Envelope 42

Author's Note: I know Don moving forward is not everyone's cup of tea, but I thank those who are choosing to continue with the story-I am really enjoying writing it and exploring Don. It's also distracting me from the pandemic and, for that, I am grateful. Here's an attempt at an action-like chapter-I hope I pulled it off.

Please review—I'd really like to hear what you think.

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"I've got this," Don said reassuringly as he picked up his phone and walked away from Linnea.

She stood behind him anxious.

"Hi, this is Ressler, I have both a definite threat," Don said as he turned to look at Linnea and Ingrid who were standing watching him. "I need the biological weapons team and the bomb squad at the Swedish Embassy immediately. I need a one mile radius blocked off with DC Metro and a search team on the scene in case there are other units."

Don listened for a moment.

"Yes, it's a bioweapon," Don said with a nod and he walked toward Linnea and took her free hand, it was shaking. "The assailant it dead."

Don listened for a moment.

"I have it partially contained the device in a safe, but it's a timed device and the safe will not contain the weapon because it cannot he completely closed," Don said with authority. "All staff have been evacuated except the Ambassador, who is…"

Don's voice broke for a moment.

"…who is currently attached to the bioweapon with a device that I will need a team to remove," Don continued. "I need all teams here immediately. The timed weapon is set to detonate in 20 minutes."

Don nodded and heard Linnea start to softly cry.

"Can I get a bomb expert on the phone?" Don said as she met her eyes.

"Yes, I'll be here," Don said before he disconnected the line.

He met Linnea's eyes and tried to reassure her.

"Ingrid, you need to leave," Don said as he turned to the other woman.

"I cannot leave the Ambassador," Ingrid said with conviction.

"You can and you will, on my orders," Don said as he turned and looked at the young woman and pulled out his most authoritative voice. "Now."

Ingrid turned to Linnea who said something to her in Swedish and Ingrid choked out a sob and hugged the woman before she scurried out of the room.

"Tell me," Don said softly as he pulled up a chair and coaxed Linnea into it she couldn't move far because the device was in the wall.

Her lower lip was trembling, and she seemed to be having trouble breathing. Don had never seen her this undone in the year that they had been together. It was an extraordinary circumstance, so he was not surprised, but it was jarring.

Don reached over and took her hands in his, the one with the device and the one free of it.

"Tell me," he said softly.

"There was an issue with my phone lines," Linnea said. "We'd been having trouble for days and the phone service was called in. All lines were good, but they found a problem with mine."

She glanced to her head of security laying dead on the floor of her office and the man who had attached to the device to her laying dead next to her.

"Focus on me," Don said softly.

"And he came in, but I was on a video call with Maxim and couldn't leave," Linnea said as she swallowed hard. "We were talking about an upcoming join school project so it was nothing that someone couldn't hear…"

Don nodded reassuringly.

"And then the video call suddenly disconnected, and I looked to see my head of security coming into my office in a rush, he never comes in like that, so I grew alarmed. He called for the man who was by my desk to step away from me and drew a weapon. Swedes, we don't…guns…it was, shocking."

Don nodded.

"The man clamped the device on my wrist before I even noticed, I was so focused on Anders drawing a weapon…"

Linnea had tears starting to stream down her face.

"The man fired on Anders and…" Linnea looked to where Anders lay dead by the door to her office. "And I screamed, and the man smiled at me and said I asked for this…and then he was shot and laying at my feet and I looked up and saw you."

Don swallowed hard and nodded.

Don had shown up unexpectedly to take her to lunch because he was in the area for a meeting that ended early. She had shared her online schedule with him a few months ago and he saw she was free. He wanted to surprise her, and instead, was standing just inside the entrance speaking with Ingrid when he heard a shot and her scream. He bolted up the stairs to her office and killed the man who was threatening her. He had quickly assessed the situation, got Ingrid to unlock the safe inside Linnea's wall near her desk, an evacuated the embassy, and called police.

"Linnea, I am going to get you safely out of this," Don said as he wiped at her eyes. "Do you believe me?"

