Shelby Quinn

...two weeks later...

The frostbitten breeze of the A/C blasts down on me from the vents overhead, and a heinously bright fluorescent light burns my retinas in the FBI interrogation room.. Neither of which are remotely as offensive as the smell of Jake Harrisons cologne.. The man smells of mint and musk, which at any other time, I probably wouldn't have minded so much.. It's not like Harris is an unattractive man.. The rough and rugged Australian is something of a legend among some circles, and I've certainly heard all the rumours about his sizable endowment down under.. But right now, with the crazy baby hormones pumping through my veins, I could just about puke on his expensive leather loafers..

"Level with me here, Shelby.." Harris leans back in the creaky plastic chair to stretch, showing signs of a sore back and mounting impatience.. That is how I know I am reaching the end of his fuse..

After weeks of constant questioning and isolation cells, I am beginning to think there might not be an end to this tunnel of darkness.. And I know Harrison is sensing my waning grit.. "We both know Hendrix and Iris are mixed up in all this Blackstar fuckery.. So why don't you just lay it out for me.. Save ya own skin.. You don't think that's what they're all doing right now?"

"Seriously? You're playing good cop?" I stare back at him before cocking my head in mocking disbelief.. "Has that actually ever worked on anybody?"

Harris nods with the shrug of one giant shoulder.. "It's a classic for a reason, Sweetheart.."

"And you thought it was going to work on me?"

"Nah.. Not really.." He leans forward.. "But you sure as shit can't say I didn't give you a chance to tell us what you know.."

"Here's what I know, Harris-" Folding my arms on the table, I lean forward to match his cold stare.. "I know you like to swing your prolific cock around and make a big old scene like you're the star of the whole fucking show... I know you'd do anything to look good on a report card, and that ambition probably causes you to bulldoze everybody around you and destroy everything you touch; Deep down , you hate it, even though you lie and tell yourself that your miserable weaknesses are actually your greatest strengths.. No, you know you're just a lonely, empty shell of a man, with nothing to show for the life you've lived except a string of one night stands and a couple of meaningless shiny medals.. And I know the only reason you're going after Iris is your pathological desire to fuck any woman who you feel threatened by, just a insecure little boy, desperate to climb back between mommy's legs.."

"Strewth.." Harris smirks like a lunatic, clearly entertained.. "Let's see now, Iris, do I wanna fuck her?" He pauses to scratch the stubble on his chin in thought.. "Yeah, ya got me.." Holding up his hands in surrender he laughs a little too hard.. "And you're right, I s'poze can get a little overzealous sometimes.. Hey, I'm only human.."

He flicks open the file in front of him.. "But I'll tell you one thing, Sweetheart, at least I'm not mad as a fucking meataxe.. Can you say the same?"

"I don't know what you're talking about.." I shrug..

"I'm talking about this record.. Infraction after infraction; Disrespecting a commanding officer, altercations on duty, altercations offduty, disrespecting a commanding officer again, assault and battery-" His finger slides down the page as he lists my military misconduct history.. "Oh, and then there's this one.. Captured in combat.." He sniggers.. "Tell me, what good is a sergeant who leads her entire unit to their death? And how is it that you, Miss Quinn, are the only one who miraculously survived?"

Angling to get at me though survivors guilt, he goads me to slip up and say something, anything that will implicate my father or my boss in having any involvement with Wyatt Bennings illegal weapons trade..

"Maybe it was luck?" I sigh tiredly, bowing forward to rest my forehead on the frosty metal table.. "Or divine intervention? Or how about a miracle?" Then, I sit up suddenly as though struck by a brilliant idea.. "Ooh, what if it was destiny?"

"Fuck-me-dead.." He rubs an exasperated hand down his face before pushing up from his chair.. "I tried.. I tried to fucking help you, Quinn.. Once this case leaves my office, it falls onto a desk somewhere at Homeland Security.. Then you're all as good as gone, disappeared down some deep, dark government hole.. Then the lovely Ms Santiago'll be wishing it was me who was fucking her, cus' let me tell you those counterterrorism cunts wouldn't even do you the favour of spitting on it..."

With his colourful description I am reminded of the hole the Moskal had kept me in for months.. Deprived of everything that made me human and I can't bear to think of my friends trapped in that same hell.. Slater, Cassidy, Killian and Hawke, none of them deserve this.. And neither does Iris..

Everything she did, she did to save me and protect her daughter, and now I regret the way I had thrown all that love she'd shown me back in her face..

