Chapter Thirty-Six

Jane

Jane walked down the long, empty hallway leading from the hovervators to the War Room. The sun’s beams shone through the glass ceiling with a vengeance, warm and bright on her face. After Darkside, she welcomed bright light.

Mr. Parker had texted that he’d just gotten in from Washington and wanted her to meet him before they joined the debrief with her team. He stood leaning against the wall, looking down the corridor at her. His eyes were unusually bright and his grin unexpectedly wide. Hopefully, that would be in her favor, because her nerves were on edge after the way she had spoken to him. Though his face didn’t show it, she was pretty sure she knew what was coming.

He pushed himself off the wall and waved her to come closer. “Four thousand people saved, a terrorist behind bars, and your team home safely. Well done, Jane. The president sends her personal thanks.”

Wow. That was unexpected.

“And to celebrate, we’re going to take a trip to Deer Lodge to see Grandma.”

Again. Wow. Jane forced a smile. “I’d like that.”

“I saw the video LYDIA recorded of your little exploits. Those watches your team wore came in very handy. Benson’s confession will prove Zachary’s innocence.”

“I know.”

He paused and gazed down at her. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m sorry I disobeyed orders, Mr. Parker.” Jane looked up at her father. “I understand if you take me off the team.”

“Take you off the team? Jane, I should have never gone to Washington. I have done my best to raise you and teach you to be strong and independent. And I did an excellent job of it, but I should never have thought—”

“I didn’t mean the things I said.” She felt rude interrupting, but she had to. It had been eating at her since she’d learned he was on his way back from Washington.

“Well, you were right about them. I’ve been a good boss, but I have done a very poor job of being a father. And I’m sorry.”

Jane glanced up at the cameras lining the hallway. No blinking lights. Still…

“Mr. Parker, I don’t think mentioning our relationship in public is a good idea.” She thought back to Benson’s threats against her family. “Telling Zachary who you are was a mistake, and even though I believe he is trustworthy, I shouldn’t have done it. It’s not safe. I understand why we have to be careful, and I want you to know, I’m totally in. No more slipups. I can’t risk anyone connecting the two of us.”

“About that. I have one more trip to Washington, and I’d like you to accompany me.”

“Really?” Jane’s heart leaped. Her dad was taking her to see the president! “I suppose it makes sense, you know, an intern accompanying you. I promise, I will toe the line. Nobody, and I mean nobody, will ever know we’re anything but student and Director.”

“I want you there when I resign.”

Oh.

“But, Mr. Parker, I—”

“Dad, Jane. Call me Dad.” He reached into his jacket and handed her an envelope. “I have something I should have shown you long ago.”

Jane reached out tentatively and took the envelope. She opened it and gasped when she read the paper inside. “I don’t get it. Where did this come from?”

“It’s my birth certificate. With my real name on it.”

Suddenly Jane’s heart felt like it would explode with joy. “James Allen Lew.”

Dad nodded. “Yes. You have my birth name. My real name.”

Jane reached up to hug her dad, but then saw the cameras along the ceiling. She dropped her arms and hugged herself instead. Was this actually happening? How could she not scream? She had to tell…no one. Not a single soul. THIS WAS SO AWESOME!

“The cameras are off.” Her dad laughed and pulled her into the warmest hug she could remember. “I love you, Janie.”

“I love you, too, Dad.”

He squeezed one more time, then turned toward the War Room. “We shouldn’t keep them waiting. This way, Miss Lew.”

“Right behind you, Mr. Parker. Oh, one more thing?”

Her dad stopped and turned to face her.

“Don’t resign. The world needs ORDER.”

“I’m not losing you to this job.”

Jane couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She felt as though she had been rescued for the second time from Darkside. It was like every Christmas that would ever happen had suddenly arrived on her front door. “You won’t.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Dad raised an eyebrow. “One condition.”

“What?”

“You and your teen geniuses stay on my team.”

“Done. I have a condition, too.”

“Yes?”

“We keep our secret. We can’t allow anyone to make the connection between us. It’s how we keep each other safe. Agreed, Mr. Parker?”

“What do we do about Zachary?”

“He took a bullet for me.”

Dad smiled. “Agreed, Miss Lew.”

“Let’s go.” She opened the War Room door and walked through. Anna sat next to Michael, Mina next to Nolan. Zachary’s eyes connected with Jane’s. She shot him a subtle smile then looked away.

“Good to have the team back together,” Mr. Parker said when they had taken their seats. “How are you feeling, Zachary?”

“Great.” Zachary shifted in his chair, then mumbled, “Butt still hurts.”

“I imagine so. Zachary, I want to personally thank you for saving my”—Mr. Parker looked at Jane and his eyes became very serious—“my intern’s life.”

It was all Jane could do to keep from bursting into tears. She wanted to leap from her seat and throw her arms around her da…Mr. Parker.

“She did the same for me, sir. I could have bled to death.” Zachary turned to Jane. “I still can’t believe you teleported me and I wasn’t awake to enjoy it.”

“You lost consciousness because we teleported you.” Jane slid her chair so close to Zachary’s that they might as well have shared one.

“I still can’t believe you got shot,” Michael said, shaking his head.

“Stopped the destruction of a city and took a bullet for the girl.” Nolan kicked back in his seat. “007 has nothing on you.”

“007 never got shot in the butt,” Michael said.

“Since when does the Mastermind Complex have its own hospital?” Zachary poked Jane in the ribs. “And why wasn’t it part of my tour?”

She squeezed his finger. “Top secret. You don’t have clearance.”

“Do I now?”

“No, I’m afraid we’ll have to wipe your memory.”

