Overnight Therapy - Chapter Forty-Three
Title: Overnight Therapy
Author: LSM71059
Fandom: Spooks
Characters: Lucas
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season Seven
Summary: Lucas North has someone to confide in and take care of him when the nightmares and bad flashbacks happen.
Disclaimer: All Spooks Characters are the intellectual property of the BBC.
The Inspiration for this story was taken from the song "South City Midnight Lady" by the Doobie Brothers
(Time Line for chapter: Just Prior to Episode 7.04)
Chapter Forty-Three
Lori hardly registered Lucas sliding his hand into hers giving it a squeeze and starting to move. She was on autopilot, lost deep in thought running a variety of rescue scenarios through her mind. She appreciated the way he didn’t feel the need to make small talk as they made their way down the stairs side by side. Reaching the front door, Lori paused when her Blackberry vibrated. She took it out, looked at the Caller I.D., saw it was a Pentagon phone number and answered, “Yea, Montgomery.”
She caught Lucas in her peripheral vision as he went ahead out the door. The voice on the other end said, “Please hold for General Conway.”
General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps came on the line, “Commander Montgomery, I wanted to call personally to thank you for taking on this rescue mission.”
Lori responded in her most respectful military voice, “It’s my honour Sir.”
General Conway continued, “Stand down at this time while we work out further details. But remain on alert to mobilize in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
“Yes Sir,” Lori answered trying very hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice under control.
“Dismissed,” the General said before disconnecting.
Lori was scared and livid all at the same time. The delay could not be due to anything good. What was going on? She needed answers and needed them now. The Blackberry was buzzing in her hand. This time the caller I.D. was the person she hoped could give her the answers. Keeping the greeting as short as possible she answered, “Joe.”
By the tone of her voice, he knew she was going to be as skittish as an unbroken colt. Joe said in his most calming and soothing voice, “I take it you have received your phone call from the General. I had every intention of getting to you first but was tied up on the phone with SecNav. I don’t know much, just that we are going to be have a video conference with SecNav and Harry Pearce of MI-5 in the next few minutes. Apparently there are some bureaucratic issues that have to be worked out before the rescue mission can commence.”
“So I should go to MI-5,” Lori said eager to be part of the video conference so she could get details firsthand.
“I’m sorry Lori, but no. I was informed it would SecNav, Harry Pearce, Donovan and me only. You know I’ll call if there is any new Intel.”
Lori had to ask the question nagging her most, “Is the delay really due to Bureaucratic red tape or is it because it has become a recovery instead of a rescue mission?”
“It is still a rescue mission,” Joe said, his voice sounding reassuring.
“Prove it. Have them send the coordinates for Eric’s beacon to my Blackberry. That way I can monitor it for myself,” Lori said very determinedly.
Joe replied, “I’m sure that can be arranged. I’ll put in the request”
“Call me when you can. And for my own piece of mind promise......,” Lori said, trying to remain calm and not take your frustration out on Joe. She knew it wasn’t his fault that the Bureaucrats were her biggest irritant at the moment.
“I know...have them send you the coordinates and keep you informed as soon as I have any new news. Lori, I know how hard it is for you to standby and do nothing but........,” Joe started say.
“Yea, yea, I know, it is what it is,” Lori finished for him. “Get after them, Joe. Don’t let them hold this up before it’s too late.”
“I will do my best. I have to go. The video conference is starting. Donovan and I are flying over. Hang in there till we get there,” Joe said then disconnected. As the video conference started, he looked sideways at Donovan sending up a prayer that Lori would hold fast till they got there. But he didn’t really hold out a whole lot of hope she would considering it was Eric who needed rescuing. Donovan nodded his head ever so slightly indicating he understood Joe’s look. They were both worried she’d take matters in to her own hands instead of waiting to go with the Seals.
******************************
Lori hit the wall in frustration, damn the Bureaucrats and their red tape. It was ludicrous to stand around and wait. Time was not on their side. The first twenty-four hours were the most critical. And as best she calculated they had used at least a quarter of that time already. Was she the only one who realized that? If they didn’t want to get Eric, she’d do it herself. She didn’t have to report for at least twenty-fours. A Black Ops was the way to go. She dialled from memory an encrypted phone number then typed in her coded text message:
[Playing under new moon] break [Game of Durak] break [Any takers?] break [Gray Ghost]
She read it over twice before being satisfied and hit the send key. Now for the hard part, waiting to see who would reply, in the mean time, she needed to get moving. Lucas was waiting outside and would be wondering if she was ever coming.
Lori took several very deep breaths to get her temper over the situation under control as she made her way out to the car. Lucas was waiting being the Gentleman, as always, holding the door. She came round taking the door out of his hand and slammed it closed taking out some of her aggravation. It was not his fault everything had been put on hold and she would try hard not to take it out on him. She turned around, leaned against the door, folder her arms in front of her, looked down at the ground and apologized with all the calm she could muster, “Sorry to have put you to such bother, but I won’t be needing a ride to the airfield this evening. Seems the bureaucrats have decided to put a temporary hold on the mission. Even as we speak, Harry Pearce is having a video conference with my higher ups to discuss the situation and we aren’t invited to the soirée.”Lucas ran his hand over her folded arms. It was a comforting gesture for her. He said in his kind way, “It was no bother. Look at this way, the car will be here and ready for your use when they call and say to mobilize.”
