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Post by The Fixer on Mar 12, 2016 19:33:14 GMT -5
Giggling as the butterfly flits away on the open breeze, she hears Lawrence call out to her, and turns.
Smiling and sending him a happy little wave, she watches him come down the hill, having no idea she'd wandered so far already. He is a picture against the green grass. All strength and muscle. Military regiment mixed with a tenderness so rare in a man. As he walks towards her, the sun lights his face, almost halo like, for a brief moment. And in that moment, something clicks in her. She can see him laughing.
You would never know the weathered, sun-beaten man she met in the Sitting Room was the same one walking toward her now. All power and efficiency, polite and proper, sweet and caring, unyielding yet soft, steel and putty, granite and gold. And he was hers. A connection far beyond anything she could understand. This was more than love.
She speaks so her voice carries to him, "I wanted to feel the grass with my toes, and then a butterfly came out of the shrubs over there", pointing to her left, "and the sun is so warm, I wanted to see what was out here." Spinning another circle as he gets closer, "Lawrence, it is just beautiful here!", she says wistfully.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 12, 2016 22:13:37 GMT -5
"Yes it is, this has been my favorite place to come to since I was a boy" he says nostalgically. "It means alot to me that you like it." he admits. Lawrence reaches down and takes her hand caressing it gently, "I tell you what, why don't we go back to the house, get things settled, make a spot of lunch and take the lunch and our files down by the creek at the bottom of the hill and enjoy some fresh air. What do you think?"
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 0:02:06 GMT -5
"That is a wonderful idea" she says, beaming at him. Her hand stays comfortably in his. They both head slowly back to the house, trying to coax out every second they can of the moment.
His suggestion to picnic by the creek, makes her heart happy.
Getting to the cottage, they perform an unconsciously choreographed dance around the place, putting their things away and preparing their picnic. He sets out rows of bread and she follows behind buttering it. He slices some meat, laying the little piles on the buttered bread and she reaches over dropping cheese on it while he adds the mustard and she the lettuce. While putting the kitchen in order, he'd put the glasses in the left cupboard and she'd move them to the right. She placed the eggs on the top shelf, he'd move them to the second. Regardless of their personal preferences the changes do not bother each other. They haven't even noticed the other making corrections as they move about.
Packing up their lunch and collecting their files, they make their way, holding hands, down to the creek.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 6:14:12 GMT -5
Lawrence takes an ancient wool blanket he found in an upstairs chest and spread it carefully on the ground. Holding her hand to steady her as she sat he took a moment to look around. The day was perfect. The sun shown down on them while occasionally slipping behind puffy white clouds. A slight breeze threatened to upset a small stack of napkins Clue had just set out. Being a lot hungrier than either of them realized, they made short work of the luncheon. "That was excellent." Lawrence said with a slight yawn. "Now I suppose we had better get to business," he lamented. Reaching down into the bag in front of him he began retrieving the items he had taken off Vévoda's agents. Two identical wallets, passports, etc. Flipping through the wallets he suddenly sits up straight. "Look at this", he says with excitement. Pulling a white plastic card out of each wallet he holds them side by side. "These cards were issued by the new Iraqi government." he said reading the watermark. Continuing he said, "After the war was over the new Iraqi government issued these ID's to those who were authorized to be armed. You know guards and the like. That means more than likely these guys are mercenaries." Squinting harder to read the small print he read an address in Fallujah in the western province of Anbar. "Bad part of town, that area is not under control yet." Lawrence remarked. "I wonder if Vévoda has assets there."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 16:05:04 GMT -5
Clue looks at the cards, trying to read the fine print with Lawrence. "Thank goodness you can read that. I'd have needed to find a translator if I was alone." To that end, because she'd already organized her file a little, she hands him a little stack of items that appear to have the same writing style over. Trusting him now, she will let him handle those items while she works through a few other pages. She can already tell that Lawrence's past is going to be valuable. She can only hope her own contributions to this will balance it out. Muttering to herself about alternate translations and potential further hidden messages, she gets lost in the file.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 16:47:40 GMT -5
Taking the stack, Lawrence flips through. "I can speak Arabic fairly well though my reading it leave a lot to be desired. Never was good reading right to left" he said. "Most of these appear to be shipping manifests and email communications. They are from Vévoda's Armament Works alright, that's their symbol in the top left corner. How did you get your hands on these?"
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 16:57:19 GMT -5
Smiling a little more, with a bit if mischief in her eyes she says "oh, you know, they sort of fell into my lap. Reading right to left can be difficult for sure. Would a mirror help alleviate that trouble?" Giggling, she turns back to her pile
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 17:32:46 GMT -5
Lawrence tried to suppress a smirk and cuts her a sideways glance. "Uh huh" he says. "These shipping manifests appear to be internal, transferring items from one plant to another. All of the shipments come from his European factories to the same address in Fallujah that was listed on these cards" he notes. Then Lawrence goes silent, his hands start to shake. "I knew it!" he exclaimed. "No one believed me but here it is in black and white!" Standing to his feet his excitement palpable. He steps off the blanket and starts to pace. "He gives the go ahead for Experiment X to be carried out at test site and gives the coordinates for Um Al Aish! This date is two days before we saw the strange lightning!" The he stops in mid stride, "That means that whole thing was some damn experiment to help refine and sell a product?" he raged. "300 dead, a village completely obliterated as some sort of promotional video?" His anger boiled over.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 17:47:17 GMT -5
He starts pacing again. "I swear, that I am going to do whatever it takes to bring this guy in. Dead or Alive." he says his eyes flashing. Turning back he looks at Clue and he instantly softens. "Uh, I'm sorry. I really am. It's just what we saw there has given me nightmares for so long now. And now to find out it was even more senseless than it already appeared. I know this makes me look bad, but I want to kill this guy so bad I can't see straight." he says trying to calm himself.
