Four of a Kind
Chapter 1
In the hotel room the morning of their latest mission, Will woke up before Frankie and watched her as she slept. He couldn't believe how far they'd come since their first real kiss last year after the mission in Prague. Since that kiss they rarely spent a moment apart. This had been the happiest year of his life and he was cautiously optimistic it would only get better. Will ran out and got breakfast before Frankie woke up, surprising her with breakfast in bed.
"Good morning" Will greeted Frankie as she opened her eyes and stretched to wake up. "Good morning to you too. Wow, breakfast in bed and no eggs...you did listen." Frankie replied as she leaned into Will and kissed him on the lips. "Eat up" replied Will, we've got to get ready to leave soon. Let's go over the plan once more while you eat. As they reviewed the plan, Frankie jumped up out of bed. "Uh-oh" she said as she ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
"Frankie, are you ok?" Will asked through the bathroom door. Frankie had been in the bathroom for nearly ten minutes, losing what was left of her breakfast. Will was concerned because Frankie never got sick but she assured him it was the seafood she'd had for dinner last night, a choice she immediately regretted after the meal.
As soon as Frankie came out of the bathroom, Will asked her if she was up to the mission. "Of course" she said curtly. "It's no big deal, just a little food poisoning. I've been through a hell of a lot worse." They got dressed and left, headed out to complete the task at hand.
The mission went smooth with no complications. As they cuffed the target and escorted him out, Will heard Frankie say "Not again", as she puked all over the target's feet. "Ok" said Will, "As soon as we get back to the Hive, you're seeing the doctor". "I'm fine", snapped Frankie. "That doesn't look fine" Will responded, as he pointed to the target's feet. "Besides, you're looking kind of pale, at the very least you need some IV fluids to rehydrate you". Frankie wanted to argue back but she was feeling weaker by the minute and felt it best to let Will win this round.
Back at the Hive, Will processed the target as Frankie laid down on the couch of the closest office. After he finished, he went to check on her. She was looking even paler and weaker than before and he couldn't stand to see her in such misery. "Ok, let's go" he said as he put her arm around his shoulder and led her down to the infirmary. She was too weak and nauseated to put up a fight.
As they walked by, Jai and Standish asked Will what was wrong with Frankie. "My guess is she's either got the flu or food poisoning", Will said. Standish replied "Frankie...sick?!" Jai chimed in: "I can't remember her ever being ill." Standish responded with: "Me either. I just assumed germs were as scared of her as I am."
In the infirmary, Frankie was hooked up to IV fluids while the doctor ran some lab tests. Frankie was petrified of needles but felt too weak to put up a fight. Will, growing more concerned by the minute, held her hand as she rested. He too couldn't remember ever seeing Frankie this sick and a part of him started to panic, wondering if Ollerman was behind her illness.
After kissing Frankie in Prague, Will had received Standish's voicemail. He heard the message and Ollerman's voice telling Standish he shouldn't have killed Tina. Once he heard Standish yell, he knew something was wrong. Will immediately got Jai and Susan on the phone. They were able to locate Standish quickly, thanks to one of Jai's nanotrackers. Standish had ingested them when he got in the cookie stash Jai was working on at the Dead Drop. Luckily, Jai and Susan found him just in time. Standish had suffered heavy blood loss and was close to death when they finally located him. After two tense weeks in the hospital, Standish was on the road to recovery. Ollerman, on the other hand, was still out there. Since the Standish incident, they had been actively pursuing him but it's proven to be a bigger challenge than the team originally thought. Will knew they would never be completely safe until they could see Ollerman's cold, dead body laid out in the morgue. Will also thought about Griffin's warning: that Will was just a puppet and the pain inflicted by Ollerman after Emma's killing was just the beginning. Ollerman knew how much Frankie meant to Will. Was he coming after Frankie next? Will knew he had to turn up the heat in the search for Ollerman. He couldn't risk losing Frankie. Not now. Not ever.
About an hour later, Frankie came to and was feeling much better after the bag of IV fluids had finished. The doctor came in and asked if Frankie was ok with Will in the room as she talked to her. "Sure" Frankie replied, "whatever virus this is, he's probably going to have it next, might as well let him find out about it now". Without missing a beat, Will said, "aww thanks boo, I appreciate your concern".
The doctor looked at Frankie and said, "Well, we know what's causing you to be so sick, but it's not the flu or food poisoning as your friend here originally thought". Frankie, puzzled, replied, "then what's going on?" The doctor smiled and said, "Congratulations, you're pregnant." Will, who just took a sip of water before the doctor's announcement, spit-sprayed it across the room as he asked, "what did you just say?" Before the doctor could answer, Frankie looked at Will and said, "I changed my mind, get out!" Will, still in shock, replied, "Are you kidding me? I'm not going anywhere!" The doctor explained to Frankie that, according to the blood work, she was at least 8 weeks pregnant and since Frankie had told her earlier that her cycle was always off, the doctor understood now how Frankie didn't suspect she was pregnant. The doctor wanted to do an ultrasound right away due to the nature of Frankie's work and some of the other lab results. "Is something wrong?" Will asked. "Not necessarily, but the ultrasound will tell us more", replied the doctor. "I'm going to give you guys a few minutes to discuss things further while I go get the ultrasound machine."
