When Fire Meets Fire...

(Note: Continued from the thread 'A Private Affair'.)

Sage paced the room, she had been waiting for the man who had had her escorted from the ballroom to appear for over ten minutes. If he thought patience was a virtue, he was surely mistaken when it came to Sage. Her rage fuelled her pacing, her hands were clenched into balls at her sides. It would do no good for anyone to see her like this, fuelled by anger and frustration. It had been a while since she'd been this pissed off. But then again, it had been a while since she'd been to any social events whatsoever.

The man with the brooding glare, oh he would get what was coming to him! He knew who she was or had suspicions, she hoped it was the later so she could convince him she was someone other than Sage Valdez entirely. She began running through plausible options in her head. She could say she was the niece of Mr. Crawford, from Portugal. That may work? But she knew it sounded like a load of bull crap and would never utter the words outloud.

She took a deep breath and began parousing one of the many bookcases. She had been sitting on one of the couches when she'd first arrived in the room, but it had proven to be rather uncomfortable. She then heard the latch on the door behind her click and the door swung open slowly. She turned to face the figure, "Too whom do I owe this pleasure?" she asked sarcastically, narrowing her eyes and glaring at the man who'd ruined her night.

Nate walked leisurely through the corridor; many tasteful pictures, silk tapestries and ornaments lined the walls. It was always a pleasure for Nate to wander the corridors at night, it was his favourite place to let his mind think. Tonight was a little different to usual, he was heading towards the formal sitting room to ask a few pointed questions to a certain young woman who had let herself in uninvited.

Nate made a disgusted sound and made an angry turn around before continuing on. He was disgusted with himself more than with Sage Valdez. She had proven him to be incompetent in even the simplest protection service. Nate stopped mid track. No he wasn’t incompetent, the thought. He was very competent at setting up security systems, this was the first time they had failed. Nate realised that either one of the guards had been bribed or she had more talents than just flirting.

Moving more quickly through the corridors he encountered two pairs of legs in the open door of one of the studies. Immediately he drew his wand and cast a few protection spells as a safe guard. Sage Valdez did have more talents than she was openly admitting too. The guards that had escorted her from the ballroom were now left stunned in a study.

Nate mentally and physically prepared himself for a fight, Sage Valdez was not one to trifle with and he had been having such a great night so far he didn’t really want to spoil it by having to duel. Walking up to the large ornate wooden door he listened for a few minutes, hearing the shuffling of books and the sagging of the couch he understood that Sage was trying to make herself comfortable. Nate fumed then remembered that he’d left her waiting for ten minutes. Gathering some self control he opened the latch noisily so as to let her know he was coming in, walked in and closed the door.

“Miss Valdez,” he said politely, ignoring her question; instead he pulled off his mask to reveal his identity. “I believe we’ve already met, on numerous occasions,” he paused. “My question to you is this: why have you chosen to break in, crash and snoop at my mother’s party?” Nate made a point of letting her know that he understood what she was up to. He’d heard rumours of her line of work but he chose to ignore most of them, he just didn’t want her to get too comfortable with using him and his family for her purposes.

“I understand that your family is in bad repute and you need other means to support yourself but I would appreciate it if you chose to do that elsewhere,” Nate reached for the decanter and poured two drinks, handing the first to Sage he waited for her to take it.

As the mask slip from his face, Sage's expression darkened slightly. At least she knew the man standing before her, even if it had been years since they'd had contact. Her last memory of Nathaniel, or Nate as she used to call him, was playing quidditch in the grounds of the Valdez Summer Estate in France. This was nearly seven years ago now, she'd been fifteen and he must of be thirteen or around that age. She always forgot she was older than him, he'd always been big for his age.

She looked at the man before her and scrutinized him. Sure he bore some resemblence to the boy she'd know once, but now he stood tall and strong. As if ready to take on the world, or well her at this very moment. His presence screamed power and authority, which she knew were two things he valued. Being an Evens gave him some right to assert this authority, but in Sage's opinion she felt he definately needed to be brought down a notch or two off his high horse.

His politeness only made her laugh, Nate knew who she was yet he continued with formalizing the situation. He wasn't daft either, that she could be sure of. Of course rumors of her current job and lifestyle had probably reached his ears. It was what he had heard and from whom that she was interested in. How much did he know? And how much was he willing to share with her?

