Missing In Action
Part Seven
By Aeris Jade
aerisjade@worldnet.att.net

Part: 7/?
Rating: R
Beta Reader: Scotty Welles
Pairing: KW, KL, JC, PB, Ensemble

Disclaimer: Isn't it Ironic? Don't you think. 



Robert threw the chart at the admittance desk. It had been three days since the plane crash, he'd already lost his chief of emergency services, and three more of his doctors had decided to take a vacation. Leaving him with the clean up.

"Dr. Romano, you've got a call on line one."

"Can't you see I'm busy? Take a message!" In fact, he wasn't doing anything at the moment, just standing there, scowling at anything that moved. 

"He says he's calling about Dr. Weaver." 

Robert eyed Randi, looking for some hint of malice. 

The desk clerk leaned closer and whispered softly. "It's some agent named Robie."

"Great, just what I need, another agent."   



Peter tightened his seat belt again, purposefully ignoring a withdrawn Carter. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous. After everything that Kerry and Robie had told him, he kept thinking of all the possible disasters.

"So what do we do when we land?" 

"We get Kerry to the hospital." Peter glared at the two women, daring them to contradict him on this. They'd already crossed him once that day and he was in no mood.

"What about Jefferson? If he finds Kerry...." 

"I can take care of myself..." Kerry was starting to get angry. Everyone kept talking about her like she was some invalid. She could handle that, she handled that sort of prejudice everyday of her life, but to then add insult to injury. Peter and John were demanding that she get checked out. "...and I don't need to go to the hospital."

Kim rubbed her hand and spoke softly. "I know, but we should put their fears to rest. Otherwise they'll never leave you alone."

"Fine, but I'm not staying overnight," Kerry muttered just loud enough for Kim and Peter to hear her, the silent threat very clear.



The tall, lean shadow entered the second-story window with long-practiced ease, his long legs gracefully taking him to the side of the bed. He stared down at the senator, taking in the age-faded red hair with peppered gray. 

Here he was at last, the man who had infiltrated the Agency, protecting and supporting the IRA in the process. Many of Robie's colleagues had met untimely ends in the course of Jefferson's run, and another - Kerry Weaver - was still in danger.

'Well, senator,' Robie thought silently, 'it's time for your big finish...'



Robert pushed the wheelchair through the scarcely-used side door, in time to see Carter and Legaspi helping Kerry out of the jeep. Peter was standing back, not bothering to interfere with the trio. "Well," Robert stated, "it looks like I'm right on time." 

"Robert, what...?" 

Robert ignored Kerry, afraid that he might say something that he'd regret. "Robie called me and let me know what was going on. I've got an exam room closed off and waiting for you. I've also taken the liberty of creating a fake chart for you. Now will one of you gentlemen be kind enough to help 'Miss Walsh' into the wheelchair?"

Peter's jaw snapped closed. "Uh...yeah, sure."

Kerry rolled her eyes and lowered herself into the wheel chair, too exhausted to put up much of a fight. She sank down into it as Robert pushed her back inside. The long hall that ran past the exam rooms seemed vaguely abandoned. "Where is everyone?"

Robert threw the door to exam two open and pushed her on inside. "For some reason they got the idea that I'd be conducting a surprise inspection of the ER late tonight. Now... let's see what kind of shape you're in."



Ryan moved through the halls of the silent household, his impassive face showing nothing as he prepared his report for the senator's benefit.  

Jefferson's suspicions about Boyd Campbell had been correct; the man was too much of a loose cannon. More interested in killing unnecessarily than advancing the cause. Men like that were what gave the IRA a bad name, Jefferson had said, and Ryan had to agree.  

This latest obsession had been Campbell's downfall. His insistence that he'd only carry out the latest operation in Washington if he could first eliminate his treacherous estranged wife had been disturbing. A true professional doesn't let such things get in the way of business. But then, even after throwing away the lives of four men in an attempt to kill Dr. Weaver, Campbell had passed up a chance to let Ryan take her out, clean and safe, instead unable to resist the urge to make direct contact with her.

In that event, the senator's instructions had been clear: Eliminate Campbell.  His relationship with Weaver had posed a threat in the past. If he had a chance to speak to her again without Ryan present to overhear, they couldn't be sure he wouldn't leak something to her.

So Ryan had taken the shot as ordered, and one of their biggest liabilities had been removed. Jefferson would just have to make other arrangements about Washington.

The only problem was that he might not have fired in time. Campbell had spoken with Weaver for a few seconds. There was always the possibility that he'd said something to her in that time. The senator might still find it necessary to have her dealt with, but that was his decision, not Ryan's. He stopped in front of the dark oak double doors, and knocked.

There was no noise, no response. He took the two silver knobs in his hands and threw the doors open. In the dim moonlight he could see where Jefferson lay. He could also see a glass on the nightstand, and next to it a bottle of sleeping pills.

Ryan approached the bed taking in the peace expression on the still man's face. He turned on the lamp and picked up the bottle. It was empty...

Well, that made his report a little moot, didn't it?



"...There doesn't seem to be anything that a week of rest won't take care of." Robert figured a week without Weaver was a small price to pay. Besides, three days without her or the others had left one hell of a mess for her to clean up.

"For once, you'll get no argument from me." Kerry swung her feet around and started to get up. She wanted to get out of there, now. 

"I'll drive you home," Kim volunteered before Carter could even think about it. She wanted to spend some time alone with her. They still had a lot to talk about.

"Really?" Robert replied. "You going to bodyguard her, too? Or is this Robie guy gonna take care of that?"

