𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐒 ━ 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐆𝐘𝐕𝐄𝐑

025. be seeing you.

"If you think I'm going to help you, you got another thing coming. Cause the only favor I'm gonna do is for the whole world when I put you in the ground. Even if you do find Cassian, once he learns who you are, he's never gonna wanna be with you."

"I strongly disagree. Sons need their fathers. But not like daughters. You are living proof of that. Or was there some other reason why you have just returned from dining alone in D.C. and Cuba? That's right. I know all about your ongoing search to put my head on a stick. How is that going, by the way? Making any progress?"

"Oh, definitely." I nod.

"All those years without him, you must have felt so alone. So unprotected." Murdoc goes on.

"Not true at all. But then again,we can't pick our fathers, Murdoc. It's a lesson your son is gonna have to learn someday."

"Perhaps. But the difference is that Cassian's father is looking for him as we speak, while your daddy...well...is six feet underground. Even after all you did, clearing his name." He quirks up and I yell while lunging at him. "Oh, my! You really turned into...a tiger, haven't you? But careful, careful, please. Hurting you is my job."

"Get on with it, then." I chuckle.

"Okay. Would you tell Da Vinci to get on with it while he was painting the Mona Lisa, huh?" He gets up from the chair. "Would you tell Van Gogh to step it up while he was painting Starry Night?" He turns the chair forward and sits back down. "Say...did I ever tell you about Cassian's mother? Nadia. She was a lovely woman. I met her while on a job. It was supposed to be quick, a day or two, but one thing led to another. Next thing you know, Nadia has a bun in the oven and...somewhere along the way, we fell in love."

"You're not capable of love."

"Okay, fine. She fell in love. I found her less repulsive than most humans. Potato, potahto. Now, you see, the day that Cassian was born, Nadia was happier than I had ever seen her before. And as the nurse gently placed him into her arms, I knew that that was the moment I had been waiting for." He whispers the last part.

"You didn't meet Nadia on the job. She was the job. Try harder."

"I suffocated her with the very same pillow upon which she rested her head after bringing my son into this world." He looks into my eyes. "One life ended while another began. It was beautiful and poetic and almost Shakespearian."

"That I believe."

"Every...single...word." He laughs. "I get more impressed with you every time we meet, Amanda."

"You know what makes me laugh? That you would go along with someone else's plan. Doing something as lousy as laundering money for a band of pricks so they could bring down some plane? If that doesn't scream lapdog bitch, I don't know what does."

"Exactly." He whispers while leaning towards me and I narrow my tired eyes at him. "Oh, no, no. Wakey, wakey, Amanda." He shakes me. "It's not nap time. Not yet, at least. We have so many fun games to play. I think you're really gonna like 'em. Well, maybe not like. But I really think you're gonna be impressed with the game pieces I've so lovingly crafted. You inspire me, Amanda. The way that you also make something out of another thing. I love that. You and Angus really do belong with each other. So, I went to my trusty old tools, and I gave them a fresh, new twist. And I am beyond excited to share them with you."

"Then go ahead and do it. I'm growing a beard here from how much you've talked since I woke up." I lean back.

"Oh, I see, I get it. You're acting all...nonchalant because you think Mac, and Jack, and Evan, and Riley, and McKenna are gonna find you. I'm afraid that's not going to happen. I have hidden you away quite well, my friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go prepare my new tools." He gets up. "And then...we can get started." He walks up the stairs and leaves.