Chapter 58

I

Christine entered Julia’s room the day before Natasha was to be married. Christine saw that Julia was standing by the window, looking at the panoramic view beyond.  

“Mrs. Summers,” Christine said; “I have your medication for this morning.”

Julia turned around and looked at the uniformed nurse. She said, “Okay, but I don’t like taking it. It makes me feel even more weird than I already do with not being able to remember anything up to my being brought here.”

Julia started toward the bed, but Christine came to her instead. “No need for you to get back into the bed,” she said. “If you’re more comfortable out of it, then I don’t mind bringing them to you.”

Christine was greeted with an odd look on Julia’s face. She then asked, “What’s your name, Sergeant?”

“Christine Travis, ma’am.”

“I know you’re supposed to say that,” Julia said, smiling, “but I’m not that much older than you are and it sounds weird.” Julia took the cup of water and the medication  from Christine and took them. “By the way, my name is Julia. If it doesn’t piss off your superiors too much, I’d prefer you call me by my first name, and not ‘Mrs. Summers’.”

“It’s protocol, you understand,” Christine said; “It’s practically ingrained into your brain in boot camp.”

“I was raised by a Marine for the first twelve years of my life,” Julia said; “so I know about protocol. But the officers and enlisteds were usually way older than me. As I said, I’m probably not that much older than you are. What are you, about 33, 34 years old? I’m 35.”

“I’ll be 34 in September,” Christine said; “You look like you’re about 30. But that could be your height. If I hadn’t looked at your DOB on your chart, I wouldn’t have guessed you were 35.”

“So you were born in 2001,” Julia said.

“Yes,” replied Christine.

Julia looked at the Army sergeant before her. She was tall, much taller than Julia herself (but most everyone was); red hair; blue eyes. She could be Christine Collins’ daughter, Julia thought; they look an awful lot alike.

Christine caught Julia staring at her. I wonder if she knows about what happened between me and Jacob, she fretted.

“Begging your pardon, Julia,” Christine said when she found her voice; “Is there something about the way I look that intrigues you?”

“Oh, sorry,” Julia said; “I was just admiring your hair. Three of my children are redheads like their father was.”

Christine felt relieved. It’s just my hair, she thought. Then Julia asked,

“One of your parents was a redhead, and both had to have the gene for it. Are you the only redhead in your family?”

“No,” Christine said; “Me and two of my five sisters are redheads. My mother was a redhead, and my father’s family had redheads a couple of generations before him.”

“I see,” Julia said. “Redheads are usually pretty rare. Sometimes it skips generations. In my husband’s case, it’s going into its fifth generation with my kids.”

Christine was intrigued by Julia’s knowledge of genetics, and asked her how she knew so much about the subject.

“My guardians taught us according to what we needed to learn and not by age,” said Julia; “I graduated from high school at 15 and a half.”

“You were homeschooled?”

“Yes, until I was 13, then I went to the Academically Gifted Students program on the old Disturbed Ones compound,” Julia said. “It’s now called the Chicagoland Academy for the Gifted.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Christine said. “The children of the members of Disturbed went there.”

“I fall into that category,” Julia said, wondering how much she was going to sound like she was bragging. The sergeant was a nice woman and didn’t want to offend her. “My brothers and I went to go live with my mother after our guardians were murdered. My mother is married to David Draiman.”

“Ah. I see,” Christine said; “I know you’ve been rumored to be the SpineSplitter. Your reputation precedes you.”

“I kind of wish it didn’t, to be truthful,” Julia said as Christine prepared to take her leave to see other patients; “It’s made my life since the end of the Occupation a bit difficult.”

“I can only imagine,” said Christine; then, “It’s been nice chatting with you, Julia. I need to see other patients now. I hope we can talk again before you’re discharged.”

“Me, too, Christine,” Julia said.

After Sgt. Travis left the room, Julia smiled to herself. That had been the first real conversation she’d hand with anyone working there since she was admitted over a week before.

“Maybe she’ll tell someone I’m not a threat and let me go home,” she said aloud to the empty room.

===

II

It’s good to be king, he thought. I’ll rescue this sorry group from its grave if it kills me.

