The Lady and her Shadow

When Lewis returns to her quarters, he sees her sitting staring at a sheaf of papers in her hand.

"You intend to let him live, don’t you? Let him go free with her? You have already made the decision. Regardless of the repercussions, regardless of the consequences to you."

"Yes, my Shadow. I have my reasons." With that, she passes the papers to him.

He recognizes the coding and knows what it means. His mouth goes dry as he reads it and knows what had been concealed from him for all these years. "How did you know? I never knew. I never would have hidden this from you." He trembles with anger that someone could have done this. "It was not necessary. It never should have been."

"You were a young chameleon with a great deal of promise. Chameleons work alone. They had to make sure that you had no distractions."

"I saw something in him when we met the other day. I had the tests run. The technician is dead. He is being disposed of. I destroyed all other copies of the data and the raw material. Shadow, if this does not work out…."

"I will make sure he survives. As long as I live, I will make sure he survives. He held a gun on me once, but didn’t shoot. I wonder if he knew something. Something that wouldn’t let him kill me."

She shook her head. "I don’t know. I don’t know how I knew that something was wrong. I don’t even know why I ordered the tests. But it seemed appropriate.

"What will you do?"

"The council members responsible are no longer there. That’s why this was able to come about. There are others who could be responsible. They will be ferreted out and disposed of. You hold in your hands the only copy of the information." She takes down her mirror and places it on her dressing table. He hands her the papers in his hand. She crumples them and places them on the mirror. A match lights a corner of it and he watches the flames lick away at his past, a past that he had never had and a future that could never be. "I will dispose of the ashes in acid tomorrow."

"Will you ever tell him?"

"No, this is not something he needs ever know. He must not be distracted from his job. His target was one of the ones that had to have known. It’s better if he hates me. Maybe better if he hates you too."

"Will you have him kill his target, now that you know? I’m rather pleased that I had him kill my sister, and the only mother he had ever known. She had to have known."

"Doubtless. You are the only reason she was allowed to raise him. As to killing his target, dead he may be more dangerous than alive. I want him so damaged, so wounded he will never be a threat again."

"Will you still send him, knowing what you know?"

She gazes into his eyes, eyes that betray nothing of him. She is so tightly shielded; she looks empty, yet he still feels tendrils of pain leak out. No one else would recognize her pain, he knew her so well that it almost felt as if it was his own. He can say nothing to ease the pain she is in. "I have no choice. You trained him well. He is the very best. I cannot risk sending other than the best."

"I could go."

"No, you are too well known. A known quantity. He is an unknown quantity. Unpredictable, unidentified, unfamiliar, a wild card, my ace. They call him traitor, I think if this succeeds, if he succeeds, he will be called savior."

"And your part will never be known."

"My part is unimportant." She crushes the ashes in her hand, ending any link to her past. "He should have the chance you never had."

Lewis watches her, knowing she does it for him as well as Tom. That this could have been taken from her is unconscionable, and yet they did it. She will never forgive, nor forget the action taken against her. She became far more than they wanted. They wanted to limit her power and control. They made a grave error in judgement.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis prepares the video camera to make the recording. "Tom, have you discussed with Dr. Parker what your signal to your friends will be? Here is today’s newspaper to use to show that you are alive." He hands the current copy of the Los Angles Times to Tom. Tom realizes that they could be anywhere in Southern California or Baja. Lewis looks at Tom closely. He had known the young man for going on twenty years and had not suspected. He was a fool.

"Yes, we will ask for Sloan’s birth date. She was adopted and the date on the adoption records is different than her actual birth date. Ed knows it so they can send it to us."

Lewis nods. "An ingenious answer. Almost anything else could have been forged. Doctor, I congratulate you on your ingenuity. But then perhaps I should have expected no less."

Sloan sits on the couch and Tom stands as the tape starts. They hold the paper between them. "Walter, this is to show you that we are alive and well" Sloan begins. Tom takes it from her, folds it and lays it aside.

"The council has given me away. I have a new master and I prefer not to die. I have been requested to perform a mission for my master. Sloan was taken to make me cooperate. She is also under a death sentence. There is every indication, however, that we will be released, unharmed."

"Walter, you must stop looking for us. I don’t know what will happen but if you don’t, we may no longer have value."

"Dr. Attwood, if they no longer have any value, they will be returned, not alive but dead. I have no doubt that my master would do it. You have the evidence in your former superior. The other option is to keep them both." Lewis says.

