"Ah, Commander," said Geneva as Dave walked in to his office.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes. Sit down, Dave." Dave was on guard at once. In all of the years he had been here Geneva had never called him Dave, even when Dave went to his home, whilst he was dating his daughter, Jo. "Relax, son." Geneva noticed his mood. "I just want to talk to you." He sat down. "Commander, there are two things I have to tell you. One is that in six months, C&C will be turned over to me, under my personal command. The Government has no need for the agency in any longer, or so they say. I have bought the complex, but I will not be in charge. I am taking early retirement, and I will be leaving you and Jo in charge."
"In charge?"
"Yes, Commander. Granted, Jo does not have an official rank like you but she will have equal status as you. She will be Chief of Staff and you will become Chief of Operations. There may be times you outrank her in certain situations and vice versa. You will be doing my job and so will she. At least, if you accept."
"What about my rank?"
"When we leave Government Service, your rank will not mean anything as you will be a civilian. However I have been able to convince the Prime Minister that all my officers will be able to use the rank and keep all privileges attached to it but only if they stay on at C&C. Commander, I like you. You have a certain something about you which makes you ideal for the job."
"I don't know what to say. I don't think I'm ready for the responsibilities of running such an organisation."
"You'll learn. We all have to. It is the way life is and I will teach you all I can in the six months we have. So what do you say?"
"I accept. Thank you, sir."
"Good. I knew you would. Now the other thing. Do you love my daughter?"
"Excuse me?"
"Do you love her?"
"I think so, sir," said Dave, slightly confused at the whole line of new questions.
"That's not good enough. The other night when she came home, she was very unhappy with you and your behaviour."
"What!" said Dave. "I was the perfect gentleman. What has she been saying?"
"Easy, my boy. You were the perfect gentleman. Too perfect. Jo thinks you are only dating her to further your career. You haven't yet told her that you love her, have you?"
"Well, I think I do, but I'm not 100% certain."
"Well, buck up your ideas, Commander. She loves you."
"She does?"
"Yes, and it's tearing her apart that you might not feel the same. She has the afternoon off. As of this moment so do you. Go find her and sort your feelings out. You won't be able to run this place if you don't. Go. Now. That's an order, Commander!"
"Yes, sir. At once, sir!"
The screen went blank. Dave's mind ached. Cerebro was hurting him quite badly, and Blaquesmith seemed to revel in it's use.
"I want to see more," said Geneva, quietly. Blaquesmith smiled and activated the machine. Dave fought off the urge to scream, as the screen flared back in to life.
"Hey, Jo, wait up!" cried Dave as he went past the park.
"Hey, Dave," she said and carried on walking. Dave had done a lot of thinking as he tried to find her - which was not easy, as she was a teleporter - and if he thought he loved her, then he most probably did, or else why even think like that. There was only one thing to do.
"Jo, please wait," he said. "Please?" Jo stopped at that last please. She turned around, with tears in her eyes.
"Look, Commander," she said, trying not to betray her feelings. "If you have something to say, say it!" Her voice had a hint of anger in it. Dave thought to himself it's now or never. He took a deep breath and then said out loud:
"Marry me." Jo had to sit down on a nearby chair.
"Pardon?" was all she said.
"Well, that got your attention," said Dave under his breath. He wondered if he had meant it, but he'd said it and now he'd be damned if it made a liar out of him. Okay, he thought, what do I have to help me? He put his hand in his pocket and found the earrings he'd gotten for his mother's birthday. As he concentrated on them with his powers, he went over to her and got down
on one knee. "Josephine Geneva, I would be greatly honoured if you would be my wife." He produced a ring with a very large diamond in it, surrounded by two sapphires on each side. Now that was lucky, he thought.
"I don't know what to say," she said, uncertain to his motives.
"Say 'yes'." Dave had one more shot at this. He opened up his heart and said the first thing he could think of. "I love you," and the way he said it surprised even him. It was forceful, yet tender. Firm but loving. I DO love her, he thought to himself, even more surprised at what he was thinking. I do love her and I do want to marry her. Wow. He looked in to her eyes and Jo looked in to his and she sensed the truth in his words.
"Well then in that case, yes. I will marry you." And the two of them kissed then stopped, as the truth was revealed and memory returned. "I remember," said Jo. "The park, the avatarr, Mephisto. All of it."
"So do I," said Dave, the truth about him revealing itself in his mind. He did love her. He always had, and he marvelled at how fate had drawn them together, or maybe it had been a higher power. "You still want to marry me?" he asked.
"More than ever," came the reply. They kissed again. "Let's go tell my father," she said.
"Good idea," said Dave, though making a mental note to keep the avatarr bit quiet..
The screen went blank. Geneva had tears in his eyes.
"Cut him lose, Blaquesmith. This isn't the avatarr." Blaquesmith was annoyed by this but did as he was ordered. He sent a message to Dave.
:::You might not have been him, but you were. You'll still pay::: Dave could barely stand up. Geneva came across to him.
"Something is wrong in the timestream. We shouldn't be here. We have to return things to the way they were."
"I agree," said Dave slowly, his mind in turmoil. "You see why I was so confused?"
"Yes, I do." he walked over to the window of the craft. "I.." he stopped abruptly. "Blaquesmith, sound battle stations. The invaders have found us." Then an explosion ripped through the vessel.
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