Honor Bound

"We'll be briefing at 0900, Agent Savard," Cam said calmly as Savard started out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee. Her voice was steady, but her autonomic nervous system was still responding to Blair's hands on her. She felt her own hands trembling and buried them in the pockets of her jeans.

"Yes, ma'am," Savard replied, looking back from the doorway. The Commander met her gaze directly, her gray eyes completely unreadable. It wasn't that hard to read Blair Powell's expression, however. She was still looking at Cameron Roberts like she wanted to swallow her whole. Savard figured if she hadn't walked in at such an indelicate moment, Blair might have been better able to hide her feelings. She usually was.

"Anything you need from me in advance, Commander?" Savard asked, withdrawing onto safer ground. She didn't imagine privacy was something either of these women had very much of, and it wasn't her job to infringe on what little they had.

"I don't suppose you have a report from the FBI field team on when I'll have their videotapes from the park, do you?"

For a moment, Savard looked away, embarrassed. She didn't want to admit that she was out of the loop, and had been ever since she had told Doyle that she would be happy to work on the inside with Egret's security detail, but that she wouldn't pass him information outside of channels. He'd been angry, but he couldn't order her to do it. It was a messy situation, but she was still FBI, and she'd keep their dirty laundry private. She simply shook her head. "I've had no updates since arriving here, Commander."

Cam nodded, having expected nothing different. She knew Doyle would keep his intelligence reports from her as long as he could. "That's all then."

Savard left without another word, and Cam turned to Blair, a rueful smile on her face. Blair's eyes were still deep with desire and it took all of Cam's willpower not to touch her again. "I had better get to work. We should have some food supplies within the hour, and your clothes will be coming later today. I sent Grant back to the city this morning. I thought she would know what you needed."

"What about Stark?" Blair asked, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the lingering ache of arousal deep within her. Much more of this torture and she was going to lose her mind. "Is she all right?"

"She was cleared for duty, but I suspect she's downplaying her symptoms," Cam said quietly, watching Blair's fingers caress the side of her coffee mug.She has such sensitive fingers. She always manages to find just the right spot, and then she strokes it so --. Cam swallowed, pulled her eyes away, and added, "Since we won't be traveling for a few days, she may be okay."

Blair tore her gaze from Cam's mouth, which she had just been imagining on her skin, and asked sharply, "You expect this to be an extended stay then?"

Cam moved, leaning against the opposite counter, needing the distance from Blair in the narrow space so that she could concentrate. She was having trouble thinking about anything at the moment except the way Blair touched her when she was hungry. "I don't know yet. At the very least, another day. I'm hoping to have preliminary reports from the ATF bomb center in a few hours. I expect that the FBI profiler and the ATF Commander will be here sometime later today for a briefing. All the videotapes from our cameras and the FBI teams, if they cooperate, will be arriving here along with our computer equipment this afternoon."

"Why can't I go home?" Blair asked softly, thinking that there she would at least be able to touch her, justtouch her, without someone walking in on them.

Cam heard her unhappiness and wanted to hold her. Just long enough to comfort. "Your apartment building is being checked this morning, just to be certain we don't have any breach in security there."

Blair listened, trying to absorb the magnitude of the investigation, realizing that this was not something that was going to disappear overnight. It was like a huge machine, already set in place and running, and there would be no stopping it. She was at the center of the hurricane, and all she could hope was that the eye of the storm would be large enough to allow her to breathe - and to steal a few moments with Cam.

"Tonight then?" Blair asked hopefully.

Cam shook her head. "We don't know enough yet. We assume that the car bomb was some kind of message from Loverboy, but it could just as easily be a terrorist attempt on your life or a warning to the government from some extremist group that wants recognition. It could be the first of a series of bombings that don't involve you personally at all. You're safe here, and until we gather intelligence from the CIA and the anti-terrorist divisions of the NSA and FBI, and get an analysis of the bomb and a few hundred other bits of information, you can't go home. For the next few days, I'm using this as our command center. I'd like you to remain here for at least that long."

Cam waited, knowing that what she was saying was probably more threatening to Blair than the physical attack on her life. This kind of focus would mean an even greater assault on her privacy and a more pervasive objectification of her life. There would be very little time, and almost no place, for her to live normally in the midst of such scrutiny.

"Do I have a choice?" Blair asked angrily, imagining being surrounded by strangers twenty-four hours a day. Not just in the background anymore, but literally in the same room with her.

"We could have a helicopter take you back to the White House where the White House guard would be responsible for your security."

Cam held her breath, knowing that in theory Blair should be perfectly safe inside the White House. Except that she knew damn well that Blair wouldn'tstay inside the White House, and there was no one there that she trusted to guard her. And she'd go crazy if she thought that Blair was likely to slip away from her security detail and inadvertently place herself in danger. And she didn't think she could stand being separated from her now.

"Why can't you come back with me to DC?" Blair asked, risking disappointment, but needing so desperately just tobe with her.

"I need to stay here, Blair," Cam added quietly, hating to say the words that she knew would hurt her. "At least until I'm sure that I'm getting all the information that I need. It's going to make a difference in the future. Sooner or later you'll be visible again." She didn't add that Blair would be vulnerable again then, too.

"Well," Blair commented dully, struggling to hide the ache of rejection, "better the enemy you know. I'll stay."

"Thank you," Cam said softly. "A few days, and I'll try to get you home again."

Blair looked at Cam, anger warring with desire. "I hope so, because I'm not sure how long I can stand this."

Cam couldn't bear seeing the pain in her eyes. She couldn't bear being the cause of it one more time. "Blair," she whispered, her voice husky with the need to soothe her, "I'd give anything in my power to make this different for you. I can't."

Blair stared at her, uncertain whether she wanted to scream or cry. "God, Cameron. You don't get it at all, do you?" She took one step closer, clenching her fists to keep her hands off her. She wanted her so much! "I don'twant you to fix it. I want you to touch me."

Cam didn't have the strength to look into Blair's eyes and lie to her. She couldn't say no to her, because she couldn't tell her she didn't want her. Not again. She wavered slightly on her feet as she lost the battle with sense and reason.

"Come with me," Cam said hoarsely.