"What?" Shannon blinked.

"War. I am War," Ben repeated.

"As in performing-your-duties, on-the-human-side, all-in War?" she demanded.

He grinned at her. "All in."

She didn't know what to say. Worse, she didn't know what to do. From pure indecision, she silently stared at him as more tears spilled from her, running in rivulets down just dried cheeks.

He held out his napkin to her. She looked at it as if it were a foreign object before remembering she had one of her own. She wiped her face fiercely and sniffled.

"I don't understand. When did you change your mind? And how do you know we've won? All of Their ships haven't even gotten here!"

He speared a piece of steak with his fork and gestured at her plate with it. "I promise to tell you all of it if you eat."

She'd forgotten her food, but now, once seen, she began to do as he wanted without any more encouragement. Between bites and sips, she asked questions.

"How did we miss Them having a moon base?"

"Mostly, They were able to fool the mapping satellites with cloaking technology." He shifted in his chair. "What we now know is the base is a waylay station, a layover, to Their ships coming into the solar system. They've taken tens of thousands of women over the last thirty-six hours."

Shannon stopped eating once again. "Tens? Of thousands? Where are they? Did you get them back?"

Ben reached out for her hand. She knew it was terrible news and pulled away before he touched her. "I'm sorry, Shannon, but those who were sent on won't be coming home."

"But, I thought you said we'd won the war!"

"We have, but—"

Shannon gasped. "Tonya! Please tell me—"

"She's okay, Shannon. She's being debriefed at the Agency as we speak."

"What about Charlene? And Lucy? And the other women?"

Ben slumped and pushed away from the table. He held out a hand. "Come on over into the living room, and let's talk. I think dinner is over."

Shannon scowled, tired of being put off, and her fork clattered to her plate. She, too, rose from the table, throwing down her napkin, refusing to take his hand. Instead, she strode to the couch and sat at the end, pulling up her knees to wrap her arms around them. She glared at him as he slowly sat next to her. "Explain."

He leaned forward, rested his arms on his legs, and then ran a hand over his buzzed hair. "At this point, I think I need to go back to the beginning."

"Yes, I think that would be wise."

He sighed and cleared his throat. "I—I have never been a Buddhist monk."

Shannon's eyes went wide at the admission. "What? But, we have intelligence..."

He turned to look at her. "Your intelligence is wrong. I know how these things work, Shannon. I can play that game with the best of them."

"So, you've been faking being a monk for... what? A decade?"

"Yes. Give or take a month or two."

Her mouth gaped before she snapped it closed and narrowed her eyes. "No one else knows, do they?"

"Except for you and God, no, no one knows my path was a falsehood. To everyone else, including the other Horsemen, I've simply renounced my vows and taken up my office again."

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"I play the long game, Shannon. And, I am War. I saw Them coming when the Claxians arrived."

Shannon threw herself off the couch to pace. "Fifteen years?" she exclaimed, waving her arms to animate her words. "Fifteen years, Ben? So, you've been lying this whole time, allowing us to believe you'd shirked your duties? For what? What could possibly make you do such a thing?"

He hung his head and spoke in a soft voice. "Love."

"What?" Shannon demanded.

He looked up at her, a scowl of his own creasing his brow. "Love, Shannon."

"You seriously expect me to believe you did all this for love? Come on, Ben, how cliché is that?"

He pushed off the couch stand toe-to-toe with her, indignant. "Cliché? Really, Shannon? There's nothing else worth existing for!" He waved his hands as he talked. "This is why we ultimately do much of what we do! In the hopes that we find love and acceptance."

"What about goals, Ben? I don't exist just to find a man. I work, and I spend time with friends and family. These things mean a lot to me."

He scoffed. "Oh, please. If someone could take one of the four—work, friends, family, or love—from you, which do you think would make you feel as if you lost a piece of your humanity?"

She spun from him, seething, but he reached, caught her elbow, and pulled her back. "Be honest. Which one makes you feel like life is worth living?"

She defied him with her eyes. "My friends and family mean a lot to me, Ben. Tonya is like the sister I never had."

"Of course they do. As they should. But, they're not the same as love. And, God knows, work isn't either." He pulled her a little closer, and when she didn't resist, he put a finger under her chin.

"Tell me there's not something between us, Shannon. Tell me right now, and I'll go. You can go back to your work, family, and friends, and we won't see each other again." He wrapped an arm around her, hand finding the small of her back, and stepped in to press himself against her. "Or, kiss me, and we'll take things from there."

"Ben—"

He put his finger to her lips and shook his head. "A kiss or nothing, Shannon. At this moment, right now, pressed up against me, and in my arms... what do you feel?"

