Disclaimer: See part 6 Other Info: See part 6
part 11
Blair's eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets, one focused on each of the two spectacular women. The causes for his visual distress were chatting by the shelves of pottery. Two women of rare beauty, exotic even in their current mode of dress.
Nixia had opted for another silk sheath dress, this one charcoal in color. The halter top pulled up to a choker and left her toned arms bare. It was only fitting that the slit in the skirt's right side bared a similarly toned leg, but it was the keyhole back that had attracted the men's attention. While Blair was intrigued by the gentle curve of her back, Jim was completely bewildered by the tattoo at the base of that wonderfully feminine arch.
*Imagine the odds. Wonder where and WHEN she picked that up...*
The sound of laughter drew the men's attention. While Nix's curls bounced slightly as she laughed, Megan's hair was pulled up in a twist, a few loose strands swaying gently about her face. Jim hadn't seen much of her dress when he'd picked her up. She'd met him at the door in a 3/4 length coat, anxious to be off. The two officers had spoken of the case and the arrangements for the evening as Jim drove. It wasn't until Nix had poured the brandy, that Megan had removed her coat and pleasantly stunned both Jim and Blair.
Her fawn georgette gown was slightly darker than her skin, accenting her complexion and setting off her auburn hair. The simple scoop neckline was accented on either side by a matching scarf that draped over each shoulder and fell gracefully down the back of the dress. The slit in the back of the skirt teased the men with a glimpse of cream stockings and heels which gave her two more inches over Sandburg.
*Not that the kid ever minded her being taller...*
"They're staring at us." Nix said quietly to the Inspector. "Of course that means we have to stare back."
Conner smiled and looked to the other side of the room. "That's easy enough to do."
They couldn't decide which man to study first. The way the two men were standing together, examining a couple pieces of Nik's collection, they could have been right off a page from GQ.
Megan sighed, taking a small sip of her drink. When she'd gotten the call earlier, she'd immediately panicked. Sure Ellison was cute, but she really hadn't been out with him since their dinner date the night of the Mint robbery. Jim had mentioned dinner was part of an on-going investigation, but it was still enough to make her nervous. The sketchy information he'd given her on the phone consisted of "special dinner" and "wear something kinda formal." When he showed up at her door in his tuxedo, the Inspector knew her nervousness had been justified. Ellison's tux fit every plane of his body, accenting all the finer points - and there were LOTS of them! - like his broad, toned shoulders and solid, wide chest. The midnight blue brocade vest and soft black jacket contrasted the clarity of his eyes. And when he smiled at her, Megan thought no man on Earth had the right to look THAT good. The word "dangerous" had taken on an entirely new meaning.
She sighed softly, hearing a similar sound from her hostess. Megan turned to observe the woman and almost laughed at the appreciative look in Dakota's eyes.
Nik was blatantly staring at her date. During the course of their "courtship," she'd found herself softening under the constant doses of Sandburg charm. Sure she liked the kid. He was turning out to be a great guy, probably one of the most interesting people she'd met in her long life, and their friendship was growing more and more important to her. When he'd exited her room, though, wearing his tux... Nik had suddenly realized why all the women stared when the pair were out together. A revelation similar to the one you have seeing your brother on his prom night. The tux wasn't so special, unless you took into consideration the way it fit him. With one hand in his pocket, Blair's jacket was pushed back, showing the way his tailored trousers accented his trim waist and toned legs. The dove grey vest and tie accented his eyes, making them sparkle. With his hair pulled back in a simple black band, he was just too much for her to ignore anymore. Sometime that afternoon, Blair Sandburg had crossed the line between professional acquaintance and lifelong friend. Nikya knew her date was someone VERY special in the cosmos. His aura was very strong, very powerful. There and then, Nik vowed that she'd protect him no matter what - even if it meant losing her head.
Megan glanced over her shoulder, then took another sip of her brandy. "I think that's the most attention they've shown me since I arrived. I'm afraid we didn't start off on the best of footings." To Nix's amusement, Conner recanted the story of her arrival. They stood there laughing again. She was just about to start on another of their escapades, when Dakota suddenly stared towards the front door. Megan looked towards the door, seeing Jim and Blair staring in the same manner. "What am I missing, here? Hope I'm not getting sick..." she whispered to herself.
