Makes You Stronger

[Christian Ward]

Christian pursed his lips at the mention of Burke, and gave Diana a stern look. He knew she was baiting him, but couldn't help falling into her trap. Christian couldn't deny that Derek was handy in a fight, he had proven himself on the cargo ship and Christian had been happy for the support, after the fact. But Burke had also lectured Christian before leaving that night, proving to Christian that Derek indeed had feelings for Diana and thus needed to be watched carefully.

"Does he ever say? I suspect he'll show up at a very inconvenient time. That tends to be his pattern." Christian's words were sprinkled with bitterness, as Derek had interrupted some of their more private moments with his unscheduled visits. Diana continued to defend his unprofessional behavior, and Christian continued to retain his superiority on the matter.

[Diana Ward]

Diana chuckled watching Christian's expressions, but it turned into full gales of laughter when the bell rang signaling Derek's arrival.

She laughed clutching at her stomach, until her rib hurt.

[Christian Ward]

Christian gave a half smile as he stood. "Yeah, I hope that hurts," he said in a teasing manner, clearly not wanting her to be in pain but also suddenly thinking on the definition of karma. He picked his pants up front the floor and stepped into them, fastening them as he moved to the wardrobe to get a shirt. He buttoned it as he headed out of the room, commenting to Diana, "you've proven you're flexible enough now to dress yourself." In fact, she had a whole range of movements back.

Christian tucked his shirt into his pants and racked his hair back with his hand before opening the door. "Burke," he greeted as he let the man in.

[Diana Ward]

She threw something at him, something soft this time, a pillow maybe, at his head as he left the room, but it was a teasing gesture. She got up from the bed herself and dressed quickly. She was indeed feeling much better, though she did enjoy taking advantage of Christian's tender care.

Soon she was downstairs with the men.

***

Burke had learned to be patient at the door, and while he still wasn't any better at setting definite times down to meet, he preferred to get them the information they sought quicker rather than later. He noted Christian's appearance and formed a slow I know what you did grin. "I take it she's feeling better?" he asked stepping inside.

[Christian Ward]

They were not friends, but Derek's grin showed that the possibility could be there. Christian's unamused look said otherwise. "She's moving about," he replied and then caught sight of Diana starting down the stairs. "Speak of the devil."

Christian moved into the sitting room and took his regular place in one of the chairs in front of the window.

[Diana Ward]

Diana was wearing jeans and a black shirt. With the injuries covered and the speed at which she took the stairs, she looked fit enough for duty, which was her intention.

Derek didn't take offense at Christian's looks, he had received more than his fair share of them so far, but he understood where the looks came from. Christian was possessive of Diana, Derek's desire for her understandably put them at odds, but Derek kept his space. To him it only mattered what Diana wanted, and for the time being she wanted Christian.

"Derek, it's good to see you." she said softly embracing him. He kept an eye on her shoulder as well as her rib to see if there was any lingering pain.

"You're looking better."

"I feel great." she replied, casting a brief look toward Christian.

[Christian Ward]

Christian smirked at the look Diana gave him, then turned to Burke not waiting for him to sit. "Have you had any luck tracking down our masked friend?" 

[Derek Burke]

Not ignorant of the byplay between the two lovers Derek quickly got to the point.

"He's more difficult to track than Sanchez was. But, remember the man with the tree trunks for arms?" he asked looking at Diana.

"He's somewhat difficult to forget."

"Indeed, but he didn't work for Sanchez. Neither did about a dozen other guards that evening."

"Those weren't Sanchez' men?"

"No. Interestingly enough they're Copperbottoms."

"What!?" Diana gasped and sat forward as Derek pushed a file toward her.

Inside the file were profiles and biographies of a few of the men that had attacked them that night. Derek was thoughtful enough to include the bank statements that showed the mercenaries were connected to Copperbottom.

[Christian Ward]

Christian strummed his fingers angrily on the arm of the chair as he took in the information. He didn't need to look at the file Derek provided, as Christian had his own information on the subject. He was attempting to piece the puzzle together for himself, without the knowledge of his team.

Copperbottom wanted Diana dead, and extending the contract on her also put a target on Christian's head. But how did Copperbottom know they would hit Sanchez next? And what was the point of taking out his own colleague?

[Diana Ward]

"This doesn't...I don't..." Diana didn't understand, and it worried her that she didn't know what was going on. It was too late in the game for these kind of surprises. Diana felt a wave of fatigue overtake her. She didn't understand that either. Perhaps her injury was more severe than she originally thought, but it seemed she was only getting more tired even as she healed. She honestly wanted to go lie down, but she didn't dare share that idea with either man.

"I'm not sure what it means either and the men I had working on Copperbottom was getting close to him about a week ago, then the man just disappeared." Derek replied.

[Christian Ward]

Clearly Copperbottom didn't understand who he was dealing with, and Christian aimed to show him. He would have a little chat with Copperbottom and find out exactly what was going on and put a stop to it. "I'll have my men look into Copperbottom." His eyes were narrowed and dark. "You keep looking for the assassin. I doubt he's on the books so he'll be more difficult to trace to Copperbottom. Best if we cover both sides."

