The Nathan James
It was lonely in the officer's mess. Usually there would be people coming in and out for coffee and tea and now there was so little of that, that it was a once a day thing. You didn't just get to come in for coffee or tea to perk up. Rachel thought it was tragic sitting there, staring at her food, her food which had been saved for her. Bacon made sure there was a plate for her, but it was nothing fancy, it was what he could scrounge up from scraps of other plates. She was grateful for it. Especially, because she didn't eat at a normal time, with everyone else. She ate pensively as she thought about what was going on.
There was only one place her mind really was. Vellek. They had just figured out that he was crazy. Well, they knew he was crazy, before, it was just now that they got a glimpse into how crazy he was. He was going to try and control the whole world with some hippy mind control as a way to "make the world a better place" as if that didn't mean taking away people's autonomy. Effectively, just becoming a dictator of thought in different clothes. He dressed it up for the well-being of people, but what did it say about him, that he was the only one that got to choose whether or not that peace could stand?
She heard a small knock at the door and stood up to open it. It was Kara. She smiled awkwardly at her companion.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Kara said as she looked around, "I just thought you might want some company. I hear you in here late at night,"
Rachel nodded. "It's the only time I'm really hungry. Bacon used to make me these bespoke meals whenever I came in here, and now, it's reheated leftovers," She said as she looked over to the plate. "It could be worse,"
"That's very sweet of Bacon," Kara said as she looked the plate over. "He's always liked you,"
Rachel nodded. "Yeah, he was influential in helping with the cure. I've always liked him too." She said with a smile as she looked away from her food. "So why are you here? Shouldn't you be sleeping. You have a husband on the ship, you could be spending time with him too. Why here of all places?" She asked with a bit of a smile on her face.
"You are right, but Danny is always fighting. He gets restless at night. I try to give him his space. Is Tex like that…restless?"
Rachel shook her head. "Tex has a clarity of mind right now. It's actually wonderful. All he wants to do is get the seeds and get back home. And when he's not thinking about that, it's about Kathleen, how she's doing becoming a woman now. That thought has him so weird inside, it's actually cute" She said and looked over to Kara. "Danny's probably just focused on the mission. It's good that he has that, but you should always be able to talk to him."
Kara nodded and something seemed to lift from her. "You know, you're right. He's just focused. It's one of the things that I love about Danny is the commitment to the job. And you know, Kathleen is doing great with Sunshine. She's capable. Tex, well, he doesn't have to worry about that,"
In the morning, it was Tex in the wardroom instead of Rachel, where there was a meeting going on about where to find Vellek. He was there to find the seeds and now it was time to find the man who had them.
When Tom and Sasha came in, they were greeted efficiently by Mike. And then Kara got right to work. "Based on Vellek's communication with Giorgio's mansion and the top speed of a Hydra class destroyer, this," She drew a large circle on the map currently on the table. "Is our area of uncertainty,"
"Damn," Tex said, marveling at how big that circle was. She was not joking area of uncertainty, he couldn't be sure how much it was, but it was big.
Meylan chimed in though, knowing just how much to guess. "Damn is right. That's got to be at least 250 nautical miles," It sounded impressed, but not happy. "Even with the helo and the rhib, we can't cover that much water."
"So what, we just try and get lucky?" Tex asked. "I'm no genius but historically that plan has not worked."
Slattery ignored the comment and looked to Kara again. "Giorgio make contact with anyone besides the lab?" He asked. That was actually a better question, Tex thought. There were reasons that he got paid the big bucks and got to command the ship, he thought. Everyone thought these guys were brutes but they weren't. They were highly intelligent men who studied hard.
Kara nodded when she brought up the logs on her computer. "Yes, sir." She told him. "He made at least a dozen calls to the same location, over the past few weeks, on land,"
"Where?"
She drew her coordinates on the map and Tex was amazed at what she could do with just a red pencil and some numbers, pinpointing where in the world a signal was coming from. That was something. "The island of Kleos," She said as she tapped on the map, right out of the edge of the area of uncertainty.
"Mean anything to you?" Slattery asked Tom.
Tom shook his head. "Giorgio never mentioned it,"
"Kleos," Sasha started, "It was an ancient lazaretto, a quarantine slash prison during the black death. The Italians reopened it at the height of the Red Flu to try and stop the spreading. Obviously, no one survived,"
"Land of the dead, wonderful," Slattery groaned. "What's Vellek using it for?"
