A/N: Welcome to my new fic! I hope you enjoy it, it's different than anything I've ever done and different from anything I've read. This story means a lot to me, because while I haven't experianced the heartbreak of losing a loved one in the war in the Middle East, thousands of others have. This story is for them! While you read this story please remember our Service men and women who are fighting right now!
I took the liberty of Changing Christine's name to Christina...not a huge change, just something to mix it up a bit. Drop me a line and let me know what you think! A huge thank you to my Beta! Without her there would be many many errors :) Enjoy!
Disclaimers: I don't any of the characters...but the characterizations and story line in this story are all mine!
Left…right…left…right…the pattern was pounded into the pavement under her feet.
Christina Davies kept her eyes on the pavement ahead of her and focused on her rhythm, making sure her breathing was even and calm. She always enjoyed her evening run; it helped her clear her mind so she could think clearly. Even during Basic Training she had loved this part of the harsh physical fitness regime that the trainees were put through. It was one of the few times in that long nine weeks that she had been alone, alone with her thoughts and feelings.
It seemed like a lifetime ago when she'd enlisted in the Army Reserves and been shipped off to the largest training center in the United States Army, Fort Jackson, in sunny South Carolina. Or, as it was more affectionately known in the Army circle 'Relaxin Jackson'. But that had been a mere three years ago, and a lot had happened since she'd returned home from her intial entry training.
Left…right…left…right…
Christina closed her eyes briefly, trying to shut out the thoughts that were invading her mind, trying desperately to ignore the memories that danced before her. Forcing herself to open them again she focused all her energy on running…that at least was safe.
Three years ago she'd left the love of her life, Rodney, to go to Basic Training and Advanced Job Training. He'd been the driving force behind her decision to enlist in the first place. He had spent three years in the Marine Corps and re-uped for another three years, so was 100 pro-military. When she'd had trouble getting school loans he'd suggested she look into the Army. Not thinking much of it she had…and before she knew it, she was on a plane to South Carolina. A year and a half after her return she had returned to school and she and Rodney had become engaged…but fate would not be so kind…
Sixteen months ago Rodney had received a phone call…he was being deployed to Afghanistan…just two days before they were to be married.
Christina remembered the look on his face as she watched him climb aboard the plane along with the rest of his unit…the face she'd loved for five years, the face she'd seen in her dreams while she was away…the face that got her through the hardest times in Basic Training. It was a look of pride and love, love for his unit, for the corps, for his country…and for his fiancé. She waved to him, earning a small smile in return before he disappeared into the bowels of the cargo plane.
She wrote him letters every day, sent him care packages and waited by the phone for the rare call she'd receive from him. When she wasn't writing to him, she was in school…throwing herself into her work without a second thought…anything to make her forget her empty home, forget that her love was fighting a war.
And so she started her routine. She would come home from school and do any work that needed to be done. Clean, write a letter to Rod, laundry, then she would go for her run. Her three mile circuit routed her away from her comfortable townhouse, down into a more 'posh' section of town where the homes were huge and seemed alone on their grand lots…she loved the huge, ancient trees that lined the street and the beautiful mansions that rested far back from the road. Hardly any cars passed her as she ran, not that she would really notice anyway.
Just six more months; then Rod would be home and they could get married! Six more months…what could possibly go wrong in that short amount of time?
As she did every evening, Christina stopped in front of the curving driveway of her favorite house. She had no idea who lived in it, but she didn't care. It was gorgeous! Made from stone, it appeared to be a three-story house. She couldn't even imagine how many rooms were nestled inside. The ivy growing up the walls and the two large rose bushes flanking the huge oak front door gave it an old world charm. Every evening she stopped in front of the gate and looked in…imagining what it would be like to live in such a house.
After a brief pause she started off again. Left…right…left…right. Always keeping an eye on everything around her she started down the little two lane road, never looking back.