[Diana Ward]

"Well, I assume he's the same assassin that we thought was after me." Diana said drawing a logical conclusion.

Diana sighed, then yawned. She seemed surprised by the yawn and looked at both men to see if they had noticed. At this rate Christian would put up a fuss when she mentioned the next order of business.

"Regardless of what Copperbottom is up to, we still have two other targets that need to be taken care of." she said looking at Christian, "They've had a week to sweat it out, but it makes me nervous."

[Christian Ward]

"We still need to find him, whomever hired him." Christian didn't want to press the matter regarding the hit wizard after Diana, as it was supposedly himself.

He noticed Diana's yawn and smirked slightly, concluding that he had worn her out earlier. But the ego boost didn't last long as Diana began discussing their next targets. "I'll call Dr Hanley and have him look you over. If you're not cleared, Burke and I will handle it." That would set her off.

[Diana Ward]

Diana fumed. It was taking everything inside of her not to revert to their earlier shouting and petty arguments, but supposedly they had moved past such things. Then again maybe not.

Diana's eyes narrowed to slits, "Don't do that Christian. Don't treat me like I'm some invalid. We both know I've been through worse." Diana had shared some of her more tiring exploits with him. They had shared a lot in a week, but Diana was feeling too restless. She was bound to do some real damage, possibly to Dr. Hanley if he didn't clear her.

Derek was surprised at Christian's inclusion of him in handling the other board members, while he was definitely capable and willing, he doubted the idea would go over well with Diana.

[Christian Ward]

Her reaction was calmer than he had expected, though he knew better than to let his guard down. He did know now that she had been through worse, a lot worse, but that didn't mean she couldn't be hurt more seriously the next time. He wanted her to be ready, and if she couldn't even make it through an intel meeting without yawning, how would she fare in the snowy mountains of Russia.

"I am more than certain you're up for anything, Diana," he replied with a smug look. "Just appease me, this once." Christian knew she had given in to him several times this past week, but as he was simply worried for her health, he hoped she'd be civil.

[Diana Ward]

She was keeping herself contained mostly for Derek's sake, but it galled her to appear docile or weak, particularly when Christian asked her to appease him. She didn't live by Christian's rules. She didn't depend on Dr. Hanley's bill of health to do her job. But here she was, and it was more irritating to her than either of her injuries.

It was times like this that she felt stifled by their relationship. She gave him a heated look, "Call him. But either we all go, or no one does."

[Christian Ward]

That was about as civil as Diana got when it came to rolling over for Christian; passive aggressive words and steely looks. If Diana sometimes felt stifled by their relationship, the opposite was true for Christian. Her impulsivity made Christian feel negligent of his own responsibilities. He had compromised his plans for her since day one. Hell, he had compromised his biggest job ever for her. And now Copperbottom was sending men after him for it, as well.

He glared back at her. "Do I need to call him this instant or can you be calm long enough for us to finish this meeting first?"

[Diana Ward]

She turned her attention toward Derek, she had the grace to be embarrassed by their display, and it only infuriated her more that Christian had pushed her in front of Derek.

Derek sighed, "Call Hanley." he directed toward Christian, "And you take it easy." he said tenderly toward Diana. There was nothing else to discuss unless they were going to discuss taking out another board member, and that required knowing whether or not Diana was in shape for such a mission. Personally Derek was glad that Christian could get her to rest, Derek never could.

He stood and made for the door with a general nod toward Christian, "Ward." he said, then tenderly he nodded at Diana, and left.

[Christian Ward]

"Merlin forbid I care even the slightest for your health!" he said angrily the second the door shut behind Derek. "It must be bloody torture having to stay with such as arsehole like me, who gets you a private doctor after attempting to f*cking murder someone for you!" Christian stormed into his office and locked the door behind him without giving Diana a chance to respond.

He pulled the tiny mirror from the second drawer of his desk and tapped it twice with his wand. A man appeared.

"Any changes?" Christian asked impatiently.

"No, sir. No one's gone in or out all day and I have a visual on the target as we speak."

"Good. Schedule a meeting."

"Yes, sir."

Christian tapped the mirror again and his reflection returned. With another tap, Dr Hanley appeared. "Come by tonight. She needs to be cleared." Hanley agreed and Christian put the mirror away. He leaned back in his desk chair, his fingers steepled as he thought on the information Burke had provided. But he only stayed a moment before heading back out into the oncoming storm that was Diana.

[Diana Ward]

She huffed at him when he yelled at her, and tried to follow him, instead she shouted at him from outside, "Fine! Go and hide in your secret room!" she shrieked in indignation. Somewhere in the house something shattered, but by the time Christian returned she was sitting on the downstairs couch calmly reading the newspaper, whatever she had broken she had already repaired.

"Is he on his way?"