Reggie wasn't sure she liked the looks of the place- an open, exposed expanse of concrete with too many shadows.

"Too many horror movies start like this…"

Her own voice startled her; it echoed loudly in the empty plaza, emphasizing her sense of unease.

"Stop it," she hissed to herself.

The isolation of being 6,000 miles away from home was starting to wear on her. It was becoming maddening actually. She'd been cocky to think she'd handle it better; that she was immune. With Easter only ten days away Reggie had surprised everyone at her new job by offering to work their holiday shifts. Nobody knew it, but it wasn't actually money that was the issue- she'd managed to finance nearly all of her post graduate studies with grants, and whatever she hadn't convinced the United States Government to pay for, she'd taken out loans that would probably have her in debt till the sun went nova and burned up the bloody planet.

This brought a nervous chuckle to her throat. "Bloody!" she stated loudly to the darkness. The echoes of both utterances mingled till unrecognizable.

Slowly the audible sound of her muffled footfalls returned and her own internalizing once again distracted her. She had to work to keep herself from sitting alone in her flat- she left in the morning while it was still dark, sat through classes all day, and never returned home till after it was dark again. At least work had other people. Delivering Chinese food wasn't terribly glamorous, but having an American accent in the middle of Wales had certainly led to some interesting conversations with patrons…

With a clumsy stumble Reggie nearly up-ended the delivery she was carrying. She hadn't even seen the now-obviously uneven stone she'd almost killed herself on.

"Stupid!" she hissed again, approaching the lost looking door at the address her delivery was supposedly meant for.

The dingy and abandoned appearance of the door led her to double, and then triple check the address before reaching for the door buzzer.

"Who's there?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin- she hadn't even pressed the button yet. Living where CCTV was so prominent was taking some getting used to.

"It's…" she cleared her throat, "It's Chinese takeaway. Chow Mein, dumplings, and, uh, chicken friend rice. For… uhm… for Mister Owen Harper?"
She hadn't meant for her voice to go up at the end, turning her last statement into a question, but her nerves were still a little hot and had betrayed her.

There was a loud creak and the door opened inwards. Dull light spilled out in a triangle pattern at her feet as a skinny chap with dark hair and fiery eyes stepped into the doorway.

" 'bout fuckin' time… thought you'd gone off to Asia for it! And it's Doctor Owen Harper." He was surprisingly venomous for having just answered a door for food he was expecting.

"Sorry… Doctor Harper. That's… seventeen-pound-fifty."

"American, no fuckin' wonder you took so long, drive on the wrong side of the road then, bring it with from home? What the hell are you doing here? Are they all out of takeaway jobs in the states?"

The nervous chuckle crept back into her throat. "No, doing my postgraduate at Cardiff, just working to keep myself in the glamorous life to which most students are accustomed…" Her voice trailed off at the end; she knew he was being a patronizing ass, but she couldn't help hesitate under his inspection.

"Right, well let's have it then, before it gets any more cold and inedible."

Reggie pocketed the cash from the sale, and turned away from the door, slipping her gloves back on. She was midway through tucking the left one into her coat sleeve when the smarmy customer hollered at her again.

"Hey! You, what's your name?"

She'd had it- she was stressed, lonely, and not really in the mood to deal with a prickish Briton-
"Regina, Sir, Ms. Regina Martelli. With two 'l's. Anything else I can do you for this evening, Doctor?"

With the good doctor backlit it was hard to tell, but Reggie swore she saw his eyes narrow and a smirk at the corner of his mouth,
"Ballsy one, watch out!"

And with that the door closed loudly.

Reggie's Monday morning ritual was rather dull: up at 0300 to phone her father up for a half hour chat after he finished with work and the gym the previous day in the States, and then back to bed till 0600. From there she had advisory, and lecture before hitting the library. This Monday was with little exception.

