In Icarus' Shadow

by Matthew Jones

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Orion smiled thinly at the bartender when he placed a plate of food in front of him. He had assumed that his previous persona had gotten something to eat during his time at the helm as he had not been hungry upon becoming himself again. Whether he had or not had become somewhat irrelevant, however, after the first two hours of being seated at the bar. Miss Lawson seemed to be enjoying herself well enough, he supposed, but she also seemed completely unaware of time dragging past them.

  He was not faring quite so well. In all truthfulness, he was remarkably bored. At least his food was interesting; some manner of tortilla crust surrounding a mildly spicy centre of cheese, vegetables and seasoning, with a rather pleasant garlic dip to help it go down. Not something he was even remotely familiar with. Finishing off the plate with a glass of water, he resigned himself to the wait; his inebriated escort appeared to still be going strong, suggesting that it would be a while before they departed. He wondered if she would be quite so enamoured with her idea to go through with this come morning. If the bill for eating enough for four people didn't dissuade her from trying this again in a hurry, the hangover certainly would.

  With his face dangerously close to showing an emotion at the thought, Orion's musings were interrupted by the feel of something cold, narrow and firm pressing into his lower right side. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man standing beside him. A grey, wide-brimmed hat was pulled low over his eyes and he had a black coat draped over the arm holding the handgun to Orion's ribs.

  Keeping himself facing forwards, Orion nodded in vague acknowledgement of the man's presence. "Simon."

  Tipping the brim of his hat ever so slightly, the man replied in kind. "Orion. And it's McClane to you, remember? I suppose it has been a while. I think we'll need some time to catch up. "

  Clearing his throat softly, the shape-shifter indicated the couple perched on the chairs immediately beside him. They weren't paying attention to either of the two men, busy as they were arguing over the finer points of the soccer match up on the flat-screens, but they were still well within earshot. "I assume you are as averse as I am to this exact spot being the place for any sort of private discourse?"

  The man snorted softly. "Still talking in circles, huh. Well, whatever floats your boat, I suppose, but I only speak in plain English. Think you'll need a dictionary?"

  Orion sighed. "No, thank you, Simon. Your meaning is well conveyed without speech; was that not what the firearm was invented for?"

  McClane's mouth, barely visible under his hat, tugged up into a smirk. "I think it had something to do with self-defence, actually. Against predators and monsters. Which is convenient, since you're both and worse. Now move, but keep it slow."

  The pistol in his ribs dug in further to punctuate McClane's point, and Orion let himself be steered from the bar. Crossing the floor of the pub towards the door, he cast a glance over his shoulder and saw that Nadia was still happily unaware that anything was wrong. So much the better, she was safer that way. He smiled thinly in bitter amusement at this sentiment before pushing it aside; the young woman's well-being was none of his concern, after all. Passing through the front entrance, the cool wash of night air caressed his face, invigorating him as it passed into his lungs. Looking up, the bitter smile returned, unbidden, to his lips as he beheld the waning moon above. Hello, beautiful. I missed you.

  Not appreciating the shape-shifter stopping to admire the view, his aggressive, would-be hostage taker gave him a shove from behind to get him moving again. Being led around to the side of the pub, they disappeared into the dark space that existed between the building and the small restaurant beside it. Placing Orion against a wall, McClane backed away to the opposite side of the alley, keeping the gun on-target throughout. Tilting his hat back, he at last revealed his face, though Orion had seen it before.

  It was a face approaching old age at a dead run; weathered, tired and beginning to show it. His short beard and hair, once a chestnut brown, was riddled with grey. His icy blue eyes, sharp and observant, were surrounded by lines that spoke more of squinting than of laughter. Even his mouth seemed in a perpetual frown. He was taller than Orion's present shape, standing about two inches over the six foot mark, with a lean, athletic build earned from a life spent on the move.

  McClane's soured expression tilted into a slight smile of satisfaction at their secluded location. "Well now, that's better. There won't be any interruptions here. Let's see you, then."