“Somebody already tried. It backfired. Instead of losing my memory, I found my dreams.”

Mr. Parker smiled. “To answer your question, Zachary, the Complex is self-sufficient due to the nature of ORDER’s work. We could hardly take you to the Quantum City Hospital with a gunshot wound. The police would get involved, and the paperwork would be a nuisance.”

“Can I ride the teleporter again?” Zachary leaned against Jane. “I want to see what I missed.”

“Teleportation is rough, that’s what you missed.” Jane loved the feeling of his shoulder against hers. “It had never been tested with four people. Warping the time-space continuum around that many took less power than we anticipated. The setting was too high. When the continuum snaps, it’s normally disorienting, but with your blood loss and the extra power, it caused you to black out.”

Zachary sighed. “At least we shut down HAVOC, right?”

“Classified information, Zachary.” Jane shook her head. “HAVOC doesn’t exist, as far as the public knows, and we can never talk about it. The outside world believes that the Large Hadron Collider is an experiment sanctioned by Quantum City University for the Young PhD Program. The tractor beam, had we not defeated it, would have been undetectable. The asteroid striking Deer Lodge would have been explained away as an unfortunate anomaly of nature. And Professor Mamont would have used it to threaten the civilized world. But the papers will report that he has retired from the university for health reasons.”

“Zach came too close to being retired,” Nolan said. Then his eyes lit up and he turned to Jane. “I hear that you have a mean right hook.”

“She was amazing!” Zachary clapped his hands. He leaned his head on Jane’s shoulder. “Neanderthal.”

Jane smiled. “He’s buying me a club for my birthday. He thinks it’ll come in handy on our next mission.”

“I already know what our next mission is,” Zachary announced. “It starts tonight, and involves popcorn and a movie.”

“You’re taking Jane to see Star Wars?” Nolan said.

Zach shook his head. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

“I was hoping to watch The Princess Bride.” Jane smiled.

“Really?” Zachary brought his face closer. Jane couldn’t take her eyes off his lips.

“Get a room,” his brothers yelled.

“I hate to cut your celebration short,” Mr. Parker said. “But you actually do have a next mission. There is a new threat. This time, the entire continent is in danger.”

“HAVOC?”

“Not this time. I have a meeting with the president to get the details. Jane will be accompanying me.” Then he got up from his chair and left the War Room without another word.

“He’s really got to work on his social skills,” Zachary said. “Who’s hungry?”

Jane smiled at him and raised her hand.

“Me too,” Michael said. “To the café.”

Zachary got up to follow but Jane took his hand and tugged. He turned to her, his eyes questioning. She did a double eyebrow-bounce. His face lit up. He turned to his brothers. “You guys go ahead. I forgot something. We’ll catch up.”

Nolan’s mouth twisted into a grin, and he said to Jane, “My brother has an eidetic memory. He never forgets. Are you leading him astray, young lady?”

Jane put her hands on her hips. “You have a problem with that?”

“No ma’am. Move out!” Nolan ushered the others out of the War Room.

When the door closed, Zachary leaned back in his chair. “Is this the first time we’ve been alone since I got shot?”

“It is. I have so much I want to say to you.”

“Me too.” Zachary’s face became serious. “I wish I would have said it while we were in the tunnels, but we were sort of caught up in staying alive.”

“I know.” Jane looked deeply into Zachary’s eyes and held his gaze for all she was worth.

“I’m sorry,” they both said at once, and started laughing.

Jane shook her head. “I should have told you what I had done right from the beginning. Hiding it wasn’t right.”

“And I should have known my brothers are boneheads. Nolan showed me the police transcripts while I was in the infirmary. How did they possibly miss the most important part? Boneheads!” He paused. “Jane, I wish I had never said those nasty things to you. I am so sorry.”

They sat in silence. Then Zachary reached out and took her hand in both of his. “You remember when I said I loved you?”

“You mean when you were delirious from blood loss?”

Zachary smiled. “I wasn’t delirious.”

Jane’s heart skipped. She felt warm all over, and it wasn’t from the sun. “You know when I said I loved you, too?”

“You mean when your brain was still scrambled from Darkside?”

“Darkside is the reason I know it’s true.”

Zachary raised a brow. “Not following.”

Jane thought back to the moment she began to vanish inside that dreadful machine. “I was fading and knew I was about to die, and the worst part was the feeling that I was so totally alone. I tried to think about you, but I couldn’t. It was like you were so, so far away. Then I swore I saw colored lasers tearing through the darkness, and there you were, holding me, fighting against that gray nothing that was trying to take me. The lights connected us somehow. The bond was so totally overwhelming that there weren’t two of us any longer. We had become one, and I saw that you were willing to die with me if you couldn’t save me. That’s when I knew I was in love with you, Zachary Keen.”

Zachary said nothing, his eyes distant as though he was trying to remember. “Wow. For me it was when I saw you in yoga pants. You were so hot.”

Jane huffed but couldn’t hide her smile. “Oh, you are impossible!”

“Did we just make up without fighting?”

Jane pulled his hand to her cheek. “We did.”

“I thought so. Calling me impossible, though, that’s a problem.”

“Oh?”

“Impossible is a non-provable concept, Miss Lew. No way to conduct an experiment. I propose a different hypothesis.”

“Oh, do you, Mr. Keen? And how would you phrase this hypothesis?”

“Simple. I believe we’re in love.”

Jane moved closer to Zachary. Her gaze drifted from his eyes to his lips. “I feel a burning need to collect data, Mr. Keen.”

Zachary smiled. “I concur, Miss Lew.”

“May I show you to my laboratory?”

“Lead the way.”

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