A/N: It's so nice to be back! I planned to wait until S3 was over on TV to write this but just couldn't wait. So this is my AU version of Season 3, updates will be slower due to the fact it will be running with a slightly deviated story line from what you'll see on the actual show. I also own nothing except my imagination and my OC's Anna and Kate. Spoiler alert: if you haven't read the other two stories in the series... Ravit is alive and Sasha Cooper is Tom's sister in my version. Please Enjoy!
Chapter 1
5 months later...
"You're going to stay in this bed all day?" Tom asked her as he was dressed for the day, he'd been up with the kids. They'd had breakfast together before the bus picked them for school while Rachel had slept in. She had gotten up at 3am to feed the twins. They weren't lying when they said twins were twice as much work but Tom enjoyed every moment since their debut into their world 4 weeks ago. He helped where he could and their friends came in and out to assist during the days so Rachel could rest as she had a rough labor that ended up with her having a C-section.
The identical twin girls; Evelyn and Olivia Scott-Chandler entered the world healthy and whole. He'd fallen in love from the first ultrasound but fell in love all over again when he held their tiny little bodies in his arms. He never thought he'd be blessed with more children let alone another woman to love but he was a lucky man. He counted all of his blessings every morning.
The two blessing were currently in their bassinette by Rachel's side of the bed peacefully sleeping. Overall they were pretty good babies, they didn't really cry a lot and they made their needs known in a rather polite manner. Tom quipped it was Rachel's genes but the regressive ones coming through as she had no problem in being aggressive when she wanted something. Rachel claimed they had learned from Tom's calming presence and patience. Either way in his mind they were perfect just like Sammy and Ashley.
"Yes, I might shower today when I have more energy." Rachel said with a wry smile with a yawn. Tom moved so he was above her and lowered himself down until his face was close to hers.
"Or you could wait for me when I come home. I could scrub your back." He offered before he pressed a kiss to her lips. Rachel slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Tom knew he should pull back but he couldn't help but want to stay in bed with her. He wished there was such a thing as paternity leave for CNO but it was a full time job, one he strangely enjoyed but part of him did miss being out on the Nathan James in the open sea. But the trade off was being home with the kids, Jed and Rachel.
The last 5 months had been something of a dream for him. Sure there had been some real rough patches with Sammy and Ashley. they had not been thrilled with the idea of Rachel being with him, that they were a couple. They hated that Rachel was replacing their mother and them with the twins. But Rachel and Tom sat down with them and explained the situation. Tom explained that adults like children had complicated feelings. That he loved Darien and a part of him always would, he also loved Rachel. That him being with her wasn't about replacing anyone, it was about being happy and moving forward with their lives. He felt he mucked it up but Rachel kind of saved it.
She spoke to them both like they were adults, she was blunt in telling them that she cared for them even if they didn't like her. She told them of how she admired their love for their mother and she wasn't trying to take that away from them or try to put herself in Darien's place. She told them that she loved Tom, it was then she told a small lie about her feelings changing for him in just the past couple months than over a year. She told them that she was in love with him, she wanted to be a member of their family, to have the twins be members too.
As much as Tom didn't like it, she told them that he wasn't the twins biological father. She told them because as she explained to Tom that they needed to know that he hadn't betrayed Darien or his vows, she felt it was important they knew he stayed true and committed. It was important as he was their role model. She told them that she hoped in time, they'd give her and the twins a chance as she wanted Ashley and Sam to be her family too as much as she wanted to in theirs. That she was too old to know all the awesome things kids knew, that Ashley and Sammy would be older siblings to the twins. He had to admit she had sold it well and fact she asked they gave her a chance than just say it was how it would be, smoothed a lot of raw feelings. They begrudgingly said they would give her a chance.
Ashley had been the first one to cave and accept Rachel, he felt it was that Ashley missed having an older woman to model behaviour from and because Rachel spoke to her like she were an adult something that was important to a girl on the cusp of becoming an adolescent. It didn't hurt that an ultrasound technician blew the surprise of the babies' sex. So Ashley was suddenly not so outnumbered by the men in the house. Rachel made an effort to really bond with her, even asking Ashley's help with buying baby clothes for the girls and Tom knew the two talked about a lot of stuff he as a father didn't want to enter a discussion about women stuff like periods and shopping... So he was grateful for getting off the hook for that.
