Part Four: Rewards and Punishments
Now - July 2009
Beck wasn't surprised when the knock came at his door a couple hours after he talked to Heather and then to Elje. He knew, even before he opened the door, that it was Heather. He let her in without a word.
She looked at him anxiously.
"I just wanted to check on you," she said.
"I know why you're here," he said, his voice low and silky, his eyes burning as he looked at her.
He watched her throat as she swallowed convulsively while he glided towards her.
"Beck," she protested weakly before he caught her close and covered her mouth with his.
The kiss was savage, hot, and hungry, tinged with desperation and rage. Heather was overwhelmed by both her own physical desire for him and her emotional need to somehow comfort him, to ease his pain. She melted into him without hesitation, wrapping her arms around his neck as she responded, matching his passion with her own. She pressed closer against him. She softly cried out in protest then moaned in pleasure when he wrenched his mouth from hers and trailed hot, wet kisses down her neck, his tongue swirling patterns against her skin that made her knees buckle, and sharp, electric shocks rocket through her body. She involuntarily dug her nails into his shoulders as she arched against him, panting and making soft, mewling noises as he slid one hand under her shirt, roughly shoved her bra out of the way and cupped her breast in his palm.
The touch of his hand against her naked skin shocked her out of her sensual haze.
"Wait, wait, wait," she panted, pushing herself away from him. He blinked at her in surprise. "I d-didn't come here for this," she said, turning her back as she readjusted her clothing.
"No?" he asked, his own breathing rapid, his eyes glittering dangerously.
Heather looked at him over her shoulder as she finished tugging her clothes back into place. She turned to face him, her colour high, her eyes dark. Her body still thrummed with sexual energy, almost screaming at her to get back to what they'd been doing. She ignored it with an effort, and looked at him with a frown, searching his face for some clue as to what he was thinking.
"No," she said firmly. "I came to check on you, make sure you're okay after - after today."
Beck shrugged and stepped towards her. Heather stepped back. He raised an amused eyebrow. "I appreciate the concern," he purred, taking another step towards her. She stepped back again. "But why are you afraid of me?"
"I'm not afraid of you," Heather responded indignantly but kept backing away from his approach. For a moment she wondered just how silly she looked being basically chased around the living room.
"Then stand still," he urged persuasively.
Heather swallowed hard. "N-no." It sounded weak to her own ears, and her entire body was begging her to stop running - begging her to, in fact, meet him more than halfway. She didn't want to listen to her voice of reason; she wanted to pounce and bear him down to the floor right here and make love to him with all the love, desire and pure lust that had been building for the last few years.
But it wasn't the time.
"No," she repeated more firmly.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not going to be a revenge fuck." Heather's eyes widened, appalled at what she'd just said.
Beck stopped dead in his tracks, his amusement instantly erased by enraged disbelief. "What?" he demanded harshly.
Heather lifted her chin. "You're still a married man, even if separated. You found out she was betraying our town and our President, and today you discovered she lied - in the most horrific way - about what happened to your stepdaughter. You're angry and hurt and - and - confused. What better way to try and hurt her than to have sex with another woman, especially one you...you..." Heather stuttered to a stop, her face burning with embarrassment as she realized she'd been about to claim feelings on his part he'd never actually said.
"Love?"
She flinched at the harsh, sharp, sarcastic tone in his voice, and Beck was suddenly, deeply ashamed. He sighed, his rage draining out of him, leaving only exhaustion and a bone-deep sadness behind.
"I do, you know," he said gently and quirked a slight smile as Heather's gaze flew to his. "Love you, I mean."
Heather's guileless blue eyes filled with tears. Her bottom lip trembled and Beck took a step towards her, wanting to kiss that tremble away, to wipe away her tears. To wrap her in his arms and protect her from the world. And from him sometimes too, he thought ruefully.
He took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," he said, "and you're right. Tonight...is the wrong night for us to make love for the first time. But it would never -never- be a revenge fuck."
Heather winced. "I'm sorry. I don't even know where that came from."
Beck laughed. "Well, it definitely got my attention. Come on," he said, gesturing to the couch, "have a seat, and I'll see what I've got to drink. We'll pretend the last ten minutes never happened."
"All of them?" she teased weakly.
