This story is a sequel to "Past, Present and Future," and takes place about three years later. You don't need to read that story to understand this one, although it might help. "Past, Present and Future" takes place at the end of season 5. Season 6 never happens. Anything that you need to know from that story should be explained in the first chapter here. If you find that anything isn't clear, let me know so that I can clarify it.
So thanks for hitting on this post. I hope you enjoy the story. And please, please, please, if you read it, send me a review.
THE TSARIST CONSPIRACY
Chapter 1: The Bombing
CTU Los Angeles
11:00 am
Bill Buchanan stepped quickly down the steps from his office and strode purposefully across the bullpen. He stared straight ahead, not seeing anything to the right or the left. The CTU staff that witnessed the display simply looked away and stifled laughs. Their director rarely lost his calm demeanor, but when he did, it was usually directed at one person. Bill ignored his employees as he passed by. He never took his eyes off of his destination: the workstation belonging to Chloe O'Brian.
"Chloe, what is the meaning of this?" he asked in a quiet but angry voice as he threw a bound report down onto her desk.
"It's the report assessing the terrorism risk at all of the California ports that you asked for, sir," Chloe answered as if it were a stupid question.
"No, Chloe, it is not the report that I asked for. It is the information that I asked for. The report that I asked for was to be formatted and sorted very specifically. That format was decided by the Governor of the state of California, not by me. In case you've forgotten, I'm going to be on a flight to Sacramento in four hours to deliver this report personally to the Governor and discuss its implications. I can't hand him this report. It isn't what he asked for!"
"The report contains all of the necessary information; it's just formatted in a more logical fashion."
"More logical to you maybe, but not to the Governor and it's his opinion that counts right now!" Bill roared. He rarely got flustered but Chloe had pushed him to the edge. "Chloe, I could fire you on the spot. This time you've gone too far. This is insubordination. You have intentionally chosen to ignore instructions given to you by a superior. I don't normally pull rank, but in this case I'm not going to have a choice. Off load whatever work you are doing right now to Morris' system and correct this report immediately. I need it on my desk in three hours. Don't even think about taking a lunch break or a bathroom break until this report is complete. If you so much as stand up to stretch, I'll fire you! And if any of you," he said looking around the bullpen, "tries to talk to her, I'll fire you as well! Do I make myself clear?"
A mumbled chorus of "yes, sir" came from Chloe's coworkers.
"Do I make myself clear, Chloe?"
"Yes, sir," she answered, lip in full pout.
Bill's phone rang just as he turned to go. "Buchanan," he barked into the phone.
"Mr. Buchanan, I have Commissioner Bauer's office on the line. He says that it's urgent."
Bill stopped in his tracks. Jack frequently called to discuss security issues or even to set up a golf game, but his calls were rarely urgent. Jack had been named Los Angeles Police Commissioner about two years earlier. It was several months after the assassination of David Palmer when Jack returned to Los Angeles and reclaimed his identity. He had been seriously injured when the Chinese kidnapped him and attempted to take him out of the country. Quick work on the part of CTU and Homeland had thwarted the kidnapping, but not before Jack was brutally beaten by his Chinese captors as they tried desperately to gain information from him. When Curtis' team found him, behind a boiler room in the lowest level of the ship, he was nearly dead. Hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation followed, but in the end, Jack recovered. His story, although kept out of the press due to security issues, was well known in the law enforcement community. When the police commissioner retired, Jack's name quickly came to the top of a short list of candidates.
"Should I put the Commissioner's call in your office, sir?" Bill's secretary asked.
"No, I'm closer to the situation room. Put it in there. Ask Nadia to meet me there," he instructed her before hanging up. "Curtis, Milo," he called. "Jack's on the phone. He says it's urgent."
Curtis and Milo both stopped what they were doing as did anyone else who heard Bill's statement. "Get back to work, Chloe!" he snapped when he caught her looking up.
"Sir, with all due respect, as the Senior Analyst I should be in on any urgent meetings with the police commissioner," she pointed out.
