A few months later (during season 5, episode 8)

"Blessed evening, this is Commander Blaine."

"Hey. It's Luke Bankole. Do you always answer your phone that way?" He was calling Nick's satellite phone, a recent gift from Mark Tuello. Not the Gilead landline, which was probably tapped.

Nick was silent a moment. "Just habit. Did something happen to June?"

"No."

"Nichole?"

"No, no, everybody's fine here. I just wanted to talk to you, man to man. If you're free."

"Uh, sure. Hi."

"Hi. So, Nick. Tuello told me you'd gotten a phone from him, and said I could call you if I need to, which I do. I need you to start respecting boundaries and stop talking to your ex." When that received no response, he elaborated, "You need to stay away from my family."

"Your family?" Rita had told him that Nick had a 'concise' speaking style, but this was ridiculous. That was his entire answer, just those two words, with emphasis on the your. As if he thought it should be our family?

"My wife and I have a lot to work through," Luke explained, emphasizing the word wife, "and it doesn't help when you keep poking your nose into our business. I mean, thank you for the file on Hannah and the disc with her school location—those were actually a huge help, thank you—but we can take it from here. You don't have to keep calling June. Much less go see her."

"I'm not the one calling or arranging trips to the border. She is." He sounded more informative than defensive. Not much rattles him, Luke thought.

"Well, hey, how about you just try saying no to her next time."

"Just try saying no," Nick muttered. "Uh, no. I can't. She only calls when she needs my help with something, and I'm always going to say yes to her. Whatever she needs, I'm gonna help her."

"Uh-huh. What if she needs help murdering someone, would you help her with that? Cuz you know, she already killed Waterford. Beat him to death."

"Yeah."

"She told you?"

"Well, no, I was there with her." Nick sounded confused by his confusion.

"What?" Luke choked. "She told the cops she was alone."

"No, she wasn't alone…June didn't tell you about the plan beforehand? Don't you guys talk?"

Do we talk, he mused. No, not actually. Not much. There was a plan? He'd assumed June just spontaneously drove off to the border by herself. If she'd organized it with her boyfriend, maybe it was Blaine who'd murdered Waterford, and June was taking the blame for it. But no…she was covered in blood. And so happy about it. Euphoric. Pink-clouding, Moira called it.

Nick spoke again, derailing his train of thought. "You said she was questioned by the police?"

"She went to them and confessed. But they said since it happened across the Canadian border, they didn't care. They had no jurisdiction."

Nick laughed incredulously. "No jurisdiction, no punishment? Our Eyes of God are pretty goddamned different than those Canadian Royal Mounted Horsemen of the Apocalypse, or whatever cops are called there."

Should he correct Blaine, and tell him the proper term was 'Royal Canadian Mounted Police'? No, he thought, it'd sound dickish. Besides, he kind-of liked Nick's version. "Yeah," Luke drawled, "we don't, uh, torture and hang people up here, and we still have the rule of law." After six years in Toronto, he had begun thinking of Canadians as 'we' and Americans as 'they.'

After a pause, Blaine spoke again. Softly. "June has a lot of trauma to work through. She contacts me when she needs advice or help, even helping getting revenge. I'm down for that. I'm not trying to interfere with your marriage, Luke; I'm just being a supportive friend."

"Yeah, but see, you're not just a friend. That's not how you see each other, is it? You two have some history, and she refuses to just…end it with you. I've told her to, but she won't."

"Really, she doesn't do what you tell her to do?" Nick said drily. As soon as he repeated the words back at Luke, he cringed. It did sound a little patronizing.

Luke shook it off. "Well, I'm telling you: she is married. Marriage means something to me. You need to respect our commitment."

"I do respect that."

"Oh really? You guys never kiss when you meet up at the border? No 'I love you's? Cuz when June comes back home after seeing you or even after talking to you on the fucking phone, she's all smiles, like she's got some kind of afterglow."

Nick said nothing to that.

As soon as the words were out of Luke's mouth, he regretted saying them. June, being fair-skinned, actually did get a rosy afterglow after good sex; he desperately hoped Nick had never seen it. He hated the idea that he was sharing June…like that…with this guy. He pressed his lips together in frustration. "So you do kiss when you meet up?"

"I'm trying very hard to focus on my own marriage," Nick said stoically, "and let June reconnect with you. We're both trying."

He ran a hand over his eyes. "So that's a yes. Do you still fuck her?" He got the satisfaction of hearing Blaine inhale sharply. "Since she got to Canada?"

"No."

"Good. She's definitely working on reconnecting with me. She's moved on, or rather, moved back to me. Me and my bed." This was a pretty optimistic spin on things, but Luke thought it would help Nick if he thought it was true. "So you also need to move on. Forget her."

"I…can't. First off, June wants to talk to me. Secondly, we've got Nichole, so I'm always going to be part of her—their—lives."

"Nichole's just fine without you, okay? She doesn't need you popping in and out of the picture, confusing things for her."

For the first time, he heard some steel in Nick's voice. "That's not your call, Luke."

"I'm…" He started to say her father, thought better of it. "…the one who's raising her."

"Thank you for that. You're doing an excellent job. But she's my child. I'm always going to be as involved with her as possible. I'm sure you wouldn't listen to anyone who told you to back off from Hannah."

Luke was silent for a moment. "Hannah's older, though. She understands complicated things."

"Nichole's also a smart girl."

"Yeah, she is," Luke conceded. He sighed. "I've already had this fight with June."