Sammy was the stubborn one, he seemed to inherit Tom's stubbornness and Darien's bad temper. Rachel did her best and was just as persistent and patient with Sammy as she had whenever Tom was in a bad mood on the ship. Tom tried to help but Sammy was still at the age where he was just too irrational to see reason but there were moments when he seemed like he wanted to be included in everything but the only reason he held back was out of some reserved honour for Darien's memory even though it was unnecessary. Rachel had made sure that there was at least a couple photos of Darien around the house, she even asked for family stories. Something tom knew had to be hard on some level to listen to. But she was committed to them all. He loved her with every fibre of his being for it.
Tom did his best to show the same level of commitment to her. He made time for her while also having alone time with Sammy and Ashley so they knew he wasn't leaving them behind. It was all a balancing act with his job but he did it best he could. He showed Rachel every chance he could how he felt for her, he let her know how much he cherished her and the family she'd given him.
Yes, the kids were grieving and they had their bad days as well as their good days but he could see they healing, that they were starting flourish in the stability of their home in St Louis. Sure it wasn't perfect but Tom was happy, really happy with how life was turning out.
Jed however was the possibly the most accepting of everyone in the family, hell he'd built two cribs for the twins in Norfolk after the Nathan James sailed all the weeks ago. He and Ashley helped Rachel with setting up the nursery in the last few months when Tom wasn't able to due to his hours. If anything, it seemed like Jed knew all along that Tom was going to end up with her. It was like he'd been waiting for the call when Tom told him to pack up the kids and bring them to St Louis.
He and Rachel had decided that night in the hotel that they weren't going to waste anymore time separated and frankly they'd spent the better part the last year together even if they hadn't been romantically involved for the months in the Arctic and before Baltimore. It just that they knew in their bones what they had was right, so they found a house big enough for Sammy, Ashley, the twins, Jed and the two of them. But they'd decided for the sake of not overloading the kids to spend the first couple months sleeping in separate rooms.
They'd also put their plans for marrying on the backburner. Tom wanted to marry her right away but Rachel wanted the kids to get used to the idea of her being around long term and the twins. She said she didn't want their relationship and marriage feel as if it was shoved down the kids throats. Part of him agreed but the side of him that was a traditionalist at heart balked at it all. But he also understood that some of her reluctance wasn't just protecting the kids but herself as he had to remember her past relationships hadn't been easy for her.
So those first two months of separate sleeping arrangements hadn't lasted more than a week before Tom started sneaking into Rachel's room but their relationship had grown in strides. They had their own hiccups where they'd fight but never anything that was serious, they seemed to be on the same page about their wants for each other and the kids. It was just the timing of some things were a little off. But he was working on them.
"I think you should have sex me." Rachel said as she pulled back from the kiss and smiled up at him.
"The doctor said not to for 6 weeks." Tom reminded her.
"She's a quack." Rachel told him, Tom laughed and shook his head at her. Not that he wouldn't mind indulging her, he was ready after five weeks of no sex after having it steady for nearly three months before that tended to make him a little too easy. Especially when she looked at him as she was right now.
"I think I'd like to wait until you get the all clear." He murmured against her lips before she kissed him again.
"I'm a doctor and I'm telling you that I'm fine." Rachel assured him between kisses, she was exhausted and if she were honest didn't want to have sex. Sure Tom was pressing all the right buttons in her when he was all clean and smart in his uniform. Part of her was just enjoying the tease right now as she knew she looked like shit, she wasn't feeling like the most attractive woman either with dirty hair, a saggy tummy and milk laden breasts. She just like these moments as Tom made her feel like a sexy and vivacious woman. Tom pulled back from the kiss and gave her a smile.
"Yeah, that doesn't work for me and I gotta get to work." Tom told her with a smile. He pulled himself out of her arms and she pouted at him, it was fucking sexy when she did it as it was more sultry than petulant. He stood up and straightened his shirt and looked down at her as she laid in twisted bed sheets and one of his Navy t-shirts. She looked like she should belong in the centre fold of Maxim, luckily for him she didn't as only he got the pleasure of seeing her like this. He imprinted the current view in his memories for the day ahead of him. So when he was listening to Michener whine about something Kate did he could picture this moment and all the things he could have been doing with Rachel.
"Can you come home early today?" Rachel asked as she snuggled down on the bedding as she felt a lot better from Tom's kisses and heated looks.
"Isn't Kate coming over today?" Tom asked her, frowning as he didn't understand why she'd want him early.
