CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

"What are you going to do?" Faith asked.

Jones shrugged. "As little as I possibly can for the rest of my life."

"Must be nice," Michael said.

Jones shrugged again. "It's something."

"Who's going to take over?" Faith asked.

"Well," Jones said, "I'm guessing they'll probably just merge the department with Brightwater. That makes more sense anyway. Most of the people in town are moving there after this. I don't blame them."

"Are you moving?"

"Yes, but not to Brightwater. I'm moving to New York."

"Small town life not fun anymore, huh?" Michael asked.

Jones scoffed. "I wasn't here for fun. I was here to take care of these people. They needed help, and when I was twenty-eight, I thought I could save the world. Turns out the world is shitty no matter who you save."

Faith looked out the window of the breakroom where Shawna and Frankie were holding hands and talking with Frankie's father. The three of them smiled and laughed, the fear that had consumed them only hours ago gone.

"It's still worth saving people," she opined.

Jones smiled softly and watched as the two girls piled into Mr. Cole's sedan. "Yeah. I suppose you're right."

They watched the would-be victims drive away, back home to safety and comfort. When the car turned the corner out of view, Michael asked, "So what's happening with the caves?"

"The mayor's sealing it off," he said. "They're paying the construction crew to close off all of the entrances. It won't make up for the money they're losing now that the warehouse isn't being built anymore, but it's something."

"So that's it for Granger, huh?" Michael asked.

"Oh, people will stay behind," Jones said. "Some people like to live apart. They can keep to their own ways without having to concern themselves with reality outside of their little bubble. I guess everyone's like that in a way."

Michal nodded agreement. Faith didn't. Some people didn't have the luxury of living in bubbles anymore. She could retire today and move to Alaska with Turk and spend the rest of her life living off of the land, but she would never be able to unremember the faces of the dead innocents she'd seen over the years, never be able to unsee Trammell's leer or West's contemptuous smirk or Benny's sunken face.

Her bubble had been burst, and so had those of Shawna and Frankie. They could retreat into normalcy for the rest of their lives, but Faith was willing to bet there would still be nights while they woke up screaming, certain that they were back underground running from a murderer.

Michael had once told her that a part of her never left Trammell's barn, and he was right. When you locked eyes with death, death always took something. It never left you whole.

Maybe it was time for Faith to come to terms with that.

***

In the airplane, Michael and Faith enjoyed coffee and a light breakfast. The exhaustion of the past several days finally settled on Faith. She felt exhausted, more so than she had ever been.

She thought again of Decker, this time the day after they had been caught by the platoon sergeant just before the culmination of their tryst. They had looked at each other, and whatever Decker saw in Faith's eyes must have told him he wasn't getting another chance with her. He looked disappointed for a moment, but in true Decker fashion, his disappointment was short-lived.

He grinned at Faith and said, "Well, it was good exercise, at least."

She chuckled, and Michael said, "What's so funny?"

She shook her head. "Just remembering something an old friend said about exercise."

"Well, this is definitely the most physically active case we've dealt with so far," Michael said. "I should take a few more of these cases. I'll end up with my college body, and then Ellie will be really happy to see me when I get home."

Faith smiled softly, the most she could manage in her own weary state. "TMI," she said.

"Oh, whatever. Tell me you don't get excited to go home and see David."

Her smile faded. David was probably lost to her. She had asked too much of him, and now he was taken from her as West said he would be.

But Michael wasn't. She looked at him and said, "You were right."

He grinned. "Well, yeah, always, but what specifically am I right about today?"

"I never left Trammell's barn."

Michael's smile faded. "Hey, look, Faith, I was angry when I said that. It's not true."

"Yes, it is," she said. "It's true. I nearly died. What's more, I nearly died because I was beaten. Trammell laid in wait for me, beat me, tied me to a chair and mutilated me."

Michael shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with Faith's bluntness. To tell the truth, she wasn't remotely comfortable with this herself, but that would never change as long as she refused to acknowledge it.

"And it affected me," she said. "Deeply. I recovered physically, but the mental scars are still there, and they always will be."

He pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'm so sorry, Faith," he said, "I really am. I hate that this happened to you. If there was anything I could do to help, I would."

There was something he could do, but now wasn't the right time to ask him to help her pursue West. So, she said, "There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do. Even I can't do anything to stop it. It's a part of me now. That sucks, and I hate it, but it's the truth. I will always have been nearly killed by Jethro Trammell and badly beaten twice by Franklin West. That's just reality.

"So, I have two choices. I can let the knowledge that I've been hurt and that hurt will affect me for the rest of my life cause me to lose control and alienate the people who love me, destroy my career and turn me into someone selfish and disgusting, or I can accept it and do the best I can to live a good life, to care for others and to maintain the relationships that are important to me."

"Does this mean that you're giving up on West?" Michael asked.