Kara sighed and looked at the data. "Traffic Data suggests a relay station, probably to mask communications to and from his ship,"
"We've seen that trick before," Tex said. "It would make sense."
Tom nodded. "With Giorgio's mansion compromised, it may be the only way for Vellek to get secure comms," He looked over to Meylan and Kara who were standing side by side.
"We can tap into that satellite signal," Meylan started. "Use the communications log to find that ship,"
Kara countered, "You'd have to do it from the source, sir" She pointed to the map, "The island itself,"
"Kleos is about a hundred miles from our PIM" Sasha said to the group. "We could be there in three hours,"
Meylan shook his head as he looked at the map. "That takes us away from our area of uncertainty," It was logical. It made sense to try and be wary of that. They were on a mission to find the seeds and the seeds were on the ship, which they were wasting precious moments not finding. "If it doesn't work, we'll lose Vellek for good."
"Damn," Tex said again. "We could get a well of intel or they could have pulled up stakes. Meylan's right." He said as he looked around the room. "We don't have the time to make a wrong choice,"
"If it works," Tom said, "We'll have a constant into his comms in real time. We'll know exactly where he is."
That was a good point. But it would still be risking it all, hoping that they hadn't pulled up stakes with Giorgio's mansion compromised. They had a real issue of hope going on there. In the end, Tex knew he would just be along for the ride. His involvement in this meeting was the knowing of what they were doing as a civilian contractor. Mostly it was for him and Rachel to know the exact status of the seeds.
"Set Course for Kleos," Mike said. "Cooper, assemble a team,"
They all dispersed out of the room, going to their various rooms or duties. When it was just Sasha left in the room, Tex went up to her. "I'd like to take Ravit out on this mission. She's been stuck on the ship protecting Rachel, but she deserves to see a little bit of the world. Remind her what her work is about,"
Sasha nodded. "I agree. Protecting Rachel is important, but Ravit has earned some time off ship, on mission. Besides, there will be plenty of people capable of protecting Rachel if something should happen. Bring her into the fold. And get ready, when we hit Kleos we're out of here,"
When he went back to the rooms, he saw Rachel and Ravit signing in ways that seemed foreign to him. They were using a combination of their own signs and ASL they picked up while at the hospital, but it still seemed crazy to him.
"What's this all about?" He asked Rachel.
Rachel blushed. "Ravit was just noticing all the handsome men on the ship. She's not here in an official military capacity, so she can do that. And she's nervous. It's cute,"
Ravit stopped her. "I thought you were in a meeting." She said, a bit gruffly.
Tex smiled. "I was. And I thought you might want off the ship. It's been awhile since you've been off the ship. You want to go in an official capacity?"
"God yes, thank you," She said dramatically and to continue it off, held his head in her hands and gave him a kiss on both cheeks, before leaving.
Rachel shook her head as she and Tex were left standing there. "She needs some time off this boat, but you'd think she'd give it at least a second thought."
Tex shook his head too. "Nah, she's always been like that. Reeling for things," He looked at Rachel. "This one shouldn't be too bad," He said.
Rachel nodded. She knew what he meant. He had to go too. The seeds could be there. They would need his help. Hell, he was the one she trusted most in the world. Mike and Tom were great, but if Tex could bring her those seeds, she knew they were safe. He would stop at nothing to get them into her hands, even if it meant doing stupid things. She looked up at him. "At least Ravit will be there to stop anything from getting too crazy for ya," She laughed a little.
Tex brushed some hair behind her ear. "We're all coming back to you, promise," He said in a whisper.
"How long till you guys have to go?" She asked him.
He nodded. "Probably about two hours,"
She opened the door behind them, their room, and led them both in. They had two hours of peace for now. Two hours till they were apart from each other. It made her nervous, so they took the time to reassure each other that everything was okay. They were good. And nothing could ever come between them. Not even something as silly as a mission.
The time came and a knock at the door, Ravit, came to take Tex to the helo deck that they were using for off boat missions. They all stacked themselves up with guns, everyone in casual clothes and they were pretty much ready for anything. It was a big group, including Ravit and Tex, Sasha had pulled about six others to be on the team, and it was time for all of them to get on the RHIB.
Kleos
Seeing Ravit with the sun on her face in the RHIB, Tex thought it must have been some time since she actually got the full experience of sun on her face. She was so calm, taking it all in, the fresh air and the sun, and some spray from the boat, none of it bothered her. She sat next to Tex and Wolf, every now and again touching their hands ever so gently. He thought, what an experience.
