Topic: An American in Paris

Rhys Bristol

Date: 2012-01-08 16:41 EST
Hotel Louvre Bons Enfants Paris, France...

"How was your flight?" Adam asked, sounding like he was right next door, though in reality, he was halfway around the world.

"Uh?" Rhys started uncertainly, his thoughts drifting back to the flight and the girl he'd met on the plane. The truth was that ever since they'd parted, he couldn't get her out of his head. "It was?" He paused, as if searching for the right word. "Interesting."

"Interesting" First time you've ever flown, and that's all you have to say' You obviously made it there safely, so I'm assuming everything went okay. Did you take those pills I gave you to calm you down?"

"Uh, no?" Rhys replied, shoving a hand through his short-cropped hair, while he stood looking out on the view of Paris from his hotel window, eyes scanning the crowd for a certain brunette. "I didn't need them."

"Drank yourself to sleep?" Adam asked, knowing Rhys was terrified of flying and that the only way he was going to get to Paris without having a nervous breakdown was to find some way to relax.

"I had a few drinks," Rhys admitted, a couple before even getting on the damned plane. It seemed it was his nervous agitation about flying that had gotten the brunette's attention in the first place.

"Just a few?" Adam asked, doubtfully. "You handled it better than you thought you would then."

"Yeah, uh?" Rhys started, knowing he'd have to come clean sooner rather than later, and no matter how he put it, Adam wasn't going to like it. "I need you to run a name for me."

"A name?" Adam repeated, already not liking where this was going. "What name?"

"A girl." Rhys paused to correct himself. "Woman. Name's Natalya Pimenova."

"A Russian?" asked Adam, obviously surprised. "Look, you're not James Bond, and this isn't From Russia With Love."

"Just run the name, will you?" Rhys insisted, frowning as his eyes searched the crowd. What the hell was it about her that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about her"

"Wait?" Adam paused, as if just realizing something. "Where'd you meet her" I thought you just got there."

"I met her on the plane," Rhys replied, his heart racing every time he spied a brunette in the crowd that looked a little like her.

"You met her on the plane," Adam repeated, as if finally understanding. "What the hell did you do' Have sex in the bathroom?"

"No?" Rhys had to smile a little at the memory of it. Eight hours that he'd never forget for the rest of his life, however long or short it might be. "It was in First Class. Let's just say I'm now a member of the Mile High Club."

"Jesus Christ!" Adam exclaimed.

Rhys chuckled. "Trust me, dude, Jesus wasn't there."

"Are you out of your mind?" Adam continued.

"She was amazing," Rhys replied with a sigh.

Adam could just about hear the smile and the sigh from clear across the ocean. "What is with you anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Rhys asked, confused. "It was just one night. What's the big deal?"

"Just one night," Adam repeated. He'd heard that before. "How many is it now?"

"How many whats" Nights?"

"How many girls?" Adam asked pointedly.

Rhys frowned, never having been asked that question before and never having kept count. "I don't. Not that many."

"If you lost count, it's too many," Adam pointed out.

"Look, she was there and I was there, and" it just happened," Rhys replied, defensively. What was he supposed to do' Say no'

"How do you know she's not a demon?" was Adam's next question.

"Trust me, she's not," came Rhys" reply.

"How do you know?"

"Jesus, Adam, give me a little credit, will you?"

"Laura," Adam said, trying to jog Rhys" memory about a one-night stand that had gone horribly wrong a few years back during a hunt in Vegas.

"Who?"

"Laura" The stripper in Vegas. Remember her" I seem to recall having this same conversation with you, and what did she turn out to be? Demon. Big surprise."

"I'm telling you, she's not a demon. She had a couple of tats. A pentacle and the Key of Solomon. I slipped her some holy water to be sure. No smoking or spitting, so I figure she's clean."

"Okay, so, she's not a demon. Who is she then?"

"I don't know, I haven't got that figured out yet, but there's more to her than meets the eye."

"You think?" Adam asked, sarcastically.

"Just run the name, all right?" Rhys asked, feeling suddenly weary. He couldn't remember when was the last time he'd gotten any real sleep.

