Later that night after everyone else had left for the night, Litha was still there. She was too tense to go to her hotel and sleep, so she was left with one option. She knew that the nest had a gym in it and she figured that she might as well use it.
The room was cold, but she paid it no mind as she stripped down out of her suit and borrowed a pair of Jake's sweatpants. She'd had a knit tank top on under the suit for whatever reason. Maybe she was developing psychic abilities too. Her feet were bare as were her hands as she stretched.
Maybe this assignment wasn't that bad. How hard could it be to pretend to be Frank's lover? Not that hard, she had been at one time. Enough so that she had a child by him... a child that he didn't know about... Lina even had her father's damned stubborn personality. When the child wanted something, she held out until she got it.
She kept mulling things over as she finished her stretching. Popping her neck once, then twice Litha crept up on the balls of her feet and seemingly danced her way through the repeated jabs and hooks at the huge punching bag. Over and over she kept the right-right jab-left hook motions as she thought things over.
He really did have a right to know about her. But now wasn't the right time. Left-left-right kick... He needed all of his mind on this game, as did she. Her phone calls to her mother were going to have to cease until this masquerade was over. Her right leg came up as she perched on her left foot and delivered a 1-2-3 repetitive kick first at waist level, then chest level, then jaw level. They'd get along well, Lina and Donovan. Both were thinkers. Even at 9 months old it was evident. She stepped forward with her right foot, swung with a right hook then followed through shifting her weight and spinning around so that her back was to the punching bag and drove her left elbow into the punching bag. Her voice was getting louder the longer she worked at it. Her knuckles were pink, her face was flushed and her hair, which she'd left unbound, was sticking to her face and neck.
Jake happened to stop back by the nest and heard the sounds coming from the gym. He guessed it was Alex, judging by the way she kept glaring daggers at Litha all day. He thought about the bet he made with Cody - Sinclair in 5. Maybe he'd have to change that to a dead even match. Words couldn't describe the surprise he felt when he saw long black hair flying instead of Alex's short dark blonde.
She jumped off of her right foot and kicked out with her left, hitting the bag square with the sole of her foot, causing it to shake backwards on it's chain. Whenever Lina watched something or someone, she had her father's analytical look. Dead straight gaze, slightly furrowed forehead, lower lip sticking out... the same look she had wanted to wipe off of his face more than once. With each sharp crack of her fist hitting the bag, she grunted, either in pain or anger she wasn't sure.
"You really should have wrapped your hands first. Sprained wrists aren't going to help when you have to fire a gun."
Litha whirled around to face Jake... wearing a small self amused smile.
"Agent Shaw."
"Jake, please. We're all on the same team until further notice. Late night workout?"
"Stress relief. It was either that or shag Frank until his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out."
She said that with such a straight face, Jake wasn't sure if she was joking or serious. When she winked and turned back to the punching bag, he realized it was a jest. Jake came around behind the bag and held it for her as she resumed beating the stuffing out of it.
"So what's eating you Litha? Can I call you Litha? You know, when you were presumed dead and really undercover, it was Alex who proposed the idea you weren't really dead."
Litha hit the punching bag hard enough for Jake's head to snap back. "Bad subject? Alex or the undercover stint?" Again she decked the bag hard enough to rock Jake on his heels. "You know, I was on the file. Frank came back from D.C. with two files, yours and Callahan's. Took us the better part of the day, two orders of chinese take out and several pots of coffee just to get through Callahan's file. It wasn't until Alex came in from her assignment that night and saw the note you tucked inside your own file - nice touch by the way, using notepaper with a design dated 2001 in a file that hadn't seen the light of day since 1999. But it was Alex who noticed the date stamp. Frank still assumed you were dead." She hit the bag hard enough on that to send Jake back a foot or two. Sore subject he guessed and peeked around the bag. She had her fists curled up and braced against the bag. Her head was hanging a bit, her arms shielding her face from his view.
"Am I a bad person, Jake? To not want to bare my soul simply because he asks me to?" She looked up at him.
He sighed and leaned against the bag as he thought. "No. Not wanting to bare your soul is one thing. Keeping it all inside from someone who only wants to help you carry the burden and knows what it's like... that doesn't make you a bad person. That just makes you stupid." Jake pushed off of the bag and walked past her. "Very few people know what it's like to be us. We do the jobs that normal people don't have the stomach to do themselves. We become the criminals, touch their lives and they touch ours. We are forever changed by what we do. Why would you want to carry that knowledge all by yourself? Take a piece of advice - you don't have to carry it alone, you have someone who's in love with you and would never judge you for what you've done or will do in the future. People like that are rare. Treasure them."
