***
“Mean,” she said as they exited the shower an unknown amount of time later.
Ferro kissed her cheek. “I think I made it up to you,” he said with an evil wink.
“This time,” she agreed with fake sullenness, toweling herself off.
Steam filled the room, keeping them warm as they dried off. Although the cold didn’t truly affect them in an adverse way, that didn’t mean they couldn’t feel it. Cold was still cold, and still shocking when applied liberally after being warm.
“What’s the plan now?” she asked, opening the door to the bedroom. A billow of steam followed them out.
He flicked on the fan inside before joining her. They had each picked up a new outfit the day before, knowing they were desperately in need of a change. Now they put them on, prepared at last to face the day.
“Home,” he said without thinking. “Regroup, come up with a plan of attack.”
Ana went stiff, turning to look at him.
“Home?” she asked, her voice carefully modulated to appear neutral.
“My home,” he corrected, wondering if that’s what she had meant. “We have friends there; it will be safe. Then we can think this through to formulate strategies and decide how best to act.”
Ana was shaking her head. “Sounds like you’ve already decided how we should act.
Ferro sat up straight as he recognized the dangerous tone in her voice.
“What? No,” he protested. “I just figured that we needed a safe spot, somewhere we could go without having to look over our shoulders.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” she agreed, and for a moment, he thought he was out of the woods. “But you decided it completely without me,” she finished.
“Ana, please,” he said, moving to her side. “That is not the way I meant it,” he promised.
She looked up at him. “I know it’s not, Ferro, but if we’re going to make this work, I have to remind you when you’re making a decision for us without actually consulting me. I need to remain my own person on this.”
He nodded. “I understand. I hope you know I am trying.” He shrugged. “A few thousand years of ingrained habits are going to take longer than a few days to break,” he told her. “I wish I was stronger than that, but—”
“Ferro, it’s okay,” she promised, reaching up on her tiptoes and giving him a kiss firmly on the lips. Her voice was back to normal, the swelling having subsided overnight. “Part of it was my own response to such things kicking in.”
He frowned when she didn’t continue right away. “And the other part?” he asked nervously, not sure he wanted the answer now.
“The other part is that you’re wrong.”
He swayed backward on his feet. That was not the answer he was expecting.
“I…am?” he asked, confused.
“Yes,” she confirmed, then tossed him a wink. “You’ve had eight thousand years to learn your habits. The least I can do is give you a full week to come around before I really start to get angry at you.” Ana shrugged. “Besides, I have my own quirks that we’re going to have to work with or around,” she told him.
“Oh,” he said meekly, to which Ana laughed heartily.
“I don’t think I’m crazy,” she promised. “But as you know, after this long, certain things become habit.”
Ferro nodded. “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why I am wrong,” he said.
“Right,” Ana agreed, her tone becoming businesslike. “The problem with your plan is it involves sitting around and reacting to what the Council does.”
He frowned. “As opposed to?”
“Acting,” she said firmly. “We need to go on the attack. Find them, hunt them down, and eliminate them. Attack from the shadows. We don’t have the numbers for a full-on attack. So we turn the tables. Between the two of us, we’re pretty strong,” she said, which was a mild understatement. “We can take on anyone we come across if we are doing it on our terms, not theirs,” she finished.
“I see,” he said slowly. “It sounds like you have already decided the plan,” he said, unable to resist throwing the barb at her, though he gave her a smile to let her know he wasn’t actually mad.
“Yeah, I saw that one coming,” she admitted. “But I know, and deep down I think you know as well, that this is the best plan of action. Face it,” she said, crossing her arms, “they know you Ferro. They know how you are, how you act, and what you’re likely to do. I guarantee you, if we strike for your home, we’re going to be hounded the entire way there. They’ve got teams waiting for us, ready to pounce.”
“So how do we find those teams first?” he asked.
Ana grinned. “It’s simple. We give them exactly what they want.”
He felt his stomach sinking. “Which is?”
Her grin widened. “Me.”