This first story is a Roswell/The Bourne Identity movie[s crossover. Roswell belongs to Metz/Katims/Fox, and TBI belongs Robert Ludlum and Universal Studio Pictures.

Bad Things

Jason Bourne stared at the petite form of his adversary, cocking an eyebrow, and marvelling that such a tiny thing could have caused him so much trouble to track down.

"Selene, huh?" he grunted, trying not to show the pain or the surprise he felt when her small booted foot made it past his defenses to connect solidly with his ribs. Twisting about and launching a counterattack that had her dancing out of his range, he continued to bait her.

"Greek goddess of the night, surrounded in tragedy. A little overdramatic, don't you think?"

The Treadstone trained and Blackbriar honed assassin, Selene, came at him with an inherent grace and skill that had been discovered and refined by her brainwashing happy superiors.

"Well, Elektra was taken. Copyrights."

Bourne fought his smile at her retort, sketchy memories of previous meetings confiming that the lethal beauty in front of him was the real deal. His admiration of her prowess only grew as she played along with his game of feint, jab, kick, and repeat. There was a passion and zealous edge to her style that he had seen in himself only .

"Liz Parker."

She was too well trained for her surprise to show, but Bourne knew just the same, as her knife-edge karate chop faltered enough to miss his throat and clip his shoulder instead.

Selene took a step back, arms at ready and watching him warily, yet not attacking and Bourne knew he had her attention. He knew she was trying to analyze her reaction to a name that by all rights should have meant nothing to her, and yet it did, and that part Bourne knew would frustrate her. Drive her to seek the meaning behind that reaction. Eyes the color of earth peered both at him and inward, while the sable of her hair came to rest with the lack of movement.

"Liz Parker," Bourne repeated. "Elizabeth Claudia Parker. That's you, that was you, before Tredstone. Before Blackbriar forced and re-shaped you into what you are now. What we are."

Jason Bourne could see the exact moment that it clicked for her. Something in her brain made the connection through years and layers of conditioning and brainwashing to the person beneath the merciless veneer. Those eyes, normally and recently so cold, melted into warm chocolate, and the expression in them made her seem less the seasoned killer he knew she could be, and the person that she should have been, had been, before.

"David?" her voice quivered, sounding so much younger than her years, and something tight and painful in the region of his heart eased, along with his pent up breath.

"It's me," Jason Bourne, the man once known as David Webb, responded gently.

Cautiously, he approached, not wanting to startle her.

"Oh, God. What did they do to us?" Liz Parker eased out of her ready stance, looking like a lost little girl and Jason - David - couldn't resist any longer.

She didn't protest when oh-so-familiar arms wrapped about her, enveloping her in a cocoon of strength, comfort, safety, and most importantly of all, understanding.

"Bad things, Liz-girl. Bad things," he murmured into her hair.

finis