Esmeralda smiled. "I'd call us friends, though I can say the same about a lot of the sewer rats."

"Excuse me?! What the hell is a sewer rat?" green eyes sparking fire. "And you better not be talking about yourself!!"

"Brianna, it's all right. It's what all the big wigs refer to the common working class as when they think we're not listening."

"That's not right!"

"No," Esmeralda agreed sadly. "But it doesn't make it any less true. The non-public tunnels we use also house the pipes that carry the sewage and waste out of the building. So we're sewer rats. We come out of hiding when the building goes dark... in theory anyway."

Brianna grit her teeth and took a deep breath to try and center herself. When she felt the rage calm to a tolerable level, she spoke again. "So you met Jas...?"

"The drivers share a lounge with the custodial crew downstairs... between the entrance to the lot where the cars are kept and our cleaning closets. So when they're on a break or we are, we get a chance to talk. I think I know every driver for every senator in the building; of course I know most of the cleaning crew; and even though they're never down on our level, I chat with every staffer on my floor. It's quite a mixed bunch of folks."

Brianna laughed. "You should have gone into politics, Es. You're obviously a master of understatement."

"Oh no... no thank you. I have trouble enough keeping up with the truth. I couldn't manage the lies."

Brianna offered her a wry look. "I think I should be insulted." She snorted. "Actually, I would be insulted if I didn't already know that for the truth." She paused. "So tell me how you convinced my driver to do what you asked instead of her job... especially considering the kind of trouble that could have landed her in." Brianna didn't sound angry... merely curious.

Esmeralda sighed and looked at Saphira who held her gaze for a long moment, then squeezed her hand in support. Es lifted the hand to her lips and brushed a light kiss over the knuckles before turning her attention back to Brianna - to find her watching them in fascination.

"What?"

Brianna shrugged and shook her head. "Nothing. I've just never seen two people communicate the way you two do. It's always been more like something you'd find in a novel - lovely to think about but not a genuine possibility in real life."

"Do you doubt our sincerity?" Saphira asked without a hint of malice in her tone.

"Not at all - that's what makes it so amazing. But that doesn't answer my original question," turning back to Esmeralda.

"It was easy, Brianna - I asked," holding up her free hand to stop Brianna's speech before she could form her first thought. "Remember... I have been doing my job for a long time and I have known Jas for most of that. She knew something was wrong, so she was willing to give me a shot at helping... even if that meant she risked her position. Jas is one of the good guys, Brianna. She cares."

"So you help a lot of folks then?"

Esmeralda shrugged. "I do what I can. I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around, and if I have the chance to help someone out, I try to do that. I figure eventually, it'll all come back to me in a good way."

"And if it doesn't?"

"What have I lost except the chance to do the right thing?"

"I don't know if I could be that selfless."

"Haven't you already, Brianna? Didn't you give up your own opportunity at happiness with the one who meant the most to you in the whole world to insure her well-being and peace of mind?"

Brianna sighed. "That was different."

"How do you figure?" Saphira asked quietly.

"Because I loved Charisma. I needed to do it for me as much as I needed to do it for her. Esmeralda doesn't love me or anyone else she helps... at least not like that. It's one thing to sacrifice your happiness for one you love - you know that... you did it for each other. But it is something else again to do it for someone who is a mere acquaintance or even a stranger."

"Greater love hath no man than this...." Saphira quoted.

"Maybe," Brianna conceded, "but I don't think so."

"So what are you gonna do about her... Charisma, I mean?" Saphira asked when the silence started to draw out too long. Brianna shook her head and sighed.

"Nothing," she admitted, holding up her hand in an effort to quell their questions. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. I had all kinds of ideas - things I could do to get Charisma's attention... to make her realize how much I've missed her and her friendship in my life."

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing," Esmeralda approved.

"On the surface, it really doesn't. Except Charisma can't stand to be alone with me long enough to do more than exchange platitudes. I don't see a reason to make us both miserable. Besides, my feelings for Charisma are still as real and deep as they were when I first realized I'd fallen in love with my best friend. The only difference is now she's a married woman. And whatever else I am, I am not now, nor have I ever been a home wrecker."