Faith hesitated a moment before answering, but she kept her eyes on his when she said, "No. I'm not giving up on him. Maybe that's wrong of me, but I won't insult your intelligence by lying to you. I still want him, and I'll still put myself at risk to get him."

Michael sighed deeply and said, "Well, wherever you go and whatever you do, Faith, if you need me, call. This time, I'll answer."

Faith smiled gratefully at him. She reached over and took his hand in hers. He squeezed back and returned her smile. They sat like that for a long while before sleep finally overcame them, and they went to their separate bunks to nap.

***

"No luck on the Florida lead?"

"No, looks like that was a doppelganger," Michael said over the phone. "You'll be happy to know that we're not the only agents to piss off the South African Embassy, though."

Faith grimaced. In a previous case, Turk had misidentified a South African businessman as a suspect and apprehended him rather aggressively. That had nearly cost Faith her job. "Ouch. How bad is it?"

"Not bad. A couple of bruises when Desrouleaux slammed him to the ground. He's not pressing charges, but we're paying his medical bills and buying him tickets to Disneyworld."

"That sounds like a fair trade to me," Faith said.

"I mean, we both know Desrouleaux hits like a girl, so yeah, I'd take that trade."

"Watch it," Faith warned playfully.

He chuckled and said, "Well, there aren't any more leads yet that I'm aware of, but the current belief is that he's somewhere out of the country. The Bureau is talking to Interpol right now to see if we can get some manhunters on him in Europe. We'll have to work on the rest of the world, but we'll get him eventually. He can only run for so long."

Faith was still absolutely certain that West was within a few hours of Philadelphia, but she didn't argue that point with Michael. "Thank you," she said. "I really appreciate this."

"No problem," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

She hung up just in time to hear a knock at the door. She frowned and checked the time. Who was visiting her at seven-thirty? She glanced at her new handgun and wondered if she should carry it, just in case.

Then Turk leaped to his feet, wagging his tail and barking exuberantly. He ran for the door and scrambled for the handle, trying to open it, and Faith realized who was at the door.

She smiled and walked for the door. "Hold on, Turk," she says, "I'll get it."

She opened the door, and once more, David took her breath away.

He smiled nervously at her, so kind, so strong, so incredibly handsome. "Hi there," he said, "I wanted to stop by and see how my favorite patient was doing."

Turk answered that question himself, leaping into David's arms and licking him with all the enthusiasm of a puppy. David laughed and carried him inside. "I guess he's doing okay," he said wryly. "He's definitely got his weight back."

"Yeah, he's healthy again," Faith said. "Maybe even a little chunky."

Turk cast her a wounded look, but it passed an instant later. He leaped off of David and immediately sat in the middle of the couch. He looked expectantly at them, and Faith blushed a little. When she and David were dating, they would sit on either side of Turk and watch movies with him. Those were some of Faith's favorite memories.

"What the heck," David said, "I have time. How about that movie with the dog that plays football?"

"You always pick that movie," Faith said with a laugh.

"Well, how many movies do you know that have dogs who don't die at the end that aren't cartoons or a live-action adaptation of a cartoon?"

"The football movie is fine," she said with a laugh. "Do you want a beer?"

"What is it with you and beer?" he asked, "Do you never drink anything else?"

"Well, my doctor wants me to cut back on the Everclear, so for now, it's just beer. Unless you want coffee."

"The coffee, too," he said, shaking his head. "You know sleep is a thing, right?"

She laughed. "Sleep is not a thing if you're a law enforcement agent," she said, "But that's cute of you to think so."

"Well, if you insist, I'll take a beer."

She returned with the beers, smiling as she saw David with his arm around Turk. It felt almost like old times.

She sat and David put on the movie. Turk, as always, grew really excited when he saw the dog. He barked and looked at the two of them as if to say, Do you see that? Do you see that other dog?

"He kinda looks like you," Faith said with a grin.

Turk looked back at the golden retriever on the screen and cocked his head in confusion. David and Faith laughed, and then suddenly, David reached across and grabbed Faith's hand. Faith's eyes widened at the suddenly earnest expression on his face.

"Let's start over," he said. "Forget about everything that happened and just start again. This time, I won't ask you for any more than you can give me. I know that it will be a long time before you can give me anything more than just a movie night here and a date there, but I'm willing to wait."

"I…" Faith stammered, "I… I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," David insisted. "It turns out, I'd rather have a moment with you than a lifetime with anyone else. So even if we only get to see each other for a few days every now and then when you're not working, I'm willing to do that. If that means it's twenty years before I can have more, so be it."

She wanted desperately to believe him, but she had to be sure. "Are you sure you know what you're saying," she said. "It really could be a long time before I can commit anything. I… I'm not going to let go of West."

"I know," he said. "Giving up is not in your nature. You wouldn't be the woman I love if it was."

"Okay," she said, "If you're… wait, the woman you…"

He smiled softly, and when he leaned forward and kissed her, the answer to Faith's question was clear.