"Insubordination, Chloe!" Bill thundered. "One more time and you're out of here and I'll have an entire room full of people as witnesses. I decide who sits in on briefings, not you! Right now you are busy. If I decide that this matter takes precedence over a report for the Governor, I'll let you know! "
Bill turned on heel and headed for the situation room. Curtis and Milo were several steps ahead of him. Nadia met them at the door.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"I don't know, but Jack says it's urgent. He's not usually an alarmist so I thought I better get my core team in here for a briefing." Bill pushed the button on the phone. "Jack, you're on speaker. Curtis, Nadia and Milo are with me. What's going on?"
"Bill, this may be a little premature, but I just got a report of something that doesn't feel right. About an hour ago, the fire department responded to a fire call at St. Basil's Russian Orthodox Church. The caller described an explosion and a fire. The battalion chief told me that it's an old structure and he expected that they had some kind of boiler explosion or an electrical short that resulted in a fire and minor explosion. That wasn't at all what they found. The explosion came from under pews in the front of the sanctuary. It was small but intense and a fire investigator at the scene thought that it had all of the earmarks of plastic explosives."
"Plastic explosives?" Bill questioned.
"Yeah, and I tend to trust this guy. I've worked with him before. He's got military experience. He knows what plastic explosives can do."
"So what you're saying is that the church was targeted," Nadia clarified.
"That's what it looks like," Jack answered.
"But apparently they only wanted to make a statement. Otherwise they would have hit the church during a Sunday service when it was full of worshipers."
"That's the thing, Bill. Today is a feast day for the church's patron saint. Church members usually take the day off for this feast. Local merchants even close their stores. The church was packed. Right now, we've got six confirmed dead, several more on their way to various hospitals and scores of minor injuries. Someone wanted to inflict maximal damage."
"How do you want to work this, Jack?" Bill asked since the bombing crossed multiple jurisdictions.
"Bill, the way I see it, until we can prove otherwise, we have to treat this as an act of terrorism. This is your area of expertise. I'll provide all of the support you need, but I think CTU should take the lead in the investigation."
"Fine. Keep your people on site. I'll send Curtis with a team now to coordinate with them. Maintain the perimeter until we can get there. Don't let anybody in or out. Can you run interference with the fire commissioner? I suspect that he wants his people in charge of the investigation. We'll work with them, but I need full cooperation of the local agencies."
"I'm on my way to a press briefing, but I'll call him before and let him know. I guess we also need to put Homeland in the loop. I'll leave it to you to call Karen."
"I'll take care of that. Keep me abreast of any new information," Bill requested.
"Will do," Jack said succinctly.
Conversation complete, Bill turned to his team. "Curtis, coordinate the investigation at the scene."
"Got it," Curtis answered. He turned and, wasting no time, was immediately on the phone to his "go" team.
Bill continued. "Milo, I need you to talk to LAPD and get all of the information that they've already collected and upload it to our system and then process it for clues. Nadia, start looking at the church – members, former members, contributors – anybody who might have an ax to grind. Coordinate with Milo."
"I'll get Chloe to help," Nadia said as she and Milo turned to go.
"Get Morris; Chloe's working on the report for the Governor. I can't spare her right now."
"Doesn't this take priority, sir?" Nadia asked.
Bill shook his head. "I need that report for this afternoon. After that Chloe's all yours." Signaling that the conversation had ended, Bill took out his phone and dialed his wife's number.
Bill and Karen had been married for a little less than three years. Their romance that followed the last big terrorist attack surprised everyone who knew either of them. Karen was just getting over a bitter divorce and had sworn off men forever when she met Bill. And he had spent the previous twelve years generally too consumed with being a single father to worry about having any woman other than his daughter, Elise, in his life. Karen came into CTU to replace him and ended up working side by side with him to avert a nuclear attack, bring down a treasonous President Logan and rescue Jack Bauer from the Chinese. By the end of the day, they had forged a strong friendship that, within weeks, turned into love.
