Chapter 11: Last and First

Leland Residence, Adams-Morgan

Thursday, 28 October 2018

7 a.m.

"Please don't argue with me, love. I already called Dan, and he's not expecting you until this afternoon." Myles picked up the last of the breakfast dishes and put them in the dishwasher. "Molly's taking the girls to school, and the ever-efficient Leland brothers are double-checking on the details for tomorrow night. All you have to do this morning is relax."

"Myles, I don't want to be alone in this house today." Elizabeth threw her napkin into the basket, now emptied of Kim Leland's famous blueberry crunch muffins. "It's too quiet and it's too soon."

"That's the beauty of it." He sat down next to her and took her hand. "Kim's on her way to pick up Pam and Connie at Sam's house, and they're all coming back here. You won't be alone, and you can girl-talk to your heart's content."

She smiled suddenly. "How about you just stay home?" She toyed with the wave of gold at the front of his hair, fringing it over his eyes a little. "You were a wonderful help this morning with my shower."

Myles gave her a warmly exasperated look. "But I'm no good at girl talk," he quipped. "Besides, how would it look if I came in late on my next-to-last day? Mess up my perfect record— the guys would tease me unmercifully."

"Oh, we can't have that." She ran one finger down over his ear and neck, then around to trace his tie down his chest. "You sure you don't want to take a risk?"

He smiled, reaching up to squeeze her shoulder. "Beth," he said softly, "you've always asked me to help you stand on your own. What's the phrase you always throw at me? 'I need to be strong on my own before I can be strong with you'? You have to face this, and I have to go in today. I missed both a meeting with the Director and taking Earl and Brian to meet my snitches. I need to do both before we can turn the page."

"I know." She leaned over and kissed him. "I was only half-serious about you staying home. Go get done what you need to. I'll be fine. I need to stretch out my leg anyway, and I'll probably crank the stereo while I'm doing it just to have the noise going."

Myles chuckled. "You know the entire clan will be over here again tonight. If it were me, I'd enjoy the peace and quiet while I could."

:
Bullpen, Hoover Building

Thursday, 8 a.m.

"You can't do this!"

Myles stepped out of the elevator to raised voices echoing from the Bullpen. Life goes on, he thought with a half-smirk.

He'd almost reached the doorway when a voice called from behind. "Hey, Myles!"

"Miss Thomas," he replied after he'd turned, just for the fun of it— Sue hadn't been "Miss Thomas" for nearly 12 years. "What brings you down to these hallowed halls so early? I thought you were breaking in a new team of eagle eyes."

Sue grinned at him. "Jack's mom called after he left this morning; they'll be at the airport here at 5:30. I figured it was easier to post the sticky note on his computer than to assume he would." She glanced around at the expressions of people walking past, who all seemed to be glancing into the Bullpen as they went by. "What's going on?"

NO IDEA ME HAVE, he signed. WORLD WAR 3 SOUND LIKE, AND US NOT IN THERE.

She laughed. "It has been awhile since you and I were on opposite sides of a debate, hasn't it? I miss it sometimes."

SAME-SAME, he replied, then resorted to speech for clarity. "You kept me thinking, always making me defend myself. Even after you took the internship director position, I would find myself working a case and hear your voice in my head, presenting a totally opposite point of view. It's helped a lot over the years. Thank you."

Sue smiled and patted his arm. "You made sure I did my homework. Presenting an opinion was never easy with you around. But I always knew I had it worked out in my head by the time I said it, because I knew you'd lace into the smallest details. So the THANK-YOU," she signed it as well, "is mutual. Shall we go see if anyone needs rescuing?"

AFTER YOU, he signed with a grand flourish.

They walked in to find Brian Rhodes perched on the center desk, his arms folded tightly across his chest, watching quietly as Kendra Phillips balled up her fists and punched the filing cabinet. It was obvious that only a split-second thought had prevented her from punching Jack instead.

