AN1 Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Hello again. I paused all fanfiction because Russia invaded Ukraine. Because I have multiple friends in Ukraine, with some of them fighting the brutal and despicably evil Russians, I invested all of my free time into following the conflict closely for a while, and my mother and my dog took ill. I'm not gonna promise frequent updates because my mindset isn't the greatest right now, but I wanted to write more fiction, so here I am!
Previously; "A few days ago, these four gentlemen, who will soon be appearing on screen, went AWOL from their duties at Aldershot Garrison," Colonel Wood said.
Four pictures soon appeared on a projector screen inside the briefing room, and Red Team studied the pictures closely.
"Shit!" Chuck exclaimed suddenly. His glance was razor-sharp onto the pictures showing on the screen.
Everyone inside the briefing room turned to look at Chuck to query his outburst.
"I know them, Boss. I served with them in the Grenadier Guards," Chuck declared as his gut sank.
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Thirty-Two: Lockdown: Part Eleven: Deserters: Part Four
Sunday, 11 November, 2007
Hinkley Point
Nuclear Power Station
Somerset
2007
"We have a very concerning development to show you today," Colonel Wood, holding a remote control in his hand, said to the full complement of Red Team. The Colonel soon clicked a switch on the remote, and a video began to play on a screen inside the control room.
Seven of the eight Red Team members had no clue who this guy now on the screen dressed in full formal military dress was prior to just a few days ago, but not Chuck. Because this guy's connection to Chuck Bartowski was that this man was his OC in the Grenadier Guards, Captain Ian White.
The entire control room paid attention to the contents of the video.
Good day. I am Ian White, Captain, 45832674, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards. A few days ago, I willingly, without coercion, abandoned my duties in the British Army, along with several of my comrades, who will each identify themselves and detail the reasons supporting their decisions in separate statements.
Since the early 1980s, cowardly Islamists with incomprehensible morals have attacked or attempted to attack Europe, Israel, the United States, Argentina, the Philippines, Turkey, and many more countries. Dozens of attacks have successfully occurred, with many more foiled in the nick of time just before reaching fruition.
Since 9/11 alone, thousands of innocent civilians have been butchered, with many more who would have joined them had the authorities not done their jobs.
I cannot sit by any longer, turn on the news daily, and see the latest cowardly attack glorified worldwide. First, it was London on 7 July 2005, then Glasgow at the beginning of this year, and in the space of the past few weeks, another three incidents of radical Islamist terrorism, with 121 innocent souls butchered and massacred over London in the name of a god, and religion, who does not, nor which does not exist.
This cowardly enemy blends freely into the civilian population of the countries it chooses to attack, enabled by the open-door policies of the governments too naive and detached from the realities on the ground. I take no issue, nor do I insert myself into the interests of the United States, France, and others. Their business is their own, and if their citizens choose not to act against radical Islam, that's their choice.
But I cannot, nor will not, sit by for a moment longer and allow my government, the incompetent government of the United Kingdom, to continue to welcome a society into this country that is blending into the environment and then turning up one day packed with explosives at a shopping centre, or a music concert, or a football stadium, and blowing women and children to a million little pieces without a single hint of remorse or regret towards innocent people who committed zero wrong or evil towards them, or towards anybody.
I say this: neither my country nor any soldier tasked to apprehend me is my enemy, but I will not allow anybody nor past allegiances to stand in the way of my objective. I disavow myself of my government's policies and its abhorrent tolerance towards the enemy, who freely attacks my country, and her citizens and I say this: no more. We will not stand for any more.
The enemy is without compassion. Therefore, neither compassion nor quarter must be shown in kind until the enemy is defeated. Long passed are the times when two professional armies met one another upon a field, fired thousands of shots at each other, and settled their grievances without terrorizing the women and children that were safely tucked up in bed with no threat of them ever becoming a focal point of the target of the hostilities.
As I speak, two protracted conflicts are raging throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither quarrel will end before this decade is over, and both conflicts will continue to experience large-scale hostilities well into the next decade. All the while, my government, just like every Western government, continues to allow record immigration from those identifying as "Muslim". While my comrades fight the enemy on the streets of Baghdad or Helmand, the enemy silently walks undetected through the streets of London, Birmingham, Paris, and Liverpool.
