by C Paradee
"Well ok. If you insist," Tony teased. "Who called?"
"Ashley called once, and my mother called three times. Ashley said to make sure I call her before calling Mom." Musing aloud, she said, "Wonder what’s up with that?"
Tony handed her partner the portable phone and said, "Maybe they want you to visit. You said Ashley mentioned it last time you saw her."
Megan punched in her sister’s number and said, "Yeah. That’s probably it."
"Hello."
"Hi. What’s up?" Megan asked.
"Hey Sis, how's it going? Did you have fun on your vacation? Did you see everything you wanted to?" Ashley asked, the questions pouring forth nonstop.
Smiling into the phone Megan said, "It was great. I don’t think it’s possible to see everything, but I sure tried."
Megan poked Tony in the ribs with her elbow when she heard her partner murmur, "Ain’t that the truth."
Ashley laughed, and said, "I bet you did. Did you get any pictures?"
"Yep. I got some really good ones. Maybe we can do lunch one day next week. I can show them to you then," Megan said, looking forward to seeing her sister.
"Ok. I’ll look at my calendar tomorrow and give you a call. You’ll be at work, right?"
"Uh huh. I can’t believe how fast our vacation went. It sure doesn’t seem like we’ve been off a week and a half. How are John and the twins?"
"John’s fine. Been working long hours though. The kids… now that’s another story. I’ll fill you in on their latest exploits when I see you." Ashley loved to talk about her children and couldn't wait to tell Megan what they'd been up to lately.
"So why did you want me to call you before calling Mom?" Megan asked, while reaching for the glass of iced tea.
"Dad got back early Monday and Mom showed him the paper with you on the front page." Ashley gave Megan a chance to digest that little nugget of information and then continued, "So of course he’s bursting with pride and wants to see you."
Megan sighed. She should have known. He hadn’t approved of anything she’d done since she entered medical school. But her picture in the paper would be a big ego boost for him.
When Megan didn’t say anything, Ashley said, "You know you haven’t been over there for a while. They do miss you."
Megan sighed. "Yeah… I know they do. I’m just not comfortable there. Dad’s always got some snide remark to make about my career and it’s going to be really hard to take his enthusiasm all of a sudden just because my picture was in the paper."
"It’s up to you. But it would probably be best to go and just get it over with. Next time he’ll be back to normal anyway," Ashley commented. If nothing else, their father was predictable.
"Yeah, you’re right. Guess I better call them now. Thanks for the warning," Megan said.
"No problem. I’ll give you a call tomorrow."
"Ok. Bye."
"Bye."
Megan laid the phone down and looked at Tony. "You were right."
Tony had never met Megan’s father but already disliked him just from some of the things Megan had told her. "You don’t have to go if you don’t want to."
"I know. But I haven’t seen them for a while, and they are my parents. Dad can be very persistent, and he really doesn’t understand why I don’t visit much."
Tony met Megan’s eyes and said, "How can he not understand? It’s not like he supported you in anything you ever wanted to do."
Megan watched the expression harden on her partner’s face. She knew Tony had no use for her father. She also acknowledged that what Tony said was true.
"He honestly believes he was looking out for my best interests. I’ll just go and get it over with."
Tony’s thoughts were dark. In her mind he was nothing but a control freak that had used mental and emotional abuse, and on a few occasions physical abuse, to get Megan to conform to his wishes.
Pushing the dark thoughts from her mind, she knew that regardless of her personal feelings, she would support Megan’s decision.
"You do whatever you think is right." Quirking a half smile, she continued, "It’ll be over before you know it."
Megan smiled a silent thanks to Tony. She might not understand, but she was there for her and that was good enough.
Megan picked up the phone and dialed her parents’ number.
Barbara heard the phone ring and looked around for it. She found it on the kitchen counter, and picked it up, pushing the on button. "Hello."
"Hi Mom." Megan said, sitting forward on the couch.
"You’re finally back. Did you have fun on vacation? You never even mentioned you were going." Barbara said, wanting Megan to know her feelings were a little hurt about not being told about the vacation.
"Sorry, Mom. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision. But, yeah, it was fun. It ended too soon though." Megan said, standing up and walking over to the balcony.
Placated, Barbara said, "Well I’m glad you finally took some time for yourself. You spend way too much time at work."
Megan smiled to herself thinking, not anymore. "It was kind of nice for a change."
"Your father and I would like you to come over to dinner Saturday. He’s really proud of you." Barbara told her daughter, hoping what she said would convince Megan to accept. The last time she had come to dinner all Charles had done was belittle her job.
"Sorry Mom. We’re going to the game Saturday evening." Megan was glad she already had plans because Saturday was just a little too soon. She wanted more time to mentally prepare herself if her father decided to attack her job again.
Wouldn’t you know she’d have other plans. "What about the following Saturday then?"
That would work. "Ok. What time?"
Barbara sighed in relief. Now she wouldn’t have to listen to Charles complain about Megan never visiting. "How about 6:30pm?"
"Ok. See you then."
"Bye Megan."