What she wasn't aware of was the man in the second story window who every evening would watch for his runner, watch as she stopped in front of his gate and looked up at his home with a wistful look on her beautiful face. Like clockwork the specter would pace in front of his office window and wait for her…he didn't know her name, what she did, where she was from. All he knew was she was beautiful.
He had no fear that the girl would see him in the window watching her like a freak, no one ever saw him. It's hard to see a ghost…
Erik Montgomery sat back down at his desk. He'd gotten his daily glimpse of her…now he was able to continue his work. As he sat looking at the ledger book in front of him, he allowed his mind to wander as it often did in the course of this rather mind-numbing work. He thought of what it might be like to have a normal life, one where he could run out in the day as she did. To allow himself to be seen outside the gated lands that guarded
He slammed hiss fist down angrily on the desktop. He knew from experience that thoughts such as those were dangerous and only led to heartache and misery.
He ran an absent hand over the smooth leather of the pristine white mask that covered the right side of his face. Fate was a cruel mistress and had robbed him of everything he held dear. His fingers stilled, his hands clenched into tight fists.
Until that night three years ago Erik had everything he'd ever dreamed of! A house, a wife and a daughter…he was so happy! His business was thriving both in the United States, Great Britain and France. His beloved wife Alexis and their little angel, Madeline…Lord how he'd loved them!
Then three years ago they'd been torn away from him…along with his face.
He would never forget that night; never in a million years would he forget the horror of that night. It had started out innocently enough. He and Alexis had put Madeline to bed and were curled in front of the fire indulging themselves in a glass of wine. The cook, housekeeper and butler had left for the night, leaving the lovers alone. Erik was a civilian contractor for the US Government. He, along with a panel of scientists, military advisors and engineers, devised new weapons and technology for the ongoing war in the Middle East. His wife…his loving little wife was a teacher. His life was perfect. They were just sitting there, listening to the soft crackling of the fire when a disturbance outside interrupted their night at home. At first it sounded like nothing but a scuffle, perhaps the neighbors were arguing again…
But when a brick flew in the window, raining shattered glass down upon, them Erik knew it was more than a mere argument. He sent Alexis up to check on their daughter while he investigated the disturbance outside. He was more than a tad alarmed when he saw nothing outside his home. He circled the perimeter cautiously, but again found nothing. It wasn't until he heard a woman's screams that he knew anything was wrong. He ran to the front of the house and, to his horror, saw that his living room was on fire.
His only thought was to get to his wife and daughter, trapped upstairs. He ran into the house, the heat of the fire burning him. He vaguely heard sirens, one of his neighbors had the good sense to call 911, it seemed. He heard Alexis screaming his name. He tried to make his way up the stairs but the flames from the living room had quickly overtaken the staircase. He hurried down the hall to the kitchen hoping to go up the back stairs, but to no avail. He stood in the foyer calling for his wife, but her screams had long since died away. He was about to run headlong into the flames when a support beam crumbled and fell, hitting Erik and trapping him.
As he screamed in agony, the flames ate away the flesh of his face. He prayed for death, for he couldn't live in a world without his wife and child, knowing he had failed them. He had failed to protect them and he'd let them die!
But Erik was made of stronger stuff than to let his injuries kill him; he lingered in a coma for days, having suffered severe burns on his face and right side. His elderly butler, Stephan, and housekeeper, Marie, stayed by him in the hospital and through his recovery. His business partner and long time friend Nadir kept his business afloat, his military projects going and of course dealt with the funerals for Alexis and Madeline.
He hadn't the heart to tell his friend what had been found upstairs in the little girl's room. The trauma from the night was enough. Mercifully, Erik was still comatose when they buried his beloved wife and daughter. When he had finally awakened, Erik wouldn't speak for weeks. Nadir explained to him that the fire marshal had declared the fire an accident and no one was apprehended in the brick-throwing incident. The FBI had investigated it, fearing that members of the Al-Qaeda network or other terrorist group had been behind the attack but found no evidence of it. They speculated it was some young teenager, looking to cause a little trouble.
