It had been over ten years since I was last on a plane. Probably more like fifteen but I’d lost count somewhere along the way. Not much had changed.
Our group was seated towards the rear of the plane, economy seats for the starving archaeologists. I guess the purse holders had more to worry about than our comfort. We had been the first ones on the flight however. Even before first class. That was thanks to me though. Dr David Asano, the Asian man whom I’d rescued from a band of guerillas just over two years ago, had kindly given me ‘normal’ garb, which I had refused. Let’s face it; it wasn’t my clothing that was going to turn people off. Then he had encouraged as little war paint as possible…unfortunately some of my ‘war paint’ is of the non removable kind and there really isn’t anything that’s going to hide sharpened front teeth. Besides, we were still in Central America, my territory, and I wasn’t used to taking orders.
Thanks to my lack of cooperation, the other passengers hadn’t even tried to board the plane ahead of us when the doors opened. The attendants, though startled, hadn’t refused us entry either. I’d always hated line cutters, myself excluded, and I was glad to see I didn’t have to deal with them in my own territory at least. Passengers filing on the plane were doing so with many an exaggerated glance in our direction and much added whispering. But I found I didn't mind waiting for them to settle as much when I had my seat, and I could just watch. The stagnant bustle brought back memories of flights when I hadn’t been so lucky, child flying alone or no.
David took his seat beside me heavily and gave a sigh that belied his apparent small stature. His rounds were complete. His mission accomplished. At least the points he’d been willing to share with me, a ‘creature’ he barely knew. The tension in his body told a different story however. For him, the hard part had just begun.
“Did my weapons make it on?” I asked for probably the fifth time. Another thing I’d lost count of. I could feel the mental twitch urging my hands to check for the curved knives at my hips. They weren’t there of course. The one thing this tiny shithole of an airport had actually insisted on was taking all our weapons. I found myself eyeing the mercs in our group trying to decide which one was also an air marshal and had a gun I could steal. On the whole, I preferred not to use guns but a comfort blanket was a comfort blanket.
“Yes,” he sounded tired, “And yes, I had Adam check to hold. They are there in full.”
I debated asking whether this Adam had opened the box they were in to check the contents but then that was just another nervous tick. I didn’t much like the idea of leaving my jungle, my temple, my solitude, and going back to a noisy and bloodthirsty America. Not that my memories of the place were bad, they were all childhood folly and fantasy, but I wasn’t really prepared for the changes either. I surveyed the plane’s interior again. Same crappy upholstery and uncomfortable seating, dingy walls, screaming baby, coughing sick dude, it was just like old times. Couldn’t have changed that much in ten to fifteen years could it?
Memory sparked like an electric wire and my hand jolted to grab David’s arm so fast he nearly jumped out of his seat. His chocolaty brown eyes looked just as wide and panicked as my blues must have. My head tilted as I phrased my thought.
“How am I going to get through security? I don’t have any papers…no passport…no ID…isn’t US Immigrations kinda strict?”
David stared at me for a second then smiled and patted my hand. It was such a patronizing gesture, my hand snapped back to my lap and I rewarded him with a scowl.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got it all figured out.” He looked ahead as if that was all that needed saying. But I didn’t look away from mister patronizer and I knew he felt my gaze on him just as I knew the sweat he wiped off his forehead wasn’t just from the stuffy heat of the dead air in the plane.
I realized I was acting like a scared child. Fidgeting, asking questions, putting my hand on his arm for god’s sake, but I wasn’t a child and he knew it. I’d killed people in front of him, he knew better than to pat my hand and blow over my questions damnit.
His eyes finally came back to me, did a double take, then focused. “What?”
“What?” My voice was quiet and deadly, mocking.
His eyes widened in unease and he appeared to scramble for our last conversation. Could he really have forgotten it already? Really? “Umm, we’ll talk about it when we get to it?”
His answer was so weak it wouldn’t cut warm butter. “Doc, I don’t like following other people’s plans….especially when I don’t know what that plan is.”
The flight attendants were making ready for takeoff. A glare let the one coming back to us know that she didn’t need to interrupt to check if our seatbelts were fastened. She walked by without a second glance. Good girl.