"I busted my tail for sixteen weeks at Quantico to finish top of my class!" The redhead rounded on him again. "That means I get to train here! At Headquarters! Not at some back-hole field office in Little Rock! You can't do this to me, Hudson!"

Jack's eyes were like stone, but his voice was very even. "Actually, I'm not doing it to you, Kendra. Because I'm going to a different assignment, I am no longer able to train you as a field agent."

Kendra whirled to face Brian. "Then I see I have you to thank for this."

"That's right," the new unit leader snapped. "For six months I've watched Jack try to impress upon you the need, not only for investigative and forensic skills, but also for teamwork and a subtlety you have no idea how to pull up. You are not only rude and unnecessarily condescending to witnesses and suspects, but to your co-workers as well. Agent Hudson put up with it; I won't. No one in this unit wants to train you; in fact, and I did ask around, no one in this building wants to train you until you learn to rein in that attitude of yours. Maybe spending the rest of your probationary period 'out of the spotlight,' so to speak, will teach you some manners."

Sue tapped Myles on the shoulder; making sure the rest couldn't see, she grinned and signed LUCKY YOU B-R-I-A-N NOT UNIT LEADER WHEN YOU JOIN. NOT FINISH 1 WEEK.

HAHA, he replied. FUNNY YOU.

"I'll go over your head, Rhodes, so fast you'll have my boot prints on your smug face!" Kendra was livid. "You can't just kick me out of here!"

"No, you won't, and yes, I can." The auburn-haired agent didn't even blink. "I already checked your performance reviews from Quantico and while you've been here. I went all the way up the ladder. You will not find one sympathetic ear at Hoover. You will finish out today and then you will make your arrangements this weekend. You are expected in the Little Rock office at 8 a.m. Monday morning."

"The hell I'll 'finish out today'!" Kendra shouted. She turned, grabbed her purse off her desk and rammed into Myles before he could move out of the doorway, then whirled back around. "Not under you, Rhodes, that's for sure! This place is a circus— next you'll have Hudson's deaf wife leading a unit! Is this the FBI or the freakin' Special Olympics?"

"Excuse me." The Harvard grad grabbed the redhead by one arm and stopped her dramatic exit, his eyes glacial at both her attitude and the memory she'd slapped him with. "I believe you owe someone an apology." He beckoned toward Sue, who stepped out from behind him, her dark eyes far more inflamed than they had been twelve years ago when a similar comment was made. "Allow me to introduce, Sue Thomas Hudson, who heads up the Special Surveillance Internship Program here at Headquarters."

Kendra snorted. "Ah, yes, if it isn't the High-and-Mighty Mrs. Hudson. I can't get through a single day around here without hearing about you, super deaf woman! No doubt you've been making the world safe for deaf people everywhere. Including 'soccer Dad' here's little silent princess. It honestly makes one wonder just what type of hold you had over all these men when you were with this group. Soaking in their pity, I'm sure. Or did it have more to do with batting your eyes and sashaying your hips that got you in and up the ladder?"

Two lightning movements froze the moment; Earl grabbed hold of Jack, who had lunged, and Sue stopped the open hand Myles had halfway to Kendra's face.

Jack growled, "You better hold on tight, Earl, because I swear... if I get within two feet of her, she's going to be seeing next week backwards."

Myles wasn't any calmer, but Sue stepped in front of him before he could say anything. "Excuse me Kendra, but can we chat over here please?" She took hold of Kendra's arm leading her over to an empty area of the room. Kendra tried to wrench her arm away, but Sue was having none of it. Apparently having a 9-year-old son had improved her grip.

"What the hell is she doing?" Myles had stepped over to where Earl still had hold of Jack.

Jack sighed. "I don't know, but you know Sue. Can't stand to have anyone else fight her battles."

"Not to worry, gents." Brian motioned them over to where he still perched calmly on the edge of his desk. "I can lip-read, too," he reminded them with a wicked grin. He adjusted his hearing aids down so he could concentrate.

"Listen," Kendra started. Then she sneered, "Oh, right, you can't listen."