He grinned at her. "We-ell, how about the last three minutes never happened? The first five or so are well worth remembering."
Heather shivered as the heat of his voice stroked over her skin. "Yeah..." she breathed.
"Come on. Let's sit and talk for a few minutes. I promise I'll let you leave without trying to persuade you to stay."
"I - I should really leave now."
He gave her knowing look. "Before you can convince yourself otherwise?"
"Yeah," she breathed again. They stared at each other in suspended silence.
"So...I should go," Heather said finally. But she didn't look away from him, her eyes wide and clear and bottomless, and filled with longing. He couldn't look away.
"Yes," he nodded, his voice low and husky.
Neither moved for another breathless moment - then they crashed together.
It was a blur of sensations and sounds and scents, a kaleidoscope of textures. Hard muscles and soft skin; sweat and heat; seeking tongues and caressing hands. It was his scent, her scent and the scent they created together. It was urgent words and soft noises and laughter. It was bumped noses, clumsy hands, awkward moments and tangled hair. It was earthy and primal and the most basic of acts.
It was beautiful.
And right.
*/*/*/*
Beck and Heather sat at the kitchen table, both wearing boxers and t-shirts, eating ice cream from the container. Beck watched, fascinated, as Heather took another spoonful, closed her eyes and hummed in bliss.
His body stirred in response and he had sudden visions of doing things with ice cream he'd never actually considered before.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Where," she sighed, "did you get ice cream?"
Beck tucked his thoughts away for later and forced himself to focus.
"Gail," he replied around a hasty spoonful. "I'm her guinea pig. I guess you are, too, now."
Heather took another spoonful and savored it, then said, "It's awesome."
They shared the ice cream in companionable silence then Heather said, "What are you gonna do?"
Beck sighed and shook his head, not quite looking at her. "I wish I knew."
He leaned back, tapping his spoon handle on the table.
"Hawkins tells me he's close to discovering Leyna's - I don't know...employers? Friends?"
Heather frowned and Beck smiled at the wrinkle in the middle of her forehead.
"How can Hawkins do that?" Heather asked. "And be so sure?"
Beck shrugged. "I don't know. And I don't ask. But I trust him to do what he says."
"Why?"
"Because he found you like he promised he would."
Heather's eyes flew to his then quickly away.
"He found Tomarchio and Valente," she muttered, ate her spoonful of ice cream and put the spoon on the table.
"Them, too," Beck shrugged. "But I trust him because he promised me he'd get you back. He delivered on that promise. I trust him to deliver on this one, too."
Heather shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like to think about those few days she was in ASA custody. She liked talking about them even less. She shook her head, picked up her spoon and scooped another bit of ice cream.
"What about Elje?" She kept her eyes trained on the ice cream in her spoon. "And what about us?"
"Elje - I want to keep her hidden from Leyna until we can - I don't even know. Leyna said she held Elje's body, that she tried to save her and failed - and I -" he closed his eyes, shook his head, then looked ruefully at her. "I can't even fathom how she could lie to me like that. I want to believe there's some truth in what she says because otherwise..."
He shook his head again.
"When the Attacks happened, we'd been married for six years, known each other for seven. I - I honestly would have thrown you out the door if you'd told me Leyna would someday leave her ten-year-old daughter to fend for herself in the most horrendous of conditions. That she would lie to me about what happened to Elje, and continue to lie even with the possibility of being found out. That she - " he hesitated, then continued, "that she didn't love me enough to look for me - that, in fact, she in all likelihood actively worked to avoid being found by me. There's no way in hell I would have believed you. That's simply not the Leyna I knew."
Heather watched him with sympathetic eyes. "Maybe - maybe something snapped in her mind. You know, because of the Attacks," she suggested. "Maybe she's literally gone crazy."
Beck shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe this is who she really was all along." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter." He gave a determined smile. "So, Elje. Like I explained to her on the phone, I left her at Stanley and Mimi's tonight because I didn't want word getting back to Leyna that I'd left Jericho so late and returned with a young girl in tow. I want Elje in Jericho, but I can't have her with me, not if I want to keep her presence secret from Leyna. Leyna still drops by regularly and until we know exactly who she's working with, that's not going to change for a few days - even weeks." He shrugged. "We'll have the group meet us out at Stanley and Mimi's tomorrow night and we'll figure something out."
