Control snagged the phone on the first ring. "Control."

"It's Robert."

"Damn." He sagged back into his desk chair.

"Nice to hear from you, too," McCall answered dryly. "I hear our young lady's back in town."

"Yeah," Control answered bitterly, "I hear that, too."

"You haven't talked to her?"

"The boys from DC don't want her visiting with the common folk." A pause. "I left a message at her hotel, but she hasn't returned my call."

"Call her again," Robert advised.

"I did," Control admitted. "Several times."

"Perhaps she's gone out to dinner."

"Right."

"Time, Control," Robert reminded him. "You have time. Wait."

"Easy for you to say," Control answered, and hung up on him.

# # #

All the gin joints, Robert thought, in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Lily Romanov stood just inside the doorway of Pete's, scanning the room. Looking for him, Robert knew at once. Their eyes met; she saw that he wasn't alone, and if he had not signaled, she would have slipped back out just as quietly. Into the night and gone, no fuss, no interruption.

But McCall wanted very much to speak with her. And Lily Romanov, who would not speak to Control or to Kostmayer, wanted to speak to him.

"Scott," he began, taking his napkin out of his lap, folding it neatly, "Scott, I'm very sorry . . . "

But he couldn't take his eyes off the woman. The way she moved, crossing the restaurant, made his heart ache. She limped a little, but it wasn't bone or muscle injury that Robert saw. She moved as if she were suddenly old. As if she carried the world on her shoulders.

As if something inside her was irreparably broken.

The last time he'd seen her, she had been a little spitfire, all nerve and defiance, confidence and youth. Now she just looked tired.

Scott twisted around to see what his father was staring at. "Who is that?" he demanded.

"A . . . a friend," Robert answered.

The boy twisted back. "A girlfriend or a Company friend?"

McCall scowled. "Neither. But a friend I need to speak with. Privately."

"Now?" Scott protested. "I'm right in the middle of dinner."

Lily had reached the three steps, and Robert rose, preparing to put his napkin down. "Scott, please . . . " The napkin swerved, of its own accord, to wipe a smear of sauce off the boy's cheek.

Scott reared back. "Come on, Dad, I can do that."

And then she was there. "Hello, Robert," she said simply.

"Hello, Lily," he breathed. She offered her hand and he took it, not with a shake but with a warm squeeze. He was shocked by how thin it was. She wore a light trench coat that covered most of her body, hid the worst, but the hands gave her away. He could trace every individual bone all the way back to her wrist.

But her eyes met his, and they were clear and calm. A good sign, Robert thought. A very good sign.

Scott was scrambling to his feet behind her, nearly upsetting his chair in the process. "Hi," he blurted, shoving his hand toward her. "I'm, uh, I'm Scott."

Lily released Robert's hand and took his son's. Don't squeeze, Robert urged mentally, don't hurt her. To his relief, the boy shook it very gently and let it go.

"Lily Romanov, my son Scott. Scott, Miss Romanov."

"Lily," she corrected gently. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry to interrupt."

"No, no," McCall assured her. "Scott was just leaving."

"He hasn't eaten yet," she observed.

"He's not hungry."

"You could join us," Scott said eagerly. Before she could demur, he grabbed a chair from the next table. Uneasily, she sat. "Are you hungry? Can we get you a drink?"

"No, I'm fine, I really just . . . "

And then, finally, Scott noticed the faded bruises. "What happened to your face?" he blurted.

"Scott!" McCall bellowed.

"It's okay," Lily purred. Her hand came across the table and rested on Robert's forearm. To Scott, she answered, "I got caught on the wrong side of a stupid little war."

"Are you okay?" he blundered on.

"I will be."

The boy grew suddenly solemn. He looked at his father, then back at Lily. "Look, whoever did this to you, whatever trouble you're in, my dad can help you. He's really good at it."

Robert devoutly wished he could crawl under the table and die. But Lily smiled gently at the boy. "I know." She took Scott's hand in her free hand. "I know. So can I borrow him for a little while?"

