Chapter 4: Skin

"Marshmallow?"

He started at her voice, and let out a sigh of relief when he realised that it was her.

"I didn't know Unicef gives out marshmallows," he commented, joining her at the fire.

Alexis slowly turned the branch to roast the other side. "They don't. It's private stash. Sit down. Dom and Pierre are joining us after their shift is over."

Archer's joints cracked audibly as he made himself comfortable opposite her, the crackling fire between them.

"Getting old, hmm?" she asked none too subtly.

He grinned. "Since you're dying to know, I'm thirty-one."

She took her marshmallows off the fire and inspected them. "My guess was pretty close then."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty-three."

She glanced at him, fire dancing and flickering in his eyes, then tossed him a branch. "Help yourself. I have a whole bag of marshmallows to roast before the fire goes out."

Archer reached over and dragged the bag to him. "Why don't you share them with the refugees, huh?"

"It won't be fair."

"What won't be fair?"

"Only a few will get the marshmallows."

"Well, a few getting marshmallows is better than none getting any, huh?"

Alexis carefully bit into a marshmallow and tore it away from the branch with her teeth. "Well, no. It's better that no one gets any, so no one would want any, and no one would want to kill anyone."

He nodded slowly, as if digesting what she had said. "Interesting logic."

"I hate that word," she made a face. "Logic. A bit pretentious word that no one understands, really."

"That's not true," objected Archer. "It just means an organised train of thought."

"Logic," said Alexis. "Is a branch of philosophy."

Archer smirked at her. "That's why you dropped out, huh? Law's all about logic, I've heard."

She held up a finger and wagged it. "Uh-uh. Law's all about the dollar sign, not logic, not anything else."

He took a long look at her. "A cynic, huh?"

"Not unlike yourself," she quipped.

"How would you know I'm a cynic? You hardly know me."

Alexis finished off her marshmallow, running her tongue across the roof of her mouth to get rid of the sticky, sweet residue there. "Maddy talks about you, you know. And to be honest, it gets pretty damn annoying."

"Does she?" His eyebrows rose a few inches. "So what did she tell you about me?"

"Well, she told me you're a cynic," she started off, staring straight at him. "She told me you're from Rhodesia, you told her to piss her when you found out she's a journalist- and that you smuggle diamonds."

Archer paused as if in disbelief, then narrowed his eyes at her. "You were eavesdropping."

She smiled pleasantly. "Correction: I was walking by an open window this afternoon, and you were talking a bit too loudly."

He openly glared at her. "So what do you want from me, huh?"

Alexis looked up at him, surprised "What makes you think I want anything from you?"

Archer laughed, a short sarcastic laugh, and stood up, pacing like a caged panther. "Come on, Miss Devereaux. It doesn't take a genius to work out what kind of person you are."

She tilted her head to one side, as if puzzled. "What kind of person am I?"

He turned abruptly and fell onto one knee right in front of her- perhaps a bit too close for comfort- and fiercely whispered, "You are not ruining this for me, you hear me? I'm going to Kailahun and nobody, least of all you, is going to stop me."

Kailahun. Looks like they were headed to the same place.

Alexis grinned, just to piss him off a bit more. "Mr. Archer, are you suggesting that I will blackmail you?"

"I think you would know the answer to that."

Alexis half-opened her mouth, both amused and offended, trying to figure out what to say. "So, you've called me a spoilt bitch, and now you're telling me I'm a blackmailer?"

Archer stared at her, as if challenging her to say otherwise. "So what if I am?"

She deftly stood up, folded her arms defensively across her chest, and said, "Well, I'm telling you, Mr. Archer, that I have no intention whatsoever of blackmailing you."

Archer stood as well, now towering over her, obviously trying to intimidate her with his height. Well, tough luck. She was nowhere near intimidated.

"What makes it so hard for you to believe me, hmm?" she demanded, glaring at him.

He was all but sneering at her, that infuriating look of self-assurance and scorn on his face. "Tell me, Miss Devereaux. Would you trust me?"

She answered, out of sheer defiance, a resounding, "No."

Archer spread his arms out, as if making an important point. "Exactly. You don't trust me, huh? You and me, Miss Devereaux, we're the same kind of people. Only idiots trust people like us. "

"So basically you're saying I'm dishonest and immoral, on top of being spoilt and selfish?" Her lips curled up in sarcastic amusement.

He shrugged, shoving his hands into their respective pockets. "You say that as if it's a bad thing. But it's us who make it out on top, you know, huh?"

Alexis smirked. "For someone who's trying to persuade me not to sell your secret, you're trying really hard."

Archer considered this, then as if in surrender, he let out the breath he was holding, his shoulders slumping forwards as he did so. Then, in a compromising tone, he said almost pleadingly, "Now, listen. I need this stone, okay? I just need you to keep it to yourself, and after I find it, I promise you'll have a share, huh?"

Alexis shook her head, looking away in near disgust. "So that's how you live, huh? Begging and talking your way around people? It must be a very fulfilling life, I see."

