A/N: Apologies for the delay. Here's another long chapter hot off the presses. Let's call this one "Friends, Lovers, Brothers, and Others." The ladies deal with a bit of each of those here, I think.

After a long Saturday afternoon chasing Ashley around the mall at Georgetown Park, Spencer was looking forward to her evening off.

As she returned to her apartment, she quickly checked her watch and noted that she had just made it back in time. She plopped down on the couch, grabbed the remote and flicked on the television.

Though technology wasn't really her thing, with a little trouble Spencer managed to connect the television to their wireless internet and log into her Skype account. Within seconds, the goofy jingle of the incoming call alert was pulsing softly through the speakers.

Over in the kitchen, Chelsea looked up from her sketchpad with a knowing smile. "It that time again?" she asked.

"You know it," Spencer grinned eagerly. She slid forward to the edge of her seat to lean closer to the webcam on the TV.

Chelsea stood up and stretched before giving Spencer a half-hearted salute and retreating to her room to give her friend some privacy. "Say hey to the boys for me."

Spencer wasted no more time and clicked the remote to answer the call. She could not contain her smile when her brothers' faces popped up onto the screen.

"Spencer!" They chimed, almost in unison as their grins matched her own. Their heads were pressed uncomfortably close together so that they were both visible on the screen.

"Hey guys, long time no see!"

"You got that right!" Glen replied dramatically. "You've been back in the states for weeks now! We got to see your face more when you were in Afghanistan than we do now with you living less than an hour away! Email's not cutting it kid sister!"

Spencer winced, "Sorry Glen, my new assignment is kind of crazy."

"Hey cut her some slack, she's a working girl," Clay gave his brother a little shove, which nearly knocked Glen off his perch on the arm of Clay's chair, "Not everyone has time to sit around playing Halo half the day."

Glen scoffed, "It's not nearly half the day. And I'm plenty busy too! Between classes, basketball and flight school, my Halo hours are way down this semester!"

Spencer laughed. "What will the video game world do without you there to blow up aliens? I really am sorry though. I don't have set hours yet, and there doesn't seem to be a real schedule to our days off. The Colonel said that they are working on getting a rotation with the Secret Service settled, so I'm hoping things will get better soon."

"And how are things going with Operation Baby Sitter?" Clay asked. Spencer had told her brothers all about the Davies sisters' antics to try and get her and Chelsea to quit. They loved to hear stories about Ashley's more outrageous achievements of mischief.

"Okay," Spencer relented. "Better, maybe? I think I'm starting to come to an understanding with Ashley. She's been trying to ditch me less and less. Her latest attempt to escape my watch was to hide in one of those circular clothing racks at the mall today. It seemed almost half-hearted."

Glen snickered. "Maybe you are growing on her."

"I said 'an understanding'" Spencer laughed, "Not a peace treaty. She still won't stop hitting on me though."

"Well maybe you should just go with it," Glen suggested. "If she's really into you, and not just messing around, you could mix a little work with pleasure, if you know what I mean…" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Glen!" Spencer and Clay rebuked at the same time. Clay elbowed his brother again, this time succeeding in knocking him off the chair's arm and onto the floor.

Spencer was always a little surprised to see the muscles that had been built up in her bookish brother's arms. The Naval Academy had been good for both of her brothers. Clay had come out of his shell to become the sort of leader Spencer had always known he could be if he gained a little more confidence. His improved physical conditioning and newly developed mental toughness seemed to have been just what he needed. Glen on the other hand, had (believe it or not) actually learned some self-control. He was still the goofy big brother she had always known and loved growing up, but now he knew how to take himself a little more seriously.

Most of the time.

Glen's head popped back up into the bottom of the picture. "I'm just saying! Think about it: You're hot. She's hot. It'd be hot… And I say this in a 100% brotherly way of course."

"Glen, seriously, are you trying to get me fired… or worse?" She let the question hang there. Sometimes her eldest brother was so dim.