Heather nodded.
"As for us, I'd like to simply tell her about us and be done."
Heather gave him a twisted smile. "Never waste a potential resource," she reminded him.
"Exactly," he nodded. He wordlessly asked Heather if she wanted more ice cream. She shook her head. He replaced the cover on the container and returned it to the freezer and put the dirty spoons in the sink. He turned around to look at her, leaning against the cupboard, his arms crossed.
"I definitely don't want to go back to the way things were before tonight."
She blushed and smiled shyly at his appreciative look.
He suddenly smiled a wicked smile. "Well, you did once say you'd have to find yourself a secret lover," he said.
She frowned at him, puzzled, until she remembered the conversation at Christmas. She laughed. She stood and went to him, slipping her arms around his waist and leaning into him. He rested his hands on her hips.
"But what will we do once it's no longer secret? I mean, will it still be as thrilling?" she teased.
"Well, I do have some ideas about ice cream..." He grinned at her, tugging her closer, his hands smoothing around her hips.
She leaned back, confusion on her face. "Ice cream?"
He kissed her. "You'll find out," he promised, and kissed her again.
*/*/*/*
Heather's heart clenched in sympathy for the wary thirteen-year-old sitting beside Beck, staring at the crowd of people surrounding them in Stanley and Mimi's living room.
The last of them had just arrived - Jake, Emily, Gail and baby JJ - and had been introduced to Elje. Elje was tensely coiled and Heather got the impression she was ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. Heather thought she was like a wild animal, always on the lookout for danger. She wondered what Elje had been through and how she'd managed to survive for the last few years.
Gail, of course, moved first. She approached Elje with a smile and held out her hand. "Welcome to Jericho," Gail said.
Elje cautiously shook Gail's hand.
That broke the ice and everyone started to babble, asking questions and trying to determine what this meant in terms of Leyna and stories she'd told Beck. Elje's eyes kept getting bigger as she listened.
Finally the room fell silent and they focused their attention on Beck and Hawkins.
"Leyna can't find out about Elje," Beck said flatly. "Not yet, anyway."
"Agreed," Hawkins said.
"I want her in Jericho," Beck continued, "but she can't live with me."
"I'm not sure if being in Jericho is the best place for her," Hawkins responded.
Beck straightened, glaring at the other man.
"Think about it," Hawkins said, shifting his all-knowing gaze to Elje. "You can't be expected to stay inside for what may be weeks," he said to her. "You'd go crazy - and for good reason."
"She can stay with me," Gail said.
Hawkins turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't change -"
"No," Gail interrupted. "At the ranch."
Everyone considered this in silence.
"It's secure," Beck said.
"Isolated," Hawkins agreed.
"Leyna's never been there," Gail added. "I doubt she even knows it exists."
Beck turned to Elje. "What do you think?"
"I won't have to be worried about seeing my mom?"
"No," Beck assured her. "And you'll be able to leave the house."
"Will I see you?" Elje asked a little plaintively.
He hugged her close. "As often as I can get out there. But I can't change my routine too much or too suddenly - just in case Leyna's paying attention."
"We have an added complication," Hawkins added.
Beck glanced at him, puzzled.
"I'll explain later," he said.
Beck turned back to Elje, his eyebrows raised in question.
Elje bit her lip. "Do I have a choice?" she asked.
"I'd rather have you in Jericho," Beck said, "but Hawkins' right. You'd basically be under house arrest."
"Why can't you just tell my - Leyna - I'm here and I don't want to see her?"
Beck sighed. "It's a bit complicated," he said, "but we're trying to find some information and Leyna's the key to it. If I tell her you're here and that I know she lied to me about you, then - well. I can't pretend that's okay. And our entire mission is put into jeopardy."
Elje considered him thoughtfully with an expression on her face that told him this was what she'd been expecting all along. Suddenly, he couldn't do it. He couldn't put the mission before her happiness and security.
"I can tell her you're here," he blurted. "We can find another way to get the information." He looked hard at Hawkins. "Can't we."
Hawkins cocked his head to one side as he calmly met Beck's challenging glare. Then he smiled. Not his predator's smile, but his human one. He turned to Elje and nodded. "If that's what you want," he said.
She bit her lip and hesitated. Then she shook her head. "No. I'll go to Gail's."
