SPOILERS: through season three
NOTES: Please, no mention of season four spoilers in reviews.
DISCLAIMER: The 4400 and all things associated with it belong to other people.
DESK, PART 2
PLANNING
Catching up with Sid proved to be far more helpful than Diana had anticipated. Not only did his friendliness and familiar attitude help her recover from her unsettling morning at NTAC, Sid asked Tom many of the questions she, herself, wanted to ask. It had been a very bleak time for Tom, but he downplayed his personal troubles, instead, choosing to highlight the recent birth of Sid's first child and Diana's engagement--Sid had spotted the ring on her finger before they'd even shook hands. Compared to their lives, Sid's sounded almost idillic; it made her wonder how different her life might have been if she'd stayed with the DHS.
That Sid, too, expressed surprise about Tom's new partner gave her an odd little sense of satisfaction, not that Sid had known Marco very well. Again, Tom defended his partner, despite the fact that they were asking Sid to do a job they once would have once gotten Marco to do for them. Vowing to use utmost discretion, Sid left with promises of getting back to them in a week or so. Then Tom got a call from Marco and excused himself after offering to sit in on her eventual meeting with Nina. A cowardly part of Diana refused to ask him what he thought of her trying to regain her field agent status. Tom would either tell her exactly what he thought or dodge the question, and she didn't feel confident enough to rationally deal with either response.
Since it was early afternoon, traffic was fairly light, so it didn't take long to get home. She was greeted at the door by a kiss from Ben, and, suddenly, all her troubles seemed to fade into the background. "Wait 'til you see what I found!" He didn't ask about her visit to NTAC or report on Maia's first day back at homeschool. Some part of her found this odd, but that niggling feeling was swept aside by another kiss. With great enthusiasm, he dragged her around the sofa to sit her in front of his laptop on the coffee table. The screen held the image of a beautiful little church with asters in full bloom.
"What's this?" There was something vaguely familiar about the place.
Ben gave her a self-satisfied grin. "I went to talk to the restaurant where you want to have the reception, and I spotted this church nearby."
"It's lovely..." Again, some part of her was bothered by his behavior, by the presumption of his picking a church without her, but she tried to rationalize that it was just a picture.
"You don't like it?" He had that I'm-just-trying-to-please look in his eyes that always made her cave-in to his ideas.
"No, no. It looks wonderful. It's just that..." Then she remembered why it seemed familiar--a coworker at the CDC had gotten married there. "I'm familiar with this church. You have to belong to it for a year before you can have a wedding there."
He grinned again. "Not any more."
"What do you mean?" Diana distinctly remembered her coworker going on about how arduous it had been to never miss a Sunday and to attend the various courses the minister required of all couples.
"I talked to the minister, and he said he'd be happy to work us in, though it'll have to be on a Saturday." He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips; the hair of his beard and mustache tickled her knuckles. "A Saturday wedding would be okay, right?"
She tried to voice her surprise at the ease with which Ben had found them a perfect little church, but it was somehow difficult to remember her objection. They had discussed ideas about the wedding while traveling through Spain, and he knew she was a fairly secular person. "A Saturday wedding would be fine." She smiled in response to the light in his eyes and felt as though a weight had been lifted from her. She hadn't been looking forward to finding a church.
"Great! I've made an appointment to see him tomorrow."
"So soon?"
Turning his gaze to the screen, he tapped the touchpad of his laptop with his free hand, flicking though more pictures of the church. "Yeah. We've got to move fast if we want to book a day that's anytime soon."
"What about Maia?" Diana had yet to talk to sitters about schedules.
"We'd bring her along, of course." He always had answers to every least worry. "If she gets bored, there's a little garden out back. She could sketch the flowers." One of the ways Ben had won Maia over was to notice and encourage her art. What had once been childish scribbles had grown much more sophisticated over the last six months.
"When's the appointment?"
"Ten tomorrow morning."
"Oh, I can't make that. I have to talk to Nina about work." She wanted the issue of her position settled and Marco out from behind her desk as quickly as possible.
Taking both her hands in his, Ben gave her a serious look. "Have you made an appointment with her, yet?"
"No," she confessed, "but-"
"Can't it wait until the afternoon?" His thumbs massaged the backs of her hands. "We might not have another chance at this."
