“And me,” Fourteen said. “If you hadn’t found me right after my handlers died, I would have gone back to The Company, been debriefed, and probably wiped again.”

In hindsight, the timing had been uncanny. If Cym had run down that alley while Fourteen had been mid-mission and his handlers were still alive, Cym would likely have become a casualty, and Fourteen would never have known how close he’d come to his own salvation. It was possible that Steve or Frank would have ordered Fourteen to gun Cym down himself.

Fourteen tossed the emotions inspired by the thought to The Cold to let it deal with them. He wanted no part of that thought experiment.

Fourteen gave Cym an extra squeeze and it was returned two-fold.

“They can’t ever have you back.”

Cym’s words hit Fourteen like an order, and for once, it was one he was happy to comply with. “No. They can’t.”

“You’re a natural at hug therapy, Fourteen. A plus." Jack gave him a thumbs-up.

Cym turned to Marshall. “So you’re saying all I have to do is be myself?”

“Exactly.”

“That makes no sense at all. You realize that, right?”

Adelle gave Jack a wide berth and came up to Cym. She also kept a healthy distance, which Fourteen appreciated. “You don’t need to understand it for it to work. Just trust Marshall. I promise you he won’t steer you wrong. My baby brother is an excellent teacher.”

Sterling finally came to his senses to butt in, saying, “I mean no disrespect to Guardian Adelle, but do you really trust strangers more than you do your family?”

“After being inside Marshall, I think I know him pretty well,” Cym said hotly.

“I think you could have phrased that one better, sweetheart,” Jack said with a laugh.

Fourteen gave Marshall the stink-eye for existing, but otherwise he kept his thoughts to himself. If he didn’t like the reminder of how quickly Cym had become close with Marshall, that was his business.

“I don’t need to do much. After teaching you to control your power, all I have to do is point you toward the library, Cym. I have a feeling you’ll be able to take it from there.” Marshall tapped the side of his head as if to remind everyone that he’d been inside Cym’s mind just as much as Cym had been in his.

Fourteen gave him another dose of stink-eye in case Marshall had missed the first one.

“You have a library?!” Cym wiggled and tried to slip free to race toward a library he didn’t know the location of, and Fourteen was tempted to let him go to see how far he got on his own before realizing he was lost in the maze-like corridors of the mansion.

“Hold on, tiger. Let’s deal with the body in the lobby first, shall we?” Jack kneeled down next to Harper’s body but didn’t touch it. “What do you want us to do with him? Did he have family we can send his body to?”

“No family.” None of the agents had families. It was a requirement. One that Fourteen hadn’t complied with voluntarily.

“Hmm, that makes this tricky. What would you like us to do with him?”

“Whatever you normally do with bodies in this situation.”

Everyone turned to Marshall.

“Hey, this is a first for me. We don’t see a lot of dead norms in this line of work.”

“I’ve got this, Guardian Marshall. It’s my chapter house, after all. Eir, my love,” Samatha called softly. “Can you take this poor man back to the earth?”

Harper’s body shimmered before fading away. Fourteen noticed the vague outline of a humanoid figure in the air above the body before it faded away as well.

“Eir?” Cym asked.

“She’s introverted,” Samantha said, like it explained everything.

Cym nodded slowly, but it was clear to Fourteen that he didn’t understand any more than Fourteen did. “Where were we? Let me think… dead body… library… lessons… Oh yes. Sterling.” Cym turned his attention to his brother. “You should probably go for now. I’m not coming home with you, and this isn’t your problem to deal with.”

Sterling’s eyes went red and it looked like he was trying not to cry. “Are you ever coming back?”

Cym frowned. “I don’t know. All I do know is that I don’t belong there right now. But I think I do belong here…” Cym’s words trailed off and his eyes held a hint of uncertainty. “Right?”

“Of course you do, sweetheart.” That came from Adelle. Her smile was soft and comforting. Fourteen could feel it even though it wasn’t aimed at him.

“Obviously. Things are more fun with you around.” That was Jack, eyes sparkling like they held the best secret known to mankind in their depths.

“You belong where you say you belong,” said Marshall the asshole.

Yes, he was useful. And yes, Fourteen still thought he was an asshole.

“You already know how I feel,” Fourteen said simply.

“Okay then. I’ll go, but I’ll come back to get you for Hester’s trial.” Sterling moved toward Cym like he wanted to hug him. Fourteen gave him his best try it and see what happens look, and Sterling skittered backward, turned, and all but ran out the front door.

“So now what?” Cym asked. “This Colonel guy is coming for us?”

Us.

It was such a tiny word for it to mean so much.

Fourteen nodded, but then stopped himself. “No. He’s not coming for us.”

He met eyes with Jack who caught on instantly.

The smile that lit Jack's face was incandescent, and he said, “This is going to be so much fun.”

“He’s not? His note makes it seem like he is,” Cym said, confusion written on his face. Fourteen watched as his smart little man put it together. “No.. he’s not coming for us, is he? We’re coming for him.”

“Exactly.”

Marshall nodded his assent, and his sister followed suit.

Fourteen would need to be careful with how he proceeded. Somehow, in the past two days, Fourteen had gone from having nothing worth living for to having someone worth dying for, and even with the support of the guardians, The Company wasn’t to be fucked with lightly.

Fourteen wasn’t an idiot. The power of friendship wasn’t going to save the day.

Being soft wouldn’t get him the win he needed.

Fourteen needed the monster.