"So you two were in the CIA together," Holly said.
Roger and Michael looked at each other before both looking at Holly. "We were partnered up several times on assignments," Roger said. "Michael saved my life on more than one occasion."
"You returned the favor a few times," Michael reminded him.
"Well, thank you, Michael, for saving him," Holly said seriously.
"All in a day's work," Michael said. He looked from Roger to Holly. "Besides, we both had the same ultimate goal: surviving to get back to the women we loved. And as I recall, you and Roger have a daughter, Christina?"
"She goes by her middle name now, Blake, but I still call her 'Chrissy,'" Roger said. "She's married now, and has two baby boys."
"No kidding," Michael said. He grinned. "I'm a grandfather myself. Three boys between my two daughters."
"Two daughters?" Roger asked, pleased for his old friend.
"Victoria and Marley," Michael replied proudly. "Identical twins, but personality wise, total opposites."
"And is their mother the fair Donna?" Roger inquired.
"Yes," Michael said with a big smile.
"Congratulations," Roger said honestly. "That's terrific, Michael, really. You and Donna, married with kids and grandkids."
Now Michael smiled sheepishly. "Actually, we're not married," he admitted. "We were. Three times. And divorced...three times."
"I'm sorry," Roger said earnestly.
"No, we're together, and we're doing great," Michael assured him. "We're just not married. Neither one of us wants to go for divorce number four. So what brings you to Bay City?"
Recognizing that his old friend wanted a subject change, Roger said, "I'm in trouble." He looked at Holly now. "Holly and I just came from meeting with Frankie Frame."
"If you need a P.I., she's the best," Michael said. "What kind of trouble are you in, Roger? Can I be of any help?"
"My son and my soon-to-be-ex-wife are gaslighting me," Roger replied. "And I'm not sure if you can help."
Michael looked at Holly. "I'm not Hart's mother," she said.
"He probably would have turned out better if you were," Roger murmured. Holly wasn't so sure about that, but then Roger always did give her more credit for being a good mother to Blake than she gave herself.
"What, are they shacking up behind your back?" Michael asked.
"Does it count as behind my back since I know all about it?" Roger countered.
"I'd say no," Michael replied. He shook his head, then glanced from Roger to Holly and back.
"I love Holly, not Dinah," Roger said. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
"It's a long story, and it doesn't make either one of us look very good," Holly said.
"I'm the guy who married and divorced the love of his life three times and is currently living with her without benefit of clergy," Michael said. "I'm in no position to judge either of you, and I don't want to judge either of you. I just want to help, if I can."
Roger and Holly looked at each other. "I thought Roger had cheated on me," Holly began.
"I wasn't honest with Holly about where I was going that night, and I let myself get into a situation that made it look to Holly like I had cheated on her," Roger interjected.
"And I was so devastated that I cheated on Roger," Holly continued.
And so it went, Roger and Holly taking turns telling Michael the whole story of the past almost two years of their lives. He listened silently, patiently, noticing that each of them blamed themselves far more than blaming the other. "So I'm getting divorced," Holly finished.
"And I want to get divorced, but I need proof that Dinah's cheating on me, and that she and Hart are gaslighting me, and I need to return her trust fund to her," Roger concluded.
Michael nodded. "Who's your lawyer? Do you have one?" he asked Holly.
"Cass Winthrop," Holly replied.
"Then you two have nothing to worry about there," Michael said, looking from Holly to Roger. "Frankie will get the proof you need of both the cheating and the gaslighting, and Cass will handle the legalities." He then focused on Roger. "If you get to a point where you want them to think you really have flipped your lid, I can get you into a psychiatric ward without a problem."
"I don't really need the psychiatric ward, Michael," Roger said.
"I know," Michael said. "You wouldn't have to actually stay there. Just be there for a few minutes when Dinah and Hart come to visit, playing the dutiful wife and son. In reality, you can stay at The Bayshore, or some other hotel."
"You have an in at a mental hospital?" Holly asked.