Rhys Bristol

Date: 2012-01-08 16:42 EST
"Yeah, yeah," Adam relented. He was glad his friend had arrived safely, but he couldn't help worrying. He almost wished he'd gone with him, but he had business to take care of at home, and taking off to Europe for even a short while would raise too many questions. "Rhys?" he started.

"Yeah?" Rhys replied, resting his forehead against the cool glass of the window. Here he was in the most romantic city in the world, alone, with no one to share it with, but that wasn't why he was there. He was there for one reason and one reason only, and romance wasn't it. He winced, knowing a lecture was coming. Stay focused, Adam would say. Don't get distracted.

"Be careful, all right' If I'm right about the sword, you're not gonna be the only one looking for it." No sh*t, Rhys thought. If the sword was what they claimed it to be and if Abaddon had done his homework, he'd been watching and waiting for the right opportunity to snatch it. The big question was why he hadn't already tried, or maybe he had. "I'll be as careful as I can."

Rhys glanced over at the plaster cherub who seemed to be watching him from the corner of the room, and he had to stifle a shudder. Angels and demons. All he wanted was to be done with them both and live his own life, on his own terms, once and for all.

"I'll call you back when I know more about this Russian of yours," Adam said, interrupting his thoughts. "Until then, lie low. I don't need you causing an international incident."

Rhys snorted. International incidents weren't what worried him. His problems were a lot bigger than that. If they botched this one, the entire world could be forfeit. It wouldn't matter if you were Russian or American. If the demons won, it would be Hell on Earth for everyone.

"Yeah, okay' I'm exhausted anyway," Rhys admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Try to get some sleep. You're gonna need it. Take some of those pills, if you have to."

"You know how I feel about that," Rhys replied.

"Right, because drinking yourself into oblivion is a much better solution," Adam pointed out.

"You pick your poison and I'll pick mine," Rhys retorted. It was no big secret that he didn't like pills or drugs of any kind, and neither of his little experiments with peyote had gone very well. At least, he knew what to expect of alcohol.

"Rhys?" Adam started.

Rhys winced again, dreading another lecture. "Don't worry so much. I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, that's exactly what worries me," Adam replied.

"I don't need you mother henning me to death. I'll be fine, all right?"

"I've heard that before."

"You worry too much. Now, do us both a favor. Hang up and run the name, so I can get some sleep."

"Yeah, all right. Just stay put. I'll call you as soon as I know more."

"I'll be here," Rhys replied and hung up the phone, grumbling to himself. "Worry wart."

"Rhys?" Adam called, but the phone had gone dead. "Stubborn *ss," he muttered to himself as he, too, hung up the phone. He considered a moment and then switched his computer on. He had a name to run, and it was going to take awhile.

Rhys stood at the window for a long time, searching the streets below, wondering where she was at that very moment and what she was doing. Was she thinking of him or was he just a passing fancy, a temporary distraction, all too soon forgotten"

Adam was right. He needed to focus. She was just another woman in a long line of women. Another girl, another city, another job. The problem was she wasn't just another girl. She didn't feel like just another girl. If she was just another girl, why couldn't he forget her" Why couldn't he get her out of his head" He thought he saw her for a moment there in the crowd, and his heart skipped a beat, but it wasn't her.

Later, he'd find a card she'd tucked into his shirt with her name and telephone number. How many times had that happened" One too many maybe, but it didn't matter. He almost dialed her number, but thought better of it. As much as his heart ached to see her again, he knew it was hopeless, until this thing was all over, until he was a free man. Maybe then he'd call her, maybe then he'd see if there was anything there worth pursuing.

If it wasn't too late. If he wasn't already dead by then.

Rhys Bristol

Date: 2012-01-18 17:34 EST
Hotel Warwick Champs-Elysees Paris, France A few days later...

"Yeah," Rhys said as he answered the phone, already knowing it was Adam on the other end. Who else would be calling" He glanced over at the bathroom, where Natalya had disappeared to take a shower. "Make it quick. I can't talk long."

"What's the matter?" Adam asked, sarcastically. "Am I interrupting a romantic moment?"

"No, she's in the shower."

"And you're not in there with her" I'm impressed. Didn't think you had that kind of will power."

"Did you just call to bust my balls or have you got something important to say?" retorted Rhys, as he stepped out onto the veranda so that Natalya wouldn't overhear.

