Thanks to my beta Kirsten! I should probably start with an apology for what I did to Alex in the last story - I didn't realise how much you all loved him! Sorry...

And another apology - this will be the last longer Lily story. They really take it out of me. The oneshots and possibly slightly longer ones will keep coming. In the meantime, I'm working on more Jibbs stories.

Dedication: For my Nan, who demands a copy of everything I write and can't work a computer. My printing bill seems to increase every month, but I love her to pieces.

Wilderness of Mirrors

Chapter 1: Prologue

Lieutenant Ryan Mayborne sat in the darkness, listening to the lash of the rain on the outer wall. He could still remember the rare hours of sunlight from earlier in the day – rare for here. His home, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, was always bright and sunny, and he found seemingly perpetual clouds annoying. He craved the sun on his face.

Even in the daytime, the sun did not reach here. It was permanently chilly; rather like it was outside, but the cold stone seemed to remove all possible heat. He shivered again, wishing he had thought to bring a thicker coat.

The blackness of the night enveloped him, pressuring him to continue chain smoking. He just enjoyed the little light that surrounded him, and the added warmth helped as well. But he was more of a social smoker and he was starting to feel very ill.

The last few weeks had been nightmarish. Everything had happened so fast and he knew he was in over his head. After this meeting, it would all be over. And it couldn't come fast enough.

He heard a scuffling, and jumped to his feet. His other senses were heightened due to the darkness and it was as though he could hear every little noise in this cold place. The scuffling sounded again and his heart pounded in his mouth. He forced himself to calm down. He was an officer in the United States Navy. Nothing should frighten him.

Except it did.

This whole situation terrified him. He was an aviator, not an international spy. And now he was stuck in this tangled web, with no way out except to see his handler. He knew of things that he shouldn't know about, things that no one should have to know about. He was the only one who knew everything, which meant he had to hold himself together until he could pass the information on.

He was convinced that someone had started to follow him. It was what had led to calling his handler early and demanding a meeting. He wasn't sure who it was, or if he was just jumping at nothing, but he could feel someone. Behind him in the queue at McDonalds, following him down the sidewalk, watching him constantly.

And the worst thing was not being able to tell anyone. If he did, he would be bringing down the whole of this… whatever this was, down on their head. He might end up with blood on his hands. He knew his life was in danger and he couldn't bring anyone else along for the ride. It would weigh too heavily on his conscience.

He thought briefly of Sam and Jayne. His insurance policies. If anything should happen to him, they alone would hold the pieces of this puzzle. They didn't know the truth – he couldn't tell them – but they held the keys.

He lit another cigarette, using the flicker of his lighter to view the area. It did very little to penetrate the shadows, which comforted him. If he couldn't see, then anyone after him couldn't see either.

Taking a very deep breath, he peered over the edge again. He probably shouldn't have made his way up here, but he needed to feel safe. And this place offered him a good vantage point. He would be able to see if his handler arrived with anyone, or if someone other than his handler showed up.

He preferred to be safe rather than sorry at the moment.

The rain continued to lash down on the roof, annoying him. If it wasn't cloudy here, it was raining. If it wasn't raining, it was cloudy. The brief glimpses of sunlight were all he lived for.

And the rain here was crazy! It didn't simply rain, it poured. Bucketfuls would suddenly drop out of the sky, soaking anyone and everyone caught in its path. It would start out of nowhere, and stop just as abruptly.

To top it off, it only ever seemed to rain when he had to go outside.

The noise also annoyed him. This place was never quiet, what with all the bars and clubs every two feet. Some weird baseline was always pounding out of a building on every street, and it became aggravating after a while. Did no one have anything better to do with their lives?

He heard another bout of scuffling. Cursing softly, he peered out over the edge. It was probably just a rat or something, but his nerves had been on edge for too long. All he wanted was for this to be over.

His trembling fingers found the light on his watch and he carefully looked at the time. Midnight. He was on time, so where was his handler?

A sudden dark thought crossed his mind. If someone had been following him, they might have worked out who he had called. And if they knew that, they could have done something to delay his handler, perhaps permanently.

He forced himself to calm down. Everything would be okay. Everything had to be okay. Good always triumphed over evil, and it would again this time.

A soft noise disturbingly close to him jolted him back to awareness. Someone was very close to him.

He turned and ran. The passageway was narrow and very high up, but he knew in his heart that he was no longer safe. This person meant harm to him. He ran and ran and ran…

And slipped.

In the darkness, the intruder watched as Ryan Mayborne, Lieutenant, United States Navy, died. Saint Hugh's shrine – two huge spikes rising from the floor of the cathedral – had pierced his heart as he fell.

It was a sudden death. A lot of blood, but abrupt. The intruder mused for a moment on the old belief that it was a sin to spill blood in a church.

And then the intruder turned and left, believing that no one would be able to piece together what a certain Ryan Mayborne had discovered.