David’s tight lips seemed to want to refuse me but as he reached for his bag under the seat in front of him they released a reluctant sigh. “You have a passport.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting. I didn’t know what to say. A passport wasn’t easy to come by and I wasn’t even sure if I was a legal citizen anymore. So I asked the only thing I could, “How?” My voiced sounded incredulous even to my own ears.
“It was done in preparation for this trip, in case I could convince you to come back with us.” Without force was the unstated part of that sentence. He knew I suspected but we hadn’t much talked about the head hunting part of his expedition. He handed me the small navy booklet with a grimace.
The materials were different than before. This one seemed lighter weight, yet somehow more durable. ‘PASSPORT United States of America’ was boldly printed on the front in gold lettering with the eagle front and center. I opened the front page and rotated the booklet to look at the picture. It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. I found myself tracing the contours of that face with my eyes as I traced my own with my fingers. It was me. Undoubtedly. I looked maybe the same age but, much paler, and my hair was dark and shiny unbleached by the sun as it was now. I hadn't seen my face without tattoos in a while either.  It looked somehow unfulfilled.  I felt awe shiver through me as the thought came. If the plane I was on hadn’t crashed in the jungle when I was a girl, if I’d stayed in the US…this is exactly what I would look like. There was an iridescent sheen over the page, I moved it until I could read what was written. ‘Ryan, Josephine, Washington State.’ These were all things I hadn’t seen or heard of in so long. I could barely remember them. Josephine Ryan. I hadn’t heard my own name spoken in over a decade.
“How….how.. did you get this?” my voice was barely above a whisper. I wasn’t sure if David had heard, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off the vision of my own unweathered face to check.
“Computer imaging!” he sounded excited, chipper even.
“What’s that?”
“Wha-“ he paused, perhaps realizing that when I left computers practically filled an entire room and imaging amounted to pong and word processing. “Well technology has come a long way since you left.”
I must have looked forlorn when I looked at him. If technology could do something like this, what must it be like? Was this airplane like a museum of the outdated to these men? My chest tightened in minor panic. What was I getting into? I wanted to go back to my jungle!
David gently pried the passport from my hands and carefully stowed it away with his own in his bag. He looked at me for a while then, his expression somber. “You remember the newspaper clipping I showed you?”
I nodded. I didn’t think I could really say anything sensible just yet.
During the excavation at the temple, the Doctor and I had spent a lot of time together. I hadn’t wanted to trouble myself by meeting the others, knowing their names, their likes and dislikes, no thank you; so he had become our go between, much to the dissatisfaction of the merc leader. One night we had spoken of our mutual home, the Pacific Northwest, and David had popped out an old folded cutout from a newspaper.
What’s this? The black and white dotted image at the top was so distorted; it was had to say for sure if it was anything at all.
Read it.
Doc, last time I read something like this, I was in third grade…I wasn’t so good at it then either.
Oh, he’d been polite enough to look sheepish before explaining. It’s an article about a small private plane that disappeared within 100 miles of this jungle about ten years ago.
When he looked at me expectantly, I shrugged.
The plane belonged to John Ryan. They never reported who was on it…
I stood and left him before I’d realized I’d done it. I was angry. Angry that someone had discovered my secret. Angry that someone knew who I had been before. My secret that I had guarded so well alone in my jungle was now out in the open. It was like I’d lost a part of myself. But As I walked, I began to feel relief as well. Relief that now I wasn’t the only one carrying this burden. I wasn’t the only one aware of a plane that had crashed in a jungle far from home and taken the lives of a brother, a guardian, and a pilot, but left a little girl scared and alone to fend for herself.
“How could I forget?” I choked out as I wandered back into the present. Despite that rocky evening when David had introduced his knowledge of my identity, somehow that knowledge had managed to bring us closer together in the days after.
“Nowadays, computers can take old pictures and artificially age them.”
I stared at him just as blankly as before. Lost. Totally lost.
“You see, we took one of your childhood photos and a computer generated and image that approximated what you would look like when you were older.”
