Emison + SuperCorp = life

He bumps his knee to hers, holds that point of contact until she pushes back. He licks at his gelato, feeling the Venetian sunshine prickle at the skin of his neck and tries to think positively of how this will unfold. Andy had sent word earlier in the month of a rendezvous here in Venice right by the Grand Canal. 

Cutting through the throng of tourists all vying for that memorable shot was a struggle and a half but Booker finds them a spot to settle down and watch. They’re a whole two hours early, but if he knows anything about his family, they’ll have already been watching them from the moment they got off the train at Venice Santa Lucia. 

Quynh holds her hand out for a napkin and he fishes one out of her bag for her. She mutters a short thanks and they fall back into the silence between two people who have a million things to say but not to each other. 

Booker is uneasy. Every part of him screams for him to throw himself into running for as far and as long as he can until his lungs and heart and limbs gave out. He’s still a coward about many things and it helps that Quynh has threatened to stab him and dump him if he tries to leave her here to face Andy alone.

Her knee knocks against his and the pain blooms just for an instant, fading before he even has a moment to feel annoyed. She elbows him in the ribs and he sighs, some of the tension leaving him. Smiling shyly, he tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. Here was the most dangerous woman he has ever known and he can’t leave her alone. He promised he wouldn’t and for her, he would be brave.

They toss the remnant of their cones into a nearby bin, settling in for a wait when Booker spots Andy walking towards them from the bridge. God, it’s as if she hasn’t aged a day since he last saw her. He feels Quynh stiffen up next to him and slides a hand into hers. 

“Hi,” Andy says when she comes to stand in front of them. Her eyes flicker between them for a second with an emotion Booker has never seen on her - Jealousy. 

Quynh squeezes his hand tighter. 

“Andy,” He nods, already spying Joe, Nicky, and Nile coming up behind her. “I see you brought the family.”

Almost imperceptibly, Quynh takes a half step forward, putting herself between him and them. The movement doesn’t go unnoticed and Joe tilts his head, holding his hands up. “We come in peace.”

“Do you?” Quynh asks, steel coating the words. Andy looks pained for a moment. 

“Yes, we do,” Nile answers. She smiles at Booker and he cannot help the spread of his lips in return. She is holding herself with so much more confidence than he remembered and he feels a surge of pride at how she has grown. “Hi Booker,” She says, stepping up to wrap him in a hug. “I’ve missed you.”

He buries his face into her shoulder, feeling some of the coiled and tensed ball of misery that has sat in his heart since London dissipate just a little. “Hi, I’m Nile!” She turns to Quynh, holding out a hand. She turns to him, eyes still hidden behind those oversized plastic monstrosities. He nods encouragingly and it is then that she takes it, shaking it once with all the stiffness of someone who isn’t sure of the situation but is determined to hold their head high and come out on top.

“I’m Quynh.”

Nile laughs at that. “Hi.” She turns to Andy then. They all do. 

“I guess we should find somewhere quiet to talk,” She says and Booker has to scoffs. Tucking Quynh closer to his side, he leans in to press his mouth to her ear.

“Iboh jak, boleh sik?” He asks. Can we not?

She answers with a jab to his ribs that has him laughing, dancing away before it can land. She takes her sunglasses off, waiting until he swings an arm around her shoulders to perch them on the bridge of his nose. “Lead the way, Andromache,” She says imperiously, every inch of her ready and placed between them and him still.