Agent finds a Warrior (6 page)

“I’ve failed there many times most notably
with you. You really get to me. Overwhelm would be a better word
for it.” I admitted honestly.

Maria looked down blushing as she said, “I
have another question.”

Laughing I said, “Go ahead.”

She looked up and gestured between us, “Are
we…….” She trailed off looking uncomfortable.

“Married?” I said filling in for her.

She nodded.

“The act of marriage as seen in the eyes of
man has varied through the years in terms of its form of ceremony.
I only regard what the Holy Scripture has to say of it. In the
beginning of creation man was formed and that man was given a woman
as a helpmate and lifelong companion. I am a man after Adam and God
has given me you. Quite simply put you are my woman and I will have
relation with no other than you, as it is good for man to have but
one wife. You will bear my name, even as you bear my children and
your affection will be towards me. I will care for you, protect
you, and love you all the days of my life, even as Christ loves and
cares for the church. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes.” Maria said sounding shaken.

“Shall we then?” I said indicating the open
road ahead of us with a flourish of one hand.

We started walking again and somewhat
startled I felt her hand slip into mine. I glanced down at our
joined hands and then over to Maria who said, “I think I’m going to
rather enjoy being your woman.”

She’d spoken openly and honestly and I loved
her for it.

We walked on for quite some time and I
admired the view of her beside me, as I had been before only now
she was more accepting of it. She let her hat fall back to hang by
its cord from her throat so that her black hair blew freely in the
breeze.

A whole realm of conversation that I had
never delved into before was opening up to me and somewhat
trepidatiously I ventured forth into the discussions of married
life, “What is with that outfit you’re wearing anyway?”

I watched her smile as she asked, “Why does
it tempt you so much?”

In honest reply I said, “You’d tempt me no
matter what you wore.”

She glanced up and her eyes sparkled. She’d
liked that comment. I’d only spoken the truth.

“Is that a corset?”

“An under-bust one yes.”

“Let me guess, it can withstand a 50 caliber
round delivered at point-blank range right?”

Maria grinned big, “Well Elsie didn’t
mention 50 caliber rounds, but my impression was that it’s good for
all the other calibers, including explosions.”

“What about your chest?” Some part of me
couldn’t begin to imagine that I was even asking such a
question.

“Unfortunately not bulletproof, but I have
other surprises.”

I was going to leave the conversation at
that for now.

She looked at me speculatively, “I have to
say I was surprised at the façade if you will of Elsie’s
business.”

I held my hands up chuckling, “I had no part
in that trust me! That was all Elsie’s doing and quite frankly I
wish she’d chosen something else for a cover, but we each have our
own decisions to make in life and Elsie’s was a tacky one to say
the least.”

“Are you sure you’re not into being beaten
and tied up?” Maria asked teasingly.

Darkly my mind drifted back over the years,
“I’ve been on the brunt end of a beat up session enough times in my
life without seeking out any more punishment I assure you.”

I don’t know what made me say it other than
that it just slipped out, “I have no problems with tying you up
though.”

I swear her face was the deepest shade of
red imaginable for the next half mile. I thought about apologizing,
but the more I thought about the idea of playfully tying her up the
more it sounded appealing to me. I was definitely going off the
deep end in more than one way.

“Maria do you trust me?”

She pursed her lips and then wryly said, “It
all depends. If I say no are you going to tie me up?”

Completely straight-faced I responded,
“Maybe.”

She gasped indignantly in outrage and I
burst out laughing. Calming my mirth at her expense I peeked to see
if I was in trouble. Strangely I was not.

She was softly smiling. She reclaimed my
hand and we started out walking again. I was very curious as to her
unexpected reaction to me making fun of her. The Maria I had known
would have gotten mad and hit me most likely.

Seeming to read my mind she said, “I love
your laugh.”

“What is it that you love so much about
it?”

“It’s warm and rich with emotion. Your laugh
makes me trust you.”

I smiled and squeezed her hand gently.

We went on a little farther before I asked,
“Now I have a question for you.”

She looked up with interest.

“What kind of stuff do you like to do?
Hobbies? Pastimes?”

She simply shrugged, but I pressed her, “Oh
no you don’t! Out with it. Give me something.”

She kept whatever it was stubbornly unsaid
within her.

I stopped walking and pulled her to a stop,
“Don’t make me tie you up and tickle it out of you.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh wouldn’t I?” I countered with an arched
eyebrow.

She stared mutely silent back at me and so I
dropped her pack and started to reach for her before she hurriedly
said, “I like to dance!”

My eyebrows perked up at that revealed
knowledge, “Anything else?”

“I like to read too.”

I nodded, “Good to know Maria. Good to
know.”

We started out again and it wasn’t long
before she asked, “What do you like to do Elon?”

“I like to read too. I have a bit of a green
thumb, when it comes to gardening and believe it or not I do like
the fighting that my job entails. I like making good things come to
be in people’s lives, especially things that lead to their
everlasting salvation. It helps me keep going and doing the things
that I do.”

There was something else I was going to
enjoy, but I kept it to myself. There was no need to embarrass her
further by bringing up how much I was looking forward to being
intimate with her.

Maria gasped, as we rounded the corner and
the expansive villa came into view.

“I know where we are! This is Flint’s home!
He’s in danger?”

“Yes, very much so.” I responded grimly, as
I remembered the emotion of my vision of the future.

“But the Agency is closed down! Flint’s
retired. The world owes him a debt of gratitude and it was made
very clear that all of the Agency’s surviving agents were to be
considered untouchable by both governments and underworld criminal
entities alike. It was one of the last things that I helped Chantry
set up. All former agents have immunity and if the immunity is
broken silent watchdog measures are brought into action that are
quite severe. Chantry was very specific and detailed in his
preparations. He wanted his agents safe and made it so that they
would be!”

