Moments later, Tessa teleported in with a crack of displaced air, snapping off a tired salute. “Apollo.”
“Take Inferno back to base.”
When Alexei didn’t argue, didn’t protest about finishing up on the field first as he normally would, Sean realized why Alexei wanted to return to base.
For Kyle.
Sean looked at Alexei, worried about how the other man would react once he was out of Katie’s telepathic reach and the empath’s touch. Sean wanted to go with him, to be there for him during the aftermath, but Sean knew he wouldn’t be allowed to leave the field, not when the threat wasn’t fully contained.
Tessa walked over to Alexei and took his hand in hers. Neither said goodbye as she teleported them out. Jamie took a deep, soundless breath, his thousand-yard-stare eerie to witness.
“Where is mobile command?” Jamie asked. “I need a sitrep.”
“White House proper. I can take you there,” Liam replied.
“Remain at your posts,” Katie ordered the team.
Jamie, Liam, Katie, and the empath who hadn’t introduced herself made their way to the White House. The rest of the team stayed put, watching the sun rise over the battered megacity. In daylight, the gaping crater where the Washington Monument once stood was a black scar that was hard to ignore in the middle of the national park.
Smoke drifted into the sky from fires still burning in areas of the cities. Sirens drifted through the air; Sean could pick out which were police, fire department, or ambulance by tone alone. The fighting seemed to be dying down, with the Sons of Adam who remained either surrendering or dying.
The rest of Alpha Team stayed guarding the White House until the director ordered them off the field. Beta Team came to relieve them, with Miriam arriving first.
“Go,” she told them. “I can shield if anything happens, but it’s starting to calm down out there now.”
“Thanks,” Trevor said.
Sean and the others broke ranks, trudging up to the White House as a group. They bypassed the empty luxury pavilion on the South Lawn and headed for the rear entrance. Secret Service special agents, National Guard soldiers, and police had created a second line of defense around the building itself during the fighting. No one standing guard stopped them from entering.
Inside was a madhouse, with many of the guests for the State Dinner still hiding inside, being watched over by harried-looking Secret Service special agents. No one seemed hurt as far as Sean could tell, just tired and scared.
“East Wing,” Madison said, head tilted slightly to the side as she listened to her comms. “They’re in the PEOC.”
The president and designated protectees had been relegated to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center during the attack rather than the Situation Room. The PEOC was located in a bunker below the West Wing and had been expanded through various renovations in the past few centuries. Rather than a small group of people, it could safely and comfortably house up to fifty. Dug deep enough to withstand a bombing attack and equipped with a restricted environmental system, the bunker was heavily guarded to protect the head of the country’s government.
President Michael Rodriguez was on a video conference call with Nazari and CIA Director Ryan Sutton that didn’t sound like it was going well for Sutton. Liam sat at the long conference table with his parents, the three of them in deep discussion with what looked like the Queen of England on a separate uplink.
Jamie stood in a corner with his parents and sister, Katie, and the empath. Without a word, the team went to stand with their captain, providing what physical support they could.
“—footage of you stopping that fire engine is all over the news, Jamie. We won’t make a statement until we clear it with Director Nazari,” Richard said.
Jamie stared at his father as if he didn’t even hear him. “I don’t care.”
“Jamie…” Charlotte said, her voice trailing off. She reached for him, but then thought better of it, balling up her hand into a fist. “What happened out there?”
“You asked before if there was someone in my life,” Jamie said, staring through them as his voice cracked. “We were engaged. I loved him. And I…”
He trailed off, the words not coming, that thousand-yard-stare still firmly entrenched. Sean watched as Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand, blinking rapidly. Richard seemed shocked, but it was Leah who rushed forward to wrap her arms around Jamie.
“Oh, no. Jamie,no,” Leah said, choking on her words. “Please tell me Kyle is alive.”
No one on the team reacted to her use of Kyle’s name. Sean figured there was no hiding their relationship anymore, not after what happened, not after the state Jamie was currently in. As badly off as Jamie was, all Sean could think about was Alexei.
When Jamie let the silence grow, Leah started quietly crying. She clung to her brother, but Jamie didn’t move to hold her. Jamie’s lack of reaction wasn’t normal, and it worried Sean. He was used to Jamie expressing himself in the field in some way, but here it seemed as if Katie, with the empath’s help, had cut off Jamie’s ability to feelanything.
Charlotte stepped forward and guided her daughter into her arms, but her attention remained on Jamie. The worry in her eyes spoke volumes.
“Captain Callahan.”
