If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Behind Blue Eyes

Chapter 1.

The bistro was located on a quiet boulevard near the long, silver sanded beach. James sat there, on a white metal chair with a cool drink on his good hand and gazed down the boulevard as the few tourists strolled by. His sunglasses almost managed to hide the dark bruise below his eye. The cast on his right wrist made his skin itch.

Yes. He really had needed this vacation.

The waitress, with her deliciously long, creamy legs, came up to him with his bill. She smiled and winked as he pulled the money out from his wallet.

When he turned the bill over, he saw the phone number written on it. James grinned.

Oh yes, he had definitely needed this vacation.

---

Rose ran.

She wasn't looking where just as long as she could get away from that man. Her face hurt, and it seemed that her glasses had cracked. Finally, out of breath, she had to stop. She dived into a small alley.

Panting hard she leaned to the wall. Her legs trembled and sweat drenched her t-shirt. Her shoulder length brown hair had escaped from the ponytail and it clung to her damp skin.

She reached out to her purse, only to notice that she had left it to the café. My passport! Her eyes went wide. She removed her glasses and wiped the sweat away from her forehead.

"Oh crap.." She moaned and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, "Crap crap crap.."

Urgent steps woke her up from her stupor. Was he following her? She quickly put her glasses back and peeked out from her hiding place. She saw Mr. Caldwell jogging down the road. He didn't even seem to be out of breath. Rose drew a shaky breath. Tears stung her eyes.

"Why is this happening..?" Rose whispered to herself. "What..?"

Mr. Caldwell had stopped. He was looking at his cell phone and suddenly he sound of Duffy's Mercy cut the air. Rose's hand went to her back pocket and she pulled the phone out.

"CRAP!" The cell phone flew from her hand as she dashed out form the alley.

----

James never saw her coming as she ran straight to his chest, knocking him back half a step before could he brace them both. His mind registered few things in the seconds he held her close. She was short, very curvy and she trembled. She hastily looked over her shoulder, letting out a small whimper of terror as she saw the man running toward them.

Then she looked up to him with tear filled eyes. "Please." She whispered. Her left cheekbone was turning purple. It wasn't all that hard to figure out she had been attacked.

So much for the vacation, he gingerly thought as he pushed her to safety behind him.

"Rose." The tall, dark haired man called her name. The woman behind James grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Come on Rose, there's no need to involve other people to this." The dark haired man said.

"Go away, I don't have it!" She cried.

"Don't lie to me." The man scowled.

"I'm not lying!"

"The lady says she doesn't have it." James pointed out before the other man could say anything.

"You stay out this, or you'll get more bones broken." The man gave his cast a narrow eyed glare.

James shrugged. And then almost too fast for the eyes to see it he kicked the other man to the ribs. It would have worked much better if he had managed to actually hit the other guy, but the man was just a bit too fast.

A fist landed on his already bruised face, but while taking a hit he managed to give one back. He saw the gun holster under the man's vest and while he was still recovering from the blow, James pulled the gun out and brought it down to the man's head.

Mr. Caldwell made a gurgling sound and went limp.

---

Rose couldn't believe what a happening right in front of her. The man she had run into just beat the crap out of Mr. Caldwell, and disarmed him, and now he turned to look at her.

All she could do was stare in shock. But when he turned his attention back to the body laying in front of him and she heard him click the safety off the gun, she dashed to him and pulled the hand holding the gun.

"Don't." She found herself begging.

He looked down at her for what seemed like ages, although it probably was just a second or two. The cold blue eyes mesmerized her.

"I.. I.." Rose stuttered when he finally turned his eyes back to the unconscious Mr. Caldwell. "Your face.. Are you alright?" She asked, while making a mental note that he didn't throw the gun away.

"I'm fine." He had a deep voice with a British accent.

"You're bleeding." She pointed out. He brought his fingers to his face, and smeared the blood trickling down his forehead. His blond hair stuck straight up where the blood had colored it red.

"You are quite good at stating the obvious." He wiped the blood out of his hand to his shirt. "Bleeding is what usually happens if someone hits you to the face."

He then reached out to grab a hold of her chin. She froze to the contact. Even tough he was being very gentle, she could feel the strength of the grip. He brought his face near enough for her to see that his eyes were not only cold, they were nearly arctic.

"That's a nasty looking bruise." He said and then let go of her chin. She nearly toppled over, not realizing she had leaned into his touch. "Did he hit you?" He nodded towards the unconscious man.

"Y-yes." She whispered. "He.. I don't know. He just…" She shivered violently. "I don't.. I think I'm going to faint.."

---

"No wait..!" James saw her eyes flutter close and quickly reached out to catch her. Her limb body was surprisingly heavy and he nearly lost his footing. He quickly looked around before lowering her down to the pavement. "Madam?" He shook her shoulder. What did the other man call her? "Rose?"

She groaned, but didn't open her eyes.

He muttered a curse as he lifted her to his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Why would someone hit this woman, he pondered as he made his way back to the boulevard. There really didn't seem to be a point to it, she was obviously not a threat to anyone. So it must have been to blackmail or to torture her for something.

Something about that made him feel very angry.

He stopped and looked around. Tourists were coming their way. He shifted her weight around a bit and plastered a smile on his face.

"Too much to drink." James found himself explaining to the people with questioning faces. Luckily his hotel had no lounge, so the lobby was nearly empty.

When he finally reached his room he placed her on top of the bed and sat down to a chair next to it to catch his breath. After a minute or so he reached out to her again and patted her down only to find a very slim wallet on her jeans back pocket. No passport, no drivers license, no identification what so ever.

He flipped through the wallet and found a prescription for a pair of glasses. There was a name; Rose Hanford. He called down to the lobby and ordered a pair of glasses to be sent up ASAP to replace the broken ones. And a bucket of ice and a bottle of Whiskey for himself.

Then he sat down and leaned back, closing his eyes. His broken wrist throbbed painfully, as did his bruised ribs and face.

With a groan he reached out to get his communicator and requested a name check for Rose Hanford. Something was not quite right with her.

"Curiosity killed the cat.." He murmured to himself.

There was a knock to the door.

---

TBC. Soon.