They told Wakenmann’s family that they were friends who worked with him, that he was killed in a tragic accident, and that a foundation had been set up in his name. Falcon also assured his younger sister that money had been set aside for her education.
At the funeral Falcon held onto Gretchen’s hand so tightly she was wincing, but couldn’t bring herself to tell him so.
He’d been so quiet since Wakey’s death, almost like a big part of him had died with his partner, and Gretchen was worried. Spaz and Sin took the leave traditionally offered to teammates when they’d suffered a loss and went home to sort things out.
Falcon said he’d hang around J.U. So far as he was concerned, it was the only home he had. At the end of the first month, Rev Farthing insisted that Falcon come to Cape May and go fishing. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, even though Falcon wanted nothing but to sit in Gretchen’s quarters and watch TV, he went.
Farthing kept a boat at the Cape May Marina.
“This is nice,” Falcon said as he stepped on board.
“Yep. You ever been fishing?” Farthing said as he prepared to cast off.
Falcon sighed. “Not since I was a kid and never in the ocean. My grandfather had a little boat that he’d put in to the local lake. Rainbow trout if I remember right. That was his Holy Grail.”
Farthing chuckled as he started the engine. “Fishing is widely misunderstood by people who don’t understand it.”
Falcon looked at the former Sovereign like he thought Farthing might have developed some crossed wires.
“Chicken soup never saw the day it could heal like fishing can.”
“I’m not sick,” Falcon said.
“Oh, yes. You are. Maybe you don’t have the flu, but losing a partner… It’s worse than any sickness.”
Falcon looked at Farthing with new interest as they began to ease out of the tiny harbor. “You lost a partner.”
“I did.” He looked over at Falcon. “I was maybe five years older than you are right now.” He shook his head. “If anybody tells you that you’re gonna get over it, you just tell ‘em that’s doohonkey.”
Falcon was aware that Farthing didn’t tolerate language he deemed uncouth, but the term ‘doohonkey’, coming from someone who appeared so tough, almost made Falcon smile for the first time since Wakey’s death.
“You’re never gonna get over it,” Farthing repeated.
Falcon was thinking, “Well, I’m glad we had this talk. Can I go now?”
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my late partner, but as the years have passed, sometimes there are hours that go by without him coming to mind. You’re not going to forget him. Not ever. If you start out expecting that the loss will always be with you, it won’t come as such a surprise.”
They picked up speed as they left the marina pylons. Farthing seemed to know where he was going. Even though Falcon didn’t understand why he was there, he realized he might as well relax. It was just a day. He could spend it looking at the water as easily as he could spend it looking at TV.
After half an hour Farthing slowed and turned into a small cove. He stopped the engine in the middle and headed toward the back. “Now I’ve got a full cooler of beer on ice right there.” He pointed toward a cooler with a red top. “Soft drinks, too, if you’d rather. In this one,” he pointed to a cooler with a blue top, “I’ve got all kinds of snacks. Sandwiches. The works. Help yourself.”
“Thank you,” Falcon said.
Rev nodded. “Now we’re going to drop a line and see if we get some fish. If we do, that’s fine. If we don’t, that’s fine, because catching fish isn’t really the point of this. You know what I mean?”
Falcon had no idea what he was talking about, but nodded his head to be polite.
“So I’m going to hand you this rod and you’re going to sit right there and see what happens. I’m going to sit over here. If I feel like talking, I will. That’s what pulling rank is all about. If you feel like talking, you will because I told you it’s okay. Got it?”
Again, Falcon nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Farthing seemed satisfied with that answer.
After about an hour of lazily bobbing on the water, with no bites, Farthing said, “Not only did I lose a partner myself, I was Sovereign to a lot of grief in my time. You take Sir Hawking and the Lady Laiken. She wasn’t his first partner, you know.”
Falcon thought he might have known that at some point, but he’d been a self-involved adolescent.
“Sir Hawking lost a partner.”
“He did. Now, everybody takes things differently. From the outside, Hawking made it seem like he’d mourned his partner and moved on, but when it was time to outfit the team with a new fourth, I found out that he was handling it as well as he wanted people to think.”
Farthing set his rod in its clasp then pulled out a beer and a sandwich. He took a bite. “Umm. The turkey’s good. You should try it.”
Falcon was getting thirsty. He put his rod in its clasp and lifted the lid of the cooler. He pulled out a Mike’s Hard Lemonade then opened the other cooler. True to his word, Farthing had stocked every manner of snack. The turkey had been recommended, but the ham and cheese on wheat looked good. He pulled that out with a sack of kettle chips and settled down facing the former Sovereign.
He took a bite of ham and cheese. It was even better than he hoped, or maybe it was because things taste better outside for some bizarre reason.
He didn’t consciously decide he was going to talk. It was almost like he heard speaking and then realized it was coming from him.
“My partner was the first friend I made when I was recruited.” Rev said nothing. Just continued eating. “In so many ways he was the opposite of me. He came from a family that was crazy about him. He made friends so easy, just had this way of being completely open and real. Everybody who saw him knew instantly that he was a good guy. I wanted to be like him in so many ways.” He let go of a derisive laugh. “That didn’t work out. I couldn’t be anything like him. There was only one Wakey.”
