"One time, my group and I had to spend six days hiding in a monastery, avoiding a very large and well-armed military group."? Now that he was talking about the time in Burma, it was hard to stop, despite the painful memories.

She fell silent, letting him talk as he wanted - and needed.? She held his hand and made appropriate noises when necessary to get him to keep talking, but other than that, she made no demands on him.? She was just present.

"That was one of the times that wasn't so bad.? The monks were polite and friendly.? They didn't seem to resent our intrusion at all.? I spoke with some of them, during the time there.? About life, belief, that sort of thing.? I think I learned a lot from them."

"What did you learn?"

"Not to look at the future so much.? Just to live each day as it came.? I think that was the most important thing.? To try to live each moment like it was brand new."

"Most people have a problem with that," she said softly.? "It's hard to live in a modern society and not think about the future, not try to prepare for what's to come.? But it seems sort of counter-productive, considering how mutable the future is.? How can you prepare for something when you don't even know what you're preparing for?"

He nodded.? "It is hard.? I talked with Lelah about it.? I don't think she bought it."

Riley swallowed down the urge to snort in derision.? "What did she say?"

He looked away, taking his hand from hers.? "I wish you wouldn't do that," he said softly.? It didn't matter that she'd refrained from voicing it, he could smell the derision as plainly as he could the flowers.

She sighed softly.? "I'm sorry, Danny.? I can't...? I don't...? F*ck," she swore vehemently and stood up, going to the edge of the roof and peering down into the street.? She watched Jon Granger leaving the building, driving away in his big, ridiculously impractical and yet so sexy Bentley.

He rose, moving up beside her, touching her shoulder lightly.? "Give her a chance, Riley.? Please?? I...feel good when I'm with her."? It was hard putting into words the feelings he had for Lelah.? "She's very alive."? Especially since he didn't want her famous jealousy to flare up.

"She f*cks vampires, Danny.? And then gets into very public rows with them.? She's a f*cking junkie.? She's an actress.? Even with our nose, how can you be certain she's being honest with you?"? She didn't shy away from his touch, but she didn't relax, either.

He dropped his hand and sighed again.? "She only slept with him once...and I think he enthralled her.? You know what kind of influence they can have on people.? She hasn't used drugs in seven years.? You know I'd smell it if she was still using them."? He didn't even bother responding to the last half of her statement; she knew very well that even the most accomplished actress had no chance of hiding her feelings from an Alpha Lycan.? "I care about her, all right?? When we're together, I can almost forget the hells I've been through."? He turned away, looking out into the street like she was.? He felt sadness, anger, and hurt all at once, with a tiny bit of betrayal thrown in.? Why was she so set against something that made him feel alive again?

"Oh, f*ck me running," she muttered and turned to him, reaching to put her arms around him and hold him close again. "I'm sorry, Danny.? I don't know why it bothers me so much.? It's not just the jealousy, though I won't lie - it does make me crazy.? There's just...something about her that rubs me the wrong way."

He was stiff in her arms for a moment before giving in and letting her hold him.? "You hardly know her," he said softly.

"I know," she whispered softly.? Then she straightened up, ran her hands down his arms to take his hands.? "I don't know what it is, Daniel.? I truly don't.? If I could fix it, I would.? I know how important this woman is to you and I don't want to hate her."

"You have to try, then.? Get to know her.? See what I can see in her."? He squeezed her hands, imploring her to let go of whatever it was that prejudiced her so against Lelah.? "At least try.? I can't stand the thought of you hating someone...," he broke off, realizing what was about to come out of his mouth.

"Hating someone you love," she finished softly and studied his face intently.? "Is that what you were going to say?"

"Someone I could love," he said.? That was as far as he was willing to go right now.

She laughed, suddenly reminded of something.? "Get this: when we were in Japan and trying to figure out how to get home, we went to see a little old witch, right?? Well, she wasn't so much a witch as a Shinto sorceress.? Anyway, she took one look at David and me and said that we were the Earthly Vehicles of these two great kami, Prince Saruta and Ame-no-Uzume."

"Kami?"? He thought for a minute, then nodded, remembering what they were.? "That's...odd.? Did she say why?"

Riley shrugged a little.? "She never said.? But the weird thing about it is that Sarutahiko and Uzume were married.? And he is the patron of martial arts and she of dance."

He blinked, brows rising in surprise.? "Well..that certainly does sound like the two of you."

"Yeah, it's...odd.? I can't help but wonder if she's right."

He tilted his head, looking at her.? "Do you believe in kami?"

"Sorta.? I've reconciled them with Bodhisattva - they're basically the same thing.? Both are Enlightened beings, just with different names."

"I see.? That makes sense.? After living here for a while, I find it difficult to disbelieve in just about anything."

"Mesteno said the same thing to me once, when I told him that I didn't believe in angels or demons or the Christian God."

He was still a little disturbed by the turnaround and friendship between her, David, and the man who'd once kidnapped her, but he supposed that even enemies could become friends over time.? "He has a bit of a point.? We see impossible things here all the time."

"His point exactly."? She gave Daniel a little smile.? "He's really not awful," she explained, meaning Mesteno.? "He's mellowed a lot.? He has a new...well...? A new love who has done wonders for his disposition."

He smiled and nodded.? "We both know the effect that can have, hmm?"? He did wonder about her hesitation over the word, though.? "Something strange about this love of his?"

She shook her head with a tiny frown.? "He's not a man, not a Changing Breed, not a vampire, nor a faerie.? He's...? Well, he's unlike anything I know.? His name is Samiel and he's amazing with horses but not so much with people.? He's blunt and sharp-tongued, but he loves Mesteno fiercely.? I adore them both."

"Samiel.? Like the desert wind."? The 'he' part of that whole description didn't escape him; nor did it have any particular effect on him.? "Sounds like an interesting person."

"He is.? Very difficult to know, though.? I see him more through Mesteno's eyes."

He smiled at her, nudged her gently in the ribs with his elbow.? "Then perhaps you can try to see Lelah through mine."

She nodded and gave him the tiniest smile.? "I'll try, Danny.? I promise.? But...can I ask you something and will you at least try not to get upset by it?"

"Yes, of course I'll try."

"Is your opinion of her clouded by the sex?? It's got to be amazing.? You've reeked of her every time I've seen you since you met her."? Her lips curved in a knowing smile.? "She's a very sexy, very beautiful woman, Danny.? I can understand how attracted to her you must be, but...? Don't settle for an amazing physical relationship if there's nothing emotional or...or spiritual between you."? So says the voice of experience.

"Oh no," he replied.? "It's much more than that.? I mean, the sex is amazing...more than that, it's spectacular, I won't deny that."? And here it was good that he was a Lycan; how many other men could speak to their ex-lover so candidly about their current one, without embarrassment?? "But we share interests, too.? We both love to cook, for example.? And she's really quite intelligent.? We've had some very deep and thoughtful conversations.? It doesn't bother her that I'm not human, either.? You know how good it feels to be accepted for who you are, like that."

"She does.? She accepts it?? Really and truly?? Have you Shifted for her yet?"

"Not completely.? I Shifted my hand for her, though, and she was fascinated by it.? And she knows how strong and fast I am.? I carried her for a run last night, as fast as I could go.? She was thrilled.? And then I,"? he broke into a little chuckle, "I picked up her car and held it over my head."

"You picked up her car."? She chuckled.? "Did she wig out?"

The chuckles escalated into full-blown laughter as he remembered Lelah's face when she saw him carrying the car.? "Oh, yes," he gasped between laughs.? "She looked like her eyes might pop right out of her skull."

She joined in with him, pleased at the sound of his laughter.? Maybe she could come to accept this other woman's presence in Danny's life if she could make him laugh like this.? And it was true, too, that he seemed far more like his old self lately than he had when he first arrived, although how much of that was Lelah's doing was up for debate.

Eventually, his laughter ran down, but the effect on him remained.? He was smiling and relaxed again.? "I was worried at first that she might not want me to touch her, after seeing how strong I am...what I could do to her if I lost control, but...it didn't turn out like that at all."

She held up a slender hand.? "I really don't want to know," she said with a mirthful tone to her voice and a little smirk.

He snorted softly, a sound very much like one of David's usual commentary noises.? "Yes.? Some wit came up with the nickname, and it stuck."

She chuckled softly.? "White is the colour of death, after all," she said in a quiet voice.? It had always been weird to her that people wore black to funerals in Western culture.

He nodded.? "And I was death, for more of their soldiers than I could count, even if I could bring myself to try."? A hint of pain ghosted through his grey eyes, but the serenity and safety of the rooftop garden, as well as his companion made it a tiny echo of what had previously come of talking about the death and the killing.

She kissed his temple and leaned her forehead against his head, not speaking, just letting him know that he was safe and that she loved him and didn't think any less of what he'd done in the name of freedom.

He closed his eyes, pressing lightly against her head with his, grateful for her reassurance.? "About six months after we started the night raids, things began to change. The military group, always the best armed and equipped of those vying for power anyway got even more so, almost overnight.? Better guns, better gear.? Cutting-edge technology.? It became almost suicide to try to attack their bases."

"Someone was selling them high tech stuff?" she guessed quietly.

He nodded.? "In the space of month, we lost most of what we'd gained with our raids.? They started aggressively coming after us.? In one fight, I was hit here,"? He pointed to the upper right side of his chest," by one of their new guns.? It wasn't like a regular rifle.? I don't even know how to describe it, honestly.? The impact knocked me at least five meters back, and it burned when it hit.? I looked at the impact spot, and there was a crater in my chest.? I could see my own lung."? He shuddered softly.

Her eyes grew wide.? "Oh my f*ck", she whispered and reached up to cover his chest with the palm of her hand.

He put his hand over hers, looking off into space as he remembered.? "It hurt worse than anything I've ever felt except for silver.? Thank god it wasn't silver, or I wouldn't be here now.? When I regained my wits and stood, I saw that whatever the gun was, it had gone entirely through a concrete wall before striking me, and still hit that hard." He shook his head.? "We fought them off, but a lot of good people died in that fight.? People I called friends. I'd never seen or heard of any gun that could shoot through walls like that-not something a person could carry, at least.? And that wasn't the only thing they had.? They had this body armor that could stop a 7.62 round cold."

"Holy crap," she whispered, utterly stunned by that.

"Exactly.? It wasn't just cutting-edge tech...it was beyond.? I don't think even the U.S. military had stuff like that."

"Not terribly surprising," was her sole comment on that.

"We started hearing rumors about the source of this new technology.? People kept mentioned the name Makepeace."

"Makepeace?" she repeated.? "Ironic name is ironic.? Who is he?"

He shrugged slightly.? "I don't know.? No one seemed to know anything about him, other than to say he was the source of the gear.? No one I ever spoke to had seen him, or even heard his voice. never learned anything more about him.? It was shortly after that when the 'specialists' came after me.? You know the rest of the story."

She nodded and shifted a bit in her seat, her brow furrowed in a thoughtful frown.? "Has he ever been mentioned in the media or anything?"

He thought for a moment, then nodded.? "I didn't keep up with current events very diligently after leaving Burma, but I do remember a piece on him -- on 60 Minutes or something like that.? Not much real information, just speculation mostly."

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully.? Then she snorted and shook her head.? "I couldn't get my hands on it anyway.? It hasn't happened yet."

His mouth twisted in a little scowl.? "It hurts my brain to think about that."

"Tell me about it," she said softly.

He looked up at the sky, then said, "I imagine David is finishing up by now.? Shall we go see?"

"Yeah," she said and stood up, reaching down for his hand.? "I'm feeling a naan craving, too.? Shall we go see if Anisha can accommodate us for dinner tonight?? If you're not going to go off gallivanting with your new lady friend, that is."

He gave her hand a little squeeze, then stuck his tongue out at her.? "She won't be home until midnight or later.? Filming, remember?? Going to see Anisha sounds good to me. C'mon."

Riley sat straight up in bed, her heart racing, gasping for breath. The words 'heiwa o okonau' were ringing in her head and she couldn't shake the horrible images of a desolate Earth, where not even insects moved in the deep drifts of ash the covered the ground. She turned to David and found him sitting up as well, looking - and smelling - as if he, too, had had some horrible nightmare.

The whispered words in Japanese drew his attention, and he turned wide eyes on Riley as she sat up, clearly as shaken as he was. Concern for her overrode his own discomfort. "Are you okay?" His breathing began to slow as he became aware that they were still in their own bed, that the world wasn't burned to ash around them.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah," she said and then cleared her throat; her mouth was dry and tasted of ashes. "Just a bad dream." She slipped out of bed and went to the closed bedroom door, taking her kimono off the hook and put it on. "I'm gonna get some water. Shall I bring you some, too?"

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, nodding. "Yeah, I could use it. I had a hell of a nightmare, too." He rubbed his forehead, then shook his head. "Christ. It was way too real. I can actually taste the ashes in my mouth." He walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, splashing his face, then lifted it and looked into the mirror. "Make peace," he muttered.