It was nice to have the money he had, too. At 18, he’d walked away from a fortune to make his own name. Granted he had to leave the fucking U.S. of A. to do it, but he did it. And he was only 32 years old.

He often wondered what happened to his bitchy wife and their two demanding brats, but eventually, he pushed their memory aside. Walking out on them in the middle of the night and faking his death was much too easy. But he got away from the woman who purposely got knocked up to snare him, thinking she’d share his father’s fortune. When he didn’t claim his inheritance at 18, she was more than a little pissed off, but soon got over it when she saw he had the skills to make a fortune of his own.

He’d left her a pittance in his “will”, and took the rest with him back to his home country, where he got plastic surgery to change his looks and legally changed his name. His own father or brother wouldn’t recognise him, and that’s how Richard Pike wanted it.
He did miss his daughter, though. She was the only one of them who understood how his mind worked. Pretty smart for a now twelve year old. Maybe she’ll go far, or maybe she’ll marry some European aristocrat and live comfortably.

Yes, Audrina was a smart girl, Pike thought. I should have brought her with me. I could have molded her into my image to take over the world.

He didn’t know that one day, far in the future, Audrina would figure him out, then come looking for him. And it wouldn’t be for a family reunion.

But, she would spill his secrets to the one person who had the power to stop him in his tracks. It would take a decade of work on her part, but she was more than up to the challenge.

He also didn’t know that she was not far from him, in a boarding school in Vermont. An expensive education to be sure, but one that she would take advantage of.

But that didn’t even cross Pike’s mind. He wanted to resurrect the American Republic Movement and turn it into everything that the Committee during the Occupation was not.

A real force to be contended with. One that wouldn’t collapse under the glare of a powerful man like David Draiman, the one time leader of the Resistance movement called the Disturbed Ones. One that could assassinate the President of the United States and then step into the leadership role without so much as a shrug.

It would take planning, cunning, and a diabolical mind to come up with a sick and twisted way to accomplish that goal.

But that was years away. He had to rebuild A.R.M. from the ground up.

And not put a woman like Chastity Edwards in charge. Pike would rather have that role all to himself.

Right now, though, Pike thought, I need to get laid.

===

Natasha had never been so glad to see Nik in her entire life.

He and KateLynn, and Peter and Daniel had arrived at Reagan International with Julia’s kids. Rachel always made Natasha smile, as the tiny almost-nine year old flitted about like a rabbit on speed.

And we were all so worried about her when she was born, Natasha thought; look at her now, Ryan. She’s come into her own.

The Donovans would arrive later that afternoon after spending the previous week in Maine with Joe and his family.

As the kids got settled, the adults gathered in the kitchen and talked about the wedding the following evening. Then, the conversation turned to Julia’s hospitalization at Walter Reed.

“Even though I’m totally exhausted,” Nik said, “I’m taking Miri to go see her mother. She’s the only one of the children old enough to be allowed on that particular ward.”

“This is so unlike the Julia I know,” Natasha said; “Whatever it was that caused her to disappear, it was not planned. It just happened. If she had been thinking rationally, she wouldn’t have done it.”

“That’s not really for us to say, Tash,” Nik said; “Maybe she honestly thought that John Christofferson had been murdered and she dealt with it the only way she knew how: with force.”

“There’s a lot more to it than that, I’m afraid,” Darren said; “A lot of it I don’t have the authorization to discuss with anyone but Nik and Jeremiah. What I’m mainly concerned about is Julia’s memory lapse during the time she was gone. She has told doctors she had absolutely no memory of those three weeks.”

“My God,” KateLynn said; “Lacunar amnesia! I’ve only read about people who’ve had that. They never regain that part of their memory back.”

“That’s what Julia’s doctors think, Kate,” Darren said; “I’d be happy if that’s the only gap Julia has in her memory.”

“Could there be others?” asked Natasha.

“In Julia’s case, probably not;” Darren said; “They think this is an isolated case.”

Darren saw his bride-to-be sigh with relief. He was joining this family, so he couldn’t be Nik, Julia, and Jeremiah’s boss indefinitely. They still had a year to go on their agreement with CIA.

But he couldn’t wait to marry his Queen and be her King forever. Fifteen years is a long time to wait, Darren thought, but Natasha was worth it.