Glen and Clay of course both knew about her sexuality. In fact, she was pretty sure they had both known even before she had figured it out herself. Glen always told her this story about how she'd had a full-on five-year-old crush on Cinderella when their parents had taken them to Disney World. Clay would remind her that he had never seen her take an interest in a single guy since he had been adopted into their family when they were both twelve. Her brothers had both been pillars of support when she was figuring herself out, and Glen had even gone so far as to set her up on her first date with a girl when she was sixteen.

Spencer assumed that it was for this reason that they both had always taken an avid interest in her love life. It was both endearing and incredibly annoying.

"Easy sis," Glen raised his open palms in front of him. "All I'm saying is that from the perspective of a completely unbiased third party observer, it sounds like you ladies have some chemistry. And hey, blame a guy for wanting to see his sister happy."

Clay cut in, trying to salvage his brother's point, "What I believe captain subtle over here is trying to say is that you haven't had anything more than flings for a couple of years now… at least that you've told us about anyway. Maybe now that you are no longer living on a base or at a camp with people watching your every move all the time, you could put yourself out there a little bit. Meet someone new…" Clay had the decency to look sheepish about his lecture, but Glen crossed his arms and nodded his head in firm assent.

"That's what I was trying to say," he added smugly.

Spencer sighed, running her hand through her tied-back blonde hair and settling back into the couch behind her. "Look, I appreciate what you guys are saying, and I know you are both just looking out for me, but I have to figure this out on my own."

Honestly, it was an issue which she had avoided "figuring out on her own" for the past few months now. It was a constant inner battle between her loyalty to the Corps and her loyalty to her true self. She still changed her mind on a daily basis about what she was going to do when her enlistment contract came up for renewal in a little less than a year.

Sometimes she could admit to herself that she was lonely. She felt it most strongly whenever she returned home on leave to see how happy her parents were with one another. Sometimes she was jealous of her mother – getting to have the career she wanted in the military, and the spouse she wanted outside of it. That combination was something Spencer would never have.

Spencer decided that this train of conversation had gone on long enough and tried to steer it off in another direction before things got too heavy.

"How's flight school going Glen?" Glen was currently in civilian helicopter pilot school on the weekends. It was the first step in his process of becoming a naval pilot when he graduated. Her brother had dreams of flying SeaHawk helicopters - a career that he insisted would use the best of his video game playing talents.

"Awesome," Glen replied with his trademark grin. He swept his hand through his buzzed blond hair, "And I'd love to tell you all about it, but I have to run or I'm going to be late for basketball practice." He pulled a duffle bag from the floor and slung it on to his shoulder. "See you later little sis. Love ya, and stay safe!"

"You too!" Spencer called to his retreating form before he disappeared from view. The slamming of a door told her that he was gone.

"Well," Clay said, leaning back conformably in his desk chair now that his brother wasn't cramping his space. "Looks like I've got you all to myself now. I love him, but that boy never lets me get a word in edge-wise!"

Spencer laughed, "Join the club! Oh, Chelsea said to tell you 'hey'."

Clay looked both pleased and embarrassed. "Tell her I say 'hey' back." Spencer rolled her eyes, but laughed. Ever since they had met two years ago, her best friend and her brother had been dancing around each other like two love-sick puppies. It was both adorable and sad. She hoped they would finally get together one day soon.

She could tell her brother didn't really want to talk about his love life either, so she let the issue slide for the time being.

Spencer had always found that she had more in common with her adopted brother than her blood one. Whereas Glen was always a clown and the center of attention, Clay and Spencer were more likely to hang back and observe a situation before they acted. Not to mention the fact that Clay had always been a little more sensitive than their other brother. It was part of what was going to make him a great doctor someday.

Speaking of, that reminded Spencer of what she had been planning on talking to Clay about in the first place tonight before Glen had sidetracked them with her love life. "So how are the med school interviews going? If I'm keeping track correctly, you just had one at Columbia?"

Clay grinned shyly, "Yeah, on Friday. I think they're going well. It's a bit unnerving to sit around with all these accomplished applicants and try to find a way to make yourself stand out from the crowd."