I looked at my feet. I would just have to take it for granted because there was no way I could process that kind of information let alone understand it under the circumstances.
“Anyway, just let me do the talking when we get to customs.”
I nodded slowly and closed my eyes. I could have used that pat on the hand now. I leaned my head back on the seat and realized I’d completely missed the take off. No amount of force could have moved me from the revelations I had just experienced…apparently.
I pushed the button on the arm rest and leaned back the seat. It didn’t go back much. It was just enough to make the seat go from unbearable to completely uncomfortable. But, not being used to luxury, I couldn’t really complain. It had padding, albeit old overused padding, but it was still more than the crumbling granite of the temple. My mind was so overwhelmed, the seat barely registered as I began to mull over the situation.
Two years ago a group of American archaeologists were attacked in my territory. I’d saved some of their lives, steered the survivors back to civilization, and thought that was the end of it. Imagine my surprise when slightly over a year later, I spied a familiar face among a band of Americans traveling through my remote section of jungle. There were no guerrillas around, nothing to protect them from but themselves. So I watched, and waited until it was obvious they knew where to find my temple and would arrive shortly. By the time the good doctor arrived in the overgrown field surrounding the step pyramid, I had already learned most of his plans, and most of the secrets within the group. He told me they were there to find artifacts of ancient civilization and excavate the temple. This was true, but it also wasn’t the whole group’s mission. Somehow, the financial leaders of the mission had become interested in me. The muscle of the group, a band of ragtag mercenaries, had their own mission; to bring me along willingly or no. I let David believe that he was helping by convincing me to join them as a friend and to protect the ‘artifacts’ I’d allowed them to take from my home. But the truth was, I was more curious than worried.
After David showed me the newspaper, I’d wondered if the interest was somehow related to my father. He was the owner of a fortune 500 company and one of the richest men in America; an estranged daughter was bound to be interesting. But if that had been the case; there would have been more publicity, less armed guards, and most likely some acknowledgment from my father. John Ryan wasn’t the kind of man to not be in the know, especially about his own family. Then again, I didn’t know anything about how my father was now. David assured me that he wass alive but I can’t imagine him any different than I remember. Perhaps that would be a problem in the end. My father had been a good man, a good father, he loved his family, and he worked hard; and yet, I’d had nightmares about him for as long as I could remember. I had no reason to fear him, He’d never even raised his voice in my presence, but there is something formidable in a man who can cause even his own children to be wary.
No, my father wasn’t involved, I was sure of it. Not only had I not heard from him, David had never mentioned my relation to anyone else. Looking at the rest of the group, I was certain they weren’t any more aware of how I was getting into the country than I had been. There were a lot of secrets on this mission.
David was reading a science journal. He didn’t look formidable. The wiry Asian man and I were of similar height but I had muscle mass on him, I probably weighed a good ten to twenty pounds more. He dressed like an outdoorsman catalogue and he couldn’t be separated from his small backpack that I’d begun referring to as his purse. Who knew what was in it…science journals and fake passports for one. He had a handsome face with chocolate colored eyes that always seemed to be calculating. That was the ticket, his eyes. He would seem completely nonthreatening if not for that decisive mind leaking out through his eyes.
What could this Asian archeologist possibly want with me?
He was the only one in the group operating with his own purpose. He was the only one who knew about my history. He was the only one who knew how to get me into the country with the smallest amount of fuss. Who was this guy? He didn’t seem to notice my scrutiny as he perused his journal. I shrugged off my suspicions. He had a plan and he had his secrets, but he was no superman. I could best him in a fight without even breaking a sweat. No worries then. Besides, if it came down to trusting anyone in this group, I would fall to David, despite his calculating and secrets.
I settled into the uncomfortable chair and closed my eyes. We still had a couple hours until landing.
My eyes remained closed for the rest of the flight. I kept my body still and listened into the conversations of the others but didn’t learn anything of note. Sleep eluded me. Too many voices, too many unfamiliar noises, and halfway through the flight I found that I should have taken the sweatshirt David had offered me. My jungle clothing amounted to little more than a sport’s bra and shorts. It was great for the humidity of my home but didn’t provide much protection against the cold air of the plane. By the time the plane the plane landed my skin was prickly with cold.
