As soon as Aiden doesn’t have to keep us warm and dry anymore, his eyelids flutter closed, and his broad shoulders slump. He sinks down against me as we reach my car. I catch him by his arm, hold him up while I find my keys. He was steady the whole way here, but he’s burned through a lot of energy.

I’m so fucking proud of him for walking us all the way to and from the cave, sheltering us through a storm, and keeping the lights on, all at once. He handled it brilliantly, but it must have been a ton of work, and he's clearly exhausted. I'm not about to ask him to do anything else tonight, which means we will not be breaking into the corner store.

It’s okay, though. We’ve already got a whole lot of new evidence to show the other members of Team Ghost Office. I can't wait to see their faces when we do.

“Are you comfy, babe?” I ask, to a murmured noise of confirmation from Aiden.

He's slid down a little in the seat, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. He released the fireflies when we made it back onto the sand. Now I can feel his warmth growing softer, too. Less present. He must be all out of energy.

I can tell that he's falling asleep, but he still smiles against my mouth when I lean over to press an affectionate kiss onto his lips.

I get my car started, the heater going, the playlist I made for him turned on softly in the background. I tuck Aiden’s hair out of his eyes. His slow breath on my palm tells me he’s already out.

I leave a hand on his knee as I drive, so I’ll feel it if he starts slipping into a nightmare. I speak to him quietly the whole way home. I don’t know if my voice reaches him in his dreams, but - just in case.

Aiden kept us safe all night, sheltered us from the onslaught. Now it’s my turn to shelter him, in whatever way I can.

