Meeting of Nations

[Nythera]

"Oh, it hurt all right." Kottan said with a laugh. She noticed that he had shifted suddenly, but she shrugged it off.

"These are plans for the embassy. I wanted to review them before handing them back to the designer who's helping me." She quickly dated and initialed the paper KSL, then she tucked them into their portfolio.

Kottan looked out the window, then noticed a man on a bike, keeping up with the car. She was amazed at how fast he was going, when she noticed the guitar case on his back. She knew him.

She whipped out her journal and began writing furiously in red pen.

[Sgt Shidner]

"The embassy, huh? Interesting." Johnas replied as she initialled the paper and put it back in her folder.

He noticed her glance out the window and a sudden reaction to something she saw. It was her following action of getting out a journal of sorts and writing quickly that caused him to feel some concern. He looked over the back of the seat, straining his neck as he looked back. He saw a man on a bicycle following the car, oddly enough keeping pace.

Turning back around, he asked, "What are you doing and...who is that following us?"

[Nythera]

"I've seen him before, but I don't know him! I need to write it down so I don't forget that he was following me." Kottan said, still penning rapidly. Another quick glance up and out the window assured her that he was still there, and a soft growl rose in the back of her throat. Why was he following them? Was he trying to kill her, or Johnas, or was he a spy of some sort?

"Johnas... Something's wrong. I don't know why he's following us, because he isn't one of my men."

Yet another glance out the window, and this time she noticed that his stare was trained on her, despite the tinted windows.

----

Sephan could barely keep up with Kottan and the car, but he pushed himself hard. He needed to tell her what was going on.

----

The car pulled up at the front of their destination, just after having lost the biker. Kottan relaxed a bit, putting her journal away, thinking that he'd been biking in the same general direction as they'd been going. Still, that didn't explain the speed...

"Johnas, would you wait here a minute or two? I'll be right back... I need to inform someone of your arrival." Kottan said, exiting the car and leaving Johnas alone.

----

Sephan saw his chance. When Kottan was no longer in the car, he quietly pulled open the door and climbed in. His black hair was messy, and the white streak stood out. His brown eyes located the man, and he drew his Smith and Wesson in case he needed to defend himself.

"Look, mister, I need your help with something. I swear I'll only shoot if you intend to hurt me in any way." Sephan whispered breathlessly. He knew he couldn't stop [i]him[/i] alone, and so he went to his last resort: the government. He knew this man wasn't Carthaginian, but he didn't care; he had no affiliation anyway and all governments were the same to him. He just needed someone with influence. As he'd promised, he kept his revolver pointed down, but still ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

[Sgt Shidner]

Even after Kottan had assured him that the man following them wasn't one of hers, Johnas was still wary. He glanced back a couple times and saw that the man was still back there, pedeling furiously.

Once the car had stopped, Johnas felt a certain sigh of relief seeing that the man was not behind them any longer. Kottan informed him that she must depart momentarily and so Johnas sat back in his seat as she left. He was still a little uneasy at the persistancy of their follower and he reached down to grab his concealed 9mm Firestorm pistol he carried with him but was taken aback as he noticed the holster was empty. [i]Damn it[/i], he thought angrily, [i]i must have left it on the plane[/i].

It was just after this thought crossed his mind that a strange man jumped into the car, wielding a large handgun. Johnas thought twice about pressing the silent alarm button he wore around his upper arm, but as he noticed the man was not aiming the weapon at him, he reconsidered.

"No, i have no intention of hurting you." Johnas replied to the man's challenge, "But seeing as you are the one with the weapon, i see no choice for me but to help you."

[Nythera]

Sephan's eyes glimmered in the darkness, and he answered, "I need you to delay Kottan as much as possible. I can't have her leaving this building at anytime before 8:00 PM."

"Someone's going to try and kill her at 7:30 when she meets him.... And I don't want that. You're the only one I can turn to now- no one else believes me; not the police, not her sister. They think that no one would want to hurt her, but he sure as hell does."

