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

Behind Blue Eyes

Chapter 2.

Rose blinked.

There was a ceiling. She was pretty sure that there was no ceiling before. She slowly turned her gaze from side to side, but her vision was too blurry for her to make out any details of her surroundings. She was in a room, that was for sure. There was a sound of running water coming from somewhere. A shower, she reasoned, I must be in a hotel room.

"What..?" She whispered mostly to herself.

Rose felt disoriented. But still, she swung her legs to the floor and stood up next to the bed. Holding her other hand on he bed she made her way closer to what looked like a dark, brown, rectangular spot on the wall. A door? She shook her head slightly and squinted her eyes, but it didn't make her vision any clearer.

Suddenly the short hair on her neck stood up. She listened for a second and her hazy mind realized that the shower wasn't on anymore. Slowly, she turned around to see a figure standing on the other side of the room.

"Oh crap.." Rose winced and took a step back as the figure moved closer. It seemed to be a man, and he was holding his hands in front of him. Rose froze and her eyes went wide with terror as he reached out to her face.

"Here." He said and pushed something metallic up her nose. And as if it was magic, Roses vision cleared. Glasses! She thought, he had my glasses. And it was him, the man who had helped her.

"T-Thank you." She muttered. And then blushed as she realized he was wearing only a towel that hung low on his hips. Don't look down! Her mind yelled, but it was too late as her gaze run over his lean body. She couldn't help from biting her lower lip when she saw the black and blue bruise covering his right side. And when she realized what she was doing, her mouth shaped a perfect O. "Oh no.. No wait, I wasn't.. You.. I.."

"It's ok, I don't mind." He said and she could see the corner of his mouth twitch up a little. She could hear the amusement in his voice.

"But I really wasn't checking you out!" She sputtered the words out.

"Sit down so I can check that bruise you got." Even though he grinned at her, she knew it was an order.

Rose backed away until the back of her legs hit the bed. She quickly sat down and averted her eyes to anywhere but the nearly naked man. She could hear the soft rustle of clothes as he got dressed. "I..." Rose cleared her throat. "I don't know your name."

"You can all me James." He answered. She could feel the mattress shift as he sat next to her. "Let's take a look at that bruise." He brushed her hair away from her face and gently probed her skull with his fingers.

"I'm Rose. What.. Ouch!" She yelped as he hit a raw spot.

"Sorry."

"What happened to you?" Rose asked, just to get her mind of the feeling his touch was sending down her spine. His fingers stopped as she finally turned to look at him.

"You mean besides getting hit to the face by a complete stranger?" He asked, buying time as he stood up.

Rose nodded.

James stared down at the woman and tried to imagine what she would do if he told her the truth. I work for the British government and I have the license to kill if my mission requires it. ...Maybe not. She probably wouldn't believe him anyway, it was very unlikely she had ever encountered anyone from his world before.

He knew she had a PhD in mathematics and that she worked as an engineer at the Kincaid Corporation. She was 29 years old, single and had just moved back to London from New York. She had been married once, divorced, no children. Her medical record said she was 5'2" tall and a somewhat overweight. No police record, apart from few parking and speeding tickets. A normal person, with absolutely nothing interesting about her.

And that was the fact that intrigued him. What could the thing, she said she didn't have, that the other man had been looking for possibly be? Money? Her bank account wasn't exactly overflowing. Maybe she had stolen something. Who knew.

"I got hit by a car." It was the truth. He _had_ been hit by a car, but he'd left out the part of the story what happened just before and after that incident. After all, no one wants to hear that the person they are alone in a room with is a killer. He knew that much from experience.

"Oh."

"Maybe you could tell me what happened to you?"

"I wish I could." Rose shrugged her shoulders. "But I don't know what happened. Suddenly everything just went wrong."

"What did he want?"

"A key."

"A key?"

"Yes. A key, but I don't have it."

"What kind of key?"

"I don't know! I've never seen it. But from what I hear it' just a sheet of paper with numbers on it." Rose threw her hands up in defeat. "And it makes no sense why Mr. Caldwell thought I would have it."

"Mr. Caldwell?"

"The guy that.. You know.."

"Ah."

"I was supposed to meet with one of my boss's, that's Mr. Kincaid's, associates earlier, but she never showed up. Then Mr. Caldwell.. Well, then everything just went wrong." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know what I should do, I really don't. No one has ever hit me before, I don't know to deal with this kind of crap! I have no idea what's going on!"

"You've got blood on your shirt." James said as he stepped away from her. "You can use the shower if you wish."

Rose stared at the man. Did he just say what she thought he did? After her outrageous outburst he just calmly suggested that she'd take a shower. She looked down. There was a patch of blood covering the front of her shirt. "Crap."

"Sorry about that."

A stray lock of hair run loose from her messed up ponytail and she tugged it behind her ear. She took a steadying breath. "Shower you said?"

"Yes."

"Can I borrow a clean shirt?"

He threw her a long sleeved black shirt. She managed to catch it midair even though it folded open. Then she did something that nearly made him loose his cool.

She smiled at him.

Although obviously tired, it was still a trusting, friendly smile. Not something he would expect from a woman. Oh women smiled at him, a lot. Seductive grins and perfect pouty lips greeted him often. But there was something in this small, honest smile that disturbed him to the core.

"You'll live."

"Huh?"

"The bruise," He pointed at her head. "It looks nasty, but I think it's nothing too serious."

"Oh, ok." She rose from the bed. "I uhh.. I should go then." He looked as she walked to the bathroom door, and just as he was going to call her name, she turned. "Do you want to have a drink with me later?" She looked at the tip of her sneakers, "Of course, I have no money so you would have to pay for it.." She continued before he could answer. "And now that I think of it I don't have a passport either and my hotel key was also in my purse, so I'm kinda screwed. Maybe I should just.. Sorry I said anything. Actually, I think should really just leave you alone now and.."

"I'd love to."

"What?" Rose looked up.

"I would love to buy you a drink." He smiled.

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TBC. ...Yeah I know. More action coming in the next chapter...