Chapter 28, part 1.

The applause was moderate, but it surprised her nonetheless. What was even more surprising was that everyone seemed to be listening to her, even though the subject of her guest lecture was way ahead of the students' normal curriculum. She wondered how many of them actually understood it. There have been a few questions, some of them even pertinent, but not enough to gauge the level of comprehension of the topic overall.

"Excellent, really excellent lecture, Major," Professor Makrov said as the students began filing out of the auditorium and Alice disconnected her laptop from the projector. "I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. You have such command of the subject! May I make one suggestion, though?"

"Sure," she allowed with a raised eyebrow. She didn't exactly think it was excellent. In fact, she barely got through without throwing up from nerves.

"You should speak up a little. You seemed a little nervous," he told her.

She laughed. "That's because I was. I am not used to this." She waved her hand around. "Going eye-to-eye with a life-sucking alien? Any day. But public speaking? No, thanks." She shook her head. Carter had already selected the next engagement for her: another guest lecture, this time at the Air Force Academy. The perspective that she would have to do this semi-regularly now was making her even more nauseous.

"Oh, it's just a matter of getting used to it," Makrov reassured her. "A few more of these and you'll be able to give a lecture in your sleep."

She smiled wanly. "Unlikely." She put the laptop into its case and hung the strap on her shoulder. "Well, Professor, thank you for having me."

"But of course, it was a pleasure seeing you again, Major. I hope we can do this again sometime."

"Certainly," she replied half-heartedly. "Goodbye, Professor."

"Bye! Have a good weekend!" He waved at her enthusiastically as she walked away.

Strolling through the corridors of the building, she thought back to the time when she was herself a student here. How young and insecure she had been back then! And yet, she had had something she didn't now—the curiosity and joy of life, ambition, the belief that all would eventually turn out well… and such a tremendous desire to prove herself. And what now? She knew full well what she could do. She was highly decorated, respected both by those below her rank and above—even championed by some of them. But what was the point? What it really all came down to? She had been living and breathing revenge for the past months. What else was there? Karim was gone. The life she was going to have died with him. The future was empty now.

She was out and walking towards the parking lot when her phone buzzed.

Hey, the weather's nice. Fancy going for a hike today?

She didn't respond right away. She reached her car—another rental—got in, and only then picked up the phone again to reply. A hike with her best friend would sound great any day, and he'd been behaving himself lately… maybe she had really imagined that there had been something more. Besides, she missed him. She couldn't simply cut him off because she was being paranoid, now, could she?

Sure, sounds great. Text me where and when.

"God, you're good!" Aaron panted, dropping onto a log. "I thought my form's gotten better recently because of the kickboxing, but you've not even broken a sweat!"

Alice shrugged and then handed him a water bottle from her backpack. "I'm used to strenuous physical activity every day. It's just a matter of training. When I came back from Dayton, I sucked. It took me a long time to catch up to my team."

"But I train!" He protested, his breathing slowly getting back to normal. "I do cardio twice a week, strength training three times and I've got my kickboxing classes twice a week!"

She smiled. "And that's great. You're already doing much more than most people. You're in great shape."

He affected a heavy sigh. "Not like you!"

She shook her head. "Your life doesn't usually depend on how fast you can run or how long you can walk," she told him softly.

He blinked quickly. "Yeah, I guess." He stood up and stretched, took a sip of water and then gave her back the bottle. "Thanks."

She put it back into the backpack. "No worries. Ready to continue?"

He nodded. "We're not far out now."

They were already on their way back. It had been a nice outing—they chose a rather challenging route, and maybe thanks to that it was completely empty. They haven't met a single soul. Walking side by side, they talked and laughed, and it was like it had always been between them. Alice was able to relax and decided she had been too paranoid. Aaron wouldn't jeopardize their friendship.

"Pizza for dinner?" He asked when they made it to their cars. "My place?"

"Sure," she agreed lightly and twenty minutes later they were pulling up in Aaron's spacious garage. The house was all done now—with furniture and equipment all still looking pristine, though she noted some toys stuffed in a box and left by the wall of the living room downstairs and she couldn't help but smile. Children had a way of invading all spaces in a house.

Chappy, Aaron's golden retriever, greeted them as they walked in and while Aaron went ahead to call for the pizza, Alice played with the dog for a while. Eventually, he jumped on one of the sofas, yawned widely and curled up to sleep. Alice left him there and walked out through the huge glass door to stand on the terrace with a pool overlooking the Bel Air hills.