Sue stopped her before any more words fell from her lips. "Well, actually I can listen, Kendra. I just listen differently than others. But that's not the issue here, now is it?" She paused only for a brief second. "Your prejudice has really overstepped the boundaries this time, with your comments. I honestly don't know what your problem is with people with a hearing problem...but you need to cool it, right this very minute. Any one of them, or myself, could file a discrimination report against you and OPR would have you riding a desk so fast your head would be spinning."

Turquoise eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see you try it. You think you're so damn smart..."

"No, Kendra, I just have fifteen years experience of learning the ropes myself." Sue sighed. "I know; believe me, I honestly know that you feel the need to prove yourself to the men in here, but you really don't, so long as you do your job and can be a team player."

"I don't have to prove anything to anyone, least of all these guys!" Kendra snapped. "Bull—"

"Pull?" Sue replied, unsure of exactly what Kendra said.

"See, you even get a simple word wrong," the agent shot back.

Sue grinned. "Maybe, but that's what being a team player is all about. The others in this unit have learned, as we all have, to help one another out when help is needed, whether it's helping me understand what someone is saying or knocking someone out of the path of a bullet. I used to be very stubborn and tried to go off and solve issues on my own, wanting to prove myself, especially to Myles. Until we all learned to work together. I just pray that in your next assignment you'll remember what I've said and learn to be a good team player, and you just might keep your career at the Bureau."

"Yeah, whatever," came the retort as she started to walk away.

Sue grabbed her arm, a devilish grin dancing over her lips. "Just for the record, Kendra, Myles was so angry to have me here in the first place that 'sashaying my hips,' as you so delicately put it, wouldn't have made a bit of difference." She leaned in and met the cold eyes directly. "Deaf people can do everything a hearing person can do, except hear. Rachel, Brian and myself are no different than you. Just remember that as well. Accidents, illnesses happen. You might be one of us one day."

Kendra jerked her arm from Sue's grip, glowering at themen again as she passed by and stormed out of the room, muttering something that none of them could understand.

Sue approached the desk where the men were gathered. "Did you get all that?" she asked Brian, her eyes twinkling.

"You trained me well, 'Teach,'" Brian replied, grinning. "And you handled that far more gracefully than I would have."

"And how do you know it wouldn't have made a difference?" Myles teased. "I may have been a complete jerk, but I was never blind." He ducked as Jack tried to backhand him. "Hey, I can get away with comments like that now— Sparky," the Harvard grad grinned. "I'm happily married, and more afraid of my wife and yours than I ever was of you."

Sue laughed with the rest of them. "By the way— does Kendra know that the Little Rock office has two of our interns and has just requested a third?"

"No," Brian replied quietly, "and thank you for reminding me. I'll warn them what's coming."

The rest of the day was quiet— almost too quiet, given that the day before his adrenalin level had been running at warp speed. Myles made it to his meeting with the Director, and his snitches all saw the wisdom of continuing their relationship with the Bureau. Brian and Ed had pretty much divided them up evenly.

He was at his desk, making notes for several open cases so that he could pass them on without too much difficulty, when he heard a voice that had, forever it seemed, evoked a mixture of amusement and the urge to pull out his firearm.

"Hey, hey, watch the leather...it's real, ya know. Coming through. I have a special delivery for one Myles Leland the Third."

He suppressed the urge to slide under his desk and hide until he had a clear shot. Instead, he tried not to look overly alarmed. "Me? Don't you generally deliver things to Jack?"

"Heh, yeah, but I figured since this was your last day, I'd make an exception." Howie Fines did a snakey little move inside his jacket, one he'd always thought was cool. "As you know, Otis and I parted ways awhile back, but we've never forgotten how you guys watched out for us."

"Watched out for" wasn't necessarily how Myles would have phrased it; "endured to the limits of our patience" was more like it. Still, Howie Fines had gone from two-bit con artist to one of the slickest founts of information the Bureau had ever known. In the fifteen years Myles had known him, the snitch had never failed the team when it came to weaseling the latest street talk from whatever sources he needed to. Pairing up with Otis Washington had merely expanded the deal.

