Author's Note: Hi all! This has expanded from a one-shot into a two-shot. Once I got started wondering what Bennett would say to Lee once the truth came out, this story spilled out of me. Enjoy!
Part 2: Tables Turned
Agent Lee knew who her visitor was the moment she got the comm. call. She had been expecting him ever since the news had spread like wildfire all through the NSA that Infiltration Unit Zeta was being taken off the "Wanted" list.
"Yes, I'm free. Send him up," she said, in response to the main desk's query. The heavyset older woman on the screen nodded to her and turned to speak to her visitor. The screen went blank.
Lee used the time waiting for him to reach her office to make another call. She was just hanging up when the door buzzed.
"Come in," she called.
The door slid open. Lee briefly fought the instinct to stand as her former superior, Agent Bennett, entered her small office. Instead she folded her fingers together on her desk and looked him straight in the eye. She let no emotion show on her face as she studied him.
It had been almost a year since they had spoken. In that time, Bennett had lost some weight, not that he had much to lose. There were also a few new lines around his mouth. Or maybe they weren't new, she had just forgotten how grim he could look. There were a few gray threads at his temples, barely visible in his light brown hair. She could also see the tension in his shoulders.
Bennett took a hesitant step forward. It was so unlike him to be hesitant in anything. Lee saw in that moment how much the abrupt end to his quest had broken him. Bennett had always been so sure, so in control. Of absolutely everything. It was one of his hallmarks, and headstrong tenacity was one of the reasons he had been made head of the Zeta Retrieval Team in the first place. To find out he had been in the wrong for such a length of time must have come as a huge blow.
"You see it, too," Bennett said.
"See what?" asked Lee.
"Don't be coy with me, Agent Lee. Even my son saw it. He said, 'Dad, you look old.'"
"I wouldn't say old," Lee admitted. "You look…tired." She indicated the extra chair she kept in her office for the few occasions she had guests. "Please, sit."
"I don't need to be coddled," Bennett grumbled, but he took the chair anyway. He folded his hands in a mirror image of hers. "You know why I'm here."
"Sir, Agent Bennett, I—"
"Don't." Bennett held up one hand. "Let me just get it out. You were right about the synthoid. Zeta." The name came out like a dose of lemon juice. "I should have listened to you more often. And…I'm sorry." He looked away, as if anticipating a blow. "There. I said it. Now gloat away."
"If this were the time for an 'I-told-you-so,' I would say it," Lee answered, moved by sudden compassion. "This goes beyond 'I-told-you-so,' I think. You've probably heard me saying it too many times in your head already, I suspect."
Bennett looked at her in surprise. "I didn't think you knew me so well."
"A good Agent knows her superiors." Lee shrugged. "As for 'I-told-you-so's,' I respect you too much to feed you something so petty."
"How can you say that, after I…after everything? And the way things are now?"
"I always admired you. You were tough when you needed to be. You made all the hard decisions so the rest of us just had to obey. You even kept West from blowing himself up even after I left." She ticked these off on her fingers.
Bennett chuckled. "That took work, believe me. No one else had the touch with him that you did. Agent Rush, your replacement, just ignored it when he made his usual blunders. Cracking his head was left to me."
"And one last thing," Lee continued, though she smiled. "I checked the records once I had the clearance. You never officially blamed your team for the failures, though we gave you ample opportunity. You took any heat yourself."
"There was no point in telling them West screwed up again. Eventually they would have stopped believing anyone could be that incompetent."
"But you could easily have gotten rid of him. Or me, when you suspected my 'soft spot' for Zeta," Lee pointed out.
"And a lot of good it's done me." Bennett's mouth twisted when he saw Lee's surprise. "Didn't you know? I'm just James Bennett now—not Agent. Somebody had to take the fall for the huge mistake with Zeta, and I certainly set myself up for it."
"They fired you?" Lee said without thinking, then winced at the look on Bennett's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I assumed—" She didn't know what she had assumed, now. Of course they would fire Bennett. He was right—they needed someone to blame for two years and a great deal of money spent on the Zeta Retrieval.
A crazy idea occurred to her.
