AN: So I'm on kind of a roll today, apparently. Yesterday I posted chpt. 11; then today I posted a new chapter to my second story 'What Now'. And now I'm going to hit you with this. I would love to hear what more of you have to say; let me know if you think I'm doing a decent job, or if I need to do something better somehow…I can't change my mistakes if I don't know I made them. And, thanx as always to those of you who already do.
The team had the next few days off. After some discussion as to what to do with their day, Alecta and Derek decided to have the rest of the team over. It would give everyone a better chance to get to know her; rather like ripping the band-aid off of a wound really. And she could have a chance to get to know the team on her own turf. It was actually Alecta's idea; she made the phone call that got the ball rolling on that. Her girls went shopping for supplies for the dinner, taking the children with them, to give her some time to pull herself together. Not only that, but 'the girls' usually used little outings like this to train the children to spot possible bad people a mile away. They would make a sort of game out of learning how to read people's body language and facial expressions, that way the kids wouldn't realize they what they were really doing at the time. Of course the kids were allowed to do normal kid stuff. It wasn't all training. Alecta had told JJ and Hotch to bring their kids and significant others, it would do the kids at the compound good to have a few normal friends on the outside to socialize with.
While Morgan's back was turned for just a split second, Alecta disappeared upstairs. She was happy that Derek wanted to be so helpful, but she needed a shower in the worst way before the guests arrived. She was slowly becoming friends with Derek, but they weren't friends like that. She would just have to be careful about that bum ankle.
Alecta washed her hair while she was in there. To some, the amount of times a week she spent washing her hair would seem excessive. But it helped to calm her nerves; and seeing as Derek still had yet to take down her jug of questionable origins, this was the best she could do.
Derek went looking for Alecta. He couldn't believe that she could disappear so fast on one good leg, and upstairs, too. Speaking of which he happened to catch her in her room as she came out of the bathroom limping on her one good ankle dressed only in a towel, with another wrapped around her hair.
"I've been looking all over for you!"
"Ahhhhh!" Alecta jumped and screamed. She couldn't stop shaking from the fright he gave her. "Dude, really? That was completely necessary?"
"What do you think you are doing?"
"I hadda take a shower. Would you want the team to come over with me smelling like 40 kinds of ass? I think not. "
"Why didn't you call me to help you?"
"Seriously? I've known you for what, a week, two at most? You gotta buy me a drink or two before you get to see all this,' Alecta waved a hand about indicating she was talking about her body. She sort of chuckled nervously as she went over to the dressing screen he'd seen before.
"Anyway, Hotch and the others will be here soon."
"Yeah, I know, I told him what time they should come over."
There was an alarm, somewhat like a doorbell, that sounded announcing the arrival of a guest.
"What the…"
"That's Rossi."
"Why is that old fart early? Really."
"I can let him in or whatever."
"Ummm….nah. One of the others will grab it."
Alecta busied herself pulling on a pair of holey jeans that had definitely seen better days, and a slogan tank top that said "THESE ARE NOT MY EYES" across the front. She had on undergarments that were of a deep purple color. Not that Derek had noticed, not at all. Next she combed her hair back and pulled it up into a pony tail gathered just below the crown of her head, the tail of it hung just slightly past her hips. Once she had made sure she was decently dressed she made her way to the top of the stairs; Derek was right down behind her and stopped her before she could pull her usual stunt of bouncing down the steps on her bottom. She just looked at him and took a deep breath.
"You're really going to have to stop that sometime. People are going to start talking."
"And let them. You're my friend; all I'm doing is helping you down the stairs."
"Well, now we're at the bottom."
"Morgan, the girl has crutches."
"Rossi, nice to see you. In Derek's defense I do hate those things. They kill my arms; I wind up doing more damage to myself with them than without. Where are the others?"
"They'll be along. Nice painting."
"Yeah, I love her. After everyone gets here I can give you the fifty-cent tour of the joint. But that's one of the things I only intend to do one time." At that she sort of swished her bad ankle around gingerly. "Morgan, Derek my friend, it's time to put me down now."
