Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

49

Claire's POV

I gasped as I came to again with a start, the sudden movement sending pain racing down my side. It didn't help that like before, my senses were dialed to 11; what the hell was in that vial?

I was still in the car, buckled into the same seat I'd occupied before, but at least this time my hands weren't restrained. Hyper-stimulated to the point that even having the soft fabric of my dress against my skin was uncomfortable, I just couldn't tolerate the way the strap dug into me.

I immediately fumbled for the latch and unbuckled myself; that made it a little better, but not by much. Unfortunately, now that I was awake again, the tinnitus was back and my eyes weren't focusing. I rubbed at my eyes with the heel my hand, attempting to get them to work properly.

"We're here," a familiar male voice said.

My brain was struggling to function – it was almost like I was drunk – but I wasn't. I whipped my head around, searching for the source of the voice, blinking a couple times before finally focusing on the large shape in the front seat.

"Where's here?" I rasped, my throat aching horribly. I attempted to clear it, really disliking all these side effects.

"Brixton; where we picked you up at."

"Oh...sorry. Whatever they gave me is really messin' with my eyes."

"Fuck. I told 'em givin' you two doses that close together wasn't a good idea," he sighed, opening his door and getting out. By the time I thought to reach for a door handle I couldn't find, it was already open. "Think you can walk?"

"I'll try." I had to take his proffered hand to steady myself – all the while internally cringing at the scrape of his rough palm against my skin – but it was the lesser of two evils at the moment. "Damn, I sound horrible."

"So you do." He escorted me to the door and then handed me an umbrella and my purse. "Yer belongings, as promised."

"Thanks."

He nodded. "We'll be in touch."

"Noted," I sighed. "Bye Gabriel."

*        *            *

Tom's POV

"This is starting to feel a bit like a wild goose chase," I sighed as I pulled into a parking place in front of a town house and turned off the motor. "What would she be doing here?"

"I don't know," James sighed as he looked around the darkened street. "But that one there, with the green door...that one used to belong to her."

I shifted to look at him, curious at his sudden lack of intonation; wherever we were, this was the absolute last place he wanted to be. "You've been here before?"

"It's been a few years." James climbed out of the car and shut the door, no urgency to his actions.

I quickly got out and came to stand beside him on the sidewalk. "Why's that?"

"Because until just now, I assumed she'd sold it."

I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as I connected the dots; this had to have something to do with Jacob Kingsley. "This was their place, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "It was."

I looked at the house again, not seeing any lights on. "Doesn't look like anyone's here."

"No, 'course not," he chuckled like I'd told a good joke and clapped me on the back. "They're custom one-way bulletproof windows, Tom; all of her properties have them."