Chapter Three
The Motel Swell, AZ, the next day:

Amber wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror and ran a comb through her wet hair as she sighed, shaking her head with a slight chuckle. They'd gotten a room… but it hadn't been exactly what she'd expected. For one thing… Tyler Burke was still with them.

Even now she could hear his voice spouting off pop culture references from the last eighty years or so. Right now… for some reason… he was singing, "M… I… C… K… E… Y…" Amber heard Derrick's laugh and sighed once more… still trying to figure out just why she was here. Why had she broken all the rules of her immortal existence and not only taken a student… but an immortal lover… and then followed him wherever he wanted to go… as if he were the teacher… and she was the student?

She closed her eyes and recalled how he felt in her arms… his touch on her lips… his smile as he looked at her in wonder… and she knew. He was something special… and he needed her. Despite appearances to the contrary… he needed her.

"Why is he following us?" she'd asked him about Burke earlier today, when she'd had the chance. Amber had made it clear in her tone… that she didn't care for Burke.

"He wants to come," Derrick had said with a shrug, seeming to indicate that somehow that made perfect sense.

"You do realize that immortals don't travel in packs… don't you?" she'd furthered, jabbing a finger into his back.

He'd said nothing and just kept driving.

They'd stopped at a roadside picnic area for a break… Derrick had sat behind her on the table top… she'd been on the attached wooden bench… his arms and legs surrounded her while Tyler Burke had paced up and down the grassy area… waving his arms and reciting the Gettysburg Address.

Derrick had leaned down to whisper in Amber's ear. "We need a motel room."

Amber had grinned and leaned back into him as thoughts of some privacy had thrilled her. "Yes we do!" she'd agreed eagerly.

He'd kissed the top of her head, his lips brushing her hair, his hands giving her shoulders a slight squeeze. "I'm so pleased you agree."

Yeah… she'd agreed… Then they'd found the old white plaster-walled motel with its long line of faded blue doors. There were two other old cars in the crumbling asphalt of the parking lot. One evidently belonged to the desk clerk… the other to another guest.

Derrick had parked the jet cycle and told her to wait. He'd gone into office and through the yellow tinted window she could see him talking to the desk clerk. She'd gazed up at the sun shining hotly in the clear sky… and noted a vulture gliding on thermals.

Burke had pulled in behind her. She'd sighed, hoping he'd stay in his car, along with all the stuff he had piled into it. She most definitely did not want to have to talk to him. He waited… she could hear him crooning, "… it was a very good year for small-town girls…" His radio didn't work… but evidently… Tyler Burke did not need a radio.

Derrick's step was light as he exited the office and waved a keycard in his hands with a grin. Amber had leaped off the bike and grabbed both of their bags… her thoughts on the shower… and on a soft bed… and on what might happen again in the privacy of a room.

Oh… she'd gotten the shower… first.

Now she combed her hair and wrapped the towel tightly around her slim, muscular frame… carefully tucking in the end. She sighed and opened the bathroom door… her skin prickling slightly in the AC revved up in the outer room. "Next!" she said far more brightly than she actually felt.

Derrick had thrown a towel around Burke's shoulders and was trimming the man's wild red mane and beard. Burke grinned at her and glanced up at Derrick. "Go… you'll enjoy it," he said with a smile.

Bowing at her as he passed… Burke entered the bathroom and shut the door. Derrick gathered up the cut hair and deposited it all in a trashcan while Amber… carefully slipped into clean clothes… making certain to keep an eye on the shut bathroom door.

"Is his presence necessary?" she asked, feeling her Irish temper rise.

Derrick brushed at his clothes. "He needs a shower."

"Can't he get his own room?"

"With what?"

Amber rounded on him. "Ya paid for his food. Why not rent him his own room?"

Derrick shrugged. "It seemed a waste of money to rent him a room just so he could shower. He can use this one."

Amber collapsed on the bed. "Please tell me he's not going to sleep in here, too!"

Derrick laughed. "No… I think he plans to sleep in the car. He said he needed to be certain it wasn't hauled off."

Amber leaned against the headboard, carefully folding her arms across her chest. Her long bare legs stretched out on top the cool silky feel of the tacky paisley quilt. She'd pulled on gray knit shorts and a gray tank top in the anticipation of relaxing for the rest of the day.

Derrick eyed the bathroom. "Strange… he hasn't started any water yet. Perhaps I should check on him." He knocked and opened the door. Amber heard him say something to Burke about assistance as he shut the door behind him. A few moments later she heard the water start.

She grabbed the remote and flicked it at the television. "Curiouser and curiouser," she quoted and ran through the five stations available… settling on some old black and white movie that she vaguely recalled seeing when it was new.

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An hour later, Tyler Burke paraded around the motel room… admiring his Hawaiian print shirt… reasonably clean and his khaki Bermuda shorts and leather sandals. He rubbed his hands idly up and down his arms and over his trimmed hair and beard. Then he grinned at Derrick sitting on the end of the bed… his hands clasped before him.

