Author's Note:
I'm back from the wedding, sleep deprived but exhilarated by the perfection of the couples' wedding day.
So, I already hinted at a second part to the flashback of chapter ten. This is it. If you look close enough, it answers the questions raised at the end of the last chapter. Needless to say, I had just as much fun writing this part as chapter ten. Writing dialogue between Eric and Hetty comes easy to me and once I started it the thing basically wrote itself.
June 20, 2008
Six weeks after her first acquaintance with the young graduate from CalTech Henrietta Lange found herself about a hundred yards away from the small crowd gathered around the grave of Bettina Beale, watching over the funeral ceremony. She was saddened by the fact that there was little to no family amongst the group aside from Eric and a younger woman that looked to be barely out of high school and who she assumed was his sister Emma.
A stout woman with greyish brown hair was hovering close to the siblings and Hetty was happy to see the intimacy they shared. Lange noticed that the grey had taken over the light brown strands a lot more since she had last met Katherine, but that was to be expected after nine years without meeting in person.
Other than the Beale siblings and their basically surrogate mother only orderlies and nurses from St James were present among the funeral attendees. Henrietta wondered how the children would fare in the months to come. It would be a hard time for them, especially with no-one to turn to.
Hetty stayed in the shadows at a safe distance but decided against joining the group. She had her answer for now and she respected it greatly. Hetty turned around and left the cemetery, leaving the family to their grief.
If she was honest with herself, Lange hadn't expected the call that came to her desk exactly two weeks later, but she also wasn't too surprised about it either.
"Lange."
"Ms. Lange? This is Eric Beale." The voice on the other end of the line sounded neutral, businesslike and there was no trace whatsoever that the caller was grieving the loss of a parent. It sounded like he had shut down any emotion and Hetty felt concerned immediately.
She wanted to ask him how he was doing, but knew it wouldn't be appreciated. She detected that he wasn't doing well from his voice, anyway. Instead she focused on his slip of tongue. "And here I thought I told you to call me Hetty," she reprimanded him gently.
There was a moment of silence, but Eric didn't correct his earlier mistake and just continued with the reason for his call. "I've been thinking about your job offer and I'm very sorry, but I can't take you up on it." Still the impersonal, detached tone, Hetty noticed. It was as if he simply didn't care anymore.
Hetty nodded sadly, even though her dialogue partner couldn't see. "I understand. In fact, I'm not surprised, Mister Beale. Given the circumstances I cannot blame you for the decision. You have my most sincere condolences."
She heard the shaky intake of air on the other end of the line. It was the first sign of emotion coming through. The only two words said sounded forced and Hetty assumed the younger man had to use all his willpower not to break down right now. "Thank you." Then there was silence again.
"A word to the wise: Give yourself time to grief your loss. Go somewhere nice and quiet. Take your sister with you. The two of you deserve a long overdue vacation. There is plenty of time for you to consider your future once you return."
The silence from his end went on a little longer, but then the young man obviously remembered that he was still on the phone and broke it with a shaky sigh, followed by another curt answer void of any emotion. "I'll consider it. Thank you again, Ms. Lange."
Hetty ignored his misuse of her name this time, knowing fully well that it wouldn't register. She mused it was his way of telling himself that they wouldn't meet again anyway. She herself wasn't so sure of that, but he obviously thought so right now. "Goodbye, Mister Beale."
The phone clicked and Hetty set the receiver down on its station. She sighed. The coldness in the young mans' voice bothered her deeply and she honestly hoped that the passing of his mother wasn't going to slowly eat away at him. It would be a shame to see such a intelligent mind wasted due to grief, but Hetty was well aware it also wouldn't be the first time in history that brilliance would fall victim to some very unfortunate events.
A feeling in her gut told her, though, that this phone conversation wouldn't be the last she held with the recent college graduate. However, she would make sure that he found a way to cope with everything transpiring around him. And if he slipped she would be there to help him get back to his feet, no matter what it took. She wouldn't leave him to fend for himself any longer.
September 19, 2008
Hetty proved to be right in her assessment. He called her early that morning and asked for a meeting somewhere private and around noon the petite woman found herself sitting down on the bench overlooking the small pond on the hidden corner of the park of St James Home for the Elderly. The rhododendron bushes weren't blooming anymore but still gave enough cover from any prying eyes.
"This place is beautiful, don't you think?"
She smiled at the all too familiar phrase from a conversation four months ago. "Yes. It most assuredly is."
