The Aftermath

Mary and I agree to go our separate ways before any of our colleagues happen upon us and ask too many questions. Like Penn, I decide to seek out anyone that may need my help; but by the time I make my way back to the main entrance, I realize that all of the fighting had already ended.

Either my encounter with Mary had taken more time than I thought, or the attempted takeover on our base was shorter than expected. But regardless, it’s a relief to see that the fighting’s over. I decide to regroup with Penn and the others and they fill me in on everything I missed.

All of the bases were successfully defended and most of the villains and their accompanying minions had been apprehended and are now in the process of being transferred to high security prison cells. While many were injured, thankfully, there were no casualties on either side.

I send a quick text to Cobalt, but I’m sure he’s alright. He’s not the type to get caught easily. Speaking of, I bet Mary and the breakfast trio managed to make it out safely as well.

…I should probably shoot Mary a text later to check on her too.

Somehow, despite all of the gun shots and explosions that it endured, the base looks no worse for wear. Yes, it will need repairs, but not a whole lot. Whoever was in charge of building this place did a bang-up job with its defenses. Heh. Get it? Bang-up? Ugh, never mind.

I help with the clean up and idly listen to the chatter around me. It's such a relief to just do something as simple as mopping the floor after everything that's happened in the past few days. There's no need overthink doing a task like this.

Cobalt sends me a message a few minutes after, confirming that he’s okay. He managed to slip away from Mary’s group at some point and meet up with some of our other colleagues.

Mary also sends a reply shortly after, and it is long. She managed to evade capture from the other agents and met up with the breakfast trio at a rendezvous point not far from the base. But she goes into so much detail — including things like how many bullet holes she passed — that the text is about as long as a novel.

It’s so dorky and so very her and I have to do my best to repress a laugh lest I risk bringing undue attention to myself.

The base is good as new by the end of the day and I agree to meet up with Cobalt on the way back home. I hadn’t told him about what transpired between me and Mary yet, but I get the feeling that he’s already aware that something must have happened between us.

On my way out, I run into Micah. He greets me in his usual pleasant way.

“Hello Altair, how are you?”

“Oh, Pastor Micah. Hello, I’m doing pretty good, all things considering. What brings you here?”

“One of my friends works at this base and he asked for my help with the repairs. All things considered, things could have ended up worse. We owe it to Cobalt for leaking such vital information to us.”

I nod in agreement. Cobalt will likely get some kind of recognition for his efforts and then make a bunch of dumb jokes in his acceptance speech that will either be met with laughs or groans. Or both. Knowing his track record, probably both.

“By the way,” Micah continues, “did something good happen? You seem to be in a rather pleasant mood.”

Oh no, do I have goofy grin on my face or something? I self-consciously reach for my mouth to see if I’m smiling or making some weird, embarrassing expression. Micah laughs at this.

“It’s nothing to do with your expression. I suppose you just have a certain, erm, positive vibe about you.”

“Er, yeah, I guess you’re right.” He’s more than right. Now that it’s started to sink in, I do feel comfortable in my decision to continue to see Mary, regardless of our respective allegiances.

“That’s good to hear. I hope this good mood lasts for a while.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer. It’s getting quite late now and I’m sure you’re tired from today’s events.”

“Pastor, you don’t even know the half of it.”

“Do tell.”

“He might have to do that in confidence,” a familiar voice from behind me says. I turn around and find Cobalt, no longer wearing his disguise as Ace. He’s grinning brightly at me.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, trying to keep my tone level.

“I mean, like, in confession or something.”

I sigh. “Cobalt, again, that’s a Catholic thing.”

Cobalt’s eyes widen. “Wait, really? Pastor, is that true?”

“Yes that’s correct. If anyone in my congregation has any problems they wish to unload, they’re free to talk to me face to face or speak directly to God in prayer.”

“You guys have a direct line to God?!”

“Yes. Through prayer.”

“…Oh.”

I elbow Cobalt in the side. “What did you think he was going to say? That he has God’s phone number or something?”

Cobalt hesitates before saying “N-no, of course not!”

Yeah, he totally did.

Micah remains unfettered, pleasant smile still on his face. “Cobalt, if you ever want to learn more, you’re always welcome to visit my church.”

Cobalt nods and smiles. “Sure thing, Pastor!”

We bid farewell to Micah and make our way back home after that.

“So,” Cobalt begins, “how did things go with the boss lady?”

“Boss la--? Oh, you mean Mary.” Figures. So he did know something happened between us. “Pretty good, I guess.”

Cobalt’s smile turns mischievous, almost cat-like as he gets closer to my personal space. “Oh really? Just pretty good? Not great or amazing? Because the way you’re carrying yourself says otherwise.”

What is with my vibes today that just about everyone can see through my mood?!

“Okay, fine! It was great, okay?! We had a good talk, I learned a lot of good things about her, and we agreed to keep seeing each other and…And I think I really do like her. Like, I know it’s crazy. We’ve only been on one date, but…I dunno, there’s just something about her that makes her so, I dunno, charming?”

I can already feel myself grinning like a fool as all of these words spill out, but I can’t help it. I’m really happy right now.

Cobalt pats me on the head the way a doting older brother would to a younger sibling. Normally I’d get annoyed and make another quip about our very minuscule age difference (it’s months, not years!), but I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let it slide. For now.

“Glad to see you so happy. And I won’t deny it, Mary is a very charming person. A little on the eccentric side—“ I give Cobalt a side eye as he says this, which makes him backtrack. “Okay, a lot on the eccentric side, but she’s a pretty good person, villainous and illegal dealings notwithstanding.”

I smile and nod along until I remember something very important that makes me stop in my tracks.

“What’s up?” Cobalt asks.

“I just realized, I still haven’t figured out what to do about our second date.”