Grateful for all he had done already, Lori grabbed his hand with hers and raised it up to her lips giving the back a light kiss as a thank you. Mentally kicking herself for acting like what she considered to be a spoiled brat who didn’t get to play as soon as she wanted to, decided to revert back to the plan from earlier in the evening. She straightened and looked at Lucas with a hint of mischief in her eyes and slight smile on her lips knowing how much he wasn’t looking forward to doing laundry. But she’d do her best to make it fun for him. She said, “Well, looks like I won’t have to cut our evening short after all. So what say, I go get out of this flight suit and we can go about continuing with our original plan of getting the laundry done.”
Lucas cocked his eyebrow at her before dropping her hand in order to move to the driver’s side to turn off the car. He said in a flirty tone, “I am here to help in any way possible, perhaps I could be assistance in getting you out of that flight suit.”
Lori couldn’t help but smile at his blatant innuendo. She moved swiftly to the side of car he was on. Lightly patting his back, she said chuckling, “You are a shameless flirt Mr. North.”
Lucas straightened up closing the door and locking it. Turning around and giving her one of his lopsided smiles, he said in a light tone, “Or just an opportunist. You are correct though. I am guilty as charged Ms. Montgomery. But it was worth being exposed as it made you smile. Shall we go see about those Launderette hours?”
Lori admired how his wit and charm had lightened not only the moment but her mood. She was more than ready to be doing something productive to keep her mind and hands occupied. She nodded her agreement while slipping her hand in to his saying, “That it did, thank you for that.”
They made their way the short distance down the street to the front of the Launderette. The hours were clearly posted on the door. It was open till 11:00 p.m. That was more than enough time to complete their task. Lucas sighed comically, “Looks as if I won’t get be getting out of doing laundry tonight.”
Lori playfully punched his arm for his comedic side before starting to walk back home. She couldn’t pass up giving him a hard time and retorted, “Poor Lucas, he’s so put upon being obliged to endure my company while the wash gets done. Sooner we get after it, the sooner you can stop me from harping on the task at hand.”
“Yes, but somehow I will endure. You are persistent or should I say relentless when it comes to getting a task done,” Lucas sassed back as he walked beside her.
“So I’ve been told,” Lori said as she waited for Lucas to unlock the front door. She hoped he never had to experience firsthand the full extent just how persistent and relentless she could be.
Lori focused as Lucas slipped the keys from his pocket, flipped the lock and opened the front door. Keeping the plan moving along, she continued as they went up the stairs, “Here’s the plan - I’ll change and get all the laundry in my place together while you do the same over at yours. I figure it might take me a bit longer so just come back over when you are ready to go. Work for you?”
“Yep, works for me,” Lucas said as he unlocked her door to let her in.
“Excellent, see you in a bit then,” Lori said giving him a one arm hug before relinquishing her hold and going in to her place. She shut the door then made a beeline for the bedroom to collect the clothes basket. Returning to the front room, she made one big sweep with her arm moving the new clothes in to the basket on top of the few things of hers. She set the full basket by the door then headed back to change out of her flight suit.
Lori reached in to the back of the closet for her duffel bag. She tossed it on the bed along with a black long sleeved t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie. A pair of black socks and set of underwear were added to the pile. As she changed her clothes, she chuckled and shook her head remembering Lucas’ offer to “help her out of her flight suit”. The ensemble was finished with a ball cap of the same colour as the rest. Laundry detergent, a few hangars and her flight suit gear were stuffed in to the duffel bag before slinging it over her shoulder and heading down the hall to the front room. It was no surprise Lucas was waiting for her by the door. Noting he was taking in her attire, she said wryly, “I figured I’d dress to fit my mood.”
“Fair enough, ready then?” Lucas asked holding open the door.
“Yep, let’s do it,” Lori said heading out the door and down the stairs to open the front door for Lucas. She knew he’d take care of locking up and would have his hands full with the laundry. She was subdued lost in thought of how the next twenty-four hours could be the most critical for Eric.
Arriving at the front door, he said, “Thanks, I think we ought to drive down to the launderette. It will make it easier instead of toting everything there and back.”
“Alright, I defer to you in the matter,” Lori said distracted. She was looking intently at her Blackberry awaiting both the coordinates for Eric’s beacon and the responses to the coded message she’d sent earlier.
Lori joined Lucas at the car while he opened the boot. He stowed his load, then took the duffel off her shoulder and placed it next to the rest before closing it. So lost in thought, she neglected to notice he’d opened the passenger side door and was waiting on her till he asked, “Lori, you ready?”
She looked up at him suddenly having been brought out of her reverie. Lori apologized giving him an explanation for her distraction, as she slid in to her seat, “Sorry Lucas, they promised to send the coordinates for Eric’s beacon to my Blackberry so I could monitor it. And the SOBs haven’t done it yet.”
“No need to apologize, I understand you being distracted this evening,” Lucas said in a gentle voice before he closed the door and made his way around to the driver’s seat.
It took a minute to drive down to the Launderette. Although the duration was very short, Lori’s nervous energy was kicking in and the need to be active became overwhelming for her. She was out of the car and waiting at the boot before Lucas even had time to shut off the car and disconnect his safety belt. She needed to get busy on the laundry before she totally lost it in front of Lucas.
He met her at the rear of the car and before having the chance to open it, extracted his mobile and checked the caller id. Opening the boot and flipping the mobile open at the same time, he answered, “Harry.”
Lori watched his every movement and nodded her acknowledgement of who was on the phone. She extracted the two duffel bags from the boot and headed in to the Launderette. She knew Lucas would follow with the clothes basket as soon as he was able. He did sooner than expected with his mobile plastered to his ear. She had already begun to sort the clothes in to various washing machines. He sat the basket down next to the duffels before returning outside to finish his call. She figured he was getting an update on the video conference from Harry.