Kris ate silently for a while before saying, “That thing that happened, you know the thing we got medals for. I think maybe when I walked into fire there was a part of me that wouldn’t mind dying. I was so mad when I realized that Wakey had followed me.” Tears erupted and his voice wavered. “Everybody loved him. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to die. That was me.”
Rev remained still and quiet.
Kris sniffed, reached up to his eyes with the forearm of his sleeve and swiped at the tears.
After a long silence, Farthing said, “But it wasn’t you. For some reason fate’s decided you’re going to live. And you’re going to have to live with your friend’s death. It may be the most painful thing you ever face. I hope it’s the most painful thing you ever face. But I have faith there’s a reason why you’re the one sitting here.”
Falcon looked Rev in the eyes. “You’re talking about some kind of divine plan?”
“I guess I am. I know I’m probably the last person who should be delivering advice about living. But I can tell you two things. If you decide to live with the pain, eventually you’ll be glad you made that choice.” He sighed and looked out at the water. “If Wakenmann had been able to make the choice, you or him, what would he have said?”
“Me.” He didn’t hesitate or struggle to come up with the answer. He knew with every fiber of his being what his partner would have said.
Rev nodded. “Yeah. He would have. You’re going to have to figure out a way to honor that and live the way he wanted you to. J.U. has been through a lot lately. Lows. Highs. Lows. Thing is, you’re not in this by yourself. Other people in the boat with you. Just look around.”
When he didn’t say anything else, after a while Falcon said, “What’s the other thing?”
“Oh. That if you fall in love with an Operations Direction, you should marry her.” Then Rev gave Falcon a grin that said, “There’s definitely life worth l
iving beyond the death of a partner.”
The image of Gretchen that came to mind did make Falcon smile just a little.
“Yeah,” Farthing said. “Operations girls know how to take care of a man.”
Falcon laughed at that. Not a lot. Just a little. But it was a real laugh infused with real hope that the future was still calling.
They didn’t get a single nibble from fish, but from Rev’s point of view, the fishing trip was a success.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I asked Glen for Wakey’s phone,” Falcon said.
“Why?” Gretchen asked.
“You know he sort of hinted that he had a special girl. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but if he was seeing somebody regularly, it was as serious as he’d ever been. I got to thinking that somebody should look her up, make sure she knows he didn’t just stop calling, drop off the face of the Earth.”
“That’s kind of you. And you’re right. She should know.”
They sat on the side of Gretchen’s bed and looked through Wakey’s messages.
“This has got to be her,” Falcon said, noticing that there were hundreds of texts.
Gretchen read over his shoulder. “Oh my gods!” she said. “Give it to me. Let me call her.”
“You sure?” he said.
“Positive.”
The phone rang. When it was picked up, a female voice said, “Wakey! Where have you been? Didn’t you get my messages?”
“I’m not Wakey. I’m Gretchen. I’m a friend of his and I’m here with Wakey’s best friend, Kris Falcon.”
“Kris Falcon. Yeah. Wakey talks about him all the time. Is something wrong?”
“Yes. Something’s wrong. Can we, um, can we come see you?”
After a pause, she answered. “I guess.”
The girl was the same age as Kris, living with her parents about a half hour away.
She opened the door and looked them up and down. “You’re Kris and Gretchen?”
“Yes,” Gretchen said.
“Okay. Come in.” She left the door standing open for them. “Nobody else is at home.” She motioned to the sofa in the living room.
Kris sat down and looked around.
“So you’re Rachel?”Gretchen said.
“Yeah. So what’s wrong? Why isn’t he returning my calls?”
“We’re so sorry. He passed away.”
At first she stared at them, looking from one to another, like she didn’t believe it. “Excuse me,” she said, before running from the room.
While she was gone, Gretchen turned to Falcon. “Well, she was telling the truth alright. Looks like she’s probably six months pregnant.”
Falcon sighed deeply and nodded. His knee bounced nervously while they waited for Rachel to come back. When she returned, her face was bright red and her eyes were swollen. She also clung to a tissue like a lifeline.
“Sorry,” she said. “As you can see, I’m pregnant.”
Gretchen’s eyes moved downward of their own accord. “The baby. Is it…?”
Rachel was nodding. “Oh yes. It’s his.”
Falcon sat up a little straighter. “Did he know?”
“No. That’s why I’ve left so many messages. I guess I know why he didn’t call.”
Falcon glanced at Gretchen and cleared his throat. “He was the closest thing to family. So I want you to know that you’ll never have to worry about having support for the baby. I’ll set up a small trust for him. Or her. Enough to buy kid stuff and pay for education.”
Rachel looked confused. “Oh. You think I’m keeping the baby!” She was shaking her head. “No. I’m not keeping the baby. I’m not nearly ready to be somebody’s mom. I want to go to design school.”
Falcon was looking like he didn’t compute what the girl was saying, so Gretchen interjected. “You mean the baby is going to be adopted?”
Rachel was nodding. “Yes. Adopted.”
