Face carefully led Stevie into the living room. She joined the other two women on the couch. Everyone seemed surprised to see one another, but it was clear they had all met before. When Face cleared his throat to get their attention, they all looked at him.
And it immediately became obvious how they all felt about him.
"Ladies, I want to thank you for being here. I should have known better than to think you all wouldn't come. I need all of your help."
The ladies stopped their momentary glances at one another to give Face their full attention. Jackie spoke first.
"You know we're all here for you honey. Whatever you need."
"Thank you again. See, an old friend came to me today. She had convinced Hannibal to help her on a case in Indonesia. He, BA, and Murdock all went to help her out. Unfortunately, they were caught."
They all sat for a moment. Then Stevie, being the boldest, asked what they all desperately wanted to know.
"Not that we all mind coming to see you, but why weren't you with them, Face?" Face hesitated. It was only a moment, but the three women all knew him well enough that it did not go unnoticed. He had stood to pace before them and as he spoke his next words, his back was to them.
"I was too busy being in the spotlight."
All three women nodded their acknowledgement of his words. All three women knew he was lying.
At that exact moment, Amy came into the living room stretching. Jackie and Lane had both met her before, but it had been quite a while. Stevie had not, but she had heard the team talk about the famous Ms. Allen.
Amy stopped in her steps seeing the three women sitting there, all staring at her. She had always felt she was on good terms with the team's clients, but in that moment she wasn't so sure. Face stepped up and decided to break the tension.
"Ladies, meet Ms. Amy Allen, the client who Hannibal and the team were helping." He stopped to face Amy, his hands carefully coming to her shoulders. Amy felt sad when he referred to her as the client. She wasn't really sure why it hurt so much. And these three beautiful women sitting in the apartment also struck a nerve with her. "How did you sleep kid?"
There was a slight grin on Amy's face. She was torn. She had slept incredibly well, all things considered. It was actually the best night of sleep she'd had since before Jason had been captured. But Face had started calling her kid again. She didn't like that. She preferred when he said her name.
"I slept fine Face, thank you." As their eyes met, there was tension in the air. Face forced himself to tear away, escorting Amy over to a chair before taking the final seat in the room.
"Ok ladies, once again thank you. I need to go save the team and finish their mission. In order to do that, however, I'm going to need some favors from you three, if you don't mind."
"What would that be, Face?" Lane spoke next. There was a small amount of tension in the room. All four women cared for Face far more than they would ever admit to his face. Face stood, facing the three women on the couch. He addressed Lane first.
"Lane, you have connections to some of the best gun smiths in Texas. I'm going to need some help from them in order to get the supplies I need first." He paused before turning to Stevie. "Stevie, I will then need to get to Indonesia. You could get me and the weapons there on the guise of preparing for you tour. You wouldn't even have to go, just send me and some supplies to 'scope out venues' or something." Finally, Face turned to Jackie, his ex-wife. That thought made him chuckle a bit. "And Jackie, you have connections to people who can get me what I need once I get there. Usually I would try to scam something up, but the guys have already been caught for a week and I need to move fast. I'm willing to spend the money; they will just need to know they can trust me. I'll need your help with that."
With his piece said, Face froze. He was watching the three women to see what they would do. It was Stevie who spoke next, but the other two seemed to agree.
"Face, could you give us a moment to chat with Ms. Allen?" Face froze.
"Ladies, I don't think that's wise. We really don't have the time and Ms. Allen has been very stressed. She is incre-"
"Sure Face, let me speak with them." Amy cut him off. Face looked down at her, incredulous. After a moment's hesitation, he turned to go to the door.
"Fine. I'll go for a walk. I'll be back in about 20 minutes." Face tore the door open and strolled out. He really didn't have time for this. He pulled the door closed behind his back. He was cautious, all things considered. Having these four famous women come to his apartment suddenly made him very aware of what he was doing. He turned and decided he should make a quick pass to see if everything was alright.
