A/N: Look, another one! And I think there's even something that could be called plot development in here \o/ Also, mac was actually right. Charlie does have a pretty cussy head...


Six

He knew he was in trouble the moment he spotted them coming towards him. The two guys in suits weren't the same that had been lurking in the coffee shop in D.C. but – and it had surprised him a little that apparently Spencer had been right about that – there had been a certain something about them that had told him they were trouble. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any way to get away from them without being noticed – or without Anna becoming suspicious of something not being right since she'd never swallow his change of mind to accompany her to buy shoes for the wedding after all.

So then they'd come up and asked him if he was Major Charles Williamson. He'd told them yes of course, always trying to keep a safe distance and keep an eye on both of them but the moment they told him they were agents of the Department of Homeland Security and were here to escort him to their local office for questioning he'd been much too shocked to keep up his vigilance.

He had been able to try and look for escape routes because as proper and polite as they had been he'd sensed immediately that "questioning" was just a euphemism for something much uglier. His only advantage had been that they'd still been out in the open, surrounded by people and in a flash he'd remembered that Ford had sent him Spencer's number and under the pretense of calling his wife to tell her not to worry, he'd called Spencer… who'd just told him to stay where he was.

Unfortunately, the two guys in suits hadn't wanted to go with that and from one moment to the next one of them had produced a gun and gestured for the next back alley… where they're standing now, their guns pointed at him and him wondering in a remote corner of his mind if this is a sick joke on God or the universe's part. Several deployments to not so friendly corners of the world and the place where he dies is a dirty back alley in San Francisco?

"I'll ask you a few questions now, Major, and if you answer them willingly and truthfully… we'll make it look like an armed robbery. Would spare your wife and kids the humiliation of you being exposed as a threat to national security, you know," the suit who's apparently in the lead says and he feels bile rising in his throat. A threat to national security? He? Major Charles Williamson, who's been a decorated and dedicated officer for 16 years now? Also, the mention of his wife and children causes an ice cold lump to form in his stomach, making him sick with a sudden fear of what they could do to them.

There's an answer begging to get out – something that Moore or his new sister-in-law or even Evan might say – but he can keep it back because the first thing he taught himself at the Air Force Academy had been the ability to keep unpopular opinions to himself when something important – like his life or those of his family for example – is on the line.

The suit just calmly keeps pointing his gun at him. "I'm waiting, Major Williamson. I have strict orders to get my answers from you in a timeframe that's rapidly shrinking. But maybe it'll help to convince you that we have a another team following your wife. Right now, they're staying away from her but if you don't talk…"

"Not on my watch, you idiot." What the…? Where the hell…? Laura? Evan?

He blinks. Part of his brain registers that suddenly his brother and sister in law are beating up the mysterious suits… and kind of having fun at it, at least on Laura's part. But the other part has enormous difficulties to comprehend what the hell they're doing here… and also where the hell Spencer is.

Dammit… he knows he should be doing something – it's not like he doesn't know how to use his hands and feet in unarmed combat, after all – but something keeps him rooted to the spot as he watches Evan and Laura beat the crap out of the suits. Well, that is, until one of them suddenly – how the hell could that happen? – has his hand around Laura's throat her pressed against the wall with her back.

She's really putting up a fight and it occurs to him that the fact that she's a soldier and a Marine never really made it into his head until now. But apparently, there are limits even to her fighting skills because the suit just doesn't let go of her. And Evan still… "Dammit, I told you to stay where you are."

Oh right, now Spencer appears on the scene. And who the hell does he think he is, accusing him of not keeping to his orders? Somehow… the irritation about that finally spurs him into action and he charges at the man holding Laura by her throat. He grips the suit's shoulders, hard, and yanks him away from her, using his foot to add some force… and thankfully it was enough to distract him that he lets go of her. With another pull he yanks him around… where the suit falls straight into Evan's fist.

A few feet away, Spencer just finished the second suit off and even though Laura does look a little… disheveled – he's sure she really wouldn't appreciate that term 'like hell' – she didn't waste time and retrieved both the guns that had been pointed at him just a few minutes before. There's a very short moment between Evan and her that he only notices because he'd been looking at the right time when they reassured each other with a tiny nod that both of them are unharmed and then Laura tosses Evan the second gun.

He catches it with a kind of ease that makes him just a little bit jealous and then… wait. Evan's suddenly pointing the damn thing at Spencer… who, just for a very short moment, looks like that actually surprises him. What the… "Face against the wall, feet apart, hands where I can see them. Laura…"

Uh, no, this is not going the right way. He clears his throat. "Evan, this isn't what it looks…"

Evan doesn't even look at him, only snorts and gestures towards Laura. "Oh, I'm sure it is. Laura, go over…"

Now Spencer looks like he's already fed up with the whole game. Very slowly, he raises his hands and says, "Hey, easy, flyboy. I'm one of the good guys." Oh. Not exactly a clever move, judging from the look on Evan's face.

"The hell you are," he snaps back in a tone that tells him just how lucky he is to have Evan on his side. It occurs to him that he has never seen Evan in full battle mode before – not even at the drills at the Academy – and that it's something he isn't sure he likes seeing.