"I did a little digging," answered Adam. "Checked Interpol. Your pretty little Russian is suspected of robbery on an international scale."

"You wanna tell me something I don't know already?" Rhys replied.

"You already know. That's nice. Did she tell you?"

"As a matter of fact, she did, so quit worrying. She's one of the good guys."

"How the hell do you know that?" Adam exclaimed. "Just because she told you? You believe everything every pretty girl tells you?"

"No," Rhys replied, somewhat defensively. "I just have a feeling about her."

"A feeling. What are you psychic now?"

"We're on the same side, Adam. We want the same thing. She's going to help me steal the sword."

"And you trust her."

"Yeah, I do," Rhys replied, watching the busy Paris streets down below and the people who were going about their busy lives, oblivious of the knowledge that their very existence might depend on his success or failure. "If she wanted to kill me, she would have done it by now. She's had plenty of opportunity."

"Maybe she just likes playing cat and mouse."

"I'm getting more help from her than I was from you!" Rhys retorted, sorry he'd said it as soon as the words left his mouth. He sighed and shoved a hand through his hair, pacing the veranda with nervous agitation. "Look, she knows I need it and what I need it for, and she's willing to help me get it. Robbery is not exactly my area of expertise."

"I was gonna hook you up with someone I trust, not some damned girl who seduced you into thinking she's the best thing since sliced bread."

"You know, sliced bread isn't really that special anymore."

"So, are you sleeping with her or what?" Adam blurted out, already knowing the answer.

"That's none of your damned business," replied Rhys.

"The hell it isn't. If you're sleeping with her, it clouds your judgment."

"There's nothing wrong with my judgment."

"Really' This from a guy who screwed a girl he just met at 35,000 feet."

"It wasn't like that."

"Just shut up and listen for a second," Adam interrupted. "We are talking about international robbery here. This isn't a simple carjacking. If you get caught, they'll nail your *ss to the wall and then some."

"I'm not gonna get caught," Rhys reassured his friend.

"And you know this how?"

"Because she doesn't want to get caught any more than I do."

"I'm not questioning her abilities, Rhys. I'm questioning her motives.?

Rhys Bristol

Date: 2012-01-18 17:36 EST
Rhys was silent a moment before replying. "Do me a favor."

"No, you do me a favor and start thinking with your big head," Adam warned.

"I am thinking with my big head!" Rhys snapped, before continuing. "I want you to find out anything you can about something called the Institute of Avalon."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The Institute of Avalon," Rhys repeated, listening to see if he could still hear the shower running in the bathroom. "It's some kind of secret organization, and I don't think it's on Earth."

"Okay, so where is it, smart *ss?"

"Uh, well, this is just a guess, but the Island of Avalon?"

"Avalon," Adam repeated, doubtfully. "You're kidding me, right' The island where Excalibur was forged" It's a myth."

"I'm not so sure," said Rhys. "She said something about a portal. She said she was gonna take the sword there for safe-keeping. To keep it out of the wrong hands."

"A portal. Where?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask, and she didn't say."

"Do you two ever talk, or do you just spend all your time screwing?"

"We" talk," Rhys replied, uncertainly. They did, didn't they' It wasn't all sex. They were slowing" How did she put it' Learning each other. And the more he learned about her, the more he cared about her.

"Right," said Adam, in a sarcastic tone. "So, what happens when the job is done?"

"What do you mean?" asked Rhys.

"What happens when you've got the sword" Are you going to kiss her goodbye and go off on your merry way?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"The hell you haven't," Adam grumbled. "I know you better than that. You're planning on going off on your own and finishing this thing, aren't you? Even if it kills you."

"It's my problem, not yours or hers," Rhys pointed out, with a heavy heart.

"The hell it is. God damn it, Rhys. Don't you see what you're doing" First Kellie and now this Natalya, if that's even her real name."

"I don't want anyone else getting hurt, okay?" Rhys retorted, unable to hide the anger and frustration from his voice. "It's my fight and no one else's. It's what I came here to do. It's what I've been doing since I was nine."

"That's bull sh*t and you know it," replied Adam, just as angrily.

"Too many people have died, Adam. I don't want anyone else dying because of me."

