Sienna

I'd met the blonde when she'd been my economics student back in Minneapolis, and she'd become my lover after her class with me ended. Back then she'd been slim and graceful and forward and full of life, if rather manipulating. Then I'd sent her away from Minneapolis, gotten my arm almost completely blown off in a gunfight with a particularly fundamentalist cult of Somalians, and she'd had a child - Jane - with Morgan while he was organizing a terrorist cell in the Dakota oil fields. He'd kept her strung out on oxy for most of their relationship, and she found her way back to me with his evidence, just in time to detox in my bathroom for a week. She and Jessie and I had formed a hesitant little triad right before Morgan had come looking for her, tortured and raped her, blown me up, and had been killed by Jessie in turn.

We hadn't resumed out romantic relationship after I'd woken up from my car-bomb-induced coma - Jessie and I were recovering from traumatic injuries, and Sienna was recovering from the physical and mental ordeal she'd suffered at Morgan's hands. There were still small things that set her off, freezing her in place or drawing tears from her eyes, a sound, a brush of her scarred arm against something, sometimes just a pause to remember. Asking her if she wanted to have a threesome just seemed crass

Now, out in Wyoming, where the population was measured in miles per person, I had some hope that violence was behind me. I wanted us all to move on with our lives - whatever that looked like - and I never wanted to pick up a gun again in anger.

Hopefully here I could find some peace.

I had no idea what Sienna was going to do. I hoped she could find her way back to the strong, joyful woman I'd used to know, before the entire universe had conspired to torment her.

"Tell em I said 'hi,' ok?" Sienna have Jessie and I awkward hugs, and then split off down a side street with her daughter holding her hand and skipping at a pace almost faster than her pregnant mother could follow.

I sighed. What was life going to look like after today? I took Jessie hand and we headed for the hotel a few sweltering blocks away.

-------

Even at ten thirty in the morning, the hotel bar was packed. Jackson Hole was full of rich people, and they all seemed to be drinking their sorrows away in this watering hole, watching their fortunes evaporate from the ongoing House and Senate hearings like the puddles left by the automatic landscaping sprinklers just outside.

The bar was dimly lit though the superheated late spring day was clearly visible through the tinted glass of the windows, and I scanned the crowd for the pale we were looking for. There? No. She wouldn't wear a...yes, yes she was wearing one.

I led Jessie over to the bar, tapped a tiny blonde on the shoulder.

"You look like you'd wreck some poor cowboys's whole life, Mickey."

"Don't call me that, asshole." She spun on her heel, gave me a long hug before giggling and wrapping up Jessie in an even longer embrace. I reached out and shook Don's hand. "Are you the cowboy who's life got wrecked?"

He snorted and shook my hand powerfully. I was pretty sure I heard my bones creak. "Wouldn't call it wrecked. How you doin', Gary?"

"Good. Great. Anxious to sit down with you guys."

McKenna Krossley was a childhood friend of Jessie's, and a programming savant. They worked on a product development team together, successfully putting an operating system on about as tiny a computer as possible, one that intelligently adapted itself to whatever device it was plugged into. They'd sold their product to a software giant for a fortune each on a trip out to Denver, what was that, two years ago now? Three? Something like that, it felt like a lifetime ago. McKenna had joined us in bed frequently on that trip, and after, until she got caught up in the violence that Morgan had brought to Milwaukee.

She'd saved my life once with a Colt Anaconda snubnose during a riot in Denver, and after meeting Don, and started getting more formal firearms instruction from him, which served her well in burning down two members of Morgan's terrorist group - decentralized political and social justice movement, if you believed the radio and TV stations, and Reddit - who'd invaded our home. She'd also dumped all of Morgan's blackmail files on the country the night that he'd died, lighting what now appeared to be a political fuse that terminated either in dissolution of the country or civil war.

After pulling the pin on that info grenade and lobbing it into the mainstream media, she'd lit off with her boyfriend Don for parts unknown, keeping in touch with us sporadically via encrypted and clandestine methods. The two of them had requested this meeting once I'd informed them Jessie and I would be moving out west, and today we discussed not only where out west we'd be settling, but also how we'd be fortifying our lives against further violence and intrusion.

I'd always thought of the pint-sized programmer as flighty and annoying in a cute and fuckable way, but I was quickly coming to the conclusion that her mind was razor sharp even away from a computer.

