I stare at Mr. Solomon, wondering how someone could fall asleep to the sound of the hovering chopper we are in. But even as I wonder at this, I can tell he's sleeping rather lightly. His arms are crossed at his chest, his body reclined only as far as the seat will go, his head tilted back only enough to touch the headboard. His feet are extended and crossed, and through the heaving of his chest I can see he's not breathing profoundly.
"Ma'am," We will descend into the Academy in five minutes, a woman who's the only one of my security detail on board (aside from the co-pilot) informs me, which might as well be translated to 'We are here, but we are waiting for someone to disarm the mines on the designated landing area'
I nod, realizing this is my cue to wake up Mr. Solomon.
"Sir," I whisper softly as I place my hand on his shoulder. His eyes fly open and he turns to gaze at me.
"We are home" I tell him, sparing a glance at the window as we start descending unto the darkened grounds of the Academy.
He nods and I offer my hand to help him step up but he waves it away and chooses instead to use his still-swollen wrist to grab the seat in front and prop himself up. His eyes close against the pain inflicted on his wrist, and his legs shake unsteadily by the added weight. I sigh and reach out to slip my hand against his lower abdomen, helping him distribute the weight.
He finally gives up and with a last wince of pain, his arm comes around to rest on my shoulder and the other moves to rest across his stomach.
As a general rule, spies do not admit to weakness. We do not ask for breaks, we do not beg for mercy, but we also never refuse help from our own people. So I remind him kindly he is not expected to be invincible.
"You are allowed to accept help." I whisper. He sharply turns to me, his gaze appraising me, making me wonder if I spoke that in English and not in Farsi by mistake.
He sighs. "I know…It's just that…" He hesitates, and I shake my head slightly.
"It's okay. I know." I tell him, realizing that as a double spy, he wasn't allowed to ask for help, and risk blowing his cover. That secret was a dangerous one, the work he was conducting to bring the Circle down was perilous, and he shouldn't have allowed anyone to help him lighten his burden by sharing it, but he had, he had asked for help and let my Dad in and he was dead because of it and ever since my Dad's demise, Joe Solomon had been a one-man operation; An operation that was failing to accomplish itself at the moment.
We listen as the chopper starts slowing and now it's me who reaches for the recliner, as it brusquely comes to a stop. Mr. Solomon's body is thrown into mine, and in that single moment, when his ribcage presses against mine, I'm made aware of how frail and thin he has become.
And yet, he's still the man who walked through the Great Hall almost two years ago, the same man who hugged me in the bridge before plunging into the depths of the river in that winter day. The same man that comes home after months of absence; months that could be described as the most terrifying of my life.
Remembering those months of confusion and heart break cause me to hold a bit tighter to Mr. Solomon as we make our way to the door. He's reaching for anything that might help steady him along the way. I spare a glance at the lady who's watching our slow procession and know she'd like to offer her help, but she, like I, know Mr. Solomon wouldn't welcome it.
However, she moves over and eases the door open, and steps back, knowing this is as far as her duty goes, once at the Academy, I should be safe. I smile my thanks as Mr. Solomon grazes my hair with one last kiss.
"I can take it from here." He says and I let go and watch as he steadies himself without aid of something to recline on.
As the door opens, I see my Mom and Aunt Abby standing before one of the back entrances to the Academy. Aunt Abby has her arms crossed before her, her expression anything but happy, and my Mom just stands there, not sure of how she should react, but she finally crosses her arms too. I also notice Zach, who's concealed by the shadows of the entrance. I can tell none of us knows really what to do and that all of us would handle a Code Black, or a bomb alert better than this reunion.
Mr. Solomon descends from the chopper and I am surprised at how easily he seems to carry himself, but I am close enough to see the slight effort he's putting into his seemingly easy smile. He turns to help me down and I gently place my hand on his, knowing he's in no condition to help steady me, but he surprises me by reaching over and grabbing me from my waist, carrying me down in one swift motion.
I'm about to shake my head furiously and tell him 'You shouldn't have', but I don't because I know he's doing it all for the show, because, after all, he's Joe Solomon and no one can pull off a cover quite as well as him, so I opt for nodding and saying "Thank you, sir."
He then takes my hand and together we walk towards my Mom and Abby. As we approach them I watch as Aunt Abby steps before my mom, as if guarding her. I squeeze his hand, and let go before heading over to stand by Zach as Aunt Abby comes close to Mr. Solomon.
"You're late, Gallagher Girl," Zach whispers and I nod, knowing it's 7 minutes past midnight, but I'm watching my aunt too intently to care. I reach for his hand and feel him hesitate before he decides to interlace his through mine, and I instantly know why. It's trembling slightly. I bring it to my lips, giving it a soft kiss. "It's not a dream, "I reassure him quietly and he nods, watching Mr. Solomon. I turn to watch him too, seeing Abby approach him.