As she finished stuffing the last of the laundry in to a washer, Lori thought it was good of Harry to be keeping Lucas in the loop even if she wasn’t being shown the same courtesy by her superiors. After pouring in the laundry detergent and starting the washers, she took a seat on the one furthest from the door.
She checked her GPS tracker feature on the Blackberry to see if Eric’s coordinates had been sent. Disappointed they hadn’t, she started to call Joe but thought better of it. Perhaps he was still in his video conference. There were probably more matters to be discussed that did not require Harry Pearce’s presence. An envelope popped up on the screen indicating she either had a text message or an e-mail. She tapped the envelope in the middle of the screen to open the text messaging/e-mail program. There were three encrypted text messages. She smiled as she went to the extra added layer of encryption to read and respond to them. Scanning all the messages before replying, she began to responding to each one:
The first coded message said:
[Ready to play Gray Ghost] break [In your neck of the woods] break [Night Shadow]
Lori answered:
[Game afloat like last time] break [Mist & Smoke joining in] break [See me soon, GG]
The second:
[Will play if Gray Ghost running the game] break [What are stakes this time?] Break [Cool Mist]
She responded with:
[GG running game afloat] break [Shadow & Smoke playing] break [Highest stakes possible]
And the third made her chuckle and shake her head as she read:
[Would rather play Euchre with you as partner] break [Always the winning team in that game] break [Can handle anything you want to play] break [wink, wink, Black Smoke]
She finished texting by sending:
[Playing afloat like last time] break [Shadow & Mist to visit] break [See me soon Partner, GG]
So with her two favourite Russian Coverts, Mikhail Derevko and Ilya Nikitenko, along with her former partner from Interpol, Darious Noir, lined up for the operation, Lori could to move on to next task at hand, acquiring the use of a boat in the Baltic Sea Region in order to get over to Kronschtadt Island. Sergei Zhukov would be her best bet for that. He was one of her assets that was, shall we say, less than reputable but got things done on her time table. And besides, he owed her a favour or two or more. She logged out of the secure encrypted mode of text messaging to send him his message:
[Let’s cruise like last time] break [You available right now?] break [Give me lift?] break [Sam S.]
While waiting on the reply, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Lucas entered. The look on his face said he’d probably been told by Harry everything she knew about Eric and possibly more. It was distressing to see him having to remember such horrid memories of Russia on account of his association with her. She didn’t say anything as he approached knowing he was taking that moment to process his feelings and school his features in to a calm look. The reply came back as he took off his coat and saddled up to the washer next to her. He adopted what she thought of as his usual stance of casually crossing his arms and legs. She read quickly:
[Anything for my Dark Angel] break [When & where shall I call?] break [Always Yours, Sergei]
As her deft fingers keyed in the response to Sergei copying Darious, Ilya and Mikhail, she asked not looking up, “And how was Mr. Pearce’s visit with SecNav?”
[9:00 p.m. my time, my flat] break [We’ll do a Spooky Overnight Cruise] break [Ring me later]
Only the people in her inner circle of associates knew that when Lori said ‘my time’, it meant Eastern Standard Time and it was to be converted to whatever time zone she was in. So 9:00 p.m. really meant 2:00 a.m. London time. The other key word was flat. It meant she was in London. She had a different word to use for ‘home’ that would identify where she was in the world. This close to October 31st, no one would be suspicious talking about that type of cruise.
“Informative, and what have you been up to while I was getting an update from Harry?” Lucas said. She could tell he was trying to dissuade her from probing for details and take the conversation in a different direction.
Lori looked sideways at him before answering him. She was feeling better now that there was a plan in motion for Eric’s rescue. With a mischievous grin, she answered, “Oh you know the usual for a Saturday evening, sorting and doing laundry, checking the sports scores, working on my latest scheme for world domination.”
“And how’s all that working out for you?” Lucas teased back with a grin of his own.
Lori looked up at him to see the grin. It made her feel good to know she was the source of the grin. She answered, “All things considered, not bad, not bad at all. So, let me guess, you aren’t at liberty discuss the update, right?”
“What makes you think that?” Lucas asked.
She knew this was his way of trying to find out how much she actually knew or did not know. It was time to give Lucas her full attention and do what she did best. Get him to relax. Laying the Blackberry off to the side, Lori tugged Lucas over by his arm so he was leaning on the washer she was currently using as a chair. She unfolded her legs putting them on either side of him, put her hands on his shoulders and began massaging them before answering softly in his ear, “Well, let’s see. You didn’t immediately fill me in when you came back in. You are good at schooling your features, but that relaxed air you are attempting to convey doesn’t reach your eyes. And, if I’m not mistaken, most of the anxiety you are trying to hide at the moment comes from the fact you have been told the true location of Eric. How am I doing so far?”
“Insightful as always,” Lucas sighed resting his arms on her thighs.
Lori used her massage technique to knead the tension out of his shoulders. It was a mere matter of minutes when she felt his shoulders totally relaxed. When she ran her fingers firmly up and down the back of his neck a number of times, he bowed his head. She moved on to massage the base of his skull.
She felt the washer under her quit running. Slowing down to a stop, Lori gave the back of his head a small pat before removing her hands and announcing, “I’m not done with you yet, however, it’s time to switch the loads of wash to the driers.”
Lucas groaned. It made Lori chuckle as she patted his sides saying, “Sooner you move, the sooner we can resume.”
As he straightened up and moved to the first washer next to him, Lucas teased, “You really are proving to be a hard task master. But I will acquiesce to your wishes Madam on the condition you do finish what you started.”