She froze with her hand wrapped around the door knob. "What did you just say?" she said in a strangled voice.

He turned from the mirror, seeing the surprise and fear written across her features. She was so pale that he went immediately to her, reaching for her. "My dream," he answered. "I saw the Earth after a nuclear holocaust. Almost everyone was dead...," he broke off, shaking his head again. "It was bad. But it felt like somehow I could stop it. 'Make peace'. Someone ? something ? told me that."

"Holy sh*t, David," she whispered and gripped his hand tightly. "I dreamt the same thing...and the same words woke me up. Heiwa o okonau. Japanese for 'make peace'."

Those were the words he'd heard her whisper; he just hadn't understood them at the time. "What the...? We had the same dream? How the hell does that happen?" He held her hand in a death grip, even more shaken than he had been when he first woke up.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember who had said those words to her. She could see the figure in her mind, but it was shadowed, clouded. She frowned severely, trying to make out details. "It was a woman," she said, remembering a definite impression of bare breasts, red lips, and long black hair. Nothing else would come to her, though, and she shook her head and opened her eyes. "The rest is lost."

"I never saw anyone. I just heard the words...right in my head. It was a man's voice, though. I'm sure of that. What does this mean, Riley?"

"It means we need to talk to Danny...and probably Jill, too." Her eyes flashed dangerously when she said the woman's name and she turned away, finally opening the door and going into the kitchen for some water. She sniffed the air, wondering if Danny had come home or if he was still at Lelah's.

"Yeah, we should talk to Dan." He didn't say anything about Jill. He didn't want to talk to her, or even be in the same room as her, especially so soon after...everything. He went into the kitchen behind her and leaned against the wall, trying to sort everything out.

She drew them both glasses of water and added a squeeze of lemon from the bowl of pre-cut wedges they kept in their refrigerator. She handed David his glass and returned to the living room, curling up on the couch. Finn jumped up next to her and pushed his way onto her lap, curling up and settling down as well as a 35-pound half-whale, half-dog could. Riley absently stroked his back as she sipped her water, a thoughtful frown on her face.

He dropped onto the couch next to her and patted Finn, face a mirror of her own. "Do you think the dream we both had could be some kind of warning?" It seemed like the most logical explanation, other than them both being insane.

"It has to be, right? I mean...why else would we have it? The same exact dream on the same night with the same words ringing in our heads when we woke?" She shrugged a bit. "It's either literal or metaphorical. Either way, this Makepeace guy that Danny told me about is bad news and we have to stop him."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. It's gotta be." His mouth twisted into a half-frown. "Even if that's exactly what the f*cking MVA wants us to do."

"F*ck them. We'll do it our own way."

"Damn straight."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly and inhaled his scent. "We'll need to talk to them somehow, you know. We need to see what sort of intel they have. If they know anything more than what Danny does, we'll need to know it, too."

He leaned his head against hers and sighed. "Yeah...you're right, of course. You know what that means, though."

"I'm gonna have to be nice to the rotten akumabito, won't I?"

"Yeah...whatever that means. And so am I."

"I called her a demon," she said with a wicked little grin. She kissed his forehead and then sat back once more.

He snorted softly. "Too bad it's not that easy. If she was a demon, I mean."

Riley laughed at that. "So, I guess we can't really do anything until we talk to Danny again, right?"

"No...we should definitely talk to him first. Hell, for all we know, he had the dream too."

"Maybe. If you see him today, ask him to stay for dinner. We'll talk then."

He hesitated for an instant, then just jumped right in.? "My wife and I recently shared a dream, a dream that was a clearly a warning.? I'm hoping you can help figure out who sent us this dream, and why."?

She nodded, and as he spoke, she scribbled notes on the paper, not taking her eyes from his face.? "Tell me about these shared dreams, please.? In as much detail as you can remember."

He gave her a little grin, whether she could see it or not.? "Believe me, I doubt I'll ever forget it."? Then he went on to describe the dream he'd had, not leaving out any of it, including the message at the end.? He also told her about Riley's dream, and how it ended the same way his had.? It wasn't any less strange after being retold several times now.?

She was silent as he spoke, making notes while still not looking at the paper in front of her.? When he was done telling his tale, she closed her eyes and was quiet for a long time.? The only sound in the room was the ticking of a clock and their breathing.? Finally, just when David was no doubt starting to get antsy, her eyes opened again and she drew a deep breath.? "Have you ever been to see a diviner?" she asked.

He nodded.? "A few, I guess.? I don't really know if they were diviners.? One of them could definitely see the future, though," he said with a touch of sadness, thinking of Calico again.?

Sabine's brows drew down in a soft frown as well.? "A little blonde card reader, yes?? She's...? She was killed by a man who wore your face but did not have your heart."

"Yeah."? A flash of anger went through him at the description of Luo, fists clenching involuntarily.? Then he sighed softly, forcing himself to relax.? "She was hardly more than a kid.? She didn't deserve to die like that."? It still ate at him, clearly.?

"Her death was not your fault, Mr Lo."? She paused for a moment and then gave him a slightly sardonic smile.? "Though I suspect you already know that.? It doesn't help it to hurt less, does it?"

"No," he said shortly.

Her sardonic smile turned sympathetic and she was silent again for a moment, tipping her head to the side as if listening to something again.? After a moment, she looked back at David and said, "This diviner you saw in Japan, tell me of her, please.? Specifically what she told you upon entering her shop for the first time."

"When we...," he trailed off, trying to remember what had happened when they'd first gone into the Onmyodo shop.? So much had happened afterward.?

She leaned forward a bit, the frown resurfacing, though this time it appeared to be one of intense concentration.? "She called you and your wife by different names.? What were those names?"

"That's right, she did."? He thought back, a small frown of his own forming as he tried to remember.? "She called me Saru...something.? And Riley Uzume, I'm pretty sure.? Riley said they were kami."

Sabine nodded and sat back, appearing a little more pale than she had previously.? "Yes," she murmured, mostly to herself.? "That's right.? Powerful gods of Shinto belief.? Married kami.? Lord of Martial Arts and Lady of Dance."? She nodded once more and was silent again, her head tilted to the side in that eerie way, listening to something only she could hear.? The silence in the room rolled on, broken only by someone's footsteps in the hall beyond the closed door and the steady ticking of the clock.

"That's them," he confirmed.? "Kind of weird, since I am a martial artist, and she is a dancer.? And we're married."? He fell silent after she did, waiting for her to say something else.? She looked like she was listening to something, but he heard nothing other than the clock and footsteps.? It was a little creepy.

Without warning, Sabine rose from the chair after laying the pad of paper and pencil aside.? She went to her desk and pulled open a drawer.? From within, she pulled out a small silver bell and returned to her seat with it.? Holding it out David, she said, "Ring this once but do not damp it.? I need it to vibrate until it silences naturally."

"Okay."? He reached out and took the bell without hesitation.? Sure, it was weird, but on a scale of the strangest things that had happened to him, it would hardly even register at the lowest level.? He rang the bell once, firmly, then held it carefully out, making sure not to touch it to anything.

She tilted her head to the side again, closing her eyes and straining forward, her face the very picture of concentration.? The bell's tone was silver-pure, and it rang for a long time, gradually winding down and fading away.? When the ticking clock could be heard again, Sabine sat back and nodded once.? "It is as I thought.? The dreams were sent from these gods."

"These gods?? From the kami?? Why?"?

She shook her head.? "I can't answer that, Mr Lo.? They keep their motivations hidden from me.? You and Mrs Lo aren't human, though, are you?"? She paused for a moment and then shook her head again.? "No, that's not quite right.? You're human, but...more than human, too."

"That's a fair assessment," he agreed.? More than human was a good way to put it.? "Does that make a difference?"

"It will," she said enigmatically.? Then she sagged back in her seat, paler even than before, a fine sheen of sweat on her face.? "That is all I can tell you for today, Mr Lo.? If you seek further answers, you may come back, of course."

It will.? Somehow, that sounded ominous.? He paused for another moment, then stood, offering her his hand automatically.? "Thank you for your help, Sabine."? Even if she couldn't tell him why they were doing it, at least she'd shed some light on where the dreams had come from.

She raised her hand in the general direction of David's, not quite meeting it.? "You're welcome, Mr Lo.? I hope I've helped you somewhat."

He shifted his hand to catch hers, giving it a careful shake.? "You definitely have.? I might take you up on coming back another time, as well."?

She smiled and nodded to the door.? "Forgive me if I don't see you out.? I find myself a little weak.? Good day, Mr Lo."

He had enough experience with magic to know it took plenty of energy out of a person to use it, so he assumed that held true for whatever talent Sabine had, as well.? "No problem.? Thanks again."? He turned and walked out quickly, eager to tell Riley what he'd learned.

"Yeah, I remember."? He still couldn't get used to her mentioning things like that, knowing what Riley and Dan had talked about.

"Recently he's gone from funding rebellions to instigating them.? Does Riley keep up with news from the Hydra Universe?"

He hesitated for a moment before remembering that was the name the MVA gave Riley's earth.? "Yes, she does."

"Then you both know about all of the uprising in the Middle East, right?? Tunisia, Egypt, Syria.? Those were all started by him."

"Why?? Why is he starting wars?"

She shrugged.? "Who knows?? He's like a bully in a sandbox.? The Hydra Universe isn't even his, so what does he care if it all goes to sh*t.? He's making a killing off the weapons deals, but more than that, I think he's just...amused by the destruction."

"That's sick."? He shook his head, pushing the emotional response away.? "All right.? So he's a psycho.? What do Riley and I have to do with all of this?"

"You two are the only ones who can stop him.? We can't do anything; our hands are tied because he's not using our tech to jump.? But we can track him and tell you where he jumps to.? You go get him, bring him back here, and we'll take care of the rest."

He stared at her.? "You're serious."

"As a heart-attack, David."

"You want me...us...to go to Earth, find a madman who's starting wars, and capture him?? Just like that."

She nodded and waved her hand airily, dismissing his concerns.? "You're a smart guy.? Daniel's fought in wars, led troops.? Riley's a battle tank.? Between the three of you, I trust you can come up with a winning plan and make this happen."

Despite the situation, her description of Riley made his lips twitch into a smile.? It vanished quickly, though.? "You're asking us to risk our lives for you."

"We're at war, David.? This man is slowly dismantling your wife's home.? How long before he starts selling nukes to India and Pakistan?? Or worse, the Taliban and Al Qaeda?? Imagine what they'd do with a coordinated attack using dirty bombs in London, New York City and Tokyo."

"Christ," he muttered softly.? She knew the right buttons to push.? And no wonder, he reminded himself ? she knows you better than anyone but Riley.

"However you ultimately plan to do it, just get it done.? Quickly and quietly.? We'll give you whatever resources you need - intel, money, equipment - but it'll be off the books and there will be no one to rescue you if you get in too deep."

He held up a hand.? "I haven't agreed to anything, yet.? I'll need to talk to Riley about this first."

"Don't take too long.? Things are heating up in Syria and soon, he'll move on.? We've gotten word that he's spoken to some militants in Burma."? She felt awful using that particular carrot, but she needed him to agree and quickly.

Damn the woman.? She knew very well about Dan's time in Burma, and knew that he would realize it, too.? He shook his head in rueful admiration.? "You're good," he said.

"It's my job," she said, allowing some of the shame show through in her expression.? She wasn't proud of this conversation or most of the things she'd done and said to David in the past year, but this wasn't the time for handling things with kid gloves.? If she needed to beat him about the head and neck to get him to do this thing, then that was exactly what she'd do.

"Yeah."? He could understand that.? "I'll talk to Riley.? I'm not making any promises, though."

"We'll stop surveillance, too."? It was a last ditch measure; she was throwing it all in.

"You'd better," he replied.? "If..and I stress if...we do this for you, I don't ever want to deal with the MVA again."

She nodded and extended her hand to him.? "My word.? Whatever you think it's worth."

He nodded, taking her hand for a quick shake.? That, at least, he wouldn't feel guilty about.

She gave him a quick smile and tried to ignore how the touch of his hand against her sent a thrill down her spine and set her blood aflame.? "I can give you three days.? I'll be in touch then."

He nodded again, and turned away without another word, heading off down the street towards home.? Towards Riley.

Thirty minutes later, Riley came down the stairs with a thoughtful look. She stepped over Finn and gave him a scritch behind his ears, before plopping herself down on the sofa next to David. "Smells good," she said.

"It's done," he replied, smiling at her. "I just left it in there to keep it warm." He didn't ask if she was hungry; that was a silly question where Riley was concerned. He stood and went to get the food out and serve it up.

