Chapter 14: Please Walk Beside Me in All I Do (Part 2)
SUMMER - I'm wandering in the dark now, cause I'm looking for you still, in my heart I'm longing to walk up this hill
4. Denmark, June 2010: To the Skies ("SPIRES!" and Fishermen)
They skip Poland for now and head to Denmark instead. He gets to show her around this time.
"SPIRES! Gisele, buildings with SPIRES!"
She understands why most of the pointed tapering tops (resembling a sprout or stalk of grass) are on churches when he tells her that they represent strength and hope.
He's not particularly religious, even if his parents are converted Christians. He says it must mean something if they're still standing after so long. He says he's fortunate to live in an age where he has choices to believe in things, even if it's not necessarily religious in nature.
..
They also ditch the car in Copenhagen in favor of walking and public transport. The city is also very bike-friendly (they outnumber people, he notes). She starts to miss motorcycling, and thinks that she'll have to teach him soon.
They pass by fishermen on one of their treks and she thinks of her parents. Her mom would love it here.
"My mom's a party planner. I don't think she'd like the fishing, but she'd appreciate the look of all the boats lined up." He says after she tells him about her mother's love of fishing and her seafood restaurant.
She smiles at his response, but she has that faraway look that she gets sometimes, she'd listen to him chat away just the same, but he's happy to just let her enjoy the moment in silence.
..
There's an annual antique car race at the beginning of August, maybe they'll stick around and explore the rest of the country, and then circle back.
.
Helsingor
SpiserietHels.
Sushi Taro
Kronborg Castle (HAMLET)
He had scrawled in her notebook (with addresses and rough sketches) for reference the summer before.
...
5. Greece, July 2010: To the Seas (The Aegean and the Mediterranean)
They fly to Greece in July. She's waves away from her home of Tel Aviv. She hasn't been home for so long. Now that she's a fugitive, she tells herself that she doesn't want to get her parents in trouble. It's not entirely untrue.
She had plans for a quick visit home with Tomas. His parents were long gone; a deadbeat dad who died before his birth, his mother followed a decade later. He was unofficially taken in by a friend's grandparents. He understood Gisele's shady past; he had one of his own.
Tomas had told her to face her demons, maybe guilt-tripped her into it, but maybe that was the push she needed, but then they broke up. It's more than a year after Rio, but she knows about tracking criminals, and perhaps a new tracker was on her if the old one(s) had failed, if she was even being followed at all, but she has to be cautious.
..
He's a little tired of beaches, but Santorini wins him over. The cool breezes help, but he thinks it's mostly being around her.
She can't get over the blindingly white hillside homes, some dotted with blue domes, so breathtaking, especially at night. He tells her that he needs to take her to see fireflies someday, that they do live up to their hype.
..
She took a brief trip to Athens in her teenage years, but now she really gets to enjoy it without the itinerary set by her dad. Well, besides the one set by her wanted status, threatening to end it all.
He tells her that it doesn't matter if he doesn't get to Hong Kong if he is too busy enjoying Greece with her. That he might have been a little more eager last year because everything was so new, but now he wants to slow down and take it all in.
She thinks about commenting on his lack of eagerness regarding her, even though he told her (after Bern) that he was scared of how much he liked her. Even if she knew she was half responsible for their lack of a relationship, she couldn't keep those feelings of doubt away.
..
They were more talkative at the start of their trip, especially in Germany, but now they can walk in comfortable silence, whether they're around noisy tourists or on a quiet hike in mountainous Greece.
...
6. Hong Kong, August to October 2010: To the Cities (Wild Cards and Reality)
They do make it to Hong Kong. The urban areas are so alive; a great preview of Tokyo, he thinks. They feed off the hectic energy of the clash of cultures around them.
.
She's learning Chinese. She already speaks English, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and German.
He can understand foreign tongues most of the time, but speaking fluently or even semi-fluently is a struggle.
He thinks he's just not the type of person with that skill, that he's more "book-smart" when it comes to languages. She reminds him that his Spanish is decent (he reminds her that it took years, and that German and Swiss German are not interchangeable).
He also comments that he survived a year with his skill level, and he's got her to help him now.
..
She finally teaches him to ride a motorcycle a week after they settle in to their sublet in Kowloon. It goes better than his combat lessons; he still jokes about, and she still stares annoyingly at him, but it's more endearing than anything, at least he hopes so.
.
He wants to return her favors, so he offers to teach her about fixing and modifying cars, but she's not taken with it like her love for motorcycles. She echoes his words about knowing the basics, that she'll figure it out, and that he can cover her.
.
He thinks his piano and baseball skills don't translate to anything useful.
She thinks a cultured mind is just as important, but her grade-school piano skills seems to have abandoned her, so they put it on hold for when they have more time to devote to it. She tells him that he can play her a little Beethoven every now and then (he knows more Mozart).
.
