Think Again
By KNS
Disclaimer: Still not mine. If you recognize it, it doesn't belong to me.
Ethan came down the stairs smiling. He saw Fiona standing behind the half-fence in front of the Charger. She was mixing something in a glass bowl, and it must've been corrosive because she was wearing gloves and mixing very carefully.
"I'm on my way out, Mrs. Westen," Ethan told her. "I just wanted to say thanks for what you did – for my sister, and for me."
"No problem," Fiona replied easily. She smiled at him over her shoulder. "I would shake your hand, but I'm kinda busy here."
He nodded. "Of course. Well, thanks again." He was almost to the gates when Fiona called him.
"Come back for a minute," she said, waiving him back over. She set down the bowl, went to lean against the Charger. "I heard what you and Michael were talking about upstairs. About joining the CIA."
Ethan looked up the stairs, then back to her. "Yeah. I'm seriously considering it."
Fiona smiled a little, looked at the ground, back to him. "Michael's almost as bad as one of those recruiters. Mysterious trips around the world, gathering information essential for national security, a true patriot who selflessly works for the greater good of the country, sometimes doing something a little bad to help the greater good." She looked up at the sky and laughed a little bitterly. "Let me tell you the other half of the job. Your sister? You'll love her just as much, but you'll start walling yourself off from her: things you can't tell her, things you won't want to. And you'll start to think of other people as assets, tools to accomplish a goal. You'll change your identity like you change your clothes."
She shook her head. "And even if, one day, you find someone you might really care for, might really love – it won't matter, because you'll already be addicted to the lifestyle. And even the one you love, whether it be your sister, lover, or anyone else – they'll still be, in the very back of your mind, just another asset."
Ethan looked at her as if he didn't know whether to believe her or call her a liar.
Fiona recognized that look. She shrugged and went back behind the fence, started stirring again. "Just think, I mean, really think about it, before you make that choice." Briefly she glanced at him. "And, by the way, my name isn't 'Mrs. Westen.'"
Ethan waited a minute, started to say something, changed his mind. "I'll think about it. Thanks."
This time, when he walked away, she didn't stop him. But she did look up at the loft, found Michael there, leaning on the railing, watching her.
"Tell me I'm wrong," she challenged, looking up at him.
Michael just turned away, went back inside.
Fiona went back to her stirring, added another component to the mix. "That's what I thought," she said quietly.
[end]