He looked over at her as she spoke to her sister-in-law. The proud carriage of her head courtesy of her Russian heritage, something that he noticed both Sandrina and Vixen inherited; her long, elegant neck; her generous curves. She was a devoted mother to her twins, and a mother like figure to her nieces. She reminded him very much of his own mother, and how he remembered how she struggled in life to provide him with a stable home after the bastard who fathered him walked out on her.

Oh, Mama, he thought; I wish you could have met my Natasha. You would have loved her!

===

Jacob made a phone call to someone who once worked for him as a Ghost.

“Todd Travis, please,” he said when the line was picked up.

Whom shall I say is calling?” asked the young woman who manned the phones at Castle Protection Services.

“Jacob Ross,” said Jacob.

“One moment please, Mr. Ross,” she said. He waited less than a moment when Todd Travis came on the line.

“Hello, Morbus,” Travis said. “What do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

Jacob only said one thing;

“Christine.”

“Your wife, sir?”

“No, Todd,” Jacob said; “Yours.”

There was silence on the other end as Travis realized that his former trainer had found Bethanie.

“Where is she?” he asked, his emotions betraying him.

“In the Washington, DC area, Todd,” Jacob said; “But that’s all I can tell you. I need you to tell me something.”

“What is it?”

“How did you kill her former husband?”

“How did you find that out?” asked Travis, shocked.

“I had some research done,” Jacob said. “Christine doesn’t know, does she?”

“No, she doesn’t,” Travis said; “And every time I try to find her, she disappears. After a while, I stopped trying to find her.”

Jacob was taken aback by that statement, then asked, “You don’t want to find her?”

“Look,” Travis said, “I agreed to help her. I loved her more than my own life. It’s the only reason I married her; to help her get away. I was supposed to have our marriage annulled after a year of not hearing from her, but I didn’t. I always hoped she’d find her way back to me.”

“She didn’t want to be found,” Jacob replied. “She’s scared that her past is going to come back and haunt her. She told me that she could literally pick up her life within thirty days and run.”

“You’ve spoken to her?” asked Travis. “Is she okay?”

“She’s surviving, Todd,” said Jacob. “I met her by chance because she bears a passing resemblance to my late wife when she was younger. She knew who I was, and she confided in me some of the things she’d been through, that she felt she had to hide, even from her own family.”

“If your mother was Kit Crowley, you’d probably try to protect your family from the mistakes you’d made in life,” said Travis; “That’s all that Bethanie wanted. To not bring her mistakes upon her family. She hoped at one time that they’d think she was dead.”

“You still love her,” Jacob said. It wasn’t a question, but an observation.

“Very much so,” said Travis; “I tried to talk her into not running, but fear spoke louder to her. I let her go, because that’s what she wanted. Maybe it was a good decision on her part because her ex husband and his buddies showed up here less than two months later. I killed all of them. If I didn’t know where Bethanie was headed, then they weren’t going to know, either. I swore to protect Bethanie from them, and I did.”

“If she asked you to annul the marriage now, would you do it?” asked Jacob.

“Not until I spoke to her to ask if that was what she wanted,” Travis said; “Did she tell you something different?”

“Only that you helped her escape,” Jacob said.

Travis sat on the line for a moment before he spoke again, then said, “If she’s with someone else, then I would do it. If not, I want another chance with her. I love her, Morbus. You can’t stare into those blue eyes and not feel it.”

Oh, I know, Jacob thought. I definitely know that.

===

III

It was early morning on the day Natasha and Darren were to be married. Natasha was up before dawn, as was her practice, and she thought that when she went to sleep that night, she’d be Mrs. Darren Joseph Dixon.

As much as she liked the way that sounded, she was not changing her name to her new husband’s. Darren was agreeable to this. She’d had her own identity for nearly three decades. Who was he to take that away from her?

She went downstairs to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, because she knew that Sandrina and Danica would be up not too long after her to put their plans into motion. Sandrina had designed everything, from the invitations to the place cards that would be at each seat at the reception, which would take place to coincide with Washington, DC’s spectacular fireworks. She even designed what the cake would look like, and the bakery had turned her sketches into a fabulous creation.
But now, Natasha sat in the semi darkness, thinking about the cruise that she and Darren would be taking for their honeymoon. Darren promised to leave his computer and his secure phone in his office at Langley so they could be uninterrupted during the two and a half weeks they would be away.

