As if Jess and Colin didn't have enough issues...Here's Chapter 10. Read it, feel it, sense it, enjoy it!!!
Fairfax, Virginia.
"Michael!" Chloe exclaimed as she hugged him. "I missed you; you don't know how it's been."
"I can guess. Did you come on your own?"
"No, they're scared you might be a target."
"Is Jess here?"
"No, I heard she got arrested. Nothing big though." She bit her lip. "I'm really sorry."
"It's not your fault. Where'd you wanna go first?"
"We can't. There's an FBI escort; home or office?"
"Where's Dad?"
"Back in there."
"Home. I wanna see Josh anyway, and Mom too. Did you take care of her?"
"The best I could…no actually. What's it like in there?"
"Strict. But it's over now."
Washington, D.C.
Sweat beads glistened on Pollock's forehead, for the first time in months the bullpen was occupied by only him, Jess and Antonio. There was a great deal of interdepartmental work done in her absence, to fill the void and handle the workload. Understandably, Pollock was annoyed at her absence.
"I told Scott to come in ASAP."
"Nicole doesn't work for you anymore sir." Jess remarked, still reeling from the arrest.
"She's on leave; unpaid leave as of now. So, Rico Suavez, inform her of that."
"She's not tempted by money; that's the least of her worries." Antonio replied, enjoying every moment Pollock suffered because of the union he fought so hard to put asunder. "And she's not coming back until she's ready, if ever, so we need a bigger team…sir."
"My son was released from Fairfax Detention Center this morning, that means Mark 9 may make contact and I don't have to tell you what that means for Washington."
"Why can't the Department of Defence take care of it? We don't specialise in terrorism." Jess queried, already knowing the answer.
"Because it's big; if we take down Mark 9…"
"We?" Antonio cut him off. "
"Watch it Cortez. This is not the morning to mess with me."
"This is your mess."
"So you want out? Give up and go home."
"I won't give you the satisfaction. This is your fault, so wear it, and let us do our jobs."
Jess tried to mollify the situation. "Sir maybe being involved isn't the best route to follow. You could use this time to attend to other matters. Personal matters."
Nicole appeared unexpectedly. "Did I break up the love fest?"
Pollock smiled. "You're right on time."
She turned to Antonio. "You didn't tell him?"
"Tell him what?" Jess asked.
"I'm consulting."
"Where?" Pollock asked.
"Here; I work the hours, you pay me pro-rata. No commitment. Acting A.D. Ephraim authorised it. That way I can take care of things and not get too bored."
"Mark 9; in or out?" Pollock asked as Nicole sat down and flicked through a few files.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt...but this is Jess' ship, let her steer it."
"Since Michael's release there have been several attempts to contact him that he doesn't know of." Pollock informed them.
"So where do we start?" Jess asked, disturbed by Nicole's subdued nature.
"We start on what we already have; finding out just what the Xilon-P42-HCL does, can do and why it was created in the first place." Antonio said, annoyed at Pollock's hypocrisy.
"Or, you can tell us what you were doing at Martha's Vineyard that weekend; because that's what kicked this off." Nicole suggested, expecting an explosion.
"Fine. You may have heard rumours about my alleged promotion to Deputy Director of the FBI. They're true. My replacement, however, is a controversial subject."
"Who will it be sir?" Jess asked.
"Finley Sears."
"Get out." Nicole exclaimed. "That bitch is still kicking?"
"And more Agent."
"How'd you know her?" Jess asked.
"My second post in West Virginia; she's as crooked as they come yet she's never been formally charged for embezzlement, fraud, blackmail, aggravated assault, criminal threats…"
"Well she's a hot candidate." Pollock replied.
"Hot enough to bring Mark 9 out of the water. So that's what the Martha's Vineyard trip was all about; the big shots handpicking the D.C.'s next A.D.?" Nicole inquired.
"Yes." Pollock admitted.
"This makes more sense to me by the minute. You didn't vote for her; deciding vote sir?"
"Something like that, Scott."
"And then she turned on you. Somehow she found out, because she has a way of knowing everything, and she couldn't let you do that so she blackmailed you. There are five Xilon-P42-HCL wireless servers in the world, a military creation, and she used one to track what Michael was doing then turned it over to Internal Affairs."
"So she's either working with terrorists or on her own but either way she's against you." Antonio concluded. "Just how dirty would you let our hands get before disclosing this information?"
"It's confidential." Pollock stated.
"It's illegal. We should know what we're getting into especially if it's just to save your ass."
"Antonio," Jess tried to calm him down.
"Culpam poena premit comes, my ass. You're a criminal. What's your punishment?"
"The life I'm living Agent, are you done with the hissyfit so we can focus?"
"There's one thing I don't understand." Jess interrupted. "Has Michael been communicicating with Mark 9 or Finley Sears? Is this terrorism or framing?"
