A Thorne in Diedre’s Side Part 2

By Jo Anzalone, Sharon Ferguson and Chris Snyder

                  

Diedre felt her eyes volley between the amused and slightly impatient Dino and the now thoroughly vexed Terry, wishing the test pit she had dreamed actually existed so she could sink back into it. Somehow, somewhere along the way, she had lost all control of her own path in this, and the fact she was at the mercy of these two, much less the banditos, made her head feel like a burst melon.

Swallowing down the remnants of her pride, she nodded against the hand under her chin, not daring to look Terry in the eye.

*Maybe when they leave, I can just sneak away...find my way back to the village...it won't take long...find a phone...*

"If...when you get him...tell him...I tried..." she said, with a deep breath. Her nerves were shot, her skin felt shredded, and she was out of fire. "That's all I want you to do. Tell him I tried."

Something in him twisted, hurt, at the sight of her face. Truly she had tried. Tried in places that called for a great deal of courage. Sliding his hand from her chin so that it curved around her cheek, he smiled. "You did good, 'Nolia. I'll tell him. I promise." His hand continued to her hair, brushing a dried leaf from its wonderful red strands. "Real good. Nothing to be ashamed of."

Gently, he guided her so she was sitting on a small, mossy rock under the ledge, then he and Dino piled brush in front of her. As he tucked in the last branch he whispered, "Just be quiet, 'Nolia, and they won't know you're here. Dino and I will be back ASAP."

He stepped back, checking their handiwork, making sure her red hair didn't show. He knew Dino was watching him, but it was somehow...important...that she be safe.

Satisfied, he met Dino's gaze, dropping into full alert mode, and signaled slightly to the left of the hut where a small tree angled out from among three large boulders. Dino began a quiet, crouching run up the slope. Terry took one last look at the brush pile, sighed, and circled quickly toward the right, his rifle in his hands. He tried to keep an awareness of where Dino was as they both dodged in and out of cover. Not knowing Dino would be there, he didn't have his usual communication devices. Sight would have to do. Not the best. Not at all.

For long moments he crouched behind a tumble of rocks, counting the men, watching their movements. He could see Dino doing the same thing off to the left. Raising his hand, he held up four fingers. Dino nodded, responding with a like number. The four men stood outside the door of the hut, talking, gesturing, then two walked slightly off to the left, lighting cigarettes, laughing a bit. The other two sat on a small bench, leaning against the windowless wall.

Timing would be everything. Terry would have to handle the two by the hut at the very moment Dino took down the two walking in his direction.

Dino disappeared, getting ready. Terry circled still more to the right, glad there was brush and fallen rock almost up to that side of the hut. The men seemed relaxed, lulled by the extreme remoteness of their location. He positioned himself, then scanned for Dino. A sudden burst of gunfire and the one of the walking men dropped, the other diving behind a boulder. At the same instant, Terry fired at the two by the hut, sending both sprawling into the dirt. He turned quickly, looking for the 4th man, but couldn't see him, so he pushed open the door, rapidly taking in its contents. Allende lay bound on a bed near the far wall. Alone. He blew out a breath of relief and entered, crouching near the bed, pulling down the man's gag. Gunfire came from outside and he figured Dino and the 4th man had found each other. He struggled with the tangled knots binding Allende, completely unaware that a 5th man was approaching the slightly open door.

To show she submitted in good faith, Diedre laid out as best she could to lower her profile, tried to braid her hair into a loose queue without disturbing the screen Terry and Dino set up for her. But as she watched the two men slip into the cover of the vegetation, a horrid thought of abandonment overtook her. What if they didn’t come back? What if they got killed? How long could she stay in this hiding place without one of the banditos getting curious about the odd lump of dying vegetation?

Just like a man to not think THAT far, Diedre sulked. None of them ever thought THEY would be hit and unable to help anymore. And I'd still be in danger, not to mention unable to rescue Allende....

Why couldn’t he have left one of his guns, at least? She had seen the hut where they suspected Allende was kept...knew that was where the showdown would be. But how could she be sure that the mission was successful, that he'd make it back? What if he didn't? She couldn't just sit here...could she? Terry's voice, his accent, his words had been reassuring, all too easy to accept at the time, especially with his hand on her face, blue-green eyes stern.

Diedre squeezed her eyes against the flush of pleasure that memory caused. She was starting to like the guy, she just knew it.

Maybe if she waited until dark to move out from cover. That had worked for her so far...

She heard the staccato fire of gunshot, a distant ricochet of bullets off stone, a voice calling out. Was that Dino?

Unable to stand the idea of sitting by while the men shot themselves to death, Diedre pushed aside the scrub and tried her best to imitate the posture Terry and Dino took to gain cover, tried to follow the direction they went. Only when it seemed like the trail died off in two different directions did she falter, shrinking up against a tree while she decided her next step.

