Disclaimer: See part 1! Nothing's changed.

Speech between {} is in Cantonese.

Many thanks to Vanessa and Gamine for patiently picking out the nits (and preventing me from vanishing into plot hole hell). For anyone interested, I actually have pictures of what Eric would look like in this gear (!!) -- just drop me an email if you're interested.

Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing.

~*~

Kimberly finished wrapping the box of cookies which were destined for Alice's class teacher and winced as the baby kicked hard.

"All right, all right, kiddo, I know you're missing your daddy," she murmured, smoothing a free hand over the bump. "But kicking the heck out of your mother's no way to get him back." She sighed. "I wish it was."

"Mommy," said Alice, wandering into the room, "do you think daddy will be back for Christmas?"

Kimberly sighed again. "I don't know, honey."

"Why does he have to do stuff like this?" Alice wanted to know.

Because if he didn't, he wouldn't be the Eric Myers we both fell for, Alice, Kimberly mused. But that was probably something that Alice wasn't ready to understand yet. "Because it's his job to do it," she settled for. "So that the rest of the world's safe for you to play in."

"But why does it have to always be my daddy?"

Why does it always have to be my husband? Kimberly echoed. Though she knew that wasn't entirely fair. All of her friends had, at one time or another, made sacrifices to keep the world a safe place. But Eric seemed to be the only one who kept being called. Maybe that wasn't fair, either. Wes and Jen were both still active Rangers and Silver Guardians. The last big event -- East Hills -- could easily have been either one of them. But this mess could only happen to Eric. Kimberly sighed.

"I don't know, sweetheart," she finally replied. The doorbell rang at that moment. "That'll be Wes and Jen, with Rick and Max -- go let them in, and let me clear up in here," she directed.

"OK." Alice sighed and went to open the front door.

The baby kicked again. "All right, all right -- I'll try and cheer up," Kimberly murmured. "It's Christmas, right?" So why didn't she feel in the holiday mood?

~*~

"So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun..."

Irritatingly, as Eric tried to find a comfortable position on the jump seat in the helicopter's aft cabin, he found himself thinking of the old John Lennon and Yoko Ono Christmas song. As a kid, it had annoyed him with its very irritating tune. As an adult -- and as a Marine serving in some of the nastier trouble spots in the world -- it had annoyed him with its cheery worldview. Currently, though, it served to underline the fact that he was somewhere he shouldn't be doing something he shouldn't be doing. Not at this time of the year.

"{Second thoughts?}" Hana enquired.

"{Like I've actually been given a choice about any of this to be having second thoughts,}" Eric retorted.

"{Colonel Peterson didn't tell me,}" she said.

"{No, I don't suppose he did.}" Eric closed his eyes. "{He does a lot of that.}"

"{You have a history with him?}"

"{You could say that.}" Eric snorted. Dropping into English, he said, "To borrow one of his favourite phrases, it's not terribly germane."

"Isn't it?"

Eric cracked an eye open and pinned Hana into place with a glare. "No, it isn't. This is as much my neck on the block as it is yours if this fouls up. Believe me, it's a heck of an incentive not to screw up." Hana said nothing. Eric closed his eye once more and shifted in the seat again. "{You should sleep.}"

"{Excuse me?}"

Eric opened his eyes again. "A good soldier grabs sleep whenever they have the chance because they never know when they'll get the chance again. Figure that applies to spies, too."

"We'll be there in three hours."

"And you couldn't use some extra sleep?" Eric queried.

Hana said nothing. Eric closed his eyes.

"{Who are you?}" Hana asked, suddenly.

"{Didn't we already cover this when you were re-acquainting me with Cantonese?}"

"{All you told me was the equivalent of a name, rank and serial number.}"

"{Then maybe you should take the hint.}"

"{Why you?}"

"{Ask Peterson.}"

"{You don't like him much.}"

Eric snorted. "No shit." He sighed. "{It's a long story.}" He smiled faintly. "{Can you honestly say you do like him?}"

"{I respect him.}"

"{Not the question I asked.}"

"{He's my superior.}"

"{And everyone loves the boss?}" Eric snorted again. "{You're doing this because you've been ordered to. I'm doing this more or less because I've been ordered to. Neither of us is wildly keen on this mission, neither of us is wildly keen on Peterson. End of story.}" He shifted again. "{Now either grab some sleep or at least let me grab some before my head explodes.}"

~*~

"Have you heard from him?" Wes asked quietly.

Seeing that Alice was thoroughly occupied with Max, Wes and Jen's Labrador, Kimberly felt safe in answering, "Yeah -- this evening." She hadn't told Alice about the call, not wanting to get Alice's hopes up -- not when her own had been so spectacularly dashed.

"Does he know when he'll be home?"

Kimberly sighed and shook her head. "No. I got the feeling that the only reason he'd been given permission to call was because whatever mission this is was ready to start." She looked down at her hands, both resting on the prominent bump. "His chance to say goodbye."