“I had no doubt you’d see it my way,” Lori said confidently getting off the washer she’d been sitting on opening it up. She sorted through the clothes in two washers closest to her taking out the ones that needed to be air dried stuffing them in to a bag and putting the rest in to driers.
Lucas moved the contents of his two washers to the driers with ease. When he reached the third one, he paused and held up Lori’s flight suit asking “Does this go in the dryer?”
Lori looked up from her washer holding a fist full of lingerie saying, “Yep, good to go. Thanks for asking.”
When he looked over to see what the washer she was working on contained and immediately looked away his cheeks starting to flush, she had to smile. He could be such an Old fashioned Gentleman some times. It was very endearing to her. As Lori finished stuffing the handful in to the bag, she explained, “These clothes need to be air dried.”
“That’s quite a bag full, what all does it contain?” Lucas asked walking over to Lori.
“Certain sweaters which I believe you call jumpers that need to be dried flat and the articles of clothing made of silk and lace,” Lori answered as she pulled the drawstrings on the plastic bag.
“We’ll make an Honorary Brit of you yet with the way you are catching on to our way of describing various things,” Lucas teased.
“Hmmm, maybe I should work on converting you in to an Honorary American instead,” Lori shot back with a bit of a smirk. She put the bag on the floor then proceeded to extract coins out of her pockets, fed them in to the driers and started them up.
Leaning back against a washer again, Lucas said, “An exchange of culture sounds like an excellent idea. I would be more than a willing participant.”
“As would I, well good now that we’ve established a willingness to exchange cultures, I promised you earlier I would finish what I started once the clothes were in the driers by giving you the rest of your back massage. So if you are ready,” Lori said as she hopped up on the washer next to him, flexed her fingers, and pulled Lucas over positioning him in between her legs. Even though plans were in motion, she needed to keep her hands and mind busy on something else.
As she gently kneaded his spine from top to bottom, Lucas said with a contented sigh, “mmmmm, you have a great hands. Not that I complaining mind you or want you to stop any time soon, but wasn’t I the one who was to have given you a massage, instead of the other way around?”
“Oh don’t worry, I fully intend on letting you reciprocate in the future but for now, this is helping to keep busy in order to save me from going out of mind with worry about Eric,” Lori answered as she began to lightly scratch all over his back. It didn’t surprise her that his sense of duty shown through even when it came to a friendly promise.
“Happy to be able to help out keeping you busy,” Lucas said lightly as he slightly bent forward. He asked, “Have you received the coordinates for Eric’s beacon yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure it won’t be much longer till I do,” Lori said her voice having a forced nonchalant air. It was really grating on her nerves that they hadn’t been sent yet and add to that he’d heard from Harry but she hadn’t from Joe or Donovan. Keeping her hands busy was helping not to pick up the Blackberry and start chewing someone out for lack of information and data. She switched back from scratching to massaging. Her concentration was first on his hips and the base of his spine then steadily progressed upward.
Lucas leaned back in to her touch as her fingers made their way back up his neck, through his hair and settled on making the softest of circles around his temples. She felt him relax even more.
She thought about how Stephen had always relished her massages. He’d told her it was in his top three of favourite things she did for him. Remembering how she had always taken the time to outline his tattoos during massages, Lori asked very quietly, “Stephen had five onion dome shapes with crosses at the top of each one on his back, how many do you have?”
She could tell he’d been caught off guard and hoped he wouldn’t shut down. Lucas said just as quietly, “Eight.”
“You’ve just gotten back right?” Lori asked with a gentle voice. She was pleased he had answered and hoped he would continue to talk openly.
“Three weeks ago, well actually it will be four on Monday” Lucas answered then asked, “Does it show?”
Feeling him tense up under her touch, Lori stopped massaging his temples, laid her cheek on his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his middle and gave him a comforting hug before explaining, “It does not. You’ll have to forgive my rude question. While I was massaging your back, I was taking a trip down memory lane how I would take the time to trace Stephen’s tattoos while I gave him a massage. He told me the ones on the back were a status symbol for the passage of time and having survived.”
“I concur with what he told you. And it wasn’t a rude question. One thing, I’ve learned this week is when you ask a question, it is because you care and are truly interested in the answer," Lucas said.
Happy he understood, Lori raised her head saying, “Thanks for that. It’s true. I do ask because I care. But if you don’t want to talk about it, I totally understand. We could pick a different topic to talk about. Just know, if you ever need an ear on any subject, I’m here.”
“I know, and I appreciate it,” Lucas said as he turned around in her arms to face her. He put his arms around her shoulders and gave Lori a big hug.
Lori gave him a big hug in return then said, “Looks like the driers are done. We should check to see if the clothes are dry."
Lucas gave her a quick peck on the cheek before nodding his agreement. He said with a definitive tone, “I'd very much like to continue this conversation later on."
"I look forward to it," Lori said as she hopped off the washer and checked the various driers.
Only the driers with the jeans and towels weren't completely dry, so Lori started them up again before joining Lucas folding and hanging up the rest of the clothes. Remembering how cheeky he’d been earlier with his offer to get her out of the flight suit, she couldn't help sassing as she folded up his boxers, “Well at least I now know for sure what’s under those jeans of yours.”
Lucas sassed back, “If I’d been aware you wanted to know, I’d have shown you long before now.”
Lori had to laugh out loud. She was happy he was becoming so comfortable with her to tease in such a suggestive manner. She thought how well Lucas and Eric would get along. They had a lot in common. At the top of that list seemed to be their ability to keep up with her banter. It was up to her to make it happen so that they could meet. And the sooner it happened, the better for all concerned.
