Chapter Thirty-Four

Fold

To drop out of the game or abandon a hand.

*

Castle Gloria
Late January 2003

It was an email from Bonham that alerted the new Lt. Colonel that Dorian had returned to England, having successfully finished his rehab. Despite the fact that the Earl had been given a clean bill of health, Klaus wanted to make sure the doctors hadn't screwed things up again. Especially since Dr. Schreckengost had been involved. He flew to England, arriving at the North Downs unannounced.

This was the first time he had been to the Castle since the events in Bali, and the Eroica gang greeted him as they had when they thought him to be the Earl, much to Klaus's amazement. When he was shown to the Earl, he found the man standing in front of a large mirror modeling what could only be a part of the gems stolen from The Hague in December.

"Klaus!" Dorian cried in delight when he saw the man's reflection in the mirror. The look of thunder on the officer's face brought a frown to his own features and he turned. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Klaus exploded. "You're supposed to be rehabilitated. And retired!" He stormed across the room, snatched up a fistful of the jewels and shook them. "So what the hell is this?"

Dorian found himself automatically clicking into defensive mode. "What do you think it is?"

"Stolen property!"

"I'm a thief, that's what I--"

"No!" Klaus thundered. "You were a thief! A thief programmed by the bloody CIA!" He shook the fistful of jewels again. "Is this your idea of rehabilitation?"

Dorian tossed his hair over a shoulder. "My men must have something to keep them occupied," he said breezily, not even realizing he had dropped back into his Eroica persona with conspicuous ease.

"Nothing's changed. You're bloody Eroica again!" Klaus threw the jewels on the floor and stormed to the center of the room. "I've spent the better part of my life running away from you. Running away from...who I am." He ran his fingers through his hair. "When I finally faced it, I had the rug pulled out from under me."

"Klaus, you can't keep blaming me for--!"

Klaus spun around. "How much of it was real?"

"How the hell should I know?" Dorian fired back. "Who am I? The over-the-top gay art thief, the shallow, self-centered Earl of Gloria, or the not-so-straight CIA agent? The records say that the Earl--that I--was the victim of statutory rape at thirteen. Traded my virginity for a painting. A romantic story. But I couldn't tell you if it's a real memory or a false one at this point."

Klaus's anger seemed to deflate all at once. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Dorian blinked, seeing a pained look flash behind the dark green eyes looking at him. "Yes, I believe you are. They fucked up both our lives good and proper, didn't they?"

"Yes," Klaus agreed. "That's why...I'm retiring."

"Retiring? You?"

Klaus nodded. Dorian stared opened-mouthed at him. "This isn't another trick," the officer assured. "It's the real thing this time. I've had enough of...all of it."

* * *

Bonn, Germany
The Retirement Party of Iron Klaus
April 2003

Mechanical problems on his jet caused Dorian to arrive at the hotel ballroom more than was even considered fashionably late. He had missed the dinner and speeches. The jokes and good-byes. What he found was a room packed with NATO top brass and officials from several other intelligence organizations with whom Klaus had worked over his long career. Dorian recognized General Ralston, who nodded when their eyes met. The entire Alphabet was there, with their spouses, if they had any. A band was playing, and several people were out on the dance floor.

Dorian searched the room for the guest of honor. He noticed Charles Lawrence of the SIS attempting to impress an obviously disinterested female with his James Bond act. Klaus's Chief was there with his shrew of a wife, who had been harassing him the whole evening about his own retirement. That it was long overdue. One did not have to be in intelligence to realize that the reason the man had not retired was because it meant having to spend all his time with the shrew.

After scanning the room several times, Dorian found himself wondering if Klaus had snuck out of his own party. He wouldn't put it past the man. Finally, after a few more minutes searching, and a few enquiries, someone pointed out Klaus. He was in full dress uniform and looked more impressive than ever. He was also in conversation with a very familiar face, whom Dorian was surprised to see present at all. Mischa the Bear Cub, formerly of the KGB.

"Now I never would've expected to see you at Iron Klaus's retirement party," Dorian observed as he came up to the pair of old enemies.

Klaus turned, a surprised look on his face. Obviously, he had not expected the Earl to be there. Or perhaps he had given up hope of his arrival this late in the evening. "We were sharing a toast," he explained.

Dorian's eyebrows went up. He looked from one to the other. "You can't be drinking to each other's health, surely?"

Mischa shook his head. "I was telling the--" He smirked. "--Lt. Colonel that my dear comrade Polar Bear died this past November. We were having a drink to his memory."

Dorian gave way to an involuntary shudder upon hearing this.

Klaus gave him a steady look. "Lord Gloria?"

Dorian met the officer's steady gaze. "Someone just walked over my grave," he replied quietly, seeing Klaus give a nod of understanding. November was also the month in which John Marshall died. Bloody ironic. Dorian shook off these dark thoughts and snatched up a glass from a passing waiter, holding it up. "May I join you?"

"Of course," Klaus said, holding up his own glass. "To Polar Bear, the cunning bastard, may he rest in peace."

Mischa gave a laugh and then downed his drink in a gulp. The others were not quite so forthright, taking a sip from their glasses. "It was always my hope to kill you with my bare hands, Major," Mischa said, holding out a paw of a hand.

"And mine was always to put a bullet through your Commie heart," Klaus replied, shaking the man's hand. "Now, we can only dream."

Again, Mischa laughed. Then he vanished into the crowd.

Klaus turned to Dorian, who was still sipping his champagne. "Dorian, what are you doing here?" he asked quietly.

"Your Chief asked me. Personally," Dorian explained. "I'm not exactly sure why. You're not upset, are you?"

"At you, no." Klaus looked across the room, seeing the Chief ignoring his wife completely, his attention totally fixed on them. "Bastard," the officer snorted. "He wants to watch us together."

Dorian's eyes widened. "Good God, he's not threatening to out you, is he?"

This question actually took Klaus off guard. "No. There's nothing to threaten me with at this point. And if the brass so much as thinks of trying anything on anyone involved in that operation, all the skeletons will come crashing out of the closet."

"Really?"

"Yes. The DVDs of the video tapes, and data bases with all the documentation..." Klaus threw a glance across the room to where a group of NATO top brass were in conversation, no doubt discussing the recent fall of Baghdad. "I have the originals in a bank in Switzerland, and back up copies in several locations along with distribution instructions."

"Thorough as ever."

"It's my insurance against disaster."

"I hope you don't think of me as a disaster any longer," Dorian said in a slightly injured tone. "I did enough damage and have no intention of doing any more at the bidding of the CIA, NATO, or even the Boy Scouts!"

This caused a bittersweet smile to play at the edges of Klaus's mouth. "That's just it," he said quietly. "The damage is done. That was only too clear when I was at the Downs in January. I fell in love with a man who doesn't exist." He looked the Earl in the eye. "I'm not spending the rest of my life chasing a phantom reality."

Dorian felt his heart turn over when he heard this. They had worked out being friends, very briefly been lovers, and now it was over. "So...this is good-bye, then?"

Klaus drew himself to his full height. "Yes."

Dorian threw a quick glance across the room. "With all this brass here, I'm guessing we should shake hands instead of kiss, right?"

"Yes." Because if I kiss you, I'll change my mind, and I can't live through the end of the world again. Klaus held out a hand. "Good-bye, Lord Gloria."

* * *