20. We Are The World.

The scorching heat relentlessly embraced us as we ventured into Texas. The moment we arrived, Bran appeared, his presence as palpable as the sweltering air. He had once again enlisted Damon's aid while I found myself booked for three captivating PR gigs across America.

Each gig spanned two weeks, taking me to renowned bakeries and a tantalizing chocolate haven. Damn it, Bran's knack for temptation was unrivaled. I embarked on a tour of America while Bran compelled Damon to accompany him to Europe to meet with new elders. Adam, too, embarked on his own journey, traveling with Charles to address issues within problem packs.

The gigs proceeded swimmingly. With each passing day, I absorbed new knowledge, growing in skill and character. This job, as I had mentioned before, thrived on experience. While possessing a deft hand akin to a surgeon was helpful, nothing could compare to the wisdom gained through action. Therefore, I toiled tirelessly, dedicating long hours to every task.

Now, I had capable female colleagues all around me, which showcased my persistence and unwavering determination. Additionally, I delved into the world of chocolate work, driven by an insatiable hunger to learn and excel. To my surprise, Damon's teachings proved invaluable, guiding me through countless obstacles.

We had shared a delightful six months together, but it seemed that our reunion would be postponed for the foreseeable future. Adam occasionally conducted demonstrations at the hospital, while Damon remained elusive, immersed in his work for the new elders. Bran swiftly departed for Montana after separating Damon and me, leaving me to ponder Damien's existence.

Perhaps, in Bran's distorted perspective, Damien represented a salvation project, as our love with Damon weakened Damien the most. I couldn't help but wonder if Bran possessed this insight, if he knew more about Damien's origins and how he had become intertwined with Damon. If Damien truly was Damon's twin brother, he must be the same age. Damon's alleged core, his darling side, didn't trouble me in the slightest. After all, we all have different facets to our personalities.

Only time will reveal the path this journey will take. On the other hand, I couldn't shake off the feeling of helplessness, regretting the knowledge I had gained. My actions and choices were severely limited, rendering me powerless in the face of the unknown. They say ignorance is bliss; well, I did not have that bliss anymore. I was uncertain how to proceed and where to look for information.

Who should I ask for help? Is there anything that can be done? Most of all, what kind of evidence will I need to come up with in order to convince Damien about Damien's existence once and for all? I somehow knew that Damien wouldn't let me do too much. I wouldn't have so many chances. As he can use Damon's telepathy and stuff, what prevents him from erasing this knowledge from my mind if I get too close to get rid of him?

After six weeks, or all three gigs, I looked at some flea works, and it looked like I needed to do some gigs. I started in Montana; ironically, there was a very large Sark facility, and that was one of our primary targets. I went after Sark's establishments and always put a team together. We identified 15 facilities across America, and the goal was to destroy every single one of them.

The world was far from what it had been in my dream world, and when I told Jake and Rob that, they laughed. They would never agree to work for the government because there was always corruption. I told them both about Damien, and they both agreed that it was very possible that Damien was real.

Still, I should be very careful about that because I realized when I was talking to the men that Damon was fighting for his existence all the time, more or less, and I didn't want to disturb that fight. Of course, knowing that our love was the force that was weakening Damien, I sent text messages to Damon. A couple of times, I managed to get our bond open and sent Bertie Higgins' Casablanca to him, and I got the same in return. But we also focused on the gigs.

Neither Murdock nor Magnum was there now; Magnum was in the ladies, and Murdock was chasing a Krycheck for Reddington's help. We started one facility at a time. I worked day and night and tried to get every goddamn morsel of information I could find.

We carefully went through every item. I considered all the options and got the best safety equipment. Despite that, we always lost one or some. Whether it was a new type of mine, a remote-controlled concealed weapon, or even a poison dart. And since I, whose blood could save, couldn't get to every place, we got hit even though we always took down one facility after another.

Weeks went by when we continued our pursuit of destroying those facilities. Sark saw what we could do. After every gig, I had to go to Lake Lanier to carve more names on the slab. There were plenty of reasons, and I always found a reason in myself or in my own actions. That was my specialty, self-reproach.

Reasons could also be that, for some reason, the timing didn't go right, and then a guard would shoot when one of us was in the wrong place, or more commonly, I didn't know about all the guards, and some facilities had panels on the walls that the thermal camera couldn't get through. So I didn't see extra men lurking in those rooms, and we were badly outgunned; we lost eight on that gig. In some facilities, they'd got more people in. In Utah and Kansas, there were fucking fear demons, and I couldn't move in time. Oh my god, I was pissed off, but Rob or Jake was the backup from then on. 

I had been doing flea work for six weeks now, so I had been separated from Damon for twelve weeks now. I was sitting at the base, at my desk, when Burt knocked on the door.

I looked up, and he said, " I know I've been a bit absent, but my mother's death was a tough one for me." I gestured for him to come in. 

I nodded. I said, " Losing is never easy, and your mother's cancer, well, my blood, couldn't do anything about that. Colin and Samuel tried to help, but we just can't save everyone."