"Did you win?"

"No."

"Of course not. If you think you deserve to be in Hannah's life, you can't deny me my own daughter. Maybe playing keep-away with Nichole isn't a hill you want to die on." He paused. "Look, June and I are just friends and co-parents now, okay? I know my role in her life, and I know yours. And Nichole…well, I would leave Nichole alone if she ever asked me to, but not before then."

"I guess I can live with that. As long as you stay just friends."

"We will. Just friends. So if that's all finalized, can I change the subject and ask if you got my package?"

"Yeah, we did. Nichole liked the picture a lot." He adopted the tone of an art critic. "She appreciated the bright colors and the diverse array of animals."

"Glad to hear it. I mean, it wasn't very good; I don't draw a lot."

"No, she's a big fan of your artwork. Big fan. Last week, uh, we visited the zoo, and she went crazy for the zebras and giraffes. So, if you ever send her another picture, maybe a savannah theme."

"Savannah, got it. How did she feel about the bear? I know she wanted something a little bigger."

"No, it's all good, he's the same size as her other stuffies. Edward is doing fine, travels everywhere with us, sleeps next to Nichole. Still wears the bow."

"Edward?"

"June said he was a formal-looking bear, so 'Teddy' wasn't really suitable. Nichole agreed."

"Teddy is…overused. Edward's better."

"That's what June said." What else would she want me to mention, Luke thought to himself. "Uh, one last thing. Serena Waterford is here in Toronto and is driving both June and me out of our fucking minds."

"She has a talent for that."

"Do you think…I mean, June has every reason to, but…d'you think she actually wants to kill Serena?"

"Probably." Nick didn't sound flippant. "Serena came back here for her husband's funeral. After one conversation, I wanted to kill her myself. Like, I plotted it out."

Just after the funeral, Serena had talked to Nick and Rose, pretending to be all happy about their pregnancy. Rose said it was cute how worried Nick was as a first-time dad-to-be. Serena threw him a surprised look—you haven't told your wife about Nichole?—before responding, "You must be so happy to finally have a child of your own, Nick." He scowled. She turned to Rose and continued, "When you told him the good news, I'll bet he got down on his knees, put his hands over your belly, and kissed it in gratitude."

Apparently, Serena had been spying on him and June at that tender moment he found out about her pregnancy.

"Fuck you," he'd mouthed at Serena.

Luke was talking, so Nick tore his thoughts away from the past. "I talked to her a few weeks ago, just one on one, and now even I am having murderous thoughts. I barely know the woman."

"Oh yeah? What did she say to you?"

"She mentioned how lucky June was to have you with her in Gilead. That you always had her back. That I should thank you for taking care of her when I didn't."

"Oof," Nick said succinctly.

"Yeah, she sure hits below the belt. What should we do about those feelings? Cuz if we're arrested for murder, you know, Nichole's going into the Canadian adoption system."

"You might want to calmly remind June of that fact. Several times, until she absorbs it." Nick took a breath. "Seriously, as long as Serena's pregnant, June probably won't go after her. We hate her, but even we aren't gonna kill a baby. Once she's delivered, though…well, just keep Serena away from you. Definitely don't let her be anywhere near Nichole: June would get very protective very quickly."

"She already delivered. A boy. Noah."

Nick was silent for a moment. "Well, praise fucking be. Is he healthy?"

"Yeah. I called Canadian Immigration on her, though, and they took the baby away. Put him in foster care, at least temporarily."

"Great job. Serves her right."

"That's what I thought. June was upset at me, though; she doesn't think anyone deserves to have her baby ripped away from her."

"Really? Even Serena Waterford?"

"If you can believe it, June felt sorry for her."

Nick exhaled audibly. "Well…how charitable of June. What was she—wait, hold on." There was a short pause, during which Luke was muted, then Nick came back on. "Sorry about that. Listen, I need to go. My wife's wondering who I'm talked to at this hour."

"You have a wife?"

"Yeah. Almost every adult in Gilead is married. We have to be."

"Oh," Luke said happily. "Congratulations."

"No, it's an arranged marriage, not…well, anyway. I have to go. Could you please tell Nichole that I'll send her another picture as soon as I can, and tell her I love her and think of her every day. Could you tell her that?"

"Sure," Luke said gently.

"And please keep June out of trouble. There are Commanders here who are still pushing for her to be assassinated, so just, you know, watch over her."

"It's really hard to 'keep June out of trouble.' She, like, looks for it."

"No shit," Nick muttered. "I know. Just try your best. Please. And tell her…tell her I hope she's finally happy."

"I will. Take care of yourself."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

I hope she's finally happy, Nick had said. I hope so too, Luke thought. But I don't think she is. I honestly don't know what will bring her peace. Fred Waterford's death didn't do it. Maybe murdering Serena would be enough? Or maybe Gilead will have to collapse, freeing America again and bringing Hannah back to them, before June can finally relax and smile.

Maybe it'll never be enough for her. Maybe she's too damaged to ever be content again.

Luke wondered what Nick would say about that, and for a second, even considered calling him back and asking him how to fix June. Blaine had said finally, suggesting he didn't think she had been happy in the three years he'd known her. Did Nick think a Gilead boy-toy was just a filler and she needed her husband back? Luke would've liked to think so, and probably had assumed that was true…until June actually showed up in Canada, miserable, angry, broken. And not in love with him anymore.

Now Luke knew he wasn't enough for her.