Chapter 12

Michael laid his head back against the soft leather of the Mercedes seat, closing his eyes, trying to process the events of the past hour, hell the past few days.

'Where were you?' the question filtered through his thoughts not expecting an answer but also curious as to the whereabouts of ... whatever the hell it was ... that always seemed to make an appearance when his life was in mortal danger.

'I was with you, as I always am, however you seemed to have things well in hand so I remained a simple bystander' his eyes snapped open, the deep comforting voice in his head was still a shock when it showed up and this time was no exception, the desire to talk out loud to the strong yet kind female voice almost overpowered him.

'Well in hand, are you crazy we both got shot and Tera may not make it' Michael tried to understand if he was conveying his emotions while talking with the voice in his head.

'Oh man, I'm thinking about if my emotions are being conveyed in my head ... to the voice in my head.' He let out a loud grown and closed his eyes again.

'You were never in any danger; had the need arisen I would have intervened, as it was your natural abilities are becoming stronger every day so it was not necessary.

As for Tera, you healed her she will be fine.'

The statement hung in his head as he tried to comprehend what she had said. 'What do you mean I healed her' she chuckled softly with more than a hint of a growl and then was gone.

Standing on the stone breakwater watching the horizon, Ian's long coat flapped around his legs, pushed by the ever-present icy wind coming off the North Sea.

The call had come in a little over 2 hours ago, Nicholas was his usual condescending self, informing Ian when and where he would be landing in England and then abruptly hanging up.

Millie had not been happy when he told her where he was going.

"He has gone insane Ian, you don't know what he is capable of, just look at what he has tried to do to Michael" Millie said as she stood in front of him, faced flushed with anger and concern.

Ian pulled Millie into his arms, the smell of her hair was an intoxicating a mixture of cedar and citrus that conjured images he had no time to act upon.

"It will fine and I won't be going alone" he said bending and finding her lips warm and wet as they met his.

Even after all these years it was impossible for Ian to be close to Millie without his passions being enflamed. So often it seems that people come together, stoke a passionate fire and then watch it slip away, this was not the case with Millie, Ian hoped that she understood exactly how important she was to him. Soon he would be able to make sure that she did.

Millie sighed as Ian broke their kiss wishing only for the time when they would be free to be bound only to each other, not ancient promises. Millie watched as Ian turned and headed out to the helipad, nervous, as she always was whenever Nicholas was involved.

Ian was not afraid of Nicholas, knowing that the man was more powerful than he was did not make any real difference. When Ian's time came it would, until then Ian would live his life as he always had ... with hope.

Ian had met Nicholas face to face several times over the years for varying reasons. It was understood by both men that they were opposite poles of the same divining rod, it was a given that they hated each other, but there were times that required them to interact and this was one of those times.

The attacks on Michael had gone from subtle to iron fisted too quickly and there was too much of a chance for collateral damage to those both in his employ and those he loved to not stand face to face with the man to try and get a better understanding of why.

"Nigel are you in position" Ian asked into the air.

"Yes, I am in position along with two other operatives we have you covered on three sides, there were two of the opposition in similar spots, we picked them out on infrared on the way in and have them sufficiently engaged as not to be an issue." Nigel answered from his position on the hill 1000 yards behind Ian.

"Well we shall see how it goes, the boat is incoming, just breached the horizon" Ian signed off looking at the small trawler now making it's way towards the harbor.

'Welcome to England' Ian thought as he made his way towards the sea dock to await Nicholas's arrival.

Michael looked down at Tera's sleeping form; the diffuse light from the draped window highlighted the dark almost black sheen of her hair against the cool white of the pillow.

Her eyes moved under their lids as she slept, 'what does she dream of' Michael mused to himself as he turned and left the room, allowing the woman to rest and recover from the events of the morning.

Walking up the stairs to the small rooftop patio of the non-descript flat, the events of the morning played through his mind once again.

"I read their minds," he said to himself as he stepped out into the overcast late morning. Lighting a cigarette Michael closed his eyes and tried to come to grips with this new turn of events.

'I read their intentions, not really there thoughts' this thought actually made him feel better, the invasive nature of being in someone else's mind did not sit well with him, not having the ability to ... filter ones thoughts, to be completely open, would be the very definition of naked.

Taking a long pull off the cigarette Michael rotated his head trying to relieve some of the tension in his neck. 'I need some activity, something physical, must remember to ask Valerie about someplace to get a scull' he thought as he replayed the conversation with the doctor a few minutes ago.

The doctor had surprised him when he asked Tera's status.

