He looked so good standing there, even in dusty boots, dirty jeans, a faded flannel shirt. His hair needed cutting, my hand itched to push it back from his forehead. His eyes finally met mine. Still so very blue.

Still filled with so much love.

I froze, but didn’t turn around. I felt encased in ice.

“I had to do it. You were dying, baby. I couldn’t let that happen.”

I heard him shift behind me, exhale heavily.

“I don’t know what happened, they were only supposed to repair the damage, not…” Another sigh. “Patience, please don’t leave me.”

I closed my eyes at the pain in his voice. Even now, in this…violation, this betrayal, I still loved him so much. Leaving him was going to rip out my heart, was going to empty me completely.

I walked into the night.

Ah, Gods, listen to me, she thought disgustedly. Pining for family after all this time? How uncharacteristic.

But she was tired of being on her own among people who could never understand her.
However: this little matter of The Cult. She might be the best PI in the business, but Artemis couldn’t do this one on her own. There would be a family reunion whether they liked it or not.

We made it to the top of the rise in time to see the Predator come ghosting over the treetops. The old man was oblivious to our shouts, he was too intent on coaxing the sputtering generator to life. The beam of coherent light from the drone burned through the smoking machine and cut him in half where he stood.

Doc looked at me, murder in his eyes. “I am stopping this,” he snarled.

I believed him.