After everything that happened with the coral snake bite, Hitch was surprised that Carolyn still begged to go to England and see the snakes in the zoology department that Moffitt had told her about. That was what she wanted for her birthday. See all the snakes.

Hitch obliged, but before they headed to the university, he cornered Moffitt in the Englishman's house. "You're not gonna be letting her touch real cobras and mambas and all that, are you?"

"No, of course not!" Moffitt said. "They'll be behind glass. There's nothing to worry about." He frowned. "Do you not trust me?"

"I trust you. It's… the snakes and Carolyn I don't trust."

"There are ball pythons and other nonvenomous snakes that she can handle. I'm not going to take any of the dangerous ones out."

Hitch sighed. "Alright."

They went back out to the kitchen, where Carolyn was trying to hug Anah. "Are we going to see the snakes, Daddy?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're going to… see the snakes." Hitch couldn't resist a smile of his own when he saw Carolyn's huge smile, which was missing a few teeth since she started losing some baby ones.

"Alright—" Moffitt knelt to get on eye level with Carolyn, "when we go to the laboratory, there are a few rules that you must follow: do not touch anything unless you're given permission, stay by our sides at all times, and talk softly. There are people working this time of day and they need to focus, okay?"

"Yes, Uncle Moffitt," Carolyn said.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"You had better," Anah said, "otherwise I will be quite disappointed in you, dear."

"That's pretty serious," Moffitt added.

"I won't disappoint you, Auntie Anah." Carolyn let Moffitt take Anah before grabbing Hitch's hand. She hopped along excitedly as they went to Moffitt's car.

Hitch made sure Carolyn was securely in the car before getting in the passenger seat. He noticed Moffitt giving him a curious look.

"You still seem unsure of this," Moffitt said.

"Why couldn't she have asked for something normal, like a pony ride?" Hitch whispered.

"Because that's not what she wants." Moffitt glanced down at Hitch's left hand. "It isn't her fault you were bitten. That was a complete accident."

"I know." Hitch sighed. "It's just… uncomfortable sometimes. She still loves snakes, and I… don't. I'm surprised what happened didn't make her scared of them."

"I don't think she yet understands how serious the situation was. She knows that coral snake made you very, very sick, but she doesn't know it almost killed you. Frankly, I don't think she's ready to know."

Hitch shook his head. "No. Not… Not yet."

He had never been to Cambridge's zoology department, so this was as new to him as it was to Carolyn. In some ways, it reminded him of being back at Wake Forest in North Carolina, but Hitch quickly pulled himself out of those memories. Sure, he had gotten his bachelor's in architecture and was making a good living now because of it, but it would forever be tied to his previous dating behavior. Unconsciously, Hitch found himself squeezing Carolyn's hand. I have Molly. I'm happy with Molly. We have you, and we have Zach, and I wouldn't trade you for anyone.

Carolyn was looking more and more eager when they approached the massive laboratory housing all the snakes in the university's collection. She reached over to tug Moffitt's shirt. "I see the snakes, Uncle Moffitt!" she whispered.

Moffitt smiled down at her. "There are a lot of snakes here, aren't there?"

"How many are there?"

"To be honest, I don't know, but there are a lot. There are very big ones, and very little ones. Some that are extremely venomous and some with no venom at all. I can't show you all of them, but I will introduce you to some who I've gotten to know quite well."

Carolyn was hopping up and down with excitement when they entered the lab. Hitch looked around the room. He didn't see something to be excited by. There was a huge king cobra watching them from inside its enclosure. A coastal taipan turned to face Hitch as he walked by. A timber rattlesnake with the biggest rattle Hitch had ever seen coiled up and began shaking that rattle.

He didn't see something fun. He saw nothing but danger, and his blood ran cold when he saw an enclosure with a sizable eastern coral snake exploring a tree branch inside. That coral snake was much smaller than the other snakes, but it scared Hitch the most. He could still hear his shouting when he was bitten by one, and every unpleasant sensation when its venom took effect.