"He has ins at all kinds of places," Roger said seriously. "The Berlin Wall would not have come down if not for this man. Where is this mental hospital?"
"Right here in Bay City," Michael said. "And it's not actually a mental hospital. The psych ward at Bay City General Hospital has a long-term care wing. My brother John is Chief of Staff of the hospital, so if you need to, you just let me know, and he'll get you into the long-term care wing for a couple of hours for Dinah and Hart's benefit."
"I may take you up on that, Rotorhead, but not just yet," Roger said.
"You would do that for Roger?" Holly asked. "And your brother would do that for Roger? It won't be a problem?"
"No problem at all," Michael assured. He looked at Roger again and smiled. "I know the reason is lousy, but damn, is it ever good to see you again."
"The feeling is mutual," Roger replied, smiling back.
"Michael, I have been waiting for you in my office for 45 minutes! What are you doing out here?" The trio at the table turned to look at the woman standing beside Michael's chair with her arms folded across her chest and a frown on her face. Her raven-colored hair was cut in a chic chin-length bob, her clothes were designer label, and her brown eyes flickered from Holly to Roger to Michael.
Michael stood up, and Roger did too. Michael then kissed the woman quickly, chastely. "I'm sorry, Donna. I was here 45 minutes ago, but I ran into an old friend and we got to talking, and I lost all track of time." He put an arm around her shoulders, then looked at Roger and Holly. "Donna Love, I'd like you to meet Roger Thorpe and Holly Lindsey. Roger, Holly, this is Donna, my..." He paused for the briefest of seconds, then concluded, "Significant other."
"Michael and I were in the Agency together years ago," Roger said as he shook Donna's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."
"All good, of course," Donna said. "Well, this is the first time I've ever met one of Michael's spy friends." Roger and Michael both looked amused at this. Donna then looked at Holly. "And you're Roger's wife?" she asked.
Before Holly could answer, Michael said, "She's his Donna. I heard as much about her and their daughter back then as Roger heard about you."
Donna grabbed an adjacent chair and pulled it up to the table next to Michael's chair as Michael and Roger took their seats again. "So, what brings you to town, Roger?" Donna asked. Then her face suddenly took on a look of terror. "You're not going back in the Agency, are you, Michael?" She looked from Michael to Roger and insisted, "Michael is not going back in the Agency! The last time they dragged him back in, it ruined both of our lives, ended our marriage, and took us five years to work through!" She grabbed Michael's arm with both hands then and glowered at Roger fiercely. "Save the spiel about national security and the good of the country. Michael is retired from the CIA, so you can just go back to Langley or wherever and tell them to get somebody else."
"I'm not here to recruit him for the Agency," Roger said. "I didn't know he was here until he came over to our table an hour ago. I'm not with the Agency anymore either."
Donna palpably relaxed, but did not let go of Michael's arm. "Oh," she said. "Well. All right. Why are you here, then, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I'm in some trouble," Roger said. Donna tensed up again, so Roger hastily added, "Entirely of my own making, and Holly and I have hired Frankie Frame and Cass Winthrop, and we were telling Michael about it, and he has offered to help out if need be. But it's nothing dangerous."
"And it has absolutely nothing to do with the CIA?" Donna asked, staring hard at Roger.
"Nothing at all," Roger said. "I got out in late 1988, and I'm out for good. I have no reason or desire to go back."
"Well, now you've got me intrigued," Donna said, leaning in in anticipation. "What kind of trouble are you in? How is Michael going to help? How can I get in on this?"
"You don't have enough to do running this place?" Michael asked, gesturing around them.
"I can pull off subterfuge or create a diversion or look for files as well as anyone," Donna insisted.
"You and Victoria wearing berets and sunglasses and breaking into Lucas's suite seven years ago and then having to hide in the closet when he came back unexpectedly doesn't count," Michael retorted. "You were on probation at the time. You're lucky you two didn't get caught."
"Lucas?" Roger asked. "The Lucas?" Holly frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember where she knew that name from, but it wasn't coming to her.
