead of losing rods or cones to the intensity, my eyes have added more, a lot more. It makes me wonder just how messed up I am."

"Excuse me? 'Making' you?"

Rockway put the crawler back in gear and rolled it out onto the highway again. He drove in silence, making it very clear that he was done answering questions. He didn't ask any more of his own either. A light tap on his arm and a warning look in Kayla's eyes kept Adrian from any effort to pry more data out of the younger man.

They rolled through the small city of Wendover without incident. Adrian noted a heavy military presence but it had the look of troops on leave rather than any kind of control factor or, more importantly, search party.

"Busy place," Voril remarked.

Rockway snorted in amusement. "Not at this hour."

"Eh?"

"Voril, it's barely seven thirty. There isn't much of anything open yet." Kayla told him.

"Then what are all these people doing out on the streets?"

"Going to work mostly." Justice said calmly. "The troops you are seeing are mostly on the tag end of their leave. If you really look, you'll see most of them look like they've been up for days. Which in a few cases may be true. But most of them have just been partying way too heartily. The main gates of the second largest training base in the whole of the Atlantic Federation are only five miles south of town. When this place is really busy it looks like it's been invaded."

Kayla suddenly turned to their driver. "Justice, what the hell are you doing here? This isn't a mobile suit training facility."

He didn't answer for several blocks, then he heaved a large sigh. "Kayla, I was only exchanged three weeks ago. I'm here for assessment. There are a number of people who are hoping I'll wash out. I've disappointed them so far."

"Why the hell do you even bother?" she snapped.

"Because I'm the only Rockway son left in the service." he replied evenly.

She shook her head. "Sometimes traditions aren't worth it."

"I still think this one is."

The finality in his voice ended this discussion too. Clearly, he knew and understood the resentment his family was under for his parent's unwise decision to let everyone know their first son was a Coordinator. Just as clearly, he did not intend to allow it to drive him out of the Navy.

What he was doing took real courage. Adrian found himself looking at the small, fragile, beautiful and damaged young enemy officer with genuine admiration. Here was another Earth Forces soldier he'd rather not meet on a battlefield. He had no idea how his skills would stack up against the others but that wasn't the point. It would be a real waste to have to kill one of the decent ones. The Alliance didn't have enough of them as it was.

Oddly, the silence in the vehicle was no longer strained. It couldn't be called warm or friendly but at least the hostility was gone. Adrian was content to have it so. And when Lieutenant Rockway showed no signs of wanting to talk, he respected the younger officer's wish and kept his own peace.

They left Wendover behind surprisingly quickly. The countryside, seemingly endless miles of it rolling in nearly identical small hills one behind the next and dreary in winter drab, had a scattering of homes set well off the road, a seemingly endless supply of cattle, and not much else. So White Rock, perched on one of the higher hills, stood out on the horizon several miles before they got to it.

"Tell me," Rockway suddenly spoke up as they came up on the largest truck stop they'd seen yet, "do you know where to meet whomever it is you're here to hook up with?"

"Excuse me?" Kayla replied, sounding puzzled.

"Please do not insult my intelligence. Your previous 'escort' was quite the talker. You are traveling through the network that smuggles endangered Coordinators out of North America. Once I realized who you were, I think I'd have figured that much out for myself even without his smack-you-in-the-face hints." The visored eyes turned toward Kayla. "And I figured out why you people knocked him out too. It's unfortunate that the situation made it too dangerous to just kill the shit. He's going to get someone, someone innocent probably, killed himself someday."

"He's got an unhealthy high opinion of his own right to judge others," Voril agreed coldly.

"I've met Eric Stanton before. I didn't like him then either." Justice shrugged. "Forget him. Do you know how to make connections with the next link in your chain?"

"We know the sign and the counter," Yuri told him. "And we've done this enough to be familiar with the likeliest locations in one of these places to find our contact."

"Then where do you want me to drop you?"

"Near the restaurant section will do."

"Right."

Ten minutes later the four of them were settling into another restaurant booth. This time they weren't going to be stuffing themselves though. They needed to keep their ears open for any discussion on weather in the Pacific Northwest.

Adrian could see Lieutenant Rockway refueling his odd vehicle from where he sat. They'd already said their good-bys; Rockway would be leaving immediately after paying for his fuel. It was odd, how they'd found probably the one solider in the whole of the Alliance who would recognize them on sight, and never admit it. He wondered just how much of an accident that was. Golden Eagle had promised they would have aid unlooked for after all.

"Mule," Voril suddenly said in surprise.

"Mule what?" Kayla asked as she checked over the menu for something light to snack on.

"The Spirit standing with Rockway," the silver head nodded very slightly toward the window. "That's Mule."

Kayla looked up, startled, then she grinned. "Makes sense. He's stubborn, smart, loyal, idiotically brave, and has always kept his own council. He 'n Mule would really get along."

"You've known him then for a while?" Adrian asked the question he'd wanted to since Rockway had stopped by their table.

