Five

Elijah practically kicked the cabin door in, carrying Susan. She felt strong enough to walk unassisted now, but having somebody to lean on at the moment felt too good to pass up. He guided her to the couch in the common room and she sank down with a gasp. Susan realized her hands were numb from the wet and cold outside. She still gripped her pistol and swung over to cover the door, shivering all the while.

"Jenny!" he called. "Are you alright?"

"Is it over?" came the muffled response through the floorboards.

"For now! I need your help!"

Susan heard a clatter from the hidden armory and the trapdoor swung open, impacting against the floor with a thud. Jenny came into the common room a moment later, AK muzzle preceding her. Susan grinned at that; the young woman might have had her world upended, but she seemed to be taking it in stride with admirable aplomb. Her willingness to pick up a weapon to defend herself was a good sign. Jenny looked down at her with wide eyes and pale face. "Ohmygod."

Elijah, kneeling beside Susan, looked over at his cousin. "There's a trauma kit in the security room. Get it."

To her further credit Jenny didn't freeze. She nodded once and took off. Elijah helped Susan shrug her coat off, tossing it aside in a muddy, dripping mess. Shame; she'd liked that coat. Hirawa's former sword joined it on the floor. He popped the front clasps of her carry harness and brushed them aside. Then he tore her shirt open down the center and winced. "That bad, huh?" said Susan.

Elijah reached out and ran his fingertips over her ballistic vest. She didn't feel it through the layers of Kevlar and ceramic, but she felt the tug as he pulled the mashed bullets from the vest one by one with swift motions. He dropped them to the ground and started undoing the straps.

"Seems like we're always tearing each other's clothes off when one of us gets shot," she said, grinning crookedly.

Elijah glanced up at her face. "Let's not make the getting shot part a habit." He rose to his feet, brushed her wet hair aside, and kissed her forehead.

"You're bleeding, too," said Susan as she pulled the vest over her head with one hand. With her other she reached out and took his left wrist, turning his arm to look at the cut.

"I've had worse," he said.

Footsteps announced Jenny's return as she ran from the rooms, clutching the oversized medical kit in her arms. "Holy shit," she said. "What happened?"

"People came to kill us," said Susan.

"Yeah, I got that part. Please tell me the other guys look worse."

"Can confirm," Elijah said. He nodded at the kit, holding one hand out. "Give it here."

Jenny passed it over and he opened it before running his fingertips over her torso. Susan hissed at the throb and ache, but the fact that there was no grinding or shooting pain-

"Bruised," he said. "Nothing broken." Elijah drew out an ice pack from the kit, scrunched it up to activate it, and passed it to Jenny before turning back to the kit. "Hold that against the bruise."

Susan groaned as Jenny pressed the ice pack to her skin; the cold set off a storm of sensation in her nerve endings but she forced herself to hold still. Elijah peeled back the torn sleeve from the gash across her arm and wrapped a length of quick-clotting combat gauze around the wound.

"You guys do stuff like this often?" Jenny asked as he repeated the procedure for his own wounded arm.

"Often enough," Susan said through clenched teeth. "Don't last long if you can't."

"You guys have crazy lives, have I mentioned that?"

"Well, you're not wrong," said Elijah, tying off the gauze.

"Thanks," Susan said, taking the ice pack from Jenny. She pressed the cold plastic pouch against the bruise mottling her skin. That had been uncomfortably close.

"Okay," Jenny said. "What else can I do? Are there more… assassins coming?"

"Just the one for now," came a voice from the open doorway. Jenny yelped and spun; Lisa Marx stood just beyond the frame. She wore a long, single-piece dress with a hooded, fur-lined coat over it all. Lisa carried a bolt-action bullpup sniper rifle with an extra magazine tucked in front of the trigger guard. Its length and bulk seemed almost oversized in her arms, but she held it slung low with its muzzle down and her arms crossed over the stock. The smirk on her face never left as she looked Jenny over.

"Take it easy," Susan said as Jenny scooted back. "She's friendly. Or something like it."

