“Housing is still a headache, I mean think about it. New Aeterna still owns the DMZ . . . you know that part of Weehawken by the Lincoln Tunnel? It’s just abandon gas stations and motels . . . why shouldn’t we develop it instead of letting it sit? It could be affordable housing, right ? Well, Councilmen Brady--- and you know . . . the one from East Harlem, wouldn’t even listen to Carridays’ proposal. They were arguing so bad that Sam Menchen had to cut to commercial. I think Brady was concerned about how it would affect traffic patterns but. . . ”

I was sure to nod and make grunts of approval every few words as Aria went on about some politico talking head show on INNA360. I made a mental list of things I needed to Google in the bathroom so I could pretend I understood. I saw the waiter taking his sweet time coming down the aisle and I grabbed him as soon as he passed by.

“I’ll take a number 18 to go. Make it two”, I told him.

“Still hungry?” Aria asked setting down her chopsticks.

“Nah”, I said.

I made the mistake of looking at Aria as I spoke to her and my damn traitorous eyes lingered just a little too long on her breast spilling out the top of her warp sweater.  I couldn’t even figure out how she got them propped up like that. I was glad Helena had slept through dinner cause if Aria fed her I’d have to fight half the men in the restaurant.

I pulled out my wallet and grabbed a few bills from the check I’d cashed this morning. The Chinese restaurant was only half full on a Monday night. Lots of quiet couples and men by the bar.

“Thanks for taking us out to dinner.” Aria said opening her fortune cookie.

I just nodded. I’d been planning on coming here anyway and since I’d gotten paid I figured I owed Aria dinner. I probably owed her a lot of dinners.  She said she felt safer going out if I was with her, I didn’t know how to feel about that.

Athena was a breaking ball of energy. She was smart for a two year old and knew a lot of words and was getting the hang of numbers. She’d wanted to sit next to me the whole time, her blonde pigtails bobbing around every time she turned to look at something, she’d also come very close to eating the plain lo mein she and Aria were sharing with chopsticks. She got it a lot better than I did anyway.

I set down a fifty as the waiter bought over my to-go order.

“Inez”, I said, “Inez is the guy from Washington Heights. Don’t know why I know that.”

“Oh”, said Aria realizing I remembered her earlier question which I now realized was rhetorical “Yes. I knew it was another man”

“You got a lot of opinions about New Aeterna, sweetheart.”

“During the Regime I was in the dark about everything. I never left that terrible little room. Someone showed me some 'Helion' money and I had no idea what it was.  This time. I want to know everything.”

“You always seemed real intelligent . . . a lot more than me anyway . . . maybe you should get into government. Get like a degree or something. Show those guys a thing or two.”

She laughed but I wasn’t lying. The only stupid thing she’d ever done was sleep with me.

“Who would take me seriously or elect me for anything with three girls. Not to mention everyone would have an opinion about my body”

“Yeah”, I said picking up Athena from where she had tired herself out in my lap.

“Yeah what?” She said putting baby Helena in her stroller, I hung the bag of to-go food on the back of it. I followed her down 7th ave to towards the New Aeterna City Center. We took the back entrance to get into the residential area.

“Yeah. . . I’d vote for you . . . anyway.”

“Please, I’m this generations Eva Braun.”

“You were a prisoner”, I reminded her.

“Well, for all we know maybe she was too.”

“. .  She wasn’t”

“How do you...”

“Just . . . trust me.”

We walked in silence back to the apartment. I waited until she opened the door before turning my back.

“Leon can you come in… I want to talk to you about something.”

 “I’m late. I just gotta drop this off for Sera and Paris.” I held the to go bag closer to me.

“Can you swing back by on your way out?”

“Sure thing.”

+++

 

She was late

I got up from the steps of Sera’s house as the black SUV pulled up, its white and crimson flags flapping in the wind.

Sera and I had found a pattern that weekend at my place.  We spent mornings at the expensive-as-hell gym I’d joined, making the yuppie real estate developers look like pathetic fuckers in the weight room. And she’d almost managed to get the hang of the vertical push up. I made her watch more movies she had never seen. And because this was New fucking Aeterna, the capital of consumerism, I did got us a  nice sirloin delivered at 4am after smoking a shit ton of weed.

