Why Christmas is called a holiday I have no idea…still managed to not be so tardy this time…a miracle.
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"I…no. How could you? I mean…even think that. I loved Marcus, and only Marcus."
Liz lowered her eyes in embarrassment leaving David to hand a tissue to Sophie Field who was now sobbing.
"I'm sorry Mrs Field, you understand we have to ask these questions, we want to know what happened to your husband." David meekly offered.
Sophie stood up and threw her arms around, a couple of tissue falling to the sofa in the process. "Yes I know your processes. All I've ever known is your damn procedures and protocols and rule books. Some days I felt I knew it better than half of Marcus' rookies. So yes, I know you have to ask these damn questions but I also know I don't have to damn well like them. I haven't even buried him yet. I am nothing, nothing, without him. I've lost the love of my life and I…" another tissue, more tears, "…I don't know what I am going to do now he's gone. Do you? Is there an answer for that in your little black book of procedures? Is there anything there that tells you how I can pick up the pieces of my life and go on?"
David opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the resumption of what can only be described as the beginning of a grieving widows tirade.
"No there's not. Your rule book ends when you walk out this door. Do you think this is going to end for me when you walk out the door?"
"Mrs Field of course we know it doesn't…" Nice try Liz, but Sophie still had some rant left in her.
"No. You don't know. Marcus came home every night, every night, with work. I didn't just share my life with Marcus, I shared it more with the FBI, and you don't know how that feels to be part of the FBI life without ever choosing it. You can never know that. To know that the FBI is still here and Marcus isn't!" And with that, the most voracious of the tears began to fall.
"No we can't Sophie. But we can understand what it's like to lose someone. We all have friends, family, affected by our life and their life with the FBI. We see, we're not blind. We just want to make sure that we put this person behind bars so they can't do this to someone else. Surely you don't want this to happen to someone else?" David stared back into Sophie's red eyes hoping he'd flicked a switch in her thinking to get her to help.
Sophie stared back at David and then to Liz. She wasn't sure, she couldn't be positive as the tears clouded her vision, but was the agent actually a little teary herself after David's comments?
"Ok. Fine. I just, enough with the marital problem questions…and before you even think about it he wouldn't even dare think about cheating on me. He loved me. We were in love."
Liz cleared her throat in a bid to clear her emotions. "How was Marcus after Crowther's death?"
Sophie thought for a second, running over the past few weeks in her mind, before finally answering. "Empty. It was like. It was like he was responsible. He always took the blame when someone died. Said the buck stopped with him. This time it was like it defeated him. He had nothing left to give."
David and Liz looked at each other as if mentally playing rock, scissors, paper.
David lost. "Do you think anyone actually did blame him for what happened?"
"You tell me, that's your job. Speak to the people who were there, I don't know. Heck, even I began to believe it was his fault. I mean how many people were injured besides Crowther? Like 3. If Marcus could have taken his place he would've. I don't think anyone on his team didn't know that, but y'know, how well do you ever know somebody? What they're capable of?"
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Megan leaned against the nurses reception area turning off her cell. A male nurse brushed past her reading some notes from a chart. As he walked he almost collided with someone else diverting Megan's attention to the noise.
"Larry?"
"Sorry, oh dear, I apologize profusely." Larry said as he dusted himself and the confused nurse off.
"Don't worry 'bout it," said the nurse and left, quickly.
A smirk from Megan took Larry by surprise and he was offended. "Hey, not fair, he was the one with his nose buried in some clipboard, not me Ms Reeves. I know exactly what you're thinking."
"Now how can you, or anyone, know exactly what I was thinking? I'm not even sure I know what I was thinking and I'm pretty sure you haven't invented anything lately, let alone something that could read minds."
"Now if I had I would naturally have to maintain ultimate secrecy to prevent the cut-throat and renegade underground science mob selling on my discovery before I could properly test it…if I had invented something to read your mind of course, which I haven't because I wouldn't be able to tell you. It's all very metaphorical and semantic isn't it."
"Yes Larry, and cute in a bumbling way."
"See, I did know exactly what you were thinking. Never underestimate the power of simple observation. All the great discoveries come about by simple observation."
"So how come you haven't observed that you're standing on my foot."
Larry looked down and was horrified to see he really was clumsily treading on Megan's boots. Before he could apologize once more Megan took him by the arm and motioned him towards Don's room, smirking.
"C'mon. I'm guessing you're here to see Don too, so let's do it."
For all the noise they made outside and entering the room neither Alan nor Don stirred. Megan lifted her fingers to her lips and reinforced the need to not wake the sleeping beauties. Alan looked exhausted and pale but compared to Don it was easy to miss.
Megan pulled a card out of her bag and left it by a bunch of flowers situated in a corner. David, Liz and herself had signed a get well card for him for when he woke up. Colby had given David a brief message to relay as well and David had included it on the card. Read this soon Don.
"Hey."