Don motioned me forward, taking the lead, and I snagged Jessie, following the other couple out into the lobby. McKenna said a few words to the attendant at the check in desk, and soon we were following her, our feet slapping marble over the splash of a fountain, the fading TVs in the bar anxiously discussing the stock market dropping again at the news that yet another senator was being investigated for hiring out a murder to cover some other grievous crime.

The attendant showed us to a conference room, rows of tables surrounded by red upholstered folding chairs. The tables were spread with papers, photographs, phone books, maps, encyclopedias, history books, and I thought I identified an honest-to-goodness card catalogue.

The attendant curtsied at the door. "Do you need anything further?"

Jane looked at Jessie and I. "You guys eat?"

My lover shook her head. "We, uh...slept through breakfast."

The tiny programmer snorted. "Yeah. I bet you were sleeping. What do you want?"

I ordered a hamburger, Jessie requested some kind of steak and salad dish, and the other couple both ordered sandwiches. McKenna paid in advance, in cash, and then sprinted after the attendant as she left. "One more thing," she said, pushing more bills into the woman's hand. "A bottle each of Wild Turkey One Oh One and Wyoming Whiskey."

I raised a bemused eyebrow at Jessie as McKenna trotted back. "Ain't it a little early in the day?"

Don shrugged and almost in unison with the tiny blonde said "It's five o clock somewhere."

I circled the documents with Don pointing out the various displays - voting records, land deeds, water tables, development surveys, etc. Jessie was deep in conversation with McKenna, and from a distance, I marveled at the change in appearance for the younger woman. She seemed to have aged in the last seven months, shedding the "babyfat" that had given her an almost illegally youthful appearance. Skinnier, harder looking, she'd dyed her cocoa-brown hair a sunny blonde, and switched wardrobe as well. When last I saw her, she dressed almost exclusively out of a Pink or VS store, favoring track skirts and polos or sweats. Now she wore jeans and a tshirt and a cowboy hat, and I'm pretty sure that was my old Remington Commander swinging in a leather shoulder holster under her cutoff denim vest.

Don looked the same. Cargo pants and a sleeveless shirt to show off enormous arm muscles. I'd once called him at three in the morning a year or so ago, regretfully thinking I was going to be walking him up, instead finding him doing a workout with a sledgehammer. His hair had migrated down to his face, a wiry black beard obscuring his chiseled jawline, his head now bald. I wondered if he too wore a cowboy hat to keep his dark brown scalp from sunburning in the practically radioactive heat.

"What did you do to your face?" Jessie asked her friend. "Plastic surgery? You look different."

McKenna smirked. "Oh these?" I watched from across the table as she dug a fingernail along her gums, fishing out two chunks of what looked like silicon. "Prosthetics from a dentist in San Francisco who likes cash and hates records. Raises my cheekbones just enough. Those and a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and a procedure mask in populated areas...facial recognition cameras don't have a clue. Cash and small hotels and being mindful of my digital signature...I'm pretty sure there are people who'd like to talk to me, but they ain't found me yet."

Don chuckled beside me as he pointed at a pile of tax records. "That girl is paranoid. I love her, but it's like living with the woman version of Ethan Hunt."

"You gotta admit though, she's got her reasons."

"Yeah, I know." He turned. "Maybe you can help me out. You guys went on vacation out here a few years ago when she and Jessie sold that company."

"Yeah."

"What does she have against staircases? I've gotta keep the truck stocked with dynamite, and every time we pass a collapsed house out in the middle of nowhere, she blows up the staircase. Just the staircase. The first time I thought she was insane, now it's just routine. We do like two, three, five a week."

"She's finding that many stairs?" I asked, trying not to let shock creep into my voice.

"Yeah, they're all over the place out here. That girl has a burning hatred for old houses."

"Huh." I said. "How about that? All these tablets have VPNs I'm assuming?" I really wanted to change the topic.

The attendant brought the food and drink, and looking around, I found a couple of water fountains on the edges of the room. I wanted a full stomach and liquid other than booze for what was to come.

Uncorking the bottle of Wyoming, McKenna poured her and Don each a glass, raised them. Waited until Jessie and I hoisted our paper cups of water.

"To the future."

-------

I tapped the Send button on the email to my boss, and made my transfer to Wyoming complete.

