* * *

I gave her enough time to compose herself and calm down, but the shit had come full circle. That stick with the pink line had changed everything for both of us.

It was no matter a question of maybe, and maybe that’s why she’s scared. “Are you afraid of your parents, of what they will say?” I wrapped my arms tighter around her and held her close.

“Do you think I will let anything happen to you or the baby? Your father and I are friends, and sure I feel a little guilt that he sent you here and I couldn’t control myself.”

“But that guilt is not enough for me to throw you to the wolves. I want you to put all of your worries aside. From this moment on, you’re mine to protect, both you and the baby.”

“She still didn’t say anything and I kept rambling, hoping that I’d hit on the right thing, whatever it is she needed to hear to snap out of it.

“It’s not parents I’m afraid of, it’s…you. I did a very bad thing.” She struggled to be let down but I held onto her. “You can talk just as well from here.”

She tried burying her head even deeper into my chest and her shoulders started to shake as tears fell from her eyes and soaked through my shirt.

“What did you do? Tell me, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’ve built it up to be.” She wiped her damn nose in my shirt and I rolled my eyes over her head and waited for her to settle down and tell me what was bothering her.

No doubt it’s some minor bullshit that she’s blown out of proportion in her head. “I don’t know where to start.” I squeezed her gently at her words.

“At the beginning.”

She sniffled a little, used my shirt as a damn tissue again and got settled against my chest. “I’m listening.”

“From the time I was a very little girl, my father used to tell me stories of his hero. This man who spent his life fighting for others. He told me of this man being called in all over the world, to save the lives of many who were in danger.”

“One story he told over and over again was the story of hundreds of children being held hostage in a school, somewhere in Eastern Europe.” My body tensed up at her words.

“No one knew what to do. There were military factions from all over the world, task force, special Ops, no one could decide how to handle the threatening situation while the world watched.”

“There were four of them, the terrorists, and they held hundreds inside and millions outside hostage to fear. Everyone feared the worst because there was no clear way to save all the children.”

“But this man, who was still young even though he’d already served a good few years said that not one of those kids would die on his watch.”

“He went against everyone, no one thought it could be done. His solution was so simple, I’m sure that today many would see it as the obvious thing to do. But back then no one would even think of it.”

“My father said that as simple as the solution was, there was still an element of danger to the one who carried it out.”

“When he could’ve sent someone of lesser rank in to do it, he chose to do it himself. His colleagues and superiors tried talking him out of it, but he was resolute. My father said he walked into danger with a cocky grin and promised to buy everyone a drink later that day.”

“There were only a few hours left before the gunmen carried out their threat of killing the children one by one, so time was of the essence.”

“Dad said he watched his friend walk away knowing that he would never see him again.” As I listened to her words, I relived that day in my head.

I never let myself think of it too much. Because while others were hailing a hero, I am always aware that it was the day I’d come to understand how truly evil man can be.

“There was talk back and forth between the terrorists and the military base outside. Lots of threats and demands. Most of the local people were gathered around outside, in danger of being taken up in whatever was about to play out.”

“This man, this hero studied the layout of the building from the blueprints they had there and knowing where the children were being held, chose his point of attack.”

“His simple solution was to put everyone asleep, including the children. Because he didn’t plan on leaving them in the building long, he knew there would be no lingering side affects. And he only needed to disorient the enemy enough to get the rest of his team inside to bring the children out.”

“The trick though, was getting into the building without being noticed and getting close enough for it to work.”

“The building was old, and though the blueprints showed a few places he could use, there was no guarantee they would hold him, or that the terrorists wouldn’t be alerted.”

“He knew that if that happened, they would start killing the kids, so he had only one shot at getting it right.”

“Dad said he didn’t know exactly how he did it, because he never talked about what he did once he was out of sight of the others. But half an hour later people all over the world watched as those children were carried out of that building one by one.”

“How did you do it uncle Cade?” I was too choked up to answer her at first. My mind was all the way back there, thirteen years ago. That dark, fucked up day.

I remembered the faces of the people gathered outside the barriers. Poor families who had nothing but the joy of their children.

Mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, whole families had gathered and I wondered which of them were gonna walk away that day empty handed, without their precious child?

Was it the woman who sat on the ground with dust on her head as she wailed, or the one who stared sightlessly at the building, hope already gone?

There were hundreds of them gathered there, each one of them in stark fear of losing their loved one. I couldn’t see another child taken so senselessly.

That old building was ready to crumble any second, but it was the place where hundreds of kids went to school everyday, because they wanted a chance in the world that was supposed to belong to them.