Viv was watching Kris watch her companion. 'Well I'll be. It looks like something, or should I say someone, has finally snared my sister's attention, if that sudden redness is any indication.'

"Can you imagine the envious looks I'll get tomorrow night when I walk into dinner with her on my arm." Martin's egotistical snicker broke the other's musings.

Kris wondered if she could get away with pushing her brother into the pool. Then had a better thought. "I think I'll cool off before we go in for lunch." And proceeded to jump into the water beside where Martin was standing, causing a very big splash and managing to douse her brother.

"Oh man, Kris! You did that on purpose!" Martin yelled at his sister. He hunched over trying to keep his cold wet shirt away from his skin and grabbed her towel to dry off.

Kris broke the surface of the water with her teeth chattering. She had definitely underestimated the temperature of the water, it was like ice, and it had caused the muscles in her legs to start cramping. She called out for help as her head disappeared beneath the surface.

"Quit joking around, Kris, I'm not jumping in there. You just want me to get completely soaked." Martin complained as he continued to dry off.

"Martin, I don't think she's kidding." Viv explained as she watched her sister go under again and started to stand, but before she could get to her feet a blur flew by.

Raven had been on her way back to the courtyard when she felt her heart start beating double-time. Before she had a chance to question the sudden feeling of panic, she heard the cry for help and reacted. She dove into the pool and surfaced with her arms around Kris' waist. "You ok?"

"I...am...now." She coughed up water between words.

"Put your arms around my neck." Raven instructed as she used her arms and legs to propel her body backwards, pulling the young woman with her.

Kris didn't need to be told twice and held on tighter than she needed to. At the edge of the pool, she broke her gaze with the blue eyes that held her mesmerized and noticed her brother's envious expression and wanted to laugh. She wished she could stick out her tongue and tell him to go find someone else, that Raven was hers. That startling admission, even though it was just to herself, along with the cold, caused Kris to start physically shaking.

Raven, after letting Martin and Vivian pull their sister into the tiles surrounding the pool, lifted herself up and out of the water and knelt down beside Kris as she started trembling. "Go get a blanket." She directed Martin. "Now!" She ordered when he was slow to move. "What happened?" Raven asked, as she sat behind Kris and wrapped the shivering young woman into a coc.o.o.n of her body trying to warm her.

"Lllegg cccrammps." Kris stuttered and grimaced when she tried to stretch the aforementioned appendages out.

"Wimp, huh?" Raven reminded Kris of the friendly name calling from earlier. "Can I say I told you so?" She asked as she ma.s.saged the young woman's lower legs with one hand while her other arm stayed wrapped around Kris' waist.

"Nnnnoo." She answered through still chattering teeth, but managed to smile at the playful look on her companion's face.

Martin returned with the blanket and an entourage, made up of their parents, Parker, and several security people. "Kristen Mich.e.l.le Whitfield." Her father intoned with his fists on his hips. "Of all the irresponsible, reckless things to do." His expression was a cross between irritation and concern.

Raven had wrapped the blanket around Kris' shoulders. "It was an accident, Mr. Whitfield." The look that accompanied the statement dared the man to argue. She was beginning to think that the primary consideration in this 'family' was the image that was presented to their colleagues and to the public. Concern seemed to come in a poor second.

Kris tried to stand, but her right leg cramped up again. With a sharp intake of breath and a pained expression, she quickly sat back down. "I guess I'm gonna need some help." She looked up apologetically.

Two MP's started forward at Parker's signal but Raven's glare brought them to sudden stop. She knelt down on one knee and placed one arm behind Kris' back and the other one under her knees and stood up cradling the girl in her arms.

Kris knew she should stop her but couldn't bring herself to protest. Instead she wrapped her arm around Raven's neck and placed her head on an inviting shoulder as her rescuer headed back into the emba.s.sy. Raven heard the muttered comments but chose to ignore them.

"Oh my, she's very strong." Said by Regina as she stood between Andrew and Parker.

"I bet she's one of 'those women'." Said with disgust.

"What do you mean, son?" The Amba.s.sador had been calling Parker by that endearment since he and his wife had decided that the young man was going to be their son-in-law.