Beck hugged her. "We've finally restored cell phone service," he said. "I'll get one for you and we'll talk every day, okay? And I'll be out to see you as often as I can."
She nodded into his shoulder.
Beck wondered if she believed him.
*/*/*/*
Beck and Hawkins' eyes never wavered from the President's.
"You told me we wouldn't be hiding. Remember?" she demanded. "When we were escaping from Columbus and we could see the east burning all around us? You said we'd go to Jericho - and we wouldn't be hiding. Well, what have we been doing these last eighteen months? You barely let me outside the walls - the members of congress are too scared to leave Jericho, because they see I'm too scared to leave Jericho. It has to stop!"
"We're not hiding, ma'am," Hawkins replied, "and you've been outside Jericho as often as possible. Thanks to the UN, you're now going to have a weekly address on TV and radio. You've been to almost every town or region of Kansas."
"Kansas isn't the entire country. The ASA will never be defeated if we keep me and every President after me stuck in a walled city!"
"Ma'am," Beck interjected, "we don't intend for this to last forever."
"No? Well, it shows no signs of changing." She glared at both them. "We all know we can't continue this way. We'll be in another civil war before we know it if I don't get out in front of the people and start claiming this country as my own. Considering I wasn't actually elected to this office, it's something we should have been doing sooner rather than later. We need to change things not just for me but for all the Presidents after me."
Beck glanced at Hawkins then sighed. "What do you propose, ma'am?"
"A tour of the country. The entire country. One that takes me to every state. One that requires me to be outside of Jericho for more than a few hours. One that brings me in contact with people who probably haven't got a clue who I am."
"Ma'am," Hawkins cautioned, "that may not be a good idea."
She waved away his words. "Oh, send as many military people as you think are necessary. Pave the way however you see fit - within reason - but this is going to happen. And it's going to happen soon." She glared hard at them. "As soon as you can arrange it, in fact."
*/*/*/*
"Madam President," Beck said, "I wish you'd reconsider."
The President shook her head. "We've set the itinerary," she said firmly. "No more hiding."
Beck sighed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. As you've agreed, no place on the itinerary will know you're arriving until the day before we get there. We leave on July 30th. There'll be four convoys leaving Jericho at the same time - none of the assigned soldiers know the true reason why. Neither do your guards. No one will know which route they'll be taking until that morning and it will be determined by drawing lots. No one, Madam President, is to know you're leaving Jericho on that date."
"No one?" the President asked skeptically. "Not even Heather?"
"No one, Madam President. Not because I don't trust Heather, but because the fewer people who know, the less chance there is of your plans being accidentally leaked outside Jericho."
The President considered him thoughtfully. "I suspect," she said slowly, "there are things you haven't been telling me."
Beck remained expressionless.
She considered him for another moment then nodded. "Agreed," she said. "But Major, there's no "we" here. You're not coming with me."
Beck's jaw dropped, then he rallied. "Ma'am -"
"Don't "ma'am" me. You're not going with me. This isn't up for debate. I'm speaking now as your commander-in-chief."
Beck frowned. "What's going on?" he demanded.
The President arrogantly stared back. "Your presence is unnecessary. You're sending your best soldiers, after all, and besides, you're needed here." She softened. "Really, Major. You're needed here."
Beck slowly nodded and wondered what he was missing.
*/*/*/*
Heather thoughtfully watched the President as she drank tea in Heather's garage.
The President was obviously distracted, something weighing heavy on her mind.
"Can you talk about it?" Heather finally asked after several minutes of disjointed conversation, interspersed with long moments of thoughtful silence.
The President smiled guiltily at her. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking...you know, I was never elected, Heather. I mean, not ever, not just to the Presidency. My predecessor appointed me to my position." She shook her head. "I was never meant to be here, and I wish..." she sighed. "I wish people would stop treating me like I somehow deserve the title of President." She stared off into space. "Sometimes, if I think about it too much, I have to wonder how what we're doing is any different than the ASA."
"You're a symbol, ma'am," Heather replied seriously. "Whether you like it or not - whether you were elected or not - you're the President. The only President with any legitimate claim to the title." She shook her head. "And if you think the symbolism isn't more important than the person, or the circumstances of attaining office, then you're kidding yourself."