He thought of Rachel on the boat, sitting in the room, waiting for them to come home, doing some science whenever she could, but ultimately knowing that she needed those seeds for the real work to begin. And she didn't have enough equipment on the ship to do that. It was supposed to be a grab and go mission. And the go part had gotten a lot slower. Even now.
Settling the boat on the coast of Kleos, they all exited in an orderly fashion, looking for the source of the signal. Everyone was aware this could be dud, but they went in expecting to find something. Nothing was not an option. Fletcher taking the seeds and getting to Vellek, it had been a hard blow. One that they all knew they were still reeling from.
It was a beautiful island, but that wasn't saying much. They were in the mediterranean. They were all going to be beautiful islands. Even if the history of the island was not so beautiful, the architecture, the landscape, all of it, it was going to be a beautiful island. It felt almost silly to look at it that way, but here he was, looking at the island that used to be a prison and thinking that it was beautiful. How in another life, he might actually like to be here on vacation.
But this was no other life. They were looking for some sort of base of operations, all of them guns up. They were set in groups of three. Ravit was with Wolf and Azima, where she felt more comfortable. She and Wolf had an unspoken language even before she went deaf. He was with Sasha and Danny, as they broke through branches to find a big older house. Hell, he didn't even know if you could technically call it a house, but there it was, with a conspicuous satellite on the top of it, and people going towards it.
"I got eyes on target," Danny said into the radio.
"Cobra copies. We're in position."
"Tiger's on station."
"I hold sat dish at the southwest tower,"
Voices from everyone were slowly coming in. They were in the right area alright. Turned out, not to be a total dud. Now how much of a success, they would have to get inside to find out. And that meant getting into the place, which wasn't going to be as easy as just walking in.
Danny reported back to the Nathan James. "Nathan James, Vulture team. We are on station, preparing to infiltrate target,"
"All quiet on our end, Vulture. You are cleared to move in,"
"Copy that, Mother," Danny replied. It was all they needed to move on in. Tex took the lead to move them out of the trees where they were standing.
Sasha held him up and looked to both Tex and Danny. "Green, Tex, look," She said as she pointed to some guys in the distance running up the road. "Those look like fighters,"
"Giorgio's guys?" Danny asked.
"Must be." Tex replied. "Look at 'em."
"This must be where he trains them," Sasha said, mouth pursing. She and Giorgio had a bit of an off relationship to say the least.
Danny bobbed his head back and forth. "Well, there must be at least forty of them. Possibly armed."
"Aggressive as hell too, don't forget that," Tex replied as he looked on. They were all so beefy. They had to be the fighters. There was no way they couldn't be. But they were all running so neatly and relatively quietly.
"So much for sneaking in the back door," Sasha said. That was true. That plan would definitely be out. There were just too many people around to make that a possibility. They'd have to find a way in that made them invisible, because taking on this many guys, it didn't sound like a fun time with only a team of nine of them.
Then Danny put something crazy out there. "So we go in through the front," He said, and then after a beat, "His fighters are from all over the region, who's gonna notice six more?"
That was certainly an idea. It was a crazy one. It was one bound to either go super well or have horrible consequences, but when was Tex Nolan ever against that? Not ever. "Alright, partner, you have got yourself a deal," He said as he clapped Danny's back. Do as the romans, that's exactly what he was about.
"Six? But there are nine of us." Sasha questioned him.
"Looks like it's boys only," Danny quipped back, as he looked between Sasha and Tex. And then Tex and Danny ran out of the trees, the opposite direction of the fighters, while Danny called, "All teams, rendezvous on my whiskey,"
"Cooper, the fighters are approaching your position, Vulture is set."
When Sasha's shot hit the water spigot that the fighters were readily starting to go for, the guards immediately went over, giving everyone enough time to get in the doors without anyone noticing that they weren't originally in the pack. Danny and Tex grouped together, while the others spread out into other areas of the camp. The guards weren't pleased by the commotion and soon after, after realizing that the spigot split seemingly out of nowhere, were more riled up than ever. They told everyone to move inside and get inside now.
The inside, like all things med, was incredible. They certainly didn't skip on the architecture, which was funny since this was built to be a place to quarantine people or imprison them, depending on who you were and how you looked at things, but Tex, he rolled along right with Danny and Wolf, who were moving with most of the men.
The guards yelled about group one, and then said some stuff, in what Tex only assumed to be Greek, because of course, that's what Vellek was, despite this being an italian island. Vellek seemed not to care about the intricacies of that.