Spencer shook her head in disbelief. "Clay, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You are going to get in everywhere you applied and have schools knocking on your door trying to get you to join their class!" She said it with complete confidence because it was true – her brother was that smart.

"Spence, I don't know if you understand how competitive this process is…" Clay trailed off, fiddling with the name plate on his Naval Academy school uniform.

"Oh I get it," Spencer replied easily, "You've spewed the statistics at me enough times, but I just so happen to know how awesome you are and…" She was cut off by a knock at the door. "Sorry, hold up a second."

She reluctantly stood up from the couch and made her way over to the door while Clay looked on with interest from the other side of the television screen.

Spencer was surprised when someone breezed right past her and into her living room uninvited when she opened the door.

It was Ashley.

Who else?

Ashley had stormed into her apartment with such force that the girl seemed to have almost lost track of where she had left Spencer behind at the threshold. She glanced with interest over to where Clay's face was plastered on the television screen before placing her hands on her hips and whirling to face the Marine.

"Can I help you with something Ms. Davies," Spencer asked in her best military annoyance-masking voice.

"Yeah, actually, you sort of have to," Ashley retorted sharply with a glare, "It's your job." Ashley actually sounded more flippant than usual. Spencer waited for her to go on, taking a moment to appreciate the fact that Ashley seemed to be dressed up – and rather conservatively at that. She was wearing a modest red dress that ran down to her knees and that showed absolutely no cleavage. And were those panty hose she was wearing?

"Okay…" Spencer offered unhelpfully.

"I have a date. You have to come guard me. I'm supposed to over in Arlington by five." Ashley stated her purpose rather matter-of-factly, unemotionally. Spencer glanced at her watch again. Five o'clock was in fifteen minutes. They would have to leave now if they were ever going to make it on time.

Why did Ashley insist on giving her absolutely no notice about anything? It was infuriating, especially when it was supposed to be her night off and she was supposed to be spending it with her brother.

Spencer, of course, let none of this show on her face. "Okay, let me grab my things," She responded evenly. She crossed back over to the couch where Clay was looking on patiently.

"I'm sorry Clay, but it looks like duty calls." She rolled her eyes with her back to Ashley so that only Clay could see. He contained a smile.

"It's okay," he responded. His gaze flicked to Ashley over Spencer's shoulder. "I hope you have a good evening Ms. Davies." He said politely. "And I'll talk to you later Spence. Love you."

"Love you too," Spencer responded automatically. Her family had always been verbally affectionate. It had never bothered her before, except for right now when she could hear Ashley sniggering behind her.

Spencer logged out of Skype, grabbed her gun holster from where she had tossed it down on the coffee table, and turned back to Ashley, unable to contain a glare.

Ashley looked almost back to her usual self as she teased the Marine. "Sorry to interrupt your date, but my date is on 'presidential orders' and thus trumps yours. And where I go, you go. Come on," she turned back toward the still open door leading out of the apartment. "You can carry on with your boy toy later."

Spencer chased Ashley out into the hallway. Would that girl ever stop making assumptions about her life?

"…so the guy must have figured I didn't read the bill, because he went on and on about how bipartisan it was…"

Ashley resisted the urge to drum her fingers along the side of her wine glass. Twenty minutes into her surprise mandated date with Ethan Rayne and she was already bored to tears.

At twenty six years old, Ethan Rayne of the Virginian Rayne family political dynasty was the youngest man currently sitting in a seat in Congress. Fox News called him "the harbinger of the new age of Conservative America." People magazine called him "America's most eligible political bachelor."

Ashley preferred to call him a prick and a self-entitled douchebag…

"…and $4.3 million dollars for highway repair in middle-of-nowhere Indiana! Can you believe it? Golly!"

…just not to his face of course. She had to keep up appearances. Mother simply demanded it.

It was her mother, after all, who had gotten her into this most-undesired relationship in the first place. Last year when some of the more observant bloggers on the internet had begun to become suspicious about Ashley's chronic lack of male companions, her mother had panicked at the thought of the press discovering what her daughter was.