"Yes, but she's been a little run down of late. Something is wrong, I told her to see a doctor but you know how she is." Rachel told him basically it was their short hand of Rachel saying 'she won't tell me, you need to talk to her'. It meant Kate wasn't sharing with Rachel so it was his turn to try.
Since Mike had taken up Captaincy of the Nathan James and sailed off to spread the cure to Asia, Rachel and Tom had promised the man they'd touch base with Kate making sure she was ok. After the three months Kate had gone through in his absence, it was more important than ever.
"Ok, I'll do my best to get home by lunch." Tom told her.
"Thank you." Rachel told him. Tom leaned over her one more time and gave her another quick kiss before he turned to the two bassinettes where the twins were currently punch drunk on their last feed of milk. "You two play nice with your Mommy and give Aunt Kate hell." he whispered to them. He turned to Rachel who chuckled at his orders. He really wished he had the ability to call in sick as he would prefer a day alone with Rachel than what was on his schedule for the day.
"How are we with the Regents, Caretakers or whatever they are calling themselves out west?" Kate asked Anna as she was laying down on the couch in their shared office. She had caught the stomach flu last month and hadn't really bounced back. But then she figured it was that she was overworking herself between the company, helping Rachel and Kara, then the odd weekend when Lena brought the girls over to her house for a visit.
"All good, everyone's happy. I think they like caretakers less tyrannical sounding. We have power up across the east coast and spreading slowly west through America. It's all working out great. Just as we planned." Anna told her from the desk. Anna worked about 20 hours a week while Kate had been burning the candle at both ends. It wasn't like she had anything to go home to, it was just an empty house it wasn't really home until Lena and the girls were over.
"Good, I really want to look into the railroads next after we finish with power. I have it on good authority that Michener isn't coming through on his promises." Kate said with a sigh as nausea and exhaustion rolled over her.
"It can wait. You look like shit. Have you seen a doctor yet?" Anna asked her.
"Yeah, Anemia." Kate told her, which was partially true. She was anemic but she was also pregnant. She just couldn't say it in the office because someone would overhear and she wanted to keep those in know small. So she planned to tell Anna later outside of the office.
"You? You're like genetically modified against that mere mortal deficiencies." Anna quipped, Kate smiled and gave a shrug.
"Yeah, but all the blood transfusions for Rachel and the babies. Not enough red meat left me a little low." Kate said, Mike had left on the Nathan James to help distribute the cure Asia. His first command as the new Captain of the Nathan James. She could still see the way he beamed at being given the command. Yes, it had been sad to see him go but it had been great to see him happy about his work again. He hadn't been a fan of being the 'Acting' CNO but her role as CEO of Lassiter Industries had a lot of perks. One of them working together on projects.
Mike had spent a month searching for Christina for a divorce but not able to find her applied for divorce procedures based on the assumption she was presumed dead. After the divorce had been granted, he and Kate had the quickest wedding post pandemic and they had started their life as a married couple. They got a house next door to Tom and Rachel, brought the kids down. Lena hadn't wanted to give up the house in Norfolk so she visited whenever she could. Those two months felt like a dream to Kate, like they had never really happened at all.
2 weeks after Mike's departure, Christina came to St Louis and cried to any media outlet like she was a victim of bad circumstances as she thought she'd find her husband and family only to have it torn apart by Kate Lassiter. Christina had a story to cover up all the mistakes she had made and make herself look like a victim of bad happenstance. She took Kate to court, dragged her name and Mike's through the mud as she just wanted her old life back and that Kate had ripped that away from her and destroyed her good husband's reputation by seducing him away from a 'good and moral' life.
She managed to paint Kate as mentally unstable woman suffering from PTSD and depression. It didn't help that Christina had a shark of a lawyer and an expert doctor to look over all the information on the Valkyrie network and make those simple deductions and convince a judge that Kate was an unfit guardian for the girls. That even with Mike's paperwork and her adoption of the girls was meaningless.
It didn't matter that Kate worked hard and was well respected in the community. It didn't matter that the kids wanted her to be their guardian and live with her, it didn't matter that her lawyer was better than Christina's, none of it mattered.
In the end, the judge on the case; of course ruled in Christina's favour. Kate and Mike's marriage of 4 weeks had been dissolved like it never happened. His reasoning was that Mike hadn't waited long enough and the judge on their case had incorrectly ruled over it. Thus Christina was given full custody of the girls with only Lena being allowed weekend visitation. Christina even had the gall to want her marriage to Mike to stay in place until Mike came home from his mission as she required his benefits and pay to look after the girls.