At a quarter of two she was leaving the library with Anise and Sean, two of the first people she'd met at University. She'd called Anise Sunday morning to tell her all about Doctor Owen Harper, reenacting the snotty tone of voice, and laughing together over Reggie's growing adoption of British and Welsh slang, but leaving out the paranoia and loneliness. Anise was now ribbing Sean over a drunken phone call from Friday night, recounting the ordeal in painful detail, while Sean stuttered and made excuses, and Reggie laughed and gasped for breath.

Still laughing, but trying to regain her composure Reggie started to cough out an excuse for leaving before the story was over. She was walking backwards away from them, her cheeks rosy from the laughter and cold.

"Really… no, really, I'm sorry, I have got," she swallowed another chuckle, "I have really got to go! My thesis advisor is going to be furious if I'm late! Are you up to meeting at Incognito…."

Halfway through the last part of the sentence she'd begun to turn around and nearly ran right into Doctor Owen Harper himself leaning against a small stone retaining wall with his arms crossed.

"Urk!" She sputtered out. "Doctor Harper, I, I, erm, didn't expect to see you here on Campus, are you," she stifled another mild laugh, "Are you here on business?"

"No. I just thought I'd stop and see if there was a shortage of bright British youth in Cardiff, because I can't figure out why we're importing Americans now- especially in Cardiff."

Reggie coughed lightly, cleared her throat, and laughed nervously, unsure how to respond, unable to tell if he was tying one on, or being a total Nationalist ass.

"What I mean to say is, Ms. Martelli, what brings you to Cardiff? Certainly not the lovely weather."

"You hunted down your Chinese delivery girl to ask what she's doing in your country, and whether or not she likes the weather?" She knew instantly she'd failed to mask the petulance in her voice. He didn't say anything, merely quirking an eyebrow at her, and re-crossing his arms with the left over the right. She decided to answer his question, and see where it went from there.

"Well… actually, I finished my Bachelor's in Political Science back home, and, I, uh, I had been dying to get out of country to study somewhere else. And honestly, Cardiff accepted my fair grades. I didn't qualify for Saint Andrews. So here I am, studying… well, terrorism."

"Terrorism? They have classes for that now do they?"

Reggie had always had a problem, if you got her going about school stuff, she would keep going-
"Well technically not, it's part of a Criminal Justice program. But basically, I'm studying terrorism, security, and war. It's really important now, and there aren't enough people looking in to how and why these things happen. What about you? Are you studying sociology, or just making a habit of stalking and interrogating young foreigners?"

He didn't pay any attention to the curtness of her last statement, instead, he simply barreled through his own thoughts, "Well, if that doesn't sound like the most boring piece of shit… You came 6,000 bloody miles to hang around with boring old men and talk about sodding terrorists?!"

Apparently this was going to go exactly nowhere. "Yeah, that's exactly it. And right now Doctor Harper, I've got an appointment with my boring, old thesis advisor. It's been fun."

Reggie turned around, already late for the advisory appointment, and started briskly across campus. Owen followed for a couple of steps, spouting something inaudible, but Reggie thought at least part of it sounded like the word 'Chinese'.

"Sorry, you'll have to get someone else-" she called over her shoulder, "I'm off tonight!"

When Reggie left the faculty office it was already dark, and a cold breeze was blowing in off the bay. She slid her gloves back on, buttoned her coat all the way and made her way to the bus stop. She'd been waiting at the bus stop for nearly ten minutes when it started to drizzle- the cold wind and cold rain penetrating her water resistant coat and chilling her skin. After a quick call to Anise and her mates at the pub, Reggie phoned a taxi to take her directly there: if she stopped at home, she might not leave. The driver dropped her off in the well-lit City center. For a moment she simply stood and watched the traffic- there were loads of people still about. Sadly she realized that they would all be going home to their families. At least tonight she would have friendly company, and hopefully a couple of pints to warm her.

"Watch it!" A gentleman pushed past her on her right, and snapped her back to the present, climbing into the cab she had just vacated.

