Blair watched as Jim systematically moved about the loft, picking up that which the Secret Service had tossed. He was helping out, rearranging the furniture, and wondering how he was going to ask the question that was burning in his mind.

"Jim?"

"What?"

"I want to ask you something, about what Alicia said…"

Jim’s head snapped up from behind the kitchen island where he’d been trying to get the cabinets back into some semblance of order. "What, Chief?"

Blair bit his lip, then decided to go for broke. "She mentioned Somalia? What did she mean?"

Shoulders slumped, he walked around to the front of the couch and sat down. Scrubbing his face, he muttered. "I wish I could say that I didn’t know. That I’d never been there. God, what a mess!"

"Jim?" Blair walked up behind his friend, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Man, if you can’t tell me, don’t."

Leaning back, Jim reached up and patted Blair’s hand. "No, I can tell you. It’s just not very easy for me. She was right, I’m damn lucky to be out of the ‘game’." Shifting on the couch, he looked up at the concerned face of his partner. "You might as well sit down, Chief. This is going to be a long story."

Blair came around the couch, sat down next to his friend, and waited. Pretty soon, he was rewarded with Jim giving up a story from his past, his past with the Army and Covert Operations.

"I was sent into Somalia on a mission right before I went to Peru. I didn’t like the mission objectives, but I was the type of soldier that didn’t ask questions, until after the job was done. I wish I never had thought to ask, that I’d allowed myself to remain in the dark." Seeing that Blair was fully interested, Jim knew that he couldn’t back down now. He’d have to tell the truth. "I was sent in to kill a man."

"Why? What was he?"

"A simple merchant, or so I thought. I found out later that he was a middle man for a spy network that was peddling defense strategies of NATO’s on the black market."

"A spy?"

"A family man. Trying to make a decent living. Once I had identified him, I walked into his shop late one afternoon, and took him out. I broke his neck." Jim leaned forward, his head in his hands, despair radiating from him.

Blair sat back on the couch, his thoughts running through his mind so fast that he couldn’t track them coherently. After a few minutes, he reached out and touched the depressed sentinel on the arm, causing the man to look up at him. The sadness in the blue eyes… "Jim, you did what you’d been ordered to do. That’s not the same as what Alicia did."

"Maybe. Maybe not." He shook his head. "I went in there to condemn her for doing what I’ve done in the past." Leaning back again, he dropped his head on the back of the couch. "Five, six years ago, I never would’ve batted an eye at what went down. I would have gotten angry, but I never would’ve said what I did to Alicia."

"Jim, you’re not the same man. Not anymore." He reached down and took up his friend’s right hand in his, giving it a hard squeeze. "And from what I’ve heard, I’m glad. That man that you were, he just wasn’t the real you. You’re better than that."

"Am I? I’m still a trained killer, Chief. One that has been tempered by friends that won’t let me become that man again, but a killer all the same." He brought his head back up to look his guide in the eyes. "I’ve killed in the line of duty, for friends, to protect the public, my ‘tribe’ if you will. How can I possibly judge Alicia like I did? If not for Peru, my senses flaring up like they did, I could’ve turned out to be just like her. I know that."

"No, you couldn’t. Trust me on that, Jim."

"Oh?"

Blair let a smile creep over his face. "Tell me, if this incident hadn’t gone down like it did, if Alicia hadn’t been involved, how bad do you think it would’ve been?"

Closing his eyes, Jim felt a shudder run through his body. "We’d have been working an ‘unsolvable’ murder."

"But instead we got to work on a case that, granted, got yanked out from under our feet, but it proved ? to me at least ? that whatever it is that Alicia Andreson really does for Hallstatt, she’s damn good at her job."

A quirky smile crossed his face. "Sounds to me like you’re willing to ‘forgive and forget’ there, Chief."

Blair shrugged. "Maybe. I just know that I liked Alicia before this went down, before I realized that she could kill someone, maybe I’m just willing to give her a chance."

"What changed your mind?"

"You did."

Alicia finished dressing, into her other Hallstatt ‘uniform’, and rejoined Agent Locke in her living room, a small over night bag in one hand, a briefcase in the other.

Frances looked up from the book she’d been reading for the past hour to glance at her charge. "Feeling better?"

"No."

Closing the book, she stood up and walked over to her old friend. "Al? I couldn’t help but hear…."

Alicia dropped the over night bag and glared at the brunette standing before her. "Couldn’t help but hear? What did you do? Drop a damn micro bug?"

Frances made no apologies. "You’re trying to change the subject. Ellison? >From what I gathered from your reaction after he left, you were interested in him?"

"No. Maybe. Oh, hell. I’m not sure anymore, Frankie." She could feel tears that had fallen earlier trying to well up again.

Frances pulled the slightly smaller woman into an embrace. "Shush. Al, don’t worry about it. I just hope that you were able to have a little fun, before this went down. You’ve been alone too long. I bet that you haven’t even dated since the divorce was finalized, have you?"

"I couldn’t. I, I …" She couldn’t finish.

"You loved him. I know. But he tried to kill you, and for some reason that made you afraid to get close to anyone else."

Alicia broke from the comforting embrace. "Can you blame me? That son of a bitch stabbed me! Left me for dead! I didn’t even know why!"

"Al, let it go. You’re safe now. Remember?"

She drew in a shuddering breath. "I know. It took a few psychologists to get that through my head, but I know that. But it doesn’t really matter, he killed the old me that evening."

Frances gathered the other woman into her arms. "Alicia, Al… I know that was a rough time for you. And the choices you made afterwards, any regrets?"