Scott nodded, suddenly breathless, entranced by her touch. "Sure." And then, quickly, "I'll go, I'll just go, uh, see Pete in the . . . "

"Stay," Lily urged. To Robert, "I was hoping we could go for a walk."

"Of course," McCall answered with great relief. He stood, drawing back her chair for her, and was relieved that his son had the manners to rise as well. "Scott, I am sorry. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Sure, no problem, Dad. It was nice to meet you, Miss - Lily."

She took his hand again and squeezed it. "You, too, Scott."

# # #

On the sidewalk, Robert took his companion's hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. As they walked, two men in suits began to follow them, clumsily, obviously. "They're from DC," Lily informed him, before he could ask. "My bodyguards, I guess."

"You need bodyguards?"

"To keep me from being snatched up by some Senate subcommittee."

"Ah." They strolled casually. The men fell back to about twenty paces. "We could lose them."

"No, it's all right," Lily soothed.

Robert didn't like it; it was his impulse to lose them just as a matter of principle. But it wasn't his call to make. "I'm sorry about Scott," he said, putting the tail out of his thoughts. "He can be very . . . "

"I like him," Lily supplied quickly. "He's - uncomplicated."

"Uncomplicated," Robert mused. "What a very diplomatic word. So much kinder than 'simple'."

"Give him a couple of years," Lily advised. "Let him outgrow the puppy phase. Two, three years, you'll be so proud of him you won't know what to do with yourself."

Robert smiled fondly. "I'm already proud of him."

"You should tell him."

"He knows."

"He needs to hear it."

Robert chuckled. "So. You've dragged me away from my dinner to tell me about my son, is that it?"

The young woman shook her head. "I'm sorry."

She fell silent then, and Robert waited, measuring the importance of this conversation in the number of strides they took before she spoke again. "How is he?" she finally asked.

"Who?" Robert teased. "Oh, Control. Well, he's the same as always, I suppose. Self-centered, self-righteous, you know him." More seriously, he added, "He's very worried about you."

Lily nodded. "I know he is."

"And he's frankly a little put out that you won't return his calls."

She nodded again and was silent. Twenty paces. Thirty. "Robert, I need a favor."

"Anything."

"You don't know what it is yet."

"It doesn't matter."

"It's a big one."

Robert chuckled. "You want me to break all his fingers so he can't dial the telephone to call you any more."

Lily actually laughed. "Well, there's an option I hadn't considered."

She seemed to relax a shade, which pleased McCall. "All right, then. Tell me what I can do to help you."

She sighed, tensing again. "I assume you know what happened in Nicaragua."

"Yes."

"You know I was raped."

Robert felt his chest go tight. "I heard. I'm very sorry, Lily, I can't . . . "

"Robert, I'm pregnant," she finished in a rush.

Quite involuntarily, he stopped in his tracks. The bands around his chest turned to ice. Ah, God. The woman turned to face him. Her eyes were uncertain, frightened - as if she expected him to push her away, to reject her. His mouth was too dry to speak, and in any case he had no words. He wrapped his arms around her and held her very close. "Oh, my girl, I am so sorry, my poor sweet girl . . . "

After a long interval, they broke. "Thank you," Lily said warmly.

Robert nodded. "That wasn't the favor, was it?"

"No. But it helps, a lot."

He reclaimed her hand, and they resumed their walk. "As it happens," McCall said gently, "I have just made an acquaintance who runs a clinic here in . . . "

"No."

" . . . or perhaps out of the country, Toronto or . . . "

"No, Robert. I'm keeping the child."

Robert stopped dead again. "You're not serious," he blurted. Damn. He immediately wished he hadn't said that. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's, I . . . "

"Take your time," Lily advised mildly.

They walked again in silence. Finally, McCall managed to say, "You are serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why, Lily? Why would you put yourself through this? No one would blame you if you . . . if you . . . "

"I know."

