When Viv got to the dojo around sunrise the next morning Richie was there already, talking to Mac and very upset. When Viv got a look at the state of his clothes she thought she could guess why.

“Bloody hell. What happened to you?” she asked him.

“I got shot to shit, all right? I don’t even know who by. Mortals, anyway. I woke up next to a dead kid with my wallet on him.” Rich replied.

“With the money in it? That is weird. Most times you get mugged they take something.” Viv observed.

“Oh, they took something all right.” Rich said and if she didn’t know better she would think he was trying not to cry.

Something else about his appearance finally clicked. “The amulet.” she stated. “Gods I’m sorry Rich. Did it mean a lot to you?”

“You could say that.” he said, sitting down heavily and avoiding looking at her.

“Rich... We’ll get it back. I’ll call the police.” Mac said.

“The police, oh great idea. Like they are going to find it.” Rich said sourly.

“Plus I imagine it would be a bit hard to explain. ‘Well, officer, I was just minding my own business when someone killed me and nicked this Egyptian antiquity I happened to be wearing because a mate gave it me’. Yeah, right. They’re bad enough when you try and explain you’re climbing the town Christmas tree cos someone chucked your purse up there.” Viv agreed, then thought this sounded rather unhelpful. She looked at Rich sitting there dejected and came to a decision. “Where did this happen then?” she asked, and when he told her she said “Tell you what, I might just be able to help.”

“You?” Mac asked.

She avoided looking at him. “Yeah, well... friends of friends, you know? No promises but... if anyone can dig anything up, friend of mine probably knows them.”

“And what are they doing knowing people that know about shootings?” Mac asked in his best judgmental voice.

“Can I use your phone?” Viv asked, and just looked at him steadily until he stepped aside and waved at the office. Viv went in, dumped the bag, and pulled out a battered filofax. “Not that I bought this for myself, I’m no yuppie, but it comes in handy sometimes...” she muttered absently to Mac whilst flipping through pages. He just stood there with his arms crossed, obviously with every intention of listening to whatever she would say on the phone. Viv tried to pay no attention to him. A bit difficult with that particular stare. She tried to get thoughts of quite how sharp his katana was out of her mind.

She found the page she wanted, picked up the phone then dialled.

“Hi, M? It’s Viv. Yeah, I know. Sorry. Okay, I’ll make it up to you.. no not that way. Anyway, listen. Friend of mine had a bit of a problem today.. got mugged. Yeah, a good friend. No, not yet anyway. We just want the amulet back. Yeah, what got nicked. Its this pendant thing, red, a circle on a bar. Ha ha, yeah funny.” sarcasm “No. It’s got an inscription, if you want that. Hieroglyphs.” sigh “Little pictures that mean something. Like from Egypt? Yeah, them. No? Didn’t think so. Yeah... There was some kid there when he woke up,.. shot dead. No, no ones talked to the police yet. I know. Yeah, it was at..” and gave the location. She listened a moment more, then said “Thanks hun, appreciate it. Tell me tonight? No, on second thoughts, might not be time.. Here, Mac, can I give this number? Yeah?” MacLeod nodded. She read it out. “Yup. I’ll be here.. all day I guess. No he’s... M, come off it. Tonight, okay? I’ll see you.” She hung up.

She looked up at MacLeod, who was still staring at her. She stared back.

“M?” he asked.

“They’ll get back to me.” She told him, refusing to volunteer anything else.

He glared a moment more, then shrugged and went back out to Richie.

Viv scribbled a note in her book, then put it away again, and went out to get warmed up for her morning workout.

MacLeod got out the practice swords, and Viv could tell it was going to be an uncomfortable morning. Richie refused to go home while there might be news, so he used Mac’s shower and borrowed some of his clothes.

A couple of hours later when the dojo was just opening Viv, her arms feeling like putty, called a halt.

“Mac, no more for today. Alright?”

“You told your friend you’d be here all day.” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’ve gotta get some sleep or I’ll be wasted for work tonight. Could I crash in the office?” she asked.

He considered for a moment. “No, but you can use the couch upstairs.”

“Yeah? Great.”

Up in Mac’s place Viv had a look around while Mac went to get out some blankets for her.

“So, this is where you live, huh? It’s a whole other side of you. Do you like antiques or did you just not buy anything new for a few hundred years?” She asked with a grin.

“Sometimes I sell antiques. I appreciate things that are well made.”

“Yeah, I got an appreciation for the well built myself.” Viv observed, watching him bend over to get out the blankets. He turned around and caught her at it. She just smirked. He was not amused. He threw the covers to her.

“Here. You can use the shower if you like. I’ll be downstairs. I’ll call you if your friend calls.”

Viv took the covers and thanked him, then got some stripy pyjamas and a towel out of her bag and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Later in the day she woke grabbing her sword as she felt someone coming, then relaxed as she realised it was Richie.

“Go back to sleep, I’m just getting some rest.” He said, and tumbled into Mac’s bed. Viv was more than happy to comply.