Chapter 110

Figuring out what her dad had meant by there was a chance he might be the one who kept him from coming back from the Blood Moon Portal wasn’t going well. No matter how much thought she put to it, she couldn’t come up with a logical explanation for what he could mean. It was driving her crazy. But then, she wasn’t about to ask him to explain himself further, either.
After a couple of hours of essentially sitting in the copilot’s seat and doing nothing, barely even speaking, she decided it would be better for her dad to have the opportunity to talk with one of his friends.
“Do you want me to see if Jamie or Elliott want to come up here?” she asked, hoping she sounded nonchalant and not frustrated.
“Sure,” Aaron said. “But… do you think we can trust Elliott not to touch anything?”
Jo laughed, knowing he was joking. “Probably not.” She started to turn to walk back to see who wanted to trade her spots but found herself lingering a few steps away from the chair.
She wasn’t an emotional person--never had been. Telling someone how she felt about them took a natural disaster or a near-death experience. Still, something about the situation, when her dad had come back to help them and was considering staying to help them finish the mission, even if she was going to have to continue to lead, made her feel slightly overwhelmed, and she found herself wanting to say something but not knowing how to word it.
“Is everything okay, Jo?” Aaron asked, turning to look at her.
“Yeah,” she said. “I just… uh… thanks, Dad. For coming back. And for.. .everything.”
He smiled at her. “Of course. I haven’t done much, but I’m glad I could be here to fly you back.”
She nodded. “Yeah, me, too.”
He slowly turned back to face the dash, and she took a few more steps backward when an overwhelming urge came over her, and she found herself turning back and wrapping her arms around her dad’s shoulders. “I love you, Dad.”
Her dad wrapped his arm around hers. “I love you, too, Jo.”
She didn’t linger because she could hardly even believe she’d done such a thing to begin with. Releasing him, she pulled away and headed back to the cargo area of the plane to see who wanted to come up front.
In the back, most of the other team members were sitting quietly, some of them with their phones out, playing games or reading books. Jamie and Ashley were having a quiet conversation, his arm around his wife. Cadon was curled up on the floor, asleep.
Since Jamie was obviously engaged, she turned her attention to Elliott. Asking him a question when he was quiet was a lot like waking a sleeping baby--there was going to be a lot of noise on the other side--but she still felt compelled to ask. “Do you want to go talk to my dad for a while?”
Elliott looked at her like he didn’t know who she was talking to, or maybe who she was talking about, for a few seconds before he said, “Sure. If you’re all done.”
Jo wasn’t quite sure what that was supposed to mean. It wasn’t like she had an agenda. But she nodded and said, “Yeah, I’m done.”
Elliott hopped up and headed up to the cockpit. Everyone shifted a bit after he left, which made an open spot next to Zane. She promptly took it, knowing she wouldn’t have to worry if she fell asleep again as long as it was his shoulder she was resting on.
“Everything okay?” he asked her, wrapping his arm around her.
Nodding, Jo said, “Yep. Everything’s fine.” He smiled at her and she rested her head on his shoulder, knowing everything really wasn’t okay, but then, it hadn’t been for years, so why would it be any different now?