"Alright," Moffitt led Carolyn over to a large enclosure holding a long and thin silvery-gray snake that was draped on a branch. "This is Mahlah. He's a black mamba, with an interesting story."

Great job, Moffitt. First snake you're showing her is one of the most dangerous in the world, Hitch thought.

"Mahlah was brought back from an expedition to Namibia about a year ago. He was badly injured, very sick, and not expected to survive."

"Did you save him, Uncle Moffitt?" Carolyn asked.

"I played a part in it, yes, since I had been asked to help. Auntie Anah and I were the ones in charge of giving him his medicine, and he was very good about it."

Carolyn stood by the glass of the enclosure. Hitch was glad for the glass, but he was also glad that Carolyn was being so calm and not startling the mamba. Mahlah was clearly studying Carolyn, not looking at all interested in striking at the glass.

"Okay, are you ready to see another snake?" Moffitt asked.

"Yes!" Carolyn eagerly followed Moffitt to an enclosure holding a black cobra that looked a little like Anah, but was far larger, and had bigger venom glands and red scales on parts of its chest.

"This is Zeresh. She's a black-necked spitting cobra. She has been part of this collection for many years, and one of the researchers told me that she actually saved him and his team from a lion."

"Wow," Carolyn breathed. "Did she really?"

"She really did."

"Come on, that can't be true," Hitch said.

"No, it is," Moffitt replied. "Anah confirmed it when she met Zeresh."

"Oh. Okay." Hitch looked at the cobra. She was eyeing him curiously, then slithered up to the glass with her hood flared. Despite the glass, Hitch backed away.

"She knows you're afraid," Moffitt said.

"Well, yeah!" Hitch snapped. "This thing could blind me! I-I don't have what you have with snakes! They're terrifying!"

"A lot of people are afraid of snakes. It's not something to be ashamed of," Moffitt said.

"I'm not ashamed of it," Hitch muttered.

Moffitt gave him a look that suggested he didn't believe that.

Hitch stood in the middle of the room, feeling hundreds of serpent eyes staring at him. His gaze kept returning to the lone coral snake, and his heart started beating faster and harder. He couldn't get a breath in or out. Without much warning, Hitch felt like he needed to throw up, and sprinted from the lab to the nearest restroom.

The next thing he knew, Hitch had locked himself in a stall and was kneeling over a toilet, hyperventilating and shaking after losing his breakfast. I'm not going back there. No, I'm not going back in that lab. You have to, stupid! This is what your daughter enjoys. You have to do it. No, not if this is going to be my reaction.

Someone knocked on the stall door. "Hitch?" Moffitt asked. "Are you alright?"

"F-Fine. Just fine, Moffitt," Hitch replied, in between gulping breaths.

"Doesn't sound like it. Open the stall."

Hitch managed to open the stall. Moffitt knelt by him, a sympathetic look on his face. "You're scared because of what happened a few months ago, with the coral snake."

Hitch nodded. "Yeah. I… I can't… can't stand them now. A-And th-there's one in that lab."

"I know. I had a feeling that was what really set you off."

"This… wouldn't be a problem if Carolyn didn't love snakes."

"Do you want me to help you?"

"Yeah. You're… You're an expert."

"I wouldn't consider myself an expert. This isn't my field. I just help out sometimes because of the... abilities I was given due to the prophecy." Moffitt stood. "That doesn't mean I won't try, though. I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"I'll explain in the laboratory." Moffitt led Hitch back across the hall to the lab. Carolyn was with Anah near an enclosure housing a sleeping spectacled cobra. "Have a seat at the table," Moffitt said. "I'm going to get our tool for this lesson."

Hitch sat, unsure of what Moffitt was doing.

About a minute later, Moffitt returned holding a nearly two-foot banded snake, one that looked an awful lot like a coral snake. Hitch shrank back.

"It's alright, it's alright," Moffitt said. "This is a scarlet kingsnake. They're completely harmless. I chose him because scarlet kingsnakes look like coral snakes, but they're not actually coral snakes."

