Summerguard

CHAPTER 32: Cavalry

~PAXTON~

Stay. Wait. Don't interfere. The government has been absent in providing anything for Chrysos when her life was in clear and present danger. Yet they come in at convenience and finally realize that she's the victim too late and made my team and I sit on the sidelines as they take our hard-earned work. Literally, shoves a seizure warrant and bulldozes right through, and says bye-bye. 

Breathe Paxton, don't commit a federal crime. 

'You're civilians. Let us do our jobs.' My job is to defend my boss with my life! And that is our work that you have stolen for yourselves, probably to be set in the corners of your desks. 

'Your job is done. Let us handle this.' Fine, if you want to handle it, go ahead. Then, we will handle the situation our own way too.

My team; Nicky, Bennet, Joy, Sergeant First Class Thomas Longhunt and Master Sergeant Patty Rao of the US Airforce (Friends of Nicky), and Officer Kyle Lincoln (co-worker to Joy). The latter three are our other volunteers who specialize in hostage extraction and negotiation. When we found out that Chrysos was being held in the UK, we gathered our essentials and took flight in Longhunt's chopper, landing a day after Asher made contact with Chrysos. 

It was his idea to go undercover. I screamed at him and threatened to tell his parents that he would set himself in the den of snakes, but he was persistent, and negotiating with him when he was adamantly set on his mission would only jeopardize his cover.

We are in communication. Well, as much as he can update us. We trust him and he trusts us to get all of us home. He is dauntless and if anyone were to infiltrate an international crime gang it would be him. 

"I say we all check-in. Take the rest of the day to catch up on the time here and then tomorrow we begin working," Lincoln passes us our room keys. Nicky and Joy in one. Thomas, Kyle, and Bennet in another. And Patty and I are in the last one. We all go up the elevators to unpack our stuff. Once I settle down, I lay out my shield and sword to do maintenance on it, just so I am prepared.

"Sick tools," Patty says fiddling with the rod on Vis.

"This is Vis. Collapsible bullet-proof shield. And this is Ferrum—my sword. I'm not much of a gun kinda gal, so I've mostly been mastering these," I show her.

"Cool, well I can't wait to see you in action. Do you need help setting up anything or do you wanna head downstairs to dinner with the others?" Patty motions to my briefcase filled with all my notes and resources that I could carry.

"We need to find somewhere private enough for us to work and not be disturbed. So I don't want to unpack this here in our room or leave it for someone to take," I said.

"Good call. Knowing London, I'm sure the libraries around here have private rooms we can use. They have WiFi and internet so wanna call one while I call another?" she suggests and I think that's brilliant, so for the next two hours, we schedule and reserve a room at the local library. Afterward, I lock all of our belongings in the safe, put the do not disturb on our door, and go downstairs to have dinner.

"And that is seven. Reservations for Bennet Williams," Bennet counts us before a waiter leads us to our table. It's a modest restaurant, with a small bar, and dim lighting. There are a few patrons eating already, but because it's late, it is relatively empty which is perfect.

"Hello, my name is Carson. I will be your waiter for tonight. Anything to drink, chaps?" Carson asks us and we all tell him our drinks, while he gives us space to look at the menu. Silently, we all share the menus and wait for our orders. While Nicky and Joy seem to be conversing about the sights that they could see in this country, the others are talking about work, and Bennet is reminding me that this is where I first discovered my love for marmalade and where Chrysos and I first planted the seed to our relationship. It's insane being back here, and it irks me to miss her even more. We eat our food and pay the bills with casual conversations. I stayed back at the lounge to hang out with Nicky and Joy while the rest bid goodnight.

"Patty and I have reserved a private office space at a library maybe twenty minutes from here where we can continue our planning. I haven't heard from Asher yet, but I let him know that we have arrived," I said and stop in my tracks when I see someone I thought I would never see again.

"Dangeroux! You came back!" Guinevere runs up to us and embraces us in a tight hug.

"Gwen! You're here. Oh, man I totally forgot this was your hotel," I said. She looks stunning as always even in a casual evening dress. 

Oh. She's here. I look at Nicky and she smiles but hangs stiffly as if battling if she should be happy her ex is here hugging her or frightened that her ex is here hugging her.

"Hi, Gwen. It's good to see you," Nicky stammers.

"Why didn't you call me that you would be around?" Gwen pouts playfully, brushing her hand over Nicky's shoulder.

Nicky's cheeks flush a light pink. 

"Well, I... I am here for business actually so um... Yeah," Nicky scratches the front of her neck nervously.

"Oh," Gwen realizes and anxiously backs away, looking down awkwardly.

"Um, hello? Who are you?" Joy raises her eyebrow at Gwen.

"Bonjour. You're new. I am Guinevere Vidal. Nicky and I met a few weeks back. She was chivalrous and I helped her realize some things," Guinevere confidently says, french greeting her.

Nicky looks between the two of them and is stuck on what to do. The tension is overbearing and I am debating whether or not to watch the drama or to tiptoe towards the stairs.

"Right, I see you two would like to catch up. Catch ya later," Joy hastily heads to the elevators and I trail behind her, leaving a serious Nicky talking adamantly to Gwen.

Once inside, Joy stays silent. I ask if she is okay and she smiles and says she's cool. I escort her to her room and bid her goodnight. 

When I settle under the covers, my thoughts wander and cloud my need for sleep. I know that I am jetlagged and all but I can't sleep. Not without her. My thumb brushes over my lock screen. Me in my favorite royal purple suit and her in the forest tree dress. We smile at each other and lock our lips, unaware of the photographer [Nicky] crouched behind a column. I miss her so much and wish only to have her in bed with me, cuddled in the safety of my arms, and to feel the sensation of her breath against my skin. I wish she would be by my side forever, never taken from my side again.

For now, I can only imagine. I pluck at the beads in my hair and flick them to my side. 

"Wow, these colors are gorgeous. Pink, purple, white, red, and orange," she smiles, picking up each of them one by one, "What do they mean?"

"I love you," I kiss her forehead softly and she blushes, "I love you too. I think I will be able to sleep now." 

I love you Chrysos. I may sleep tonight but only because my thoughts will always remember and cherish you. 

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