Its been ... 3 years. A horribly long time, but I'm back. Way overdo and I feel terrible about it. I really didn't expect to get this chapter out now, but I did. It was all written this morning, and frankly I think it could be better. Although I believe I'll leave that up to you to decide. I was considering rewriting it, but hopefully some of my old readers are still around to give me some advice. Without further ado, because there's been too much ado already, the next installment of Fall From Grace:
CHAPTER TWO
ODD GIRL OUT
Sherry Carpenter checked the address again just to make sure she was at the right place. She was. Deep inside she wished the place had been too hard to find, which would have allowed her to go back and force someone else to come instead. She'd heard way too many stories about the Cobra Unit to be comfortable with this task. They didn't even know Sherry was on her way, and yet she was already shaking. She couldn't imagine how poor Tara was getting along. It was throwing a lamb in the middle of a bunch of tigers. The worst part was how the younger woman didn't realize what she was getting into.
Gathering her courage Sherry raised her hand and rapped on the door. She expected a member of the Cobra Unit to answer, such as the one with the eerie smile. She shivered at the mere thought of him. He made her more nervous than all the others put together. It wasn't that he was intimidating, it was – there really wasn't a word for what he made you feel.
Sherry gasped when the door swung open with an unexpected creak. "Sherry!"
It was Tara, and she was wearing the same clothes she left the base in the day before. She didn't look in distress. In fact, she looked quite well. Then again she'd only been in their presence for a day. "Tara, how nice to see you!" Sherry recovered quickly, placing the bag down to give her friend a short hug. "How are you?"
"Well." Tara answered. Her eyes flickered down to the suitcase. "That mine?"
"Oh yes." Sherry handed it to her. "Connor sent me to fetch a few of your things. I picked up some of your books, too. Just in case."
"Thank you." Tara said appreciatively, smiling. With a sigh she admitted, "I probably am going to need them. I don't believe any of them like me very much, so conversation is most likely out. I guess I don't blame them, considering the way we've all been thrown together..." She trailed off, careful not to mention their first data analyst, even though none of them were around to hear her.
She had been accused of being dense many times before, but she was being quite vigilant over her actions toward the Cobra Unit. They didn't really seem as bad as everyone was trying to make them out to be. Frankly the whole calling them Heroes then acting like frightened little mice around them business was driving her nuts. She wished everyone would be more consistent in their behavior; it made them look like hypocrites.
"Oh, look at me. I've lost my manners. Come in and sit down. I just made some tea."
Sherry thought a moment, "I don't know. I should be getting back. A nurse gone even for a short period of time causes problems."
"Come on." Tara asked, "I'll be going to France soon and I don't know when I'll be back. Come in and talk for a while."
Sherry was about to give in when she looked passed the younger girl into the hallway. Her breath caught in her throat for an instant before she could finally speak again. "I really can't, Tara. I hope you understand. Enjoy your trip to Paris." She turned and hurriedly made her retreat.
Tara watched in confusion. Why was Sherry acting so peculiar? One second she's absolutely fine and the next - - bam, the paranoia bug seemed to have bit her. Oh, well. She shrugged to herself as she shut the door and spun around.
XXX
Unfamiliar voices downstairs brought him out into the corridor. The Fear stood silent and still as he listened to the two women conversing at the front door. The new data analyst sounded so amiably chipper even this early. Any discomfort she had felt the day before in their presence had already faded, chased away by the rising sun. And it didn't take one as psychically sensitive as the Sorrow to tell that she had been very ill at ease the previous night. He still hadn't decided if it was due to their characterized introversion or their personalities in general. Even he had to admit that sometimes the word 'freak' did describe most of them quite accurately.
He easily made his way to the staircase undetected by either of them and began to descend the stairs. Halfway down he paused, head tilting as the particular step he was on managed to allow the most interesting effect. Bright morning sunlight filtered in from above, catching Tara's long chocolate hair just right. The strands seemed to glitter, almost glow. Even her hair is happy today. He noted with amusement.
"—don't know when I'll be back. Come in and talk for a while." She was pleading with her friend.
The other young woman looked almost prepared to do just that until she saw him standing there. He gave her his best smile, knowing already the reaction he would receive. He remembered her from a few previous occasions and she'd always seemed so uneasy around him. Just as he predicted she refused and hurried away, leaving Tara in confusion. She only shrugged and closed the door behind her, lugging her suitcase along.
Similarly to Ms. Carpenter Tara also gave quite a start when she noticed him there. "Oh my! I didn't know you were there." She cried, her hand flitting up to her chest. Her nervous chuckling laughter filled the small foyer.
"My apologies, Lt. Wickham." He said, his eyes drifting closed for a moment as he respectfully bowed his head a few degrees. When they opened again he regarded her and her bag curiously, "will you need any assistance with your things?"
"Huh?" She was bewildered for a moment, but one quick glance to where his eyes were directed set her back on track. "Oh! No. I'll be fine, but thank you very much." She smiled brightly again. He imagined that was the way she was smiling a minute before while talking to her friend.
He came down the stairs a few more steps, no longer enraptured by the light in her hair, but rather quite keen on experimenting with just how close he could get to her. The last analyst made it a point to keep at least five to six feet between the two – as if that would have spared him if he would have gone completely crazy and snapped on him. Even now that made the Fear smile in reverie. They'd gone through a few interesting ones indeed. "Have you had breakfast yet? Today might be a very long day and you may not get another chance to eat before you depart for France."