"Nate come off it," she said coldly, her eyes seething. "You know who I am, stop with the formalities, it tires me and I have no time for it," she said as she slid her own mask off her face and took the glass he offered her. It smelt like expensive wine so she downed it in one go. She didn't care what Nate thought of her, or any man for that matter. She controlled her own life and made her own calls on what she could and couldn't do.

It was clear though that Nate had underestimated her, she was sure his wand was close by so that if anything happened, he'd be prepared. She wasn't about to start a duel with someone she'd once been friends with, well if she could help it.

"The answers to your questions are ones which I'm sure you could guess, so there really isn't any point me telling you anything," she said pointendly. "But I will tell you this, this party is really divine, your mother has done a wonderful job with the decor I must say," She was playing with him, she wasn't about to tell him that she was gathering information for her latest contract. Nor would she tell him about the numerous bastards she had seen who had slept with her unbeknowest to their wives. Such pieces of information should remain hidden and then forgotten. Though she could definately start a stir with the bits of information she had on some of the men here.

At the mention of her family her eyes shot to his. No one mentioned her family situation, people knew of it but she hadn't heard it voiced to her face in a couple of months, especially with the words 'bad repute' used to describe them. Sage clenched her fists into balls, obviously Nate had no idea what he was talking about. He was probably part of the majority that assumed Jade had failed Railton and had been unable to please him. Of course Nate would take her father's side, if only he knew the half of it.

"When you mention my family I would appreciate if you could abstain from using words such as 'bad repute'," she said through clenched teeth. "You don't know what your talking about and the only reason your still standing here is because of the previous friendship we once shared," she said icily. She hoped he would drop both subjects and let her leave peacefully. This place really was bringing up too many forgotten memories for her.

“Nate come off it” she said, ”You know who I am, stop with the formalities, it tires me and I have no time for it,” Nate inclined his head and submitted to her request. A short pause.

“What the fuck are you doing here Valdez?” he said calmly.

"The answers to your questions are ones which I'm sure you could guess, so there really isn't any point me telling you anything," she said. "But I will tell you this, this party is really divine, your mother has done a wonderful job with the decor I must say," Nate stiffened at the mention of his mother, his jaw clenched and his muscle twitched. He turned his face away and ignored Sage’s tease, he knew her too well, she was baiting him.

“Sage,” he growled out in warning, using her name for the first time was odd and disconcerting considering the distance between them. He remembered a time when he had always called her Sage, her even remembered having a crush on her at one time.

"When you mention my family I would appreciate if you could abstain from using words such as 'bad repute'," she said. "You don't know what your talking about and the only reason your still standing here is because of the previous friendship we once shared." Nate looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“I’m just telling you the facts Sage. I don’t mean to cause you pain,” he teased gently. Unconsciously he had slipped back into his former role as her affectionate friend; it felt comfortable and was a welcome change from all the everyday social constraints.

“I believe that you’ve been having some family problems. Tell me about them,” he said as kindly as he could. Nate realised that she wasn’t going to divulge her secrets all at once but if he could gain a little understanding as to the situation he felt sure he could assist her. “You know ‘because of the previous friendship we once shared,’” he mimicked, giving her a roguish smile.

At the sound of her name her expression softened slightly, it had been eons since she had seen this man and once their friendship had been something only fairytales could descibe. But too much had changed; her family name was in 'bad repute' as Nate had put it, her actual family was in tatters, she was killing people for a living and felt men were nothing but things she could use at her disposal. She was not the same Sage Nate had met all those years ago; carefree and spontanious. No, she was a completely different woman whose only tie to him was their childhood. Couldn't he understand that?

How could he think that by being friendly towards her, everything was once the way it was? In his little word, everything was perfect. He had the perfect family, perfect house, perfect life. In her world, she had to deal with her mother's depression and numerous suicide attempts, her brother's anger-managment problems and the never ending stream of women he slept with and then her father's bastard child who thought she was family. What did Nate know of any of this? Nothing.

She didn't speak for a while, instead getting up and pouring herself another glass of that exquisite wine. She ran a hand over her face, how the hell had she ended up in this situation? With Nate nonetheless. "Nate...." she said softly, with a level gaze. "Don't pretend to be concerned with my life, I am not that carefree teenager you once knew. You don't know me at all...." she said trailing off, whilst taking a sip of her wine.