Author: LSM71059
Fandom: Spooks
Characters: Lucas
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Season Seven
Summary: Lucas North has someone to confide in and take care of him when the nightmares and bad flashbacks happen.
Disclaimer: All Spooks Characters are the intellectual property of the BBC.
The Inspiration for this story was taken from the song "South City Midnight Lady" by the Doobie Brothers
(Time Line for chapter: Just Prior to Episode 7.04)
Chapter Forty-Three
Lori hardly registered Lucas sliding his hand into hers giving it a squeeze and starting to move. She was on autopilot, lost deep in thought running a variety of rescue scenarios through her mind. She appreciated the way he didn’t feel the need to make small talk as they made their way down the stairs side by side. Reaching the front door, Lori paused when her Blackberry vibrated. She took it out, looked at the Caller I.D., saw it was a Pentagon phone number and answered, “Yea, Montgomery.”
She caught Lucas in her peripheral vision as he went ahead out the door. The voice on the other end said, “Please hold for General Conway.”
General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps came on the line, “Commander Montgomery, I wanted to call personally to thank you for taking on this rescue mission.”
Lori responded in her most respectful military voice, “It’s my honour Sir.”
General Conway continued, “Stand down at this time while we work out further details. But remain on alert to mobilize in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
“Yes Sir,” Lori answered trying very hard to keep the disappointment out of her voice under control.
“Dismissed,” the General said before disconnecting.
Lori was scared and livid all at the same time. The delay could not be due to anything good. What was going on? She needed answers and needed them now. The Blackberry was buzzing in her hand. This time the caller I.D. was the person she hoped could give her the answers. Keeping the greeting as short as possible she answered, “Joe.”
By the tone of her voice, he knew she was going to be as skittish as an unbroken colt. Joe said in his most calming and soothing voice, “I take it you have received your phone call from the General. I had every intention of getting to you first but was tied up on the phone with SecNav. I don’t know much, just that we are going to be have a video conference with SecNav and Harry Pearce of MI-5 in the next few minutes. Apparently there are some bureaucratic issues that have to be worked out before the rescue mission can commence.”
“So I should go to MI-5,” Lori said eager to be part of the video conference so she could get details firsthand.
“I’m sorry Lori, but no. I was informed it would SecNav, Harry Pearce, Donovan and me only. You know I’ll call if there is any new Intel.”
Lori had to ask the question nagging her most, “Is the delay really due to Bureaucratic red tape or is it because it has become a recovery instead of a rescue mission?”
“It is still a rescue mission,” Joe said, his voice sounding reassuring.
“Prove it. Have them send the coordinates for Eric’s beacon to my Blackberry. That way I can monitor it for myself,” Lori said very determinedly.
Joe replied, “I’m sure that can be arranged. I’ll put in the request”
“Call me when you can. And for my own piece of mind promise......,” Lori said, trying to remain calm and not take your frustration out on Joe. She knew it wasn’t his fault that the Bureaucrats were her biggest irritant at the moment.
“I know...have them send you the coordinates and keep you informed as soon as I have any new news. Lori, I know how hard it is for you to standby and do nothing but........,” Joe started say.
“Yea, yea, I know, it is what it is,” Lori finished for him. “Get after them, Joe. Don’t let them hold this up before it’s too late.”
“I will do my best. I have to go. The video conference is starting. Donovan and I are flying over. Hang in there till we get there,” Joe said then disconnected. As the video conference started, he looked sideways at Donovan sending up a prayer that Lori would hold fast till they got there. But he didn’t really hold out a whole lot of hope she would considering it was Eric who needed rescuing. Donovan nodded his head ever so slightly indicating he understood Joe’s look. They were both worried she’d take matters in to her own hands instead of waiting to go with the Seals.
******************************
Lori hit the wall in frustration, damn the Bureaucrats and their red tape. It was ludicrous to stand around and wait. Time was not on their side. The first twenty-four hours were the most critical. And as best she calculated they had used at least a quarter of that time already. Was she the only one who realized that? If they didn’t want to get Eric, she’d do it herself. She didn’t have to report for at least twenty-fours. A Black Ops was the way to go. She dialled from memory an encrypted phone number then typed in her coded text message:
[Playing under new moon] break [Game of Durak] break [Any takers?] break [Gray Ghost]
She read it over twice before being satisfied and hit the send key. Now for the hard part, waiting to see who would reply, in the mean time, she needed to get moving. Lucas was waiting outside and would be wondering if she was ever coming.
Lori took several very deep breaths to get her temper over the situation under control as she made her way out to the car. Lucas was waiting being the Gentleman, as always, holding the door. She came round taking the door out of his hand and slammed it closed taking out some of her aggravation. It was not his fault everything had been put on hold and she would try hard not to take it out on him. She turned around, leaned against the door, folder her arms in front of her, looked down at the ground and apologized with all the calm she could muster, “Sorry to have put you to such bother, but I won’t be needing a ride to the airfield this evening. Seems the bureaucrats have decided to put a temporary hold on the mission. Even as we speak, Harry Pearce is having a video conference with my higher ups to discuss the situation and we aren’t invited to the soirée.”Lucas ran his hand over her folded arms. It was a comforting gesture for her. He said in his kind way, “It was no bother. Look at this way, the car will be here and ready for your use when they call and say to mobilize.”
