Fiona was unsurprised to find Steven absent when she awoke. She sighed but also smiled when she saw a note on the pillow. She held it up to read by the morning light. I called Chloe for a ride home, it read. Last night was wonderful. I had more planned, but I knew you weren't ready yet. I left you a gift. I hope it will be enough, for now. It ended with only, Steven.

She rose up, smiling. She looked at a nightstand, then the dresser. Her smile straightened when she saw nothing there. That was when her eyes turned toward the bathroom. She raced through the open door. A light came on, bright enough that she squinted as she threw open the drawer. She looked down at the exact place where she kept what she was looking for. It wasn't there. In its place, there was a small, cloth-lined box. It came open on a spring-loaded hinge.

Inside was a platinum ring. It bore not a diamond, but a perfect ruby.

It was morning when Chloe brought her van back to the veterans' administration building that was the front for her operations. An unfamiliar van was parked in the next space. She recognized a Goliath delivery van, with a steering wheel on the right. She rolled down her window. Kase leaned his scarred head out. "So," he said. "I heard last night didn't go well."

"I can prove Loid Forger is Twilight," she said. "Yuri won't believe me, because he's family. And because he doesn't like Loid. I'm sorry, but I can't stand by and let Westalis's most dangerous agent slip away."

"I understand how you feel," Kase said. "That's why I came to talk to you." He gave a sad smile.

"Don't give me that!" Chloe snapped. "You know I'm-!" She trailed off and stared. "You do know."

"Yes," he said. "You are right, at least up to a point. We suspected Loid was a spy since Yuri first encountered him. We have been reasonably sure he is Twilight since the Winston Wheeler operation. If he is, then Fiona Frost is probably his partner."

"But we were looking for Twilight!" Chloe exclaimed. "Why didn't you just bring Dr. Forger in?"

"Because, we play by the rules," Kase answered. "If we take one of theirs, they have to know it was because they made a mistake. Twilight came close when he took on Yuri instead of killing him. If he is indeed Loid Forger, he managed to hide his injury from Yuri. So we let him go, because we want them to play fair, too."

"That's kaka," Chloe said. "We don't leave someone like Twilight in the wind without a reason. And don't say it's above my head. I know it's over my head. You still owe me."

"You learned this on the first day of training," Kase said. "If you are hunting wolves, you must hunt the pack, not the wolf. If there is one wolf that does what a wolf should not do, watch it more carefully than any other, even guard it, because it may be the one that can teach you what a wolf truly is."

"All right," Chloe said. "So what is it that Loid Forger is doing that he shouldn't be?"

"To be honest- nothing," he said. "Certainly, that was how it seemed at first. Of course, we have evidence that he remains active as Twilight, as often as not against our own enemies. As Loid Forger, however, he has done absolutely nothing of importance. Then we started to notice patterns, not just in his actions but those of his purported wife and child and now Ms. Frost. It is as they say, if the most improbable explanation is the only one that remains, it must be accepted as correct. Loid Forger is trying to establish a connection with Donovan and Melinda Desmond. Possibly Damian Desmond as well."

"The Desmonds?" Chloe said. "Why?"

"Exactly," Kase said. "The obvious explanation is that we know what they don't. We still must consider the possibility that the reverse is true, or much more problematically, that Twilight has an objective we do not understand at all."

He smiled again, more kindly. "Now, I know you are not going to let this go," he said. "I have told command that I am authorizing you to engage Fiona Frost again. The only constraint is that you are to report anything you find to me, directly and immediately. Then I will decide if Yuri should be involved." He rolled up the window and started his vehicle. As it backed up, she was given a view of a grill shaped like a smiling face. As the van drove away, she grinned.

When Fiona came to the hospital on Monday, Steven's car was there. She smiled as she got out. She went through her day, counting the seconds she spent with Loid, well aware of his glances at a ruby ring she wore on her finger. She started a new count when Chloe pushed Steven up to the open office door as they talked. "Hello, Colonel," Loid said. "Fiona, I will admit we were planning a surprise. You're invited to lunch, here on the hospital grounds. Unfortunately, I won't be able to join you."

Fiona walked with Steven and Chloe to the hospital courtyard. "So," Chloe said, "you had another sleepover."

"I can't deny it," Fiona said. Chloe's eyes had already locked on her ring.

"So, this is the gift he got for you?" Chloe slyly. "I took him shopping last week, but he wouldn't let me see what he bought."

"Yes," Steven said, smoothly cutting in. "I suppose it's no use hiding that, either. The fact is… I have proposed to Ms. Frost. You could say I did it somewhat informally. I gave her time to think it over."

"Yes," Fiona said smoothly. "I accept."

"You didn't leave the ring and a note, did you?" Chloe said. She glanced at Fiona. "Wow, I was joking. Steven, that was in Wings Of Victory. You told me how many reshoots you had to do to get past the censors. Where did he leave it? The nightstand? The dresser? Oh, no. Not the bathroom?"

"It worked under the circumstances," Steven said. They had already reached a table in the courtyard. It had already been cleaned and set. Fiona was unsurprised to see Melinda Desmond approach, carrying a basket of food. She was merely confused when she saw a man at her side.

"Donovan," Steven said. "It's good to see you."