"Wanna jump in?" Aaron asked jokingly from behind her. "It's heated."

She rolled her eyes and didn't respond. Instead, she walked to the see-through balustrade that secured the edge of the terrace from letting someone fall down on the deck below and leaned on it.

"Whatcha thinking?" He asked, joining her at the railing.

"Oh, just marveling again at how fucking rich you are," she said with a light laugh. "I mean, I remember you as a kid… remember that boy, what was his name? You wanted to impress him so much, you ended up with a broken arm."

"I remember you rushed to my help," he said, warmth in his voice. There was something in his eyes, too, that turned on the alarm bell in Alice's head back on. But he didn't say anything for a while, and she started slowly to relax again, when he continued: "Remember the day we met for the first time?"

She shook her head. "I was too young."

"You were three years old, but you already could read. I had a Nirvana shirt, and I remember being startled when you came up to me and asked me what Smells like teen spirit meant."

She blinked. "Wait, was that why you chose that song to dedicate to me at the reunion?"

He smiled. "It was just a harmless inner joke." He paused and then added: "We've known each other for so long…"

"We've always been good friends," she said, hoping he would catch the hint.

He did, but it didn't change anything. "Yes." He moved to face her and his expression was grave. "But I want more."

She felt hot and cold at the same time. Could it really be happening now? Why? Why her? Why everything always had to be happening to her? Couldn't it just be like it always was?

"Aaron…" She choked out, but she was momentarily too stunned to manage anything else. She knew this was coming—she had seen all the red flags, and yet now, faced with the reality of it, she couldn't think of anything to say.

"I love you, Allie," he continued, his voice calm, almost serene. "I have loved you for what seems like forever. I just never had the guts to say it. I've always told myself it wasn't the right time—that you were too young, that it wouldn't work because we were on the opposite ends of the country, and then you went and joined the Air Force and suddenly you were slipping away… and I tried to ignore it, I tried to find happiness somewhere else. But I can't. Because, deep down, I've always known it's only you. It's always been only you."

She turned her head away; his gaze was too intense. "Aaron, I…" She hesitated. "I can't."

"Allie," he murmured quietly and he stepped closer, reaching out to touch her. She shivered when he put his hand on her shoulder so he withdrew it. "Please, just think about it. We can be great together… I can take care of you. And you desperately need someone to take care of you."

"I don't—I—"

"I know you're strong, but you're hurt, too," he added compassionately. "I know you lost someone you cared about—and I'm sorry, I really am. But also, Allie, I know—I know, deep down, you care about me, too. You must." He suddenly grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips, just brushing them on her skin delicately.

Another shiver went up her spine and she looked back at him. "Please, stop," she managed.

He did, but he kept her hand in his. "Please, give me a chance," he begged, his eyes pleading and intense.

She pulled her hand out of his hold. "I'm sorry, Aaron, I can't—I—"

"Don't say no, please—just think about it. Just think… Jake has found someone, you can—"

"This is different!" She blinked quickly, her eyes becoming dangerously wet. "You have no idea—I can't do this." She turned around to go, but he stopped her.

"Allie—"

"Why did you have to ruin everything?" She asked, a flash anger rising in her all of a sudden. She whipped around to face him once more. "It was so good—and you had to go and ruin it!"

He looked panicked. "Allie, I—I'm sorry. I just had to tell you—but it's okay, we can still be friends, nothing has to change…"

"Everything has already changed," she said bitterly. "And it's your fault."

"Allie—"

"I've been through this once already. I don't know why I have to keep losing friends to stupid crushes…" She shook her head.

"That's not what this is!" He interrupted. "Why do you say that? I—"

"Don't!" She took a step back, tears finally breaking through and running down her cheeks. "Just don't. It's over. Goodbye, Aaron."

And then she pivoted around on her heel and walked away.

She managed to wipe her tears off and affect a cheery mood to her mom as she came home, but quickly escaped to her own room. She felt numb. She couldn't even cry anymore—it was very much like that time in London… how Aaron could do this to her? He knew how she felt about the whole affair with Deanna. He knew how awkward it made things. And that was with a friendship barely a few months old. What did he expect? That they could really just go back to how it had been before? She couldn't do this, not with him. It was better to just rip the band-aid off.

She thought of facing the coming months and years without him. His soothing presence, gone. His reassuring smiles, his comfortable silences, his supportive words, his caring phone calls, his humorous texts, all gone. How empty her life would be without him. But what was the alternative? Awkward glances, miserable attempts at conversation, self-conscious and uneasy atmosphere… no, she did the right thing. Not everything had to last forever.