"Bye." Megan disconnected the call and laid the phone down.
Scooting closer to Tony, she waited for her partner to move her arm before snuggling up against her.
* * *
Tony sat in her small cubicle in the FBI office going through her inbox. When she arrived, she had asked to see Mike Braxton. His secretary told her he wouldn’t be available until 1pm. Tony knew that was a crock of shit. He’d already been out to chat with some of the other agents. He was probably still pissed she refused to take all the credit for solving the case and had credited both the Assistant Coroner and the police department. After her statement, his claims that the FBI single handedly solved the case met deaf ears.
Leaning back in her chair, she picked up a new directive about surveillance techniques and began reading it. There really wasn’t anything new in it. The wording was just more ambiguous.
Bored, Tony decided to go see what the other agents in the office were working on. Walking down the aisle to John Austin’s desk, she said, "Hi John."
John looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Smiling warmly, he said, "Hi Tony. Welcome back."
"Thanks. What’re you working on?"
"I’m just finishing up the paperwork on an embezzlement case. Have you met Keith?"
"No, not yet. How many agents do we have?" Tony asked.
John got up and walked with Tony over to Keith’s cubicle. "Right now, we have twenty. But we’re supposed to have twenty-eight, so we’re spread really thin."
"Tony, this is Keith. Keith, Tony."
Keith was short and slender with dark skin and black hair cut close to the scalp. Smiling a greeting, he stood and shook Tony’s hand. "Hi. I’ve heard a lot about you."
"Good, I hope," Tony answered automatically, smiling at the friendly agent.
"Mostly. But I don’t think you’ve made any points with the boss," Keith quipped. He decided he might as well give her fair warning.
"I figured as much," Tony said. She could care less what Braxton thought of her. He’d just have to get over it.
* * *
David looked up when Megan walked into the office. He was sprawled in a chair waiting for her. He got up, a big smile on his face and walked over and hugged Megan. Grinning at her, he said, "I’m glad you’re back. I missed you. How was the vacation?"
Returning his hug, Megan stood back, smiling warmly at her friend, and said, "Great. I took a bunch of pictures. I’ll bring them in tomorrow to show you. How’s the new house?"
"We love it. It’s so nice to have a place to call your own," David said. "I don’t think we’ll ever get all the boxes unpacked. But we already set up Mike’s office. He loves being able to have a place to work now and his boss loves his new drawings." Concern written clearly across his face, David continued, "But Mike’s not been feeling well lately. We think he’s got a sinus infection. He’s just miserable."
"Sinus infections can be serious. He should go to the doctor," Megan said. She knew that sinus infections left untreated had the potential to cause death.
Sitting back down in the chair, David said, "He has an appointment for tomorrow."
"Good. Tell him I hope he feels better." Megan sat down at her desk and put her purse in the drawer.
"I will." David was very excited about his new house and could hardly wait for Megan and Tony to come and visit. "When he does feel better, we want you both to come over."
Megan smiled warmly at David. "We’d love to." David had told her about their new house and she was looking forward to seeing it. She also knew her friends were planning on having a house warming party once they got the house in order.
David turned mirth filled eyes toward Megan and grinned, saying, "Oh and we have two new members in our family."
Megan looked at David cocking her head with a puzzled expression on her face.
Chuckling Mike said, "Two beautiful kittens. We just love them. One is black and white and we named her Velcro. The other is calico and her name is Huggy."
"Ooh. They sound adorable." Megan said. "I can hardly wait to see them." Megan had a big soft spot for animals.
Reluctantly changing the subject, Megan said, "So how’s the case load been? Anything interesting?"
David’s face turned serious. "No. Just the regular stuff. Dr. Whitehouse has been on a rampage lately though."
When David’s mood changed at the mention of work, Megan thought, this doesn’t sound good. "What about? I’m surprised he’s not still basking in the glory from the Press Conference."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. He sounded like a jerk when he kept telling the press that his office discovered how Mark was killing his victims. I think he’s still pissed that you made the front page."
Megan shrugged her shoulders, "I didn’t know that would happen. It would have been fine with me if it had been his picture instead of mine on the front page."
"Oh I don’t know. I thought you and Tony looked cute side by side on the front page," David said grinning.
Megan chuckled and said, "Well, I didn’t mind that part."
"You know, you’ll never convince him that it wasn’t staged and I think he’s already started exacting revenge," David said.
"What do you mean?" Megan asked puzzled.
"The two cases he assigned you today are a guy they pulled out the river who’s been dead awhile and a suicide that jumped from the 17th story of an apartment building." David looked at Megan sympathetically thinking, Whitehouse is such an asshole.
Megan sighed. Just what she wanted to do on her first day back. Resigning herself to her fate, she said, "Might as well get them over with. I’ll change and meet you in the suite." Turning back to David she added, "Let’s do the drowning first." Megan wanted to get the worst case out of the way.
Once the autopsies were completed Megan changed into her street clothes and returned to her office. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was hear Tony’s voice. Picking up the phone, she dialed her lover’s number.
