An encounter in the Sitting Room...

Starting to learn her signals, he says "It is indeed and it will take us to a safe place to work from. Somewhere a little more out of sight so we can begin to unravel the task at hand." Seeing her cover her smile with her hand in hopes he didn't see the blueberries stuck in her teeth he laughs a bit. Finishing off his bagel he leans back and lets out a long breath. The weather was perfect today. The rain and cold of the day before was gone, and the sun had brought some warmth back to the streets. Seeing her eye him from across the table he instantly blushed though he didn't know why. "What is it?" he asked with a sly grin.

Blinking he thinks "Did I hear that right?" But the look on her face says he did. Giving in he says "Aright, but be warned I have multiple left feet. I cannot be held responsible for them." He grins standing to his feet. He gives her his hand and she rises. She steps out from behind the table and he gives her a spin and sweeps her into his arms. Turning her back around he keeps her pulled in tight and they begin to step together. Looking down at her he can't help but think to himself of how odd this truly was. On that slow freighter ride back from Cairo he never thought that anything like this would happen. Brushing aside other thoughts, he looked down at her and lost himself in the moment. For that moment, out in the street, dancing with Clue he was free.

Feeling the redness creep into his face, Lawrence turns to the side and executes a deep bow towards Clue. With her hand still in his he kisses it gently before letting her go. Moving quickly towards her he tips his hat towards those watching and quickly shepherds her down the street. Giggling a bit as they move he says, "That probably wasn't the best way to hide out, but that was incredible." A block into their walk he stops suddenly and turns Clue back towards himself. Looking into her eyes he said, "Thank you for this. The last 24 hours have been surreal and just now for one moment I felt free from everything. Thank you for giving me my life back, even if only for a short while.."

Reaching up and touching her hand, with a hint of sadness he whispers, "So do I." He looks back at her, "If I kissed her now, would it ruin everything?" he wonders. He leans in closely, holds her face in his hands and gently kisses her forehead. "Come," he says taking her hand in his once more. "Off we go."

On cloud 9 himself Lawrence doesn't see the passing stranger. Arriving back at the inn they retrieve their things in short order and make for the train station. Walking along he notices Clue thinking carefully. "Are you alright?" he says concerned. She nods and as they turn down the next alley Lawrence moves along in front of her. Suddenly he stops causing her to bump into him. The old rucksack drops to the pavement and Lawrence raises his hands. Directly ahead is a large man in a trench coat chewing on a soggy cigar stump. He has a a CZ 75 in his hand and it's pointed straight at Lawrence's chest. "Easy ol boy." Lawrence says aloud. The man motions with the gun, "Give me the package, now" he orders harshly. "What package?" Lawrence bluffs. "Don't play stupid, Captain." The man says with a sneer. As he stands there blocking the alley Lawrence realizes the man can't see Clue. As he stalls the man he feels the back of his shirt pulled up slightly and the heavy weight of the Webley lifted from him. Realizing that Clue is reading his mind he says "Alright mate, you win."

Watching the bullets hit the stranger, begins a slow-motion movie picture before her eyes. The stranger jerks, with the first bullet hitting him a little left of centre, in the gut. Blood sprays from the wound. He jerks again with the second bullet hitting just above his right hip. The stranger makes a weird strangled yelp. The third bullet strikes the stranger in what would have been dead centre, but he's already off balance and falling backward a bit, so it ends up hitting him just under the sternum.

Having no idea if he's dead or not, Clue takes 3 rushing steps forward, cocks the gun and fires one last time, in the chest near his heart.

Ears ringing, body vibrating from the adrenaline and the act of actually shooting someone, she lowers shaking arms and drops the Webley. Seeing the blood pooling under the stranger, she hopes for them both he's dead and it's done. She begins to back up as her brain throws her out of slow-motion and into real-time.

She screams, from emotion, from shock, from fear. Throwing her hands over her mouth to try to stifle the next one. She's absolutely stunned to think she just did that. The Government had insisted she take firearms training with a few weapons, but that was only shooting at the range, supervised, and under her own volition. Never in her life had she needed to pull the trigger to kill anyone. Never in her life had she pulled the trigger to injury someone.

Somehow she'd known that the stranger standing in front of Lawrence wouldn't have hesitated in killing them. With that thought something in her clicked into place and she simply reacted to the threat. Her life, and his, too precious to have snuffed out.
Still backing away from the stranger and the blood, she's forgotten all about where Lawrence is. Her vision is narrow and only focused on the ever enlarging pool of blood surrounding the stranger. Her noise filled with gun powder and a weird metallic pungent smell that comes with blood. She can taste it in her mouth, and damn if her arms aren't on fire and her wrists singing in pain. Panting from the effort, the act and the adrenaline, she feels the alley wall at her back. Tears silently streaming down her cheeks. She slides down the wall, unable to process anything - not a sound or thought except the sight of the man laying on the ground.