Surprises
By Sherry
Part 1
Making her way to her office, Sherry replayed last night's events in her mind. She still couldn't believe Michael had proposed. It was the last thing she had been expecting, for more reasons than one, not the least of that was the fact that only a few days before they had been so out of sync that she had fled CLHQ. She smiled as she thought of the romantic evening they had spent together. No one could ever say that Michael wasn't a romantic when he set his mind to it.
Arriving at her office, she keyed in the code to unlock her door. Walking in, she spied the vase of flowers on her desk immediately. They were beautiful. They were many different kinds and all in bright spring colours. It was just what she needed. She was beginning to feel the winter blues and couldn't wait for spring and warmer weather. She looked for a card, but there wasn't one. Not that she really needed a card to know who they were from. She picked up her phone and dialled but he was out of his
office. She left a brief message on his machine, which simply said "Thanks." He would know what she meant.
~~~~~~~~~
Madeline walked into the Perch. Operations was standing at the window looking out over Comm. She walked up beside him and waited.
"What is the status?" he finally obliged.
"He has just arrived. He will be in Briefing Room 3."
Operations turned to her and smiled. "Good. Have Dr. Jamison meet me there in five minutes." Madeline nodded and then studied him for a moment. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Operations sighed. Why was she always second guessing him. And her need to question him over and over on this particular issue was beginning to wear thin. "Yes, Madeline. We've had this discussion already. Nothing has changed in the last 24 hours to make me change my mind."
~~~~~~~~~
Michael entered his office and sat down at his desk. Checking his voicemail, he found he had a message. It was from Sherry. All she said was "Thanks." He frowned, trying to figure out what she was thanking him for. He supposed she was thanking him again for last night. He turned on his computer and looked over his schedule for the day. There was a new recruit file, which almost escaped his attention. It was very well hidden, but he knew how things worked in Section and always knew to look beyond the obvious. To his knowledge there were no recruits being brought in for the
next two weeks. He was kept apprised of all new recruits, so he immediately downloaded the file to his PDA. The moment he looked at it, he knew chaos was about to descend. He had to warn Sherry. He couldn't let her be blindsided.
~~~~~~~~~~
Inhaling the scent of the flowers one last time, Sherry sat down at her desk and pulled out the files she had been updating. She needed to get them finished before the moms' meeting later this morning. She had been working on them intently for some time when there was a knock on her door. Checking the vid screen she saw Nahla. Smiling, she punched in the code and called out for her friend to come in.
"Hey Sher," Nahla said as she entered. Spotting the flowers, Nahla quirked an eyebrow and smiled mischievously. "So, somebody apparently had a very good time last night."
Sherry laughed. "Yes, someone did. Did you need something?" She knew Nahla wouldn't let it go, but it didn't hurt to try. Nahla schooled her features into a serious expression. "Yeah. I need you to give me the Intel on the mission to romance Sherry." Shaking her head, Sherry laughed and closed the folder. "Not gonna let it, go, huh?" Nahla shook her head. "Okay, I'll tell you. I've got to talk about it before I go nuts anyway." Sherry then proceeded to tell her about Michael coming to her quarters dressed in a towel and then proceeding to blindfold her before leading her
off to an unknown location.
"But I thought you hated being blindfolded and in the dark," Nahla frowned. Sherry nodded. "I do. Especially since Dark Crystal kidnapped and brainwashed me. If you only knew how much."
"Then why would Michael do that? Surely he knows," Nahla wondered aloud.
Sherry nodded. "He knows. I'm not sure if he realises just how much, but I think he probably does. However, I also think he needed to know if I would trust him."
Nahla sighed. "How do you do that? You know him so well. You always seem to know what he's up to without his ever saying a word." Sherry smiled. "Yeah. We have that kind of connection. But just wait. After you've been together a little longer, you and Jace will have it too." Nahla shook her head as if she doubted anyone else could ever have such a connection. "I hope you're right, but I've never seen any two people as in sync as you two." Sherry laughed.
"Well, most of the time anyway," Nahla added, remembering what had happened
only a few short days ago. "Anyway ..." Sherry continued with the replay of last night's events for her friend. When she finished speaking, Nahla was surprised to say the least. "He proposed? Congratulations! Where's the ring? When's the wedding? Why didn't you call me sooner!"
Sherry laughed. "Slow down, girl. Yes, he proposed and it was very touching. As for the ring, I couldn't accept it."
Nahla was even more shocked at that announcement. "You what? You said NO? Okay, where's the real Sherry? She would have never turned down a proposal from Michael."
Shaking her head, Sherry sighed. "Yes, I gave it back."
"But why?" Nahla asked, confusion evident on her face. "I know you're in love with him."
"Yes," Sherry continued. "But I told him I couldn't accept an engagement ring from a man who was still seeing another woman. I also told him that it didn't mean 'no.' I simply explained that it's up to him now. He has a decision to make. When he makes up his mind, then he can ask me again."
