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| The Past Comes Calling By Juli |
| Chapter 4 LETTING THE DUST SETTLE The cool spring air was a welcome relief from the cloying intensity of his office, although it wasn't the weather that was the cause of the suffocating atmosphere, it was the story of a life nearly destroyed that had caused that. The life of David Rosen, who had been known to all for the past nine and a half years as Frank Donovan. David Rosen had ceased to exist and would rever be resurrected. Buried forever in the passage of time. He'd had to get away from his office, he'd heard the gasps of shock as they laid eyes on him, heard the wails of disbelief as they'd tried to take in what they had been confronted with. Half muffled sobs had given way to a torrent of tears in an admission of the grief they all felt for him. It was too much for him to cope with just then and he knew they all understood that. U.C. Building In a matter of minutes the team had changed forever. NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER The team had never been more aware of a saying in their entire lives. Now it rang horribly true to them. All of them were mentally tallying every time they'd poked fun at Donovan, or cursed him ,or had a run in with him and would have loved nothing better than to shoot him. Oh yes the guilt was now overwhelming. Robert broke the guilty silence "Now you know that the man of steel you thought he was is just a cover up, he's just protecting himself from any more hurt, cause he sure as hell's had enough of that" Everyone nodded in agreement Robert continued "I know him better than anyone, and for him to let you all see into the very heart of him will have taken every ounce of courage he had, and some more besides, he trusts you all a lot more than you know, but then again , if you're half the people he's said you are, you'll know that by now" Robert sat down in Franks chair, it seemed right to them that he did. They knew he would answer any questions they put to him on Franks behalf , and that Frank would want them to accept and trust Robert the way he did. "How did I miss this, I had the file, I studied it from cover to cover, I saw the physical evidence in the photographs, I should have seen it, I should have.................known" babbled Monica. "Monica" said Robert "Don't beat yourself up over this, you're one of the best profilers in the game but you were up against one of the top players, the Donovan of today bears no resemblance to the David of yesteryear, David had long hair for starters, he was ten years younger, he was clean shaven and in the photographs he had his eyes closed.The eyes were the one thing that could have given him away"he said and trying to add a lighter note added "Well those, and the shall we say ,very distinctive ears and as his hair covered them it was no contest" "Those scars "muttered Jake "their must have been a hundred of them" "I for one wasn't counting"said Cody coldly. Jake continued "They must've took weeks to stitch him up, he looked like a patchwork quilt, I've never seen anything as bad as that" Cody snapped "Just shut the fuck up Jake, shut the fuck up, he's gone through things that would have killed most people, and all you can think about is how long it took to stitch him up. Wake up man and think about it, the worst scars aren't the ones you can see, they're on the inside. You of all people should understand that, the amount of emotional baggage you drag around behind your sorry ass" Stony silence followed , as if they were echoing Cody's words. Alex still felt the tears welling, she was overcome by her boss's courage and she truly felt his pain as if it were her own, the run in's with him now forgotten, for if Robert hadn't been at her side to prop her up she would have passed out cold at the sight of Donovans scars ,so so many, it was as if each one had cut away another piece of his happiness. She took a deep breath and began "Look, I think the last thing Frank needs right now is us arguing like children, we are not the issue here, he is, so I think we better get our act together and nail these bastards, he's not just Donovan he's our Donovan and we all love the guy in our own way, someone wounds him, they wound all of us, so let's pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and be ready, no stone gets left unturned right!" Robert looked at Alex with a new found respect. When her eyes met his, without a word he took her in his arms and just held her.They all knew no more words were needed .Alex had spoken for them all . All they needed to do now was to put the last few things into place and they were ready. They had rallied together and found a new strength, the initial shock had now given way to a strong resolve shared by them all. Cold hard determination that they would indeed take these bastards down, or out, it didn't matter which, all that mattered was that Frank was given the chance to find peace and start to live again. What had just passed wouldn't be spoken of by them again, the subject would only be raised if Frank himself raised it. Business as usual was what their boss would expect, and was exactly what he would get. A few hours later Frank walked back into the building not really knowing what to do or say, would there be questions, would there be knowing looks, or worse than that would they be tip-toeing around him in sympathy? Oh god he really didn't want or need that, he and Anna had spent six months after it happened being wheeled from one counsellor to the other and that hadn't helped had it? she still took her own and their childs life. No, sympathy was definitely not what he wanted. He was just gonna hide out for a while before he faced them again. Having got through everything they had set out to Alex and Robert had headed for the gym, Alex hadn't missed the wide eyed approval from Monica when Robert appeared from Frank's office in gym shorts and a sleeveless vest, he wasn't a vain man and had no idea of his effect on the opposite sex, she was truly blessed to have found him ,after all you didn't find a six feet four inch tower of magnificently sculpted, perfectly toned man every day. Not to mention the fact that he could turn her legs to jelly with one of his killer smiles. No the complete package that was named Robert Sanchez was indeed awesome and by God she loved him. But the best part was that he loved her back. Oh yes she was truly blessed indeed. The gym was where Frank found them, he stood back and watched them playfully sparring, letting a small smile escape. He knew now that he couldn't be jealous, he was happy for them to have had the good luck and fortune to have found each other, whatever the circumstances. They complimented each other perfectly, strengths and weaknesses equally shared. They radiated love and happiness. He rested his head back against the wall and sighed deeply, in the back of his mind the thought that maybe one day soon ,when this was all over, that he himself might be allowed to share his heart with someone who made him feel the way these two obviously did about each other was starting to warm him. He was coming in from the cold and the glimmer of sun on his face was the sweetest feeling he'd had in years. They caught sight of him as he started to walk towards them with what they thought was a .......no....God yes .......a smile on his face. "Robert, Alex thankyou both"he said "I know that from tomorrow you're both putting yourselves in danger, I know it's your job, a job that you're both extremely capable of. Alex if I've helped you in any way by telling you what I did then I'm glad". "You have Frank more than you know" she replied smiling. "By the way, I haven't told you yet, but you look damn good together, and I wish you both, all the happiness in the world ,look after each other, but above all from tomorrow be careful" he stressed the last two words firmly. "I want you both back in one piece" Alex put her arms around Frank and hugged him tightly, she noticed he had returned the gesture and was comforted by it. Robert spoke "Frank would you do us the honour of being our first guest for dinner as a couple" he said "I'm cooking cause I haven't gotten around to finding out whether Alex can yet"he laughed. Frank did break out into a smile this time "It'll be my pleasure" Ten minutes later Alex walked out of the building, her arms linked at either side with the two most important men in her life. The sun was finally shining and she'd fight to the death if needs be to make sure it stayed that way. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Past Comes Calling - Chapter 5 |