Chapter Text
Outside the sun was fading behind the cityscape. Inside the airport, the fluorescent lights were giving Ava a headache. Her foot tapped against her dusty satchel bag. The flight was boarding. She wanted to get home. Christmas was approaching too quickly. Not that she cared about the holidays, but it meant more work for her at the CDC. A lot of people took time off. She wasn’t one of them. With her new information on the recent outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, she didn’t want to be bogged down with other duties. She had her own work to do.
The woman who checked Ava’s ticket had a bright, warm smile. Ava hoped the smile she gave back didn’t reveal her frustration.
Finding her seat was easy on the small plane. She always picked a window. Sitting back, she let out a small sigh. This was only the first part of her trip. It was going across the Atlantic to Atlanta that was the hardest part. That part of the trip was long.
“Excuse me.” An unusually accented voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
Ava turned her head from the window. “Y-yes?”
Her mother had told her not to stare. The man’s unexpected features had caught her off guard. One eye was brown, the other damaged. The scar slicing vertically down his brow to the bottom lid was made more apparent by the way his head was cocked. An easy smile slid across his mouth.
“This is my seat,” he said.
With an elegant finger he pointed to the seat next to her. In his other hand he had a briefcase. A black suit jacket was draped over his arm. Ava had forgotten she set her bag down in the seat and not on the floor. Sucking in a deep breath, she grabbed it.
“Sorry...” She shoved it under the seat in front of her. Hell would be the least of her worries if the satchel had been stolen.
The man sank into the now vacant spot next to her. The scent of spicy cologne and soap hit her nose. His nearly all black attire was pressed. Polished shoes held only a hint of dirt. Ava had spent so much time these last few months working outside and in field tents. She’d almost forgotten what clean felt like. He looked the way she wanted to feel. Unconsciously, she sank further away from him. Her cargo pants had mud stains on them. Her old band t-shirt was fraying at the hems. The boots she was wearing, although brown, were clearly discolored from the climate.
She didn’t want to let him know she was looking at him. Even with his strange wound, he was handsome.
Staring is bad, she reminded herself.
Ava looked back out of the window. It was dark outside now. She could see the man in the reflection. He shifted in his seat, angled more towards her. He crossed his legs. His attention was on her.
“Does it bother you?”
Her eyes darted over to his face. He motioned to his damaged eye.
There was no way she could cover the lie. She said it anyway. “No?”
A laugh rumbled from him. It was low, but amused. As if he’d gone through this exact same thing hundreds of times before. As if it was some kind of inside joke with himself. Despite her obvious lie, he let the inquiry drop. Ava was glad. She had no idea how she’d get herself out of not asking the most awkward questions.
The plane rumbled to life. When she looked up from her seat she saw it was mostly deserted. The man beside her could move anywhere and have more space. He was tall. His legs were going to get cramped. Ava wanted to ask him to move. She also didn’t want to be rude.
“Business or pleasure?” he asked. His face was more neutral this time. His phone was out and he was reading something on it.
“Um,” she started, then rolled her eyes. “Why does everyone ask that? Ultimately, it’s always both.”
He made a noncommittal noise as his thumb pressed something on the screen. The plane was taxiing down the runway. Ava glanced at his phone. The man tilted it away. The stewardess was speaking in multiple languages. She was explaining flight safety like it was the most exciting thing in the world. Ava wished she had whatever coffee that woman must have been drinking.
“I wasn’t aware you could use phones until higher up in the air.” Ava sat back in her seat. She wasn’t listening to the flight instructions. She’d heard them a thousand times. “So, what about you? Is this trip for business or pleasure?”
“Business.” He slipped his phone into the pocket of his slacks. “Although, I can always make time for pleasure.”
Ava wasn’t sure of what he meant. He was looking out of the window when he spoke.
“You look the type to enjoy a game of chance.” His mismatched stare was on her again. A smirk was pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Would you indulge me in a few rounds?”
She raised an eyebrow. “What game are you wanting to play?”
There was something about the man’s look that turned calculating very quickly. The grin hadn’t changed, but his eyes were completely focused on her.
“Twenty questions. Or - “ he paused. “A version of it.”
“What makes your version different?” she asked, eyes narrowing.
“For every question I ask you, you can ask me the same question right after. However, neither of us has to answer a question if disinclined.”
Ava chewed at a dry spot on her bottom lip. The game could end badly. She also didn’t have to answer anything. It could also be fun. A way to pass the time with an interesting person.
She nodded. “Alright.”
The smile crawled across his whole face. It disappeared quickly.
“You may ask the first question,” he said, tilting his head towards her.
“What’s your name?”
“Le Chiffre.”
“Seriously?” The word blurted out of her mouth before she could stop it. His face went rigid. She was trying to think if she should be laughing. It had to be some kind of joke. “The Cypher? Or do you prefer, The Number?”
The harsh lines of his expression dulled somewhat. He held up a hand. “One question in and you have already lost.” The chuckle he gave sent a chill down her spine.
Even with his laugh, she realized he wasn’t joking.
“You didn’t define any win-lose criteria,” Ava remarked. “It didn’t even sound like the original game.”
“You didn’t ask for further details.” The man gave a half-hearted shrug. “Now that the rules have been expounded upon, we shall continue. I’ll pick up where we left off. What is your name?”
She frowned. This was quickly going south. She looked over the seat again, throwing out her answer with little thought. “Jane.”
The few people she could see were turned away.
“You’ve lost again. I would have expected more from a woman of your intellectual level.”
“What?” Her attention snapped back to him. “What’re you talking about?”
“Your name is Dr. Ava Christensen.” The way the information fell from his lips made her stomach churn. He spoke as if he had little care for the awkward situation he was forcing her into.
She sank into her seat. She couldn’t look at him. His name, despite being strange, was unfamiliar. How did he know so much about her? The phone in his pocket beeped. Ava watched his hands as he slid it out. He checked a message. Sent a reply. Immediately, there was a response. He read it and slid the phone back into his pocket.
“Shall we continue our game? What is your profession?” He waited for a reply.
Ava kept her mouth shut. She kept her eyes cast down.
“Ah. I know this one as well. You’re a virologist. You study viral hemorrhagic fevers. Specifically ones like Ebola.” Le Chiffre gave another pause, indicating for her to respond. When she didn’t, he spoke again. His voice was closer now. “I believe the turn is yours.”
When she looked up she realized he was leaning into her space. She watched as his eyes trailed across her face. He grinned again. Devious. Sharp canines poked out from his upper lip.
“Shall I answer it for you? I’m an Investment Banker.”
Her laugh was flat. “Who in the world do you invest for that you’d know anything about what I do?”
He looked at his watch. It was some shiny thing with an electronic face. She guessed it easily cost more than she could make in five years.
Such a waste of money, her mind fumed. Ava could find a million things better to do with the money he had spent on the watch.
“We have three thousand, three hundred, and sixty-seven miles left in our journey. Shall I answer this particular inquiry, or do you have another you’d rather hear first? You seem to be full of questions this evening.”