[Acca Dacca]

[i]The King spun in his chair at the conference house. twirling his pen in his hand.[/i]

[Sgt Shidner]

"Uh.....ok." Johnas was still reeling from the fact that someone was out to kill Kottan, "I don't know who this is that you're talking about, but i'll see what i can do."

Johnas quickly exited the car and went back to the vehicle where is personal guard waited. He left the mysterious man in the other car, [i]If he could make it into there unseen[/i], he thought, [i]he can certainly leave unseen as well[/i]. As he neared the car, he motioned for his six men to exit the vehicle and join him outside.

"Sergeant Kappel," Johnas said as his men gathered around him, "I want you and three of your men to stand guard at the entrance to this place, no one gets in without the proper documentation."

"Yes, sir!" Kappel selected three men and all of them unslung their rifles and jogged of to the entrance.

"As for you two, i want you to accompany me inside and then i want one of you on each side of the main entrance to the building." Johnas said as he turned to walk inside, "Same deal. Don't have documentation? They're not coming inside."

With his men beside him, Johnas strode inside the building. The two Sturmtruppen broke away as they entered and each of them took up a stance on each side of the door.

It was then that Johnas began exploring the building, casually looking for Kottan.

[Nythera]

Kottan popped out her office after having gotten off the phone with her best friend, Kairan Chiana. They were to meet in the park at 7:30...

She saw Johnas and said urgently, knowing that she'd made him very tardy, "The King is waiting in the conference house. We need to hurry; I've made you very, very late." She turned toward a clock on the wall, her white curly pigtails bouncing, and saw that they were beyond tardy.

Kottan strode off purposefully, heels clicking on the floor, clearly showing Johnas that they had to go, and they had to go [i]now[/i].

-----

Sephan got out of the car and tucked his revolver into his jacket. This was his last chance to save her, and if he didn't take the risk, she'd die.

"For now, all lies in his hands. From there I will take care of this, and rid the world of yet another monster." Sephan growled to himself. He got out of the car, no one noticing him, hopped on his bike, and went to his house. A light rain began, and he smirked. The weather couldn't get any better.

Fate had dealt him his hand. Now he had to use it in the best way he could.

[Sgt Shidner]

As Kottan began to walk off, Johnas glanced at his watch and saw the time. He remembered what the man with the gun had said in the car. He looked around the hallway around him and then saw a pillar with a bust atop it. It looked rather unstable and he wondered if it could fall. [i]If i were to just knock it down then she would say something like 'Oh, someone else can clean it up,' or something like that[/i], He quickly thought. [i]BUT if i were to.....ah ha[/i]. He began turning as if to follow Kottan and hit the small pillar with his shoulder.

It began to topple over and Johnas purposely walked in front of the falling column, seemingly unknowingly. He glanced back to see where it was falling and placed his leg under it and awaited the inevitable.

The heavy pillar came down with a thud, landing squarely at the joint where his leg and foot connected. Johnas felt a resounding crack echo through his body and despite all efforts, he let out a pained groan as he fell to the ground.

[Nythera]

Kottan whipped around, and assessing the damage, she got down next to him.

"Jeez, Johnas! What... What just happened?!" Kottan's white work pants were soaking up the blood that puddled around them from Johnas's leg.

"Can you stand? We need to get you to a hospital, stat. Ummm...." Kottan panicked, and then she had an idea. Barely strong enough, she hoisted him over her shoulder and walked into her office.

She laid him on the desk and called an ambulance.

"Oh, shoot, shoot, SHOOT!!! JOHNAS, ARE YOU OKAY!?" she screamed, the panic finally setting in.

[Sgt Shidner]

"I....I hit that pillar with my shoulder." He winced in pain as he replied, "And it fell on my leg."

[i]Damn[/i], he thought as he looked at his leg, [i]this hurts like hell, but if it helps......[/i] "Yes, i think i can stand." He got up on his right leg, his only working one, and using Kottan as a crutch he limped into her office. Once there, he sat upon her desk. Reaching inside his suit jacket, he ripped off one of the sleeves of his undershirt and proceeded to tie it around his leg in sort of a makeshift brace. He winced and surpressed a yell as he tightened the sleeve around his leg.