She nodded mutely.

"Okay, first I need to…"

Hi phone suddenly rang, and Linnea jumped and gasped at the noise.

Don let go of her hands and stood.

"Yes?" he said. He nodded a lot and looked out the window.

"What's the ETA?" Don asked as he walked toward the safe and reached in for the bioweapon.

"Don't!" Linnea said.

"It's fine," Don said softly as he met her eyes.

He gently placed it on her desk and started to take pictures of it with his phone and send them to the bomb people.

He listened intently to their instructions.

"I'll be right back," he said as he left to go to the kitchen and riffled through the cupboards to find a plastic sealed container slightly larger than the bomb. He also found a respirator mask in the security cabinet and walked back with them.

"You need to put this on," he said as he handed it to her.

"Where's yours?" Linnea asked, confused.

"There's just one," he said as he shoved it toward her.

"No," she said. "You have children, you will put on the…"

"Linnea!" Don snapped annoyed.

"No!" She yelled at him, her face was still tear-streaked, but her conviction was real.

Don dropped the mask on her desk and placed the bomb in a sealed container and back in the safe, shutting over the door as much as the device attached to Linnea's wrist would allow.

"The bomb squad will be here in 3 minutes," he said as he crouched down in front of her. "You're going to be okay."

"Who would do this?" Linnea asked, her voice hoarse and her eyes watering again. "We're Sweden for Christ's sake."

"I don't know," Don said. "You haven't received any threats?"

Linnea shook her head vehemently no.

"What made Anders come in?" He asked her.

"I don't know," she said. "He just did."

Don got up and looked outside and the telephone van parked in their parking lot, the door was open slightly.

He walked back to Linnea and crouched before her.

"I'm going to stay with you," he said as he held her hands. "It's going to be fine, the unit will disable the bomb and..and you are going to be safe."

"No, you are going to go," Linnea said as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "You are not going to stay, you are not."

"Linnea…" Don sighed. "I'm not leaving you."

They could hear sirens coming closer and closer and a car pull up to an abrupt stop out front.

She cupped his cheek with her one free hand and kissed him softly on the lips. "You have children, and I will not…"

"Nothing is going to happen to you," Don said, his voice hoarse. "I won't let it."

She smiled at him as tears went down her face and a DC Metro officer ran inside.

"Officer!" Don yelled as he stood and turned to see the man holding his weapon. "Don Ressler, FBI."

"How'd you get here so quickly?" The officer asked as he looked at Don's badge.

"I was here when it happened," Don explained. "I took him out."

The officer nodded and looked at the crying middle eastern lady attached to something in a safe in the wall. "I thought the Ambassador to Sweden was…"

"She is the Ambassador to Sweden," Don said as he walked with the officer toward the hallway. "I need you to start searching the premises for any other possible devices. I was told he was in the other offices checking phone lines, so check them and the service room."

The officer nodded and walked away.

Don could hear more sirens.

He walked back to Linnea and crouched before her again.

"I love you," Linnea said as she wiped at her eyes. "I have loved…"

"Come on," Don said with a weak smile. "Don't talk like that. I still need to take you to lunch."

She let out a cried laugh and wiped at the snot coming from her nose.

A team stormed into her office and Don stood and looked at them. He recognized the bomb squad and the bio weapons team leaders.

"AD Ressler," the both said as they stood before him.

"She needs to be detached from the weapon as a priority," Don said, knowing that was not the usual protocol.

They looked at him slightly confused for a moment and then nodded. He was in charge and what he said was what they did.

"But the weapon must be contained," Don added, knowing that he couldn't ignore that over Linnea's life.

The nodded and walked over to her to get to work. The spoke amongst themselves as they looked at the wires, the probable substance inside and the attachment to her wrist. There were 12 minutes left.

Don started to pace in the room. He kept looking at Linnea and watched as she silently cried as they turned her wrist over and looked at the attachments, taking x-rays of the device and comparing the components.