Rossi could only chuckle quietly. Kong came around the corner as Derek placed her on the end of the sectional sofa with the chaise offering her something to drink. It wasn't much longer before the girls and the children made it back. Emma made a b-line for her mother and hopped up on the sofa with her, leaning into Lex's left side. Sofie, meanwhile, had a smirk on her face a mile wide.
"Sofie, darling, what are you up to?"
"Nuffin mommy, but guess what."
"Do tell."
"Papa Angelov is coming!"
"Really?"
"U-huh,' Sofie was nodding emphatically.
Alecta's daughters had met Father Angelov a time or two; he was the Orthodox Patriarch that had officiated her marriage to Yuri years ago. It had been a while since she'd seen him.
"I have to make sure his cell is ready,' Alecta made to jump up off of the sofa, but was stopped by one of Kong's large hands keeping her grounded.
"Oh, Mama please, we'll see to it. Theo has already started making the necessary arrangements."
All Alecta could do was nod in agreement. Emma was still holding on to her mother's left side, quiet as usual.
"Em, what's up with you? You are normally so happy to see Papa Angelov."
"Oh mommy, I am. It's just…."
"She saw someone at the store today who worried her."
"Immogene?"
"Well, mommy, Sofie ashully saw the firs'one."
"U-huh, I did mommy. He was a little bit tall like…like…that doctor from the plane, your work friend, mommy…."
"Reid?"
"Yeah-huh, him. But he had more muscles, more like Agent Man over here. I seen a tattoo mommy, well a couple of them. Some of them were in funny letters."
Alecta's blood ran cold for just a second. "What kind of funny letters baby?"
"Like the ones on your back; like there was a funny looking K…it had too many legs on it, like one o'them spiders you showed us. And I seen a star on one of his knees…cause his pants leg had a hole in the knee like yours right here,' Sofie pointed to her own knee, 'He didn't say nuffin to me. But when I was looking at some of the candy I wanted, I seen him mommy. So I did like you told me, I acted natural. I gotsa bag of candy and went to find Immogene, and I pretended she was my mommy."
Oh God. Not today, not today. Alecta was trying so hard to not let the breakfast she didn't eat come up. She closed her eyes and concentrated really hard on slowing down her heart rate.
"Emma, tell your mommy about what you saw today."
"Uh, I don't think so, Aunt Oona. Mommy don't look like she feels good." Emma shook her head in the negative.
"It's ok baby you can tell me, Mommy will always listen to you. And where is Jazzy?"
"Oh, sorry Ma. She went to go help Theo."
"Mommy."
"Yes, Emma."
"The bad man I saw was big like Uncle Sergei. But he wasn't from the same place as Uncle Sergei. When I heard him speak to someone nearby his voice sounded funny like yours."
"What do you mean baby? Like his voice made him sound like a little boy like Josef?"
"No, Mommy. Funny like the way he says his words, like you."
"Emma, I want you and Sofie to go and get your toys from this morning picked up in the play room. It won't be long until some of my other friends from work get here and I don't want the house looking like a mess. I'll call you guys when they get here so you can meet the other kids."
"Yes Mommy. C'mon Sofie, we gotsa make the toys go night-night."
Strangely enough, Sofie didn't argue. That wasn't like her. She wasn't the kind of kid that was into house work. She was known for dragging her toys all over creation, but if she had her own money she'd pay you $50 to clean up her mess for her. The sighting today must have rattled little Miss Sofie more than she cared to admit. She was becoming as good as Alecta at trying to bury that side of her. The jury was still out on whether that was a good thing or not.
Once the two girls had gone upstairs to their room, the other kids dispersed to the courtyard to hang out a little before dinner. The 'doorbell' rang again, Mac ran to open the door finding that the rest of Alecta's team from the bureau had shown up; he let them in greeting them in his brogue and letting them know they could sit anywhere they chose.
In the meantime, Alecta had managed to get up and was wandering over by this mysterious cabinet that had grabbed Derek's attention the day before. She had hobbled over there and was standing, facing the cabinet front, with her hand braced on the desk top that accompanied the cabinet. She was deep in thought when Rossi came to her side.
"Monkey, are you Ok?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry yourself about me."
But Rossi watched her as she had jumped nearly out of her skin; the next best thing anyway, considering her injury, that and the fact that she never once made eye contact as she spoke to him.