Otis had decided, about five years back, to take the little nest egg he'd been saving from his legal ventures and informant stipends and open a restaurant. As far from Howie as he could get, the joke around the office was. Word had it that business was booming in Houston, and occasionally a review would pop up online with nothing but kudos for the big man.

Howie continued in the trades he knew best, small-time shady dealings that were carefully overlooked (and overseen, to make sure he didn't get too carried away) in the interest of keeping his reputation as the entrepreneur to have in your network. By now, Myles thought with a smirk, the street crowd of DC probably looks to him as the "Godfather of Foggy Bottom."

Still, the Harvard grad decided it was in his best interest to not remind the snitch he would be here tomorrow as well. "You've repaid us a hundredfold, Howie," he said smoothly. "Further gratitude really isn't—"

"Oh, but it is. See, me an' Otis, we made a deal, long time back. Me an' him and Agent Manning, God rest his soul. We decided to save up and buy you a little going-out-of-business gift." The little man waited expectantly for a comment. When he received only a stare, he went on. "Otis an' me, we ain't high falutin' like you, but we respect that. And Bobby did, too. So, we finally saved enough ta get you this." He whipped out a box with outlandish wrapping paper around it. "Go ahead. Open it."

Myles was very glad he'd made his peace with Bobby earlier in the week; otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to take the box from Howie at all. As it was, he had to fight to keep his hands from trembling. "Bobby was in on this?" He managed to keep his voice steady. Heads were up all over the Bullpen now, Jack's in particular.

The snitch nodded emphatically. "It was his idea, yeah. He put in the first contribution and told both of us, 'No bargaining with this piece.' Made us swear."

Myles started to open the package, but his eyes were still on Howie. "Why me? Jack was his best friend. Shouldn't this be for him?"

Howie cut a glance at Jack, and then at the box. "This was for you," he insisted soberly, an uncharacteristic moment. "He made us swear." He looked over at the dark-haired agent again. "I guess maybe he figured he'd said all he needed to say with Jack."

"Might want to check and make sure it's not ticking," Brian quipped from his desk, his eyes drifting back to his report, mostly to hide the grin forming.

Myles wrinkled his nose at the younger agent, then let the paper fall away finally. A plain white box offered no clues. He lifted the lid, and stared quietly at the contents, stunned; he wasn't sure he could have spoken if he'd tried.

Howie scowled at the younger man and watched Myles closely. "You like it? Bobby picked it out. He said it was the real deal. It's white gold, the best one they had..." He picked up the Rolex watch and undid the clasp. "See here? We had it engraved and everything, just like he told us to."

With great care, the little man turned the watch over. Clearing his voice, he read, "'Brothers in Arms.' He picked that. I thought it was kinda cool, even then. You know, the whole knights thing and all. I..." His voice trailed off.

Myles gently took the watch from the snitch, staring at it for a very long moment. The Bullpen was silent; even Patricia, who had never known Bobby, seemed to realize the importance of what was happening.

After a moment, the blond agent looked up at the snitch again. "Howie," he said, his voice not as steady as he'd have liked it, "I need to ask. Why would… I mean…?" He wasn't sure he knew how to phrase what he was trying to ask.

The little man shrugged. "He was always doing stuff like that. Besides, it gave me and Otis a chance to do something bigger than ourselves. We figured if Bobby could put up with you, then this was the least we could do."

The quip, delivered deadpan as only Howie could, broke the spell that had woven itself around the office, and several chuckles broke out. Myles couldn't help but smile; it would be just like Bobby to put the fear of whatever into the snitch and his partner for something like this, even ten years in the making. He held up the watch again, this time letting its weight remind him of family ties forged in the most unusual places over the years. "Thank you," he said at last. "It's a beautiful watch."

"Okay, now that that's done, do you need me for anything while I'm here? Any training for the new guys? 'How to Talk to Your Snitch?' 'Man on the Street?'" He looked hopeful.

