Olivia placed the final folded tarp beside the piles of ropes. They'd work with the team on shelter, food and water preparations this morning, take a break and then gear up for fashioning makeshift weapons in the afternoon. Olivia smiled. It had been a while since she and Marcel had functioned like a well-oiled machine, but today they'd slipped back into the roles they'd had for nearly half a decade. Taking orders had never been her style back at the colony, but a partnership she could do.

"Olivia," came an eager male voice.

Her smile broke at the instant reminder. Her thoughts were a mere illusion.

She placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "Edward, we're starting in fifteen minutes and you know how I hate tardiness."

He smirked. "I know, that's why I'm here early."

Olivia walked over to the misshapen bundle of rope, tugged on one of the loose knots and let it drop to the ground. "I'm really not in the mood for one of your jokes at the moment. We discussed this in the meeting yesterday and my answer remains the same. Absolutely not." She collected the rope slowly, smoothing the folds in the nylon so they were even.

"You haven't even given me a chance to argue my case."

"This isn't a courtroom. You're a liability and I don't want you on the team. My decision stands."

Edward kneeled down next to her and took the rope out of her hands. "You don't want me there because I scare you," he whispered in her ear.

"Of course you do. The moment we picked you up from the desert, I was shocked a person like you could survive as long as you did let alone be selected. You were only let in because your technical skills made up for your lack of self-reliance techniques."

He grimaced as she took the messy rope from him. His efforts had just made more work for her. The last thing she needed to do was babysit.

"I make you doubt yourself and your strength. I make you face things you're buried for far too long."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, and once we're done a reconnaissance mission, we can all sit around and sing kumbaya with Amelia's husband. But we need information, stealth, skills, strong resolve. These are people you can't win over with a dirty joke or a heart-to-heart."

"Worked on you," he said with a cheeky smile.

Olivia sucked in a breath. The thought of Edward's actions being a ruse would unravel her. He brought the only unselfish kindness to her calculated life. She wasn't sure what to look forward to if that rug was pulled out from under her feet.

His voice lost its usual pleasant charm. "Doesn't feel so great, does it? Being treated less than equal."

"Get training and you can go on the next one."

He balled his fists. "I want to be in on this one!"

Olivia groaned. Would he ever quit? "Why is this so important to you?"

"Because." he paused to catch his breath. "You're going up against people who nearly destroyed you. I don't want you to face that alone."

He just wanted to be her moral support even knowing he hardly stood a chance of defending himself properly. She really was an asshole, but one who would make it out alive. "I'll have support, Edward."

"But you'll never tell them when something is up."

"I'll-" she bit her lower lip. "I'll talk to Nate should something come up."

"Alright." Edward's shoulders slumped and he ran his hand over the tarp. He gave up much easier than she had imagined. "So what's this all for anyway?" his voice was distant and small.

She sighed. Winning didn't feel very good anymore. "We're creating quick shelters -- A-frame, arrowhead, lean-to, forest tents -- with tarps and rope."

"Fascinating." Edward played with one of the metal poles meant to hold the tarp in place should trees be absent. Why did his aloofness cause so much more guilt? Any other unqualified person would not put up such a fight.

"We'll also be going over a bit of hunting, fire building and starting with basic tools, water purification and collection."

He stared off into the distance. "Sounds like boy scouts."

"They're not bad skills to have. You might have learned some."

"I was more into the hotdogs and smores part of camp." The peg clanged against the others as he dropped it and stood up. "You were right though. I was always crap at this sort of stuff. No one would let me forget it."

Damn it, the image of a small chubby boy fiddling with a couple of pieces of rope while others stood on and cackled filled her mind. She'd spent enough time being ridiculed and ostracized as a child.

"Edward." He stopped and looked at her. "Let me show you the sheet bend knot. It'll help you join two different ropes together. Then you'll have one down for next time."

"I wouldn't want to make you late for your training." He wasn't very good at hiding the bitterness in his voice.

"I want to. It's not an issue."

They sat down and slowly went through the steps together. After a few tries, he even got the thing to work, not perfect, but it would do in a pinch.

"Alright, well I should leave you to training."

Olivia shifted her weight and ran her thumb up and down the length of the rope. "I'll talk to Marcel and see if he can help you with training while I'm away."

"Are you sure? You two can't agree on a thing. What is up with you guys?"

Olivia let out an uneasy laugh. He clearly hadn't seen them this morning. She had no reason to hide her past relationship, but it just wasn't the right time to tell Edward. Plus, he'd side with her and refuse to accept Marcel's help. Despite their quarrels, Marcel was damn good at what he did and pretty much the only option left for Edward after they'd depart.

"Old work colleagues, enough years together will turn anything into an argument."

"You'd have thought we'd have known each other for decades then," Edward said with a laugh.

Good that smile was back. Her stomach unclenched.

"Maybe I'm just the problem," she said lightly.

And the laugh came back full force.

"Don't work too hard. I still want a good farewell present," Edward said with a wink. Her cheeks flushed a little thinking of their little escapades on the way to Marcel's little community. Since they'd been hard-pressed to find the time, but it was certainly on her list of things to do before departure. He kissed her lightly then took off back to the community warehouse building.

She walked over to the area around the bend where Marcel and the others were waiting. He had a small scowl as she approached, which defeated any progress they had made this morning at being civil. Pleasing one man always came at the expense of the other.

"Now that we're all here." Marcel made no effort to cover up the glance in her direction. "Let me explain just how you'll keep yourselves alive long enough to make it to Las Vegas. Many of you are fortunate enough to have experience coming from Colorado, but we want to do more than just squat in old buildings. To be successful, we need to avoid detection, use resources effectively and be able to defend ourselves should we get caught. The scavenging team is working double staffed today to help Quinton and Nate gather supplies to create a means of communication."