*Oh Deed, this is not like playing bear hunting in the woods back home in Alabama with Harkin and Wilder!*

She reviewed some moments with her two older brothers, childhood antics, "successful" raids as they created their own maneuvers. There were too many drops, too many rills, too many sudden changes in slope to give her confidence in subterfuge, but even the air, the lack of sound in the forest, was tinged with anger and peril and she just needed to know...she couldn't just sit by...not when Terry was out there doing what she had set out to do...for her...

Harkin would never let her live it down, she mused briefly.

More gunfire and this time close by. Diedre's eyes picked out the best path she could find in the direction of the gun burst and forsook completely Terry's direct orders. There was something really pathetic about a Southern girl like her sitting around waiting for men to come and get her. Yes, if there was anything her brothers had taught her, it was the regrettable pathos of a woman in waiting when she had the ability to help.

Time for Terry to find out just how little like a delicate flower she could be.

Good God, the knots were tied, retied, tied again in some strange manner he'd never seen before. His fingers fought and fought with them, getting nowhere, so he finally reached for his knife, intending to cut them instead. Allende shrank back on the bed, trembling at the sight of the serrated blade. Terry paused, holding it up, smiling.

"S'ok, Mate," he said disarmingly, "just gonna cut your ropes." He'd forgotten completely how smeared with mud and camo paint his face was, and when his white teeth showed in the midst of it all, he looked rather fearsome despite the upwardly-curving lips. Allende practically passed out. "No," Terry hastened to add, "I'm with the good guys. You're getting out of this place. Going home."

He nodded his head affirmatively as he talked. "And Diedre?" He looked expectantly in Allende's eyes. "She's nearby. Came to try and get you out all by herself."

Allende relaxed a bit at the mention of Diedre's name and so Terry turned all his concentration on cutting through the many thick ropes, a delicate piece of work as they were so tight against the man's skin.

Suddenly Allende jerked violently and Terry almost nicked him with the sharp blade. Allende's eyes widened in fear and he pushed on Terry, trying to get him to turn, to see what was coming up so quietly behind him.

She didn't realize until she practically walked out into the open glade before the stone hut that it was a good thing she had chosen right instead of left. Remnants of a crude stone wall meandered off to the left from where she stood under vines and vegetation with its enclosure falling open at the far corner of the hut. With a start, she then noticed two bodies splayed upon the ground, a near-black trickle emanating from one, a neat little hole in the forehead of the other as he lay slumped upon the bench. A cigarette lay in the dirt, still smoldering.

Then she saw Dino crouching behind a large boulder to her left and a gunman out of site strafed the ground around him in random order.Dino saw her and after giving her a deadly look of approbation, pointed to his gun: locked up.

Just great. SNAFU. Diedre hovered, uncertain what to do. She couldn't see Terry, was hoping desperately the hidden gunman couldn't see her, wondering if she should try to grab a gun and take it to Dino. If the gunman had been further away, risking a run under sniper fire might have increased his chances of avoiding the lethal hits. At the range the strafing occurred, however, Dino would be riddled with holes before he made the other corner of the hut.

Diedre moved a foot forward. She could just reach the gun of the nearest fallen man...well out of range of sight of the sniper....

She glanced over at Dino to see if he would approve...except now Dino was gesturing frantically at the hut. A fifth man, a rather grimy looking gopher of a man, bristling with bandoliers and weapons himself, had begun creeping toward the door of the hut, having rounded the corner in stealth. Every line of his posture said he was intent on what was inside.

*On WHO was inside.*

*Terry!* Dino mouthed as Diedre glanced one last time.

Gopher Man presented his back in full as he took one final step inside, positioned to pounce on the victims in the dark.

*No time to think*

Crouching to give her legs the most stretch they needed to cross the distance between her hiding place and the guns on the ground, Deidre swooped into the opening in front of the hut, pulling up the nearest rifle, tucking it into a familiar position...*nothing like the feel of gunmetal at her hip* she thought. She heard strafing fire again, but the bullets were too her far left, still aimed at Dino. Somehow instinct informed her that Dino had acted quickly and done something to attract attention away from her. Milliseconds before she straightened and took that final step to join them in the hut, she heard Terry cry out and a sharp struggle begin.

A large back loomed before her and she was sent back into the clearing. Gopher Man had opened up space between them by kicking the Australian back out of the hut, for Terry had managed to lock him into a powerful bear hug and prevented him from using his gun.