"Just that she probably works out, lifts weights, that sort of 'manly' thing. Probably also thinks she can compete with men." He explained with a scandalous expression. "It might not be a good idea for Kristen to a.s.sociate with someone like her."

Andrew Whitfield propped one hand on his hip and rubbed his chin thoughtfully with the other. "I certainly don't want her filling our Kristen's head with those silly notions. She'll bare watching." He decided as the group watched the two women disappear into the emba.s.sy.

Raven had slowed her stride when she heard the comment 'those women'. She rolled her eyes and almost laughed at the moron's explanation and at Andrew's response. "Hades take me. These people are living in the dark ages." She mumbled as she entered the building and headed for the back stairs.

"Goodness, Miss Kristen, what's wrong?" The cook asked with a definite southern accent. She had been with the family when they still lived in the Washington D.C. area and had decided to take Mrs. Whitfield up on her offer to stay with them when the Amba.s.sador received his first post, 12 years ago. She was a short, round dark skinned woman with hair that had turned white many year's ago. She had been a friend and confidant to Kris since the girl was old enough to wobble into the kitchen on baby legs and beg for cookies or brownies or whatever Issy had decided to bake that day.

Kris had raised her head and looked at her rescuer with a quizzical expression after the mumbled remark and was about to question it, but turned her attention to the cook instead. "I'm fine Issy. I was just swimming and got a cramp." She stated, trying not to make it sound as embarra.s.sing as it was.

"Good lord, child, you're all wet. Go get into some dry things before you catch your death. Hurry up now." Issy muttered about foolish young 'uns and shooed them out of her kitchen.

Kris was astonished when she realized that the cook was talking to Raven and not her. "You've certainly made an impression with Issy. I've never seen her take to anyone that quickly before."

Raven shrugged her shoulders after she placed her burden on the bed. "She and I had a long talk over breakfast this morning." She shrugged. "She seems to like me okay."

After her early workout, Raven had gone back down to find something to munch on and had been cornered in the kitchen by a very suspicious cook with a very large knife.

"You ain't no political aid. Who are you and what do you want with my Kris?

Raven had taken a chance and explained everything to the protective cook. It seemed they had a common goal, to look after Kris.

"Uh huh." Kris knew there was something else that had happened between them that morning but didn't push to find out. Instead she asked about Raven's earlier comment.

It was easy enough to explain about her love of anything ancient and Greek, but she had to be careful about the other. As much as she hated the Whitfield's and Parker's feelings about 'a woman's place', these people were still Kris' family and soon to be family. She repeated what she had over heard, to distract herself more than anything, while she helped Kris change out of her suit and into shorts and a plain, long sleeve cotton pullover shirt. "I'm sorry, but I just don't agree with their beliefs. Women can be strong and independent. They don't need a man to provide a home or security for them. And in this day and age, we don't even need them to provide a family, at least not personally anyway." She had started ma.s.saging the girl's calf to ease the still slightly contorted muscle and she rambled on to take her mind off the soft skin under her hands. And the fact that the young woman was in bed, laying on her back and that Raven was on her knees straddling Kris' legs and hovering over the p.r.o.ne, inviting body.

Kris had closed her eyes and was very much enjoying the feeling of strong fingers and hands moving over her legs. Her imagination and libido kicked in as she pictured those hands moving up her thighs and over her stomach and coming to rest on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She let out an almost inaudible sigh, but it was enough to bring both women back to their senses.

Raven jumped off the bed. "I'd, uh, better go change. Sorry I got the bed wet." She hurried back to her room through the connecting bathroom. 'Oh yeah, I'd really like to be the reason she and her bed got wet.' She recalled the glimpse she had gotten of Kris' body when the swimsuit was removed. Now she was wet and not because she had jumped in the pool. She took a cold shower and changed into a pair of white cotton slacks and matching shirt. She had just finished tucking her shirt in when she heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Come."

Kris entered with only a slight limp. "In all the commotion earlier, I forgot to thank you." She leaned against the post at the foot of the bed. "It actually took this long for me to realize that you saved my life." She leaned down to Raven, who was sitting on the end of the bed putting on shoes, and kissed her on the cheek. She saw the flush on the older woman's face and wondered if it was from embarra.s.sment or if it might have something to do with the heavier breathing and what Kris hoped might be desire shining in those blue eyes.