They end up watching movies for a pop-culture fix when they don't feel like going out. She suggests a few foreign films to help with his fluency.
He jokes that he can recite the lines if they need to appear busy if they are being followed.
She tries her best to ease up because she knows he's trying his best to be on alert, that he has his own way of dealing with things.
..
The food is great, but they try to take advantage of the furnished kitchen setup.
She's an adequate cook, fond of her Israeli recipes, but he's a much better cook than her. He tries to make a few of her favorite dishes that she can't quite figure out, sometimes he fails miserably, but he keeps at it.
"Soon enough," or "We're millionaires, we'll hire a chef," is uttered in these moments.
.
He cooked for her once before, in Zurich, the night before he left for his aunt's funeral in Wales. He wanted to thank her for the skiing and hospitality. He wouldn't allow her to help him in the kitchen, so she bundled up in her parka and sat on the roof reading, trying to give him space to cope.
He was in a state of grace that night when she peeked through her skylight. He cooks the same way in Hong Kong most of the time, quiet and focused.
She doesn't know why she's surprised after the croissants in Paris, the beer in Germany, and gyros in Greece (he stopped for the pita-stuffed food at almost every stand, stall, café and the like).
..
It's not all fun and games, though.
She gives him the silent treatment for a day, after a buzzed Roman mentioned how he followed a woman all the way to Portugal when they visited him across the way in Macau.
.
He feels a little foolish for thinking about Halloween costumes for the neighbor's party after she gets him a gun. He starting to understand the severity of it all, they are wanted criminals. He's not much of a fighter, he always found another way, but now he has more to protect than just himself. He was too busy ignoring it, if he's honest.
He's been mostly playing fast and loose with the cards life dealt him, but he also understands that there is a time and place for things. He shouldn't bluff his way through it when her life is on the line.
...
LAST SUMMER - I really can't pull out the thorn, love, all my life, and not having you pressed to my chest, all my life
7. Don't Talk/Don't Touch in Amsterdam (June 2009)
She sees her ex Tomas for the first time in years at her friend Petra's bachelorette party weekend in Prague. He's as wonderful as she remembers, and it sets her on a tailspin.
She considers running to Han after that weekend. She's afraid that she wants him for the wrong reasons. So she waits, deciding to help Petra and Marco move in to their new place in Zurich.
Han calls again after a week. She gets to Amsterdam a week late, closing out her apartment deal.
.
Awhile after joining him in the private lounge at the club, she gets that feeling again, it was there from the start, but it feels stronger now, that spark.
"I've got great stuff in my room, if you want." He tells her, running small circles on her bare knee.
"Why didn't you just invite me straight to your room?" she asks.
"Formality." he whispers in her ear, before running his tongue along her earlobe and nibbling on it.
"You think a drink…a joint will win me over?" she moans out.
"No. It's me you can't resist," he whispers before turning his body to join her lips with his.
She comes to her senses when his hand starts to ride up her thigh. "Not right now," she tells him, gently pushing away his hand.
"I'm sorry. I've missed you," he sighs into the crook of her neck.
"How've you been?"
"Good. Saw a few old friends. I forgot how much I missed just being…normal, the quiet." She waxes on wistfully as he listens.
..
The night carries on with more talk until he has an urge to hold her close again.
"You wanna dance?"
"Get a girl to teach you yet?" she asks as she takes his hand.
"You can teach me. It's dark, crowded, I won't embarrass you too much," he laughs as they head to the dancefloor.
Most men can't dance, but like most men, Han can slow-dance just fine. This reminds her of one of their last nights in Paris, but it felt different that final time. Amsterdam seemed far away, if it would even happen at all.
It's not long until they're kissing again.
"Let's go. You owe me a smoke." She breathes out.
Then his ex appears as if it's a sign that she should back off, but she doesn't.
..
She won't let him kiss her on the lips after they enter his hotel room. She can't get lost in his dizzying spell. They have sex against a wall, on an armchair…before she lets him near her lips again.
"Had enough?" she prods, pulling at his hair as she falls back on the bed.
"Never been with a real man who can last as long as a woman needs? Exes? One night stands?" he whispers calmly. "The dancer, the army doc, couldn't handle themselves?"
"Don't talk about things you don't know anything about!" she snaps back at him angrily.
He sees the hurt in her eyes, and starts to apologize.
If only this was Paris, but it's not. Her ex-boyfriend is back in the frame, and seeing his ex-whatever tipped the scales, so she pushes him off of her.
..
He's dressed and sitting up on the bed when she returns from the bathroom. She grabs at him until he's standing.
"Let's not end this on a bad note. Next time I see you. I want to remember how good we can be together. Sweet boy from Paris. I missed you, too. If it happens, it happens, right?" she finishes with a forceful kiss.
"You still owe me a smoke," she says, dragging him back to the bed with him on top, continuing to kiss him roughly while trembling and breathing heavily.
"Relax," he tells her, rubbing her arms to calm her down. "We've got all night."
