Chapter 54

Berlin

By evening Reagan Cole and Warren Green were rested and nearly ready to move on. Reagan stopped at a different internet cafe and over a large coffee… checked messages again. Depending on the replies she'd gotten, if any, they'd head out. If she knew nothing else… it would be to Paris that she'd head.

The computer sounded softly that she had unread messages. Grinning, Reagan leaned forward and scanned through them. Others had recently learned of these Watchers as well… and many were laying low. Katya spoke of a frightening encounter in America, and her fears as to what was happening. Steven Keane, having "interviewed" his Watcher after Reagan had left… had also gone on the run. "They'll know some of us know," he wrote. Obviously he hadn't the heart to kill his, nor the desire to drag him along with him.

Reagan smiled over Jade's email. She was involved at the moment in a rather "touchy" (Reagan read "illegal") venture but would keep her eyes peeled for signs of being "watched."

But it was Duncan's odd email that made Reagan sit up and take notice. "Some Watchers but not all involved. Use restraint. Investigate. Report additional information." He'd copied to all the others. Duncan did not mention where he was at the moment. Reagan hoped it was Paris, but realized that none of them wanted to say exactly where they were. Even Katya's mentioned "they" were on the move again. Reagan was curious as to who was with Katya… but understood the need for silence.

"Paris it is then," Reagan decided as she cleared the information from the computer… and shut it down. Glancing around, Reagan decided maybe one of the new wireless ones might be necessary after all. She hadn't liked them when they came out… preferring to check in on one of these occasionally… but maybe it was time.

Thoughtfully she sipped at her coffee as she paid for her time, accepted her change and headed into the Berlin night. They'd get food and start again tomorrow.

Not far from the hotel… Reagan noted two men following her… two men who'd been lounging about the cafe earlier.

"Damn!" she hissed and tossed her cup into the nearest trash receptacle. She sped up, listening for their footsteps on the pavement behind her. Reagan passed by her hotel and went two more blocks before she was certain they were indeed following her.

She had to decide quickly if a dark alley or a crowded street would be best. In a crowd, while she might be safer… she would also be more limited in her response. Still… the lights and the people might help. Accordingly… she crossed the street and entered the brightly-lit shopping mall. Reagan headed for a department store in the midst of the mall.

All about her tourists and locals laughed and shopped, brushing against her as she threaded her way through them. Her gaze continually swept over the crowd until she saw them… and they saw that she knew they were there.

One man was speaking into a cell phone… the other pushed through some people in an attempt to close in on her.

"This isn't good!" Reagan grimaced as she glanced around. "They're calling for reinforcements." She changed directions and headed into a small bakery… ostensibly standing in line for service. Once she noted where the two men were again… closer but still only watching and not attacking, she thought quickly.

Whipping out her gun she fired two warning shots directly into the air. The crowd around her hit the ground and others raced for cover. The two men flinched and cowered… and continued to stare at her.

Two uniformed police officers approached… guns before them… pointed at her. Reagan flipped her gun onto her fingers and held her hands up. When told to drop it, she did so and allowed herself to be arrested.

As they led her away handcuffed… Reagan smirked at the Watchers. She'd have a hard time talking her way out of this… but at least they wouldn't be able to get to her for a while… at least she hoped not.

Just as she was being placed in the squad car… Reagan felt the unmistakable buzz of another immortal. She paused for a moment looking around. Her eyes met those of a craggy faced man. Even as she was being forced into the car… she attempted to yell at him in Latin to run. She only hoped he did so. If the Watchers lost her… they would focus on him… and she doubted he'd fight them. He might have once… when he'd used the name Kage… but she'd heard in recent years that he was holy man… one who traveled the earth helping mortals.

As the squad car drove off… Reagan could see the Watchers in the crowd behind them… but there was no sign of Kage.

-----

Warren heard the police sirens outside. Peering through the curtains over the windows, he tried to make sense of the scene before him. He'd heard the shots earlier… but muffled… more like backfires… and hadn't paid too much attention until the sirens had sounded so closely.

He could vaguely make out Reagan's form as she was led to the police car.

He turned from the window as if seen… and stood with his back against a wall. "What now?" he wondered. By this time, his part in her vanishing might be known. Should he let the Watchers know where he was and concoct some story to cover his being with her… or should he stay put? Reagan Cole was one of the most capable immortals he'd studied in his time in the academy. She was quick, flexible in her stories, and had a resonable explanation for anything she did. Warren had to trust she knew what she was doing. She'd told him to stay out of sight. So he would… at least until tomorrow morning. If she hadn't returned… Warren would have to decide then what to do… and whom to approach.

Making certain the drapes were once more closed… he paced nervously about the room for some time, before finally sitting on the edge of the bed. Staying here and waiting was hard… Maybe there was something he could do… but what?

-----

Kage had understood the old Latin. While it wasn't his first language… he was old enough to understand it. That the immortal had warned him… meant there was some danger here… one that through her actions… she was attempting to escape.

