Begin Again

Solving

"I just don't get how you got this car. I love it-," Blake turned around as Duke barked at her, leaping in the air into her arms. "DUKE! Oh boy! I missed you! How did you find me?"

She raised her chin, seeing Firebrand standing there in front of her with Halim behind him. Standing on her feet, Blake pointed to the Englishman, wanting to reassure that he was actually standing in front of her.

"You- What are you doing here? I thought I left you so you could run," Blake exclaimed, hands on her hips.

"Uh, I thought you'd be delighted to see me. I came to try to save you."

"You? Does it look like I need saving?! You were the one in trouble, what are you doing chasing me?"

"You got framed because of me! The most logical thing to do was to get you," Rowan raised his voice, infuriated with the fact that she didn't understand the concept of saving her. "What did you want me to do?"

"Uh, run," Blake pointed. "That is the most logical thing to do Mr.Spock!"

"Did you just refer me to-."

"Yes. Yes, I did. You've got a problem with it?"

"Okay," Halim stepped between them. "You two know each other?"

"The idiot instead of running, ran right into the danger," Blake walked away from the stress his presence was causing her. Rowan's jaw dropped as he glared at her.

"Right," Rowan called out. "Says the woman who saw the danger and came for it. I'd say you're an idiot yourself."

Blake stopped dead in her tracks. Never in her life has anyone ever talked back to her, probably because no one had the guts to. She was a fast talker, and a smack talker making her somewhat intimidating within the teenagers and young adults in Hudson. The only ones who would always get her back was Nolan and Ian, only those two. Now for this stranger to talk back at her and even insult her, that was a completely different level.

"Touché," Blake's best comeback was that simple, cliche word. "Blake Barnes."

Rowan grabbed her extended hand, shaking it saying, "Rowan Brantley."

"Now that we are all formally introduced, we may settle down," Halim asked.

"So, you're a journalist huh," Blake asked as they sat around the fire. "Who do you write for?"

"England Courier. I'm a freelance."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"Quick rookie. I haven't heard that before."

"I just love to write."

"I don't think so, or else you wouldn't be here. You like the danger, so what were you doing at the docks that night?"

"Classified," Rowan stared at the fire. He was hard set determined to keep her out of any danger but she kept nagging at him.

"Look, firebrand," Blake found his new nickname. "I happen to be more involved than you think I am."

Blake pulled out a ripped sheet of paper, showing it to the journalist. Rowan quickly grabbed the paper, pulling his own sheet of paper out from his sock. He rolled it out, pushing them together. It was the perfect fit.

"Briefcase," Rowan looked over at her. She nodded. "Did you happen to see the person who left it?"

"No," she shook her head. "One man was trailing me after I picked the briefcase up. Seeing the car he was driving, I tampered with it for it to at least follow me to my house."

"Excuse me, you invited the man over," he sat in shock. Who was this girl?

"Not a formal invitation but I knew he'd follow so why not get him where I knew best," Blake pondered on her own comment. "So anyways, he did sneak in where I confronted him. Told me that Atkinson, William Atkinson, he's a-."

"CEO of the Atkinson Car Part CO, go on." Blake raised her eyebrows in slight surprise that he knew exactly who the man was. Shrugging, Blake continued.

"Well, Atkinson is somehow part of it. Jaime Douglas was one of his henchmen who wanted that paper. I don't know how to solve cryptograms," Blake admitted. Rowan grabbed the two sheets of paper, writing on the dirt below him. "Another man, Albert Reynolds somehow tried giving Jaime a warning about an englishman, brown haired, green eyes, dangerous it stated."

Blake could only see his eyes move over to get a better look at the young woman. What was she insinuating? Had she already pinned him down as a threat or something else?

"I guess being a journalist makes you dangerous doesn't it," Blake tucked her legs in under her.

"And a mechanic who leads men into their doom, isn't?"

"You are full of witty comebacks Mr. Brantley."

"You do too," Rowan ignored her eye gaze, trying to solve the cryptogram in front of him. Seeing how she would not stop watching him, he annoyingly sat back up, turning his complete attention to her. "What do you want?"

"I just want to know who you truly are. If you are that genuine journalist you claim to be."

"Then why would you give me this," Rowan raised the paper, seeing how her eyes soften. "You do trust me. Your turn to tell me why."

Duke barked playfully in the distance as he was playing with several children. The game of catch was an exciting one for him.

"I don't even know," she shrugged.

"Yes you do."

"Fine. My brother- he always wanted to believe the good in people. I guess it rubbed off sometimes, not always. When I saw you, I don't know I just got this funny feeling."

"Of what?"

"That you are honest. You really did mark off my hunch when I saw you standing there. Sorry about that," she laughed nervously. Rowan genuinely smiled at her half hidden smile, nodding to himself. "I just really thought you'd make a run for it but I guess all idiots run the wrong way."

"Well, on the bright side, I am not being an idiot alone."

"Oh, thank you," Blake exclaimed sarcastically. "I feel a whole lot better now."

Rowan laughed for the first time in meeting her, and he had to say he felt that same funny feeling towards her. She pulled back a strand of rebellious red hair, pointing down to the notes.

"How do you solve these things? I've never been able to crack these things even the ones in the morning papers." Rowan began explaining to her the solving methods. Basically, its all a guessing game. One letter may be another letter or another letter. Easiest to start with the small words.

"You see this 2-6," Rowan pointed. "It's a date. Go back and see the R?"

A B C R U E M K E I C X I Y M C H A G F S M B W Y F W Z A C K Z U O 26 R S I Y A I B U K I B F

"Yeah."

"That is an H," Rowan pointed as he showed her his solved sheet. "That explains a whole lot now."

"Why?"

"Because we have the whole message, I only had half. We can start piecing it together, so here we go."