"Not really. Want to hear about your terrible PT instead."
He sent her a voice message. His laugh. The sound of it still did things to her chest."Martinez made me do single-leg squats today. With the bad leg. I think she enjoys watching me suffer."
Mara told him about the bayou when she had time. About morning sunrises on the dock when she couldn't sleep. About the satisfaction of work that mattered even when it was hard. But she was careful. Never mentioned specific operations. Never gave details that could identify L'Abri Sûr or Shadow Veil. Just broad strokes. Just enough to let him know she was still there. Still thinking about him even when the responses came slow.
"You went quiet for a while,"he texted one night after she'd been dark for eight hours.
"Work got busy. Sorry."
"Don't apologize. I know you have a life. Just wanted to make sure you're okay."
"I'm okay. Tired. But okay."
"Get some sleep. I'll still be here in the morning."
And he was. Always. Another good morning message waiting when she woke up. Another reminder that someone was thinking about her even when she was too busy to think about herself.
They danced around the specifics. He didn't ask where she was based or who she worked for. She didn't ask about his missions or his deployment schedule. They existed in a space that was just theirs, separate from the operational realities that defined their lives.
But they talked about everything else. Books and movies and music. Childhood memories and family dynamics. The things that had shaped them into who they'd become. Logan told herabout growing up in Montana, about a father who'd served in Vietnam and a mother who'd worried every day but never said it out loud. About a sister who texted him constantly even though he rarely responded. About joining the Army at eighteen because it felt like the only thing that made sense.
Mara told him about being fifteen and scared and making choices that had nearly destroyed her. About finding her way out and deciding that if she'd survived, she could help others do the same. She told him late at night when the compound was quiet and she had time to actually think. When she wasn't running operations or planning extractions or dealing with the hundred small crises that came with running L'Abri Sûr.
She didn't give him details about L'Abri Sûr or Shadow Veil, but she told him enough that he understood the why behind what she did. The drive to be the person who came for people who had no one else.
"You're making a difference,"he texted one night."That matters."
"So are you."
"I'm just following orders. You built something from nothing."
Mara read that message at 0200 after getting back from Atlanta. Exhausted. Running on adrenaline and coffee. The extraction had gone clean but she'd spent twelve hours on her feet and her body was screaming for sleep. But she took the time to respond because Logan was awake and waiting and she didn't want him to think she didn't care.
"You stayed behind so a kid could get out. That's not just following orders."
"That was the right call."
"Exactly. You made the right call. Same as I do. We're not that different."
There was a pause before his next message."No. I guess we're not."
The next morning she woke up to find he'd sent her six more messages. Nothing urgent. Just thoughts. Updates. The mental wandering of someone with too much time to think. She read them while drinking coffee. Responded to three. Made a mental note to catch up on the others later. Got pulled into a briefing before she could.
By the time she checked her phone again it was 1400 and Logan had sent two more.
"You disappeared again."
"Still okay?"
"Yeah,"she typed back."Just busy. Tell me about your day."
And he did. A rambling message about PT and how Risk had finally cleared him to start running again. About Bulldog making terrible jokes during team movie night. About the nightmares getting better but still not gone. About how talking to her helped more than the therapy sessions.
Mara read it during a brief lull between reviewing target packages and realized she was smiling. Realized that despite the chaos of her life, despite the fact that she barely had time to breathe, Logan's messages made everything feel lighter. Made her remember there was more to life than just the next operation.
The chemistry built slowly. Flirty comments that pushed boundaries without crossing them. Teasing that had an edge to it. Late-night texts when Mara actually had time to engage. When operations were done and the compound was quiet and she could focus on something besides survival.
She found herself waiting for his messages. Smiling when her phone buzzed. Feeling guilty when she couldn't respond right away. When work demanded her full attention and Logan was left waiting for hours.