Their relationship was further sealed when Bill's daughter bonded into a tight mother-daughter relationship with Karen that was stronger than that between many biological mothers and their children. The bond was so intense that when Bill and Karen got married, Elise asked Karen to legally adopt her. Bill would never forget the day in the courtroom when the adoption was finalized. Elise and Karen hugged each other and Elise called Karen "mom" for the first time. Karen cried the same way she had when her own children, now grown and on their own, had first uttered "mama" when they where just babies.
"Karen Hayes," she said when she answered on the second ring. Her distracted tone told him that she was in the middle of something when he called.
"Hey, are you busy?"
"A little bit. What's up?" she returned.
Bill could hear the smile in her voice. Despite his anger with Chloe and his concern over a church bombing, he felt himself smile as well. He knew they were both remembering the sweet start to their day – making love quietly at 5 o'clock in the morning. They frequently started their Monday morning that way before the responsibilities and the stress of the week took over.
"Nothing good. I just wanted to give you a heads up. There was a bombing at a Russian Orthodox Church this morning during a church festival. Six people dead, more injured. We're working it up as an act of terrorism."
"Domestic or international?" Karen asked.
He could tell that he had gotten her attention. "No idea at this point. I've got people on their way to the scene. LAPD and the fire department are already there investigating. Could just be a disgruntled former church member or something like that, but, until we can prove it, we need to consider that the church was targeted by some outside group and they might not be finished."
Karen sighed. "You're right. For now, treat it like an act of terrorism. I'll raise the threat assessment from yellow to orange. What about your trip to Sacramento this afternoon? You should probably cancel that unless we can prove that this was an isolated incident before it's time for you to fly up there."
"I was hoping to avoid that, but you're probably right. I'll call the Governor's appointment secretary and let him know."
"Good. If you need any help over there, call me. I can send some people over from here."
"Thanks, I'll let you know if I need help," Bill told her.
"Keep me in the loop," Karen reminded him.
"I will. I'll call as soon as we have anything."
Bill ended the conversation with his wife and was immediately on the phone to the Governor's office. He was just finishing the conversation when Milo knocked on his door. Bill signaled for him to enter.
"What have you got?" he asked as he hung up the phone.
"LAPD has interviewed a lot of eyewitnesses. We're trying to coordinate all of the information right now. One thing I thought you should know. I don't know if it's important or not. This church has a stewardship program set up with an orphanage associated with a poor church in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Several church members made arrangements to adopt children from the orphanage. The children were scheduled to arrive here around 10 o'clock this morning. The bomb went off just a little before that. The van with the children and their chaperones arrived at the church about the same time as the fire department."
Bill frowned. "So, the children weren't the target."
"It doesn't look that way. It looks like someone disapproved of the adoptions and wanted to prevent them. In fact, among the dead is a couple who was to adopt two of the children. The fire investigators think that the bomb was right under their pew."
"Were there specific seating arrangements?"
Milo nodded and showed Bill the schematic of the church. "Seats were assigned to each of the six couples who were adopting. There are four rows of pews that run from the front of the church to the back. Four sets of the adoptive parents were each sitting in one of the front pews. The other two couples were sitting in the second pew on either side of the center aisle. The couple that was killed was sitting here," Milo pointed to the front pew on the far right side of the church.
"Who knew about the seating arrangements?"
"Everybody. It wasn't a secret. According to some of the church members, the couple who was killed was really excited about where they were seated because the children were scheduled to enter the building through a side entrance right in front of their pew and they would be right there when their new son and daughter entered the church."
"And instead they ended up dead." Bill shook his head and closed his eyes for a second. "Have Chloe start looking into this couple. See if there is someone out there with a reason to want them dead. We need to know if this was a vendetta against them or they just happened to be the unlucky people sitting in that pew."
"Nadia and Morris have already started looking at them. I thought that Chloe was working on your report for the Governor," Milo said.
