“I didn’t pursue justice for myself, you know. I did it for Tala.” He paused, swallowed. “She was purity and light, and her only selfish wish was a child. If you could even call that selfish.” He sighed in resignation. “Not the final act I had envisioned for myself, but perhaps not the one you had envisioned either. Because, you see, unlike my perfect wife, I am not an altruist.”
With that, Sava revealed the small hand grenade and pulled the pin. He drew his hand back and aimed in Nathan’s direction. Nathan took off at a run after voicing the command. “Send it.”
The shot hit Dario square between the eyes, and he fell back against Tala Savo’s headstone. The grenade rolled from his open palm into the soft grass. Nathan was barely out of the blast radius when he dove behind a small, now crumbling, gravestone. When the dust settled, Nathan was on his back looking up. Hercules, who had positioned himself in a tree in a small copse, was dangling from a branch by his arms and legs, rifle over his back.
“Shorty,” Nathan chuckled into a coughing fit.
Hercules hopped down and squatted next to him. “You okay?”
Nathan rolled to his hands and knees and looked up at his sniper.
“You’re hired.”
Hercules helped Nathan to his feet, and they walked slowly back to the secluded area behind the barn where Twitch was running the show. Ren was slapping a bandage on Emily’s side. Nathan forgot about his own battered body and rushed to her. Ren was quick to calm him.
“She just got nicked. She could maybe use a couple of stitches. It probably won’t even scar.” He grabbed Nathan’s upper arm, met his gaze, and spoke with meaning. “Everything looks fine.”
With that, Nathan dropped to his knees in front of her and placed a reverent kiss on her belly. Emily ran both hands through his hair. The rest of the team smiled and turned to gather their things, leaving them to their private moment.