House Call

[holiday_pirner]

Holly walked to the main entrance of the no-nonsense block of tiny, identical apartments. She peeked over the large basket in her arms to study the numbers listed next to the rusting buzzer. The brunette shifted the weight to one arm; all she could find was a gift selection made up for a New Year's Eve celebration, but she had a hunch that flowers would have been much more awkward.

She poked her finger against Rhys' number and heard nothing but incomprehensible static. "Hello?" Holly pressed again. "It's me. You know, the only person who would be visiting you."

The British girl swore inwardly, then out loud as she pressed the button again. "Shit, that sounded mean. I'm sorry. Just let me in, someone's going to think I'm casing the place."

Tapping her foot, she studied the contents of the basket and waited. After a moment, there was an earsplitting buzz, and Holly was able to swing open the door and scoot inside before it locked back into place.

She paused, deliberating, when she heard a door clicking open down the hall.

Comments

[birthright_npc]

Rhys had been in the head, which was why he didn't answer the buzzer at first. Not having much in the way of belongings, he'd taken an efficiency apartment after finally being released from the hospital. The scar on his stomach was a permanent reminder of what it meant to let a junkie get too close. He'd done his PT to bring his right arm back to full use. So he felt pretty good physically.

He was also out of a job. Mrs. Pirner had been furious when he contacted her by phone to apprise her of the situation, and she'd fired him on the spot. But that was only proper. He'd been assigned to protect Holly, and instead she'd saved his life. He had yet to thank her for that. His embarrassment kept him out of sight.

"Hello, Holly."

His voice seemed louder than normal, but only because the hallway was so silent. His mouth quirked the tiniest fraction when he saw the gift basket. "Come along, then." He gestured to the interior of his apartment with one hand. "Let's not have the neighbors become curious."

[holiday_pirner]

Entering the small space, she couldn't help but hide the disappointment from her face. "I was really hoping you'd have something bizarre and out of character. Like collectible kitten plates, or something."

Holly held out the basket. "Also, hello. This is for you. There are crackers."

The brunette studied the flat curiously. Of course there was no decoration, no sign that anyone in particular lived there. There was a visible layer of dust covering the screen of the tiny television set.

[birthright_npc]

"Things weigh you down."

He took the basket and put it on the marginal counter space that was part of the kitchen. There was a built in microwave and an inexpensive coffee maker. The fridge was a miniature model.

There were two chairs in the living area, and Rhys took one while waving at the other for Holly to sit down. Mean or not, she'd been right; he didn't get visitors. He'd wanted to speak to her anyway, he just hadn't known how.

"I am pleased to see you. How have you been? No lingering trauma, I hope."

[holiday_pirner]

Holly looked at the chair for a moment before sitting. Lingering trauma. For some reason the phrase made her smile. "None that I can detect. If there is, it's buried deep. You know, the healthy kind that might lead to a random episode sometime down the road." She shrugged casually.

"And you? Are you all, you know, recovered?" The brunette gestured vaguely at his midsection. It took a moment before it registered that Rhys had used the words "pleased to see" in regards to her.

Brain damage, maybe?

[birthright_npc]

"I stayed in hospital longer than I expected. The doctors were worried about peritonitis. Fortunately the first stab wound didn't nick the bowel, even if it was deep. But I'm back to being as fit as ever. Thank you for asking."

He'd said the last by rote, but he had said it. It wasn't the first time he'd been stabbed. As humbling as it was, he had other scars as memories of the places he'd been and the things he'd done. He ran one hand over his close-cropped hair. He'd gotten it properly barbered the minute he was out of his sickbed. Being ill didn't mean being sloppy.

"You saved my life."

[holiday_pirner]

"Well, fair is fair. You saved mine, remember?" Holly tried to smile but it faltered. At the moment it was all happening, she wasn't sure she had acted in time, or enough. Hadn't done something drastic enough.

"And you know me," she continued, trying to keep her voice light. "You'll probably have to save mine again sometime soon."

She shifted her gaze to the basket on the counter. "You should look at it. It was the best one there, or so the stockboy at the store assured me. While not even looking at my face."

[birthright_npc]

Rhys tipped his head to the left, noted the way Holly avoided his eyes. He knew about being closed off, knew it because he was the same way. The chair creaked as he got up, then took the two steps necessary to study the contents of the basket.

There were sausages and cheese as well as crackers, and the mercenary offered another fraction of a smile when he said, "I hope my refrigerator can hold most of this. I'd hate to see your money go to waste."

He opened one of the packets of cheese, then carried it over to the silverware drawer. He found a knife and cut a few pieces loose from the small brick, put the rest of it into the fridge. He'd eaten lunch, but she'd managed to bring him his favorite kind of cheddar.

"Smoke?" he asked when he returned to his chair. There was a tiny table nearby, and he picked up his off-brand cigarettes and held out the pack to her. One of the things he'd really disliked about the extended hospital stay was that he couldn't smoke.

[holiday_pirner]

Holly nodded, the habit a comfort in that moment. She studied the space in depth, casting her glance over every detail before turning back to Rhys. "So, what happens now?" The brunette couldn't bring herself to ask the question that was truly on her mind.

"Are you going to stay in Vegas? Are you still, um...employed?"

[birthright_npc]

Rhys almost smiled. "No, I've been sacked. But I expected to be. It's poor form when the client saves the bodyguard's life."

His athletic shoulders lifted in a shrug of acceptance. He didn't live extravagantly, as his current residence indicated, so he had savings to fall back on while he was looking for work. He had a skill set that people would pay good money to hire, so he wasn't worried about finding something else.