At least it was one less distraction. She should be focusing on her work, anyway. It had been over six months since her undercover mission started, and what did she have to show for it? Sure, she'd achieved her first two major objectives, but she had still not been invited to join the Lucian Alliance. She'd gotten a lot of intel on their organization and their operations in the galaxy, including some that was vital to Earth's defenses, but she was no closer to finding Jareth than she had been when the New Light was starting. She had known it would take time, but her patience was starting to wear thin.

And so she threw herself into work with renewed passion. It was unhealthy, frenetic energy that kept her awake at nights again, but she could hardly cope otherwise. She tried not to think about it. She didn't even initially tell Doctor Green. What was the point? She'd survived losing Karim, she would survive losing Aaron, too, right? It wasn't like he was dead, after all. At least this wasn't her fault. She had always been very clear about her feelings; no one could blame her for Aaron's misinterpreting the situation, right?

Though she tried to keep it to herself, people in her life noticed. Jake asked if she and Aaron fell out and she said yes—he didn't seem convinced over the phone and she wondered if he'd already heard a different account from Aaron. He didn't mention it again, though. Dalia kept complaining about Alice's late hours (she had to stay at the base with her while Alice worked), Deanna seemed more preoccupied with her health than ever, and Carter threw her significant glances and often came down to her lab in the evenings to shoo her away. She wasn't very subtle about it, either. Eventually, Doctor Green managed to get Alice to confess what happened, and they spent the better part of an hour analyzing the situation—and how it made Alice feel.

"Pissed off, mostly," she admitted. "I mean, talk about being selfish! I could see something like this was coming and I've sent him countless signals that I only saw him as a friend, and yet he goes on and does this!"

"Perhaps he needed to do this for his own mental well-being," Green suggested. "It's not easy to keep that sort of thing in for so long. And are you sure you weren't sending him any other signals?"

"Oh, please!" She snorted, but then she remembered the cuddling on the sofa on New Year's Day… she was drunk, though. He couldn't blame her for things she did when she was drunk, right?

"Just asking." Green put her hands up innocently.

"And he knew, he knew I had lost someone… how could he do this?" Alice asked resentfully. "He even had the nerve to tell me I'd find someone else! I mean…" She hesitated because it sounded a bit unhinged.

Green nodded. "You clearly weren't ready to consider such eventuality yet," she said softly. "But do you think you ever will? Can you give yourself permission to fall in love again?"

Alice bit her lip and turned her head away. Could she? Anytime she thought about it, it felt like she was considering betrayal… But didn't Karim betray her as well, a little bit, when he lied about being divorced? She heard Jake's voice in her head as he was saying It may sound lame, but I don't want to spend all my life alone. Her life was already so empty, now without Karim, without Aaron… she had other friends still, but it somehow felt incomparable. Was it possible that she could find someone else, at some point in the future? Or would it always feel this lonely?

"I don't know," she murmured, dropping her head.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know!" She raised her voice a bit, and then took a deep breath to calm herself. "How should I know?"

"It's okay, you don't have to have all the answers," Green told her empathetically. "But perhaps it's something you should think about."

But she couldn't. Thinking about it only made her more depressed, and she needed to keep her focus. She was still following Green's healthy habits—going back home to sleep in her own bed, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon, eating more regularly—but it was a bit of a hit and miss. Sometimes she slept well for a week, and then there would be days of little to no sleep again. Her personal dark cloud was still there, still raining on her whenever she let her mind drift for a moment—but at least the episodes of fugue, when she would be staring into the distance idly instead of working, were becoming less and less frequent. On average, it was still getting better—but very slowly, and the progress was not linear at all. Green told her it was perfectly normal and to just keep at it—so she did. But it was hard.

At least she started gaining a little weight back. It wasn't much—half a pound one week, a bit less another, it wasn't regular, either. But the meal reminders on her phone were doing their job, and she was eating more often. She knew it would take many months to get back to how she was before, but at least she was taking steps in the right direction, finally. It was enough to make her keep trying, as difficult as it was.

It was late. Dalia was lying on the sofa switching channels on TV as if she'd been doing it all her life, Deanna was out with friends, and Alice was sitting at the table with her laptop, editing her latest article for In Layman's Terms. She was almost finished when she was interrupted by the doorbell. With a sigh, she rose, waived at Dalia to stay in her place, and went to open the door.