"Yeah," Michael replied. "He turned out to be one of the good guys after all. He took out Griffen Saunders right when Saunders had raised his gun to fire at me."
"You got Griffen Saunders?" Roger asked, impressed.
"I was trying to. Lucas got him before he could get me," Michael replied. "But you know who was a double agent? Ariane."
"I remember her," Roger said with a nod. "She had a thing for you."
Michael winced slightly. "Donna's sitting right here!" he said. "Anyway, I did not have a thing for her then or ever, and she obviously got over it, since she was working with Saunders and she gave the order to have me killed, and it got her a 25-year stay in the penitentiary."
Roger shook his head. "I have to say, I don't miss Agency life," he said.
"Neither do I," Michael agreed. "But we did have some good times."
"Yes, we did," Roger said. He grinned, then looked at Donna. "Like that time in East Berlin."
"No," Michael said. "Not the time in East Berlin."
"What happened in East Berlin?" Donna asked.
"Yeah, what happened in East Berlin?" Holly echoed.
"You just had to bring up East Berlin," Michael grumbled at Roger.
Roger laughed. "Hey, it wasn't just you. I did it too."
"That's right, you did," Michael remembered.
"Did what?" Donna asked impatiently.
"Sang karaoke," Roger said. "Early '80s, the first karaoke bar in East Berlin. We had just finished a successful mission, so we went out to have a few drinks, and the place we went was this little hole in the wall dive with a karaoke machine crammed full of oldies."
"And that Russian guy with the fur hat kept singing Bobby Darin songs," Michael recalled.
"How'd we ever get the microphone away from him?" Roger asked.
"He was drunker than we were. He passed out in the middle of 'Mack the Knife,'" Michael said.
"Oh yeah!" Roger said as his eyes lit with recollection.
"So you two got drunk and sang karaoke at a dive in East Berlin?" Holly asked, resting her chin on one hand.
"Separately," Roger said. "We had to. We couldn't agree on a song."
"Well, you were just showing off, with your five choruses of 'Holly Holy,'" Michael said. "How you got through that song five times, as hammered as you were, without screwing up the words, I'll never know."
"I at least managed to get through the whole song, unlike you, who broke down crying during the first verse of 'Donna,'," Roger retorted.
"I told you, it was Donna's birthday," Michael said. "Are you telling me if it had been Holly's birthday, you wouldn't have broken down crying? I was three sheets to the wind. I always get maudlin when I get drunk. Not that I get drunk nowadays," he added hastily, looking at Holly.
"No, I'm sure I would have broken down crying if it had been Holly's birthday, or Chrissy's, but it wasn't," Roger said. "Although I have to say, you do the best drunk Ritchie Valens I've ever heard."
"I think you said so that night," Michael said. Then the two men broke into laughter.
Holly found Roger and Michael's interaction fascinating. She had never seen Roger so at ease with a contemporary before. He and Michael were clearly friends, and though they hadn't seen one another in many years, the bond they had forged when they worked together and saved each other's lives years before was irrevocable, and strong enough to carry over to their civilian lives despite all the time and distance.
For her part, Donna had only ever seen Michael behave like this with one other person: his brother John. But while John and Michael had a good relationship now, that had not always been the case, especially when Michael thought John was romantically interested in Donna. He wasn't, but that had caused quite a rift between the brothers. Michael was completely comfortable with Roger in a way he had never been with John, because they had their dynamic as brothers, with Michael forever the older brother and John forever the younger one. They had come very far since Michael had found John and brought him home, but the brotherly dynamic underscored their entire relationship, even now that they were on the best terms of their lives since they were children. Donna herself had never had a close female friend; her own contemporaries in Bay City were civil to her, for the most part, especially Rachel Cory, since they shared grandchildren, but she was not actually friends with any of them. Even with only seeing them together for these few moments, Donna knew that Roger was a good and dear friend to Michael.
