“That’s a stretch,” Sveta said. She hadn’t said much, but I had the impression she was intimidated by the room. “We focus on civilians first. We’d need a lot of firepower before we can think about handling that kind of clean-up.”

“We’re not in a position to give you a lot of firepower,” Chevalier said, emphasizing ‘lot’. “Valkyrie cannot engage that group of Fallen, and I’m tied up elsewhere with diplomatic roles. Many other Wardens and subordinate teams are busy. Advance Guard is on standby. We’ll ask them to assist you.”

I don’t want them, I thought.

“We have junior Wardens, as well. They’ll assist. We’ll let them know tonight and they’ll be at your disposal tomorrow.”

Them, I wanted. It meant Weld. It meant potential others, who I knew and very much respected.

“Thank you,” Tristan said, my voice and Sveta’s only a bit behind his.

“You’re right about this. We knew something was stirring, but we didn’t have the impression it was this bad. I’ve been keeping updated on the Fallen, I can’t promise it’s accurate, but you should know the families interact. There may be one or more of the Crowley sub-branches present. They also associate with various biker gangs, the various racist factions, and other religious villain groups and ideologues. Be prepared for any of them.”

“Yes sir,” Tristan said.

“In case of emergency, if you find you’re in over your head, leave. Retreat, wash your hands of it. Your lives come first.”

Sveta and I nodded, as Tristan said, “Yes sir,” again.

“I think those are my thoughts,” Chevalier said. “Any further comments? Anyone?”

Some heads shook. Others were silent.

He fixed his eyes on us. “Any final thoughts, concerns? Anything not in this document we should know, or anything you’ve learned since writing it?”

There were a few somethings in the document we hadn’t mentioned or outlined in full.

We’d mentioned Rain, though not by name, as only a contact in the Fallen, who might or might not have been compromised. I’d detailed how we had someone, Ashley, acting on our behalf in Cedar Point, and how we might have Rain in the Fallen camp when we took action. It would give us more control over the situation, if we had that information and those levers to pull.

We could have said more about Rain, and we hadn’t. Rescuing him was a mission statement.

We hadn’t said one word about the therapy group, or our individual issues and crises.

Much as I’d wondered if I should mention my time in the hospital during job interviews or when applying to teams, I’d been left the question of it here, standing before the committee.