A man in his late forties or early fifties stood at the threshold. He had a head full of graying hair, but some brown was peeking out here and there still. He was wearing jeans and a leather bomber jacket, and looked more casual than his expression would suggest.

"Yes, can I help you?" Alice asked, keeping one hand on the doorframe.

"I'm looking for Ms. Deanna and Ms. Alice, have I got the right house?" He asked and his voice was a little rough—but not impolite, just a smoker's coarseness.

"Uh, yes, I'm Alice—Deanna's out right now. What can I do for you, Mr…?" She trailed off, raising her eyebrows.

"My name is Adam Novak," he said. "My mother lived right next door."

She caught the past tense. "Lived?"

"She passed away yesterday," he told her with a sigh. "That's why I came. She told me you and your roommate have been helping her out a lot since you've moved in and I thought you would like to know."

"Oh…" She felt it like a punch in the gut. "I'm so sorry to hear that…" Then she shook her head. "But I just saw her a week ago and she looked perfectly fine…"

He nodded somberly. "Yes, it came on quick. Pneumonia. She knew she was fading, too. I'm just glad I managed to get here in time to say goodbye."

"Of course." She pulled herself together. "My sincerest condolences, sir."

"Thank you. Anyway, I don't want to prolong this unnecessarily. The funeral will be tomorrow at the Sons of Israel Cemetery, at five in the afternoon. I know she would be pleased if you and your roommate came."

"Of course, we'll be honored." Alice bowed her head a little.

"Thank you. I won't take more of your time, then. I will see you tomorrow."

She smiled compassionately as he walked away, thinking about the little old lady with a horrible past—but with a hopeful ending… Mrs. Novakova watched all of her family die at the hands of the Nazi, and survived, and moved on—and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-four. For a moment Alice wished there really was an afterlife—it would mean Mrs. Novakova could finally see her parents and brothers and sisters again, and her husband who'd saved her life all those years ago. But she knew that was not possible. Death was final—unless one ascended, that was. Well, maybe not that final, then…

Deanna came home a couple hours later and cried after hearing the news. Alice had visited their kindly old neighbor multiple times after that first meeting—but not even half as much as Deanna did. It was only natural that she would be sad. And Alice had more experience in losing people she liked or cared about… Deanna had only ever lost her father—she even still had the whole set of grandparents.

The next day, Alice excused herself from work early (they didn't go off-world and Carter didn't even ask why Alice needed to leave early), went back home to drop off Dalia, change and collect Deanna, and together they made it to the Jewish cemetery. They were greeted by a sea of mourners—apparently, Mrs. Novakova made an impact on many people's lives. Alice could even recognize some of them—they were their neighbors, most of whom she'd met at the welcome barbecue that had been thrown for her and Deanna a while back. The only person, aside from Mrs. Novakova herself, that Alice had had any contact with since then was Forest Crawford. She fished him out of the crowd with her eyes and he acknowledged her with a nod and a somber smile, to which she replied in kind.

The ceremony was rather short and ended with the mourners coming close to fill the grave, one at a time. As there were quite a lot of people in attendance, it took a long time, and many began talking in hushed tones.

Adam Novak found them afterwards before they left.

"Thank you so much for coming," he told them kindly. "My mother often spoke of you and how kind you were to keep the old lady company."

"Oh, Mr. Novak, it was truly our pleasure!" Deanna said, all teared up. "She was such a lovely person! And after living through such horror! She told us her story, and it was so moving! Wasn't it, Alice?"

Alice nodded sorrowfully. "Yes. And I never properly thanked her for that. It was—" she hesitated. Inspiring wasn't the right word. "It gave me some much needed perspective."

He cocked his head to the side. "How do you mean?"

"It's just that—some things seem like the end of the world. But the world never ends until there are people to rebuild it." She sighed. "I guess what I'm trying to say, sir, is that your mother was a living breathing example that one can move on even from the worst of things. I needed that reminder."

He nodded, still a little puzzled. "Seems like you've been through some things?"

She restrained the urge to snort. "Yes, sir. I guess you could say that…"

He frowned. "Why do you keep calling me sir? Are you in the service?"

"Yes, sir. Major Alice Boyd, 21st Space Wing." She smiled wanly. "Mrs. Novakova told me you were a wing commander at Ramstein."

"Indeed I am. And you, Ms. Deanna, are you secretly an Air Force officer, too?"