The move had taken Raven by surprise. She felt her skin tingle from the contact of Kris' lips. She tried to regain control of her feelings before she did something she wouldn't be able to stop, but her body betrayed her. She placed her fingertips lightly against Kris' cheek and slowly closed the small distance between their lips. As she was tilting her head, Raven heard the voice coming from Kris' room through the open doors of the bathroom. She jumped up and moved away. 'G.o.ds, Raven. Of all the stupid, dumb, idiotic, unprofessional things to do. She was just thanking you and you had to go and try to take advantage of her.' She stood in front of the mirror and ran her hands through her almost dry hair. 'Maybe I ought to bed Stephanie, it might get my l.u.s.t under control.' As soon as the thought came to her, she knew she wouldn't be able to follow it through. She glanced at Kris' reflection in the mirror and felt a warmth flow through her body. 'G.o.ds help me, I think I'm in love with the girl.' She shook her head, wondering what she was going to do about this new revelation when Vivian walked into the room.

"Here you two are. Mother says to come down to lunch, now." She saw the expression she was getting from her sister and knew that if looks could kill, she'd be dead and wondered what she had done wrong.

Kris couldn't believe it; Raven was going to kiss her. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she thought she was going to die before the short s.p.a.ce that was between them, dissolved. The next thing she knew was Raven's lips and hand had moved away and Viv was speaking to her. She was about to explode when a hand gently squeezed her shoulder.

"We were just on our way down." Raven said as she opened her door and motioned for them to precede her. 'She's off limits. She's engaged. She's got a cute little b.u.t.t. Stop it, Raven.' But her eyes still followed the gentle sway of hips all the way to the dining room.

Chapter Four:.

Raven was both relieved and perturbed that she didn't see Kris again that day until dinner. Regina had ordered her daughter to spend the afternoon with her in her study, 'So you can recuperate from your ordeal'.

Raven and John did, however, use the time to slip out of the emba.s.sy to meet one of The Division's contacts that John had been told might have some useful information. They had waited on the guy for several hours but he never showed, which made Raven late for dinner. Which meant she had to endure snide comments from Mrs. Whitfield about being on time. Needless to say, Raven spent the entire time apologizing through gritted teeth.

Raven had excused herself shortly after the meal. She thought she might strangle the woman if she stayed much longer. She changed and headed for the gym. About halfway through her routine, she felt eyes watching and turned around to find Kris leaning against the door. 'd.a.m.n, must have really been p.i.s.sed off not to hear her come in.' "Hey."

"My mother seems to have this kind of effect on most people." She pushed off her perch and walked towards Raven. "Sorry about her remarks earlier." She handed the sweating woman a towel.

"Not your fault." She wiped her face and neck. "Mothers can be...how should I put this...hard to train sometimes." They both started laughing.

"How about your mother?" Kris suddenly wanted to know everything about the person she loved. 'Yes, loved. I knew it the moment I first laid eyes on her and tried to tell myself I was crazy. Now if I could just find the courage to admit that to her.'

Raven suddenly seemed to be distant and sad. "I've spoken to my mother once in the last ten years and that was an argument." She stated when she drew her attention back to her companion.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." 'G.o.d, that would mean she's been on her own since she was sixteen. How do kids survive like that?' She shuddered just thinking about the doc.u.mentaries she had seen about life on the streets.

'I guess I'd better explain the rest now that I've started. It really doesn't matter as far as my cover story goes.' She saw the young woman shiver. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I've never felt comfortable telling anyone about myself before. Come on, let's go upstairs before someone catches me in here doing 'manly' things." That broke the stress of unpleasant thoughts and memories. Kris smiled and nodded her head in agreement. 'I'd kill to be able to see that smile everyday for the rest of my life.' Raven thought as they headed for her bedroom. 'Ah, Captain Chandler.' She addressed herself. 'You fooled around and fell in love, just like the song says. Now what in Tartarus do you plan to do about it?' She had no answer and turned her attention back to her companion.