Nadir helped Erik rebuild his shattered life, though he found that while one could rebuild walls and buy new furniture, nothing could replace all that Erik had lost that night.
To make matters even worse, numerous attempts at skin grafts and plastic surgery could do nothing about Erik's devastated face. He was a monster, he'd promised to protect his family and he'd let them down…finally he had the face to go with the label.
Erik shot out of his chair, refusing to wallow any longer in self pity. It never got him anywhere but depressed and angry. Many tables and chairs had suffered because of his anguish. Nadir and Stephan no longer even raised an eyebrow when Erik would destroy every piece of furniture in a room.
After another round of pacing, Erik settled himself back at his desk, with all the upcoming months of physical therapy and doctor's appointments he would be unable to keep up with the demands of the job. The supervisor of Erik's section told him that if he decided to come back he need only ask. Erik was sure that he would never return.
Instead, he turned to his old profession…engineering and architecture. Because of his intelligence and skill, Erik Montgomery was a very rich man…very rich indeed. But what was wealth if you had no one with whom to share it?
Erik looked down at the numbers in front of him and forced his mind to his work, away from his past. Not before idly wondering what his mystery woman did, what her name was…
Christina threw her backpack on the floor next to the door and hit the play button on her answering machine. Of course her friend Megan had called to remind her they had a shopping date for the coming weekend, and her mother had called to say hello. Nothing out of the ordinary… just another day.
That evening it had rained a bit, not heavily, but enough to make the roads slick. At first, Christina thought about forgoing her run, but her need to be out and to rid herself of the nervous energy that seemed to take hold of her since Rodney's deployment refused to allow her a day's reprieve.
She tightened the Velcro on the bright yellow reflective belt that she always wore around her waist. Her shirt had reflective lettering and symbols on it, but she never took any chances for distracted drivers to not see that. It was hard to miss the bright, neon yellow belt around her waist, even in the dark. Taking care to make sure her shoes were tied tight, she set off on her normal route.
Even though she listened to music while she ran, she never had it on loud enough to drown out the sounds around her. She was surprised by the car that passed her, a silver Mercedes SUV. A vehicle like that was not uncommon in this neighborhood, but it was odd to see any cars on this road this late in the evening. As she was coming up to her favorite house, she was unaware at the forces at work around her.
Erik was just stepped out of his Mercedes SUV; he'd passed his runner on the road, which had filled him with a tension that he couldn't pinpoint. He'd had a rare dinner meeting with some potential clients and Nadir. For his friend's sake, he had suffered the sidelong glances and rude stares. He was pulling his briefcase out of the back when he heard his runner approach his driveway. His first impulse was to hurry inside, but he couldn't move. He had to see her.
He noticed with slight interest that the family who lived across the street from him had just returned home with their three children who were screaming, happy to be out of the confines of the family mini-van. It was then that everything seemed to happen at once…
The youngest child had wandered away from her squabbling parents, toddling down the driveway and out into the street as she chased a small rabbit, giggling in happiness as she did. Then he saw her, in all her glory and beauty… and then he saw the rapidly approaching headlights. He heard the squealing of brakes as they locked up, then a dull thud, and then the screaming began. He tore down his driveway, his own insecurities about being seen in public forgotten as he saw his runner lying on the pavement, clutching the screaming little girl to her chest.
As the driver got out of the car and the child's mother approached, Erik came to a halt next to Christina's still form. His heart was in his throat as he bent down to see.
Christina felt the baby struggling against her. With a groan, she released the child so she could run to her hysterical mother, who promptly scooped the little girl up and hugged her to her chest. Christina tried to push herself off the pavement, but felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and heard a voice of pure seduction telling her to remain still, that an ambulance was on its way.
She opened her eyes slowly and found herself staring into the most beautiful and unique golden/green eyes she'd ever seen.