He was so tired, his sleep deep and troubled. He looked so worn and sad and it tore at her heart. He didn't look much older than he did right now, she noted with a cold shiver. That means this is close, she thought. She could feel the evil surrounding him, coming for him and she tried to warn him, but couldn't get through the miasma that was quickly filling the room where he lay sleeping. Something must have registered because he opened his eyes. He sat up reaching out of habit for the gun on the nightstand. He looked around the room for the threat that he could feel. She tried to scream a warning, but couldn't. Seeing nothing he placed the gun back on the nightstand and laid back on the pillows, falling almost immediately back into a troubled sleep.
Outside the door to the apartment she could see them gathering, their dark twisted minds a beacon she was drawn to. Not all the Enemy was incorporeal, these were men, caught by the Dark and twisted to its purpose. One of them bypassed the security system he had in place, opening the door to the apartment easily and silently. Again she tried to warn him, but could only watch as they moved into the room where he lay once more asleep.
By the time his own inner warning woke him, they were on top of him. He didn't stand a chance, none of his training had taught him how to fight the Dark. It wrapped him in a binding so tight that he couldn't struggle making him an easy kill for those who had broken in.
She screamed as she watched him die. This time she knew there would be no miraculous resurrection, no mistake. She watched them as they left, laughing, wiping his blood from their hands contemptuously on the towels they found in his bath. They closed the door, resetting the security system behind them. Nothing left behind could identify his attackers, this she knew.
The vision fast forwarded.
Napoleon stood in the door to the bedroom, his face pale and set. His eyes raked over the blood soaked bed where the body of his partner and friend had been found. There hadn't been much left, just enough to identify the mangled remains as Illya. There was no doubt this time, he knew. He raised his cell phone; tears running down his face as he dialed. His voice broke on the name. "Paige."
She saw herself take the call, watched as she collapsed onto the floor. Felt the knowledge that this was her fault, that she had failed him sink into her bones. Saw the funeral, the unspoken accusation in Napoleon's eyes cutting her to the quick, the confusion in Blair's as she tried to explain who Illya had been. But the vision wasn't done with her yet. Time passed, this she knew, she saw the change that slowly came over her, the slow decay of her will to fight, the way her distance made them begin to drift apart, changing the core of all they were trying to accomplish as she began to doubt herself. Until at last, there was nothing left of herself, the fight gone, lost before it ever began.
'Fledgling, you must bring them into the Circle. It is written. Your love's part in the coming times is set and cannot be denied. To deny this will be his end at the hands of the Dark. There is nothing you can do to change their destinies. It has been thus throughout all the days of time.' She tried to protest but the avatar wasn't finished yet. 'It is the only way that you can protect him, keep him safe. The Dark knows of him now. Without him, you will fail, Shadowed Rainbow.'
She wasn't aware of her surroundings as the vision took hold. She only saw what Phoenix wanted her too. As the vision ended she snapped back to the present to find both Illya and Napoleon staring at her in concern. The stark horror of the vision held her in its sway, and she stared at her husband so recently returned to her, the knowledge of what was waiting for him, whether she gave into the wishes of the avatar or not, filled her with anger, fear and despair. He didn't know that his life had just changed forever in ways that he could barely comprehend. She knew though, knew it in every bone in her body. He would never be safe again, not as long as she lived and not as long as the Dark was active. Frantically she sought a different path, sending her talent along the different lines she knew existed, but each led to the same point, unless she brought him fully into the Circle, he would be prey and unable to fight what was coming. Even if she brought both Napoleon and Illya into the Circle, she knew that their lives would always be in danger.
She dropped the feather onto the table. She leaned back, avoiding their eyes for now, staring up into the clear blue sky. A lone seagull coasted on the thermals and she followed it for a few moments. Then she sighed and rolled her head toward the house.
"I suppose you all have questions." She said softly still looking up at the sky. The gull cried, a solitary squawk and continued its spiral.
"Honestly, Paige," Illya said. "I am not sure what to ask. It was very strange."
She snorted, an inelegant sound but appropriate. "I bet. It's not every day that you talk to something that doesn't really exist." She sat upright and ran a finger over the feather. "I am really surprised that you are even willing to admit the possibility of it's reality."
Illya smiled, she knew him well. "Had Napoleon not experienced the same thing as I, I would not have been able to."
"Well, I feel I should warn you. It only gets weirder." She flicked the feather with her fingertip. "Would you all like something to drink?" she asked suddenly. Without waiting for their answers, she summoned a drink for them all. A cup with Earl Grey tea and lemon appeared in front of Napoleon, in front of Illya a cup of hot Russian tea, and in front of herself a cup of Market Spice tea. She grinned. "I think I remember how you all take your tea."
Napoleon picked up his glass cautiously, sniffed it and took a sip. Pleasure crossed his face as he took an even longer drink. "Perfect." He said. Illya tested then drank the tea that he had. "What else can you do, Paige? The things we heard about..."