"I dug my own grave, really. I was the one who told Colonel Amack about what I saw on the Nosis. I heard Dr. Selig myself. He programmed Zeta with a conscience. How could I continue to chase the synthoid after that? And yet…"
"You wonder if you did the right thing? I've wondered the same thing myself at times for the past year. I did the best I could with the information I had. I saw there was no chance of changing things where I was, so I got out."
"And you're suggesting I do the same? Thanks, Agent, it looks like that's been done for me."
Lee knew what such a discharge meant. No more government positions in Bennett's future, not even for something as benevolent as the National Park Service. No government benefits for his family, nothing. Working for his country had been his life, and that was all gone. Now she understood why he looked so weary.
"That's not what I meant. I meant you did the best you could with the information you had. I had no idea when I put my resignation on your desk that there was a position in Containment open. I was fully expecting that to be the end of my career as an Agent. You gave me more than I deserved that day. I wish I could return the favor now, but…"
"Thanks, Agent, but working under a former subordinate would be more than I could take anyway."
Lee scowled at him. "I was going to say, but my hands are tied. I know a couple of people who might be interested in someone with your particular skill set, though. The choice is up to you."
"Awwww, Agent Lee, you had to spoil all the fun." Lee's comm. screen crackled to life. Lee, wondering if she was making a mistake, rotated it so that she and Bennett could both see the grinning face of Bucky Buenventura, kid genius.
"You!" Bennett exclaimed.
"Have you been listening the whole time, Mr. Buenventura?" Lee demanded, to give Bennett time to recover.
"Not the whole time," the young teen admitted ruefully. "Zee made us mute the sound from the vid feed at the beginning. He said you two had things to patch up."
"Us?" Bennett repeated faintly.
There was a light female chuckle, and the grinning face of Rosalie Rowan appeared on the screen next to Bucky's. "Boy, I didn't think it was possible. The great Agent Bennett looks like you could knock him over with a feather."
"I-is Zeta with you?" asked Bennett.
Rosalie's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to pull some switch and send a bunch of guys in camo after us, are you?"
"Not gonna happen," Bucky insisted. "I'm jamming our signal. No trace could ever pinpoint us. Except this one, of course." He held up a small metal disk sitting on the desk in front of him.
"You weren't talking about illegal electronic tracers in front of a Federal Agent, are you, Bucky?" asked Lee.
"Of course not, Agent Lee." Bucky's face was a picture of innocent goodwill, but she noticed he moved the disk out of the camera's sight.
"Shut up, Bucky," Rosalie said, and Bucky's head bobbed out of sight as she shoved him. "Half the stuff you invent you could never show Agent Lee. Better start cleaning your room before we make any more vid calls to her office."
"Hey! My room's clean enough!" But Bucky's face did not reappear on the screen. Presumably he was, in fact, hiding his various devices from Lee's view.
"Answer Agent Bennett's question, Ro," a gentle male voice said from off-screen.
Rosalie's eyes flicked to the right. "But, Zee—" She stopped, and her shoulders sagged. "Fine. Zee's here."
Into the screen moved Infiltration Unit Zeta, wearing his usual holomorphed human form of a broad-shouldered man in his early twenties with dark hair. Lee wondered how she had ever thought his eyes cold. They were sparkling with life. Apparently, freedom agreed with him.
"Hello, Agent Bennett."
Apparently, Bennett could not be moved to correct the obsolete title. "Zeta."
"You don't look well," Zeta observed. "Have you been getting enough rest?"
"I—" Bennett stuttered.
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Zee, you're too nice. This is where you spout off a line about how great he looks."
"But he doesn't look well. Why would I…"
"Never mind. I haven't made you watch enough vids. Go ahead with your little reunion."
"Where are you?" asked Bennett.
"Like we're going to tell you," Rosalie snapped.
"Ro…" Zeta shook his head at her. He looked back at the screen. "We've been staying with Bucky's parents. For now. We'll be getting a place of our own soon."
"Once everything's set up," Rosalie put in.
"Set up?" asked Bennett. "Exactly what are you three up to?"
Bucky reappeared. He looked smug. "We figured since we make such a great team, we'd start a little business of our own. We're PIs now. Or will be, once the license comes through."