"She didn't do it, Jake.." I blurt.. After days of these interrogations and going in circles, my mind is fatigued, but I do my best to choose careful words and make my statement clear.. "Iris would never do something so evil.. She built Specter so she could save people.. Not kill them.."

Harris lingers behind his chair... "That's what I used to think, Quinn.. But these damn documents-"

"They're fragments, Harris.. They don't tell the whole story and they're not enough to convince any jury alive.." I watch as he considers my argument.. "You know I'm right.."

"So tell me the whole story, Shelby.."

"I can't tell you, Jake." I groan, my eyes rolling back as I repeat myself for what feels like the millionth time. "Because the truth is I don't know it.."

Suddenly, the door swings open and Iris herself glides into the room.. Still dressed in her muddy white pantsuit yet somehow looking poised and commanding as ever, she effortlessly takes charge of the room.. "Playtime is over, Harris.."

Beside Iris stands a distinguished older gentleman who looks as though he'd rather be anywhere else, and a slender raven haired beauty who I immediately recognise as Darkport's Assistant District Attorney, Lemon Lennox.. The confident lawyer addresses Jake Harrison with a tight, unfriendly smile, her greeting cold yet familiar.. "Thank you, Agent Harrison, I'll be taking it from here.."

"Miss Lennox.." Jake arches a brow, peering over her shoulder as the elderly gentleman steps forward and holds out his wrinkled hand.. Jake takes it respectfully with a firm shake.. "Attorney General Addler- I certainly wasn't expecting to see you today, Sir.."

Eugene Addler bobs his head with a scowl of displeasure and a bored, disinterested glaze to his eye.. "That makes two of us, Special Agent Harrison.."

Lemon turns to me with a beckoning wave and a flurry of catty lashes.. "Come on Shelby, we're leaving.."

"We are?" I blink, unsure if I have hallucinated this goddess of a woman who seems to have appeared out of nowhere to save me..

"Yes, right now.." Lemon asserts again, this time urging me to move with sharp, sea glass green eyes..

Climbing to my feet I shuffle by the liver-spotted Attorney General with the respectful bobble of my head.. He says nothing in return, but watches me curiously..

"Iris? Are you coming?" I croak, but my boss just smiles at me with an all knowing and encouraging nod..

"Right behind you, darling.."

Lemon grabs my arm to quickly usher me out the door, the click of her high priced pumps clicking on the tile underfoot.. I barely catch a peek through the crack in the door as it slams close, but I can see enough to know the two men are deep in animated conversation..

"What the hell is going on - how did you even know we were here?" I hiss once I am sure we are out of earshot..

Lemon steers me left down the corridor, pulling me past a gathering crowd of Agent onlookers.. "All I know is somebody with deep pockets and some serious pull wanted you guys out of here.. If I had to guess I'd say it's somebody who doesn't want Iris talking.. That woman is so full of secrets I'm surprised they don't fucking suffocate her.."

I grin at Lemon with a sarcastic smirk.. "Oh, so the two of you are friends then?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that.." Lemon scoffs.. "But my boss seems to have a soft spot for the woman.. God only knows why.." She hustles me into the elevator, pressing the ground floor button impatiently as she checks the time on an elegant gold watch..

"I'm pretty sure my boyfriend thinks she's a snake.." I try to suppress a sick and guilty feeling.. "But I suppose there was a time he thought I was a snake too.. He wasn't exactly wrong.." I admit.. "But Iris isn't all bad.. She's just- an island.."

"What do you mean?" The attorney wrinkles her nose..

I lean against the handrail as the elevator begins its smooth descent.. "Just that she does everything on her own.." It must be hard, not having anybody to lean on and I can't help but feel guilty for how quickly I'd abandoned her..

Now seeing the mess that my father created and the danger he'd exposed us all to, I can't help but empathise with Iris' secrets..
She did what she thought she had to do to keep her daughter safe.. All while trying to protect me, and Logan and every other Specter agent..

Lemon shifts uncomfortably.. "Maybe she doesn't need anybody.."

"Maybe.." I nod as the elevator doors fly open and we march through the light-flooded lobby towards the exit..

Outside, I am ushered into the back of a sleek black Town Car and Lemon returns through the doors of the building.. After a few minutes of silence with only the hum of an idle engine, the door clicks open and Iris slides in beside me..

"What happened in there, Iris?" I ask, a little irritated by all the mystery..

Iris closes her eyes for a moment, seemingly as worn down as I am.. "Harrison has agreed to release the rest of Bravo team, they're finishing the paperwork now.."

