Litha didn't like being summoned from the middle of a lecture. She stood across the desk from the Director of the FBI, Special Agent Frederick Boone. He was a weaselly little man with pockmarks on his face and beady little eyes. The way he kept watching Sinclair didn't sit well with Director Walden either. He seemed to be on a mission, out to irritate Sinclair into making a wretched mistake.
"You summoned me, Boone?" Litha's voice held such disdain and rancor that Walden was afraid that Director Boone would come over the desk and smack her down to the floor.
"You're goddamned right I did, Sinclair. I have decided that your talents are wasted in this Academy. You're going back out into the field."
"WHAT?? No! You can't do that!" She braced her hands on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, her eyes blazing emerald fire.
"You watch yourself Sinclair, you're on thin ice with me. I can do any damned thing I want and besides, you have three unaccounted years of service that you owe the FBI. While you were out on your witchhunt, you deprived the Bureau of your services."
"You sanctimoniuous sonofabitch! The FBI KNEW where I was and what I was doing! They sanctioned it, IAD gave me their blessings and so did Wallace. You have no right to pull me off of this and stick me back out into the field!!"
"Guess again AGENT Sinclair. You owe us three years of field duty and you're going to give it to us. Someone else will finish your lectures this term and finish the next one for you. Try not to get yourself killed while out there, hm, Agent Sinclair? I'd hate to have to bury you a second time." He sneered at her as he walked by.
"You. Can't. Do. THAT!! If you stick me back out there, Montcalvez's men will find me!"
"You're being insubordinate, Agent Sinclair. If I were you -"
"You, Director Boone, wouldn't know insubornidate if it fell out of the sky, landed on your face and started to wiggle. And IF you were me, you wouldn't be such a sanctimonious prick. You're just sore that Dodge caught onto Callahan's game before you did. Ohhhh that's right, you were only the ASSISTANT Director to Wallace at the time. Heaven forbid a mere field agent could pick up on a dirty agent. Or was it that Callahan was your protege and his IAD arrest looked bad for you." She made a small pucker in her lips and mewed at him. "Poor thing, I bet it just broke your heart when he was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for all his crimes, and then layered with two additional life sentences for my attempted murder, and the murder of another federal agent in the line of duty."
"BACK OFF SINCLAIR!! You're THIS close to being suspended indefinitely. You ARE going back out, you ARE going on a UC unit and until I decide better -"
"What about my Lina?!"
"Tough nuts Agent, you should have thought about that before you got yourself knocked up. Damned shame too. I read your dossier when I took over the office of Director. You were one of the best Recovery Agents out there. More good female agents have been lost to marriage or pregnancy then war, disease, famine or disaster. Sorry to say you were one of those casualties. Hire a nanny, let her father take care of her, whatever, I don't give a damn so long as you report to your assignment in two days."
He brushed past Litha and walked out, leaving a fuming woman and a distressed Academy Director.
"I'm sorry Litha. I should have told you last night that Boone was preparing to strike you down. You were just on such a roll with those two students last night that I couldn't lower the boom on you."
"Well you damned well should have!" She flicked her hand and knocked the lamp off of the desk, sending it shattering to the floor. "The only reason I took the job you offered me is because of Lina. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, you and everyone else knows I would have stayed out in the field."
"What are you afraid of, Litha? I know you're one of the best, second only to Donovan out in Chicago. So, tell me, what is it you are afraid of?"
"What every Agent who happens to be a parent is afraid of. Saying goodbye and never coming back to say I love you. Gerrod, I can't do this. I can't go back out into field duty. My whole perspective has changed since Lina came along. I'm not as cold-blooded as I used to be. I have something else in my life to consider. Before, I never cared if I lived or died, as long as I got the job done. When I met Lina's father, I realized that there was more to life than duty. When I found out I was pregnant, I..."
"You put in for a furlough from duty, upon which I called you up for a desk assignment teaching here at the Academy. And in the past year, you've been an admirable teacher. A bit unorthodox, but you're routinely one of the favorites of the cadets in your classes and the students who graduated from here last year have been put into special operations more than those from before your term here. Litha, you are a good agent, a good teacher and an intelligent woman."