We were in the back of the plane so we were the last to get off. The taxi up to the gate had seemed to take forever but it was short in comparison to how long it took the general public to get their shit together and get off the plane. I didn’t rise from my seat until I saw the last person that wasn’t a part of our group get off. By then, a few of the archaeologists had made it to the front as well. David looked back to make sure I was coming and waited in the isle as I rose. The mercs were trying to look busy with their parcels to avoid letting me know that they weren’t going to let me out of their site. Now that we were in America, Texas to be exact, we had a short layover before heading onto Seattle, the mercs’ duties had changed from guarding the scientists to escorting the strange and possibly dangerous prisoner.
I stopped to take in my surroundings as I stepped out of the gate. The terminal we arrived at was for international flights. The building was huge but not as well maintained as I would have thought. The swirl designs on the carpets were beginning to fade, a few chairs had gaping tears in their fake leather coating, and the tile along the walkway was tarnished to an off white that was closer to brown in some areas. It seemed like more would be done to impress foreigners but then again, I wasn’t at all sure about the economic status nor foreign policy of the States anymore. I would just have to take it all in and try to figure it out later.
The others paused around me. They kept a respectful distance but I couldn’t help but get the feeling that I was being herded.
I wasn’t the only one taking in the scenery. Many of the people nearby had stopped to take in my appearance as well. I looked back at them. They were dressed conservatively: jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, the patterns were different but not so much than before. Judging by them however, I could see my own attire wasn’t going to go over smoothly. I really would have to take David’s items then. I felt him come up behind me and stop to my right side.
“Welcome back,” he flashed me a crooked smile which I attempted to return. I felt a little bewildered and although things weren’t too frightening I was still nervous. “Are you ready?”
I nodded almost imperceptibly. “Can I have that sweatshirt now?” Having so many eyes on me was beginning to give me the willies.
David didn’t say anything as he swung his bag in front of him and removed the black hooded sweatshirt. I let the gratitude wash over me. I would have to thank him later. If he had laughed or commented at all I might have walked back on the plane and asked them to take me home. Funny, it seems I left my self confidence at home as well. I took the item and threw it on over my head rather awkwardly. The collar stuck on my hair pulling the knot a little aside and my long arms must have looked more like an octopus for all the squirming they did trying to get down the arms.
By the time the hoodie was on and situated, my face felt a little flushed and my ears were beginning to burn. I felt like a kid again. Any second the others were going to point and laugh and call me names. I swallowed my pride and nervousness as best I could. My hands felt twitchy. I kept reaching for the blades that weren’t there. My fingers found the beads and claws around my neck as I lifted the necklace out from under the clothing and worried them to take out some of my stress.
David shot me another small smile and headed out.
I managed to follow him without looking like I was scurrying. I straightened my back and evened my steps settling into a rhythm a few paces behind. Following was soothing. I could watch the surroundings and the public and not have to worry about where I was going. I kept David in my periphery as I looked around. There were a few shops, some food, a duty free store, and people milled about or rushed by in a hurry. The scenes were all familiar but in such a distant way that they still felt alien to me.
David led us on down the walkways, around the corners, and down an escalator to the large room that served as the immigrations department. Large numbers of people were sectioned off and lined up to wait. I hadn’t seen so many people walled in together in a long long time. There must have been some other flights coming through as well because the numbers were far beyond what had been on the plane we arrived on.
David ruffled through his bag and took out our paperwork long before we made it to one of the booths.  The questions the agents asked were generic and so were the answers.  Identification; purpose of travel; time of stay; location of permanent residence; I began to space out as they began to repeat for each new person or group.  To the far side of the room was another group sectioned off from the rest and moving at a much slower pace.  They were an odd group.  Each member wore a sash or band of yellow fabric and about a fourth of them had white hair.  I looked more closely at the ones with the white hair.  They weren't old.  They just seemed somehow washed out.  Everything about them seemed pale.