She knew that it would practically be a family reunion. Everyone she had worked with in BlackOps, except for Kylee would be there. Kylee had passed away a couple of years before after a brief bout with cancer. She’d married and had young children. There had been no funeral at her request.

All four members of Disturbed and their families would be there, as would Jacob Ross. The only glaring exception would be Julia’s absence. That saddened Natasha; that Julia was in so much pain from losing her friend John that she had a brief break with reality, and was getting treatment. She’ll bounce back, Natasha said to herself; No one, not even her demons, could keep Julia Terranova down for long.

She thought she heard people awakening upstairs, so she took out some blueberry muffins from the fridge and put them on a baking sheet to warm up in the oven. The twins loved the muffins, and had come to expect them at least twice a week for breakfast. Vixen always ate two the day of any big exam and usually did very well. Natasha knew it wasn’t the muffins, but she let her daughter have her superstition.

Sandrina appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed for the first half of her long day. The wedding was at 7pm, and she and her cousin had a lot to accomplish before then.

“Blueberry muffins!” she exclaimed; “Now I know things will fall into place today!”

“Where’s Danica?” asked Natasha.

“She’s coming,” Sandrina said; “she’s fussing over her hair. She wants to straighten her hair for today, so she’s putting some goop or something on it. It smells like rotten avocadoes!”

“It does not!” Danica said as she came down the stairs with a “do-rag” on her head. “It’s better than that stinky stuff my mother used to put on my hair when I was a kid. That was all chemicals and crap. Kendria was allergic to it, so Mom found some natural stuff that does the same thing. That’s what I still use.”

“Kendria has recovered well from her accident,” Natasha said. “And her service dog is friendly. He won’t get all riled up at the wedding, will he?”

“Hardly,” Danica said. “Boat’s a pretty laid back dog. He even likes the fireworks. But when it comes to Kendria, he’s a pit bull. Mess with her and he might take a chunk out of your thigh!”

“I’m happy that she’s finally going to college,” Sandrina said; “She rocked that SAT, didn’t she?”

“With a damn near perfect score!” Danica said. “I didn’t even do that well! Schools look at that and they all wanted her to come to their campus. But she decided that Harvard was for her. It’s close to home, but she can be on her own and be independent. And, she can do her pre med stuff there.”

“Well, Danica,” Sandrina sighed, “we better grab a couple of those muffins for the road and get this party started. It’s going to be a long ass day, and that’s before Aunt Tash even shows up at the church.”

Natasha looked at the two cousins, as different and as alike as they can be. “If I haven’t already done this, I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve done to get this day off the ground,” she said; “Darren and I both appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”

Sandrina noticed her aunt getting emotional and gave her a hug. “It was our pleasure, Aunt Tash. But you better thank your kids, too, because we couldn’t have done anything without them. They were a huge help!”

Natasha dried her eyes, saying, “I’ll do that. I know they wanted to help. I’m glad they were able to help you girls out.”

“We better get going,” Sandrina said; “but first, Danica Antonia, wash that crap out of your hair, would ya?”

Danica stuck out her tongue at her cousin, then went back upstairs to wash the straightening lotion out of her hair.

===

IV

Darren was deep in thought as well. He remembered the first time he ever laid eyes on the woman who, in a few hours, would become his wife.

She walked into the training facility, tall, straight, proud. She had been an assassin for the Disturbed Ones, and had been instrumental in bringing down the Occupational government. Her recommendation for service to the restored government of the United States by her former trainer, now known as Jacob Ross, was immediately approved by the President, who had just taken office weeks before, and the then-director of the CIA, who was Dixon’s boss.

He was captivated by Natasha Vincent not solely on her resume, but on her stunning good looks. She held a firm command of who she was, and no one, not even the lead agent in CIA, was going to change how she thought of herself and her skills.

As the candidates sat in the meeting room, Dixon addressed them:

“You have all been chosen to be part of this first class of candidates based on recommendations from two people. One was a high ranking government official, and for many of you, that was the Senators of your respective states. Some of you fought with the Resistance forces, and your trainers recommended you. The second person was the President, who carefully read each dossier as it was presented to him, and he approved all of you to be here today.