"It's not because of you, you jackass! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull" This is a war we're fighting, Rhys. There are going to be casualties on both sides. Dylan, David, John, Orla" They knew what the risks were. They knew what they were getting themselves into. They knew what was at stake. They didn't do it for you. They did it because it was the right thing to do. They did it for the sake of humanity."

"What about Jessie and Patrick?" Rhys shot back, his chest tightening at the thought of them. "What about my parents" They were innocent. They didn't deserve to die. They died because of me."

"Innocent lives lost are a casualty of war, Rhys. You know that."

"Yeah, well, there aren't going to be any more casualties, okay?" Rhys said, rubbing a hand against his chest where it was aching like someone had stabbed a knife in his heart.

"So, what are you gonna do' Just take off and try to kill Abaddon by yourself" Come on, man. That's suicide," Adam said, trying to talk some sense into his friend.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to finish this with the least amount of lives lost," Rhys answered, stubbornly.

"Said like a true martyr," Adam pointed out.

"I'm not being a martyr. I'm just being realistic," Rhys explained in a quiet voice. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. He'd already made up his mind. And he realized suddenly that the water was no longer running in the shower. "I gotta go."

"Rhys!" called the voice on the other end. "This conversation isn't over, do you hear me" Rhys!? But the line had already gone dead.

Natalya Bristol

Date: 2012-01-18 18:06 EST
The heat of the shower beat down on Natalya's skin, soothing away the tension that was slowly beginning to creep into her as the days went by. She was used to this feeling; it happened on every job she'd undertaken, but never with such urgency. Perhaps it was because, this time, if she screwed up she'd be taking more than just herself down. Rhys was too important to risk on the theft itself, and yet he was insisting on coming with her, no matter what she said.

Leaving the water running, she stepped out of the shower stall, wrapping herself up in one towel before turning her attention to her hair. Yet even as she flipped her head forward, preparing to do battle with the moisture clinging to her, she heard Rhys' voice, and the suppressed tension in his tone caught her attention.

"It's my problem, not yours or hers."

Discreetly, Natalya reached out, drawing the door open just a crack to let her hear more clearly what he was saying. He was obviously speaking to his American friend, the one who must have checked on her for him. She wondered what had been passed on, before his next words put paid to that idle speculation.

"I don't want anyone else getting hurt, okay' It's my fight and no one else's. It's what I came here to do. It's what I've been doing since I was nine."

Since he was nine" What had he been doing for so many years that had left him so defensive, so afraid to live his life" She bit her lip, one hand continuing to squeeze the water from her hair as she listened in. Did it have something to do with what happened to his parents" And as for not wanting anyone else to get hurt ....she assumed he was referring to her. And he knew she wasn't going to let him wander off anywhere without her in tow, whether he was willing or unwilling.

"Too many people have died, Adam. I don't want anyone else dying because of me."

"Egoistichnyĭ malʹchik ..." she muttered, with a roll of her eyes. Selfish boy, indeed. As much as she cared for him - and she was beginning to realise that cared for was a sad understatement of the way she felt about Rhys Bristol - Natalya was beginning to understand a little of the way he gathered all his mistakes around himself, twisting his recollections until he was the one to blame for all the hardship others had encountered. It was endearing and frustrating - how could you argue with someone who had already made up his mind that if you got hurt doing what you had chosen to do, it was going to be entirely his fault"

She crept closer to the door, hearing unfamiliar names spoken, filing them away in her mind to check later. Jessie ....Patrick ....An insistent declaration that there would be no more casualties. What had she gotten herself into' This was far more than a single demon hunt, she was certain now; whatever Rhys was doing, it had spanned decades of his lifetime.

"I'm gonna do whatever it takes to finish this with the least amount of lives lost."

Spoken like a faithful innocent determined to be slaughtered. Natalya felt her throat tighten, denying even the implication in those overheard words. She could hear his dedication to his purpose; a dedication that would lead him to his death if he did not walk the line very carefully. He needed someone to look after him, to make certain that he did not just give up his life at the first opportunity. He was too precious to this world - to her world - to lose to the next so soon.

?I'm not being a martyr. I'm just being realistic."

All realism had ever got anyone was punishment and pain, in Natalya's opinion. Rhys was too defensive, too guarded. He wasn't going to fight to live until he accepted that he had something to live for. Her jaw set in a stubborn line, remembering a line from a corny film she had scene years ago. There is nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who is in love with him.