We didn’t talk about Paris, court, the resistance or anything that was weighing down on us.  She needed a break. We needed a break.  By Sunday night I’d sort of gotten used to her being in my bed. It was never going to last forever. Sera had queenly commitments to attend, so I had to bring her home.

“You’re late”, I said as she moved her shades to the top of her head, she looked like she was hungover. It was a fucking Monday.

I grabbed the bag of Chinese food off the front step and walked into the house with her. Paris was sitting on the couch wrapped in a gold embroidered black velvet blanket. An unfinished speech glowed on a tablet in front of him. He was staring blankly at some Helion Regime documentary playing.  I set the greasy take-out bag on the counter, next to what looks like enough Prozac and sleeping pills to power and entire mental ward. They were prescribed to one of Paris’ alias by one of Damien’s aliases.

I nodded at the guardsmen standing in the corner. Since I couldn’t fire the kid I’d put him on suicide watch and ordered him to be with Paris when he was at home. Isobel went with him to all of the events that weekend. He put on a good face, he put on a real good face. Sera gave him a slight glance before heading to her bedroom.

“Look, Paris. You are going to have dinner with your wife”, I said once she was gone, “You and Sera are gonna sit . . . maybe talk. Keep it simple. If you fall apart so does the country. If New Aeterna falls apart think of what happens to the Supernaturals . . . to my girls. I hate to say it but we need New Aeterna to keep us safe.  It’s not about the humans or New York City, it’s about a promise land for the rest of us. A home.”

“I’m a vegetarian," He said like I hadn’t just gotten all personal with him.

“What?”

“I’m a vegetarian and that’s a bag of sautéed dead animal in fermented bean water.”

“The hell?” I said trying to remember if I’d ever even seen him eat recently.

 “And don’t worry, Leonidas”, Paris said pulling blanket over his thin shoulders, “I will always put on a brave face for this country.”

 “So I heard”, I mumble

“You don’t know what it’s like, Leon”, he said, “I made so many promises, I wanted to do this right. I thought maybe the drug and gun running would just be for a year, to balance the books. But there is always more debit, always more people Helios screwed over… sometimes I’ll find something real ugly and it destroys me. One of the reasons I wanted the City Center built so fast is because half of it is a mass grave site Helios created”

“Jesus fucking Christ”, I said.

“I’m alone at the top, you know. I can’t let any of the humans find out about the bad deals I’ve made. I want to be the good man who saved a nation. I’m trying to make Hmjeu, My brothers and my followers proud. Instead I’m the devil making all the deals.”

“You got everybody fooled.”

“What can I say? Deception is a craft Supernaturals have been refining for years . . . I wonder if Helios ever felt this way. If all of this ever got to him too.”

“Even if he did I’m sure Helios would never let a woman get the upper hand on him.”

“Is that humor Leon?”

“I’m trying, boss, we’ve been through a lot of shit together, but I don’t know what to do with this. You’ve always been the hopeful one. And I mean I knew you were into some kinky shit, man ... but still.”

He smiled to himself, but it fell when he saw himself on the television kicking a soccer ball. He studies his own image very carefully. That perfect smiling flashing as he stands with the athletic men.  I pause noticing a familiar face in the crowd... Solstice LeCroix

I touch the screen and pause the image then play it back slow. I watched the DOJ woman in the crowd as she touched the blonde with her and they slowly left the ceremony.

“What?” Paris asked, “What is it ?”

“I have an idea.”

“What’s going on?”

I turned the TV to play on normal speed and went to find Seraphina. She was standing in her bedroom staring at herself in the floor length mirror. She had taken her fake hair out and ran her hands  through her newly dyed honey blonde hair. She was probably regretting those Jagerbombs from Sunday. Over the weekened, when she realized I dyed my embarrassingly blonde hair Mahogany 232, she drunkenly insisted I let her dye her hair a dark blonde. She’d done a decent job, but her hair was still a fucking mess. The color seeped in some places and some of it had broken off form the chemicals

Seraphina leaned in closer to look at her hair, it was only then that I noticed she only had on a pair of loose black jeans. The arrow tattoo on her back stood out on her tan skin, I’d only ever seen quick glances of it. I  never noticed how detailed and accurate it was to the ones from the old country. It distracted from all the scars on her back.

