Chapter Six : Spotlight in the Darkness
Gabrielle woke up to her phone ringing. Seeing it was Sarah she answered it.
"Good morning." Gabrielle answered groggily
"Morning sleepy head" Sarah chuckled
"Are you okay?" Gabrielle asked.
"Yes I'm fine, don't worry. However I have a dozen pastries and your favorite coffee. I was hoping you'd be up for hanging out."
"I'd be okay with that. I certainly won't turn down lavender coffee." Gabrielle answered sitting up.
"Fantastic! Come open the door, these are kind of heavy." Sarah said laughing a little.
"Oh wow, okay." Gabrielle got out of bed, "Gimme half a second. I'm coming now."
Gabrielle grabbed the hair tie off her night stand after hanging up the phone. She walked swiftly through the house. Putting her cell on the coffee table she went and opened the door. Sarah walked in with the box of pastries and three coffee's on top.
"Three coffees?" Gabrielle asked as Sarah set down breakfast.
"I got you two. Figured its the least I could do for showing up mostly unannounced." Sarah answered.
"Oh well thank you." Gabrielle said putting her hair up into a messy bun.
She took one of the coffees and put it in the fridge. It would be nice to have tomorrow. She then grabbed a couple plates for the pastries. By this point Sarah had taken off her shoes and was sitting crosslegged on the couch. Gabrielle handed Sarah a plate as she also sat down on the couch.
"So what may I ask inspired this breakfast date?" Gabrielle asked chuckling
"Its been a month since you told me you had been shot. We haven't had any time to sit and talk."
"Ahh, I see." Gabrielle nodded as she picked out a lemon pastry, "That's definitely something we won't be talking about at work."
"Exactly," Sarah agreed, "Are you willing to talk about it now?"
"It's a big thing Sarah. Are you sure you want this information in your head? Because it's not going to go away after I tell you, and I'm trusting you with something huge that happened in my life." Gabrielle asked as she put Xena: Warrior Princess on as background noise.
Sarah sighed as she thought for a moment, "You're really serious about this. When you say huge..."
"It made the news Sarah, so yes, HUGE." Gabrielle answered back.
"Oh god, okay." Sarah took another big breath, "I'm ready. I want to know more about you, my friend."
Gabrielle finished her pastry, took a gulp of her coffee then asked, "Do you remember about five years ago when a high school made international news? A student was injured in an FBI raid in France?"
"Yes I do." Sarah answered, "My parents gave me so many talks on stranger danger that year. I thought I was going to fight to be able to go to college after that."
Gabrielle hesitated for a moment, "That was my school trip."
"Holy shitballs!" Sarah gasped and was silent for a moment before she continued, "Wait... holy fuck... WERE YOU THE ONE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RAID?!"
Gabrielle laughed somewhat darkly, "That's not even the half of it, but yes. That's how I got shot."
"Holy fuck, you poor thing!" Sarah said instantly.
She then grabbed Gabrielle's plate, put both of them on the coffee table and wrapped Gabrielle in such a hug she almost started crying. They sat there silently for a good solid minute just hugging. Then Sarah pulled away and held Gabrielle by the shoulders. Gabrielle saw the math click and finally make sense in Sarah's mind.
"You were the one who spent time with Doctor Lecter." She said quietly.
"Yes I was." Gabrielle asked, "Does that scare you?"
"Not in the slightest." Sarah answered, "Scared for you, but you sit in front of me seemingly okay. So I can roll with this. I have questions though, if that's okay?"
Gabrielle laughed and nodded. They continued to talk, snack on the pastries and drink their coffee for the next couple hours. There were questions about the doctor that Gabrielle refused to answer on the basis that they intruded on his privacy and it wasn't her place to talk about them. Sarah seemed to accept this and didn't push. She was far more understanding than Gabrielle had been prepared for. Not once did she feel the defend herself or her actions. They eventually moved off that topic and onto other things like work and their social lives. Before they knew it, it was lunch time.
They decided to go out for lunch. Gabrielle insisted on them taking their own cars. She still had a very distinct need to be in control of her own transportation. It also meant they could go their own ways after and she'd have time to herself again. Lunch conversation switched to work. The brainstormed a bit. Gabrielle was thankful she carried a work notebook in her purse. As they were talking Gabrielle felt like she was being watched. She hated that feeling. She knew it was probably the detail that was still following her, but when Sarah went to the bathroom she took stock of the dining room just in case. She found him. It wasn't even all that hard. She was feeling bold and walked up to the man.
"Excuse me." She started, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've been watching me. I'd like to know why."
"Agent Mathews, Ms. Helfire." He answered calmly, "Just here to observe and protect."
"You still think He's going to show up after all this time?" She asked.
"Myself, personally, no. However, until you turn twenty-one you are considered a ward of the FBI, and will be protected." He answered.
"Thank you for your honesty Agent Mathews." Gabrielle nodded, "Have a good day."
"You as well miss." Agent Mathews answered as his phone went off.
Gabrielle walked back to her table. Sarah was giving her a weird look. Gabrielle filled her in real quick and was glad Sarah didn't ask anymore questions on the subject. When they were finished they noticed it had started raining. They said their goodbyes and Sarah left. Gabrielle went to get stir-fry for dinner so she wouldn't have to cook. Yes she considered it cheating, however, she made sure it was still a well balanced meal so she wasn't neglecting herself. That and she still had six pastries at home to eat. As she made her way home she let herself think back on her time with Doctor Lecter. There were quite a few things she hadn't really done since her time with him. Meditation was one of them. She decided to make a short stop at the candle store. After purchasing a select amount of candles and incense she finally made it back home.
After bringing everything inside, Gabrielle reorganized her living room. She put the plates in the sink, the pastries on the dining room table, and her stir-fry on the end of the coffee table. She set her blankets and pillows up on the couch. she then set out three of the new candles she bought and put the rest away. She managed to find her incense burner easily and set that up on the coffee table as well. She lit said candles and incense and took a deep breath.
"Here goes noth'n." She whispered, "Let's see how this goes."
Gabrielle crossed her legs on the couch and closed her eyes. She focused on evening out her breathing and then decided to let her mind wander. She thought about how she managed to open up to Sarah a little bit. She was proud of herself for not just babbling about everything that happened. Most of the details she had kept to herself because the general information was a lot for anyone to hear. She acknowledged the fact that she was scared Sarah would flip like Rebecca did and turn mean. She also acknowledged that she wouldn't know until it happened and that there was a very good chance that Sarah would become an even closer friend. She then put it out of her mind and let herself do something she hadn't done in a while... She let herself miss Doctor Lecter...
She genuinely missed him. He had taught her a lot and helped her heal quite a bit. Her hand went to her hip as she remembered telling him about her father shooting her in a drunken stupor. To this day, her own mother had no idea. Against others judgement she still had the letter he had sent with her things. The letter where the Doctor offered to get rid of her father. She had to admit to herself that there were times that she seriously contemplated letting him make good on that offer. However she still hadn't fully gotten over the stable hand and always talked herself down from that ledge. Missing him was starting to make her emotional, so she focused on calming down and then ended her meditation. It was a good first time after so many years of not doing so.
Gabrielle decided to play some videogames before dinner. Two hours and a glass of wine later, she was feeling better. Dinner was eaten while playing and before she knew it, it was almost midnight. She put on her sleep music and crawled into bed. Her thoughts were filled with dancing with Doctor Lecter as she fell asleep.