Fallon shook her head at Kirby, absolutely baffled. "I still don't see how that was supposed to help. We need phone data, or proof of what she's doing. Not where she goes after this."
Kirby just crossed her arms, frustrated that her attempt to help was getting trashed so thoroughly. "If we know where she goes afterward, we can find out where she keeps her stuff," she argued. But Fallon had a point about the tracker being noticed. A woman as practiced as Ada would never miss something like that, would she? Kirby wasn't sure.
Fallon looked over at Liam again, trying to determine if she'd just managed to get him into trouble with a woman powerful enough to ruin her engagement and cunning enough to influence even Fallon into the downward spiral she'd gone through. Regardless of if Ada actually found out what they were doing, or if she realized who Liam really was, he needed to get away from her. Away from the chance that Michael would pay enough attention to recognize him.
Well. Assuming it really was Ada. Fallon couldn't tell from so far away.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Fallon stepped towards him only to be caught by Kirby's arm. "What are you doing? She'll definitely recognize you."
"And? Most people think you and I still don't get along. And most people are well aware of how I react when someone wrongs me, or my wrongs my friends. Or, equally, how I react when I think someone is getting in the way of what I want" Fallon explained, referring to the ski lodge situation. And to the admittedly immature shenanigans she had pulled when Michael started dating that friend of Jeff's. Not that she particularly wanted to go back to that time, but she definitely had some inspiration to pull from. "They don't know that 'Jake' isn't some new guy that's done something wrong. Don't worry. I won't make too much of a scene."
"Good thing you're got experience with this, I guess, but be careful. Who knows what Liam will think?"
Letting that question sink in, Fallon snatched a drink off a passing tray, downed it, and steeled herself before walking with purpose through the crowd, luckily managing to walk along the opposite side from Culhane so she wouldn't draw additional attention from him if he'd already been wary of her. He sure had been at the office, after all. So when she reached Liam, she held out a hand to interrupt them, her expression one of anger, if not jealousy.
"Sorry," she said to the woman, acting completely oblivious to who they thought she was. "Can I borrow him?"
Fallon watched as Ada stepped back, hands up. "Of course. I should go find Michael anyway," she replied, the sound of her voice putting Fallon immediately on edge. It was too familiar, too like what she had heard over the phone.
Feeling herself start to bristle in distaste and discomfort, Fallon snagged Liam's hand and pulled him off of the dance floor like she was about to lay into him.
"What the hell?" He muttered, walking quickly to keep up with her, even as he pulled back to try and make her stop. "Fallon, what are you doing?"
At the edge of the room, she finally turned around to face him. "Kirby told me what you were trying to do. I had to stop it. It wouldn't be safe for any of us."
"I don't remember you caring about whether or not things were safe, Fallon. Not if it meant getting what you wanted, or protecting the people who need you. What's changed?"
She frowned deeply, releasing him as he tried to gesture and she realized she was still gripping his hand. "I usually put myself in those situations. Or someone who knows precisely what they're getting into. Not you and Kirby, who definitely never asked to be involved in things like this. Neither of you really were until you each met me."
"That's completely untrue and you know it. Kirby's told me a little about her life before moving here. And I walked into this house, originally, only knowing that you needed help and that I could give that to you. This was Kirby's plan, this time."
"And look how well that went for you and Ashley!" Fallon scoffed.
His frustration turned into anger instantly. "Don't go blaming Kirby for the things you did there."
"They were her ideas! I just wanted to distract her in order to talk to you. The spa stuff was- that's way outside my abilities. She and Sam did those things."
"I don't care who said the words first or who physically did it, Fallon. You agreed to it. You allowed it. And you acted like everything was fine when you came to talk to me that night."
"I said I was sorry! You're the one who came to me for help with all of this. If you wanted someone like Kirby – if you really never wanted to see me again – you should've just asked her instead, and kept me far, far away from you."
Hurt, and cold almost to the point of feeling numb, Fallon turned and stormed out, straight past Kirby, Steven and Sam, who had gathered to talk. She just needed a moment. A little air, a chance to breathe. She felt incredibly lucky, ironically, given that she wouldn't have to return to the office until Monday. Because unless Liam saw fit to fire her, she wasn't about to just quit yet another attempt at a job that would help her find her footing again. Somehow, even being Fallon Carrington didn't make it easier to get a job she wanted anymore. At least she wasn't on the same floor as Liam, right? So he could get some space as well.