Even in his sleep, I want him to know that I’m there.

~~~

The next afternoon, I weave through the bustling crowds of City Hall towards Aiden's office, two cups from Mugshot warming my palms. Kasey and Will are meeting us at the archives in half an hour. I was missing my Companion Plant, so I got here a little early.

I know not to barge in on archival work, but the door of Aiden's office is slightly open, which I think means I’m okay to go in.

Aiden looks up when he hears me come in. He's standing in front of his desk, without his archivist gloves on. His eyes are tired behind the glasses, but he breaks into a warm smile, reaching for me.

I go over and let him take my face in his hands for a kiss.

“Hi,” I say brightly, offering him one of the coffees. “Is it okay to have these in here?”

“Mhm. Just be careful." Aiden taps my nose with a fingertip, still smiling. "Thanks for asking.”

I hand his cup over, then look down at his desk.

Aiden is clearly hard at work on the exhibition. I see the layout sketch of where he plans to put each picture in the black room that we painted. Copies of press releases that Alix left for Aiden to sign off on. The wall labels for the archival photos came back from the printer, and Aiden must be proofreading each one of them, because he’s got a list and he’s ticking them off, one by one.

My gaze drifts to the center of the desk, to what Aiden was working on when I walked in.

It’s a neat white box with a soft bed of tissue paper inside. Nestled in the tissue paper is the photographed portrait of the Kalispel woman that Aiden chose for the exhibition. It’s in a frame, behind polished glass. The frame is beautiful but simple, letting the picture speak.

The traditional dress - the gorgeous beads, feathers, painted designs, braids - and the woman herself all look radiant within it. 

“Whoa, Aiden. Is this what the pictures are gonna look like when they go up on the wall?”

“Similar, yeah. But this is actually a print of the original, for something else.”

My eyes snag on a letter tucked into the box. “What is it for?”

“I felt like we should ask the Kalispel Tribal Government for permission to exhibit the portrait before we just go ahead and put it up." Aiden takes a long, grateful sip of the coffee. "I thought they might want their own copy of it, so I’m sending them this print. The letter is an open invitation to the exhibition, and - I also asked if they have any young artists who want to submit artwork for Ripley’s part of the show.”

“Oh, wow." I smile up at Aiden, smoothing my hand over his back. “You’re really thinking everything through, huh?”

“I’m trying.” He returns my smile, even though his looks a little sleepy. “I want to put the wall label for the portrait in both English and the Kalispel language. If they give us permission to show it, I'm gonna ask one of their language advisors for help.”

“Jesus, babe, you’re working so hard.” I lean up to press a kiss onto Aiden’s jaw. “Can I help with any of this stuff?”

“Nope.” Aiden folds an arm around my shoulders, taking another long sip of coffee. “You stay focused on your part. That’s already a lot. Besides, we’ve got the case to work on.”

I bite my lip. “Aiden - is this all too much for you? Doing the show and the case at the same time?”

“Cute that you’re worried about me,” he rumbles, smiling warmly down at me. “But it’s okay. The case is a good break from the exhibition stuff.”

"Okay," I answer, relieved. “Just remember that you’ve got a team, right? And not just for the case.”

Aiden nods, ruffles my hair. We both look down at the photo again before Aiden carefully seals up the box.

“I think the letter is a good idea, Aiden,” Kasey says, startling the hell out of both of us.

We whip around to face her, nearly crashing back into the desk in the process. Kasey laughs, watching us. A bright, sparkling laugh that tells me she’s in a great mood today.

“Goddamnit - Kasey!” I press a shaking hand over my heart. “I thought we said no more sneaking up on us like that!”

“Thought?” she repeats, arching an eyebrow. “You and Aiden?”

“We think, okay?” I protest, to another snicker of laughter from Kasey.

“In my defense, I’ve been chilling here for a few minutes waiting for one of you to notice me. I couldn’t think of a way to not startle you.”

I turn to Aiden for backup, only to find him smiling at Kasey.

“You think it’s a good idea?” he asks.

“I do," she says, hopping down from the stack of file boxes she was perched on. “As the exhibition’s official historical consultant, I’m on board with this plan.”

I blink at her, then turn to look up at Aiden. “The what?”

“I asked Kasey if she wanted to work on the show in an official capacity,” he explains, taping the box shut. “Figured she has so many degrees, they should be put to use, right? Aside from our Ghost Office work, that is. She’s already been helpful. She wrote most of these wall labels, I pretty much just transcribed what she said.”

I stare at Aiden, a slow smile spreading across my face. No wonder Kasey looks so upbeat today. Aiden is acting like this decision was purely about the exhibition - and there's no doubt in my mind that Kasey will be a huge help - but he definitely knew how happy this would make her, too.

I silently go up on my toes to kiss Aiden, catching him by surprise. He tapes his thumb to the box in his distraction, but he doesn’t look mad about it in the slightest.

He nods at the box as he throws away the ruined strip of tape. “Glad you think it’s the right call, Kasey."

“Mhm." She smiles up at him, clearly feeling particularly warm towards him today. "I really hope that someone from the rez submits their artwork for Ripley's part of the show. First of all, because I bet it'll be really cool, and second of all - we don’t want there to be an Indigenous presence in the history portion of the exhibition, but not at all in the modern portion. That - maybe sends the wrong message."

"Oh, that's true," Aiden murmurs. "See? This is why I'm glad you're on the team, Kasey. Never hurts to have a historian."

“Speaking of history,” I blurt out, too excited to wait any longer, “Kase-face - you’re not gonna believe what we found in Port Sitka!”

She breaks into a wide grin. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah! We have a lot to tell you.”

“Wait - let me go get your consultant, Jamie!” Kasey bounds over to the door of Aiden’s office, her black hair swinging around her jawline. “He’s probably waiting for us in the archives!”

“We’ll just come with you,” Aiden says, picking up his coffee again. “I’d rather open everything up beneath the dim lamps, anyways.”

“Open everything up?” Kasey asks.

“My consultant?” I ask, at the same time.

“Show you in a minute, Kasey,” Aiden answers, sliding his bag onto his shoulder as he follows her to the door. “And Jamie - yeah, I thought that Will might be helpful to you, for your part of the show. Given that he’s actually walked through untouched old-growth forest.”

I stare at Aiden in motionless silence until he takes my hand and leads me out into the hallway.

Aiden found a way to let everyone show their strengths, their knowledge. Kasey is bouncing with happiness. I’m sure that Will is smiling to himself down in the archives. And now I have an excuse to ask Will a billion questions about what true, untouched old-growth looked like.

My sweet, thoughtful Companion Plant. My Guardian. He found a way to make this whole thing better for everyone. He just can’t help himself.

I’m a hopeless heart-eyed idiot the entire way to the archives.

~~~~

“Oh my god!” Kasey yells, as soon as Aiden and I get done explaining about the cave.

She stares at the evidence laid out on the table, her eyes very wide.

“I know,” Aiden says, grinning happily. “We couldn’t believe it. The farmhouse and the cave gave us something. Now all we’re missing is the corner store.”

“My goodness,” Will murmurs, his green eyes on the flashlight. “This does resemble the flashlights I saw people use in the 1960s. All metal."

Kasey smiles excitedly, hovering her hand over it. “We’re so lucky that this stuff didn’t get washed out of the cave, after all this time!”

“It was all the way up on a rock shelf, behind a ledge,” I explain. “Here, wait - I took a photo.”