She followed him into the kitchen, fetching down plates, glasses, silverware, and then setting the table. As she worked she explained that she'd phoned an old contact of hers, a man named Baron who owned the Shifter bar in Tucson where Riley had been a regular customer. He'd helped her countless times before she relocated to Rhy'Din, most recently in trying to find Rhys. "He recognised the name," she explained to David as she poured margaritas for them. "But that's all. Said he'd heard he was a gun runner who could get his hands on some pretty futuristic stuff. He said he'd ask some merc contacts to get something more concrete for us."

Once the plates were on the table, he pulled out the enchiladas and scooped out a large portion for each of them. "Good," he replied. "I do think Jill's on the level this time, but some independent confirmation would go a long way."

"Exactly what I thought, too. He said he'd get back to me in a couple of days." She started in on the food, making appreciative noises as she plowed through the first helping in under five minutes. She slowed down for the second, taking her time and appreciating the taste. "What do you want to do if Baron confirms what Jill told you?"

Watching her eat, he wondered how many women would cheerfully throttle her for being able to shovel down food like that and remain in perfect shape. The thought made him smirk. He wasn't far behind her, either?the food was really good. "If he's really trying to wreck your world just because he can... We should do it. Stop him."

"How?" she asked, wondering at the smirk. "We pop in, arrest him, drag him back here and then what happens to him?"

He lifted one shoulder in a little shrug. "I don't know what happens. Does it matter? If he's here, he's not causing trouble on Earth."

"You know what I don't get? If they can't actively pursue him and arrest him or whatever because he's not using their tech, how can they possibly prosecute him or even hold him after we pick him up?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. We'll have to ask Jill when she contacts us. There's got to be something, or they wouldn't ask us to bring him here."

"Or they're no better than the supposed dictators and criminals they're pursuing," she said sourly. She gave David a slightly sheepish look. "The Ex-Minister Cat is cynical."

He chuckled. "The Ex-Minister Cat is dead-on. We don't know anything about the MVA beyond what Jill's told us."

"Someone, somewhere, has to have heard of them. How many different universes did they say there were? 125 or something like that? Maybe you could reach out to your old CIs and ask if any of them know anything."

He nodded. "I'll ask around, if I can find any of them anymore."

"Also, I find it very hard to believe that Fenner's never heard of them. Maybe I'll go bother him, too. He's not busy now that his paper's gone. We could do lunch." She smirked at the thought of tracking down the journalist and bombarding him with questions.

He snickered. "He'll be thrilled, I'm sure."

"He loves me. He's just too chicken to admit it. You clear the table. I'm taking Finn for a jog."

He nodded, standing up to collect the plates. "I'll be out back when you get back."

The Roulette Lounge was tucked away in a secluded, quiet corner of the Imperial Grand's second-floor casino. Based on photographs and anecdotal stories, the bar was modeled after the infamous speak-easy, the Cotton Club, which had operated in the 1920's, in New York City. There was a long mahogany bar that ran the entire length of the large room and butted up against a stage, where tonight a jazz quartet was playing covers of Thelonious Monk, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and Charlie Parker. Riley was seated at the end of the bar closest to the stage, sipping a martini. She was dressed like a grown-up tonight, in a navy blue shirt-waist dress with lime green accessories and the ubiquitous pair of very high, very pointy Blahniks.

Darien, meanwhile, would have cleaned up nicely if he hadn't only just arrived from a shuttle. Or cared enough to clean up, for that matter. He outfitted like he always did--a vest-slacks-oxford combination that doubled in both casual and semi-formal situations. By the looks of things, that was exactly the kind of environment the lounge was trying to convey. Briefcase slung over his shoulder, the journo made his way inside and scanned the place's interior until he spotted a contented Cat on the other end of the bar lapping up liquor. The side of his mouth hitched upward in approval as he approached. He was only a man--a human man--and though he'd never admit it aloud, she certainly knew how to make an impression.

She gave Darien a little patented Riley smile--lopsided and friendly--and leaned forward to pat the bar stool next to her. "Plant it," she said to him and then raised a finger to the bar tender. "Two more, Maurice." The bar tender inclined his head and set about making two more martinis for the boss lady. Riley turned back to Darien and gave him a once over. "A plane, you said? Or a space shuttle thingie?"

"Shuttle. Which reminds me." He dug around in his bag before dropping a tiny Red Sox key chain in front of the former Minister. It could have been because he cared. Or it could have been because he secretly hoped she was a Yankees fan and his first and only intention had been to piss her off.

She grinned at the key chain and picked it up to examine it. "Awesome," she gushed. Yeah, it was probably easy to guess that Riley was a born Sawks Girl. "Thanks." Then her eyes narrowed a bit and she examined it more closely. "It's not bugged, is it? Or has a GPS chip or something?"

"Wait... ya mean your owners didn't put a chip in your ear when they got ya? Y'know... in case ya got lost?" A cinnamon pick slid in between that toothy smirk of his.

"Naw, they couldn't figure out how to make it stay between Shifts." The bar tender dropped off the martinis, complete with skewers of cocktail olives, and Riley gave him a grateful smile before he moved off down the bar, pointedly giving Riley and Fenner privacy. The Cat wrapped long, slender fingers around the stem of her glass and saluted Fenner with it, saying, "Slainte," before sipping from it.

Tit for tat, the Aussie replicated Riley's suspicion by eying his own drink speculatively. Why did he have the feeling if he drank that night he would awake on the other side of RhyDin, nude, and with obscenities written on his face in permanent marker? Well... it wouldn't have been the worst thing that happened to him. "Cheers." He toasted the wicked and alluring vision that was Riley Lo, and he drank. They always said beauty and the devil were the same thing.

"So. This favour. It's for both David and I, actually." She paused for a second, clearly reluctant to speak what was on her mind; perhaps the idea of owing Darien anything was beyond comprehension for her. Perhaps it was the single most terrifying thing she could think of. Perhaps she just needed a moment to compose herself.

For the first time, Darien didn't extend some smart-assed remark. With jaw-dropping civility, he only sipped his drink appreciatively and gave her a moment of peace and quiet.

She licked her lips and sighed a little before jumping in. "Have you ever heard of the Multiverse Authority?"

"By reputation only." They were a secretive bunch.

Her brows flew up. "So you have heard of them?" She didn't bother keeping her surprise to herself. "What can you tell me about them?"

One of Darien's brows lifted. Was he not clear enough in his limited response? "Not much; only that they're some kind'a policing force and ain't from around 'eah." But that wasn't exactly a foreign concept to RhyDin. He paused. "Why?"

She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, weighing the wisdom of letting him on the secret. "Off the record? Pinkie swear you won't breathe a word of it to anyone? Confidential source and all of that?"

"In that case, y'might want to stash the key chain," he replied, deadpan. The only indication of jest was the amused look he shot at Riley over his glass.

She plopped the key chain down in her martini and smiled sweetly at him for a moment. "They want David and I to do something for them," she said, leaning a little closer to the journalist, lowering her voice so that it barely carried over the quartet's version of "Billie's Bounce".

Darien nodded once, seeming to understand the reason behind her inquiry. "And you want t'make sure they're legit."

She nodded. "Spot on. David's chatting up a couple of his old CIs, too. Maybe between everyone, we can come up with a clearer view of what's going on."

"What d'ya want me t'find out?" He unskewered three olives with his teeth before replacing the pick back in his empty glass.

"Whatever you're able to find. If they are what they are, if they do what they claim to do, if they're really a neutral party, if they get involved in things that perhaps they shouldn't get involved in. You know, the usual stuff."

Darien's expression conveyed mostly agreement, but suggestion behind his eyes reeked of a caveat. "Ar'roight. But ya know this information ain't exactly free."

Her lush, expressive mouth thinned into a line and she arched a brow. "I said I'd owe you," she said in a distinctly annoyed voice.

His teeth seemed unnaturally white and far too perfect, set off by the dim lights of the lounge. "That's all I needed t'know. Gim'me forty-eight hours."

"Shall I prick my finger and sign something in blood?" She left off the 'Your Infernal Majesty'.

His chuckle was honeyed and baritone. "Oh, I trust you're good f'r it, Kit. If not, I 'ave oth'a ways of enticing your cooperation." The threat didn't harbor any danger, but neither was it benign. If it was possible, he reassured her with another charming smile.

She gave him a slightly disgusted look and then slid off her stool, shouldering her bag and nodding to the bar tender. Then she turned to Darien and said, "Give my love to your much better half and the babies, okay?" She leaned in and bussed his cheek, as if they were the best of friends, and then headed out after plucking the key chain from her martini glass.

"Want to tell you? No. There's nothing I want to tell you." She crossed her arms over her chest, definitely a defensive pose, and once she realised it, she lowered her arms, her hands gripping her thighs now, manicured nails leaving little half-moons in the muscles of her legs. "Why don't you tell me? You're the writer; write me a story."

"Kit, I can't tell you what I think unless you tell me what this was about." His voice, though deep and rich in timbre, also sounded surprisingly honest.

"Swear to me that you will tell no one. Swear it, Darien. David's life...my life...is at stake." Her normal flippant, easy-going attitude had been replaced by something far more earnest and serious.

He could swear on his mother's grave or the souls of his great-grandparents, but it wouldn't mean much. If there was one thing Darien Fenner took seriously, it was his career. Though he did not speak, his slow nod was a sober confirmation.

Where to start? She made a thoughtful face, one slender hand reaching out to twist and turn the empty tea cup on the table in front of her. "David started noticing that he was getting stronger and faster and smarter about three years ago. At first, he said it was in steady increments; as time passed, it started growing exponentially. Then he started feeling like someone was watching him all the time. Finally, he ran into himself. They had a knock-down, drag-out, and he caught hold of this," she reached out and tapped her fingernail on the schematics of the tunneller device, "and somehow, it activated and sent him to Rhy'Din." Darien made an encouraging gesture for her to continue her narrative. "That was in May. By September, Luo had somehow arrived in Rhy'Din. He...he kidnapped David, hid him away in a warehouse, and took his life. Impersonated him, you know?" She ducked her head for a moment, the shame and self-recriminations obvious in her posture and expression. She felt she should have known that a complete stranger who had her husband's face, but not his heart or soul, had stolen him away from her for over a month.

"I take it he escaped." Else the two of them wouldn't be there having such a ball of a time.

She nodded. "David killed him. But not before the bastard killed two friends of ours," she stated in a flat, emotionless voice. Clearly she wasn't quite comfortable with the idea. She raised her eyes and met Darien's. "That what you wanted to hear?" The look in her eyes was challenging, as if she dared him to exploit her pain and David's anguish over the deaths of his former colleague at the Watch and the innocent psychic girl.

Darien nodded very slowly, even reached up to scratch at the stubble on his jaw as he considered his opinion. By the way he hitched his mouth, he wasn't entirely sold in one direction or the other. Unexpectedly, he respected her distress and moved back to the original topic. "Well, aft'a this whole doovalacky the'ah's a strong possibility th'MVA is 'jes tryin' to pick up the pieces again. The'ah wasn't much else that 'as been on their radar since then, seems like. I've caught wind of some unsanctioned missions, but nothin' the organization has actively pursued or anyone can verify. So they could be givin' it a burl. Or..." He didn't bother finishing that sentence, fairly certain Riley had already contemplated an infinite number of scenarios based on what she might decide.

She sniffed and brushed at her hair, shoving her fingers through it in a human facsimile of a cat grooming itself when caught doing something embarrassing. "So...they're indulging in a lot of CYA," she said thoughtfully. "Unsanctioned missions? More than one? Do you know where? When? Anything?" Were they recruiting other mercenaries to clean up their messes, or were she and David the only lucky suckers?

"That I couldn't tell ya. Short of askin' an actual agent about it, ya probably couldn't find out much. And even then, it seems like th'ones in charge play things pretty close t'the chest."

She nodded; that lined up pretty much exactly with what Jill had told them. She sighed and began playing with the tea cup in front of her again. Was there anything else she needed to know? She'd learned the the MVA was precisely what Jill said it was; she also learned that there was the possibility of other mercs out there, doing other off the book, black ops. That was something David would have to take up with Jill; maybe it would effect their decision to work with the organisation.

Darien chose to fill the silence made by Riley's speculation by offering her one more piece of advice. "I wouldn't trust 'em as far as I could throw 'em. And keep in mind, I ain't some psycho super cat."

One corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk. "Psycho," she repeated with amusement. She licked her lips and leaned forward a bit, suddenly possessed by the need to unload a little of what had been sitting on her shoulders for so long. "They have surveillance everywhere, Darien. CCTV, unmanned drones drifting around the city, agents out in public spying. They bugged our house."

At that moment the bartender rung a tiny gong to herald last call. By then the edamame had gone cold, but Darien plucked one up and continued munching. "Then throw them very far." His mouth twitched as he left the empty pod on his saucer and scooped up the documents back into the folio. After a look at Riley, he leaned back against his seat, chewing. "I might could find out more. Want me t'keep lookin' into it?"

She nodded mutely. If anyone could find the dirt she needed to use as leverage against the MVA, it was Darien. "Anything you can find. Anything at all. I'll owe you big time."

