Part 3

An hour later Sherry was knocking on Michael's office door. "Come in," he called and she walked in and stood in front of his desk. He stood and walked around to face her.

"Can you explain this to me, Michael? Why you betrayed me?" she asked angrily. "I keep trusting you and you keep slapping me in the face."

Michael sighed. "I didn't betray you. I didn't know anything about this until he was already here. They kept the Intel closely guarded. There was no file until he was already on the premises. Then they slipped a file into the computer system when it was too late to do anything. I came to warn you, but you were already on your way to meet with Operations."

She watched him closely while he spoke since she could tell when he was lying to her. This time she knew he was telling the truth. She wrapped her arms around herself, and began pacing the office. "I'm sorry, Michael. I know you wouldn't have let them do this. I'm just too angry and upset to think straight." Michael nodded and walked over to her. He took her arms to stop her pacing and turned her around to face him.

"I'm sorry about Dr. McAllister," he offered. She nodded and let him pull her into his embrace. She felt safe, sheltered and cared for in his arms. She never wanted to leave their protective cocoon. Eventually, however, she knew she had to move.

"I need to get back to my office. I've got some reports to finish," she sighed. Michael studied her for a moment and then spoke. "The reports can wait. You need some downtime. Let me take you home. You have to take some time to sort through all this."

She was going to protest, but decided he was right. "Okay. Let me call North and tell her what's going on. Then we can go." She reached for phone but he grabbed her hand. "I'll call her from your quarters. Let's go." As they were making their way to her quarters, she remembered the flowers she had received earlier that day. "Thanks for the flowers, Michael. They're lovely."

He frowned. "I didn't send you flowers. When did you get them?" He was instantly on alert. Sherry frowned as well. "They were in my office when I got there this morning. There was no card, but I assumed they were from you." Michael turned the possibilities over in his mind, not liking most of what he came up with.

Sherry was keying in the code to her apartment when she felt Michael tense beside her. She looked up to see him staring to her left. Shifting her gaze in that direction, she saw Travis coming down the hallway looking a bit lost.

"Doc, what are you doing here?" she asked. She almost laughed when she felt Michael move closer to her and put his arm around her. She kind of liked this protective side of him, although she knew it was only stemming from his own jealousy at the moment.

Travis smiled when he saw her. He was a bit disappointed that Michael was with her, but at least she seemed happy about it, so they must have made up. He wanted her to be happy, he just wasn't sure Michael was what she needed. He wasn't even sure why he was thinking like that. Well, if he examined it close enough, he would know, but he wasn't going to do that.

"I'm trying to locate my quarters. Jace was going to bring me over, but he had an emergency. I said I'd try to find it and if I couldn't, then someone could certainly show me."

Sherry nodded and pulled away from Michael to move closer to Travis. "So what's the number? We can help you find it." Travis handed her a slip of paper and Michael read it over her shoulder. He knew at that moment that this was a set up. Operations was out to break up his relationship with Sherry.

Sherry could feel the tension radiating off of Michael. This situation was going to stress her to the max. Smiling at him, Sherry laughed. "Well, it seems we're going to be neighbours. Welcome to the neighbourhood." Sherry pointed to the room to the left of hers. "That's your new home. I'm here, and Michael is right next door," she offered. Travis almost laughed. This situation would be hilarious if it weren't really happening.

"How convenient," Michael stated sarcastically. Sherry threw him a look that said 'behave yourself.' Travis shrugged. "Yeah, it is. At least my only friend around here is close."

Sherry smiled. "Don't worry. You'll soon have lots of friends, I'm sure. But if you need anything, please don't hesitate to come over and ask. Even if you just need to talk. I'm always here if you need me." Travis nodded, hugged her and then decided he'd better check out his new home. Michael didn't show much emotion, but Travis could sense that he was not happy about the living arrangements.

"I'll remember that," Travis said as he unlocked his door and walked into his new home.

"I'm sure he will," Michael mumbled as Sherry turned back to him and then walked through her door. "Michael, please don't. Travis didn't assign himself that room." Michael sighed and sat down beside her on the sofa where she had flopped as soon as they walked in.

"I'm sorry," he apologized and pulled her close to him as she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat there together in silence for a long time. Michael could feel when she began to truly relax. He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

She looked up at him. "This is wonderful. I just wish we could stay here like this. No Operations, no Madeline, no missions, no tests. I always feel so safe and sheltered when we're together like this Michael."

He placed a tender kiss on her lips and then answered, "You are. Even when we're not alone like this, you are loved and protected." She kissed him again. Eventually, she felt him begin to withdraw, so she sighed and got up. "I know, you have to get back."

Michael nodded. "I have to finish the profile for the Johannesburg mission. I'll come back when I'm finished." Sherry nodded and walked with him to the door. He turned back to her and couldn't stop himself from asking, "You're going next door, aren't you?"

She sighed. "I have to, Michael. He's my friend. His life has just been completely turned upside down. He helped me when I needed it, now it's my turn to help him." Michael understood where she was coming from, but still didn't like it. "I know. Just ... be careful, okay?" he stated. Sherry smiled, nodded and then kissed him again before he left. She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, clean herself up and then headed to Travis' apartment.

Part 4

The next morning, Sherry entered her office bright and early. After the fiasco that was yesterday, she was behind in her work. And she knew Rita, Aries and North would be popping in to find out about Travis and what had happened. She pulled out the reports she didn't get finished yesterday first. She laid one open on her desk when she spotted it. There was a cassette tape sitting on her desk. There was a note taped to it. It said, "Something to let you know how I feel." The note was typewritten, and there was no name on it, so she wasn't sure who it was from. She pulled out her cassette player and put the tape in. She recognised it immediately. It was John Michael Montgomery's "I Can Love You Like That."