Hitch was still tense. He stared at the kingsnake.

"I'm going to set him on the table. Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise."

The first time Hitch met Moffitt nearly twenty years ago, he knew the lanky Englishman was trustworthy. Even though Troy didn't seem to fully trust him, Hitch somehow had the impression that Moffitt would be a good fit for the team, and he proved himself pretty quickly. At no point in the three years they served together did Hitch think Moffitt needed to be replaced. They saved each other's lives multiple times, and that same dedication and loyalty didn't change even after the war was over.

There was no reason for Hitch not to trust Moffitt now.

Moffitt set the kingsnake on the table, then moved around to stand next to Hitch. The kingsnake seemed much more interested in Moffitt, and, with a smile on its face, slithered toward him.

"Not today, my friend, I'm sorry," Moffitt said. He glanced at Hitch. "Alright. I'm going to sever my telepathy with him, and let him explore you."

"Why can't you just keep control over it?" Hitch asked.

"Because I'm not going to be there every time you encounter a snake at home. Now, relax—" Moffitt watched the snake start looking around somewhat aimlessly, then tapped the table in front of Hitch three times. The snake turned toward where the vibrations were coming from.

Hitch panicked when Moffitt walked away. "Hey, wait, where're you going?!"

"Just relax," Moffitt said. "That snake will not hurt you. Go ahead and touch it."

"I draw the line at touching it."

Moffitt sighed.

"I'm sorry. All I see is a coral snake, even though I know it's not."

"Do you want me to stay connected with it while you hold it? Give you a little more confidence?"

"Sure, I guess." Hitch waited until the kingsnake's attention was back on Moffitt. He tried to keep his hands from shaking while reaching out to touch the snake. Suddenly, the kingsnake was looking at him instead of Moffitt, and started exploring Hitch's hand.

"See? That's not so bad, is it?"

Hitch slowly turned his hand, letting the snake coil around his wrist and weave between his fingers. He tried not to let memories of the coral snake invade his mind. It's okay. Moffitt has control. It's not going to bite. Wait… this isn't a coral snake. It's just a kingsnake. It's harmless. Hitch swallowed anxiously, and tried to relax. He looked over at Moffitt. "What now?"

"Do you feel like you can take things up a notch?" Moffitt asked.

"What do you mean? You're not gonna put a coral snake in front of me, are—"

"Not unless you feel ready."

You've nearly died before. You kept going. You didn't request a discharge from service because of it. A damn coral snake shouldn't be the thing that paralyzes you with fear. "I'll try. Go ahead. Put a coral snake in front of me."

Moffitt gently took the kingsnake from him, then handed Hitch a snake hook. "Coral snakes are typically quite flighty, but use that to keep it from getting too close if it gets bold."

Hitch became much less sure of himself when Moffitt set the same coral snake he had been watching before on the table. "Y-You have a connection with it, right?"

"Indeed I do. You have nothing to worry about."

In the corner of his eye, Hitch noticed Anah giving Moffitt a curious look. The coral snake didn't move at first, then poked its head out of its banded coils. Hitch froze and held out the hook.

"Don't move too quickly, or you'll startle it," Moffitt said. "Keep an eye on it." He looked over at where Carolyn was standing with Anah, far away from the table and the coral snake on it. "We'll continue the tour soon, alright?"

"Why is Daddy so scared, Uncle Moffitt? He got better from the coral snake," Carolyn said.

Moffitt didn't look too sure about how to answer that. He sighed, and looked back over at Hitch, who was still carefully moving the coral snake around the table, keeping it far away from him.

"I thought grown-ups weren't supposed to be scared of anything."

Moffitt shook his head. "That's not true. I'm scared of things happening to Jules, and I'm sure your father is afraid of something happening to you."

"Uncle Troy isn't scared of anything."

Moffitt smirked a little. "Oh, that especially isn't true. He's afraid of tornadoes, and have you forgotten that Uncle Dietrich is afraid of spiders?"

