Leather And Lace Part 18

"See if they've got chocolate this time, please. I'm tired of vanilla." She yelled out after her companion left the room.

Kris grinned as she turned down the corridor towards the nurse's break room where she had stashed a supply of ice cream and missed seeing Hardly and Colonel Albright step off the elevator.

"Come on, Herman." The Colonel placed a gentle hand on the young man's shoulder. "I know she doesn't blame you for what happened."

Herman's head was bowed and his slumping shoulders hunched forward. "You honestly think that?" He asked with a degree of hopefulness in his voice.

"Of course I do." Albright answered as he knocked on a slightly open door and directed Herman into the room. "I'll wait out here."

"Uh...hi, Captain. Can I come in?" He tried to look everywhere but into the piercing blue eyes.

Kris walked back towards Raven's room and stopped beside Albright. "h.e.l.lo, Colonel, how come you're holding the wall up?" She asked the man leaning against the wall.

"Afternoon, Kris. Sergeant Hardly's in there begging forgiveness." He explained and pushed off the wall to stand beside her.

"Ah." Kris sighed. "I'm not sure whether I want to hit him for being a part of this mess or thank him for being such a dimwit that he fouled it up."

Albright shrugged his shoulders. "I know what you mean. But don't be too hard on him, he's been kicking himself since he found out about how Otis tricked him. He's really an okay guy, he's just got a little too much enthusiasm for his own good."

Kris stepped into the room in time to hear Raven explain why she didn't blame Hardly.

"Look, Sergeant, you thought you were protecting Kris and for that I thank you." Raven grinned. "The only thing I ask is that next time, make sure that you're protecting her from the right person."

Hardly tentatively returned her smile. "Sure thing, Captain."

"h.e.l.lo, Herman." Kris walked over beside her partner. "Lunch is on the way." She told her.

"Hey, Kris. I was just telling the Captain that I was sorry about what happened." He explained shyly.

Kris decided that she couldn't stay mad at the dolt. "And I'm sorry I hit you so hard."

"You hit him?" Raven hadn't heard the entire story. She had been told about the part that Granny played in saving the day after which Raven had praised the older woman much to Granny's embarra.s.sment, but no one had yet to mention Kris' roll.

"Yeah." Herman beat Kris to the punch. "Over the head with a frying pan." He actually sounded rather proud of the young woman.

Raven started laughing and the others found it contagious and soon joined in. "G.o.ds, I wish I could have seen that." She caught her breath and grabbed her middle. "Ow, shouldn't have done that."

Kris was quickly at her side looking concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Just a little too much merriment."

Herman moved out of the way as Raven's lunch tray was delivered. "I should go so you can eat." He started for the door. "Thanks for being so understanding."

"No problem, Sergeant." Raven acknowledged as he was pulling the door closed behind him.

"Bye, Herman." Kris yelled.

He stuck his head back inside to tell Kris bye, but shut his mouth and the door in a hurry when he saw the young blonde lean over and kiss the Captain. Not even he could mistake the kiss for one that was just between friends. As he walked towards the elevator with the Colonel he smiled slightly. 'Oh well, I never had a chance anyway. I guess if I had to lose, losing to someone like Captain Chandler isn't so bad.'

Continued in Part 6.

The Athenaeum's Scroll Archive.

* Leather and Lace *

by Greek Warrior.

Disclaimer #1: This is an Uber story and the characters that appear in this story may seem familiar but aren't the same as the ones we all know and love. All the characters that appear here are made up from my deranged little mind. They're fict.i.tious and aren't meant to resemble anyone. This is all done in fun and yes I know I need to get a life.

Disclaimer #2: Taz belongs to the folks at Warner Brothers Studios. s...o...b.. Doo belongs to Hanna-Barberra. The X-Files belongs to somebody other than me, anything you recognize isn't mine folks, I got tired of looking this stuff up.

Warning: This story contains explicit consensual s.e.x between adult women. If you're under legal age in your neck of the woods, go away. If you live in a place that frowns upon that sort of behavior, tell'em to kiss your derrire then talk to your Congressman, or move, or both.

Warning: This story contains violence. We are talking about a certain warrior's descendant, you know.