He was trying to stay out of the way while they assessed the device, when all he really wanted to do was go to her and hold her close.

Their relationship had evolved since the Christmas party when they both acknowledged that they loved each other. Although both of them were fiercely independent, they found a happy middle ground of mutual support and commitment that made them both happy. He never doubted her feelings for him after that day. Their relationship was complicated by circumstance but not feelings, the loved each other deeply.

Where his relationship with Liz was one filled with intrigue and danger, sex and secrets, his relationship with Linnea was filled with laughter and comfort, intimacy and honesty. Neither relationship was better than the other, just incredibly different. He never knew where he stood with Liz, but he always knew where he stood with Linnea—one of the most important people in her life. There was no adrenaline rush with Linnea like there was with Liz, but there was a sureness about her that he'd never experienced with any woman in his life.

She didn't want to be a mom to his children, and he didn't want one for them, but they found a place for her as 'Daddy's lady friend' as the kids liked to call her, and that seemed to suit everyone. She had helped Agnes with a school project and shown up to Kit's class to speak with the students about the country of Sweden as a favor to Kit. The kids seemed to like her a lot, but not in a way that made Linnea or Don want to include her in their family more. What they had was working.

He had joined her for a couple weekends away in New York while the Cooper's stayed at his home and watched his kids, and they had been talking about him and the kids coming to Sweden while she was on holiday there so they could learn to appreciate the country she represented and loved so passionately. They spent an evening together once a week, went to Embassy functions, she joined his family about once a week for an outing and he stole away time every once and a while to take her to lunch or out for a mid-day walk when they would just talk and be alone. It worked.

"I don't see an easy detach," the bomb expert said under his breath. "They have three bypasses on the wrist device alone."

Linnea choked out a sob and Don was next to her in a moment, pulling her seated frame against him and wrapping a strong arm around her shoulder. He could feel her entire torso shaking against him uncontrollably.

"It's going to be okay," Don reassured her. "They are the best."

The experts started to take pictures of the device, turning it over and looking at the components that Don had taken pictures of and sent them to study on the way over. Linnea whimpered into his body.

"There," one of them said as he pointed at a junction. The other nodded.

She got up and went to her case and picked up something and then went back to the device.

"We have contained the bio weapon," the man said relieved.

AD Knowles from Homeland Security walked into the room and looked at the scene.

"How many more minutes?" He asked Don and Don looked around Linnea to the timing mechanism.

"Seven," Don said as he pulled Linnea a little closer. "Bioweapon contained, it's just the bomb now."

"Blast radius?" He asked.

"Fifty feet," the woman working on the device said. "It's not meant to take out a block, just the embassy."

AD Knowles nodded and walked closer to the team trying to take it apart. He knew Don had been involved with the Ambassador for a year, he made it his business to know these things about the people he worked with, and he partly wondered if this had anything to do with Don and less with the Swedish Ambassador.

"Don, you've interviewed Ambassador Bakir?" John Knowles asked him.

Don looked at him with an ashen complexion. He knew the reason he was asking was if Linnea was lost, that they had as much information as possible to investigate.

"Yeah," Don said and he squeezed Linnea's shoulder. "I'll be right back."

Don let go of Linnea and walked out of the room quickly.

"Ambassador Bakir," John said. "I'm John Knowles from Homeland Security, Don's counterpart. We work with the FBI on Weapons of Mass Destruction, I'm sure Don's mentioned me?"

Linnea looked at the man and nodded.

"I'm sure it's not always been complimentary," John smiled. "But I admire and respect Don."

Linnea nodded.

"Was there anything you didn't tell him about what happened today?"

Linnea shook her head in the negative. "No, I told him everything as it happened."

"Good," he smiled at her and stood up. "We are going to try and disable this bomb, but if there is anything else…"

"She's walking out of here," Don said, interrupting him as he walked toward her desk and dropped a fireman's axe on it.

Linnea looked at him confused.

"I'd rather have 95% of you then none of you," Don said as he looked toward her hand attached to the bomb.

