Sam found herself monitoring Rebecca's tension level through the physical connection on her leg. Her right foot was steady, but Sam could still feel when she bounced her left leg or shifted in her seat. Really, the only thing she was missing was a pulse rate monitor.

Rebecca had settled a little after Sam's gentle admonishment, but it still ebbed and surged periodically — rising at intersections and other spots Sam couldn't determine a reason for; maybe Ronnie's training was showing Rebecca good ambush points as they drove.

Sam told her to focus on the road, that she'd keep an eye on the sides and their friends behind them. But dang if she wasn't going to need that promised back rub with all of the constant twisting and contorting she was doing to maintain a high level of alertness.

At one point, she noticed Rebecca fiddle with both dashboard vents on her side, so Sam lifted her hand briefly to boost the air conditioning and aim both center vents towards her. When she reconnected her "sensor lead" to Rebecca's leg again she got a brief grateful smile, probably as much to confirm it was still welcome as to thank her.

They reached the far end of the local self-proclaimed potentate's territory with little incident other than even more time running on too much adrenaline. When they finally crossed the bridge and Rebecca let out her breath with an audible puff and sigh, Sam spared a moment's thought to wonder how the heck Ronnie and Epstein handled being on full alert for such extended periods of time, and the neurological wiring changes that must entail. Once it was a couple of miles behind them, Rebecca fumbled with the top of a water bottle until Sam picked it up, opened it, and passed it to her.

After few gulps, a pause, and a few more, Rebecca passed it back as she gasped for a recovery breath after chugging for the several contiguous seconds. "Thanks. Best co-pilot ever."

Sam grinned as she put the bottle away. "I don't know about that, should I be unwrapping a cheeseburger for you and passing it over so you can take a bite? If we're really road tripping properly."

"Oh god." Rebecca's voice was laden with disappointment. "Why do you have to do that to me?" Her stomach actually growled sympathetically, and both women laughed.

"Sorry. But hey, the stuff we're seeing out here, maybe we can make that come true by the end of the year." Rebecca glanced at her skeptically, and Sam tried to put on her best optimistic smile. "No, really. Get some livestock going down at the airport, maybe find someone friendly with a herd out in the rural fringes."

Rebecca didn't seem convinced. "Friendly. Right. How's that track record working out for us?"

"I mean, okay, anyone too friendly probably got taken advantage of. But stuff like that can be Amira's problem, right? You're the one who thinks she's mildly terrifying, do I need to tell her you're doubting her abilities?"

"No, thank you." Rebecca chuckled, in a way that Sam knew meant she was ceding the point.

"Okay. But—" Sam was about to tease Rebecca about how she wasn't sure what she thought of Rebecca being more afraid of someone else than her, and if she should be jealous. She stopped herself just in time, realizing that jokes about Rebecca fearing her were not a good idea.

"But what?" Rebecca glanced at her and then back to the road.

"Nothing. You hungry?"

"Yes, but are you that blatantly changing the subject?"

"Yes. But—" Sam opened the glove box again and dug out a plastic shopping bag, holding it up like a sack of gold coins. "I have snackytreats."

"Jesus, Rosie, I'm not Rufus!"

"No, but I'm self aware enough to admit that we're both food motivated too." Sam waved the bag back and forth. "Luna, Nutrigrain, s'mores granola bar? Peanut butter or honey-mustard pretzels? Fake cheese-filled cracker thing?"

"Yes. Yes to all of them."

**

They had to detour around the route Sam had originally picked, because what looked like just another country road wasn't paved, at least not for as long as they could see before it disappeared over the third rolling hill. Rebecca didn't want to chance drawing attention to them with a dust trail, even though it meant going two miles out of there way and zipping past about twice as many farms and a small trailer park.

Rebecca actually gasped in excitement when she realized they were turning onto a road she was familiar with. She didn't recognize it at first, the sign gave it away, but eventually she started to get fuzzy recollections as they passed a certain bridge, a gorgeous stretch of road with trees lining either side forming a dappled tunnel, and a farm with an absurdly large barn near the road.

In fact, after noticing a lack of vehicles that looked like they'd run within the last two decades and a collapsing porch roof on the main house, they pulled off to tuck behind the barn for a break. A quick careful search of the inside, and the scattering pack of rabbits hinting at rare human presences, let them lower their guard for a rest.

Rebecca was briefly worried that Sam's cooing over the bunnies and Patrick's contemplation of trying to shoot one for food were going to come to blows. Fortunately, their fluffy little butts vanished into the grass before she had to intervene with an argument based on maintaining stealth. As it was, she was glad the SUV doors were still closed when Sam first spotted one and squealed. She hadn't know there'd be cute animals behind the barn to brighten her girlfriend's mood, but heck yeah.

