What You Don't Know (Sequel to "Secret Love")(Hunter Hayes/James Marsden)

Reassigned

Three weeks later, Bethany hobbled out of an airport in Nashville, Tennessee. It had been months since she had seen this city, and though it brought her both pain and joy to return, she found the joy was more prevalent in this moment. She had missed its scent, the decadent wafting of bagels and pavement, and the distant, ever-present sound of music from cafes, restaurants, and concert halls.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a couple of the pain pills her doctors had given her, tucked them into her mouth and took a pull from her water bottle to force them down. Her knee was still in recovery, and she had been warned it may never be able to function fully again. Still, she shambled down the sidewalk with her bags to hail a cab.

There was a moment of awkward pause between her and the driver; she had spent the entire flight trying to decide which destination she should visit first upon landing, and had yet to come up with an answer. The address she gave the young man was for Atlantic Records.

They arrived shortly thereafter, and Bethany paid the driver to take her luggage back to the house she used to share with Hunter. She tried not to think about the fact that when she got there, she would be packing everything else up and shipping it all to her new apartment on the other side of town.

She tottered up the stairs and entered the building, only to see Benny standing just inside the door.

"Benny!" she called, and he ran over to give her a massive hug.

"Hey, Beth, it's good to see you up and running again!"

She laughed. "Up, yes, but I'm afraid running will have to wait a while." He grinned, and she gave him another hug.

"Benny, what are you doing here?" She leaned forward to whisper to him, "I thought your mission was over here?"

Since Trenton had been incarcerated, Bethany had just assumed that Benny and Darryl would be out of the show biz circle; they had only joined it to get information on the case.

He winked. "I've been reassigned. Though you'll understand that this one is classified, even from you."

She snorted. "Thank God!"

He cracked a smile at her obvious joke, then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "It's been great working with you, Bethany James. I'll miss you."

She gave him one last hug and bid him farewell, then turned and spoke softly to the woman at the counter. Luckily, she recognized Bethany from all the times she had been here with Hunter, and buzzed her into the hallway where she would find Ned Conner's office.

It took her longer than usual to get there, with her bum knee, but Ned's face when he looked up at caught sight of her was worth the pain.

"Bethany!" he exclaimed, rushing around his desk to grab her up in his arms. "I thought I'd never see you again! Oh, it's so good to see you! What happened to your knee? Come in, have a seat, tell me everything!"

Bethany laughed, but obliged. She filled him in on what she could. The FBI had given her a watered down version of the story she was allowed to tell, and she fed it to Ned now. She simply told him she had gone to New York to work on Catch Me If You Can, had reconnected with Trenton McDermott, and had quit when Trent was arrested. As for her knee, they had left it up for her to decide. She had chosen to tell people the truth; she had been shot. However, she told everyone it had been at a shooting range, instead of admitting it had been Trent who had shot her.

Ned listened with rapt attention, then offered his condolences and a comforting embrace.

"Well, Beth, I'd be more than happy to offer you your job back, if you'd like to have it! We've sure missed you around here. Karina is horrible. Really, truly horrible."