We put down ata grass strip outside Debrecen to refuel. A farmer with more sense than curiosity took cash and asked no questions. I topped off the tank while Mila stretched her legs on the grass and Jasper sat on the wing step with his head inhis hands, breathing through whatever the concussion did to his equilibrium.
I crouched to check the tire pressure, and Jasper's boot pressed against my knee. I looked up. He kept his head in his hands, eyes closed, but the pressure stayed. He meant it. I leaned into it for a second before I stood.
Rhadamanthys sat against the hangar wall with his hat tipped over his eyes and his revolvers across his lap. He hadn’t said much of anything, and I didn’t have enough energy to push.
Mila fell asleep ten minutes after we lifted off again. I glanced back, and she'd curled into Jasper's side with her face pressed against his ribs. He kept his arm around her. He looked clearer now.
"How's your head?" I asked.
"Loud." He shifted and winced. "How's your shoulder?"
"Attached. Mostly."
"That's reassuring."
"I'm a reassuring guy."
He almost smiled at me. Even concussed, even wrecked, he could still do that.
"Diego."
"Yeah."
"If Casablanca's gone..."
"It's not gone."
"If it is."
"Then we find somewhere else." I kept my eyes forward. "We've done it before. We'll do it again."
He went quiet. Mila shifted against him in her sleep, and he adjusted his arm around her.
The silence stretched. I let it.
"No naps, guapo. Concussion protocol."
"Yes, Dr. Reyes."
I grinned back at him. "Dr. Reyes. I like the sound of that." I let it sit for a second. "Want to play doctor when we get home?"
"I have a head wound, and you're propositioning me."
"Of course I am. I’m still me."
He closed his eyes. His breathing evened out. Mila curled her hand into his shirt, and the three of us crossed Europe in a rattling Cessna with no comms, no backup, no guarantee of what waited on the other end.
We refueled once more outside Málaga. I bought water and almonds from a vending machine, and that was the closest thing to a meal any of us had eaten in two days.
I flew. That was the job. That was always the job. Get the people you love from one place to another and keep them breathing in between.
Casablanca came into viewat sunset, and everything in my chest seized tight.
The base stood. That was the first thing I grabbed onto. The walls held, but the runway had craters in it. Someone had filled them with gravel, packed it down enough to land on, but the patches stood out dark against the concrete.
"Jasper." I kept my voice steady. "We're here."
He opened his eyes and leaned forward to look through the windshield. He set his jaw.
