Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 496: Exit plan from Eden.

Later at night, after putting the children to bed, Sunshine sat Hades down, her eyes blazing. "Do you know what your crazy ex-wife did? Ariel told me about the time he took a subway and brought Earl home. Amber took them to visit her parents but they left on vacation. She was alone with the kids and alcohol. She had some kind of fit and hit Earl then smashed everything."

Hades’ face turned red. "She WHAT?!"

Sunshine huffed. "I couldn’t believe it either. How did nobody find out what happened?"

Hades clenched his fists. "Ariel said Earl fell on the beach and...."

"He lied." She hissed. "He was a kid, and he just wanted a mom, so he lied. And she made false promises and apologies to him. So, here’s the plan: we are going to throw a sack over her head and get revenge for our sons. Are you in or should I recruit Hadrian?"

"Oh, I am all in." Hades replied putting his fists together.

***

The couple landed in Westbrook town minutes later. Amber was from picking up the last of her free supplies. She was carrying a box through an alley, looking at every shadow with suspicion.

One shadow moved unexpectedly. Before she could gasp, a sack was thrown over her head, and the box fell down. Hades stood guard, arms crossed like a bouncer at the hottest club in town.

Sunshine unleashed her fury, punching, kicking and slapping.

Ariel, who should have been home peeked from the corner with Ala, both children grinning. And when the beating was finished, Ala teleported him back to the bedroom where he left his sleepy siblings.

"Thank you." He told her. He was the only one who knew about her newly awakened teleportation ability. He had asked for her help to scare Amber into leaving the town. To his surprise, they found his parents delivering a different kind of justice.

"Your mom is scary." Ala said. She adjusted Castiel’s blanket with a frown. "If you have to take sides, choose her. Leah is scary too, but she is my mom. She is good to me. Your mom is good to you."

Ariel touched his head. If he had not chosen Sunshine, his hair would not be purple.

"We will try to send that woman away another time." Ala looked at her smart watch. "My mom is outside my bedroom. If she doesn’t find me in bed, she will tear this base apart. Stop folding corners in my books." She vanished.

Ariel grimaced. He was not the one that folded corners, it was Sunshine. He sighed and changed into his pajamas. Tomorrow, he would have to teach his mom how a bookmark worked.

****

Dr. Roy Fassbender returned to Eden with the kind of dramatic timing that made people stop what they were doing just to stare, his large convoy rolled through the gates heavy with supplies silencing the rumors that the group had died out there. By the time he was escorted into President Finch’s office the whispers had already outpaced him.

Finch rose from his chair with a rare smile that looked practiced and unused as he said, "You always come back loaded, Roy. This time, I was beginning to think the state house bunker had finally swallowed you whole."

Roy replied with a tired chuckle, dropping himself into the chair opposite Finch and rubbing his eyes, "It tried, Mr. President, it really did, but apparently I’m harder to digest than expected."

Finch waved a hand dismissively, pleased, until Roy’s tone shifted and the air in the room thickened like a storm about to break, he leaned forward and said, "What we found down there wasn’t just old world tech and rotting paperwork, The bunker had been occupied by Ceaser like you said, in fact he had been trapped down there."

Finch’s smile vanished so fast it was almost impressive, his jaw tightening as his face transitioned into raw, unfiltered anger, "That moron, I knew he was camping there" he said slowly, voice edged with anger. "Tell me you put a bullet in his head and saved us all the trouble."

Roy exhaled, glancing briefly at the door as if making sure it was shut, "I did not shoot him," he said, "But I threw him into the mist."

Finch slammed his palm on the desk so hard the pens jumped, "Are you insane?" he snapped, standing up, "You know what the mist does, you know what it can make people into. You should have popped his brains out and had a pyrokinetic give him a funeral."

Roy raised both hands defensively, a wry smile tugging at his lips despite the tension, "The people that we found there wanted it that way, it’s not like I could kill them all along with him."

Finch scoffed, "God damn it Roy!"

Roy pressed on, "He threw thousands into the mist, men, women, children, whole families. The people wanted him to go where he sent their families. It was justice."

Pacing behind his desk, Finch run a hand over his head, muttering, "No, it was stupidity."

Roy added quickly, "We followed the mist for two days, sir, two full days, guns ready, nerves shot, and Ceaser never came out, not screaming, not crawling, nothing, I’m certain he didn’t make it, he did not become a superhuman."

The president stopped pacing and stared at Roy, his eyes sharp, calculating, "Certain isn’t the same as sure," he said, and before Roy could respond there was a knock at the door.

Finch barked, "Enter," and the door opened to reveal a small procession of women carrying trays of refreshments, porcelain cups rattling softly, among them Janet, her head bowed respectfully, her face neutral in the way she had perfected over months of surviving Finch’s inner circle.

Finch barely glanced at them as he waved them in, "Set it down and leave," he said, and Janet moved carefully, her ears working harder than her hands as Roy continued speaking, "If Ceaser survived the mist, we’d have seen signs. That asshole is not the kind to stay quiet."

Finch snorted despite himself, "You could be right. What’s done is done. If he is survived somehow, I will find him and end him. At least you returned with great news supply wise."

Roy grinned briefly, sensing an opening to lighten the mood, and reached into his coat, pulling out a bundle of crumpled flyers that looked like they’d been sat on, shot at, and possibly slept with. He spread them on the desk. "Speaking of things that my men came across. A watcher delivered these to us."

Finch picked one up, squinting at the faded ink, "Bounties," he read aloud, "Two women for thirty million!" his eyes caught on the logo and his brows lifted slightly, "The Quinn group logo."

Roy nodded, "Fortress Four, that’s what they’re calling the Quinn base, I guess. They must be doing well to offer such a prize."

Finch leaned back in his chair, memories flickering across his face, "Hades Quinn," he said quietly, "Looks he did not go bankrupt after all. We weren’t friends exactly, but we met at certain occasions."

A smirk came to form on Roy’s face. "They must have followed Moon Raine’s advice and prepared before the apocalypse."

Finch tapped the flyer thoughtfully, "If the Quinns have built something solid, something strong enough to issue bounties, then they cannot be enemies, they’re opportunities"

Roy raised an eyebrow, "Trade?"

Finch nodded, "Trade, security, information and another shelter to move to in case things don’t work out here." he looked up sharply, "I want you to find out what’s really happening in their territory."

Roy stood, adjusting his coat, "You know me, Mr. President, I am as sharp as a scalpel."

Finch snorted, "Move in silence,"

Roy grinned as he headed for the door.

Neither man wondered why the watchers had delivered the flyers.