It's one of those wild stories..y'know... the ones that ride the moonlight and somehow end up in your dreams.
Which is exactly how this one came to me.
It is not intended to offend in any way.
No references to any Tribal communities are made, directly or indirectly.
"Orion's Reach" Ranch house
McDaniels Residence
Appalachian Mountains
Saturday Night
20.00pm EDT
The Sweeper team had given up trying to locate Palmer in the limited light and had returned to their motel to rest before tomorrow's search.
Casey had made Clay cook dinner as they had agreed on in their wager earlier that day and although Casey had teased him mercilessly about his culinary skills, both Mac and Harm were surprised by the delicious meal he prepared for them.
Now they sat on the big comfy sofa's in the living room and sipped coffee.
"Alright" Clay said "I can't stand it any more...what is this Tacoma thing?"
Casey smiled and turned to Harm and Mac.
"Exactly what happened up there?" she asked.
Harm explained how he had been looking for Mac when he heard the Wolf behind him, how he had fired at it when it attacked and how it had spoken to him.
Clay listened in silence careful to keep his expression neutral.
He had seen some things unexplainable by God or science in the years he had worked for the Company.
Harm looked at the lack of expression on Clay's face and continued his story.
He told how Tacoma had told him to follow him and how when he had, he had led him straight to where Palmer was holding Mac.
Mac took up the story, telling of the way Palmer had fired an entire magazine at the wolf and had not so much as scratched it.
And how she had heard the whispered voice in the grotto as Tacoma spoke to Palmer.
When they finished Clay looked at Casey.
"Alright Case...who was Tacoma?"
"Not was Clay...is..." she began to explain.
The Legend of Tacoma and Alia
Tacoma was the Shaman of a People living in this region over 500 years ago.
He was a powerful warrior and a respected leader of his tribe.
Tacoma fell deeply in love with a woman called Alia, the daughter of a tribal elder.
Alia also loved Tacoma with all her heart, but she had been promised to marry a warrior from a neighbouring tribe.
Two days before the wedding festivities were to begin Tacoma and Alia went and hid in the caves, refusing to come out until the wedding was called off.
Alia's father was furious and went to the Shaman of the neighbouring tribe and asked him to force Tacoma to bring his daughter back to him.
But the Shaman was evil and created a mighty spell, a spell that would doom the two lovers to never be together on either earth or in the spirit world.
Tacoma and Alia hid in the cave until the day after the wedding feast.
When then they ventured out into the daylight the evil Shamans spell began to work.
Their spirits left their mortal form, leaving the lovers bodies at the mouth of the cave they had hidden in.
Tacoma's spirit was forced into the body of a black wolf, an animal feared by man and beast alike and Alia's spirit was banished to dwell with the Goddess of the moon, never again touching the earth.
Tacoma tried everything in his power to bring his Alia back to him, (for even though he had changed form his Shaman's powers remained.) but Alia was lost to him, the evil Shaman's spell was too strong.
"Then what happened?"
Clay asked leaning forward looking for all the world like a little boy being read a story at bedtime.
"Legend says that Tacoma, having lost his only love, made a vow to use his powers to bring together lovers, guiding them to each other. They say that if Tacoma appears to you, you know that you've found your soul-mate!"
Casey finished, smiling at Harm and Mac who were now both grinning from ear to ear.
"Have you ever seen Tacoma?" Clay asked Casey.
"No I've heard him a few times, but I haven't seen him yet. My mother said she saw him once." She said wistfully. "Harm and Mac on the other hand saw him tonight! "
Clay smiled at his two friends.
"Soul mates huh?" he said to Harm.
Mac snuggled closer to Harm.
"Yeah, soul mates."
Harm said looking at his partner.
"Orion's Reach" Ranch House
McDaniels Residence 23.30pm EDT
Casey sat on the swing on the front porch wrapped in a blanket looking out at the night sky.
The screen door creaked open and Clay walked out and stood beside her.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked.
"Not with Palmer still out there." she said.
"I know. Hey it's really cold out here you should come inside."
He said rubbing his hands together.