"Sorry, didn't want to wake you. We were just going to leave this card and go."
"No, no, don't be silly." Yawn. "Stay, please stay if you want. The nurse should be round in a second anyway."
No sooner had Alan spoke than a nurse magically appeared at the door.
"See."
Megan pulled out a chair next to Alan and sat on the armrest motioning for Larry to sit with her while the nurse went about her business.
"Isn't Charlie with you?" Alan enquired suddenly, remembering that it had been quite some time since he'd seen his youngest.
"Oh he went home to do some work for us. Said he needed his chalkboards." Larry raised an eyebrow at Megan. "Amita's there, he needed her help."
"More like wanted, but good, he needs to keep busy and there's not much he can do around here, not least until Don wakes anyway. So. Any update on that?" Directing his comment towards the nurse Alan leaned forward to look at Don and see if he could notice any change.
"Actually yes. His temperature has dropped nicely, we can start pulling back on these drugs and maybe we'll get some sense out of this fella instead of rambling talk of fire, furnaces and golf."
"You've heard eh." Alan grumbled.
"Yes, although the fact he knows my name's Liz is quite encouraging."
Alan looked at the nurses badge which said E.Parkes.
"The E stands for Elizabeth."
"Ah, well…"
"Relax Mr Eppes, I'm well aware there are many people in the world who have the audacity to use my name. I'll forgive them. But whoever this faux Liz is, she sure is a lucky gal." She winked at Alan and left.
Alan turned to Megan, "Speaking of, where is Liz? I did, I dunno, think she may have dropped by."
Megan stared at Don when she responded, trying to not give Alan too much to read into. "We've had a development on one of our other cases, David and Liz are busy on that. We're all going to be pulling double shifts at this rate. Speaking of, I need to go back to the office. When Don wakes tell him we're all thinking of him… and we want him back on board as soon as possible. We're sick of the extra work. I'm particularly not fond of having to be the boss, who knew it was so much work?"
Alan smiled as Megan left then looked over at Larry, "Feel free to linger Larry, could use someone to talk to who can actually string two words together."
Larry looked over at Don, a man he felt he shared some qualities with, a man he felt was slightly an enigma. Larry romanticized that he too was an enigma to many. It was part of the reason he was besotted with Megan, she appreciated the oddities rather than dismissed them. "Gladly. Besides I'm very keen to hear if you made any headway on that assignment of yours, the robot."
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Nothing like a pounding headache, furry mouth and general disorientation to wake up to in the morning. Don frowned as he tried to work out exactly what morning it was. Friday? Should I be at work? Damn alarm.
Don panicked. Have to get up and outta here. Imagine being late again, I'll never hear the end of it. Ow. Man.
That damn head of his pulsated with a very un-dull ache. Woah.
"Easy, easy."
What? Dad? A pressure was pinning down his arms.
"Where…" Woah, where did that voice come from?
"Hospital Donnie, just relax, you need to calm down."
"Hosp." Why is speaking so damn hard? It's all the words he could manage to get out and so he struggled against the pressure pinning him down, needing to assess the situation. Hang on…"Why?"
"Well now I was hoping you could tell me that. But you need to calm down first ok." Alan's voice was calming in itself but his next words seemed distant. "Nurse, thank goodness, seems to be alert but agitated."
Nurse? Is that what you're calling Millie now? Kinky. Oh wait…hospital. Don was still having trouble holding on to his thoughts for any more than a few seconds and this caused a second bout of panicking.
"Agent Eppes, Don can you hear me." One of his tightly clamped eyes was prized apart and then a light assaulted his senses.
"Hey," he croaked.
"Now that I've got your attention, I need you to calm down for me alright. We've got some powerful medicine being pumped into you and if you continue to struggle you'll really mess things up. Not concerned for you mind, more concerned for the mess really, and the cost. These aren't the cheap drugs we're giving you. Only the best for our nation's finest."
"Drugs. I remember…"
"Shh, don't worry about that now Donnie, can you open your eyes for us, for me." The tone in Alan's voice was pleading.
"How…long?" Don said this as slowly as he had opened his eyes. An opaque vision of his father engulfed his view. He could see right up Alan's nostrils and it made him feel dizzy.
"Dizz…"
"Yes Agent Eppes, I expect so." A brunette blur now filled his dad's position in his vision.
"Just a day." Alan's comment confused Don and he turned his head back to his father. An enormous pain radiated from his skull clawing it's way through his entire body. A pinch in his torso from the movement constricted his breathing as a new pain emerged from there. He closed his eyes and winced. Then he remembered why he'd done it in the first place, "huh?"
"Yes, I wouldn't advise doing that again. I was answering your question, remember. How long? I assume you meant how long have you been here, the answer is a day."
"Oh. Which (day)?" Gee, didn't think my voice could sound any worse…
"Shh Agent Eppes, how 'bout you play suspect for a while and let the doctor ask you the questions for a bit?"
