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Brent and Riley laughed

"Mad?" she asked, looking at Caleb

"Yes, ma’am," answered Mad in that steady, even voice that Caleb had never once heard raised in anger or joy

Mad was a bit shorter than Caleb, but with plenty of muscle They al teased him about his tendency toward emotionless stoicism, but when someone needed the impossible done in a hurry, Mad was the man to cal Which made hioing to pul it off

The carnival was in a few days, and there were athese were some of thethe impossible hatever resources were available hat they did best

Caleb puled Lana aside and lowered his voice "If you don’t need et started puling the carnival together"

She looked up at hied her mind a moment before the words came out "Are you sure about this? Aboutthe, don’t you think? Won’t they scare the kids?"

Caleb couldn’t stop hi a stray strand of hair behind her ear He needed to touch her again, to feel her skin heat under his hands, but he settled for what he could get aith in public until he could get her alone again "Trust s like this for the kids on base, and none of the"

"Are you sure? This fundraiser is important tofrightening flash through her eyes--so dark and powerful--a desperation so intense he could alh her

"I won’t let you down," he pro to work You’l see"

"We only have a few days" That hopeless look she wore nearly brought hi or what his ht He puled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head

"Twice as many as we need Trust me"

He felt her nod under his lips, but he could tel that she didn’t quite believe hielike that She trusted hih He wanted her to trust him with her life, her future He wanted to prove to her that no matter what had happened in the past, he’d never let her down again He wasn’t sure why this fundraiser was so important to her, but he didn’t realy care It was important to her, and that was al he needed to know

Caleb released Lana before he did so that would eave her a quick kiss on the forehead and a reassuring s their po, Lana ducked out of the office, intent on going to visit Stacie She’d been sent home yesterday, and Lana wanted toin okay

Lana had just reached her car when Caleb caught her The sun blazed down, casting his face into a deep shadow That jolt of feeling coursed through her as she was thrown back in time to the day he’d carried her out of that cave Lana closed her eyes and braced her weight against her car door

"You okay?" he asked while his hands wrapped around her upper arms to steady her

Lana felt the heat of his touch warhly than the hot sun overhead She stifled a little shiver, re just how his hands had felt as he’d touched her last night, how ers

"I’ a little crowded in there"

"It’s a lot of people to crao for a drive?"

Lana stared at his big feet rather than risk getting hit by the force of the memories that lurked in his silhouette "I’d rather be alone for a while"

"Let me come with you," said Caleb "It’s not safe for you to be alone Not after what happened to Stacie"

She needed some time to herself--soroup "I need this, Caleb Just let o Please"

He stood quietly for ato think of another argu to convince himself he didn’t need one "Would you prefer one of the other o with you instead?" There was a quality in his voice that she hadn’t heard before If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought it was insecurity, but that didn’t eous than Caleb

"Of course not I don’t know those o see Stacie I need to visit the kids" She hid the spike of anxiety she felt at the thought of going back to the youth center Kara seemed to always be there

His hand cupped her cheek, and he fought the urge to lean into his touch "I don’t want to let you go, but I guess it’s notto his words, she could hear it in his tone, but she didn’t dare try to figure it out As it was, she was using every bit of er she had to keep froiven her a precious gift of solace in a world that had revolved around fear for so long she’d forgotten what it was like not to be afraid

He’d shown her what it was like to be nor up to her real life had felt like a crushing blow Nothing had changed She stil had to stay silent It was the only way to protect those she loved--a group that el on its way to including Caleb

"I’l be fine," she told him "Trust ht have forced the issue and pressured her to let him come, but instead, she’d asked him to trust her How could he expect her to trust him if he didn’t do the sa to blow up rather than having to deal with al this psychological shit