"Ouch," said Lisa, grinning. "That's hurtful." She stepped indoors and shrugged. "Ah, not really."

Susan smiled back. "Why are you dressed like that? What are you doing here?"

"I was getting ready for a night out on town. Then that Two Dragon guy and van Haag got all fired up and stormed off in a hurry. Mad bomber couple got in on it too. Figured something was up, turned out I was right."

Elijah stood up, extended a hand towards Lisa. "Thanks for the save."

She regarded him for a moment, then grinned lopsidedly. "My pleasure. Never known Susan to stay out of trouble, but this is kind of pushing it. And what the hell was that mess in Berkeley? Thought you two were trying to go apostate, to get out."

Jenny held up a tentative hand. "That, um, that would be because of me."

"And who are you, cutie?"

"My cousin," Elijah said. "Hirawa went after her to try to get to us."

"Dick move," Lisa said. She turned towards the woods. "Any survivors?"

"No," said Susan. Her voice came out strangely, and it took a second for her to realize that was because her teeth were chattering. Actually, her whole body was shivering.

"Come on," Elijah said, lifting her to her feet and wrapping an arm around her waist as he drew her towards the rooms. "Let's get you warmed up."

Jenny turned red. "While she has bruised ribs? Isn't that a bit too strenuous?"

"I meant a hot bath," he said, arching an eyebrow at his cousin while Lisa burst into laughter.

"Oh!" Jenny blushed even harder. "I, uh…"

"Go on," Marx said. "I'll keep an eye out here."

"Thank you," said Elijah.

Lisa nodded to Susan. "Like I said, I owe her."


About ten minutes in the bathtub full of steaming water made Susan feel more or less human again. She'd already drained the initial batch of muddy, grimy water and now just soaked in fresh, hot water. The warmth made breathing against her bruised ribs significantly easier and drove the chill from her bones. She glanced down at the pile of wet clothes on the floor just as Elijah cracked the small bathroom's door open. "How is it?" he asked gently.

"Not bad. Still missing something, though."

"What is it?" He stuck his head in, looking concerned. His hair and clothes looked just as soaked from the rain and battle outside; his skin looked paler than usual. "What do you need?"

Susan reached her bandaged arm, the one she'd kept out of the tub, towards him. "You."

Elijah pursed his lips. "About that strenuous activity…"

"I'm not asking you to shag me senseless," Susan said. "Just… join me. You're cold and soaked, and I want your company."

"Hard to say no to that."

Susan scooted in the tub as Elijah removed his soaked clothes. She drained out some of the water, just enough so it wouldn't overflow. He climbed in behind her and sank down with an exhausted, pleased groan, stretching his legs out around hers. It wasn't a large tub and the fit proved tight, but she didn't mind that at all. Elijah wrapped his arms around her as Susan leaned back against his chest and rested her head against his shoulder. She let out a pleased purr, reveling in the warmth. Objectively, she knew, the water was a higher temperature than Elijah's body – but the feel of his skin, the rhythmic pulse of his heartbeat, and the quiet whisper of his breath – she'd trade that for nothing else.

It wasn't about sex or eroticism right then. The intimacy and comfort was something wholly unlike anything else she'd experienced in a long, long time. If only this could never end, Susan thought. Elijah had taken care in his embrace to be gentle with her bruised ribs. His hands, resting gently against her skin, felt so… right. She clasped the hand of his bandaged arm with her own, holding their limbs up and out of the gently steaming water. "To a new life," she said dryly.

"I suppose it was never going to be that easy," Elijah said.

"Probably not. Still, worth it."

He kissed her cheek softly from behind and she leaned back again, resting with her eyes closed for several minutes.

Then she raised her head. "Lisa's not making trouble, is she?"

"Marx? Last I checked, she was chatting with Jenny. Why? Does she make trouble?"

"Only when she gets bored," Susan said. "Which is frequently."

He chuckled. "More trouble than you create?"

"You like my trouble. Admit it."

"That is true."

She sighed. "I'd just rather not drag her into all this. The goal, after all, is to get out."