Darien nodded in return, about to slide the folio back into his briefcase. After a moment's hesitation he decided better of it and offered it to Riley. "I'll be in touch. Don't talk about it over the phone." But she knew that.

"Be careful," she said as she took the pile of documents and photos from him. "You never know who's listening and watching. Maybe you should invest in some anti-listening equipment or something."

The Aussie cracked a smile at her that showed almost all his teeth. "Clearly you don't know me that well."

She chuckled, flashing him the first smile she'd worn in an hour. "Yeah, I'm not surprised." She rose, setting enough money to cover her tea and leave a nice tip on the table, and tucked the folder under her arm. "Give my love to your girls?"

He made a sound that must have been acknowledgment. "Watch your backside, Kit." He paused, then smirked. "S'a nice view."

She winked at him, turned tail, and with a long-legged, hip-swaying strut, no doubt playing up the rear view for his benefit, headed out of the sushi dive and into the night.

"How? Going through people like Fenner? Or sneaking into the place ourselves?"

"I'd much rather the latter. I don't like him having too much on us. And he's going to make me pay for this."

"I don't like it either. Especially knowing that he knows about Luo."

She nodded. "Yeah, exactly." She sat up straight and flashed David a dangerous smile. "So, we turn the tables on them. Break into their HQ and snoop around in their dirty laundry."

He couldn't help smiling back at her as he nodded. "I'm game," he said. The idea didn't bother him as much as it would have, once. He'd spent so much of his life upholding the law, but he lived in a different world now, literally as well as figuratively. He'd changed in many ways, not least of which was the realization that the world was more shades of grey than black and white.

"Awesome," she said with a lopsided smirk. "How do we do it?" She snorted a little laugh; although she was a night hunter and spent a lot of time tracking prey and setting up the perfect ambush, she wasn't by nature a sneak. She far preferred doing things the in-your-face sort of way. She'd need a lot of help in planning a successful infiltration.

"Well," he said slowly. "You understand that I'm more trained to catch the people who do the sneaking in than doing it myself, but first we have to case the place, find out how many people are there on a regular basis, see what kind of security they have on the entrances. Look for other ways to get in. That kind of thing."

She nodded. "Okay. Hey, you know what? I'll bet Oliver and his crew would be perfect for this sort of thing," she said, referring to the small band of ten or twelve orphans who inhabited the burned out buildings near the Gardens. Riley had long ago established a close relationship with them, feeding them, sheltering them, giving them cast off clothing and furniture, and offering them small jobs from time to time.

"Maybe, if we can make sure they'll be safe." Breaking and entering personally was one thing, getting kids into trouble was entirely another.

"They can case the place pretty safely, can't they? No one notices those kids."

"You're probably right," he agreed.

She nodded and turned thoughtful. "Okay, so we'll ask Oliver to get some of his charges to find out how many people go in and out, what sort of security they have, where the exits and entrances are... Maybe how people get into the building, too? Swipe card, retinal scanner, secret password, whatever."

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely. If it's a card or a key, we can try to, ah, acquire one."

"The kids'll be good at that, too. Sticky fingers and everything." She chuckled softly. "I should feel awful about employing them in this, shouldn't I?"

"Probably," he answered, smirking.

She shrugged a little. "I don't. At least this way, I know what they're doing and I can keep them safe, right?"

"It makes sense. In a mildly twisted way." He chuckled.

"There you go." She rose from the couch and gathered up the folio. Finn, who was clear over by the koi pond, staring down into the depths and no doubt wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he went fishing, leapt up and bounded over to Riley, seeing that she was about to go inside. "We should go plan," she said to David, raising her hand to keep it from Finn's mouth; he loved to nibble on her fingers.

He nodded, standing up and stretching before following her into the house. "Look at us," he said, chuckling. "A lawyer who's also the ex-Minister of Justice and a former cop and watchman, heading off to plan a B&E job."

"It just means that we should know exactly what not to do, right?" She grinned and headed into the kitchen, the one room in the house that they were absolutely certain was bug free. Although Jill had promised that she'd cut the surveillance on the house, Riley didn't trust her and preferred to keep sensitive discussions in the safe, listening device-free environs of their kitchen. Plus there was food. And beer.

He shrugged slightly. "It would be better cover if it was a real business, even if the employees are all actually MVA agents. Looks pretty deserted right now, just like the kids said. As long as they don't have a lot of cameras inside, should be pretty easy."

"Yeah," she said, her nerves apparent even to anyone who happened to pass by them. She couldn't quite figure out why she was so nervous and scared about this, though it probably had something to do with the fact that she had never broken the law in such a profound way. "Are you ready?" she asked David once they'd drawn even with the small alley that ran alongside the building and which ostensibly led to the door that Oliver assured them would be unlocked.

He nodded, but put a hand on her shoulder before turning towards the door. "Take a deep breath, love. Focus. Think of it like a sparring match, where you're trying not to get hit. Don't let your nerves get the best of you." His heart was beating a little harder than before as they prepared to go in, but he told himself it wasn't any different than going into a building full of an unknown number of possibly armed suspects.

She did as he instructed and felt better almost instantly. Flashing him a grateful smile, she stepped off the curb and crossed the street quickly but, she hoped, not suspiciously. Soon enough, they were headed down the alleyway and found the door. It was surrounded by cigarette butts, two thigh-high cans of sand for extinguishing cigarettes, as well as a wooden picnic bench and a small, pathetic attempt at a flower patch. She stared at the door for a moment, almost expecting it to spring open and a whole platoon of Watch members to come spilling out, screaming at them to get down on their knees and put their hands behind their heads.

He surveyed the dismal tableaux as shook his head slightly. "I can hardly believe they're this lax," he whispered. He reached out and laid his hand on the door, as if he could somehow feel through it and determine if there were ambushers waiting on the other side.

Riley held her breath as David touched the door, but when nothing happened, she let it out in a rush that ended in a nervous giggle. "Well, it's now or never," she said and nodded for him to enter, allowing him to be chivalrous without complaint for the first and only time in their entire relationship.

He lowered his hand to the knob and twisted it, slowly and cautiously. It was unlocked. He shot a glance at Riley, pointed to her nose, then eased the door open just a crack. No light spilled out of the crack.

She inhaled deeply, nostrils working overtime, making her look a bit like a hunting dog who'd just gotten a nose full of game. She shook her head a bit. "Nothing," she whispered. "Only one recent scent; it's gotta be the guard at the front."

He nodded, grateful for her Super-kitty nose. There wasn't much that could fool it--if anyone was hiding in the darkness, she would've smelled them. He swung the door open slowly until there was enough room for him to slip through. Inside, he moved immediately to the left, giving Riley room to come in, just like he'd done when he still on the force. Keep fields of fire clear. Not that either of them were carrying guns tonight, but the principles still held.

She slipped in right behind him, still taking her cues from him as a very small and remote portion of her brain marvelled at this. Once upon a time, there would have been no way she'd trust someone as implicitly and completely as she trusted David; she would have had to be first in, checking all the lines of sight, leading others down hallways. But not now. She knew she could rely on David to take care of what needed to be done without second guessing him. "Clear," she whispered and then started down the hallway, carefully checking doors and opening them when she found them unlocked. On the first floor, down the hall that led to the smoking area, they found a small kitchen and break-room, as well as a janitor's closet, bathrooms, and an entire room filled with filing cabinets that begged to be dug through.

When he was still a cop, he would've killed to have a partner he worked with as well he did Riley. Sometimes the two of them seemed to be able to read each other's minds, they were so in sync with each other. Of course, the SFPD kind of frowned on married couples working in the field together. But then, they'd never had a couple like Riley and David on the force. He nodded to the filing cabinets, then went over to the nearest one on the left side and tugged it quietly open, looking over the folders there.

She started opposite him, quietly and quickly rifling through the folders, occasionally pulling one out to give it a closer look. She found personnel files from employees in the LogTech firm, accounting information, closed accounts, and sundry other files pertaining to the day-to-day workings of a real business. "Huh," she mused quietly. It seemed that LogTech was a real business and not merely a front for the MVA. She couldn't, however, make heads or tails of what sort of business they conducted. Something to do with the logging industry was her best guess.

It was all completely mundane and thoroughly uninteresting, he realized as he started on the second filing cabinet. This was obviously a real business--no front would have this volume of all but useless information, sometimes going back for years. He left the cabinet and moved over to Riley's side. "I don't think there's anything here," he whispered into her ear. "This feels like a legit company. Maybe the MVA just uses it as cover."

She nodded, agreeing with him as she closed the last filing cabinet. "That's my guess, too," she whispered back. "Upstairs?" she asked. Somehow they'd have to get across the lobby without being spotted so they could gain access to the flight of stairs that went up to the second floor. If this building was anything like the thousands of businesses in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Tucson, the executives and worker drones would have their offices and cubicles on the second floor. There existed the possibility that there would be something worth recovering in one of those offices.

He nodded. If they were lucky, the single guard was bored, reading a magazine, watching TV, or even taking a nap. Otherwise, it was going to be hard as hell to cross the lobby without alerting him to their presence. He left the room and crept down the hall towards the lobby, keeping a careful eye out for any cameras.

There were no cameras present, or at least there weren't any that Riley could spot, but considering she'd lived with cameras and mics in her home for nearly two years and hadn't had a clue about them presence, she couldn't rely on that assumption. When they finally reached the lobby, they saw that Murphy had decided to take it easy on them...for now. The guard wasn't present at his desk and Riley smelled a scent trail going down the hall in the opposite direction they'd gone. He was either in the bathroom or the kitchen. They were free to cross to the stairs.

She shook her head. "C'mon. We don't have the time to d*ck around guessing passwords." She carefully opened the door that led into the hallway and then stepped out, trying another door. It led to another similar office, though this one conveniently had a sticky note with passwords next to the keyboard. "Jesus, I didn't know anyone was that stupid," she said as she sat down in the desk chair, booted the machine up, and waiting for it to start running.

"The level of people's stupidity has ceased to amaze me anymore," he said, going over to the door to watch the hallway as Riley tried her luck with this one.

Soon, the same prompt came up, and Riley entered the first code on the sticky with success. "Wow," she muttered, and then began exploring all the files on the computer. There were two files that intrigued Riley greatly. One seemed to be a list of all the tunnellers the MVA had captured, as well as a listing of their crimes and sentences. The other was an extensive dossier on Dave Luo beginning with his recruitment and ending with his death.

When she was silent for several minutes, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Found something good?" The hallway was still empty, thankfully. It seemed that even though there were people around, they were in some other area of the building for the moment.

"Oh, yeah," she said, reaching into her pocket to withdraw the USB memory stick she'd brought with her for just such an occasion. Loading it into the computer, she quickly copied over the files; as they copied, she continued snooping through the computer's local files and then accessed the network, finding three different data storage hubs.

Down at the end of the hall, the larger set of doors swung open, and a man walked out, heading down the hall in their direction. "Crap," he said. "Company. Shut it down."

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," she said and backed out of what she was doing and turned off the computer. Panicking a bit, she dove beneath the desk, huddling in the knee hole and praying that David could find an equally safe and accessible hidey-hole. There was nowhere for him to hide; all he could do was press himself up against the wall on the side of the door and hope like hell that the guy wasn't coming to this particular office. There were tons of them down this hall, what were the odds?

Riley strained her ears listening to the soft footsteps as they became slightly louder as the man walked towards their door, then faded as he passed by. With a sigh of relief, she crawled out, told David that it was safe, and righted everything she'd touched, wishing she'd thought to wear gloves or something before doing this.

"Just use your sleeve," he said, noticing her hands hovering above the keyboard as if she were reluctant to touch anything. "If the prints are smeared enough, it's as good as them not being there in the first place." She nodded and did so, hopefully smearing away the damning evidence of their thievery. "Okay," she said, moving back to his side. "What now? Do you want to go deeper or go home?"

The cautious side of him immediately advised going home, but...they hadn't really learned much yet. "Let's go deeper," he replied. "We might not get a chance to do this a second time." She tipped him a lopsided grin; he'd chosen what she'd hoped he'd go for. They headed towards the larger door at the far end. It, too, had an identical swipe card to the one at the head of the steps, so figuring that David's card would get them through it, she stepped back and watched their rear.

He pulled the card out and ran it through the reader. Once again, he was awarded with a green light. The door opened to reveal another set of stairs, which proved to lead to more offices. He glanced over at Riley. Did they search through these, or look for something other than an office? She shrugged lightly; she'd leave the decision up to him. She hadn't been able to look through the files on the data storage hubs so there could be something damning and useful lurking there. On the other hand, there was another magnetic strip on another door that was calling out to her.

Going by the theory that the magnetic locks lead to more important things than regular locks, he headed over to that one and tried it. More stairs. "Do we go down?"

"Oh, yeah," she said. "This floor is the most occupied, though. We'll have to be extra-super-duper careful."