She looked at the books on the wall absentmindedly, why was she just standing here in this room with Nate? She knew he wasn't about to throw her out, but then again heading back to the ball wasn't that appealing either. But she needed to talk to a select few people. She didn't want to sit here and chit chat with him, even though he was rather attractive. At this thought Sage's eyes widened slightly, had she just thought Nathaniel Evens was attractive? But then again, the thought wasn't that repulsive, he did have a certain charm to him. ((OOC: This an understatement, Sage just won't admit that Nate is one of the sexiest men she's seen in a long time!))

She needed to work out a way to get around him and out of here without revealing her life story. Perhaps flirtation? No, he'd see right through that. Her mind had gone blank, the one time she needed some scheme. Dammit! she thought to herself. Perhaps telling him something would get him off her back, or perhaps she could fling the entire situation back upon him. It was worth a shot. "So, any pretty girls in the picture?" she shot back at him dryly. "Surely a desirable male such as yourself would have girls lined up around the corner for you? If you have grown in a shag and drop kind of man Nathaniel Evens I will never forgive you!" she said a smile forming onto her lips. What the hell was she doing? Was she actually allowing herself to enjoy his company...this was going to be a long night.

Nate watched as Sage poured herself a second glass, he smiled slightly at the thought that at least her taste in fine things hadn’t diminished. She was stressed he could tell, she was also hiding some, something big. Nate waited patiently until she finally spoke.

”Nate... Don’t pretend to be concerned with my life, I’m not that carefree teenager you once kknew. You don’t know me at all...” Nate smiled like he held some kind of secret,

“Then tell me,” he said calmly. He understood her reserve, they hadn’t spoken for years and her family secrets were clearly weighing her down with their enormity. His family secrets were large but clearly hers were of a painful nature. He watched as she took a sip of the wine and he pondered the boyhood feelings he’d had for her. Sage was undoubtably beautiful with long pale hair and an expressive face her mind was sharp and she carried with her a sure and powerful confidence. She was a woman who would speak her mind and would never be afraid to take what she wanted. Similar to himself in some respects, although her secrets had made her slightly bitter and despondent.

“What you need Sage Valdez is a friend to talk to,” Nate said simply as he placed his empty glass on the table. “Someone you can trust. I’d like to be that person again, if you’ll let me,” he wasn’t trying to pry into her secrets in face he was pretty sure she wouldn’t tell him anything too important tonight but he saw something in her that was just screaming to be helped, even if she wouldn’t admit it herself. Their friendship had been important to him, just as important as Seth’s was to him now. He wanted to help Sage, help her and her family.

He smiled at her sly deflection, ”So, any pretty girls in the picture? Surely a desirable male such as yourself would have girls lined up around the corner for you? If you have grown into a shag and drop kind of man Nathaniel Evens I will never forgive you!” Nate laughed out loud and allowed his questions to go unanswered, in time perhaps she would trust him.

“Yes as a mater a fact. One particular woman has caught my eye,” he smiled mysteriously remembering the feel of her soft skin under his lips and the smell of wildflowers. “Her name is Jaiden Edwards, she’s a bright witch with a wonderful family. I know of them though I don’t know them personally, she’s here tonight in fact,” he mused. “I have never seen her like she is tonight however, she’s very different. She’s changed, you know?” he asked. “Do you know her?” he asked absently as he replayed their near-kiss over in his mind.

“Any particular gentlemen in your life?” he smirked.

At the mention of friends and trust, Sage nearly dropped her glass of wine all over the Evens immaculate carpet. Though she was sure it could easily been cleaned up with magic, she wasn't in any rush to make a fool of herself. She regained her composure. Nate's words truly had surprised her, no that was too 'light' a word. She was in shock, which was turning into anger as the seconds past by. Hadn't he gotten her point when she'd smoothly deflected his questions? She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to do anything.

She was merely being 'nice' to past the time and to try and convince herself that maybe Nate wasn't so bad. Her mind screamed that she shouldn't trust him, that he was the same as all the other's, but her heart told her a completely different story. There was something in his gaze and the way he spoke that said he actually meant what he said. He had spoken to her with such sincerity that she wanted to believe everything.