“I’ll tell you right now, not all of you will make it through training. You have three chances to take the training if you don’t make it this time around. I’d like to see all of you make it, however. You will be worked hard, your resolve tested on several occasions, and you will be judged on how you conduct yourself with not only your training-mates, but how you conduct yourselves in public situations.

“You will be trained by the best, and are expected to be the best. Your training will begin tomorrow morning at 0500 hours. Not one second after that. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

Natasha had established herself as a leader from the first day onward. She was the oldest of the nine females who were in her training class. Darren was getting nothing but excellent reports about her, and he knew then that she had the ability to make it through anything CIA could dish out.

She was the top recruit in her graduating class, and was the only female to make it out of training. One day after she had been given her first assignment, Darren asked to speak with her.

“You wished to see me, Agent Dixon?” she asked as she walked into his office.

“Yes, Agent Vincent,” Dixon had said; “Your dossier is quite impressive. Top of your graduating class; weapons skills beyond anything we could even train for; a born leader. I would like to recommend you for CovertOps training when your assignment is completed. I think you will do well there with your skillset.”

“Thank you for your confidence in my abilities, Agent Dixon,” she had replied. “I am most flattered.”

After her CovertOps training, she reported directly to Dixon, who had become the assistant Director. He sent her on her missions, and he prayed each time she left that she would return. He had nothing to worry about. She always returned.

Soon, it became obvious to him that he was developing feelings for the tough as nails assassin. Knowing he’d have to reassign her, he told her how he felt.

It was the first time he’d ever seen anything resembling fear come from Natasha Vincent.

She told him her story. She broke down at several points. “The day I fled from that life and joined BlackOps,” she said, “was the first day of my new life. With a new name. New goals. And if anyone found out about it, I’d probably kill myself.”

“Natasha,” Darren told her gently, “What if I could have those records sealed as if they never existed? No one will know of your previous life. Just me, and anyone you’ve already entrusted your secret to. No one else has to know.”

“I’d be grateful beyond measure, Darren,” she said.

“Consider it done,” Darren said; “Now, since I’ve made my confession to you, I’ll have to reassign you. The President and the Director really want you in our BlackOps program. You’ll still travel, and still get to do all the things you’ve been trained to do. But this is deep undercover stuff, and I’ve been given authorization to give you right of refusal.”

“As much as I’d like to take the offer,” Natasha said; “I’m 31 years old. I was looking into having a child. A friend of mine from my Disturbed Ones days offered to donate sperm so I could be artificially inseminated. I’ve decided to go ahead and do it before I get too much older.”

“You’d be bored at a desk job, Natasha,” Darren said. “But I’ll take your request to the Director and see what we can do. We’d hate to lose you.”

“Don’t you mean YOU’D hate to lose me?”

Darren knew she had figured out his desire. To be with her, no matter what.

“My feelings for you have nothing to do with this,” he said; “But I wish I could be the one who...”

He couldn’t finish. He couldn’t ask her to allow him to donate his sperm so she could have a child.

“Darren,” said Natasha, “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not ready for that kind of relationship with you yet. The man who agreed to help me died several years ago. I’m the only one who would have access to his sperm. Please, let me do this my way.”

Darren felt he had no choice but to let Natasha proceed.

It took only one treatment for Natasha to become pregnant. She learned she was expecting twins in her fourth month. She was beaming, and Darren knew he’d done the right thing in letting her do it her way. But he still wanted to be her man.

It would take thirteen more years for that to happen.


Ah, Natasha, Darren thought; In a few hours, you’ll be my wife. We’ll have the rest of our lives together. Maybe we could have a child. I know we’d be pushing it, but a beautiful little girl who carries my name... it’s not impossible, my Queen.

He turned from the window and looked over at the tuxedo he’d be wearing that evening. He hated the damn thing after all the alterations and crap that went on to get it to fit just right. His stepbrother, Martin, would wear a similar one as his best man. KateLynn San Marco would be Natasha’s matron of honor.

“I just want to get this over with and spend the rest of my life with my Natasha,” he said aloud.

===