Roger and Michael recovered themselves. Roger saw Holly watching him fondly, and he gave her a small smile in return. Donna noticed this and not-so-subtly elbowed Michael in the ribs under the table. Michael, of course, had seen it for himself. Having already heard the story of the last two years from Roger and Holly before Donna joined them, Michael knew that Holly wanted Roger back, and that Roger wanted to be with Holly, but what Roger hadn't said, and Michael knew anyway because he'd been there himself with Donna once upon a time, was that while Roger loved Holly, he didn't trust her at the moment. He was still hurting from her marrying this other guy.
But knowing Roger as well as he did, and knowing that Roger loved Holly the way Michael himself loved Donna, Michael also knew that Roger wanted to trust Holly again. That was the key here.
Well, that, and both of them getting divorced, and nailing Roger's son and soon-to-be-ex-wife for trying to gaslight him, and Roger returning the trust fund he stole from said soon-to-be-ex-wife. That was the part that Michael could help with.
Michael pulled his wallet from his inside jacket pocket then, opening it and removing a couple of his business cards from it. "Do you have a pen?" he asked Donna.
"I do," Holly said as she pulled a pen from her purse and handed it to Michael.
"Thanks," Michael said. He turned one of the cards over and wrote something on the back of it, then shoved it, the pen, and the other card across the table to Roger. "My office number is on the front of the card, and my home number is on the back. Give me your numbers too. You need anything at all, any time of day or night, all you have to do is pick up the phone. And I'm a good listener."
"I remember," Roger said as he scribbled his contact numbers on the back of the second card and pushed it across the table to Michael before returning Holly's pen to her. "That, I'll definitely take you up on, Rotorhead."
"'Rotorhead'?" Donna asked, eyebrows raised.
"A nickname," Roger said.
"You know I flew helicopters in the Marines, and I also did some flying for the Agency," Michael said.
"That was your code name?" Donna asked. At Michael's look, she said, "What? I watched Scarecrow and Mrs. King."
"No, that wasn't his code name," Roger said. "That's just what I called him after he pulled my, ah, bacon out of the fire a couple of times with his helicopter."
"So what was your code name?" Donna asked interestedly. "You never talk about your CIA days. I never even knew you had a code name."
"Hawk," Michael said. "My code name was Hawk."
"And what was yours?" Donna asked, turning to Roger.
"He was The Black Fox," Michael replied.
"Hawk, Black Fox, were all the code names after animals?" Donna asked.
"No," Michael said. "We had two of the better code names. Some agents were not so lucky." Michael looked at Roger again. "Remember Chunks?"
Roger made a face. "I hated being paired with him on missions," he said.
"'Chunks'?" Holly asked.
"Every time he got nervous or scared, he threw up," Roger said. "Once in Poland, he got sick so many times, he almost dehydrated."
"He threw up in my helicopter once too," Michael recalled. "Took two weeks to get the smell out."
"And Pyro," Roger said.
"As in 'pyromaniac'?" Holly asked.
"Yeah," Roger said.
"He's still in," Michael said. "I still don't get why they didn't kick him out when he found out. But if you needed a fire set anywhere, he was the guy."
"He could make it look like arson or an accident," Roger said. "That's why they kept him. And probably promoted him to bureau chief at some point."
"They did," Michael said.
"Well, if he ever gets fed up with the job, we know how it'll end," Roger said.
"With a five-alarm fire," Michael agreed with a nod.
"And Pyro standing in the shadows, watching it burn and muttering about how pretty it looks," Roger added.
"Excuse me, Ms. Love," said a young man in a plain white polo shirt and black Dockers who had materialized behind Donna's chair. "There's a problem that needs your attention."
"Excuse me, everyone," Donna said, rising and following the man. "What's the problem, Robert?" she asked as they walked away from the table.
After Donna had left to take care of whatever the problem was, Roger said, "So Donna runs this place?"
"Runs and owns it," Michael replied, pride evident in his tone. "She's good at it too, and really enjoys it. What are you up to these days, Fox Head? Where are you living now?"
"Springfield," Roger said.
"That's not far from here! That's great!" Michael enthused. "You busy workwise?"