Nahla nodded. She certainly understood Sherry's position, but she felt bad for her friend. It was obvious she had wanted to accept Michael's proposal. She was also mad at Michael for putting Sherry in such a position. He should have known better. She was gonna have a talk with him and set a few things straight.
Sherry checked her watch. "I hate to cut this short, but I've really gotta get these reports done before my meeting with North, Aries and Rita. How about we have lunch together? We can continue our chat then." Nahla agreed and then headed back to Munitions.
Half an hour later, Sherry wrapped up the last of the reports and headed for North's office. She saw that Aries and Rita were already there. She walked in and took the only vacant chair left in the office. "Hello ladies. So, what's on the agenda for today?" The three other ladies looked at her expectantly and waited.
"What? Did I forget to put something on? Have I suddenly grown horns? Why are you all staring at me?"
"Because," Aries said, "we're waiting for a play-by-play of last night's events."
Totally uncomfortable with where this discussion was heading with Rita in the room, Sherry decided to side-step it for now. "Sorry, girls, but it's going to have to wait. I have some things to do later and we really need to get this meeting started. I'll tell you later, okay?" Not really believing her, but knowing something was making her uncomfortable all of a sudden, North acquiesced. "Okay. Let's get started. We'll do the duty roster for next week first, and then move on from there."
Twenty minutes later Sherry's cell-phone rang. "Sorry" she said as she pulled out her phone and answered. It was Birkoff. "Operations would like to see you in Briefing Room 3 immediately," he told her.
"I'm in the middle of a meeting, Birkoff," she said, trying to delay the meeting as long as possible. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Operations. It would only spoil her day.
"He knows. He wants you here anyway," was the reply she got.
"Fine. Tell him I’m on my way," she said as she hung up. "Sorry ladies, but you're gonna have to finish without me. Operations needs my help with something. I'll see you later." Handing North the files she had updated, she got up and headed for Briefing Room 3.
Sherry had been gone about ten minutes when there was a knock on North's door. "Come in," she called after checking and seeing Michael waiting outside.
"Where is Sherry?" he demanded as soon as he was in the room.
"Operations needed to see her," North answered.
"No," Michael whispered and his hands clenched at his sides. All three women in the room knew something was up. "What's wrong, Michael?" North asked.
Michael handed his PDA to North. She quickly scanned it and gasped. "They didn't! We've got to warn her," she said before realising it was already too late.
"That's what I was trying to do," Michael answered, "but we're too late." Michael paced the room. "She's not going to take this well," North warned and Michael nodded. "I know. That's why I wanted to tell her. She really doesn't need this now."
Aries and Rita were listening closely and exchanging curious glances. "Okay, would somebody please fill us in. What's going on?" Rita finally demanded. North quickly filled them in as Michael went back to his office to try and figure out what to do about the situation. He also knew that Sherry would be paying him a visit shortly.
As she made her way to Briefing Room 3, Sherry tried to figure out what Operations wanted. As far as she knew, there were no missions to be briefed this morning. There were no new recruits she needed to see, and there had been nothing on her panel this morning to indicate anything was amiss. Her inner "Operations radar" began to ping. Whenever he pulled something like this, it always meant she was in for it, one way or the other. He was either going to send her deep undercover somewhere and she would be gone for a while, or he wanted her to investigate someone in CLHQ
or Section. Neither option was one she wanted to deal with at the moment.
As she opened the door to the briefing room and walked in, she saw two heads but didn't really pay close attention. The closer figure turned toward her and she saw that it was Jace.
"Hey Jace, what's the old man up to this time?" she asked as she noticed the expression on his face. His eyes showed compassion, but his demeanour was nervous. She quickly shifted her eyes to the other occupant of the room. His back was to her, but she could swear she knew him. She stopped dead in her tracks as he turned around to face her. Jace watched as her face visibly paled.
"Travis?" she whispered so low that Jace almost didn't hear her.
Part 2
Jace had been told to watch Sherry's reactions carefully, but that wasn't why he was doing it. She was a friend and he knew this ordeal was going to cause her a lot of pain and guilt.
"Hello Sherry," Travis smiled and moved toward her. He watched as the emotions played across her face. She was happy to see him that much was evident. But the other emotions he saw gave him cause for concern. She finally moved closer to him, where he proceeded to envelop her in a warm hug.
"What are you doing here, Doc?" she asked, her nickname for him rolling off her tongue like she had seen him only yesterday. Travis looked to Jace and then back to his former patient. He wasn't sure what to tell her so he decided to stall for time.
"You remembered," he smiled.
She laughed. "Of course I remember. I'm the one who christened you that, after all." Travis nodded. "And you're still the only one who calls me that," he said quietly, reaching up to push a stray strand of hair from her face. Just then the door opened and Madeline entered. She and Operations had been watching from the Perch. Operations was extremely pleased with what he had seen, although Madeline knew better. She had noticed the subtle change in Sherry's body language. She was one very angry person, even if she didn't let Travis see it.
