Nodding was all Shannon could manage as her heart pounded. Ben loomed over her. She was frozen by his glare as if she were a rabbit and he, a wolf.

His face reddened. "You know, don't you? Who I am?"

She hesitated a fraction of a second before nodding again.

"And this lunch? It was to try and recruit me?"

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It took two tries before she croaked, "It started that way."

"And now?"

"I want to get to know you for you. But... I also can't abandon my mission."

He stared for a couple of heartbeats more before turning on his heel and heading for the door.

She scrambled to go after him, "Ben! Wait!" She grabbed her purse and coat, thrusting her arms into the sleeves as she hurried to catch up.

The crowd outside seemed to part for him, and he strode through unhindered. The people closed behind him, and she struggled against the flow after him. At last, she was free of the throng and running. He turned a corner ahead, and she barreled around it only to find he had disappeared.

"Ben!" she called. "Please! Hear me out!" she shouted, catching the attention of people on the street, but not the person she wanted.

She collapsed against the wall, defeated. Tonya came trotting down the sidewalk.

"I saw what happened," her friend said. "He knows, doesn't he?"

"Yeah." Shannon stifled a sob. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, first, you're going to calm down, then we'll sit and talk about options." She gestured, asking Shannon to follow. "Come on back to the deli. We have people to question, and you two didn't pay your bill."

Shannon sniffled and dug in her purse for a tissue packet, which she finally found at the bottom, of course. "Okay, yeah, having something to do would be good."

"Do you want to explain what happened yesterday, Agent?" the Director said. She'd been dreading the dressing down since the previous afternoon. She felt weary; she had tossed and turned all night, and her morning coffee wasn't taking up the slack.

He hadn't indicated Shannon should sit, and so she didn't. Instead, she stood in front of his desk, trying to avoid his eyes. She took a breath and told him in as few words as possible.

"When the altercation happened, I automatically called dispatch, identifying myself. Ben overheard and then deduced I knew he was War."

The Director leaned back in his chair in his evil villain pose, quiet. It was clear she was in trouble when he sat still longer than expected; he wasn't the kind of person to rant and rave. Instead, he was much more likely to stare at her in judgemental disappointment. It was unnerving and only fueled her anxiety. Her pulse raced and she resisted the impulse to wipe her clammy palms on her pants. Half a dozen things to say to fill the silence, none of which would ultimately help her case. In the end, she swallowed, shifted her weight, and did the only thing she could: she waited.

He sighed and unsteepled his fingers. "Well, if it were anyone but you, I would take you off the assignment and find a replacement. However, you are more likely to entice him back than a new agent is to engage him. He'll be wary now."

She nodded, "Yes, Sir."

"What's your plan going forward?"

She cleared her throat, remembering all the options she and Tonya had worked through before settling on one. "I know he meets the others every Tuesday morning. I don't think I have any choice but to go and try to intercept him there."

"Hmm. Yes, I feel you're right," the Director agreed. "Especially since you didn't even get to the point of exchanging numbers."

She shifted again. "Yes, Sir."

He dismissed her with his usual wave. "Go write your report. There's nothing more to be done until Tuesday. But," he interjected, raising a finger, "this cannot happen twice, Bigsby. Not if you want to continue to have a career as an Agent. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." She did an about-face and made her way back to her desk.

"So? What's the verdict?" Tonya asked when she sat and slumped in her chair.

"I'm still on the case," Shannon answered, turning on her computer to get started for the day.

Tonya huffed out a breath, "Well, at least there is that. Are you going to the park on Tuesday, or did he order you to do something else?"

"Of course I'm going back. I don't think it would go over well to show up at his house." She opened her report and started typing. Before she could finish the first paragraph, her desk phone rang. She answered before the second ring.

"Agent Bigsy," Lindy stated. Shannon's eyebrow raised. He only called them 'agent' if it was important. "You have a phone call. Shall I put it through?"

Shannon couldn't fathom who would be calling her at work and was curious enough to say yes. She heard the line click over to the other line. "Agent Bigsby speaking. This is an unsecured line. How may I help you?"

"We need to talk."

Her breath caught in her throat at the sound of Ben's voice. Immediately, she hit the record button on the phone, stood, and waved at the office surveillance camera, then pointed to the phone, the signal she needed a trace on the line.

"Yeah, okay, I'd be thrilled to talk to you. When? Where?" Her heart pounded, racing with the adrenaline dump to her system.

"How long does it take you to get to the park? At the shelter where we meet for chess?"

"About thirty minutes, twenty if traffic is good."

"An hour then. I'll see you there." He hung up, but she stayed on the line to talk to the tech person.

