Sitting back a little, Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Teren had opened her eyes, and recognized her. It was a good sign.
Gerd had left her sitting next to Teren’s bedside, and gone to a meeting with his superiors. Alex knew she and Teren were probably the topic of conversation, but couldn’t muster up any concern over it. All her fears right now were focused on the long form that lay on the bed beside her. Anything else would have to wait, at least until she knew Teren was going to be okay.
The doctors had given her an excellent prognosis. The bullet had creased her scalp, creating a shallow furrow along her temple, but not entering the skull. Other than stitches, a concussion, and a really bad headache, they expected her to be fine.
Just the same, Alex wasn’t leaving her side. Teren was to be awakened at least once an hour for the next eight hours, and Alex wanted to be the one Teren saw each time she awoke.
She settled into a chair next to the hospital bed, close enough to touch Teren’s arm. Her briefcase was on the floor between her feet. Alex’s whole body felt sore, and muscles that were normally relaxed had tightened painfully from the tension. If David was there, she reflected, he’d have sent her to bed right away. But he wasn’t there.
Her old partner had been shot in the chest in Philadelphia, and her current partner, whom she was feeling more than friendship for, was unconscious from a bullet to the head. Alex was in a foreign country, where she couldn’t speak the language, and was currently at the mercy of the German security organization.
On top of that, she thought, I think I’m falling in love with my partner.
The enormity of the situation came crashing down on her, and covered her face with her hands.
Gerd found her in the chair, her elbows on her knees, sobbing. Not knowing what to do, and unsure his sympathy would be welcome, he backed out slowly, trying not to give his presence away.
After all, he could wait a few more hours before telling Alex his news.
It was the movement under her hand that awakened her.
Alex opened her eyes to find that she had fallen asleep in her chair. The lights had been dimmed in Teren’s room, all but the one over the head of the bed. A glance at the clock told her she’d been asleep for just over an hour, and it must have been rather deep, since whoever had come in hadn’t disturbed her. Reaching up with one hand she rubbed her eyes.
Her hand was still draped over Teren’s arm, and the movement that awakened her was repeated, along with a soft whimper. Alex was instantly up, and peering anxiously into the face of her partner and friend.
“Teren?”
The arm flexed again, and the eyelids fluttered. Then they lifted, and she saw the blue she was looking for.
“Hey, pal.” She stroked the bangs off of Teren’s forehead. “Can you talk to me? Huh?”
Teren’s eyes closed, then reopened. She wrinkled her nose, and whispered, “Hospital?”
“Yeah. Gerd brought us here. You’re safe, Ter.”
“Gerd?” There was a little fear in the question.
“It’s okay. Gerd didn’t betray you. He followed Eisenbein to the cemetery, and helped us out.”
Alex didn’t know if Teren was really hearing her or understanding what she said, but she thought there was a softening in the blue eyes.
“Alex?”
“Yes, Ter.”
“My head?”
“You got shot, across your right temple. The doctors say it’s not critical, but you’ll have a bad headache.”
That got a tiny smile. “Headache.”
“You can go back to sleep, Ter. I’ll be right here, I promise.”
Teren let her eyes close, once, then twice. Alex thought she was asleep again.
“Alex?”
“Yes?”
She had to strain to catch the whispered reply.
“Love you.”
Alex’s eyes filled again with tears, as Teren’s breathing evened out. After a moment, she leaned forward, and gently kissed Teren’s cheek. Please be okay.
“Sleep well, love.”
“How is she?”
Alex looked up from her reading to find Gerd in front of her. He appeared to have showered and changed, and he was carrying a thermos, and a paper bag.
“Better, I think. I haven’t had any problem waking her. She says my name, and makes eye contact, then goes back to sleep.”
“That’s good. I always knew she had a hard head.” He grinned. “Now I have proof.”
They shared a smile, and Gerd pulled a second chair up.
“I brought you something to drink, and some pastries. I figured you hadn’t gotten anything to eat yet, and it’s almost morning.”
“Thanks, Gerd. I appreciate that.”
Alex watched as the German poured liquid from the thermos into a cup.
“Coffee?”
“No. Chocolate. I remembered that you said you didn’t like coffee.”
She smiled at him, and gratefully took the cup. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you, Gerd.”
There was just a touch of red on his face, providing a counterpoint to his blonde hair. He shrugged. “It’s no bother.” He unrolled the paper bag as Alex sipped her drink. After moving the papers off her lap and into her open briefcase, Alex accepted a pastry wrapped in a napkin. Together, she and Gerd ate breakfast, making small talk as they did.
Gerd was pouring her a second cup of chocolate when Alex decided it was time to get serious.
“So, care to tell me what happened in your meeting earlier?” She took the cup and waited for him to look at her. “I mean, it was about Teren and me, right?”
“Well, more about the incident, really. They wanted to know what happened, and why I was in the cemetery when I’d been given orders to stay out of the case.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That, because I was a member of the church, and knew both your suspects, I felt I had a duty to either confirm or disprove your suspicions. When I discovered they were accurate, I involved myself due to personal reasons, and did not request or use agency assistance, until after the incident was over.”
Alex nodded, and took a sip from her beverage. “Did they buy it?”
She got a wry grin from Gerd. “Only partly. They accepted that I had personal reasons for being involved, and agreed I was right to call in a clean up team.”
“But?”
“But — they said that by showing up and taking part in the shoot out, I disobeyed orders, and I’ll be suspended, without pay, for the next week.”
“Ouch. Sorry.”
His grin widened. “Don’t be. They’re counting it as vacation time, and assigned me to help you and Teren with whatever you need, until you leave the country.”
Alex simply stared at him, her cup halfway to her lips. After a moment she put it back down. “Are you saying we’re out of trouble? At least for the moment?”
He nodded at her.
“No more disguises? No more dodging bad guys and having to look over our shoulders?”
“No. You’re under our protection, now. Both of you.”
Half of the tension drained out of her, and she almost dropped her cup. “Damn, that’s nice to hear.”
“Long trip?”
“To say the least.” She put a hand to her head. “Jeez, it’s been less than a week since my partner got shot.” Gerd looked at her in confusion. “This is Saturday morning, right Gerd?”
“Yes. What partner, Teren?”
“No. My FBI partner, David Wu.”
Gerd’s eyes went wide. “FBI? I thought you were CIA.” She shook her head. “But we were told you were under their protection.”
Nodding, Alex took a deep breath. “Yeah, that’s what Teren said, after she talked to her boss yesterday. They’ve decided to extend Agency protection to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was blamed for the shoot out in which two agents were killed, and two injured. We also lost a suspect in that shooting.”
Gerd shook his head. “I don’t understand. What kind of case involves both the FBI and the CIA?”
“A very complicated one.” Alex sighed again, and leaned forward. “It’ll be a while before I have to wake Teren again, so I might as well tell you the story.”