Chapter 5 -- Under the Radar

Mel brought them a simple lunch of sandwiches in the war-room, not even bothering to try to pull them away from their work. By then, they were both too deeply absorbed in assimilating information and making plans for her to register as more than a blip on their radar. Mel listened for several minutes at the door before realizing that they were talking about three things at once: Zarreth's criminal history, train schedules, and human military procedure. Both would have to have a solid understanding of all three before a plan could be formulated, so Mel left them to it.

She knew that Cole would brief her tonight after Vic had gone on whatever plan they eventually developed. Having Vic playing for the 'home team', as Mel had come to think of them, was going to take some getting used to, but it was a good thing. After all, Vic was a cop, Mel, a woman who had never gotten around to going to law school. His partnership with Cole would be a good thing, to be sure, but Mel had absolutely no intention of allowing herself to get excluded.

Right now, Vic was in training, and that would take time, she knew, having undergone a lot of training from Cole herself. Vic had to be fully cognizant of the situation or he was a risk to all of them. Mel was more than willing to be of secondary interest to Cole. Grinning at the thought of Vic and Cole actually working together instead of being at odds, Mel returned to the bar.

She was pleased to see that the lunch-time crowd was good today. Smiling, she stepped behind the bar. Lately she had found herself considering selling it again, as she had when she first inherited it. Now that the Vardian weapon was safely hidden away elsewhere, there was no real reason to keep the bar in the family. Except for its sentimental value. And that was her only reason for not selling. This bar, its secrets, her heritage, had brought her and Cole together. That alone was worth the price of admission. And it was turning a nice profit now. But it was the former consideration that really kept Mel from selling. She had always been sentimental that way.

Her reverie was interrupted by Detective Maria Cruz, who walked into the crowded bar and straight up to Mel. "I need to talk to Vic," she informed Mel in a tense voice. "Something tells me he's here."

Mel considered denying it, then realized that it was probably work-related and nodded. "He's upstairs having lunch with Cole. I'll go get him."

"Thank you."

"Offer you a drink?"

"Bourbon, please."

"Ice? Soda?"

"Thank you, no." Maria shook her head.

Mel quickly poured the drink and handed it to her. "I'll just go get Vic."

"Thank you, miss Porter."

"Please, Mel."

"Of course, Mel." Maria nodded and watched her go, more curious now than before. Not having lunch with Mel, but with Mel's gentleman friend. It was a curious development. Maria had always gotten the impression that Vic did not like Cole Hauser very much.

Vic followed Mel down the stairs, still looking pale and a bit unsteady. He said something to Mel, then walked over to Maria. "What's going on?" he asked.

From the slight slur of his voice and his glassy eyes, Maria could tell that he was making liberal use of the pills he had gotten in the ER. Of course, since she was doing the same herself, she was in no position to judge.

"Gregory James is dead, Vic," she informed him, half-draining her glass. She fell silent as Mel handed a drink to Vic before hustling off to attend to another customer. "Unknown causes, like the others."

Vic nodded slowly, wondering why she was staring at him like that. Right, doll's eyes. In his effort to keep his mind off of the pain and on work, he had been over-doing with the pills. "That's too bad," he said simply, not sure what else to say. He took a long pull of the scotch Mel had brought him, wondering what it was going to take to keep his knowledge of what was really going on from Maria, wondering if he should even try.

"It is, although it saves the DA a lot of work." Maria sighed. "Add one to the body-count," she murmured.

"Huh?"

"Oh, what we were talking about yesterday. They snap, they kill a few people, they mysteriously die. It's damned annoying."

Vic stared. Her voice was strange, edgy for lack of a better term. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.


"I'm frustrated!" she replied, shaking her head. "I mean, come on, Vicky. It's like a freaking episode of the X-Files!" she snapped, lowering her voice when Mel glanced in her direction.

Vic nodded sympathetically. "It is that," he agreed, wondering how she would have reacted to the whole truth. Not well, was his guess. "Maybe… maybe we're seeing things that aren't there, Mar," he said softly, feeling like crap for lying to her but not really wanting to draw her into the situation in which he had just found himself.

