Andy
It’s an effort to listen to Nicky as he urges them to wait for Copley to gather a little more information. A day passes. Two. She’s so wound up at this point that she accidentally unleashes far more of her skill than she’d planned while training against Nile.
Nile only increases the intensity of her attacks but Andy knows she’d be covered in far too many bruises and cuts if they didn’t fade.
And there was the other thing, the bruises and cuts, the physical weariness like all her years had suddenly descended upon her. For the first time she finds herself wishing for immortality, if only to not feel the sharp gaze of Joe or Nicky latch onto her whenever she so much as tripped. She’s snapped at them for it more than once, but their concern doesn’t shift in the slightest.
It’s two days after the arrival of the photograph, which Andy keeps tucked into her pocket at all times, when Copley informs them that Booker’s been taken by Quynh. He sends them the location and Andy’s done waiting.
After so many years, Quynh, in the flesh, breathing and beautiful and alive. For a second she’s tempted to simply ignore the rest of Copley’s statement.
But Nicky’s cautious again. He stares at Copley’s email like its a snake about to turn venomous.
“We need to move Nicky,” Andy says.
He turns away from the laptop screen, chewing into his bottom lip. Joe and Nile come out of the kitchen and the small smiles on their faces, courtesy of the family recipe that Nile was teaching Joe, fade instantly.
“This is too easy boss. It feels too much like a trap,” he warns.
Before Andy can say a word, Nile speaks up. She looks apologetic as she crosses the room to Nicky’s side.
“He’s right. From what you’ve told me about Quynh, she’s far too intelligent to let security cameras catch her,” Nile adds.
She’s terribly nervous and at another time Andy would have urged her not to be. Whether they were as old as her, or merely twenty years old, they were bound together in a bond that age held no part of. Quite literally.
“She was drowned long before all this technology,” Joe protests.
But then he catches Nicky’s gaze and a silent conversation passes between them that even Andy isn’t privy to. Perhaps it’s things like this that made Booker betray them. She dismisses the train of thought that it immediately devolves into, all about Booker.
Booker was wrong. He was grieving but he was wrong.
“We need to go after her Nicky,” Joe says after several beats of silence, more for the benefit of everyone else.
Nicky shifts his gaze from Joe to her. She can feel Joe’s eyes on her too. It was her call, always would be.
“Two of us will go in. The other two stay back in case of trouble,” she finally says.
Nicky nods, clearly satisfied with that result.
“Nile and I will go. You two stay,” she adds.
Joe’s first to react, protesting soundlessly for a second with waving hands before he articulates his distress.
“You’re mortal now Andy and Nile is still very new,” he says.
“I’m the only one here who can match Quynh in a fight, and Nile will cover me,” Andy replies tonelessly.
“Boss this is Quynh,” Nicky emphasizes. Like Andy doesn’t know, like even the thought of fighting Quynh doesn’t make her want to turn her labrys against herself.
“Take me with you. Joe is right. Nile is new,” Nicky says.
“No offense Nile,” he adds, glancing her way.
“None taken. I am new,” Nile replies immediately.
Nicky glances at Joe then, whose lips are sealed in a thin white line. He nods nevertheless but Andy can tell how much it pains him. It’s why she can count on one hand the number of times she’s purposefully split them up on missions.
But Joe is right and between Nicky and Joe, Nicky’s less volatile right now, especially considering the added problem of Booker. And it’s a testament to how worried they both are, that they’re willing to split up. She’d be cruel to not acknowledge that fear.
“Fine. Nicky and I go. You two are backup,” she agrees.
Joe nods tightly and Andy’s tempted to actually thank God for a second when Nile drags him back into the kitchen to continue their meal, cracking enough mediocre jokes to earn a smile from him. She really was a blessing. Nicky comes to sit beside her, reaching out a hand to entwine their fingers.
“It will all work out for the better Andy,” he says.
“Ever the optimist,” she jokes half-heartedly.
He doesn’t laugh, his fingers tightening instead.
“I ask the same of you, what I asked of Joe as well. Caution, Andy. You’re mortal now. We can’t lose you just yet,” he says.
She knows he doesn’t mean it with reference to her skill. He was there when she’d fallen apart over Quynh, there to help her through those dark days alongside Joe. He knows that she can’t raise a sword against Quynh, regardless of what her time in the ocean has turned her into.
“I will not hurt Quynh. She is not evil Nicky,” she says bluntly, like then both don’t already know that. Nicky recoils a little bit but quickly schools his features.
“No she is not evil, but her actions may be. I’m not asking you to pass judgement on them, but I need you to defend yourself against them if need be,” he says carefully, each word premeditated.
He still speaks like a priest, despite how far his faith in God has wavered over his lifetime. It’s grounding and at times, Andy swears she can feel the force of his faith like the warmth of the sun on her back.
“If it’s my time, it’s my time Nicky,” she finally says.
“After all this, you deserve your remaining years with Quynh. I believe that. So let me be your shield tomorrow, if you cannot defend yourself,” he concedes.
He will back off if she pushes, claiming she doesn’t need a shield. She goes first, always. Not even her newfound mortality made her any less of wrath incarnate on a battlefield. But it was Quynh and wrath had nothing to do with any of it.
So she nods heavily and Nicky lets out a breath of relief that she hadn’t even realized he’d been holding in.
And her thoughts drift back to Booker for reasons she can’t articulate. If only he hadn’t weighed his grief against Nicky and Joe’s joy, he’d have seen the love they held for this family.