| Subject: Chapters 1 & 2 |
Author:
Jaron
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Date Posted: 09:39:36 12/21/01 Fri
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "The Green-Eyed Monster" on 09:13:01 12/21/01 Fri
The Green-Eyed Monster
December, 1998
My new story is a continuation of the series, which includes The Library, Like Father
Like Son, Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, and The Dragonslayer. If you would like to
read these before reading this new one, you can do so by going to Ranma’s Story Board
Archives, or Juana’s LFN Fan Fiction. My stories are all archived at these two sites. I
hope you enjoy this new one. My muse has been particularly recalcitrant with this one.
If she continues to cooperate, this one will be finished before Christmas. It was not as
easy to write as the others. My thanks go out to Ravenmc and Amy1 for their help and
encouragement. They are great friends. And so, without further ado.........
Green-Eyed Monster
Chapter 1
Michael leaned back on his bed, thinking that he was fortunate that his recuperation and
rehabilitation time at Grace’s rehab center was only just beginning. It had been just a
week since he had unceremoniously stepped backward out of the Red Cell helicopter as
well as his much-talked-about encounter with the Section lunch cart. He had never felt
better than the time he had spent in Grace’s house with Rene. Grace had made sure that
he was comfortable in her house instead of in the center itself. She had arranged it so
that he could spend his every waking moment with Rene. When he had physical therapy
at the center, Rene was there to encourage him. Soon, Rene knew his therapy routines as
well as he did, so even if Michael had wanted to go easy on himself, Rene would not let
him forget or shirk even one of the routines. Michael’s son wanted his father to get
better, even knowing that as soon as Michael was 100% that he would be leaving to return
to his life at Section One.
For the first few days, Michael had been confined to bed, so that his concussion and
wrenched shoulder, broken ribs and arm could begin to heal. He was awakened each
morning by Rene, who carefully carried his breakfast tray in and sat on the bed as
Michael ate his breakfast. If he failed to clean his plate, Rene watched in disapproval
until every morsel was eaten. Only then did Rene smile and compliment his father on his
appetite. Even one as young as Rene had noticed that Michael often didn’t eat enough,
and Rene never hesitated to remind Michael that he needed to eat the right foods if he
wanted to regain the strength that he had before his injuries. Michael had barely healed
from the injuries he had sustained during the situation when Grace and Rene had been
held hostage by a trio of bank robbers when he had again been injured when he had
offered himself up to Red Cell to free Grace and Rene.
One set of injuries on top of the others had left Michael exhausted and in pain. So, when
Operations had offered Grace the directorship of the new Section rehab center, it had
only seemed logical that Michael should be Grace’s first patient. She had settled him in
a room just down the hall from Rene’s, so father and son could be close to each other.
Michael’s healing had progressed rapidly, aided by the presence of another who filled his
nights with gentleness and ecstasy.
In another room down the hall, another occupant was awakening. Nikita stretched
languidly and smiled, remembering the feel of Michael’s arms holding her tightly as they
slept in the golden aftermath of their love-making. She smiled as she remembered
Michael’s surprise as she had left his bed in the twilight just before dawn. He was
puzzled, until she had reminded him that his son slept just down the hall, and explained
that little boys often awoke early and what would he say if he found them together,
naked and in each other’s arms. Did Michael want to have a birds and bees talk with a
seven-year-old? Michael had laughed, actually laughed, and slipped his robe on to her
shoulders and walked with her to the bathroom which joined their rooms. He had kissed
her lightly and said goodnight before returning to his bed. Nikita had watched him from
the doorway as he gingerly slipped back into his bed, his eyes wincing in pain as his body
sought a more comfortable position before he closed his eyes for a few more hours of
sleep. Even with his fresh injuries, loving Nikita had been a painful, yet satisfying
experience. She couldn’t resist the temptation, so she ran back to him and kissed him
quickly on the forehead as he fell asleep with a smile on his lips. Nikita turned and ran on
tiptoes through the adjoining bathroom and snuggled into her own bed just as the sky
started turning pink with the rising sun.
