"Ms. Stuart, welcome back," the waitress addressed her directly. "What is your pleasure?"

"Uh?" Kerry felt her brain wrench off onto a siding. She turned her head and looked at Dar just long enough for her partner to start snickering.

"I think she means to drink, hon," Dar drawled. "I'll take an Irish coffee, thanks," she told the waitress. "And she'd probably like a Mojito if you can manage it."

Kerry got lightheaded, as the blood rushed to her face. "Thank you. Yes. That will be fine," she muttered, rubbing her face. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Of course." The waitress didn't even turn a hair. She swiveled and addressed Cynthia. "Ma'am?"

Dar patted Kerry's knee. "Sorry." She leaned on the chair arm. "You okay?"

Kerry slouched back into her chair, and simply took a moment to study the angular face across the chair from her. That's what was different, she realized. Dar was here, and that made everything different.

She felt different, having her partner here. She felt less defensive, less on edge. Her eyes met Dar's and she tried to quantify the change, seeing both exhaustion and happiness reflected back at her. "I'm really glad you're here," she said, watching the smile appear on Dar's lips.

"I'm not glad I'm here," Dar replied. "But I'm really glad we're together."

Ah. Yes. Kerry felt that nailed down her feelings completely. "Yeah." She felt the blush finally fade, and she was able to glance across the low table at her mother and Dar's father. "That's exactly what I meant."

"Kerry," Cynthia said. "I have to say I'm terribly sorry for what happened at my office. I was wrong. I should not have involved you at all," she said. "I thought I was doing a good thing, bringing information to my colleagues. Instead, it seems to have only made them angry."

"Jackasses," Andrew commented. "Gov'mint people got caught with their shorts round their ankles now they're hollering foul."

Cynthia half turned and regarded him. "Are you saying they should have known this was going to occur, Commander?"

"Anybody with an eyeball and half an ear knew that," the ex SEAL responded mildly. "Them folks tried to blow up them buildings before. They ain't got no voice. That's how they talk. Blow things up. Blow up buildings, blow up police stations, blow up their own folks."

Cynthia blinked at him. "Oh. My."

"Ah been there," Andrew added, almost as an afterthought. "Ain't no love there for us. Only thing we got between us is money."

A silence fell, as the waitress returned with a tray full of drinks. She set down Kerry's first then went around the table, her motions quick and efficient. "Ms. Stuart, would you like something sent to your suite? I brought your tea up last night."

Oh. "Um.. I think I'm okay for now, thanks." Kerry finally made the connection as to why she'd been addressed first. Her waking in the palatial suite seemed to be from another time, and had happened to another person. "But do you have a dessert menu from the restaurant?"

"Of course." The waitress smiled at her. "Here you are." She handed Kerry a leather bound folio. "I'll be right back."

Kerry leaned on the chair arm and opened the menu, immediately gaining a dark head resting on her shoulder as Dar peered at it as well. "What do I want?" she mused.

"That." Dar pointed at the brownie sundae. "Get it twice the size and I'll share it with you," she suggested, her shoulder bumping Kerry's. "Either that or this." She pointed next at a peach cobbler with ice cream.

"We're going to be bouncing off the walls all night," Kerry said. She turned her head to see that tiny bit of mischief erupt in her partner's eyes just a moment too late. "Jesus. Don't say it." She sighed. "Not twice in ten minutes."

Dar snickered, but held her silence.

"Well," Cynthia sighed. "I'm not sure really what to do at this point. What I am truly afraid of is that some of my colleagues will use this as an excuse to put in place some ideas that might not have found wide acceptance before."

Kerry put the menu down and sat back, picking up her Mojito and taking a sip of it. The cool minty sweetness almost hid the bite of rum and she licked her lips and put it back down on the table. The waitress came back, and Kerry pointed at both herself and Dar. "Sundae." She glanced at Andrew, who nodded, then at her mother. "Mother?"

Cynthia frowned then shrugged. "Why not?"

"Four." Kerry felt her second wind kicking in. Or perhaps it was her third or fourth by this time. "Dar, can you let us in on what the issue is with Gerry?"

Dar glanced at Kerry's mother, then at Kerry. One brow twitched then she half shrugged. "Sure," she said. "Take this with a grain of salt, since I haven't talked to anyone but Gerry about this, and he was pretty vague."