"Lookeeng good!" Burke said with a laugh.

Derrick nodded. "Yes… you look very nice Burke. Are you hungry?" When the mad immortal eagerly nodded, Derrick leaned back on the bed. "I'm going to get us all some burgers and fries." He slapped Amber's leg lightly and rose to leave. He turned back. "Unless there is something else you'd like?"

Amber glared at him. "A burger's fine." She inclined her head in Burke's direction. "Why not take him with ya?"

Derrick shrugged. "I don't think he'd do well riding on the back of the cycle. I can make it there and back faster on my own."

"And ya want me to… entertain him?" Amber's sarcasm was evident.

Derrick laughed. "Just talk to him. Get to know him."

"I don't want to get to know him. I don't even want him around!"

Derrick sobered. "He needs us."

"Aye… but do we need him?" Amber tossed one of the pillows at Derrick. He caught it thoughtfully and gazed at her and then at Burke.

"Maybe we do. Each one we befriend… is one less we might have to kill." He tossed the pillow back. "Besides… he's a lot better than he was when we found him." Waving at them both… he left.

Amber sighed when she heard the jet cycle power up and drive away. "He wants me to talk to ya… but how do we communicate?" she asked thoughtfully.

Burked pulled a chair up closely in front of the television. She hit the remote and found a cartoon. He grinned and nodded. "Roadrunner! Beep! Beep!"

Amber smirked wearily. "Yeah… beep… beep!"

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Outskirts of Tucson, AZ:

The dusty white Camry pulled into the shantytown… stirring up a cloud of dust. Simon Becker alighted into the sunshine with a glance at the shimmering mirage of heat rising around him. He wiped his already perspiring brow and leaned into the back seat for his medical bag.

Surprisingly… he was not met by the residents as he usually was on his weekly visit here. Well, he thought, it is hot. Maybe they had all holed up somewhere. He wasn't really here to see them anyway. He was here to check on Tyler Burke, immortal.

Despite being crazy as a loon… Tyler Burke had managed to survive in a kill or be killed game for nearly fifty years. Perhaps it was his madness that protected him. More likely it was that few immortals ever prowled the slagheaps of humanity for their prey. Surely if one ever came after him here… Burke would be dead.

When Simon had drawn the assignment… he'd groaned at the thought of spending time in this place.

"As a doctor… you'd have a reason to go down there and hang out. Those people don't take to outsiders too well… as we've learned over the years. Go slowly… just check them out… get to know them… gain their trust. That way… if anything happens to Burke… they'll tell you the next time you're there."

So Simon had done as he was told. One of the directives from the Watcher Council had been to watch… not interfere… and not get overly involved. As he approached Burke's usual haunts, Simon noted the absence of the usual residents. Fearfully he sped up… afraid that he'd find Burke beheaded… and the others dead or gone… having fled in fear from what they'd seen.

But he didn't find Burke. What he found was a mystery. Burke's old Taurus… a 1997 tan clunker had vanished… and with it… Burke's lean-to, his belongings… and Burke himself. Simon turned about, shading his eyes with his hand, while he searched for signs of life. Finally he heard singing in the distance. Rushing in that direction he found Old Sal… packing things into a shopping cart.

"Sal… how are you?" Simon gave it his best effort.

The woman grinned her gap-toothed smile. "Hey Doc!"

"Where is everyone?"

Sal shrugged. "Most bugged out yestiday. They's lookin' for jobs or better housin', I think."

Simon chuckled to himself. How many times in the last year had he attempted to tell these people they needed to get out of here and move on with their lives. That there was all sorts of help out there and government assistance if they just applied for it. He'd gotten nowhere. Then again… Simon glanced around… they were gone.

"Everyone?"

"Yep… I'm the last. Jest wanted to find a few things I might need 'fore I left or I'd be gone, too."

"Even Crazy Burke?" Simon tried to sound less interested than he truly was.

"Oh… he left with them young folks."

"Young folks?"

"Yep… a man and a young woman. Nice couple… though she put on some airs at first." Sal shook out a coat, examined it for holes and dirt, and then stuffed it into her basket.

"And Burke went with them?"

"Yep… The man helped Burke fix his car… then Burke followed them down the road." She picked up a wooden stepstool and turned it over in her hands as she considered it. Then she tossed it over her shoulder.

Simon tried to order his thoughts. Burke had left? The man was terrified of being in the world. He was terrified of other immortals! Simon had talked with him several times trying to get some insight into what had happened to Tyler Burke that had left him the way he was. He never had. Simon thanked Sal and headed back to his car. Climbing in… he started the ignition and sat thinking while the AC blew cold air on his face.

Pulling his PDA from the glove compartment… he tapped in the date and time of day. "Subject left with a couple." He'd type it up formally later and then submit his report. They'd re-assign him… at least Simon hoped that his superiors would. Someplace nice… someplace where he needn't have to deal with the likes of Tyler Burke, Old Sal… or shantytowns.

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