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When he had taken Alison’s hand-blast to his chest and abdo in the hospital, his natural instinct had been to retreat After all, that was how he had lived for the past two hundred years But throughout those centuries, he’d been a shell of athe line at the cost of dying a little each day

He would always feel responsible for Helena’s death That was the nature of being a man, the inherent sense of responsibility to keep everyone alive, to keep everyone happy, satisfied

He released a heavy sigh, the kind weighted with guilt, lots of it

The question see of himself? Did he truly fear that his proxiony of losing her should she die as a result of the Coression? Soht path in this situation? He longed to be with her, a longing that kept her in his dreahts when he ake

Now she faced a new situation Against one of the priainst her Holy shit

Thorne was right, the attacks on her would never stop Her ascension was a beginning, not an ending, and Endelle rong to think three squads of Militia Warriors would do anything except cost lives, possibly even Alison’s

What cauilt over what had happened in the past to both Marta and Helena and to all three of his children Life was hard and had been fro of time Choices were made and, yeah, like Endelle had said, Death happens One day in the future, he would die as well as Alison, even their daughter

But no longer would he deny the sied with Alison and he belonged with his daughter

Alison’s presence in his life had done this for him, forced him to take that extra step out of the confines of his present life and into … the future

He laughed and shook his head Godda her had made him feel like more of a man, more powerful How the hell was that possible? The breh-hedden, of course, calling to hihtly held life

Only this time he didn’t stop the sensation He let it fill his of hisfor Alison’s presence inside his head

He stood at the foot of his bed and pictured her lying naked right there, her long blond hair spread out over his pillows and sheets He wanted her in his bed, in this bed, the bed he now slept in He wanted her with him now and always

Then he knew, then he understood that his life had changed completely, not just a little but in every possible way He saw the future, how this was going to go down from this point forward, and why he intended to complete the breh-hedden with Alison No as his lovely therapist, built to help others, going to be subjected to fighting Some women were built for war She was built to save lives He felt stronger in his spirit than ever before, deterood times or bad, come life or death, he would be with Alison, he would love her, he would protect her to the extent he could, she would be his breh and he would serve her as he had from the moment he first hed, he punched the air a few tier would he look back, but he would set his face to the future and live, really live

He felt a strange low-level vibration in his body, so he had never felt before He drew in a deep breath Holy shit Was it possible?

Hell, yeah, it was possible

Tonight he began a new life, and sure as hell this was the way to start it

He caloddaht The journey between lasted a rough second, -out then sudden hard awareness, a blinding rush of adrenaline followed by a blast of endorphins

He had folded hi last he could fold

He shook his head He closed his eyes, thought another thought He experienced another vibration of blood and bone He opened his eyes He was back in the hed and shouted He dematerialized about a dozen times His fist pumped the air

He could fold

He Could Fold

Goddammit, he could fold!

One last trip back to the master bedroo question in his mind, but somehow he already knew