"I postponed the meeting. I need to be here and we need Chloe working on this bombing. Tell her she has a reprieve for now, but as soon as we wrap this thing up she goes back to the Governor's report."
"Got it," Milo answered as he turned to leave Bill's office.
Bill sat back for a moment trying to make some sense of the bombing. He was mentally reviewing the information that Milo had given him when his intercom buzzed.
"Yes," he said hoping that someone was calling him with a lead.
"Mr. Buchanan," Nadia said. "Has Milo filled you in on the new information?"
"Yes, he just left. Any leads?"
"Nothing, but Curtis is sending over about a dozen people to give statements. I've got a lot of people trying to process all of the information that's coming in. Can you help us with the debriefings?"
"Sure, I'll be right down. "Do we need additional help? I can get a couple of people from Homeland."
"That would help. We're stretched pretty thin here," Nadia said sounding relieved.
"Okay, let me call Karen and then I'll be right down." Bill dialed Karen's number as he headed out of his office. "Hey," he said as she answered. "Is that offer of help still good?"
"Of course. What do you need?"
"Just a couple of people to debrief eyewitnesses."
"Any suspects?"
"None, but from what I understand, everyone from the church is being cooperative and wants to help us find the bomber. They all want to talk and I want to get them debriefed quickly while the scene is still fresh in their minds."
"I'll send a couple of people over. They'll be there in a half hour."
"Great. Thanks. Talk to you later." Bill continued across the bullpen to the conference rooms that were being set up.
Curtis came in with the first group of witnesses including an elderly priest, Father Gregory. A second priest was critically injured in the explosion and Father Gregory was obviously badly shaken. His cassock was torn and blood stained. The side of his face was bruised and his glasses were bent, but he stood tall and extended a large hand to shake when he was introduced to Bill. Bill detected a bit of a Russian accent but other than that the priest spoke English like a native. He followed Bill into a conference room and recounted the events of the day with Bill interrupting occasionally to clarify points.
The debriefing lasted over an hour and when Bill finally emerged from the room, he was surprised to run into Karen in the hallway. Despite the gravity of his work, he couldn't help but smile when he saw his wife.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. He wanted to lean over and give her a quick kiss, but a blinking security camera a few feet down the hall told him that his kiss would be seen by half of the security guards in the building.
"I have several people in Washington attending a conference, so we didn't have a lot of people to spare. It was easier to come over here myself and help than to shuffle work around and send someone else. Besides," she said with a shy smile. "I kind of like it here. Did you get any information from the priest?" she asked returning to her work mode.
"Nothing. He doesn't have any idea who would want to do something like this. He's convinced that it isn't someone with ties to his church."
"I just finished debriefing the president of the church council. He feels the same way. He says that to his knowledge there has never been a significant threat leveled against St. Basil's. I just talked to Nadia. She said that at this time, no group is claiming responsibility for the bombing. I've worked in counterterrorism for the last fifteen years and this doesn't feel like any case I've ever worked on."
"I know," Bill agreed. "I'm at a loss."
"Mr. Buchanan, excuse me, sir. Could I talk to you for a moment?" It was Father Gregory who was leaving the conference room after signing the transcript of his debriefing.
"Yes, of course, Father," Bill said deferentially. He looked at Karen. "Father, this is Karen Hayes. Karen is the Los Angeles Division Director for Homeland Security."
"Ms. Hayes," the priest nodded as he shook her hand. Then he turned back to Bill. "Mr. Buchanan, I have a concern that I hoped you could address before I go back to my church. The two children that were to be adopted by Peter and Marina Golov, the couple that was killed this morning, were brought here by your people for security purposes. I don't believe that the children are in any danger. If you agree, I'd like to have them released to my custody. I can have them live with some of our church members until we can find someone to adopt them."
"I'll talk to Social Services for you, Father," Bill said. "But it's not in my jurisdiction to release the children to anyone. That's the responsibility of Social Services. Come with me. I'll see what I can do." Bill led Father Gregory and Karen to the room where the children were waiting.
