"Major?"
Cole looked up sharply from the report he was supposed to be writing. Wellington was over the liaison sector of the Air Force. His people kept things smooth between the military and civilian organizations such as the CIA and NSA and worked with organizing visits from important civilians to different installations. For once Cole didn't mind the interruption. His report on security for a visit of the British Prime Minister to a base where British and American pilots were training consisted of "Keeping security in mind, the best route to see a maximum of the points of interest would be". He'd been working on it for three hours.
"What is it sergeant?" he asked. He thought the woman was a clerk for Wellington, but he wasn't too sure. The general's staff didn't interest him much. They didn't know how much in depth his liaison work went, and he didn't want them to know that there was a hell of a lot more involved than just making sure dignitaries got around bases without a hitch.
"General Wellington would like to see you, sir," she informed him.
"Thank you," Cole replied curtly in dismissal. She hesitated a moment, and then left his office quickly. Most people leapt into the air at a summons from the great and almighty General Wellington. The fact Cole didn't unnerved most of the other staff. They knew there was something different about him. Nothing intimidated him, and he seemed to be off doing a lot of other things for someone who was supposed to be babysitting some politician.
Cole was not in a mood to talk to the general. Usually it was all about something Cole had done for a member of the joint chiefs. Wellington would want a full debriefing on why Cole had run off with the Army or the NSA, or why the general had gotten a faint glimpse of Cole's profile helping the President escape China last year when rioting threatened him during a visit. Cole had learned the best defense was to simply say, "You're not cleared to know". He'd be thrown out then with some posturing and sputtering.
He actually hadn't heard anything from on high since they had run into each other at the party two weeks before. Cole locked his computer and headed out into the hall, trying his best not to think of the party. It wasn't the party that was bothering him. It was the afterwards. Xander had finally started talking to him again, so that wasn't an issue. Cole knew what the issue was, but this wasn't the time or the place to even think about that.
Cole opened the door to the general's office. It was actually more of a reception room, with Wellington's secretary behind her desk, and two doors off of the room, one to the general, and the other to a smaller office housing the general's personal aide, Lt. Colonel Andrews. The secretary managed to get one eyebrow raised in question as he approached. She was the one person on the general's staff Cole actually liked. Rank didn't intimidate her either. Nobody got past her. Ever.
"General Wellington sent for me," Cole said.
She managed a quick twitch of the lips that might have been a smile, before pressing the intercom button. "Major Lydecker to see you, sir," she announced. There was a pause.
"Send him in," Wellington replied.
Cole took a deep breath and entered. He wasn't sure what Wellington wanted this time. Everything had been rather calm lately. Well, at least it had been at work. Home was a different story. He'd had to deal with Xander not talking to him, Shawna knifing his car tires, and Cray calling him just to let him know that the next time he was on the East Coast, he was going to do something rather vile as well. All that had nothing to do with Janice. They were pissed at him for decking Xander, even if he deserved it. But they didn't know he deserved it, so he was stuck.
Cole walked in front of the general's desk, and snapped to attention. "Reporting as ordered, sir," he said crisply, just as he had done since he could walk and talk.
Wellington eyed Cole for a long moment. Although he didn't know all of the details about Manticore, he knew enough to understand Cole's seemingly respectful behavior was more habit than real respect. "At ease, Major," he finally said. Cole relaxed and waited for the first volley.
"How is your report coming concerning the Prime Minister's visit?" he asked Cole. Ah, the old bait and switch. Maybe if Cole hadn't have been learning interrogation techniques since he was five or six, he might have fallen for it and thought that Wellington was really interested in the Prime Minister. Eventually he hoped Wellington would get to the real reason he was in there. He had a ton of work to do, and even if it was a Friday, Cole knew he was going to be there very late. It seemed over the last couple of weeks, working eighteen-hour days was becoming standard. Nothing to do with the fact home really sucked right now either. More like he didn't want time to think.
"I have all of the information gathered, and I'm working on compiling it now," Cole answered. If he could keep his mind in one place for more than five minutes, it would have long been done. Maybe it was a lack of sleep. Even the genetically engineered needed a little every now and then.
"Very good," Wellington said, and then paused again. Here it comes, Cole thought morosely. Maybe it had something to do with that phone call last week from…
"Special Agent Janice Miller, CIA," Wellington said, breaking into Cole's thoughts. That was not what he had expected to hear. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He didn't want to talk to anyone about Janice, especially not this moron. The slightest edge of a smirk touched Wellington's mouth, and Cole was feeling very defensive. Whatever Wellington was thinking, self-satisfaction was coloring it to the point where all other thoughts, if he could have more than one at a time, were clouded.
"Maybe you didn't realize that I would recognize her," he continued, sounding smug as he leaned back in his chair. "It concerns me greatly when I see one of my people off doing things with the CIA, and I was not informed of it. I know you consider yourself above my command, but liaisons with the CIA is my command." He stood, glaring at Cole. "Are we clear on that?"
Cole was picking up little tidbits about the general's thoughts. There was a vague worry about not knowing things, possibly being replaced, and the slightest thrill at nailing him finally. He briefly considered snapping the general's neck, but decided that would be the least mature of all options. Instead, he did the thing that annoyed the general the most. He kept his expression completely blank, giving nothing away.
"Very clear," Cole replied. There was a pause, and Cole caught Wellington's frustration that he wasn't trying to explain himself or apologize. It was irritating when one's commanding officer kept forgetting one was better trained at interrogation and psych warfare than he was. But sometimes it was amusing as well.