"As for remaining in the city, I don't see why not. I didn't know how long I'd be in the States, so I sublet my London flat to someone else. And now that it's winter, the climate is more comfortable."

There was something unsaid, he could sense it, and his sharp eyes focused briefly on Holly's face before looking at the bare white wall."Say what's on your mind. Please."

[holiday_pirner]

"She doesn't give up. That's not her. So now I'm wondering if she's hired someone else." Holly briefly wondered if that would hurt Rhys' feelings, before she remembered who Rhys was.

The brunette managed a sarcastic smile. "I'll have to start all over, you know. Figuring out how best to annoy him." She took the cigarette he had given her, and lit it. The smoke formed a small cloud above their heads.

[birthright_npc]

"It's possible. She's a determined woman. When you have something that's worth protecting, you'll take whatever measures are necessary."

Rhys lit a cigarette of his own, using a match from the box next to the pack. The tip of the white cylinder glowed orange as he inhaled, then turned a reddish color as smoke escaped his nostrils. He was watching her, but his expression was placid.

"Do you think she should hire someone else? Do you think you need protection?"

[holiday_pirner]

Holly shrugged, exhaling slowly. "That's what I've been told. Repeatedly." She flicked ash into the tray on the center of the table. "But maybe I'm getting too expensive."

She tilted her head slightly to the left, scrutinizing him now. "Did she say anything else to you?"

[birthright_npc]

"She said that she was disappointed because she thought I was a professional. I don't think she's going to recommend me to her friends."

There was the slightest bit of humor in the mercenary's voice, and he shrugged again. "She loves you, you know. She wouldn't have sent me if she didn't. She's a lady, and that means she doesn't consort with killers willingly. I don't even know who gave her my name."

He smoked in silence, letting the words percolate between them. Out in the hall, a door opened and closed.

[holiday_pirner]

"I think you were professional." There was a note of defensiveness in Holly's voice. "As for her loving me, I'll take your word for it." The brunette sank back against the slightly uncomfortable chair. The guy needed real furniture. A real apartment, for that matter.

"Don't you ever get depressed, Rhys? Angry?" The brunette regarded the man with a hint of disbelief etched across her features. "If anyone's professional, it's you."

[birthright_npc]

"I used to. That was years ago, though."

Something without a name to put on it flickered across Rhys' face and disappeared. He took the half-smoked cigarette out of his mouth and tapped ash into the plastic tray. When they took the IV connected to the morphine drip out of his arm at the hospital, the mental fog had lifted and he'd recalled the thing he'd said shortly after the stabbing.

"Shannon. Tell Shannon....tell her I'm sorry."

He hadn't thought of her in a long time. Years. But when you were very possibly bleeding to death, there was no telling what you'd say. Rhys' expression flickered again. He must have been convinced he was going to die if he'd actually said Shannon's name.

"I was different once. But I'm not that man anymore."

[holiday_pirner]

"Right," she answered shortly, nodding. "Now you're efficient. No pesky emotions to get in the way." Holly stubbed out the half-finished cigarette. She had lost her taste for it, it only burned her throat.

"I'm glad you're feeling more like yourself. I didn't know a person could bleed that much and still live, so congratulations, I guess." It was one of those moments where a strange sort of nervous anger threatened to bubble over. Angry at him? Herself? Her grandmother?

Certainly there was a pill for that. Holly's foot twitched.

[birthright_npc]

His eyebrows went up. Was he annoying her? He looked down at the foot that had twitched with mild interest. The cigarette was stubbed out in the ashtray with having been finished. Rhys picked up a slice of the cheese, put it in his mouth.

"I lost things."

He said it once he'd chewed and swallowed, the words without emphasis. He was still looking at her. He knew he didn't have to explain. But she was waiting for something, although she probably didn't even know what it was. Rhys ate another slice of cheese.

"I lost things, just like you lost things. You lost a father. I lost Shannon."

[holiday_pirner]

Holly lifted her eyebrows, despite her vain attempt to keep her expression neutral. "Shannon. The girl you mentioned." She played with her lighter, watching the flame alight, then extinguish when she exhaled.

"Girlfriend? Wife? Daughter? And lost her, how?"

[birthright_npc]

"Wife."

The cheddar was just sharp enough. He was going to have to see if the grocery store nearby carried this brand. Shannon had been so young when they'd met. They'd both been young. Dimly,Rhys wondered where she was now.

"Things used to be different. But war changes you, even when you don't think it does. When I came back, I wasn't the same. It didn't take her long to notice it. I was...colder. A lot colder."

[holiday_pirner]

She resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment. It was an effort, or maybe a defense mechanism. She was becoming so horribly cliche.

"Which one of you did the leaving?" Holly's expression softened. The brunette wondered if she imagined the struggle that played out on Rhys' face. Did he really want to tell her this? She was only a client, after all. Not even that; Holly had been the job.

[birthright_npc]

"I did. I wanted to make it simple for her. I was the one who changed, and it wouldn't have been right to make her be the one to go."

Wanting to say it or not wanting to say it didn't mean anything to Rhys. That would have required him to have a feeling on the subject, and it had been so long since he'd had a feeling about anything that even pretending to summon discomfort was ridiculous to him. He'd eaten the last of the cheese slices.

And the truth was, leaving had made things simpler for him, too. With Shannon out of the picture, he'd been able to stop pretending and strip his life down to the bare essentials. It had been a symbolic burial of his old life and the person he'd been. In the Now, he ate and slept and did his job. He didn't even dream. He was the mechanical man.

"She's probably happier without me." He said it without inflection. "At least, that's what I intended when I left."