"And maybe you've had one too many drinks," she countered, frowning. Yesterday, he had been as concerned by this bizarre trend as she had been. Today he was dismissing it.

"Not the drinks. It's the pills. Fogging my brain," he told her, seizing on any excuse for the abrupt turn-about.

He should have known better than to try to convince Maria of anything other than the truth. She was just too perceptive. It occurred to Vic with alarming clarity that she was going to have to be told the truth, or some variant of the truth, sooner or later. Of course, it was really not his place to tell her anything. For now, until he could totally understand what was going on himself, and come up with a compelling explanation for having not been straight with her from the beginning, he was just going to have to do his best to keep her in the dark. No easy task with a woman as perceptive as Maria, but necessary.

Mel watched the two out of the corner of her eye until Cole walked down the stairs. "Who is that with Vic?" he asked her.

"Detective Maria Cruz, Vic's partner," Mel told him with a sigh. "And I think she suspects that something's going on."

Cole frowned. "That's not good, Mel."

"I know." She nodded and walked into the back room, closely followed by Cole.

He had this utterly endearing habit of following her any time she went into one of the back rooms or down to the basement alone. He was always very good about respecting Mel's feelings about public displays of affection, but at the same time he looked for every possible opportunity to get her alone so that he could display his affection for her physically.

"Will Maria be a problem?" he asked softly, taking the opportunity to caress her throat in the privacy of the storage area.

Mel closed her eyes, enjoying the touch, but did not let it distract her from answering. "She's a smart woman, Cole, and she's bound to start asking questions."

"Will Vic tell her the truth?" Cole asked.

Mel shrugged helplessly. " I have no clue if he's going to tell Maria. They're close enough that he might." She shook her head. "Or he might keep his mouth shut, but Maria is going to get suspicious. If she isn't already," she added, sighing and shaking her head again.

Cole sighed and nodded, sitting on the edge of a box. "Can she be trusted, Mel?" he asked, taking her hands in his own.

"Vic trusts her with his life. How far that extends to his friends… I just don't know. She's never been anything but civil to me, but this is big."

Cole rose again and touched her throat reassuringly. "Taushi, be calm," he urged as he caressed her throat.

Mel closed her eyes, allowing the touch to soothe her. Sighing, she reached up and pulled Cole's face towards her own. "I love you so much," she whispered. At times like this, when she was upset and he could calm her with just a touch and a gentle word, she almost swore that she loved him more than usual. The rest of the time, she knew that such a thing was simply not possible.

"And I love you, Mel," he replied, kissing her gently. "And together there is nothing that we can not face," he whispered, his lips brushing lightly against hers as he spoke. He held her close for several minutes, resting his forehead against hers.

"Nothing at all," she agreed, smiling and pulling away far enough to look into his amazing eyes.

He kissed the top of her head, holding her close for a few more minutes. "Do you think he'll be long with Maria?"

Mel nodded. "Yeah. She'll keep him as long as she can, I think, trying to get answers." She looked up at him. "Want to tell me what you guys have been talking about?"

"Many things, Mel." Cole shook his head. "This smallpox is a dangerous thing, Mel. People would actually use it against each other? As a weapon?"

Mel closed her eyes and nodded admission of the fact. "Makes us not much better than the Vardians, doesn't it?" she whispered.

"Mel," Cole sighed, drawing her into his arms again, wishing that it were not the middle of the day, that there was not a bar to tend to and Vic to deal with and a fugitive to be caught on a time-line. All he wanted was to hold his amazing mate in his arms, kissing her and making love to her until her fears and doubts were swept away. "Your species has so much to learn, Mel," he whispered, "But this does not make you bad or evil. You are not the Vardians. You never will be."

She looked up at him, smiling as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Will we ever be like you?"

"I think you will some day, Mel. I believe that with everything that I am." He smiled lovingly at her. "You may have a head-start, but your entire race has great potential."