"No, and no," Kerry answered for her. "Boyd's dead, and the senator will have too many people investigating him to worry about me.  I do not need a damn bodyguard!"

"Kerry...!" Carter and Kim began at the same time, then glanced at each other. Whatever else they disagreed about, on this they were of like mind.

The tension was broken as Peter walked briskly into the room. "You hear the news?" he asked everyone.

"What news?" Robert asked for them all.

"It was just on CNN. Senator Jefferson killed himself while staying at his Washington home. Apparently he'd just been diagnosed with HIV. The virus that causes Aids," he added unnecessarily.

There was a moment as this new development sank in.

"Well, I guess that means you don't have to keep pretending you're dead," Robert stated, as if it were nothing important.  "Maybe now we can stop all this spy crap and get back to work." He walked out without another word.

The remaining group looked at each other. "Pretty convenient, huh?" Peter said, the implication clear in his voice. "The one guy who might have reason to kill you suddenly ends up dead?"

Kerry kept her face impassive. "He was responsible for a lot of people dying, Peter," she said. "Sometimes, fate just gives people what they deserve."

"Kerry, excuse me, but everyone in this room knows that's utter bullshit," he replied, quietly, his gaze intense. "And where's your pal Robie gotten to?"

She met it with an equally steady look. "We're all better off not knowing a lot of things," she said. And it was clear that it was her last word on the subject.

Peter met her eyes with cold understanding, then turned and left the room. John paused, feeling like an intruder, then followed him.

Out in the hall, he leaned against the wall and tried to sort out his feelings  He knew he should be relieved that Kerry was all right, and no longer in danger, but all he felt was emptiness. Part of it was the sense that huge, far-reaching events had transpired just outside his awareness, things that had nothing to do with him and were beyond his control. But more, he knew that the part he wanted to play in her life was filled by someone else. He had tried to make himself believe that Kerry wasn't interested in Kim, but now, he couldn't deny it. He knew it was selfish of him, but he just felt unappreciated and rejected by
someone who meant a great deal to him.

There was a touch at his shoulder, and he looked into Kim's gentle eyes. "John, do you have a moment?" she asked. "Kerry wanted to see you, alone."  

It amazed him that she seemed to have none of the resentment towards him that he felt towards her. But then, she was the one in Kerry's favor. He nodded and moved past her, into Kerry's room.

Kerry lay back in the hospital bed, watching Carter curiously. The younger man stood up and moved to sit on the side of the bed. His hand came to rest over hers. She took it warmly, in one of her rare gestures of affection. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

She nodded. "I thought we should talk," she said. "I get the feeling you wanted to say something, or maybe to ask me something."

Oh Lord, could she see how he felt? Was he that transparent? "There is," he said. "How...how could you...?" The words wouldn't come out. He didn't even know himself how the question would end.

"How could I risk my life that way?" she filled in. "Or how could I have married a man like that?"

Actually, he was thinking, how could she want Kim instead of him? "Yeah, both of those," he lied.

"I suppose I should tell you it's none of your business," she said, patting the back of his hand, "but I want to be honest with you, John. Kim's told me all the things you've done to help find me, and how concerned you've been. That means a lot to me."

He forced a smile, like it was no big deal.

"Boyd Campbell was the most exciting man I had ever met," she began. "And then, when Robie recruited me, and it all sounded so dangerous and exotic, well...you have to remember, I was young and stupid back then. I was abandoned by my real parents, I've been disabled all my life, and I was nursing a bit of a self-destructive urge, so I threw myself into every adventure I could find, no matter how crazy. Along the way, thank God, I met people like Gabe Lawrence and Amelia Rynes, who helped me tame that wild streak and focus it constructively. For a while, I thought Robie was one of them."

"But he dragged you into a life that could have killed you."

Kerry met his eyes and smiled sadly. "I know. I knew that, even then. That was part of its attraction."

"Apparently it still is," he said bitterly. "Why on earth did you agree to meet him now?"

She looked away. "I know that doesn't make sense to you," she replied, "and I don't know if I can explain. For better or for worse, Boyd was a part of my life. He told me he needed my help to get out of the life, and I felt I owed him that chance. If he was telling the truth, I'd help him, if not, I'd try to find out what he was up to."

"Kerry, didn't you think he might try to kill you?"

Their eyes met again. "I had to take that risk. I loved him once, or the man I thought he was, and yet I betrayed him. It's a part of my character, John, I end up hurting all the people I care about."  

She squeezed his hand a little tighter at that, and he wondered if maybe she did know how he felt, after all. Was that why she had chosen someone else over him? "So...you're going home with Kim until you're better?"

Kerry nodded. "I don't know exactly how I feel about her," she said, the first hint of uncertainty entering her voice, "but I think that's another risk I need to take."

John considered that, then nodded.

"Did you have any other questions?"

"No," he said. "I just wanted to say, uh, I... I lo.... I'm glad you're okay..." 

Her smile was warm. "Thank you, John."

Carter let go of her hand and stood. As much as he loved her, he had to admire and respect her more. And part of loving someone, he was discovering, was supporting them in the choices they made, whether they were the choices he'd hope for or not. "I'll let Kim know you're ready to go, okay?"

Kerry nodded tiredly, only wanting to go home and sleep. Maybe even celebrate her new divorce.

Aeris Jade Orion
AIM: Aeris Jade
ICQ: 51496263
AT&T/Pow-Wow: Jade
Pow-Wow Community: Orion

Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/aeris3996


" This act hasn't been seen in 20 years, and if i'm any judge of talent it will never be seen again."
- Theres no business, like show business