"Some."

"Like?"

Alicia pulled away. "Like not trusting any man I met. Volunteering for assignments that I had no business taking. Going through additional training that made me too valuable to just ‘let go’, telling General Hammond that I’d rather get the hell out instead of taking that transfer with him up to Wyoming."

"Al, that was years ago. So was the incident with Lee." Frances pulled her friend back to face her. "You’ve been alone too long. If you want to work things out, then tell Ellison the truth! Tell him who you are, what you’re doing. I’m sure the Director would understand."

Alicia nodded thoughtfully, then tensed as someone knocked at the door. "Guess my ride’s here."

Frances walked over to the door, and after carefully opening it, stepped back to let Alicia’s boss walk into the room.

"Alicia! You’re looking well."

"So are you, Director Weishaupt. That sling makes you look like a battle weary veteran." She stepped aside to let the other person with the Director step into her home. "Hi, Bernie, thanks for coming."

"No problem. Is the little guy ready to go?" Bernice Goldwater walked over to the couch, where Saint Gee lay, watching everything and everyone with an air of superiority.

The Director stepped up behind Alicia, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, again, for saving my life. That’s twice now."

"I wasn’t keeping score. Wilhelm?"

The director sighed, "Already on his way home. Hiram goes with him, to explain to the man’s family."

Alicia nodded. "And Roberto?"

"Waiting downstairs in the car."

"Are you sure I can’t talk you out of this? We really should put the Grand Opening off until I can finish making sure that there were no others involved."

"No. I’ll not allow terrorists to cause me to run."

Alicia sighed. She knew what his answer would be before she ever had asked. "Fine. Frances? Let the Treasurer know that we appreciated his assistance, as well as extending our gratitude to the others?"

"I’ll do that. You going to a safe house?"

"Yes, I have the perfect spot in mind." Grabbing up her overnight bag again, she walked over to Saint Gee who was shamelessly enjoying the attention that her coworker was lavishing on him. "Gee, Bernie will be taking care of you for a little while ? behave yourself. I don’t want to come home to hear all about the ‘presents’ you brought her." She gave the little black cat an ear scratch and then turned back to her boss. "After you, Director." Without a backwards glance, Alicia walked out of her apartment, leaving Saint Gee, Bernie and Agent Frances ‘Frankie’ Locke behind, wondering if she could ever come home again.

Bernie looked up at Frances, cradling Saint Gee in her arms, and asked, "So, Frankie, how do you propose we fix this little problem of Alicia’s?"

The Agent looked at Bernice, and smiled a very wicked grin. "I have an idea. She’s really been alone too long. You willing to help me with a little forgery?"

"Isn’t that against the law?"

Jim had just put the finishing touches to the living area, Blair had left to go pick up a late dinner from The Garden Spot, when someone knocked on his door. Walking over, he opened it to find Agent Locke standing there. "What do you want?"

"From you? Nothing. Here, a gift from Alicia." She handed over a briefcase, turned on her heel and left. She had gathered up the files that had been strewn around her friend’s place, had Bernie write a quick note in a hand writing that was reasonably close to their friend’s, and packed everything into a briefcase. She just hoped that Alicia would understand. She and Bernie were only trying to help.

Jim was still standing in the open doorway when Blair returned a minute later, the briefcase forgotten in his hand.

"Jim? What’s with the look?"

"Huh?"

Blair scooted past him, then after placing the take out on the kitchen counter, closed the door after pulling his friend clear. "I passed that agent friend of Alicia’s on the stairs, she didn’t look happy."

"I don’t think she was, Chief. I got the impression that she’s mad at me for some reason." Jim walked over to the dining table, placing the briefcase on its shiny surface. "She brought this up. A gift from Alicia she said."

"What do you suppose it is?"

Taking a deep breath, Jim opened up the case. "Only one way to find out." He felt Blair walk up beside him and they both looked over the contents.

There was a small note from Alicia ? Jim doubted that because the scent on the paper was all wrong -- written in a small, precise, script:

Jim and Blair: These reports belong, rightfully, to you both. If you really want to know who and what I am ? listen to the cassette. I don’t know if I’ll be back. Don’t worry about Gee, Bernie will watch him for the next few days. If I don’t come back, he’ll have a good home with her.

Alicia A. Andreson

Lifting up the first file, Jim looked at the contents and realized that it was a very thorough background report on Blair. He handed that to his partner and picked up the next, thicker, file and read the first few pages of his own background check. Then he found the cassette. Walking over to the stereo system, he placed the tape into the player and turned it on. He recognized the voice of the talk show host that Alicia liked to listen to, late at night.

"…And back to Art Bell, Broadcasting live from the Kingdom of Nye." That was the voice of the talk show’s announcer, followed by the host’s voice.

"Okay, I’ve got new proof for you, tonight, that the security people at Area 51 are equal opportunity employers. If you go to my web site, you’ll be able to see the very same picture that I’m looking at right now. I don’t know when this photo was obtained, and I apologize for the quality, but if you look closely enough, you’ll see that is a woman descending on a what is known as a ‘zip line’ from a black helicopter. From the eyewitness account, this woman appears to have been in charge of this ‘exercise’. Now, I’m awaiting a video from my source, and as soon as I get it, you’ll be able to access that as well on my web page. So, here’s to equal rights. Ladies, you’ve finally got someone on the inside of Area 51, congratulations."

The tape ended, leaving both men puzzled.

"Jim? You don’t suppose that…"

"Don’t even go there, Chief. Just get that computer of yours fixed so that we can check it out."
 

~The End (for now)~