Kill Fest

"Yeah, well you know healthcare here in the States sucks as it is, even for those of us giving our blood," Aurora said in a condescending manner expressing his disgust for how some things operated in a country that she give so much for and lost so much too.

"Well yeah, things are bad and she can't get any help. When her husband died in the crash she lost much of the coverage they had together and now she needs added surgical treatments on her spine."

"I'm sorry," Aurora told him as she reached out and took his hand within hers. With soft circle like motions she rotated her thumb atop his hand in an attempt to comfort him through her touch. Aurora knew that Tessa was the only family her former partner had and that she meant everything to him. It was the only weakness the 6 foot 2 Ex-Navy Seal and Government assassin ever had. In all her time as a soldier and CIA member, she had never known anyone stronger and committed to his calling as a warrior than Matt Stryker.

Top in his class, Stryker was master of all weapons of death, a skilled hand to hand fighter and black belt in both Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu. He was a 35 year old man who clearly feared nothing and was as strong as steel and yet the day Aurora saw him break down and whimper like a child was the day he all most lost Tessa to a drunk driver.

She better than anyone else on Earth knew this man from all possible aspects, from his outward badass persona to his true inner fears and the tender man he kept hidden away from others. As Aurora held his hand, she could feel under her fingertips the rigid callous in his palms from years of combat and field work. She had met him in her third year of the CIA when training to be one of the members of their hit squads. Stryker took the young field operative under his wing and made her a better agent, a better shooter and a deadlier assassin for government use. She knew things had to be bad with Tessa for him to risk it all and take part in the slaughtering game that she and other low rent guns for hire became part of.

"I'm truly sorry, I didn't know things got that bad with her," Aurora said looking into her companion's eyes where she could clearly see moisture forming in the inner corners. The professional warrior realizing his weakness was in presentation of his viewer pulled away and stood facing away from the girl on the bed.