Diedre's gun, however, had slipped up under Terry's arm, just as she threw her free arm around his other shoulder to simultaneously stop the arc of his fall and pull him over and out of the way. Then, she felt a hot pulse of bullets spring from the gun in her hand and Gopher Man exploded blood and bone before them.

Terry's trajectory, though, did not have mercy on her smaller frame. Gravity was still compelling him to fall backward and down, despite her best efforts to hold on. Diedre felt Terry jerk around and grab onto her as he went down, full down, in the inevitable fall; and it was by luck alone that his position prevented the full weight of every hard muscle, every tough sinew of his body from crushing her beneath him. Somehow, one arm had cushioned her head and the other held up his chest from knocking the breath from her. Somehow, seconds later, his face was hovering above hers, arms framing her face as his reflexes caught him just in time.

Which meant that she lay almost completely beneath him, legs entangled with his, one arm around his torso, staring up at camogrease and sweat, eyes wide with shock, chest heaving from lack of air.

And the weirdest thing of all in that entire flash of good fortune was that Diedre forgot there was a single live gunman, became focused on the gasps of relief from the man who had her pinned down.

No, that wasn’t the weirdest, Diedre thought seconds later. It was noticing the intense color of Terry's eyes, and how the expression in them went from shock to something much...warmer.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. That was all he could think when he turned, seeing the man coming in the door. Then there was no time for thinking, only for doing. Springing to his feet, he grabbed the man, but found himself flying out the door. Somehow Diedre was there. He was so shocked he almost lost his grip on the man for a moment as they all began to fall together. Slow motion kicked in and the fall took forever. Something hard jammed under his arm and the man jerked back and away, bullets plowing into his chest. He felt himself continuing to fall, twisted, turned, reached desperately so as not to land atop Diedre. He managed to get his arm behind her just before her head impacted with the hard-packed ground. Then they were down with a thud.

Neither of them moved. Terry froze, stunned by the fall, fearful he had knocked the breath out of the woman beneath him. For a moment, all he could do was lie there, his face almost touching hers.

* My God! Her eyes! *

A long strand of her red hair lay across her cheek. Unable to use his hands, he blew on it, moving it away. For some reason he wanted her face...unobscured. His lips were still parted from the shock of the fall, as were hers, and her breath came upwards into his mouth.

He breathed it in, following the path of it, moving his face still closer to hers until his lips just barely brushed across hers, no more than the touch of a feather. Something in him stirred down to his core and he ran his tongue across her lower lip, then took it completely between his own, pulling it slightly up and out.

He let his right arm fold, doing a perfectly-controlled roll, taking her with him so that he lay on his back with her now atop him. His left hand found the back of her head, pressing her close as his lips moved over hers, seeking, finding, seeking still more. Every nerve ending in his body began to pulse with the wanting of her and his tongue moved almost desperately in her mouth, claiming her in the only way he could...here...now. Death lay mere feet away and that part of him that was always calm no matter what, was aware of it and bade him roll yet again, taking her with him further from it. He was atop her again, his fingers tangled in her glorious hair, his lips moving down her throat.

"You plannin' on rolling around in the dirt all day, you horny son-of-a bitch?" Dino asked, the tips of his boots only inches away from Terry's ear.

Terry gasped, resting his face a moment under Diedre's chin, before tipping his head to look up Dino's legs. Talk about a leer. Dino had it down pat.

Shaking his head, Dino continued, "So, did ya ever think while you were all busy-like kissing the girl that the fourth bloke might be shootin' the crap outta your partner?" Dino rolled his eyes dramatically.

Terry closed his eyes, shaking his head slowly, then blew out a long breath. Dino began to laugh, which didn't really help matters a bit.

Terry slid gently off to the side, got on his knees, then stood, helping Diedre to her feet as he moved. Putting his hand on her shoulder, he asked, "You all right?" But she didn't seem quite able to answer at the moment. All she did was lift her hand to her mouth, running her fingers lightly over her lips, staring at Terry.

Dino cleared his throat...loudly. "Your package, Mr. Thorne? Is Allende still alive?"

Terry looked at him almost blankly for a brief second. "Allende?" He blinked quickly, twice. "Yes, yes, he's fine. Still on the cot in the hut," he said, nodding toward the small doorway. "Didn't quite get his ropes off. Was...interrupted." His gaze was back on Diedre. He smiled, touching her hair.

Dino stomped off toward the hut, muttering something about useless damn mother f..kers. A few minutes later he was out again, supporting the very wobbly Allende. "If you'll take your goddamn hands off the woman for a second, maybe we can get this guy down the f..king mountain." The corners of his mouth twitched, though, in a barely-suppressed grin.

Diedre turned to greet Allende, though she kept casting small glances back over her shoulder at Terry. "So, where IS the fourth guy," he asked Dino. Dino smiled. Got him with a rock. Splat." He nodded toward the boulder. "He's back there somewhere."

