They'd gone. A briefing, a debriefing. A conversation. And then goodbye. It hurt. She didn't know where he was going, only knew he was leaving. But she didn't want to loose her mind in the conference room, in front of everybody.
Step after step, she walked onto the balcony. The view was of Washington DC, but it was enough. The wind blew through her hair. And she swallowed, the wind in her hair. But she wanted to know what had happened. What had been said...
And then footsteps. A grin on his face. "So what did you tell him," she asked.
Chris shrugged, and Sarah smiled. She knew he wouldn't say, but she asked him nontheless. "Not much," he replied, grinning. And then he swallowed, making her wonder what he had on his mind...what he could see in hers. "What did you tell him?"
She sighed, pulling her arms inward. "I didn't...just." She pulled her hands through her hair and shrugged her shoulders. "The same old stuff. None of it helped though."
He raised his eyebrows, confused. Flushed. "Does it usually?"
She thought for a minute, reviewing the messy goodbye in her head. She tried to comfort but he saw through her and told her it would be alright. That everything would be fine. It didn't make her feel any better. She shook her head. "No. Makes me feel better." Then, she shrugged her shoulders and grimaced. "But then I end up sobbing." She reached her fingers up, trying to dry her eyes before the inevitable tears started to fall.
He smirked and she watched him move towards her, confusion on his face. She wished she could read him as well as he read her. "By yourself?" he finally inquired, gesturing with his hand at the emptiness of the balcony.
She nodded, stepping away from him. "Better to loose it like that," she answered thoughtfully. "By myself." She could see he understood what she would have said. A bit more than he wanted to let on, but it wasn't because she could read his emotions. His body language told her enough to make her giggle. "Speaking of loosing it...."
He laughed, interrupting her. "I'm surprised you noticed."
"Hard not to," she returned, winking at him. She shook her head at the look in his eye. Embarassed, as if it were strange to be so exposed. It looked like it had been a long time, if ever, since he'd felt so...openly. She smiled, somehow understanding "Haven't seen her," she emphasized, so that he didn't think it was his own giddyness that gave him away. "Like that. Ever." She looked around, and settled her eyes back on him once again. "Where is she?"
She giggled as he reddened. "Strategy conference," he made out.
She nodded briefly. "With Dave?"
He swallowed. "Yeah." And then looked at her with those eyes of his. Confused. Lost. "Should I be worried?"
Sarah laughed, her eyes dancing. "Hell no," she shot back. She rolled her eyes. "Otherwise my friend Sara would have his head."
He nodded, smiling, rolling his shoulders back. "I see," he replied thoughtfully. " So now what?"
Sarah shrugged her shoulders and pointed with her chin to the conference room. "We go back inside and we figure out what information we may need if something happens."
She watched Chris tense again. "Contingency plan?" he asked as he flexed his fingers.
Sarah nodded. "Probably what Dave is talking to Cass about." And then she softened. "Do you have any ideas? Like anything that ...."
He swallowed, his eyes widening. "Allergies? Does he have any allergies."
Sarah gasped and reached for Chris's arm, grabbing it so that her left pinky was on his right wrist. And with him in tow, she headed for the conference room.
**
"PABA," she shouted breathlessly as she walked into the conference room.
"Para-aminobenzoic acid?" asked her upstairs neighbor, a shocked smile on his face.. "That's the fundamental compound in suntan lotion…."
She smiled faintly at her neighbor, Ed, then nodded and turned to Chris. "That's what Mitch is allergic to...."
Chris nodded, understanding. "Lewis is going to try and exploit that," he began, his eyes reminding her of the way Mitch's got when he was lost in thought. ..."
Her neighbor turned dark brown eyes on her, the expression on his face kind and gentle. "Decribe the reaction," he interjected. The expression on her face must have become one of complete disbelief, because her neighbor then smiled openly. "I'm a doctor," he explained as she sighed loudly. He grimaced, swallowing before continuing. "Maybe we can put together something that can soothe the symptoms…."
"While placing them in a protective covering for the arms…"
"Its an internal reaction?" Sloan's nervous question interrupted Chris's statement, and Sarah could see the flash back down to earth he'd taken.
She shot him an apologetic glance before turning back to Sloan. "Not external at all…" She swallowed, remembering the amount of time he'd take, bandaging his arms and hands and blinked her eyes. "He's always taken complete precaution and I've actually never seen the effects, but he's told me they're brutal…"
"In the extreme cases," Ed began thoughtfully, slowly, the allergy will practically immobilize the effected region, usually from the shoulders to the tips of his fingers…not locking joints but with pain. Excruciating pain.
Sarah sniffed as Chris moved to put his arm around her. "Enough to make him cry," she burst out.
Ed nodded, his eyes focusing far away from Sarah's face, or anyplace else she could see. "And from his reputation," he replied, sounding somewhat distracted, "it would take a lot of pain to make him cry."
She waited a bit, lying against her friend's shoulder. And then she couldn't wait any longer. The silence, the impatience, was driving her mad. "Any ideas?" she asked.
Ed nodded and she saw him smile at Sloan, then turn his head to Chris. "Yep," he finally said. "We need workspace though…"
"Workspace?" asked a clear voice passing through. Sarah let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as Charlie Parker, Naval Rep and the current MACC tech chair smiled. "Follow me," he said. Without a word, Sloan, Ed and Chris and Sarah followed Charlie out of the room.