Jessie and I were moving to Black River, Wyoming, a little town in the southeastern corner of the state. Bordered on one side by mountains, bisected by a river, surrounded by farmland, it would be perfect.

Don, Jessie, and McKenna had all fired off emails starting the permitting process to bring a few new industries to Black River too, at the cost of most of their personal fortunes.

We'd just decided to completely remake a small part of the world, and I felt exhausted. It was ten hours later and all of that time had been spent discussing, arguing, debating, reading, researching, digging through records. I was mentally and emotionally drained, and I didn't know if I was mentally ready for the rest of the night.

Jessie splashed some Wild Turkey in my paper cup, and I sipped at the harsh alcohol in the hopes that it would calm my nerves.

I looked across the table at McKenna - Don was blowing off steam by doing dips between two massive stacks of chairs a few feet away - and raised my glass. "To the future."

She raised hers, a smile on her tired face. "May it rest in pieces."

"You guys gonna ok with what comes next?"

She brightened. "I love Jane, of course!"

I dialed Sienna's number, waited with tightening nerves while it rang. Eventually her voice came on the line "Hello?"

"Hey, See. How was your day?"

"Long. We walked all over. Came back and Jane played in the pool for ages. How about you and Jess? How's McKenna and Don?"

"We're great. They're great. Everything is great."

"You sound weird."

"I'm tired. Been a long day." I didn't want to say this next part. Didn't want to cross this Rubicon. Did want to cross it, was scared to cross it.

Dammit.

"We've got a conference room at the hotel where they're staying. I need you to come over. Don and McKenna will come to your room and watch Jane, ok?"

I could hear worry spring to life in her voice. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah. Jessie and I just need to talk to you in private. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet, I was hoping we'd eat with you guys."

"They'll take Jane out for dinner, I'll order something for you, it'll be waiting when you get here."

"Gary, you're scaring me."

I was scaring myself. "Everything will be ok. We just need to talk to you, and this room is all set up already."

She blew out a long breath, and it sounded tinny through the phone speaker. "I'll wait for them and then I'll be over."

"Ok. I...we...I'll see you."

I hung up and fist bumped McKenna across the table. "You're still ok?"

"Yeah. I wanna do this for you guys."

"Thanks," Jessie said. "Thank you so much."

We exchanged hugs and goodbyes and follow the couple to the door of the hotel, watched them walk off into the still hot night. Schizophrenic weather in this state - baking summers, winters so cold and so violent the interstates were buried, froze over, and the whole damn state closed.

My new home.

We went to the bar.

Jessie and I spoke only to order food, steak and vegetables for three, Sienna's medium-well. I scanned the bottles behind the bar while Jessie watched the news replying highlights from today's investigations. Someone has been outed as a rapist. That someone was refusing to resign in the face of unfounded allegations. That someone was denounced in front of the legislature as an enemy of the nation by someone who'd taken bribes from a defense contractor to fudge a report saying the Department Of Education needed more M4 rifles.

McKenna would definitely go down in history.

That was insane.

I looked behind the bar for something expensive to commemorate this milestone in our lives, and a bottle caught my eye. Frosted white glass. Black spidery writing.

Everywhere I went, that fucking bottle from the worst night of my life showed up.

The night that set every other day in motion.

The night that made me the Gary Galloway standing in a bar in Wyoming.

I couldn't take any of it back. Thinking back, I knew I wouldn't, even if I could.

Yeah, I would've come back from up north sooner, found a way to save a nurse named Nina and a Maori guy named Mike and a programmer named James, but everything else?

I could not have continued to be me, and done any of it any different.

Fuck that bottle.

We took the plates back to the conference room, began piling up papers and books and tablets and pamphlets in order to clear an eating space. Jessie announced she'd forgotten that Sienna couldn't drink alcohol and probably wanted something better than water and went back to the bar for a pitcher of milk. She came back with the milk and a couple bottles of diet, caffeine-free soda.

I think she saw me looking nervous, hopped up to sit on the edge of the table, took my hand. "It's gonna be ok. Whatever happens, WE will get through this night."

"I know."

She smirked. "We've both died already. Anything after that is easy."

I chuckled at the thought. "Yeah. You're right there."

The door at the end of the room creaked and Sienna stepped hesitantly inside. "Gary? Jessie?"

