[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena grimaces and laughs.  "Oh, the irony.  After years of living in the shadow of Mrs. Calder, I finally find a man who is interested in me.  And I am very interested in him, only now I am just half a woman.  Still, I half to remind myself that it will not remain this way and I will walk again.  But what if I don't, Bryant.  Would I still be Mr. Champagne's woman or...................or what?  Could you live with a woman that you have to take care of all the time?"

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant shook his head and smiled ruefully, "You can't let circumstances define you Rowe, you're either a woman, or you aren't.  I've never thought of you as less than a woman, because of your injury.  An injury you received because you cared, about me, a stranger, and were willing to jump a gunmen to try to save my life, a strangers life."  He squeezed her hand, "I haven't thanked you for that, and I don't know that I ever can."

His face turned serious once again as he continued, "I've made some enemies in my life Rowe, and sadly, my condition prevents me from knowing who from my past is either friend, or foe.  If you accept me into your life, if you choose to share your life with mine, then that choice comes with a risk of those enemies trying to get to me through you."  He chuckled a moment, "I told Vlad that you'd be better off without me in your life, that you'd be able to heal, to recover, in safety, without worrying about what was coming over the horizon.  He told me that it would be unfair of me to make your decision for you."

"So the question really becomes, not could I live with a woman whom I have to help through her recovery, but could you live with a man who is hunted by his past?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena has a serious look on her face.  "Mr. Champagne's woman has already made up her mind, Mr. Champagne.  I am very much willing to see this through with you.  Frag all the people hunting you from your past.  Or your present.  I do not hate the men that did this to me, but I deeply regret that it had to happen on the day I met you.  For some reason, I could tell there was a bit of a difference in the way you looked at me.  Most of the men at the beach were just interested in looking at my boobs and butt, but I got the impression that you were seeing something a bit differently.  Maybe not, but that is what I thought.  As it is, you might have never even thought much about me if this had not happened.  It is a cruel twist of fate that I find the man of my dreams in this fashion.  But I will walk again................................"

She stops for a moment and wipes at some tears in her eyes.  "Listen, I have been dancing about it for a while and am about to explode because I do not know how you feel and don't want to put undue pressure on you.  But I cannot leave it unsaid.  You could go out with Vlad and do something or face our enemies and I might not see oyu again and would never have told you that I am in love with you.  There............pretty silly, eh?  I barely know you, but I am sure in my mind and heart that you are the Mister Right for me.  I am willing to go beyond Mr Champagne's woman to be your lover and your...............wife, if you want it to go that far, that is.  So I hope that answers the question for you.  If that is still too vague, I would definitely want to stay with you for the rest of my life and face down anyone hunting you from your past, present, and future.  You are the man I want to spend all time with.  So, here is the point where you can leave the room if this bothers you.  It's not like I can chase very far after you.  But if you........if you stay, I will do my damned best to be someone you can fall in love with in time."

She stops and gives you an odd sort of look while waiting for an answer.

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant cupped her hand, held it to his cheek his close, clipped, beard harsh and wiry against the back of her hand.  "You know Rowena, since my procedure, since I took a bullet to the head, I haven't felt too clearly about anything.  Everything's muted, washed out, grey.  Since then I've learned all the ugly things this world has to offer, fear, betrayal, pain, anger."  He sighed, kissed a fingertip, lightly, "When I sat down at your table, it was biz as normal, make a meet, accept a drop.  Except there was this one thing, one person, and she took my breath away.  Bright, and clear, and beautiful for the first time I could remember."

He looked up at her, his cold, amber gold irises narrowing as he stared at her face, the structure of her cheeks, the arch of her nose, the bow of her lips. "I don't know what love feels like, because I can't remember feeling anything from my life before.  I just know that I want to, I want to mean something, to someone, not anyone, but someone of worth, of value.  I lead a dangerous life, I do dangerous things, and I like to think that I do them for the right reasons.  But deep down, I know, that one day those dangerous things will catch up to me."

He reached out, his hands curling through her hair to stroke the nape of her neck as he leaned closer, "You're a good person Rowe, honest, caring, and stronger than you know.  I don't want to hurt you, and part of me is so scared to hold you close that I feel as though I should walk away to save you the pain.  The other part of me, the stronger part, the selfish part, doesn't ever want to let you go."

