Chapter Three - 5/3/2016

Stephanie sat at her desk, thinking about James. He'd taken the news of his parents' impending divorce quite calmly, saying he'd known it was only a matter of time. James and Stephanie had been standing by the window, wrapped in each other's arms, and had both witnessed the scene at the fountain the previous day. They'd shrugged at each other as if to say 'Parents - what'cha gonna do?', then returned their attention to each other's lips. Somehow, when they held each other close, Stephanie and James became the only two people on the planet. Their parents' problems - and the world as a whole - melted away, leaving just the two of them.

"Are you Stephanie Goldman?" A strident, unpleasant voice preceded its owner into the office. "You're the new Director? You don't look old enough to be in charge of a lemonade stand!"

"Hello, Peggy," Steph said, her voice dripping wirth syrup-y sweetness. "I recognize you from your swimming exhibition yesterday. Quite impressive."

"You're just like your mother," Peggy hissed, "you little -"

"Lady, I am damn proud to be my mother's daughter! I'm not nearly as polite in dealing with people like you, though. You so much as breathe on me, and I will lay you out flat. Got it? What are you here for, anyway?"

"I missed my appointment with Doctor Marchetti yesterday, courtesy of your mother, but before I go downstairs, there's one thing I need to make crystal clear to you, Little Girl."

"I'm all ears, waiting with bated breath."

"You will stay away from my son. I'm not going to allow anyone else from your family to tear mine to shreds. Trust me, Little Girl; I am not kidding!

------

"Was that my mother I just saw riding her broomstick down to Marchetti's office?" James asked, after a very long 'good morning' kiss.

"James, please don't talk about your mother that way."

"After everything she's done? After what she's trying to do to your mother?"

"What about my mother?" Steph knew about the divorce, but not Peggy's latest ugliness.

"My mother is counter-suing my dad, charging infidelity."

Stephanie sank heavily into her chair as a tearful Kelly Hansen knocked on the open office door. "Stephanie? Do you have a few minutes?" She looked at James. "Don't leave; this involves you, too."

James pulled a chair up to the desk for Kelly. "I take it you've heard the news of the day?"

"I need a transfer," Kelly pleaded through her tears. "Doesn't matter where - just outta here, as soon as possible."

"Kelly, you're the best we've got," Stephanie told her. "I really don't want -"

"This is all my fault, and -"

James handed her a tissue. "Kel, my parents were on the verge of splitting up long before we found out about you, before they even moved back to DC."

"Really?" she sniffled, calming down just a bit.

"Really. Besides, you aren't responsible for your father - I mean, for Jack Hansen's behavior."

"Take a few more days to think it over," Steph suggested.

"I really don't wanna go," Kelly admitted. "I'm just afraid of making things any worse, of tearing two families to shreds..."

"With the exception of my mother, who's been slowly falling apart for a long time," James told her, "I think you could be the catalyst that brings us all closer to -"

BOOM!-rrr-sssh! A sound too loud and too ominous to be anything but an explosion rocked the building. Windows shattered and the floor swayed threateningly, sending people and things cartwheeling out of control. No words were necessary. The three of them and Annie, in the outer office, headed for the stairs as the lights went out, blanketing NESSA in utter darkness.

"Is anybody hurt?" James called out, as they joined the herds of people who were now on auto-pilot, moving down the stairs. No one answered him. James didn't know if that was good or bad.

The floor beneath them trembled as they reached the lobby. Once they got outside, Stephanie and James were both trying to count heads, but there'd been too many people coming and going to know how many - and who - might be missing. Broken glass and unidentifiable chunks of wood and stone littered the ground, but miraculously the building itself remained standing.

Fire and Rescue teams were arriving from every direction. Although they'd left the building together, Stephanie couldn't find James. Michael Marchetti joined her, his eyes almost frantic as he searched the crowd. "Has Peggy Austin come out yet?" he asked breathlessly.

"Haven't seen her," Stephanie answered, "but with all these people -"

"She was right behind me, coming up the stairs, but when I came outside, she didn't."

Steph finally saw James. He was with the Fire Chief, coordinating their teams, so she put herself in charge of this problem. Without so much as a thought, she headed back toward the building.

"Stephanie! It's not stable!" Marchetti called to her. Kelly wasn't thinking about that either; she took off to help the boss - and half-sister - she'd grown to care about and trust completely.

"Kelly, go back outside," Stephanie told her as they entered the pitch-black, deserted lobby.

"Uh-uh. Sorry, Boss, but you need someone with you." Kelly ducked behind the receptionist's desk, pulled something out of a drawer and held it up triumphantly. "Besides, I'm the one with the flashlight."

------

James stood and stared at the building that was too obstinate to fall. He'd finally been able to account for everyone known to be inside; he was unaware that his mother had still been in Marchetti's lab. To the best of his knowledge, everyone was safe and - other than various cuts, bruises and a few concussions - relatively unharmed. He looked around for Stephanie, wanting to share the good news, and was shocked to see her, along with Kelly, coming out the main entrance, one of them on either side of his mother, supporting her as she limped down the sidewalk.

Rescue personnel rushed forward with a wheelchair and Peggy was eased into it. "I only twisted an ankle," she told them. "I'm ok, thanks to these two." She smiled up at Stephanie and Kelly as James joined them.

"Mom?"

"Michael and I were running, and I fell, then the lights went off and I guess I panicked. Couldn't find the stairs. Quite a special young lady you have here, James."

James looked at Steph incredulously. "You went back in the building?"

Peggy continued to smile as she looked up at Stephanie. "You are definitely your mother's daughter - and your father's. This time, that's a compliment."

James put his arms around Stephanie's waist and kissed her. "That's why I love her so much," he said softly.

Steph, startled, looked at him questioningly. "What did you say?"
"Steph-a-nie, Steffie, and Steph, I love you."

"I love you, too, James - I really do."

They both knew that tomorrow the hunt for a bomber would begin, but as they shared another kiss, for that one moment, they were once again the only two people in the world.

END