"Well, she can make her own decisions. I'm just glad she was there to take that shot."

"So am I," Susan admitted. "And you're okay with Jenny spending time with her?"

"She can make her own decisions too."

"Oh, brave man."

He shifted. "What? Why?"

"Nothing. Just… Marx will be Marx."

"You are not reassuring me here."

"I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Because those words have never backfired before."

"Hush." Susan turned around in the tub, which took a fair amount of effort in its confines, and pressed up against him. The tips of their noses almost touching, she looked into his eyes and smiled.

"About that strenuous activity," Elijah said hesitantly. "I don't want to hurt you."

She leaned in, ever so fractionally, and kissed him softly. "So we'll go slowly," she whispered against his mouth.

"You are very hard to refuse." He lifted an eyebrow. "We're also not alone."

She kissed him again, and knew she had him when Elijah's hands drifted down her body. "We'll be quiet."


"By the way," Lisa said to her in the kitchen later that afternoon, "that wasn't quiet at all."

Susan felt the heat creeping up her cheeks as she glanced towards the door. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The rain had finally stopped a bit while they were in the bath. Elijah had headed out after getting dressed, to deal with the cars and bodies. One of the benefits of being next to an old quarry, Susan thought: an easy disposal site. It was almost as neat and self-contained as a call to the cleaners.

"No?" Marx looked innocent for a moment, then smirked and set the mug in her hands down on the table. She bit her lower lip and moaned sensuously. "Ohh. Right there. Keep going. Keep going."

It was, Susan had to concede, a pretty close facsimile of her own voice. "How the hell did you hear that?" she demanded.

"Like I said, you really weren't as quiet as you thought."

"Marx, so help me, I will-"

"Hey, hey." Lisa patted the air in a placating gesture. "Not judging. I mean, that's some great physical therapy there. It's just… when'd you turn into such a horndog? You were always such a prude before."

"I wasn't a prude," said Susan.

"Oh please," Lisa said, rolling her eyes. "You were all work and no play."

"Maybe a little," she admitted. "I just… never thought I'd feel this way about somebody."

"You're gonna make me jealous."

"I never thought it'd be somebody from this world either," Susan said.

"Why not?" Jenny chimed in from she'd been leaning against the kitchen counter in the corner. "It makes sense, doesn't it? You'd have shared experiences, maybe similar worldviews?"

"That's usually an issue in our line of work. Getting close to another… professional is usually a bad idea."

"Why's that?"

"Business," Lisa said. "You can find yourself working competing contracts at the drop of a hat. Too much risk."

"And everyone you meet is a potential target," Susan added. "Not typically a good foundation for relationships."

"Speak for yourself," said Lisa. "Danger makes sex fun."

"Those aren't necessarily one and the same, Lisa."

"Eh, semantics. Regardless, you two seem keen on making it work." Marx paused, took a sip of her tea. "Or at least, getting every last orgasm possible out of each other," she said with a grin and a wink at Jenny. "Same difference, right?"

Elijah's cousin looked away, blushing furiously. "It certainly sounded like you were having fun," she muttered.

Susan buried her face in her hands for a moment. "We are not having this conversation."

"What a shame," said Lisa. She stood and stretched, a motion which showed off the lines of her body through her dress – and one which Jenny definitely noticed, Susan saw. "So, Jenny says this is an Exodus safehouse. I won't stick around, then."

"You have something against them?"

"Not personally. I'd just as soon keep out of their way, though. No reason to get entangled and all that." She shrugged. "Besides, didn't bring a change of clothes. Not that I wouldn't love to stick around, but…"

"Right," said Susan, smiling. "You and commitments."

"Hardly a commitment we're talking about here," Marx replied. "It's only, what? A couple of days? Exodus will have a team here before too long, if I know them."

"Yeah."

"And what about her?" Lisa nodded towards Jenny. "You dragged the poor girl out of her life without even a spare set of panties." Her grin grew as Jenny blushed again. "You should let me take her; I've got some things that should fit. Look good, too."