Jack hid behind his monitor, stifling a groan. Myles, on the other hand, laid the watch down on his desk and leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, clasping his hands behind his head. "You know, Howie, that actually doesn't sound like a half-bad idea."

The snitch's jaw dropped. "You...you mean it? Cuz, I got lots of free time right now. Or I could be free whenever is a good time for you guys. Anything for my country, right?"

"Well, it's going to take me a couple of weeks to figure out what's going on in my classes, and set up a lesson plan, but I really do think it would be educational." Myles grinned. "What would be a better way of training rookies to deal with their snitches than by introducing them to you?"

:
Leland Residence, Adams-Morgan

Thursday, 7 pm

"Tell me again why it is that we have the house to ourselves tonight." Myles was stretched out in front of the fireplace, his head pillowed in his wife's lap. An extra cushion protected her left leg.

"Pam and Connie decided the girls could use their own party, so they got everyone together and headed for the roller rink," Elizabeth replied softly, running her fingers through his hair. "Sue even took Zachary. And Kim left dinner warming, so I haven't had to do a thing all day. Dan called at noon and told me my appointments were covered."

Brad's wife, Kim, was a gourmet cook, which she'd passed on to James' wife as well. Between Kim's minestrone and Pam's herb bread, they'd dined quite handsomely. Connie had added her touch by making her killer tiramisu.

Now, the kitchen was clean, the fire was roaring, and the house felt like home again; Myles had felt it the moment he walked in the door. Elizabeth was far more relaxed than she'd been that morning, to the point that he found her dusting in the study and had to make her go sit down while he finished warming dinner.

"The girls decide what they're doing for Halloween yet?" he asked softly, letting himself relax into her touch.

His wife nodded. "Rachel is going to be a cowgirl, and Sarah is going as Shrimp Lo Mein."

"Excuse me?"

She laughed at his double-take. "She found a pattern for a costume that is a Chinese take-out box. Toss in a few sections of cut up pink swim noodle, a couple of skeins of white yarn, and poof! Shrimp Lo Mien."

"You do realize our eldest has been hanging out with my twin far too much, right?" He had to chuckle. "There was one year, before all the mess with Matthews, that Sam decided he wanted us to dress up as a bowl of Wheaties and bananas."

Now Elizabeth was laughing fully. "Which did you end up being? And where have you since hidden the photograph of it?"

"I am saying nothing further," he teased.

"Oh?" She let her fingers trail down to the very base of his neck, and traced small figure-eights there while she pressed a long, slow kiss to his lips. "Are you sure about that?"

A sound somewhere between a groan and a contented purr escaped the back of his throat. "Mmmh, I am so glad you're on our side and went with the Bureau instead of the KGB."

She smiled mischievously and whispered in his ear, "Vat makes you tink I have not svitched sides now?"

He reached up and tangled his fingers in her hair, drawing her face close to his. "Potomóo shtá, myó dorogóye praveetelstva. Rosseé kniegh smoglów posvolýat któ-ta eey vásheva eskóostva," he replied in Russian. "Because, my dear, the Russian government could no longer afford someone of your skill."

She swatted at him affectionately. "I should take that as an insult. But you're fortunate I understood what you really meant." She paused to look again at the white-gold watch on his wrist. "This is so beautiful. That was really nice of Howie to follow through on Bobby's idea."

Myles shook his head yet again at the gift. "I know. It blew me away when I opened it." He lay back on her lap again. "This is really happening. I have one day left as an FBI field agent."

"And, knowing you, you will find a way to go out in a blaze of glory," she quipped.

He looked up at her at that, then rolled to a sitting position facing her, their legs touching, and took her face in his hands. "No," he said softly. "I will be just as happy if nothing earth-shattering happens tomorrow. I'm all right now. I want this change." He kissed her softly at the corner of her mouth. "I want to be home with you. You've had to put up with so much over the years; plans getting canceled at the last minute, my not being there for too many important things…" A smirk lit his face. "Romantic evenings that got finished much faster than we'd planned."