She reached the railing of the balcony and stopped, grasping it with both hands. Looking back, she couldn't believe any of those words had left her mouth, much less in front of him. Thoughts like that were barely allowed to enter her mind, so allowing them to enter the world audibly was disorienting. Fallon couldn't even remember if she'd ever reacted that way to Michael, but at that point, it felt like she'd gone from strong and confident, to sort of anything-goes in regards to what was or was not considered 'okay.'
Fallon stood up straighter quite suddenly. She needed to move on, and get a grip. She needed another drink. That much she could give herself before she had to get back on track. At least she had bought herself time by making sure Liam couldn't tag Ada.
Just as she turned around to head back inside, Kirby and Liam showed up behind her, making Fallon jerk to a stop. "What?" She snapped, hands falling to her hips defensively.
"She left," Kirby explained. "Michael was talking to Steven a moment ago, but if they came for something, they either found it-"
"Or realized they weren't going to." Liam shrugged slightly as they all took a moment to wonder which was true.
Fallon forced herself to relax, but it didn't stop the frown that came over her face. "Well. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But I'm sure Anders and the staff will do a check after this is over to be sure nothing was taken. So, we're done for tonight." She turned to Liam, stiff and dismissive in her lingering embarrassment. "You can go home."
His jaw clenched beneath his mask before he turned to Kirby. "Can you give us a minute?"
In her surprise, Kirby just nodded and walked off, leaving them alone. And Fallon, being the woman she was, she just couldn't help herself. "For someone who never wanted to see me again, you sure are doing a great job of ensuring that you have to. What do you want, Liam?"
"I want to protect my mother, and my aunt, and the rest of my family. I want to protect the people we employ, who will lose their jobs if Ada gets her hands on CA. But I also want to be very clear about something. You've changed since we met. I'm sure you can see that. The old Fallon would've given nothing away at all, but whether it's because of what you said at the lodge, or the fact that you know I'm right, you're being extremely open tonight. And I sort of appreciate that, considering everything we've said and everything that's been kept secret over the past several months... but I don't think your head is in the right place."
"Excuse me?" She stood up a little straighter, affronted.
"Everything about this situation is personal. I know that. But you're not being your usual, obscenely clever self, Fallon. And I don't know why. We went into tonight with what seemed like zero plans, and instead of rescuing and correcting the one we had, you tried to just stop it. We'll get nowhere if you keep doing this." He looked down for a moment, clearing his throat with the obvious reluctance he felt about his next sentence. "I don't want to jump to conclusions, considering it's you we're talking about, but – after the whole you-hiring-me thing, it kind of feels like you're trying to put off proving what he's up to."
Fallon turned her head, considering it even as her distaste for the claim made itself known on her face. Was she? "I have no idea what you're talking about." Her gaze snapped back to him, tough as it was when they first met. "I saved us from a terrible and likely inevitable law suit, if not infinitely worse. You should be thanking me."
"Yeah... Well, I might have, if you'd been a bit quicker. In the time we spent arguing about it, she left. And I'd already put the tracker on her."
Her jaw dropped, but she quickly shook herself and regained some sort of composure. "I – That... is beyond terrible. You're just now telling me this?! Why didn't you bring it up before?"
"Well, we got a little off topic," he replied, deadpan.
"Does Kirby know?"
"Yeah, we were coming out to tell you. She's going to keep an eye on the tracker."
"Which Ada can easily reverse engineer if she's got the type of team it seems she has. She'll know who's doing it faster than we'll even be able to locate her." Fallon shook her head firmly. "No. We should just turn it off."
"We made sure it wouldn't be tracked to this IP address. If she does try that, it'll bounce around all over the place."
"We? Since when do you and Kirby know anything about programming tech?"
Liam gave her a look that said quite plainly that she was being foolish. "CA has an incredible IT department. And they aren't about to ask questions of the boss's nephew."
She pursed her lips. Of course. That did make sense. With much less bite than before and, instead, a level of disappointment, Fallon said, "Then it sounds like the pair of you have this covered."