"Why don't you get a shower and I'll go get us something to snack on while we talk?" Kris suggested.

Raven pulled the tie loose that held her hair back. "Do you ever get full?" She grinned. Kris' stomach chose that moment to announce itself. "Guess that would be a no." They both laughed and Kris turned red.

Kris sat the tray down in the middle of the bed and put the wine bottle and gla.s.ses on the nightstand. She was lucky no one but Issy had been in the kitchen, otherwise, no wine. Her parents were strict when it came to their children and alcohol. Even though Kris was twenty-one, they didn't consider her an adult until she was married. 'As long as you're living under my roof, you'll do as I say.' Was one of her father's favorite sayings. And her mother was h.e.l.l bent on keeping Kris under their roof until that time, 'It's not proper for a young lady of your social cla.s.s to be living on her own. It gives people the wrong idea.' She had really never argued with her parents, it was just easier to let them have their way.

Raven entered the room to find Kris lost in thought. "Hey, quarter for your thoughts."

"I thought it was a penny?" She sat up and swallowed hard at the vision that greeted her eyes. 'She has got to be the most beautiful creature G.o.d ever created.' Raven's black hair was towel dried so it wasn't dripping but was still wet enough to be slicked back away from her face, which was still glowing from the hot water. She wore a silk robe that was barely held together by the sash around her waist, the color was a vivid blue that matched her eyes perfectly.

Raven saw the reaction and made a mental note to thank Sharon, John's fiancee, for making her buy the robe. "Yeah it use to be, but you ought to know about inflation and all that. Didn't you study economics and all those equations the government uses just to get more taxes out of us?"

Kris grinned and answered the initial question. "I was just thinking about growing up and wondering how much your childhood effects what you become. Not just your profession, but your personality, your thoughts, your beliefs and how you treat your friends and family and even strangers." She explained to Raven about her parent's beliefs, how she and her siblings were raised and how she had not questioned her parents or voiced her own opinions. "You know the funny thing is, that they don't come from 'old money' like they lead everyone to believe. My father's family is middle cla.s.s. My mother's parents owned a family restaurant in Baltimore when my mother was born, so they were basically working stiffs too. My grandpa, mother's father, happened to luck out in the stock market. He decided to do something different for my grandma's birthday one year and bought this relatively new stock that happened to have the same initials as hers and in the next several years, made a fortune."

Raven was intrigued. "You gonna tell me or make me guess?" She handed the grinning young woman the gla.s.s of wine she had poured for her and sat down on the bed facing her.

"Umm, this is good." She took another sip, prolonging the suspense. She smiled at her companion that was now impatiently drumming her fingers on the tray of food. "Ok, ok. Her name is Irene Bernice McKenzie."

Two eyebrows shot up. "IBM." She chuckled. "You're pulling my leg."

"Nope." Kris took a cracker and piece of cheese from the tray. "So don't let my mother and her high and mighty ways fool you." She gestured with the hand that held her food. "My grandparents say she's just a spoiled brat that forgets her beginnings." She popped the treat in her mouth. She finished chewing and swallowed. "So, tell me about you. That is if you still want to." She reached for an olive. She didn't want to seem over anxious but she desperately wanted Raven to trust her enough to be able to tell her anything.

Raven swallowed the grapes she was munching on and took a deep breath. "As I told your mother, my father left when I was four. I've got one older brother, Philip; he's three years older. Derek was two years younger and Lisa was a year younger than he was. My mother managed a restaurant in downtown Seattle, still does as far as I know, and was at work most of the time while we grew up. Philip and I were responsible for Derek and Lisa when mom was at work, but when Philip turned thirteen, he fell in with what I know now was a bad crowd at school. They would come over to the house when mom wasn't home and bring beer. I also found out later that they were gang members and they were also bringing drugs." Raven paused to take a sip of wine.

"Did you tell your mom about it?" Kris asked after the silence grew.

"Yeah, she wouldn't believe me. Philip was her pride and joy. I was...well, I reminded her of dad and she hated him for leaving her. When she was mad, she would tell me I looked and acted just like him. After he left, she always called me by my middle name; she refused to call me Raven because he had insisted on naming me that." She saw the questioning look. "Frances or Fran if she wasn't mad at me." She answered.

