CHAPTER 15 – BONNIE AND CLYDE

Kate drove west, trying to stay off main roads, trying to think of a better plan. Rick could tell from her frown that she was worrying, but he didn't know what to do to stop her.

"Are you okay?" he asked finally. Kate sighed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine."

In fact she was in torment. She gripped the wheel with both hands, her knuckles going white as she tried not to think too much. But she didn't even know who she was! She had let go of everything that had been protecting her, everything she had been for the last eight years. All she remembered of Kate was a wreck, a broken teenager who wanted nothing more than to lie down in that alley beside her mother and never wake up. There had been nothing left in the world for Kate – and was there anything now? She looked at the man sitting beside her, the man she owed an explanation. But she had nothing to give him. She couldn't explain... And it was such a long story. And one in which she came off pretty badly. I wanted to kill people because someone I loved was killed. Yeah, that sounded totally sane and sensible! It wasn't why – but it was what people thought. Even Victor had thought that.

Sierra threw herself into the punch bag, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pummelled it with her fists. She had been there for two weeks – and she wanted to go home. But this was her home now. There was nothing for her anywhere else. Not any more.

"Sierra?"

She jumped, then wiped her eyes. She'd thought she was alone.

"Hey, Victor."

"Want me to steady that for you?"

She nodded slowly, not sure what he wanted. She tried to remember what they'd been taught about how to train properly with the bag, but she was so frustrated, she just wanted to hit something.

"You'll tire yourself out hitting it like that," Victor said gently.

"I don't care," she said quietly. If she was really tired, maybe she would sleep. She had hardly been sleeping at all.

Victor let go of the bag and walked around it to her.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No. Not allowed, anyway."

"I won't tell."

"I don't care."

"Someone died, right?"

He took her silence as a yes.

"You'll get over it. One day. You're special, you know that? You're young, and they let you start late."

Sierra knew it wasn't as simple as that. 'They' had been getting her out of the way, whoever they were – she couldn't have stayed in New York. It was for her own safety as much as for the benefit of the man who had helped her. The nameless, faceless man.

"Kate?"

She blinked. "Sorry. I was...thinking."

"You were miles away. You look so sad. Are you sure you- I mean, you aren't sad about-"

Kate looked around, indicated, then pulled over to the side of the road. She stared right at the man sitting next to her.

"Rick. Last night, and this morning, were better than anything I could ever have imagined. In a way, you are the only thing keeping me sane right now. You make me the opposite of sad. If there were nothing else... If it were just you, I'd be the happiest woman in the world right now."

Rick stared back. "There doesn't have to be anything else. I mean, I don't want to control you. But I hate to see you like this."

"I'm not... I'm not a happy person Rick. You know that."

"But couldn't you be? We could just... We could run away. We could go anywhere, do anything you want."

She sighed. "I wish it were that simple. But I come with a lot of baggage."

Rick touched the side of her face. "We all do, Kate. But that's what I'm here for. When was the last time you talked to someone about it?"

"I've never talked to anyone about it. I think it's better that way, though."

Kate could see the pain in Rick's eyes as he looked at her. "You're so alone..." he said softly, stroking her cheek with his thumb as his bright eyes pierced her soul. "But not any more," he added. Kate rested her face on his hand for a moment before gently taking hold of it, squeezing it tightly between both of hers.

"You don't need to be burdened with my problems too."

"Maybe I want to be." Maybe I love you...

"I'm not..." she bit her lip. "I don't know how to keep you safe."

Rick put his free hand on her shoulder. "We'll keep each other safe."

Kate was almost crying. "They'll find us, though. This is so much bigger... I should never have come. I mean, I thought... What if they're not after you?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if it's... Oh God, it really could be. I should never have come!"

"Really could be what? Kate, I'm lost..."

"What if they made me? Someone, anyone in New York. What if they realised... There was a reason I left. I'm a danger, I knew too much, and I told the wrong people – they had to get me out."

"You mean... what happened to make you become Sierra?"

"Right. I mean, maybe we were right. Maybe Sophia was working alone. She had no associates, this whole thing has never made sense... Unless it's not about you. What if they only took you to get to me? What if you're just bait, what if I'm the one putting you in danger... What if it's all my fault?"

"But why would anyone want to get to you?" Rick was desperately trying to process the information she was giving him, but she was almost hysterical now, and she wasn't telling him anything like the whole story.

"Because I... I can't explain now. No time," she said, pulling back out onto the road. "We have to get to a phone, I have to call this in."

"But... last time you called in they found out where we were."

Kate bit her lip. "Okay, so I can't call it in. Then what do I do?"

"Someone died, didn't they?"

"What?"

"Someone you loved. They were murdered. And the killer was never caught, right?"

Kate felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Then I think we should solve the murder. So we know who's after you – if it isn't the Russians. But it could still be the Russians."

Kate felt herself start to cry, and she was powerless to stop. It was finally too much. But he was right. She only knew him as 'The Dragon'. Some all powerful figure, someone who could get to anyone but could never be found.

"It's not the Russians," she said quietly. "If they had you... They would have just killed you. But they didn't. They kept you alive, because they wanted me. And why would anyone want me? There's only one reason."