Note: The quote at the end of chapter one is from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Feedback is most welcome as long as it's constructive. Remember, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, although I've always wondered why anyone would want a bunch of flies! I can be contacted at Thanks for reading.

Note: Astolpho's at the Marcello Hotel is a completely fict.i.tious restaurant and hotel.

Part 6.

Chapter Nineteen:.

Since Lisa didn't have a car and they hadn't decided where they were going to eat, Andy had offered to pick her up. Her apartment was on the second floor in the front part of the building and she had been standing at the window watching for him. As soon as she saw his blonde head appear from the car that just stopped across the street, she headed downstairs to meet him.

He was even cuter than she remembered; blonde curly hair that was cut just above his collar and he sported short sideburns that were becoming popular again. She also remembered him being taller than she was by about half a foot. He had sparkling blue eyes that always reminded her of someone and now since seeing her sister again, she knew who that someone was.

They met on the sidewalk. "Hey, Lisa. It's good to see you again."

"You too, Andy." She smiled at him.

"Nice place." He tilted his head towards the large old white Victorian style house.

"Thanks. I got lucky finding it." The old house had been converted into six one-bedroom apartments.

They waited at the curb for a car to pa.s.s. "I tried to find someplace like this when my roommate got married last year, but had to settle for an apartment complex." There didn't seem to be the typical awkwardness of a first date, maybe since they knew each other in pa.s.sing a couple of years ago or maybe because they had a reason, other than a date, to see each other. Andy held the car door for her before settling into the driver's seat. "You like seafood?"

"Yes, very much. So, who's buying?" She desperately hoped she was. It would mean he had at least some information on Mario.

He didn't answer until he had pulled out into traffic. "You are." He grinned. "But don't worry the place I have in mind isn't expensive."

"Doesn't matter." Lisa answered seriously. "This may help me right a twelve year old wrong."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw the determination in hers. "I know you told me a little about why you wanted this information, but can you tell me anymore about it?" He merged into the northbound I-5 traffic. "This Mario character was bad news."

"Was? You mean he's dead?"

"Yeah, I forget exactly when but it was nine or ten years ago."

Lisa was quiet for several minutes. 'No, I'm not changing my plan. I doubt Philip stayed in touch with them after what happened, so the chances that he would know this guy was dead, are minimal.' She hadn't even realized it but at some point Lisa went from admitting Raven's story had possibilities of being true to completely believing in it and in her sister.

"Hey? You still with me?" Andy exited the interstate and headed towards the north end of Lake Was.h.i.+ngton.

"What? Oh yeah, sorry. Just thinking." Lisa explained. "And yes, I'll fill you in. You might be able to help me make my plan more believable.

Andy pulled into a parking s.p.a.ce. He was intrigued but first things first. "Come on, I'm starving."

"Poseidon's Seafood Shanty?" Lisa questioned with a dubious look.

Andy laughed. "Don't worry. I know the guy who owns it; he's a retired cop. He's got zero imagination but he loves to eat so believe me this place has real good food." He a.s.sured her.

Kris snuggled next to Raven. "He's not going to hate you." She had been trying to explain to the stubborn woman that she wasn't to blame for Otis. "My father asked you to protect me and you did. Otis would have still tried to use me to get back at The Division even if he wasn't trying to get back at you." John had stopped by before dinner and told Kris that her father had been informed of what happened and he would call her at the hospital that night. The amba.s.sador also wanted to talk to the captain.

"But you being here with me, put you in more danger. I know if I was him, I'd want to beat the s.h.i.+t out of me."

Kris raised her head from the shoulder it was nestled on. "As far as me being in danger goes, you took care of it."

Raven interrupted her. "Granny took care of it." She corrected.

'Ah, I see part of the problem here, she thinks she let me down.' Kris propped up on her elbow. She tilted her companion's face towards her when Raven couldn't or wouldn't meet her gaze. "How did Otis get the upper hand?"

"What difference does it make?" Raven tried to turn away but Kris held firm.

"Humor me." Green continued to bore into blue. "Did he sneak up on you? Or maybe trick you? Did he get the better of you in a fight?"

"No. It...Sergeant Hardly hit me from behind and knocked me out."

"I know you didn't have any injuries to the back of your head. Where did he hit you?"