"We're here. Got dinner for you." Jessie slid off the table, went to embrace the pregnant blonde. "How's Jane?"

"Excited to go have spaghetti and chocolate cake with McKenna and Don. I'm sure they're gonna load her up with sugar before giving her back tonight."

"That does sound like McKenna," I conceded.

Sienna looked around the room nervously, taking in the tables spread with documents. "What were you his doing in here? Looks like you're on one of those cop shows trying to catch a serial killer."

"Catch, no," Jessie replied. "Maybe stay ahead of some..."

I gave her a rueful look. "Let's eat."

"But..." Sienna was glancing around and the expression on her face was trending towards worry.

"Eat first. Then we talk."

I didn't taste my steak. Prepared with a pat of butter and a dusting of parmesan, it felt like cardboard in my mouth. Same with the vegetables. I could tell the Wyoming Whiskey was spicier for a wheat than, say, Makers, but it didn't seem to have any flavor. I was just nervous. Insanely nervous. Virgin with the prom queen nervous.

Huh.

Didn't think I got that anymore.

Finally we were finished eating. Sienna wiped her mouth and gave us a small smile. "Thank you. The steak was fantastic."

"This place knows it's meat," Jessie said.

"So..."

"So." I echoed Sienna, willed the pounding in my chest to stop, tried to gauge if my hands were shaking by bringing my glass to my lips. The liquor burned but had no flavor. No tremors detected.

"We're moving," I said simply. "To Black River, Wyoming. Jessie and McKenna have been looking for the safest, the best place to go, and my bank was willing to transfer me pretty much anywhere out here. So, we're moving."

I could see tears start to form in Sienna's eyes, and she raised ahand to cover her mouth. Her hand shook. She swallowed hard a few times, inhaled hard, blinked hard. Everything hard, trying to control emotions already frazzled thin by worry and hormones. I waited for her to say something. Finally she did, with a voice as shaky as her hand. "Thank you for taking care of me this past year. I mean it. I don't...I don't have any right to ask you for anything else, but I need to know - for Jane - what are you going to do...with her? And me? And...Nancy?" She unconsciously put a hand protectively over her belly.

Jessie looked over at me. Nodded. "The house in Milwaukee is in my name. I'll give it to you, if you want it. Minus the rocket of course, we're bringing that with us." A smile was evident in her voice.

The blonde gave her a sad grin. "You're giving me a house?"

"Yeah. If you want it. Paid off. It's all yours."

"Wow. I can't, I mean, fuck. Wow. I don't know how I'm gonna keep it, but yeah I'll take it. Thank you. Thank you so much, I..." Tears dripped down here cheeks and she wiped them away with the sleeve of her long tshirt. She let out a shuddering sigh that seemed close to a sob, and I could see in her eyes that she was replaying the last years, wargaming her future for her daughters. Terrified of what the days and months ahead would hold in this violent world descending into even greater ugliness.

"There's another option," I said, and Julius Caesar crossed the fuck out of the Rubicon.

Sienna sniffed, wiped her nose. "What's that?"

I reached around the chair, winced at the residual pain in my arm. I fished the black box out of my backpack, slid it across the table towards my former student. My former fuckbuddy.

My former submissive.

"You put that on, and you and Jane and Nancy come with us."

She opened the box with trembling hands, and confusion crossed her eyes when she saw the thick silver chain set with three emeralds inside. "I don't understand. This is like the necklace you're wearing, Jess."

"Just like it," my lover said quietly.

Sienna looked up from the jewelry at me, and her cheeks switched into a sob as fresh tears leaked down her face, and with a supreme effort of will, she fought the emotion down. "Gary."

It was a statement, not a question. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Sienna asked, very deliberately.

Jessie laughed, and the musical sound popped the balloon of dread in the room, which promptly leaked out under the door. "Honey, he ain't the marrying sort."

"What do YOU want me to be?"

"I..." I gestured like I could pull words and concepts from the air, finally just drained my glass and poured another finger. "I want us to continue being what we were before all this shit went down. Before I got blown up, before you got taken. Whatever the fuck we were doing together in our house, together."

"You want me to be the houseguest that takes care of the house in exchange for a room, that you both get to fuck whenever the whim strikes you. I'm grateful that I was that for you, that was fun, but that's what I was."