She gazed into his mismatched eyes for a heartbeat before she reached up and pulled his finger away. She placed a hand on his cheek and leaned forward to press her lips against his gently. Butterflies exploded in her stomach, and desire spread through her; she wanted him.

The tension in his body melted, and he returned the kiss. They found a moment of unspoken emotion in each other's embrace for a time until Shannon's curiosity bubbled to the surface.

"I don't understand, though. You said we've won the war. Why are we here then? I mean, why all this crazy operation base if there's nothing more to do?"

He kissed her forehead. "That's not how war works, Shannon. What you put in motion today will create a cascade effect, but it isn't an immediate thing. We have many battles to fight and other points to try and achieve if we want to keep the loss of life to a minimum."

She drew back. "Loss of life?"

He closed his eyes. "The damage control... having to sacrifice some lives to save the most."

She swallowed and whispered. "How many?"

He was quiet, eyes entreating her to not demand an answer.

She slid out of his arms. "How many, Ben?"

He exhaled before tightening his jaw, expecting a fight. "Billions."

Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, her other arm wrapping around her as she sat heavily. "Billions. Are—are you sure?"

"Yes. It's the best scenario I've been able to manage. Maybe other opportunities will come up as we go along. But, right now, about a third of humanity will die."

Shannon was speechless. Ben knelt beside her and took her hands in his.

"When I first started looking at this war, all those years ago, I saw you. And," he took a breath, "I saw one of the only ways to make this work was to get close to you."

Her eyes widened. "I thought you said you cared for me?"

"Let me finish. When I saw what needed to be done to save us, I began looking for ways to make it happen. It came down to three scenarios where it would work. One of those involved you. Everything I have done has been to bring you into my life... and to protect you as much as possible." He rubbed his thumbs across the backs of her hands, his touch light and tender.

Shannon closed her eyes, exhausted. The last two days had been a trial, and now her life was being upturned. After a moment, she opened them. "So, you faking vows was a way to get close to me?"

"Yes. If I didn't need to be 'convinced' to be War, they'd likely have used your Talent to identify me and left it at that. When you revealed yourself too early, I thought everything I'd done was for nothing."

"That's why you called me at the Agency to schedule lunch."

"Precisely."

"So, you have been using me as much as I've been using you." Her statement was flat and emotionless.

"And you've been falling in love with me as much as I have been with you," he countered with a low voice. "I've been trying to balance my love for you and the preparations for war, desperately looking for a way to keep you out of it. When you didn't take my hand yesterday..."

"I ruined your plans."

"Yes. I had no choice but to work on the fly and was forced to just dump those canisters on you and hope you followed through."

She reached to touch his cheek. "I would have volunteered, Ben, for anything you might have asked. If you'd just been honest with me."

He leaned into her touch. "I know you would have. I was going to ask it of you, too. It would have been the safest way for the scenario to play out. But, after you slipped away, I had to risk losing you..." his eyes shined, brimming with tears he fiercely blinked away.

"But, you didn't lose me, Ben."

He rose and started to pace. "You don't know how close it was, Shannon. You have no idea!"

Shannon worked to quell her unsettled stomach. She didn't really want to know how close it was. She went to him. "Hey," she murmured as she touched his arm, turning him to her, "it's over, and I'm here now."

He cupped the back of her head and kissed her, his gratitude for her presence reflected in his intensity, and she responded in kind. They had a few moments of passion-filled bliss until there came a knock at the door.

"Sir. You wanted to be given a briefing once the team returned," a young woman's voice called.

Ben smiled gently as he kissed Shannon's forehead before stepping away. "Enter," he ordered.

The soldier who had led Shannon to dinner opened the door just enough to slip inside as if she could help preserve the mood by blocking out the noise from the rooms beyond. "Sorry to interrupt, Sir." Her voice was as formal as her stance. Only her blush gave away her embarrassment.

"No need to apologize, Lieutenant." He turned back to Shannon. "I need to go, but I know you're exhausted. I had the Lieutenant put your things in a guest room."

Shannon tilted her head, frowning. "Guest room? Not your room?"

Ben gave her a wry grin as his arms encircled her once more. "Well, I didn't want to presume..."

She shot a sidelong glance at the Lieutenant, who was studiously gazing at the floor. "I'd rather be in yours," she whispered to him.

His body tensed, anticipating. "I'd like to have you there."

"When will you join me?"

"As soon as I can, but don't wait up. It will be hours."

A mischievous grin grew on her lips. "Wake me up when you come to bed?"

His eyes lit with anticipation. "I wouldn't have it any other way."