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Liz winced in pain as she slammed the car door shut. She grabbed her shoulder for a second while David was climbing into the driver's side.
"You Ok?"
"Yeah," she lied as she pulled her seat belt across herself. "Every now and then, y'know."
"Yeah." David replied before putting the keys in the ignition. "Let's get outta here. You hungry? I'm thinking of grabbing a burger on the way back."
"Are you serious? Didn't you see the amount of meat in her fridge? Thought you were going vego after that abattoir experience?"
"Oh yeah, thanks, maybe just a hot dog – everyone knows they're not really made of meat."
Liz laughed and leant back into her seat. It had been a long day, but she was glad of the workload. Kept her mind off Don and the guilt of not seeing him. Still she doubted he would notice even if he was awake.
"Y'know I think he would like to see you."
"Huh?"
"Don, despite everything that's gone down, he doesn't hold on to things, he'd want to see you."
"Is this the same Don Eppes we're talking about? Doesn't hold on to things? I mean sure girlfriends slip through his fingers but I don't know, sometimes, I mean have you ever tried to argue with him, the guy is more stubborn…" Liz bit her lip, shook her head and looked across at David who was concentrating on driving despite his weariness.
"Yes he's stubborn, but I dunno, you know him better than I do, but he comes round eventually. Besides I don't know if I could do what he does, y'know make the decisions all the time every time, answer to the brass, go back and have to tick us off if they tell him, torn allegiances."
"Of course you could David. You'd be brilliant at it. I guess it's more a question of would you want to do it. For Don to want to do it, if he does indeed want it, I guess you trade the bad stuff because the rewards are greater."
"Now how did you get so zen Ms Warner? Hanging round Megan and her Larry musings too long huh." David smiled and stole a quick chance to look to Liz to reassure her. "If you're so zen you should know Don wants to see you."
"Yeah, I know, you're right. It's just… that last case, Agent Field, Don – it's all been too much too quick, haven't had a chance to stop and breathe let alone think. I mean Sophie Field, you heard what she said. How could you argue with her. She's right and yet I feel like I'm betraying her by asking those questions. By keeping details from her."
"I know what you mean. So what about a salad then?"
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Liz and David parked the car in the FBI carpark and noticed Megan turning into a space at the same time. They waited till she was ready and they headed up the elevators together.
"How'd it go?"
"Good." Liz replied automatically. "I mean, not good but we got a bit more info."
"That is good."
"Yeah, Sophie reckons Marcus always went out drinking with Agent Crowther on Fridays. She'd normally work back late and hopefully make it home after he'd drunk away the problems of the day." David responded as they closed the elevator doors.
"Gotta love that solution for someone in the drug squad." Megan quipped.
"Tell me about it, at any rate, she had left to see her mom early that afternoon and she assumed Marcus would just be going home." David finished.
"So she knew he was blaming himself for Crowther's death and she left him alone all weekend without a phone call?" Megan queried.
The elevator dinged for their floor and they piled out in unison as Liz continued the conversation. "She's certainly putting herself through the ringer for that one. I mean this is one feisty lady, she was pretty angry with the FBI for her situation, but I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to the fact she feels so responsible for this. I genuinely believe that she loved her husband and no one else."
"Right. So we're thinking that wife having an affair angle isn't going to lead us anywhere. What about you David, you got any thoughts?"
"Same as Liz. We've seen her twice now and she is really going through the guilt over this. Shock, anger, hysterics. I don't think it's an angle that's going to prove fruitful."
"So we need to concentrate on why Marcus was at the abattoir that night, really nail down something concrete to follow there…" Megan stopped short at the sight of someone sitting in her chair.
Liz and David stood rooted to the spot as well, jaws slightly dropped. David shook his head and was the first to burst from the ranks by offering a hand to Colby.
"Good to see ya man." David began to bring him into an embrace until the crutches leaning against the desk reminded him that might not be a good idea. "Don't get up for us will ya."
Colby laughed and looked across at Megan, his smile fading as he saw Liz. "I heard you guys were a bit short staffed. I'm certainly not going to be jumping off any tall buildings but I can definitely trawl through paperwork."
"Well we've got plenty of that." Megan pointed to Colby's desk which they had used for the backlog of late.
"Nice. So anyone seen Don lately?" Colby directed this towards David mainly, avoiding eye contact with Liz for the moment. Megan's cell trilled at that exact moment and she stepped back to answer it.
"He's going to pull through fine they say. Nothing new since I last spoke to…hey, you didn't come out here just cos I didn't call enough didya?" David smirked.
"Nah man, my sister is an awful cook, I figured I was safer dealing with crims again than her meatloaf." Colby smiled and then looked across to Liz who was leaning onto Don's desk trying to listen to what Megan was saying on the phone. "How you doin' Liz?"
She jerked her head round and tried her best smile, "good. I'm good. Tired, but good."
Colby didn't get a chance to respond as Megan slammed her cell shut. "That was Alan. Don's awake."