Casey held up the blanket.
"Not cold, I'm all rugged up."
"Yeah well gimme some of that blanket then."
He said smiling as he sat down beside her.
Casey handed him the blanket and he wrapped it around them both.
"So..." He ventured "Are you really out here cause you're worried about Palmer, or are you just afraid to go to sleep because of the nightmares?"
Casey looked up at the stars and sighed.
"Both!"
Clay hadn't really expected her to answer, and her honesty surprised him.
"What's your excuse for being up?" She asked.
Clay smiled.
"I was worried about a certain partner of mine."
Casey smiled.
"Why?"
Clay took a deep breath and exhaled.
"I always worry about you. I hardly slept while you were away. All I could think of was that something could happen to you. And something did..."
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I should have been there Case...should have been there to protect you."
"You can't protect me all the time Clay, I'm supposed to be able to do that myself. There was no way you could have protected me against Wilkes , the man wanted me dead! Nothing would have stopped him and he just would have come after you too if you'd been there."
Clay looked out at the grassy meadow swaying in a blue wave under the moonlight and sighed.
"Still, I wish I'd been there for you Case."
Casey nodded.
"I know you do Clay."
"Don't ever do that again!" he said angrily.
"What?" Casey asked bewildered.
"Take a mission that splits us up like that. We're a team, we're..."
"NutCase and James Bond Jr." she finished, laughing.
"Are you laughing at me Cassandra?"
He asked a ghost of a smile on his face as he used her much hated first name.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
Clay raised his eyebrows.
"Good, I missed that sound while you were away!" He said pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head. "I missed a lot of things about you ..."
Casey's heart thudded in her chest, any louder and she was sure Clay would be able to hear it too. She knew he probably didn't realise what he's just done, and if he did, it had been done purely in friendship.
"I missed a lot of things about you too. Like the way you do that smirking thing when you know you're right and I'm wrong...."
"Yeah, you missed that huh?" he said sarcastically "Well, you know what I REALLY missed about you? I missed the way you call me at 4.00am on a Saturday morning to ask me a stupid question from some crossword you're doing... "
"Hey! " Casey said indignantly "I only did that ONCE and it was an emergency"
"An emergency." Clay snorted. "Only you would call finding the answer to a crossword puzzle an emergency!"
"Well..it was bugging me and I couldn't sleep." She said laughing. "And as my partner...if I can't sleep, you shouldn't be able to either!"
"You're impossible, you know that don't you?" he said grinning.
"Yeah, but that's half my charm!"
They sat in companionable silence, watching the moon pass over the night sky in it's wide arc, each thinking of the other.
Casey's head still rested on Clay's shoulder, his arm still lying around her shoulders holding her close to him.
She loved him, but she knew that there was no way he felt the same about her...to him they were partners, nothing more.
Clay's heart was in his mouth, he wanted so badly to tell her that he loved her but the timing was all wrong. She was still vulnerable after being attacked by Wilkes and the last thing he wanted to do right now was complicate her life.
He would have to wait for the right moment to tell her.
"We should get some sleep."
He said, pushing his emotions aside for the time being.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
Casey replied, shaken from her reverie by his statement.
He stood up and helped her to her feet.
Together they walked back inside the house.
The Cave Behind Weeping Maiden Falls
00.30EDT
Clark Palmer made his way from his hiding place deep within the caves, towards the moonlit entrance over the waterfall.
He looked down at the ranch house, the lights were off, the occupants in all likely-hood asleep.
Rabb and Webb thought they were so smart, that they had finally gotten the better of him.
They were wrong.
He was a patient man, he had demonstrated that on more than one occasion.
He was prepared to wait, weeks, months even years if he had to, to get back at them for what they had done to him.
He would wait...until they thought they were safe, until they thought that their lives couldn't get any better...then he would strike and show them all just how powerful an enemy he was.
They would regret having ever heard his name.
His eyes glowed with mad fury as he took one last look at the house below, then slipped away into the night.
"Next time Gentlemen...next time!"
End of Hugely Mediocre Fic.
The Author commends you for suffering through it to the end! :)