Nothing To Fear ....

"You Don't Know The Half Of It"

       Standing by the front window, Ashley, Jake, Joe, and Faith watched the red SUV pull into the driveway.

       As the doors opened and the vehicles' occupants began to emerge, Jake glanced over at Faith and asked, "Which one is your friend? What's her name...? Janie, right?" 

       "It's Jenny, and that's her in the green shirt. I don't know any of the others, this must be the new team she said she's working with," she responded.

        Along with the striking black woman Faith had indicated, they observed two other, equally attractive women, a brunette and a redhead, along with a young black man. There was also another male, with a well-trimmed beard and a short ponytail, wearing rather old-fashioned looking clothes. All five of the newcomers appeared to fall roughly into the same age range as the band, late twenties to mid-thirties, at the most.

        Faith moved away from the window and walked to the front door, followed by the three men. She opened the door and stepped outside, calling out, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" as she descended the stairs.

        "Yeah, you do look sorta familiar, now that I think about it!" Jenny shot back with a grin, stepping away from the SUV to give Faith a brief hug. "Nice to see you again when I'm not about to be ripped apart."

       "Let's hope it doesn't come to that this time. Things are bad enough right now, as it is."

       "We can talk about that inside," Jenny said. "Come on over here and meet the rest of the team." 

        They moved to the vehicle, and Jenny gestured towards the redhead and the young black man, who were busy pulling duffel bags from the back of the vehicle. They stopped as Jenny and Faith approached, and Jenny said, "Alex, Jake, this is my friend Faith Scanlon. Faith, this is Alex Norwood and Jake Wells. Alex is sort of our tech wizard, and Jake is a top-notch researcher. They're both reasonably handy in a fight, too."

       "It's nice to meet you both, but I do have a question," Faith replied. Turning to Jake, she inquired, "Would it bother you terribly if I call you by your initials? We have a Jake, too, so if no one will be terribly offended, I think I'll just go with J. P. and J. W. for the duration."

       "Sure, I'm cool with that," he responded with a grin, pointing his thumbs at Jenny and Alex. "Trust me, I've been called a lot worse. Occasionally even by these two." 

       Alex laughed and slipped an arm around his waist, saying, "Come on now, babe! You know we wouldn't give you crap if we didn't love you."

        Just then the brunette walked over to them, and said, "Hi, I'm Diana Thomas. I assume that you must be Faith." 

        "Yeah, I've kind of been assuming that myself," Faith responded with a smile, causing Diana to chuckle in response.

        "Diana's a Homeland Security agent," Jenny informed Faith. This information caused some raised eyebrows amongst the guys, who were taking in every word.

        "Never thought I'd see the day that you'd be working with the government, Mills," Faith teased.

       "Honey, you have no idea!" Jenny responded.

        At that moment, the second man joined the group, approaching Faith. As he stopped in front of her, she noticed that he had piercing blue eyes, much like Andy and Jinxx, but that his seemed to show more sadness, and an almost uncanny degree of observance.

        Sketching a small bow, he said, in a distinct British accent. "Good afternoon, Miss Scanlon, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ichabod Crane, and I hope it is not too presumptuous of me to say that I am pleased to call any friend of Miss Jenny's my friend as well."

       "It's good to meet you too, Mr. Crane, but you can just call me Faith."

       "No, trust me, he can't," Alex muttered.

       By this time, everyone had made their way out of the house, and between them, Faith and Jenny managed to make all of the necessary introductions, before everyone finally moved back toward the house.

       Faith heard Jesse whispering from the rear of the group, "What do you suppose his parents were thinking?" 

       "I dunno, history buffs, maybe?" Ashley answered. "He is sort of dressed like a re-enactor."

       Once everyone was inside, Jon explained, "Okay folks, I'm not sure if anybody told you, but as far as the sleeping arrangements go, you're all gonna have to double up with somebody. I know that there's a couple in your bunch, so they can take the last empty room. And since Allan had all of the rooms set up with multiple beds, the ladies can share with Faith, and the other fella can bunk in with Andy. If you think you can handle rooming with an insomniac, that is."

       "My dear sir, if I can manage to find respite on the battlefield, I don't believe that will create any significant difficulties," Crane told him.

       "So you're military, then?" Yanni inquired. 

        "I was, some years ago, as was Agent Thomas. I have since resigned my commission, and work with her as a consultant on matters of historical or occult nature."

       "What did I tell you? History buff," Ashley muttered under his breath to Jesse and Jinxx.

       Alex, who was standing behind him, snorted and said, "You don't know the half of it, dude!"

       "Why don't we get our gear put away, then we can all get together back down here and talk about your... situation in a bit more detail?" Diana suggested.

       Everyone agreed that this was a good idea, so Andy and Faith led them upstairs, directing Alex and Jake to the room that they would be sharing. Then Andy led Crane in one direction, while Faith escorted Jenny and Diana to the opposite end of the hall.

       She opened a door, leading them into a large bedroom appointed with three full-sized beds, each with its own nightstand, and an equal number of dressers. The walls were painted a pale cream, with pewter-colored comforters and sheets on the beds.

       Pointing to the bed which stood by itself on the far side of the room, Faith said, "That's my bed, so the two of you can talk amongst yourselves to decide who gets to be closest to the bathroom."

      The two remaining beds stood side by side against the same wall as the bedroom door, separated by the nightstands, and after a brief discussion Diana took the bed nearest to the bathroom, leaving Jenny in the one closest to the door.

       Looking around the room, Diana remarked, "You know, this setup reminds me of the girls room on that old 'Brady Bunch' show, only fancier."

       "I hadn't thought about it before, but you're right," Faith replied. "But the worst things the Brady's  had to worry about was a swollen nose, or getting caught with cigarettes. I don't seem to remember ever seeing an episode with dead livestock on the porch. Not to mention ...," she trailed off with a shudder.

       As Jenny was about to respond, she was cut off by Jon's voice calling from downstairs, "Hey, can you all come back down now? We've got company!"