"I uh, felt him behind me but I couldn't get completely turned around in time to block his arm, so the blow landed here." She pointed to her forehead.

"I'll a.s.sume that Otis took your gun away while you were knocked out. Why didn't he...kill you right away?" Kris really didn't want to think about Raven being hurt again but Kris wanted her to realize that if she hadn't been there, the sergeant wouldn't have been conned into helping and Otis more than likely wouldn't have been able to get the advantage. "I mean he waited a while before he shot you and then it was in the leg. Seems he wanted to keep you alive, at least at first."

"He told me what he was going...going to do...to you. I now know what the expression blind rage means." Raven paused and tried to piece together the events right before Otis shot her the second time. "I don't even remember getting to my feet. But I was standing when we both turned towards the sound of gunfire coming from Granny's house. He turned back to look at me and his grin turned to surprise when he saw me standing. I think I lunged for him but the next thing I knew I was knocked backwards and felt the burning from the bullet, then the next thing I remember, is coming to and seeing Granny leaning over me."

Kris took a deep breath to calm her emotions. "Don't you see? The reason you got hurt was because you were protecting me. Wait." She placed her fingers gently over Raven's mouth. "You didn't let me down, love. You told me to go to Granny's and call John and I did. He told us to hide until they got there. It wasn't your fault we didn't listen. We both were safe until we decided to try and help you. So you did your job."

Raven knew in her head that she had done everything that she could to keep her partner safe. "But...it's my fault he came after you."

"Otis came after me because I was convenient. So you could say this whole thing was my fault." Kris reasoned.

"That's bulls.h.i.+t." Raven said. "It's Otis' fault, he's the one..." She closed her mouth with an audible snap and look at a grinning blonde.

"Glad you finally see things my way, Taz."

"Oh Hades, you're good, I'll give you that. You were in total control of each twist and turn of that conversation. I need to learn not to engage you in a war of words, Sagira."

"You knew you were wrong to blame yourself in the first place. I just had to remind you of that fact. Now you may kiss me to show me your appreciation of my talented manipulations."

"Oh I may, huh?" Raven chuckled.

The twinkle that had been missing from her eyes was back. So was the confidence and authority that had vanished from her voice. Kris could literally feel her partner's presence fill the room. "Yes you may, my sometimes hardheaded but all the time lovable partner." Kris' lips touched Raven's just as the phone rang.

They both rolled their eyes. "I hope these interruptions don't become a habit again."

Kris grabbed the receiver. "h.e.l.lo...yes I'm fine, dad, thanks to Raven and Granny." She covered the mouthpiece and whispered. "I don't think I've ever heard him this upset before. Sorry, I missed that. What did you say?" She turned her attention back to her father.

"I said that I almost had a heart-attack when Colonel Albright called me and told me what happened. You're sure you're not hurt and not just trying to keep us from worrying?"

"I'm sure, dad, not even a scratch. I wish I could say the same for Raven, though, she got a little damaged in the crossfire."

"Well tell her that she has my undying grat.i.tude. I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to you."

"Here you can tell her." She handed the phone to her nervous friend.

Andrew Whitfield repeated himself and Kris watched as surprise replaced nerves. "Thank you, Amba.s.sador. No, I'm not sure I'll be well enough to make it to New York after the talks. But Kris can still come, I know she misses you and wants to see you." Raven saw Kris shaking her head.

"I'm not going without you." She whispered.

"Why don't you and Vivian plan on coming here for a visit instead? We've got plenty of room and you said you wanted to meet Granny." She stared at Kris wondering if she should have asked her first. A big smile from the young woman gave Raven her answer. "Okay then, just let us know when you'll be here. I'll tell Kris you said good-bye." She reached over and replaced the receiver. "You were right about his reaction."

"Told ya." She snuggled back against Raven's side. "Thanks for inviting them. That was nice."

"You're welcome. It seemed to be a reasonable solution." She kissed the blonde head on her shoulder. "It might be fun to have them here. Of course we'll have to refrain from making love in front of the fireplace while they're here. That might be embarra.s.sing."

"Embarra.s.sing? Try mortifying."

"Oh he said to tell you that Viv would call you tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh G.o.d." Kris suddenly sat up.