"He's going to come back, Kim," said Wes firmly. "He's got too many reasons to."

"You didn't hear him, Wes," Kimberly replied softly. "He sounded exhausted."

"I'd back Eric when exhausted over anyone else in a fight," Wes responded.

Kimberly sighed and looked back up, meeting Wes' sympathetic gaze. "Maybe I'm just worrying for nothing. Maybe he'll walk through that front door tomorrow morning and he'll not have a scratch on him...and I'll wonder why I was so worried."

"You worry because you love him," said Wes gently. "That's never wrong."

"No." Kimberly sighed. "I guess it's not."

~*~

"Coming into Korean airspace," Taylor announced over the intercom system, pulling Eric from the light doze he'd fallen into. "ETA Twenty minutes."

He felt better for the sleep; more alert and focussed, which could only be a good thing. A glance in Hana's direction told him she was looking slightly amazed.

"{What?}"

"{You can sleep in this noise?}" She gestured vaguely to the rest of the cabin, though, to Eric's mind, this was one of the quieter helicopter cabins he'd been in.

Eric shrugged. "{Noise doesn't bother me.}"

Hana just shook her head. "{Do you remember your details?}"

"{Chen Wu, age thirty-four. Triad boss. Originally from Canton province. Speaks no English but understands it. Married to Chen Ming, an American-born Chinese aged thirty-one. Has a vicious streak -- once fed a victim's heart to his dogs.}" Eric met Hana's gaze. "{Nice guy.}" She shrugged. "{Did I miss anything?}"

"{One thing,}" said Hana as Eric felt the chopper begin its final descent.

"{Which is?}"

"{You're not going to like it.}"

Eric just looked at her. "{That's not a leap. What is it?}"

"{We're supposed to be married.}" Eric frowned. "{Married people sleep together.}"

~*~

Kimberly lay in the darkness, cuddling the pillow close. It was two o'clock in the morning and sleep refused to come.

Eric was a grown man. A trained fighter. He would -- and could -- take care of himself. And he'd promised he'd come back in one piece.

At the same time, Kimberly knew him. Knew that he would carry out the mission, whatever that was, to the best of his ability.

What if that clashed with his promise?

Would he choose her or the mission?

Was it even fair of her to expect him to choose?

Kimberly started to cry softly into the pillow. God this hurt. She had known that this sort of thing was a possibility -- that being in Eric's life would mean that there were times when they would be apart because of who Eric was. Known -- and thought she'd accepted it. But in the dark of the night, now, so close to Christmas and so alone, she realised that there was no way to accept it.

The baby gave a kick -- though only a gentle one this time, almost as if it was trying to comfort her. Kimberly smiled through her tears and snaked a hand down to gently pat the bump.

"Your mommy misses your daddy," she murmured softly. "Misses him very much." She cuddled the pillow closer. It was a poor substitute. Too much?

~*~

Eric said nothing on the journey to the hotel, not trusting himself. The implications of Hana's words -- that he would be expected to betray Kimberly completely -- left him seething, and he wasn't entirely sure who he wanted to strangle first. Peterson, for getting him involved in this mess in the first place, or Hana for so coolly bringing up the issue.

Seeing as she was to hand, Eric suspected Hana was just shading it.

"{It's my job,}" said Hana as she closed the hotel room door behind them, "{to make sure that we both come through this with our necks intact}."

Eric turned a force ten glare on her. "{And how far are you expecting me to go?}"

"{As far as it takes.}"

"{Not happening.}" Eric folded his arms.

"{What do you mean?}"

"{What do you think I mean?}" Eric retorted. "{I am married, for real, and you are not her.}"

"{You're going to get us killed.}"

Eric snorted. "{Bullshit.}" Hana opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "{We do this my way, or we don't do this, and the way I see it -- thanks to Peterson's interference -- you need me a hell of a lot more than I need you.}" Hana's mouth closed with a snap. "{We go to Soong's compound tomorrow morning, yes?}" Hana nodded. "{And we stay there for the duration?}" Another nod. "{OK. Unless there are video cameras in the room, I sleep on the floor.}"

"{And if there are?}"

Eric just fixed her with a look. "{I'm not into exhibitionism.}"

~*~

Slowly, Kimberly moved around the kitchen, putting coffee on to percolate. It was early -- almost too early to be up -- but she hadn't been able to sleep and she hadn't been comfortable in bed.

She suddenly realised what she was doing, and stopped.

"Damn it!" she muttered, staring at the percolator. She'd been running automatic pilot. Again. This was the third morning in a row she'd started to put the percolator on for someone who wasn't there.

The baby kicked.

"I know, honey." Kimberly sighed and started to empty the coffee grounds from the percolator.

The doorbell rang, making her jump and sending the wasted grounds all over the countertop.

"Damn it!"

Kimberly headed for the door, leaving the mess behind. She would clear it up later. Pulling her robe tighter around herself, she reached the front door and peeped through the spy hole, not really sure who was likely to be calling at barely six o'clock in the morning.