"Sorry!" She shouted over a particularly cold burst of wind and quickly crossed over to the door of the Incognito, laughing to herself at the irony. This was the only place she really knew anyone.

In through the first door the noise level was amazing, in through the second, the wonderful warmth and glow poured over her, defrosting her face and ears. Anise and Sean were flirting at the bar, no doubt fetching the next round, as she hung her coat on a hook and rubbed her arms with her hands.

"REGINA!" A man called from behind her, causing her to jump a little. Her friends, who were situated in the seating area to the rear of the establishment, had obviously been here a while. Massimo "Max", another international Student, from Italy, was definitely sotted. She waved and smiled at everyone and gestured to the bar. She squeezed in behind a couple of well-dressed men, lawyers or the like, and ordered a cider and a coke. It was still Monday, and she still had class and work the next day.

While she waited for her drinks she chatted casually with Sean about little things: his day, the weather, Anise. Because of the growing dinner and pub crowd it was becoming difficult to hear him, so she leaned in closer.

"Wait, one more time, I didn't catch a word of that…!"

"I said, 'Reggie, this guy was looking for you!"

"Guy? Sean, what guy, the only guys I know are you lot! I mean really…"

She was cut off by somebody tapping on her shoulder; she thought nothing of it, and turned around expecting to see Anise, or Max, or some random stranger trying to get at the bar.

"Hello, Regina!"

Not in a million years had she expected to see Doctor Owen Harper. The smile dropped from her face and her mind raced, she made a quick effort to paste on a cheery demeanor, so he wouldn't know how scared she suddenly was.

"Uh, Doctor," she cleared her throat, "Uh, hello, Doctor Harper! Hadn't thought I'd run in to you here. How… erm... how are you?!"

"Drop the 'doctor' shit, it's Owen! You didn't let me finish earlier…"

"Hey Reggie, Max wants to know if you goin' ta flirt with strange blokes all night, or you goin' ta flirt with hi…. You all right here?"

Reggie gave his hand a little squeeze, and exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. Both men were staring at her, awaiting a clue from her as to what happened next. Sean's timing for this brief interruption was miraculous. Owen Harper had seemed mostly like a harmless prick when she met him, but having him find her out of the blue twice in one day made him seem suddenly more dangerous.

"Sean, this is Doctor Owen Harper, I met him at… work the other day. Apparently we fancy the same ales. Owen: Sean, my friend, and neighbor."

The last part was a lie, but Sean had been intuitive enough to not correct it. He reached his hand out towards Owen, who at first narrowed his eyes disapprovingly, and then shook hands with him.

Sean spoke first, "Nice to meet you, Owen Harper. Doctor did she say? Well Reggie, I think that Max will be crushed you've met a real man, and not a sodding literary scholar." Owen, with his brow still furrowed, cracked a thin smile and nodded.

"Yeah, tell him that; that I've swept Reggie here off her feet." There was something unnerving about a stranger, especially one with an uncanny ability to locate you, using the name your close friends called you. Reggie simply forced a nervous chuckle and grabbed her beverages off of the bar.

"Well," Reggie's voice cracked, "Owen, I hate to cut our banter short, but my friends are waiting, I'll see you around?"

"You can count on it."

Sean carried both drinks back to the seating area. Anise had already joined the others at the seating area, and she was the first to notice the lack of color in Reggie's face and how curious Sean looked. Reggie squeezed onto the couch between Max and Anise, and Sean took the chair at the end. Anise put her hand on Reggie's thigh and looked her in the eyes, silently mouthing, 'are you okay?'

But subtlety was not Sean's strong point. "Alright then, let's have it. Who is this wank and what the hell just happened?"

Since Anise had already heard the story about Reggie's first encounter with Doctor Owen Harper, she sat quietly as Sean was caught up. Anise was not only shocked that Owen had tracked her down at school, but also that Reggie hadn't mentioned it. When she was done telling about what had just happened at the bar, she drank deeply from her cider glass, finishing it in a matter of gulps, and let out a cleansing exhalation.