"Raven Frances. I like that, it's pretty." She spread some peanut b.u.t.ter over a cracker and offered it to Raven. "She never remarried?"

She shook her head at the offered tidbit. "How can you eat that with wine?" She cringed at the combination.

"I like to eat really hot and spicy foods and I think somewhere along the way, I fried my taste buds. Either that or I just like really strange combinations of foods." She grinned.

"No, to answer your question. Mom's a devout Catholic, so no divorce, no remarriage and no men in her life. I think that's why she threw herself into work. So, between the two of us, she took Philip's word over mine. I tried to keep Derek and Lisa away from Philip and his friends, but Derek looked up to his big brother and wanted Philip to include him in all their fun. At first they were good to him, but then they started giving him beer. I confronted Philip but he said if I told mom he would tell her it was me giving the stuff to Derek, and I knew she would believe him, so I kept my mouth shut. After awhile, I started to notice Derek acting stranger than he did when they got him drunk but I still didn't go to mom." She poured more wine and took a healthy swallow.

"Oh G.o.d, they started giving him drugs." Kris guessed.

"Yeah, although I didn't know it at the time. I only found out by accident a few years later. They must have given him too much or had a bad batch one day, because Derek started going into convulsions. Philip's 'friends' took him into the kitchen while Philip held me back in the doorway. I really think Philip thought they were going to help Derek and that's why he kept me from going to him. But they just wanted to cover their own a.s.ses." Raven clutched the comforter so tightly in her fists that her knuckles turned white. It was like she was there in the kitchen again; everything was so clear and vivid. She felt herself shaking and felt the tears flow down her cheeks. She couldn't go through this again, she wouldn't. She was about to bolt from the room when she felt a warm hand close over hers and she slowly returned to the present.

The hurt and anger she saw on her friend's face scared Kris. She wasn't sure what she should do, but she had to try and help to ease the pain. "Raven, I'm here, it's over now." She rubbed her hands over the clinched fists and squeezed firmly.

Raven looked into sincere green eyes and took several deep breaths to slow her heart rate. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go away on you like that." She let go of the bedcover and held Kris' hands. "It felt like I was standing in that kitchen again. It's still so vivid."

"It's ok, you don't need to finish, it's too hard on you." Kris' eyes were filled with sorrow.

Part of her was reluctant to go on with the story. She didn't want to have to tell this innocent young woman that she stood by and let her brother die. Her rational adult mind knew that a ten-year-old child was not responsible but her heart still felt like she was. "No, I started and now I feel that I need to finish telling you."

Kris had leaned forward when she covered Raven's hands and had to let go as she straightened her back and sat up. She saw the flash of disappointment cross Raven's face when she removed her hands and quickly moved closer to Raven and brought one of her friend's hands into her lap. "This ok?" Kris held up the joined appendages.

"Yeah, thanks." Raven cleared her throat and looked down to cover her embarra.s.sment at needing the contact. She regained her composure before starting her story again. "Instead of trying to help Derek they wanted to make it look like it was an accident I guess. They grabbed some kind of cleaning solution and poured it down his throat. I just stood there, frozen to the spot. The next thing I notice, is them standing in front of us, threatening us if we said anything. Then they ran out of the house and I called 911. I held his head in my lap, I didn't know what else to do, he died before they got there."

"How could they, he was just a little boy?" Kris now had tears running down her face. "And you were just a little girl, how did you get through something so horrible?"

Raven stared at the pattern in the comforter without really seeing it. "It was my fault. I should've said something to mom when it started but I didn't want her mad at me. Then when they dragged him into the kitchen I just stood there and watched while they killed him, I didn't try to stop them."

"Look at me." Kris gently took Raven's face between her hands and looked into eyes that were haunted by guilt and self-incrimination. "You were TEN-YEARS-OLD." She raised her voice, commanding attention. "How could you stop them? They would have KILLED you, too."