This is the problem that I cannot continue to ignore. The United Kingdom is at war with millions of insurgents following Islam. At the same time, the government continues its open-border policy to hundreds of thousands of people following that very same religion!
This cannot be allowed to continue.
I demand that Her Majesty's government schedule the immediate deportation of every person listed on the radical Islamist watch-list of the intelligence services. Furthermore, I demand the immediate deportation of any persons formerly present on said list, but ruled out because of politically correct, bureaucratic bullshit!
In addition to those demands, we, the Soldiers against Islam, demand the closure of all mosques nationwide throughout the United Kingdom. Religion that is being used to indiscriminately murder women and children in the very same country those mosques are situated in must not be allowed to be practised in this country again.
The Prime Minister has seventy-two hours from the time of this manifesto being aired to appear live across all news channels and inform the country of the government's plans to deport those names and announce the immediate closure of all mosques nationwide. None of the terms are negotiable: all must be met.
Failure to meet these demands will result in unnecessary loss of life on a grand scale. That is all I have to say…
At the conclusion of Captain Ian White's manifesto—and the screen turning to black—the control room housing fifteen people drew a collective sigh.
This was not good.
This was not good in the slightest bit.
"I don't suppose there's any chance of you agreeing to their demands?" Cole Barker soon asked without any expectation while glancing at the Home Office representative assigned to Red Team for the duration of their assignment
There wasn't.
"There's more chance of me winning the EuroMillions and Scarlett Johansson falling in love with me than those demands ever being agreed to, fella," Big Dan said with a straight face.
Red Team, minus Chuck and Chris, instantly began to snort. Yet again, in perfect Daniel Thomas trademark fashion, Big Dan had dropped another classic line, and his way with words never ceased to amaze anyone on the team.
However, Chris, as everyone in the SAS had come to expect, remained silent and composed, which nobody would expect any less of because he was the team leader.
While Chuck, as much as he idolized the man who had just delivered that line—and would probably have been the first teammate of Big Dan's to have broken out with laughter had the mission parameter been a different one—was in no mood for a chuckle at this present time, and everyone understood why.
Glancing at his soldiers, Captain Wallace declared, "As Corporal Thomas so elegantly put, there is not a chance in hell of those demands being agreed to."
"What about the footage? Can it be shut down and prevented from being given air time? With tension boiling all over the country right now, this could escalate things massively," Sarah asked with great concern.
Everyone in the room turned their attention to look at Morgan because this was Box 500 (MI5)'s field of speciality, and if anyone could do it, then Military Intelligence, Section 5, and GCHQ could…
Morgan quickly shook his head, glancing at the many eyes focusing intensely on his person. "Not a chance in hell," he declared, but he paused to scoff laughingly at the suggestion, "A dozen networks are already running with the footage, and I'm informed that many other networks, including from multiple other countries, will be running the videos on their stations within minutes."
"There are three other virtually identical manifestos just like Captain White's. With each of the deserters stating their grievances, each highlighting specifically the terror attack in London a few weeks ago that your team confronted and neutralized, and the London bombings two years ago as the trigger points, and is the focal point of their radicalized call to arms," Colonel Wood stated.
Some heads within Red Team started to sink as the reality of what would undoubtedly now transpire in just under 24 hours began to leave a crushing ache in the hearts and minds of the seasoned soldiers, now each faced with the unenviable task of having to do battle with soldiers whom they once fought on the same side with.
"Statistically, once an aggressor publishes their demands, there's virtually no chance of them not seeing through their objective to the bitter end…." Cole declared, trailing off his words as he finished, and his gaze hit the control room floor.
Heads within Red Team began to nod, while some team members also muttered some agreements with their teammate.
"Which is why we are ordering a shoot-to-kill policy if they successfully stop this Plutonium convoy. There will be no negotiations. Your orders are to engage any attackers with overwhelming force. A clear message must be sent that we will not tolerate blackmail nor rogue soldiers deserting from their duties and holding the country to ransom," the Home Office representative said bluntly, glancing around half of Mobility troop.
Red Team had frozen all activities and thoughts very early into the government official's remarks. However, on completion, every member of the team tensed slightly, while Chuck put his head in his hands because this mission kept going from bad to worse…
18:00 hours
A local hotel close to Hinkley Point
The full complement of Red Team moved to take seats around a large table at the restaurant of the hotel the team were based at for the duration of the assignment. After the intelligence briefing a short while earlier, none of the elite squad was in the mood for anything other than to retire to their hotel, eat some food, and then try to catch some sleep ahead of the most dangerous and distressing mission that they had ever been part of as a team.