Tom’s eyes narrow, Lewis just lied about something and tried to hide it. He’ll file the statement in his mind and go over it later. Now is not the time. "We are being well treated. We are not in any danger as of now. I suggest that you make a news release listing us as missing, presumed dead. We will try to contact you to let you know how things are going. I can promise nothing. I can’t even promise to keep her alive but I will try."

Sloan looks at him and reaches over to hold onto his hand. "We want to have evidence that you have received this tape. I don’t want you to worry. You will receive an e-mail within 24 hours of receiving this. Send a return e-mail. Put my real birth date in it. Ed knows it. Then we will know that promises made are promises kept."

"I suggest that you abandon your research into the Genogenesis Serum, Dr. Tate. I’m sure my master is not pleased with it. This is a "friendly" warning." Lewis states.

Lewis turns the video camera off. "This will go out in the evening mail, next day delivery. They will receive it tomorrow. In a day or two, we will receive confirmation. I’m assuming you will be more cooperative when you learn that we can be trusted."

He prepares to leave and hands Tom a packet of papers. "I suggest you start on these. And Dr. Parker, here. Something to keep you occupied." He hands her a bundle of magazines, the current issues of several Science journals. She can study here, anyway.

He takes the papers over to the table and starts looking at them. She thinks a minute, walks over, and sits on the couch. Lewis looks on with approval. She’s not letting her curiosity get in the way, yet.

She listens to the rustling of papers and the scratching of a pen as he makes notes of the things that are the most important. She had never seen him study before. Neither one knows how much time has past when a knock comes on the door. He stretches and picks all the papers up and packs them away. It’s time for their dinner.

She looks at the spread laid out before them. "Tom, if they keep feeding us like this I’m going to weigh a ton. I’m stuck in here with no exercise and soon I’m going to be alone most of the time."

"You’re gonna hate me later then. When I get back into training I’ll be eating almost twice as much as I’m eating now. I’ll start out with a five mile run I expect. Hmmm. Martial arts practice, combat arms. An obstacle course once or twice a week. And that’s just the physical side. I’ll also be doing some mental training also, dexterity improvement. And the knowledge side of it. This," he says, patting the bundle of papers, "is only part of it."

"Did you do that when you were hunting me?"

He shrugged. " I didn’t have to. I was already in shape. I’ve slacked off some since I’m not in the program any more. But, yes, I studied you and your movements. There was a time I watched you. Where you went and what you did. Who you saw. And then the day came when I walked in and you were crying over the death of Dr. Coulter. Something changed, I don’t know what. And I still followed you and I came to kill you." He stopped talking as he remembered that day. She had betrayed him. She had told what he was. And he had to kill her. When he looked into her eyes, he knew. His past life was gone and she was his future. "You believed in me and I couldn’t go back."

Her hand creeps over to touch him. "Tom, I love you. You know, you didn’t have to tell me."

"I know, but you should know what’s going to happen. I need you to understand what’s happening. When we return, if we return, we may not be trusted. We may be going from one prison to another. They never trusted me. You were the only one who did. If we stay in either prison, we are vulnerable. You asked me once if I wanted a family. At that time, I had never thought about it. Now, I think I would, very much so. But while we are like this, we can’t. If it comes about that I can gain your freedom, even at the expense of my own, take it, please. You’re better off without me. I’ve only brought you grief."

"Would it be any better if I returned without you?" He looks at her with puzzled eyes. "Tom, if they don’t trust you if we return, why would they trust me? I was held here with you. I came under the same pressures and I have none of the defenses that you do. I would be no better off, in fact I’d be worse off without you. At least with you I’d be safe. Without you, I wouldn’t. They could come and get me at any time. What do you expect would happen when we return? You’d go back to sleeping on the couch? No, that’s not what I have in mind. If you don’t want to go back to the university then we can go some place else. I don’t know. I don’t have any answers for this. But I will never leave you. You told me that the first time I said I loved you. Listen to me again. I will never leave you. I mean it just as you did. I don’t know what it means to you to have me say it but it’s true."

He stares at her and knows that she means it. If he forces her away she will look for him, spend her life if necessary to do so. " Are you finished eating?"

"I suppose so. Why?"

He sweeps her up into his arms. "Tonight is the last night before I enter training. I want to enjoy it. I want you to enjoy it. And I promise no more talk of leaving."

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning he’s up long before dawn. His internal clock wakens him. He thinks his day will start soon. He lets her sleep and he goes to the front room and begins his day stretching. He senses Lewis before he enters. "Will I be back here for breakfast? I’d like to let her know."

"After your run and calisthenics, yes. You will be gone a couple of hours."