"Not really," Roger said.
"I've got this deal coming up, and I'd love to get your input on it," Michael said. "Computers. Specifically, the Internet. Yahoo."
"I don't know anything about that," Roger admitted.
"Neither do I," Michael said. "But we can learn. If nothing else, it'll be a good distraction for you."
"Okay," Roger agreed.
"Great," Michael said. "So you can come by my office sometime next week and we can go over everything I have so far."
"All right," Roger said.
Donna returned then. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "Although Robert is authorized to sign for deliveries, the new delivery man insisted that I had to be the one to sign for this one." She looked at Holly then. "What do you do?" she asked.
"Publisher of the Springfield Journal, but I'm looking to get out of it," Holly replied.
"You work with an ex or something?" Donna asked. "I did that for a while. Very awkward and uncomfortable."
"Yes," Holly said.
"And you, Roger? What do you do?" Donna asked.
"I'm looking for something new too," Roger said. "Something in business."
"It looks like Roger and I are going to be working together on my new project," Michael replied.
"In addition to whatever kind of trouble he's in that you're going to be helping him with?" Donna asked.
"Yes," Michael said.
"So what kind of trouble are you in?" Donna asked Roger then. "You never did tell me."
"Donna," Michael said warningly.
"I just want to know if I need to have bail money at the ready," Donna said. "And we should probably also alert Ryan that you might be arrested at some point if that's going to happen. Ryan is our son-in-law. He's the police commissioner."
"I don't think we need to involve Ryan in this," Michael said. "And you won't need to have bail money at the ready."
"You say that now, but how am I supposed to be sure of that if I don't know what you're helping Roger with?" Donna inquired.
"It's okay, Michael," Roger said. "My son and my soon-to-be-ex-wife are having an affair and they're gaslighting me, but I'm on to them."
Donna blinked. "But Michael said that Holly is to you what I am to him."
"She is," Roger said. "We...Well, it's a long story."
"Which he doesn't have time to go into right now because your dinner rush is starting," Michael pointed out.
"Michael," Donna said in an I-want-to-know-now tone.
"Donna," Michael retorted in the same tone.
"We'll bore you with the story some other time," Holly piped up then.
"Really?" Donna asked.
"You don't know what you just said, Holly. Now she'll keep after you until you tell her," Michael said. "She's part pit bull, I swear." Donna swatted at Michael, but there was no strength or intent to hurt him behind it.
"I'll hold you to that," Donna said, ignoring Michael.
"She will," Michael added.
"I think we're going to be spending a lot of time in Bay City in the near future," Holly said. "I'm sure the subject will come up again. In the meantime, we should get going, since it's your dinner rush and all."
All four of them stood up then. "Hang in there, Fox Head," Michael said. "Between you and Holly, and Cass and Frankie, and me, we'll get you out of this."
Roger shook hands with Michael again, then clapped him on the back. "I'm really glad we ran into each other today," he said.
"So am I," Michael said. "I'll give you a call in a few days to set things up for next week, or you can call me before that if you want or need to."
"Thanks," Roger said.
"It was nice meeting both of you," Donna said.
"It was nice meeting you too," Holly said. She shook hands with Donna.
"Yes, it was," Roger added. He too shook hands with Donna. After they said goodbye to Michael and Donna, Roger and Holly left.
When they were alone, Michael said, "If Holly doesn't want to go in to a lot of detail about it, don't push her."
"Really, Michael, I know that," Donna said, annoyed. "If anything, I can be a sympathetic ear...no, an empathetic ear...for Holly."
"Donna, I love you, but empathy is not exactly your strong suit," Michael said.
"But it won't require any work this time, because I've already had the similar experiences," Donna pointed out. "You know, they remind me a lot of us when you came back to town. The feelings were still there, the love, but you didn't trust me. You had to learn to trust me again. Clearly, Roger and Holly love each other. But he has to learn to trust her again." At Michael's somewhat surprised look, Donna said, "I know something about that. Besides, while you're off playing with Roger, I might as well get to know Holly."