Litha turned and looked after him as he left the room. He sounded surprisingly like Frank at that moment.
****
The room was cold, but she paid it no mind as she stripped down out of her suit and borrowed a pair of Jake's sweatpants. She'd had a knit tank top on under the suit for whatever reason. Maybe she was developing psychic abilities too. Her feet were bare as were her hands as she stretched.
Maybe this assignment wasn't that bad. How hard could it be to pretend to be Frank's lover? Not that hard, she had been at one time. Enough so that she had a child by him... a child that he didn't know about... Lina even had her father's damned stubborn personality. When the child wanted something, she held out until she got it.
She kept mulling things over as she finished her stretching. Popping her neck once, then twice Litha crept up on the balls of her feet and seemingly danced her way through the repeated jabs and hooks at the huge punching bag. Over and over she kept the right-right jab-left hook motions as she thought things over.
He really did have a right to know about her. But now wasn't the right time. Left-left-right kick... He needed all of his mind on this game, as did she. Her phone calls to her mother were going to have to cease until this masquerade was over. Her right leg came up as she perched on her left foot and delivered a 1-2-3 repetitive kick first at waist level, then chest level, then jaw level. They'd get along well, Lina and Donovan. Both were thinkers. Even at 9 months old it was evident. She stepped forward with her right foot, swung with a right hook then followed through shifting her weight and spinning around so that her back was to the punching bag and drove her left elbow into the punching bag. Her voice was getting louder the longer she worked at it. Her knuckles were pink, her face was flushed and her hair, which she'd left unbound, was sticking to her face and neck.
Jake happened to stop back by the nest and heard the sounds coming from the gym. He guessed it was Alex, judging by the way she kept glaring daggers at Litha all day. He thought about the bet he made with Cody - Sinclair in 5. Maybe he'd have to change that to a dead even match. Words couldn't describe the surprise he felt when he saw long black hair flying instead of Alex's short dark blonde.
She jumped off of her right foot and kicked out with her left, hitting the bag square with the sole of her foot, causing it to shake backwards on it's chain. Whenever Lina watched something or someone, she had her father's analytical look. Dead straight gaze, slightly furrowed forehead, lower lip sticking out... the same look she had wanted to wipe off of his face more than once. With each sharp crack of her fist hitting the bag, she grunted, either in pain or anger she wasn't sure.
"You really should have wrapped your hands first. Sprained wrists aren't going to help when you have to fire a gun."
Litha whirled around to face Jake... wearing a small self amused smile.
"Agent Shaw."
"Jake, please. We're all on the same team until further notice. Late night workout?"
"Stress relief. It was either that or shag Frank until his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out."
She said that with such a straight face, Jake wasn't sure if she was joking or serious. When she winked and turned back to the punching bag, he realized it was a jest. Jake came around behind the bag and held it for her as she resumed beating the stuffing out of it.
"So what's eating you Litha? Can I call you Litha? You know, when you were presumed dead and really undercover, it was Alex who proposed the idea you weren't really dead."
Litha hit the punching bag hard enough for Jake's head to snap back. "Bad subject? Alex or the undercover stint?" Again she decked the bag hard enough to rock Jake on his heels. "You know, I was on the file. Frank came back from D.C. with two files, yours and Callahan's. Took us the better part of the day, two orders of chinese take out and several pots of coffee just to get through Callahan's file. It wasn't until Alex came in from her assignment that night and saw the note you tucked inside your own file - nice touch by the way, using notepaper with a design dated 2001 in a file that hadn't seen the light of day since 1999. But it was Alex who noticed the date stamp. Frank still assumed you were dead." She hit the bag hard enough on that to send Jake back a foot or two. Sore subject he guessed and peeked around the bag. She had her fists curled up and braced against the bag. Her head was hanging a bit, her arms shielding her face from his view.
"Am I a bad person, Jake? To not want to bare my soul simply because he asks me to?" She looked up at him.
He sighed and leaned against the bag as he thought. "No. Not wanting to bare your soul is one thing. Keeping it all inside from someone who only wants to help you carry the burden and knows what it's like... that doesn't make you a bad person. That just makes you stupid." Jake pushed off of the bag and walked past her. "Very few people know what it's like to be us. We do the jobs that normal people don't have the stomach to do themselves. We become the criminals, touch their lives and they touch ours. We are forever changed by what we do. Why would you want to carry that knowledge all by yourself? Take a piece of advice - you don't have to carry it alone, you have someone who's in love with you and would never judge you for what you've done or will do in the future. People like that are rare. Treasure them."
Litha turned and looked after him as he left the room. He sounded surprisingly like Frank at that moment.
****