Simon gave a cursory knock, then opened the door and walked in. He stopped short at the sight of the women. His low whistle was returned in two brilliant smiles and approving nods. Crossing the room to stand before them, he took Nik's hand and kissed the back of it. Noting the amusement in her eyes, he commented quietly to her. "Sandburg's not the only chivalrous one in the department, you know." He turned his attention to the Inspector. "You're looking wonderful this evening, Megan." To the Aussie's obvious surprise, the captain saluted her hand the same way, then smiled. The sound of voices from the hall drew his attention, and he looked to the door as the two Immortals entered and stopped the same way he had.
Methos, not usually on the prowl, was drawn to the Inspector almost immediately. Taking her hand, he gently brushed his lips across her knuckles and attempted to introduce himself. He quickly found himself with his back to the floor, one of the woman's spike heels resting on his inner thigh. Not to mention the small .25 caliber pistol staring him in the face.
"Down, girl." Jim said quickly, removing Megan's foot as he helped his friend to stand. "Megan, this is Adam Pierson. Adam, Inspector Megan Conner - on exchange from Australia. You'll have to forgive her, you look a lot like a convicted felon." *Of course I didn't notice until just now...*
Methos laughed nervously as Connor pushed forward taking advantage of his friend's distress. "He's always getting that. I can assure you he's essentially harmless. I cannot say the same thing for you, at least not in that dress. You can call me Connor."
"I barely know you. You're cute, but why would I call you?" She asked with some confusion.
It took a second, but Blair caught the problem. "Megan. His name is also Connor. His FIRST name."
They were laughing at the mix-up when the phone rang. Since everyone important was there, Nix let the machine get it. The sound of the voice made the room go silent.
"I know you're home, Nixia. And I know he's there. They're all there... But they can't be there all the time. Dressed to the nines, eh? What's the occasion? Finally gonna let the Professor spend the night? I hope you're listening, Sandburg. Now you know what I sound like - since I already know what YOU sound like. I especially enjoyed your lecture on Bronze Age nomadic peoples. You should have Methos lend you his memoirs... Ah, well. I must be going. You have a long night ahead..." The phone went dead.
"D'ja get it?" Blair asked, seeing Simon on his cell phone. The shaking head wasn't happy. "Damn..."
"So," Megan said quietly. "We know he's definitely watching. And we know he's definitely interested... What now, Jim? Are you getting anything?"
Nix, Connor, and Methos turned to Blair, who quietly mouthed "I'll tell you later..." Whether it was the voice, the threat, or Megan's question on Jim's senses, the young man couldn't decide what made him nervous. But a sudden, involuntary shiver ran through him as flashes of memories ~ Alex Barnes, the university fountain, and the jungle ~ made their way through his neural passages. Shaking his head, Sandburg swallowed hard and poured himself a brandy.
Seeing the kid's distress, Connor and Methos nodded slightly, then made mental notes to pursue the explanation later. Until that time, though, they would concentrate on relieving the obvious stress that had suddenly gripped their young friend. Connor watched as Blair gulped the shot of brandy, then gasped as the liquor's strength caught him unaware. He set a hand on the anthropologist's back as Methos took the snifter, replacing it with a small glass of water. Knowing smiles put the young man at ease. The group then looked to the balcony where Jim was standing, his head cocked to one side.
"I can't get anything from the immediate area and the call wasn't long enough to get a trace." Jim said crossing the room to Dakota. "But Megan's right. We've got his attention."
Megan raised her glass to her lips and finished her brandy before she spoke. "Huh - Is that supposed to be reassuring..."
~~~~~
"I'm not gonna tell you again, Blair." She said to her sleepy companion.
Taking her in his arms, the young man spun her around and watched the smile spread across her face. "What's wrong with one more dance?"
"It's late and after the whole day and the LONG night we just had, I'm tired." As his eyebrows wiggled amorously, Nix laughed. "And you MUST be tired or worse-" she whispered, "if you think you're coming to bed with me..."
"I'm hurt you would assume that..."
There was no way to hold in her laughter. "Blair, I have to admit - I like you, and you DO intrigue me. But it's just not worth the grief... As gorgeous as you are."
Stunned at her reaction, Blair took her hands in his and tried to be serious for a moment. "Grief?"