"Madeline, why is Travis here?" Sherry demanded as soon as the older woman entered the room. Jace involuntarily took a step back from the confrontation. The only reason he was here in the first place was because he knew Travis from his previous treatment of Sherry. Operations had wanted him to make Travis feel more relaxed while he waited for this meeting with Sherry. From what Jace could glean, Travis had been told that Sherry needed his help again, only this time they couldn't release her to his care. He would have to come to her.
Madeline walked over to Travis, ignoring Sherry's question. "Dr. McAllister. It's so nice to finally meet you. My name is Madeline. I do most of the psychological profiling around here, and I'm also second in command. It's a pleasure to have you on board." Travis smiled and reached out a hand to shake Madeline's, but Sherry intervened and stopped him. Travis looked at her with confusion. He knew she was very angry, but she seemed to be close to going over the edge. He must have gotten here just in time.
"Get away from him, Madeline. And just what do you mean, 'on board?' You had better not mean what I think you mean." Fire flashed from her eyes as she spoke. Madeline turned a frosty smile on her likely future replacement and motioned for everyone to sit. The men took seats, as did Madeline. Sherry, however, remained where she was.
Madeline sighed. "You have no one to blame for this but yourself, Sherry," she began. "Your recent behaviour convinced Operations that you were ... close to the edge. He will not stand by and let you destroy Section's future."
Jace couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait a minute. Destroy Section's future? What are you talking about?" Travis, thoroughly confused as to what was really going on, sat back and tried to gather as much information as he could. His only concern right now was Sherry. From what he was seeing and hearing, she was in trouble and didn't even realise it.
Madeline turned to Jace. "Michael is slated to be Operations' successor. Operations feels that Sherry has become a bit too ... unsettled lately. Her actions over Michael and Aries' date created a situation where two operatives got hurt, not to mention the fact that she had CLHQ in an uproar. Then she proceeded to run off and meet another man. Her disappearance distracted Michael. Thus, Operations' concern over Section's
future. He will not allow anything to jeopardise that. Michael's concern for Sherry was interfering with his duties."
Jace shook his head. He didn't believe a word he was hearing, but he would hold his tongue for the moment. Something was going on here that he didn't understand. Once Madeline was gone, he would figure out what it was.
Sherry paced back and forth listening to Madeline's lie as to why Travis was here. Sherry knew the truth. Operations had wanted him here from the start. He had finally found a way to make it happen. And it was her fault. She would have to get Travis out before it was too late.
"Stop lying, Madeline. You know there's nothing wrong with me," Sherry stated as she marched up to the table and confronted her superior. Madeline smiled. "Well, what I think doesn't matter, does it."
Sherry leaned over closer to Madeline, her fists bracing her against the table. Madeline was impressed by Sherry's willingness to invade her space. It was more proof that she was becoming the operative they needed her to be. Sherry noticed the small smile on Madeline's face and wanted to slap her. Taking a deep breath to remain calm, Sherry spoke. "I want him out."
Madeline nodded. "I know. But that's no longer an option. He was brought in with no precautions. He's seen too much for that possibility to still exist." Travis knew they were talking about him but didn't understand. He decided to get some answers himself.
"Excuse me. But what exactly do you mean, it's not possible for me to leave? I thought I was simply here to help Sherry. What's going on?" Sherry had almost forgotten that Travis was sitting there listening. She turned to him and felt a stab of pain for what was happening to him and what he would be going through for the next few days and weeks. And it was all her fault. She moved behind Travis and laid her hands on his shoulders, knowing what was coming next.
Madeline opened the folder in front of her and pulled out two photos. She passed them over to Travis who looked at them. The first one was a picture of his car, completely totalled. The second was of a funeral. He looked closely at the people in the picture. They were his friends, family and co-workers. What was going on? There was also a newspaper clipping reporting his death.
He looked up at Madeline as Sherry's hands tightened on his shoulders. Madeline explained. "Everyone on the outside thinks you died in a car accident. You were on your way home from your last visit to the hospital. It was late, you were tired. You fell asleep, your foot depressed the accelerator and you hit a bridge abutment head-on. Your funeral was held today."
Travis' head was spinning. What was she saying? He wasn't dead. He was perfectly fine. What was going on?
"I'm sorry Travis," came the softly spoken words from above his head. He turned to look at Sherry, his face full of the confusion she knew he was feeling. His eyes sought hers out and saw the pain in them. A tear began to slowly run down her cheek. He reached up and placed a hand over hers. "It's not your fault," he said, wanting to ease her pain. Madeline was watching the exchange with interest. It seemed that these two had an ever deeper connection than she had thought. It would be interesting to watch things between Sherry, Michael and Travis.
Madeline spoke again. "Travis, you now belong to Section. You will spend the rest of your life with us. You will never again have contact with your former life. You will receive basic skills training and survival training from Roarke, but your psychological skills are what we are most interested in. Jace will show you to your new office shortly. And a little later you will be taken to your quarters. I think you will find the accommodations more than adequate." Madeline took back the pictures and clipping and stood up.
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