"Well, that settles it, you're staying at my flat tonight. I've got a cousin who's a PC, maybe I'll ring him up, see what he has to say…" Anise was so cool headed; it was a relief.

Reggie couldn't just let it go. "Anise, I can't, you know that. I have to do loads of work, and I have to feed Ricky. I don't want him to end up floating just because I'm paranoid, seeing conspiracy where there's coincidence. I mentioned I went to University when I met him, and he probably overheard me mention the pub on campus earlier. He doesn't know where I live, and if you'd be kind enough to loan me Sean for my cab-ride home…?"

Max had finally noticed that they'd come back from the bar; he slapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned in heavily. "To hell with Sean, I'll come along too, y'need a real man to protect you, maybe stay the night to stand guard?"

At this they all burst out laughing. Her heart was still beating too fast, but at least she felt safer, surrounded by her friends. She ordered the third round, paying from her previous week's tips. Max was challenging anyone who'd listen to the pub quiz when another round arrived at their table. Since nobody had ordered another round- it was about time to head home- Reggie went to check at the bar.

There was a new bartender, and when she inquired about the round that was just delivered, the lady pointed her to a table where a familiar man was standing, with his back to her. A couple of pints and a shot had made her a bit bolder than she had been when he'd cornered her. She didn't even think about getting Sean, or anyone else for that matter, she was going to get to the end of this.

Owen spun with the reflexes of a cat upon her hand touching his shoulder. Obviously he'd had a couple of drinks as well- his smile was still that of amused sarcasm, but he was softer around the eyes.

"Ahhh, yankee doodle dandy! I knew you couldn't resist my pretty face!"

"Listen, I don't know who you really are, or what the hell you're playing at, but I will call the police if I have to!" Her voice was a fractured whisper at this point, her throat was tight with anger and fear.

Everything about him stiffened, and he stood up taller, towering over Reggie. "Oh. Call the police. Tell them I was rude to you, and that we were both at the same pub. Oh, be sure to throw in that I bought your friends a round of drinks… what do you think they'll do?" The last part came out like a low growl that made the hair on her arms and neck stand on end.

What happened next was still more terrifying. The man who had just made vague threats about her safety, and had in fact growled at her, started laughing wildly. Reggie tried to back away slowly, without drawing attention to herself, and was stopped by Owen's hand closing around her wrist. She was on the brink of giving in to her fight or flight instinct- she didn't know how much longer she could fake civility.

And at once, the laughing stopped. He leaned in close, drawing his lips back from his teeth, giving him the appearance of a snarling animal. His voice was barely over a whisper. "I'll bet you're scared right now. I'll bet, you're running through all the ways you were told to disable an attacker, all the little 'tricks' they taught you to foil rapists and murderers at college. It hurts not to know what's coming, what's next. Doesn't it?"

Tears burned in the corner of Reggie's eyes. She was completely alone in a room brimming with people. "I...I d-… I don't know what I've done. Please, leave me alone, just tell me what you want from me!" Her earlier brashness was coming back to get her now, and she knew it- her voice was hardly a squeak.

"Your mother… her name was Diane?" Instantly, all of the edge had gone from his voice- it was now a desperate hiss. He let go of her wrist.

Reggie's nerves were still coursing with fear, but he was so eager, and it was such a curious question. "That's right. Diane Holmes-Martelli. How did you know?"

Owen tossed back another scotch and wiped his mouth clumsily with the back of his hand. "Because," he rasped, "I knew your mother. You look so much like her."

Of all the possibilities that had raced through Reggie's fear addled mind, this was not even from the same dimension. She was talking rapidly now. "What do you mean… How could you have known her?! You're barely over 30, and she died when I was five; Lung cancer. It nearly killed my father. I mean…. You couldn't have been more than fifteen then, and I hope I don't look, at 25, like she did at 43. What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

He was still very excited, but the cold, terrifying look that he'd had earlier was gone. It was like it had never been there at all. Reggie suddenly regretted having that extra shot. Her head was swimming. She gripped the edge of the table firmly to steady herself. It was ages before either of them spoke again.