She tensed, then jumped as the shrill ring of the phone echoed from inside the house. "Napoleon, let's just say we're your hottest wet dream and your worst nightmare and leave it at that." She looked over the rim of the porcelain teacup that she held. "I don't know what you have been told, but I guarantee that you have no idea what the past five years have been like for us."
"Tell us, Paige." Illya leaned forward, he could see the shadows forming in her eyes. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and it was born out by those very shadows. He remembered what it had been like when she had her visions, the screaming night terrors that would happen at the oddest times. The times he would come home to find her crouched, crying on the floor of their bedroom. Or even worse than the screams, the silent tears that would start from her eyes for no reason that he ever knew.
"What happened to us was a thousand times worse than anything that THRUSH ever did during their experiments." She shivered. "I had actually managed to gain some control over the visions until that assignment came down. Hadn’t had one in over a year. That changed really quick thanks to their cocktail." She sipped from her cup and set it down sharply. "At first I had no idea what was going on. Hell, I actually believed their scenario," her voice changed, deepened into an imitation of a man's, a soft Texas drawl coloring her speech. "'Colonel, you will be testing our newest virtual reality training simulators.' Christ how fucking stupid was I? It took a bit for the cocktail to start working." She snapped her fingers and a folded piece of paper appeared in her hand. She opened it and stared at it for a bit. Then she handed it to Illya. "You'll probably recognize part of this."
Illya read the notations on the paper out loud. "25 mg 5 MeO, 400 ug lysergic acid diethylamide, 20g 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine. Bozhe moi, Paige." He whispered. "LSD, Mescaline and..."
"The kicker, a known beta blocker." She nodded. "Add to that a little EMF pulse for extra stimulus. Well, let's just say that things got really interesting very quickly. That particular combination blasted open a doorway that I couldn't close. None of us could." Her laugh was bitter. "They didn't count on that. We scared them. We could talk to each other, could tell where each was in the complex, describe events as they would happen and never once leave our rooms. What they didn't know was that we weren't alone. Something else was waiting for those doors to be opened."
"Phoenix?" Illya asked his eyes on hers. His voice was calm, but she could see the storm going on in him. He had the irrational urge to find those that had hurt her and eliminate them in every painful way he knew.
"Among others." She sipped her drink, listening to the ring of the phone peal once more from the house. An unconscious frown crossed her face for a moment then faded.
"He spoke about keeping the balance?" Napoleon was hesitant in his question.
"Ah, yeah, well..." she struggled for a way to explain the Balance. "Think of it almost like UNCLE and THRUSH. Only we're stuck in the middle, trying to keep it even." She set her cup down and gestured. "Our job is to keep the playing field even, the Nameless cheats, the One doesn't. Right now, we are fighting on the side of the One. That could change."
"Meaning?"
"There will come a life when we fight for the Nameless. We have in the past, we will in the future." She dropped her eyes. "That's what a Shadow Runner is. One who lives in the shadow, eschewing the Light and the Dark, existing in both." She shrugged and looked up at them both, her face unapologetic. The phone rang yet again catching her attention once more, this time her head cocked as she listened to the sounds of it being answered. She gestured for Napoleon to slide the door open and he did so, turning half way around in his seat to accomplish the task.
"I'm sorry but there's no one here by that name, I think you have a wrong number." Floated through the slider causing Shado's eyebrow to raise. "Like I said, sir, I think you have a wron..." Shado stood and moved to the open slider, trailing her fingers along Illya's shoulders as she did so.
Faln was standing by the futon, phone cradled on one shoulder, seeing Shado's appearance at the open slider she placed a hand over the mouthpiece. "Some guy keeps calling for a Naomi Sandburg..."
"Shit, give me the phone Faln." Shado said quickly. She took the piece proffered through the open door. "This is Naomi. Blair, honey is that you?"
"Mom?" Blair's voice sounded through the ear piece, and she grinned.
"Hey baby, how are you? Did you get my message?" she smiled at her husband ruffling the hair behind his ear as she listened for their son's answer.
"Mom." He said again, something in his tone catching her attention. She frowned and half turned away from the table, suddenly tense.
"Blair, honey, is everything ok?" inside the house she could see her "kids" gathering in the living room, her conversation easily heard through the still open door. Her tension was clear to everyone. There was no answer to her question. "Blair? Is everything all right?" she asked once more her voice sharp, behind her both Napoleon and Illya reacted to the tone as did the group in the house. Still there was no answer, only the click of the phone being disconnected. "Blair?" a heartbeat of waiting, "Blair?" only dead air. Confused for a moment she stared at the dead phone in her hand but then dialed the number to his dorm. Illya tugged on her hand, mutely asking a question, she shook her head and waited until the phone was answered.
"Animal House, chief Zookeeper here." The boisterous answer of the Chief Resident answered.
"Hey, Noel, this is Naomi Sandburg, Blair's mom, is he around?" she asked listening intently for his answer over the background noise of the dorm.