"If we can survive the next few decades," she muttered with a sigh.

Cole frowned and held her more tightly. "No human is doing this, Mel. Try to remember that."

"Doesn't matter that it's a Dessarian and a Vardian this time, Cole. The buyer's going to be human…"

"Hush," he soothed, turning her around and rubbing her shoulders. "Every species has its bad people, Mel. Yours, mine, it's no different."

"Feels different."

"Of course it does, Mel." Cole smiled and gently nuzzled the back of her neck, smiling as she shivered. "You think that it doesn't bother me more when it's a Cirronian criminal? Of course human criminals are going to bother you more." He sighed deeply. "We should go back to the bar before we're missed."

Mel sighed and nodded. "Yeah. So what were you and Vic talking about?" she asked as they reemerged from the back room.

"We had just finished formulating a plan when you came up. I'll tell you about it tonight."

Mel smiled and nodded. "Sounds good." Of course, the word 'tonight' sounded good for reasons that had nothing to do with Vic or Zarreth or plans. The Cirronian was in an amorous mood today. Mel smiled with anticipation.

"Oh, there you guys are," Vic said as they came out of the back room. "Cole, since you and I were pretty much finished up, I thought I'd go out to lunch with Maria."

"Word with you in private first, Vic?" Mel asked.

"Uh, sure." Vic looked over his shoulder to where Maria was standing and waved to her to wait.

"You weren't planning on telling her anything?" Mel asked in a low voice.

Vic shook his head. "Not until I'm entirely sure what's going on myself." He shrugged. "I might want you guys to tell her some day, Mel. The two of you need all the help you can get, and Mar's a good cop…"

"I know, but can you trust her not to out Cole?" Mel asked softly.

Vic hesitated. "Right now, that's the only thing keeping me from telling her everything, Mel," he admitted. "And if the answer turns out to be 'no', then I am not saying a word."

Mel nodded and patted his shoulder. "Thanks, Vic."

"What, no hug?"

Mel laughed and threw a bar-rag at him. "See you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early," he assured her, nodding. "Cole." He smacked the Cirronian companionably on the shoulder, then turned to join Maria.

Cole watched the two leaving the bar together. "Are they lovers, Mel?" he asked.

Mel laughed and shook her head. "No, Cole, not as far as I know. Why?"

"They're very attracted to each other."

"Really?" Mel asked, grinning triumphantly. "I knew it."

"I thought you said you didn't know."

"Well, I don't know if they're dating, but I kind of knew that Maria liked Vic."

"Oh." Cole nodded slowly. "Female intuition?" he guessed.

"Uh-huh." Mel winked at him. "So, come on. Tell me all about this plan?"

***

"You and Hauser seem to be getting pretty cozy," Maria remarked as they waited for their pizza to come. She absently rearranged the silverware in the booth as she regarded Vic.

"Guy's allowed to have friends."

"You hate Cole Hauser, Vicky," Maria pointed out. "Bad news, nothing but trouble… I distinctly recall hearing these things from you…"

Vic shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, so I misjudged the guy…"

"You were jealous," she corrected him, pouring herself another glass of wine. "Face it, Vicky, I've been your partner for too long. You can't pull the wool over my eyes…"

"Not trying to," Vic replied with a laugh. "So I was wrong about him. It happens." When she did not stop staring, he sighed and admitted, "And I was jealous. Happy?"

"I'd be more happy if I could shake this headache," she muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"What say we get this pizza to go and we get you home?" Vic suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." She sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry. I was fine when I went to the Watchfire. Guess my pill just wore off…"

He nodded. "Yeah K… James did a number on both of us." Vic winced. He had almost called him Kellen. Fortunately, Maria seemed too preoccupied with fishing her painkillers out of her purse to notice. When the waitress arrived with the still-steaming deep-dish pizza, he asked, "Can we get this to go instead?"

"Um, yes, sir." She nodded and hurried off with the pizza to put it in a box.

"Good thing we took a cab," Vic said.