I stole an even quicker glance at the mirror, she just barely had tits, I had no fucking idea her nipples were pierced.  She doesn't even jump when I clear my throat.

“Sera, I have an idea on how we can get some info on Solstice LeCroix.”

She stilled when I said the name, I couldn’t place the look on her face. She tugged on a black muscle tee while I queued up the news story on the bedroom PanelTV

 “Look at that”, I said pointing to the screen

She squinted at the screen, her skin was slightly flushed from having scrubbed all that makeup off and showering.

I played the news clip for her, Sera frowned when she saw Solstice.

“So? She likes soccer.”

“Football”, I corrected her, “And no. I was thinking we could use the CCTVs to track her movements. I mean that’s why Helios installed it under his regime. We can go to the mainframe and track her.”

Sera pulled a jacket from the closet and said in a very sweet voice, “Why Leonidas Argos, the Crown disconnected the systems. The cameras are only still there because it’s too expensive to take the down.”

“Shut the fuck up, Mrs. Prince and let’s go.”

+++

Seraphina left a note for Paris and we left out the backdoor. Well, I guess we snuck out the back door.  We maneuvered around the lagoon pool and quietly openedthe back gate.

We walked to the Capitol Building, it was just past eight and the only people out were the event crew breaking down tents from the days event. We climbed the steps of the Capitol Building at the same pace, I scanned us in and using my security code took the elevator down to the sub-level.

According to the municipal blueprints ,and just about everybody in New Aeterna, there was no sub-level basement to the Capitol Building.  In truth it was built over a series of old subway tunnels, the tunnels were supposed to be an escape route out of the city

One section of the sub-level basement was the imminent domain of Green23, one of our best human hackers from the resistance days. Green23 had paid top dollar to get smuggled out of New Aeterna after Helios threatened to imprison them for crafting software that allowed citizens to bypass the Helion internet laws, Green23 said they’d done it to stream the supernatural shows Helios had banned. But since Green23 had found the thing  Paris’ most treasured most,  Green23 was given whatever they wanted following the coronation.

Green23 had taken up nicely in the sub-level basement and took care of the 200,000 camera CCTV leftover from the Helion days. The room hosted a bank of monitors and TV sets that showed the entire city. Helios had commissioned the entire camera system and then killed its creators. Cameras were everywhere in the city . . . even in bathrooms and apartments.  I’d almost fallen asleep in a commission meeting where Paris decided it was too expensive to take them down and so we just “told” everyone the cameras were defunct. To “keep up morale” that was what Paris always said when he leaned into the dark side.

“Pull up the Football ceremony from Friday.” I instructed. Green23 acted fast. I pointed to Solstice on camera, “Follow her. Show us everywhere she goes.”

Green23 smiled and got to work. The bank of screens light up as Green23 tracked Solstice LeCroix's movements.

After ten minutes we knew where Solstice LeCroix went, the cameras inside the 80^th street building were sparse but we saw who opened the door for her. A young boy with shaggy black hair wearing pajama pants.

“It’s that Ravi kid.” I told Sera, “He did all that Anti-Helion terrorism."

“Didn’t know he was still around. I knew that woman was hiding something else—“

“We need to see what Ravi and Solstice are doing in there”, I said. But there were no cameras working in that apartment.

“Maybe we can—“

We stopped as another person approached the door and knocked.

“What the fuck”, I said as the person disappeared into the apartment with Ravi and LeCroix, “Did you see that ?Was that-“

“Yes. Damn it. We need to make another stop.” Sera said

+2+

Sera didn’t waste any time after that, I called a car and had a guardsmen drive us to Riker’s Island.  Sera scanned herself onto the island and we were both silent as we approached the military prison complex. She opened the car door and jumped out before the car even stopped.

 “You sure you want to do this?” I ask her as we approach the delivery bay.

“I want fucking answers”, she said scanning her retina to get into the buildings.

The delivery bay door opens and we head for the cargo elevator.  I scan my retina and enter in my security code. The elevator heads down and once again we go down to a sub-level that does not offically exist. Sera has a stack of printouts Green23 had given her of the video footage clutched in her hands.

