A Window to the Past – Chapter 4

Brandon runs back to the office after being at the National Archives for a few hours. He walks quickly into George's cube to see him staring at the computer screen.

'George,' he says firmly.

'Ah, Brandon, I'm glad you're back. Come with me,' he says and leads Brandon to an empty office.

He closes the door and looks at him. 'What did you find?'

'Who is Jill Fisher?' he asks George.

'I'll tell you in a second, what did the case files say?'

'Well, she seems to defend a lot of politicians, families of politicians, a lot of civil servants in this area,' Brandon tells him.

'Yeah, was one of those cases for someone named Ron Jones?'

'Um,' Brandon says, flipping through his notes, 'yeah, Ron Jones, seventeen year old busted for possession with intent to distribute. She got him off with community service and no jail time, even though it was his fourth drug offense,' Brandon tells him.

'I knew it!' George says, putting his hand up to his chin.

'Listen, Ron Jones is the son of one of the appointed deputy mayors of this city,' George tells him.

'Yeah, okay, what does that have to do with Jill Fisher?'

'There's a money trail that stops dead somewhere in the mayor's budget and I think it's going to this woman for getting people off,' George says.

'I was hoping that the dates of the court cases would match up with some of the records I found. Can you write up what you found with the dates of everything by the end of the week?' he asks Brandon.

'Uh, sure, no problem,' Brandon says with a little confusion. 'George, are we going after the mayor or something?'

'Not yet,' George says, winks at him, and leaves the office.

London

Dylan wakes up to the sound of a loud crash and several bangs. He jumps out of bed and opens the door. He sees that Brenda's door is open slightly and hears some rustling going on behind it.

He runs into her room to check on her and flips the light switch on. He gasps out loud when he sees Brenda's body bending over, holding a baseball bat, threatening a prone body on the floor.

He moves a little closer and sees a terrified Beau on the floor, too scared to move.

'What the hell were you trying to do?' Brenda yells at him, not even noticing Dylan behind her.

Beau is too afraid to answer her and cowers a little further into the floor.

'There is something really wrong with you. Why did you break into my house? And what made you think you were going to get away with it? I should beat the ever living shit out of you right now with this bat!' she yells.

'Brenda, I'm sorry, I just,' Beau stammers.

'Spit it out, now!' she yells louder.

'I can't stop thinking about you. I'm obsessed. I needed to see you so bad that I couldn't help myself. I stood outside watching everyone coming and going out of here tonight and,' he starts to say.

'You have got to be kidding me,' she says with such ire that he shivers on the floor a little bit.

Dylan takes a few steps and grabs Brenda's phone. He dials the police while she keeps him pinned to the ground.

'So, you're back, huh?' Beau says to Dylan when he gets off of the phone.

'One more word out of you and I will break your leg, do you hear me?' Brenda says.

Ten minutes later, Brenda and Dylan hear the sirens and a knock on the door. Dylan moves quickly to let them in and leads them to the bedroom. The police surround Beau and Brenda takes a step back and puts the bat down.

She turns around to see Dylan behind her and leans into his body as the police put Beau in handcuffs.

Dylan wraps his arms around her waist and she grabs his hand and holds it tight.

They lead Beau out of her apartment and start to question Brenda as to what happened.

'Well, I was sleeping and I heard my bedroom door open. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I sat up to turn the light on and he put his hand over my mouth. I bit his hand, pushed him against the door and picked up the bat that I keep under the bed. I swung it at him and he bumped into my dresser and then fell on the floor,' she says.

'Do you know this man, miss? There was no sign of a forced entry.'

'Yes, he was a friend of mine until,' she says and takes a pause.

'Until?' the police man asks.

Brenda sighs and tells him the story of meeting Beau in the park and that the FBI thought someone was following her. She had to go through the explanation of how the FBI got involved in the first place and she recounted the last time she saw actually him.

'He was at the theatre?' Dylan asks her.

'Yeah, he said that he couldn't come to the show, but he showed up after it was over. I didn't really pay that much attention to it, because at that time the FBI agent had already found us and Iris was really ill in the bathroom,' Brenda says.

'He called me a few days ago, wanted to get together, but I had just come back from a theatre tour, so I told him that we could get together another time. That's the last time I heard from him,' she tells the police.

'Did he have a key to your apartment?' the policeman asks her.

'I didn't give him one,' she says.

'Thank you, ma'am, we'll let you know if we need more information. Have a good night,' he says.

Brenda sits on her bed and puts her head in her hands. Dylan moves to sit next to her and puts his arm around her shoulder.

'I cannot believe that just happened,' she says softly.

'I know,' he says, rubbing her arm with his hand.

'I guess you were right about him,' she says looking up to meet his eyes.

'I didn't want to be right about him, Bren. I just want you to be safe,' he says. He picks up the bat from where she left it leaning against the bed.