Nikolai and Anya Borodin sat quietly on a sofa next to the Russian chaperone who had accompanied them from the orphanage half-way around the world. Nikolai was eight. He was a little small for his age by American standards with deep blue, wide-set Slavic eyes and straight blond hair that had been freshly cut for his journey to his new home and family. Anya was five. She too had bright blue eyes and blond hair. Her long hair curled softly at the ends and framed a beautiful face.
Bill, Karen and Father Gregory entered the room. The children looked up as did the chaperone and a middle aged social worker who had already been assigned to the children's case by the city. Nikolai was obviously wary of the new adults on the scene and moved closer to Anya as if to let everyone know that he would protect his younger sister despite his young age.
Bill took a second to make sure all of the adults were introduced before dropping to one knee in front of the children. He had read Nikolai's body language and stayed a safe distance in order not to appear frightening to the children. He introduced himself to them in halting Russian, a product of his early days in the CIA when he had been stationed in Moscow. Nikolai remained unconvinced of this adult's intentions but reached out his hand to politely shake as he had been taught. Anya on the other hand, was immediately taken by the tall American who was speaking Russian. She smiled and reached out her hand as her brother had done and seemed pleased when Bill took it and squeezed it gently. After a brief conversation with the children Bill stood and turned to the adults.
"You speak Russian, Mr. Buchanan," Father Gregory commented, the surprise evident in his voice.
"Not very well, I'm afraid," Bill returned. "But I think the children and I understand each other." Bill turned to the social worker. "Ms. Hill, I agree with Father Gregory. I don't think we need to hold the children here at CTU any longer. They're safe. I think it's reasonable to release them to Father Gregory's custody."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Buchanan, but that's impossible," the dour-faced Christine Hill answered. "When the adoptions were arranged, the couples from the church that wished to adopt were evaluated for appropriateness and cleared by Social Services. I can't put these children in the care of anyone who hasn't been evaluated by Social Services."
"You understand, Ms. Hill, that this is just a temporary solution. Father Gregory will look for a family to permanently adopt Anya and Nikolai, but in the meantime, it would be best for them to live in the home of one of the Russian families from the church."
"That would constitute a foster family situation, Mr. Buchanan, and I don't have any families from the church on our list of approved foster families."
"How long will it take you to approve a family from the church?" Karen asked.
"That would take several weeks. This is a complicated process." Ms. Hill answered abruptly. "We can't take chances with the well being of children."
"What will happen to them in the meantime?" Karen asked.
"We'll place them with a family that has already been cleared by Social Services."
"And do you have such a family that speaks Russian?" Karen asked.
"I'll have to look into that," Ms. Hill said dismissively. "If you don't need to hold the children any longer, Mr. Buchanan, I'll have them taken to our office downtown."
Karen and Bill exchanged glances. "Ms. Hill, I'm not sure I like this plan," he told her honestly.
"You don't have to like it, Mr. Buchanan. This isn't under your control. The children are currently wards of the State."
"That may be the case, but this building is Federal property and while they are here, they are in Federal custody and that is my jurisdiction." Bill didn't feel like playing hardball with the social worker, but her flip attitude toward these children bothered him. "Let's keep the children here while your office looks for a Russian speaking family to take care of the children until you can clear a family from St. Basil's," he suggested.
Ms. Hill didn't seem happy with Bill's solution, but realized that he outranked her in a Federal building and that she had little choice. "Fine. I'll go back to my office and see what I can do."
"Very good," Bill answered. "I'll look forward to hearing from you."
Everyone watched as Ms. Hill left, the heels on her sensible pumps clicking on the floor.
"Thank you, Mr. Buchanan," Father Gregory said. "Nikolai and Anya don't speak much English. They have already gone through enough today. I don't want them in a house where no one can talk to them." The old man shook his head. "Their parents were killed in a car accident a year and a half ago. They finally got a chance at a normal life with parents who would love them and care for them and that was taken away from them. Sometimes I don't understand the God that I worship; that He would allow this to happen to two innocent children." The priest sat heavily in a nearby chair and put his head in his hands. He looked defeated.