Grateful for all he had done already, Lori grabbed his hand with hers and raised it up to her lips giving the back a light kiss as a thank you. Mentally kicking herself for acting like what she considered to be a spoiled brat who didn’t get to play as soon as she wanted to, decided to revert back to the plan from earlier in the evening. She straightened and looked at Lucas with a hint of mischief in her eyes and slight smile on her lips knowing how much he wasn’t looking forward to doing laundry. But she’d do her best to make it fun for him. She said, “Well, looks like I won’t have to cut our evening short after all. So what say, I go get out of this flight suit and we can go about continuing with our original plan of getting the laundry done.”
Lucas cocked his eyebrow at her before dropping her hand in order to move to the driver’s side to turn off the car. He said in a flirty tone, “I am here to help in any way possible, perhaps I could be assistance in getting you out of that flight suit.”
Lori couldn’t help but smile at his blatant innuendo. She moved swiftly to the side of car he was on. Lightly patting his back, she said chuckling, “You are a shameless flirt Mr. North.”
Lucas straightened up closing the door and locking it. Turning around and giving her one of his lopsided smiles, he said in a light tone, “Or just an opportunist. You are correct though. I am guilty as charged Ms. Montgomery. But it was worth being exposed as it made you smile. Shall we go see about those Launderette hours?”
Lori admired how his wit and charm had lightened not only the moment but her mood. She was more than ready to be doing something productive to keep her mind and hands occupied. She nodded her agreement while slipping her hand in to his saying, “That it did, thank you for that.”
They made their way the short distance down the street to the front of the Launderette. The hours were clearly posted on the door. It was open till 11:00 p.m. That was more than enough time to complete their task. Lucas sighed comically, “Looks as if I won’t get be getting out of doing laundry tonight.”
Lori playfully punched his arm for his comedic side before starting to walk back home. She couldn’t pass up giving him a hard time and retorted, “Poor Lucas, he’s so put upon being obliged to endure my company while the wash gets done. Sooner we get after it, the sooner you can stop me from harping on the task at hand.”
“Yes, but somehow I will endure. You are persistent or should I say relentless when it comes to getting a task done,” Lucas sassed back as he walked beside her.
“So I’ve been told,” Lori said as she waited for Lucas to unlock the front door. She hoped he never had to experience firsthand the full extent just how persistent and relentless she could be.
Lori focused as Lucas slipped the keys from his pocket, flipped the lock and opened the front door. Keeping the plan moving along, she continued as they went up the stairs, “Here’s the plan - I’ll change and get all the laundry in my place together while you do the same over at yours. I figure it might take me a bit longer so just come back over when you are ready to go. Work for you?”
“Yep, works for me,” Lucas said as he unlocked her door to let her in.
“Excellent, see you in a bit then,” Lori said giving him a one arm hug before relinquishing her hold and going in to her place. She shut the door then made a beeline for the bedroom to collect the clothes basket. Returning to the front room, she made one big sweep with her arm moving the new clothes in to the basket on top of the few things of hers. She set the full basket by the door then headed back to change out of her flight suit.
Lori reached in to the back of the closet for her duffel bag. She tossed it on the bed along with a black long sleeved t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie. A pair of black socks and set of underwear were added to the pile. As she changed her clothes, she chuckled and shook her head remembering Lucas’ offer to “help her out of her flight suit”. The ensemble was finished with a ball cap of the same colour as the rest. Laundry detergent, a few hangars and her flight suit gear were stuffed in to the duffel bag before slinging it over her shoulder and heading down the hall to the front room. It was no surprise Lucas was waiting for her by the door. Noting he was taking in her attire, she said wryly, “I figured I’d dress to fit my mood.”
“Fair enough, ready then?” Lucas asked holding open the door.
“Yep, let’s do it,” Lori said heading out the door and down the stairs to open the front door for Lucas. She knew he’d take care of locking up and would have his hands full with the laundry. She was subdued lost in thought of how the next twenty-four hours could be the most critical for Eric.
Arriving at the front door, he said, “Thanks, I think we ought to drive down to the launderette. It will make it easier instead of toting everything there and back.”
“Alright, I defer to you in the matter,” Lori said distracted. She was looking intently at her Blackberry awaiting both the coordinates for Eric’s beacon and the responses to the coded message she’d sent earlier.
Lori joined Lucas at the car while he opened the boot. He stowed his load, then took the duffel off her shoulder and placed it next to the rest before closing it. So lost in thought, she neglected to notice he’d opened the passenger side door and was waiting on her till he asked, “Lori, you ready?”
She looked up at him suddenly having been brought out of her reverie. Lori apologized giving him an explanation for her distraction, as she slid in to her seat, “Sorry Lucas, they promised to send the coordinates for Eric’s beacon to my Blackberry so I could monitor it. And the SOBs haven’t done it yet.”
“No need to apologize, I understand you being distracted this evening,” Lucas said in a gentle voice before he closed the door and made his way around to the driver’s seat.
It took a minute to drive down to the Launderette. Although the duration was very short, Lori’s nervous energy was kicking in and the need to be active became overwhelming for her. She was out of the car and waiting at the boot before Lucas even had time to shut off the car and disconnect his safety belt. She needed to get busy on the laundry before she totally lost it in front of Lucas.
He met her at the rear of the car and before having the chance to open it, extracted his mobile and checked the caller id. Opening the boot and flipping the mobile open at the same time, he answered, “Harry.”
Lori watched his every movement and nodded her acknowledgement of who was on the phone. She extracted the two duffel bags from the boot and headed in to the Launderette. She knew Lucas would follow with the clothes basket as soon as he was able. He did sooner than expected with his mobile plastered to his ear. She had already begun to sort the clothes in to various washing machines. He sat the basket down next to the duffels before returning outside to finish his call. She figured he was getting an update on the video conference from Harry.