* * *

The flight back to Russia was quicker than the flight to the States had been. Jo’s understanding was that that had something to do with the wind, but she didn’t care. She was just glad to be landing, despite the fact that they weren’t exactly touching down in friendly territory.
As they got out of the cargo hold of the plane, a group of Russians came over. Jo didn’t have to speak Russian to know that they were angry.
A large man in a fur hat barged his way between them, irritation showing on his grizzled face as he looked for the man he wanted to address.
Ryker must have recognized him. He held his hands up and said something in Russian. Jo didn’t bother trying to follow along with her IAC translator because she could tell the man was pissed, and she thought she knew why. The plane hadn’t quite been returned in the same condition as it was taken, although, in fairness, it was in pretty shitty shape to begin with.
The rest of the men were zeroing in on Ryker, too, as he tried to explain what had happened. Knowing him, he was probably also trying to convince them that he’d pay for it--or that she would. The rest of her team was considering stepping in when Aaron got out of the plane and approached the angry band of locals.
Her father spoke fluent Russian, apparently. As soon as he began to speak to them, the body language of the angry Russians morphed. Before long, they were laughing, shaking Aaron’s hand, shaking Ryker’s hand.
“All right then,” Elliott chuckled as the Russians extended their hands to him as well. “I have no idea what we’re all so happy about, but I’m kinda glad that I don’t have to kill anyone.”
“Just keep smiling and keep your mouth shut,” Jamie recommended.
All of them headed toward the exit of the airport, a chain link fence with a sliding door that opened for them as they approached. Jo walked along with the group, back to the parking lot they’d driven through when they’d arrived. She saw their vehicles parked out of the way.
“Are we all going to fit?” Ashley asked.
“It’ll be tight, but we’ll fit,” Brandon assured them.
Jo hoped he was right because she wasn’t planning on sitting on anyone’s lap.
They got in, Elliott driving one vehicle, Brandon another, and she didn’t see who was driving the third, and headed back to Adrian’s’ house. Jo found herself squished in the backseat of the SUV Brandon was driving, between Zane and Ryker with Heather on Ryker’s other side. The seat was meant for three people at most, and there were four of them wedged in. She was really hoping Brandon could drive even faster than his father because she couldn’t remember ever being so uncomfortable in her entire life.
The ride back to the house was fairly quiet. It might’ve been because there wasn’t enough oxygen in the vehicle for them to speak, though Jo had the feeling Elliott was probably talking everyone’s leg off in the other vehicle.
The closer they got to Adrian’s house, the more people were chatting in her head. Using telepathy Lucas asked her where they were and when they’d be back. It was clear he had something important to discuss with her, but he didn’t go into great detail about what it was. Emma wanted her to know that she had several of the scandium proof body armor suits done, but not enough for all of the Guardians, and the LIGHTS members who’d been left behind also had a lot of questions about what had happened when they got to the States. They hadn’t been able to communicate with them much, except for a message from Cassidy through her telepathy to let them know that the mission had been successful.
“Could you possibly get your elbow out of my ribs?” Ryker growled after they’d been driving for an hour or so.
Jo didn’t turn to look at him because she was far too close to his face to do that. “I would, if there was any other place for me to put my arm,” she replied.
“Well, can you fold them or something?” he asked, grabbing her elbow and pushing it forward a few inches.
“Will you stop?” Jo fought back, throwing her elbow back so that it hit him in the ribs, fairly hard this time.
Ryker winced. “Hey! There’s no need for that! If you wanna fight, I can fight.” Ryker pinched Jo on her side, right below her ribcage.
“You bitch!” Jo shouted, getting ready to throw her fist backward into his nose.
“Children! Children!” Brandon shouted. “Don’t make me pull this car over!”
“For the love of all that’s holy!” Heather said. “Just trade me places, whatever the hell your name is.”
“How are we going to do that while the vehicle is moving?” Ryker asked, but by then, Heather was already moving, sliding over him and pushing at him with her hand so he’d have to slide under her.
“I sure hope the door’s not unlocked,” Jo mumbled, glaring at Ryker while she could still see him before Heather was between them.
“Knock it off, Jo. Yer dad might be around now so that you ain’t the boss no more, but you don’t have to act like a child,” Heather said, glaring at her.
Jo realized she was right. But that was just what Ryker did to her. Infuriated her at every turn. She’d thought things might be different after he confided in her on the flight over, but clearly not. He was still the same asshole he’d been before.
She turned her head to look at Zane, thinking he would give her a head shake of reassurance that she was right in fighting with Ryker, but his eyes were fixed out the window, and she knew what that face meant. He was mad about something.
Unfortunately, she had no idea what the problem was, and she knew asking him wouldn’t get her anywhere. He’d just try to tell her he was fine, even if he wasn’t.
Once again, Ryker was messing with her. She should’ve gotten rid of him a long time ago. She had gotten rid of him a long time ago. He just kept coming back. Like a venereal disease. Or a stray dog that’s enamored with the trash can behind a person’s house.
The same quiet that they’d enjoyed until recently settled back around them. Jo went back to trying to come up with a plan for attacking the mine where Holland was hiding without tipping her off that they were coming. It didn’t seem like there was much of a chance to get in without her knowing since the mine only had one way in, as far as they knew. Unless her dad could locate a portal that would take them in, and she didn’t even know if he could do that without Christians’ help.
And Christian was still inside the portal--looking for her mom.
Her dad’s news that they’d found a portal within a portal was almost enough to make her hope that perhaps they would be finding her mom soon.
But that seemed ridiculous, and she didn’t see the point in getting her hopes up when there was very little chance of it actually panning out.
The thought that they might actually find her mom soon, that they might actually be a family again, that the four of them could go back to how it used to be before… was way too much to hope for.
Jo pushed it out of her mind and stared out the window, ready to get back to Adrian’s house… and get back to work.