The sub-level elevator opens up to a set of sturdy metal steps, at the end of the steps is a metal door.  I scan my retina again and the door unseals.

Aurelius Knopos stands up from his desk when he sees us. He was a former Helion solider and had been a double agent for the resistance.  He’d been a nobody in the Helion hierarchy, but was valuable to us. Aurelius had the ideal Helion life.  Helios had arranged his marriage with a young Angel and then they quickly got to work on Helios five sons minimum rule. He was in a NADF private uniform but he was stacked with guns, all filled with white gold ammo.

Aurelius said nothing as we walked into the room, he just eyed me with the respect our time in the SGI days demanded. He regarded Sera the way all former SGI did, with unyielding suspicion.

We walked in unison to the door on the other side of the room, Aurelius slides a key card and the flat metal door he is guarding opens then closes as we step in. The light in the room is dim, I can make out a small TV mounted in the wall, a metal table and a twin bed all nailed to the ground.

Helios Thantos rises from the bed. I hold my breath as he stands. I don’t know why. He was lean—thin really. He looked ordinary in his Riker’s jumpsuit and Helios had never looked ordinary to me before.  He moved to sit at the long metal table that divided the room. The metal bracelets around his arm clink against the table, his hair is in a low ponytail.

“Seraphina.”

“Helios”, she greets him

Helios refused to even look at me. He smiled at Seraphina, that crooked mischievous smile that always made women melt. She instinctively bit her lip but didn’t look away.

“I haven’t seen you on the news lately. Thought maybe you’d come to your senses about spreading your legs for that creature.”

“Hello to you too.” She says approaching the table dividing the room.

“I’d bet my life that the only reason you can tolerate him is because at night you close your eyes and imagine me just to get wet--”

“Helios”, she said leaning over the table with her arms spread, “You do know there is more to marriage than just fucking.”

“If you were married to me it would be all you could think about.”

There was a hint of a smile to her plain lips. These two never could stop flirting with each other.

 “Remember when it was us against him, Seraphina. You said you couldn’t even look at those shiny disgusting scars of his without wanting to vomit ”, Helios said, “I bet it’s starting to feel wrong to you.  I bet the thought of a Demon King strikes fear in you the same way it does all Angels. He thinks this land is his right, just like his bloodthirsty father did.  I spend a lot of time watching you whenever you’re on TV. You don’t love him. You tolerate him. A woman like you doesn’t want a husband . . . you want a challenge.”

“Helios—“

“I’ll challenge you Sera. You and I fed off of one anothers strength and passion. We are powerful together. We have a connection, Seraphina. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it.  I will love you the way your beauty demands. Although you look like shit right now.”

“Shut the fuck up-”

“A war is coming, Sera. Maybe not now. Maybe not in this century . . . but soon the generation of Angels I helped usher in will rise to power and question why a Demon King rules them. They will fight for a new age. They will eradicate the Demon King and resurrect me from this hell you’ve placed me in. The time is coming and when I close my eyes I see Titus’ son leading the charge”

She gripped her hands into fist and whatever tension that was happening between them dried up real quick.

“You have a lot of time to tell yourself stories, Helios. Tell me another.”

She lays the images from CCTV down, starting with the one that shows Anne, former self-proclaimed Angel Mother. The Queen Anne herself walking into the apartment with Solstice and Ravi.

The picture was grainy but Anne looked good. Her hair was in a bob and she was wearing a light colored skirt suit.

Helios sneered

“Ravi? That little terrorist used to turn street kids into suicide bombers. Little fucker should be in here. He committed crime against Helions, but I guess your king just ignored that”

“I don’t care about the past. Right now he’s making friends with Anne and a woman we suspect might be a part of the Unification Party. What do you know about this Ravi?”

“I know it’s not his real name. That’s all I’m telling you.”

“And Anne, tell us about her. Everyone said you killed her during your uprising.”

He smiled at the memory.

“Yes, Anne was getting in my way so I let her go . . . over the Hudson River. I heard rumors that she swam to safety and was going by Anne B. Lynne. I figured she was some other man's problem. I guess she’s your problem now if she’s meeting with that little terrorist. Maybe they'll steal those AM-88s I hear your husband is illegally producing.”