She had set Ashley up with Ethan Rayne. The relationship benefited her mother three-fold. First, Ethan served as Ashley's beard and kept the press' nose off the scent of their biggest family secret.

Second, it forged a tie between the Davies and one of America's oldest political powerhouse families – the Raynes. They were filthy rich, incredibly powerful, and super conservative – just the sort of people Christine needed by her side for re-election.

"…So I told him what I thought my father would say about that…"

Third, Ashley believed that her mother got some sort of sick pleasure out of forcing her to spend hours alone with a sleaze-ball who was too full of himself to even notice that Ashley was not remotely interested in him. Or even paying attention to him.

"…and so I said to the man, 'I won't stand for that sort of pork-barrel spending on my watch!' and boy did he turn red. I thought the minority leader was going to cry." Ethan was still talking.

That was odd - Ashley was pretty sure that the last time she had mentally checked in to hear what he was saying he had been going on about how uncomfortable the seats in the House were. The man took every possible chance he could get to work that fact that he was a Congressman into a conversation, as if Ashley didn't already know.

They had been 'dating' for over a year now. She got the picture.

"Wow," Ashley muttered when there was a gap in his monologue. She found that he asked fewer questions when she made these sorts of monosyllabic sounds every once in a while. It made life easier for the both of them.

Bored again as he launched back into his story, Ashley glanced over to where Sergeant Carlin was sitting one table away, hoping for a distraction.

Unfortunately, Carlin looked about as bored as she did, sipping the glass of water in front of her automatically every twenty seconds or so as her eyes flickered around the room, keeping an eye on the other guests of the four-star restaurant.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ashley caught the first of several flashbulbs go off. Outside of the window next to their table, as small crowd of paparazzi had begun to amass. She rolled her eyes into her wine glass as she took another long sip. Her mother must have had her people call them. The public loved the idea of a romance between Ashley Davies and Ethan Rayne and so her mother loved it as well. The tabloids made them out to be the next Kate Middleton and Prince William.

Ashley liked to think she was way hotter than the Duchess of Cambridge, and way cooler. After meeting the royal couple at their wedding last year, Ashley had come to the conclusion that Kate and Will were way boring even if Kate did redeem herself slightly with her wardrobe.

Across from her, Ethan chuckled fakely. "Ah, looks like they've found us out darling." He reached across the table and grabbed her hand. Ashley resisted the urge to pull it out of his slimy grasp and smack him across the face with it.

But her mother's warning earlier in the evening when she had sprung the surprise date on her resounded in Ashley's head. If she did anything to mess up her "relationship" with Ethan Rayne during an election year, Ashley could kiss her inheritance goodbye.

She was between a rock and a hard place and couldn't seem to get her feet beneath her for long enough to work her way out.

"Uh-huh," Ashley replied non-commitally, avoiding his eyes as he purposefully leaned forward and tried to catch her gaze. He used his grip on her hand to full her a little towards him. Ashley winced as her curls came dangerously close to her French onion soup.

"Why don't we just give them the picture they want, eh?" And before Ashley could even react, he was threading his other hand into her hair and stretching across the table to crash his lips into her own.

Ashley fought to control her gag reflex. She hated kissing Ethan and did it no more than was absolutely necessary for appearances. Generally speaking, her "wholesome, conservative upbringing" prevented her from having to take their relationship physically any further than kissing when in public. In private, Ethan sometimes tried to push his luck. Ashley made sure that they spent as little time together in private as possible.

If Ethan noticed her discomfort, he made no sign of it. Either he didn't know that she was definitely not interest in him, or he didn't care. Ashley wouldn't have been surprised if he was in this relationship for the same reason her mother was.

The kiss went on for what felt like ages. Eww, he tasted like cigarettes and was definitely wearing too much cologne. Not to mention he had stubble.

It was all very unpleasant.

"Excuse me, Ms. Davies, Congressman Rayne, I'm sorry to interrupt," came Sergeant Carlin's suspiciously unapologetic voice from behind Ashley. Mercifully, Ethan broke the kiss to see what was going on. Ashley quickly took another sip of wine to try to wash the taste of him from her mouth.