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 18:28:00 GMT -5
Surprised by the rage vibrating off of Lawrence, Clue stands and walks to him. Taking the pages from his hand and getting squarely in the way of his pacing, so she is the only thing he can see, she braces her hands firmly on his chest. When he tries to go around her, she gives him a little shove with force to get him to stop and actually look at her. She looks at his icy grey eyes, the blue having drained clear away. She knows he may not be able to see anything but red but she has to get him to calm down and think past the rage. "Captain Lawrence!", she says sharply, in a tone she hopes is enough command mixed with drill Sargent, mixed with outraged mother, to snap him back enough to hear her. "Take a breath! I can't fathom what you saw over there but I know that the rage you have won't do either of us any good right now. I need you here. Now. In this time to get this thing solved. I need you with me here." Not sure if she is getting through to him or not, she tries something else.
Moving her hands from his chest to rub his arms a little. Taking his face in her hands, she rests her forehead on his. "Hey, please breathe. Please look at me." Using her own breathing as an unconscious guide, she takes several deep breaths, hoping it'll help his own breathing calm down. Keeping her hands on his cheeks but pulling back a little so they can see each other better, she says, "You have every reason imaginable to want them dead for what happened over there. Ever reason. You won't be able to get to him without help so we have to think this through. Your anger and rage have a place. They do. I can tell you, I will do everything I can to help you get that shot, when the time is right."
"Why don't we set this down for a bit? I'm not really getting anywhere with what I was doing anyways."
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 18:49:41 GMT -5
Hearing his name and rank barked back at him was enough to instinctively snap him to attention. The tunnel vision and the redness in his face slowly subsided. "Alright" he said apologetically. "Sorry that came out of nowhere and I wasn't ready for it. I guess it was something I already knew but to see it spelled out..." he trailed off. His eyes changed back to a deep blue as they glisten a bit. Regaining his composure, he looks across at her and pulls her in close. Then without any warning, he begins to sob. He cries softly into her shoulder, the pain pouring from his soul like a river. All that pent up emotion held back by expectation and decorum now let loose like the tide behind a broken dam. He can't believe it's happening like this. He tries to stifle it but the gates are open and nothing can put it back in, he has no choice but to release it.
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 19:18:11 GMT -5
Her heart hurts for him. Holding him close, her left hand on the back of his head, the other wrapped around him in a one-armed hug and rubbing his back gently, she just holds on. Cooing gently to him to let it all out, to let it go. A tear slide silently from her own eyes.
Knowing she's seeing a side of him nobody else sees she is undone that he would trust her with it. That he'd let the walls crash down and reveal exactly how vulnerable and affected by everything he really is. It takes a very special man to let someone see this side and it takes something beyond the imagination to bring that kind of man to this point.
She wasn't sure before. Even after their first night and his tenderness for her, she wasn't sure. After he got her out and she was responsible for saving both their lives, she wasn't completely sure. She saw something light up around him earlier that day that made something click. In this moment, as this granite man stands crying on her shoulder, she knows, without any doubt that she loves him. More than that, even. She belongs only to him. Those dark recesses of her own heart can't help but let this light in.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 20:41:25 GMT -5
After a few minutes of flooding tears, the waters begin to subside. Regaining his composure (minus his intense embarrassment) he said, "Thanks, I guess I was long overdue for that." Taking his handkerchief out of his pocket he squares himself away. Now feeling tired from the violent swing of emotions he's just experienced he accepts Clue's suggestion of taking a break. Retrieving the blanket they trudge partly back up the hillside where they have a sun lit view of the valleys and hills beyond. He spread the blanket back out laid down upon it. Wordlessly, she followed and laid down next to him. For a while they lay there next to each other, looking at clouds, talking about favorite books and places traveled. Lawrence tried out his Sean Connery impression while spouting off his favorite movie quotes. Clue responds with singing some of her favorite songs and throwing out the occasional dance move. Before long they are both laughing hysterically and feeling better. Trying to control his laughter Lawrence chokes, "This is fun! I could do this all day." Then for a moment he turns a bit more serious, "You know ever since we met you've always seemed to know exactly what I need even if I didn't."
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Post by The Fixer on Mar 13, 2016 21:06:10 GMT -5
Turning her head to look at Lawrence, she can't help but smile and blush at his comment. She can't explain exactly how she manages to do what he's saying she is. Maybe this is a fight on a different level for them.
Trying to figure out what to say to Lawrence when she can't explain it herself she sort of stammers a little. "I...thanks? I have no idea half the time if I'm even helping or making things worse. I....um....you're welcome?"
Speechless. A little taken aback by his confession, she has no earthly idea what you say to that.
Instead she curls into him in a half hug type move, resting her head on his shoulder hoping this will convey what words can't. On impulse she kisses his cheek.
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Post by W.R. Lawrence on Mar 13, 2016 21:33:55 GMT -5
As she kisses his cheek he finally breaks inside. He can't hold back anymore. He won't. Since he's met this girl he's faced constant danger, he's laughed, cried and watched her kill the man who intended to take his life. After all that he'll be damned if he stands down now. Deciding it's now or never he turns on his side to face her. Holding the back of her head in his hand he leans in and is momentarily stopped by her gaze. He can't help but look for just a moment and then he closes his eyes and kisses her. His kiss is gentle but firm. He kisses her deeply unable to hold back. After a brief moment he lets up and backs away a bit, unsure of what she will do next. He's put himself out there one last time. He can only hope she feels the same about him.
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