She wanted to be able to tell him how her mother screamed out in her sleep and how she had to check on her three times a night to make sure she had overdosed on her anti-depressents. She wanted to cry about how much her brother scared her when he went into one of his rage fuelled fits, but it wasn't going to happen. She wanted to say never, but she wasn't quite so sure anymore. The more time she spent with Nate, the more he seemed to be the boy she remembered....selfless and caring. Two traits which were so far beyond her right now, she couldn't even begin to fathom it.

How was she meant to respond to his request to be 'that person again'? Whatever the hell he meant by that. She wasn't about to just lay her lifes story on the table and frankly talking like this made her uncomfortable. She chose a defensive approach. She got up abruptly and began pacing. "That person?" she questioned. "When the wizarding society shunned my family, where were you then oh friend?" she said sarcastically her voice rising. "When my mother went to court to battle my father for property ownership so we wouldn't be on the streets, where were you Nate?" she continued.

"Where the fuck were you Nate? You say you want to be friends and be there for me, but how long has it taken you to realize this? Is it seeing me? Bringing back memories? What?" she ranted. She was loosing it and she could tell, it had been too long since she'd been treated with any sort of friendliness. She just didn't know how to deal with it. "What's your motive?" she asked, narrowing her gaze. "What do you want from me?" she said unmoving. Her gaze fixed on his. She wasn't going to back down, she wasn't going to reveal her weaknesses to him so he could use them against her. No way in hell, she'd rather die.

At the mention of a woman he was interested in, she scrutinized him even more closely. Of course he'd have someone, probably a little perfect princess with porcelain skin and hair of that like a primadonna. "Well I hope that works out for you," she said seething. Jealousy rocked through her, how could she not find someone like this Jaiden obviously was for Nate. Perhaps it was her inability to commit, or the fact she treated men like possesions. It was probably both. At the his question about having a 'gentleman', she laughed loudly. "You really think I'd have someone?" she asked him. "Get it through your head mate, I'm not girlfriend material." Oh Merlin, she'd lost her cool and now was discussing her issues with the male species with Nate Evens of all people. She needed air, everything seemed to be closing in.

She made her way for the window and opened it, letting in a refreshing breeze. She breathed deeply, she didn't want to face Nate. She didn't want to see his face, all she wanted was to be left alone.

Nate listened patiently to Sage questioning his loyalty, his commitment to their friendship. He sighed and raked his long fingers through his hair, mussing it up. He took off his jacked, loosened his tie and flicked open the first few buttons. He sighed again.

“Would you believe me if I just said I was following orders?” he smirked, knowing her response. “To be honest I wrote you, for a whole year after your family was socially exiled I wrote you letters,” Nate sighed, it sounded like he’d had a school-boy crush on her. “I wrote you and you never wrote back... I just assumed that you didn’t want to talk to me,” he finished simply.

While he watched her calmly spin out of control he realised that she needed a friend more than even, despite all her attempts at pushing him away. He wasn’t the type to give in easily.

“Just stop Sage,” he shook his head in disbelief, “you need to calm down and get a hold of yourself. You need to assess the situation and find out the best solutions to your problems. If it helps list them out and all the possible solutions for them,” he paused, “and don’t give me any bull-crap about there not being any solutions. There are always solutions,” he replied.

At the mention of gentlemen Sage seemed to take on a new level of defence. "You really think I'd have someone?" she asked. "Get it through your head mate, I'm not girlfriend material."

“You look fine to me,” Nate said, “a little rough around the edges perhaps,” he teased, “nothing that can’t be straightened out though,” he laughed gently. She was a remarkable creature, like a caged animal fighting for the last seconds of its life.

“You just need to calm down, reassess your problems and their solutions,” he smiled encouragingly, “and get some friends you can trust,” he rose from his chair this time and poured himself a second drink.

She was no longer in control and it scared her. It had been a long time since she'd let herself rant and rave like this, too almost a perfect stranger. She didn't say anything for a while, just letting his words wash through her so she could make some sense of the sitation. Her first thoughts centred around the letters he'd apparently written her for a year! She knew Nate wouldn't lie to her, that much she could be certain of. But how had she not seen even on of these letters? Where had they gone?