"Yes, can I help you?" Ethan asked with a bit of attitude. He seemed annoyed that he had to crane his neck to look up at the tall Marine interrupting his photo-op. Ashley rolled her eyes discretely.

Didn't this guy know anything. Attitude didn't get you anywhere with GI Jane. It just made her more steadfast in whatever the hell she was doing.

"I'm getting reports of a disturbance two blocks from here, a minor security threat," the Marine replied evenly as ever, gesturing vaguely at her earpiece.

Ethan sat back against his chair. "Oh, I see. Anything I should be concerned about?" He asked.

"No sir," Sergeant Carlin replied. "Just reports of a mugging. The suspects have not yet been apprehended, so it is standard procedure for me to take Ms. Davies to a more secure location. You understand."

Ashley felt a gentle grasp under her elbow, pulling her to her feet. "If you'll follow me Ms. Davies," the Marine said, releasing Ashley's arm once she sensed that she was not going to get any resistance from her charge.

Ashley allowed herself to be led out of the dining room and through the back doors to the kitchen, sparing a glance over her shoulder and waggling her fingers at Ethan in a triumphant goodbye.

She wanted to flip him the bird, but decided that such gestures were probably not what her mother had in mind for "lady-like behavior".

Ashley didn't realize how stifling the restaurant had been until her lungs felt fresh air. She took a moment to bask in her good fortune.

"I'm sorry somebody had to get mugged, but I owe some hoodlum a debt of gratitude for saving me from that torture." She took a moment to twirl in place, arms stretched out wide, reveling in her freedom.

"Don't be." Spencer replied, arms crossed in her usual business-like manner.

Ashley stopped spinning, confused. "Don't what?"

"Don't be sorry. No one got mugged." Spencer said.

Ashley took a second to think about that. "So I guess that means the hoodlum I'm supposed to thank is you." She gave the Marine an appraising look. "Perhaps I've misjudged you."

Spencer shrugged, refusing to meet Ashley's playful gaze. "That looked uncomfortable back there. When you said you had a date, I figured…"

"Short skirt, lip-stick, feminine wiles?" Ashley supplied helpfully.

Spencer huffed. "Well, given what I know about you…"

"That I'm a ragging lesbian?" Ashley offered again.

Spencer rolled her eyes, clearly not liking being interrupted. "I didn't expect your date to be a…"

"Guy. Yeah, not my choice, believe me. That was my mother's doing." Ashley figured that was explanation enough. Sergeant Carlin had been living with the dysfunctional Davies for a few weeks now. She got the picture.

"Well, your date is over now. You are free to do as you please." Spencer replied.

"Well I can't go back home now," Ashley whined, "Mother insists that a proper date with Ethan lasts at least three hours."

Spencer was beginning to understand Ashley's rebellion more and more. Who forced their daughter to go out on dates with minimum time limits with a sleaze ball with no personality? Especially when they clearly weren't even attracted to men.

"So what do you want to do then?" Spencer asked.

Ashley snuck a glance at her phone. "6:00 PM on a Saturday night..." She chewed on her bottom lip softly, staring off into the distance as she thought. Spencer fought the urge to stare and instead glanced at her own watch for lack of anything better to do. Technically it was 18:12 hours, but she knew better than to try to explain the importance of proper scheduling to Ashley Davies.

After a moment, Ashley's face lit up and she gave Spencer one of her most mischievous nose crinkling smiles. "Well I do know this one spot that I haven't been able to hit up in a while…"

Spencer had to fight hard to contain a sigh. She really wasn't in the mood to chase Ashley around through a throng of pulsating sweaty bodies tonight, especially when she was supposed to have had the evening to herself. "I didn't think that clubs in the District opened this early." She tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

Ashley actually snorted, "Please Sarge, try and contain your excitement. I know how much you love Gray," she patted Spencer softly on the head, "But I've got something else in mind. This place is a real zoo! Come on!" She wrapped her hand around Spencer's wrist and pulled her towards the waiting car at the end of the alley.

