Authors' Note: We're sorry. Very, very,very ,very, very sorry. The next one should not take quite so long. But don't trust us on that, we're University students and deadlines are truly meant to be broken. However this chapter is *really* long. To make up for it. Kind of. We'll shut up now.

The Nightrunners

Eleventh Hour Epiphanies

Soundtrack : Unwell (Matchbox Twenty) ( If you don't know these lyrics, there is probably no hope for you)

While a train bore down on two women caught on the tracks deep in the underground of the White City, Barry and Finn were having troubles of a different nature.



"I'm...getting...too ...*old*... for... this!"

"Shut up and keep running."

"He's heading ....into.... the market."

As Adam slowed, gaping in dismay at the open air market that hadn't existed ten years ago, Finn took the opportunity to tackle him.

Barry sighed as the two men went down with a resounding crash, accompanied by the tinkle of broken glass and china. With a glance to make sure Finn hadn't concussed their friend too badly, Barry turned his attention to the gathering crowd of shoppers.

"Sorry 'bout that. We haven't seen our friend in a *very* long time. Nothing too exciting. Nothing to see here..." Barry flashed his most disarming smile at the dispersing crowd, all the while waving his arms like a demented air traffic controller. The great thing about Parisians was that if there wasn't much violence, and it didn't involve them directly, they tended to ignore what was going on around them. For once, Barry was grateful for their innate self-absorption.

As the last of the shoppers drifted away, Barry turned back to where Finn was brushing himself off. Adam was still lying on the ground, wheezing.

"Please tell me we don't have to take him to a doctor."

Finn glanced back at Adam. "I don't think so. I just knocked the wind out of him. Grab an arm, so we can get him out of the street."

"Where do you want to take him ?"

"How about Michelle's ? I could go for a cup of coffee about now."

"Sounds good. Let's go"

Dragging Adam down a narrow side street, they managed to get about five feet down the rubbish covered pavement before they were forced to stop again.

"Oww, crap! Damn it Adam ,that *hurt*!"

Adam shoved Finn away, drew his gun and badge before turning around to face them.

"Leave. Me . Alo- - "

Finn, having recovered his balance, instinctively leapt away from the gun almost knocking Barry over in the process

"Adam, what the *hell* do you think you're doing?"

Behind the haze of adrenaline in his head it began to occur to Adam that his 'unknown' assailants had just called him by name twice in the last five minutes, and that they were starting to look pretty familiar. A thought was jumping up and down, trying to attract his attention.

"Barry? Finn?"

Unfortunately, before they had a chance to open their mouths, Adam reverted to what they fondly remembered as "Suspicious-Bastard " mode.

"What are you doing here?"

Finn finally lost his temper. "'What are we doing here?' he asks? Would it hurt you to say hello? Or even 'Long time, no see' ? But noooo! Ten fucking *years* without a word, and the first words out of your mouth are 'What are you doing here?'. God, there are times when I'd *love* to be big enough to lay you out in a scrap!"

"What are you *doing* here?" Adam repeated.

Barry decided to step in, before Finn carried through with his earlier threat and decked Adam. "We might ask you the same question."

"I came back...for a visit."

"And didn't even bother to call?"

"Why were you chasing me?"

"Why were you running away?"

Finn interrupted. "This is stupid. And I need a coffee. *Coming* Adam?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Coffee it is then."

Cheered with the prospect of caffeine and coupled with the fact that he no longer had to chase his friend around the city, Finn reverted to his normal upbeat disposition.

"That's a nice badge, Adam. Did you mug a cop?"

"Yes. After I left Paris, I decided that the best career choice for me would be international thief. So I decided to go all the way to Necropolis to mug a cop. *No*, you idiot, I've been a cop for nearly seven years now."

"A cop. You. You're joking, right?"

"Shut up."