Not that Kate needed the money, it just made her angry that the Judge allowed it all to happen. She knew why because one of Michener's minions came to her with Christina with an offer. She could hand over her company and all it's holdings to the US government or lose Mike and the kids.
Kate had almost signed it all over but Ravit and Anna talked her out of it. They made her see the reality that even if she gave up Lassiter Industries, Christina still had legal rights to take the kids anyway thanks to it being public record that Kate was 'unfit guardian'. So she'd lose out either way.
She just had to wait for Mike to come home and then he could sort it out. She just hoped he would forgive her for failing him, for losing their home and kids. She knew the guilt ate at her constantly it was why she was so hellbent on ruining Michener and his work where she could. She made sure whatever she did helped America and the world in general. She just made sure she fulfilled Michener's promises where he struggled, stamping Lassiter Industries' name on it and making sure the world knew that Michener had nothing to do with it. She wanted to make sure the world knew Michener was ineffectual and not worth his title without saying out loud.
Lena had the girls every weekend which was meant they came over to Kate's house. It wasn't enough as the girls wanted to stay with her and Lena full time. After Kate lost custody, Lena had returned to Norfolk to continue her work in perma-culture farming up north during the week and only came down for the weekends. Kate didn't blame her as Lena had said it was best to stay busy until Mike came back.
"Well, I'll let Mrs Miller know and get her to send us a cow." Anna told her, she hated seeing Kate so pale and ill especially given she was moving so slowly and just keeping up with them all.
Anna wished the Nathan James hadn't been sailing under EMCOM so Mike could talk to Kate. She knew it was an unspoken rule to never give a sailor or soldier bad news from home but Anna felt Mike deserved to know. The man had a right to know what was going on and she felt Kate needed to hear from him that everything would be ok. That he could salve whatever was fuelling Kate's warpath and get her to calm down and step back to look after herself.
"Sounds good, Just make sure it's butchered this time. I felt really horrible telling Zoe that Daisy was going to a farm to run around and play." Kate told her as she pushed herself up off the lounge. "If we're all good. I'm going to head over to Rachel's." Kate added.
"Yeah, we're all good but I think you need to take a week off." Anna told her.
"I'll think about it." Kate told her as it probably wasn't a bad idea.
Tom was halfway to the car when he heard the soft whimpering noise of an animal. He looked around for the source but couldn't see it anywhere. So he walked around to find the source as he followed the noise. He stopped at the fence between his property and Mike's where they stored their bins.
He lifted the lids off his own first and found nothing but trash. But the noise was still coming from the area. He looked around and didn't see any animals on the ground. He checked his watch and looked to Mike's house. It was early enough he could hop the fence and see if the animal was on their side. The saddest whimpering sounded and his decision was made.
He hopped over the fence and looked around the area before he lifted the lid of the recycling bin. He was availed by a terrible smell of urine and faeces. He saw the source as there in the bin was a cardboard box that had paw prints on it and an address slip that had Kate's name on it. Tom flipped the lid off the box inside was small quivering mess of a black puppy sitting in its own mess looking miserable.
It looked up at him and whimpered even more loudly. "Oh buddy." Tom said feeling his heart strings being pulled as the puppy looked confused and in pain. It tried to get up but wavered on its feet as the box shook about from the movement. Tom reached in, picked up the box and lifted it out of the bin.
"Let's get you cleaned up and to your proper owner." He said, he ignored the smell but kept the box away from him as he didn't need to ruin his uniform. He was definitely going to be late to work.
"Son, figured you'd be gone by now." Jed said.
"I found this." Tom said showing him the contents of the box. He really wanted to put the box down and let the puppy out but he was afraid of it running off.
"Ok." Jed said as he looked to the box and the sorry looking little puppy inside.
"Present from Mike to Kate and the girls." Tom said, he watched his father's expression grow dark with understanding. After Kate lost the children. she'd moved out of the house and Mike and the kids shared next door to Tom's place. The kids stayed and Christina moved in acting as though she owned the place. First thing she did was renovate the house and toss out everything that Kate and Mike shared. Tom and Jed made it their mission in those weeks to salvage what they could from the garbage; photos and knick knacks etc. They stowed them in the garage as Kate had been too much of a mess to handle seeing it all.
