| PARIS, FRANCE - DAYS LATER Justin lays in a hospital bed. His right leg is in traction. He has serval small cuts across his expose flesh have began to heal up. The flowers in his room have started to wilt and there is a stack of magazines and crossword puzzle books near his bed. Watching a French game show on his T.V., Justin answers the questions before the contestants. The door opens and a doctor with a thin mustache, glasses, and blond hair that is slicked enters. The doctor holds a device that registers electronic listening devices. Puzzled by the present of the new doctor, Justin asks, �Can I help you, Doc?� Satisfy with his scanner results, Brian walks over to his bedside. Justin grabs the television controls. With a French accent, Brian begs, �Please, leave on, Justin.� Studying the doctor closely, Justin realizes who he is almost overwhelmed with shock. �You should not be here, Hugh or whatever your name really is.� �Then tell me where else I should be?� �Everyone is looking for you. Military, Intelligence, the police, Interpole...� �They are looking for a man named Hugh who went to Lebanon. They will never find him alive.� �But what happened to your French accent?� �I am not French.� �Are you a terrorists?� �I am not terrorist, but I have been employed by them. I am more of... let us say a mercenary.� Justin being shattered by his words replies, �But I don�t understand. How can you be you and still be what you must be.� Brian tries to embrace Justin, but Justin pushes him back with his good arm. �All right, but listen very carefully to me, Rabbit. In a few days you will receive word of Hugh�s death and few weeks after that you will be made aware of a large insurance policy of which you are the beneficiary.� �But...� �Your life could be in danger because of me. I used you get close to other people, but that was before I knew you... before I...I fell for you. I think you will always be the best part of life, and I want to keep you safe. I want you around for a long time.� Brian embraces Justin again, and this time Justin doesn�t push him away. Their lips meet for brief moment in spite of Justin�s injuries. Looking at his leg, Brian asks, �How did the surgery go?� �Fairly well, I suppose. I�ll walk anyway.� �I should have told you to stay away. I thought I had you stopped when I put the acid on the radiator hose.� �You tried to stop me!� Justin gasps. �Oh my God, fifteen people died in that blast, and you knew all about it!� �I am what I am, but, Justin, I did stop you from entering the study. Ask yourself, why your general wasn�t with the others in the room?� Terror sweeps across Justin�s face. �Did you shoot me?� �I had no other choice. You hung up the phone.� Justin cries, �I really screwed everything up. Those men would have been still if I wasn�t with them.� Tears escape from his eyes. �You see... there is no place for a man like me in your life. I have already robbed you of so much.� Justin grabs onto Brian as best as he could and holds on tight. �Oh, please, this can�t be happening. I love you, or at least I...� �Justin, I can�t stay.� Brain hands Justin a passport. �Always keep this hidden. It�s another identity, credit cards, and a thousand dollars in American currency.� �But why?� �Just another insurance policy. And this,� Brian hands Justin a note, �is how to leave a message for me through the internet. Memorize it then destroy it!� �Is all this really necessary?� �Yes. I have brought my world into yours. I can only hope to protect you and beg your forgiveness.� Brian careless holds his face in his hands. �My sweet little rabbit.� �I don�t care what you are, or what you do.� �Yes, you do.� �Then quit. Walk away.� Brian tries to pull himself away from Justin. �Please! I need a moment to tell you that I feel... I can�t find the words. Oh, Hugh, what is your real name?� Kissing him on his forehead, Brian replies, �I can�t tell you.� Then he frees himself and begins to head to the door. �A part of me will always love you.� Justin continues to cry as clutches the passport to his chest. Brian smiles. �There you go again stealing my heart, Rabbit� He touches his chest, and then blows Justin a kiss as he turns to leave the room and exits the hospital. Jack McKinney sits in the back seat of his car hidden well in the shadows. He smokes and observes Brian with an almost cold detachment. �You are a fool, Sonny Boy.� Brian turns into an alley. Jack has Ben who is driving his car drive past the alley, and then doubles back to the alley. The alley is empty. Jack steps out of the car for a second to get a better look. When he gets back into the back seat of his car, Brian is sitting on the other side. "Brian?" "Hello, Jack." "Take us home, Ben." Ben starts up the car and takes off. "You used me," Brian remarks. "You gave me no choice." "You had a choice." "We have the disc, Sonny Boy! We can't duplicate it, but we can now listen in on all communications handled by any satellites." Jack grins. "The disc belongs to the Americans." "What did America ever do for me and my team? We were thier operatives in South America, Moscow, in Iraq." "They paid you." "You think all of this is about money? I didn't sacrificed everything for them just to be phased out. No!" "Everything is always about you, isn't it? Why my mother loved you, I will never know." "Your mother was an innocent, and beautiful. But always you must understand expendable. A man in our business, Brian, can not afford attachments." "My mother was never expendable! Justin is not expendable!" "You need to wake up, Sonny Boy, to the reality that is your life. I took you in. I saved you from a life of destitute poverty." "To what? Grovel at your feet or to follow in your footsteps!" Brian pause as looks Jack over. "You're not even a man." |