The second tip of Allah's spear went off with no problem. Now they were next. Tension built in the air as every man felt the weight of their mission.

15 days

The training exercise was brutal.

For the past four days, Hick's team along with the one headed by Matthew "Wolf" Steele had lived, slept and worked in the Mojave going through different scenarios as intelligence was gathered on the mastermind behind the Cannes attack. As they had guessed, Haafiz al-Bashir, AKA "Fedora" had claimed responsibility. It was time to take him out.

Their combined team had been designated as Bravo while another combined team was Alpha. For the last exercise, Alpha had played the part of the terrorists with Bravo mounting an assault intent on bringing them down. They had played this war game over, and over the last forty-eight hours, trading sides as the one tried to figure ways to stop the other.

"Damn, I'm exhausted," Mozart muttered as he dropped to the ground beside Hick. The SEAL, also known as Sam Reed, shrugged out of his pack and leaned back against the rock and closed his eyes. "I'm ready to get out of here and get home."

"Me too. Jess wasn't feeling too hot when we left. I need to get back to her." Kason "Benny" Sawyer dropped beside his friend.

One by one the other members of Bravo joined them on the hard sandy ground as the sky overhead darkened toward blackness; all except Finch, Wolf, and Bruiser. The two leaders were off to one side talking quietly together. Finch sat on a boulder staring up at the sky as the stars began to show. He had appeared as they were loading up to leave for the training exercise. He looked drawn and barely spoke. Hick had no idea what had happened to him over the last week, and he wasn't forthcoming with the information. Bruiser obviously knew, but he was just as tight-lipped stating if Finch wanted to talk about it, he would.

"We're out of here tomorrow, right?" Toad asked.

"That's the plan, Stan," Railroad grunted. He sat against a boulder with his rifle lying across his lap.

"Can't come too soon for me," Hunter "Cookie" Storm retorted. "I want a hot shower, a warm meal, and my wife."

"How's she doing?" Hick asked. "I heard she had been having some issues."

Cookie nodded. "Fee's doing better. The new therapist has helped a lot. After that piece of shit, El Chacal came after her, I was afraid she'd break, but she didn't. My Fiona is strong."

"Damned strong," Dude grunted. "All our women are - Ice, Fiona, Alabama, Summer, Jess, and Shy. Every one of them went through hell and came out on top."

"They have to be strong. It takes a special woman to be with a SEAL," Abe added. "It's not easy."

Hick straightened up. "Does it work? I mean, it obviously works because you are all still with your women. But, the distance, the missions, how does it work for you? How do you keep your mind on the mission?"

Cookie blew out a breath. "You learn to compartmentalize because when you're on a mission, not having your head in the game can get your ass killed. It can get your team killed. Believe me, I know. It almost happened to me."

"And me, " Abe added. "She's there, in my heart, but I push her out of my mind while working. You have to. I remind myself that I'm doing this for our country; for every man, woman, and child. I'm doing this to ensure Alabama, and our kids are happy and healthy. No, it's not easy to leave her and go God knows where with no assurance that any of us is coming out of this alive, but we go because it's what we are."

"Not to mention homecomings are pretty freaking awesome," Benny grinned.

"True that." Mozart fist-bumped Benny.

"You got a woman, Hick?"

Hick resisted the urge to fidget under Dude's intense stare.

"Depends on what day it is," Toad grunted. "Bethy deserves better, but for some reason, she's stuck with him."

"Annabeth is my friend," Hick replied as Railroad, Toad and even Finch snorted. While it was true that he wanted more and he was sure she did too, he wasn't ready to share it with the team.

"Man, when are you going to wake up and smell what you are shoveling?" Toad reached over and slapped Hick's helmet off his head. "You two have been dancing around each other for almost a year now. It used to be funny. Now, it's just sad and a little disgusting."

"Shut up, Toad." Hick grabbed his gloves off his thigh and threw them at his friend, smacking him in the face with them. "It's not sad or disgusting. She lives in Georgia, and I'm in Cali. The timing just isn't right."