He nodded and they went cautiously down the stairs. As soon as they reached the bottom, it was apparent that this floor contained something other than just offices. There were several branching hallways, and an impressively large set of doors down the longest one, which ran straight ahead. There was a big red sign over the hall on the left, reading 'Detention Area, Authorized Personnel Only'. "Bound to be guards down that one," he said. "We'd better stay away."

She nodded and turned to head in the opposite direction. There were recent smells in this hallway, including the distinctive scent of cordite and fresh blood. "Someone's fired a gun recently down here," she whispered, fighting with Jaguar over Her urge to go and see about the injured. "And someone's bled, too."

He frowned, wanting to check it out, but concerned that recent fighting might mean people still around. "All right, let's go see. Carefully." He started off down that hall, skin tingling with the anticipation of someone popping out at them any moment.

They quietly passed by darkened observations rooms and here they would find what David had been expecting--banks of computer screens, dials and levers, switches and meters. Beyond a large glass window, was a strange round room with something that looked like a five-petaled flower on the floor. "Wonder what goes on in there?"

He was wondering the same thing, since the room only had a single door, no windows, and no visible equipment in it. "Some kind of testing room?" He shrugged. "I don't know. Where do you smell the blood?"

"Next door," she said, nodding to the room to her left. When they peeked around the corner, they discovered that it was the same sort of set-up, only there were people inside. White lab coats dominated the observation room, while beyond the window two tall, heavily muscled men in black body armour stood around a pool of blood in the centre of the flower design. The body that had leaked all over the floor was no where to be found. "Holy crap," she said.

He frowned again, trying to figure out what could have gone on in there. Some kind of interrogation? "Let's get away from here," he said, worried that one of the lab coated people was going to turn and spot them.

She was already moving away from the window, heading in the direction from which they'd entered the hall. There was another doorway opposite the one they'd just come through and she looked curiously between it and David.

This one didn't have a window, and there was a keypad next to the magnetic strip. "Heavy security here," he murmured. "I bet there's gear in here."

She nodded and cast a quick look over her shoulder. They could go no further. "I guess this is the end of the line." She looked and sounded disappointed. Whatever she was expecting, the reality of the MVA was very disappointing. Of course, once they got those files analysed, things might be different, but it appeared that what Fenner and Frankie the Tuna reported still held true. The MVA was a straight-edge organisation.

He nodded back. "Yeah...we've been here long enough. Time to make our getaway before those guys in the round come out and spot us." He turned and made for the stairs leading up, moving quickly and quietly.

She followed him and once they'd hit the pavement in the smoking area, she let out a relieved breath. "Jesus. I felt like I'd been holding my breath the entire time we were in there."

"No sh*t," he replied. "I haven't been that tense since rookie year, I don't think." He glanced behind them, and finding no angry MVA agents boiling out of the door nodded and continued. "Okay, let's get home and take a look at these files."

"Right on your heels, baby," she said and followed him out of the alley and then turned steps back to their Seaside residence.

The next morning Riley stood in front of her open closet, staring into its bespelled depths. She'd had breakfast, done an hour of yoga, showered, and was now getting ready to traipse into the den of the enemy. What did one wear to do such a thing? "David?" she called out, unaware for the moment where in the house her husband was located.

His voice floated into the room from somewhere near the kitchen. "Yeah?" A moment later, the man himself followed his voice in, walking over to stand just behind her as she gazed into the TARDIS of closets.

"We're just meeting for like...a briefing or something, right?" Standing in her underwear, she glanced over her shoulder at David and smiled a bit. She was entertaining thoughts of being late to this meeting.

He smiled back at her, reaching out to rest his hands on her slender waist. "I guess," he said, more than a little distracted by the smile and the state of undress.

She sighed and shook her head. "Later," she said, firmly shoving that thought away and turning back to her closet.

"Later is very far away," he said, echoing her sigh.

"It is, but...waiting will make it that much sweeter, right?" she tossed over her shoulder as she selected a pair of jeans, a Dr Who t-shirt, and Chuck Taylors. Dressing quickly, she headed into the bathroom to put on makeup, brush her hair and teeth, and spritz herself with a little honeysuckle scent.

"True." He was mostly dressed already, just lacking socks and shoes, so he sat down on the bed to wait for her to finish up. He enjoyed watching her get ready. Hell, he enjoyed watching her do just about anything.

She came back into the bedroom and gave Finn a smile. He was laying in the floor at the foot of their bed, chin resting on his paws, looking up at her with sad, puppy dog eyes. "He knows we're leaving."

"We could take him with us," he said, smirking. "I'm sure Marie in IT would love a dog the size of a pony."

She laughed and leaned down to kiss the dog before going out to the living room to slide on her shoes. "I think it's probably for the best that he stays home for this. I have no idea what we're going to be doing."

"Yeah, me either. Or how long it'll be. Sh*t," he said suddenly. "What if they want us to leave right away? What about the hotel and classes and everything?"

"They'll have to cut us some slack. We need to make arrangements. If they can't understand that, they can f*ck right off." She slid her phone into her back pocket and headed out the door. The walk to the MVA headquarters passed quickly, with neither of them speaking very much along the way. When they were standing in front of the unassuming building, he looked over at her and smirked. "Guess we'll use the front door this time, huh?"

She laughed and nodded, "Yeah. We'll be legal this time." She went and opened the door, stepping through and giving the bottle blonde behind the big desk a wan smile.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

He nodded. "Yes, we're here to see Marie in IT. She should be expecting us."

The blonde nodded and rang an extension. "Marie? Your appointment's here." She looked back up at Riley and David and flashed them a smile. "She'll be right with you. Take a seat. Can I get you some coffee or water?" Riley moved to perch on the edge of a hard plastic chair and nodded. "Coffee, thanks."

"I'll have some coffee, too, thanks." He took a chair next to Riley's and looked around. Reception areas pretty much looked the same anywhere you went, even when it was another world entirely. He smirked slightly, leaning over to murmur his observation to Riley.

The blonde brought them coffee in real china mugs and moments after that, a tall redhead dressed in blue jeans, a sky blue t-shirt, and a grey blazer came down the stairs that led off the side of the reception area. Riley's nostrils flared reflexively and she knew instantly that this woman was Jill. She could feel Jaguar's sudden pushing against the walls of Her mental cage and Riley's fingers tightened around her coffee mug.

One eyebrow rose slightly as 'Marie' turned out to be rather familiar. He glanced over at Riley, seeing her reaction to the woman, and he dropped one hand from the coffee mug to give her knee a little squeeze. Face-ripping could come later. They had to hear what Jill was going to tell them first. At David's touch, Jaguar subsided enough that Riley could think clearly. She bumped her shoulder against her husband's and reached up with her free hand to pick an imaginary fleck of lint off her shirt.

'Marie' smiled and said, "Mr and Mrs Lo? If you'll come with me, we'll get you taken care of."

One corner of his mouth curled up slightly at the contact. He loved that the two of them could so effectively communicate without ever saying a word. It was supposed to take married couples decades to manage that. He stood, nodding to Jill. "Lead the way," he said. Riley followed in David's wake, silent as she struggled with Jaguar's urges to attack the woman who tried to take away her mate.

Jill led them back up the steps, past the cubicles and management offices to the secret doorway. Fishing an ID card out of her blazer's pocket, she swiped it and opened the door that led to the steps that took them down three flights to the basement that contained the MVA's headquarters. Those stairs were rather familiar to the Los, even if the circumstances were quite different. He wasn't about to just come out and admit this fact to Jill, though. "Place is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside," he commented.

"Yes," Jill said, tossing a look over her shoulder as they descended. "I'm surprised you didn't get lost Monday night."

"I've got a very good sense of direction," he replied, making no attempts at innocence. He wasn't really surprised that she knew about their break-in. The only surprising thing was that no one tried to stop them. Or perhaps that was intentional. Maybe they'd let he and Riley snoop around simply because they knew he and Riley wouldn't find anything to contradict what had been told to them.

"You knew," Riley said, her tone making it clear it wasn't a question.

Jill nodded. "If we hadn't wanted you in here, you wouldn't have made it past the edge of the sidewalk outside," she said, pausing at the bottom of the steps and swiping her card again. They entered the t-intersection hallway where Riley and David had chosen to go left and discovered the large fishbowl rooms. This time, though, they continued forward to another secure door.

He wasn't sure how he felt about knowing that they'd so easily anticipated his and Riley's plans. Then he sighed inwardly. Of course they'd known what he was going to do. Jill had studied him, watched him. She knew more about his life than practically anyone, possibly even Riley. If anyone could predict his choices and actions, it was Jill.

Once past the secure door, they entered what looked like a giant television studio. There were banks of screens, hundreds of dials and switches, people with headphones on sitting at desks, typing transcripts of whatever they were listening to. Riley paused for a moment, eyes sweeping over the screens. She saw scenes she immediately recognised?Shuijin Park, the Marketplace from near Teas N' Tomes, Kazon's Mithril refinery and warehouses, even the street in front of the Red Dragon Inn. "Christ," the Cat muttered under her breath as she began walking after David and Jill once more.

He knew the MVA had surveillance all over the place, but knowing it wasn't the same as being confronted with it. Almost unconsciously, he took a step closer to Riley, brushing his shoulder against hers. "They really are everywhere," he muttered.

"It makes me want to take a shower," Riley admitted softly. Jill was waiting for them next to a door that led into a small conference room. Inside, gathered around an oval-shaped table were three men and a woman. They were all staring at the Los as they entered behind Jill. He knew what she meant. He started to reply, then stopped as they reached the conference room. He didn't know who the people around the table were, but they were staring at him, so he stared right back.

Pete's face flushed red and he opened his mouth no doubt to shout out an answer that amounted to 'because this is the way we planned it and you will do it this way!' Jill reached over and put her hand briefly on her boss's arm before turning to face David and just beyond him, Riley. "He's spooked already," she explained in that serious, emotionless way. "We've already sent people after him and they've failed to bring him in, so he's expecting more attempts. If you and Riley show up, overpower his guards, get past all his security measures, he'll jump out before you can get close enough to him to do anything. This way, you'll have established some sort of relationship with him that while not build entirely on trust, will still make him feel somewhat comfortable with you."

David frowned, but nodded after a couple of seconds. It made sense, unfortunately. He knew he and Riley could take out however many guards Makepeace might have, even if there were dozens, but it would take some time, even for them. He could only assume that it wouldn't take Makepeace very long to jump back to his universe. "All right," he said with a touch of reluctance in his voice. "I see your point."

Jill flashed him a grateful smile before turning her attention back to Pete. Pete took a deep breath and glanced down at his notes. "So," he said after a brief pause during which he took a moment to collect himself. "We've taken the liberty of creating an identity for you already, David." He pulled out a driver's license, a passport, car registration, and a Social Security card and passed them across the table to David.

David picked up the driver's license and looked at it. His own face, with a stranger's name. It was uncomfortably reminiscent of the folder full of Luo's victims. Knowing Luo himself had worked here, had known these people, made the comparison even sharper. He reached out with his free hand and found Riley's, drawing strength from the contact.

She rubbed her shoulder against his, gave his hand a gentle squeeze and then turned that level predator's gaze on Pete. "And where's mine?" she asked.

The MVA agents, including Jill, exchanged looks before Pete answered carefully, "We didn't develop a package for you, Mrs Lo. Your face is far too well known on your world. You run the risk of blowing David's cover if you're spotted."

Riley's eyes narrowed a touch and her grip on David's hand might have grown a touch too tight. Like the bones of his hand were grinding together too tight. "And what will I be doing while David is out having fun?"

'Fun' wasn't exactly the way he'd describe what they were talking about having him do. The blood being forced from his hand wasn't all that fun, either, but he was too busy glowering at Pete to complain about it. "You're not suggesting she stays here while I go in alone." It wasn't really a question.

"No, no. She'll go with you but she'll have to lie low. Once you make contact with the subject and establish enough trust with him that he's willing to come back to Rhy'Din with you, Riley will be available to help with the apprehension."

"Lie low," he repeated. "Meaning hide in a room somewhere, so there's no chance of someone accidentally recognizing her." He looked over and caught Riley's eyes, then glanced down at the hand she was trying to make peanut butter out of.

She grimaced and let go of him immediately. "Sorry," she muttered and then turned back to the deputy director. With a heavy sigh, she capitulated to the plan. Though it chafed and she hated it, she saw the wisdom in it. "When do you want us to be ready? We have commitments to take care of before we can take off."

"Especially if we're going to be gone for an extended time," he added. They'd have to make arrangements for others to teach classes, make sure the hotel wouldn't fall apart in their absence, get someone to feed Finn...

"We can give you an additional three days to make these arrangements," Pete said. "But we'll need you to report back here Monday morning at eight o'clock so we can jump you there."

"Three whole days," he muttered. "Generous of you." Well, it was what it was. They'd made the choice to help, now they had to live with it. "All right," he said. "Give me the details on your plan."