"What funny letters do you have on your shoulders?" Morgan was genuinely curious now; did she have some kind of crazy tattoo he hadn't noticed?
Hotch and his date, Beth, both noticed the weary look in Alecta's eyes as she turned to face Morgan unsteadily.
"Um. It's only one shoulder; it's nothing really…"
"Lex."
"Old man, handle my light work, the doorbell is going off again."
"Who else could possibly be coming now? We're all here already."
"What's the matter Reid? You think she's hiding another team around the corner?"
"No, Prentiss. JJ, control 'Cat Lady' for me would you please?"
"Now, Spencer…"
"Yes, Will?"
"Girls, Girls, you're all pretty. Now calm down,' sometimes it exasperated JJ to have to be the mother hen.
"Gibbs, do come in. Tony, do I need to frisk you?" and of course the bad boy of NCIS just shot her a sly grin.
"Only if you feel up to it."
"Pervert."
"My sentiments exactly. How are you doing sister?"
"Ziva! Ooh! You missed it, we had Vindaloo last night."
"Kong cooked?"
"Dear God, no. I had to eat something you know. No Phall for me."
Abby and McGee were next to come through the door, Abby hugged her so tight.
"When are we getting new tattoos?" Abby's blue eyes were twinkling.
"Have you picked a design yet? I haven't. I haven't been able to find one that trips my trigger lately."
"How many do you have now?"
"At least five that you'd be able to see at any given time, without it being obscene, Tim,' she watched him blush a deep red from being called out. "I love that you're still you. Where's my…"
"My dear girl, I've brought my best Scotch."
"…favorite old man?" Alecta, herself, squealed with delight as she turned to see Dr. Mallard coming through the door. "Ducky, Ducky, Ducky!' she could barely contain how happy she was to see him. Alecta planted a big smooch right on his cheek and squeezed him in a moderate hug, not nearly as tight as Abby had done to her. It was suddenly apparent where Sofie must get her flare for the dramatic from. And 'Ducky' returned her hug.
"Wait a damn minute here."
"Oh, Rossi, you're tied for the spot." Alecta winked at Dave.
Hotch chuckled to Beth about the crisis that was nearly averted, 'I do believe Dave would be damned insulted if it was anyone else but her."
"And where is Director Vance?"
"Leon's coming,' Gibbs answered quickly enough.
"Good, good. It's nice for him to take a load off sometimes."
"So, 'Smurfette', if you invited Dir. Vance, why wouldn't you invite your section chief, Strauss I think I was told that was her name?"
"Well I was going to. Really I was. But my cell phone battery died before I could call her."
Prentiss snorted with laughter at that one. The girl learned quickly that was for sure.
"Can I borrow her for a second guys?"
Tony and the others made a movement of acquiescence to Morgan's request.
"Tony! UH!' Alecta couldn't believe that he had sold her out that fast.
"And to think I was going to frisk him…."
"What is it about what Sofie said earlier that has you all upset? And, more to the point, what funny letters do you have on your shoulder that she mentioned?"
A squeal of joy was heard from upstairs that was a near mimic of the one that Alecta had emitted when she first saw 'Ducky' coming through the door.
Garcia had taken Henry and Jack upstairs to get to know the other younger children. Squeals of joy could be heard from Sofie and Emma, mostly Sofie, at the sight of Aunt 'Pellelope'. And of course the three girls were totally smitten with Jack and Henry. Sofie favored Jack the most…he was more like her personality-wise. They seemed to hit it off quite quickly. And Emma and Henry paired off while she showed him her sea shells that she had gotten on her trips to the beach from when she lived in L.A. Penelope had to laugh as she made her way back to the crowd down stairs upon over hearing Emma's childlike mispronunciations of the names of the kinds of shells she had. And Pen knew that Henry was a good fit for a little friend for Emma; both of them were sort of quiet. Henry could be rambunctious once he got to know you, but he was actually a lot like both his parents in that he was somewhat of a quiet child, much like Emma. Jazzy grabbed her coloring book and crayons; she was going to color her Mommy a picture for a present. Soon enough, the twins and the two little boys joined her in her endeavor. They each colored pictures for their own parents. Once downstairs Penelope greeted the newly arrived guests as they all mingled, talking a lot to Abby about some new advancements in the computer world and to Tony about setting up a movie night double date with her and Derek and some woman of Tony's choosing.
