Radclyffe - Honor Reclaimed

"How are you doing, baby?" Cam asked.

Frantically, Blair looked for the intercom while Stark rose and moved to the far side of the room, giving them a modicum of privacy.

"There's a switch just to the left of the window," Cam instructed.

Blair found it, flipped it, and said, "What took you so long?"

"Heavy traffic."

Smiling, Blair rubbed her fingertips back and forth over the glass as if she were touching Cam's skin, and the illusion of contact made her feel better than she had in hours. "What are they telling you about when we'll get out of here?"

"They're not telling me anything yet, but as soon as I know, you will too. You feeling okay?" Cam tried to keep her tone light, but her stomach clenched as she studied her lover. Blair looked like she usually did when she was steaming. Her eyes were bright, her skin slightly flushed, and her movements quick and tight. Cam realized in that moment just how sexy Blair was when she was angry and understood, too, that it was that very fire that had instantly attracted her to the president's daughter. "Christ, you're beautiful."

Blair grinned. "Be careful, Commander. Stark is here, and you don't want to embarrass her." Blair leaned close to the glass to look into Cam's eyes. When she spoke, she lowered her voice. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I feel fine. We both do."

Cam pressed her hand so hard against the glass her palm was white. She wanted to touch her so badly she hurt inside.

"Cam?" Blair asked quietly, "What's wrong with your finger?"

"What?"

Blair nodded toward the glass. "Your little finger. It's three times its normal size. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Turn your hand over."

"Blair—"

"Let me see it, Cameron."

Reluctantly, Cam complied, repeating hastily when she heard Blair gasp, "It's nothing. It's fine."

"What happened? Sweetheart?" Blair saw Cam's face take on that careful look of consideration she always got when she was about to soften the truth with diplomacy. "And don't try to snow me. That finger is broken, isn't it? What did you do?"

"Ah, hell. I lost my temper and jammed my hand up a little."

Blair's heart gave a lurch. Fear for her safety was the only thing in the world that could make Cam lose control. Instantly, Blair forgot her anger at being shuffled about the country with little explanation, forgot her loathing at her confinement, forgot even the dread that something serious might be wrong with her. All she could think of was Cam, worried and in pain. "Oh, sweetheart. It's going to be okay."

"I know." Cam worked up a smile. "I know that."

"You need to have that x-rayed."

"I will."

Blair tapped the glass sharply. "Now."

Cam grinned. "I love when you get tough."

"You'll love me when I get out of here and kick your ass if you don't get that taken care of too."

"Yeah, I will." When Cam spoke her voice was gravelly, and she had to look away to blink her vision clear. "So. Savard is here."

"Good. Paula could use a visit to lift her spirits." Blair narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"She's had it rough. You might want to prepare Stark for that."

"Okay." When Cam took her hand from the glass, Blair said quickly, "Wait."

Cam frowned. "What's wrong, baby?"

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Cam said, her expression slightly incredulous. "I'll be right here in this room until you're ready to leave."

"Like you don't have anything else to do?" Blair laughed shakily and summoned a smile. "You go get x-rayed and then go back to work. I'll be out of here in another day."

"Nice try, Blair." Cam ran her index finger down the glass as if she were stroking Blair's cheek. "I love you."

"Oh," Blair whispered, "I love you too."

Chapter Nineteen

S tark pulled one of the straight-backed armless chairs over to the window and sat hunched forward, her hands curled over her knees, her eyes on the glass. Renee stared back at her from the other side. Stark struggled not to let her shock show in her face. It had only been a day since they'd seen one another, but Renee looked as if she hadn't slept or eaten in weeks. Her slender face looked gaunt, her normally brilliant turquoise-blue eyes were a dull gray, and her strong, lithe body appeared frail. Hoping her hand didn't tremble and betray her worry, Stark reached out to flick the switch on the intercom.

"Hi, honey."

Savard straightened her shoulders and smiled more brightly. "Hi, sweetie. You doing okay in there?"

"It's pretty boring, and nobody's telling us much of anything." Stark shrugged. "The usual bureaucratic story. I feel fine. So does Blair. What do you hear?"

Savard shook her head. "Nothing yet. The commander is talking with the medical team right now. I think she was on the phone to the chief of staff too, just a few minutes ago. She won't let them stonewall us. And she won't let them keep you and Blair in the dark."

"Thank God she's here." Stark dropped her gaze, unwilling to inflict her misery on her lover. But she couldn't help thinking that she had fucked up her first assignment pretty badly, and now the commander had to bail her out.

"Hey! Stop blaming yourself. There's absolutely no way you could've known."

Stark's head snapped up. "Less than a week ago there was an attempt on her life. I should've checked her apartment a lot more closely before I let her go in there."

"Paula, sweetie, the commander and I were in that building just a few nights ago. We didn't see anything either."

"I know. You're right," Stark said unconvincingly. "So how are you doing? You look tired."

"Nah, I'm fine. Too much time at the computer." Savard looked over her shoulder, ensuring that she was still alone. "Felicia and I have been dogging the computers 24/7 trying to ID the members of the assault team. So far, nothing. Dental records, fingerprints, photo databases. Zip."

"That doesn't make sense. Those guys were trained."

"We know," Savard said, sounding frustrated. "But we still can't put names to them. So now we're doing deep background on Foster. It's slow going, because his records were thoroughly buried when he entered the Academy."

"That's routine with the Secret Service so no one can access our personal data and compromise us with it."

"Yeah, the same for us. But it makes our job a lot tougher now." Savard leaned back and pushed both hands through her hair. "But Felicia will sort it all out, if anyone can."

"Any word on what the stuff was in the Aerie?"

"Not yet." Savard's eyes filled with tears, and she scrubbed a hand angrily across her face. "Sorry. I'm just. ..I just love you. You can't get sick, okay?"

"Don't worry, honey. Nothing's going to happen to me." Stark clenched her hands out of sight, wishing desperately that there were something she could do to ease her lover's pain. It tore at her to see Renee so close to the edge and to be so powerless to help her. "Will you do something for me?"

"Anything." Savard sat forward, her eyes intent. "Anything."

"Will you try to get some sleep?"

Savard considered lying, but she could tell by the worry in Stark's eyes that it was too late for that. "I'll try. It's been.. .hard."

"You have to take care of yourself. I need you."

"Oh, that's blackmail."

Stark nodded solemnly. "Maybe. But it's true."

Savard indicated the far corner of the room. "There are a couple of beds in here, I guess for the staff when they're monitoring someone around the clock. I'm going to go lie down right now, okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"I'll be here when you wake up." Stark smiled and tried to sound optimistic.

"Promise?" Savard asked shakily.

"Always."

*

"How long?" Cam asked as Captain Andrews buddy-taped her small finger to her ring finger, creating a functional splint. She sat on an examining table in a small anteroom adjacent to the monitoring area that looked into Blair's room while the doctor tended to her injured finger. She'd gotten the x-ray only because she knew Blair would ask her, and she couldn't bear to upset her now.