She laughed gently. "I was often tempted to ask Brian and Jack if they had some sixth sense about that."

"Marry an agent, gain a permanent entourage." Myles kissed her again, not needing to push things further, simply content to taste her lips and drown in the love they'd treasured and nurtured for more than a decade.

After a few minutes, she sighed against his mouth. "I almost wish tonight were going to be a sleepover as well," she murmured, "but I know we need to be together as a family tonight."

"When is the last time we spent the night in front of the fireplace?"

Elizabeth laughed softly again. "The night before we switched Sarah over to her toddler bed. We haven't dared since then."

"Ten years…" He grinned as he lay back, pulling her down on top of him. "That's too long."

She smiled as she toyed with the buttons on his shirt. "I don't think we want to take the chance tonight, love," she said. "I'm really not sure how long they're going to be. Do you really want to gamble, when it's our girls, your brothers and their wives who will be walking through that door?"

"Hmm. Good point." Still, he speared his hands into her ebony hair and kissed her deeply. "We'll just table that thought until things calm down. But I definitely think another sleepover is in order soon."

9 p.m.

"Dad?"

Myles turned from the door of the girls' room. "Yes, Sarah?"

"You'll be able to read to us every night now, won't you?"

He returned to the bunks and sat down on the bottom one. "That's right," he said, signing TRUE at the same time for Rachel, who was dangling her head down from the top bunk. "You think you two can handle that?"

"Oh yes!" Rachel flung her arms around his neck, flipping down into his arms as she did.

He laughed as she landed, knocking his wind out slightly. "You keep doing that, princess," he spoke and signed, "and neither of us will last long enough to read much more."

Within minutes, both girls were convulsed with giggles as a colossal tickle-war ensued; they'd learned to double-team him, so he got as good as he gave.

"Myles Robert, what are you doing?" Elizabeth appeared in the doorway.

"Uh-oh." Three voices chorused it together.

"I think we're in trouble," Myles whispered, signing it at the same time.

His eldest grinned. "Just kiss her, Dad. That's how you usually fix it."

"Sarah Anne!" Elizabeth gasped. Then she advanced on them, her green eyes stern. "You were supposed to be settling them down, Myles, not winding them up." She leveled a finger at him as he started to get to his feet. "Oh, no. It's not going to work this time."

"What?" he replied innocently. "I wouldn't dream of swaying Mom with a kiss." Then he grinned as he grabbed her shoulders and swung her onto Sarah's bunk. The girls giggled again as he pinned her down, being extra careful of her leg. "Not when the 'tickle trio' can do a much better job."

"Myles!" But it was too late; both girls pounced on her and soon everyone was laughing. Bedtime was pushed back considerably.

10:30 p.m.

"You are incorrigible," she said, pulling her nightshirt over her head. "Is this what I have to look forward to now that you'll be home almost every night?"

"Yup," he smirked, his blue eyes twinkling as he removed his shoes. "Still want me to take the job?"

Elizabeth waited until he'd turned his back as he placed his shoes at his bedside; then she walked quietly over to her side and tackled him, laughing as she pinned his shoulders down against the pillow. "Yes," she purred. "Because it means I also can look forward to other things as well."

"You're going to strain your leg," he warned, grinning.

"Oh? You thought I meant that?" she quipped. "I meant that I can retaliate for you keeping the girls awake half the night." She poked him in the ribs.

"Hey!" Laughing, he flipped her over and started to tickle her mercilessly. Only when she was gasping his name to stop did he let her go, pulling her close against him instead.

"I love you so much, Beth," he whispered in her ear. "Thank you for letting me pursue my dream for so long."

She smiled. "It's who you are, Myles," she replied softly. "And I've never wanted to change who you are."

"But you have." He kissed her again. "You and the girls have changed me, into a far better man than I was by myself. Now I want to give you as much; a partner who won't be risking his life— our life on a regular basis. It's time to turn the page."