The trip down the mountain was slow, Allende having a hard time walking. He spent most of the journey hanging between Terry and Dino, biting his lip with the pain of moving; but, at last they walked onto the main street of the town nestled in the valley. Allende was taken to the small clinic while Terry called Yale and Dino made transport arrangements. There was a single hostel in the town and they separated into three rooms. Terry was nearly bone tired, but he wanted to check on Diedre, make sure she was ok. He took a long shower, the water flowing green and brown with mud and paint. God, but it felt good to get that off! Dressing in jeans, a light blue shirt, and his favorite Navy jacket, he walked down the hall, standing outside Diedre's door, resting his fingertips on it....thinking.

The soft puff of air Terry breathed across her face pushed away the stray lock of auburn hair tickling her cheek, draping her mouth...something about that tiny gesture amazed her by its absolute intent, as if every tiny thing this man did had purpose and he would not be deterred...and his exhale installed an extra bloom of air, as if he were willing to give his very life...but she didn’t have time to wonder where this impression came from, for his mouth descended upon hers, at first tentative, priming, then sealing their breath in with a brush of the tongue, a melding of lips. She felt him arch over her, pressing to unite.

Then she was on top of him, his hand cradling her head, pulling her in for more intimate exploration, tongue sliding, caressing, to claim her tongue, body curling to cradle her, to carry her over once more as he tucked her under.... Diedre lost all sense of intelligence by this point, all too aware of the protective strength of his body, covering, seeking, breathing for more....

She was arching her neck in response to the tangle of his fingers in her hair, to the feel of his mouth sliding down, when a noise at her head made her stiffen.

Boots. Scuffed, grass-stained, well-worn military boots. And a derisive voice drawling down - "you plannin' on rolling around in the dirt all day, you horny son-of-a-bitch?"

Because Terry nuzzled under her chin for a moment, Diedre was able to get a clear look at Dino's leer, one he chose to punctuate with a lightening fast wink at her before Terry disentangled himself and got up to face the music. She scarcely heard the Aussie ask her if she was all right. The feel of his firm kiss was burning too brightly and she had to press her fingers to her lips to make sure the feeling didn’t go away.

Oh, damn it all! Her fingers would never imitate how his mouth moved! She stared at Terry in silence, feeling a sudden surge of resentment for the interruption. She watched, dazed, as Terry gave her hair another longing caress. Dino entered the hut in disgust and returned a few minutes later with the kidnapped professor leaning heavily on his arm.

Dr. Allende!

"Hijita!" Allende greeted her, too upset, too weak to speak in anything but his native language. He stared around at him in a haze of wonder and skittish caution. Was he really rescued, or was this yet another game of breaking him down. Deidre felt hot tears flow down her cheeks as she took in his condition. Ropes had cut into his wrists, his legs, bound his feet, his hair disheveled, haphazardly cut, shorn in places to the scalp, his lips were black with dehydration and trauma, and his limbs looked as if they belonged to a concentration camp survivor.

"Hijita corazon!" the professor smiled up at her. Heart-daughter.

"Usted es seguro!" She replied, weepily, not caring if the Big Tough Men saw her this time. Not even Harkin would have teased her. "Sr. Terry y Sr. Dino le han rescatado. ¡Usted va a casa!"

*You are going home!*

"We need to get moving, in case there are others who might be interested in checking in on things," Terry said, handing her some of the artillery he had packed so he could help carry the victim down the mountainside. Deidre only nodded in silence, trotting behind them as best she could, trying very hard to keep her mind on the business of staying alive in the wilderness and not on how Terry had completely ruled her senses minutes before. He and Dino were soon laughing and insulting each other like brothers all the way down, not ignoring her, but talking almost with an air of deliberate delicacy, as if to respect her need to adjust to the ever-changing mood.

The thrilling part, though, happened whenever Terry thought Dino wasn’t going to notice: several times she caught Terry looking back at her, eyes alight. And she had a hard time meeting his gaze without smiling when he did.

She didn’t hold back the tears upon reaching the village either, where she had last spent a couple of nights before beginning her "geocache" foray. There had been moments, she told them, when she had been quite certain she would have seen it again; instead, lost in the jungle, bleached bones hidden by layers of vegetation for eons....

They set up in the only hostel in town, fortunately graced with a room for each of them. She had to fight to keep from falling into the bed without the benefit of a long hot shower and a change of clothes. Somehow, in the middle of all of this, she had maintained her backpack, stuffed only with a couple of changes of shorts and t-shirts...and it would just so happen, a sweetly embroidered cotton dress she had found in an even more remote village as she made her way through Peru.