"Riiiiiight," Toad picked up the gloves and tossed them back. "You spend more time on the phone with her than Bruise does with Olivia and they are practically married. You two send those little text games back and forth all the time, and if you are within 500 miles of her, you find a way to see her. If that's not sad and disgusting, it's pretty pathetic at least."

Railroad jumped to his feet and tilted his face to the sky. "You hear that?" he asked.

As one, the rest of the team immediately fell silent. Standing to their feet, they listened as a noise began to grow.

"Helios?" Mozart frowned.

Twinkling lights moved through the darkness from the west. Wolf and Bruiser joined the men.

"Get your gear. We're being pulled early," Wolf ordered.

"What's going on?" Finch asked as he settled his pack on his back.

"There's been another attack. Fedora has struck again," Bruiser growled.

 

 

Details are starting to come in from Novi Sad, Serbia at the Exit Festival. The music festival, founded in 2000 by students to protect democracy in Serbia, was the site of a terrorist attack tonight. The American band, Brown Nugget Toast had just taken the stage when four explosions rocked the Petrovaradin Fortress collapsing two walls of the medieval structure trapping thousands beneath the rubble. Reports of casualties number in the thousands with the death count at 149 and climbing. Haafiz al-Bashir claimed responsibility via a message released immediately following the incident. In it, the spokesman railed at Western culture including American influenced music. In his speech, he called for Muslims everywhere to stand with them in their holy war.

Annabeth's eyes were big as saucers. She scooted to the edge of the sofa and watched as the scene unfolded before her gaze. As at the last attack, smoke hung thick in the air as terrified people stumbled around in shock. Officials had arrived, and efforts were underway to get the situation under control. Local news reporters gave their reports as machinery and people swarmed the scene behind. English translations flashed across the bottom of the screen.

A vibration pulled her attention from the screen. She picked up her cell and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Georgia."

Never had two words sounded so good to her. "Hick! God, it's good to hear from you."

"Good to hear from you too." The sound of the mouthpiece being covered as he mumbled something then he was back. "Are you doing okay there?"

She nodded then remembered he couldn't see her. "Yes, I'm alright. Hick, what the hell is going on? Who is this guy doing all these bombings?"

She heard him sigh heavily. The sound of a car door opening was muffled in the background then the door slammed. "He's a bad man. No, bad isn't the right term. He's evil, plain and simple. Al-Bashir is an egotistical extremist with dreams of bringing down anything that he doesn't believe in or understand."

"Why does he keep targeting artistic locations? I don't understand."

"I wish I could give you an answer, Georgia. These extremists don't care about anything but their agendas. They warp the true Muslim faith into a tool for hate and lies. Millions of believers don't subscribe to the viewpoint of these terrorists. They are just as much a victim here as those who are physically hurt. These fanatical bastards view our way of life as a direct affront to their skewed religious beliefs. To them, it's sacrilegious, and their version of God demands justice."

Annabeth shivered as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "Any god that demands justice by killing thousands of innocents isn't a god worth following," she retorted bitterly. "There were children at Cannes. What kind of god justifies the murder of babies?" Her voice broke as fat tears rolled down her cheek. "They said there was a group of twenty-two special needs teens from England at the festival tonight. They were all crushed as the wall fell. Twenty-two beautiful souls are gone just because some idiot thinks his god doesn't like rock music? It's insane!"

"Shhh. Georgia, stop crying, honey. You're killing me." Hick's voice was strained. "I agree it's insane. People like him are one of the reasons I do this, why I am who I am. They fuel the fire that keeps me going. We fight against them, fight for the innocents that died at the hands of this madman. We are the line in the sand that says 'no more.' We are the ones that protect the world from men like al-Bashir."

"I know you are. But I think about you going up against someone like him, and my stomach drops to the floor. You can't fight this kind of insanity. He's a special kind of crazy. People like that don't care. He'll do whatever he thinks he has to. Hick, what if you get hurt? What if..." she couldn't finish her thoughts and gulped instead.