"Uncle Dietrich hid in the house when there was a spider on the picnic table," Carolyn said. "Zach called him a big chicken."

"Well, that's not very nice."

"Nope," Hitch added. "That was why he didn't get dessert that day." He then glanced at Moffitt. "Zach, not Dietrich. Dietrich had got dessert. Mom wasn't going to let him leave without it."

Moffitt smirked, then turned back to Carolyn. "We all have things we're scared of. That doesn't change when you grow up."

Hitch tried to stay focused on the coral snake, which didn't seem too interested in him, or in moving at all. He kept its head pointed away from him.

"Do you want to try picking it up?" Moffitt asked.

Hitch looked at him like he had just suggested skydiving with no parachute.

Moffitt grinned. "I mean with the hook."

"Uh… I guess." Hitch nervously slid the hook under the coral snake. He froze when the snake slithered off and tried going to the edge of the table. Towards him.

Hitch saw himself slipping in the mud and accidentally catching the snake. He could feel it digging its fangs into his hand.

"Hitch, focus!" Moffitt snapped.

Drawing in a breath, Hitch swiftly scooped up the coral snake with the hook. The snake dangled, making no attempt to get away.

"Good job," Moffitt said. He released a breath of his own, and went over to relieve Hitch of the coral snake. As he opened the snake's tank, Moffitt said, "Yes, I'm very sorry I took you away from your tree branch. Thank you for being cooperative today." After closing the tank, Moffitt turned to face Hitch with a big smile on his face, he asked, "Want to try wrangling cobras next?"

"No, no." Hitch nervously laughed. "I think I've had enough excitement for one day."

Carolyn was clapping. "Daddy caught the snake!"

"Yeah… Daddy caught the snake," Hitch said. Things had come so close to going wrong, to repeating what had happened a few months ago, but they hadn't. It'll take a bit more work, but I think I can do it.

When they returned to the house after finishing the tour, Hitch joined Moffitt in the kitchen, sitting at the table while Moffitt brewed afternoon tea. "Hey, thanks for giving me that little push in the lab," Hitch said.

"You're welcome," Moffitt replied. "Sometimes, that's all we need. A little push."

"Yeah." Hitch looked at the table. "And thanks for giving Carolyn a good birthday. She'd been begging to do this for a while now and I'm glad you were able to arrange it."

"No problem. Anah and I have gotten to know some of the researchers quite well, so they were happy to give me permission. It wasn't too stressful for you, was it?"

"Once you made me face my fear, I started feeling a little better, but… only a little."

"I had a feeling. It'll take time and work, but I think you'll get there."

Hitch nodded. He fell silent for a moment, then said, "When we were talking about… being scared, I knew there was more you wanted to say about… what you're afraid of."

Moffitt returned his focus to the tea. "Yes. There was. None of it was stuff that Carolyn would understand, and frankly… I hope she never truly understands by experiencing everything we went through herself."

"At least you have us. Was there anything specific you were thinking of?"

Moffitt grew quiet. "You remember… the mission where I had to get the Coptic scroll containing a source of water? Where Troy had orders to shoot me if the Germans discovered I was a spy?"

"Yeah."

"I couldn't bring myself to read the Coptic language for many years after the war. I had this… fear that I was going to be beaten after reading anything in that language, so when I returned to Cambridge, I… I actively avoided anything to do with it. Anah and my father worked to help me conquer that fear, but it wasn't easy at all. Eventually, I managed to overcome most of that fear, enough to where I can translate documents without feeling anxious afterward. The events of that mission still play out in nightmares sometimes, but it's not nearly as bothersome anymore."

"I remember how… off you were after that mission. You bounced back pretty quickly, and… no one thought much of it."

"That 'bouncing back' was nothing more than a mask I had to wear in order to keep going, and it certainly wasn't the last."

"No, it wasn't."

"It's been a long road, but I've managed." Moffitt squeezed Hitch's shoulder. "I'm confident you can, too."