McGee and Reid were actually talking about some books that they had read recently. Dave decided he might as well get to know his competition for the part of Alecta's favorite old man, so he and 'Ducky' were discussing a lot of things; good scotch, cigars, and stories about the good ol' days. It became quite apparent that Ducky was a great guy. He cared as much for Lex as anyone in that room.
"Rossi, old man, what do you know about her at all?' Ducky had questioned when the conversation turned to Alecta.
"Only what I learned about her when I visited her at the psych ward, that and what's in her personnel file. She doesn't talk much about anything else, at least not to me. I'm afraid I didn't keep in touch with her like I promised after our initial meeting. She contacted me a few months back, well sort of. She sent me a package of information about her impending divorce. It seemed that she was worried that her estranged husband would try to kill her and she was making sure that there were people that knew to look at him as a suspect."
"I don't know that he would have actually killed her, but I know he did something to make her think he could if the mood struck him. She sent the same information to Jethro and myself, as well as Ziva and her father, Director David."
"How does she know the director?"
"She took some assassins training for a while; she had met him through her work with her 'other' team. He wanted to help. He allowed her, as well as some of the girls to take assassins training, matter of fact he almost insisted on it. I think the old director is quite taken with her. She is a charming creature is she not?"
Rossi was watching Alecta as she laughed 'til tears came out of her eyes with Tony, 'She is that."
Tony had a big grin on his face as he chuckled about some movie trivia that he and Alecta found amusing. It made him feel good that he could make her laugh, she didn't do enough of that.
"So how does your team know her Dr. Mallard?"
"She did some security work for us a while back. Between Davis, Ziva, and Kensi Blye from our Los Angeles department I don't think many bad guys stand a chance. The three of them alone are quite dangerous, and when you put them together…I almost pity anyone that thinks they can take the three of them."
Jazzy came running down the stairs looking for Alecta.
"Lexa, Lexa."
"Yes baby?"
"I got sumfin we can send at mommy and make her feel better."
Alecta somehow managed to sit in the floor without any pain to her ankle, of course even if there was she wouldn't have complained, she would do anything for the kids. Jazzy climbed into her lap to show her the project that she had created. Just like any small child's artwork, none of the colors were in the lines and you couldn't tell what they were trying to achieve. But it didn't matter to Alecta she treated it as though it was as priceless as a Van Gogh.
"You know, I think your mommy will like it. I love the colors in it. Isn't orange your mommy's favorite color?"
"Mmm hmmm. It's why I used a lot of it. It'll make her happier faster. Lexa I fink Sofie and Emma are making you one, too. Well, they make you two."
"Ok, well don't tell me what they look like, I wanna be surprised. Now go on back upstairs and play with the others for a little while, yeah. Dinner will be ready soon enough."
"Yep. I love you Lexa."
"I love you too sweet pea."
The little girl ran back up the stairs, Tony and McGee helped Alecta up off the floor so she wouldn't have to use her ankle.
"I've gotta sit down a bit."
"Come on girl, have a seat,' Mac pulled up a chair for her to take a seat in when she got close enough.
As she closed in on the chair she could hear a voice coming from the general direction of the door.
"I don't care who you are, get out of my face. She's my best friend." The man's voice was heard yelling.
"You're not invited.' One of her friends, James stated to the man.
"You got one more chance to get out of my face before I break yours. She is my friend, I don't need an invitation."
The man on the other side of the door barged into the room, shoving James out of the way, looking around the room until he found the person he was looking for.
"Tink, you're alright!"
"K-Kevin?"
AN: So, teeny tiny bit of the x-over that I mentioned. And if anyone's been paying attention, Kevin is the guy that Alecta hasn't seen much, if at all, since she was 15; he was her best friend that she is always so nostalgic over. And now he turns up on her doorstep. And stay tuned to find out how the mystery bad guys tie in to it all.
Lemme know what ya'll think. Peace out.