"But how am I any different than Tomarchio?" the President insisted. "How is what we're doing any different than what the ASA did?"
"We're the good guys," Heather replied simply.
The President laughed. "Now who's kidding herself? We're not the good guys to everybody." She considered Heather thoughtfully, her head cocked to one side. "Why did you do what you did?" she asked suddenly.
Heather stared, startled. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," the President said. "The ASA. Tomarchio. The end of the war.."
"How do you -?"
"I may be kidding myself, but I know how to live in a small town. It's no secret, you know. Not in Jericho, anyway." She looked at Heather with sympathetically curious eyes. "Would you tell me about it?"
Heather hesitated.
"Please?" the President asked, and Heather began to speak.
*/*/*/*
Until they came for her, she hadn't really thought it would work. She hadn't truly believed Hawkins' contention that the powers that be in the ASA would be so desperate for information about Beck that they would waste resources to capture her.
She was wrong. Obviously. And now she had to believe Hawkins' plan would work – but it wasHawkins. Everything would probably happen exactly as he'd said it would if she could only play her part correctly. Not panic. Not freeze.
Not betray them - not betray Beck.
The battle was short - just vicious enough to convince Ravenwood she hadn't simply been given to them. She didn't fight at all. It was hard to struggle with a half-dozen high-powered weapons pointed in her direction. It was a desperate gamble that the misinformation Hawkins had planted about Heather's knowledge of Beck and his plans would keep her alive until she reached her objective. If the gamble failed, then Heather would most likely be summarily tortured and executed - perhaps publicly to serve as an example of what happened to traitors, but more likely in the dark of night, far from prying eyes.
But Hawkins had done his job well. The rumors and innuendo he'd fostered had created the conviction that Heather knew far more about Beck's plans and strategies than she truly did. That she knew enough to make her more valuable to the ASA if she was alive than if she was dead. Hawkins had also coached her how to convince those who held her that she was willing to turn on Beck, for a price. How to convince them she would only speak to someone in authority, someone close to President Tomarchio, someone who could offer a deal endorsed by the president himself.
During...interrogation, she implied Beck's network was far-reaching into the ASA's military and there was only one person Heather could truly trust to be on the ASA's side - but she never once specifically asked to see President Tomarchio.
In the end, they took her right to him. Perhaps that had been their intent all along. If they couldn't bring him Beck, they'd bring him Beck's best known civilian ally during the time he was in Jericho - the time he used to gather a coalition of their own soldiers to use against them.
By the time they ushered her into the President's presence, she was battered and bruised, barely recognizable. By some miracle, they hadn't actually broken any bones and they hadn't raped her. She thought it was because she'd indicated from the beginning she was willing to barter for her life by providing information to the right person. Much later, when she was safely back in Jericho under the care of her friends, she learned it was because Hawkins' informants were doing their best to follow and protect her - at least until she led them to President Tomarchio.
Later still, she came to understand her treatment at the hands of Ravenwood. They were losing a war they'd expected to be easy, and she was as close as those particular men were likely to get to the man who had tipped the scales in favor of their enemies. She knew it was a miracle they hadn't killed her outright.
The network of informants and spies that Hawkins and others had carefully cultivated did their jobs well.
Two days after her meeting with Tomarchio, Jake and Hawkins' friend Chavez broke her out of her prison. That same day the final battles of the war began. She didn't know for sure until five days later that Tomarchio had been eliminated, the ASA shattered, and the remnants of the ASA, J&R and Ravenwood sent on the run. It was three weeks after that that the final, suicidal attack by the ASA began - the attack that left the East in ruins and resulted in the President setting up residence in Jericho.
*/*/*/*
Heather fell silent.
"Thank you for telling me," the President said softly.
Heather nodded but couldn't quite look at her.
"That took a lot of courage," the President said, "and a lot of trust that the people who promised to rescue you would be able to do so."
Heather smiled crookedly. "It was Hawkins. Sometimes it seems like he can perform miracles."
The President nodded. "Still, it was your courage that made the plan work." She seemed to come to some decision, her distracted air dissipating as she straightened in her chair. "Thank you for telling me," she said again. "It - well. It was...inspiring."
Heather frowned at the President's words.
"I have to go," the President said and rose to her feet. "Thank you, as always, for the tea and company. Next time, we won't talk about anything ASA related. I promise."