"He was in the class behind mine at boot camp," she said quietly. "The instructors put him through hell. I think they had orders to wash him out. Only they couldn't. Because he wouldn't break. He did everything asked of him and then some. He was just too good. Around the middle of the course, his records caught the camp commander's eye. General Patton comes from a military family with the same kind of history of service as the Rockways. And he isn't the kind to throw away a good tool because it makes some desk jockey nervous. So he stepped in before things could get too out of hand. Once Patton made his opinion known, most of the shit stopped. They say the General's the spitting image of a distant ancestor, one everyone in their right mind didn't cross. I don't know about that George Patton, but the current one is hell on wheels when you get in his way."

"He said he was made," Yuri spoke softly, too aware of the surrounding Naturals not to be cautious with this subject.

"Don't know the whole story there either and I wouldn't believe anyone but his mother who says they do. But I've been told his dad was one of those unlucky guys who just don't throw boys. He's got something like fourteen sisters; his folks were very persistent in their efforts there." Kayla shook her head, eyes amused.

"Anyhow, when the military society around them made it clear Bridger wasn't going to be tolerated, they tried again. What little is known of the whole fiasco is that something caused the fertilized egg cell they were trying to make into a boy to split into two separate cells. They ended up with Justice and a twin sister named Honor. There's been a lot of speculation that the work didn't take quite right because he looks so damn much like a girl himself. But he is male, beyond question so given all the tests run on him over the years."

Adrian watched Rockway climb back into his modified crawler and roll off into the bright morning. What ever that young man might be, he still wished him luck. It sounded like he could use all he could get.

"I think maybe I'll look up your cousin when we get home and ask him for his side of that story," Adrian said as the crawler, headed back to Wendover, dropped from sight as the road turned down toward one of the many low spots they'd crossed to get here.

"I'd like to tag along," Voril admitted. "Yzak wasn't real forthcoming when I asked him right after the incident in the park."

"Do I want to know about that?" Yuri enquired.

Voril glanced around and went still. "Another time. I think I see someone who just may be our connection."

"Older couple, he's wearing a sheepskin jacket with Hopi embroidery on it and hers has Nez Perce designs? Both jackets with long fringes?" Kayla asked.

"I couldn't tell you where the designs came from but yes, the pair in the heavily decorated and fringed jackets."

"I think you're right."

Adrian paid superficial attention to his menu as he gave the approaching pair a quick once-over. They looked to be about Kayla's parent's age and in the same kind of hard working good shape. They were unmistakably also Native American as well.

" . . . . . you've been listening to that Cree boy too long!" The woman exclaimed as they came close enough to hear clearly. "I swear George, if I turned my back on you you'd move to the Yukon!"

"I never said anything about moving to the Yukon, Martha. Stop putting words in my mouth. I just said I like the weather patterns around Vancouver. There's no need to jump to any conclusions that I want to move!"

Oh yes, this was the contact all right. They were following the pattern of the earlier ones perfectly. And their eyes were sharp too without looking like they were. It was quite clear that they'd pretty much picked them out as the kids they were here to collect.

Kayla managed a genuine sounding chuckle. "And here I've always heard such great things about Seattle's weather."

"Nothing wrong with Seattle," the man agreed with an easy smile. "But it isn't Vancouver and that's all there is to it."

"Mom always raved about Seattle," Kayla kept the conversation going. "I've never been there so I can't say for sure."

"Ah, have you been to Vancouver?" the woman asked cheerily.

"Nope, not that lucky. I've been to Alaska though. That was beautiful country." Kayla smiled back. "I met my husband there."

Oh and he could only hope she wasn't going to say anything too unmistakable about that!

"You never know where you're going to find a good man," the lady agreed happily.

Kayla grinned, but also waited. There was some specific signal, Adrian didn't know it since it was something shown only to his wife, that she would not move without. He did know the Bronze Spider had set this up as an extra protection for her sister. For as their last guide had demonstrated, not everyone willing to help Coordinators leave the planet wanted them doing so with any Naturals in tow.

"Good men are hard to come by," Kayla said with a genuinely warm smile.

"Honey, it isn't that they're so hard to come by, it's that they're so hard to recognize under all those layers of stupid ideas about what a man has to be."

"You sound like my grandmother Spotted Horse."

The woman's smile faltered, and she stared closely. "You one of Maria's grandkids?"

"I'm Kayla." The reply was soft, and deadly firm.

"Shit." She turned to the man beside her who had been blocking the view of most of the other patrons in the place just by spreading his elbows and allowing a heavy fringe on the back of the arms and jacket to interrupt the line of sight and spoke very quietly. "We need to get Red Tailed Hawk's child and her friends out of here, now!"

"Sure Martha," the man's pleasant voice was suddenly pitched to carry, "whatever you want darling. Your cousin's girl and her friends can ride with us if she wants to. I don't mind helping the kids save the bus money."