"You think allowing the friendship you shared to resume would somehow destroy her marriage? That's not a very high commentary on your perception of the state of her marriage."

"Saphira, please don't put words in my mouth."

Saphira's eyes widened. "I wasn't trying to. I'm trying to understand your thinking."

Unexpectedly, Brianna chuckled. "Good luck with that. My mother swears she needs a map and a GPS to follow my thought processes." Saphira and Esmeralda laughed at Brianna's words and wry expression.

"Will you explain what you meant? I really am trying to understand."

Brianna sighed. "So am I really. When I first accepted this appointment, my goal was to just get through it. I mean, I had avoided Charisma for twenty years, surely I could manage two in close proximity, right?" She chuckled wryly. "Of course I didn't realize how close that proximity was going to be or I might have rethought the whole thing. However, once I got here, I was committed to two years and I figured... how hard could it be?"

"Harder than you thought?"

"Impossible. Being here... seeing her again - it made me understand how much I missed her. And after talking to Es, I thought maybe we could just be friends again, you know? I mean, we're both reasonable adults, right? Only she shot me down before I even got out of the gate. She doesn't want to be friends; she doesn't want anything to do with me beyond what is required of her professionally."

"So you're just giving up?"

"I'm just accepting the inevitable. Besides, it's probably for the best - maybe I can find someone for me now instead of holding on to an impossibility." Brianna sighed and looked at both women before settling her eyes on Esmeralda. "I'm tired of fighting, Es. There comes a point when you just have to say no more."

"Okay," Saphira conceded, "but that doesn't explain your home wrecker comment."

Brianna rubbed her forehead hard enough to leave crease marks. "That had nothing to do with Charisma or the state of her marriage particularly. In my book, married women are off-limits."

"Lesson learned the hard way?"

"Something like that," Brianna muttered. "It would have been ugly for me if I hadn't found out before anything happened. Besides, who needs that kind of drama in their life?? I've got enough going on without someone else's issues crowding my plate." Her voice was sardonic.

Esmeralda grinned. "Don't we all?"

Brianna laughed for a long moment before she sobered. "I will miss getting to know Adam and watch him grow up, though. He's a firecracker and I'm betting he'll be a heartbreaker some day."

"I have to say... as much as Saphira and I would like to be able to have children, I'm not sure the world is ready for what our offspring would be."

Brianna cocked her head. Saphira just chuckled and nodded her affirmation to Esmeralda's words. "Why do you say that?" she queried, looking between them. "Do you think they'd be born with super powers or something?" She paused in thought a moment. "That could actually be kind of cool... as long as you got super powers too - preferably better ones."

Esmeralda snorted. "Trust me, Brianna - even having super powers wouldn't help. Our kids would be hellions."

"You say that so factually... like you already know."

"Brianna," Esmeralda said in her driest tone. "Saphira and I grew up together. We know what we were like as children. Putting all that mischief into a single body...." She shuddered. "Not a good idea."

"Maybe," Brianna agreed with a grin. "But you have to admit they'd be adorable."

Saphira snorted. "Yeah... this planet needs more of that - brats that some people find adorable that the rest of us want to strangle on principle. I get enough of those in my day job. I sure wouldn't want to come home to them."

Brianna grimaced. "Ew... good point. Kind of a shame though - you two would make beautiful children together."

"What about you, Brianna? You ever thought about having kids?"

Brianna's eyes widened. "Me?? Um... no. Not really. Not at all, actually. I wouldn't know how to raise one."

"Isn't it all learned by trial and error?"

"I can't say, but I do know I'd prefer to skip the trial so I can avoid the error." Saphira and Esmeralda chuckled at Brianna's matter-of-fact statement and she smiled at them. "So tell me more about the two of you," she asked. "Es said you grew up together. What was that like for you?"

Before either of them could answer, Ruby stuck her head in the living room. Esmeralda motioned her in. "Brianna, this is Ruby, a dear friend who came to help us out while I'm recovering. Ruby, please meet Senator Brianna Walker."