I can see she's angry and furious because he dared mess with her sister and with her niece, but I can also tell she missed him, missed his friend and co-worker and is glad to see him back. Although at this moment I didn't know which one she felt more strongly.
"Hey there, Abby" Mr. Solomon greets tentatively and my Aunt exhales loudly.
"I swear, Joseph, if it weren't because we're in front of the kids and because my sister would surely kill me, I'd slap you right back into unconsciousness this instant." She discloses, her eyes glaring at him murderously.
"I assure you, I wouldn't mind." My mom calls softly, her eyebrows raised in a silent dare. Mr. Solomon gives her a fleeting look chuckling quietly and besides me, Zach tenses. I give his hand a squeeze, knowing he'd never stand by and let harm come Mr. Solomon's way. 'They're playing' I want to tell him, but that'd blow away all the fun.
Mr. Solomon draws a deep breath, as if preparing to deliver an apology. "I-I missed you too Abigail." He confesses opening his arms to welcome her into his easy embrace. She leans into him, arms still crossed, her head touches his shoulder for a moment and a peck grazes her head. "Don't do that again." She admonishes softly, although we all can hear the threat in her voice. She draws back, her hand balled into a fist. She tries to punch him in the stomach. By the seemly easy way Mr. Solomon catches it, I can tell she didn't use half of her full force.
"You could have hit harder." He has the nerve to tease as she turns to walk away.
"As if you could have handled it." She delivers deftly, coming over to me; my hand unlatching from Zach's as she hugs me close. "Well done, Cammie." She whispers caressing my hair. I nod into her shoulder as she lets go and we all turn back to watch Mr. Solomon and my Mom.
Now it's Mr. Solomon who approaches her, her hands still crossed as he comes near her. His hand reaches out as if to caress her cheek but she turns her head into her shoulder, like a petulant-five year old would.
"Rachel," he calls her, stepping forward as my mother takes a step back and beside me, Zach draws his hand around my waist, pulling me close.
Mr. Solomon's hands falls by his side, he lets out his breath.
"I'm sorry," He whispers, not elaborating on the apology. I feel Zach tense yet again, and as stated before I don't like seeing Mr. Solomon not in control of the situation, and I'm sure neither does Zach, but for me it changes when my Mom is the one in charge.
"For what?" she asks, still not turning to look at him. I look at Aunt Abby and see that she's enjoying this. Mr. Solomon buries his hands in his face, and for a millisecond I can see he's hurting physically as well as emotionally.
He looks up, "Please look at me." He pleads and my mom slowly turns her head to regard him expectantly.
"Forgive me. I'm sorry. Sorry for every darn mistake I've made that has affected you; starting by getting Matt into this crazy goose chase. Forgive me for allowing myself to share my most burdening secret."
I heard Abby's gentle intake of breath as we both realize what he was doing. He is asking for forgiveness alright, but he is injecting it with enough venom in his apology to make my mother feel sorry for making him do so. Yet, he goes on.
"Also forgive me for coming back into your life. I should have broken the promise I made to Matt. You were okay, Cammie, "He glances at me, and I barely notice the apology in his eyes, "She would have been fine without my guidance. It was foolish of me to ask for a job here when the pain from his disappearance was starting to heal. It was foolish of me not to tell you about my life in the Circle. Forgive me for it, and forgive me for wanting Cammie to know the truth.
I assure you, it's over. I'm done hurting you. I'm done messing with your family, and that's why I'm quitting this job. As soon as Dr. Anders gives me clearance, I'm leaving you for good."
He finished and had it not been for years of training, my mouth would be hanging open. My mother continued staring at him, her faced bare of any emotion. If he had expected a welcome-back hug, he wasn't getting it now.
My mom nodded. "Thank you, I expect your resignation letter in my desk by morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to attend to. Zach please direct him to his new temporary chambers. Abby, if you would rig up the mines again, I'd appreciate it greatly. Cameron, help her with it and I wish to speak to you before you go to bed."
She turns to walk away, not turning as she called "And Joseph, you do not need to apologize for keeping a promise to Matt." Placing herself as the better person in this game of pride.
I watch her walk away, Zach lets go of my waist, still not moving towards him. Mr. Solomon crosses his arms, waiting for Abby and I to complete our task. I shake my head, and he notices, but doesn't move.
"Just a warning Cammie," my Aunt speaks up enough for the four of us to hear, "That's your standard Blackthorne apology, and that's if you even get one." She tells me and Zach turns to glare her. Abby just shrugs as she makes her way to the detonator control, the 'it's true' implied.
Zach looks into my eyes "Gallagher Girl, I-"He tries to tell me but words fail him, I shake my head slightly at him, no need to make promise he possibly wouldn't keep. "Forget it, we'll see when the time comes, now take Mr. Solomon inside, make him get some rest, he's exhausted." I tell him moving away from him, towards my Aunt Abby. I he pauses, still looking at me. "Go," I tell him "before he vanishes again."