“If Anne was stateside she would have come to the resistance at some point.” Sera tried to reason.

“Why would she?” Helios sneered, “She hated you and would never work with Demons. . Can’t say the same for you Sera, but I can forgive you for being his filthy slut. I'll even forgive you being Titus' cum bucket. You should be worried though. Anne must hate you having the title she fashioned for herself.”

I had my hands on Sera's arm to prevent her from going off on Helios. I felt her muscles tense every time he opened his arrogant mouth. He wanted a reaction and he knew how to get one. We were not giving him the satisfaction. 

“You know Helios . . . the only reason you’re still alive is because of the Tempest.” Sera said.

Helios smiled and kept his eyes on her. When it came to the Tempest Sera had a habit of holding on and not letting go.

“The . . . what?” He said.

“You knew we were coming for it, you hid it and until you tell us where it is you will stay here.”

“God, Seraphina”, he said dismissing the subject, “I often miss your big pretty lips and I don’t mean the ones on your face.”

“You are not very subtle, Helios. You never were.”

“You’re unhappy Seraphina… I know you’d be much happier if you were my queen and you know it. You need a man who can fuck some sense into you.  You’re wasting your beauty. Look at you Sera, you look like you need to be fucked good and long and hard whether you want it or not.”

Helios tried to lean forward but the slim silver bracelets around his  arms were strong electromagnets that prevented him from reaching over the table or leaving the cell. I hadn’t like this tech when I first saw it, I liked real chains and shackles.

“I’m not here to help you", Helios continued, "I’m a patient man and I will wait until the day your so called Demon King is on the run, until the streets drown in his blood. Traitors will be blooded like animals and you will finally be free to pursue your love for me. Angels will rise. “

Sera backed up from the table.

“This is useless.”

“By the way”, Helios said as we walked out, “You might want to remind Aria that Helena and Hera were the names of my dogs. Dumb bitches I used for breedi-“

I pushed Seraphina aside, charged for the table and upended it so it smacked Helios in the face. The electromagnetic field that kept Helios in place also worked to keep visitors in check. I couldn't reach him but that didn’t stop me from trying. I roared and felt my teeth barred and I grabbed the knife in my boot but Sera grabbed my wrist and twisted it.

Helios laughed as he lifted the table off of himself. His nose was busted but he still smiled like a maniac.

“Enough, Leon”, Seraphina ordered. She ordered me. The fuck was her problem, "He's not worth it."

“This isn’t over--"

“I said enough”, she snapped and I put the knife down, “Let’s go.”

Sera turned briefly to Helios before heading out the door. I follow only because I’m done here.

“You have your gun on you?” she asks as the doors swishes shut behind us.

“Yeah. Why?”

She  grabs in out of my holster and shoots Aurelius three times in the back of the head.

“Fuck”, I say it happened to fast, “The fuck, Searphina. Fuck.”

“He’s been feeding Helios information. How else did Helios know about Hera or the AM-88s. Aurelius had one job and that was to not leak information to Helios.   Helios is dangerous. Wecan’t afford anyone being sympathetic to him, especially if that have the key to his cell. Or that war Helios talked about could come sooner than we think.”

“Sera, Aurelius was on our side.”

“Was. Get that guardsmen to get an empty sewage barrel from storage. We’ll need bleach, lye, trash bags…”

“Shears and I’ll get my old truck out of the garage.” I finish.

“Let’s do this.”

“Again”, I said

If anything resistance life had taught us all to be resolute in our choices.

+++

It takes an hour to get the supplies together. Sera and I work so fast and efficiently we’d done this so many times back in the day.  While she gets to work on dismantling, I take a cab to get my pick up my old 2016 Ford F-150from the garage where I have it parked.  When I get back we load the cargo into the back.

Sera settles into the passenger seat, I turn it to a 90’s rock station and drive to one of the unprotected New Aeterna borders. I get on the New Jersey turnpike and get off in South Jersey and dive up towards the boonies off Route 34. I turn down a side road and stop right outside the woods. There is sewage dump 2 miles into the brush, we get in and out in complete silence. 