"Really?" She asked, "I thought that we weren't leaving until tonight. I figured we would at least have dinner…" She stood for a moment, lost in thought as she considered what he'd said. While she was lost in her own mind he managed to reach the ground floor. When she came out of her thoughts she said, "Yes, I suppose. Its possible to get so wrapped up in work we don't have time to stop. Have you?" She looked up at him.
Fascinating. He was standing so close to her now that he could almost smell her perfume and she looked unfazed. He gave her a smile. "Not yet. I just woke."
"I see. Would you like to join me for breakfast?" It was that bright smile again. It was so cheerful it was nearly contagious. "I would really like to get to know everyone. If we're all going to be working together I should at least know a little about you." She said it in such a hopeful tone.
A slight nod, "Very well."
"I'll be right back down." She gripped her suitcase tighter and started up the stairs. No doubt to go change out of the clothes she'd been wearing for nearly a day. A fourth of the way up her shoe caught on twisted. The smallest of gasps was wrenched from her throat as she tried to steady herself but failed.
Before he thought about it he had already moved, stopping her descent before she fell all the way down. Tara automatically latched onto his arm, panic spread in her eyes. She flinched as her suitcase hit the last stair and bounced to the floor, the lock snapping.
"Are you all right?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded finally as he set her back on her feet. "I'm not usually that clumsy." No, indeed she looked very graceful. A little brunette swan almost.
He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a voice from above. "What's going on? What's all that racket?" The Fury was standing at the top of the stairs, looking particularly miffed at the pair. Well, particularly missed at Tara.
"I'm sorry, I tripped and dropped my suitcase."
"Clumsy oaf." He muttered, barely audible to those downstairs, and then he spoke up again. "Rattling about this early! Don't you know you have a mission tonight?"
"I—"
"I thought they were sending a professional, not another dumb kid." With that he was gone, trudging back to his room. Tara looked upset at the exchange, her cheery air disappearing almost immediately as she moved passed him to go collect her things, which had managed to spill out over the floor.
"Don't worry about him." Fear said, bending to help her. "He's called Fury for a reason, although sometimes I think he forgets it's a codename and not a way of life."
She looked up at him again, and although her lips didn't move there was a smile in her eyes. "Thanks. So far you seem to be the only one who has really paid any attention to me." She tossed a couple shirts back in the suitcase, and reached for the last item, a small rectangular paper. He'd already been going for it and picked it up first.
A picture. A man and a woman standing in front of a house with flowers growing all along the front. In scrawling script a note was written on the back. Johnny and Evelyn. 1920.
"My parents." She explained, her hand held out for it. "Before they got married."
"You look like your mother." He noted. "Same eyes."
Her gaze dropped to the floor, a shadow of gloom passed over her. "She died two years after this picture was taken."
"How did she die?"
It took her a moment to answer. "Complications in childbirth."
"I am very sorry." She never met her mother.
"So am I." She answered, taking the picture back and stuffing it in one of her books. She still refused to meet his gaze. Without another word she scooped up the broken suitcase and hurried upstairs. Within seconds of losing sight of her he heard her bedroom door click shut.
He didn't expect to see her back down for breakfast.
XXX
It was near lunchtime when Tara attempted to show herself again. She'd already managed to look like a complete klutz in front of the Fury, and the Fear, well; he probably was off pitying her poor situation. In less than a day her professional façade was being stripped away. She hated that. She knew it was too much to ask to want them to see her as an equal, but at least useful could be all right. I feel useless so far. She thought drearily, making her way downstairs to the kitchen. She was starving and needed to scrounge for something before they shipped them off to Paris.
As her fingers reached for the doorknob she heard voices inside and she stopped.
"—ridiculous! They should be sending you, and you know it. So what this little girl is able to pretend her way through Paris." It was the Fury speaking. Tara didn't know who to.
"You know full well why they're sending her instead." A woman replied. The Joy. Tara was relieved she was there. She liked the Joy very much already. She was beautiful, intelligent and strong. She inspired hope and admiration. "I can't go and risk someone recognizing me. They needed a nobody in the field."
"Yeah, well, they got a nobody all right. The only reason she's going is because of the General. Face it; the two of you are going to be lucky if she doesn't get you killed. She can't even walk up a staircase without falling. Do you really expect her to walk through German-occupied Paris without trouble?"
"Aren't you being a little harsh, Fury?" A silky accented voice inquired. She remembered it from the night before. It was hard to mistake the soft elegance of the Sorrow.
"War is harsh." The Fury countered.
"True, but you can't expect her to turn into an experienced soldier overnight. Not even we knew what we were doing when we started. At least she has some knowledge through General Wickham."
"Will you still be saying that when you're six feet under due to one of her rookie mistakes?"
"If I find myself six feet under it will be due to my own mistakes, not hers." The Sorrow maintained his cool tone, but it held a caustic bite this time. A warning.
"I think we should give her a chance."
Tara's heart lifted at the sound of the Fear's voice. It was the proof that he wasn't just being kind to her face; that at least one of them liked her enough to want to see what she could do.
"And you, she seems nice now, but just wait until she sees the special abilities that got you placed in this team. She'll react just like the rest of them. You'll see. No one else will say it, but I will. She's just like the rest."
Tara couldn't take listening to anymore of it. She backtracked quietly to halfway up the stairs and made her way down again, each step heavier than normal. She wanted them to know she was coming to avoid any awkward feelings. It would be best if they didn't know she'd heard anything. "Hello everyone." She greeted, smiling. "I'm not late am I?"
Well, that's it for now. R&R. I'll hopefully be back soon, and a lot sooner than last time.
P.S. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!
Next Chapter: They finally make it to France, I promise! And will they find their contact with the new weapon information or be lost in the chaos of German-occupied Paris?