"Father," Bill said quietly. "I can't do anything about the priest and the parishioners that you lost today, other than to find their killer. And believe me when I tell you that my department will do everything humanly possible to find that person. What I can do right now, is make sure that the welfare of Nikolai and Anya is given the highest priority. I promise that I won't let you down. You're welcome to stay here with the children as long as you like. " The elderly man thanked Bill graciously and stayed behind as Bill and Karen left the room.
As soon as they stepped into the empty hallway, Karen reached for Bill's hand. "I love you and I don't care who's watching," she said as she leaned into him and kissed him hard.
"Wow!" Bill exclaimed softly. "What was that for?"
"For being such a decent human being. I was so proud of you for sticking up for those kids. They look so scared and so lost and that social worker doesn't give a damn. She just wants to follow the rules. All I could think of was my own kids at that age and how much I would have wanted someone to stand up for them the way you did."
Bill sighed. "I did what I could at the moment, but if Ms. Hill comes back here with a court order to take those kids out of this building, I don't have a leg to stand on, Karen. You know that as well as I do."
"Let's worry about that if it happens. We have a few favors that we can call in, if need be. In the meantime, I'm going to make sure that Nikolai and Anya get some lunch and something to play with."
"Now who's being the decent human being?" Bill asked playfully.
"It's the mom in me rising to the surface," she said smiling in return.
The afternoon continued on with more church members and eyewitnesses being debriefed but CTU found itself no closer to identifying the bomber than they were when the bomb exploded. Bill paged through endless reports filed by his staff, calling several of them to ask them to do more follow up on one aspect of the case or another. At a few minutes after four, Bill's phone rang, just like it did every day. He glanced at the caller ID just to make sure before answering it.
"Hi, sweetheart," he said warmly. "How was your day?"
"Hi, Dad," fifteen-year-old Elise Buchanan answered. "I bet my day was better than yours. Are you investigating the church bombing?"
Bill smiled as soon as he heard his daughter's voice. "How did you guess?" he asked sarcastically.
"Oh, just a hunch," Elise returned. "Will you be home late?"
"I'm afraid so."
"How about Mom? Is she working on the bombing, too?"
"She came over to help us. I should be able to free her up in a little while so she can come home and have dinner with you."
"Don't worry about it. I have a ton of homework. We have midterms next week."
"Okay, you start studying then and I'll keep in touch so you know when to expect us."
"Alright. Talk to you later. I love you, Dad. Tell Mom I love her, too."
"I love you and so does your mother. Talk to you soon." Bill hung up the phone just as the intercom buzzed.
"Mr. Buchanan, Elaine Henry, the Director of Social Services, is here to see you. I have her and Christine Hill at the reception area," the receptionist reported.
"Have them stay there. I'll be there in a minute."
Bill straightened his tie and heaved a long sigh as he left his office. The fact that Christine Hill had brought her boss with her meant that they were ready to fight. He trotted down the steps with an air of confidence that he wished he actually felt.
Bill met Christine Hill and Elaine Henry at the reception area. Christine's cool expression told him that she fully planned to dig in her heels while Elaine Henry struck him as someone who would be more conciliatory. He decided to focus on her.
"Come this way," he directed them as he held the door. "We have the children in a waiting room." Bill was clearly directing his comments to Elaine. "They were hungry so we got them some lunch."
They entered the room where the children were staying. Bill smiled as he opened the door. Anya was sitting in Karen's lap and Nikolai was sitting next to them. The three of them leaned across a table where a jigsaw puzzle was spread out. Father Gregory sat across from them watching the scene and translating when necessary.
Anya jumped from Karen's lap as soon as she saw Bill. She ran to him and took his hand speaking in rapid-fire Russian.
"Slow down," Bill told her first in English and then in Russian. "My Russian is not so good," he explained again in both English and Russian.