I squeezed her hand gently, as my thumb
stroked overtop of hers consolingly. Her passion for Chantry’s last
act of kindness spoke volumes about her heart, but it hadn’t been
Chantry’s work that had set up the immunity that former agents now
enjoyed. It had been Maria with Chantry’s blessing.

None of the former agents knew the depths
and time spent by Maria to ensure that they would be safe, but I
did. Her expressed anger at the notion that her immunity
preparations for the other agents could be faulty in some way was
completely justified and I took no offense at her angered reproof
of me, because of my perceived slight against her extensive
preparations.

“There is a lot that you do not understand
Maria. When you were an agent you had but to draw your gun take aim
at the enemy and fire. Your enemy dead, with some good coming of it
in the form of saving someone, protecting an ideal such as freedom,
or simply as an act of justice. Maria your former existence as an
agent only scratched the top of the conflict that is going on at
large within the world.”

“You’re saying I wasn’t effective!” Maria
hotly retorted and I stopped to face her.

She tugged on her hand, but I held onto it
and captured her other one too.

“Lose the anger and listen to what I have to
say!”

My words were harsh as were the impact of my
thoughts on her mind. She quivered slightly completely overwhelmed
by my sudden aggression.

“Ready to listen to what I have to say?” I
asked in a calmer tone.

She nodded and I gentled my emotions and
words in response to her submission, “There is a war taking place
all around us that you cannot see with your physical eyes. It is a
spiritual war. For as it is written we do not struggle against
flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness and rulers of
darkness in high places.”

I was silent for a moment as I let her think
through that.

Hesitantly she responded, “You’re saying
that the danger Flint is in is being brought by a force of evil
rather than that of man?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Maria quivered slightly, “What are we going
to do?”

“Help defend a righteous man and his
family.”

“But how?” She asked anxiously.

“By allowing the Holy Spirit to work through
us to accomplish God’s will in this situation.” I said before
turning back to the villa, but Maria grabbed a hold of me and I
looked over to her.

“I’m scared Elon!” She said, as her face
bore proof of her words.

“I feel like a baby in my faith. I’m just
starting to learn to pray again and you’re talking about spiritual
warfare. I’m not ready for this! I’m not you Elon. I don’t
understand any of this! I don’t understand why God is exposing me
to all of this! I’m not ready!”

I pulled her close to me and hugged her for
a long moment and then I began to speak into her hair near her ear
as she pressed her face against my chest, “Contrary to popular
Christian belief, God does give us more than we can handle
sometimes. People take that verse out of context too much. It is
God’s prerogative to test us, even overwhelm us at times, but the
answer is still found in Him. He’s promised to be there for us when
life becomes too much for us to handle. That’s a promise you can
stand on. And it’s really not about you being or doing anything
special. It’s all about letting go and letting God have His way
through you in this coming spiritual struggle. You have no power of
your own. It’s only through the blood of Jesus that we have been
given authority over the powers of this world. So why is God
exposing you to all of this so soon, when you’re admittedly not
ready for it? I think the best answer is because He wants you to
grow up spiritually and the way to do that is to learn to put your
trust in Him. He is the way the truth and the life. He doesn’t want
you to take faith in how capable a person you are, but rather He
wants you to rest in the calm surety that He’s there all the time
ready to do the impossible on behalf of you and others. You need
relationship Maria, with your Heavenly Father and it’s through
experiences like this that build the faith that establishes the
trust needed for true relationship. There is nothing to fear in
this coming struggle if, you first, put forward the name of Jesus
by whom you have been given authority by. There is no dark power
that can overcome the Spirit of God’s presence within the holy
temple of your body. Through the power of God working within you
are more than ready for the fight ahead of us.”

She leaned her head back from me and
regarded me for a moment with those mysterious eyes of hers.

Slowly she nodded and I stepped back, even
as I claimed her hand again and said, “Come on we’re going to miss
lunch.”

The big wrought-iron gate was before us
already open. Beyond it gave way to the open courtyard of the
expansive villa. I absolutely loved what had been done with the
villa’s landscape, but I glossed over my enjoyment of the
surroundings too consumed with what was to come.

In an aside to Maria I said, “Let me handle
this and don’t talk about our purpose for being here.”

Maria looked puzzled, but she nodded
obediently.

I loved her mute acceptance of what I’d
asked of her. Maria was coming to both trust me and respect my
headship enough to do what I asked without having to know the why,
where, and how it would be. It was relational progress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria felt nervous as she waited beside Elon
at the big wooden front doors of the villa. She respected Flint and
Lisa more so than just about anybody else and she couldn’t help but
cringe at the prospect of trying to explain her unique relationship
with Elon to them.

The door opened and there was no one there
and then Maria glanced down to see the little boy standing there
one arm craned up to the door handle. Maria had to smile at the
adorable little boy, who was the spitting image of his daddy, only
with a darker complexion.

Elon squatted down to be eye level with the
boy and said, “Brian should you be opening the door if you don’t
know who’s there?” Elon said reprovingly.

“The little boy responded exuberantly, “Oh I
knew it was you Elon! Mommy saw you coming up the driveway.”

“Well then I stand corrected.” Elon
said.

The little boy twisted his hands together
anxiously and couldn’t seem to stand still as he studied Elon with
hopeful anticipation. And then in a statement one would expect of
one much older the boy said, “Please don’t make me beg Elon!”

Elon laughed out loud and began pulling
small metallic figures from a pocket in his coat and handing them
one by one to the little boy. They were exquisitely cast and
detailed little metal warriors wielding swords and spears that
would’ve been any little boy’s dream toy come to life.