"I..." She worried about how that might look, showing up at work after lunch instead of first thing in the morning.
"Is there some reason you want to hold off?" The hint of hurt in his voice brought her full focus back to him.
"I'd just like to get everything settled at work as quickly as possible, that's all."
"NTAC's not going anywhere, but available wedding dates..." He tilted his head with a smirk and that silly, persuasive look of his that reminded her of a used car dealer.
"NTAC's not going anywhere," she agreed with a smile.
"Great! So I thought, for dinner, maybe we could go out for Japanese?"
He knew her so well, it made her laugh. "I had Japanese for lunch. Besides, Maia likes Chinese better." They hadn't had any Chinese food in Spain, either.
"So you're good with going out?"
"I don't feel like cooking." They'd only picked up basic groceries since they'd come back. Trying to come up with something besides eggs or sandwiches would take some effort.
"Neither do I." With a tap, he shut down his laptop. "Maia! You wanna go to Chinese for dinner?"
Maia emerged from her room with all the enthusiasm of a wet noodle. "I don't care."
"Have a bad day?" asked Diana, worry beginning to stir in her heart.
Her daughter just gave her a look, as though any answer was self-evident. She'd made her opinion about homeschooling quite plain.
"Come here, honey." Slinging an arm over the sofa, Ben gestured to the preteen and took her hand when she was close enough. "This is a big change for all of us, but you said we'd be happy, right?" Maia nodded, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. "We'll find you a school as soon as we can. In the meantime, try to remember that this is only temporary." Maia nodded again, her smile less reluctant. "And try to remember how great Chinese food is!" Miraculously, Maia actually giggled. "So, where do you want to go?"
"Golden Buddha."
"That a girl!"
Over dinner, they shared the tales of their respective days. Even though only Ben had enjoyed his, the simple act of sharing filled Diana with a sense of acceptance and satisfaction. No matter what happened at work, she had Ben and Maia to come home to. On the way back, they stopped by the grocery store where Ben had first kissed her. It stirred memories of the thrill of love's first bloom, and she was so distracted by the recollection that she couldn't remember what they'd settled on for dinner that week.
At home, Ben showed Maia his pictures of the church and asked her what she thought. Maia grew enthusiastic about the prospect of being involved in the wedding planning. Together, the three of them started brainstorming about all the possibilities. By bedtime, they were all looking forward to the next morning. Once they were alone, Ben was especially passionate, providing Diana the sound sleep of the sexually satiated.
The next morning was almost as pleasant as the ones they'd spent in Spain. With the appointment at ten, there was no need to rush, so they made pancakes and watched TV with Maia for a bit before needing to get cleaned up to go. Since it was after rush hour, traffic was reasonable, and as they pulled up, she couldn't help but think how picture-perfect the place was. Ben took her hand with a nervous smile, and she was suddenly overcome with emotion. This was where she wanted them to get married.
There was something odd about the minister. He kept getting this distracted frown, like he was trying to remember something that was bothering him. Whenever the minister paused too long in thought, Ben would touch his hand, and his focus would return to them. Other than that, the meeting went smoothly, and they set the date for a Saturday less than a month away. Maia didn't even get bored, and she was more than happy when they stopped at her favorite malt shop for lunch.
Diana arrived at NTAC just before two. Getting through security was less of a hassle than it'd been the day before, but she noticed one of them made a call before letting her though. Halfway down the main hall, she was met by a fuming Tom.
"Where the hell have you been?" He stalked with her back to the elevators.
With a frown, she snarked. "Good afternoon to you, too, Tom."
"Showing up at two is hardly a way to impress Nina with the conviction of your desire to return to field duty!"
"I had an appointment," she insisted.
With a huff, Tom thumbed the elevator security pad and hit the down button. "What could be more important than-"
"We booked a church for the wedding this morning."
That took some of the heat out of him. "Oh. Is that why you didn't answer any of my calls?"
"What?" The elevator arrived, and they had to separate as a pair of agents exited.
Once inside, Tom turned to her with a frown. "I've been calling all morning."
Pulling out her cell phone, she found it had been turned off. She never turned her cell phone off, only back and forth from ring to vibrate. "That's weird..."
"What?"