"I don't even want to know," said Susan. She turned to Jenny. "It's not that long, anyways. Once the contracts expire, you can probably return to the way things were before if you keep your head down. It may take a bit to put things back together, but-"

"What if I don't want it to?" Jenny said. "For things to go back to the way they were?"

Susan frowned. "You… What?"

"It's not like I enjoy people shooting at me," Jenny said quickly.

"We call that going kinetic," Lisa interjected.

"Marx," Susan said, shooting a glare at the other assassin. "You're not helping."

"This is not my fault," Lisa said, flicking a hand at Jenny. "Definitely not."

Susan leaned back, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. She turned back to Jenny, who was still leaning against the counter, looking more sheepish than ever. Susan nodded at an empty chair at the table. "Sit."

"Ooh," Lisa said. "I know that tone."

"You stay out of this."

"Will you punish me if I promise to be bad?"

"Marx…"

"Kidding, kidding." Lisa chuckled as Jenny came over and slid into the seat. "Besides, I left the cuffs at home."

Susan shook her head and sighed. "Explain," she said to Jenny.

"Well, like I said, I'm not enjoying the part where people are trying to kill us," the young woman said, her voice increasing in speed with every word. "At least, I don't think I am. But… it is a lot more exciting than camping out in the lab. Plus there's the hotel and the cars and the etiquette and Miss Marx showed me those coins you used and everything's so glamorous."

"Lisa…"

"She was curious!" Marx said. "And I'm always keen to help a girl learn."

"The glamor is a mask," Susan said. "It's a façade, a veneer over an ugly reality."

"You're being a little harsh." Lisa took another sip of her tea. "It's also part of a system, one that keeps things from being even uglier. The trappings do have a purpose."

"A sinister one, if you think about it. Letting us pretend we're civilized about the things we do?"

"I'm not debating that. I'm just saying that things would be even worse without it."

"Look, I get it," Jenny broke in. "Bloodshed bad. It's just… you and tang ge seem to having the time of your lives whenever things go kinetic or whatever the hell you call it.

"Has it occurred to you that your cousin and I might be incredibly screwed up people?" Susan said dryly.

"Repeatedly. But then… who isn't screwed up in some way, right?"

"That's… not a good reason."

"I know!" Jenny scrubbed one hand over her face. "I just- This is all so exciting. I mean, I don't know if that's good, but…"

"So go bungie jumping or skydiving," Susan said with a sigh. "You don't need to get involved in all this. You don't want to. This world has a tendency to swallow people and chew them down to nothing."

"You're being dramatic," Lisa said.

"Am I? How many of us get to retire? How many die peacefully?"

"Nobody dies in peace. It's what you get out of life that matters, Rizzi."

Susan scowled. "You. Are not. Helping."

"I'm not saying I want to run off and be an assassin," Jenny said. "I'm just enjoying the excitement while it lasts."

"As long as it ends."

Jenny looked over at Susan for a long moment, a half-smile on her face. "You're really not what I would have expected from a professional hitwoman."

"Ex-hitwoman."

"You're not out yet," said Marx. "Contract's still active."

"I'm aware of that, thanks." Susan returned Lisa's grin and turned back to Jenny. "What were you expecting?"

Jenny shrugged at that. "I dunno, I guess somebody a little more… ruthless? Less caring, I suppose."

"That's Susan here," Lisa said with another laugh. "The big softie; always picky about the contracts and the targets and the collateral damage."

"It doesn't change what I've done," Susan said quietly.

"I'm not judging," said Jenny. "You did save my life. Eli didn't drag you into it, did he?"

She smiled. "He tried to keep me out of it."

"He did? Of course he did. Let me guess: he didn't want to impose?"

"Something like that," Susan said.

"Sounds like him," Jenny said. She stared at Susan, a gleam of curiosity in her eyes. "So you… volunteered to come get me?"

Susan nodded.

"Softie," said Lisa.

"I'll accept that." Susan wrapped her hands around her own mug, feeling the heat of the tea inside against her palms.