The team of eight spent the next few minutes ordering their food until each soldier paused in silence as every comrade shared glances with each other.
There was now an explicit and rather dangerous element of tension and anxiety within the team over their orders from the Home Office representative just earlier. In the team's mind, bugger what a guy in a suit was saying: he wasn't the one who was going to have to pull the trigger on people that were once on the same side as them, or in the case of Chuck, inside the same foxholes with.
Make no mistake, each member of Red Team would and will fight and, if necessary, kill the four renegade soldiers and anyone else who showed their faces tomorrow, for that matter. But they wouldn't be doing it with overwhelming force, nor no negotiations, because in a big way, each member of Red Team understood and was in sync with most of what was said by Captain White, and everyone was about to find out where each teammate stood on the matter…
Breaking the minutes-long silence within the team, Bryce glanced around his teammates before wetting his lips and said, "Am I alone here in thinking that half of what was said on that video was bang on the money? I know he's a rupert, but I couldn't help but find myself agreeing with a lot of his points."
"Half of it?" Jamie asked, looking at Bryce, "More like 75 percent of what they said was spot on, mate."
Chuck shook his head, glancing at Jamie with a forced smile. "I'd go further and say ninety percent, Jamie."
Bryce, plus the rest of the team, nodded with the remarks.
"Now that those videos are out there," Big Dan started, nodding at the tv in the hotel restaurant, which was playing out the news, with one of the deserters on the screen, "Half the fucking army will consider joining the cause, fella, because we all think a lot of it ourselves inside, I guarantee it."
The team nodded.
"Yeah, I'd agree with all of that, chaps. But that ten percent that we're missing compared to those lads is the black hole from which they've become radical to those thoughts, while the rest of the army or patriots have stopped at ninety, at least for now," Cole said.
"How many more incidents until we become like them, mate?" Bryce asked, glancing around the team, before looking at Cole.
Cole shrugged in reply, unable to come up with a response because, like Bryce, he had no answer to that question either.
"If we do become radicalized to those thoughts at some point, then the jihadists win," Sarah declared, glancing around each and every one of her teammates, "They're trying to play us against the large portions of their society that don't want violence, which will spark a cultural war."
Most of Red Team processed Sarah's remarks, while John Murray had already composed his reply, and he said, "I'm starting to believe that a large portion of them do want violence, Sarah."
Sarah instantly shook her head, as did Chris and Chuck, but Bryce and Jamie nodded in agreement with John Murray, while Big Dan and Cole didn't know whether to nod or shake their heads and were caught in two minds.
"I don't buy that, John. Around five hundred Muslims are serving in the British Army, mate. Should we line them up and kick them out for being Muslim?" Chuck asked.
John Murray shook his head at Chuck for putting words in his mouth. "That's unfair and not what I said, fella," he complained, slightly irritated, which caused Chuck to wave his hand in apology, "but regardless, five-hundred isn't exactly a lot."
"It fucking will be very soon with all of the constant cuts to the service, fella. We'll all soon be selling The Big Issue on the streets," Big Dan joked, this time shaking his head.
The unit instantly started to snort, which soon transcended into laughter for a short period.
Once the team stopped laughing, Chuck said, "I get that it's not a lot, John, just around 0.5 percent, but that wasn't my point, mate."
Glancing at his team member, Chris nodded at Chuck. "We all get your point, Chuck, and it's a good one. I'd estimate around 2.5 percent of Muslims hold radicalized Islamist thoughts. We can't sentence to change, nor violence, an overwhelming majority of people who want nothing to do with this bullshit led by crazy Islamist fanatics."
Red Team nodded at their team leader's estimations, while Chuck said, "Yeah, I agree. So that means that around 97.5% of them mostly want to live in peace. So long as they never try to enforce their beliefs on us, nor us on them, I'm fine with that. If everyone escalates and escalates, then that's when the next big war starts, and we go back to 1939 all over again."
"What if it's already starting?" Bryce asked, "The world's turning to shit everywhere you look."
"I don't buy that," Sarah said instantly.
"Nor me," Cole quickly concurred.
