Disclaimer: The things you own end up owning you. Except Rei, who belongs to C.L. Curtis. (Damn it all! Damn it!)
Dedication: I dedicate this whole chapter to me, for my hard work. Plus, I haven't ever gotten a dedication before! Nah, I'm just kidding. Actually, this is dedicated to C.L.Curtis (aka Chrysti) and Mel, who ROCK. Thanks guys, love ya always!
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Later that evening, while Sands was downing his eighth bottle of water and Trillian was (still) simmering pork butt on the stove, the crunch of gravel was heard outside, and Sands looked up, startled.
"Chill out." Trillian said, walking to the front door and throwing it open. She found herself face-to-face with Rei. She was stunningly beautiful, which made Trillian feel even more insignificant. She smiled painfully, and stepped back.
"Come in." She said, motioning for her to come inside. She noticed the little girl holding Rei's hand, whom she assumed was Catalina.
"Hello, honey!" She said, kneeling down to get a better look at the small child. She appeared about five, with very...blonde...hair. Trillian found that strange, but she just smiled.
"You're pretty." Lina said, giggling.
"Oh, uh, thank you!" Trillian said, smiling faintly at the compliment.
"Agent Sands." She said, standing back up and facing Aurelia.
"Yeah?" She heard from the other room.
"No, not you." Trillian clarified, smiling.
Rei offered a small smile, and when she spoke, Trillian received her second shock. Her voice was surprisingly soft, and upon closer inspection, Trillian could tell that she had been crying.
"I should probably leave Lina here.." She said, motioning to the small child.
"Oh, uh...you can't tell, I mean, he's wearing dark sunglasses." Trillian explained quietly.
Rei nodded, and let go of her daughter's hand to push past Trillian into the other room.
"Jeffey?" she asked in the same small voice.
Sands' head jerked in the direction of Rei's voice, and he smiled faintly.
"Hey, Rei." He said, his voice lacking its usual bite.
Sands stood up, although it looked painful. Rei bit her lip, as a fresh wave of tears poured down her cheeks. She crossed the room slowly, coming to a stop about a foot in front of him. She pushed the hair back from his face gently, before wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight embrace.
Sands returned the hug, feeling Rei's tears against his face.
"It's okay." He said reassuringly, soothingly. "It's okay."
Trillian shifted uncomfortably, glancing impulsively at Rei's left hand...she saw the glint of gold on her wedding band. She looked down and saw Catalina, who was looking curiously up at her.
"Why is Mummy crying?" She asked, tugging at Trillian's shirt.
"I...she...I don't know, sweetie." She said, tucking Lina's long, blonde hair behind her ear. She turned her gaze back to Sands and Rei, who were still embracing each other. Rei's sobs were muffled against Sands' chest, and Sands' expression was unreadable, though she thought she saw a hint of remorse. Or was it sadness?
Sands ran his hand through Rei's long, dark hair, whispering encouragingly.
"Don't worry about me, Aurelia. I'm okay." He said, smiling faintly.
Rei stood back slightly, to look into what were once his eyes. All she could see were dark, unfriendly glasses. She remembered that they were once the eyes that comforted her when their mother died. She had been only fifteen, he nineteen, and yet he became her only guardian. It seemed ironic, that she would now be the guardian over him.
She tried to smile back impulsively, before it occurred to her that he would not be able to see. Not now, not ever. She took his hand in hers, and placed it gently on her own cheek, and was unable to stop the new tears.
"Oh, come on...don't go all soft on me." He said, still smiling. He found himself feeling a way toward her that he had yet to feel in over fifteen years...a closeness that was shattered by his joining of the CIA. He wasn't Jeffrey anymore...he became Agent Sands. He grew a shell, something that the real him couldn't even begin to show through. It pained him beyond reason to watch her go through the same thing, only four years later.
Rei gave a short laugh through her tears, pushing Sands away playfully.
"Oh, you're loving every minute of it, and you know it." She said, brushing away her tears.
"You caught me." Sands said raising his hands, before brushing them off on his pants.
Trillian, for the first time, realized how comical he looked, with one pant leg cut off, and his dark glasses.
Lina began to get impatient, and wandered away.
"Where are you going?" Trillian asked, following her. The child went through the patio door, seeing the play set that Mona had for the kids, and scurrying over.
Lina played on the swing set for a good ten minutes before Rei led Sands outside, sitting him at the table across from her. They talked softly, and Trillian didn't listen to what they were saying. She did, however, note the way that Sands seemed distracted by something...but she had no way of knowing what.