By the time the deed is done we try to clean up in a old gas station bathroom. It’s grimy as fuck but it has running water. We do the best we can to scrub the dirt and blood from our arms, faces and hands

“He. .. Had a family”, I tell her.

“Tell me he beat them, " She says.

She splashes more water on her face and slicks back her hair.

“Would it really make you feel better if I did?”

She smiled and laughs long and loud. Her smile is so big and so inappropriate even I give a little chuckle, then we get back in my truck.

“What the hell am I doing, Leon?” she asks.

“Protecting New Aeterna. Doing the dirty work so our king doesn’t have to.

“Fuck that”, she says quietly and I study her stoic profile, “fuck him.”

“Is what Helios said true? You still sweet on him?”

“We had chemistry... I liked how it felt to be around him, you know how it was..."

I shrug my shoulders.

“I miss working for the guy, sometimes. He knew what he was about.”

“Why does he have to be so handsome”, she asked herself. Maybe Helios did have an effect on her.

 “You thinking the same thing I am?” I ask.

“Sex in the woods.”

“Sex in the woods.”

+3+

It takes about 45 minutes but it’s worth it.

It burns like a punch in the gut, but cut with just enough cranberry juice, peach schnapps and orange juice to make you want to go in for more.

Kickback’s was an out of the way gay trucker bar and inn with the best mixed drinks that I’d crashed at just days after Helios’ uprising . I was a coward back then. I’d wanted to disappear after the uprising and see a bit of the country, so one of the regulars got me a sweet gig as a truck driver.

I did some long hauls from New Jersey to California. This was a beautiful country, but I couldn’t say the same for the people. There was too much injustice in this world and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t the man who could right it.

I lasted a few months on the road until the guilt got to me. I’d gotten away from Helios when Aria, Tessa and Paris hadn’t. Hell I’d thought Sera was dead and I wanted to avenge it. I finally stopped ignoring Isobel’s calls, came back to New Jersey and helped Isobel start the resistance. Rest was history

Kickback’s was a few miles from the old safe house, it had become a stomping ground for me, Ares and a few other resistance members.  But only for the hooch, least for me anyway. Kickback’s made the best fucking illegal moonshine this side of the Mason-Dixon Line. The bartender was a former biker; a mangy old guy who didn’t treat me any different now that he knew I was an Angel. I ordered two Sex In The Woods and he doesn’t even blink when I ask him to pour two to go.

Sera and I find a quiet place in the backwoods to park the truck. We climb into the bed to finish our drinks. We’re too close to the city to see the stars but the sky sure does look clear.

“Fuck”, I say reaching the end of my 36oz Styrofoam cup. I check my watch and see it’s almost midnight.

“What’s wrong?”

“I  . . . I told Aria I’d stop back by. She said she had something important to talk about.”

“. . . Paris probably realizes we left. He probably ate dinner alone and cried himself to sleep.”

“Actually he might have gone to bed hungry, I didn’t know he was vegetarian. Not that I’ve ever seen him eat anything . . . except for you—“

She but her elbow in my jaw

“Shut up.”

“Seriously, Sera. I think he’s going through some tough mental shit.”     

Seraphina sat up on her elbows and considers this.

“I know. I do. I just don’t think I believe in all that hormone level mental shit. I mean I’ve been through hell . . . and I don’t need any pills to fix my head.”

She’d had some nasty bouts of PTSD when she first came to the resistance, after six months she’d locked it down and became so numb you’d never guess. It was when I realized the Seraphina Grigori I’d known before was gone, she just became Sera Prince.

“Just don’t say that in front of Paris", I remind her.

She takes the lid off her drink and finishes her drink.

“Sorry, Leon”, she says “I didn’t mean to ruin your night it’s just we can’t risk anyone leaking that Helios is alive—“

“I don’t like the call you made with Aurelius... but it was a good one. Now that we know Anne and LeCroix are working together we can’t risk more enemies.”

“What do you think Anne is planning with Ravi and LeCroix?” she ask.

“I don’t know. I’ll get the NADF to order a raid on the apartment, give them some fake tip. We can’t arrest LeCroix it will look bad to the Americans. We just have to keep our eyes on her”

Seraphina got kind of quiet.

 “We should get going”, she finally says.