And neither it would appear, did Staff Sergeant Chris MacDonald, "I don't either. The Soviet-Afghan war was nearly 30 years ago, but the world is still alive and kicking. Nor did the world end during the Cuban Missile Crisis."
"You old bastard," Big Dan retorted suddenly, nodding his head towards his team leader, "How can he remember all of that?"
Red Team's table quickly erupted with hysterics again, and once the laughter subsided, Sarah said, "Joking aside, I agree with Chuck. The solution to violent radicals is not to become violent radicals ourselves. Because then we're just like them."
Most of the team nodded in agreement, while Jamie Hughes, in search of Sarah's opinion, asked, "Then what's the solution, mate?"
"I guess people in their society, people like the Imam's in the mosques, need to stand up and be counted," Sarah said as she paused briefly to collect the rest of her thoughts, "To say that their path of violence is wrong, and is not tolerated."
"I don't see much of that from them, Sarah," Big Dan chimed into the discussion.
Everyone on the team, including Sarah, nodded.
"No, it doesn't feel like they are doing much, I agree. It feels like the jihadists have free roam to radicalize in every mosque they enter," Sarah admitted.
"I agree they need to do more," Chuck started, "The good in their communities needs to stand up to the evil. They need to gain courage and a backbone. But I will say that if we turn our guns on them or shoot up a mosque because we decide we've had enough of the radicals, then instead of the Imam's taking a stance against the violence, we'd see the opposite. For every one you kill, a hundred more take up the cause, and that's the same in all cultures; it's simple human ideology."
The unit all nodded as a signal that they concurred with Chuck's remarks. The team then shared additional glances as they started to process the closing of this particular discussion.
After a few seconds, Jamie joked, "Maybe what we need is someone bringing in the alien's mate and uniting us all against a common foe."
Red Team, minus Chris, snorted to hold in another outburst of laughter, but they were unsuccessful.
While Chris declared, "Even if a horde of extraterrestrials showed their faces, then humans would flock to sell out other humans just to survive. We're a stain on this planet, Jamie, and Earth would be better without humans living on it."
"Always the cynic, isn't he?" Big Dan said, nodding at his team leader, which furthered the laughter amongst the team.
"He's right, though," Sarah added.
"Of course, he is," Cole said.
Chuck nodded. "Yeah, he is. But I would never sell out anyone here in this room. I'd die to defend all of you without a second thought. I mean that," he said, glancing around his teammates, who all gazed back at him with an incredible feeling of fondness towards him and his words.
"The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives, as they say, mate," Jamie said, smiling at Chuck.
"The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives," Big Dan recited Jamie's words before he nodded, "I couldn't have said it any better myself, fella. But as for what Chuck just said, everyone on this team would do the same thing. But let's not let any of us die 'cause I'm not ready to say goodbye to any of you."
Bryce suddenly picked up his glass of wine. "I'll drink to that," he said, glancing around his unit.
"As will I!" Cole quickly agreed, picking up his own glass, and the rest of the team promptly followed suit.
With their glasses now in hand, the teammates toasted their glasses together in camaraderie.
"Cheers," Sarah said, glancing around everyone before finishing her glance at Chuck seated next to her.
"Cheers," the whole unit replied.
Once the team finished mouthfuls of their alcoholic beverages, the conversation resumed, with the tension and anxiety within the tier-one squad now very much passed.
"Now, about this mission tomorrow, forget what that pillock from the Home Office said earlier. If an opportunity presents itself, then Chuck is our best chance at diffusing the situation tomorrow without any loss of life. They deserve a potential out without us ripping a hundred holes into them," Cole stressed, affording a glance to each of his teammates.
The whole team nodded in reply, while Jamie went even further, and he gave a verbal response, "Yeah, Chuck, do your best to talk them down if you get the chance, mate. If anyone can do it, then you can."
Red Team nodded again, while Bryce soon said, "What about what that prick in the suit said, though? It was evident that Wood and Wallace both agreed with him, 'cause they said nothing."
"With all due respect, fuck what any of them said or was thinking, fella," Big Dan chimed into the discussion.
Chris shot a stern glance towards Big Dan. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he said, holding his rugged stare.