"You will?" Surprise laced Lisa's voice, and she narrowed her eyes. "What happened to you?"

"I fell in love."

"You really are lost to the fold, aren't you?" Lisa stared at her for a moment, tilted her head. "No, I don't believe it. The stuff I've seen you do; you've got a talent for this, Rizzi. You're a fighter. Walk away from all this, fine. It's not gonna change who you are."

"It doesn't have to." The three ladies jumped as Elijah's voice came from the doorway. Stars, thought Susan, he can certainly move quietly. "Susan's fine just the way she is."

"How sweet," said Lisa. She gave Elijah a once-over; his pants were dirty and muddy. "Dealt with the bodies, did you?"

Elijah nodded as he headed past them towards the bathroom. "Benefits of an old quarry." He paused. "Makes me wonder if it's not an accident this cabin is here."

"And on that cheery thought," Lisa said, standing up, "I believe I'll head out."

"Why?" he asked, pausing. "Do they have reason to be after you?"

"No, but I'm not sure they'd like me rolling up to one of their safehouses without an invitation. If anyone asks, I was never here."

"They're not that scary," Elijah said. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"I'd rather not push things."

"Since when?" said Susan, smirking.

"Quiet, you."

Elijah nodded. "I'd shake your hand, but…" He gestured at his mud-spattered clothes. "You probably don't want to." He looked at Lisa, cupped one hand over the other before his chest, and gave her a bow. "Thank you, Marx. We're in your debt."

"I'll track you guys down later," she said, then grinned. "Not like that."

He nodded again. "I look forward to it."

Lisa stepped over and pulled Susan into a gentle hug. "Good luck," she said. "With everything."

"Thanks, Lisa." Susan smiled at the other woman. "Whatever happens, you'll always be welcome. Take care of yourself."

"Always do." Marx threw on her coat and gathered up her rifle before heading for the door. She paused, looked back at Jenny. "Call me if you want to have some fun," she said with a wink, then sashayed off.

Elijah looked over at Jenny, who'd gone a particularly vibrant shade of scarlet. "Is there something I should know about?"


The Exodus Railroad team showed up a day later. Two cars appeared in the dead of night, their blocky forms gray and grainy in the monitors as they approached the cameras covering the road. "How do we know that's Exodus?" Susan said as she sat up on the couch.

On the screen, the lead car flashed its lights in a brief pattern. "That's it," Elijah said, pointing. "An Exodus code for approach."

Susan checked her pistol. "You'll forgive me if I'm still cautious about it."

"I don't blame you at all."

They waited for the cars to arrive in the common room, peering out the doorway in silence. Susan had her rifle loaded and ready even as she favored her torso where she'd taken the bullets. Hopefully the people approaching were actually from the Railroad; she wasn't in any condition for a fight.

The lights heralded the arrival of the small convoy, beacons in the night as they drove through the clearing up to the cabin. Susan tensed as they ground to a halt before the door. She clutched her rifle as the sound of opening car doors drifted through the night. The glare from the headlights kept them from seeing the occupants.

A moment passed, and then a voice like rumbling gravel sounded from beside the lead car. "Mister Wu?"

Elijah glanced at Susan from across the doorway. "Titus," he called. "That you?"

"It is indeed." A form circled the car doors toward the cabin entrance. It was a man, tall and strongly built, with skin the color of black coffee. His shaved head gleamed in the glare of the lights. He nodded at the doorway. "Hiding again, slippery one?"

"There's been a few too many unfriendly guns recently," Elijah said. "Hard to know who to trust."

The man, Titus, let loose a belly laugh that reverberated in the darkness. "A fine jest, coming from one such as yourself."

"You're the one rolling up with a team."

"The world is a dangerous place these days." Titus folded his arms over the stubby, modernized AK slung across his chest. "More so than usual. Your circle's responsible for most of that. The High Table is perturbed about something."

"That's way out of our pay grade," Elijah said.

"Agreed," said Titus. "When giants stir, mortals ought to seek shelter."

"Much like what we're doing. And in that regard… perhaps we should get moving?"

