So, I just got off the phone with Mr. Drazen.
No changes in plan or payment, I just gave him some new (pointless) leads to follow up on.
I'm agitated now.
Neither Tony nor Jack has bothered to speak to me for the last hour or so. Not a casual 'hi' or anything.
If they knew that they were the only thing keeping me from becoming a terrorist, maybe they'd go out of their way to speak to me. Maybe not...
Well, I want attention, and I want it now. Jack left on some field mission, and Tony is speaking to Teri. This is so messed up.
I love it.
I need a plan now.
Teri is popular right about now. Why?
Bingo, she's pregnant.
That and her husband happens to be having an affair with me. But that's minor.
Pregnant, I could pull that off, easy.
I'm an evil genius, I should be a terrorist. (Ha!)
***
I sit at my desk, staring at the screen. I've closed and deleted Drazen's last message. He doesn't need to hear from me for awhile.
Now, my happy news needs to be broken. I think Tony should hear it first.
Because he's convenient, not married to Teri the Prisoner and… I happen to favor him right now.
I leave my desk and step through the Analysts' Bay to his.
"Tony? You got a minute?" I ask.
He looks up at me, a bit agitated.
"What?"
That wasn't a good enough segue for me. I'll wait a while.
"Nina, we're in the middle of a threat, if this isn't relevant, I don't want to hear it."
That's not any better.
He snatches a folder from his desk, flips it open and sits down to read.
Jack walks by, and I glare at him. This regains Tony's attention.
"Go…" he orders me, dropping the folder.
"I didn't want to tell you this… ever. But I think I should, it's driving me crazy."
"Yah?"
The word means everything in Tony's vocabulary.
"I think I'm… pregnant, Tony."
The last two words are barely audible.
"You what?"
I'm in no state to repeat it. I don't care if it's a lie, I don't want to say it again.
"I know you heard me."
His lips do that weird, twitching thing again, as he if he wants to smile. It deteriorates into a frown and even a scowl quite quickly.
"I don't know what to tell you." He runs one of his hands through his hair.
I tilt my head, intending to look confused. I think it fails.
"Don't mess with me, Nina. Are you sure?"
I don't have to be.
"Would I have come in here otherwise?" There, ha! A marvelous, indirect answer to the question.
His forehead hits the palm of his right hand. He looks at me for a minute, then back down at the paper, sighing.
"Get back to work." He says, "We'll deal with this later, okay?"
I don't know how this could be dealt with. Isn't that a nice way to phrase it?
No, no it isn't. Minus quite a few from Tony. What a wonderful parent he'd be.
Now, off to find Jack, who won't take it any better.
"Jack!" I call. He is halfway up the stairs to his office, and removing his bullet-proof vest for the first time today.
"What is it, Nina?"
I look over my shoulder. Yes, Tony is watching. They're both going to hate me now.
"Jack I…"
I can't do this.
His cell phone rings, so I don't have to.
"Bauer." He says to the phone. A minute later there is a, "Damn it!" a "when?" and an "I'm on my way now."
"What is it?"
"There's a situation." He says, typically, "Teri again."
He runs past me, without another word. The vest is pulled on again.