As she finished stuffing the last of the laundry in to a washer, Lori thought it was good of Harry to be keeping Lucas in the loop even if she wasn’t being shown the same courtesy by her superiors. After pouring in the laundry detergent and starting the washers, she took a seat on the one furthest from the door.
She checked her GPS tracker feature on the Blackberry to see if Eric’s coordinates had been sent. Disappointed they hadn’t, she started to call Joe but thought better of it. Perhaps he was still in his video conference. There were probably more matters to be discussed that did not require Harry Pearce’s presence. An envelope popped up on the screen indicating she either had a text message or an e-mail. She tapped the envelope in the middle of the screen to open the text messaging/e-mail program. There were three encrypted text messages. She smiled as she went to the extra added layer of encryption to read and respond to them. Scanning all the messages before replying, she began to responding to each one:
The first coded message said:
[Ready to play Gray Ghost] break [In your neck of the woods] break [Night Shadow]
Lori answered:
[Game afloat like last time] break [Mist & Smoke joining in] break [See me soon, GG]
The second:
[Will play if Gray Ghost running the game] break [What are stakes this time?] Break [Cool Mist]
She responded with:
[GG running game afloat] break [Shadow & Smoke playing] break [Highest stakes possible]
And the third made her chuckle and shake her head as she read:
[Would rather play Euchre with you as partner] break [Always the winning team in that game] break [Can handle anything you want to play] break [wink, wink, Black Smoke]
She finished texting by sending:
[Playing afloat like last time] break [Shadow & Mist to visit] break [See me soon Partner, GG]
So with her two favourite Russian Coverts, Mikhail Derevko and Ilya Nikitenko, along with her former partner from Interpol, Darious Noir, lined up for the operation, Lori could to move on to next task at hand, acquiring the use of a boat in the Baltic Sea Region in order to get over to Kronschtadt Island. Sergei Zhukov would be her best bet for that. He was one of her assets that was, shall we say, less than reputable but got things done on her time table. And besides, he owed her a favour or two or more. She logged out of the secure encrypted mode of text messaging to send him his message:
[Let’s cruise like last time] break [You available right now?] break [Give me lift?] break [Sam S.]
While waiting on the reply, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Lucas entered. The look on his face said he’d probably been told by Harry everything she knew about Eric and possibly more. It was distressing to see him having to remember such horrid memories of Russia on account of his association with her. She didn’t say anything as he approached knowing he was taking that moment to process his feelings and school his features in to a calm look. The reply came back as he took off his coat and saddled up to the washer next to her. He adopted what she thought of as his usual stance of casually crossing his arms and legs. She read quickly:
[Anything for my Dark Angel] break [When & where shall I call?] break [Always Yours, Sergei]
As her deft fingers keyed in the response to Sergei copying Darious, Ilya and Mikhail, she asked not looking up, “And how was Mr. Pearce’s visit with SecNav?”
[9:00 p.m. my time, my flat] break [We’ll do a Spooky Overnight Cruise] break [Ring me later]
Only the people in her inner circle of associates knew that when Lori said ‘my time’, it meant Eastern Standard Time and it was to be converted to whatever time zone she was in. So 9:00 p.m. really meant 2:00 a.m. London time. The other key word was flat. It meant she was in London. She had a different word to use for ‘home’ that would identify where she was in the world. This close to October 31st, no one would be suspicious talking about that type of cruise.
“Informative, and what have you been up to while I was getting an update from Harry?” Lucas said. She could tell he was trying to dissuade her from probing for details and take the conversation in a different direction.
Lori looked sideways at him before answering him. She was feeling better now that there was a plan in motion for Eric’s rescue. With a mischievous grin, she answered, “Oh you know the usual for a Saturday evening, sorting and doing laundry, checking the sports scores, working on my latest scheme for world domination.”
“And how’s all that working out for you?” Lucas teased back with a grin of his own.
Lori looked up at him to see the grin. It made her feel good to know she was the source of the grin. She answered, “All things considered, not bad, not bad at all. So, let me guess, you aren’t at liberty discuss the update, right?”
“What makes you think that?” Lucas asked.
She knew this was his way of trying to find out how much she actually knew or did not know. It was time to give Lucas her full attention and do what she did best. Get him to relax. Laying the Blackberry off to the side, Lori tugged Lucas over by his arm so he was leaning on the washer she was currently using as a chair. She unfolded her legs putting them on either side of him, put her hands on his shoulders and began massaging them before answering softly in his ear, “Well, let’s see. You didn’t immediately fill me in when you came back in. You are good at schooling your features, but that relaxed air you are attempting to convey doesn’t reach your eyes. And, if I’m not mistaken, most of the anxiety you are trying to hide at the moment comes from the fact you have been told the true location of Eric. How am I doing so far?”
“Insightful as always,” Lucas sighed resting his arms on her thighs.
Lori used her massage technique to knead the tension out of his shoulders. It was a mere matter of minutes when she felt his shoulders totally relaxed. When she ran her fingers firmly up and down the back of his neck a number of times, he bowed his head. She moved on to massage the base of his skull.
She felt the washer under her quit running. Slowing down to a stop, Lori gave the back of his head a small pat before removing her hands and announcing, “I’m not done with you yet, however, it’s time to switch the loads of wash to the driers.”
Lucas groaned. It made Lori chuckle as she patted his sides saying, “Sooner you move, the sooner we can resume.”
As he straightened up and moved to the first washer next to him, Lucas teased, “You really are proving to be a hard task master. But I will acquiesce to your wishes Madam on the condition you do finish what you started.”