"We didn't get a trace," the guy said matter-of-factly.

Her shoulders slumped. "I didn't think it was long enough, but I had hoped."

"Good try, Agent. Be sure to log the call and forward the tap."

"Will do." She hung up, then picked up the receiver again and dialed the number to which she would forward the call recording. She finally sat in her chair, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Who was that?" Tonya asked wide-eyed.

"Ben! He wants to meet at the park in an hour."

"No shit? We need to go!"

"We?"

"Of course. If you're still on the case, I'm still your tail."

"Oh. Okay, yeah, we have to go."

Shannon spotted Tonya behind her as she made the left turn out of the parking lot. It was the last she saw of her. She's good. But then, blending in was Tonya's Talent.

Traffic did not cooperate, and Shannon arrived with only five minutes to spare. At least I'm still on time.

She located him sitting on the concrete tabletop, feet on the bench, playing with something in his fingers.

"Hi," she said as she approached.

He handed her what he'd been fidgeting with without a word. It was the mic from their surveillance.

"How long?" he asked.

She knew what he was asking, so she just laid her cards on the table. "About six months. Every Tuesday. We know it is likely Ivan is Death, Lamar is Famine, and Leo is Pestilence. We want to recruit all of you."

"For what purpose?"

Shannon was taken aback. It seemed obvious to her. "To help win the coming war and save humanity, of course. What else?"

"The others have already maneuvered into positions to do that. So, you can consider them recruited."

"But you're not."

He sighed, climbed off the table, and tucked his hands in his robe. "Come walk with me."

They walked in silence for a time before she felt compelled to ask. "Why don't you want to help?"

He hesitated before he answered. "It's not that I don't want to help, it's that I don't approve of violence."

"But, you're War. Violence is what War does," she pointed out.

"I don't want to anymore. I took vows..."

"So, find someone else to do it. We need all the help we can get."

He ran a hand over his head. "I would if I could. My request to retire was refused."

"So you took vows of non-violence to what? Rebel? Against your God?"

"No... Yes... I don't know!" He stopped, exasperated, and turned to her. "Look, I've asked Him every month for the last fifteen years if I can find a replacement. The answer is always no."

"But why? Why would He make you do something you no longer want to do?" Shannon asked, her forehead creasing with her frown.

"I don't know. He refuses to answer any of my questions. He just says, 'No,' and sends me away."

She stared at him. This was an impossible situation. "Is there nothing I can do to convince you?"

He rubbed his head again. "I don't know, to be honest. I know a war with Them is coming. I know War needs to be involved to guide things." He shrugged. "But I also know I don't want to be War anymore. So, I don't know what to do, which means I do nothing."

She touched his arm. The tingling of being near him intensified. "Doing nothing is making a decision. You leave us vulnerable and open to defeat. Do you want that?"

He squeezed her hand. "If I get involved, there's no guarantee humans will prevail. I must do as ordered."

Her other hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Your God would allow us to be captured or destroyed? To be completely wiped out or... become food?"

"If it suited his purposes, yes. He's started over before."

Panic set in, and Shannon's vision tunneled. She couldn't catch her breath, and the noise of the park and traffic around it became overwhelming. She put her hands over her ears, but it didn't help. The pounding of her heart simply replaced the honking of the horns.

She realized she was crouching when Ben came down to her level and put a light hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Hey! You're going to be okay! Come on... focus on my voice." He was gentle when he took her hands in his so she couldn't cover her ears and block him out.

"Tell me ten things you see," he encouraged.

"Umm..." Shannon looked around her on the ground. "I see the sidewalk. And... the ants in the crack... And... umm... the hem of your robe..."

He squeezed her hands gently. "Go on. You're doing great."

She lifted her eyes a little, squinting in the late morning sun. "I see the bench behind you and the tree beside it." Her voice was a bit more steady, and her breathing less labored. Looking around with care, she continued. "I see the kids on the swings, people going into the Chinese restaurant, that cloud in the sky," she stated, before looking at him, "and I see you."

A smile spread across his face, and he squeezed her hands again before standing and helping her up. "Better?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "thanks."

He dropped a hand but kept ahold of the one between them as they resumed their walk. Shannon felt a little shaky but not in out-and-out panic mode. The quiet stretched between them until she had to know the answer to her burning question. "So, what happens now?"

"Now, you have lunch with me." His voice echoed the smirk on his face. "We were interrupted yesterday."

"You don't care I'm ISD? And I'm not going to stop trying to recruit you?"

"As long as you don't care I'll keep saying no."

She chuckled. "We'll see about that."