"She is ... healed," the doctor said, not quite understanding how the scans from the CT showed what they did but he had checked them twice.

"Both entry and exit wounds have healed to a point where they do not require stitches, as for internal injuries ... she was very lucky that no major organs were impacted."

Shaking his head the doctor turned and started packing up his things. 'Damdest thing I have ever seen' he thought to himself as he turned his attention to the portable CT.

Watching the iron gray clouds move across the sky the other's words flitted across his mind, 'you healed her.' Wishing he could blow it off as coincidence and understanding that he couldn't he flicked the cigarette into the wind, fingers rubbing his temples as he tried to process the shift from unbelievable to undeniable, 'well whatever happened at least Tera is ok' he thought as he fished into his jacket pocket for his phone, he needed to call Valerie.

Tera's eyes opened fully as she saw Michael close the door behind him. She lay their quietly adjusting to the light in the room, the feel of the sheets beneath her, centering herself, taking a moment to listen to the signals her body was giving her.

She knew that she should be dead, just as she knew that some how some way Michael had saved her. Her fingers played gingerly over the two bandages, one below her rib cage the one on the other side high between her two top ribs, 'no stitches' she shook her head on the pillow knowing that the wounds should have taken several stitches and a few weeks to heal.

Running her fingers through her hair she was focused on the feeling of being held ... no ... protected ... by Michael in the river. It was a new sensation for her; she was use to and comfortable being the protector, the one in control. It would be awhile before she could make sense of that role being reversed even for a little while.

She stretched cautiously, her muscles giving a bit of protest but nothing like they should have.

Being shot before she knew that every bone in her body should ache, the trauma of a gunshot wound affects the entire body and it takes days to get anywhere close to feeling normal again.

'I feel too good' she thought as her sculpted muscular legs swung over the edge of the bed. Rising she pulled her arms up over her head, a slight pull at her sides where the bandages were but more from the bandages than the wounds beneath them. Walking over to the small bathroom she turned on the light, looking in the mirror.

Her close cropped cobalt hair was matted down, her strong angular face looked a bit tired, but her green eyes were lively, not what she expected.

Turning on the water, she took off the sports bra and panties, examining the bandages at her side. 'No blood stains' she thought as her hand moved to her side and pulled one of the bandages away from her body.

Standing sideways her fingertips played over the small scar, staring at it in the mirror she did not understand what she saw. "It's healed, its ... healed," she said to her reflection. The small puncture wound was a darker color than the rest of her mocha colored skin, a little rougher than the surrounding flesh but not tender or painful at all.

Shaking her head Tera pulled the other bandage off, finding the same thing underneath.

'Healed already, it makes no sense' she thought looking in the mirror and shaking her head before stepping under the warm strong spray of the shower.

Details are everything in the teams, if you miss a detail it will get you killed. As Tera rubbed the soap between her hands bringing up a thick lather she started replaying the jump and fall into the river as small detailed photographs playing across the screen of her mind.

'Searing pain of the shot ripping into her side

breath immediately compromised

lung probably, based on the entry and exit, would have torn right through it, filling with blood

loosing consciousness

Michael's arms around me

cold so very cold

the water

blackness

let me go ... don't let me go ... loosing consciousness just on the edge

then ... the warmth.'

Tera put her hand on the warm wet tile wall and closed her eyes trying to bring forth the feeling of warmth

'centered on the gun shot

a line following its path

an instant of heat then ... easier to breath

pain subsiding ... Michael ... holding me.

Tera's eyes opened slowly, the acknowledgement of the impossible finding purchase there. "He healed me," she said to herself, shocked and more than a little intrigued by her discovery.

Her soapy hands played over her body, taking stock and making sure that everything was in order. Her biceps ached a bit, her abdomen was a little tender as her fingertips played over the just defined muscles, her long athletic legs felt good, everything seemed to be shockingly ... ok. Quickly finishing washing she turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing one of the large white towels from the shelf she slowly dried off her lithe muscular body, a debt had been incurred today, one that she would give her life to repay.

She walked naked from the bathroom, her stride purposeful, at Michael's side she would stay, wild horses could not drag her away from this unique and enigmatic man. Looking out the window another thought came to her 'Woe be tide anyone who may wish him harm'. Had anyone been looking at her in that moment they would have felt the pure menace radiating off of her, this was not a woman with which you wished to fuck.

Nicholas felt Ian's presence long before the coast was in sight, shaking his head he moved towards the bow of the little trawler, interested to see just what Ian had on his mind.