'Looks like you didn't need any help taking care of yourself, huh?' he says with a smile.

Brenda smiles back and then begins to laugh.

Washington, D.C.

Brandon sits at his desk in his apartment writing up his notes and evaluations from the files he looked through the day before.

His phone rings and he quickly tries to finish his thought before answering it.

'Brandon, what are you doing?' Amy asks him.

'Writing some things up for George,' he tells her.

'At home? Why are you working at home?' she says.

'I just can't leave this unfinished. It bothers me that I couldn't finish it there,' Brandon tells her, as he starts to read over in his head what he's written so far.

'I wanted to hang out tonight, are you going to be done soon?' she asks him with a little whine in her voice.

'I don't know how long it's going to take. We can get together tomorrow, okay?' he asks her, completely preoccupied with his paper.

'Yeah, okay, I miss you,' she says.

'I miss you too. We'll plan something nice, okay?' he says.

'Okay, don't work too hard,' she says and hangs up the phone.

Brandon puts the phone down and starts typing away again. After about an hour, he gets up from his desk to stretch his legs. He starts to sift through some papers on the kitchen table and recognizes Brenda's handwriting on one of the envelopes.

He smiles down at the letter and opens it.

'Dear Brandon, I was sitting in a pub here in Scotland after a show trying to wind down with the rest of the cast and I started thinking about you. I hope you got to D.C. in one piece and that you are enjoying your new job. You'll have to tell me all about it when I get back to civilization where there are computers and phones with working batteries. I was really worried about you and one of the guys in my cast asked what I was so worried about. I'm not really worried that you'll get yourself in trouble or anything. I guess I really just miss you a lot and I hope that one day we can be as close as we were when we were kids. Love, Brenda'

Brandon smiles from ear to ear after reading Brenda's words. He goes to his computer and opens a new email. He tells her that he received her letter and that he would love nothing more than to be as close as they were back then.

'We'll get there, Bren, I promise, we'll get there,' he writes and hits send.

London

Brenda and Dylan sit on the couch together, drinking some tea, trying to calm themselves from what had just happened so that they could get back to sleep.

'I wonder what he was planning to do once he got in here,' Brenda says.

'I really don't want to think about that, Bren,' Dylan says, grabbing her hand and softly squeezing it.

'Maybe you were right, Dylan, maybe it's not safe for me here,' Brenda says with a sigh.

'I didn't mean it like that, Bren, I just hate the thought of you being here by yourself. If something were to happen to you,' Dylan's voice trails off and he feels her tighten the grip on his hand.

'Maybe now she'll come home with me so that we can start out new life together.'

'Dylan, don't say that,' she says. 'We'll figure it out in the morning, okay?'

Dylan nods and watches her get up off of the couch.

Brenda says goodnight to him and goes back to her room. She lies in her bed and stares at the ceiling trying to figure out what her next move would be. Dylan was right about one thing; she couldn't stay in London anymore. Too many people knew she was here and if there was really someone still after her, she was a sitting duck in this apartment.

She makes her decision and drifts off peacefully to sleep.

Dylan lies down on the couch and pulls a blanket over himself. He wanted to be closer to the door just in case something else happened tonight. He tosses and turns trying to fall back to sleep, but the turmoil inside his body keeps him awake.

He was certain that he wanted Brenda in his life, but the uneasiness in his stomach was something he just couldn't ignore.

Washington, D.C.

Brandon finishes getting dressed and goes to answer the door after hearing a knock.

'Hey,' Amy says with a smile and kisses him.

'Hey, are you ready to have some fun tonight?' he asks her.

'Absolutely,' she says.

'Look, I'm sorry about last night. I just had to finish something for George,' he says.

'Brandon,' she says putting her arms around him, 'don't worry about it. We don't have to spend every night together. I know you want to impress him and do well at this job. You take whatever time you need, I'll still be here,' she says.

'You are an incredible woman,' he says and starts to kiss her.

They get caught up in each other for a few minutes until Brandon breaks their embrace.

'Whoa, wait a minute,' he says, 'save that for later. We're going to be late,' he says with a smile.

'Ooh, I can't wait. I'm so excited,' she says, as they leave his apartment.

Brandon takes Amy to the Kennedy Center for a Chamber Orchestra concert.

'Oh my God, this is fantastic,' she says, beaming when he shows her the tickets he purchased.

'I thought you'd enjoy it. This is supposed to be one of the best concerts of the year,' he tells her.

'That's what I heard,' she says with a smile. She leans up and kisses him.

London

Dylan wakes up the next morning and feels a kink in his back from sleeping on the couch.

'Oh,' he says out loud as he tries to sit up.

Brenda looks over at him from the table as he starts to move and sees him wince.

'Are you okay?' she asks him.

He turns his head slowly and nods. 'Yeah, just slept funny.'

'Well, that's what you get for choosing the couch over a nice bed,' she says.

She continues to type something on the computer and picks up the phone when it rings.

