I pull into the driveway with the house staring me in the face, since the funeral has the everyday scene gotten narrow and focus like LED to HDMI in a retrospect. Things in my own neighbourhood get scanned by my eyes twice now; even three times if something is just out a bit, annoying but nothing I can do about as it’s hard wired from worry and my old life. Shutting the door I see her again, a women in a black high end set of wheels posed to my street corner just as I round the bend. She is not there all the time and my guts tell me she isn’t following up on the woman I hold hidden…it’s something else. She glares at me is passing every time our vehicles pass and it’s like she wants to scream for help but doesn’t. I’ll let her come to me when she’s ready, I always think and think again this time too as my keys unlock the dead bolt to my home allowing me access.

Upon entry I smell the flavours of garlic and sea salt rush to me like a wave, looking at my watch the time reads just after four…I little early for a supper run. Detaching the holster from my body I hang it to the hook, next to my other one, the one I should be wearing normally.

“Just finishing supper, hope you don’t mind pasta again” she calls out, I greet her in the kitchen seeing little Nissa play in the corner on her play mat, toys dangle from her face like little stars. “Busy day” questioned by her

“Just a paper catch up day” I reply with a pleasant tone and pleasant it is when that in a day is all that has to be done. “How was the interview?”

“I think it went alright, I started to cry though” I just stayed silent listening to her talk “I felt like I was shelving him again”

“You know you’re not right, and Alec would want this from you, he knew how strong you were” I said back, I see her now stopped in speech just spinning her food on her fork, her high pony tail she had on slides past her shoulders to the side of her face. As I take a seat to the table, dishing up the meal and taking the initial few bites I toss compliments to her of the taste, she simply smiles with a facial thank you. I drink from my glass of water when she says it to me,

“You took the wrong gun again Taven”

“I just noticed that myself”

“You should case the Desert Eagle; you don’t want to get in trouble again”

“Too soon yet, but I will”

“Anything interesting at work today” she asked again

“Frankie made someone shit themselves in interrogation today”, and hearing the sentence brought Maria choking on her food

“Oh my god, I’m not surprised though, that woman scares me a bit…good I guess. If I’m scared so is any around”

“Yep” I say simply “How did Nissa do?”

“She likes Claire, so do I”

“When will you know about the job?”

“Tomorrow they’ll call me”

“And do you want it”

“I need to get moving Taven, I’ll rot in here if I don’t do something” she ended to which I said nothing, we finished supper and she retired to the living room as I tucked away the dishes. Dish after dish I place away after they were washed, my mind races to the times I could recall with Alec. His work was beyond my mind thought and so many number talks made me sleepy, he was involved in so many things from clubs and memberships to gatherings it was so much to process what and where went wrong.

I retire giving Nissa a kiss to the cheek and a shoulder pat to Maria, she dives into a Television series while I go to my room desk, to the dreaded papers I never wish to see. I do what I can cross referencing accounts and names, dates and events trying to piece everything together or at least trying to start something. I have had many offers from my team to help but so far I have steered them clear, nothing to help when everything to me is so up in the air.

I recall my old life from time to time, and as always thank the fates I’m done with it. The travel was the big thing I hated, and getting shot at bugged me too. Gensen was a big part to that life for me, teaching me to shoot better where to first look in a hunting search to an enclosed area, and most important of all how to keep someone alive. My role to those missions were different, I was a think tank analyst…didn’t have a lot of martial skill or hand to hand combat but neither did Gen. I was pretty good a tinkering in the small mechanics field, not so much rebuilding engines as I could double trigger an assault rifle to be a tranquilizer gun as well; fibre optics and connections were my thing really.

I look over and do a little more, reading up on some new current events taking place that France had a break in to one of their power supply facilities and some equipment was taken baring the result of a radical attack, and couple more people to the Alliance company had been charged with espionage against the new order of Vision-Tech and I couldn’t help but laugh at the act the company was doing in the wake of the cleansing change of management. they were weeding out the loyalists to Alliance or the ones who wouldn’t help with the drill was my guess but either way it showed that Vision-Tech wasn’t waiting for the UN to come to a decision for them to use their new state of the art toy. Before I know it the bloody clock reads 12:30, deep into the crap always make me lose track, time for bed.

Next Chapter: Chapter Four