She still was, she just buried herself in work and helping her friends. While she had the girls on the weekend it wasn't enough, he could tell she wasn't happy, but more going through the motions. It made him wish that he hadn't pushed Mike to take up Captaincy of the Nathan James. But then he hadn't counted on Christina showing up. He was just grateful that Kate was still present in their lives as she helped Rachel through her pregnancy and with the babies when Tom had to work. He knew it hadn't been easy for her to come over to their place as it reminded her of a life she once had. He knew she was doing her best to cope.
Christina however was the neighbour from hell. This latest offence just added to the list. Throwing a puppy in the trash really got under his skin but he knew it wasn't worth talking to her about as Christina lived in her own world. A world where she got whatever she wanted and she was always right. At least the girls were being taken care of. Tom made sure to tell Christina he'd be keeping an eye on the kids as a favour to Mike.
"I'll take care of it." Jed said to him as he held out his hands for the box.
"You sure?" Tom asked him.
"Yeah, he just needs a hose down and some attention of the friendly kind."
"We can't keep him." Tom told Jed.
"I know, I think Kate will want this puppy. It might be good practice for giving her the rest of the stuff we're holding for her." Jed said with a kind smile to the dog as he placed the box on the grass of the front yard, he tipped it slowly so the dog wasn't too off put. The dog clued in quick and jumped out of the box on to the grass. "Better run before he wants to rub his business on your shiny shoes." Jed said with an amused smile as the puppy looked at them wondering who to give his attention to first.
"Yeah, good idea." Tom remarked as he moved to his car, he looked over to see his father calling to the puppy to follow him.
"Ms Zhang, Ms Allison Shaw is here to see you." Gina said when Anna picked up the phone.
"Tell her I'm too busy. Thank you." Anna replied, she barely hung up the phone when the door swung open and Allison Shaw Chief of Staff for President Michener walked into her and Kate's office like she owned it. She was tall, blond attractive woman who was immaculately put together. She was formidable woman, but Anna after her years in the Military and the Pandemic was not one to cower but the Amazonian woman routine.
"I can see you are free." Allison said coolly as she forced herself into Anna and Kate's office. She looked around noting that the large room that had two long couches, two desks. It was rather unusual for CEO's to share an office but then it spoke volumes of Anna and Kate's friendship and business partnership. No walls meant no secrets in Allison's world
"How very American of you to be bullheaded and push your way into my office." Anna drawled as she closed her laptop and sat back in her chair to look at the blonde woman. She had feeling in another life they could have been friends but it was not that life as she worked for Michener. The only person she trusted in Michener's office was Kara and Tom... and their mole who gave them updates on what Michener was up to.
"Shall I call security?" Gina asked from the door, her receptionist looked worried more so for her job than Allison as Anna's reputation from up north had followed her to Lassiter Industries. Anna shook her head.
"No, it's ok but call Mrs Miller and apologise for my tardiness and reschedule our call for a time of her choosing." Anna told Gina who nodded and also looked relieved at not being in trouble. Anna wasn't going to get angry at Gina as she was good worker; she couldn't control people like Allison and it wasn't her job to anyway.
"Yes, Ma'am." she said, she closed the door and Anna looked to Allison with a bored look.
"You have three minutes before I start charging your government for my time." Anna told her as she sank down in her office chair getting comfortable as she had a feeling Allison was going to shout at her for something. It wasn't the first time she'd darken their doorstep and so today wouldn't be the last time either.
"You and Kathryn Lassiter have been ignoring the President's invitation to the oval office." Allison said.
"Isn't the office a square shaped?" Anna asked, she had only been to the old courtroom house where Michener had set up shop once but she remember the 'oval office' it being an old courtroom converted into a large situational room/meeting room that was connected to Michener's office that used to be judge's chambers. But they weren't round shaped rooms in any definition of the word.
"We need your help." Allison said laying it on the line. She knew Michener was going to lose the next election if Kate and Anna didn't have Lassiter Industries side with them. She didn't know what caused Kate to put Lassiter Industries on it's mission but it was a huge powerhouse, not just domestically but internationally as well. It wasn't good for them to be against Michener even if they never said as much publically it was felt.
"And Kate needed the President's support three months ago and he was keenly absent. Now she survived, so I think he can do the same without us." Anna drawled in a casual tone. Allison fought the urge to roll her eyes as she felt what happened to Kate was tragic but not relevant to Michener.
"Our allies are withdrawing from the capital, your company's alliances with the warlords are undermining Michener's efforts to rebuild the country and-" Allison started but Anna cut her off.