"I want to know right now what you were doing with Agent Miller," Wellington said slowly, in a tone that had most of his staff heading for the hills when it was used. Cole didn't flinch. Wellington was nothing compared to Dad in full tirade after they had screwed up.
"Escorting her at the party, sir," Cole replied calmly, disguising how much he didn't want to be discussing this with Wellington. He didn't want to think about the party, because if he did, he'd have to think about after they left, and that would just lead him back into the circle his mind seemed to have been trapped in ever since.
Wellington's jaw clinched. "I don't give a damn what special clearance you think you have. I get one more half-truth out of you and we're talking a court-martial. I'll ask you one more time. What were you doing with her on New Year's Eve?"
"And I will answer one more time," Cole replied with steel in his voice. "I received a personal invitation from her to be her escort." Now Cole caught what the general couldn't get through his head. He didn't want to believe that Janice knew about Cole, but was still out on a date with him. That was the stumbling block, and it was easier to think Cole was there working.
"CIA doesn't go there for fun," Wellington said challengingly.
For a moment Cole could hear Janice's voice. "This was the fourth time I had to attend this thing, and it was the first time I enjoyed it." God, he wanted to hear her voice again. He had wanted to call her and try to explain, but it was easier to leave it like this. Xander hadn't mentioned seeing her at Langley and how she was doing, but then again, Xander hadn't said much of anything to him.
"I was aware she had some business to attend to, sir," Cole said, wanting to get out of this more and more. What was he supposed to answer? We just danced and went back to her place and had sex then I panicked and left? "If you'll remember, I was waiting for her to return when we met."
Wellington glared at him. "You are going to tell me every detail of that night ten times if that's what I want." Cole's jaw clinched. His eyes met the general's coldly, staring him down easily.
"What I did that night and whom I was with is personal 'sir'," he said icily, making sure the general could hear the quotes around the 'sir'. "If you want to know what the CIA was doing there, ask them yourself. I know better than to ask questions I'm not cleared to know the answers to," he added pointedly.
"Are you telling me you're carrying on a personal relationship with a member of the Central Intelligence Agency?" Wellington asked incredulously.
That stung, and for just an instant, even Wellington could see that hit Cole hard. There was this sickening feeling as Cole realized he wanted to say yes. It was impossible, stupid, and another sick betrayal, but his weakest side wanted to say yes. It was getting harder to breathe in the office, and he had to get out of there quickly. Damn Wellington! Everything would have been fine if he hadn't of started in on the questioning.
"I'm saying that as long as my personal behavior falls within standards of the Uniformed Code of Military Conduct, it remains personal," Cole replied.
"When it could potentially affect my command, it is not personal," Wellington snapped back. Now Cole picked up on something, something more concrete about Wellington being retired and replaced. God, he did not need his relationship screw-up to be part of a political pissing contest. Wellington sneered at him. "I thought you little mutants knew who owned you, and your so-called personal life."
Now he got a reaction. Deliberately Cole walked up to the general so that they were bare inches apart. Deadly menace radiated from him. Wellington paled slightly as a small smile touched the edges of Cole's mouth. "You really want to remind me what I was designed for?" Cole asked deliberately. Wellington couldn't speak. "I didn't think so," Cole said with that same dangerous ice. He turned on his heel and walked out of the office.
Cole managed to get to the secretary's desk when the door behind him opened. Fuck. He didn't think Wellington had the courage to follow him. "I am not done with you!" Wellington snapped. Cole whipped back around, eyes harsh, mouth set. He was not going to have what happened put on display. It was enough that Xander knew. There was no way he was going to explain everything to anyone else.
Wellington was so obviously in a rage that it was nearly comical. "How dare you walk out without permission!" he shouted, forgetting dignity and protocol. The secretary's eyebrows shot up so far they almost leapt above her hairline, and Andrews stepped out of his office to see what was the matter. "In my twenty-seven years of military service I have never seen a more insubordinate officer…"
Cole cut him off easily, his voice rising over the general's without any difficulty. "And in my thirty-nine years of military service I have yet to see a more incompetent fuck-up of a commanding officer, and that includes the son of a bitch that we killed when he tried to sell my sister for spare parts. No wonder they're about to get someone in here who has a clue as to what he's doing."
There was complete silence for a moment. Their audience was stunned into silence as they did a little math. There was no way Lydecker was over forty. How the hell did he have that much time in then? Who was "we" and whom did "we" kill? Neither of them was about to interrupt to ask though.
"They're going to bury you under the prison after the court martial gets through with you," Wellington promised.
Cole smirked and glanced down at the secretary. "Write this down," he ordered and then spit out ten numbers. She looked confused but wrote them down anyways. He looked back at Wellington with a sneer. "Call that and tell him you're going to court martial X-6-604 and why," he said, and then walked out of the office.
He stormed back into his office, not noticing the people around him getting out of his way as if there was some magnetic wave pushing them away. There had never been shouting coming from the general's office before, and even if they didn't know exactly what was being said, nobody wanted to be around it for any reason. Cole thought for a moment about the stacks of work he needed to do, then grabbed his coat and briefcase. Screw it. He was out of there.
Back in Wellington's office, his secretary dialed the number hesitantly. "Who is it?" Wellington barked impatiently when her eyes widened and she paled after telling the other end who she was calling for.
"It's…it's the president, sir," she replied.
He blinked. "The President…?" he asked, hoping he was mistaken.
"Of the United States, sir," she clarified, listening again for a moment. "He wants to know how you got his personal cell phone number." She covered the phone. "He wants to talk to you. He sounds…rather upset."
Mother of God, Wellington thought as he took the phone and spoke to this commander-in-chief for the first time in his career.
