The Unseen Moments
“Theodore, why are you even here?” An eyebrow was raised as Mrs. Frederic looked at the man stretched out across all three cushions of her sofa, his head on the armrest nearest her.
“I came for those spectacular cookies of yours,” was the reply from Theodore, his voice containing just the barest hints of sleep.
“I don’t even believe that, and I’ve known you for how long?” Moving across the room, Mrs. Frederic draped her jacket across the back of a plush armchair across from the sofa and carefully watched the lightly tanned man.
With a stretch that would make a cat jealous, Theodore carefully sat up on the sofa, swinging his legs off of the other end so as to sit up on it and gave Mrs. Frederic a crooked smile. He carefully pulled his tie so it was straight and chuckled in spurts, always ending it with that same crooked smile before looking her straight in the eyes.
“You really don’t want me to answer that, do you? There is something about women and age, and such isn’t there?”
The glare that Mrs. Frederic gave Theodore would have caused most grown men to flee, but it instead caused him to chuckle once more and run a hand through his ruffled sandy hair. There were a few moments where he began to speak but thought better of it and instead chuckled, filling Mrs. Frederic with the urge to throw something hard at his head, and to seriously wonder why she had given the man the key to her work home.
“But seriously Theodore, what brings you here?” To combat the urge to throw something at the man, she had taken to grasping the arms of her chair.
“I heard you recently recruited two new agents to the Warehouse, I thought I would drop by and see how their first mission went, and of course how Mr. Nielson took it.” Work related, as usual, but considering it was in the place she used for when she was in town for work, it made sense, well at least as much sense as Theodore typically made.
“Your talent for finding information out almost immediately after it has occurred always amazes me Theodore.” A goofy grin crossed Theodore’s face as she spoke, grateful for the compliment, “Remind me to have a chat with Doc the next time I see him about him giving you information, and about grilling Leena for information.” The grin disappeared, replaced with a scowl and she sat back, a smug smile on her face as he glared at her with dark blue eyes, his hands resting on his knees as he leaned forward.
“Before you say anything, their mission went, as well as could be expected, considering it was their first. They had some bumps along the way, but other then that, it went well, all things considered,” with a sigh she released the armrests and closed her eyes. “Artie on the other hand, didn’t take it as well as I hoped he would.”
“I’ll make drinks, break out the store bought chocolate chocolate chip cookies and we can lament the stubbornness of our agents.” A grateful smile graced her face as she heard him stand up and move out of the room, a gentle squeeze on her arm the only sign of his sincerity.
---
Artie had complained, Leena had complained and now she was back at her home where she was ready to complain to someone, something, about people, computers and one particularly annoying girl that seemed to be actually helpful but she couldn’t understand why anyone would want her around. With none of her normal grace she took off her jacket and threw it into the armchair, and then let herself drop into the sofa, head instantly on the top of it and her eyes closed soon after.
“I know you get angry, but did you have to throw your jacket at me? Last I checked you never took back my key,” A startled, all too familiar voice came from underneath her jacket, causing her to snap open her eyes.
“Theodore, why are you here?” Her frustration at all that had occurred caused her voice to come out as an angry growl, causing Theodore to raise an eyebrow after he had moved her jacket to his lap, carefully folding it as he did so.
“My sixth sense told me you may want an ear to vent to tonight,” the joking words were said with a sincerity that caused Mrs. Frederic to pause before replying.
“You got a vibe from clear across the country that I may need to vent tonight?” Her frustration wouldn’t let go, and her disbelief at the fact that this man would do so seemed to just nurture it.
“I’ll leave if you like, I bought some more cookies, they are out in the kitchen, as is a new drink recipe of Doc’s I thought you might like,” moving her jacket off of his lap, he started to stand up and turn to place her jacket on the chair, his movements slow but well thought out.
Mrs. Frederic raised her head to look at him, shock evident in her eyes as she saw the man be true to his words and prepare to leave. What caused her to smile slightly were the rings under his eyes, the ruffled hair, wrinkled clothing and stubble that indicated that, true to his word he had followed a vibe, a feeling, his sixth sense whatever he called it, all the way back to Washington D.C. to see her, only her.
“Stay, please,” A smile was his response to that, a larger one after he saw her pat a seat next to her on the sofa.
“I need to vent, you need to relax, and then, we’ll hit the kitchen.” His arm around her shoulders after he sat down was a welcome comfort as she started to vent about the latest exploits of her agents.
---
“Where do you think they go after we return to our homes at night?” The clanking of dishes and the smell of dish soap had become a semi-normal occurrence whenever Theodore showed up unexpectedly, as had the off the wall questions.
“They probably go back to their own homes to sleep,” Mrs. Frederic responded as she wiped dry a plate that Theodore had handed her and placed it in the dish rack.
“Really? I think they go out on dates,” the words were said with such seriousness that Mrs. Frederic had to look at the man twice before remembering that it was Theodore and odd responses were the norm.
“Dates? When do you think they have time to meet someone to go out with let alone set up a time to go out?” An eyebrow was raised as she dried the next plate handed to her and placed it on the dish rack, a shake of her head the only other side of her disbelief.
“I think they date each other. They go out whenever the other one of us is in town,” a firm nod and a look of superiority from Theodore showed just how much thought he had given the subject, which she saw as he handed her a glass to dry.
“You think our bodyguards date each other?” Her surprise at the actual thought out theory came through in her voice, causing Theodore to chuckle in response.
“Don’t look so surprised, I have more good ideas then you tend to realize m’dear.” The laugh that came from Mrs. Frederic at his response caused Theodore to sigh and smile, and then throw a glass full of water at her. All he knew after that was one thing, revenge could be both cold and wet, especially when it came from a government trained angry woman who was pissed about him getting her favorite shirt wet.
---
“He’s not here ma’am, is there anything you would like me to tell him?” The half awake voice on the phone made Mrs. Frederic suddenly realize the time, and her tiredness.
“Yes, tell him that I am going to be out of town for a while and that I won’t be where he can reach me, no matter the circumstances. I will contact him after I get back into town.”
“Alright ma’am, have a good morning.”
“Thank you Doc, and try to get some sleep before the others get up.” She carefully hung up the cell phone and placed it on the desk. With a gentle tug on her jacket to make sure it was straight she walked out of the room, out of the home. She had a hunt to go on, and she would be damned if anyone got in her way of finding the man she was after, even Theodore.
---
“Aw sheesh, you’re still not picking up your phone? This has to be the fifth time I’ve called, first voicemail though. Anyway, we have a problem, he hasn’t shown up, and I mean not even for his ‘Don’t pull the damn alarm or I’ll feed you to Rex’ speeches, because I’ve been the one giving them every time someone hits the damn button. We’ve had things go wrong too, and you know how he gets, and he hasn’t even shown up to correct the situation or give a lecture or anything. I’m worried, I think something’s happened, but I can’t do anything about it. Call me when you get this, I have a feeling that we’ll need the help when you do.”