Shaking her head at his innocent tone, Nix removed her hands from his and led him towards the bedrooms. "You and Ellison are partners. He's VERY protective of you, just as you are of him. Jim and I - we just seem to rub each other the wrong way. So, that puts me in a very awkward position. I will NOT be a wedge that comes between you."
He took the sheets she threw at him, then followed her back to the livingroom. "Wedge? What wedge? Don't get me wrong. I can take NO for an answer. But you really think a woman would be a wedge between us?" Even though he knew the truth first hand and the very deadly consequences that had occurred, Blair wanted to know where Dakota was heading.
"Blair - if you really have to ask.."
"Yeah, I do."
She sighed as she considered the best way to proceed. Tossing the sheets on the sofa, Nikya turned to face her friend. "You're a great guy, Blair. I really do like you. And if I were a 1000 years younger, I might consider going out with you." They smiled at the comment as Nik took a seat on the coffee table.
"But?"
"But," she started and paused. *But it's the image of James Ellison that haunts my dreams...* her mind confessed. "But I'm not attracted to you that way, and I don't want it to be awkward for us to work together. Jim and I didn't start off on the right foot, and I know that as his partner, he'd know if you were having a problem with me. It's an associative property that men have."
His sleepy mind had only caught part of the explanation - making only partial sense of the it. "Associative?"
Smiling at the droopy eyelids and lethargic movements, Nix almost laughed full voice. "Associative properties, that is - If you and I had a fight, that would mean that Jim and I had a fight - BY association. Got it?"
"Vaguely."
"Good, cause I was definitely going for vague." Niks said as she pushed the young man back onto the sheet-clad couch. "Now. I'll see you in the morning." And for some reason, Dakota found herself kissing Sandburg's forehead in a motherly show of affection. Walking out of the open room, she hit the light switch and headed for her lonely bed.
~~~~~
He heard the door open and close and had tracked the familiar heartbeat up the last flight of steps. *Doesn't take hyperactive senses to hear that car coming...* In the few minutes it took for Blair to hang up his coat and set the bagels on the counter, Jim had thrown on a robe and made his way down to the kitchen.
"Oh, hey Jim. I didn't wake you, did I?"
Jim wasn't certain what annoyed him most, but he had quite a few things on his list:
1. Staying out all night...
2. Spending the night with Nixia...
3. Being so @&^*($%$@ happy after spending the night - with Nixia
4. Bouncing...
5. Being out all night -
6. WITH Nixia...
There was only slight redemption in the bagels. *Now, did he remember to get cream cheese?*
"I got you the first two poppy seed bagels from a fresh batch." Blair said, his voice wavering as he changed clothes. "Oh, and I remembered to get fresh cream cheese, too."
*Okay, you live a little longer.*
"Looked like you and Nik had a good time last night..." Jim said, hiding much of his anxiety in the rustling of the paper bag. Truth be told, Jim had had a good time himself. They all had. Dinner had been a big event in spite of the phone call. The group of them had talked and eaten and talked some more. Megan had proven to be excellent company. Away from the office, she was really quite charming. An offhand comment to her about the last time they'd had a fancy dinner lead to a full explanation of the man who resembled Adam (Methos). The stories had continued from there, and the evening had lasted well past the restaurant's closing time. The manager didn't seem to mind, though. In fact, as soon as the party had arrived, the manager had been waiting for them. And as Nix had paid the bill - which she refused to split with anyone else - the man remarked quietly "Give my regards to his honor when you see him..."
The evening at an end, Nik had quickly ushered Sandburg to her car and headed to her place. Methos and Connor had decided to try a couple local clubs, which left Jim with Megan...and Simon.
Jim laughed as he placed his bagel slices in the toaster, remembering the unexpected events of the evening. The three had come back to the loft to kick back and let the regular units watch Dakota's place. It was a needed break for Ellison and Banks and some welcome company for Megan. The last time Jim had looked at his watch, it was somewhere around 4 AM and they were still talking. Suddenly, Megan mentioned someplace that she'd visited and Simon's eyes sparked with life. The conversation then had worked between the captain and the Aussie, with Jim feeling much like he was attending a tennis match. A few minutes later, Simon had retrieved Megan's coat and escorted her to the front door. His captain's final words brought a smile to his face. "Don't worry about her, she's in good hands." Jim still wasn't certain which female Simon meant.