One corner of his lips lifted in sardonic mirth. "Not everyone was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Miss Devereaux. There isn't exactly a whole wide world of opportunities for a white boy in Africa."

"Why don't you get out of this country, then?"

"Why not, huh? That's why I need this stone. It's my ticket out of this godforsaken continent."

"I can get you out of this country," replied Alexis without thinking.

He chuckled, genuinely amused. "And how much do I have to pay you?"

Alexis almost punched him in frustration. "Will you fucking listen to me? I don't want anything from you. Which part of the sentence don't you get?"

He pursed his lips. "Possibly the whole all?"

"For a clever man you are quite thick."

He grinned at her paradox. "Why would you want to help me anyway? I'm a big, bad man, Miss Devereaux."

"Because I feel sorry for you," she said, more out of contempt than truth.

Alexis watched the grin slide from his face, a stony, reined-in temper now in its stead. He took two carefully measured steps forward, then reached up to take her chin delicately between his thumb and index finger and tilted it upwards ever so slightly so she was looking straight into his blue eyes.

"You can hate me, by all means, do, but don't feel sorry me," he said, slowly and deliberately, his glare piercing.

Then he stepped away, and brushed past her. She turned her head to watch him stride away purposefully, his shoulders hunched in a defensive manner, his forest green shirt billowing as he walked against the breeze.

"Getting under his skin, are you?"

Alexis grinned half-heartedly at Dom's comment, which came from behind her, and said casually, "I'm working at it.' She turned around and smiled brightly. "Marshmallow?"

Dominic didn't bother covering his mouth as he yawned languidly from where he was sitting.

"I'm hitting the sack," he announced, scratching his back. "'Night, Alex, Pierre."

"I think I'll get going too," said the Frenchman, getting onto his feet as well. "'Night Alex. I'll see you tomorrow morning. We have the seven o'clock shift."

Alexis groaned. "Shit, Pierre, I was hoping you've forgotten about that."

He chuckled. "Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"Yes, mum," she deadpanned.

She listened as the boys made their way into their rooms, the low murmur of voices and shuffle of feet as they moved around. Then all fell silent, and she sat, staring thoughtfully into the firelight, her bejeweled fingers fiddling with the ends of her dark brown hair which gone unwashed for two days already.

How she missed civilization.

With a sigh, she grabbed the plastic cup of water Dom left behind and doused the fire. Dragging her steps, she slowly went up the stairs.

Only to find someone in the doorway.

Alexis noted quietly, "A bit too dark to be admiring the scenery, hmm?"

She could hardly make out his face in the dark, but she could tell by his tense posture that he was far from a happy bunny.

Without answering, he moved so that he was leaning on one side of the doorframe, making way for her. She slipped into the space, shaking her hair from her face, and folded her hands neatly behind her lower back, palms on the rough wood. Sliding her feet forward, she stopped when she felt her knee bump into his.

"I think we're in a deadlock, aren't we?" she asked quietly.

"I have a proposal," he said curtly.

Alexis leant her head back against the doorframe, her eyes, now adjusted to the dark, sought out his. "Actually, so do I."

"I'll make sure you get to the camp, and I'll get permission for your jet to land there. I know the colonel well."

She more or less snorted. "I'm sure a wad of cash would do the trick."

"It's an army you're dealing with, not some brainless government fool," he ground out. "Money will get you nowhere."

Alexis rolled her eyes, though she knew he wouldn't see her. "Why don't you hear my suggestion out first?"

Archer shifted, as if bracing himself.

"Take me with you."

Silence.

"What?"

"Take me with you on your hunt," she repeated.

"No."

"That's it? No?"

Alexis fancied she heard his teeth grind. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be?"

"Even better," she said lightly. "It will be the perfect story."

She could hear the confusion in his voice when he asked, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm writing a book," she informed him.

He laughed. It sounded good, a deep throaty laugh which was, for once, not spiked with bitterness which she had heard so much from him.

"That's crazy," he declared. "You're not going."

Alexis smiled. "Are you worried about me?"

"I'm worried about my own ass, more like."

"I'm touched," she returned with a touch of humour.

A soft wind blew, ruffling the leaves in the trees. Alexis looked up at the curve of the moon and marveled at how quiet everything was. She wondered what time it was- she had left her watch in her room.

"Were you joking about the book?" Archer asked after a moment.

"No. I started writing a few days ago, in fact."

"What's it about?"

Alexis grinned to herself. "It's about a man who walks into a bar."

"Sounds like it's destined to be a bestseller, huh?" replied Archer lightheartedly.

"Mmhmm."

"So does my offer still stand?" he asked.

"Only if you promise me my story."

"What story?"

"Your diamond hunt."

"So the story's about me?"

She shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."

Archer sighed in resignation. "Okay."

Alexis extended her hand to grasp his. "Deal."

Edited 26 May, 2012

I'm sorry for the delay, school got in the way, I'm afraid. Alex is starting to bond with our favourite man, yay! Thanks for reading guys, your comments are much appreciated.