In two days, she would have to return to Section. Her leg wound was almost healed and
there would be missions for her. But for now, she reveled in her closeness with Michael
and remembered that she would always be grateful for the last few days with him. She
told herself to remember also to thank Grace.
Grace had encouraged their deepening relationship when both Nikita and Michael had
been sent to Grace at her newly established center to recover from their injuries. The
few days had been glorious ones for Michael. Not only had he been with Rene, he had also
had Nikita close to hand. And every minute not spent with Rene had been spent with
Nikita. Grace saw to that when she had settled them in adjoining rooms in her home on
the grounds of the sprawling estate that was the rehab center.
Michael smiled at the memory of Rene coming into his room early one morning and asking
him with wide, innocent eyes, “Daddy, why does your room have a door into Nikita’s
bathroom?”
Michael had stared at Rene for a few seconds before formulating a simple answer. “It’s
my bathroom too,” he had explained. “Nikita and I are sharing it.”
“Oh!” Rene had accepted that simple explanation as children often did. Keep it simple.
Don’t elaborate and just wait for the next question, Grace had told Michael. Rene is at
that age when he was full of questions. If he asks you a question, answer the question
succinctly and without embarrassment. He will accept your answer and he may or may
not ask another question. Don’t give him long explanations. That will only bore him and it
might even confuse him. Just keep it simple.
And so he had followed Grace’s instructions and so far, she had been right. Michael had
settled into a comfortable relationship with Rene. Their days were spent at gentle
endeavors that would allow Michael to continue to heal from the injuries he had received
at the hands of Red Cell and the ominous lunch cart pusher at Section. A chuckle actually
passed Michael’s lips as he told himself that he would have to seek out the lunch cart
pusher and thank him for making possible the time he had with Rene and Nikita. Or
maybe not, he reconsidered, he didn’t want to frighten the man. One of the nurses had
mentioned to him that at first the man had been terrified that he would be canceled for
running down a Class 5 Operative. No, perhaps he should just leave well enough alone.
His musings left him unprepared for Rene’s next question. “Daddy, did Nikita sleep with
you last night? Isn’t this her T-shirt? I found it in your bed just now.”
Michael swallowed hard, and tried to remember Grace’s advice....keep it simple, and tell
him the truth. “Ahhhh, yes, she did. We had a sleepover.”
“Oh. That sounds like fun. Can I come to your next sleepover?” Rene looked up at his
father with his innocent green eyes.
“Well, I guess we will have to ask Nikita and make sure it is okay with her.” Michael
stammered. This father stuff was getting complicated.
Rene nodded, turned and took off down the hallway, yelling Nikita’s name. Michael paled
as he ran after Rene.
The Green-Eyed Monster
Chapter 2
I was sitting at the table in the breakfast room when Nikita came in and sat down beside
me. She was smiling and greeted me warmly.
“Good morning, Grace,” she said, stretching, as I poured her a cup of tea.
She was radiant. Her love for Michael shone brightly. I was happy for the two of them.
I knew their happiness couldn’t last, but I had kept her here as long as I could. She was
scheduled to return to Section soon and there was nothing more I could do to prevent her
separation from Michael. He had at least another six weeks of recuperation and
rehabilitation here with Rene and I. Nikita had just finished telling me she wished she
could stay and that she was trying not to be jealous of the time I would have with
Michael and Rene.
We both turned our heads toward the hallway when we heard Rene calling Nikita’s name
as he ran headlong down the hallway.
“Nikita!” he said breathlessly. “I need to ask you a question. Daddy said it was okay with
him if is okay with you!” He took a deep breath.
“What is it, Rene?” she asked, smiling at my beautiful son.
“Daddy said I could come to the next sleepover that you and he had, but only if it was
okay with you!”