"No," He tried to chuckle lightly as Kottan asked about his condition, "I'm not especially good right now. But i'm sure i'll live." He gritted his teeth again as his leg hit the desk's leg.

[Nythera]

The ambulance arrived shortly after Kottan had placed the call.

As they helped Johnas in, Kottan called, "I'll follow you on my scooter. First, though, I must inform the king of what's happened. Expect me there in under an hour." She turned to run back into the conference house, then she turned back around. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen and a slightly bloodied paper.

[img]http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54488/165/DF29A7746055661FB19EF2AF531C0182.png[/img]

She gave it to one of the paramedics and assured Johnas, "Ayo will help you out. She works at the hospital- night shift. You got lucky; one of the best is on the job, and I don't just say that 'cause we're sisters."

------

She ran into the conference house, her work clothes bloodstained. She breathlessly said, "I'm sorry, King. There's been an accident, and Johna- er, Mr. Adems has been injured. He's on his way to the hospital, and I intend to follow, making sure that he recieves the proper care." Her head down, she spoke no more, only breathing hard. Kottan pushed her hand into her pocket and felt the keys to her black-and-violet flame painted Ducati. She awaited the King's answer, fully expecting rage from him.

[Sgt Shidner]

As the paramedics loaded him into the ambulance, Johnas gritted his teeth in pain. His ankle was crushed and torn aside at a odd angle. As Kottan ran off he hoped that she was doing something else, he did not know whether or not he had delayed her long enough but for now this was all he could do. [i]Its not like i'm gonna drop another statue on my other leg[/i], he painfully laughed as he thought, [i]i need both of my legs[/i].

[Acca Dacca]

"Not only are we delayed, but we've put a foreign delegate in the hospital? Where have you been? He should have been here in a safe chair on the other side of the table so that we could discuss relations, a treaty amongst other things. You better follow him, and make sure he enjoys his stay in Carthage from this point on. No more stops, no more statues, just have him go from the hospital to a hotel and if not there, to the conference house. I have other business to attend to, but when he is ready to talk, I hope for your sake you bring him here."

The king hung up the phone, and rubbed his temples. He sat at the empty table and decided he'd pack it in for the day. Before leaving, he picked up his cell phone and called his friend in the media.

"Im going to need you to make sure that something doesnt recieve international coverage..."

[Nythera]

With a nod of understanding, Kottan left the place, hopped on her scooter, and sped to the hospital.

As soon as she got there, she flashed her badge quickly and was let into Johnas's room.

Ayo turned around and said, "Hi, Kottan. What'd you do to him?" with a side glance at the injured Johnas.

[Sgt Shidner]

As one of the attendants looked at his leg as he sat on the medical table, Johnas glanced up to see Kottan come inside his room. Ayo moved from his side and began speaking with Kottan, and though Johnas couldn't hear them, he was sure it had to be something to do with him.

The thought suddenly flashed through his mind that Kottan was here. The man had explicitly said not to allow Kottan to leave the residence until 8:00, and since Johnas' watch had been lost in the chaos, he didn't know whether he had succeeded or not.

[Nythera]

"I didn't do anything. A statue fell on his ankle. Jeez, I hope he's okay... The King seemed very ticked at me. What is it that happened exactly?" Kottan said. Ayo shot back, "Crushed. We're still working on it, trying to help him out. We might have to stick a few pins in it to help it set straight."

Kottan walked over to Johnas's side, then she winced when she noticed the odd angle his ankle was at. She reached into her jacket pocket and said, "You dropped this, Johnas. I saw it near the pillars. Apparently, you dropped this." She set the watch next to him, then jumped back as the melody to [i]Fer Sure[/i] played from her cell phone.

"Shoot, there's my date tonight! Damn, I'm late?! I might have to cancel on him!"

[Sgt Shidner]

[i]PINS????[/i] Johnas thought frantically as he picked up a piece of the other conversation. [i]Crap![/i] He shuffled slightly as he thought of it.