She scrubbed hard, soaked long, using up nearly all the shampoo she had left to remove the grime of the expedition from her hair. She found herself smiling at the newly washed tresses as she gazed in the mirror, combing out the tangles and fluffing up the long strands to facilitate drying. Her one glory, her one vanity, and it hadn’t failed to attract Terry.

Of course, it would only have to be her hair that made up for the lack of remarkable beauties the rest of her body could display. She was a slight woman of thirty-five, starting to show signs of a coming change of life, a little softer and rounder in the hips than her college persona. She had an oval face with fine features, a sloping nose that fit more on a cat than a human face, or so she had always thought. Full lips and almond shaped eyes, trimmed by curving brows; but beyond that, naught but her hair and the fair sprinkling of freckles throughout made her standout from the rest.

When her crowning glory was finally showing signs of looking dry, there came a knock at the door to her room.

Dino had cleaned up himself glad to resemble something close to human again. He was whistling off-key as he sauntered down the hall, but stopped when he caught sight of Terry standing in front of Nolia's door.

He thought about slipping into the shadows and waiting to see what would happen, but the imp inside had other ideas.

He continued walking down the hall. He paused long enough to slap Terry on the back, startling his friend. "Good luck, pal," he wished Terry with his trademark smirk firmly in place.

He kept walking. He was thirsty and in need of some female companionship himself.

Terry had stood there for several minutes before he finally took his knuckles to the door. Dino passed by and he smiled briefly at him, but was lost deeply in his own thoughts. Would it be...possible? Would she even consider it? Was it something she would even want to do? Was she...free...to do it?

He realized he knew all too little about Diedre, what was going on in her life, what involvements she had. He licked his lower lip, the taste of her coming back easily. Was he asking for complications....real complications that could cause real problems? Sighing deeply, he knocked. Sometimes one just had to make that leap, see what happened.

She opened the door, backlit with the light of the room, a golden aura dancing around her hair with its mixed shades of amber, gold, russet. He hadn't really expected the sudden clutch that grabbed his gut at the sight of her. It was the first time he'd seen her...washed...untangled...and she was startling in her presence. Not a classic beauty, yet lovely still, and his eyes shone as he looked at her. She was, indeed, beautiful to him and that pulse of wanting her rose in him again, accompanied by a slight rise of color up his neck. She was entirely... female. All that was male in him...which was everything...yearned out toward her.

The seconds ticked past and still neither of them spoke, just standing, looking, each finding the other somehow familiar, yet entirely new, all at the same time. Both his mind and his body were racing, banging into each other, throwing him a bit off balance with their intensity.

"Nolia," he finally whispered, reaching out almost shyly to touch her slightly damp hair. Suddenly he was filled with the words he'd said to her when that hair was so tangled in the thorn bush and a frown line creased his brow. Biting his lip, he said, "I'm sorry."

"Why sorry?"

"For...for...being such a hardass up on the mountain, for the things I...said...to you."

She smiled at him warmly. "Was on my own best bitch behavior, too," she replied with a small laugh.

"Are...are...you hungry? Would you like to get something to eat?" he asked, moving on to the next thing.

She nodded. "That would be lovely." So he took her arm and they went down the stairs to the small restaurant that was attached to the hostel. Three small tables were on a little patio area and he guided her there, deliberately choosing a chair for her where the lamp would shine on her hair.

God, he thought, that head of hair should be registered as a lethal weapon!

A small candle in a curved glass votive, flickered on the table between them, casting dancing shadows on her face. How very different it all was from the little cave on the mountainside. She had been an irritation, a stumbling block, a...delay...in what he needed to do. Yet, in the midst of all that, he'd been impressed by her gutsy responses to him and it was that that had started a certain admiration for her to grow in his mind. She might be a magnolia, but she obviously had that famous steel rod in her, too. He liked that, liked both the femininity and the steel. Made a good combo, good for....

They ate, rather slowly, both on the edge of exhaustion, yet exchanging looks, trading small stories. When she rested her right hand on the tabletop, he reached over, covering it entirely with his. "'Nolia," he said quietly, "tell me about...you. What you do, what you want to do."

Even though Diedre had transformed herself into some semblance of gentle humanity, the image of Terry in fierce camo and muddy had remained in her mind, so that when she opened the door, she had stare for a few moments to realize that the man standing before her was actually the same man who had rescued her from thorn bushes and fatal gunfire. She found it difficult to breath because the savage cover had been shed for a very pleasing, very handsome man...a man who looked as if he wasn’t quite sure he should approach her with as much bravado as he had on the mountainside.