"Private investigators?" Bennett repeated, as if unable to believe his ears.
"The quiet life doesn't suit us. We decided to pool our talents, but put them to nice things like finding missing people rather than becoming world-renowned bank robbers." Rosalie shot a glance at Zeta, as if he had been the killjoy to put the kibosh on the fabulous bank robbers idea.
"Is this operation of yours…" Bennett didn't seem to be able to finish.
"Don't worry, Mr. Bennett, we're legit," Bucky said, flashing his cheeky grin. "Thanks to Agent Lee. Once we were taken off the grid, we contacted her and she helped us set it all up. We may even be getting some government contracts occasionally."
"Don't count on that as your bread and butter," Lee reminded him sternly.
"Oh, we don't expect to make money! Thanks to cred-boy over here," Bucky jabbed a thumb at Zeta, "we can charge as little or as much as we want."
"Zee was all for making it free, but we persuaded him it would be suspicious if we didn't have some kind of income," Rosalie added. "After all, we have to be able to afford Bucky's tutor."
"My tutor?" Bucky scoffed. "I have my GED. And a Bachelor's degree. And two Master's degrees. I'd be tutoring him."
"What exactly is the point of all this?" Bennett asked Lee.
"You mean, why'd she call us?" asked Rosalie. "Isn't it obvious? You're out of a job. We have room for one more in the business. She's doing you a favor."
"My memory processors indicate you said 'over my dead body will Bennett be on the team,'" Zeta interjected.
Rosalie colored, but she said, "The idea's starting to grow on me." She looked back at the screen. "And, I liked your kid that time at the submarine lab. Maybe he and Bucky could set up a play date or two if you come work with us."
While Bucky sputtered incoherently, Bennett shot Lee a helpless look. Lee took charge. "Bucky, turn it off," she said. "You've made your offer. Let us talk for a few minutes."
Bucky sent one last glare at Rosalie. "Sure. Mr. Bennett, just get Agent Lee to contact us when you've got an answer." He reached forward and switched off the vid monitor. The screen went dark.
"And no eavesdropping!" Lee added to the air. She hoped Zeta would enforce the order.
"You expect me to work with that?" Bennett demanded.
"It wouldn't be any worse than dealing with West," Lee shrugged. "And these kids have proved how effective they are. They could do worse than become PIs. I understand they plan to make their first project finding Rosalie's parents."
"Yes, but if it ever got out I was working with my former target—"
"A target you found out was innocent," Lee pointed out reasonably. "If the former targets don't care, I don't see why you should. Yes, there might be some sneers around the NSA, but how often will you see us?"
She had resolved not to push Bennett on the issue if he seemed averse to it, but she had seen the slight change in his posture during the conversation with Bucky, Rosalie, and Zeta. Even now, he did not look quite so defeated. He needed this, even if he hadn't realized it yet.
"I also happen to know all three of them respect you a great deal. They know what you're capable of. How many future employers will be able to use your skills like they will?"
She let Bennett think about this.
"I see your point," he finally said. He looked around. "Hopefully they're not listening in. I want another few days to really consider it, but it might be the best option I'll get. I could do worse."
"You know where to find me. I'll let them know whatever you decide."
He eyed her sharply. "You think I'm going to take it."
"It's your choice," Lee answered. "I'm sorry I can't offer you something more palatable. Believe me, I realize how galling this must be. It won't be easy, especially not at first, but I think eventually the four of you will get on. If you decide to go that way."
He stood up. "Thank you for all your help, Agent Lee. I came in here not knowing what to expect. You might have given me a way out of my dilemma. Just one more thing: how did you know they were listening in?"
Lee looked down. "I called them when I knew you were on your way. I thought the opportunity might present itself for you to at least make your peace with Zeta. He's been wanting to talk to you, but I told him to wait until you came to me. I was fairly certain you would. Eventually."
Bennett shook his head. "You do know me too well, Lee. You deserve to be an Agent."
"As much as you do, sir. The cards just had different things in mind for us. I hope you're happy with whatever you decide to do."
"Happy," Bennett said, as if this were a novel concept. Lee did not comment, but stood up to see him to the door.
"Goodbye, Agent Lee," he said, just before the door closed. "And thank you."