One of his followers touched his arm. "John… perhaps we should move on." Kage nodded. His closest followers were arrayed about him as if protecting him from the crowds. Kage… or Kirin as he often thought of himself these days… let them surround him for the moment as they retreated up the Berlin strasse and away from the prying eyes of the Berlin police.

Kirin had been here for only a few months, having arrived back in Europe after a sojourn in war-torn Somalia. He'd lived among the poor and tried everything he could think of to protect them… to ease their pain… and to teach patience and acceptance of those most different. He'd done well… but when he'd died in a bombing, he'd realized he had to move on… again.

The man known to the world as John Kirin had no fear of death… not because he was an immortal… but because he'd come to understand that as long as the game went on… as long as his kind continued to kill one another… he'd die. That he hadn't… said more about the immortals whose lives he'd changed… than about his own abilities.

He had not touched a sword in nearly thirty years. Nor did he have on his person any other weapon. If there were a danger here… if the immortal woman had felt she had no other recourse than to go public somehow and risk exposure… then the danger was great.

At the approach of another immortal presence, Kage glanced up with a smile. "Grace," he said softly. "I fear there has been some trouble."

Grace Chandel glanced behind John and his group and nodded. "I wonder what it could be?" They'd met in Africa several years ago… and Grace, whose centuries of work as a healer and then medical researcher, had found much about John that had interested her. For one… she knew she was in no danger around him… and for another, he'd known Duncan… once upon a time.

"We best move on," John said with a gentle smile and slipped an arm into hers as they walked away. As they walked, he whispered in Latin, "One of us was arrested. She warned me to get away."

"You didn't know her?" Grace replied quietly, pulling her soft shawl around her shoulders for some additional warmth.

John shook his head. "But I think she knew me… or maybe the man I once was."

Grace nodded. John had explained his checkered past to her… offering her the opportunity to remain or to leave. In offering her the choice, Grace had understood he wanted her to remain with him… but would not force her. She could make her own decisions about her life. Because Grace had the choice… she chose to remain. There was much about John Kirin that reminded her of Darius… whom he had met long ago. John had chuckled at that, "Brother Darius might be pleased to know if he were still with us, that his words did indeed land on fertile soil… even if it took a century for them to blossom."

"Yes," Grace had agreed, softly wiping one eye free of tears. "He'd be pleased."

The two immortals and their followers… vanished into the Berlin night… unaware that they were also being followed.

-----

Paris

Eleanor slipped into the grove from the sewer and climbed the stairs to her rooms. Inside, Derrick sat morosely on the floor… reading.

"Which one did you pick?" she asked brightly, and smiled at his glare. The boy shrugged and continued to read.

"I need to check your arm again."

"It's fine," he mumbled.

"And I want it to stay that way!" Eleanor insisted, kneeling beside him and examining the wound beneath the dressings. She smiled. Whatever infection had been there seemed totally gone for the moment. Humming she spread on some additional salve and fresh bandages. "Maybe tomorrow we'll only change them once," she murmured.

Derrick snorted.

Eleanor eyed him carefully. Derrick was getting increasingly angry as if there was something boiling over in him that he could not control. She leaned against the wall beside him and asked, "What's wrong… what's really wrong?"

Derrick pretended to read… ignoring her.

She waited.

Finally he closed the book. "I want to go home," he finally said.

Eleanor laughed lightly. "Well… I did suggest you remain there. Perhaps next time you'll listen to me."

"I don't want to stay here. I don't like it here. It's awful."

Eleanor nodded. "It's not the kind of life for one so young. Once your arm has healed… I'll send you home."

Derrick turned. "Not without you."

"I have to stay and find Adam, Derrick. Unless and until I know he's dead… I have to. You don't." She lay one small hand on his arm. "My life is with him. You are nearly grown and will move on with your life soon. There is a world out there just waiting for you to discover it… and I want you to see it all. But understand this Derrick. Where you go and what you do with your life is your own affair. I just want you to make the most of it. I want you to see and learn all manner of things. I've already been anywhere I ever want to go. Now all I want… is Adam."

"And if he dies?" Tears were welling up in the boy's eyes.

Eleanor smiled, her own eyes also filling. "That is not an option I am willing to face tonight. I will find him… I have to." She squeezed his arm with reassurance and rose. "If you're staying in here, I'll toddle on off to bed now."

Derrick nodded and watched her go into "her" room and shut the door. For a brief moment he could recall her doing this at other times… and teasing him… no not him… the other one… to join her. But things were different now. And there were no old memories or other voices talking to him any longer. He sighed and opened the book to stare at the French words written on the page one more time. He stared… but did not read.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Kage (John Kirin) and Grace Chandel are canon characters from the original series' episodes Blind Faith and Saving Grace. Steven Keane was from the series' episode Forgive Us Our Trespasses. Jade was from an episode of The Raven.