The plexiglass separating the customs agent from the public blocked my view as we moved up to the booth.  My last glance affirmed that possibly only two of the distant group had made it through as opposed to our fifteen or so.
"Where are you headed?" I looked up to see the guard take our passports from David without looking up.
"Seattle," David had a smile plastered on as he responded.
"And where are you coming--" the guard's words dropped off as he raised his eyes to us.  His mouth hung slightly ajar as he scrutinized the tattoos on my face.  I stiffened under his stare.  It took him a long moment before he thought to recheck my passport.  His look of shock didn't change as he checked the photo and my face again.
My lips were beginning to turn into a snarl as my body strained to keep still.  Just one more second of eye contact and my inner beast would accept his challenge.
I flinched as David's hand came to rest lightly on my arm.  His snake charmer's smile was still on but I could see the calculation in his eyes.  I would have to let him take the lead on this one.
"We're coming back from an expedition to a remote tribe in the jungle region on the boarder of Mexico and Guatemala."
The guard took a moment to respond, taking one last long look at my tattoos before turning back to David, "I see..."
David's charm seemed to relax the man as he continued to talk, "My colleague here has been living with the tribe for the past four years.  This is her first time back in the states..." he leaned in a little closer as if to tell the man a secret, "you see, she's a little bewildered...she left before the pandemic."  The last came out as a whisper making the look of surprise on the guards face seem louder than the spoken words.
"Before.." the man leaned back in his chair and looked me over again.  This time his expression registered some sympathy along with the disgust and fear.  "Well...welcome home miss," he sounded awkward and too quickly looked to the passports to find the visa supporting David's story.
"Must be an interesting story," the man said glancing up and shifting his gaze to David, "the tribe I mean.  Will I be seeing anything about it on tv?"
"Ah, no.  They wouldn't allow cameras, thought they'd steal their souls." David gave a little incredulous laugh.  He had an answer for everything it seemed.  "Might be a book though."
The man nodded, obviously having no interest in books.  "Good.  Good.  And is Seattle your final stop?" David nodded.  "Anything to declare?"
"No sir."
"All right, welcome home," he handed David the passports but didn't release them right away, "hey, keep an eye on your friend.  Being away so long.... Wouldn't want you two to get into any trouble..."
David's smile didn't waver as he assured the man he would take good care of me.  I might have thought it was a threat if the man hadn't sounded so sheepish.  He didn't look at me again as we departed and the next group came up behind us.  I followed David as he lead the way through the seemingly endless concourses.  
If I wasn't bewildered before, I certainly was now.  I could understand fear in response to my tattoos, after all, that's what they had been given to me for, but where had the guilt and sympathy come from afterwards?  Were things really so different now?  Everything seemed pretty much the same.  I scrutinized the crowd again.  Different styles but still just people.  There seemed to be more of them too.  What was this pandemic they had whispered about?  It couldn't have been that bad if there were still so many people right?  I pushed the questions to the back of my mind.  I had too many now.  I was too overwhelmed.  I would just have to remember to ask later when I could process things more clearly.
We stopped at a gate close to the end of a long terminal.  David and the mercenaries spread out among the mostly empty seats in a loose group and unloaded their carry-on baggage.
"Where's the other one?" I asked David.  I'd counted heads without realizing it.  One of the mercenaries was missing.
David looked around the group before replying, "Adam's seeing to the luggage.  It gets a little more complicated when you transport weapons or artifacts.  Don't worry, he'll be back soon."
I snorted before I could stop myself.  As if I would worry about them.
A fountain nearby reminded me that I hadn't had a drink since we left Mexico.  The air on the plane had dried out my sinuses and my mouth was beginning to feel like a desert.  Someone had installed a device in the fountain that made gurgling sounds every time it was in use.  It was annoying but probably helped to remind people to use the bathroom before their flight more than anything else.  I wondered if that was it's true purpose.  I set off in the direction of the annoying fountain.
"Where are you going?"  One of the mercs was on his feet and headed to block my way before I responded.
We stopped and stared into each other's eyes.  Neither of us moved.