He shrugged. "I'm a writer. So I've read a lot of mysteries. But we don't need to worry about that part for now. Once we figure out where she's returned to, or at least where she takes the tracker to test it, then we'll have enough information to need your help again." She must have looked unconvinced, even with her mask still on, because he sighed and stepped forward a little. "I know you, Fal. Despite everything, I do. Things are different, now. You haven't mentioned your father once, despite mentioning that something bad has happened. And you broke things off with Culhane, Steven is home safe with Sam, and we're not-... My point is, you're still needed, even if you don't see it right in front of you."
Admittedly, his use of that nickname he'd started to use before things went bad was quite distracting. It allowed Fallon to recognize another little bubble of hope. Hope that maybe she could correct her mistakes, and be loyal to him as she should've been. As he had been for her.
Liam, at least to Fallon's ears, was saying that he needed her. And that banished any anger or hurt from her mind.
"Okay," she agreed, nodding firmly. "Then, I'll let you know when Kirby comes to a conclusion?"
"Well, if she doesn't stop somewhere until after the party's over."
"Right."
Silence fell between them, and in some ways, it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. He was looking at her expectantly, and much to her own surprise, Fallon broke eye contact first, pretending to brush something off of her skirt. She still heard his heavy sigh, though.
"There's nothing we can do about it for now, Fallon. Come on."
She looked up to find that his hand was extended towards her in a shocking offering. She blinked at it for a moment before dropping her hand into his as though it were perfectly normal and nor surprising at all. She wasn't going to pretend she didn't want him, after all. Not anymore. That old smile of his made a brief appearance when his fingers gently curled around her own, leading her hand into the crook of his elbow. The smile from his mother's house, and the twenties party. The one from the hallway, when they kissed for the first time.
It was a great start, if nothing else at all.
An easy, familiar smirk pulled at her lips as he led her back inside. They passed by where she expected them to be headed – towards the alcohol. Instead, Liam brought her through the study and back into the living room-turned-dance floor. Fallon lifted her chin a little as they walked straight past Culhane, but she had to hold back her surprise as Liam kept going, only stopping when they were in the middle of the dance floor.
"What are you doing?" She asked him quietly, openly confused.
He held his free hand out for hers, ready to draw her into a partnered dancing position. "Acting casual?"
Skeptical though she was, it was best to just go along with it instead of making some kind of scene. Especially with Michael potentially watching on. So she stepped forward enough to match his stance, her arms shaping gracefully as she took his hand and lifted her other to his shoulder. She'd avoided ever doing this with him before. It had felt a little too personal, too intimate. Agreeing to this felt like conceding and sharing a bed with him, or – oddly, a little like the way he had held her hand at her grandfather's funeral when no one else would have. He had always been there, a steady presence – the leader in the dance they'd been doing for so long, even despite Fallon's attempt to claim that role for herself.
"Fallon."
She blinked, lifting her chin to meet his eyes. Oh. She hadn't moved when he tried to fall into step with those around them. "Sorry," she murmured, nodding to show that she was ready this time.
He cracked a smile again. "Just relax. It's only a dance."
She wished it weren't true, but he was right. So she let him direct her, trusting him to stop her if she got too close to anyone. But if she were being honest with herself, the fact that she couldn't seem to break eye contact, ad couldn't seem to think of anything to say... it felt like more. It felt like they were slowly inching closer, their hands cautiously sliding across the other's shoulder or back, respectively.
Fallon very nearly made up her mind to just take a step closer, and to curl her fingers pointedly around the back of his neck – but the song came to an end and the people around them stopped, chatter lifting into the air as those guests decided to leave the floor or dance the next song as well. Neither she nor Liam moved, at first. But then the hand she'd set on his shoulder fidgeted slightly and he took a sharp step back, as if catching himself in something he didn't want to be doing.
She released him instantly, mirroring his reaction so they stood with a couple of feet of tense, empty air between them.
"Sorry, I can't-" he began, only for Fallon to cut him off with a bright and very fake smile.
"Don't worry about it. I've had worse dance partners. Some that stepped on my feet, even."
Liam frowned at her, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant."
"I know."
He took a moment, then nodded. She was giving him the out he'd asked for, though he'd only just realized it.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I should go check on Steven anyway. If anything comes up, I'll have Kirby call you."
Then she turned away, frustrated and embarrassed. This yo-yo feeling was driving her crazy. Was that how he'd felt before she cut him off? Guilt turned her stomach over as she began making her way through the dancing crowd to find her brother. And that time she didn't even look for a drink on the way.