'Shall you see as I have, and use these visions not with your anger. You, my heir, posses not my blood, but my spirit.'

'To you I pass my gift, my curse. In hope that you can do good, I grant you inheritance of a sight beheld by no other.'

'There is an event you must experience in order to receive my gift. That you experience love, as I have never known. May my curse not render you desolate, but loved, and give you something to sleep to'

Emily gaped over the script, read it again, and gaped some more. A sizzling noise caught her attention, and she watched helplessly as the whole text disintegrated. Running her fingers through the remains, Emily let the words return to her, and tried to make sense of it.

She was Rambaldi's heir.

Rambaldi was giving her his gift of prophecy.

Rubbing her temples to rid herself of a throbbing headache, Emily muttered, "Why does he always mess with my head?"

The light that had emanated from the walls started to fade, leaving her stranded in darkness. A shroud was pulled over her consciousness, letting her collapse onto the dirt. When she awoke, she was not alone.

***

Andre had somehow blacked out to awake holding Emily. He held her tightly, clasping his hands around her frame. She was shaking again, and whispering in his ear. "I need something to sleep to."


His lips brushed Emily's earlobes, sending shivers down her spine. "Just hold onto me. We're getting out of here now." Once again he stood with her in his arms, and stumbled down the pitch-black tunnel, heading to where the light was. The distance seemed shorter and easier to travel by, and Andre's strength doubled as he saw the light growing stronger.


Emily gasped when she saw Anna Espinoza's mangled body, but Andre pressed her head into his chest to block the sight.


When they reached the ladder he set her down lightly, keeping his eyes locked on hers. Caressing her chin with his index finger, Andre kept Emily focused on him, and he whispered to her, "You go up first. I'll be right behind you if you fall."


She nodded into his hand and slowly turned to put her foot on the first rung. Pushing and pulling she managed to lever herself over the edge and collapsed onto the firm ground. Andre followed soon after, panting and struggling for air. Together they blocked the opening with the enormous boulder, enclosing Anna in her tomb.

Andre leaned against the boulder in an attempt to regulate his breathing. After a few minutes he succeeded, raising his eyes to Emily's. Glowing brightly, the rings of emerald entranced him. He shook his head to clear the fog.


"Emily-" Silenced and bewildered by her finger touching his lips, Andre sensed a change in the woman standing before him. A myriad of emotions flashed across her features and she closed the distance between them. Andre felt his breath becoming shallow as Emily's lips touched his.

It was sweet and innocent and pure and Andre had never experienced anything like it. The kiss ended abruptly as Emily pulled away, leaving Andre feeling lightheaded. They stared at each in other in a state of shock before Emily bowed her head to examine the ground.

"Thank you," she whispered to her feet, still tantalizing close to Andre, giving him an overwhelming urge to kiss her again. Her gaze met his once again, but this time Andre could not read her, giving him a sense he had imagined it all.

Her voice cut across him, cold. "What were you doing?"

Feigning innocence that didn't fool her at all, he responded, " What do you mean?"

Emily glanced around, checking for anyone listening. "We need to get out of here, and go somewhere quiet. You and I have things to discuss."

Andre nodded numbly at her. He felt as if he were looking at someone else, not the woman he had spent hours in a cave with.

Emily walked quickly down the hills and led Andre a few miles east of the cave. She had no idea where she was going, but stopped when the came upon a small cow pond. Beckoning him to join her, Emily settled herself among the towering reeds at the pond's edge.

Andre sat across from her in a sort of trance. He had held suspicions of her before, but nothing like this. Who was she? Why was she there? Was she really related to Brigitte?

"I need you to tell me who you are," Emily commanded, staring icily at him.

Andre felt unnerved, but refused to show it. "Alexandre Dante."

"You're lying." Emily had spent a year learning the human body language. It was a special interest of hers, and one of her strongest weapons. She had made herself learn how to be a human lie detector. The skill was something she could turn off, and she hadn't been testing Andre. Now it was obvious to her that he was someone other than he claimed.

Andre stared at her, the foolishness of starting to fall for her hitting him with full force. "How do I know that you're not some spy trying to kill me or Brigitte?"

Emily smiled thinly at his accusation and mistake. "Why would anyone try to kill you? You're supposed to be a village bookkeeper. Not a likely target."

"You don't answer a question with a question, which tells me you don't want to answer my question. Which, in my mind, makes you a spy," Andre countered, trying to gain control.

"I am an agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency," Emily shot back, taking him completely by surprise. Andre had expected denial.

"Wh-what?"

Emily's smile was replaced by a smirk. He had clearly not expected that. Besides, he had let the Irish accent slip again, confirming her suspicions. "I'm CIA, and I want to know who you are."

Andre cursed his greenness; after all, this was his first mission. Interrogation and torture resistance had been omitted from his training, because it was something you 'learn from experience'.

Emily waited patiently, reading all of Andre's emotions. Frustration was the obvious one, which led her to believe he was new, a rookie. She herself was one, but had been slowly trained her whole life. She had spent her year at Clandestine Service Training learning how to read people and the use of weapons. Excelling in the other areas made her a favorite, and allowed her to be one of the youngest active field agents.

Andre looked at Emily, and really saw her for the first time. It made him lose the resolve not to reveal anything, and allowing his native accent to return, Andre answered calmly, "My name is Ian McGinty."

A/N: Whew! I know it's taken me forever, but I have to imagine out each scene in my head, and I just couldn't get Rambaldi's words to come out right. You can thank my Geometry teacher, because if it weren't for that class, I'd never get this thing done! I'm also just learning how to work the italics stuff like that, so bear with me.

*Duck

P.S. Has anyone else seen the action figures they came out with? Yowza, Syd doll is sort of popping out of her clothing. And Action!Vaughn doll? With the leather jacket? Totally hot.