Maybe too sweet, too sincere, she thinks. She can't bear to look at him.
"Don't…" she starts.
'Don't talk,' 'Don't touch,' he knows, so he starts to untangle their hands, but she pulls him back to say,
"Don't leave."
And he holds her until she falls asleep.
...
8. Float In/Float Out in Zurich (June to August 2009)
She doesn't give Han a chance to leave first this time. When she gets to Zurich, Tomas is there to help her move in. Petra had warned her the first time, but not this time since her friend didn't expect her to be back so soon.
She's not sure how she feels about Han. She didn't need a commitment from him then, and she wonders if her vague desire for one now stems from wanting to avoid Tomas.
Tomas was her first great love. She doesn't call him her ex-fiancée if she can avoid it, she can't bear it, even after all these years. She ran when she probably should have fought harder for him. She loved him so much then, and she thinks she'll regret it if she doesn't give it another try.
..
The days and nights go by.
Tomas isn't there all the time, but when he is, her heart flutters remembering all the things they shared. Or making new memories with him, or all their friends.
She doesn't want to meet Han in Denmark and he keeps postponing his trip to visit her.
Suddenly it's August, and she's in love again.
She has people who float in and out of her life, and sometimes she's the floater, so that's what she makes of Han. She didn't feel that electricity when she heard his voice for the first time in months. It was just a crush, she thinks. They can still be friends.
...
9. She's Not in Stockholm (August 2009)
He's not sure why he's keeping her at arm's length after Amsterdam. She said they'd be fine. He thinks that might be the problem. Maybe he doesn't want her to brush it off.
Soon he finds himself in Denmark when he should probably be with her. But she left abruptly after that night, maybe she wants space, he thinks.
Nearby, he ventures towards Sweden.
..
In Stockholm, he sees a woman sitting at a café who looks remarkably like Gisele. Brown hair, leather jacket, those long legs. He's had a few drunken nights littered throughout the blur of the last month and a half or so. Maybe they did make plans. He goes to check, but it's not her. His heart sinks. He hadn't realized how much he missed her.
He calls her up once he locates his cell phone in his hotel room. He smiles when he hears the excitement in her voice. She's having a party.
"Perfect timing." she says.
...
10. He's a Man in Switzerland (August 2009)
He gets a little pang in his heart at the news of her boyfriend. He tries to reason with himself that he's not really jealous. He just wants her because he can't have her. Or that friendships can suffer when a significant other enters the picture.
As the night wears on, he starts to crack, so he finds a distraction, another woman. That doesn't end well, and he finds himself in front of her when he vowed to avoid her. Perfect Dr. Tomas shows up, too.
He has a cup of coffee when he realizes he's starting to get tipsy; flirts with the girl he meets in the kitchen; anything to stay calm and cool.
He thinks he has it under control as he's ready to leave, but he doesn't. More stupid things come out of his mouth, and she does what she does, tells him off. She has every right; he knows this, even if it's not processing in his brain completely right now.
Promises were never made.
He thinks of driving all the way to Geneva that night, but he doesn't manage beyond half an hour's drive, so he checks into a hotel.
..
He wakes up alone the next morning; hops in the shower to think. He should apologize in person. When he gets out of the shower, he thinks, at least a phone call.
Twenty minutes into the German-dubbed show he's trying to watch, he texts her. Just the word 'Sorry.' Her response is a simple three-letter word: Men.
They're fine. Maybe he isn't.
He goes to Geneva to check out some cars, and to wind-down, research his next adventures, until he's due at Brian and Mia's for the baby shower.
A/N:
I've worked Chapters 10-12 into this AU. Chapters 10-12(I) takes place in Hong Kong [and maybe crosses over with Ch. 5(III) and some of Ch 4].
I dislike love triangles. Most are unnecessary and drawn out to fill episode quotas. I even hate the well written ones because it usually means I like all three characters and that someone will get hurt. That's why I kind of gloss through the love triangle in this. I never intended to write a sequel, but the ideas kept on coming, so I dealt with it as best as I could. I hope it came across as less of a love triangle, and moreso as a separate love-interest storyline that happens to be an obstacle. The film "You've Got Mail" is a good example of what I was going for.
I do love romcoms, and the triangle is an essential trope. It works because they'll get together in the end; but for TV shows, there's always the chance of one of the actors leaving in like season 7 or so, so your OTP doesn't make it, and that's one reason why I don't like triangles.
A note on their wanted status (AU/not AU): I have them out and about a lot, but I figured they aren't that high on the wanted list, as long as they stay out of (real) trouble. Dom evaded authorities for years, until he was thought to have killed the DEA agents. And as we can see from F6, people like Owen Shaw are more of a threat.
Here (Ch 14) and Ch 16 hints that Gisele's friends and ex also have or had some criminal elements in their lives as well; so it's not like she's really hiding her lifestyle from them.