"Where... where is this assignment going to be?" She didn't want to talk about this any more than she had to. But, if she was going to have to uproot her daughter and move to another city, she might as well get to doing it. "It's a good thing that she's only 9 months old, Gerrod. Maybe she won't be too disturbed by this upheaval."
"Oh she'll be fine. Here, Boone left it on my desk when he slithered his ass out of here." He handed the manila envelope to Litha. Across the front in big block letters was "CONFIDENTIAL" in red.
"Jesus Gerrod. Last time I got a Confidential file, I spent three years pretending I was dead." She started to sit down as she opened the file.
"Cheer up Litha, I can't imagine Boone sticking you out onto an assignment that's going to get... you... Litha?"
The woman had gone pale. "Oh my god. He wouldn't."
Gerrod took the file from her hands as she sat down like a rock in the chair. He read over the file. "He's putting you with Agent Donovan and his team for your first assignment? But, doesn't one of his agents have it in for you?"
"Yeah, Agent Cross didn't take too well to me faking her death out in the middle of nowhere with two other undercover agents."
"Oh I can imagine. Look, suck it up. You're on an assignment with Frank Donovan. I can't imagine him letting one of his agents take a personal vendetta out on you."
"Oh Gerrod. You don't know the half of it." She leaned back in the chair and slouched down. One hand came up to run through her hair as she groaned. "He and I have a past."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. He and I were dating before I had to fake my death. For three years he believed that he killed me. When the assignment was over, I disappeared for a month or so, to handle the arrangements and testimonies and subsequent conviction of Lewis Callahan. When that was done with, I waltzed back into his life like nothing had ever happened. What I didn't count on what his desire for explanations and demand for answers. He and I wound up fighting like cats and dogs for two months. It wasn't until after I'd moved out that... I..."
"He's the father?"
Litha nodded. "I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was pregnant. I knew that if I did, he'd try and pressure me into retiring from field service. That's why Wallace gave you my name for the Special Ops training position here at the Academy. Gerrod, I can't thank you enough for giving me this teaching assignment. You gave me the stability I needed when pregnant for Lina and the ability to have normal enough hours to raise her on my own."
"So that explains what you're afraid of. You haven't told Donovan at all about Lina? And you're afraid that when he finds out..."
Litha turned and looked out the window over the snow covered grounds of the FBI Academy. "All hell is going to break loose."
****
"You summoned me, Boone?" Litha's voice held such disdain and rancor that Walden was afraid that Director Boone would come over the desk and smack her down to the floor.
"You're goddamned right I did, Sinclair. I have decided that your talents are wasted in this Academy. You're going back out into the field."
"WHAT?? No! You can't do that!" She braced her hands on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, her eyes blazing emerald fire.
"You watch yourself Sinclair, you're on thin ice with me. I can do any damned thing I want and besides, you have three unaccounted years of service that you owe the FBI. While you were out on your witchhunt, you deprived the Bureau of your services."
"You sanctimoniuous sonofabitch! The FBI KNEW where I was and what I was doing! They sanctioned it, IAD gave me their blessings and so did Wallace. You have no right to pull me off of this and stick me back out into the field!!"
"Guess again AGENT Sinclair. You owe us three years of field duty and you're going to give it to us. Someone else will finish your lectures this term and finish the next one for you. Try not to get yourself killed while out there, hm, Agent Sinclair? I'd hate to have to bury you a second time." He sneered at her as he walked by.
"You. Can't. Do. THAT!! If you stick me back out there, Montcalvez's men will find me!"
"You're being insubordinate, Agent Sinclair. If I were you -"
"You, Director Boone, wouldn't know insubornidate if it fell out of the sky, landed on your face and started to wiggle. And IF you were me, you wouldn't be such a sanctimonious prick. You're just sore that Dodge caught onto Callahan's game before you did. Ohhhh that's right, you were only the ASSISTANT Director to Wallace at the time. Heaven forbid a mere field agent could pick up on a dirty agent. Or was it that Callahan was your protege and his IAD arrest looked bad for you." She made a small pucker in her lips and mewed at him. "Poor thing, I bet it just broke your heart when he was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for all his crimes, and then layered with two additional life sentences for my attempted murder, and the murder of another federal agent in the line of duty."