"I prefer to call them caretakers or let's call a spade a spade… They are farmers, engineers, builders and we have trade agreements. It's purely business which if you want to investigate us then by all means but it is all legitimate. Have you been to those areas that are controlled by what you call 'Warlords'?" Anna asked Allison.
"You know I haven't." Allison said as she'd been in St Louis from the beginning of the Pandemic. She also knew the point Anna was trying to make that Michener hadn't left St Louis to see these territories that refused to rejoin America... well Michener's America.
"Yes, then you would know that they hold nearly half of America's current food resources. Lassiter Industries gave them electricity from clean renewable sources, we help them by supplying their needs to protect their territory in the form of non lethal security systems in exchange they give me a portion of their crops and livestock. All that food that pours into this city and many others through out the continent which is all thanks to our work. How did you enjoy your breakfast this morning?" Anna asked her in a patronizing manner.
"I don't appreciate your tone." Allison said as she didn't like being spoken to as if she were an ignorant child.
"I don't appreciate you walking in here like you own me when really it's the other way round. Kate and I are co- owners of Lassiter Industries and its subsidiary companies. You wanted us to pick up the mantel, so you can't come in here all pissy because you don't like how we're doing our jobs. We're also not indebted to you, we don't even care for your government but we follow and respect your laws no matter how ridiculously restrictive and annoying they are." Anna told her.
"We gave you both citizenship, something we can revoke." Allison said deciding if Anna was going to patronize her then she'd do the same to her. Anna looked amused by the threat than worried.
"Sure, you go do that." Anna said not scared in the slightest. "Deport us and watch as your country falls into civil war, enjoy the lack of electricity, running water and satellite communications and all the other things our company supplies to you all." she leaned forward in her chair and gave Allison a chilling smile. "While you're at it you can go tell all those people out there how they will be unemployed, hungry and homeless within a month. How they can thank President Michener for that." Anna told her.
"You think you have that kind of power?" Allison asked her in disbelief, but she could see that Anna believed and hell, she was right. Kate and Anna were cutthroat enough to kill the American economy.
"I do. You were in office for 2 months and did nothing but worry about the outside world and trying to take control of international territories. Kate took control of the company and within 2 weeks she housed families, created jobs and opened up trade routes so people could get food. Those farmers that keep you up at night that are expanding their territories? It's being used for permaculture farming. Like I said they are care takers and if you or Michener bothered to meet them, you'd see that the people are happy and healthy there. They just don't want to acknowledge Michener as they didn't vote for him and they don't want to be subjugated by your government and its need to save the whole world motto." Anna told her.
"We need our international neighbours." Allison told her.
"You and Michener need them to pat you on the back for saving them. You need international governments to comply with the cure so the virus can be eradicated and for those displaced to get sent back to their countries so they don't live off your people's kindness. That's all. What America and it's people need is to be self sufficient instead of being at the mercy of global trade then maybe people will be more open to beginning new relationships with the outside world. They are happy to send out the military on Mercy missions but it's a low priority to them." Anna told her.
"You talk like a politician." Allison said as she couldn't believe the way Anna spoke. It was like she had doing her job for years than mere months.
"No, I listen to people and the American public doesn't want a war with China." Anna told her.
"We're not gearing for a war with anyone." Allison said it was a little left of centre for Anna to say such a thing.
"Please, I heard President Peng was hoarding the cure and you're now sending in a diplomat to browbeat him into spreading the cure across Asia." Anna said, she knew it to be true as her mole inside Michener's government told her so. She was amazed at Allison because she was either clueless or great actress.
"I have no idea where you heard that." Allison said as it was the first she was hearing about it.
"Yet you can't keep your nose out of their affairs or your allies. The Australian Government won't back you in a war with China neither will Lassiter Industries." Anna assured her.
"We're not going to war and you don't speak for the Australian Government." Allison said wanting to put Anna in her place.
"You're right, I don't but may I remind you that that you're not representing Australia's interests by browbeating China. They own a large portion of Australian land or did before the pandemic. I know for a fact my country is working with China to ascertain the chain of ownership for land parcels and mines to see if the owners have died because then the government can reclaim them for the people of Australia. It's a delicate and agonising process which means we all have to play nice." Anna told her.
"How do you know about Peng ad the hoarding of the cure?" Allison asked.
"People talk and let me tell you. A summit with 5 star dining isn't going to fix your problem. Now you can leave." Anna told her, the door opened and Allison saw the man and knew she was being escorted out by security.