"What about Hendrix?"

"There were documents seized from Wyatt Bennings office.." Iris casts an apologetic look at me, her expression grim.. "I'm afraid your father may have dug too deep a hole this time, darling.."

I shake my head.. "There must be something we can do-"

"Short of trading myself, there isn't.." Iris replies surely.. "If you want me to walk back in there and make it so, Shelby, I will.."

"What?" I blink at her, stunned.. After all, Iris is the last person I would expect to martyr herself on behalf of my father..

"You have a choice.. I can protect Hendrix from Jake Harrison.. Or, I can protect Logan from Alistair Sabre.. But I cannot do both.."

"What does Sabre want with Logan?"

"To control him.. To own him.. Shelby, there is a reason I have worked so hard to recruit Logan over the years.. He is brilliant beyond anybody the hacking-world has ever seen.. He can decode any system, break any lock, rewrite any algorithm.. And Sabre has had his eye on him for some time now.. Logan doesn't realise this, because he has far too much humility to consider himself so, but he is an extremely powerful weapon.. One that Alistair would go to great lengths to wield.. And now his recruitment meeting is set for first thing tomorrow morning.."

"Logan is going to work for Sabre?" I gasp in disbelief, sickened at the very idea of another evil man enslaving the pure hearted hacker.. "But it goes against everything he believes in.. Why would he do that?"

Iris purses her lips, her hazel eyes darkening with frustration.. Not towards me, but herself.. "How do you think we were released, darling?"

My heart plummets to the pit if my stomach and a lump forms in my throat.. "Are you saying he traded himself.. For us?"

Iris frowns at me.. "You know he didn't do this for me, or for Bravo team, Shelby.. He did it for you.."

"I know my father made his sacrifices to protect me.." I utter sadly, letting go of the idea of a happy ending.. Of course, I should have realised long ago that I wouldn't get to have that.. "But I could never forgive myself if I just stood by and let Logan sell his soul like this.. There really is no choice, Iris.."

"I understand.." She smiles with a knowing kind of empathy, reaching out to pet my knee in consolation.. "So let's get to the airfield..We need to be on the jet back to Darkport as soon as possible.."

With a quick tap on the seatback, Iris signals to our driver and the engine grumbles as we pull away from the curb..

"I haven't always done the right thing.. And I definitely didn't always appreciate him the way I should have.." With the prickle of tears threatening at my eyes, I turn my attention to the city scenes as they pass by the window..

She cocks her head.. "Who do you mean, dear?"

"Logan.."

"Ah, well we all make mistakes, Shelby.." Iris offers warmly..

"Maybe it was an accident.. But that doesn't mean it was wrong.. I'm just so scared he won't want us anymore after this.." I say to myself, more than her..

"Us?" Iris arches a curious brow, suddenly very intrigued..

I don't know why I say the following words that fall from my mouth.. Maybe it's because for a whole week I haven't been able to tell anybody.. But I can't stop myself.. My hand settles on my belly.. "I'm going to have a baby.." I laugh nervously.. "Oh my god.. That's the first time I've said it out loud.."

"Congratulations, Shelby.." Her eyes warm with genuine happiness, though she keeps her manner refined and polite, the same way she always does when things get a little too personal for her.. A trait I easily recognise, since I am the very same way.. "And don't you worry about maternity leave, I am happy to sign off on as much time as you need.."

"Thanks, Iris.." I mumble, trying to mask my nervousness and failing.. Because when I think of my own parents, their many shortcomings force themselves into my mind.. All the things I don't want to be..

Cold.. Selfish.. Narcissistic..

"It's daunting, isn't it?" Noticing my downturned expression of anxious worry, Iris smiles, the way only a mother can, with all the wisdom of experience.. "I was a different person before I fell pregnant.. I didn't trust anybody, or I couldn't.. Going through all of that alone- It was harder than I ever could have imagined.." She sighs, her gaze tuning nostalgic and soft. "But then Linnley was born and suddenly I was just-" She pauses briefly to think of the right word.. "Complete."

"I'd love to meet her, Iris.." I smile at her.. "My sister.."

"Of course.." Iris nods in fast agreement.. "She is your family.. And so am I.."

"Family.." I hum, my heartstrings tickled by the word.. "That's all I ever wanted.. I just hope it's what Logan wants too.. Because I don't think I'll ever be complete without him.."

"The man is a genius, Shelby.." Iris chuckles.. "Trust me, there's no way he'd be stupid enough to give up such a good thing.."