Epstein had apparently already broken into an MRE and used the pouch heater while they were driving, but the others set up a compact backpacking stove that got a small container of water boiling inside of five minutes. They used the hot water to prepare a couple of freeze dried meals, taking the several minutes those needed to "cook" to stretch their legs and attend to other necessities. When their reconstituted stroganoff was ready, Rebecca took it over to where Sam had spread out the maps and plopped down next to her inside the sheltered triangle between the SUVs and barn wall.

"Hey Rosie. I can probably get us the rest of the way there now from memory."

Sam looked up. "Oh, I know. I'm just looking at route options like mama bear said to."

Rebecca smiled at her and held out the open foil pouch. The stuff inside was surprisingly decent, certainly in the same general league as what she'd at the "dining center" during her first year on campus. "We're almost there now." She pulled out Jaime's Saint Christopher medallion and looked at it. "I don't know why I didn't think to, I don't know. Rub this for luck before setting out until now?"

Sam downed several forkfuls of their shared lunch before passing it back. "We had a lot on our minds. But, I think if there's any etherial supporters looking down on us, they wouldn't need us to ask them to keep an eye on things, they just would. Or your man would put in a word for us."

Rebecca chuckled, and smiled pensively at the medallion in her hand as she set the meal down between them after her own second pass at it. "Y'know, you still call him my man a lot... that's a little confusing, coming from you."

Sam shrugged. "I mean, that's what he was, and what you remember him as. I dunno. I didn't call him 'your lover', right? That might seem like it was actually... conflicted, the way it sounds like you're worried about? Mutually exclusive? But, unless he starts pulling a Patrick Swayze or something, I'm not too worried."

"Heh. Well, if things start mysteriously moving around on their own, I'll let you know. I'm shit at pottery though, and honestly I tend to assume any unexpected gropes are just you sneaking up on me."

"I admit, that's probably a fair assumption. I'm being good about it now though, right? You seem to be doing okay with our current, like, rules of engagement."

Rebecca reached over to pat Sam's hand where she was propped up on it. "Phrasing, love."

"Oh, dang. I wasn't even paying attention that time. I'll get you back later, I'm sure."

"Hah." Rebecca shook her head, took one last bite of food and passed the rest to Sam. "You can finish it off, since you did such a good job of stuffing me with snacks an hour ago."

"Ow, my arm, no, don't force me to eat more high calorie carbs laden with delicious dairy products and animal protein, oh no."

Rebecca laughed as she rose and walked over to where Christine lounged in the passenger seat of the second SUV, reclined with her feet sticking through the corner of the open door. Rebecca waved her back when she started to sit up. "Eh, stay comfy, you're fine."

"Like Sam said, oh no anything but that." Chrissie put a hand behind her head and smiled. "Getting close now?"

"Yeah, hopefully just another hour or so, maybe?"

"Nice." Christine looked past Rebecca's shoulder at the sky. "I wonder if it'll rain on us before we get there."

Looking up, there were increasing thick clouds drifting overhead. "I guess it's a good thing we got through that little detour before it hit. I don't know how these things would do mud bogging with all the extra weight."

"I'm pretty sure they'd be pretty shit at it. What're the roads like up into the hills?"

"My little guy could get up them just fine, and it didn't have real all wheel drive, just the electric motor pushing in back. It'll get bouncy, but there's a lot of gravel and it's pretty well compacted."

"Okay. I haven't gotten thoroughly dumped on since that day you saved our ass, and with Mister Chickenwing back there, I'm sure it would be me and Pat pushing if we get stuck, so I'd really rather avoid the experience. Crazy ride though, that last bit, huh?"

"Ugh. I'd rather not think about it for now."

"Right, sorry."

"Eh." Rebecca patted her shin. "Don't worry about it." Then, she leaned her head to look in the back at Epstein. "You behaving back there? I don't need to find them a squirt bottle to keep you in line?"

"No, but speaking of. These things were sitting in the weather for a year plus. If it is going to rain, just be careful because the wipers are probably going to be streaky."

Rebecca shook her head with an over-the-top sigh. "Thanks for the heads up. I gotta have a talk with our mechanic when we get back then, whenever he's not living it up on light duty."

"I got shot!"

"You'd be surprised how often I hear that from men."

Christine nearly choked on the water she'd started drinking and gave her an amused but accusatory glare, and Rebecca took that as her cue to withdraw to her own vehicle. Sam was folding and rolling the maps back up and getting situated and smiled at her as Rebecca circled to the driver's door.

"Ready t' go, sugar?"

"Yeah." Rebecca climbed into her seat and pulled the door closed, then took a moment to hold and gaze at the medallion in her hand again. She glanced up to smile silently at Sam, and then tucked it back behind her armor and shirt. Feeling the familiar, comforting weight slide back into place against her sternum and gently tug the chain taut gave her simultaneous warm fuzzy feelings and a little shiver, an odd combination. She must have shown something on her face, because she spotted a little adoring grin on Sam's face. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. You're cute, that's all."

"Sure, now that we've both been adequately fed."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself. Now c'mon gorgeous, get this show on the road."