"Are you in a hurry?"

"We've already fought off one group on our tail," Elijah said. "I'd rather not push it."

"We do not answer to you." Titus stepped closer to the doorway. "We have traveled far, interrupted a task of importance. My team needs rest first. We will set out in the morning."

"That may not be a good idea," Susan said from where she covered the approach. "They've already found us once."

"Miss Rizzi, I presume?" Titus said. "It would be a foolish assassin indeed who assaulted this place with a full team to defend it. Now, are you quite finished trying to keep us out of our own property?"

Elijah sighed, stepped into the open, and beckoned towards the inside of the cabin. "It is your place."

"It's more than that," Titus said as he waved his team forward. "You altered the terms of the agreement. It was two people, not three. Such changes take time."

The Exodus team filed into the cabin, a mix of armed individuals in mixed outfits and armor. Susan noticed that several of them were walking wounded; wrappings and bandages around limbs and heads. Evidently they'd come straight from another operation.

The last one in was a slim little young woman, barely more than a girl, with Latina features. A broad smile spread across her face as she entered. "Nice to see you again, Mister Wu."

Elijah's eyes widened. "Camila? Didn't expect I'd ever see you again."

"The Lord meant our paths to cross again," the girl said. "Sometimes things work out."

"Looks like it." Elijah nodded, and looked over to Susan. "This is Camila. You remember that thing I told you about in San Diego?"

"That thing with the Vargas cartel?" Susan said. "That got you on Cuhuillo's worse side?"

"Yeah." He motioned towards the young Exodus fighter. "Camila here was part of the group Vargas was trafficking. She was among those the Railroad team freed."

"Are you pretending you had nothing to do with that?" Camila asked. "You did most of the work, remember?"

"That's not how you described it to me," said Susan. "Being modest, were you?"

"I didn't do that much," Elijah said. But Susan grinned as a hint of a blush crept across his face; the tingle of warmth in her own chest felt… good, right. Comfortable.

"Miss Rizzi?" Camila turned to her and nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Call me Susan," she said.

Camila grinned shyly. "I've heard things… is it true you took out four targets with a single knife one job? In an evening gown?"

"It was three targets," Susan said, "and two knives."

"I see you ended up joining the Railroad," Elijah said.

"Exodus taught me to fight back," Camila said. "Against the monsters of this world. I found my purpose here."

"Admirable," said Susan. "But it's definitely not an easy life you've chosen."

"I did not choose it," Camila replied. "I would have been happy to go to school and learn how to make computers. This life chose me."

"Gotcha." Susan nodded and stepped back, glancing at the rest of the Exodus team as they settled into the safehouse. Some went straight for the rooms and beds, some to the kitchen. Either they were familiar with this location or their safehouses followed a certain template, because they seemed to know right where everything was. She wondered briefly just how large the Exodus Railroad was, if its reach rivaled the Continental's.

She glanced after Camila as the Exodus strike team member moved towards the kitchen. The girl had an intensity to her, a fury that Susan recognized; she remembered her own simmering rage during the year after her brother's death. That drive, that pressure, building up in her soul with seemingly no outlet for it, nothing to make it go away.

Until that first messy, scrappy fight – that kill with pistol and blade.

The one that had drawn her to the Continental's attention.

Susan sighed. Maybe Exodus was different enough. Maybe Camila could skip the years of repressed guilt and angst.

Or maybe not. Maybe that was the ultimate fate of anybody immersing themselves in this demesne. She looked back over to Elijah, who was looking out at the darkness beyond. "Seems like you have some history with Titus. Is this going to be an issue?"

"Titus? No." Elijah chuckled. "He acts all rough, but he's… he watches out for his people. Just don't call him a softie."

"Yeah, that looks like it'll end well." Susan leaned against the doorframe and lowered her voice. "Is he good at what he does?"

"Oh, no concerns there."

"Well, let's hope we don't have to see it in action. It sounds like people have bigger things on their mind these days than us."

Elijah grunted. "That sounds optimistic."