For the next hour, Pete and Jill explained the plan and Riley and David poked holes in it. By the time the noon hour rolled around, they'd worked together to perfect the plan and had come up with what both sides pronounced bulletproof. During that time, they'd also managed to develop a passable working relationship with Pete and the other MVA agents. It couldn't be called cordial, by any stretch of the word, but they were all working towards the same goal, at least.

Confident that he had the details down fairly well, David leaned back and said, "All right, we've got plan we're all okay with. Is there anything else you need from us, or can we start making arrangements to be gone for a while?"

"No, you can go take care of what needs to be done," Pete said. "We'll contact you if we need to. If not, then please be here by eight 'o clock Monday morning." He rose from his seat and extended his hand to David.

The tiny pause before he reached out and shook Pete's hand was so brief that only someone who knew him very well would have noticed it. Of course, there were two such people in the room. "Monday, then."

Damascus was tense. Upwards of 11,000 people had been killed in the country since the Arab Spring had begun in 2011, including some 400-800 children, some as young as two. Government troops in armoured personnel carriers and tanks lined the streets of the world's oldest city, carrying Kalishnakov rifles and Soviet-made gas masks. A strict curfew was in place and anyone caught out after dark without a pass from the government was immediately detained, and if the rumours were true, executed soon after.

It was into this atmosphere that Riley and David were dropped with nothing more to protect them than their Sig Sauers and their wits. Well, and Jaguar, too. They immediately sought shelter in the MVA's safehouse, a ramshackle garden flat in the neighbourhood of Abu Rummaneh. While Riley began gathering intelligence, using TV, radio, and the limited internet, David prepared for his meeting with Muhammad, the man who would eventually introduce him to Makepeace.

He had to assume that the man would speak English?David certainly didn't speak any Arabic. It was going to be a short trip, otherwise. Being dropped into a country in the midst of a violent civil war was bad enough; not having a contact he could communicate with would be grounds for aborting the mission immediately. "You know," he said to Riley, "I've only been outside the US a few times so far, and I gotta say, I'm not terribly impressed by this place so far."

Riley chuckled, her attention on the screen of the laptop in front of her. "Hey, where did what's his name say you were gonna meet? Al-Midan?" She glanced up at David and jerked her chin towards a bulge at the small of his back. "Your gun's showing."

"Sounds about right," he said distractedly as he tugged on his shirt and shifted the gun around until it was completely concealed?assuming someone didn't put a hand on the small of his back.

"There was a huge bombing there in January. Killed 26 people. The anti-government people say it was staged." Riley made a sad face. "I wish he'd picked somewhere safer," she said in a quiet voice.

"If they're right about Makepeace's plans, he probably started this sh*t for the fun of it." Then he shook his head slightly. "Maybe it's more dangerous, but with everything going on here, it might make it a lot easier to get in and out without being noticed."

She nodded and looked at the clock. "Better get going." She rose from her spot on the bed and went to him. Wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders, she just held him, her nose pressed into the junction of his shoulder and neck, inhaling his scent.

He pressed his cheek against the side of her head and stroked her long, dark hair. "I'll be okay," he murmured. "A few guns and rebels can't keep me from coming back to you."

"But what about a bomb?" she asked, her voice soft and weighed down with barely contained terror.

"Don't worry," he said softly, turning to press a kiss against her cheek. "If I hear anything explode, I'll take cover. I'm very fast, you know." He pulled back enough to cup her face in his hands, lifting it so he could look into her eyes. "I'm not going to die on you."

"Promise," she said, meeting his eyes forcefully, her gaze intense.

"Cross my heart," he said, doing just that. Then he smiled gently. "You're stuck with me, babe. I'll tear down this whole damn city before I let them get between us."

She smiled and hugged him fiercely again before letting him go. "I'll just, you know, sit here and pretend I'm happy to be doing research." She tried not to sound too disappointed or petulant over being forced to sit this adventure out.

"Believe me, I'd rather you were coming, too." He leaned in and kissed her, hard and intense. Then he turned and went to the door, pausing briefly to mentally ready himself before stepping out.

Riley jolted off the bed the instant she heard David slot his key in the door and threw herself at him nanoseconds after he entered the suite. She sniffed his neck, ran her hands over his back and arms, stared into his eyes?all to make sure that he was safe and in one piece.

"Oof," he said when a hundred and twenty-five pounds of anxious?but very sexy---woman landed in his arms. "Everything went perfectly," he said reassuringly, leaning his forehead against hers. "I've got an eight o'clock date." He pulled out the card Muhammad had given to him and showed it to her.

She unwound from his body, took the card and examined it. "What's all this then?" she asked, sounding a bit like Danny in the process. She pointed to the random letters and numbers that ran around the edge of the card on both sides. The characters were stylised and looked like a decorative border, but the Cat had sharp eyes.

He frowned slightly, examining the edges of the card. It'd just seemed like fancy filigree to him, but now that she'd called attention to it, he could see what looked like it could be some kind of code. "It looks like a hidden message," he said.

"Huh. We didn't get a cypher or anything in that crap they gave us before they stuck us here, did we?" She went and sat down on the edge of the bed with it and dug in her suitcase for her make-up bag. Finally finding a magnifying glass, she examined the card in greater detail with it.

"Not that I remember seeing," he answered, shaking his head. "You'd think that would be a priority." He sat down next to her, craning his neck to look over her shoulder through the magnifying glass.

She grumbled wordlessly and handed the card and the glass to David. "Well, either this guy is over-fond of the letter E or that's a code."

"Well. E is pretty common, after all." He peered through the glass. "But this is one hell of a long word, or he didn't use spaces. Or one of those letters or numbers is actually a space."

"Well, let's assume it's a run-of-the-mill substitution cypher," Riley said and opened Notepad on her laptop. "Read the letters for me? Let's start in the upper right corner and go clockwise first."

"All right," he answered, reading off the letters slowly so she could write them down. "G w 1 y l l 5 m e c m e q 5 n w b c h a e m 5 z y e q 2 l x e c m e w 5 n b y x l 5 f."

She took a deep breath and started substituting letters. "There's only five vowels, right?"

"Yeah, unless you count Y."

She exhaled a soft snort. "I don't. It can't straddle the fence like that. It's a damned consonant." She began substituting the numbers for vowels, placing A in for 1, E for 2, and so on. "Think the Es could be spaces?" she asked.

He looked at the code again. "The Es are in a good place to be spaces. So are the Ms."

She started another line, substituting the Es with spaces in the first and the Ms in the second. She pursed her lips in thought and then tapped the screen of the computer. "I think the Es work better as spaces. See? These two little words? ?Is? or ?to? or ?at?. Something like that."

He nodded, following her logic so far. "Okay, so let's assume the Es are the spaces. Now what?"

Spent and limp, she released him an hour later, eyes closed, floating on a cloud of pure white light. "I love you," she whispered softly, the scent of his love, his seed, his pheromones filling her head.

He kissed her gently, his body relaxing as waves of pleasant warmth rolled through. "I love you," he whispered against her lips. "More than anything."

She opened her eyes and smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "Stay here with me until you have to get ready for this party? Let's not leave this bed until then." He kissed her again, then rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. It was an eloquent answer, despite the lack of words to it. She settled down, her head pillowed on his chest, one hand curled in his hair, the other stroking up and down his arm. "I wish you didn't have to go alone."

"Me, too, love. Me, too." He understood the necessity for it?and knew she did, too?but that didn't mean they had to like it.

"Will you bring your gun?" That, at least, would provide some protection should he need it, and to her, it was better than nothing.

He nodded. "If these people are really a bunch of arms dealers, I doubt any of them will be unarmed. I'd probably look suspicious if I didn't bring it."

She chuckled softly. "Have you ever done this before? Gone undercover?"

He nodded. "A couple of times. I'm Chinese, and I speak Mandarin, so it made me pretty useful in Chinatown."

"It went okay? No one made you?"

He shook his head. "I got made once, by someone I grew up with." It was obvious from the twist of his mouth that it had been a bad time.

"Oh, no." It wasn?t exactly the sort of thing an anxious wife needed to hear. "And he knew you were a cop? Or just knew you weren't whatever your cover identity was?"

"The latter. He knew my real name. We hadn't spoken since before I became a cop, but once he realized he knew me, it wasn't hard for him and his buddies to guess why I was there."

"What happened? Do you blow the op?"

"Halfway. We didn't get their boss, but we ended up arresting more than half his gang, which shut him down for long enough to go after him again."

She smiled softly. "Good. Well, at least you don't have to worry about anyone knowing you here. It's not your world." She paused for a moment then. "Wonder what the you that was on this world was like."

"I wonder, too. This is your world...would the me who was here have felt like I do about you? I bet the MVA could tell us plenty about that me," he added, not without a touch of bitterness.

"We should ask when we get home. I'm curious. I hope he followed in your footsteps and not in Luo's."

He nodded. "Yeah. We know at least one of me turned to the Dark Side." He meant Lao, the Triad Red Pole he'd been mistaken for on their trip to Japan. "I wonder how many others did."

"Maybe only two. Maybe the rest of them were cops or doctors or teachers." She paused for a second. "I'm curious about the other Rileys, too. I wonder about their lives, if they're...like me," she finished in a quiet voice.

"I wonder if they'd tell us that."

"When we bring this guy in, they'll owe us. I figure we ask for carte blanche and see what they're willing to trade." She smiled and yawned a bit. "Gonna take a nap now. You are not allowed to leave this bed while I'm asleep. So pee now if you've gotta."

He snorted and set her gently beside him, then swung his legs out of bed and stood, going into the bathroom briefly. The toilet flush sounded a moment later, and he came back out to rejoin her.

She reached for him, drew herself up along his side and snuggled against his body. "Wake me for dinner." Of course. It was all about food for the Cat. Well, food and sex, of course.

There was a line of police in riot gear in front of the French embassy when David pulled up. Land Cruisers with heavy bullet proof glass and reporters with flak jackets and helmets vied for prime sidewalk real estate across the street. Before allowing David entrance, his credentials and passport were checked and he was subjected to a cursory pat-down as well. The Sig wasn't found. The lackluster nature of the search did not do much to reassure him about the Embassy's security. Didn't these people realize how much damage one man could do, if he were carrying, say, a couple of pounds of Semtex secreted about his person? Bureaucracy was the same everywhere, though, he mused. Better to let people get blown up than inconvenience the VIPs.

Once he'd gained entrance to the embassy's second floor ballroom, however, he was searched again, this time much more thoroughly. The Sig was removed and he received a ticket in exchange. Then he was allowed entrance into the party, which was peopled mostly by middle-aged men with women young enough to be their daughters, wearing enough diamonds to buy Switzerland. A glass of champagne was pressed into David's hand by a waitress with familiar red hair piled on top of her head.

Outwardly, his face didn't change at all when he recognized Jill in the waitress' uniform, but inside, he felt a tiny touch of relief. She wasn't Riley, not by a long shot, but at least he wasn't completely alone. He glanced down at the champagne and the napkin that had accompanied the glass. Scribbled on the napkin were the words 'too blue eyes salt and pepper hair limp'. Jill had apparently described Makepeace for David. He stuffed the napkin in his pocket quickly and began scanning the crown for a man who fit the description scrawled on it, walking towards the buffet table with a relaxed, casual stride.

Near the buffet table stood David's contact, Muhammad, who was casually chatting with a man who perfectly fit the description on David's drink napkin, right down to the silver-headed cane in his left hand. Muhammad had some balls, David had to give him that. He walked behind the man who was almost assuredly Makepeace, looking over the spread of hors d'oeuvres, surreptitiously checking Makepeace out for noticeable weapons or guards. There were no visible bulges in the lines of the man's suit, or giant no-necked men lurking about him, so chances were that he wasn't carrying or guarded.

Muhammad nodded to David and said, "Ah, Mr. Tsao. How nice to see you this evening. How are you?"

"Very good, thank you," he replied in his father's thick accent. "And yourself?" He picked up the nearest appetizer without really paying attention to what it was, just to avoid looking suspicious standing there at the buffet table without eating.

"Very well, thank you. Let me introduce you to Neil Rammage," he nodded to his companion. "Neil, this is Mr. Wo-Yuen Tsao, of Shanghai."

"Pleased to meet you," he said, wondering if Makepeace or Rammage was the false name. Neil Rammage had the ring of truth to his trained ear. It didn't seem like the kind of name a person would make up. Well, why wouldn't he use it? He wasn't from this universe?no one would know who he was. He looked into Makepeace's laser-bright eyes, and bowed.

Rammage, or Makepeace, bowed back, a precise gesture that belied practice and more than passing knowledge with the intricacies of Chinese culture. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Tsao. Our friend here has been singing your praises."

"He is too kind. I am just a businessman, like any other." He wondered if he could just knock the guy out and take off with him, right now. No one here could possibly be prepared for his speed and strength. He could probably make it past the checkpoints before anyone could react.

