The rain that moments before was a drenching emptying of the clouds had turned to a fine drizzle and nearly stopped. Now, a hollow plunking as water dripped off of the fire escapes onto the steel garbage cans lined up along the brick walls was the only evidence of the sky's tantrum. Jynx grabbed a handful of the black hair cascading over her shoulder and pulled, stripping it off and tossing it in one of the cans as she hurried down the alley. She took off her coat, turning it to its reverse side, from the beige poplin to the very convincing faux mink . All blondes should wear mink, she thought with a smile. She was sure she had given her pursuers the slip but as she turned the corner she gasped in surprise.

It was him.

She stared wordlessly at the trench-coated apparition before her. Code name Adrik. Russian, meaning "dark". It fit him perfectly; thick black hair, his dark eyes framed with black lashes, his visage all jagged angles arranged so as to make him hazardously handsome. He was also one of the most adroit and deadly agents she had ever challenged. How many times had she anticipated his presence, and yet feared it? How many times had she faced him in their battle of wits and imagined him, yet scorning her imagination? How could he now appear before her, like this, after all her careful planning? She had followed all the tips, she had studied all the manuals. She had eluded his tracking before. Yet appear he did, and in a dream, he spoke her name.

"Jynx."

Something like fear and joy mixed in a tremulous sensation that coursed through her body. She wondered suddenly as it gripped her chest, if she had simply forgotten to breathe, the sight of him so immobilized her. The sudden sensation caused a spasmodic sucking in of breath like an inverted sigh and then released itself in a softly resonated "ohhh".

"You led me a merry chase, but I found you. Just like that time you tried to vanish in Istanbul, only this time I am not looking for stolen secrets Jynx." He spoke slowly, his voice rich and deep.

Why are you here? What do you want? Are you trying to destroy me? Questions hurled themselves through her mind but she never spoke them.

"This time, I am after your secrets," he said as if in answer to her thoughts.

She was motionless and without protest as he lowered his mouth to hers. She knew all his moves, she both admired and feared his cunning. Yet it was a strangely tentative kiss. He retreated suddenly, his face wearing a look of confusion at her unresponsiveness.

"Should I not have done that?", he asked. He reached a hand out to finger a lock of blonde hair, his speech never wavering from a natural calm, glib tone. " Will you now tell me I have misread all your signals Jynx? You are good at subterfuge but not that good".

"No, you shouldn't have done that", she answered. Her face was composed, her eyelids lowered. Her mind was a flurry of activity, thousands of neurotransmiters firing in tandem, ping! ping! ping! But nothing in her face betrayed the pinball reactions going off through her emotions.

Then impulsively, she closed the distance between them and putting a hand on the back of his neck drew him into a kiss, long and probing. Her fingers burrowed deep into his hair as she pitifully poured out her passion and hungrily drew life from him. For this was her whole life, right now, this moment. She determined to be lost in this moment. His hands found their way under her open coat and she crumbled into him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her against him. She allowed herself to drown in a flood of desires so long held dammed. Yet a moment later, she released herself from the embrace and drew back.

"And I shouldn't have done that". She managed a cool smile that masked the fire burning within her. Jynx wondered if he would notice her trembling. She looked away lest he see the truth in her eyes and wrapped her coat around her, fastening the belt. "But now Adrik, we're even".

That is what she had always had to do, match him move for move. If she hadn't, any one of those moves might have given him the advantage. In their many matches she had raced to stay ahead of him. She played the game well no matter what it cost her. She realized now that she loved him; loved him too much to allow herself to hate him, even though he was her greatest adversary. Even though he had drawn her into the game and it now overshadowed her life. Day and night, he haunted her. She refused to allow herself to hate him, even though all hope was shattered the moment she had understood what she had now become. He was written into the pages of her memory and she couldn't erase him. It was not even unexpected that he asked no questions, that he showed no surprise at her words. Until this moment, there were boundaries, and yet, his one misstep beyond them he knew would be forgiven. It was a game they both played well.

"You shouldn't be here, Adrik" she said, relishing the sound of his name and the new feeling of it in her mouth. He knew that she was right, understood why she said it. He didn't belong here. He was forever breaking the rules of the game. "I have to leave now", she said.

She turned from him and ran to her waiting car. Her feet seemed to glide over the ground without touching it. The door opened for her before she reached it, and she slid into the driver's seat. This is where she belonged, in control. He had no right to insinuate himself into her thoughts. She knew she couldn't win, but she was determined not to lose herself to him.

The car engine roared to life but was strange-sounding, an incessant buzzing static. The radio came on by itself, blaring at the highest volume. Confused and disoriented she struggled to think. She was playing the game. No, she was sleeping. She shook off the urge to hit "snooze" and indulge her dreams a few minutes longer. She had to go to work, in a real world.

She pushed herself off the bed and stumbled groggily to the kitchen to make coffee. Tonight, she thought, he will be online. She would see "Adrik" light up on her list and he would find "Jynx". Then they would meet again for a rematch in the only arena in which they would play the game.