Tom nods and goes to wake her. "I’ll be back for breakfast in a couple of hours. Go ahead and sleep."

She’s waiting when he returns. He thought training had been tough. Lewis was going to run him into the ground. Five-mile runs this week, soon it’ll be ten if he knew anything about Lewis, and he did. Only the thought that Lewis was driving himself as well gave him any solace.

He was soaked with sweat and she still wanted to kiss him. "Ummm. Let me shower before breakfast. Be out in five."

He showered and changed. He was ravenous. He knew he’d eat a huge breakfast, which he did. Lots of grains and carbohydrates, he was going to need fuel for what he was going to be doing. He knew dinner would be more, pastas, breads, rice. The amount of energy he would use in the next weeks would be enormous.

"I talked to Lewis about you being confined. He said that he’d arrange to have the next room turned into an exercise room for us both. I’m going to have to do some strength training, too. I need to build up some muscle mass. It probably has something to do with whatever my mission is. I can drag you out of bed and you can start your day with me if you want to. But I’ll warn you, I won’t be easy on you."

She made a face at him as she watched him pack the food away. She didn’t know anyone could eat that much. "If I do at least I get to spend a little more time with you. Could I get a CD player and some CDs? Or a television and some tapes? Or some books to read? They’re not going to let me go to a lab and do research. I’m going to go stir crazy if I only sit and wait."

"Go ahead and call. That’s what the phone is there for. I doubt they’d let you have cable. Too much access to the outside world. But most of the other stuff, probably. I bet they’ve checked out your apartment and they know your taste in music and books."

"You know, I miss you. It’s different from when we were doing things together. Then I knew I’d see you again. We were only going to be apart for a short time. Now, each time you leave I’m afraid it’s the last time I’ll see you."

He pushes his plate away, takes her hand and pulls her to the couch. He cups her head in his hands and looks into her troubled eyes. "Listen to me. They need me to do something. As long as I’m valuable to them, neither of us will be hurt. I’ll get a little battered in training but that’s to be expected. We are both safe until the mission is over. I’ll try to get assurances for you before I go. But don’t worry. I’ll be okay. I’ve been through this before. Lewis is going to push me hard, but it won’t be too hard. She doesn’t lie. She has never lied. She doesn’t need to. Lewis lied to Walter but I haven’t figured out what the lie was yet."

"What do you mean, he lied to Walter?"

"When he was talking about us being returned dead not alive. Some of what he said was a lie. I’m not sure what though. Maybe the part about her keeping us. Maybe the part about us being returned dead. Maybe the part about Walters boss. Although he did say former boss. I don’t know what it is. I may be able to figure it out. It could help us if we knew what he lied about."

"Well, maybe." She says in a doubtful tone. "Are you going to be staying for a little while?"

"A little bit. I’d like to let my breakfast settle but I don’t imagine I’ll have much time. I’m gonna be put through my paces while he sees how well I can do. He won’t be pleased. I’ve already heard unacceptable twice today. I’ve slacked off too much. I spent more time with you than doing the things he thought were important."

"Important, like exercise, right?" She says as she nuzzles against him.

"Yeah, important, like exercise." He says kissing her, slowly at first then deeper, slowly pushing her down on the couch, covering her body with his. His hands start to explore what has become familiar to him, yet each time he touches her like this it’s like the first time. Fire inside him. Fire in his bones. He wants the flame to consume him and leave only ashes.

He feels a strange hand on his shoulder and he moves, faster than even he thought possible. He grasps the arm and twists. He feels himself being pulled up, and crashing against the wall. He looks up into two laser blue eyes that were angry. Lewis had walked in on them and he had never noticed

"What do you think you were doing? " Lewis' hands are on his shirt, grasping him and slamming him against the wall, again. "I could have killed the both of you. Never let your guard down like that again."

Lewis' eyes blaze in a fury that Tom has never seen. "If she is to be your mate, you must never put her in danger." Lewis face comes so close to Tom that he can only see eyes that bore right through him. "I will teach you how to divide your awareness such that you can concentrate on your mate and yet be aware of your surroundings." Tom is jerked back and slammed again. He can scarcely breathe.

Before Tom can gasp out a word Lewis growls. "Yes, I realize it is difficult because she is not merely a tool, but it can be done. Do you understand?"

"Yes." He chokes out. Lewis has knocked all the air out of him. He has never been thrown so hard. Lewis releases him and he falls to the floor.

"Dr. Parker, I apologize for the interruption. Obviously, Tom has much more to learn than I thought. Come."