*Holy Sisters of Sublimity* she thought, taking in the full length of him with several glances, liking very much the broad shoulders of his jacket, the aquiline features, the blue-green eyes that always seemed ready to laugh. *Who knew a Thorne could be so tempting?*

Terry was staring in return and Diedre allowed herself a gentle smile of amusement. He must not have expected the change in her appearance either. Good. Maybe tonight they could both start off on a new footing. She leaned forward unconsciously as he lifted his hand to touch her still damp hair once more, catching a look of chagrin flash across his face.

"I'm sorry," he rumbled, as humble as a schoolboy.

"Why sorry?" she asked, startled. Was he going to beg off from talking with her? She leaned somewhat on the still open door for support if that turned out to be the case, a sudden horror of trying to get through dinner alone making her feel weak.

"For...for...being such a hardass up on the mountain, for the things I...said...to you."

Thank goodness for that door, otherwise she would have visibly sagged with relief. Instead, she gave in to a small laugh, remembering her entirely uncooperative sin of pride. She found herself watching his face with its open expression of apology. How could she refuse that?

"I was on my own best bitch behavior, too," she said with as much warmth as she could put into her response.

That seemed to give him relief because he asked her out for dinner and took her arm under his with as gentlemanly a grace as any cotillion escort she had known, leading her down stairs to the small cantina. It was a chill night, so the windows were shuttered and covered with blankets, which gave the atmosphere the feel of the cave they had shared, only now they were sharing the space with much more interest in each other and under nicer lighting. When they had placed their order, awkward bouts of silence fell between them, alleviated by a serious interest in the votive candles that were set on the table.

Diedre was unable to resist watching the play of light on Terry’s face, shadows dancing from the fierce warrior she had seen to soft illumination of classic features and back again; and the resulting emotional response became so befuddled with attraction and caution, she didn’t trust much of what came into her mouth to be said.

So she tried to keep the chatter to light things, tried to keep to summaries of her friendship with Dr. Allende and his wife, how she traveled in Peru, what her hometown in Alabama was like. When she decided to give up the pretense of correct posture and lean against the wall she sat next to and let her hand fall onto the table in a more casual pose, Terry took the moment to cover her hand with his, fingers curling around it in a loose clasp. Diedre had to bite her lower lip to keep a purr from rising up in her throat. His hand was warm and strong, and a remembrance of their last physical contact needed only his fingers to be brought back in full force.

"Nolia," he began, fixing her with his gaze. "tell me about you, what you do...what you want to do."

She smiled again at him. How could she pretend she didn't like what he was doing? She pressed her hand into his palm to let him know she was receptive.

"Only if you answer one question for me," she replied, hoping he wouldnt mind the teasing tone. He raised an eyebrow in query. "Why...why do you keep calling me 'Nolia'?"

He bowed his head in slight embarrassment and a laugh.

"It's not that I mind, really," she continued, hastily. "But I've never heard a nickname like that one, and am curious as to how..."

"How I came up with that one? I think its what you said on the mountainside...or rather how you said it. A Southern accent like yours is hard to miss in a place like the Andes. I had this idea...I mean...well, I said to you right then that magnolias don’t grow in Peru."

Diedre allowed herself to laugh outright at that, intensely pleased. So he thought her a magnolia?

"Nolia is short...for..." he trailed off, grinning broadly himself. "If you don’t like it, I'll stop..."

"No! No, don't stop. Trust me, I've had some nicknames in my life, but none so...lyrical. Thank you," she said, squeezing his hand to emphasize her pleasure. Now that the thin barrier of discomfort had been broken, they kept their clasp, fingers occasionally weaving with each other in tentative exploration.

"What do I do, he asks?" Diedre pondered out loud. "I'm an archaeologist, currently between jobs, which means I’m an erstwhile hopeful archaeologist who is really looking for something better than playing in the mud, which will go on to answer your other question about what I want to do. I want..." she paused, searching the dark air for some configuration that would explain it better. "I want what I've always wanted: something different, something where I won't disappear and become indifferent. I want to go where I can be me...without being frowned upon or told that I'm..." she glanced shyly at Terry, "an embarrassment."

She looked down at their hands, fingers interlocked, the brown of his fingers curled protectively around her short ungroomed ones. He was so confident, so...masculine. Would he scorn this particular weakness of hers?

"I want what we all want: to count for something."

He listened quietly, nodding his head from time to time, his eyes fixed attentively on her face. He kept his expression pleasant, interested, not showing the excitement that rose in him as she continued. An archaeologist...with guts...between jobs...who wanted to do something different. To say he was pleased didn't begin to cover it. His mind raced ahead even before she finished, trying to figure out how to say to her what he wanted to say. But then she yawned and he thought back over the last couple of days, all they had been through. Breakfast. He would wait and present it to her at breakfast.