One guard pushed one of the guys and he fell down and grunted at the push before he got right back up, but he didn't do anything to the guard. Which was strange. t these guys had high levels of aggression. They were picked for it. That's why they were here, weren't they?
"Did you see that?" Burke asked. "That guy could have crushed him,"
"I'm pretty sure we just snuck into a prison," Danny said. And boy did that not sit right with Tex. But it tracked if these guys were prisoners, why they wouldn't fight back, at least initially.
Wolf looked around, "Forty prisoners, six guards, nine guns. It doesn't add up,"
"Nothing about this adds up. Why would he be keeping his fighters prisoners?" Tex asked.
He hadn't expected an answer, but Danny had one. "These aren't the fighters Vellek's going to experiment on."
"These are the ones he's already dosed," Master Chief finished.
"They've got no fight in 'em," Miller noted.
Tex and Danny nodded. That's what this was. These guys were docile now, but not because they wanted to be. Because they were well and thoroughly drugged. Because Vellek had been experimenting on humans. Danny told the rest of the group as much. Tex felt a roiling in his stomach, an upset that he knew Rachel would feel too if she saw these people like this. Rachel wasn't a fan of violence for the most part, but these people deserved to live how they wished to live.
"So that means we gotta play nice if we wanna blend in," Burke told the group.
Everyone murmured their agreement, except Danny who was staring off into the distance. Something Master Chief noticed before anyone else did. "What is it?" Master Chief asked.
Tex looked where Danny looked and everyone else did the same. It was a guy.
"I've seen that guy from the tapes." He said, before turning around to the group, "His name is Ares and he fought Captain Chandler,"
"Maybe we should have a little chat with Ares, get some answers," Wolf opined.
It was probably a good idea, but getting time to chat, it wouldn't be easy. Especially because this was a prison. And they were supposed to be acting like prisoners. Tex guessed that the guards didn't really like the subjects talking to each other.
A few of the group had broken off to attempt to find the satellite link up. But Tex was not interested in that. Tex wasn't really a computer guy. He didn't hate technology, but there was only so much that he understood and if things came to a head, he would be needed down here where there were people who would no doubt be violent and angry if things came to a head. Of course, that wouldn't be the fighters like he expected, but the guards. They needed to have enough people to overpower the guards if push came to shove.
Danny and Tex lingered in the courtyard where Ares was, casually finding their way over to Ares while Wolf stayed on the other side.
"Ares," Danny said, in a low tone.
Ares looked surprised, as though he hadn't heard his own name in a long time. "Who are you?" He asked, looking between Danny and Tex.
"Friends of friends." Tex told him.
Danny opened up a little more. "A friend of Tom Chandler." There was nothing in Ares that suggested he knew a name like that. "I think you know him as Hercules."
"Hercules," Ares was affectionate with the name in his mouth. "Is he…like me now?" He asked.
Tex shook his head. "No,"
"He got out in time,"
"Good," Ares said with a kind smile, "That's good."
The guards rounded up the rest of them to go inside. But Danny had other questions like what the hell was going on in here, but he didn't have time before they rounded them up. Ares was off when the guards came around.
Danny and Tex made it in with the group inconspicuously, but Wolf was making himself a problem for the guards. And he was not taking it well, when he was supposed to be blending in and not making a fool of himself.
They were saying something about lunch, which to blend in, was not a half bad idea. They were all a little bit hungry. There wasn't as much food to go around and your stomach just got constantly used to the idea of being a little tinged with hunger. But to eat here, it would probably not be so bad, Tex thought.
Tex and Danny were seated in seats around Ares, who was now sweating it a little bit. "Why are you following me?" He asked.
"Because we have questions, Ares," Danny told him.
"Like the drugs they're giving you, how long do they last?" Tex asked.
"I don't know," Ares said, hands clasped together on the table. "I can't fight. But I want to. But…I can't."
Before they could get anything else out of Ares, there was a guard harassing Wolf. "On your feet, animal," Wolf, of course, complied to play along, but Tex thought it might have been better if the whole thing had been shut down there. He didn't like where this was going. He knew this type of guard. And it wasn't good. "I don't know how I missed you, the biggest guy in the room," The man mocked Wolf.
"I bet everyone was afraid of you, huh?" He asked. "Look at tough guy now. Just big dumb…animal." The mocking was incessant, but Wolf did his level best to look level headed about the whole thing. He wasn't getting angry. "Am I wrong?" He asked, before zapping Wolf with a cattle prod.