Surprisingly, Owen broke the silence, and his voice was even and logical. "No, no, you're right, what I'm saying can't make any sense. 'Cause if I had met your mother, Diane Holmes, just months ago, but years before she became your mother, then it would mean that stuff like time travel was possible, right? And that would be fantastic. What if it's not as happy as all that? What if you can't travel in time, but people can fall through it? One moment they're there, and then," he clicked his fingers, "They're gone. Left you behind."

His voice trailed off sadly. Reggie knew that he was a nut, and that she should head back to her friends, she should get out of here. It was too late; she HAD to find out what was going on.

"I know I'm going to regret this. Don't move… I'll be right back." She ran back to her friends, who were putting on their coats.

"Hey! Where'd you go? We worried you drowned in the toilet, we were about to send in Anise to find you. Are we flush with the bartender?" Sean was so easy and casual, it was surreal; everything had suddenly changed since she left, but only she knew it.

"Sure, yeah, we're good. I actually ran into, um, well, actually a friend from class, he's a patrolman. He sent the round over and after talking to him, he agreed to take me home. So, I mean, sorry Sean I know you were looking to play protector, but I've upgraded." Reggie put on a smile, and punched her friend in the arm. She knew that what she was doing was crazy, but she was certain she would be fine.

Sean was uncertain, "You're sure? I mean, you're absolutely sure, nobody's making you say this right?" He scanned the room behind her.

"Yeah, don't worry about me. He says it's probably just some local drunk anyhow, likes to, you know, 'play doctor'. I'll be fine. Give my love to Anise please? I'm tired and just want to head home."

She hugged Sean and Max goodbye, and watched them head out the side door. After they'd gone, with Sean pausing once to glance back and wave, she hurried back to where she'd left Owen. At first she feared he'd gone, but then she saw him coming out of the lavatory. She wasn't sure if she was relieved.

"Alright Owen Harper, doctor, tell me what you know about my mother, and how you know it."

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you, but not here. They'll be closing; we'll go to this place I know, down by the Millennium Center. They do teach girls to drive standard where you're from?" He held up a set of keys.

Reggie hesitated, but she supposed that homicidal men didn't usually use a girl's dead mom as a hook, and then ask the girl to drive their drunk ass around in their car. Still she couldn't figure out what was compelling her to go along with this.

"There's nothing else when it comes to cars as far as I'm concerned… let's get this over with." She snatched the keys from his hand and walked with him out into the dark.

"Owen, where are you parked? I don't know what kind of car I'm looking for."

"It's over here, it's a Honda s2000. See, there, under the street light."

"Wait, the purple one? With the police line around it?"

"It's blue. I don't want anyone to park near my car." He stated this last bit like it was perfectly reasonable to cordon off the street so you don't have to risk nicks in your paint.
"Don't forget, Dorothy- drive on left, we're not in bloody Kansas anymore!"

With Owen's directions and criticisms, and the general divergence of single direction streets, it was fantastic that Reggie had only needed to make three turn-rounds in the brief trip. She stopped the Honda in the car park as told, parking down at the end, away from any other cars.

She locked up and tossed his keys in his general direction, hoping he'd drop them and maybe that'd knock the cock out of him. Unfortunately he caught them easily without breaking his stride.

"Wait a minute, isn't your work down over there?" She turned in a circle, "Yeah, it must be, because if you go that way, you hit my work. I left the van here when I delivered to you Friday. You sure took us the far round way, didn't you?"

"Oh you're so damned smart; I live here, I had my reasons. Now just shut up with the questions till we get inside, it's freezing out here. The pub'll have karaoke tonight; nice collection of clueless, loud-mouths is just what we need, let's go."