So, for now, he squeezed his fingers just slightly more tightly around hers, leaned forward and said, "Counting for something, Nolia, making a difference, yes, that's what it's all about, isn't it." He smiled, wanting her to see how much he agreed with her words. "I think it's time to call it a day." Her eyelids were drooping a bit. "I know I'm bushed." He rose, still holding her hand, and when she was standing beside him, slipped his arm about her waist and walked with her back toward their rooms.

She unlocked her door and turned to face him, her eyes now almost half closed with fatigue. He wanted to lift her in his arms, carry her to bed and lie with her all night. But what he did instead was lean down and put his lips on hers, softly, undemanding, just touching the tip of his tongue to hers, then moving his mouth to her forehead.

"Good night, 'Nolia," he whispered, letting his hand trail down her hair. "I'll be by to take you to breakfast, ok." He tipped her chin up a bit. "There's something important I want to talk with you about." Then he opened her door for her, reached around and turned on her light switch. "Sleep well," he smiled, closing the door and heading for his own room.

It had been a long time since she had been that eager to get up in the morning. A long time when a new day had begun feeling like there was more promise to it than she could ever hope to imagine. Diedre had shifted through her morning ablutions almost without much thought to what she was doing, not needing coffee for the adrenalin at the thought of seeing Terry again and learning what he had meant by "something important."

Was it merely the fact that she might not have to do much job searching when she got home? She couldn't imagine what a military man like Terry would want in a shovel bum like her, or what he did that could possibly be open to her skills in osteology or artifacts. Still, he had been so serious, so intent when she talked last night of what she wanted to do when she got back home. Almost as if he couldn't believe his ears...

Diedre shook her head, trying to separate her thoughts about their talk from the recollection of more personal things about Terry...like how his mouth had claimed hers as he hovered over her, how his hand took hers up completely with all the reassurance of a lover...

"Maybe its because he sounded like he at least wanted to help...like the gentleman he is" she said out loud to swerve her thoughts back to more professional ground. "Maybe he at least knows someone I could contact..."

*Or it could be just that lovely accent of his,* she found herself grinning as she put her dress on again (it was the cleanest thing she had at the moment.) *Or maybe the way he kissed me...the way his body felt....*

She stood up from the bed after strapping on her sandals, wondering if she needed to open the windows of her room. *Certainly getting hot in here,* she giggled to herself, falling backwards onto the bed. *And to think I wanted to slap him when I first met him.*

And the memory of that brought out a few peals of laughter. Nope, she hadn't felt this school-girlish in a long time.

Of course that had to stop when Terry announced his presence outside her room with a rather uncertain knock.

He arrived at her door, his mind filled with the serious proposition he needed to lay out carefully for her consideration. Raising his hand to knock, he hesitated. She was laughing. Well, he guessed it was her. He'd not actually heard her laugh before. This was a giggle, rising to an absolutely joyous peal of laughter. Should he knock...or not? Would he be interrupting something? Was she all right? Unable to wait, he knocked uncertainly.

The laughter stopped and he heard sounds of someone crossing the room. The door opened and she stood there in the morning light, looking refreshed, glowing with happiness. He grinned hugely at the sight of her. "Everything ok?" he asked.

"More than," she replied, a last low chuckle escaping with her words.

He cocked his head. "Breakfast?"

She nodded. "Starved."

They walked down the street, turning into a small cafe. He led the way to the most secluded corner, standing back to let her settle into one side of the red vinyl booth. They ordered, spoke of Allende, of the trek down the mountain. She wondered where Dino was. He only smiled knowingly. He picked up the salt shaker and began to run his fingertip around its top, formulating his words.

Setting it down, he looked at her seriously.

"Diedre," he said, using her correct name, "Yale had hired me to go after Allende, but...," he sighed slightly, "that's only a side-line for me these days." He smiled a bit, seeing he had her full attention. "My main work is for an organization called NanoCorp. It's...it's...very similar to what I've done as a kidnap and rescue agent." He bit his lower lip, then continued. "They send me on... assignments to...retrieve...certain people. Usually, especially with some, it's a...team...effort. Not always. It depends on... on...the complexity of the retrieval."

He leaned back a bit. "We just had a single, female retriever named Rachel, complete an assignment by herself. It got somewhat more...involved...than we had expected. I doubt we'll be sending anyone alone again."

"Women do this?" she asked.

"Yes. Not many. Only certain, very qualified ones." He looked at her more intently than ever, leaning forward again. "We are forming a new team, a team of four, for the most complex retrieval ever. I will be the team leader, and Rachel, with another man...hopefully...will be going. But I need someone else." He licked his lips. "I need someone familiar with the archaeology, the history, of the Mediterranean Basin. Someone who knows the culture of the second century civilizations there. It's a...complicated...matter."