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Back in the Apartment
All four women suddenly had large grins on their faces.
"Wow, I've never seen him look so flustered." Lane said, smiling over at Amy.
"I have once." Jackie said, offering a knowing smile at Amy who just laughed back. The laughter caused the other two women to look at her. Amy decided to explain.
"Stevie, Lane, Face had to marry Jackie during the case in order to execute Hannibal's plan and get us out safely. That has to be the most nervous I have ever seen or heard him. We had to remind him of his lines during the ceremony."
At her words, all three women on the couch froze, their smiles falling. They all thought back to their recent conversations on the phone with Face and one thought filled all their minds. 'it was not the most nervous I've ever heard him.' Amy noticed their somber mood swing.
"What?" Stevie went next.
"Amy, can you tell us why Face didn't go on the mission with Hannibal and the guys? Don't they usually do everything as a team?"
"Yeah, he said something about being too caught up in the spotlight. Now I know that Face is a show off. Heck, all of us know how much he loves the limelight. But come on honey, he would drop everything in a heartbeat for those guys. We all know that." Jackie added her part. Suddenly Amy felt her bright mood fall.
"I'm not sure to tell the truth. But it seems to have come back to bite them in the end." Amy thought back to her conversation with Face. The look in his eyes, his treatment of her since she told him about Jason. She knew. She would never tell him, but she knew. And she knew he wasn't wrong. She had spent a great deal of time wondering if she and Jason were right.
After a few moments of silence, the ladies returned to the conversation. They talked about helping Face and made their decisions.
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Face returned to the apartment. During his stroll outside, he had noticed a blue sedan that was new. He'd made a point to know all of the vehicles around the apartment. Sure, it could be someone's new ride, but with so much riding on his actions, Face wasn't going to take the chance. He'd keep an eye on it and get the women out of his place a different way.
As he strolled into the apartment, he heard laughter. Walking into the living room, he saw the smiles on all four faces and felt his own mood brighten. That was until he heard what they were talking about.
"-and then Face, well he…" Amy trailed off, looking up to see Face had returned to the room. The other three women launched into a new bought of laughter and Face gave Amy a pointed look. She only smiled in return and offered her half-hearted apology. "Sorry Face, we were just sharing stories."
Face let out a sigh before lowering himself into his seat.
"Its alright. I'm glad to see everyone smiling. That is much better than I had hoped for today." He felt his shoulders drop. He suddenly realized how tired he really was. And there was a lot riding on him. His own life would soon be. As would the careers of these women if they helped him. The team was relying on him. More than that, Amy's happiness was relying on his success. It was a lot.
But things never stayed that simple.
The three women rise to their feet. Amy stood and went over to join them.
"Face, we'll help you…"
Face jumped to his feet, ready to give each a hug to say thank you. Their looks stopped him, however. He knew what was coming next before they even said it. He put on a serious look.
"No."
"You don't even know what we're going to say."
"Yes, I do. I know all of you and the answer is no."
"But Face."
"Come on Templeton."
"Why not?"
"But you need our help."
Face stood, frozen. Four women. All teaming up on him. All wanting the same thing. Seeing the looks in their faces, Face froze. He felt defeated once again. He knew he couldn't refuse. But he also knew there was no way he could agree to put these four women, all of whom he cared for deeply in some way, into that sort of trouble. Letting out his defeated sigh, Face went on.
"Fine, you can all come." There was a short lived cheer before they wilted under his stern glare. "But none of you, I repeat, NONE of you are allowed to help in anything I deem even remotely dangerous once we get over there, agreed?"
There was pouting from each woman before they finally nodded their agreement. Suddenly their smiles were back and all four moved toward the kitchen and phone to begin making arrangements. Face moved down the hallway sullenly to begin packing.
"I've already put enough people I care about in danger. I don't need it to happen to any of you." Face muttered to himself as he moved down the hallway.
He didn't hear someone following him down.