Wolf doubled over in pain, holding the table for balance. And the guard was still mocking him. "Does it hurt?" He asked. "Do you want to hit me?" He asked. But then there was no asking. "Get up. Up. Come on!" He ordered.
Wolf picked himself back up and played it level headed again, despite the clear anger inside him, he knew that he had to be good, keep up the appearances. They weren't ready to go yet. "Again. I want to see how angry you can get. Where should I hit you next?" The man pointed at various points on Wolf's body before ultimately deciding it would be fun to cattle prod him in the genitals and he would have done had he not been begged off by another guard. Ultimately, Wolf got to sit down and not hit the guard like he wanted to. But it was just not the time.
Now that Wolf was out of harm's way, they could focus on Ares again.
"How often are you injected?" Danny asked.
Ares told him with honesty, though Tex doubted that he could be anything but honest right now. "Only once," Which seemed impossible and Tex said as much to Danny. They had to be dosing these guys more than just once to keep them this calm. It had to be more than that.
But before they could do any more, trays were set down, clattering in front of all of them and everyone seemed to be single minded towards the food. It was simple food. Bread, rice, and some sort of sauce. It looked good, but not like the feast that these guys seemed to be acting like it was.
Still, Danny was on a roll with Ares. He was speaking honestly, which gave Danny time to get more information out of him, critical information.
"Ares, if they only inject you once, how are they keeping you all like this?" He asked.
None of them had touched their food yet, but everyone around them was slopping it up into their mouths. "Ares," Tex said, "Is the drug in the food?" He could believe it. This doctor was crazy enough to put drugs in food.
Ares shook his head and kept eating. "No, the drug is the food."
Others in their group were about to take bites of the food, Tex and Danny warned them off of it. They put their utensils down. Wolf pushed his tray up, further away from him, on the table. And that same guard again, came to bully Wolf, thinking Wolf was just another one of his yellow bellied prisoners who couldn't fight. And that was not Wolf at all. It wouldn't take long for Wolf to break character. Tex hoped that they got what they needed before that happened.
"I said, Eat!" The guard yelled at Wolf.
An alarm sounded and all the guys put their hands on the back of their heads. Danny gave Wolf the okay, and Wolf let his anger flow and beat the shit out of the guard that had been pushing him for so long. It was warranted in this case how pissed off Wolf was. The others got out of their chairs and started beating guards with whatever they could; hands, plates, hell even chairs, but Danny and Tex were on Ares duty. Get him out. They could use him. And hell, it might even be nice to give him a reunion with Hercules.
They all got to the door and Hercules looked at the mess in the cafeteria. It was like he couldn't believe that this was going on.
"Come on, bud. Time to go," Tex said as he pushed Ares forward as Danny shouted for both of them, because it was time to get out of there. And they had to do that with some quickness, or the guards would be on the girls in no time too.
Tex got to Danny, and Ares stood in front of them. "Tell Hercules to keep fighting," He said, before he pushed both Danny and Tex out of the way and took on the hail of bullets by himself.
Ares saved them. He'd have to think about that later, right now, it was just about getting one foot in front of the other and getting with the girls, back to the RHIB, and out of here, before these guys could do anymore damage to them.
They linked up with Burke and Master Chief, who had a weapon on them, thankfully making this a slightly more fair fight, coming out the way they came in. With the girls, shooting at guards so they wouldn't have time to attack.
They got out and made their way to the girls, with Ravit smiling at them, "Boys only, huh?" She asked. No one had the guts to respond to her before the helo came, and by then it would have been too late to do so anyway.
The Nathan James
"So Vellek isn't just injecting the fighters with Nostos, he's baking it right into their food," Tom said as he heard what Danny and Tex told him. Sasha, Rachel, Kara, and Mike were there too, looking on as the scene played out.
"It appears so sir," Danny said.
Tex nodded and opened his mouth. He had more to say on the matter. "It was a damn sight. You wouldn't believe it. It was like they had never seen food in their lives and they were starving. They just shoveled it right in, knowing that the food was dosed, and still acting like it was the best thing that they'd had in their lives." It terrified him honestly, because dear god, was the rest of the world supposed to be like that? If they allowed him to cure world hunger the way that he wanted? Was everyone just supposed to be docile and honest and think nothing of it?
"So that's why he wanted the seeds." Kara said.
Rachel nodded. "Yes, from everything we've gathered from Vellek's prison and Giorgio's mansion, this certainly tracks with what he wants." She didn't seem very happy about that progress, but Tex knew that Rachel had always had big feelings about Dr. Vellek, that didn't always square with her ideas of forward progress.