He leaned in his lips brushing against her, tentatively at first, then deepening, exploring, tasting, the soft wetness of her lips, her tongue, her breath. "My past is an illusion, and the future unknown," he exhaled, almost breathlessly, "you don't have to do a damn thing to make me love you Rowe," he renewed the kiss passionately, before breaking off to look into her eyes, "because I think I already do."

[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena places her arms around your neck and returns your kisses.  When you break and tell her you love her, you can see a light in her eyes that grabs and holds you.  "Then we had best be about getting to the bottom of this thing because Mr. Champagne's woman desperately wants Mr. Champagne laying next to her in bed.  I will take whatever part of you you feel you can give.  I want to share your life, not hide from it.  No secrets or lies, except you can tell me I look pretty even on my worst days.  I love you, Bryant, and want to be with you as much as you can spare.  Talk to me about major plans and do not leave me out of things just for my own good without talking to me first.  I deserve a chance to make a choice about my fate.  With your love, I know that I can rise past this chair and walk again."

[Zen Gypsy]

He nodded, kissing her forehead, cupping her face in his hands, "No secrets then, and yes Rowe.  We'll get out from under this soon enough." 

No secrets, no lies.  Problem was, honesty was brutal, and he risked losing it all.  He leaned back, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, preparing himself for the worst.  "I live a life below the radar, Rowe, only a legitimate UCAS citizen by degrees, if you looked at my SIN it doesn't flag me as Bryant, as far as any government or corporation is concerned, he died almost a year ago.  You may compromise your SIN just by associating with me, you would lose all legitimacy in your private life, flagged by the UCAS as a criminal at best, a terrorist at worst.  That label would affect you, your family, your mother, your brothers."

He paused, opened his eyes and sat forwards, his forearms resting on his thighs, "It's something to think about Rowe, because by any definition of the word, I'm a criminal, a corporate saboteur, and worse.  And now with everything else going on, who knows what Errant will decide to blame on me if they can't apprehend the real perps."

[Mercy Merchant]

Rowena laughs, "Then we had better catch the perps, right?  So I compromise my SIN.  I would toss it in the soy processor if it means I get to stay with you.  And my family?  Yeah, I care about them, but I am now Mr. Champagne's woman and you are my family, too.  The only thing that matters is whether you love me enough.  And enough is a very big word.  Could you love me enough to put up with what I expect might be some pretty serious mood swings as I try to cope with this chair?  Could you love me enough to not lie to me.  To allow me to share your life and your problems?  Togetherness is not a one-way street; it takes both people working together to reach a common goal.  I will get out of this chair someday and that is a guarantee that you can take to the bank.  I do thank you for sharing things, so is there anything about me that you need some clarification about?"

[Zen Gypsy]

He smiled, "What do you listen to," he paused, his eyes shifted their focus, he reached, stroking her arm and shoulder as he stood up,"because while you'll be working your ass off to get out of that chair, I'll have my work cut out for me learning how to dance.  After all, wouldn't want to embarrass you on our first dance, yeah?"

As he stood up, he hit the locks on the wheels of her chair, "Ready for some exercise?  I want you to try transfer yourself from the floor to your chair, think you can do that?  You'll need to pull your legs over towards your hips, then scooch your butt towards the chair, once you get over there, put your palms on the seat, and try to lift yourself up and back.  Think you can do that, it'll be tiring, but don't get frustrated, just take it one step at a time."

While she worked on it, he continued to talk, to take her mind off of the physical exertion, "So, I was thinking, if your willing to open up your financials and your credit, we might be able to use your SIN, I am sure our perps are looking for it, and if it flags they'll have to investigate it.  If we can intercept and nab one of them we might be able to learn more about them, link them to some of that data that B.'s digging up."

As she struggled her helped her, encouraging, "Good, good Rowe.  Lets keep it going, can you give me another one?"

[Mercy Merchant]

"I like almost anything, but especially country.  The rest of the family hated it so I had to play it low.  Got in trouble a couple of times.  Mrs. Caulder's husband used to say that country music is the work of the devil.  He said it so much that the others believed him.  I wanted to see for myself and fell in love with it.  Got the strap a few times when I was younger, just for listening to it.  That strap taught me to be more careful.  Now I listen to it whenever I want."