"FBI. Agent Viglioni."
Megan felt some of the tension ease from her body when she heard the familiar, welcome voice of her lover.
"Hi," said Megan. "How’s it going?"
Tony smiled into the phone, "Hi yourself. Ok, but kind of boring. I'll be glad to get home today. She was always careful of what she said when at work. She was well aware that the phones could be monitored at any time.
Megan sighed. "Yeah. Me too. It’s been a rough morning."
"How so?" Tony asked concerned. Megan loved her job and this was an unusual comment.
"I think the great Dr. Whitehouse didn’t like me making the headlines instead of him." Megan said sarcastically.
"That really doesn’t surprise me," Tony said, thinking about the time that she had met Megan’s boss. "Anything I can do to help?"
Feeling more relaxed, Megan said, "You already have. I’ll see you later, ok?"
Tony smiled into the phone, "Ok. Take it easy, and don’t let him get you down. Just remember he’s a jerk."
"I keep telling myself that. Bye," Megan said already feeling better.
"Bye," Tony said.
* * *
Mike walked into the conference room and handed a file to each of the agents seated at the table. Walking to the head of the table, he began briefing them.
"One of our undercover agents has located the headquarters of a major money laundering operation. We’re going to set up surveillance in an apartment over an antique store across the street from the suite they are using. The owner has been quite cooperative and agreed to stay with relatives for the duration of our operation."
Mike looked at his notes and continued, "All the information you need is in the files you have been provided. There will be two teams of six agents. You will work in pairs covering each shift. You will work rotating shifts. Team 1 will work three days, be off one and then work two on a rotating basis with Team 2."
Tony looked through the file while listening to the briefing. She hated surveillance work. There was nothing more boring. Hopefully they would get the information they needed to nail this group quickly. Shift work sucked.
She looked around the table at the other agents. Keith and John she’d already met. Carlos, Brandon, and Steve had introduced themselves before Mike started the briefing. Mike had informed them that they made up Team 1 and he would be briefing Team 2 separately because he had not finished contacting all of them. They were being pulled off other cases to work this one.
"I will personally oversee this operation. At the end of each shift I expect a written report detailing the events that occurred. Leave it in my mailbox. Are there any questions?"
Tony almost rolled her eyes at the last announcement. You couldn’t oversee an operation from the office. It required an agent in the field or the very minimum a liaison in the field. This guy was a real piece of work. The surveillance would be worthless if they needed to move and had to find Mike. Why should she have expected anything else? It was bad enough the teams were being briefed separately. Any raw recruit learned that if you don’t have everything in place, including agents, you didn’t start the operation until you did. Basic Procedure 101.
"Since there are no questions the operation starts tomorrow. Keith and Tony you take first shift. Carlos and Brandon you’re on second shift. John and Steven you get the graveyard shift."
Mike looked at the agents. They all had inscrutable expressions on their faces. Uncomfortable, Mike said, "If there are no questions, you can go now."
After Mike left, Tony asked John, "Where did he come from anyway? He doesn’t know a thing about field Ops."
"Tell me about it. We’ve had to put up with him for the last two years. His daddy is a friend of the Director. It’s called politics."
"Great. That’ll be
a real comforting thought next time my life’s on the line."
Tony unlocked the door and entered the apartment. After the briefing, she had reviewed the case file and agreed to meet Keith tomorrow at the Federal building at 6:30am. They would be traveling in vehicles provided by the agency to and from the surveillance site.
Walking into the bedroom, Tony changed into shorts and a T-shirt. She was home early and decided to make dinner and surprise Megan. Her partner was a better cook, and they had settled into a routine where she cooked and Tony cleaned up afterwards.
Deciding to make a chef salad, she took everything she needed from the refrigerator. Placing a tomato on the cutting board, she began cutting it into squares, her thoughts on her new assignment. She still couldn’t believe Braxton. Shaking her head at the absurdity of the situation, she hoped for a quick conclusion. The shifts required would mean less time with Megan, and that she was not looking forward to. The salad finished, Tony glanced at the clock. Megan was due home any time so she set the table, putting the salad in the refrigerator.
Megan entered the apartment and saw Tony standing in the kitchen. "Hi. You’re home early," she said smiling at her partner.
Tony walked over to Megan and said, "Yeah. I got a new case starting tomorrow and the briefing finished up early." Leaning over she kissed her partner.
"Are you hungry? I made salad for dinner."
Megan felt the stress of work slip away when Tony’s mouth met hers. Smiling, she said, "Sure am. Let me change first."
After eating, Tony was sitting on the couch next to Megan, her arm around her lover. Megan had just finished telling Tony about her day.
Tony shook her head disgustedly. "At least the idiot can’t save any more cases for you."
Megan snuggled closer to Tony. "I just got back to work and I can hardly wait for the weekend to get here."
Smiling ruefully, Tony said, "I’ve got to work Saturday. We’re doing surveillance and we’ll be working rotating shifts."
"You do? What about the game?" Megan said disappointed. She hadn’t seen the Indians all season and had really been looking forward to the game.