Big Dan waved his hand dismissively towards his team leader while the rest of the team intensely observed the exchange in silence, waiting for their turn to speak on the matter. "Nah, fella, hear me out," Big Dan started, "It's not them pulling the trigger, is it? They didn't serve on the ground side by side in the fucked up wars that we constantly get sent out to, fella. Most of us here were with 3 PARA in Helmand on our last deployment, but it could just as easily have been the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards instead of 3 PARA. I'm not gonna slot anyone who served in the same army, on the same frontline, with the same cause as me without giving them a potential out without violence before it all kicks off first."
Chris nodded in concession with Big Dan's point, and with him now finished speaking, Cole Barker continued the discussion instead, "We all know that Dan's right. It's us who will end up inside a shrink's office five or ten years from now or jumping off a bridge if we slot them all without giving them a chance to surrender. I didn't bloody sign up to shoot serving British soldiers this way."
"None of us did, Cole, mate," Jamie quickly agreed.
Red Team all nodded or muttered agreements.
"No risks, though," Chris ordered, glancing around his team, "Give them a chance to surrender if they don't start firing first, but no risk to the team, nor to the mission."
"No risks," Sarah agreed, "Just do what you have to do, Chuck. We all support you on this because, like Dan, Jamie and Cole said, we'll all be left asking 'what if we had done this, or what if we had done that' if we don't."
Once more, the unit nodded in confirmation and agreement.
"I don't want any shit blowing back on Chuck either," Bryce soon stated, as his teammates all changed their glances to look at him, "None of us, as we just said, signed up to shoot comrades, so if Chuck gets pulled over it, we all say it was a team decision, not his."
Big Dan suddenly started to point in immense approval at Bryce. "Well said, fella, well said…."
A few hours later
Red Team arrived back on the floor of their hotel rooms with the conclusion of their events for the day now at an end.
The team spent a few minutes saying goodnight before they split off into their four separate rooms.
Now alone inside their room, Chuck and Sarah settled themselves into the room.
Sarah had afforded Chuck many glances throughout the day, and she could see that the mission was already eating at him, and she understood why. Nevertheless, Chuck would not be alone at any point throughout the events, and Sarah and her six other teammates would each be there for Chuck in their own ways in the days to come.
"Sarah, I can't be bothered packing up my gear tonight," Chuck said, nodding towards his luggage, "I'll do it in the morning."
Sarah donned Chuck a smile of affinity. "Me too," she agreed before suddenly yawning, "I'm tired."
Chuck suppressed the briefest of laughs while nodding.
The teammates and newfound lovers spent the next few minutes getting themselves ready for bed before they climbed into it, and they spent a short while gazing at each other under the bed covers.
"You know, it's times like this where I kinda wish I would have listened to my mother and sister telling me to be something else," Chuck started, breaking the silence.
Sarah continued her stare into Chuck's orbs, and she swallowed air to compose her reply. "I know. I can see the hurt, disbelief, and sadness that this is happening on your face. It's been like it since we left Hereford," she admitted.
Chuck muted brief laughter. "Am I that easy to read?"
Sarah nodded. "But only on this."
"Gee, thanks," Chuck laughed.
Sarah raised her index finger up to Chuck's mouth to silence him. "It's ok to be sad about this. I'm not mocking you, Chuck."
"I know," he said, smiling at her, "But actually, I'm more disappointed that they chose to do this than I am sad. I mean, sure, I'm sad, but disappointment is my lead feeling and probably anger because they were better than this."
Sarah's lips creased into a sorrowed smile. "We all have our breaking points, Chuck."
Chuck nodded. "But not this, Sarah. What they're doing is wrong. I could never do it."
"Nor could I," Sarah admitted, and with her trailing hand still close to Chuck's face from where she had silenced him a few moments ago, she began to softly caress his cheek, "We all know what they're doing is wrong, Chuck. That's why you can't let it eat at you. It was their decision, not yours."
Chuck sighed. "But they were my friends, Sarah. Christ, I spent multiple years of my life closely embedded with all five of them."
Sarah's lips creased in sadness once more, and she soon forced a comforting smile toward him. "I know."
They paused in silence for the next minute, still holding their formed gaze towards each other.
Sarah soon broke the silence between them, "So what would you be doing instead had you listened to your mum and sister?" she asked, attempting to lead the conversation to a better place.