Her thoughts drifted to her mother and she instantly shook her head. Her mother would've been in the height of her depression then and wouldn't have even thought about keeping things from her. Finn. She didn't like to believe it, but he was the only other plausible option. No-one else had lived with her then, except the servants but they wouldn't have kept letters from her. White-hot rage coursed through her. How could Finn have done this? His intentions had probably been good, but right now she didn't give a flying fuck. All she had wanted during the time when they had first been exiled out of society, was to know that at least one of her friends cared. Nate had, she just hadn't known.

She turned and looked at Nate, who had removed his jacket and loosened his tie, he now looked too appealing for his own good. "You wrote me letters," she stated in a level voice. "For a whole year?" Both of these comments she knew were true, she was just stating them out loud to make herself believe them. Discovering this made Sage feel all warm inside, someone had cared about her. She felt like crying, like telling Nate everything, but she reframed from doing so. She was still cautious. One night of friendship couldn't make up for years of not seeing each other.

She listened to his reasoning and all of it sounded plausible. It was just putting what he said in practice that was going to be the hard part. She went and sat down next to him on the uncomfortable couch. She kicked off her heels and tucked her feel beneath her, she wasn't going anywhere fast. She studied the man before her. He was good looking, obviously had a lot going for him and was in a different social circle to her. Why should he care about her? He shouldn't but he did and for this Sage was greatful.

She let a a sigh, her defenses came down to a minimum. "Your right," she stated simply, "I need to sort things out. I'm just so use to running from everything that I don't know how to face things anymore." As soon as she'd uttered the words, she gasped. She'd never said that to anyone. He hoped he understood how brutally honest she was being with him. No games, no fascade, just her. "Friends I can trust," she said repeating his words. "Your smarter than I've ever given you credit for Nathaniel Evens," she laughed and began to pull the pins out of her hair.

She let her long tressles fall down her back, it felt so much better than being attached to her scalp. She leaned over and took the glass out of Nate's hand slowly. "I need this more than you do," she said smirking. She downed it in one go. "Yep, haven't lost it!" She'd always been a social drinker, but it was only in the last few years she'd taken to using alcohol to try and solve her problems. She hoped Nate never ever found out that particular detail. He'd literally kill her.

Maybe tonight she should let go? Just spend time with an old friend? The thought was appleaing but something was holding her back. Perhaps she could fix that by drinking more alcohol. It was worth a shot. At this thought, she got up and poured two more glasses of wine, "What is new in life of Nathaniel Evens? How is that brother of yours?" she asked him, handing him a glass, before curling up on the couch again.

Nate watched the play of emotions flitter across Sage’s face. He was happy that she’d come tonight even though she’d broken in. It was a surprise that he fell into being her friend almost immediately. Little reserve was left in his behaviour, he was already making himself comfortable and feeling comfortable with her making herself comfortable.

Nate sighed as he listened to her confusion. “Yes, I wrote you letters for a whole year. Do you have to keep repeating it?” he laughed shakily. He wasn’t used to being scrutinised like this. “I don’t know where they went but I posted them faithfully,” he didn’t look at her, instead he kept his gaze on the small fire burning the the large fireplace.

Nate looked up when Sage began reveal parts of herself; he concealed his pleasure and listened attentively. “Your smarter than I’ve ever given you credit for Nathaniel Evens,” she laughed, Nate laughed with her, reveling in the shared friendship that was being born. It was a feeling all of its own.

Watching Sage release her abundant tresses was something that Nate found quite enjoyable. He was not opposed to admiring beauty and he had encountered enough to realise that Sage’s was very rare. Just like another blonde he had been talking to this evening. Nate’s thoughts turned towards Jaiden and he smiled secretively. Absently he realised that Sage had taken his glass and he internally questioned the necessity of her having yet another drink. Regardless of his concern for Sage his thoughts were still tangled with thoughts of Jaiden and what she would be doing right now. Checking the clock while Sage refilled the glasses he noted that he’d been away thirty minutes. Nate scowled and stood up receiving that glass offered him and downing it in one go.

“I’m sorry Sage but I have something I have to attend too,” he said hurriedly, ignoring her last question. “I’d like it if you stuck around,” he smirked. “We can catch up later on tonight, your most welcome to stay the night. A house elf will help you find the guest apartments; I’m sure you still remember where they are,” he said.

“I have a blonde temptress to dance with,” he grinned, elated for the first time in many months.