#Chapter 85: Alliance

Grace A few days after my dinner with Gabriel, we met again. I wasn't sure he was prepared for me to show up in the hotel lobby with a bus card for him, but he took the card with a smile and good humor. "I promised you a proper tour." He nodded and tapped his card. "That you did." He listened intently as I explained Mooncrest's welfare system and public transportation system. We rode the main bus through the heart of the city to the main clinic. We walked through the city easily. He had a security detail, as did I, but it felt so simple and easy. I hoped one day I could do this with Charles without the risk of some reporter figuring out who he was and causing an uproar. I felt proud to show him the city my father and his father and all my ancestors had built from the bustling streets and the various community centers that were now mostly restored to their former glory. "How can you sustain the welfare system?" He asked. "It's mostly paid for through the pack en