“I wanted to start a life with her, and now, I can’t breathe,” he whispered. “I never considered not having her with me forever. Now, I’m trying to navigate that.”
Elizabeth being the mother she was, kissed him on the cheek.
“I know, Baby. I know.”
He held onto her.
“Please don’t get hurt and make sure you come home. We all need you. We’re going to need you to put us all back together again.”
And that was the problem.
She didn’t have enough to put herself back together again, let alone them.
“We’ll work on it,” she said, giving the only response she could. There had been plenty of lies today, and she couldn’t dole out any more.
Elizabeth was empty.
He held on for a few more minutes, and when he was better, he set her free.
“I’ll be okay,” he said. “I’m sorry that he dug up your parents. That had to be horrible. You’re the strongest person I know, and I know deep down, you’re hurting too. I can see it in your eyes.”
Oh, she absolutely was.
Only, she had a duty thanks to Timothy giving her the title of head of this tribe.
“I’ll be okay, Cas. So will you. It’s one day at a time, and that’s advice we could all use. I’ll take out the trash.”
He held out his big hand.
When she put hers in his, he squeezed it lovingly.
Nothing more needed to be said. When you loved someone, you just knew what they were thinking and feeling.
She took that moment.
Then, she was honest.
“I have to go now,” she said. “I’m catching up to him, and I need to get out there.”
Yeah, they were burning daylight.
“I know,” he said.
Elizabeth finished tying her boots, and then she braided her hair, making sure it was out of her face. It was time to go off to war, and when she came back, if she came back, something had to give.
And it was her.
Heading out, she held Caspian’s hand in hers. When she passed him off to Chris, she was ready to go.
“Let’s see what kind of weapons I get for this little excursion,” she said, trying to keep it light.
Jagger dug everything out of the bag and laid it out on one of the morgue tables.
In front of everyone, she chose her gear.
She began loading them like aHunter, not a Fed. She was not taking any chances, and she was going to have a gun just about everywhere.
This was, after all, war.