Deanna laughed nervously. "Oh, good God, no! I'm a seamstress! I only room with Alice because—well, because she picked me up when I was hitchhiking to get here from Denver, and then it turned out she needed a roommate, so we rented the house together!"

"Deanna was the one who met and befriended Mrs. Novakova first," Alice added. "She's been over there every week, often twice or thrice a week, just to help out and keep your mother company."

"Yes, so she said." He nodded again. "She told me you fixed her laptop, and the TV when she lost the signal, and even the electric kettle." He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm an engineer. I usually don't work with kettles but it wasn't hard," she explained with a touch of amusement. Then her expression turned somber. "I was glad to help."

"Oh, tell him about the photos!" Deanna pressed, a little too enthusiastically for the solemn atmosphere of a funeral.

"Photos?" He repeated questioningly.

"Mrs. Novakova said she wanted to see Cracow once again," Alice explained, not adding: before she died. "So I did a little Google search and showed her photos and videos of the city how it looks today. It's not the same as actually going there, but it's something."

"Yes," he agreed, sounding a bit choked. "I should've thought to do that…"

"No, sir. You were away, and you have a family to think about. I, on the other hand, have more time than I know what to do with."

Deanna threw her an incredulous look. "What are you talking about? You're, like, always working. I've never seen such an egregious workaholic as you!"

Alice shrugged, but didn't respond.

"Well, I have no pull in the world of seamstresses," Novak said. "But I do have some in the Air Force—why don't you tell me who's your CO so I can let him know that you are an example of integrity and courtesy, even out of uniform."

"That's very kind, sir, but entirely unnecessary," she demurred.

"Come on, it can't hurt, can it?" He seemed a little surprised. "It could help in your annual performance evaluation. As a leader, I am always looking for that something special in my reports."

"Oh, I think they know her performance is stellar," Deanna cut in. "She just got a medal from the President himself! What was it—Silver Cross or something?"

Alice sighed. "Distinguished Flying Cross," she corrected her.

"Really?" Novak seemed adequately impressed. "You?"

"Yes, sir. But it wasn't that big of a deal." She shrugged.

"Not a big deal?" He repeated, even more bewildered. "Then what would be a big deal?"

Catching Jareth, she thought to herself, but of course it wasn't something she could say out loud. "I'm just trying to do my job, sir." She then shook her head. "I'm sorry. We've taken enough of your time. I think this young gentleman over there has been waiting to talk to you."

He looked around his shoulder. "Oh, that's just Charlie, my son." But he seemed to catch the hint, because he added: "Well, Major, Ms. Deanna—it was a pleasure. Thank you again for coming."

"Thank you for inviting us!" Deanna said and Alice just gave him another little bow. Then they turned to leave.

They didn't get too far from the cemetery gate, though, before Forest Crawford stopped them.

"I am glad to have caught you!" He huffed, breathing heavily as if he ran all the way—when in reality he only had to walk a bit faster; they weren't rushing. "It was quite a nice service, now, was it? Quite short, but that's not unusual for Jewish burials. The eulogy can make it slightly longer, but they have rules that specify when it should and shouldn't be performed, and I guess this month it's forbidden or something."

"I've never been to a Jewish funeral before," Deanna said. "I certainly thought it very nice!"

"Poor Adam! He hasn't gotten to see his mother too much recently, what with him living in Germany all this time. Talk about irony…" Forest shook his head. "You know she was a Shoah survivor?"

"Oh, yes, she told us her story—it was so terrible, so moving!" Deanna dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

"It's good that he managed to say goodbye," Alice noted quietly. "Not everyone gets to do this."

He nodded somberly. "This is the hard part of my job. When a family member comes to identify the body of their loved one and they realize they will never get to say goodbye… people think it's the cutting of flesh that's the worst, but it's not—it's seeing a person's life get destroyed with the realization their parent, sibling, child, spouse—will never come back to them again."

Deanna shivered. "I could never do anything like that."

Alice nodded agreement, inwardly thanking her stars that she never had to do a death notification. The only person under her orders who died was Karim, and his father was informed by someone from the British SAS. Of course, she just had to go and make it worse with the truth, but that was entirely on her…

"Still, the satisfaction when my autopsy report helps catch the person responsible for someone's death makes it worth it," Crawford declared. "But enough about that—I actually stopped you because I wanted to ask a big favor of you, Alice."

She raised one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I know you said you had no time for our community outreach program, and that's fair enough, but I thought I'd try anyway," he said. They were halted by Alice's car by then. "Have you ever heard about Veteran Treatment Courts?"