Nikita and I both nearly dropped our teacups at his question and turned as one to pin
Michael with our best stare as he arrived at the doorway on the heels of his son. The
look on his face made me smile. I had never seen such a guilty look on Michael before.
“Well, can I?” he asked again, and then peered at us closely noting our shocked
expressions. “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?” Rene walked up to Nikita and
touched her arm. “Do you not want me to come to the sleepover? I know you like my
Daddy. I thought you liked me too.” His little voice sounded so sad. Nikita drew him to
her and pulled him into a fierce hug.
“Of course, you can come to our next sleepover. And Rene, I don’t just like you. I love
you. You are very special to me.” As she reassured Rene, Nikita looked over his head and
told Michael with her flashing blue eyes that they needed to talk. I watched as Michael
gave her a shrug and a sheepish smile. I would love to hear that discussion, I thought. It
was endearing to see Michael so happily embarrassed.
As it turned out, I did get to hear part of that discussion. Rene had walked across the
wide, green lawn later that morning to visit Carson, who was still confined to his bed in
the infirmary until his knee had healed a bit more. The bond between the two of them
was strengthening more each day. Rene genuinely liked Carson and enjoyed being with him
and he was grateful for what Carson had done for his father. While Rene was with
Carson, I busied myself with the personnel records of those who had passed muster with
Madeline and had been hired to work at the rehab center. She had apparently done a
good job with her selections. I had no problems with what I saw in the records before
me or with the employees that I had met so far. Most seemed to be veterans of
government hospitals. They understood security procedures and seemed for the most
part to be used to asking no questions about their patients other than the purely medical
questions. I would have to discuss them with Carson when he felt better. After all, he
was my chief of security, and I was glad to have him here. I had yet to discuss with
Michael my plan to move Carson into one of the spare bedrooms in my house. He would be
more comfortable and he would be near Rene to protect him if the need arose. I hoped
that the need would never arise, but with Section, who could tell.
Carson was still in a lot of pain from the several surgeries that he had had on his knee,
and he faced at least two more surgeries. He would walk again, but he would always have
a slight limp and would never run another Iron Man endurance race as he had in the past.
Most likely though, he would be able to warn us of bad weather based on the discomfort
he would feel in his knee with the changes in the weather.
I was so glad to have him here, but I knew that he would miss the camaraderie of being a
member of Michael’s team. At least here, he would be safe, and he might even get to
grow old, which was something I feared Michael would never get to do. I worried about
Michael constantly. But, for now, Michael was safe, and I intended also to keep him
happy. And he was happy, even though I could hear Nikita’s agitated voice raking him
over the coals about what he had told Rene. They were walking together in the garden
outside. I heard my name mentioned.
“But Grace told me not to lie and to keep it simple; So when he asked if you slept with
me, I simply said, yes, and he accepted that. He didn’t ask anything about what we did in
bed. You shouldn’t have left your T-shirt behind.” I could hear the amusement in
Michael’s voice.
“So, you are saying this is my fault?” Nikita asked angrily.
“No, it is no one’s fault. If we are not upset about this, Rene will not be upset. We will
have popcorn, watch a movie and have a great time having a sleepover with just the three
of us. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Nikita, just go with the flow. If he asks
awkward questions, I will deal with it. Don’t worry about it.”
I got up from my desk and walked over to the window and saw Michael bring his hand up
to Nikita’s face and the look in his eyes was unmistakable as he gently touched her face.
She closed her eyes and drank in the electric feel of his touch. I turned away to let
them be alone in their moment. Would I ever feel an electric touch of my own?
I smiled and walked back to my desk. Yes, I thought, I would go to see Carson tomorrow
and take these files with me. He would need to get started on his new job and life as
soon as possible. I smiled as I thought of the man who would be in charge of security
here at the rehab center. I knew that Michael had already talked to Carson and told him
that his principal job was to keep Rene and me safe, and I knew that he would do exactly
what Michael told him to do. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe, and I knew
that Carson would give up his life to keep Rene safe as well.
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