"How did they find you?"

"No idea. Maybe someone recognised me. It sounds stupid, but they really do have people everywhere." She sniffed. She tried to stop crying; she needed to think. Rick took a tissue out of the bag and mopped at her cheeks as she drove. She laughed in spite of herself.

"I feel like a child."

He got another tissue and held it to her nose. "Blow."

She raised her eyebrows. He shrugged. She blew her nose.

"Good girl," he said with a smile. She smiled back.

"I think you need a coffee," he said to her. "I know I do."

He kept the smile on his face despite his terror. She was the target? No, it couldn't be. It was him! She couldn't be who they wanted, she was going to be alright, she was going to be safe... He would protect her. She pulled into the next service station and bought two cappuccinos. They sat together on the hood of the mini to drink them.

"Why did you pick a mini?" Rick asked.

"Don't know. Just always liked them."

"It's not really inconspicuous."

"If I'm going to die, I want to have driven a mini first."

Rick laughed. "You're not going to die. But, now we're onto the topic, what else is on your bucket list?"

Kate smiled at him. "Loads. I mean... I guess I just didn't think I would die. I don't die. I do the killing. So I haven't really done any of it. And the job got in the way too. Do you have one?"

"A bucket list? Sure. I think everyone does. Tell me something on yours."

"You have to tell me the stuff on yours too."

"Fine. We'll take turns," he said, pulling her closer to him so she was leaning against his chest. "But you first, because I asked."

"Fair enough. Uhm..." she blushed. "Be kissed in the rain."

"Darn, it's not raining. Would the shower count?"

"Nope. Got to be rain. Preferably a thunderstorm. Your turn."

"Tell a girl I love her. And mean it. And have her tell me back."

Kate nodded. "Catch the dragon," she said quietly. Rick knew now wasn't the time to ask.

"Drive a mini-cooper."

Kate laughed. "Isn't riding in one enough?"

"No way."

"Fine. Stay in a 5 star hotel."

"Really? They're not that special."

"It's my list."

"As you wish. Dance in the street."

"Or a parking lot?"

"A parking lot would do. If I were dancing with someone really special."

Kate slid off the car, downed the rest of the coffee, and held out her hands to him. He put down his cup and joined her, taking her hand and putting an arm around her waist.

"I actually kicked one off quite recently," Kate said, grinning.

"Oh yes? And what was that?"

"Tell someone my real name. Let them know me."

"I'm glad you wanted to. I thought maybe you were just being nice. And you were very nice. Too nice, really. I could even go as far as to say I like letting her go first. You have it in you."

Kate grinned. "Maybe I'm a feminist."

"No. If you were a feminist you'd think it should be only you."

"You have a very narrow view of feminists."

"The word has connotations. Which you don't meet – you shave your legs and wear a bra. So, not a feminist."

Kate laughed. "I should be mad at you for saying that. In fact, I am."

Rick winked. "No you're not. You want to be, but you can't resist my charm. What's your surname?"

"Beckett."

"Kate Beckett. Is Kate short for Katherine?"

Kate nodded.

"You have a middle name?"

"Houghton."

"Oh, Katharine Houghton Hepburn! Love it."

"My mother was a fan. But my name's spelt wrong. I have an 'e'."

"Makes you special. You're like her, you know. Strong."

"I wanted to be her... I mean, when I was little. I wanted to be an actress. Or the first female chief of justice. One of the two."

Rick laughed. "I think I was always going to be a writer. You kind of are an actress."

"Except my whole life is pretending."

"Not your whole life. You don't have to pretend with me."

"No... It's such a relief."

"I think that's why you're all teary. It's like people getting migraines when the stress is over."

"But the stress isn't over."

"Some of it is. Anyway, you're smiling now. So you must feel better."

"You make me feel better."

"Glad to be of service. But I can do far better than this," he said, waggling his eyebrows. She tutted, then got into the passenger seat of the car. Rick sat down on the driver's side, but Kate had to lean over, her head almost in his lap, to get the car started again.

"This I could get used to," he said. Kate stroked a hand across his lap and he gasped. She sat up; the engine was purring quietly. She turned sideways in her seat and looked across at him, folding her legs up in front of her.

"Put your seatbelt on," he said as he drove out of the parking lot. "We haven't survived this long for you to die in a car accident."

"Aren't you a good driver?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. Rick winked at her; she loved everything he did with his eyes.

"I'm excellent. But I can't speak for everybody else."

Kate laughed.

"You feeling good now?" he asked her.

She looked him up and down, thinking, but also letting him fill her mind.

"Wonderful," she said.

"We're like Bonnie and Clyde," he said with a grin.

"Except we aren't going to get riddled with holes," Kate said sternly.

"Or Thelma and Louise."

"They're both women. And we-"

"Hey. I might not have seen the end!"

"You brought them up."

"I know of them. Doesn't mean-"

"Fine, fine. But I think we're a new dynamic duo."

"Never seen before," he mused. "Where am I headed, by the way?"

"Ah... somewhere to stay, I guess."

"A 5 star hotel?"

Kate laughed. "Hell, why not?"