Synop and Story: Rocky Dalton

Characters: Kwai Chang Caine and Cyndi Balmont

Violence: None

Time: This takes place during Who is Kwai Chang Caine. Caine contemplates the role that he is about to portray and the consequences it may cause.

Author: Alisa Joaquin

Disclaimer: All characters are borrowed except those created by me. All other characters (from KF:TLC and we know who they are) are property of Warner Brothers. I promise to give them back when I am done with them (of course I do not know how long that will be.) I give permission to archive.

Rocky Dalton

by

AJ

The face in the mirror was the same but the hair and the mannerisms were different as night and day. It was a necessary thing if he was going to succeed. He knew his son was worried about him, but he could not allow Peter to find him too soon, so Kwai Chang Caine had to disappear completely. The three months in hiding, he knew had been hard on Peter, and yet the hardest part will be seeing him, again. He knew Peter would want to speak to him alone, but he could not acknowledge that he knew the young man and what Peter meant to him. The illusion could not stop there. If he was seen by Peter's friends, even they would have to be fooled into thinking that his amnesia was real, that he had digressed to another place and time. The only other person who might be hurt through this was Mary Margaret. She had witnessed his "accident." To deceive her was just as unpleasant, but if he didn't, what he had sensed from her when he held her hands in Delancy's might come to pass. He could not allow that. To stop it, he knew he had to become part of it.

Kwai Chang Caine thought about the past three months and who and what he had to become. It had required a totally different life-style and background. Even his clothes had to be different, even though it was meant to be temporary. No remaining piece of Kwai Chang Caine had to be present, even in his disguise. When he acquired his new suit of clothes, they felt awkward, not as comfortable as his own loose fitting silks. Still, it did its part in creating the illusion of being another person. If it had not been for Cyndi Balmont, he might not have been able to pull it off as effectively. Within a few days of his disappearance, he had discovered that Cyndi was living in an apartment not far from Chinatown. She was working at a nearby theater, trying to establish herself as an actress. Caine also discovered that she was the daughter of a long-time acquaintance, a person whom he knew from his younger days, someone Peter would certainly not expect to even have a child from the man's attitude and leanings in the world.

Caine looked into the mirror and brushed his hair back into the style that Rocky Dalton had been accustomed to and nodded his head in approval. Highlights of pale red and blond had been added just to give him a little more youthful appearance and to again add to the illusion that even though he looked like Caine, he certainly did not dress like him. At first he thought that he would only alter a small part of himself, but that would not complete the illusion. It was not enough just to become a gambler. That gambler had to have a past and Kwai Chang Caine had to be connected to that gambler in some way. Then Caine thought about a man he had met in his younger days in his travels before he met Laura. That man had been a real gambler, but the man had sought out a different life than the one he had known for many years. He had style and yet he was a man of many talents. He could play the piano, dispense philosophy, and when he entered a room, all eyes turned toward him. He had a presence that could only be described as magnetic. His name had been Rocky Dalton, and that was who Kwai Chang Caine had to become. To make the illusion complete and his amnesia believable, he enlisted the help of Master Kahn. They both worked up the story because Caine knew that once Peter would make contact with him, he would want answers. Some day, he would tell his son the truth, but for now, Kwai Chang's past needed to be jaded just enough to explain why he had been found gambling in a casino. The most difficult part to hide, however, was his abilities in Kung Fu and even those of a Shambhala Master. He would simply have to use them. After all, they would come in handy as the weeks and months slipped by.

So Kwai Chang Caine again looked into the mirror of the hotel bathroom that had been his home for three months, straightened his tie, slipped on the dark green jacket of his suit, and once again said hello to Rocky Dalton. He then moved to the desk and picked up the cash that he had won from the day before, and headed to the casino and the girl who waited for him. Tonight will certainly be the night. He had seen Captain Simms and Kermit Griffin sitting at the bar the day before and he was certain that Kermit would be sure to let a certain Shaolin cop know where "his father" would be found.

Rocky Dalton took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It would not do to show any fear or recognition. The hardest part will be to look into his son's eyes and deny that he even knew him. The illusion must be complete, or he would certainly loose all resolve and his son and friends would die. If he could get past that obstacle, there may be a chance.

Rocky Dalton caught the eye of the young blond woman sitting at the bar.

"Are you ready to go to work?" Cyndi Balmont asked him quietly.

Rocky Dalton gave her a shrug that was all too reminisent of a certain Shaolin Priest. "Just remember when this is all over you must contact your father and let him know where you are." He pointed a fatherly finger in her direction.

"Deal. Shall we see what damage we can do at the poker table?"

"As a close friend of my son is fond of saying, 'Oh Yeah.'"

End