Eventually Trillian joined them at the table, sitting next to Sands, perhaps farther away than she originally would have.
Rei looked over at her, and smiled.
"What, you allergic to him?" She asked, laughing slightly.
"Uh...no." Trillian said, scooting in a bit with an apologetic smile.
"What?" Sands asked, confused.
"Never mind." Rei said to him, taking his hand again.
Trillian couldn't help but feel excluded from the 'affection displays'. She had saved him, right? Where was the love?
It was beginning to get dark before Trillian was nagged with a question:
"Do you and Lina plan on staying here tonight?" She asked Rei, nodding to the child on the swing set.
Rei looked surprised at the suggestion, before promptly shaking her head.
"I looked into a motel about fifteen minutes away," she responded.
Sands immediately jerked to attention.
"Hell no!" He said, then flinched when he heard Lina giggle madly from across the patio.
"What?" Rei asked, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
"You want to stay at a motel?" Sands said disbelievingly.
"Yuh-huh." Rei said, although it were perfectly obvious.
"In Mexico."
Rei looked at Trillian although it were some kind of test.
"You're both welcome to stay here...my sister, she..." Trillian began, then stopped.
Mona. Mona was supposed to come back today, she thought, her heart sinking.
"...Has extra bedrooms." She finished, figuring her sister had decided to stay at Sydney's house again. It was typical, of course, for her to leave her house unattended forever...
Rei looked at Lina, then Sands, and back to Trillian.
"Okay. We'll stay here tonight." She said, nodding.
"Okay. I'll stay in the guest bedroom, you and Sa--uh, Jeffrey can share the master, Lina can take the kid's room." Trillian said.
Rei coughed, and Sands burst out laughing.
"What?" Trillian asked, confused.
"Share...share? I'd rather sleep on the couch." Sands said, laughing even harder.
Rei smacked her brother playfully on the wrist, before turning to Trillian, her eyes alight with silent laughter.
"Are we all good on the fact that he's my big brother, luv?" she asked.
Trillian gaped momentarily before mouthing silently.
"But...your ring, Lina..."
"I'm married to a man named David Carpenter! I keep my maiden name for undercover purposes. Catalina is Jeffrey's niece." She clarified.
"...Okay, don't hit me, but you two fight like a married couple." Trillian laughed.
"Sibling rivalry." Sands put in, pushing Rei from across the table.
"Big time." Rei added, grinning.
"But...your accent." She protested. There had been so many clues...so many things to make her think they were together...so many tiny things...
"I moved to England when our mother died, lived there for three years." Rei explained.
"He called you honey!"
"You listened to our phone call?" Rei and Sands chimed simultaneously.
"Duh." Trillian said, like it was standard.
"I'm just...I swear to God, I thought you were married." Trillian said, rubbing her temples.
"No," Rei shook her head. "He's free for the taking."
Sands grinned.
"Yeah. And I'm crippled. Isn't that ironic?" He said bluntly.
"I'm sure you'll learn to use it to your advantage," Rei teased. "It's already given you an excuse to make a new lady friend."
"Friend. Friend!" Sands said, his grin fading, and what looked like...no, he wasn't blushing. Trillian's face lit up with a smile, and a genuine look of surprise.
"That doesn't look like sunburn, bro." Rei said, shaking her head.
"Shut up." Sands said, scowling.
Rei smiled knowingly, as she leaned across the table to whisper to her brother in a tone only audible to him.
"The least you could do after she took care of you is take her out for dinner. After you get used to the.." She broke off, leaving him to fill in the very obvious blank.
"Fuck you, Rei." Sands said, shaking his head, "fuck you."
With that, he stood up, stretched, and felt around until he got inside.
Trillian smiled over to Rei and stood up as well, heading inside to help Sands not run into anything.
He was sitting on the couch, and Trillian found it miraculous that he knew his way around that part of the house already. She shook it off, and sat down next to him.
"I thought you were married." She said truthfully.
"Do I seem like the kind of guy who can stay committed to something?" Sands asked her seriously, his blank stare still straight ahead.
"I don't know...I mean, I just met you." Trillian said, shrugging lightly.
Sands smiled, but said nothing.
"You tired?" Trillian asked, and he nodded.
"I figured as much. Let's get you off to bed, then." She said, helping him up.
"Alone, right?" He asked, with what sounded like hopefulness.
"Yeah, alone." Trillian said, shaking her head.
"Damn." Sands said, grinning again.
"Fuck you...Sheldon."
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R&R!
Oh yeah...Most of Rei's crap is written by Chrysti...so...bleaurgh.
