Author's note: This is au ('cause everyone else was having so much fun with them and I felt left out). It diverges with our reality sometime in 2003 but takes place sometime in 2004.
Disclaimers: Not mine, just my reality.
John McBain scanned the bar as his brother led him in, instinctually checking for exits and anything overtly suspicious before allowing himself to fully absorb the atmosphere of the place. It was full but not overcrowded, the patrons a mixture of families seated at the tables and twenty to thirty somethings clustered around the bar. Michael directed them towards the bar and ordered a couple of beers.
"Who's the new girl?" the bartender, a pretty redhead asked dryly. "You cheating on Marcie already?" Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. She was out of context somehow.
"Very funny," Michael said with a fake laugh, "don't let the long hair fool you. This is my brother John."
"The FBI agent?" she asked, studying John's face more carefully.
"Only brother I've got," Michael said, "John, this is Natalie Vega." He forced himself not to react to her last name as it hit him where he'd seen her before. As he nodded in acknowledgment he tried to recall the contents of her file, but he'd looked through so many in preparation for this assignment he couldn't quite sort her out from the group.
Natalie held her hands up in mock surrender and said, "And whatever crime you're investigating I didn't do it."
"Good to know," he said smiling slightly, "it would seriously hurt your tip if I had to arrest you." She smiled back at him for a second before turning back to her work.
"You know, Natalie grew up in AC too," Michael said as she handed them their beers.
"Really?" John asked trying to sound surprised as the details of her file began to come back to him.
"What brings you to Llanview?" she asked handing them their beers.
"What brought you?" he shot back, leaning slightly forward and propping himself up on the bar with his elbows.
"Family stuff," she said vaguely and he sensed that whatever the details were they weren't all happy ones, "long story." Her eyes locked suddenly with his and he really looked at them for the first time. They were a soft baby blue—veiled somehow as though she were trying to bury some hurt in their depths.
"There's Marcie," Michael said jerking his arm as Natalie's eyes fluttered away. As they wove their way through the crowd Michael asked, "Were you just flirting with Natalie?"
"I don't flirt," he said, "You know that."
"I do," Michael said, "and you should start. But not with Natalie. She's very married. To a guy that's a heck of a lot better looking than you."
Michael led him over to a petite, heavyset redhead, "John, this is Marcie. Marcie, this is my good for nothing brother."
"Nice to meet you," Marcie said shaking his hand with a laugh, "Michael's told me a lot about you."
"Well I hope you didn't believe it all," John said self-consciously.
"Oh it was all good things," Marcie assured him, "well mostly."
"He has nothing but good things to say about you," he told her, "seriously, you should hear the way he goes on and on-"
"In the two times you've called in the last year," Michael said.
"Hey look there's an open table," Marcie said saving John from having to come up with an excuse for not calling more often.
He sat at the table with Michael and Marcie nursing his beer and two more trying to seem interested as Michael talked about patients and Marcie babbled on excitedly about a murder mystery she was writing. He scanned the bar periodically for familiar faces and anything out of the ordinary, but his eyes kept wandering back to Natalie Vega. What was it about her that was bothering him? He knew from experience not to ignore the instincts that were setting off his alarms, but he couldn't figure out what it meant.
"I'd love it if you could read over it," Marcie said to him, drawing his attention back to the table.
"What?" he asked.
"My manuscript," she said, "If you have a chance I mean, I'm sure you're busy. But it's a murder mystery and you've probably worked a lot of them."
"Marcie," Michael interrupted. John knew from the concern on Michael's face that he was worried thoughts of murder cases would bring up memories of Caitlyn.
"Drop it off sometime," John told her casting Michael a reassuring glance, "I'll try to take a look."
He saw a young man with sandy hair burst through the door and strut towards the bar. When he got there he leaned over the counter and said, "Hey there, gorgeous!"
Natalie flushed as she turned to him and said with a grin, "Hey Paul!"
"That her husband?" John asked nodding towards the bar.
Michael laughed. "Hardly. That's just Paul Cramer—general good-for-nothing."
"I'm surprised she puts up with him," Marcie said, "but then again this is Natalie we're talking about."
John looked at her, surprised by the disparaging comment. "I take it you two aren't friends."
"Not really," Marcie said.
"There's been some bad blood between Natalie and Marcie's best friend Jen," Michael explained.
"Ah," John nodded, not really interested in the details. He watched Natalie with this Paul character; the guy was definitely flirting. Natalie seemed a little embarrassed by the attention, but not bothered by it.
"Well I hate to cut the evening short," Michael said putting down an empty beer bottle, "but I have a sixteen hour shift tomorrow. So I'm gonna go settle up."
"No, no," John said motioning for Michael to sit back down, "tonight's on me."
"Really?" Michael asked laughing in surprise.
"Yeah," he said as he killed his last beer, stood up and made his way to the bar.
