insert obligatory 'YES I'M DONE' comment here
New York, USA
It had been a week. A week of countless research, investigation, and furthered arguments on what exactly to do with Jason Bourne.
This in itself was like any other week. The only different part was that now, people agreed with her.
'Are you still looking for Bourne? I thought the case was closed.'
It was. Finally.
The inquest had turned up nothing but heavily burnt scraps of fabric and the wreckage of their vehicle. The incisions along the scraps were too jagged to be cut deliberately, and by all accounts the car had simply swerved out of control and crashed.
Tired with the constant flow of uninterrupted questions and theories about Bourne's disappearance, the teams working around him had simply given up, under order by their supervisors based on popular vote. As far as they were concerned, he and Parsons were dead. To suggest otherwise would earn nothing but perhaps angry looks from Landy's direction.
'I've spent three years running. Three years trying to find out who I am.'
The same three years, while not as excruciating for Pamela as they had been for him, were also filled with the same frantic searching and desperation. It had taken its toll on everyone involved-resulting in countless deaths and arrests, even. To continue such a thing would be insane. Useless.
And everyone else was just beginning to see it.
Pamela was more relieved than she had the right to be, considering. But life had been almost normal during the last few days of that week. Marie had called, questioning the outcomes that had not yet made it to the news in Europe. She too shared in Pamela's relief, and thanked her continuously for helping them all so much.
That been the day after the accident, and Pam was not anticipating further phone calls.
Her anticipation proved wrong.
'Hello?' She had not checked the number to see if it was someone from her building, but the voice that answered informed her with full certainty that it was not.
'I hear you've stopped looking for me.'
A smile flitted across her face quickly at the reminder of their conversation two years ago. 'We try to keep whom we look for limited to those living.'
'I'm getting better at dying, aren't I?'
'You've had more practice.'
'I think that will be the last time for a while.'
'I'm glad to hear that.'
Pamela examined the number of her phone now. 'You're calling from…?'
'Turkey.'
'Is Nikki safe?'
'She's trying to arrange for accommodation now. I'll drop her off, and then…'
He didn't reply for a few moments. 'And then?'
'Well, that depends on what you tell me.'
It took a few moments for Pam to understand, and then she was searching her desk for a notepad. She found the one she'd been using for the past few days and flicked through it too the most recent mark. 'Chios. Kambos, to be specific.'
'Kambos?'
'It's on the east coast.'
'Good. I can get a ferry straight there.'
There was another moment of silence, and then Jason spoke again, sounding perplexed. 'Has everything been okay for you?'
'You mean, job-wise?'
'Yes.'
'If you ever have the chance to ask me that again after today, the answer will probably be that I've retired early.'
Pamela could almost detect the faint smile in his voice when he spoke again. 'I'll try not to.'
The perplexed voice returned. 'I'm going to destroy the files Marie gave me.'
Pamela dropped the pen she had picked up. She did not bother to retrieve it, instead staring at the phone incredulously. 'Really? You sure?'
'Why not?'
'They're the only thing you have left in reference to your past.'
'Exactly.'
She considered it for a few moments, leaning back in her chair and spinning around to face the window and the wide view of New York below it. It took a few minutes to shake off the feeling that Jason was watching her again, smiling at the emotions displayed so obviously across her face.
'It makes sense,' she told him, slowly.
'Pam, I am grateful for what you have done, and so, I'm sure, is Nikki. I know I'm not in a position to reciprocate anything you've done for me-lately, I seem to only make it worse-but without you, we would undoubtedly be dead or arrested.'
'You fared pretty well on your own.'
'I'm-we're-grateful regardless.'
Pamela did not speak for a moment, still examining the skyline. 'It's almost disappointing to know you're not going to make some thinly veiled reference to the fact that you are within 200 ft of me, you know.'
'I'm not. And Nikki's found an apartment, so I'm going to have to go before I get cut off. Goodbye. Thank you.'
'Try not to kill someone highly important within the next few years?'
'Can't promise anything. I'll try.'
The line cut short suddenly.
Pamela took too long to put the phone down, too long to bend down and finally retrieve the pen. Her relief still remained, which was a good sign. The pen had slid from her fingers again, which was not.
She whirled around in her seat, uneasy and not sure what she was looking for.
The realization surprised her: she was not looking for Jason.
She did not want to see him, hear his voice, or know that he was there. The idea of their worlds entwining could been only bad for them both.
'Can't promise anything. I'll try.'
Perhaps, she considered, gaze still full of the sprawling city, perhaps for now, trying was enough.
Aydin, Turkey
Nikki liked her apartment. She liked the beige walls and carpet, the rust-coloured furniture, the old fashioned wooden window frames and the way sunlight seemed to flood from everywhere that it could.
Now, she was stretched out on the only bed, a duffel bag beside her. Her clothes were new and no longer tainted with dirt, blood, and snow. All of these were simply reminders of something she'd finally left behind.
Jason did not sit, he hovered. In the doorway when she first walked in, in the hallway while she admired the kitchen, and now in the only bedroom while she took solace in the first chance at relaxations she could find.
'You like it?'
Nikki found the answer to be obviously displayed in her posture and previous actions, especially to a trained assassin, but she raised her eyebrows and reassured him she did anyway.
'Good. You're lucky you found such a nice place on such short notice.'
'And you?'
Jason seemed surprised by the change of conversation but he responded, shrugging as nonchalantly as possible. 'Landy said something about Kambos.'
'I'm guessing you already know which boat you're going to get on?'
'I might.' His smile seemed genuine. Nikki allowed herself to think that it was.