************

Adam took a moment to take in his surroundings, as Barry made his way over to their table with the coffee. He didn't know quite where his old friends had brought him, but it seemed to have at least two exits, and Adam had made sure to sit himself close to one of them, without having to turn his back to it. He reasoned that if Barry and Finn were going to try anything, they wouldn't try to get him from behind. It also made escape easier.

//Just don't get sentimental, Gordon. These aren't the boys you grew up with. As nice as it would be to sit here and catch up, they knew where to find you, which is *not* a good thing. If you screw up, it's more than your neck on the line. Everyone else's safety is at risk as well. Just don't forget that.//

"So, Adam, what are you doing here in Paris?"

"Visiting."

"All by yourself?"

Barry and Finn watched the expression on Adam's face flicker.

"No." Adam switched topics abruptly "How's Uncle Darryl?"

Barry decided not to press him. For now "Not bad. "

"Don't lie to him, Barry. Dad's gone power mad, and Garrett the toad is still around."

Adam nodded. "The slimy guy that Dad never liked?"

"That's the one. He's currently our dad's private secretary. In fact, he's held that position ever since you left."

The conversation continued along those lines for some time Finally, Barry decided that it was time to find the answers they had come for.



"Sorry to backtrack the conversation a bit, but who exactly did you say you were here with again, Adam?" He asked abruptly.

Finn watched as the mask over Adam's face slipped back into place at Barry's question, and resisted the urge to kick his brother.

//Just when we were getting him to open up a little, Mr. Subtlety strikes again..//

"I *didn't* tell you who I was here with."

"No, you didn't, but I was wondering what your girlfriend's name was. It would be nice to meet her some time." Barry, sensing Finn's displeasure at his tactless inquiries, tried to cover.

"Her name is Alice. And she *isn't* my girlfriend." Adam couldn't keep himself from adding, "Unfortunately."

"Awww, is poor Adam having romantic trouble?"

Finn interjected, before Barry had a chance to do any more damage.

"Knock it off, would you Barry? It's not like you have anything to boast about."

"Oh look at Mr. Smug Married Man over there. Just because the rest of us haven't chosen to tie ourselves down, it doesn't mean that we haven't had the *chance*."

Adam found himself smiling at the two bickering brothers. They really *hadn't* changed much in ten years. Still the same old Barry and Finn, always arguing over one thing or another.

"Speaking of Erin, perhaps we should move this conversation back to your apartment, Barry? I'd like to be there in case Erin comes back with visitors."

Turning to Adam, he added, "Erin was the woman who went chasing after your Alice, when we left the coffee shop by the rink. If she managed to catch up with her, she'll probably bring her back to Barry's. Would you care to come with us?"

*************

Barry's small apartment looked to be a fairly nice place, at least when it wasn't being inhabited by five people at the same time. Barry was one of life's natural bachelors and it showed.

They'd been there for about forty-five minutes and still hadn't heard anything from Finn's wife.

Trying to make casual conversation in the somewhat tense silence, Adam ventured, "So Finn, *what* exactly have you done with yourself in the last ten years?"

"Well...I suppose you could say that I specialize in the acquisition of goods and information for several wealthy and influential private people. I am a purveyor of the goods and information that they deem to be important."

"Such as?"

"Well, I can't actually tell you that. Professional discretion prevents me from really telling you anything." he grinned. "Plus the fact that a lot of the stuff I learn isn't supposed to be public information."

"So you're a spy, and a thief." Adam stated flatly. "I've spent most of my life trying to *stop* people like you, and now I have family in the business. Oh God"

"I'm nothing of the sort. At least not in the sense you're thinking of. And I'm certainly not a thief. That's Barry's job."

"What!?!"

"Hey, I resent that. I'm not a thief, I'm an embezzler. A Robin Hood figure, if you will. I take from the rich and-"

Finn interrupted, "Yes, but you also *give* to the rich. It doesn't make a difference."

"Barry?"

"Yes, Adam ?"

"Who have you been embezzling *from*, exactly?"

"Oh, from Dad's company." A light dawned in his eyes. "Although I suppose it's really *your* company isn't it? You *are* heir to White City Enterprises."

