I stop without meaning to. Stand in the corridor listening for sounds of movement inside. Nothing. Either she's resting or she's too quiet to hear through reinforced walls built to withstand explosive breaches.
She's here now. In Echo Base. The two parts of my life I kept separate for eight years, finally in the same place. Kane's right—I can do this. I can be the operator who keeps them safe and the man who stays this time.
I force myself to keep walking. Into the observation room where monitors show every approach vector to Echo Base. Empty forest. Mountain passes. The hidden entrance.
I settle into the chair and pull up the feeds, scanning for threats.
Behind me, the door opens quietly.
Rachel.
"Can't sleep either?" she asks.
"Someone needs to keep watch." I gesture at the monitors without looking at her. "Committee could have followed the convoy."
"Or you're avoiding being alone with your thoughts."
The words land hard. I finally turn to face her. She's still wearing the same clothes from the flight. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. No makeup, just exhaustion written in the lines around her eyes.
"Lucas asleep?"
"Out cold. Poor kid's been running on adrenaline for the past couple of days." She moves to stand beside me. "This is really your home. Your team's base of operations."
"Yeah."
"And you brought us here. Into the heart of everything you do." She turns to face me fully. "Why?"
"Because it's the most secure location we have."
"That's not what I'm asking." Her voice drops. "You could have handed us off and walked away. But you didn't. You're here, watching monitors instead of sleeping. Why?"
I should maintain professional distance. Should do anything except admit the truth.
"Because I failed you once," I say quietly. "By walking away. I won't make that mistake again."
Rachel's eyes search mine. "You think you failed me?"
"I left you alone. Mateo took advantage of that. You spent over a year in that compound because I wasn't there."
"Colton." She says my first name and it hits like a gut punch. "What happened with Mateo wasn't your fault. I made choices. I trusted the wrong person. I paid the price for that."
"You shouldn't have had to."
"But I did. And I survived. And I built a life for Lucas." Her hand finds mine in the darkness. "You don't get to take responsibility for choices I made."
Her palm is warm against mine. I should pull away, maintain professional boundaries.
Instead, I hold on.
"Kane sent me to Tucson because he knew I'd do whatever it takes to keep you safe," I admit. "He was right. I would have walked through fire to get to you. Still would."
"Then we're on the same page." Rachel squeezes my hand. "But right now, Lucas is safe. I'm safe. And you need to rest because you can't protect us if you're running on fumes."
"Tommy's monitoring the feeds from ops. I'm just being paranoid."
"Then stop being paranoid and go sleep." Her voice is firm. "You're no good to us exhausted."
I want to argue. Want to maintain the watch schedule and the discipline and all the structures that keep me operational. But exhaustion pulls at me with weight I can't ignore anymore. The flight after a firefight that nearly killed us all. The adrenaline crash finally catching up.
