Gwen's surprise at her friends' practical joke was total. As she stood looking at her family with her mouth open, Steve hugged her shoulders to him and whispered in her ear.
"This was Lisa's idea. She had the patches waiting for her on the helicopters and passed them out when you weren't looking. Are you going to be able to laugh this off?"
"Are you kidding? They got me good! I love them even more for making the effort to set me up like this. We need friends and relatives that treat us this way. We keep being asked about all the power and influence we have, and it worries me," admitted Gwen. "If it's true, we have to stay grounded and always try to do the right thing. These friends and relatives are doing their best to keep us from getting swelled heads and becoming prima donnas. I love them all dearly."
"Good, because Billy's family is sponsoring a welcome home party for us, right now. A lot of our friends and neighbors will be stopping in to see Congresswoman Anderson, the woman that saved Vlad Novokov's life, performed in three of the best attended concerts ever, built a hospital, broke ground for another and..."
"Okay! I was there. You, Jordan, Charlie, and quite a few others had a great deal to do with those accomplishments. You always try to credit all of your successes to others. I remember everything very well, especially when you saved me from that knife wielding terrorist. Look how many people are here to welcome us! It was a great trip, but it's always so good to get back home."
"Let's get over to Billy's restaurant and shake some hands, and eat some steak," suggested Steve. "It's also a party to congratulate Jordan and Charlie on their family addition. Let's start working our way over there."
It took a while for Gwen, Steve, Jordan, and Charlie to reach the cars waiting for them. They were surrounded by neighbors, friends, and well wishers. The entire group was warmly welcomed, and closely questioned about Russia and the attack. Steve and Gwen were at the center of the crowd's curiosity.
"Everyone!" called Billy loudly. "There's a reception at our restaurant for our famous friends. There's a huge buffet and it's free, so please let's get to our cars and we'll see you there. These guys can answer questions better when their stomachs aren't growling."
When they reached Marsh's Landing, there was a large banner over the door congratulating Jordan and Charlie. Inside Gwen immediately noticed that Billy's father had already framed some new photographs from the trip and hung them up. The one taken of the Cheryl, Steve and Gwen as they left the scene of the attack covered a large portion of the wall. Gwen was able to see her blood shot eye, the bruising around her other eye, and the blood on her arms, hands, and torso, along with what Gwen had to admit was some pretty impressive cleavage.
Cheryl looked frightened, but seemed fairly calm, while Steve was something else again. He looked amazing with his shirt all but gone and bloody lines crossing his hard abs. His eyes were extremely intense as he seemed to stare at the camera. He also had blood running down one forearm and dripping off his hand, and bruising around one eye. His good arm was placed protectively over Gwen's shoulder.
There were also several pictures of the huge crowds that attended each of their concerts, along with several of the friends as they performed for the mass of humanity in attendance. Those pictures were bunched on the wall under the heading 'The World Capital Tour'. Finally, there was a photo of the new hospital in Kiev with the Lady in Red name and logo prominently displayed.
The entourage had managed some sleep on the flight back, so they were all able to remain sharp and respond to the many questions their friends and neighbors had for them. Cheryl brought her parents over to speak to Gwen and Steve.
"We were petrified when we heard about the attack, but your people called us almost immediately to let us know that Cheryl was okay. She can't stop talking about how brave you both were. It's all so hard to imagine, but Cheryl was there and saw it all, so we know it's true," added Mrs. Baxter. "Thanks so much for taking her along, and for keeping her from harm's way. Now she's in a picture on Marsh's wall of fame! We're very proud of her, and of you, Jordan and Charlie for making Sparta a well known, thriving community."
Steve was surprised when Senator Chatham suddenly appeared in front of Gwen and him. "I'll be back in Washington and in your office Monday morning," promised Steve. "You didn't have to fly out here to check on me."
"That's why I'm here," responded Senator Chatham. "First let me congratulate you both on some excellent work under incredibly difficult circumstances. I saw the video of the attack and you both responded quickly and very effectively. President Hanson was quite proud of you both.
Now for the bad news. Two days ago, North Korea captured five Americans that had been sailing well off their coast until a bad storm disabled their boat. It caused them to drift into North Korean waters where they were picked up by their navy. We've demanded their release, but you know how unpredictable Jong can be. He won't even discuss freeing them."
"I have a bad feeling about where this is going," interrupted Gwen hotly. "Steve will not be traded for any person or group, for any reason! It's unethical and immoral to even ask him. He will not be used as chattel in some trade with the Koreans!"
"I couldn't agree more," responded Senator Chatham. "That will not be happening. I promise you that. However, Jong wants to discuss the release of Hampton Duval's family with Steve. He says that Steve is the only one he'll speak with on the matter. We're leaving Monday morning for North Korea."
"We're not talking about Captain Hampton Duval, are we," asked Steve with obvious concern.
"The same," replied Senator Chatham. "He was an instructor at the Academy while you were there. You were in some of his classes. You obviously remember him."
"Yeah. I even met his wife and kids a couple of times. They always came to our football games and even some of the practices. His son, Hampton, Jr. must be around twenty now. He was headed for Princeton, if I remember correctly. The two girls would be a few years younger. He loved sailing and he was really good at it. I went out on the Potomac with him a couple of times. He knows his stuff."
"The Koreans are suggesting that he was spying on them since he's an officer in the Navy and was out of uniform, if you can imagine that. They were on a three month family vacation. They just had some bad luck. Regardless, your Navy friends want him and his family back pretty badly. You know how they look after their own. Anything less than their safe return will not be looked upon kindly by the U.S. government," worried Senator Chatham.
"What do they expect Steve to do? The last time he went on one of these trips, we wound up dragging his broken body out of a cave a few days after a nut job tried to cut off his head!" interjected Gwen with passion. "Never think he'll go through that again. He's promised me and he always keeps his word."
"Gwen, I repeat what I said earlier. Steve will not be used to barter with the Koreans. But if he's the only one they'll talk to, so we need to set up the meeting. We owe it to the Duval family," replied Senator Chatham calmly as she secretly admired the fire the younger woman displayed for her man.
"I'll be okay, Gwen. I gave you my promise and I'll keep it, along with my head, thank you. I'm curious about why Jong wants to see me, but if it'll help Captain Duval, I'll gladly do all I can."