"Let's not wait 'til the first bomb blast to find out sir." Nicole sided with Jess.
"I know who can help us decide; Adelpha."
A day later,
Zenith High School, Somerset, Maryland
"Fuck you." Jaleel replied, after Michael asked him to persuade Adelpha to help the team. "Every time I do something for you; it's my ass that gets blamed for it. You know they just started letting me come to the house. I'm not blowing that for you."
"Come on J, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't serious. If Adelpha tells Jess all about it…"
"She won't even tell me about it and I stopped asking. So should you."
"If you think what happened to her is bad; that's nothing compared to what will happen if she doesn't say anything. I know I messed up but you're the only one who can convince her to do the right thing. Don't let what I did stop you.
Waldorf, Maryland
"Ma," Nicole called as she let herself and Antonio in.
"Mom, we got groceries." They heard a groan coming from the bedroom.
"Mom, are you okay?" Nicole asked as she opened the door. Nina was lying on the floor holding her stomach, cursing and crying simultaneously. She helped her up onto the bed and her hand was warm and clammy. "You should've called me."
"I couldn't reach," Nina moaned.
"You're burning up. It must be the combination."
"I can't take it Nikki."
"You can, just wait it out." Nicole ran a flannel under some cold water for the fever and put in on her head. "I'll make you something to eat,"
"I can't."
"Come on Ma, you have to."
"Are you staying?"
Nicole thought of Pollock and Jess at the office and hesitated. "Of course…of course we are. And we'll eat together, okay?"
Nina groaned again at the pain in her stomach. "How did it get like this?"
"Shh, everything's gonna be okay. I'll put on the air con." Nicole exhaled and joined Antonio in the kitchen, "we're staying; for lunch at least."
"Fine by me. Energy-rich and nutritious, right?"
"Right." She sat on a black diner stool by the counter as he cooked.
"What's up?"
"I hate to see her suffer like that."
"Nic, this is just a part of it. Side effects are a bitch but she still has to take them, all of them, when she's supposed to."
"I know. That doesn't make it easier."
"You're doing all you can do right now and she appreciates it." He lowered his voice. "Have you spoken to her about it?"
"No, I can't ask her that. I've tried too many times but I think it's just too much."
"Someone out there needs to know, and every person after that. You have to admit; it might have not been this bad if she acted sooner."
"I know that, but she didn't, and that's moot."
"It's not moot. She knew she had the virus when you found her again but it's only in the last year that she actually started treating it; just because she had the flu. It's not fair to the person or people out there, not to know her status."
"That's her decision; hate it or love it. If it was up to me she'd tell them but it's not. Okay?"
He kissed her. "Okay. You're the most selfish and selfless person I know."
"You're lucky you can cook."
Washington, D.C.
Jess just got off the phone with Doug when a white collar agent brought Adelpha and Jaleel into her office.
She cut to the chase. "Are you ready to talk?"
"I think so." Adelpha replied.
"Okay, Jaleel there's a cafeteria down the hall to your left."
"I want him to stay."
"Okay."
Pollock walked past and caught a glimpse of Jess working her magic. Michael had been home for days but they had avoided each other religiously. In a way, he was afraid of his own son; afraid that in Michael he might see a truth about himself that was too hard to digest. Janice had that look in her eyes; the look of something being worn away inside her. It was her will to try. He put his hands in his pockets and secluded himself in his office.
Jess let Adelpha and Jaleel leave after an hour and was incensed by what she had surmised. She stormed through the foyer of Department of Defence and interrupted the meeting in his office.
"You bastard." She exclaimed, much to the entertainment of the Agent who was leaving.
"You used me to infiltrate the FBI. You used me. Again."
"I never used you before Jess."
"Shut up. You kidnapped Adelpha and let me run around trying to find her when you know where she was all along."
"I was doing my job, doing whatever it took to get the information."
"Just shut up!" She yelled. "I'm tired of hearing you justify everything with some bullshit rational reason. You never told me you transferred from DOJ to DoD or that you're working on the Mark 9 case here or that your punk ass can't tell the truth to save your life. That bitch of a girlfriend,"
"…is the mother of my son so watch what you call her."
"What are you gonna do Colin? Spank me? No, you'd rather give me flowers, pacify me, and send me stuffed animals and post-it notes until I do what you want. You make me sick."
"You need to grow up. Losing it left you in a cell last time."
"She provoked me."
"You attacked her. Jess why are you acting like you lost out? I was the one who was never good enough for you."
"That's not true."
"That's how it felt and your friends never let me forget it either. Then that Jude Law guy would come around and you'd act like you were in Junior High. What was that about?"
"It was a crush; I never fell for Jack like you fell for her."
"I fell for her because she let me chase her." Jess fell silent. "If you're so mad about the case; beat us to the punch."