Maybe he really didn't want to know, either.
"JIM!" Blair yelled. "You've gotta see this!"
He was a little disoriented, having come out of his thoughts at his partner's distressed voice. *Almost zoned! Wonder why the kid didn't notice?* Turning his attention to the dining table, Jim found Blair at the laptop, bouncing in the seat. *Something important, I hope...* As he closed the distance, Jim found his eyes automatically focusing on the computer's screen.
"Where'd you get this?" Jim asked anxiously.
Blair didn't even look up as he heard the chair next to him scrape the floor and Jim's body fall into the seat. "A friend of mine e-mailed me a website and a series of passwords -"
"Would that friend be the one who lives in a basement with 29 cats?" Jim asked cautiously.
"There's not THAT many." Blair said with a smile then continued. "This is the data files of the Watcher society. I , uhm, took the liberty of searching for Nixia."
The picture on the screen seemed to mesmerize them both. It was obviously a scanned image of a drawing, a woman standing profile, but it was the face that held their attention. It was, indeed, Detective Nikya Dakota, but she took on more of the aged Immortal she claimed to be. Her hair was long and wavy, flowing down her back over the numerous furs and yards of cloth wrapped about her. She stood on a slight rise, looking down into a valley, a look of peace on her face.
The following pages of her file held several more pictures and information ranging from marriages to occupations to "deaths." There was also a list morbidly entitled "Kills." Before Jim could ask, Blair had clicked the link, watching raptly as the queue appeared. Each name on the list had an age, country of origin, and number of their kills listed in separate columns. It also listed the date the Immortal's head was taken by her.
"She... she.. didn't." Blair said in a whisper. "Did she?"
Jim knew his partner didn't want to acknowledge the darker side of Nixia's life. He didn't want to accept it himself - not in HIS city - but he had to face the reality. She'd said the cost of Immortality was her involvement in the Game. She was obviously only one of many. VERY many, or VERY few - depending on how you took the list in front of them on the computer. There were more names than either of them had imagined, and many more than they wanted to acknowledge. Jim glanced at Blair, who was sitting with his head in his hands, staring at the screen.
"Look, Chief." he started in a calm voice. "We've got to think of this in the simplest terms. Her life is KILL or be KILLED. I know it's not something we want to accept - like war." and Jim set a hand firmly on Blair's shoulder.
"But there's always alternatives to war..."
"Matter of opinion, there, but can you find an alternative to this for her?" Jim said as Blair's eyes met his. "This is Life to her. It's not like she can just quit. Didn't ANY of their stories teach you anything?"
Blair sat there for a second or two, absorbing the sad realities of the Immortals. He'd listened to the stories, somehow not believing them but just enjoying the tales as folklore instead of learning from them.
While Blair was thinking, Jim took the opportunity to peruse the pages himself. Heading back a page, he settled his eyes on the list of known acquaintances. Of course it included Methos, Connor, and Elise, as well as their three other victims, but there were at least forty major names from the last century alone - many of them higher level government figures, including a couple congressmen and senators, a Cabinet member, and a Secret Service Director. Jim recognized a couple foreign sovereigns and a number of big name stars as well.
One name stood out.
Taolvik.
It wasn't that the name was a surprise. Bernie had as much as already fingered the man as their Samurai and provided the link with the four victims. It was confirmed Taolvik had been in and out of the Cascade area during all four of the crimes.
What surprised Ellison was the fact that Nixia had left out one important facet of her relationship with the man - the fact that they HAD a relationship. They had actually been romantically linked for about a decade.
Blair watched his partner's expression as he read the information on the screen. He'd seen the same thing and was now trying to gauge just how mad Jim was. *Deep breathing, raised eyebrow, clenched jaw... Yup, he's ticked. Somewhere up there with Mount St. Helens.* Blair decided it was an opportune time to find out about their mystery man, so he clicked the link.
"Well, seems our perp has a history of hitting on women..." Ellison said, seeing the names on the man's Kill List. Almost 85 percent were women, and nearly every woman on the list had a notation saying she was romantically involved with the man.
If he could be called that.
There were only five women, out of some seventy names, that Taolvik hadn't fought. According to the notes on the list, four of the five women were already killed - by other Immortals. Only one name remained - Nixia.
"Seems Taolvik is trying to clean out his little black book."
~~~~~