"Okay, Roger and I are not going to be 'playing,'" Michael said. "We're going to be working on that new project-"
"Yes, Whoopee," Donna said.
"Yahoo," Michael corrected.
"Whatever," Donna replied. "But Roger obviously means a lot to you. You aren't even that way with John, and he's your brother."
"What way?"
"The way you just were with Roger. All laughing and bonded and obviously thrilled to see each other after how many years. All I'm saying is that if you're going to be spending a lot of time with Roger, it only makes sense for me to get to know Holly." When Michael opened his mouth, Donna added, "And I promise, I will not push her to tell me a lot of sordid details." She added, "If she doesn't want to," under her breath.
"I heard that," Michael pointed out. Donna merely smiled in reply.
Meanwhile, Roger and Holly were on their way back to Springfield. "Michael's nice," Holly said.
"He's one of the good guys, no doubt about it," Roger replied.
"How many times did he save your life?" she asked.
Roger thought for a moment. "Four," he said. "And I saved his life three times."
"It sounds like he's a good man to have around, then," she said. "You obviously think a lot of him."
"I really do," Roger admitted. He paused, then said, "You don't have to tell Donna anything if you don't want to."
"She's a bit nosy, true, but she also strikes me as the kind of person who speaks her mind and doesn't care what anyone thinks of what she says," Holly reflected. "If anyone would be shockproof, I get the feeling it would be her. She and Michael have been married and divorced three times."
"The way Michael always talked about her, that doesn't surprise me. She was it for him," Roger said.
"Kind of like us," Holly replied, glancing at him before returning her attention to the road.
"Kind of," Roger agreed. "But then, Michael always was the type that if he wanted something, he wouldn't stop until he got it, no matter what it took."
"An admirable quality," Holly said.
"Very much so," Roger agreed. "That was one reason we bonded. Michael's the only other agent I ever met who had somebody he wanted to get back to more than anything in the world."
"Do you still feel that way about me?" Holly asked.
"Yes, I do," he replied. "It's like I told you. Loving you isn't the problem. I'll love you beyond the end of my days. I just have to be able to trust you again, because I can't, I won't, go through you leaving me again for some man that's better than me."
"There is no one better than you. Not for me," Holly said. "You're the one I want, Roger. The only one I want to be with."
"As long as that doesn't change," Roger said.
"It won't," Holly replied. "Who's Lucas?"
"Lucas," Roger said. "We thought he was involved in some shady doings, but it turned out he wasn't. Whatever Griffen Saunders had on him was unrelated to the espionage Saunders was performing for the KGB in Europe. He went on to become a hotshot PR man, known only by his first name, Lucas. He was killed a few years ago."
"I think I remember seeing something about his death at the time," Holly said with a nod. "I'm having dinner with Blake tomorrow night, spending some time with her and the boys, although they're still in that sleeping-a-lot stage."
"That'll be nice, spending time with all of them," Roger said. "I'll have to get to that myself soon, though I'm sure I'm not welcome at their house, at least as far as Ross is concerned. But you were right when you said we'd be spending a lot of time in Bay City, since Frankie and Cass live there, and Michael."
They had arrived at the country club now, and Holly turned off the car and turned to look at Roger. "So..." she said.
"Yeah," Roger said, meeting her gaze. They sat in silence for a moment, looking at each other, and then he said, "I'm not looking for anybody else. You don't have to worry about that. It's you or no one. So right now, it's no one."
Holly smiled. "That's good to know," she said.
Roger reached across the console, took Holly's hand from the top of the steering wheel, and squeezed it. "I'll call you tomorrow," he said.
"Okay," Holly replied. "I'll talk to you then."
When she got home, she retreated to her bedroom, removed the purchase she had picked up on her way to pick Roger up to go to Bay City, and looked it over carefully, just as she had in the store. After scratching out the prices, she folded the receipts and carefully tucked them into the box with the purchase. "Someday," she said aloud as she put the box in the drawer in her nightstand. "Someday."