Forget her own concerns, her own fear of the depth of her feelings for a man she had known barely two weeks. Rhys Bristol's shields were about to be given a buffetting they would never recover from. By the time she was finished, dying would be the last thing he wanted to do.

Natalya Bristol

Date: 2012-02-02 08:12 EST
Hotel Warwick Champs-Elysees Paris, France Two weeks later....

"Nyet, Vadim, ya znayu, chto ya delayu. Ne volnuĭtesʹ tak silʹno."

The smooth Russian language was a gentle counterpoint in the near silence of the hotel suite. Natalya spoke quietly, as ever, but with no attempt at keeping her voice out of earshot. She did not mind her lover - the man she was falling in love with - knowing how comfortable she was with her native tongue.

"Ya uzhe bolʹshaya devochka , Vadim ... I know what I'm doing," she laughed into her phone as she stared out across the sleeping city of Paris.

As much as she might have liked to have spoken in English for Rhys' benefit, her friend and contact in the KGB was still under supervision in his offices and she did not dare to put him in danger by bringing his telephone time to the interest of his superiors. As he had done before her, she had taken this call while Rhys was in the shower, though she had every intention of relaying to him every detail of what was said.

"You should be more careful, Nelechka," the familiarly gruff tone of her long-time friend, Vadim Anokhin, reminded her. "You have never moved so quickly on a job before. If you make a mistake trying to impress your American, I do not know if I will be able to protect you this time."

"You do not need to protect me anymore, Vaden'ka," she assured him, answering his affectionate interpretation of her name in their shared native tongue with her own endearment of his own name. "I am a woman grown, it is time I made my own mistakes."

There was a low growl from the other end of the line. "If this American, this Rhys Bristol, harms you in any way, I will hunt him down myself -"

"No, you will not." Her voice turned suddenly cold, firm in her denial of her friend's protective instincts. Why did everyone suddenly want to protect her" First Rhys, and now Vadim ....it was beginning to give her rebellious streak an excuse to kick off. "If anything is to happen to me, it will be my own fault, and my own doing. He needs me, whether he knows it or not. I will no abandon him just to make you feel better."

"You say he has a friend with access to Interpol's records?" Vadim changed tack, trying to convince his young friend to rethink her recklessness with her heart and mind. "Only the FBI can find nothing on you, and then recheck with Interpol to find your involvement with the Cintamani incident. He is FBI, too, I am certain of it."

"If he was FBI, he would have told me," Natalya insisted with a small frown. "Stop trying to make this difficult, Vadim. All I am asking is that you make the financial arrangements for me - I did not call you to be told who I can and cannot fall in love with."

"I am happy for you, Nelechka, that you have found your heart at last," her friend said, equally firm. "All I ask is that you be more discerning with whom you bestow it upon. You are too constant to break yourself on an American who has no intention of staying with you."

"Stop saying that." Natalya shook her head, dropping to sit on the arm of the couch. "You don't know him, you don't know anything about him -"

"Neither do you -"

"I know enough!" Her voice had risen to a shrill cry in that moment, declaring the cadence of the Russian language to every room in the little hotel room. Catching herself, she forced herself to calm down. "I know enough," she repeated in a normal tone of voice. "And I do not want or need to talk this over with you, Vaden'ka. Just transfer the funds and deeds when you find his details. I will contact you again when the job is done."

"You intend to go through with this, then" So soon?" Even through the crackle of the line, she could hear the terse concern in her friend's voice.

"Yes, I do. Soon," she agreed, glancing up as she heard the shower stutter to a halt. "We will talk properly when this is over, Vaden'ka, I promise."

She heard Vadim's chuckle in his gruff voice as he answered. "Enjoy him, Nelechka. Be careful."

"I will," she promised, feeling her smile return as she rose to her feet, moving back toward the bedroom. She pushed open the bathroom door, blatantly making the most of the view as she watched Rhys climb out of the shower. "Take care of yourself, Vadim ....Vsevo khoroshovo, poka."

She cut the line, hugging her arms about herself as she leaned in the doorway, smiling affectionately at her American as a teasing light flashed through her rich brown eyes. "Did you want to learn Russian, or should I just translate what I've been saying?"