He leaves the room. Tom rolls over and rises. He gives her a quick kiss and follows him. Today was going to be rough.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis struggles to regain his composure. That Tom could have put his mate in such potential danger was imprudent, to say the least, yet he had done it. He had allowed his passions to overcome the necessity to protect. This was one thing that Lewis could not allow. Regardless of how he felt about Tom choosing a human to mate with, he could not be allowed to place her in any danger, ever.

He watches Tom shake his attack off. Today he will learn the consequences of letting his guard down. The day starts with mental exercises and progresses to the techniques of masking. He starts to learn how to separate his awareness from his actual empathic abilities. He reviews methods of misleading and deception without truly lying. The afternoon is devoted to techniques of martial arts. He learns the folly of not being on guard.

Tom was faster but Lewis was more skilled. He starts by dumping Tom on his ass when he sweeps Tom's legs from beneath him. Tom is deflected or blocked again and again.

"Tom, remember I said you must always be on guard and never put her in danger?" Tom nods, watching him as he moves. So far, he has not been able to breach Lewis' defenses. "I want to get past you. Stop me."

Tom's eyes narrow. Up to now, Lewis was only sparring with him, now it was an attack. He takes the blows and rolls with the punches. For each blow he was able to land on Lewis, he took at least two. The last one was a kick to the chest. He was down and gasping. "Hold." he gasps out, wondering if Lewis will get in a final blow. Lewis simply stops and watches him. Lewis helps him to stand and move to a nearby bench. While Tom's breathing gradually returns to normal Lewis examines his injuries.

"You're not too badly injured. But just in case some of those bruises are deeper than they appear, I want you to see the doctor." He calls the staff doctor to come and examine Tom. Tom had never noticed the phone he carried with him at all times. In only a very few minutes, the doctor comes to examine him. He decides after an examination that Tom needs some rest and a little time to recover. If the chest bruising doesn't fade or the pain gets worse, Tom is to go in for x-rays.

~~~~~~~~~~

He returns hours later, limping. He has a black eye and facial bruising. He had been hit in the chest, so breathing was difficult. He was glad he healed quickly. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.

He enters and hugs her with a soft groan. She helps him into the bathroom, undress and get into the whirlpool tub. "I’m either in a lot worse shape than I thought or he’s pushing really hard. I don’t know which. Thanks for having everything ready. I didn’t think about it."

She gently touches his face. "Are you going to be okay? Those look really bad."

Tom winces when she touches him. "It’ll be okay. Just bruising. Lewis checked me out and had the doctor check me too. It means no hand to hand tomorrow, maybe. I should be better the next day though. I think I got him angry when he walked in on us."

"I wasn’t too happy either." She says dryly. "But I don’t want you beaten up like this. You look worse than when your mother took you." She grinned at him. "Even worse than Ed did with the Spanish flu. Should I ask about the other guy?"

"No one could look that bad. I got in a few good licks. Nowhere near as bad as he did to me, though." He reaches out and pulls her into the bath with him. "I may be hurt, but I’m not dead." He says, soaking her. He listens to her squeal. He feels her joy. No matter how much she may protest, she is enjoying herself. He finds her face and pulls her to him. He kisses her softly, wincing a little at his bruises. "No, I’m not dead yet. Are you gonna keep your clothes on?"

"You’re too tired for this."

"I’m never too tired for this."

He helps her out of her clothes and starts a slow lazy exploration of her. He lets the heat of the bath and his own passions ease away his pains, until he feels a prickling of something at the edge of his awareness, something out of place. He pulls away from her and closes his eyes to concentrate. It’s Lewis. He’s outside the door, too close but still he did sense him. "Lewis?"

"Better, but you should have sensed me before I even entered your rooms. We will work on it. Your dinner is here. I suggest eating before it cools. Good-night."

Tom falls back and ducks himself under the water. "He’s right. Let’s get out and eat. We’ll have time for this later and I’m already feeling a lot better. I’ll study tomorrow.’

"I’ll give you a massage. That should help some. There've been noises next door, so I guess that they’re working on some sort of exercise room. I called and asked about some books and things. I was told that they would be arranged. You know this place is going to be bigger than my apartment." She watches him get out and walk over to the door where the robes are. She pushes her wet hair back and out of the way.

"Yeah, but it’s still a cage. Here, put this on, and we can eat." He puts a robe on and holds one out to her. He likes the way she looks. Her wet hair clinging to her face, with the water bubbling around her, causing her breasts to move in such an interesting way. He better go eat before he got distracted again. "Let’s go."

Chapter Six