She paused, and glanced around, but they were quite alone in their corner of the bar, the television providing an irresistible draw to everyone else including the staff. "The problem is they lost all the local feeds into the stock exchanges and the banking centers down on the tip of Manhattan."

Kerry nodded. Cynthia nodded. Andrew grunted. "Okay," Kerry added, after Dar paused. "And?"

"And, they need to get them back online, and not let out how damaging that is to our financial infrastructure," Dar supplied.

Everyone nodded again. "Well, that's understandable," Cynthia ventured. "But I'm not quite sure--I mean, surely everyone knows that, and by now it's being worked on," she paused. "Isn't it?"

Kerry folded her arms across her chest. "Probably not yet," she said. "The place where all those connections were is buried under the debris from the South tower."

"Oh," Kerry's mother murmured. "Well, then--"

"Where do we come in to this?" Kerry looked at Dar. "None of that's ours," she added. "We've got some customers down there, sure, and I'm already working on plans to get them rerouted, but we don't touch the markets. I remember them saying how we were locked out of those contracts."

"Someone told someone we could fix it," Dar said, succinctly. "That's what Gerry wants me to talk to that someone about. "

Cynthia was looking from one of them to the other. "I don't understand. What is this about locked contracts? "

"Politics," Dar and Kerry said together. Then Kerry half turned to face her partner. "They think we can fix it? Dar that makes no sense. We don't have anything down there. No contacts, nothing. You remember what happened the last time we tried to put a bid in?"

"It doesn't make sense," Dar agreed. "That's why we need to talk to them. Find out why they think that. Alastair said I should get in and do whatever I needed to--but Ker, he doesn't get it. He doesn't know what the score is there. I think he's just not thinking straight."

Kerry shook her head. "Well, okay," she said. "On one hand we've got part of the government pissed off because we know everything, and on the other, we've got part of the government thinking we're Thor, god of the Internets. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow."

"Thor, god of the internet," Dar mused. "I'm going to get a T-shirt that says that."

Andrew chuckled. Cynthia paused, then she laughed as well, and the mood lightened a little.

"Really, it should wait for tomorrow," Kerry's mother said. "It's very late, and I'm sure we're all very tired. I hope the morning will bring some return to normal. I hear airplane flights are resuming." She looked over at Dar. "I am glad you arranged to arrive this evening, however, Dar. I know Kerrison missed you terribly."

"Mother," Kerry sighed.

"Didn't you?" Dar reached over and took Kerry's hand in her own. "I sure as hell missed you."

"Of course I did." Kerry felt a little flustered. "But sheesh--you came for other reasons." She eyed her partner, who had a faint smile on her face. "Didn't you?"

Dar shook her head.

"Dar."

Dar shrugged. "I'm too tired to lie," she said. "It just so happened that Gerry's plan coincided with where I needed to be. If it hadn't, I'd have told him he had to wait." She gazed back at three sets of eyes then looked over at Kerry. "Don't give me that look. You were going to start driving for Houston yesterday."

Kerry scratched her nose, and looked faintly abashed.

"Anyway--" Dar sipped her coffee with her free hand, the fingers of the other tangled with Kerry's. "You and I will go down to the offices of whoever it is Gerry talked to and straighten it all out tomorrow. "

"The other sat trucks are holding outside Newark," Kerry informed her. "Not sure if you got that on the call. They won't let anyone down into lower Manhattan yet."

Dar nodded. "We can compare notes tomorrow morning. See where we want the plan to go from here."

"I know what my intentions are," Cynthia spoke up suddenly. "I have decided to return home, as early as I can. We have many things back in Michigan that I'm worried about," she said. "I realize there is much debate going on here, but there are people there that might be in danger."

Kerry nodded. "I think that's a good decision."

"I already know what will happen here," her mother said, in a quieter tone. "I already know speaking against it will do nothing. One of my colleagues spoke with me earlier today, she's afraid even to ask questions. Everyone is so angry."

"Ah get that," Andrew said. "Ah know what that feels like. Someone done kicked you and all you want to do is get up and kick back." He folded both arms over his broad chest. "That whole turn t'other cheek business never did much take hold in this here country."