“I had no doubt you’d see it my way,” Lori said confidently getting off the washer she’d been sitting on opening it up. She sorted through the clothes in two washers closest to her taking out the ones that needed to be air dried stuffing them in to a bag and putting the rest in to driers.
Lucas moved the contents of his two washers to the driers with ease. When he reached the third one, he paused and held up Lori’s flight suit asking “Does this go in the dryer?”
Lori looked up from her washer holding a fist full of lingerie saying, “Yep, good to go. Thanks for asking.”
When he looked over to see what the washer she was working on contained and immediately looked away his cheeks starting to flush, she had to smile. He could be such an Old fashioned Gentleman some times. It was very endearing to her. As Lori finished stuffing the handful in to the bag, she explained, “These clothes need to be air dried.”
“That’s quite a bag full, what all does it contain?” Lucas asked walking over to Lori.
“Certain sweaters which I believe you call jumpers that need to be dried flat and the articles of clothing made of silk and lace,” Lori answered as she pulled the drawstrings on the plastic bag.
“We’ll make an Honorary Brit of you yet with the way you are catching on to our way of describing various things,” Lucas teased.
“Hmmm, maybe I should work on converting you in to an Honorary American instead,” Lori shot back with a bit of a smirk. She put the bag on the floor then proceeded to extract coins out of her pockets, fed them in to the driers and started them up.
Leaning back against a washer again, Lucas said, “An exchange of culture sounds like an excellent idea. I would be more than a willing participant.”
“As would I, well good now that we’ve established a willingness to exchange cultures, I promised you earlier I would finish what I started once the clothes were in the driers by giving you the rest of your back massage. So if you are ready,” Lori said as she hopped up on the washer next to him, flexed her fingers, and pulled Lucas over positioning him in between her legs. Even though plans were in motion, she needed to keep her hands and mind busy on something else.
As she gently kneaded his spine from top to bottom, Lucas said with a contented sigh, “mmmmm, you have a great hands. Not that I complaining mind you or want you to stop any time soon, but wasn’t I the one who was to have given you a massage, instead of the other way around?”
“Oh don’t worry, I fully intend on letting you reciprocate in the future but for now, this is helping to keep busy in order to save me from going out of mind with worry about Eric,” Lori answered as she began to lightly scratch all over his back. It didn’t surprise her that his sense of duty shown through even when it came to a friendly promise.
“Happy to be able to help out keeping you busy,” Lucas said lightly as he slightly bent forward. He asked, “Have you received the coordinates for Eric’s beacon yet?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure it won’t be much longer till I do,” Lori said her voice having a forced nonchalant air. It was really grating on her nerves that they hadn’t been sent yet and add to that he’d heard from Harry but she hadn’t from Joe or Donovan. Keeping her hands busy was helping not to pick up the Blackberry and start chewing someone out for lack of information and data. She switched back from scratching to massaging. Her concentration was first on his hips and the base of his spine then steadily progressed upward.
Lucas leaned back in to her touch as her fingers made their way back up his neck, through his hair and settled on making the softest of circles around his temples. She felt him relax even more.
She thought about how Stephen had always relished her massages. He’d told her it was in his top three of favourite things she did for him. Remembering how she had always taken the time to outline his tattoos during massages, Lori asked very quietly, “Stephen had five onion dome shapes with crosses at the top of each one on his back, how many do you have?”
She could tell he’d been caught off guard and hoped he wouldn’t shut down. Lucas said just as quietly, “Eight.”
“You’ve just gotten back right?” Lori asked with a gentle voice. She was pleased he had answered and hoped he would continue to talk openly.
“Three weeks ago, well actually it will be four on Monday” Lucas answered then asked, “Does it show?”
Feeling him tense up under her touch, Lori stopped massaging his temples, laid her cheek on his shoulder, wrapped her arms around his middle and gave him a comforting hug before explaining, “It does not. You’ll have to forgive my rude question. While I was massaging your back, I was taking a trip down memory lane how I would take the time to trace Stephen’s tattoos while I gave him a massage. He told me the ones on the back were a status symbol for the passage of time and having survived.”
“I concur with what he told you. And it wasn’t a rude question. One thing, I’ve learned this week is when you ask a question, it is because you care and are truly interested in the answer," Lucas said.
Happy he understood, Lori raised her head saying, “Thanks for that. It’s true. I do ask because I care. But if you don’t want to talk about it, I totally understand. We could pick a different topic to talk about. Just know, if you ever need an ear on any subject, I’m here.”
“I know, and I appreciate it,” Lucas said as he turned around in her arms to face her. He put his arms around her shoulders and gave Lori a big hug.
Lori gave him a big hug in return then said, “Looks like the driers are done. We should check to see if the clothes are dry."
Lucas gave her a quick peck on the cheek before nodding his agreement. He said with a definitive tone, “I'd very much like to continue this conversation later on."
"I look forward to it," Lori said as she hopped off the washer and checked the various driers.
Only the driers with the jeans and towels weren't completely dry, so Lori started them up again before joining Lucas folding and hanging up the rest of the clothes. Remembering how cheeky he’d been earlier with his offer to get her out of the flight suit, she couldn't help sassing as she folded up his boxers, “Well at least I now know for sure what’s under those jeans of yours.”
Lucas sassed back, “If I’d been aware you wanted to know, I’d have shown you long before now.”
Lori had to laugh out loud. She was happy he was becoming so comfortable with her to tease in such a suggestive manner. She thought how well Lucas and Eric would get along. They had a lot in common. At the top of that list seemed to be their ability to keep up with her banter. It was up to her to make it happen so that they could meet. And the sooner it happened, the better for all concerned.