Maria nodded in agreement and washed a pill down with the contents of her wine-glass. She split the remainder of the carafe between their two glasses and drained hers. "Want to stop and grab a video on the way?" she offered, hoping to convince him to stay for awhile. He seemed like a man in chronic need of a sympathetic ear or, at the very least, some company and a funny movie to distract him from his problems.

"Sounds good." Vic nodded.

He knew that there was nothing more that he could do regarding Zarreth until tomorrow, and that he would be anxious unless he could take his mind off things, so a movie with Maria seemed like a perfect solution. Of course, anything was preferable to going home alone after the two days he had been through.

***

"Shrek?" Vic read incredulously as Maria got plates and napkins from her kitchen.

"I'll have you know it's a funny movie," she informed him, grinning and walking back into the living room.

"You watch many cartoons?"

"Saw this one at my godson's birthday party." She shrugged and put the plates and napkins on the table, walking back into the kitchen. "It's a funny movie. Funnier after a few shots of this." She returned with a bottle of Jack Daniel's. As long as neither of them was allowed to work for the next week, there was no harm in taking the edge off.

"You drink Jack with pizza?" Vic asked, staring.

"Normally I drink Brandy Alexander with pizza, but my blender's broken." She shrugged helplessly.

Vic blinked, not sure if that was a joke and even less sure if he really wanted to know one way or another. He grinned and transferred two slices of the exceedingly gooey pizza from the box to the plates. "Well, pour me a double-shot and let's plug the movie in."

"That's the spirit, Vicky."

"So, you do this often?" Vic asked, sitting down on her overstuffed couch.

"What? Pizza, drugs, booze, and 'toons?" Maria raised an eyebrow at Vic, a sly smile playing across her face and her black eyes sparkling. "Only with special guys."

Vic blinked, wondering if that second painkiller had been wise after the drink at the Watchfire and the wine at the pizza place. He could have sworn that Maria had just hit on him. Shaking his head, he traded a slice of pizza for a glass of Jack Daniel's.

"I've got diet coke for that," Maria offered.

"Sounds good." Vic shrugged. Might as well.

Maria grabbed a can of diet coke from the kitchen and split it between their two glasses, topping both off with Jack Daniel's afterwards. "You don't have plans for this evening, do you?" she asked. "Because this might interfere with them."

"I'm all yours," Vic assured her, grabbing his pizza and a few napkins.

"Goody, goody," Maria said in her best Hannibal Lecter voice.

Vic snorted and shook his head. "You have a sick sense of humor."

Maria shrugged, not bothering to deny it. She turned on the tape and grabbed her own pizza and drink, settling onto the couch next to Vic. "So, you going to tell me what's going on with you and Mel now?"

"There's nothing to tell. We broke up. End of story."

"And you were wearing her boyfriend's pants yesterday because?" Maria teased.

"One, he's not her boyfriend. Two… I thought we were going to watch this stupid movie."

"Not stupid," Maria corrected, sidling a little closer to him.

Vic stared.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing." He shook his head. Definitely one drink too many, playing games with his senses. Right? Maria could not possibly be… He half-drained his glass and glanced over at her. She caught him looking and smiled benignly. "Are you trying to make a move on me?" he asked finally, giving her room to back down if she still wanted. She had always been a tease and was probably just being one now.

"Is it working?" she replied, her smile widening. She did not have the least intention of blinking first in this particular game of chicken. It was definitely win-win.

Vic finished draining his glass, wishing that he had less on his mind than he did. "Think it might be, Mar," he told her cautiously.

"Good." Abandoning pretext, she snuggled up next to him. "Now watch the movie," she ordered firmly, resting her head on his shoulder.

Vic stared at her, stunned, through most of the opening credits. By the time the donkey was flying, his shocked expression had been wholly replaced by a perplexed smile. Mother hen, huh? A tease, you say? Try again, Vicky. Mel was right. He really could be incredibly dense at times. Good thing he was feeling a little too relaxed for second thoughts. Smiling, he slid an arm around her shoulder and turned his attention to the movie which really was pretty funny.