To Be A Leader

Chapter 11: Lessons In Love

"Wait, wait," Maxine says, shaking her head. "So Nadia's gone to work with Amelia because Amelia's taken over New Canton?"

"Not so much taken over as um... well, yeah. Taken over," Sam sighs. "But it's not like she's running things for them. She's got them mostly running things for her. She just very... you know, decisive."

"People do like a decisive leader." Paula shrugs. "And I suppose they can't do much worse than they were before. Any word on the location of the babies?"

He hums. "No. We're working in it. Even the Laundry can't find anything for us. You see, ideally, we need someone inside Sigrid's inner circle, but well, that's going to be hard to arrange."

"Not to mention the risk of getting caught," I say. "I mean, remember what she did to Steve after she found out he was a double agent?"

"I remember what she did to you," Sam says, going silent. I hear the shudder that racks through him, but he clears his throat in an attempt to compose himself. "In the meantime, getting parts for this transmitter of Jody's is a good start, even if the day she decided to do so isn't ideal."

Maxine rolls her eyes. "It's not like she knew you were having that date with Five today."

"This is our only day off for like a week!"

"You can still have the date after the run, and this wouldn't have happened if you had just did this earlier." She grins when he mumbles something inaudible. I give her a raised brow in question.

Her smile broadens in reply. I gulp.

"Um, this transmitter," I say, eager to change the subject because Maxine's smile is really freaking me out. "That's why we're heading to this coms station, yeah?"

"Yep," Sam says. "We've caught snippets of their transmissions. We know they are bound to have the cables that Jody needs."

Maxine nods. "I, for one, am glad to be serving Abel."

"I'm not," Sam grumbles. "Not today, at least."

I stifle a giggle.

"It didn't need to be us, though, did it?" Paula asks, looking at her wife, who bites her lip to hide a smile. "Tom was going to go, and you insisted we went inside. Five, has Maxine told you the real reason she wanted to go on this mission?"

"For Abel?" I guess, although my real guess is to be weird about me and Sam, because she obviously knows something I don't.

Paula shakes her head. "It's because she hasn't been able to find any copies of Xena: Warrior Princess since the apocalypse, and this just happens to be what this place is broadcasting."

"That's just a coincidence!" Maxine insists. "Back me up, Sam."

"Oh, whoa-ho ho no. No, no, no," He says quickly. "You two can leave me out of this. Remember our co-parenting contract?"

"I don't think that really applies..."

"Oh, yes it does. I can read you the exact clause. When we agreed to be co-parents, I got it from both of you, in writing, that I would never, ever be asked to adjudicate in a row."

She frowns. "But-"

"Plus, if I were to take a side-which I'm not, by the way-I would not take yours because I almost had Jody convinced to do this run tomorrow so I could spend time preparing, but you kept insisting on going today."

"You wouldn't have to worry about this if you had done this when you were supposed to."

"Don't you talk to me about that. You and everyone else has already given me hell about it."