Now it was Heather's turn to be distracted as she nodded and walked the President to the door.
*/*/*/*
Heather was walking to Bailey's when she saw the soldiers swarming out of the sheriff's office in full battle armor. Beck was barking orders on the phone as he hurried into the humvee.
He never saw her.
She hurried to the sheriff's office, lunch forgotten and burst into the ordered chaos of mobilizing for battle. She grabbed the first person she saw.
"What's going on?" she demanded.
"Presidential convoy is under attack," the young soldier said then rushed off, leaving Heather feeling like the earth had just opened up beneath her feet.
*/*/*/*
There was no word for what felt like days but was really only a few hours. Hawkins had left with the army while Jake mobilized the Rangers both within and outside Jericho. They quickly implemented one of their contingency plans, bringing everyone within a five mile radius into town, which included Gail and Elje. Once past the checkpoint, Elje was smuggled to Jake and Emily's house where they kept her away from prying eyes.
In less than an hour, everyone was in position, with government officials and non-combatants in underground bunkers and others either manning the perimeter or stationed in buildings to eliminate enemy soldiers if the perimeter was breached. They were also assigned to bunkers if they were attacked by artillery, but everyone knew they had almost no chance of getting to safety if that happened.
They were prepared. They were ready.
They waited.
*/*/*/*
No one quite believed the order to stand down when it came. They eased their vigilance but stayed at their posts, although those in the bunkers were allowed to leave. It wasn't until the humvees and helicopters returned and people were recognized that anyone gave up their positions.
Heather watched from the top of the tallest building in town as humvees pulled up to the med-center. She only truly relaxed when she saw Hawkins and Beck assist the President into the building. She lowered her binoculars and turned to the soldier beside her. "The President's back."
The soldier nodded, and they made their way down the stairs.
Heather rushed into the med-center and saw Hawkins, Beck and Jake standing in the waiting room, talking quietly.
"How could they have known?" Jake hissed.
Beck and Hawkins looked even more grim. "That's what we intend to find out," Hawkins said.
"What happened?" Heather asked. "What - why was the President outside of Jericho? Where was she going?"
The three men exchanged glances then pulled her further aside.
"She was going on a tour of the country," Beck said. "Top secret; only three of us knew. Hawkins, me and the President. No one else knew - not her guards, not her driver, not the towns and cities she'd decided to visit - not even Jake."
Heather stared at him. "Then - this was just random? They saw the convoy and decided to take the chance to attack us?"
"That's what we're going to find out," Hawkins said grimly, "except they had a hell of lot of fighters if they just stumbled upon one of our convoys."
"But how could it have been planned?" Heather demanded. "Only you and Beck knew - and I know the two of you wouldn't tell anyone else."
Beck was frowning furiously down the hall towards the treatment room where Kenchy was examining the President.
"No," he replied. "There were three of us."
*/*/*/*
The President looked up with a weary sigh as Beck entered the hospital room.
"Did you get some of them?" she asked. "Alive, I mean."
Beck gently closed the door then took a seat beside her bed.
"Was that the point of this little exercise?" he asked gently. "So we could capture some of our enemies alive?"
The President shrugged, staring off into the distance. "Or kill a large number of them. They were like ghosts, Major. Striking and disappearing without a trace. First Heather - and you and Heather when it should have been impossible to know where you were going or what route you were using to get back. Tell me, how many convoys have been hit? How many soldiers have been wounded or killed? And while they kept up the pressure, the more you and Hawkins hid me from the outside world. The deeper you hid me, the more they tried to get to me, and the more people died or were hurt because of it. And we never seemed able to capture anybody."
She straightened her shoulders and squarely met his eyes. "I understand what you and Hawkins and everyone were trying to do. I understand why. But the cycle had to be broken, and the only way I could to do that was to -"
"Put yourself at risk," Beck said.
She smiled slightly. "Well, to give them a precious enough target that they'd risk almost anything to get to it. The only thing I could think of that fit that description was me."
Beck shook his head. "You should have told us."
"You should have told me," she replied quietly. He opened his mouth to speak but she forestalled him with a wave of her hand. "I understand. You and Hawkins - especially Hawkins - were trying to give me plausible deniability if anything went wrong." There was slight bitterness to her smile. "You were - again - trying to protect me."