She watches as you set the brakes then tries as you suggest.  And fails.  And tries.  And fails.  Several times.  She gets frustrated but does not give up but does need some breaks.  Finally, she almost makes it into the seat but just cannot seem to pull herself the last bit.

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant stood up, and walked to where Rowena was struggling to lift herself the last few inches to the seat of her chair.  "Good, you're doing good Rowe.  A couple things we can use to work up your stamina, we could get a elasti-polymer band to keep your legs together, it would make maneuvering yourself into position.  Maybe a foot stool, so you can learn to transfer from the floor, to the stool, and then to the chair."

He helped her up, carried her in his arms, and sat her down on the bed, sitting beside her.  "You did good Ms. Champagne, I need to talk to Vlad, you could rest up here, or I could bring you downstairs if you wanted to relax down there?"

[Mercy Merchant]

She gives you a beautiful smile when you call her Ms Champagne, but shakes her head.  "A footstool might be a good idea.  I think I will just rest here for a bit, thank you."

[Zen Gypsy]

He nodded, and leaned over her, kissing her forehead gently.  "I'll leave the chair by the bed, brakes on, in case you change your mind.  I'll check downstairs see if they have any tea, be up with that footstool shortly."  He turned, trailing a finger tip down her shoulder, across the swell of her breast, her stomach, the point of her hip and down her leg as he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

He went down the hall, towards Vlad's office, knocked lightly and entered.

"Listen Vlad, I had a thought.  If we could get a comm for Rowe, we could use her SIN and financials to make some legit purchases, a hotel room, a car rental, something that she'd need.  We make that purchase, and our merc's, whoever they are would get a ping.  They have to be watching her financials, and even if they don't believe it's really her, they can't ignore it, on the small chance it is.  They'll respond, Errant will do the same thing, if we are smart I could set up, and get one of the merc's, incapacitate him, so we can get some answers.  See if his answers line up with the data B. and your cousin are working on."

He paused, considered his plan, "We couldn't use your boys, it would be too easy to trace back to you, but we could operate in a competitor's territory, bringing down Errant and our merc's on them.  They'd most likely lock it down for further investigations, which could result in an opportunity for you and yours?"  He looked at his host questioningly, curious if he had piqued his interest.

[Mercy Merchant]

Vlad smiles at your suggestion, then frowns.  "It is a good idea to use another territory like that.  For me to take advantage of it, though, it would have to be one of my immediate neighbors.  And it strikes me that you may need to up the ante a bit if you want to be truly believable.  I agree that using her finances will almost certainly be detected by both the KE and the mercenaries.  But you may have to put her in the line of danger to make it truly effective and reduce the chance that the others will see a trap.  Are you willing to do that?  I would guess that she will be willing if you ask her, but are you?  But is it a good idea and we can get moving on that and preparing for it."

[Zen Gypsy]

Bryant nodded as he listened, he reached for his Slim, his last one, and brought it, unlit, to his lips.  Held it there.

"Thing is Vlad, an injury like that can leave you feeling that your less than who you really are.  She's remarkably strong, but this whole," he waved his hand to indicate the current situation, "situation, it is her crucible.  I trust that she could rise to the challenge, but before I even approach her with the offer, I need to make sure the plan is flawless, and that she's ready."

He paused, ran the unlit slim beneath his nose, inhaled, God, he needed a smoke, a drink, something.  "Hey Vlad, speaking of, you got some velcro loading straps here, I could us bungie cords, but I'd be worried about her circulation.  Something to keep her legs together while she practices transferring herself from the floor to the chair.  And maybe some tea?  I've been working her pretty hard, but if we've learned anything about her, we know she's not a quitter."

[Mercy Merchant]

Vlad nods.  "Should have some straps somewhere.  Will look and have delivered."  He reaches into one of his desk drawers and pulls out a pack of your smokes and tosses it onto the desk in front of you.  "Here, you look like you could use a fresh pack.  I get them cheap and resell them for much profit.  You may have this one, please.  After all, we are friends now, yes?"  He picks a 'link up off the desk and speaks Russian into it, putting it back down with a smile.  He pauses to take a smoke from another pack and lights it up, offering you the lighter.  "Indeed.  We do have a strap here and one will be brought to you."

"So, what do you make of this whole mercenary and drug thing?"