"You game?" Kayla asked, her tiny nod telling them she knew more about these people than she should have.

"Fine. Anything that gets us to the house faster and cheaper is good." Adrian hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake here.

The woman suddenly stared at him for a second before shooting quick glances at Yuri and Voril. "Right, then lets go, Eagle Boy, Fox Kid, Crow Boy."

Medicine Woman, he abruptly realized she was a Medicine Woman like his new in-laws. The others caught it just as quickly. The distrust waiting to break out dissolved instantly.

They picked up their bags and followed their guides out. While neither gave any appearance of being in a hurry, they were still out the doors and half way across the parking lot in very short order. Both guides struck the four veterans they were leading as being on high alert too.

"Something we should know about?" Kayla enquired just loudly enough for the woman to catch it.

"New outfit, calls itself 'Phantom Pain'. Damn dangerous bunch and blindly dogmatic to boot. They've begun to haunt this place. Don't know who tipped 'em off. You're the last group that'll be coming through here until they're gone. We tried to get you redirected too but your last driver shut his radio off." she replied quickly.

"I didn't know he had a radio." Kayla shot a malevolent glance back toward where Eric was sleeping off his missed opportunity. "He tried to make a move on me. The boys put him to sleep with some of Grandmother's special stuff."

"Ah, wondered how you got out of that trouble."

They all whipped around to stare at her for a shocked second. Martha smiled coldly.

"Don't worry, it was Magpie told me about it and that you needed us early. She said one of Mule's Sons had picked you up but he wouldn't be able to do more than get you here." They'd reached a modest travel trailer and the woman was unlocking it quickly. "Get in. We're going to have to head straight north to Boise. The airport in Elko is also under watch."

"I'm beginning to develop a serious dislike of this new bunch," Kayla snarled as she climbed carefully into the tight space of the RV.

"You and a whole lot of other folks," George told her from the driver's seat. "They act like they're above the law and they brag about it too."

"In, in!" Martha snapped at Voril as he paused on the step to let Yuri clear the door.

"Yes, Ma'am." Voril whipped up and in, allowing her to close the door firmly behind him. George had the engine turned over before Martha could even get her door open. It couldn't be plainer that they were just this side of running scared.

As they began to roll forward, Yuri suddenly swore savagely. Adrian snapped around to look. An unmistakable military convoy was beginning to crest the hill.

"You kids duck. We're just gonna drive out of here like we're regular tourists. So get down now. You all need to get out of direct sight. I want you two boys to get into the overhead bunk. Hawk's Daughter, you and your lad take the one in the back. Try to keep anything from showing if someone looks in the windshield here." George gave quick, quiet orders. "Oh, and slide those bags of yours into the bathroom."

They followed the instructions instantly. Voril and Yuri opened the tiny bathroom's door and swiftly but neatly stacked their bags into the shower. It was the work of seconds after that for them to hop up onto and lay flat on the double bed that extended over the cab of the vehicle.

Adrian helped Kayla to the back of the RV while the other two dealt with the bags. The bed here, well couch really at the moment, wasn't well placed for trying the same lay flat trick Voril and Yuri were using. Instead Adrian sat on the floor; his legs spread just enough to give Kayla room to scrunch in in front of him. He braced his back on the panel that backed on the kitchen sink and his feet on the solid frame below the couch. His left arm wrapped around Kayla to hold her securely against him and his right was hooked over a small bar that ran between a pair of what looked like utility boxes. He held them both as tightly against the outside wall as he could.

"We're two cars back from getting out of the driveway," Martha reported clearly. "The convoy is Phantom Pain's all right. I've seen the ass driving the lead vehicle before. They're pulling in now. Keep your heads down!"

Adrian ducked. So did Kayla. At least there was no clear line of sight into this corner of the RV from the other side! The small window in the door was neatly and heavily curtained as was the long window at the rear. Only the one directly over their heads had the curtain slightly open. And it would be too dangerous to try to close it now.

"We're next out of here as soon as traffic breaks," Martha told them a few moments later. "Looks like Phantom Pain isn't actively hunting at the moment. They're parking in the back of the lot and walking up to the restaurant in neat, truckload groups."

"We are out of here!" George snapped as the somewhat clumsy vehicle rolled forward, slowly gaining speed as it took the hard right turn to enter the highway. "Glad we have Idaho plates on this thing. With most of the rest of the traffic heading to Wendover, it'll help them ignore us if they think we're just locals driving home."

Adrian relaxed his death grip on the small bar and leaned forward, reaching around Kayla. No one had said anything but it was clear that it would be dangerous to be seen for a while yet. So he snagged the throw pillows off the couch and the blanket they had been sitting on. It was the work of minutes to get those pillows tucked into the places where they would do the most good and to toss the blanket over them both.

Within minutes, he could feel Kayla relaxing. As they traveled in a surprisingly peaceful silence, the hum of the tires on the road acquired an almost hypnotic quality. The four fugitives were asleep before they even crossed the Idaho state line.