A happier grin lit up Chuck's face. "Probably becoming a nerd, starting a software or tech company, and watching some TV of the Olympics after a day in the office and seeing a one Sarah Walker running in the athletics for the British team," he said, suppressing laughter.
Sarah shared the muted laughter with him.
Once the moment had passed and their humorous personas restored to normal, Sarah asked, "What if I would want to be right here instead?"
"Do you?" he replied, still focusing his gaze on her alluring orbs.
She shook her head. "No, in times like this, I agree, maybe being that would have been better."
Chuck nodded, and he suppressed laughter once more.
A brief few seconds passed until the conversation resumed.
"You know, I doubt that I could have made it that far into an athletics career; I don't know if I have that kind of elite in me," she admitted shyly.
Chuck blinked a few times before he narrowed his eyes at her. "What, are you serious?"
"Mh-hm."
Chuck shook his head at the reply.
"What?" she inquired instantly.
"Who are you kidding?" he stated, "You're Sarah; you can do anything."
Joy quickly lit up Sarah's face over his belief in her.
"You know," Sarah started, "From everything I've seen, you can too, and you could probably be on the same team if that had been your interest."
Chuck shook his head, grinning. "Nah, running's not my thing. Too unoriginal," he joked, "Badminton's more my thing."
Sarah gasped, and she looked in disgust at him before she proceeded to slap his cheek ever so slightly with her hand, which remained in his close proximity. "I'm sorry I compliment you because every time I do, I always get teased about it," she complained as a smile pursed her lips.
Still holding his grin, he said, "Yeah, don't do it."
Sarah shook her head at him while sharing his warm gaze. "But why Badminton?" she asked.
Grinning, Chuck said, "Well, either Badminton or Curling."
Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Curling?" she asked plainly.
Chuck narrowed his eyes, believing Sarah did not know what it was. "You don't know what it is?"
She shook her head.
Chuck started to laugh, and he was promptly met by a slightly more firm slap of his cheek this time.
"Ow," he winced.
"Baby," she replied, laughing.
"Though, for the record, I probably have to say that I only know what Curling is because Chris made me and all of the lads, minus Bryce, of course, sit through it one day," he chuckled.
Sarah shook her head repeatedly, her mouth agape in disappointment. "So you give me crap for not having a clue what it is, but you didn't either!"
"Exactly," he said, grinning.
Sarah continued shaking her head at him.
"Chris is a big Curling freak, by the way. Don't ever speak bad about it, or actually, don't ever speak about it, or you won't hear the end of it," Chuck said, laughing.
Sarah suppressed laughter. "I don't believe you," she stated.
Chuck raised his hands up in the air. "Sarah, I swear it. It's the most boring sport ever, but he loves it. When the Winter Olympics were on, he made us watch a match and had us all rooting for Team GB. Someone rolls a circular stone down the ice, and two other people are scraping the crap out of it to land it on a bullseye-type landing target."
"It sounds boring just hearing about it," Sarah declared.
Chuck nodded, suppressing laughter.
They then entered a brief silence, with their immediate topics apparently now at an end.
The teammates, close friends, and lovers held their friendly glance for a few moments until Chuck broke it, and his gaze lowered briefly. Returning his glance to Sarah's orbs a few seconds later, which had not detached themselves from gazing at his person, Chuck's smile faded as he turned serious. "All jokes aside, I'm hoping more than anything that you're still here tomorrow night."
Sarah's breath caught, and she soon swallowed the air caught in her throat. "Me too."
With the feeling between the two of them now at its most intense point, Sarah soon developed a sudden urge to do something, and she soon began to move her head towards Chuck's, who instantaneously replicated the action.
Arriving in the immediate proximity of one another, they closed their eyes and softly connected their lips together as they began to kiss for a long moment.
Parting for air sometime later, they opened their eyes, their breaths now caught from their intimate activity.
They paused as they burned a long stare into one another.
Breaking the moment, Sarah moved to touch her forehead against his own.
With their heads touching again, she whispered, "Goodnight" into her lover's lips.
"Goodnight," he replied in kind.
Sarah then began to turn away from Chuck for the first time, but she instantly backed into him, wanting to sleep in his arms tonight, for who knew what tomorrow would bring…
Next Chapter: The finale of the arc, it promises to be explosive. Make sure to tune in, and my sincerest thanks as always to anyone who chooses to leave a review for this chapter :)
See you all soon!