Her eyes went wide, and she looked at Don speechless.

"It's not going to come to that, but if it does…" Don said determined.

Knowles looked at the axe and Don and was sure the man was going to do what he said he was going to do, if he had to.

Linnea could see the look in AD Knowles eyes, he wasn't as sure as Don was that she was walking out of here.

She looked up at Don standing on the other side of the desk and thought of how much she loved him. How much his children loved and needed him, and her next words were clear.

"You need to go," she said as she wiped at her eyes.

"Linnea…" Don said as he shook his head in the negative.

"Go," she said as she took a deep breath.

"No," Don said, forcefully.

She could see that look of determination in Don's eyes and she had always admired him for it, but right now it was not keeping him safe.

She turned and looked at AD Knowles and wiped her nose and sat up a little straighter.

"If he is not removed from this building, I will yank my arm away from the device and set off whatever is there," she said, her voice quivering but determined.

AD Knowles looked at Don and started to walk toward him.

"No!" Don yelled. "She wouldn't…"

"Don, let's not make this difficult," he said as he gestured for some Homeland Agents guarding the door and they grabbed Don and started to pull him from the room. He fought them the entire time and was taken from the building with Knowles following close behind him.

"How could you do that?!" Don screamed at him in front of everyone as the agents released him outside the front door.

"She and I know what's good for you and right now you don't!" Knowles said as he looked to his agents. "Get him 100 feet away."

"John!" Don yelled at him.

"Take him," John said before he turned to walk back in the Embassy.

"John!" Don called and the AD turned and looked at him. He knew Don was silently pleading with him to do what needed to be done to get her out of there, and John nodded in the affirmative before he walked back in the Embassy.

Don was escorted to the safe zone 100 feet away and looked at his watch.

"When?" Don asked the tactical team from the FBI that had been sent.

"One minute, forty eight seconds," the man said.

"Evac?" Don asked.

"No sir," The man said.

Don shook his head, why the hell were they not getting Linnea out of there?!

"Bomb diffused," came over the com and everyone seemed to relax.

Don took off in a sprint toward the Embassy. When he got there, he saw Linnea being wrapped with a shock blanket as she threw up on the floor.

"Jesus Christ," he said as he went up to her and pulled her hair back off her face. When she was done vomiting, Don picked her up and carried her to the ambulance where she was taken to the hospital for further assessment. He stayed on the scene for as little time as he needed to, and flew to the hospital with his sirens blaring, running into Aram as he walked determinedly toward her room.

"How is she?" Don asked out of breath.

"They've given her a sedative and otherwise she's fine," Aram reassured him. "How are you?"

"Fine," Don said, not acknowledging his own feelings yet.

"They say she can go home," Aram said. "She's been crying a lot."

Don nodded and walked into her room with Aram trailing behind him.

"Hey," he said with a half smile. "I hear you're on some good drugs?"

She gave a small laugh and wiped at her face.

"How are you doing?" He asked as he sat on the edge of her bed and brushed some hair back off her face.

She nodded silently and closed her eyes leaning into the palm of his hand as it held her face.

"They say you can go home," Don said.

She nodded and a couple of tears fell from her eye.

"How about you come home with me?" Don asked her with a smile. "I can keep you safe."

She leaned forward and hugged him as she cried into his shoulder. She hadn't stopped shaking.

In the year and several months that they had been together, Linnea had never stayed at his home. She had met him and his kids at a park, come over for dinner, met up with them at movies, and they had gone out to dinners with his children at restaurants. Although he spoke about his children often, and she cared about their welfare, she had never been part of their day-to-day lives. They were together but separate in their own existences, his family in one bubble, Linnea in another, and the joining of the two with Don. It had worked for the last year and both Agnes and Kit seemed to like Linnea a great deal, but as you would an aunt or friend.