One corner of Rammage's mouth curled up in a little knowing grin. "He tells me that you have access to some very...unique...pieces. Quite...out of this world, even?"

How to play it? Deny in such a way as to confirm? Or just outright agree? "I have...good luck in finding things others cannot," he said. That should pique Makepeace's interest a bit.

"Perhaps you and I could come to a mutually beneficial agreement, then. I have certain customers whose tastes run to the exotic and unique and I'm told by our friend here," he nodded to Muhammad, "that you have some pieces that you need to off-load quickly."

David gave a short bow again. "My time here is very short, yes. This country is becoming very dangerous."

The man's hand dipped into a pocket and he produced a card. He handed it to David and said, "Phone me tomorrow afternoon and we'll make arrangements." Then he bowed deeply to both David and Muhammad. "Enjoy the rest of the party, gentlemen."

"Thank you," he said, accepting the card with both hands and bowing over it. He watched as Makepeace walked away, noting the man's limp. He wouldn't be able to run very quickly or for very long with that leg.

Muhammad raised his brows in David's direction. "Did you get what you need, Mr. Tsao?" A loaded statement if ever there was one.

"I think so, yes." Muhammad got a bow, too. Then he took a bite of his appetizer. Caviar, apparently. Not his favorite, but appearances had to be maintained. He nodded approvingly and finished it off.

"Wonderful. Well, I'll leave you to it then. Enjoy your night." The Iranian bowed and then disappeared into the crowd, leaving David alone at the buffet.

For the next week, David and Riley kept as low a profile as they could manage without driving themselves insane. They only left the hotel once a day for a meal and some room to stretch their legs. With them wearing local clothing?including a hijab for Riley?it was a fairly safe bet that no one would look twice at them.

Each night, as Riley peeled off the hijab, she found herself awed by the women who willingly wore the garments. She no longer was of the opinion that they were a way for men to subjugate women and keep iron-fisted control over them. They were freeing in a way. She no longer compared herself to other women, not physically anyway. Now she found herself more interested in their minds and their spirits. She hesitantly shared this with David one night as they were readying for bed.

"I never thought of it like that," he said. "I guess it's sort of like the rationale behind school uniforms. If all the kids have to wear the same thing, no one worries about what they're wearing."

Riley nodded. "Exactly. Mind you, I don't think I could wear one all the time, but I do have a new respect for the women who do." Dressed in one of David's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers, she headed out of the bath and hopped into bed, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. She had the laptop perched atop a pillow on her lap and began surfing through BBC's world news site. "Huh," she said. "Kofi Annan is coming to Damascus. Bet that'll f*ck up traffic."

"Who'd notice in this place?" he asked, flopping onto the bed next to her. "I swear, driving's a contact sport here." He rolled onto his side so he could see the laptop screen. "I wonder if it'll do any good."

"Maybe. Though the sooner we get Makepeace out, the better. Without him egging both sides on, I'm sure they'll be more willing to negotiate and end this peacefully." She sighed unhappily and then went to the Boston Globe's news site, looking over headlines in her hometown.

"Yeah, probably." He sat up, leaning his head on her shoulder. "What's happening in Boston?" He knew she missed her hometown badly, especially now that they were on Earth.

"The Sox are losing to the Yankees," she commented in a disgusted voice. "Lelah will never..." She broke off and shook her head. "Never mind. Oh, look. Representative Frank got marrried."

He didn't comment on her mention of Lelah?that was a subject they were both studiously avoiding by this point. They'd talked about it at length, and decided that it was for the best, even if it hurt at the time. "Representative Frank," he repeated. "The gay one?"

"Yeah," she showed David the laptop's screen; there was a photo of Frank and his new husband dressed in matching tuxes. "That's sweet and awesome."

"Yeah. It's about f*cking time people stopped worrying so much about who everyone else is f*cking." A little crude, maybe, but it got his point across.

She chuckled and set aside the laptop, snuggling down next to him. "I only care who you're f*cking. And maybe Danny, too."

"Well. I don't know about Dan, but you shouldn't have much trouble figuring out who I'm f*cking." He grinned, wrapping his arms around her.

"Don't you have to get up early and go play with lasers in the morning?" she asked as she covered his face with gentle little kisses. "Maybe shoot some apples off a boy's head with an arrow or something?"

"Something like that," he murmured, running his fingers through her dark hair and breathing in the scent of her. It was kind of funny how living with her had made him so much more aware of smells.

"You should sleep then," she whispered back, leaving a trail of kisses down the side of his neck. "Wouldn't want you to shoot something important off." Her hand crept south and squeezed something important.

He tipped his head back, a soft sigh escaping his throat even as one corner of his mouth curled up. "I'm a little tense," he said quietly. "Someone's going to have to help me relax before I can sleep..."

"Hmmm," she said thoughtfully as she moved even farther down his body, kissing out over his shoulders before travelling across his chest. "I wonder who we could find to do that."

"Well, there's this gorgeous brunette, with the sexiest legs I've ever seen in my life..." His muscles shuddered at the touch of her heated lips. "I think she could manage."

She laughed and slid atop him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and slowly, torturously lowered her body onto his. "Yeah, I think she can manage, too."

He reached up and took her face in his hands, pulling her mouth onto his. "I love you," he whispered against her lips. Then he kissed her some more.

"I love you, David. Now shut up and let me show you just exactly how much."

After securely tying up and stashing the three unconscious gun-runners in a nearby storeroom, David and Muhammad loaded the high-tech weapons into a truck while Mike stood watch. After a short discussion, Muhammad agreed that David and Riley's hotel would be the best place for them to hold onto the guns until the meet with Makepeace. With all the chaos in the streets, no one paid much attention to the truck as it rumbled back to the hotel. Likewise, the few people in sight when David unloaded the crate had other things to worry about.

Under different, less civil war-like actions, Riley would have been begging David to take the guns out to a range so she could play with them. As it was, however, she settled for merely looking at them and trying to figure out what all the different buttons and settings were for. "I kinda wish I'd watched more Star Trek Wars when I was younger," she remarked idly.

"You know, there's people who'd lynch you for confusing the two," he pointed out, smirking. "These things are pretty cool looking, aren't they? I wonder if they're as badass as they look."

She rolled her eyes pointedly. "Yes, well, while you and your fellow Trekkies or whatever were huddled together on Friday nights in your mother's basement watching Kirk get it on with Leia, I was... Well, I was in the studio dancing or the law library reading."

He snorted softly. "Hey, Friday nights were gaming nights. No sitting in front of TVs." Then he made a face. "Also, thanks so much for that mental image of Kirk and Leia together."

She carefully set the gun back in its case and gave David a confused look. "Isn't that what happened? And they found out that Spock was really their dad and then Han killed Kirk for making out with his wife?"

"You need to write this sh*t down," he said, laughing. "That would be some epic fanfic."

She gave him a very confused look and then shook her head. "Whatever. So what's the deal for tomorrow? You and Mo talk out a plan?"

"I don't get how you can love Dr. Who and Firefly and all those other shows we watch, and still have no idea..." He broke off and shook his head. "Never mind. Yeah, we have a plan in mind."

She grinned wickedly at him and chuckled. Of course she knew the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars. "What will I be doing in this plan of yours?"

"Jerk," he said affectionately. "You, Muhammad, and Jill will take up positions outside of the warehouse Makepeace chose for the meet." He dug into the crate and pulled out a small package, tossing it to her. Inside was a pair of tiny plastic oblongs, and two devices that looked like hi-tech cell phones. "The little things are earbuds?they go deep in your ear canal, almost impossible to spot. These are the quantum tunnelers." He pointed to cell phones. "These are our ticket home."

She pocketed the earbuds but gave the tunneler a closer inspection. "So this is responsible for bringing you to me?" she said in a quiet voice.

His brows went up a bit as he realized that she was absolutely correct. If Luo hadn't been carrying one, and he hadn't kicked it off the bastard's waist, he would never have ended up in RhyDin. Never met Riley. It was funny: He'd been so upset at what the MVA had done to their lives, but if it weren't for them and their tech...he wouldn't have this life, and this incredible, perfect woman. Hell, he owed them. "Yeah," he said softly. "It is."

She nodded, her eyes still on the machine. "And without it, Luo wouldn't have...done what he did? To you? To all the other yous?" Her voice had dropped now to a level barely above a whisper.

Of course, there was that side of it, too. He sighed softly, and shook his head. "No."

"I want to smash it." Though still soft, her voice now carried with a steely thread of pure rage, white-hot and barely controlled. "I want to smash it and all the others. I want to Shift and rampage through their facilities. I want to destroy them. I want to bring them down and ruin them."

Riley, dressed in the newest style for urban commandos in black cargo pants, Doc Martens, a tactical vest over a black t-shirt that bore a line from Firefly, and a pair of very dark aviator sunglasses, sat in the back of a small Toyota van as Muhammad and Jill navigated the twisting, narrow, rubble-strewn streets of the greater Damascus area. Being forced to sit in an enclosed area with the woman who had tried to seduce her husband made Riley want to chew someone's arm off?probably Jill's?but she was enduring.

She checked her Sig for the fiftieth time, racking the chamber open to check that there was indeed a round loaded there, pulling out the mag to count the bullets before slamming it into the pistol's butt once more. At this point she was doing it more to annoy Jill than out of any real desire to make sure the weapon was fully loaded. Every time she pulled the mag out or opened the chamber, the line of the redhead's shoulders tensed and little crows' feet developed around her eyes. Riley knew she was being churlish and petty but it was almost as if she couldn't help herself. "You two are really okay with me going off on my own once we're there?" she asked, switching her attention to Mo now, watching the back of the Iranian man's head as he carefully drove around a burned-out vehicle not dissimilar to the one they were currently riding in.

Mo glanced over his shoulder briefly at Riley, then gave a little shrug. "I am not so sure it is a wise idea, but I was told in no uncertain terms not to try and hold you back."

That gave her pause. "Oh, yeah? By whom?" She darted a look aside at Jill, wondering if anyone had told Mo about Jaguar and if that was the reason he'd been advised to let the Cat run rampant if she decided.

He shrugged again. "My boss."

"He tell you why?" There was a little challenge in Riley's voice, a little bit of I know something you don't know playground justice.

Mo shot her another quick look, perhaps in response to that challenging tone of voice. "He said you have an unusual skillset, and I should allow you to utilize it."

She snorted and sat back. "Unusual skillset, huh?" That phrase brought a little smirk to her lips and she shook her head. "You government types with your euphemisms. Why bother? A person is dead regardless of whether he was killed or if he was taken out of play."

"The public doesn't like to hear about wars, Riley," Jill said in her soft, monotone voice. "They'd rather hear about pieces being taken out of play or reducing enemy combatants."

"That's utter bullsh*t," Riley said, her own voice tired. Riley was just arguing for arguing's sake. The sad fact was that Jill was spot on and Riley knew it. The public had no stomach for the consequences of war, despite its apparent appetite for it. The Cat sighed unhappily and sat quiet and broody for the rest of the drive out to the meeting site, her eyes on the broken scenery that passed by out her window.

Ten minutes later, Mo pulled into a half-demolished parking garage. The only other cars in sight were burned out wrecks, but he parked between two of them like they were going to the mall for a shopping trip. "The meet location is two blocks east," he said.

"Groovy," Riley said and hopped out of the vehicle. She looked around, nostrils working overtime as she swept the immediate area with every sense strained to the max. "I'll be around," she said before taking off in a south-easterly direction, quickly leaving Mo and Jill standing in her wake. As she jogged quietly through the ruins, using larger pieces of rubble as cover, she adjusted the fit of the throat mic and subvocalised, "Shield 3 to Shield 1. Do you copy?" She felt slightly ridiculous for a moment, like she was playing one of David's video games.

"Shield 1 copies, 3," came Mo?s immediate reply. "Go ahead."

"Just checkin'. Dagger in view yet?" She jandered around the side of what was probably a Laundromat at one point but was now just a windowless, doorless concrete box. She could smell at least seven people in the area, seven people who were not David, Jill, or Muhammad. Seven people with elevated levels of adrenaline. "The Big Bad's here," she added. "I count at least seven."

"Negative on Dagger, 3. Please confirm, seven hostiles?" Mo's voice sounded surprised?he clearly hadn't expected Riley to find Makepeace's men that quickly.

"At least. I'm gonna go closer. Shield 3, out." She moved around the edge of the building, duck-walking quickly to the next spot of cover, thankful that the angle of the sun made for deep shadows.

"Mr Tsao," said Makepeace once David had entered the warehouse. "So nice to see you again. Thank you for understanding about the search. Gotta keep myself safe. Have a seat and let's get down to business." He extended his hand across a small, worn tabletop to an equally worn hard-back chair. In addition to the two men who'd searched him, Makepeace had two other guards who were lurking behind him a few paces.