  Orion's face remained neutral throughout his change back to his usual shape, though he smirked slightly as he finished and found his eyes two inches higher than McClane's. "You are shorter than I remember you being."

  The man shrugged. "I remember you as a bogeyman, but here you are against a wall. Life's funny like that. Now, then. Just so I can straighten out your mess once you're dead; what's your angle with the girl at the bar?"

  "I have no 'angle', Simon. She is the one attempting to use me for her own purposes."

  McClane laughed at that. "You can't expect me to believe that, what do you take me for?"

  Orion shrugged. "I expect very little from you, Simon."

  The man's laughter died, his patience for his quarry's use of his first name rapidly running out. "I told you to stop calling me that. And keep your petty insults to yourself. Fine, then, no angle with the girl. So much the better, I don't have to go in there to help her once I've left you dead out here."

  "I am curious, Simon, as to how you found me this time?"

  It was McClane's turn to shrug. "I got into town this morning; figured I'd drop in on the police station, see if I could get any information out of them about strange sightings or other leads on you. Imagine my surprise when I see some young lady accompanying one 'Mr. Black' across the street. So I park my truck in the police station's lot, fetch my camera and follow you from across the street. That alley you picked was straight as an arrow, I saw the whole thing. Got some nice pictures, too."

  "I assure you, had it been me choosing the meeting place, it would have been more secluded."

  He laughed. "What, you let the girl pick it? How obliging of you! But that's all beside the point; when you left, I followed. When she dragged you in here, I staked the place out; I couldn't just waltz in and walk you out at gunpoint with nobody around, after all."

  "So you waited until the establishment became crowded enough for you to act unnoticed. You must hate me a great deal to have waited for your chance so patiently."

  McClane snorted. "You're just figuring that out now?"

  "No," he replied, patiently. "I merely wonder what the reason for that hatred is. Of all of those I have encountered throughout my life, you have pursued me the most determinedly. How long has it been, now? Twenty years of your life? More? Will it be worth it, Simon?"

  A sneer spread over the man's face. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you ruin other people's lives, they get a little ticked off with you."

  Orion shrugged again, using the motion to hide the fact that he was using his left foot to hold the back of his right shoe as he wiggled his foot looser in it. "I suppose so. I have some experience with such things."

  "Bully for you. As for whether it's been worth it," McClane lifted his arm, aiming his pistol at Orion's chest, "I'll let you know in a minute."

  Smiling thinly, Orion nodded. "I am most anxious for your answer."

  Staring each other down, icy blue eyes against red, the pair stood in that alley while the tension in the air thickened. Leaning back slightly, Orion kicked his right foot forwards. His shoe, sufficiently loosened, catapulted through the air and caught McClane by surprise as it struck his shin. Firing reflexively at the sudden pain, his shot went wide. Seizing the brief moment he had bought himself, the red-eyed man seized the coat-wrapped hand holding the gun and drove his knee into his aggressor's stomach, forcing him to double over.

  Sucking in huge lungfuls of air, McClane straightened up. Throwing his coat aside with his free hand, he sough
t an ideal shot at his target, but Orion was already disappearing around the corner of the pub. Cursing loudly, he took off in pursuit, snatching his coat up as he went to hide his weapon. By the time he got inside, he knew it was too late. The crowds of people inside provided the perfect hiding place for Orion now that McClane had lost his element of surprise; he could be anyone. What had been his advantage was now decidedly his opponent's. Glancing around at the faces amidst the noisy crowds at the bar, he spotted the girl Orion had been watching; she was still in her seat, her emptied dishes beginning to pile up in front of her and was in the midst of chatting up a young man that she, or perhaps her alcohol-saturated reasoning, apparently found intoxicating. Rolling his eyes at the display, he growled quietly to himself at having lost his quarry. He supposed, however, that he was fortunate no one in the establishment was any the wiser as to what had gone on outside; although he doubted these people would have heard his gunshot in the alley, even if the pistol he had used hadn't been silenced. Smiling grudgingly at the room, he turned on his heel and left. It was time for a different approach.