Raincheck

The Following Takes Place Approximately 27 hours after Day 5

Bill awoke to the sound of a ringing telephone. He tried to place the pillow over his ears but that didn't work. He groaned out loud and rolled heavily over to the other side of the bed. "What time is it? Sheesh! Who the hell is calling me…?" He picked up the phone and answered gruffly, "Hello?"

"Bill?" It was the voice of Karen Hayes, the Director of Homeland Security, LA.

"Oh. Karen." Bill cleared his throat, attempting to get rid of the sleep in his voice.

"Oh…I'm sorry. I woke you up. I will just call back again later…"

"No, no wait!! Karen!" Bill sat up in bed. "What is it? Is it something important?"

"Umm….actually they gave me off today and I was wondering if you…uhhh…wanted to have our date? But it's okay, really. I will call back later…"

"It's alright Karen; I've actually been up for two hours already. I was just watching a movie." Bill looked at the clock reading 11:13am, dumbfounded that he had slept so late.

"Are you sure? If it's inconvenient for you…"

"It's not. What were you thinking?" Bill stood up and started rooting through his drawers for a pair of unwrinkled pants, having no luck.

"Well my neighbor brought me over a huge tray of breakfast. She knew I'd been working for the past three days….but I can't eat it all myself."

"You can come over if you'd like." Bill threw open his closet and rubbed his eyes.

"That sounds fine," Karen tried to mask her excitement. "I can be over there in ten minutes."

Bill's eyes shot open. "Uhh….sounds good. See you in a few." He closed his phone. "Dammit." He grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and ran down the steps. He put on a pot of coffee and threw a pile of clothes from the living room into his bedroom shutting the door behind him. He practically chucked the pile of dirty dishes into the dishwasher and finished putting away the equipment he and Chloe had left all over the place.

The doorbell rang almost exactly ten minutes later. Bill opened the door and Karen stood there with a huge bag of food.

"Come in!" Bill smiled and moved the door aside so that she could step in. Karen examined Bill closely and sighed. "I DID wake you up. Why didn't you just tell me? I could have come back later!" Her face was full of guilt.

Bill chuckled. "I TOLD you it was fine. It's after eleven I shouldn't have been sleeping that late."

"Well, I don't feel comfortable barging in, I'll just…"

Bill gently grabbed Karen's arm as she turned to leave. "I could really use the company anyway."

She looked up at him, blushed slightly, and looked down at her food. Changing the subject, she held it up. "There's a little bit of everything in here!" Her tone was cheerful.

Bill led her into the kitchen and the two began eating in silence for a couple minutes before Bill broke the silence. "So…how were those debriefings?"

Karen snorted. "Horrendously boring for the most part. A lot of minor details that no one needed to know. Half of us were falling asleep."

Bill noticed the dark circles under Karen's eyes and grimaced. "Well…did they say anything about C.T.U.?"

It was Karen's turn to grimace. She swallowed her mouthful of bacon in more of a gulp. "Yes. They wanted to fire you and most of your staff. I wasn't too tired; however, to state how wonderful you and the others were, working your asses off until the last possible minute."

Bill grinned. "Hey, thanks a lot."

Karen smiled back. "It's the least I could do. After all, I did come in and spoil everything."

Bill frowned playfully. "Well…not everything. You did keep us on our toes."

"I was just doing my job!" Karen mocked defensively and took a bite of her omelet. "I can gonna be so bloated after this meal!" She groaned changing the subject again.

"Have you eaten much of anything in the past two days?" Bill asked, very concerned.

Karen laughed. "Now you sound like my mother!"

Bill stood up and sighed. "But is your mother this wonderful a cook?"

"My neighbor is so kind. Always knows when I am stressed out or sick and brings me food and flowers." Karen smiled to herself.

Bill pointed to the living room. "I have a warm couch that you can come sit on if you'd like now that we are finished our meal," he grinned playfully.

Karen sighed. "I guess this is not what you had in mind, huh? Me bringing breakfast to your house? A little informal I know."

Bill shrugged. "I don't think I can handle going out into public right now."

Karen shook her head and said with relief, "Me neither." She sat down awkwardly next to Bill who then sat up. "I have a HUGE collection of movies. We could watch one if you'd like. There is not much else to do in my house."

Karen laughed. "I'll pick one!" She got up and kneeled over the video case. "Just nothing violent." She laughed. Suddenly she grew somber and turned to Bill. "Have they found Jack yet?"

Bill shook his head and put his face in his hands. Karen walked over, kneeled in front of Bill, and put her hand on his arm. "I still feel like so much of this is my fault. If I had just listened to you two none of this would have happened. If there is anything I can do for you..."

Bill put his head up and rested his hand on hers. "Don't guilt yourself. I already told you, you did what you thought was right. And thanks for the offer of help I might need it."

Karen smiled, and looked down for a second before popping her head back up. "I picked out a movie!" She pulled it out and popped it into the DVD player. The two sat down on the couch.

About fifteen minutes later, Bill turned to say something and realized that Karen had fallen asleep. She looked so tired, so he decided not to wake her. A piece of hair from her bun had fallen out into her face. Bill sat up and stared at her sleeping face, feeling his insides melting for her, despite their knowing one another for merely days. He gently placed her hair behind her ear and she stirred slightly turning her face to meet his. Bill smiled and leaned his head back; he too was out within minutes.

Bill awoke suddenly to the sound of sirens a couple of streets away. He went to sit up when he felt something heavy on his body. He looked down to see Karen's head resting on his chest, and his arm was around her. His instinct was to wake Karen up, but he hesitated. Bill frowned, confused, but didn't move. He wanted her to stay there, snuggled close to him, despite the voices screaming in his head that it wasn't right. He turned to look at the clock, which read 4:30pm. His brain won.

"Karen?" He gently shook her shoulders and she stirred. "What? I…." Suddenly she shot up and her face turned beet red. She stood up and turned away. "Oh my goodness Bill I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Bill laughed and stood up. "It's okay. We've been asleep for about four hours. I guess we should have waited on that raincheck."

Karen's face was still beet red. She attempted to shove the loose piece of hair out of the way unsuccessfully. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep. That was inappropriate of me. I…" She rambled.

"Karen!" Bill grabbed her shoulders. "Are you always this uptight?"

She grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

"Well, settle down." He took the annoying piece of hair and stuck it behind her ear. His fingers grazed her cheek and she started to relax. "We were both just exhausted that's all. We need rest. Why don't you head home and get some real sleep this time?"

Karen nodded and sighed. She walked to the front of the house and turned to Bill. "It was still really nice connecting with you. I haven't been able to with anyone for a really long time."

"Me neither." Bill helped her into the coat.

"Well…thanks." Karen impulsively threw her arms around him and he hugged her back.

"For what?" Bill asked.

"For everything." She smiled and looked down.

Bill leveled with her. "Actually, Karen, truthfully… I really like you."

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled briefly. And then she blushed slightly again. "I really like you too, Bill."

Bill opened the door for her and she walked outside into the sunshine.

"Karen?" She stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"Can I ummm…call you again soon?"

She grinned. "Sure."