"Ma'am," Beck began.
"Under the circumstances - call me Rebekkah," she said a little plaintively.
Beck hesitated, frowning, wondering if there was something more than the President's brush with death that was causing this contemplative and rather lonely reaction in her. "Ma'am," he said, "you're our President. The office must be protected. You're also my friend - and I would never put you in harm's way or let anyone hurt you."
"You did it to Heather."
Beck leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know it was her when I agreed to the plan. And like you, she took it upon herself..." he stopped. "Were you feeling somehow less worthy than Heather?" he asked, slightly teasing, slightly shocked.
The President shook her head. "More cowardly," she clarified. "I'd thought of using myself as bait months ago - and couldn't seem to find the courage to make it happen." She glanced at Beck, anguished. "How many of your soldiers were hurt or died because I couldn't bring myself to do what needed to be done?"
"You're President, not God...Rebekkah," Beck said quietly. She smiled slowly in thanks. "There was no guarantee your plan would work. You could have been killed and all of them could have escaped. They might have assumed it was a trap and never attacked at all." He frowned. "That's why I'm here, actually. How did they find out? Who did you tell?"
The President sighed then steadily met his eyes.
"Leyna."
*/*/*/*
Leyna defiantly sneered at Beck through the bars of her cell.
Beck's face was carefully expressionless although his eyes blazed with anger.
They'd been glaring at each other in tense silence for a long time. Finally Beck began to speak.
"You've always thought I was weak, when all I ever wanted was to protect you from the ugliness of my job - from the ruthless things I did - from the horror and the blood. I used to think you and Elje were the one good spot in my life, the one piece of innocence I could still touch. I didn't want to be a colonel or general - so then I was stupid. I gave you anything you wanted - did everything you wanted - and again I was weak.
"Now here we stand. I've known about your spying for weeks. We've been following the trail back to whoever was pulling your strings. We know everything - except what you were getting out of it. What was it? Or were you doing it out of loyalty to the ASA or Ravenwood? Were you following what you believed to be a higher calling?"
"You just don't get it, do you, Eddie? You and your - your duty- your honor. I don't have any particular beef against the President - hell, I don't even have any particular anger towards you! If you hadn't ended up next to the President, you never would have seen me again and you could have lived your life as you pleased and I wouldn't have known - or cared. I'm here because of personal gain, Eddie. That's all. I originally intended to simply betray them once I was here - after all, how much more could they promise me when you were sitting right next to what passes for power in this hell-hole we used to call our country? That's all it was about. Only then I found out you weren't quite as close to the President as I'd thought. Not nearly as powerful. And no matter how I tried, I couldn't seem to get you to move any closer to where I wanted you to be. So I simply chose the alternative."
"What on earth could they have promised you?" Beck asked quietly.
Leyna smiled. "A place in their new capital. Beside their new president. No matter who that person might be."
"And you believed them?" Beck scoffed.
Leyna laughed. "I didn't care. Besides, doing what they wanted kept me in small luxuries - smuggled in at great risk, I might add."
Beck frowned.
"Good wine, nice clothes, exotic food. Well...exotic now. I have to admit, I was very glad when we split because it was getting quite tedious to have all those wonderful things and not being able to do anything with them." Leyna looked at him and mockingly shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."
"No," Beck said faintly. "No, I wouldn't."
He shook his head and said emotionlessly, "You betrayed the President. You betrayed Jericho. You betrayed me. By rights, I should have you executed. But you were my wife and the mother to the girl I considered my own. So you'll be escorted from Jericho instead. We'll give you some food. Water. No weapon. No vehicle."
"What? What about the road gangs?" she squawked.
"They can take of themselves," Beck shrugged.
He turned and walked away.
*/*/*/*
Beck didn't even glance around when he sensed Heather's presence behind him.
"Do you think I'm weak?" he asked quietly, looking down at his hands gripping the glass of scotch like a lifeline. It was the same damn bottle, he thought inconsequentially. The same damn bottle he'd cracked when he'd placed his fate in the hands of his officers. No wonder he couldn't touch the stuff in happier times - it tasted too much like bitterness and fear and shame.
Heather walked around to face him but he refused to look at her.
"No," she said softly. "I think...you love too much."