"It's off. I must have hit the wrong button." Activating it, she saw there were eight calls, two from Nina. "Damn."
The elevator opened and they made their way to Nina's office. "You've got to have your head in the game, Diana. In four years, you've never-"
"She's never what?" Nina had apparently received a call from security, too, since they weren't ten feet from the elevator when she intercepted them.
Holding up her cell phone, Diana muttered, "Minor technical problems is all. Do you have time for a meeting?"
"I do, but only because Baldwin insisted I make the time." The head of NTAC glowered at them both. "My office is in use. We can use interview room one." She gestured down the hall, and Diana and Tom exchanged puzzled looks before following.
Once they entered, Nina closed the door behind her and sat down, tossing a file on the table. Only then did she let her officious demeanor relax a moment. "Spain must have treated you well, Skouris. I've never seen you look so relaxed."
"Uh..." Diana was so taken off guard by the statement, she didn't know quite what to say. "Thanks. You're looking good, yourself."
It was an automatic response, and Nina snorted at it as though she'd made a petty joke. "Look, I've heard from Tom what seems to have happened, and I have to tell you, there's nothing I can do about it." She flipped the folder open, revealing its contents. "The paperwork was signed months ago. You'll have to reapply and retake all the tests to get back into the field. Do that, and I'll hook you up with another partner."
"What?" Tom leaned forward, head tilted slightly in incredulity.
"Wait. What do you mean by 'another partner'?" demanded Diana.
Nina shrugged. "Sorry, Skouris, but Pacella gets better results. Plus, he doesn't have a family to worry about, nothing to impact his schedule."
"When have I ever-"
"You've been in Spain for six months." Nina's voice reflected none of Diana's heat, but there was a stony, uncompromising edge to it. "That's not just a vacation, and Maia has caused you problems more than once."
Diana opened her mouth to respond, but Nina held up her hands in a calming gesture.
"Just because you're not field rated doesn't mean I'm good with you being out of NTAC until the next round of exams. The Medical department could really use some help. If you're interested, there's an opening in virology." She flipped to some papers lower in the stack. "Assistant manager--it's more hands-on than manager, with fewer meetings and a nice, 9 to 5 schedule most of the time."
Too stunned to fully process everything, Diana merely stared, belatedly managing to get herself to close her mouth. The next round of tests wouldn't be until January, four months away.
Tom, however, hadn't lost his voice. "You have got to be kidding!"
"About what part?" Nina leveled her gaze at him. "I'm not Ryland, Tom. I can't just wave my hand and make all the bureaucracy disappear for my own convenience. And you, yourself, are the one who has convinced me of Pacella's worth. Do you want to change your reports so he's less impressive?"
Diana sensed something passed between them that she wasn't privy to. It made Tom's expression grow guarded. "No, of course not."
What were they keeping from her? What did Marco have to do with it all? How could he be better than she was?
"It's only a few months. Recall that you were out of commission for a full year, and you survived." When Tom nodded with a grim smile, Nina turned back to Diana. "Just think about it, okay." Pulling out the virology paperwork, Nina set it on the table then collected the rest of the file and stood. "I know your life's going through a lot of changes, right now. So take your time, but try to get back to me by the end of the week." With that, she left.
When she managed to find her voice, Diana muttered, "Well that wasn't what I expected."
"Yeah."
She turned to Tom, unsure if she wanted to ask but unable to resist her curiosity. "What was that all about?"
Blinking, Tom turned to her. "Huh?"
"The part about Marco and reports."
"It's a long story." Tom shrugged dismissively and stood, one hand absently flipping through the papers Nina had left behind. "Given how you feel about him, you probably wouldn't want to hear all the details." Pausing, he met her eyes, and she could see he was concealing something deep and powerful. "All you need to know is that he really is an exceptional field agent." He glanced back down at the papers. "In the end, deciding on partners is Nina's call."
Diana sat for a minute, absorbing it all. Then she stood and gathered the papers. "Well, I guess I should visit the virology lab."
Nodding, Tom opened the door for her and patted her on the shoulder as she passed. "It's only a few months. Maybe it won't be so bad. You might actually get to spend all of Thanksgiving with Maia this time."
"Yeah. Maybe it won't be so bad."