"Another one?" Natalie asked with a smile, turning away from Paul.
"Nah," he said, "just need to settle the tab for myself and Mikey."
She raised an eyebrow. "You know he's a doctor?"
"Yeah," he said not sure what she was getting at.
"And you're on a government salary," she said, "I'm just saying, he should be buying your beer."
"Yeah well I'm just sucking up to him so I can get him to pay for my next vacation," he said with a smirk.
"Fattening him up for the kill," she said nodding keeping a serious expression on her face a moment longer, "I like that." A smile broke across her face and she laughed. To his surprise he noticed something about her laugh was very appealing. Her eyes met his for a moment and something in his expression made her bristle suddenly. "I'll ring this up," she said walking towards the cash register with his credit card.
John sat on the hotel bed with the accordion file that had all the folders related to this case in it. He pulled out Natalie's file and spread the contents in front of him on the bed. Now that he'd refreshed his memory he remembered her story—Natalie Vega née Buchanan aka Natalie Balsom. The long lost heiress kidnapped in infancy who had returned to her biological family only a few years ago. There was an annulled marriage from right around that time and a few run ins with the law but nothing serious. A little over a year ago she'd started playing competitive pool and unexpectedly won several tournaments before suddenly dropping out of competition all together. She'd married Cristian Vega, the artist from the wrong side of town, right after that. There didn't seem to have been any family objections despite the class difference.
Flipping through the file he reminded himself how limited the information in these folders was. They wouldn't tell him half as much about her as one carefully worded conversation could.
He doubted she was his Santi connection, but she might know something. She was quick and if she had overheard or seen anything unusual he expected she was the type to take note of it and file it away for future reference. She could also provide introductions to other members of the family who he needed to meet. He made a note in his file indicating when and where he'd met her and decided to stop in at that bar the next afternoon before the dinner crowd arrived in the hopes of finding an opportunity to talk with her more extensively.
Carefully he put the files away before lying back on the bed. He wouldn't sleep. Not much. He never did these days. But sometimes lying there in the dark, avoiding dreams helped him think through the random ends of a case and work them all together.
Across town Natalie stepped out of the bathroom and looked sadly at her bed. Cristian had been asleep when she came in and she had no doubts about how he had worn himself out. He'd stirred briefly when she came in and murmured a hello before rolling over and going back to sleep. This wasn't what she'd expected marriage to turn into, especially not so soon.
The hot shower had eased the backache she always got from working a long shift but done nothing for her aching feet. A sudden surge of resentment towards her husband surged through her; she could have been living comfortably off her family inheritance, but Cristian's pride wouldn't allow it. For some reason though, his pride had no such problem with her pulling double shifts to finance his art career. And he couldn't even be bothered to wake up and welcome her home.
Paul wouldn't ignore her like this. The thought came into her head unbidden and she tried to push it away. Paul wasn't Cristian. But sometimes the attention he gave her could make her feel the way Cristian used to. Hell, Michael's brother joking around with her at Rodi's tonight had brought her closer to feeling that way than Cristian had in months.
A sense of determination came over her; Cristian was still her husband and even if he didn't act like it half the time she wasn't above reminding him. She slipped her robe off her shoulders and climbed into bed next to him. Running a hand slowly over his bare chest she leaned over him and kissed him gently, but insistently. Cristian returned her kiss almost immediately and even before he was awake entirely his hands moved to her back, pulling her body against his.
Late the next morning John wandered into the diner near the hotel which his notes told him was run by Carlotta Vega. Apparently he'd missed the weekday morning breakfast crowd and there were only a few people scattered around the place. He wandered up to the counter to get a cup of coffee and was surprised when the woman behind the counter turned around. It was Natalie. "Well if it isn't Special Agent McBain," she said brightly.
"John," he said, "please."
She pretended to think about this for a minute before saying, "Nah. I gave up calling my customers Johns a long time ago." Then she quickly laughed and said, "Kidding. Guess I really shouldn't joke like that with law enforcement."
He shook his head and smiled. "Most of us have a sense of humor. Kinda necessary on the job sometimes. Speaking of which—you work here too?"
"No," she said, "just helping out. My mother-in-law owns this place. What can I get for you, by the way?"
"Just a coffee," he said.
"Here or to go?" she asked.
He thought about it. Part of him thought he should take the coffee and go back to his notes since Mrs. Vega didn't appear to be here, but talking to Natalie instead could be just as beneficial. "Here," he said.
As she poured the coffee she said, "So… I don't suppose I could get you to tell me why you're really in town?"
"Told you," he said taking the cup, "visiting my brother Mike."
"For how long?" she asked.
"Haven't decided yet."
"And the FBI's that liberal with their leave policy?" she asked. If she hadn't just put him in an awkward position he'd have been impressed. She was clever. She wasn't going to blindly accept anything he told her. He needed a better story.