Lange turned her head to inspect the man to whom the tenor timbre belonged to. The blonde standing beside her was facing the pond and a small content smile graced his lips. The hair was cropped shorter than the last time she'd seen him, but still long enough that they curled on the top of his head. His complexion was tanner indicating that he had spent quite some time in the sun, probably at the beach. He had also gained a few pounds and filled his clothes out a little more. If muscles or fat Hetty wasn't sure. She assumed it was a little bit of both. All in all the kid looked much healthier than when she had first met him.
On top of that he looked well-rested and relaxed. A lot of the weight that was sitting on his shoulder four months ago had lifted off of them. Hetty nodded approvingly, satisfied with what she saw.
Eric turned around and gave her a genuine smile. "May I?" he asked tentatively with a leisurely gesture towards the bench.
"I insist." He took the offered seat. "How are you, Mister Beale?"
The younger man glanced at her briefly and averted his eyes again until they came to a rest on the pond. "Good. I'm good." There was a small hesitation after that, but he continued soon enough. "I've been struggling after the funeral. Didn't really know where to go from there."
Hetty nodded, understanding perfectly what he meant. "I can imagine." He'd been taking care of his mother for the better part of his adolescence leaving little to no time at all for him to follow up on his own hobbies and interests. After his mother's death he must have felt overwhelmed with all the free time on his hand and it was hard to fill that gap when you probably didn't even know what you liked and enjoyed.
"I've followed up on your advice. I went to Vegas first since I didn't have any money saved up for a vacation. I'm good at card games so I decided to put that to use. I played Black Jack for days on end and made a lot of money from it, until they found out that I had the ability to count cards. They banned me immediately. Let me keep the money, though, which was a huge surprise to me. But you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, do you?" He gave her a lopsided grin and laughed nervously.
She smirked at him in return. "No, you don't," Hetty agreed. She decided there was no use in telling him that she had followed his every movement ever since the funeral. Therefore she had known when he was in trouble in Las Vegas and took it upon herself to call in some favors with friends in high places. She had found out through her sources that Eric would've ended up broke had the city gone through with their charges against him and she couldn't let that happen. He had been through enough as it was.
Oblivious to Hettys thoughts Eric continued. "I spent the money on a trip to New York. My sister loves Musical ever since she was a little girl and I wanted to take her to Broadway. It was a dream come true for her. I've never seen her smile and laugh this much since before our mother got sick."
"Sounds like you made her a very happy girl," Hetty concluded and Eric nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Seeing Emma this happy made me feel a lot better as well," he admitted. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "She was basically robbed of her childhood. She must've felt left out a lot these past years, because I could only dedicate so much time to her with taking care of our mother as well. I felt like I had to make it up to her and I think I did to some degree. I know it's too late to bring back her childhood but it was the least I could do."
"She's not the only one defrauded of her childhood," Hetty reminded him and he blushed a little at the remark.
"I know, but I was more aware of what was going on than her. I could at least make sense of it to some degree and I knew what I was getting myself into," he reasoned. It was evident to Hetty that he was only trying to convince himself.
"Did you?" she inquired.
Eric gulped and lowered his head and scratched his scalp with one hand. "I have no regrets in taking care of my mother, if that's what you're asking," he answered with a quiet but steady voice.
"I have no doubts about that, but it doesn't change the fact that you were robbed of the most precious years of your life." Eric had no reply to that, so Hetty changed the topic. "What did you do when you came back to Los Angeles?"
Erics eyes lit up at the question and the smile spreading on his lips was truly genuine. "I finally taught myself how to surf. I'm not usually into sports but I have gotten pretty good catching the waves. I never thought I could enjoy physical workout this much."
"I'm pretty sure that you enjoy the attention from the ladies as well?" Hetty winked at him and pursed her lips in a smirk.
Eric blushed. "Kinda," he admitted. Hetty nodded in acknowledgement, happy to hear that he had indulged in those finer pleasures as well.
Sensing his discomfort at this sensitive subject she once again steered the conversation in yet another direction. "Anyways, I assume you didn't call me to this meeting to tell me all about your hiatus, Mister Beale."
"Not exactly, no." He took his time gathering his thoughts. "I've been thinking about your job offer recently," he started after a while and pulled at a loose thread on the hem of his shirt. "As you predicted there have been some enquiries from other agencies. They took their time explaining to me why they considered offering me a job and made it pretty clear that this was basically a one in a million chance for me. They also threatened that if I didn't take them up on it I would most likely end up behind bars sooner rather than later." Eric winced at the prospect of that. "I was ready to cave in. But then they handed me the job description." His voiced turned sour and it was obvious to Hetty that something had displeased the younger man when being shown what he was signing up for.