'Did I ever get a chance to thank y-'
'Don't,' he cut in quickly, shaking his head. 'I didn't do anything.'
'You saved my life,' Nikki said seriously.
'No more than Marie or Pamela did. Thank them.'
'I did. But I'm not worried about either of them. Marie has you, and Pamela…well, Pamela doesn't have you, which is essentially what she wants. And you have a file that's driving you insane.'
'No, it's not.'
Nikki sat up then, eyes having lost their carefree glimmer. 'There's more than just killing to David Webb. I didn't know you well before, like I said, but there are things I observed and was told from others, and-'
'I don't want to know them.'
He looked convinced. Nikki gave up the argument in advance.
'You sure?' it was a desperate attempt, and she wasn't surprised when Jason again shook his head. 'Why not?'
'There's no-' he hesitated, as if trying to find the right word. 'No point to it. I know enough about my past to leave it behind now. I know enough about how I am now than to care about whoever I was.'
Silence followed.
'And what about you? Do you expect to stay here for the time being?'
'Maybe. Who knows?' She looked out the window. 'I can make another passport and go anywhere I want…but I think I'll stay here for as long as I can.'
'They're not going to come for you.'
The smile was back. 'I know.'
Jason looked down at his watch. 'I have twenty minutes to get to the dock.'
'Knowing you, you could make it in five.' Nikki slid of the bed and followed him through the hallway, pausing at the door awkwardly. 'Visit, okay?' she said abruptly. 'Just to make sure that you haven't gotten yourself killed for the fourth time or something.'
'I will.'
'And don't get yourself killed.'
'People assume that I'll do that a lot.'
'I wonder why.'
Jason had opened the door slightly; a warm breeze was drifting into the room. Nikki laughed.
'You know what? You were right.'
'I was?'
'Yeah. It does get easier.'
His replying grin seemed brighter than the endless sunlight around them.
Chios, Greece
Marie sighed, an action brought on by a mixture of lack of sleep and anticipation. She was listening to a news report on the crash that she'd heard countless times now. The first time had brought relief, now it only annoyed her.
She raised her eyes from the TV to the clock hanging above the counter, and then to the folded, crumpled, re-read and re-read leaflet in her hand displaying boat arrival times.
An hour ago.
Marie's face brightened and she slipped off her place on the stool, waving at one of the waiters in thanks. She made her way amongst the crowded tables as quickly as possible before heading out the door.
Normally she would have explored the sprawling marketplace further, taking delight in every stall and piece of jewellery that adorned them. Now she continued walking at a quicker pace, eyes set towards the field that curved behind one of the islands' many beaches.
She wasn't sure how long she walked, but she stopped occasionally, if only to look around and try to ease her racing pulse. She liked it here, liked standing in the bushy grass and admiring the ocean in the distance.
The first thing she saw was smoke, barely visible amongst the bushes. The second thing she saw was the cause of the smoke: a small fire containing black remains of paper. She inched closer and managed to see 'target' on one of the pages, along with a figure crouched in front of the fire.
A twig snapped underneath Marie's foot, and she saw his hand shoot into his pocket. He stilled. She pressed slightly harder on the broken pieces of twig, causing them to snap again. He spun around, and still Marie stayed, frozen to the spot.
Relief filled both faces.
'You made the news,' Marie said, still smiling.
'I did?'
'Yep.' She laughed and cleared the distance between them, slipping an arm around his waist and looking back down towards the fire. 'Something tells me I'm better at being dead and not making an appearance on all major news networks than you are.'
Jason grinned in response, but Marie didn't see it, still concentrating on the papers disappearing beneath the flames. She frowned lightly and bent down, reaching out to feel the branches entwined with the disappearing ink.
'Poor Landy went through a lot of hell to get these to me, you know.'
'Liar. She's glad that I'm rid of them.'
Marie raised her eyes back to his. 'Are you?'
'Not really. I've spent every second I can looking at that file, memorizing the names, dredging up yet more memories. But before that, nothing. All I know of David Webb is that he gave up his life to become a killer.'
'Surely there's a way to find more?'
'Nikki asked, but I didn't…I didn't want to know. What good would it have done? I left that life. There was a time when I wanted to understand it more, but I never liked what I found out to begin with.'
'There could've been better things to remember,' Marie argued. 'Good things.'
'There could've been.'
His tone did not imply that if he cared if they were.
'I tried…' Marie glanced in the direction of the disappearing file. 'I tried to give you a past when I gave that to you. If anything, it filled in some of the gaps. But it doesn't tell you who you are. It tells you who you choose not to be. Remember that.'
She rose up from her crouching position as she spoke, a smile replacing her previous frown.
Jason didn't say anything for a long moment, looking between Marie and the fire. The sight of the flames melting away was oddly comforting, as thought it was taking almost four desperate years of struggling to remember with it.
Now all that remained was the odd sense of freedom etching itself into his senses.
He looked over at Marie again. 'You know, you did make at least one major news network.'
She laughed, startled. 'Still less than you,' she retorted. 'And besides, it turned out to be a good thing anyway.'
'Yeah. It did.'
Marie did not answer, just smiled and reached for his hand, clasping it tightly as the last sparks died, and the past alongside it.
And with that, Jason stepped forwards towards freedom.
I know, I know--it's an epilogue, yet it manages to be longer than half of my chapters. Oh well.
I had a lot of fun writing this, and thanks very much to everyone who has reveiwed it/added it to their favs/added it to their alerts. If you have done the last two and not reviewe, feel free, its always nice to get feedback.
Thanks for reading!
-Tigeress-10
