Khalid speaks up. "Dylan left me once. When he was on a mission and couldn't come back right away. But he found me again. Good people always find their way back if they're supposed to."
Lucas considers this seriously. "Do you think Mr. Stryker will stay after the bad people stop looking for us?"
"I think Mr. Stryker cares about you and your mom a lot," Khalid says carefully. Then his eyes lift and find me standing in the corridor entrance. "Isn't that right, Mr. Stryker?"
Rachel's head snaps around. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and color rises in her cheeks.
Lucas lights up. "Mr. Stryker! Mom's reading about dragons. Did you know they're not all scary? Some of them are just lonely?"
I move into the communal area. "I've heard that. Sounds like an interesting story."
"It's the best," Lucas assures me. "Do you want to hear the rest?"
Rachel looks at me with an expression I can't quite read. Question and invitation and something that might be hope.
"I'd like that," I hear myself say.
Lucas makes room between himself and Rachel. I settle into the space, acutely aware of Rachel's warmth beside me, of Lucas leaning against my arm with complete trust, of Khalid watching us with too-wise eyes.
Rachel continues reading. Her voice wraps around the words, bringing the story to life. Lucas asks questions between paragraphs. Khalid offers observations about dragon behavior. And I sit there pretending my pulse isn't hammering, pretending this doesn't feel like everything I walked away from years ago.
This is what I convinced myself I couldn't have. This warmth, this belonging. I told myself I couldn't be an operator and have a family. Dylan manages it. Kane manages it. He built Echo Base while creating something like family among the operators and has a life with Willa.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the choice isn't between mission and family. Maybe it's about being brave enough to want both.
Rachel's voice flows through the story. Lucas settles more heavily against my side. Odin's tail thumps against the floor. Khalid turns pages when Rachel nods.
The story ends with the dragon finding his friend and no longer being lonely. Lucas sighs with satisfaction.
"I like happy endings," he announces.
"Me too, baby." Rachel closes the book. "Time for you to wash up before dinner. Khalid, can you make sure he actually uses soap?"
"Come on," Khalid says to Lucas. "Let's get you washed up. And if you're quick about it, maybe Odin will let you throw his ball in the hallway after dinner."
Lucas scrambles up eagerly, following Khalid and Odin toward the residential section. Their voices fade as they disappear around the corner.
Silence settles over the communal area. Rachel and I sit side by side, not touching but close enough that I feel the warmth radiating from her.
"That was nice," Rachel says quietly. "Having you read with us."
"Lucas makes a convincing argument for dragon stories."
"He makes convincing arguments for lots of things." Rachel looks at me. "Like why certain people should stay."
My throat tightens. "Rachel?—"
"I know. You don't do promises. You don't make commitments beyond keeping us alive." She stands, puts distance between us. "But Colton, I need you to understand something. Lucas is already attached to you. Already sees you as someone permanent in his life. And when this is over, when Kessler is neutralized, Lucas is going to ask where you went."
"What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to figure out what you want," she says, intensity burning underneath. "Because I can protect Lucas from a lot ofthings. But I can't protect him from losing someone he's starting to love."
She walks away before I can respond. Leaves me sitting on the couch surrounded by the ghost of domestic warmth and the weight of questions I don't know how to answer.
My phone buzzes. Tommy's message displays with clinical precision.
Committee communications spike detected. Kessler mobilizing additional assets. Recommend increased security protocols. - Tommy
