"Sunshine and Honey"
	25th May 2008, Paphos The small hotel was not busy; he managed to find a room with a balcony that had magnificent views over the bay. The owner was uninterested in his guest, other than for his money, and Sean was pretty much free to come and go as he pleased. Now he was out of England, he had no reason to hide, and so he removed the contact lens, and allowed his hair to darken naturally he also started to grow a beard. The days were full of sunshine and honey; he slept for 10 hours a night, no nightmares to break into his dreams, just a memory of a woman with grey eyes whose smile made his heart beat faster. He went for long walks on the beach, barefoot and shirtless, stopping for lunch at a taverna at the far end of the town and enjoyed a salad with the olive studded bread and a glass or two of the local wine. The town was on a series of small hills, the whitewashed houses shone brightly in the sunshine and the people were friendly saying hello to his greeting. He wandered through the town, getting to know the place; it was littered with characters, who would sit out on the benches in the streets, watching the days go by, he had sat and talked with some of them. They would discuss events and people, some of whom were long dead, but he enjoyed their stories and spent many happy hours in their company. He practised his basic Greek with his new friends until he became reasonably fluent and during his afternoons he spent time down at the harbour talking to the fishermen, just being pleasant not intent on making friends until one of them, Andreas, invited him out for a day's fishing, after which it turned into a regular occurrence. He accepted, regretting only that his growing friendship was based on a lie. His beard grew thicker, and his tan deepened until he was almost as dark as Andreas. The exercise he took each day strengthened his leg and gradually his body and mind healed. He knew he couldn't stay here forever, but he was reluctant to move on; despite the warning voice in his head. Despite the long days being full of sunshine the feelings of discontent grew within him and started to caste shadows on the days. Even Andreas noticed, and with his usual good wisdom, "Sean, my friend, you have a path to travel, you are only delaying the inevitable." Sean had scowled at him, but he knew that Andreas was right, this was not the place to spend the rest of his life. He was looking for something, with no name to it. It was time to move on. 8th June 2008, Paphos Andreas had given him a present, a worry bracelet, used by men of the islands as a form of prayer. Andreas had removed it from his own wrist, and passed it over "Please, take this, I believe it will help you." It looked old, and well used, but he couldn't refuse without seeming ungracious and he didn't want to, "Thank you Andreas, I will always remember you." He walked away without looking back. A series of ferries, and boats took him to his next destination, Taranto, at the very base of Italy. He had no plans of what to do or where to go, but he just felt the need to keep moving; he used buses, trains, trying to blend in but his Italian was too correct though a few smiles and shrugs worked wonders at making friends 10th June 2008, Naples He stopped at Naples, booking in to a hotel overlooking the bay, after the last few nights of sleeping on seats he wanted, no demanded the luxury of a bed. After he had stowed his bag in his room, he stepped out on the balcony watching as the sun slowly sunk on the horizon. Despite his efforts at running away, he knew where he had to go, it was just going to be a matter of time before he gave in and followed the path that had been ordained. Back in his room he shaved off the beard, finding it increasingly uncomfortable in the dry heat. Before dinner, he sipped his whisky out on the main balcony reading an English paper for the first time in a few weeks. The stories it contained were the usual; the Health Service in crisis, the strike by transport drivers bringing chaos to the country, riots by the animal liberationists or students. He was glad that he was out of the country and not having to deal with the issues back home. It was that thought that made him sit up a little straighter, until then he had always thought that he would end up back in the UK sometime in the future, but now he realised that he would never return to his homeland. Deep in thought, he didn't see the figure approach him until he heard them speak "Sean. You old dog, I thought it was you." Sean turned his gaze to the figure, 6 feet 2 inches of tanned thin wiry muscle, with grey green eyes, "Will. Will Sharpe. What in Hell's name are you doing here in Naples?" The last time he had seen him was when they were both serving in P Sqadron, Special Air Services. Will had been a Lieutenant to his Major, he had initially been seen as a lightweight, but he had proved himself as willing to learn from more experienced men even those junior to him. He was surprised to see Will here, but then he told himself that nothing should faze him, he would take everything as it came at him. Will looked at him and lowered his voice; "Well nothing was the same after you left so I quit. The lump sum they paid, gave me enough to do some travelling and then some." Sean noticed, that Will didn't look him in the eye, it was clear to him that Will hadn't told him everything but then he realised that he was still thinking like a spook, something he was no longer, and he dismissed the thought and resolved to try and not analyse everything he saw or heard in the future. "What about you? You dropped out of sight after you left the army. No one heard or saw anything from you." The northern English accent was as blunt as the man himself, no disguising his background. "Why don't you have dinner with me, and I'll fill you in," he asked casually. Dinner was served on the balcony, the warm breeze filled with herbs and flowers tinged with saltiness from the ocean spray up from the bay. During the meal Sean updated Will with events, he couldn't tell him all, certainly not that the court martial had been a fictitious charge trumped up to conceal the fact that he was moving to MI9. But he came up with a convincing story that after the resignation of his commission, he had been travelling and taking casual work just until he decided on his career. "I don't have any plans as such, just drifting. Taking a bit of work on here and there." He looked out over the ocean, "sooner or later I will settle down, though where I am not sure." He turned to Will, "What about you? Any plans on where you go next?" Will nodded, "I thought I might go over to the US, big open spaces. It appeals, hiking, rock climbing, white water rafting. Interested?" Sean turned out to the setting sun, it was setting in the West. Now he had an offer to go there.. everything seemed to be pulling him to where she was. "There's no hurry, I haven't got any flights booked. So if you are interested we could travel together." Will smiled. Sean felt nervous; people smiling didn't always smile because they were happy, then he remembered his earlier decision and took another drink from his glass, and nodded, "Go on, but not the river rafting." He raised his glass, "Here's to old times, and friendships." "Old times and friendships." Will tipped his glass against Sean's. 13th June 2008 Naples Airport, 16.00hrs Their destination was Seattle, but they were due to change at Newark and had a couple of hours to kill before their connecting flight was in, but he didn't care. Sean had made all the arrangements, as he didn't want to tell Will about his new id, debating how to tell him about the swap in identities. The last few days had been busy, he realised that he was travelling far too light and he needed to get some clothes and a decent suitcase. His wallet grew noticeably thinner, but the Italian tailors were superb, the fine linen shirts would last for a while, as would the two suits he purchased along with some more casual wear. He still had money in the bank, but he didn't want to eat into that too much. His passport passed the security checks, and his suitcase was duly labelled and sent through the tunnels into baggage; the next time he would see it would be in Seattle. Passing through into departures, he noticed Will staring frequently at his watch, curious he watched a little more closely, he wasn't expecting anyone else, was he? Return