'Yes, hi, did you get my message?' she asks.

Brenda smiles into the phone and stands up as she listens to the person talk on the other end.

'Oh, that's great, that's exactly what I was looking for,' she says, picking up her coffee cup and walking into the kitchen to pour herself another cup.

'Really?' Brenda says with a little shock in her voice. 'Well, I've never heard of that before.'

Dylan watches her walk back to the table and sit down with her coffee. He tries to figure out who she could be talking to and what she's talking about. He gets up and goes to the pot to get a cup of coffee for himself.

'Yeah, let me think about that one, but keep looking, okay?' she says and hangs up the phone.

Dylan joins her at the table and sips his coffee.

'What was that all about?' he asks her.

'My agent is searching for jobs for me,' she says. 'He found a few around here and another one in Paris.'

'Paris?'

'Yeah, it's a long running show, actually something I've never heard of before, but it runs for six months and the pay is incredible,' she says.

Dylan was hoping that she was going to say that her agent found her a job in California. He thinks for a few seconds and then looks up at her suddenly.

'Bren, do you think Paris is far enough away from here and whatever might still be going on?' he asks her.

Brenda meets his eyes and sees that he isn't convinced that it is.

'I don't know, Dylan, it's a job and I need to work,' she says. 'I'm not about to jump on the first thing that comes my way, but I'd feel a lot better being there than here.'

He sips his coffee and casts a sideways glance her way as she continues to search on her computer for another job.

'Have you scheduled your flight?' Brenda asks him, wondering if Dylan was still planning on leaving.

'No, not yet. I was going to do that today,' he tells her.

'Um, Dylan,' she says softly.

'Yeah, Bren?' he answers.

'Would you stay here with me until the police tell me what's going on with Beau? They said that they should have more information in a few days and I'd feel more comfortable if you were still here,' she tells him.

Dylan smiles at her and feels for the first time since he showed up that she maybe did need him a little bit.

'Of course I will,' he says and watches her smile brightly at him.

Washington, D.C.

Brandon sleeps soundly after returning from the Kennedy Center and making love to Amy. She lies next to him watching him breathe and smiles to herself. She lets out a sigh and closes her eyes when she hears her phone buzzing on the nightstand.

She recognizes the number and slowly moves out of the bed trying not to wake Brandon. She leaves the bedroom and walks out in to the living room to answer the phone.

'What is it?' she says insistently.

'There's been a slight change in plans, Nina,' a voice says.

'What happened now?'

'Beau got himself arrested,' the voice tells her.

'Are you kidding me? Can't that boy do anything right? Damn it! What happened?' she asks.

'I don't really know, but he got in, he must have hesitated or something because she got the upper hand, threatened him with a bat, and then had someone call the police,' the voice says.

'Someone else called the police? Who the hell was there?'

'You're never going to believe it, but it was Dylan. I don't know what's going on, but she was supposed to be alone.'

'Dylan was at her apartment? Did we miss something? How the hell did that man leave Hawaii and show up in London and we didn't know about it?'

'Someone wasn't doing their job, that's how. What are we going to do now?'

'I'll figure something out,' she says.

'What about your end?'

'My end is going swimmingly well. He's like butter in my hands,' she says glancing back toward the bedroom where Brandon was sleeping.

'Look, let me think about how we can modify this plan to still reach the goal, okay? I'll call you back later,' she says and hangs up her phone.

She paces around Brandon's living room trying to figure out what to do next. She hears him turn over in the bedroom and quickly moves back to get into bed.

The Beach Apartment

'Donna, I have a great idea,' Kelly says with a smile on her face as she comes through the apartment door.

'Wow, Kelly, is that actually a happy face and a smile?' Donna says rubbing her eyes dramatically and staring at Kelly's face.

'Yes, I've figured it out,' she says beaming.

'Figured what out?'

'The whole Brandon thing,' Kelly says, putting her bag down on the floor.

Donna rolls her eyes and sighs.

'We're going to visit him during Spring Break,' she says.

'We?'

'Yes, we, it would be strange if I went by myself,' she says. 'You, me, and Steve are going to take a road trip and end up in D.C. to spend time with Brandon.'

'Kelly, come on, don't you think you should just call him and find out how he's doing and even if he wants to see us before we just drop ourselves on his doorstep?' Donna says.

'No way, if I do that then he can change his mind or something. This is the perfect plan. We'll surprise him and then I can see his face when I tell him how I've been feeling,' she says.

Donna thinks back to what Steve told her in the Peach Pit and winces a little bit.

'I don't know if that's such a good plan, Kel,' she says.

'Come on, Donna, do this for me, would you? I don't want to do this over the phone. This is a perfect opportunity and I'm going to take it. I'm sure if you don't want to go that Steve would go with me,' she says, storming off into her bedroom.

Donna sighs again as she stares at Kelly's closed bedroom door and sighs.