He knelt down and gave the little girl time to tell him that Karen had brought them pizza, a treat they had never had before, and a puzzle to play with. She then ran back to Karen and plopped on her lap.
"It looks like you've made some friends," Bill said with a smile before introducing Karen as the Division Director of Homeland Security.
"Nice to see that the security of the homeland is in such capable hands," Christine Hill said sarcastically.
"I have a capable staff back at my office, Ms. Hill," Karen said coolly.
"So," Bill started, trying to cut the tension that had suddenly appeared in the room. "Have you found a family that would be suitable for Anya and Nikolai to live with temporarily?"
"We have, Mr. Buchanan," Ms. Hill nodded.
"And they speak Russian?" Karen asked.
"Unfortunately, Ms. Hayes, they don't. However they do speak German." Christine said with a satisfied smirk.
"I'm not sure that's good enough," Bill said shaking his head. "I speak both German and Russian, Ms. Hill, and believe me, the two languages are not interchangeable."
"Mr. Buchanan," Elaine Henry broke in. "We are well aware that this is not an optimal situation, but it's the best we can do on short notice. If you have a couple from the church that wants to be cleared as foster parents, I'll assure you that we will expedite the process, but I can't put these children in the hands of people who haven't been properly vetted. We'd like to get these children out of here and into a home before it gets too late. So, if you'd just agree to release them to my department, we can get them settled in before it's time for them to go to bed."
"Bill," Karen exclaimed as she shook her head. She lifted Anya from her lap and stood up in order to join Bill and the women from Social Services a few steps away. "You can't agree to this! This is insane. Nikolai and Anya only know a few words of English. They'll be terrified if you put them in a home where no one can communicate with them." Anya didn't understand the words, but she tuned in to Karen's emotions and fearfully clung to her skirt and began to cry. Karen stroked her hair to comfort her.
"I agree," Bill said. "This isn't acceptable, Ms. Henry. There has to be a better solution. I'll refuse to release the children to your department until you come up with something better."
"And we'll get a court order, Mr. Buchanan," Christine Hill retorted.
"Wait a minute," Karen said. "I might have an idea. Bill speaks Russian well enough to communicate with the children. Why can't we just take the children home with us?" Bill shot Karen a surprised look.
"Us?" Christine said incredulously. "You two live together?"
"Actually, we're married," Karen told her as she pointed to their matching wedding rings.
"Well, that adds new meaning to the term 'power couple,' doesn't it?" Christine said with an air of distaste.
Karen and Bill both ignored the statement. It wasn't worth dignifying it with a response.
"I hadn't really thought of it," Bill said as he quickly regained his composure. "But it is a good solution. Karen and I have every security clearance possible. Could you just make us temporary foster parents in this situation and we could keep the children for a few days until a more suitable situation can be established?"
"You may have clearance with regards to national security, Mr. Buchanan, but you don't have clearance with regards to children. I'm sorry."
Karen shook her head. "You're wrong. Three years ago when Bill and I got married, I adopted his daughter, Elise. I had to be cleared through Social Services. Those records should still be on file."
"They're three years old. We can't use three year old records to approve you as a foster parent!" Christine said shaking her head.
"What do you think has changed in the last three years, Ms. Hill?" Karen asked angrily. "Do you think that I went from fit parent to child abuser? I have three adult children of my own who you can feel free to call if you'd like a recommendation."
"She's right, Ms. Hill. If you need to update your files and would like to talk to our daughter, we can arrange that."
"Elaine, it's getting late. We need to call a judge and get a court order to get these kids out of this building," Christine said as a means of brushing off the idea that was presented to her.
Elaine Henry didn't answer. She stood watching Bill and Karen. They stood close presenting a united front. "Do you really think you can handle this?" she asked. "Taking care of two small children who have a lot of emotional needs right now isn't going to be easy. You both have stressful jobs and another child at home. Do you really think this is a good idea?"