Beck gave a bitter, choked half-laugh. "Which is a kind way of saying I'm stupid." He briefly glanced at her and quickly looked away. He couldn't stand to see pity in her eyes.
She knelt down in front of him and tried to get him to look at her, but he stubbornly refused.
"You're not stupid either," she said firmly.
"I brought her right into the heart of Jericho. I brought her right nextto the President." Now he looked at her, and he gently brushed his fingers across her cheek. "I brought her next toyou.I knew she'd lied about Elje - and I still let her go."
"She was your wife," Heather said softly. "You loved her."
"I loved my memory of her - which apparently was never the reality of her."
"I don't think even Leyna knew the reality of her - Before, I mean. At least, that's how it seems to me. Now," Heather said briskly, standing up. "Are you about done with your drink?"
Beck stared at her, some of his old arrogance back at the forefront. "And if I'm not? If I'm planning on getting raging drunk tonight?"
"Then I'll take you to Hawkins and Jake. That way if you feel like beating the shit out of somebody - or having the shit beat out of you - they'd be happy to oblige and they'll make sure not to kill you in the bargain."
Beck blinked at her in silence, before a reluctant grin spread across his face. "I don't believe it," he said.
"What?" Heather asked, her forehead wrinkled with a frown. "They're at Bailey's right now -"
"No. I'm actually laughing."
"This is you laughing?" she said skeptically.
"Smiling then."
Heather smiled back then leaned down and kissed him gently. "Come on," she said briskly, "at least you shouldn't be drinking alone."
*/*/*/*
"You were one of the few people to ever throw me off-balance," Hawkins admitted grudgingly. Jake glanced at him in surprise.
Beck gave him a half-smile. He wasn't yet drunk but he could see it from here. "You're a liar - but thanks for the effort."
"It's true," Hawkins insisted. "You never believed a word I told you but your curiosity and desire to know the truth made you play along. You had me pegged as something other than what I pretended to be from the moment you laid eyes on me." Hawkins considered him carefully. "But when it comes to women - you're completely fucked."
Both Beck and Jake choked on their drinks. Hawkins gave them a moment to regain their breaths.
"It's true," Hawkins continued after they stopped coughing. "You want to believe them. You want to put them on a pedestal out of harm's way and pretend they never lie, never get their hands dirty, never do the wrong thing for the right reasons - or the right thing for the wrong reasons."
Beck stared at him in silence. "What do I do about it?" he finally asked.
"Nothing," Hawkins shrugged and took another sip of his drink. "I never said it was a bad thing."
*/*/*/*
Now - May 2010
The night was warm and calm, cloudless. Even in the moonlight, the stars were brilliant and appeared so close, Heather felt she could simply reach through the windows and pluck them from the sky. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of footsteps and smiled in the semi-darkness as Beck approached her. She thought he looked remarkably handsome in his dark suit and tie, although the effect was slightly marred by the two plates of cake and two beer he carried as he made his way towards her in the dim light of the anteroom.
She smiled as he came to a stop by her side and took the beer and cake he offered. He settled himself beside her and they ate for a moment in silence.
"Still not the best combination," Beck said thoughtfully.
Heather shook her head. "But still better than Stanley's wine," she said.
Beck smiled. "To be fair, he's improved a lot."
"Well, there's no way he could have gotten worse."
Beck laughed.
"So," he said casually, "why are you sitting in here by yourself?" He nodded towards the noisy party behind them. "You're missing all the fun."
"I just wanted a break," Heather shrugged, concentrating on her cake.
"It's not because you're having second thoughts?"
"A little late for that if I were," she teased. She glanced down at the simple gold band on her left hand. She hoped someday the President would tell her the story behind it. She met his eyes with a smile. "No second thoughts," she said softly, her eyes luminous in the moonlight.
Beck smiled slowly at her. "Me neither," he said, and the warm silken honey of his voice stroked across her nerve endings and she sighed with pleasure.
The band started playing again behind them, a slow ballad. Beck removed the empty plate from her hands, pulled her to her feet and into his arms. They danced together in the moonlight, her head resting on his shoulder. He pulled away a little to look at her.
"A kiss and a dance with a beautiful woman," he reminded her.
She smiled sweetly at him, all of her love and joy shining in her eyes, and kissed him.
###