Raven wanted so badly to believe that someone else thought of her as innocent. "Philip ran out of the house before anyone got there. I told the police that Philip knew that his friends were responsible but he lied and said he had been gone to the mall all afternoon and had left me in charge. Mom believed him, of course, and blamed me for Derek's death. Told me if I had watched him better, been more careful, that he would still be alive."

"I'm so sorry." Kris didn't know what else to say so she drew Raven's head down to rest on her shoulder and just held her for awhile. "Did you run away?" She knew that she had helped to lessen Raven's guilt when she had not blamed her and wanted to see if there might be more weight she could ease from the woman's broad shoulders.

"No." She took the tissue Kris offered her and wiped her eyes, but never removed her head from the comfort of her friend's shoulder. "I withdrew into myself. For about two years, I did everything that mom wanted, when she wanted it. I went to ma.s.s, I attended confirmation cla.s.ses and I continued to do well in school. I had always been a straight A student." She sighed deeply.

Kris realized that she was slowly rubbing her hand up and down Raven's back in a soothing motion and wondered if she should stop. 'Oh well, she doesn't seem to mind.' So she continued. "What happened then?"

She took a deep breath trying to control her emotions. "That, my friend, is a story for another time. It's late and you've had a tiring day, with trying to drown yourself and all." That and she wasn't sure she could take much more reminiscing. Raven hugged the young woman tightly. "Thank you for listening and thank you for believing that it wasn't my fault." She drudged up a smile for her companion.

"You're welcome. And I meant it, it wasn't your fault." She stood by the bed, leaned down and placed a kiss on Raven's forehead. She picked up the tray, her gla.s.s and the wine bottle. "I'll leave you your gla.s.s so you can finish. Good night."

"Night." Raven said. As she watched Kris leave her room she wondered how the young woman would feel about her after she told her the rest of the story. 'If I tell her, she'll probably be so terrified that she runs in the other direction when she sees me coming. But I seem to be compelled to be honest with her.'

Raven's senses feel an intruder near her and her body reacts without thought. She grabs the arm reaching for her, flips the attached body over hers onto the bed, pins the person with her body and with an iron grip, wraps her hand around a slender throat. When the intruder offers no resistance, Raven reaches over and turns on the bedside lamp. The low wattage bulb casts a soft light over the two p.r.o.ne figures on the bed. "Oh G.o.ds, I'm sorry." She quickly removed her hand. "I should have told you never to try and wake me up. Did I hurt you?"

Kris was having mixed feeling. Her body was reacting in a very positive way to having Raven's body in contact with hers. But the choking part was making her a little light headed and she really, really wanted to remain conscious just on the off chance that Raven continued the stimulating part of her attack.

Raven raised herself to her knees, straddling her companion's stomach. She placed her hands on Kris' shoulders and gently shook her when she didn't immediately receive an answer. "Kris?"

She sighed when Raven sat up, on one hand, she missed the bodily contact but on the other hand her eyes got to feast on a body clad only in a short black tee shirt and black cotton boxers with s...o...b.. Doo on them. Kris regained her composure, by the hardest, and cleared her throat. "I always heard that politics was cut-throat, but this is ridiculous." She chuckled. "Let me go out on a limb here and guess that you're not really a congressional aid."

"I'm going to go out on a limb also and a.s.sume, that since you're joking, you're not hurt." Raven moved off of Kris' stomach and lay down on her side facing the young woman when Kris nodded that she was indeed okay. "No, I'm not." The Captain admitted knowing that she was taking more of a risk, both personally and professionally with this young woman. More than she had every done with any one before, but it felt right to confide in her. "What are you doing sneaking in here anyway?"

Kris turned on her side to face her friend. "I got up to go to the bathroom, I should know better than to drink that much liquid before going to bed, and heard you cry out. I was just going to look in on you, but you looked like you were having a nightmare, and I figured that by making you tell me about your family probably caused it so I felt bad and I didn't want you to suffer all night. So, I was going to wake you and here we are. I guess it's a good thing that I had already used the bathroom or we'd be changing your sheets about now." She returned the grin she was getting from Raven. "So, Ms. Chandler, who are you? Should I be worried that I'm sharing a bed with an imposter? Or should I be grateful that you aren't who you say you are because if you were, you would have more-than-likely lived up to my expectations of you?"