Reggie was cautious to follow behind Owen by a few steps. She had willingly agreed to come with him, despite everything she'd been taught, but that didn't mean she was going to forget the paralyzing fear she'd had in the bar. His temper was too volatile for her to let her guard down. Another cold wind blew her hair in her face as she checked her watch. Half past eleven- dad wouldn't be expecting her call today, but still she had had to be up early in the morning. The time to decide how far she would let this go was going to come up quickly.

"So, this place you work? What is it you do there? I don't see much need for an unadvertised Doctor, behind a dingy door in the plaza…" A thought occurred to her, "or are you a less than legitimate type of Doctor?" They came upon a dark wood door with a pain of glass in the middle.

"Does talking keep you warm?" Owen held open the door, but as it was dark, Reggie stopped without taking another step. She was not going to let him get behind her in the dark.

"Fine- suit yourself!" Reggie had to move quickly to grab the first door as Owen turned and pushed open the second, inner door. The light and warbling voices were a shock to the senses after being in the cold dark, but Reggie hurried to follow him into the pub.

While unassuming on the outside, it was actually a rather large room with pub tables throughout, and benches and tables lining the walls. It was well lit, but still dark, probably because all of the wood in the room was the same color. This was obviously a popular place, especially having a late license; a small group of men was at the front crushed around a single monitor and microphone, belting out the chorus to a song that she simply couldn't recognize. Owen had been very accurate, the place was loud.

Apparently she'd managed to space out again.
"This way!" Owen shouted in her ear, as he closed his hand around her wrist and led her to a corner table. "Sit here," he pointed with his free hand while directing her there physically with the other. "I'll get a couple of drinks- you do drink, don't you?"

She was still silently mad at herself for letting her guard down, and first she nodded.
"Yes, I mean, I do drink, but I think I'll just have water."

"And I think you'll have Scotch, because what I'm going to tell you is going to require you good and pissed!"
When Owen returned later he brought four glasses with him. He'd been kind enough to bring the water, but he had three scotches, and all obviously doubles, or at least long pours.

Reggie started to speak, but mostly because she was still in disbelief that any of this was happening. She didn't need liquor to get her tongue going, just nerves. "You know, my father drinks Scotch, I personally have to have sour mix with it."

"Fucking Americans- sour mix! Why d'you always go and ruin a good thing? Drink!" He was incredulous, but almost normal.

Reggie steeled herself and did as she was told, immediately regretting it. Not because of the wooden flavor invading her throat, but because she'd just broken the primary rule of having a drink with a strange man: don't drink what he gives you.

"Fuck!" She mutters as she puts the glass down.

"Oh cut your bitching…"

"Owen, it's not the Scotch ok?" It was strange how easily she went from calling him 'doctor'. "I'm just pissed at myself for actually drinking it. How do I know you're not some sexual predator who drugs women? Why am I even here with you; trusting you!?"

"Please, I'd rather my dick rot off-" he downed the last swallow from his glass, "and I wouldn't have to drug you either, I bet you'd be plenty of eager with just a couple of sweet words..."

Reggie stood up quickly, cutting him off mid insult-filled tirade. "That's it, I don't know what the hell brought me here, or what you have to do with my mother, but I'm done."

The last part came out much more ferocious than she had managed at the Incognito. She was angry enough that she was breathing heavily, but Owen hadn't seemed to really notice. He was simply looking up at her, his eyes squinted and brow furrowed; examining her very much like a doctor examines a specimen. Reggie swung her coat back on in one fluid movement and started towards the door.

"You're so like her- Diane- but she wouldn't have put up with me nearly this long."

Reggie froze in her tracks. Her father always insisted that she was just as stubborn as her mother, and had the same temper. Now this stranger was there, telling her virtually the same thing. She was desperate to keep walking, to leave this mess here, but finally this was what she had come with him for. It was all about her mother. She swallowed hard, starting to feel the additional liquor in her head. Owen kicked the chair out for her, and held up a fresh glass of Scotch. Reggie sat back down, finally admitting to herself that she was going to miss class in the morning.