I'd had just about enough of playing along.  These stupid men thought they could control me?  I felt myself growing cold inside.  I could snap his neck before he could pull whatever concealed weapon he possessed.  I stepped towards him but before my foot touched the ground, I felt a familiar hand at my elbow.
Damn.  He was getting good at reading me.  I guess the Doctor was taking his babysitting more seriously than I thought.  Then again, killing someone right after being let into the States really would hinder things.  My breath came out in a huff as I loosened my muscles and let it go.  Gods forbid the man tried my patience again where no one could stop me, but I was done with him for the moment.
"I'm thirsty." I looked past the merc to the fountain.  It was more a a glare but less threatening when not directed at him.
He thought about it for a long moment then stepped back to let me pass but he didn't look away.  His eyes would be on me the whole time.  I walked past, barely resisting the urge to shoulder check him.
The fountain was surrounded by two kids when I arrived.  I stopped a good ten feet away but they seemed pretty involved.  Apparently the gurgling wasn't as annoying to them.  I smiled a little as they laughed.  They might take a while.  Luckily there was another fountain to the right slightly hidden in a nook in the wall.  I walked over to it.  It was yellow.  I'd always hated that color and to see it on a fountain was slightly irritating.  I pushed the button and the water came out in a clear stream.  Seemed to be in working order.  Of course the yellow plaster made the water take on the same hue giving the impression that I was really drinking piss.  I could only hope that it was at least cold.
The water was cold and clean.  Probably a better quality than I'd had since I'd left the States.  It tasted funny.  No hint of dissolved minerals or mud or fish.  Almost completely flavorless except for the slight taste of treatment chemicals.  As I stood from my stooped position, I looked over at the children at the other fountain.  They had stopped playing to stare at me.  I smiled but they didn't smile back.  I was never very good with children.  Facial tattoos and sharpened front teeth probably didn't help either.  I made a note to only smile with my lips closed.
Their mother hurried over with a worried glance in my directing and gathered them up.  I could hear her lightly scolding them as she led them away.  I got the impression that their behavior wasn't the cause of the scolding however.  I watched as they receded through the crowd.  I hadn't expected a welcome but I hadn't expected mothers to be scared enough to keep their children from me.  I mean, this was America right?  There were stranger things than tattoos were there?
"It's because you're a Pallen."
I turned to face the voice that had spoken behind me.  The man was sitting in one of the worn fake leather chairs not far from the fountain.  He was in need of some grooming in comparison to the standard exhibited by others.  His long shaggy dark hair was a little greasy and his clothes were of dark colors and a little worn making the yellow scarf wrapped around his wrist appear blindingly new.  He looked haggard.  His skin was obviously tan but somehow managed to look pale at the same time and his cheekbones were sunken in enough to look unhealthy but his most revealing assets were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses.  
"You can't blame them for their fear though," he said in a rough voice as he leaned back and looked out the floor to ceiling windows to my left.  "After all, we were like them once."
When I didn't respond and didn't move he broke sight with the windows and looked to me.  I couldn't see his eyes but I felt them as they glanced over me.  I didn't feel uncomfortable under his gaze, I simply felt the need to wait.  Suddenly he jerked forward slightly.  Perhaps too slightly for most people to notice because the movement was fast.  I felt a slight hesitance and respect begin to surface in me.  This man was a predator.  Like a large feral cat.  Safe to look at behind bars but you wouldn't want to make any fast movements around him.
"You're not..." he cut himself off before he could continue, "I'm sorry, I imposed myself on you."  He looked back to the window.  He seemed to expect me to leave.  That must have been the end of a normal conversation for him but I was fascinated.  He wasn't like me.  Not completely.  But we were akin in a way.  Two predators in a sea of consumerism driven sheep.
I walked towards him, slowly, cautiously, as if any sudden movement may frighten him away.  I felt his gaze on me again as I came closer although his face never turned away from the window.  I sat on a seat near him with one other in between.  I perched gingerly on the edge barely touching, ready to flee if he made a sudden move.  He didn't move and I waited.  I continued to wait until my muscles began to protest at the precarious balance I held with the chair.  Perhaps I was being silly.  He was human after all.