They read you Cinderella
You hoped it would come true
That one day your Prince Charming
Would come recuse you
You like romantic movies
You never will forget
The way you felt when Romeo kissed Juliet

All this time that you've been waiting
You don't have to wait no more

Chorus:
I can love you like that
I would make you my world
Move Heaven and Earth if you were my girl
I will give you my heart
Be all that you need
Show you you're everything that's precious to me
If you give me a chance
I can love you like that

I never make a promise I don't intend to keep
So when I say forever, forever's what I mean
I'm no Casanova but I swear this much is true
I'll be holdin' nothing back when it comes to you
You dream of love that's everlasting
Well baby open up your eyes

Repeat Chorus

Bridge:
You want tenderness - I got tenderness
And I see through to the heart of you
If you want a man who understands
You don't have to look very far


She had always liked that song. She smiled as she listened to the words. She picked up the phone and dialled.

"Yes," Michael answered.

"Did you send me this song, Michael? It's wonderful," she smiled as she thought of him actually taking the time to tape a song for her.

"Song? What do you mean?" Michael asked, his mind immediately going back to the flowers she got yesterday. Something wasn't right. "Never mind," he said. "I'm on my way. Don't touch anything."

Sherry frowned. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked herself. "First the flowers and now the song. Who was sending her this stuff?"

Michael was there in no time with a team from housekeeping. He had the room swept, the flowers and tape removed to be tested. He also ordered Birkoff to pull the surveillance tapes from Sherry's office for the past thirty-six hours. "Are you okay?" he asked once everyone else had gone.

She nodded absently, still trying to figure out what was going on. "Who would be sending me this stuff, Michael? And why?" He paused before answering. "I'm not sure. Is there anyone you can think of that's been showing you any special attention lately? Someone who might be attracted to you?"

Shaking her head, she answered. "No. Michael, everyone around here knows about us. Unless someone found out that I didn't accept your engagement ring and decided that meant we split up, I don't have a clue. I really don't know who it could be."

Michael nodded and then a thought hit him. "What about Duncan?" Sherry looked surprised. "Duncan? He knows I'm with you, Michael."

Michael sighed. "That doesn't mean he's not in love with you. I saw the way he was with you last week. Maybe he's decided it's time to make his move. You two did just spend some significant time alone together. Maybe he thinks that since you went running to him, that he's more to you than a good friend." Sherry didn't believe it for a minute, but decided to placate Michael.

"Let me call him. I don't think it was him, Michael. If it was, why wouldn't he have sent a card with the flowers or signed the note with the tape?"

"I don't know. But let's get out of here. You can use my office for now." A short time later Sherry confirmed that Duncan was not the culprit. He was concerned about the situation and wanted to come and help. She told him it wasn't necessary, but he didn't sound convinced. He finally asked to speak with Michael. They had a short, terse conversation with Michael promising to contact him if he could be of any assistance.

"Michael, do you think maybe you could try to be a little nicer to my friends?" she sighed. Michael frowned. "I can't afford to be nice until we figure out what's going on." Shaking her head, she walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know. But we are going to have this conversation once we figure out who's behind this." Michael sighed and turned back to his desk. He sat down and ran a hand wearily over his face.

"There is another possibility," he said quietly, "but you aren't going to like it." Sherry moved to sit on the edge of his desk beside him. She looked out through the window of his office. She knew where he was headed with this.

"Travis," she answered. Michael nodded and studied her face. She didn't like the idea, but she also couldn't dismiss it out of hand no matter how much she wanted to. "I really don't think it's him, Michael."

Michael sighed. "You don't think it's him or you don't want it to be him?" Michael was getting angry. She was so protective of these guys, he was beginning to wonder if perhaps she wasn't a little in love with both of them and that's why she hadn't accepted his proposal.

Sherry got up and walked around the desk, needing to put some distance between them. She knew he was getting angry with her. But she wasn't going to lay the blame at her friends' feet without a shred of evidence. "Both, I guess. I really don't think it is Travis or Duncan. And no, I don't want it to be either of them. And if you could just push your jealousy aside for a minute, you'd stop trying to blame them without any
proof."

Just then his phone rang. It was Birkoff. The surveillance tapes of Sherry's office had been wiped clean. There was nothing there. And he had heard from Walter that they had come up empty as far as clues with the flowers and the note. No fingerprints, nothing. Michael hung up the phone and told her what Birkoff said.

"So, as of now, I'm considering this a stalking. Until we figure out who is behind this, you are not to be alone. I'm assigning you protection 24/7. And I don't want to hear any argument," he ordered in his most commanding mission voice.

Sherry didn't like it, but she knew arguing wasn't going to get her anywhere. "Fine, Michael, but I'm not sitting in my room like a caged animal. I am going to go about my duties as usual. Your protection will just have to deal with it."

Michael knew she was upset and didn't want to push, so he relented, even though it would make their job more difficult. "I'm assigning you three men during the day and two to be outside your quarters at night. I will stay with you at night unless I'm on a mission. In that case, I will assign one of the ladies to stay with you."

She took a deep breath. He was pushing it and he knew it, but she also knew he was worried. So, she swallowed her complaints and nodded. "Okay. Can I use my office?" Michael thought about it for a moment. "I suppose you should. It seems to be where he's making contact with you. Just let the men sweep it before you enter. I know you don't like this, but we've got to play it safe. I'm assigning Mentz, Dylan and Sean to you. You don't leave my office until they get here."

Once Sherry was back in her office and guarded, Michael decided it was time to pay Dr. McAllister a visit. He checked with Birkoff to find out where he was. He was with Roarke in his office. Making his way to Travis' new office, Michael tried to compose his thoughts and get his anger under control. He needed to focus. He couldn't slip up on this one. When he arrived at Travis' door, he walked in without waiting for an invitation.