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"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Jake flinched at the volume and tone of Frank's voice. He had to concentrate on keeping the icepack in his groin as he sat there "It's not what you all are thinking!" he said tiredly. He'd been telling them all that for the last half hour… at least since he got the use of his vocal cords back.

"It's not? Tell me Jake, what am I thinking? Because right now I'm thinking that Frankie's going to geld you - that is if Shay doesn't come back and do it first!" When Jake paled at the memory, Frank came from behind his desk and sat on the edge. Jake was slouched back in the chair with a 'guilty as charged' look on his face. "What happened Jake? Were you drunk or did you just get lost?"

Jake rubbed his eyes and sighed. What had happened? Somehow, he couldn't tell Frank what had happened, why he took this woman back to his apartment. "I screwed up." He whispered.

"Yes, you did. And it's a good thing that Frankie is out of town." When Jake's head snapped up, Frank chuckled. "You didn't know… she left… last night I believe, Shay drove her to the airport with Jessie. They went to visit Burkholtz in D.C. She should be back in a week or so."

Frankie was out of town… Why did that make him feel about two inches tall? But if Frank knew that she was gone… "What's she in D.C. for? She didn't say anything about visiting her mother. And more to the point, who else knows about this mess?"

Frank was about to answer when the door to his office flew open and Shay stormed back in. She wasn't finished with Jake by a long shot. Jake shrunk down in the chair with a groan and Frank skittered off of his perch around behind his desk again. "Now, Ash, calm down please."

"Calm down? Calm down you say. This sonofabitch cheated on Frankie!!" She reached down and grasped Jake by the ear. "It's time that he and I had a little talk."

"OW!! HEY!" Jake knocked Shay's hand off of his ear and stood up gingerly. Frank felt for the young man something terrible. He'd been kneed once in his youth and just the memory of it sent his genitalia screaming for cover. He could only empathize at what Jake was feeling since it was someone he considered a sister that had done it to him.

A defiant glare lit Jake's eyes. "YES, I screwed up! YES, I made a mistake. But God Damn it, I don't need you all to give ME morality lessons and make me feel any worse than I do! Let it go and let me deal with it."

Frank rested a hand on Shay's arm as she started towards Jake again. "Fine, Jake. Handle it. But do not do this again."

As Jake turned to walk out, Frank stopped him. "By the way… to answer your first question, Frankie's in D.C. to visit Burkholtz… and do some snooping. The last few incidents have left her with a really bad bug about something. What better time to do it than while you're occupied? Besides, it's giving Deirdre some much needed 'Grammy time'."

Jake nodded and left the office. Behind him, Shay was less than thrilled. "You're going to let him off easily after what he did?!" Shay was incredulous.

Frank waited until after Jake left before answering. "He's too cool with this Shay, even after your attempt to make Jessie an only child. Something's going on. He knows that he did wrong, but I don't think that sleeping with this stranger is what he's feeling guilty over. Let him handle it Shay. Alex is his contact while under and she'll keep an eye on him."

"I don't like it Frank, not one bit. You should have seen Frankie yesterday when I dropped her off at O'Hare. She was missing him so much that she couldn't keep her mind on one subject. Yesterday she was in near hysterics! Her own doctor gave her a Valium prescription to calm her down. Now if she were to find out that he had a one night stand while under??"

Frank sighed and sat down behind his desk. He wasn't aware that Frankie was that far-gone. "Valium? Maybe she doesn't like to fly…" It was a weak excuse and both he and Shay knew it. "Yeah… alright, we'll send Alex in, turn up the pressure on the crew, and bring them out. After this, we put Jake on restricted duties for a while. This ends soon. Did Frankie give you her cell phone number to get hold of her while she's gone?"

"Got it on speed-dial babe. Want me to call her and let her know that she can come home in a day or two?"

"Not yet. But keep it handy all the same."

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