To Be A Hero

Chapter 53: Long Live

It's warm in the mess hall.

Happy chatter fills the room, along with children's laughter and the tearing of wrapping paper. I've already given away my gifts, and everyone thankfully liked theirs.

Penelope got some puzzles, Milo got his own pair of running shoes, Sam got a dice set for his Demons and Darkness game, and Phineas got some gloves that he doesn't have to share with the other children.

Adora got a rattle. It's not as amazing as the rainfall one Sarah got for the baby shower, but it's something. She's got it wrapped around her tiny fingers right now, but she doesn't have much interest in swinging it around. She just likes holding it.

Although I wouldn't think she'd want to do much, since she's not even a week old yet. She's mostly just been eating and sleeping, and I usually wouldn't agree to taking her, but one of the things Abel does on Christmas is let any and all of the orphaned children, especially the younger ones, sit with adults so they can get some attention. Usually this is chosen at random, but I agreed to let Phineas and Adora sit with me since I know I'd be asked anyway. Plus I had gifts to give them, so it makes sense.

There's been food prepared, and most people are digging in, but I can't bring myself to eat anything. After what happened two days ago with Janine... she's not here with us right now. I don't think it'd be good for her to be in a place this... loud anyway. She needs the rest.

She told me a few things on her way back that made me... uncomfortable. She asked me about the exact date of the helicopter crash. I remembered it, of course. June 23rd, 2016. Afterwards she nodded, and told me to keep that date in mind.

After that she kept talking about the Ministry, how they said not to investigate, but didn't say anything about Netrophil having already moved out until Sam told us. And when Janine asked, he said he'd gotten that message only an hour ago.

How did they know that? We saw no one there, and there was no trace of anyone coming and snooping around. That was a point she brought up, and I didn't really know how to respond to that. There's a lot of questions she asked about the Ministry and about Netrophil that I had no answer to. I wish I did. I wish I knew, because if I did, then I could be enjoying the potatoes on my plate that Sam got for me instead of just staring at them blankly.

"Five, are you alright?"

I look at Paula, who's sitting across the table from me. She doesn't celebrate Christmas, since she's Jewish and celebrates Hanukkah, but she still comes to these gatherings since it's nice to see people happy and having some sort of celebration.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired. It's been a rough few days, ya know?"

She nods. "Believe me, I do. I can take Adora from you if you want your hands free to eat."

I nod, standing and leaning over the table to pass her to Paula. She smiles at her, taking the little rattle and shaking it to get the baby's attention. Maxine sits beside her, Sarah in her arms. She looks at Adora with a smile.

"I wonder if these two will be friends when they get older," She says, and I shrug.

"Maybe. Hopefully when they're older, things will be a lot different."

She raises a brow at me. "You're talking about the cure?"

I nod. "It's becoming an endless search, feels like. But I have to have hope."

"We all do," Paula says. "But you shouldn't stress yourself about it right now. We have enough people overworking themselves."

"You mean like Janine?" Milo pipes up, surprising all of us with the sudden input. "She isn't in here. I looked. Is she okay?"