she pointed at the handcuffs. "i'm sorry about this."

"don't be." his green eyes were unblinking. "when i agreed to trade places with ron, i knew what i was doing. when i stepped into that ring to face your brother, i knew the risks. i thought i could control the situation. i was wrong. your brother was a good fighter-better than i expected."

"tommy spent his whole life training to be a good boxer."

"i know," johnson acknowledged. "and i underestimated him badly. if he'd been a gmo, he'd have taken me out in the first round. as a result, i was careless. i hit him too hard." he was silent a moment. "we talked about this before we fought, you and i. i know you understand that it was a terrible accident. i never meant for it to happen."

"yeah, i know," loup said softly. "i do."

he shook his head. "and yet... i knew the risks." he shifted his hands, the chain rattling. "ron and i, we consider ourselves guilty of manslaughter. it doesn't matter that the sentence we serve is for a different crime. the punishment fits."

"you freed me," loup reminded him. "and pilar."

"yeah." john johnson smiled crookedly. "i thought that might be enough to grant me absolution in my own heart. it wasn't."

she gestured at his manacles. "will this?"

he considered it. "in sofar as anything can, i believe so. that's why i asked you to tell the truth. and that's why i'm asking you to let it go, loup. you don't bear any guilt in this matter. it was my choice."

"okay." loup cocked her head. "the affidavits... that started with the gmos, didn't it?"

johnson grinned. "yeah. pretty good, huh?"

"why now?"

he shrugged. "why not sooner, you mean? it wouldn't have been effective. and we had our own interests to look out for. things had to reach a critical mass, a tipping point, before a majority of enlisted men grew brave enough to join us." he pointed at her. "which you provided."

"me?"

his laughter rumbled deep in his throat. it was a sound that made his guard reach reflexively for the butt of his gun, though it didn't bother loup in the slightest. "you gave us a good face to present to the world." he flexed his hands in their steel cuffs. corded muscle and sinew in his forearms bunched and shifted. "we look dangerous. you don't."

she smiled. "you know better, though."

johnson's eyes gleamed. "at least i lasted eleven rounds. maybe i'll have a chance to train while i'm in the brig. we could have a rematch."

loup shook her head, not without regret. "if you'd trained half as hard as i had for that match, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have stood a chance. and i'm very sure that pilar would lock me in a cellar before she'd let me try it again."

"it would be fun, though."

"yeah." she grinned. "it would."

"so." he cleared his throat. "have i set your mind at ease? can you walk out of here and enjoy your freedom without any hint of reservation? because i'd like that. trust me, the time will pass a lot quicker knowing it was all worthwhile."

"i'll try," loup said honestly. she laid her hands over his. "thank you."

john johnson squeezed her hands. "you take care."

it was the same thing he'd said before.

her eyes burned. "you too."

she was quiet and thoughtful as abernathy escorted her to the car. he drove back toward the hotel, glancing at her periodically.

"how can you bear him so little resentment?" he asked at length.

"huh?"

"for your brother's death."

loup rested her head against the window of the car door. "you heard him. he feels awful about it. i could tell that from the beginning. how would resenting him help? it wouldn't bring tommy back."

"it's human, that's all," he said.

she gave him a look. "yeah, well..."

"i know, i know!" abernathy drove. "i wonder... being unable to fear, does it make it easier to forgive, do you suppose?"

"i don't know."

"i suspect we have a lot to learn about ourselves from your kind," he mused. "the big differences, they're not the obvious ones, are they?"

"i guess not."

he gave her a fleeting smile. "you definitely make life more interesting."

at the hotel, pilar was waiting by the front entrance, worried and pale. her face lit up when she saw the car pull into the entry. loup felt her heart grow lighter at the sight of her.

"hey, baby!" pilar greeted her with a hug and an exuberant kiss. "sorry, i got nervous waiting. everything okay?"

"yeah. yeah, it is." loup turned. "you remember tom abernathy? you met him at the press conference."

"hi." she gave him one of her dazzling smiles and shook his hand. "thanks again so much for everything."

"it was my pleasure." he turned to loup. "loup? now that everything's finished, i don't know when we'll see each other again."

she kissed his cheek. "you're one of the good guys, abernathy. don't ever think you aren't."

there was a shadow of sorrow in his smile. "thanks."

they watched him drive away.

"you didn't tell me your lawyer was a one in a hundred," pilar commented.

"looks that way, huh?"

"definitely." pilar gave her another quick kiss. "so how do you feel about going home in two days?"

"two days? seriously?"

"yep."

loup took a deep breath. "good. really good."

fifty-two

two days later, they flew into san antonio, which had the closest functioning airport to the cordon.

"are we picking up the rental car here?" loup asked, glancing at the signage.

"nope." pilar looked smug. "and it's not a car."

"huh?"

"i rented us a cargo van." she flashed her credit card. "we're gonna pick it up tomorrow morning and fill it with all kinds of excellent presents. i was thinking tvs and computers and stuff since everything there is like forty years old. we may not be millionaires yet, but you sold a lot of t-shirts, baby. even five percent adds up."

loup smiled happily. "that's an awesome idea!"

"it is, isn't it?"

they spent the night at an elegant hotel overlooking the placid san antonio river. their room even had a balcony where they could sit and sip champagne, watching people stroll along the riverwalk.

"how far of a drive is it?" loup asked.

"about three hours."

"it's so weird, isn't it?" she gestured at the people below. "to be so close and in a totally different world."

"yeah, it is." pilar shrugged. "out of sight, out of mind, i guess. who are you looking forward to seeing the most?"

"mack," loup said promptly. "but don't tell t.y. i said that. you?"

"i can't decide." she made a face. "i know who i'm looking forward to seeing the least."

"rory salamanca?"

"yeah." pilar contemplated the bubbles in her champagne flute. "i kind of have to, though. i owe him that much."

"yes, you do."

pilar tossed a grape from the complimentary fruit basket at her. "you don't have to be so goddamn fair-minded, supergirl."

loup plucked the grape out of midair. "can't help it."

"do you know what you're going to wear yet?"

she blinked. "i hadn't thought about it. why?"

"oh, c'mon! on the one hand, we want to look good, right? i mean, this is our big homecoming." pilar ticked off the reason on one finger, then ticked another. "on the other, we don't want to look too sophisticated and make them think we've gotten all snooty. like you said, they're our people, right?"

loup tossed the grape back at her. "you're such a girlie girl."

"true." pilar caught the grape deftly. "and yet i am also muy macha, s