"Who are you retrieving?"

He blew out a long breath. "A general. He has met with a series of...unfortunate...circumstances and...."

"Why do you need an archaeologist to retrieve the general?"

"He...he's...very...involved...with...with...um...the history of Rome in...in...the time of Marcus Aurelius. It's his...um...specialty. And, well, the assignment will entail going to certain...historical...sites. And...and...your expertise would be of great value to me, to the team," he hastened to add. Again, as last night, he reached across the table, covering her hand with his. "Would you be at all interested...would you consider at...all...working with....me?"

He saw she was thinking rapidly. "You would need to come to NanoCorp headquarters by the end of the week to...meet the people involved....to see if, after you have all the facts, you would want to be a part of the expedition." He studied her face.

"What do you think?"

The Incan gods knew what they were doing, Diedre thought, her amusement turning to a certain thrill as she listened to Terry present a job for her right then and there, a passing appreciation for the moment when Terry had appeared on the mountainside and begun teasing her from the captivity of the bush flitting through her mind as she listened, soaking in every word, every adorable inflection, every intriguing detail of what this new job would entail.

At first it sounded like a bizarre form of Scavenge Archaeology : pick a spot and snatch up what one could before industry or commercial enterprise staked their new mark on the earth, positioning themselves to become fodder for future archaeologists. But the focal point was people, now, wasn't it? And while it struck her conscious to wonder *why* certain people would want to retrieve others, Terry's specifications for an area of expertise sounded as if he were designing a job just for her.

"Was this Rachel the one you talked to that night in the cave?" Deidre asked, curiosity overwhelming her tact. Terry nodded briefly, seemingly on a roll now with what he wanted to say. *More details later,* his posture seemed to say.

"We are forming a new team, a team of four, for the most complex retrieval ever," he continued. "I will be the team leader, and Rachel, with another man...hopefully...will be going. But I need someone else." Cerulean eyes locked with hers to get his point across. Diedre tucked her hands under her legs to keep them from flying to her chin in a squeal of glee.

"I need someone familiar with the archaeology, the history, of the Mediterranean Basin," he added, voice deepening, as if he were referencing a secret they had shared. "Someone who knows the culture of the second century civilizations there. It's a...complicated...matter."

Mediterranean cultures! Rome, Egypt, Greece... She sighed happily as she nodded over his words. No one in academia could come up with as good a proposal as this.

She felt a twinge of doubt though when Terry said it was a military person. There was nothing but admiration and love she had for those in the service, but not having joined herself, it always seemed there was a wide gap between her capabilities and those shared in the armed forces. And now this man, this Australian military man, wanted *her* to help with something probably better achieved by Special Forces?

Doubts and questions kicked into gear and she felt a bubble of retreat begin to form in her own response...until he ended his presentation with "...your expertise would be of great value to me, to the team. Would you be at all interested...would you consider at...all...working with....me?"

Not the company. Not the team. Him.

The reconnect with his large warm hand pretty much pushed away whatever doubts were formulating, whatever suspicions of oddity were beginning to rise in her. He had saved her life, protected her. That he wanted her to continue to be with him meant far more to her than any prize of contract he could present.

She smiled broadly, rubbing her hand against his loose clasp in acceptance, leaning forward to step fully into the gaze of his gorgeous eyes.

"Audaces fortuna iuvat!" Diedre said, and with her other hand lifted her drink in a gesture to toast the moment. "Fortune favors the bold!"

He could not have been more pleased! He knew his instincts about her had been right! When she lifted her drink in that toast, that sealed it for him. Relief...happiness...flooded him together. It just might work out...all of it. If she could handle the concept of the warp. If...that. He thought, hoped, she just might. Rachel had. There were certain similarities between the two women. Intellect. Spirit. Guts. Heart. It was all of those together that had sent Diedre off on her attempt to rescue Allende. He admired that.

"There will be need for...boldness," he said, lifting his glass. "But, then, you've already saved my life. I'd call that pretty bold, Nolia." He'd dropped back into his pet name for her now that his presentation was done.

"You are interested enough to come to NanoCorp, then, to hear the rest of the story?"

She nodded. "Yes, completely interested enough."

"I'm glad," he said. "Really glad." He looked at his watch. "I have to meet Dino and get Allende back to the states. You wanna ride along that far? Then we'll make arrangements for you to come to NanoCorp, say, around mid-morning on Friday? How's that sound?"

She nodded again and they both stood. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Didn't want you just to go back to Alabama, you know," he whispered. "I need you."

He meant that in more ways than one.

A Thorne In Diedre's Side now merges with If It Were Not So
and continues as Lost in the Empire

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