"Our time frame may be too short, but we'll work with what we have. We'll be lucky if it's a walkie-talkie, really," Nate said with a laugh.

"If there's a network in Vegas, I'll try my best to hack in or find someone who can," Quinton said with a nervous smile.

Olivia looked around the field at her mix-matched group of hackers, ex-military, tech-guys, hippie foragers, eccentric fast learning loners and a fresh-faced teen that Reggie had said was a mapping prodigy. Collectively, they were a well-rounded bunch and somehow they'd have to do some damage to this overbearing corporation.

The afternoon flew by as Gunnar took the lead on fashioning knives, bows, arrows, hammers and other unique tools out of anything they could find. If it was sharp or hard enough, he called it a weapon. Olivia finished crafting her bow and sanding it down. Gunnar passed by with a curt nod of approval before his eyes moved to the next bow. He spoke more into a void than to any of the people and rarely made eye contact. He'd be a real treat when they had to do undercover work.

Mischa and the blonde girl came barrelling into the warehouse, dripping water and god knows what else on the floor as they went. Marcel's eyes grew wide and Olivia could bet he'd forgotten the scavenging teams were still out there in the storm.

"Mr. M, you need to see this," Vita said and the three went into another room.

He'd really carved out a name for himself here. Mr. M, too good and almighty to be Marcel. People seemed to respect him too even though he was probably a walking mess when he started the operation.

And you're so different?

"Olivia," Marcel called and the bitterness of exclusion faded away.

She entered the room to see a cell phone open in Marcel's palm. "Solved the communication issue. These girls get right to the heart of the matter."

"Look at what's on the screen."

A pile of burning bodies. A man shot through the chest.

Marcel didn't switch photos again, but with a few touches, he had the image enlarged to a partial tattoo on the left arm. The twin blades, Gurkha knives, and a former comrade's symbol to commemorate his wife's Nepali nationality. He'd told them stories all night of the Nepali soldiers who had no fear of death, just as natural a process as living and they were absolute heroes, accomplishing feat entire squadrons could not.

"That can't be-" Olivia began.

"I recognize that tattoo anywhere."

"Was there anyone else around?" Olivia asked the two wide-eyed girls.

The young women nodded. "Two soldiers who lit the fire."

"How far is that from here?"

"Maybe three or four miles?"

Olivia rapped her fingers on the side of her leg. "This is bad, Marcel."

He shook his head. "Higgins was a good man." He turned to Olivia and spoke softly. "You and your group should be extra careful. He knew you were back. There is no telling if that information was passed on."

Her jaw dropped. "When were you going to tell me that you'd not only seen but heard from him? Was he here?"

"No, occasionally we would rendezvous if there was information to share. Usually at his convenience." Marcel turned to the teens and dropped his hushed tone. "Thank you, Vita, Mischa, it was very prudent of you to capture a photo and to retrieve this. Take tomorrow off and see me if there is anything else you need."

Olivia sat down on a plastic crate large enough to hold her weight and placed her head in her palms. Her muscles were weak and her head ached. It could be worse. It could always be worse. A familiar hand smoothed the cotton polo on her back. When she lifted her head, Marcel had his other hand flipping through the contacts on the phone.

"Wiped?"

"Surprisingly, it is not."

The phone screen displayed two names 'Ball buster 1' and 'Ball buster 2'. She shook her head with no idea whether to laugh, cry or feel relieved. Marcel had settled on a smile. Higgins had joked during their service together that he didn't need a wife, he already had two comrades who were better at it than any woman could be.

"That is good news for us, it likely went undetected and was not sent as a Trojan Horse of sorts."

Olivia collected her thoughts so her voice would come out flat "Take the battery out anyway, we don't need to take any chances."

The weight of Marcel's stare made it difficult for her to relax. She smoothed her hands on her khakis and stared at her black boot laces.

There was a time when she could lead, follow and work as part of a team, a great one that protected and served their country with honour. Now serving anyone brought a vile taste to her mouth. This mission wasn't about revenge; it was to ensure she'd never endure those circumstances again.

"What happened to you, Liv?"

Liv. He hadn't called her that since the day he left the colony.

"Nothing," she said, her wavering voice not even fooling herself.

"Liv, I know you better than that."

She shut her eyes to keep tears from escaping. Good Lord, what had Edward done to her resolve. "I dealt with the blowback of your departure, of our shared betrayal to the cause."

"Betrayal? A child is not a betrayal, it is a life," Marcel seethed. She'd forgotten how he could go from zero to sixty in a second.

"It's a decision to create an image of yourself without consulting others to ensure there are proper resources to support it."

His chest rose and fell with increasing speed. "If life blesses you with a child, you find the resources to keep it alive."

She squeezed the plastic on the crate until it dug into her palms. "Can we stop?"

"Why? So you can sweep this under the rug?"

Her chest burned and she bit her lip. "That's not what this is. I had a choice. It was mine to make and I made it. I live with those consequences and the guilt every day."

"But it was not your choice, it was his and you simply followed it over our choice. We could have survived out here. I would have made us a home," his voice rose like heat in a blaze.

Olivia's hands trembled. "He would have made us a target during the quakes or brought us back as prisoners."

"He took no such action when I left."

"Because he had me." Olivia's breaths filled the silence. "His goal was never to destroy you. It was to inflict as much pain and humiliation on me as possible until I broke."

Footsteps echoed on the cold floor as Gunnar's session came to a close. She and Marcel both stood still as they waited for the other to move.

Marcel's voice came through soft, "Did he?"

Olivia turned away and sat up from the crate that had imprinted diamonds into her palm. "You lost your right to know when you left me."

Determined to have the last word, she hurried off to find Edward. She had far too much tension to get rid of and she could think of a few ways to unwind.