Twenty paces. Robert had to remind himself to breathe. It helped clear his head. She was so calm, so damn calm, and he felt like she'd dropped a bomb on him. Two of them, first the pregnancy, and then . . . He took another deep breath. "All right, then. You've decided to keep this child. And to raise it yourself?"

"Yes."

Another city block, while thoughts chased each other madly around Robert's mind. "I'm sorry," he finally stammered, aware of the silence. "I want to be supportive, I am supportive, absolutely, if this is your decision, I just . . . I just . . . "

"You can't get past the why," Lily provided evenly.

"I can't," McCall admitted. "And I know, I know it's none of my business, but I just . . . "

"Shhh," Lily soothed. "It's all right, Robert. I can't, and I won't, tell you the long answer to that question. But the short answer is, so as some good should come out of all this."

"I'm sorry, Lily, but I cannot see this as being good."

"I don't expect you to," she answered. "At least not right now."

They walked on, now in long silence. Robert's mind was in absolute turmoil. Issues that had been remote abstractions that very morning suddenly had a very real face. Lily Romanov was so sure of her choice - but how reliable was her judgement? After all she'd been through, how could she think straight? How could she be so calm? Or was it the calm of deep shock, of mild insanity?

How could she choose to let a rapist's child grow in her body? How could she hope to bear the long months of such a brutal pregnancy? How could she want to keep such a child, to look on it every single day and remember how it came into being?

How could she even begin to think that she could love this child?

It seemed impossible to Robert.

But there, perhaps, was the key. Lily Romanov loved the impossible. She lived for the challenge, delighted in doing what no one else would even attempt. And, as improbable as it seemed to Robert, perhaps she could do it again. Perhaps she could find a way to love this child. After all, she'd found a way to love Control . . .

"Oh dear Lord," Robert blurted, "Control doesn't know."

Lily nodded. "And now we come to the favor," she answered quietly.

"Oh dear Lord," Robert repeated.

"He's going to be angry."

McCall laughed bitterly. "You simply have the gift for understatement, don't you? First Scott is uncomplicated, and now Control is going to be angry. He's going to be bloody furious, that's what he's going to be!"

"I know."

"And you want me to be the one to tell him."

"Yes."

" . . . why?"

"Because he won't let himself be really angry if I'm there. He won't let himself be angry at me."

"Well, of course not, why should . . . " McCall stopped himself. She was right, of course. In the face of his wounded lover, Control would have to remain calm. Whereas with Robert, he could give full vent to his fury.

It was not something Robert looked forward to - but at least he could spare Lily this. "You're quite right," he admitted. "It's far better if I tell him. It's very . . . considerate . . . of you."

Lily sighed. "I don't know if it's consideration or cowardice. I just know I can't tell him myself."

"My dear girl, I don't think you have a cowardly bone in your body." He held her again, gently. "I will tell him."

"It has to be soon," Lily continued against his shoulder. "Tillman knows. He kept it out of the reports, but you know how the Company is, secrets don't last long. I don't want this coming to Control over the fence."

"No," Robert agreed, impressed at her perceptiveness even in these circumstances. "I'll tell him as soon as I can find him."

"Thank you."

McCall pulled back just enough to look at her. "What else can I do for you?"

Lily shook her head. "Nothing."

"You're sure?"

"Only this."

"All right. But I want you to know something." He looked at her very seriously. "Whatever Control says or does, whatever anyone else says or does, I will always, always be here for you - and for your child. I give you my solemn word on that."

She bit her lower lips, hard, trying unsuccessfully to blink back the tears that sprang to her eyes. The tears escaped, rolling down her cheeks, and Robert brushed them away with his fingertips. It amazed him all over again that such awesome strength of will could come packaged in such a fragile-seeming body. Small wonder Control had loved her - and loved her still.

"Thank you," Lily whispered.

Robert chuckled warmly. "Did you really think you were all alone in the world?"

She nodded solemnly. "I always have been before."