Kasey stares down at my phone screen, blinking in surprise.

“That’s odd. The way it’s hidden behind the ledge... it’s like whoever left it there wanted to make sure it didn’t get swept out. Which is weird, because-”

“Why intentionally leave evidence behind?” Aiden finishes, and Kasey points at him, nodding.

We all look at each other in the dim light of the archives, thinking about that.

“This notebook.” I point to it, and Aiden carefully picks it up in his gloved hands. “It’s exactly like the one that was sewn into John Botswick’s suit. We burned that one at the beach, but all it had inside was the address of the farmhouse that collapsed.”

“So whoever sailed into the cave had a matching notebook?” Kasey narrows her eyes at it, her lip twitching thoughtfully. “Even weirder. Is there anything inside?”

“We’ve been waiting for you guys,” I explain.

“Oh my god - open it, open it!”

Aiden gently eases open the old notebook, very slowly, listening for any sounds that might indicate he’s about to damage it.

None come, and the notebook falls open in his palm.

“Oh, shit,” he breathes, staring down at the pages.

One glance is all it takes to see that there’s much more than a single address written in this notebook.

We all crowd around Aiden. Silence falls over the archives as we read, broken up only by Aiden periodically turning the page.

It goes against everything they told me in training, but per official request, I am keeping a written log of my activities so that Command can trace my steps in the event that what happened to the other agents (with the exception of codename Rouge) happens to me. Understand the request, but want to reiterate one more time that I don’t like it. Risky.

Will be leaving the first notebook at Drop Site A as requested. Plan to waterproof it with the remains of my boat, which was destroyed upon arrival. There’s a reef here, cut the thing to shreds. Motor sank right into the depths. Made myself a sort of rain poncho out of the rest of the rubber from the boat. Should keep me dry en route to the hotel, where I should be making check-in as scheduled.

Scouted the caves and found a back exit with a passageway out onto the cliff. Seems fragile, but I will be making my exit that way. I know we were worried about being intercepted on the road, but this mode of entry has been a hassle. Wouldn’t recommend it for any future drops, though I’m not anticipating needing backup.

Have returned through the passageway to make an addition to the log. Check-in at the hotel as anticipated. Scouted the farmhouse. All of Rouge’s intelligence has proven to be solid. Two Stasi agents protecting the mark. Rouge has already identified them, sent her info directly to Command. These guys work directly under the kid’s father, used to be part of his personal security squad. Serious muscle.

The mark appears healthy, is often under the care of a local babysitter. Saw one agent lingering around the well, will be looking into that. If I find anything stashed down there I’ll bring it back with me when the job is done.

So far my mind still feels like my own. Haven't noticed anything unusual about my own behavior. Rouge claimed in her last report that she, too, remains unaffected.

Left the green ribbon tied up on the railing at the corner store. I know that Rouge saw the signal, but she didn’t come.

We all stare down in stunned silence at the pages. Aiden flips gently through the rest of the notebook, and we see that there’s one more page filled in. This one with only one sentence, in slashed, hurried handwriting.

Rouge knows more than she’s telling us.

Team Ghost Office says nothing for a good long moment.

“The handwriting,” Aiden eventually manages. “It’s the exact same as the handwriting in the notebook that was found on John Botswick’s body."

“The one that was sewn into his suit,” Will murmurs, running a hand over his chin.

“Which means…” Kasey shakes her head, dazed. “John Botswick wrote all this. Nobody knew how he got to town, he just showed up one day and checked into the hotel… he’s the one those people saw from the beach.”

“So…” Aiden stares down at the notebook. “All this was written only days before he died. And before he collapsed the farmhouse.”

“God,” Kasey breathes. “There’s so much here! The Stasi, the ribbon, and - what’s this about his mind still feeling like his own? Jamie, any thoughts? You’re being quiet.”

Because my head is spinning.

“Codename Rouge,” I say quietly.

“Yeah, she must have been another field operative." Kasey glances down at the notebook, then looks back up at me. "Supposed to work with John Botswick on this job, by the sound of it.”

I look over at Aiden.

“The cigarette butt,” I say, very slowly. “The one that was in the evidence that we burned. Didn’t - didn’t it have red lipstick on it?”

Aiden's eyes widen with the realization. "Yeah, it did."

There's another silence.

“Then I think the question is...” Kasey trails her transparent fingers over the pages of John Botswick’s handwriting, which are bathed in the glow of the dim lamp. “Who was Codename Rouge?”