I take the cups and toss ‘em out the flatbed. I jump when I feel Sera run a finger up my bicep, circling my Lady Liberty and American flag tattoo. They’d been appropriate during the resistance days. She moves on top of me, sitting low  on my chest. Her palms outstretched over my slightly damp shirt

She’d lost her jacket at some point during the night, her arms a bare are strong tight and tan except for the New Aeterna symbol inked on her bicep. I couldn’t see much of her underneath the baggy t-shirt and loose jeans which was to bad because she had built amazing body for herself,  but was never able to show it off. She'd worked real damn hard for it too,

 “We should fuck Leon”, she says suggestively moving her hips suggestively, “Just once. Just to see what’s it like. I think we’d be so good together.”

“Don’t you have to ask your pretty-boy husband first?”

“He never says no to me.” She says, her usually deep voice lowering an octave. Sera and I never seriously talked about sex. Talking about sex was just an occasional joke between us, maybe a way to brag about our conquest. Still I knew she hadn't been properly laid since Callum on the plane. Eight long months, I guess.

Sera looks down  at her watch. It’s getting closer and closer to 1am and this was not how this night was supposed to go. She pecks me on the lips then pushes herself off me. I’m sort of relieved the moment is over. I sit up and the whole fucking world starts to spin. Drinks were damn strong. I take my shirt off and fold it into a bundle, I rest my head on it and yawn.

“I need to sober up for like an hour. Then we’ll drive back,” I said.

"Pussy", she says because she's buzzed, "I'll drive."

She stumbles out the back of the trucks and gets into the passenger seat,where she promptly falls asleep

+4+

 When I wake up it's 4am. I pour some bottled water on my face and get in the driver’s seat. I drive us back to New Aeterna in record time. Seraphina wakes up just as we approached the border. She’d look so peaceful sleeping, oddly innocent. I wonder if Paris ever stared at her at night and wondered how a woman like that could be a walking Pandora’s Box.  Sera watches the view as we drive into her country.

Instead of heading back to her house. I navigate my truck through the city and to the National New Aeterna botanical garden. Outside some military security and guardsmen are out front. I signal a guy over and pull out one of the many official badges I had on me.  He directs me to a parking space.

“What are we doing ?”, Sera asks putting on her shades, she tries to pat her blonde hair into the same direction.

“We are making amends. Get out the car.”

I keep my hand on Sera’s back and take her inside the New Aeterna National Botanical Garden, the staff is still setting up for the International Diplomacy Breakfast this morning. A staffer leads us to the main hall. Paris is sitting by himself in a sea of empty white clothed tables, surrounded by exotic trees and flowers. He has his speech in front of him and an energy drink.

He was in that hideous double breasted brocade black suit, his eyes were so vibrant white and black that it was obvious he was wearing contacts and he smelled like Sera’s make up and mint.  He tensed when he saw Sera, but relaxed when he noticed me. I pulled out Sera’s chair and she sat across from him.

One of the wait staff hurriedly went to a station and grabbed a tall swooping glass mug and set it in front of Sera. He poured a steady stream of dark black coffee then topped the last 1/3 with a frothy hot cream. He then poured in a little more coffee, moving his hand in a way to produce the image of a crown. He topped it with cinnamon and a long metal straw.

Sera didn’t seem to know what to make of it, but she managed to pull a 50 dollar bill out of her pocket and tip the guy, he graciously took it and moved out the room.

“Uh, you know waiters make a living wage.” Paris said, “You don’t have to tip.”

Meanwhile a generous bus boy handed me a Styrofoam cup and jerked his head towards the employee coffee dispensers by the bathroom.

“Are you drunk?” He asks glancing at her hair then looking back at his speech

“Moonshine”, she answers staring at the coffee.

“Sex in the woods."

She nods.

“Why were by route 34 ?” He ask.

“Can’t say.”

“For fucksake Sera.”

“Just let it go Paris”

Paris scans the room to make sure we are alone. He pushes the tablet aside and takes her head on.

“Seraphina…Why did you try murder me.”

He just had to put it that way.

“You don’t need to know.” She says.

“Sera.”