When he didn't elaborate Hetty asked, "What exactly did they offer you?"
Eric laughed bitterly. "They were pretty adamant at making me an agent. They wanted me to go to FLETC before formally applying to the job. They said they wanted to keep all options open to send me out into the field as well."
"By your reaction I assume that is not something you are fond of?" Hetty inquired carefully.
Eric shook his head. "I'm sure some basic training wouldn't hurt anyone working for an agency. But like I said I'm not exactly a physical guy. I don't feel comfortable with violence and especially not with carrying a weapon. I'm just not cut out for playing cops and robbers." Hetty nodded sympathetically. The younger man turned to her and when he spoke again there was a firmness and finality to his voice that Hetty hadn't heard of him so "So, tell me Hetty. What did you have in mind when you were asking me to join NCIS? Do you want me out in the field as well? Because if you do I don't think I'm going to be working for you."
Lange regarded him for a while and nodded slowly. "I understand."
"You understand what exactly?" The younger man frowned
"I understand that you don't want to be an agent, Mister Beale. And I can assure you that this is not what I have in mind for you at all," Hetty reassured him in a calm manner. "The position that I have in mind for you is that of a Technical Operator and Analyst. You will be working from the office first and foremost and not out in the field. You would be serving as support for our field agents by conducting the necessary background intel and monitoring their every move when they are out on a mission. I have absolutely no intention of sending you out into the field, Mister Beale, much less let you carry a weapon."
Eric let out a sigh in relief and allowed himself a small smile. "So no special training then?" he probed, just to be on the safe side.
"No field training that is," Hetty corrected him. The tension visibly left Eric upon hearing this. "Frankly there are some FLETC courses that are a requirement for your specific position as well. With your academic training though most of the programs would be a piece of cake for you."
Erics' lips curled into a lopsided grin. "I think I can handle that." Then he twisted his brows into a small frown again. "The only question now would be, is your offer still standing?" The dreadful expression on his face made Hetty want to talk some sense into the man.
She opted on acting mildly offended by his doubts. "Of course it is, Mister Beale! I told you a few months back that I would give you time to consider." Eric smiled sheepishly. "All I'm waiting for is your decision. What is it going to be?"
"I guess I'm in?" Eric replied, uncertainty still lacing his voice.
"Is that a question or a statement, Mister Beale?" Hetty asked him bluntly and raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"A statement," he answered, this time he sounded confident.
Hetty gave him a warm genuine smile. "Good." She produced a file seemingly out of nowhere and handed it to him. Eric wondered where she had kept it the whole time as the only other thing she carried with her was a small purse. He took it anyways and opened the manila folder. The first sheets were filled with basic information on him, followed by an employment contract in duplicate. Slightly shocked by the fact that the older woman had prepared all this without knowing if he ever came to work with her he looked up and gaped at her.
"You knew I would take you up on the offer?" he asked, completely taken aback. "How…?"
Hetty pursed her lips cryptically. "Let's just say I like to be prepared for every possibility." She handed him a pen. "You just need to sign it."
Eric took the pen but hesitated. "You are an enigma, Hetty."
"Thank you, Mister Beale." He chuckled and then put the pen to paper to affix his signature. "There is a full list of programs currently offered at FLETC for your profession in there as well. I marked the ones essential for your job but there are some optional courses as well. I suggest you take your time and familiarize yourself with their contents. Let me know about your choice by the end of next week so I can enroll you in time for the next classes."
The young man was a little freaked out by the offering and couldn't help grinned broadly like a joker. It was an honest smile though, one of a kind Hetty hadn't seen on his face before. She was pleased to see him this excited and knew she had made the right choice in keeping the position open for him.
"When do I start?" Eric blurted out excitedly once he signed the contract.
"Of course, I almost forgot to tell you. Your first workday will be on Wednesday, October 1st. You will start at 8:30 a.m." Hetty announced and he nodded eagerly. "I suggest you be on time. We take punctuality very seriously."
"I'll be there," he assured her confidently. He was an early riser and he already knew that if he wasn't out surfing in the mornings he would be at work way earlier than 8:30.
"Good. I'll be expecting your call regarding the FLETC courses next Friday. Take care until then." Hetty got up and held a hand out to the younger man. Eric shook it without hesitation.
"I will," he nodded eagerly.
With that Hetty left their sanctuary and turned her back on him. Eric watched her, an excited grin still plastered on his face. He couldn't remember when he'd been this excited the last time. Probably never, he mused, but he wouldn't let that get to him right now. After all, he had something to look forward to now.
Thanks for reading the chapter. Please leave a review if you want to make me happy.
- S.