When Kottan walked over to the table, She handed him his lost watch. "Thank you." He said gratefully as he slipped the chrome time-keeper over his wrist.

Kottan's phone rang as he snapped the clasp shut and her sudden exclaimation made him feel slightly sorry for his actions. "It's fine. Don't cancel." He smiled as one of the nurses began putting the beginnings of a cast around his ankle, "You go on ahead. I'll catch a ride from here to go to the meeting. After they've gotten me all bandaged up, that is."

He saw that his briefcase was sitting over on a distant chair. The paramedics must have taken it off when they admitted him. As soon as they were done with him here, Johnas thought maybe he could get a cab or something to his meeting with the king.

[Nythera]

"I was supposed to meet him in the park at 7:30, but it's 8:24 now. I'm almost an hour late, but I guess he'll forgive me." Kottan said.

-----

Sephan sat in a tree, his beloved Smith and Wesson in his right hand. He would wait... but not much longer. The man had delayed Kottan, but Kairan Chiana was already there... His target was alone... Sephan was tempted to kill him then, but he needed Kottan to see it. He wanted to see the look on her face when he told her he'd saved her because he loved her.

[Sgt Shidner]

"So who is this you are meeting?" Johnas asked as he saw the nurse give him a thumbs up. He proceeded to stand on both of his feet. Although his right ankle pained him terribly; but the cast helped a lot.

He limped over to grab his briefcase and taking the cuffs, he locked it back around his arm. He figured that maybe he could get to the capital building to discuss the things he had come to discuss with Carthage's king.

[Nythera]

"My boyfriend. Well, sort of... Oh and the King's gone- go tomorrow. He wants me to get you in a comfortable place... So [i]ummm...[/i] take this."

Kottan handed him a silver credit card with her name on it. She felt bad for delaying him, so she was paying from her own pocket.

Kottan was virtually sky high on her excitement and tension, and she said, "I trust him... He'll forgive me." She puled out a picture and showed it to Johnas. It was her standing next to a tall blond guy who looked slightly psycho.

"That's Kairan next to me. We met when we were little."

Edited May 18, 2010 by Nythera

[Sgt Shidner]

"Oh? Gone?" Johnas thought that over, "Well, i guess we'll conduct our business tomorrow."

He took the silver card from Kottan, "This really isn't necessary, i have a Kriegland government card to access our budget account."

When Kottan showed him a picture of her friend, Johnas looked him over. The man's demeanor gave him the creeps but he was too polite to say it. He had a crazed look in his eyes, Johnas observed.

"Kairan? So you know him quite well i'm guessing?"

[Nythera]

"Yep! I grew up with him. The only thing I worry about is another accident... He accidentally stabbed me in the back, but luckily, Ayo came up and called 911... But hey, accidents happen." She said with a smile. It was obvious she was in love. Ayo smirked from her place in the corner, and she turned away.

[Sgt Shidner]

"Haha." Johnas chuckled, "yes, accidents do happen. Just try not to get in too many."

He could tell from the way she talked about this Kairan person that she cared a lot about him. He wondered just what this guy was like in person.

[Nythera]

Kottan smiled, then she left. She took the long way to the park, getting rained on, but she thought, [i]It's worth it for Kai.[/i]

She saw Kairan and ran to him, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest.

-----

Ayo told Johnas, "Take care of yourself. And don't let Kottan sidetrack you. If you just tap your wrist, she snaps back to her task, because that lets her know there are some impatient feelings from you towards her." She pushed her brown hair out of her eyes and said, "You know, you worry me. Uh, I mean your ankle worries me! Don't put too much weight on it, and if it doesn't set straight, see a doctor."

-----

As Kottan hugged Kairan, Sephan's tightened on the trigger of his revolver.

[i]No,[/i] he thought. [i]I musn't- I can wait a few more minutes,[/i] he decided, glancing at his watch. The hands informed him it was 21:01- On a twenty-four hour clock as usual.

Twelve more minutes...