“I did what I had to for New Aeterna and for the resistance . . .  and your legacy. I can’t tell you why. I can’t burden you with that information considering your. . . mental state. I didn’t want to do it. It nearly broke me. You have to trust me when I say this is for me to handle. You just be king. You just stop trying to kill yourself. Your life is no longer in danger.”

Silence.

“I wish it were that simple Sera, I feel as if New Aeterna, you and all the other have such a bright future. I don’t see that for me . . .I just want to move on to what’s next.”

“I’m not ready to lose you."

“I… I know.”

“Was I supposed to plan your funeral? Cremate you ? What was I supposed to do with your clothes?  I don’t want sad people in my house. What if I can’t find my shoes, or God forbid I start crying over you in public. What am I supposed to do then?”

“No. God, Sera. I'm sorry, Love.”, he was trying not to cry with his contacts in, “It’s just so hard. The more good I do for New Aeterna the more bad I have to do to subsidize it. It’s gets tiring alone at the top.”

“You should get closer advisors--”

“I can’t trust anyone . . . apparently. I could live forever as a tailor but not as a corrupt king. A liar. A charlatan.  I just miss my Brothers and I wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.”

She runs her finger over the coffee foam and brings it to her mouth.

“You want to change things, Paris?”

“I —“

“You want to be the great man you were destined to be? You want to stop cutting deals with drug lords, bribing politicians and negotiating with dictators? Then you need to be defiant. You need to stop taking no for an answer and raise some hell. Let them know you can be more ruthless than Helios was. You were the leader of a small group of people who took down the most notorious regime the world has ever seen, all with a fucking smile carved into your handsome face.”

Paris looked up, letting his eyes meet hers. He started to say something but a door swung open behind me.

“Mr. Prince”, one of the PR ladies said. She was military and her uniform had about four regulations infractions, “The guest will be arriving soon.”

Paris nodded in answer, his face flashing that indiscernible smile. He stood up on shaky legs gathering his speech. On his way out he pulled her close, “It's a shame. All these flowers and you’re still the prettiest thing I’ve seen all day.”

He noticed me gave me a nod of acknowledgement as he stepped out.

Sera follows me back to the car, we duck out the back but catch a view of visitors heading in. They are all decked out in cream and dark red.

“Fucking bullshit, Sera.” I say starting the engine.

“Leave it Leon.”

“The resistance that took on Helios, the resistance that took down Helios. That wasn’t Paris Prince. That was you. I’m not saying Paris didn't do his share, but towards the end it was all you.”

“ Hmjeu always knew this was Paris’ destiny. That he was going to change everything for our kind. I would love to see you or me convince America to give us a country like Paris did.”

“That Hmjeu guy sounds like a crackpot?”

“Drop it. Let’s head over to this Ravi guys’ place. See if Anne ‘Lynne’ is still hiding out there.”

“Uptowners will notice strangers in the day.” I remind her.

“We can go tonight.”

“The streets are closed for the parade.”

“Fucking parade.”

“Let’s take the night off. We can save the world tomorrow.”

+++

Leon says he feels there is a difference between Seraphina Grigori and Sera Prince. And one of the big difference is that Sera Prince curses a lot more.

Yes, Chairman Lynne is Anne Bowe Lynne (Get it ? She feels betrayed) . She Giuliani's successor to the Unification Party. I sort of thought it might get picked up because i didn't use gendered terms with her. Although I think her speech patterns are very feminine.

So, yeah. Helios has cemented his bad guy status by being a jerk. I always knew that Helios was alive and this was one of the first scenes I toyed with because I sort of liked the idea of Paris rubbing his success in Helios' face, which is why Paris' installs TVs in his cell.  Only the resistance knows Helios is still alive.

 Also this section :

 I was a coward back then. I’d wanted to disappear after the uprising and see a bit of the country, so one of the regulars got me a sweet gig as a truck driver.

I did some long hauls from New Jersey to California. This was a beautiful country, but I couldn’t say the same for the people. There was too much injustice in this world and no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t the man who could right it.

Why, yes I do want a graphic novel about a truck driver (who is a secret Angel)  who roams from town to town delivering justice to the locals while trying to escape his own demons. Then it zooms out.

Yes, I know Seraphina has been more Anti- than Hero in this but well . . .