"Honey," he soothed softly. "Shhh, it's ok. We're highly trained. When we go on missions, we've worked through every scenario. There are plans on top of plans. I trust my SEAL brothers completely as they trust me. You don't worry about me."

"I can't help but worry about you," she whispered. "Hick?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I wish you were here."

"I wish I were there, too," he agreed. "It's just two more weeks. Hey, I was thinking, how about a little cabin in the mountains for a few days? We'll do some hiking, maybe a hot tub."

Annabeth snorted. "Hiking? Have you not seen me? The only hiking I do is the fourteen steps between my door and the condo's."

"Yes, Georgia, I have seen every beautiful curve of your delectable body and can't wait to have them in my hands again. Trust me to take care of you?"

The thought of his strong, callused hands caressing her body never failed to make an ache sit deep in her belly. She knew without a shadow of a doubt he would always take care of her. Her reply was breathy. "Yes, I trust you."

"Good girl."

She could hear the smile in his voice. She grabbed the remote and turned off the television. Right now, she needed him more than she needed to know what was going on outside her living room. She heard a ding as he turned the key and cranked his car. The fear was still in her mind, but she had pushed it back, focusing solely on him. Hick was 2,000 miles away, but he still made her feel safe. She thought about the conversation she and Ms. Clara had shared on the balcony. She had talked about Henry and how they had such a beautiful, full life together. She thought about her parents and the special love they shared. She wanted that. What's more, she wanted it with Hick. With every fiber of her being, she wanted a lifetime with him and to feel his warmth keeping her safe. At that moment she truly understood what Ms. Clara had meant. It was better to have one day with Hick in her life than an eternity without him.

"Hick?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"I need to tell you something."

"Let me pull off the road first. I don't want to wreck."

She half laughed. "It can wait. I don't want to keep you from going home."

His deep chuckle warmed her heart and made her toes curl. "You wait for me enough as it is. I can take a few more minutes before I get home. There, I'm safe. What do you need to tell me?"

She swallowed. Did she dare to do this now? On the phone?

"I... I..." she tried to get the words past her constricted throat. What if he bolted? Did she have the strength to keep going if he left her? Maybe it was better just to keep their relationship exactly as it was - uncomplicated. However, if she didn't tell him and something happened on one of his missions, could she live with knowing he never knew how she felt?

"Go on, spit it out."

She swallowed and steeled herself. "I know we said we decided to talk about what's going on between us when we were face to face, but watching this tonight made me realize what kind of people you handle on your job. I want you to know how I feel. You are my best friend, even more so than Jos. I couldn't take it if something happened to you. I think I'd just shrivel up into a little puddle of gunk."

"Georgia..."

"No, let me finish while I have the courage. You need to know that you aren't just a friend with benefits for me. You aren't just a fun time. Even with 2,000 miles between us, I feel you in my heart. I tried to push it all aside, but I can't do it anymore. Levi Salter, you are my Henry, my anchor in this world. I don't want you to go one more day, one more second without knowing the truth even if it means you leave. I love you."

The silence was deafening. Annabeth winced as she waited for him to say something as she simultaneously dreaded what he would say. Was he trying to form the words that would crush her heart and deaden her soul? Was he going to laugh at her declaration? Had she lost him for good?

"God, Georgia," his voice was tight. "You just had to beat me to the punch, didn't you?"

"W-w-what?"

The deep timbre of his voice sent goose bumps over her body. "Here I was trying to figure out the perfect setting, the perfect time, the perfect everything so I could tell you how I felt and here you went and one-upped me while I sat on the side of the highway. We started this journey as friends, and it's become so much more now. I don't have the words to explain how deeply I love you, but I do. You're my everything."

Then the tears came again. "Levi," she breathed into the mouthpiece. "Really?"

"Without a doubt," he replied.

She swallowed then asked the question that burned her soul. "What about the other women you've been dating?"

He sucked in a breath. "Yeah, about that. I haven't actually been dating. Toad was telling the truth. Since meeting you, there hasn't been anyone else - just you, Georgia. Only you."