Ashley wished she'd had to foresight to prepare her camera to capture the look on Spencer's face when she realized that the "real zoo" Ashley was referring to was the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park.

Priceless.

Ashley loved the zoo. It was one of her favorite non-historical places in the whole city. She was barely able to contain her excitement as the smell of popcorn and the musky scent of animals eased the memory of tonight's earlier actives from her mind.

She glanced over her shoulder to ensure that the Marine was keeping up with her.

"See most people go straight for the pandas," Ashley pointed in the direction of a small enclosure with hoards jostling for position at the edge of the fence. "They're all right, but they're really not much to look at, even the babies. They spend 99 percent of their time sleeping or eating bamboo, and less than 1 percent actually doing cute things like sneezing and freaking out mama bear."

Sergeant Carlin looked confused but said nothing. "Wait!" Ashley slid to a halt in the middle of the pathway, forcing the other zoo goers to veer off around her and her bodyguard. She threw up her hands in disbelief. "Come on, even you had to have seen that video!"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Apparently not. I have no idea what you are talking about." She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Not that that's anything new," the Marine muttered as an afterthought.

"Hey!" Ashley retorted automatically, "I have ears you know. Really sexy ones too!" Had Sergeant Stuffypants actually just lightened up for two and a half second? Between this and her clutch rescue at dinner, Ashley had to admit that maybe the tall Marine was growing on her.

She whipped out her iPhone, pulled up her favorites on YouTube, pressed play and shoved the device into Spencer's face.

Spencer took half a step back to get the screen into focus and begrudgingly watched the video, her arms still crossed. Ashley grinned wryly, searching the Marine's stoic face, mentally ticking off the second until…

"Achoo!" …the tiny panda in the video sneezed, starling its bamboo-munching mother. Ashley had watched the video enough times to know what was happening without even being able to see it. Its cuteness had been able to bring a smile to her face even when Christine was at her worst and most stifling.

Even Spencer was not immune to its cuteness. The Marine was unable to hide her smile and even let out what sounded suspiciously like a snort.

"So you do have a soul," Ashley teased. "Good to know."

She stuffed her phone back into the pocket of her coat and set off once again in the direction of her favorite exhibit. It was at the opposite end of the zoo from the entrance where Willie had dropped them off, and though her heels were starting to hurt her feet, nothing was going to stop Ashley from salvaging this night.

"So if not the pandas, where are we going then?" Carlin asked from beside her. The zoo was obviously having a positive effect on her normally tight-lipped shadow. Spencer was almost acting like a companion, rather than bodyguard.

"To see my favorite animals," Ashley replied. They were approaching the enclosure now, so she let the animals speak for themselves. Unlike the crowds by the Giant Panda exhibit, there were only a handful of other visitors here.

"Otters?" Spencer asked, as she stepped up next to Ashley to lean against the fence separating them from the watery enclosure below.

"Otters." Ashley confirmed with a grin. The exhibit was home to a small troop of six little otters who were currently playing what looked like tag. They were sailing through the water chasing one another, occasionally bringing their game up onto dry land to carry on with their acrobatics on the rocks.

"So why otters?" The Marine asked her, tracking the small mammals with her sharp eyes.

Ashley answered easily. "Otters are just chill and care-free. They do what they want and don't care who is watching. They always seem to have good time doing whatever it is that they're doing."

She leaned down to rest her chin on the fence. She was suddenly very tired.

She felt a hand rest softly on her shoulder. "Are you okay Ashley?" Her bodyguard asked, with what sounded like real concern. A glance up confirmed that the Marine genuinely seemed to care how she was doing.

It was nice.

"Thanks," Ashley blurted before she realized what she was saying, "You know, for earlier."

The Marine shrugged, leaning forward to rest her elbows against the railing so she was closer to Ashley's level.

"I'm in your corner, you know if you'll let me be."

Ashley thought that maybe that didn't sound so bad after all.