"Don't remind me, *please*."

"So, I guess that means that it's *your* money I'm taking. Speaking of the company," he commented offhandedly, studying his nails," you might want to avoid the old man while you're in town."

"Why would I want to avoid Uncle Darryl? Aside from the fact that I ran away ten years ago. He can't still be mad about *that*."

"Well…" Barry hesitated. "It all goes back to what we were telling you earlier. White City Enterprises has given the Stuart family a great deal power and influence over the last ten years. And Dad's a proud man, but he's getting old. So many people would have welcomed you home with open arms, seeing it as a chance to de-claw our father and update the business."

" Hold on. *Would* have welcomed me?"

"There's been a lot of political intrigue going on here since you left. A lot of your Dad's old friends have been forced out of the company by scandal or in more extreme cases, death. And our father has become more and more territorial over this company. He's not going to be happy that you're back now."

"Great, so now I now I have to worry about crazed family members attempting to kill me, on top of everything else."

"Well, strictly speaking, he *isn't* actually family, per se."

"Close enough. Finn, do I really have to wait around to meet your little missus?"

"Anxious to escape our company, are you?"

"Actually, I'm starting to worry about Alice. She doesn't know her way around the city and..." Adam shrugged, as he tried to explain the inexplicable. "Could I at least use the phone? She should have her cell turned on, and I might be able to reach her."

"Whatever you wish, my liege." Barry joked, tossing off a mock salute as he went to get the phone. He turned around to see Adam stood in the centre of his dining room, giving him a very strange look.

"What did you say?"

"I said 'Whatever you wish, my liege'. Liege, as in, my brother, my captain, my king. You've never heard the expression before? I'm sure I told you that, once upon a time. Not that you'd actually remember or anything."

************

Somewhere, he could hear Barry's voice, and the sound of a phone ringing, but that was a hundred thousand miles away from the world Adam Gordon was currently occupying. Those words, tossed off without a thought, had gone straight to his hindbrain and knocked something loose. That was the only way Adam could describe the sensation.

Those words, in a different time, a different place, laden with pain and pride and regret. The last words he had ever heard from-

-Barry, but that wasn't right, Barry hadn't died, but it had still been him, Boromir, with ugly black shafts buried in his chest, though his heart, the dead leaves underfoot sticky with blood, and he'd said-

//I would have followed you.//

And in that time, and in that place, he'd wept for the man who'd died, his brother and friend. In that old, sunny forest, surrounded by corpses, and Frodo had gone, running with the Ring-

Frodo.

And then an entire lifetime of memories hit Adam at high speed.

It was the worst pain he'd ever felt, worse than being shot or stabbed or thrown out of a helicopter into an icy river. Worse, because it wasn't physical. It was all in his mind.

************

Barry Stuart didn't understand what was happening, at least, not at first. He watched as the blood drained out of his friend's face, watched as his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth clenched. He stepped forward and managed to catch Adam when his legs folded up underneath him, nearly sending them both to the floor. Finn, displaying a remarkable sense of timing, emerged from the kitchen, and the two brothers managed to manhandle Adam to the couch.

He lay there, eyes wide, but Barry was sure he wasn't seeing the room in front of him. Adam's mind was firmly entrenched a thousand miles and thirty thousand years away. Finn grabbed a crystal decanter of old brandy from the sideboard, and splashed three fingers' worth into a shot glass. Barry took it, and, without ceremony, dumped the contents down Adam's throat.

Choking, Adam knocked the heavy crystal glass away. It shattered on the floor, but no one noticed. He inhaled sharply as awareness returned to his eyes and features. And to Barry and Finn, it looked as thought he'd just aged a hundred years in a moment.

"Where is Arwen?"

Barry could only smile at him, a little sadly. "'And the Tower Guard took up the call'."

Finn sprawled down next to Adam, resting his head companionably on his shoulder. "'The lords of Gondor have returned.'"