After the doctor left the room, Frankie looked at Will and said "This is all your fault!" "My fault!?" Will objected. "We were always careful." Will and Frankie went silent as they both counted back eight weeks ago. Eight weeks ago they were hiding in a storage closet in Bulgaria as they waited for a target. Will was the first to bring it up. "Eight weeks...eight weeks...eight weeks ago we were in Bulgaria, in that storage closet waiting on the target. Remember, we had to wait forever, we were off coms and one thing led to another..." "Oh yeah", Frankie said, with a smile on her face. It had happened so spontaneously. They were in that closet for so long and he looked so sexy in that tight black t-shirt. She just couldn't help herself and, even thinking back, she didn't regret her decision. That was one of her favorite times with Will. Maybe it was the thrill of possibly getting caught or just that they were so close in such tight quarters. Either way, she had felt closer than ever to Will that day.
Before they had a chance to discuss things further, the doctor opened the door and wheeled the ultrasound machine into the room. Frankie laid back on the bed, Will right by her side. As the doctor scanned her abdomen, she felt a tear run down her cheek as she heard the heartbeat for the first time. This was a moment she'd always dreamed of but thought would never come. As hard as she tried to not show emotion, the sound of her baby's heartbeat broke through any and all barriers. She then focused her attention on the doctor and asked, "Is the baby ok?" "Well", the doctor replied, "your Hcg numbers, which are the levels of pregnancy hormone, were very high and now I see why. Congratulations again - you're having twins." As the doctor pointed out each baby on the screen, Frankie could no longer hold back her tears. She broke down, overjoyed that she would get to be a mother not once, but twice. And the best part about it: she was having twins with her best friend and soul mate.
Meanwhile, Will was an emotional basket case. He grabbed Frankie's hand as the ultrasound machine turned on and his grip got tighter and tighter with each word from the doctor. His eyes were red and he was crying so hard he could barely see the screen. He loved Frankie so much and didn't think he could possibly feel any deeper love for her. However, the image of their babies on the screen proved him wrong. They had come so far over these past couple of years. He fell for her the moment he saw her in that red dress in Russia. If he was being honest with himself, he'd told himself that night he could see his future children in her eyes, but never thought it would actually happen. Even though he'd asked twice before and she said she wasn't ready, the emotion of finding out they were pregnant with twins overcame him as he blurted out, "Frankie, I have loved you from the minute your eyes met mine. I love you more now than ever before. I don't care if you want to blame me for this...I'll gladly take the blame. You are all I've ever wanted and all I'll ever need. As the mother of my children, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"
Frankie, still in shock over everything that had just transpired, looked at Will. She wanted so bad to say yes but was afraid to get caught up in the emotion of the moment. "Will, I love you too and I'm not saying no but we have a lot to talk about first." She kissed Will on the lips and he didn't argue with her stance. Frankie then turned to the doctor and asked what comes next.
The doctor told Frankie and Will both babies looked healthy and she'd follow up with them in a month. To Frankie's dismay, she told Frankie she would not be cleared for field duty until after the birth of the twins. According to the doctor, even the sound of gunfire could cause the babies to go into distress and unless Frankie could guarantee every bad guy used a silencer, then desk duty and support it would be for the remainder of her pregnancy. The doctor wiped the ultrasound gel off Frankie, printed a couple of copies of the ultrasound pictures for them, gave Frankie a prescription for anti-nausea medicine and prenatal vitamins, then excused herself once all their questions were answered.
Will braced Frankie's back as he helped her sit up straight. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him slowly. This was the happiest she'd ever been in her life and it was both an exhilarating and frightening feeling all at once. "Will, I want to talk about this and our plans for the future but I'm exhausted. Once I rest up, we'll talk. I promise. In the mean time, until we get everything worked out, I think we should wait before telling the team." "Agreed" replied Will. "But listen, I'm here and not going anywhere. I'm going to wait on you hand and foot so be prepared!" Frankie nodded and smiled. She could think of worse things to put up with.
As Will and Frankie left the infirmary and walked past Jai and Standish, Jai asked Frankie if she was feeling better. Before Frankie could answer, Susan came running up behind them bursting with excitement and hugging both of them at the same time. "Congratulations you guys! I'm soooo excited for you!" Frankie and Will both looked at Jai. Frankie lifted her eyebrow and looked at Jai like she was going to shoot him right there in his seat. "Really Jai? I know you love to bug us but c'mon already!" Jai, creeping out of his seat to add distance between him and Frankie replied "In my defense, I bugged both of you before the mission. How was I supposed to know you'd wind up in the infirmary Francesca?" Standish, not missing a beat, runs up to Will with his hand held high in the air. "Twins! You are the man, Will. High five!" "Thanks" Will says, catching Frankie's disapproving stare out of the corner of his eye, "but I can't high five that". Will, sensing they are losing control of the moment, announces to the team, "Thanks guys but we still have a lot to talk about and figure out before we go public with this so keep it under wraps please." Just then, Ray comes running around the corner. "Bro, twins! Dude, I'm so excited for you guys!-Please don't shoot me." Ray says, as Frankie reaches for her weapon. "Lucky for you, I'm now allowed to fire it while I'm pregnant." Frankie tells Ray. Ray, not thinking, looks at Will and says "In that case, any way you could keep her pregnant forever?" Will shakes his head, grabs Frankie's hand, and they leave before she has a chance to attach the silencer to the end of her weapon.