Don had called home from the hospital, getting his security team to pick up the kids and watch them until he got home. He'd spoken with Agnes, who was now almost 12 and a half on the phone and explained that Linnea had something incredibly scary happen to her today and he was going to bring her home so he could take care of her. Agnes asked if Linnea was hurt and Don said no, but she was very, very, upset and would probably be crying a lot. Agnes said she'd explain to Kit and get a pizza delivered. Don couldn't help but laugh at his grown-up girl being so responsible. He thanked her and said they'd be home soon.

When they got home and pulled into the garage Linnea tried to not look like she had been crying for hours. She hated crying, it made her feel so vulnerable and weak and she was usually anything but those things.

"You look fine," Don said as he watched her trying to flatten her hair.

"I don't want to upset your children," she said honestly.

"Agnes knows something happened, not what, but that you are quite upset," Don explained. "Kit won't even notice."

She chuckled and they got out of the car to walk inside. She'd asked Ingrid to pack her a bag at her house and it would be arriving later tonight.

They walked inside and the two kids were sitting with Mo around the kitchen table eating pizza.

"Hey everyone!" Don said, trying to sound upbeat. "Glad the pizza is here."

Kit jumped off his chair and ran to Don, launching himself into his father and kissing his face, he was going to be seven soon but hadn't stopped his displays of affection like Agnes had. Linnea watched the exuberant exchange and smiled, Don was the best father. As she was watching this, Agnes came up to her with a glass of water.

"Dad said it was a bad day for you," Agnes said as she handed Linnea some water.

Linnea nodded and worked really hard to not cry.

"I hope tomorrow is better," Agnes said honestly.

"It will be," Linnea said as she raised the water to her mouth. "Thank you."

Agnes then turned her attention toward her father.

"No swimming tonight then?" Agnes asked.

"Oh, uh…" Don faltered, he forgot it was Wednesday. "Maybe we skip…"

"We can take her," Mo said. "If you three are okay on your own?"

Don looked at him relieved. "Thanks."

"Don, please don't…" Linnea said as she touched his chest. She didn't want to upset what his family normally did.

"They take Agnes sometimes when I can't," Don said, trying to explain that it wasn't too out of the ordinary. "It's fine."

Linnea nodded and Don put down Kit.

"I'm going to get Linnea settled in upstairs and then I'll join you, okay?" Don asked them and the kids nodded and went back to their pizza.

Don placed an arm around her waist and guided her through the kitchen and living room and toward the stairs.

"I shouldn't have come, it was selfish," Linnea whispered.

"Selfish of me? Yes, it was," Don said as he walked next to her up the stairs.

Linnea turned and looked at him confused.

"I wasn't leaving you," Don said clearly. "If you weren't here, I'd be making babysitting arrangements to be at your place. This was selfish of me."

She got to the top of his stairs and he guided her to his bedroom, she had never been on the second level of his home. They walked inside and the first thing she saw was the picture of him and Liz on the wall. It was a beautiful shot of them, relaxed, and happy, and younger.

"It's beautiful," she said as she looked at it.

Don swallowed hard, he hadn't thought about the picture and her coming into his space, and wondered if it hurt her to see it.

"I'm sorry," Don said. "I should have thought to take it…"

"Down?" Linnea asked. "No, why would you?"

Don looked at her surprised.

"She is the mother of your children, a woman you loved deeply, you can't erase her form your life," Linnea said. "Nor should you."

In that moment, Don was grateful she was the woman she was. He couldn't take down the picture of Liz, but she was his past and not his present or his future. He still loved Liz, in a different way now, but the love was still there.

"I love you," Don said softly as he kissed the side of her face. "I love you and I was so…so…scared today that I would lose you. I don't ever want to lose you Linnea."

She nodded against his lips on her face and reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. "I don't ever want to lose you either."

He found her a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and was just about to leave her to change when she asked.

"Would you have done it?" Linnea asked, thinking of the axe.

Don turned at the door and looked at her with a pained expression he knew she was asking about the axe.

"Without a second thought," he said. "It would have killed me to be the one to hurt you, but I would have done it to save you, to keep you with me."

Linnea swallowed hard. It was the oddest, yet most romantic thing, a man had ever said to her.

To be continued….