"At the moment, Ms. Henry, I can't think of a better one," Bill said mildly. He hoped that his confident manner masked his concerns. He knew that Karen was reacting to the emotion of the moment. Part of him loved the fact that she cared so much and he wanted to support her. The other part of him was worried about the amount of stress that two children would add to the household. "You're right, this is probably a stressor that neither Karen nor I needs right now, but what is more important is what Anya and Nikolai need. They need a family that understands them. I can at least talk to them."
"What happens when you two are at work?" Elaine asked.
Father Gregory spoke up. "The children were to be enrolled in the church school. They were supposed to start school tomorrow anyway. In school they can start learning English but they'll be around people that speak Russian as well. We have an after school daycare program. The children can stay there until Mr. Buchanan and Ms. Hayes can pick them up after work."
"That would work perfectly!" Karen agreed. "I pass within two blocks of the church on my way to work. I can take them in the morning and pick them up on my way home. It's going to be a little stressful for all of us, but we can make it work for a few days."
"It may be more that a few days, Ms. Hayes," Elaine explained. "It could be few weeks to a month before we find a suitable home for the children."
"I understand that. We'll deal with whatever happens. Look, both Bill and I have faced adversity in the past. I raised three children while their father and I both worked full time and he was away from home three or four days every week for his job. Bill was a single father for twelve years. We know that raising children isn't easy."
Christine interrupted. "But it's a moot point since your Social Service clearance has expired; it's too old to satisfy our requirements."
Elaine shrugged her shoulders lightly. "In light of the circumstances, I'm willing to bend the rules. I don't have a better solution and you two have convinced me that this makes a lot more sense than anything else that my department has been able to come up with. Take the children home with you tonight and in the morning, Ms. Hayes, I'll review your previous Social Service clearance and update it. I will have to talk to several references and it would help if you could provide those this evening. Mr. Buchanan," she said turning to Bill. "I'll fax all of the necessary paperwork to you tomorrow so that we can evaluate and approve you as a foster parent as well. We'll expedite the paperwork, but you'll have to understand that if we find anything out of order, the children will be removed from your home."
"We understand," Bill nodded. "Thank you. Ms. Henry, for being so reasonable," he said as he shook her hand.
Karen thanked her and shook hands with her as well while Christine Hill glared at the three of them before she shook her head and left the room obviously displeased with the outcome.
Bill looked at Father Gregory. "Father, we'd appreciate it if you could explain all of that to the children so that they know what's going on. Karen and I have to take care of a few things before we can leave, but we should be ready to go soon." The priest happily agreed. He, too, was well pleased with the outcome.
Bill and Karen left the room and headed for Bill's office. Neither said a word until the door closed behind them. Karen turned to Bill looking more timid than he was used to. "Bill, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made that decision without discussing it with you first. I just couldn't stand there and let them turn those precious kids over to people who couldn't even communicate with them." Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. "I just couldn't do it. They've been through too much."
Bill wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "You did the right thing. I would have liked to discuss it before you volunteered us to be parents, but as soon as you said it, I knew it was the right thing to do."
"How do you think Elise is going to react? She's always had our undivided attention. Do you think this will upset her?"
Bill shook his head. "Not at all. I think she'll like it."
"What makes you think that?"
Bill smiled and released his hold on Karen. "When we got engaged, Elise asked me if we were going to have more children. I immediately thought that she was concerned that she would have to share us with other children. So I assured her that we had no intention of having a baby and that we were a little old to be starting a new family. Instead of being relieved, she was disappointed. She said that she wanted to be a big sister. She sulked for the rest of the evening."
"You never told me that."
"I guess it just never occurred to me. It didn't seem important," Bill said with a shrug. "So, I think she'll be fine with this arrangement. And it's only for a few weeks, then everything goes back to normal. I'll call her first and warn her while you get the kids ready to go, then we'll head home."
Karen stepped closer to Bill and put her arms around his waist. She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I love you so much. Any other husband would want to shoot me right now and you're taking it all in stride. How did I get so lucky?"
"I ask myself the same question all the time," Bill said in return. "I love you, too. Let's go home."