"BACK OFF SINCLAIR!! You're THIS close to being suspended indefinitely. You ARE going back out, you ARE going on a UC unit and until I decide better -"
"What about my Lina?!"
"Tough nuts Agent, you should have thought about that before you got yourself knocked up. Damned shame too. I read your dossier when I took over the office of Director. You were one of the best Recovery Agents out there. More good female agents have been lost to marriage or pregnancy then war, disease, famine or disaster. Sorry to say you were one of those casualties. Hire a nanny, let her father take care of her, whatever, I don't give a damn so long as you report to your assignment in two days."
He brushed past Litha and walked out, leaving a fuming woman and a distressed Academy Director.
"I'm sorry Litha. I should have told you last night that Boone was preparing to strike you down. You were just on such a roll with those two students last night that I couldn't lower the boom on you."
"Well you damned well should have!" She flicked her hand and knocked the lamp off of the desk, sending it shattering to the floor. "The only reason I took the job you offered me is because of Lina. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, you and everyone else knows I would have stayed out in the field."
"What are you afraid of, Litha? I know you're one of the best, second only to Donovan out in Chicago. So, tell me, what is it you are afraid of?"
"What every Agent who happens to be a parent is afraid of. Saying goodbye and never coming back to say I love you. Gerrod, I can't do this. I can't go back out into field duty. My whole perspective has changed since Lina came along. I'm not as cold-blooded as I used to be. I have something else in my life to consider. Before, I never cared if I lived or died, as long as I got the job done. When I met Lina's father, I realized that there was more to life than duty. When I found out I was pregnant, I..."
"You put in for a furlough from duty, upon which I called you up for a desk assignment teaching here at the Academy. And in the past year, you've been an admirable teacher. A bit unorthodox, but you're routinely one of the favorites of the cadets in your classes and the students who graduated from here last year have been put into special operations more than those from before your term here. Litha, you are a good agent, a good teacher and an intelligent woman."
"Where... where is this assignment going to be?" She didn't want to talk about this any more than she had to. But, if she was going to have to uproot her daughter and move to another city, she might as well get to doing it. "It's a good thing that she's only 9 months old, Gerrod. Maybe she won't be too disturbed by this upheaval."
"Oh she'll be fine. Here, Boone left it on my desk when he slithered his ass out of here." He handed the manila envelope to Litha. Across the front in big block letters was "CONFIDENTIAL" in red.
"Jesus Gerrod. Last time I got a Confidential file, I spent three years pretending I was dead." She started to sit down as she opened the file.
"Cheer up Litha, I can't imagine Boone sticking you out onto an assignment that's going to get... you... Litha?"
The woman had gone pale. "Oh my god. He wouldn't."
Gerrod took the file from her hands as she sat down like a rock in the chair. He read over the file. "He's putting you with Agent Donovan and his team for your first assignment? But, doesn't one of his agents have it in for you?"
"Yeah, Agent Cross didn't take too well to me faking her death out in the middle of nowhere with two other undercover agents."
"Oh I can imagine. Look, suck it up. You're on an assignment with Frank Donovan. I can't imagine him letting one of his agents take a personal vendetta out on you."
"Oh Gerrod. You don't know the half of it." She leaned back in the chair and slouched down. One hand came up to run through her hair as she groaned. "He and I have a past."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. He and I were dating before I had to fake my death. For three years he believed that he killed me. When the assignment was over, I disappeared for a month or so, to handle the arrangements and testimonies and subsequent conviction of Lewis Callahan. When that was done with, I waltzed back into his life like nothing had ever happened. What I didn't count on what his desire for explanations and demand for answers. He and I wound up fighting like cats and dogs for two months. It wasn't until after I'd moved out that... I..."
"He's the father?"
Litha nodded. "I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was pregnant. I knew that if I did, he'd try and pressure me into retiring from field service. That's why Wallace gave you my name for the Special Ops training position here at the Academy. Gerrod, I can't thank you enough for giving me this teaching assignment. You gave me the stability I needed when pregnant for Lina and the ability to have normal enough hours to raise her on my own."
"So that explains what you're afraid of. You haven't told Donovan at all about Lina? And you're afraid that when he finds out..."
Litha turned and looked out the window over the snow covered grounds of the FBI Academy. "All hell is going to break loose."
****