She frowned. "Yeah, of course."

"I haven't," Deanna piped up. "What's that?"

"It's a program that provides an alternative for incarceration to veterans who have committed misdemeanors or non-violent felonies due to trauma or substance abuse issues," Forest explained on one breath, betraying that it wasn't the first time he was giving this spiel. "They provide structure and treatment for veterans to actually get help and gain some stabilization, so instead of going to jail and only making things worse, they can have their lives back. They're incredibly effective in preventing re-offences. Frankly, it's the least we can do for our veterans," he added with a wary sideway glance at Alice.

"Oooh, that sounds wonderful!" Deanna agreed.

"We have one such court in Colorado Springs—well, it's called Veterans Trauma Court here, but it's the same principle," he continued. "Our community program often cooperates with the VTC. See, the involved veterans all have community service to perform in some phase of their treatment, and we're one of the organizations they can join to do so. So recently we have welcomed a young woman participating in the court to our midst. And here's where the big favor comes in. She is having a hard time with complying to the rules right now, and I worry she might fall off the wagon. She is really a sweet girl, with a good heart, but she's been through—well, a traumatic event, let's call it that for now. I wouldn't want to betray her confidence," he added as a way of explanation. "Anyway, I've been thinking how to help her out, and I figure she could really benefit from a good mentor. Someone who understands what she's going through. And I thought of you."

His gaze was level as he looked at her, all serious, his usual self-deprecating humor and easy attitude completely absent.

"Why?"

"I may have read a story in the paper that would suggest you have, uh, shared experiences."

She closed her eyes for a moment. How the hell did he know it was her? She did expect people close to her to figure it out—but she spoke to the guy maybe five times in total since they met!

"It wouldn't be a permanent thing," he rushed to add. "But perhaps you could just bump into her a few times when she's around, strike up a conversation, you know, just talk to her… I think she could use a role model."

"We're doing a series of blood drives at the local institutions—high schools, colleges, libraries, even malls," Deanna supplied; she had been involved with the program since she first met Forest, so she was up-to-date. "We've got the medical staff and all but we also need someone to register people and give out information. It's essentially sitting at a desk for a few hours and dealing with paperwork. Good place to strike up a conversation!"

"Excellent idea," Crawford praised. "It's two-hour shifts, we could put you together for one and see what comes out of it—and if you say it won't work out, then fair, but—well, I really want to help that girl but my white-male preaching is bound to produce an effect opposite of what I want."

"And you think I'm gonna do better?" Alice shook her head in dismay. "I'm not exactly qualified for that, Forest. If it's as bad as you say, she needs professional help, not—"

"She has that," he interrupted. "She's got counseling and all that covered under the VTC. But she feels alone in her struggle. I mean, she's the only woman in the current court—all the other participants are male."

Alice restrained a grimace. "What did she do?"

"She got high on MDMA and alcohol and crashed her car into a store window." Forest shrugged. "She's not a violent offender—she wouldn't qualify for the VTC if she were—and she knows the right from wrong, she just struggles with sobriety. Nobody makes good decisions when they're high."

Alice remembered her own flirtation with Ecstasy and alcohol too vividly to be in a position to deny it. Except she did retain some vestiges of good judgment, didn't she? She didn't go home with any of the guys she talked to that night, and made sure herself and Deanna got back safely, in a taxi. But then again, she did almost get raped under the influence… maybe there was something in Crawford's claim of shared experiences. But that was exactly why she didn't want to do this. It was all still so fresh for her—she was still working out the trauma in her own therapy sessions with Green. Rehashing it yet again, and with a complete stranger, did not sound tempting at all. Still... she'd gone through the court martial and the article in the Gazette with the notion that it would help other women—was she now going to turn around and refuse?

"Fine," she acquiesced, sighing heavily. "I'll do it—but I reserve the right to pull out at any time."

"Of course," he reassured her, relief audible in his voice. "So how about this Saturday? We're doing a drive at the Citadel. We'll be there all day, so pick a time and I'll make sure Elena is there."

Alice nodded. "The earlier the better. When do you start?"

"Eleven."

"Then put us down for eleven, then."

"Great! Oh, Alice, you have no idea how thankful I am—even if nothing comes out of it, at least I'll know I didn't just stand by and watch!" He reached out and shook her hand enthusiastically. "See you on Saturday, then! Have a good day, girls!"

And with that, he turned around and walked away. Alice only shook her head and gestured at Deanna to get in the car.