"Thank you," David said in his Tsao accent. He sat down in the chair Makepeace indicated, setting the briefcase directly in front of him, where it would call to Makepeace's attention.

"And this is the merchandise in question?" He nodded to the briefcase. "May we see it? Perhaps request a demonstration?"

"Certainly," he replied, reaching out to click open the briefcase. He swung the top over, revealing the futuristic guns. "As you can see," he continued. "My merchandise is not like any other you can find."

"May I?" Makepeace asked, his hand hovering over one of the weapons.

"Of course." He smiled pleasantly, though the expression masking a mild tension, a readiness to dodge or dive, should Makepeace decide to point one of the guns his way.

The man reached down and hefted a gun, surprised at its slight weight. "What's it made of?" He turned it this way and that, studied the settings, pointed it at an unoccupied area of the warehouse and sighted down the barrel and then carefully replaced it in the case.

"Nanoscaled aluminum alloy. Strong as steel, with a fraction of the weight." He was proud of his ability to remember that detail, and let the pride show in his voice, knowing Makepeace would take it as pride in the material.

Makepeace's shaggy silvery brows shot up in impressed surprise. "Wonderful, wonderful. I believe a demonstration is in order, don't you? "

He smiled widely, nodding. They'd taken a little time to fire the weapons so he could talk about them with some kind of authority, and they looked as impressive as hell when fired. "You will like this," he said. "Where to demonstrate?"

"We set up a little shooting alley here in the back." He nodded to one of the two bodyguards standing behind him. The man stepped forward and carefully took one of the guns out of the case and carried it towards the back of the cavernous space. Makepeace himself climbed unsteadily to his feet, and relying heavily on his cane, began moving in the same direction.

He followed Makepeace at a discreet distance?far enough not to antagonize his bodyguards, but close enough to see and hear what he was doing. His earbuds remained silent; whatever was happening outside, it wasn't worth comment from any of his companions. Makepeace's man fiddled with the settings on the side of the gun then lined up the barrel with a target a medium distance away. He pulled the trigger and the gun emitted a flash of light accompanied by a high-pitched electrical whine. The target disappeared, leaving behind only a smoking pile of ash.

"Very nice, isn't it?" He grinned. "That was kill setting." He pointed to a selector switch on the side of the gun. "If you turn it down, your target will be rendered unconscious instead of dead."

Makepeace nodded and his man with the gun flipped the switch that David had just identified. Then he turned and fired suddenly on the second of Makepeace's bodyguards, who reacted just as if he'd been Tasered before collapsing into a heap on the dusty concrete floor. Makepeace applauded. "Well done, well done. How many can you give me?" He stretched his hand out towards the table and began moving towards it again. His remaining upright bodyguard returned the gun to the case and then took up his hovering position right behind his boss as the old man took his seat.

Three things happened nearly simultaneously as David was moving towards the table once more. In his ear, his wife's voice sang out, "Sh*t! Jill's down!" A high-powered rifle shot cracked loudly. And Makepeace's face went utterly white.

Oh f*ck. They were hosed. He had to get Makepeace now. Before the guy could jump out. Even though all of his instincts were screaming at him to hit the deck, he launched himself forwards instead. His trajectory was flat and arrow-straight, impossibly fast for anyone who didn't know of his abilities. He was on top of Makepeace literally before the man's eyes could even widen, slamming him backwards into the bodyguard hovering behind him.

Forgetting all about staying in cover, forgetting everything they'd drilled into her head about staying out of sight, Riley leapt to her feet and began racing towards the warehouse. David's safety was paramount in her mind. Keeping her husband, her life, her very soul, safe was what drove her legs at top speed. She was distantly aware of the sound of bullets being fired at her; they sounded like bees buzzing around her head and when one struck her high in the left shoulder, it felt a little like being stung. But she did not stop running. Not even when Mo started shouting at her in Arabic. Not even when another bullet took her in the right calf, spinning her about and dropping her to one knee. David was alone. And he needed her.

There was a large pile of broken crates and pallets at one end of the room, off to one side of where Makepeace had set up his shooting range. It would have to do. David reached down and grabbed the bodyguard's pistol, sliding it into his empty holster. He had no idea where the guys who'd taken his own gun were. Then he grabbed the suitcase with the other two future guns in it and headed for the pile of wood.

"Affirmative," came Mo's reply after a short pause. He, too, sounded winded. "Two more bogies down. At least four remaining, not including the target."

Good. Riley and Mo were handling things out there. It was a shame about Jill. He wasn't very happy with the things she'd done, but he understood her motivations. She certainly didn't deserve to be killed, regardless. Again, his thoughts were cut short by the appearance of a half dozen armed men, who spread out and were advancing towards his meager hiding spot.

Nothing in David's ear by the sounds of breathing. Then Riley's voice saying very softly, "Boo," followed by a blood-curdling scream that was cut off suddenly. "One more bogie down, 1. There should be only three left, right? In the warehouse with Dagger?"

David fought the urge to snicker out loud at Riley's 'Boo' as Mo answered her. "Negative, 3. Six more hostiles just entered the warehouse floor. All armed."

"The hell did they come from?" came Riley's response. "F*ck it, 1. I'm going in there."

One of the approaching men shouted, pointing at the motionless forms of the two bodyguards. They all raised their weapons and began to sweep through the warehouse. "Two minutes to Jump, 3. You won't be able to get in there fast enough." Mo sounded resigned, as if he already knew Riley wasn't going to listen. Riley's only response was a soft snort and then shallow, quick breathing, like that of a sprinter running around a track. David shook his head. He could've told Mo that Riley wouldn't heed that advice. Knowing that she was coming was reassuring, though. He was pretty sure he could handle these guys alone, but it was always nice to know someone had your back. Or would have it shortly.

One of the men was getting too close to his pile of wood. He couldn't afford to wait any longer. He leaned out from his cover, keeping as much of his body behind it as possible and fired at the approaching hostile, catching him in the chest and knocking him over backwards. David didn't know if he had a vest on or not, but he was down for the moment, and that was what counted. Before the body hit the ground, he'd shifted aim and fired at the next guy. Headshot. That one was out for sure. The other four were turning to face him, guns out, but they were so slow. Like they were swimming through molasses.

"Sh*t," came Riley's voice. "That's from inside the warehouse, Mo!" She'd clearly abandoned any pretense at being a proper soldier.

"One minute, thirty seconds to Jump," Mo said in response. "Moving in. Remember, the next window isn't for over eight hours."

"F*ck the window," Riley growled. "I need to make sure my f*cking husband is safe."

God, he loved her. He wished her could tell her to get to the window, though. If she got stuck here by herself, it would drive him nuts. He shot another man, then dropped flat behind the pile of wood as the remaining men finally opened fire. Bullet snapped, crackled, and yes, even popped, through the rubble. Some were deflected, but enough cut right through to worry him. A loud slam from the opposite end of the room as Riley crashed into the warehouse. Screams were mixed with gunfire and the growling-rumbling-roar of a very pissed off Alpha Lycanthrope in Her War Form.

He stuck his head cautiously out from cover and saw that two of the three men were down already, practically torn apart. The last was running for his life out the door, with Riley's hulking War Form hot on his heels. A second later, Mo's very shocked voice shouted what could only be obscenities in Arabic, then there was a crackle and the earbud went dead with a high-pitched squeal. David ripped it out of his ear and threw it across the warehouse floor. Sh*t. Mo was either dead or had jumped out. He couldn't hear Riley anymore, either.

He grabbed Makepeace and sprinted for the door, kicking it into splinters without breaking stride. A blindingly bright column of light was shooting skyward. It disappeared a fraction of a second before he reached it. "F*ck!" He screamed at the sky before pulling out his tunneler and looking at the impersonal countdown on it. Eight hours and twenty-three minutes until next window. He was stuck, alone.

David shrugged. "I have no idea. Probably some kind of trial." There was a microwave on the counter, so he poured some chili into one bowl and some green beans into another, and stuck them both in.

"I have money."

"Me, too."

"Billions of dollars. All at my personal disposal."

"It won't do you any good where you're going, I'd imagine." The microwave beeped. He pulled out his food and dug in, watching Makepeace.

"Whatever you want, it's yours. Just let me go. Tell them I died in the fire fight."

"What I want is for you to stop trying to destroy my wife's Earth, and you'll forgive for not believing you'll stop because I asked nicely."

"I'm not destroying your wife's Earth. Or any Earth for that matter. These wars would happen with or without my help."

"You're making it a hundred times worse with your technology." He set the bowls down and stared hard at Makepeace. "You've got money, and you're obviously smart. Why would you do this...evil?"

Makepeace snorted derisively. "Are you really that naive? There's no such thing as good and evil. There's the weak and there's the powerful. You and I, my friend, are the powerful. It's our right... No, it's our duty to keep the weak in line."

"The duty of the powerful is to help the weak, not kill them."

"Oh, I see. You're one of those types of people. The bleeding hearts." The man clucked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "My daughter is like that. What a great big disappointment she is, I'll tell you."

"Yeah? I bet she thinks the same thing of you. Does she know her daddy is a megalomaniacal murderer?"

"I have never taken anyone's life," he barked out, eyes blazing with self-righteous anger. "I am not a murderer."

"You're so full of it your eyes should be brown. You think selling guns instead of firing them makes your hands clean?" He scoffed. "Who's naive now?"

"Lives are lost in war, son. Does that make generals murderers? Presidents? The common soldier?"

"You're not fighting a war. You just start them and sit back to watch the killing."

"They would have started with or without my intervention." He set his jaw stubbornly and looked away from David, not saying anything further. That was perfectly all right with David. Much more and he might have given in to the urge to put out Makepeace's lights. He finished off his food and went to the living room, reaching out to casually drag Makepeace's chair along with him. He turned on the television, looking for a news program. He wondered if Riley was okay. She had to be back home already. This his mouth twisted in a little smirk. He probably ought to be wondering the MVA was okay. When she realized he wasn't there with her, she was likely to tear the whole damn place down.

After an hour or so of uncomfortable silence, Makepeace asked softly, "What's it like? Where you're from?"

He glanced at Makepeace, a little surprised that the man had decided to speak to him again. He didn't answer right away, wondering if he should or not. In the end, he decided it couldn't hurt anything. "Like nothing you've ever seen. The Nexus of universes. Elves walking down the street with cyborgs. Dragons chatting with cowboys."

"I knew it!" The words were whispered passionately. "I knew there had to be a unifier, a collective. You understand?"

"Fine," he said as they walked to the room. "Hardly a scratch. Makepeace whacked me upside the head with his cane, but he's an old guy with a limp. Not exactly a worry." He grinned at her.

She chuckled softly, cleaving to his hand as they entered the room. Pete was there, as was Muhammad and others. They all had looks of sadness, of pain and loss. Some had even been weeping silently. Their expressions wiped the smile from his face as he remembered that Jill had been killed. "I'm sorry about Jill," he said to the group. He meant it.

Pete nodded and cleared his throat. "Did he say anything to you?" He meant Makepeace clearly.

"Lots. He kept trying to bribe me to let him go."

There was a round of snickers and one of the others asked, "How much was it this time?"

"He offered me five billion dollars when I started walking him out the door," David answered quietly.

"Five..." Riley's jaw dropped down to her chest. "Did you say billion-with-a-B?"

"Yeah. More money than my great-grandchildren could spend, he said."

Riley dropped into a seat, a stunned expression on her face. "Christ," she whispered. The rest of those at the table mirrored her expression.

"Yeah...it's a hell of a lot." He sat down next to her, his hand resting on her shoulder. He didn't want to stop touching her.

When the MVA people had gotten over their shock at the sheer amount of money Makepeace had offered David?and possibly a little awe that he hadn't taken it?Pete got down to business, asking David to recount the events from his point of view. He'd already heard Muhammad's and Riley's while they waited for David. That was typical bureaucracy?they just had to hear the same story three times. He went along with it, mostly because of Jill. Riley listened quietly, still clinging to David's hand and touching him periodically as though she couldn't quite believe that he was real.

After he finished his recital, Pete nodded and thanked him. There were a few questions from some of the other members of the group, but it was clear that, aside from the loss of Jill, everything had worked out just the way they'd hoped it would. David asked what would happen to Makepeace now, and was told he would be tried, and if found guilty?of which there seemed little doubt?he would be sentenced to life without possibility of parole at the Stygian Penal Colony in the Hades universe. It sounded like a very unpleasant place. Riley had visions of rivers and ferry boatmen and three-headed dogs when Pete told them about the Hades universe and their penal colony there.

Finally, when the briefing was over, she and David left, turning their backs on the MVA after extracting promises that all active surveillance of their lives had ceased, never to return, and leveling the threats that they would call in their markers at some point in the future. The MVA owed them Big Time.

As they were walking out of the MVA, David lifted the briefcase he'd been carrying the entire time. No one had thought to ask about it. "I've totally got the ray guns," he said to Riley, smirking.