He clears his throat again and adds a lot more force to his words, "Evan, he's telling the truth."

Again, Evan isn't looking at him when he replies, sounding just a little irritated, "Charlie, could you please…" And then he does a double-take and now does turn around. "Wait, what?" The amazing thing, he registers in a corner of his mind, is that Evan might have turned away from the presumed hostile and that his gun is lowered just a little but that Laura's full attention is still on Spencer, automatically shifting her position so she can cover Evan better, should Spencer try anything.

But, well, there are much more important issues that need to be addressed right now. He clears his throat again. "He's telling the truth. I kind of… hired him. Well, his team actually."

Disbelief and confusion are plastered all over Evan's face… and the battle mode is almost switched off. He can't see Laura relaxing but he hasn't known her for as long as he has known Evan so he can't really tell. And why does Spencer keep shifting her glances that look just a bit different from the usual 'keeping tabs on the person that's pointing a gun at you' look? "You… what? What the hell is going on here?"

Okay. Right. He probably screwed up. Big time. Because he realizes that… he now has to tell Evan about the records he gave Ford and the papers about totally screwed up spending records and all the other irregularities he found disturbing… Well. No guts, no glory. "I… uh… Evan, this is Eliot Spencer…"

"Retrieval specialist," Spencer helpfully supplies.

However, that did nothing to improve Evan's mood… but apparently Laura is starting to find something amusing here. "You hired a thief?"

The scowl on Spencer's face says very bluntly that he did not like that. "Which part of retrieval didn't you get?"

But before Evan and Spencer can actually go at each other's throats, Laura feels the need to make herself known. "Hey, guys, I really don't want to interrupt your very intellectually challenging conversation and everything but… we got two suits on the floor that just tried to kill an honest, hardworking Major of the United States Air Force. I for my part would be very interested in the why, you know."

He's just this short of thanking her for the whole "honest, hardworking" thing but after another moment of eyeing Spencer warily, Evan takes down his gun and Laura follows suit. Still a little guarded, Spencer crouches down beside the suit that he downed and starts methodically searching him. After another few minutes they have: a cell phone, a wallet, a badge and a taser. Spencer looks up but Evan just raises his eyebrows expectantly and… why does he have the feeling that this is exactly how he looks at junior officers that still have to prove that they belong under his command?

Laura now also has stepped up to them and again it fascinates him how Evan and she communicate with a minimum of gestures. As far as he could see… Evan wanted to ask her if she's okay but she silenced him with a rather mean look, making him roll his eyes. He starts to wonder how those two work under fire and just for a moment regrets once again that he'll probably never get to see them in action.

Spencer, however, isn't intimidated the least by Evan's look and just calmly examines the cell phone but scowls at it only moments after opening it. Then he finally gets up and says, "Alright… those two? One hundred percent not Homeland Security." Oh really? He could have told him that himself. But yeah, Spencer doesn't look like the kind of guy that take kindly to being interrupted. "We haven't found out who exactly they're working for yet but it's not something known to the public. Anyone of you got any idea? Majors? Captain?"

Huh. Did he just see Spencer deliberately avoiding having to look at Laura? Nah, he must have been imagining that. Evan and Laura, though… share another… look and then, after another moment of taking his time, Evan says, "Not… exactly." He shakes his head. "Charlie… what the hell did you get yourself into?"

What… why does everyone suddenly look at him?

Oh, right.

Because just about ten minutes ago, he was just this close to being shot by two guys claiming to belong to Homeland Security even though no one ever heard of them there. He takes a deep breath to answer but Spencer beats him to it. "I suggest we discuss this someplace else."

"Oh yeah? You got any ideas as to where that should be?" Laura again, and again she managed to catch him off guard with that irreverent tone of hers – as if there's nothing here that would scare or at least severely disturb anyone.

This time… Spencer does look at her but it looks like he had to force himself to do that. "Yeah. Follow me, all of you."

Another look is passed between Evan and Laura and in the end they give in. He does notice, though, that both of them keep their gun. Unobtrusively – Evan hides it under the jacket he just picked up and hung over his arm and Laura at her back, tucked into the belt and hidden under a sweater wound around her hips – but easy to reach. Neither of them trust Spencer yet and maybe… that's a good thing.

He's also sure Spencer must have noticed Evan and Laura not leaving the guns behind but since he doesn't say anything, the matter isn't addressed. Spencer sets off to leave the back alley and he follows, throwing a look back.

Evan and Laura also start moving but they do look like they're deliberately lagging behind and when he catches a hissed "… like some stupid damsel in distress, dammit," from Laura and a half-whispered "…not your fault," from Evan, he realizes why they're doing it. Laura just started bitching about getting herself trapped and Evan's trying to reassure her she did the best she could. He knows he shouldn't do it… but he can't help wondering if right now Evan's her husband… or her superior.

Oh well… that can wait. Spencer's looking just a little impatient and he figures he better keep up with him. Well… and he should probably work on finding an excuse for Anna since he starts to get the feeling… that this could take even longer than Anna trying to find the perfect shoes for the big wedding.