The next moment, she was practically tearing the door open as she realised it was Taylor standing on the door step.

"Hey Kim," Taylor said, smiling faintly as the door opened.. "Sorta figured you'd be up right about now."

Kimberly stared in non-comprehension for a second. "Huh?"

Taylor's smile broadened into a grin. "OK. Guess by 'up' I didn't necessarily mean awake."

Kimberly gathered together the shreds of her self-possession and opened the door wider. "C'mon in -- I'm sorry. Bad night."

Taylor nodded, looking somewhat knowing, as she entered the house. "Alice isn't up?"

Kimberly shook her head. "No -- she'll sleep till noon if I let her."

Taylor nodded. "Good. That way we can talk rather than having to dance around the subject."

Kimberly's eyebrows skyrocketed at that. "What do you mean?"

For answer, Taylor shook her head. "Not until you're sitting down."

Kimberly found herself being gently but firmly directed into one of the kitchen chairs by the blonde pilot, who then proceeded to clear up the mess of spilled grounds and then make hot chocolate.

"Taylor?" Kimberly queried as the other woman set a steaming mug of cocoa in front of her.

"I'm sorta looking for answers," Taylor admitted, sitting down. "And I think I can give you some, too."

~*~

Eric awoke suddenly. The dream had been so real, so life-like, so vivid... He'd almost forgotten the power of those nightmares -- hadn't seen the images in nearly two years, had grown accustomed to full nights of sleep -- but this was more than enough to dredge it all back up. Heart pounding a mile a minute, breath coming in ragged gasps, he felt the residual adrenaline pumping through his body and found he was actually trembling. Seemed like his body had got even more used to the lack of the nightly terrors. This one had hit him hard.

"{Are you all right?}" Hana's soft query told him that he must have at least made some sound. Seeing as she was still on the bed, and wasn't sporting any visible injuries, he guessed she either hadn't tried to wake him or if she had, he hadn't reacted the way he'd reacted almost every other occasion someone else had brought him out of the nightmares. Half memories of bodily throwing Jen across a room along with other, darker memories loomed for a moment or two.

"{Are you all right?}" she repeated.

Eric slowly drew in a breath and let it out. "Yeah." He swallowed. "I will be." She frowned. He shrugged. English was almost beyond him at this moment, never mind Cantonese.

"{You sounded like my dad used to,}" she said. "{I wanted to wake you -- but I remember what happened to my mother.}" She leaned over and turned the light on. In the light, he could see that though she might have frowned at him, she understood. There was a real sympathy in her expression -- perhaps all the more surprising given the argument they'd had before going to bed. He made to speak, but she shook her head. "{Give yourself time.}" She swung herself out of bed. "{I'll get you a drink.}"

Eric finally sat up as she moved around the room, collecting a glass from the shelf above the mini bar and taking it into the bathroom. He heard her run a tap. A moment later and she returned, glass full of water.

She offered it to him. "{Here.}"

He accepted it and took a sip. It did seem to help. "{Thank you.}" The kindness really was unexpected. "{Why?}"

Hana smiled faintly. "{Call it a peace offering.}"

~*~

Kimberly smiled faintly as Taylor finished her explanations.

"He was really wearing the suit and the shirt...and stuff?"

Taylor grinned. "Ooh yeah. You may want him to hang onto that. If he hadn't been married, I might have been very seriously tempted."

Kimberly snickered faintly. "I just may at that." Her smile faded. "What's Peterson playing at? Eric's not a spy."

Taylor's grin likewise faded. She reached across the table and gave one of Kimberly's hands a squeeze. "No, he's not. But," she continued, "I don't think he needs to be."

"What do you mean?"

"I know him," said Taylor. "And my first reaction on seeing him dressed like that was 'I don't want to get on the bad side of this guy'. He's intimidating as hell and he's got the language down. All he needs to do is walk into wherever this place is and be all attitude and whoever this is about is going to believe he is what he's supposed to be."

Kimberly looked down. "You think so?"

"I know so, Kim," said Taylor firmly. She squeezed Kimberly's hand again. "He can do this."

~*~

Eric stood in front of the window, watching the sun rise over the unfamiliar cityscape. Kwangju. Until three days ago, he'd never heard of the Korean city, never mind expected to be there. Now, here he was.

"{What time is it?}"

"{Seven o'clock.}" Eric didn't bother turning round.

"{You did get some sleep?}"

"{Yeah.}" Just not much. He heard the sound of Hana climbing out of bed. "{What's the arrangement with Soong?}"

"{We meet his associate at nine o'clock,}" Hana answered. "{The associate will courier us up to Soong's compound.}"

Eric nodded. "{Understood.}" He rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension that was rapidly settling in them. "{You presumably have a way to communicate with Peterson?}"

"{Not going to be able to call a commando raid down if I don't,}" came the response from the bathroom.

Eric smiled faintly. "{Just checking.}"

He really was going to do this.

He had to be nuts.

TO BE CONTINUED...