Gretchen looked at Falcon then back at Rachel. She stood and pulled Falcon to his feet. “Would you excuse us for a minute? We’re just going to step outside. We’ll be right back.”
She pulled him to the curb next to the line of cars parked along the street. “She’s having Wakey’s baby.”
“I know,” Falcon said.
“Well, who do you think should be that baby’s parents?”
Falcon’s face looked as if he’d suddenly shed the pall of death and walked into a ray of sunlight. His smile widened.
In a New Jersey suburb, on a street lined with parked cars, Falcon went down on one knee. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, we need to get married.”
She nodded enthusiastically with tears in her eyes, “Well, duh. We’re having a baby.”
“That’s a big step.” He swallowed, searching her face for clues as to whether or not she was ready for that kind of commitment. “You sure?”
“We need a paternity test, but assuming that turns out the way I think it will, then yes. I’m sure I want this baby.”
“But you said you didn’t know how you felt about kids.”
She shrugged. “Things change.”
He stood, took her in his arms, and squeezed while trying to rein in all the emotion that was threatening to overflow like a fountain.
They convinced Rachel that no one in the world would love and care for her baby as they would. They also agreed to pay her expenses through design school and help her get started in her career afterward.
When the paternity test came back with irrefutable proof that Wakenmann died shortly before he would have been a father, Glen had Order attorneys draw up the papers so that nothing was left to chance. Farnsworth insisted on planning a small wedding. Falcon and Gretchen moved into newly built family quarters.
Sinclair returned to J.U. for the wedding, but decided he wouldn’t be coming back to active duty. The stake he’d driven through Wakey’s heart wasn’t just the end of his teammate’s life. It was the end of Sir Harvest’s career as a hunter. He took his remaining teammates aside and explained things to them.
It was simple.
“I can’t do it anymore.”
Sin’s partner, Spaz, and his teammate, Falcon, understood better than anyone. Neither blamed him in the least. Though they didn’t say it, they’d both be forever grateful to him. He’d taken up the crucible that rainy night so that neither of them had to. So far as they were concerned, he was the bravest and best of them.
They both gave him a pat on the back that ended with a heartfelt hug.
“Any hour of the day or night,” Spaz told him. “That’s for life.”
Sin smiled and nodded. “Same here. Both of you.”
Chorszak and Falcon watched him walk out the front door then spent the rest of the night finishing off a bottle of scotch recalling tales from their shared histories with both Wakenmann and Harvest.
Glen reassigned Batiste as Spaz’s new partner, which was okay with him. The two of them had always gotten along well.
That still left Falcon without a partner and he wasn’t making any progress toward agreeing to try somebody out.
One night a trainee came to get him in the lounge.
“There’s somebody to see you at the front door, Sir Falcon.”
Falcon looked at Spaz and Batiste. They were in the middle of a military base. People couldn’t simply walk up and ring the bell. “Someone to see me at the front door? Is this a joke?”
“No, sir. The Watch told me to come get you.”
Falcon set his drink down and followed the kid to the Watch station.
“If you want to talk to your guest, you’ll need to step outside, Sir Falcon,” the Watch said.
The incident was becoming stranger by the second.
Falcon went through the front door and found Jax waiting on the other side. He’d been told that Jax had been recruiting on behalf of Black Swan all over the world and that, thanks to him, there were vampire associates attached to almost every installation. He didn’t know if
Jax was going to continue to work in New York or even if he’d ever see him again.
“Jax. How’d you get…? Never mind. I can guess.”
Jax smiled. “Resources.”
“Well, what can I do for you?”
“Wanted to say I’m sorry about Wakey.”
Kris nodded. “Thank you.”
“Also wondered if you’ve partnered with somebody.”
“No. Why?”
Jax looked around, acting like he was uncomfortable talking on the sidewalk. He shrugged. “Well, because you need a partner and I’ve, ah, got time on my hands.”
Kris was astonished. “You’re offering to be my partner?”
Jax nodded, looking around, and not making eye contact. Like he was embarrassed.
Kris cleared his throat. “Well, I’m honored. I don’t have the authority to make a decision like that. I mean, so far as I know, there’s never been a…”
“You can’t tell me that you don’t work with vampires. I’ve got two words for you. Istvan. Baka.”
“That’s true, but he’s not functioning as a knight.”
“Technicality.”
“It’s not a technicality. He’s more like a, um, consultant.”
The look Jax gave him said, “Do not bullshit me.”
“Baka’s a hunter. Works at it every night.”
Falcon couldn’t argue with that. “That’s… true. It has to go by Glen.”
Jax nodded and motioned in the general direction of Falcon’s pants pockets. “You have his number, don’t you?”
“You mean call him right now?”
“Unlike me, your days are numbered. So, no time like the present. We have deadheads to annihilate and the world won’t be safe for humans or vampire, I mean real vampire, until the last corpus delecti has been burned to a crisp.”
Falcon tried to think of a reason why Jax shouldn’t be his partner. Failing to do so, when he couldn’t even cite incompatibility, he called Glen.
FALCON: Resistance (KBS Next Generation Book 1) Page 25