"Sit."
The force behind the simple quiet command hit me before the word registered.  I was sitting comfortably in the chair before I could even think to move.  A quick panic followed by a sudden joy raced through me.  I'd only been moved like that once before.  I looked to where his eyes must be behind the dark shiny surface of glass.  Perhaps we had more in common than I realized.
He was looking at me now.  His face turned to mine.  Slowly he raised the glasses just for a moment then let them drop back down.  Then he smiled and looked back out the window.
Our eyes had met only for a moment with nothing between them but those eyes would remain in my memory for the rest of my life.  There was power in his eyes.  A power I couldn't understand but one which I knew to respect.  And such a unique shade of emerald green I'd never seen.  They almost seemed to glow in their intensity.
"What's your name?"
"Joe."
His chuckle was barely audible but his smile was apparent enough.  "I'm Ambrose."  He was quiet for a moment.  His energy was strong around him.  I could almost feel the thoughtful air of his reflection.  "We are alike you and I.  We of a single name," he chuckled again then stood.  His final words were whispered over his shoulder, I'm not sure anyone else would have heard them but just before he left he said, "if you should ever need me, ask."
As soon as he took his first step away my mind snapped.  It was like a spell had been cast and our tiny bubble of magic had just burst.  Reality came crashing back in on me and I realized with a jolt that a furious mercenary was bearing down on me from behind.  I stood and turned to face him in a slow motion that belied my agitation.
"What are you doing?" A similar question from the same merc but this time filled with so much hate.  I didn't know what to say.  I tried to think of something flippant but nothing came.  Really.  Had I done something so wrong?  
"Don't talk to them!  Don't go near them!  Don't even look at them!"  If we hadn't been in a building, I'm sure he would have spit on the ground.  And if there hadn't been a row of chairs between us, he probably would have grabbed my arm and tried to march me back to the group like a little girl.  "Do you understand?"
David, who had been hot on his heels, paused behind him and tried to speak but was cut off by an arm motion from the merc.
My hands flew to my waist only to discover that my blades weren't there.  I glared at the offending arm holding back the Doctor.  If we had been in the jungle, he would have lost the limb already.  I looked back to the merc locking gazes with him.  This power play was over.  I had walked away before and let it go but I wasn't under his control and it was about time he knew it.
"David, let's go."  I stepped over the chairs and to his side never breaking eye contact with the merc.  My hand found its way to the Doctor's shoulder turning him gently but thoroughly around as I began to lead him back to the group.  I focused my attention on where we were headed and let the merc fall out of sight.  My back was twitching with anticipation.  Now man with that large of an ego and a chip on his shoulder could resist.  I was merely biding time by walking slowly.
He fell for it.
His hand grabbed my arm from behind attempting to whirl me around to face him.  I let the momentum carry me into him as I gave into his pull.  He didn't spin me hard enough to give much to my attack but my knee in his groin was still enough to bring him to his knees.  My hand caught his face as his knees weakened.  It didn't take much effort to topple him onto his back.  Just one step forward as my hand guided his head in the direction he would fall.  He hit the ground flat on his back.  His breath came out in a loud whoosh that wouldn't be coming back any time soon.  My hands were already moving to their next target when my right was caught in David's grip.
"Don't." his voice was firm and harder than I thought the little Doctor could muster but not angry.  His grip and arm were strong.  I'd forgotten about all that ripcord muscle under those loose clothes.  I looked into his calm chocolate eyes and waited.  "It's not worth it," he glanced around us to indicate what a scene I was making.
I stepped away from the fallen mercenary and relaxed as much as I could.  The adrenalin in my system made everything seem like it was in slow motion.  David loosened his grip and let go.  I followed as he led the way back to our group.  As the adrenalin  wore off, my mind began to fog over.  All the day's events and the stress of travel began to wear on me.  It was all too much.  I couldn't process anymore.  I was done.
I fell into the seat David led me to and closed my eyes.  I didn't notice the glares from the other mercenaries or the frightened looks of those passing by.  I just wanted to go home, or at least have this craziness come to an end.  But I had a feeling that this was just the beginning.