"He cures the red rust, mixes it with Nostos, to create food that will pacify his enemies." Sasha pointed out.
"Excellent observation, Miss Cooper, that's exactly the plan," Rachel said. "He'll be unstoppable at that point. No one will be able to stand up, because everyone is hungry." She beat her fist on the desk and turned away for a minute, taking a breath. "I'm sorry, he's just, those people, those fighters, everyone, they deserve better than this,"
"It's a perfect weapon. People eating it won't even know," Slattery pointed out. Rachel nodded and Tex squeezed her hand real hard.
She was trying so hard to cure the red rust, but without the seeds, she had nothing. She had spent months, pouring over the red rust, seeing if she could cure it like the Red Flu, if she could find the active gene that was making it so resilient, but nothing. And now someone else had found it and was weaponizing it. Like people had done with her cure. Except this time, there was no good in the world coming from it.
"Even if they did, what choice would they have?" Tom asked. It was a fair question. If this food got out into the world. They wouldn't have a choice.
Tex shook his head. "This evil bastard is going to pacify or starve out the world for his own agenda. Why? Why is he so stuck on this?" He asked.
That was the million dollar question. He'd been stuck on it even when he was in the states. He wanted anger eradicated. His willingness to try and test on human subjects, to subjugate that anger, it was what got him kicked out of the States. Government science was very clear about what the protocols were around human subjects and he played fast and loose with it, trying to get his anger fantasy out there.
Rachel took Tex's hand and smiled sadly, "We may never know the answer to that question."
Kara brought them back to the task at hand. "Your work," She looked to Danny, Tex, and Sasha, "It paid off, we've narrowed down the search area,"
"But now Vellek knows we're coming," Sasha said, looking at the map.
Tom was quick to it. "He always knew,"
"Sir, we're getting an incoming transmission," They were interrupted.
"Broadcast the call,"
"I say again, Nathan James. This is Commander James Fletcher, you were right about-"
"Can we triangulate that signal?"
"No sir, it's coming from a satellite, untraceable,"
Rachel squeezed Tex's hand as they heard the call.
"-a biological weapon, something to do with behavior control. I'm not sure exactly on how he's planning to use it, but we're on a warship headed to Malta. I say again, we're headed to Malta. You must stop him, you're the only ones who can. I know this doesn't make things right. You must believe me, I only did this to serve my country. Sasha, I'm so sorry I hurt you. I hope even if you don't forgive me, that you'll understand. I never meant to hurt-"
And then the static started hissing, the call was dropped. Everyone took a second. They knew what was likely on the other end of the static. They didn't talk about it. Everyone looked at the map now too.
"Malta," Mike said. "That sounds about right,"
Tex and Rachel settled in the wardroom, where Rachel picked at her food. Bacon had done a good job of picking things she would like, but the mood was just something she couldn't handle. She thought Vellek was a genius and a madman at the same time. If he had just been a little more sane, he could have been a hero of the world. Hell, she probably would have worked with him if these ideas about behavior control weren't in his head.
Tex looked at her. "Come on, actually eat," He said. "You need strength. Strength is the only way that we get out of this mess."
Rachel shook her head. "I know you never liked Fletcher, but he did us a solid by reiterating what we already knew and giving us a heading."
Tex shrugged. "Even a broken clock gets it right twice a day," He said with a little bit of lightness in his voice. "He could have had that courage before he betrayed us, but at least he found it,"
Rachel looked between her food and Tex and thought, you know, everyone has a chance to turn it around. Fletcher did it. They could make it there and figure it out. They could make the world healthy again. It gave her hope. She took an actual bite of her food and smiled to her husband. She loved him more than life itself.
"How was Danny on the mission?" She asked him.
"Fine," Tex replied, a little surprised, "Why?"
Rachel shook her head and took another bite of food. "You'll think it's silly,"
"Try me,"
So Rachel did. "Yesterday, I was talking to Kara and she's worried about Danny. He's so focused on the mission at hand, he hardly sees his wife in anything other than an official capacity. And he hasn't seen his son. She's worried about him. About them."
"Danny will have time to get to know and re-know his family once we're done saving the world. That's the way it always goes," Tex said, kissing her knuckles. He didn't want her to worry about anything, much less someone else's marriage, but it did give him something to think about. If he had time with Danny, he would talk to him casually about his family, and how excited he should be to get back to them.