"Don't say anything to Michael," he said dropping his voice, "it wasn't a voluntary vacation. I… kinda lost it on a suspect a couple weeks ago and wound up getting suspended."
"Sorry," she said seeming to accept the story. She looked like she was about to ask something else though but stopped suddenly looking in the direction of the door. He turned to see a tall Latino guy he recognized from his files as Cristian Vega walking through the door, seemingly in a hurry.
"Hey Baby!" Natalie said in a tone that was more anxious than affectionate.
"Hey," he said, "you heard from Mami?"
"She called a little while ago to say Jamie wasn't any better and she probably wouldn't make it in but that she had someone to cover the lunch shift," Natalie said.
Cristian nodded. "Good. You gonna be okay here? I really need to get down to the studio for a while."
John could tell instantly that something about her husband going to the studio upset her, but Cristian didn't seem to notice. "Yeah," she fumbled, "I'll be fine"
"Good," he said leaning over the counter to kiss her lightly on the cheek before hurrying back out the door.
Natalie watched him go biting her lower lip. For a moment she looked like she was on the verge of tears but she quickly busied herself with wiping down the counter. "That your husband?" John asked.
"Yeah," she said, sounding less than pleased with that fact.
"He seems like a nice guy," he said, feeling like he needed to say something.
Natalie snorted. "Seems that way, doesn't he? You'd never guess he was sleeping with my twin sister."
"He what?" he asked certain because of her casual demeanor that this must be some sort of joke he was missing.
She leaned forward with a conspiratorial manner, "Don't say anything though. I'm not supposed to know." He stared at his coffee, unsure how he could possibly respond. As it turned out no response was necessary, she kept talking. "It's not like I shouldn't have expected it. He was with someone else when I met him. When we realized we had feelings for each other. You know what they say—if he cheats with you he'll cheat on you."
"I imagine things like that are a lot easier to believe in the abstract than about someone you actually have feelings for," he said. He'd meant to say 'someone you love' but this couldn't really be love, someone who really loved you couldn't turn their head suddenly to someone else, could they?
"True," Natalie said wistfully. "But really it's Jessica that just kills me. I mean she's my sister. My twin. Shouldn't there be some kind of loyalty there?"
"I would think so," he said.
"You know he's the second guy to pick me over her?" she asked. He didn't respond; it was clearly the type of question she didn't expect answered and he didn't know what to say anyhow.
"The first one was my fault," she continued. "Seth. I told him to pretend he had feelings for her and somewhere along the way he stopped pretending. It's a rotten thing to do to your sister, I know, but I didn't know she was my sister." She paused and looked at him realizing she probably wasn't making much sense. "Long story," she said apologetically, "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
He knew, but he couldn't very well tell her that people had a habit of telling him things they didn't mean to. That it was his job to get them to do so and that he was good at it. "Maybe you just needed someone to talk to," he offered. For the first time since he was a rookie he felt a twinge of guilt for lying to her. That was strange.
Natalie flushed. "Well anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear all this."
"I don't mind," he said giving her a slight smile. "Sometimes it's nice to know I'm not the only one with problems."
"So you beat up a suspect?" she asked.
"Yeah," he sighed formulating the details of the lie in case she asked, "it was stupid."
"You want stupid?" she asked with a laugh. "I pushed them together. Jess was going through a tough time. Her boyfriend, Cristian's brother, well not Cristian's brother as it turns out… See Antonio found out that his mother was actually his aunt and his real father was this Puerto Rican drug lord named Manuel Santi—I guess maybe you've heard of him?"
He hid his interest, hoping she would continue this line of discussion. "I've heard of him."
"Well Antonio just flipped out and went into this 'I am Manuel Santi Jr. thing,' quit his job, and pushed away everyone who cared about him, including Jessica and she was just destroyed. And she and Cristian have known each other for a long time… They dated in high school. First love kinda thing. God, you'd think I would have seen this coming. But no, I told Cristian he should be there for Jessica. Pushed him to spend more time with her. Then I came home from work early one day… They were asleep, never knew I was there."
John reached foreword and touched her hand. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard."
"We're newlyweds," she said numbly, "we haven't even been married a year. How could he…? In my own bed." Angrily she wiped away a tear. "I always thought if a guy did that to me I'd just leave. No waiting for explanations, no second chances… I mean you must think I'm an idiot."
"No, I don't," he assured her, "these kinda things are complicated. It's never that cut and dry."
Natalie shook her head. She was about to say something else but the door swung open with a chiming of bells and she moved quickly away from him as a woman walked in. "Hey Gina," she called out.
"Carlotta called me," Gina said, "I told her I could cover the lunch shift. I can take over from here if you need to leave."
"Yeah," she said wiping her eyes one more time, "thanks." Hastily taking off her apron while avoiding making eye contact with him Natalie said softly, "Thanks for listening."
"Anytime," he assured her.
"See you around," she called as she hurried out of the diner.
To be continued.