Burt's mother, Amanda, who had been a friend of mine, passed away less than a year ago from liver cancer, and Colin, Samuel, and even Damon made efforts to find a cure, but the cancer had already spread before her regular doctors had discovered it. She had come for Adam, asking for help.

But there was very little that anyone could have done. Damon had made one substance from his teeth that had kept Amanda painless and aware as long as possible, but she had to have been sedated during the last three days. The pain was just too much.

I wish I could have been there to support Burt, but I had been fighting the demon in my sleep or at gigs at the time, and I didn't know until Damon told our tour about it. It was one of my plans to visit her grave and bring some flowers for her; she loved sunflowers. 

Burt sat across from me and said, "I'm going to go do some computer work. I'll let you know when I'm ready or able in the field."

He had lost some weight, and deep sorrow was still clear on his face. Losing one parent that you have left has been very hard for Burt. Frankly, I was surprised to see him on the base, but then again, he practically considered it his other home. 

I nodded and said, " We've brought in quite a few hard drives and laptops from those Sark facilities, so there's work to do. Billy's in Europe at the moment." Burt nodded and then stood up. Something from his expression or posture reminded me of his dad, Ben Shaw.

I had told Burt my story about jumping in front of a bullet to avoid hitting Adam. I had told him how his dad, Ben, saw a sign posted for veterinary surgery where I was taken to be patched up. After all, I had quite a big bullet in my lungs. But I hadn't told him how Ben had died or what shape he was in.

 When Burt left, I took another stack of satellite photos and continued to study them with furrowed brows; a couple of them had options. There was another knock, and I looked up; a tall, slender man with an African background was looking at me and greeting me warmly. His voice was soft and resonant; he was some beautiful race, a bit of the same type as Iman, even though he was a man. I was surprised. I thought this one was still running gigs in Australia.

I smiled and said, "Nicky, what brings you here? What about Australia? Did you have to change scenery?"

I had rescued Nicky about five years since I had set up the fleas, so he had been around a long time, and he had been pretty much involved in the last world rescue mission.

Nicky walked over and sat down, took the satellite images, and looked through them; he said, " Well, Australia is now fine and dandy. I left the local crew there running things and thought I had come to see my favorite woman. You know what, flea? We have quite a few people in there, so I'm going to take these over to the general area, and we'll see after we've gone through these. You could eat something."

I smiled. Nicky was such a flirt with me, but he was a father of four and had been married for 19 years now. I nodded and then handed the stack of pictures to Nicky, who stood up and said, "I'll come along to the next gig then."

I said, " I am hardly your favorite woman. Think about your wife. I will eat something at some point. It is on the agenda. You coming to this gig is fine by me. As soon as we get it done and planned, I'll wait for a few more toys if that would help."

Nicky nodded and trotted off. I then started looking at my email, answering whoever had some sort of problem; I also looked up our site on the Dark web and helped them out, too. My concentration was disturbed when there was another knock on my door. A short black-haired man who looked like Mario from the game Mario was carrying a large tray.

I said, " Oh, thanks, Andy. Yes, I would have eaten at some point."

Andy, our explosives expert and a fantastic shot, said, " Yeah, yeah, yeah, boss, that's what you always say, and then you don't eat right away, but now eat. Nicky told me three hours ago to make sure you eat, and I have given you time to eat, but here you are working all the time, so when the boss is not coming to get some food, then food will come to the boss. "

I said, "Well, I kind of got caught up with all these problems, and then there are dark web inquiries to be answered."

Andy scoffed, took his phone, and sent a message to someone.

He said, "Well, Rex is looking at the dark web, so you back off from that. "

I sighed. My people took care of me. They really did. I was a good girl, and I took the tray. While I was eating, I looked at my email. I was talking to Andy about a new type of explosive that Reddington had, and he had given it to me. But Andy was a professional and wanted to test its power before taking it on the job.

I got up in the middle of my meal, went to my safe, took the key, and opened the gun cabinet in my room. I took three charges of this new one, and Andy's eyes lit up. He had built his own blow-up place, and because of his expertise, we had some pretty big wins under our belts, so I let him test it out. He was eager to go testing.

 I then started getting rumors about our next facility in Wisconsin. Jake and Rob went off to chase demons. Dresden had gotten Nicodemus wounded badly, so the demons were a little rowdy. After four weeks of his female adventures, Magnum was free and ready to do some work, so I put the two of them with Magnum, who was now ready to go with the men to Washington and Oregon. I could manage myself. We didn't have that many people here, but we'd be fine.

I was deeply pleased when Ruby and Sapphire came on base, and I told them everything, too. And they were laughing at the whole task force thing. Yeah, like that would ever happen. These two were very important to me, and they had some news to tell me: they had gotten donors and were getting married. Then they would both be impregnated, and they would have their long-awaited family.

I knew they would then go into civilian life, and although they were true professionals, I couldn't help but be happy for them. But first, they would have one last job. This big gig that I was watching through.

This would be one of the biggest rescue jobs we'd had in a long time, and we would have to do this with just short of a crew, but we were ready. I was ready to go on this gig, knowing that we'd been through some losses. I'd been to Lake Lanier enough, hoping I wouldn't have to go for a while now.