"Naomi! Let me check and see." There was a rustle of noise, then the sound of Noel's holler, "Hey Kevin, is Sandburg here?" A muffled shout was heard and he interpreted it for her. "Kevin says Blair left for class this morning, might check with Doc Stoddard."
"Ok thanks, Noel. If he comes in let him know that I called would you?"
"Sure thing, Naomi." There was a pause. "You need that number?"
"Hargrove Hall right? I have it thanks." She hung up the phone and punched in another number.
"Paige, dushka, is everything all right?" Illya asked concerned. He kissed the palm of her hand and she smiled at him.
"Not sure. That was Blair, but..."
"Dr. Eli Stoddard." Came the brusque voice of Blair's advisor and mentor.
"Eli, this is Naomi, is Blair there? He called but we got disconnected."
"Naomi. No I haven't seen Blair all day. He wasn't in class this morning." Eli sounded quite put out and she clenched her fist around the receiver.
"Are you sure, he wasn't sitting in the back Eli?" she was trying to keep the fear coursing through her under control. "Blair never misses class..."
"Naomi, he wasn't there. There was an exam scheduled for today and he should have been proctoring it for me since I had a meeting with Chancellor Edwards." Eli rustled some papers, "Someone else had to proctor it."
"Thank you Eli." She said slowly her eyes unfocused. There was a sick feeling swirling around in her stomach and suddenly her knees were weak. She hung up the phone and closed her eyes.
"Paige?" Napoleon asked sharply. She turned to face them both.
"Blair missed his class this morning. Blair *never* ever misses class." Her words were very soft but the tone was unmistakable. "I am not going to panic, I am not going to panic. There's obviously a reasonable explanation."
The ring of the phone in her hand made her jump and she stared at it for a moment before answering. "Hello?"
"'Allo, luvie." The heavily accented voice sent a chill down her spine. She knew that voice well. "Been a while hasn't it?"
"Sepheran." She said tautly. Both Illya and Napoleon jerked as if they had been shot. The name was very well known to them both, having battled against the THRUSH operative for most of their careers.
"You remember me. I'm honored ducks. Thought maybe you had forgotten all about me. After all it's been almost twenty years hasn't it?" he chuckled deeply into her ear. "Why don't you put me on speaker phone, there Naomi, or are you going by Paige once more? What I have to say is for all of you to hear."
"There's no one here but me." She started to prevaricate but he tsked her to silence.
"Now, ducks, I know for a fact that Solo and Kuryakin are sitting right there with you. Such a lovely little family reunion you have going there. Pity you are missing one member of the family. Go ahead, ducks, want them to hear what I have to say as well. 'S a nice little talent you have there, use it." The menace in his voice further chilling her.
Her heart in her throat she laid the hand set on the table. With a quick motion of her hand all could hear his words.
"Impressive ducks." Sepheran said smoothly, his voice echoing slightly in the stillness. "Always knew you had it in you. Isn't she something else, gentlemen?"
"Sepheran." Napoleon took over the conversation, the role of Number One coming to the fore. Illya, still holding her hand, pulled her up against him, sliding his arm around her to offer comfort. They all knew the significance of this call, though it had yet to be spoken. Keeper and the rest of the circle congregated just inside the slider, listening to the call as well.
"Surprised, Napoleon?" Sepheran gloated slightly.
"Frankly yes. Thought we blew you up years ago." Napoleon replied truthfully. Their nemesis had been reported killed in a laboratory explosion shortly after Illya's return to duty. "Obviously we were mistaken."
"Obviously." Sepheran chuckled once more. "Amazing isn't it?"
"Oh not really." Illya muttered, his voice just carrying to the phone.
"That's right. You have just recently returned from the dead yourself haven't you, dear Illya?"
"What do you want Sepheran?" Napoleon snapped.
"The usual, power, money, prestige, your heads on a silver platter." Sepheran's reply was flippant but rang with truth, he had wanted them dead for many years. "I have a guest here with me, would you like to speak to him?" A slight scrape of something moving was clear. "Say hello to your mum and dad."
"Mom?" Blair's voice cut her to the bone.
She forced herself to be calm when she found her voice. "Blair, honey are you all right?" amazingly enough she succeeded. Quickly she began to move along the bond that she shared with her son, seeking him through the astral. She knew that if she could trace him that way she would be able to tell where he was and effect his release with a minimum of effort. Focusing her concentration on the light that was Blair she started to travel. She could feel herself leaving the confines of her body, flying along the brightly colored strand that bound her to Blair. Trusting her instincts and abilities she poured more energy into finding him. She would have to hurry.
There. He was there surrounded by deep shadows, his light almost completely hidden from her sight, and in the shadows she could see movement.
"Mom, I don...." His reply was cut off and Sepheran's voice returned.
"He's fine, a bit frightened perhaps, but in one piece. For now." The line went dead severing her connection to Blair abruptly, catching her off guard and plunging her into the darkness that had him.
Only Illya's arm kept her from hitting the deck.