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More Than Eyes Alone Can See	By : Psnoo17 Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time In Mexico Views: 1450 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time in Mexico, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-More Than Eyes Alone Can See
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-14
- 14-15
- 15-16
- 16-17
- 17-18
- 18-19
- 19-20
- 20-Index of Quotes
- 14
- 15
- 16
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to clean, although she�ll
also do it when she�s uneasy. For the
most part, she�s gentle, soft-spoken, patient, caring, minds her own business,
and is confident. There was only one
thing wrong with that assessment, and that was him. Even her friend had noticed that she acted
differently around him. Around everyone
else, she displayed the cool and collected Tess, but somehow he managed to
unnerve her. Not that he minded � it was
good for his ego.
You
don�t have nearly enough information to be doing anything, Sheldon. That conversation tonight was a good starting
point, but you need to learn more. You
may be in the States, but the danger isn�t past.
Tomorrow then. Tomorrow I�ll corner her and get some more
answers from her. With that, Sands
finished his cigarette and went to bed, taking his glasses off for the first
time in days and making sure to lie on his back.

Young Sheldon Jeffery
Sands never missed an opportunity to watch one of the summer meteor
showers. They were relatively clear
outside Baltimore. The
city�s ambient light didn�t extend this far, granting clearer
views of the skies, which was just what the boy wanted.
He was lying in his tree house, the one that
his father had hired people to build at the summerhouse. If it weren�t for the meteor shower that
night, Jeffery (anything was better than �Sheldon�) wouldn�t even be out
here. When he�d asked his father for a
tree house years ago, he�d been so excited when his dad had said yes. Other boys his age built houses with their
fathers. His had hired contractors. It was a nice house, to be sure, but it
represented another crushed dream.
But it had an excellent view of the sky.
Jeffery wondered what it would be like to be
hit by a meteor. Not that he was trying
to get killed by space debris, but it was an
interesting question nonetheless. Would
death be immediate? Or would you linger
on as part of you burned? His mother
would scold him for such grisly thoughts, but they were normal for a boy of
thirteen.
Sands, somewhere in the part of his head
that wasn�t taken up with the dream, remembered that night. He remembered how he�d fallen asleep watching
the meteor shower and how he�d woken up the next morning healthy and
whole. Which was what
made the next part of his dream such a shock.
As he watched the sky, one of the fiery pinpoints
grew brighter and brighter until the light hit him with a physical sensation,
like being punched in the gut. The pain
spread through his body, settling in legs, and arm, and head. His head. His eyes. His eyes were on fire, worse than the time
he�d accidentally gotten into one of the maid�s container of pepper spray. He reached up to rub them,
anything to ease the burn, but all his hands encountered was blood pouring down
his face. In shock, he screamed and
flailed in his bed. Which
was in a tree. Fifty feet above
the ground. He fell, and when he hit the
ground, even his mind turned black and there was nothing but silence and the
knowledge that he was alone and broken.

The phone rang the next morning. At least Tess hoped it was morning, once she
realized that there was a phone ringing somewhere. The light filtering through her eyelids was
not the light of morning however, and so she sighed.
-Ring- I really don�t want to get up. I�m exhausted.
-Ring- That�s because your �friend� drugged you last
night.
-Ring- He did? That�s funny, I
don�t quite remember that happening.
-Ring- You wouldn�t.
-Ring- That�s getting really annoying.
-Ring- You could try doing something about it instead
of complaining. After all, it�s not like you�d be willing to let me answer it.
-Ring- If I wait long enough, they�ll hang
up. Or an answering machine will pick
up. -Ri � See? I told you. Tess simply laid in
her bed still, too unmotivated to move.
This was the real reason she didn�t like taking sleeping aids, not even
Tylenol PM. Yes, she got a night of
uninterrupted sleep, but she was lethargic for hours after she finally woke
up. The door to her room opened, and
Tessa�s voice urged her to find out who it was, but she couldn�t work up the
interest. Whoever it was would say what
they wanted, or they�d go away. Tess
sincerely hoped they�d choose the latter option. If she was lucky, she could get in a few more
hours of sleep.
�Hey, Doc, are you
awake?� Sands.
It had to be Sands. I don�t want to deal with him now. Wasn�t he pestering me about answers last
night?
Yeah,
he overheard part or all of your conversation with Logan. He�s probably been listing off all the
questions he wants to ask you all morning.
And possibly all afternoon.
Think he�ll go away? �I don�t know, Pierce, it�s
awful quiet in here. Sounds to me like
you killed her.� She could hear mockery
in the man�s voice. He was either mocking her or Logan.
Or both. That was likely. �Hey sleeping beauty, were you planning on
getting your ass out of bed anytime soon?
Like today? Your partner in crime
wants to talk to you.�
Damn. He wasn�t going to leave her alone. �Mmgrphf.�
�Pardon me?� Sands could have sworn that the woman was
usually a bit more coherent than that.
Perhaps she really had gotten an overdose.
�Which one?�
pan>pan>�I�ve never helped
you break the law.�
Not yet.
�Logan Heston
Pierce.� That�s all she had to say
before Logan started profusely
apologizing. Tess let him go on for some
time before interrupting. �What time is
it, Logan?�
�One thirty in the afternoon.�
�And why are you
calling me before two? I seem to
remember strict instructions against that.�
�Well . . . when
you didn�t call, I got worried. I
thought that you�d surely call as soon as you figured out what I�d done. And I am sorry about that. I ��
�Yes, I know. You knew I hadn�t been sleeping, you thought
I wouldn�t sleep, you didn�t want me pacing the floors all night, and, as my
physician, you decided to act in my best interest.�
The line was silent
for several seconds before Logan
asked, �Does that mean I�m forgiven?�
�It means you�re
lucky my paranoiac nature didn�t take offense and decide that you needed to be
eliminated.� Tess felt the bed move, as
if someone had sat down on the edge. And
the kids weren�t here. Her eyes popped
open to find Sands sitting on the bed, facing her with an expectant look. Ah,
crap. �But all joking aside, where
are my kids?�
�Tina took them
shopping, and then to Knott�s Berry Farm.�
�Logan
��
�Don�t worry about
it. How�s your patient?�
�Ever so much more
aware than I am. It�s a dangerous
situation.�
�How so?�
�Don�t want to talk
about it right now.�
/spa/span>�He�s in the room?�
�Mmm-hmm.� Tess sighed and stretched. She let out a high pitched squeal as she felt
her muscles fight against her. She
really needed to start stretching again.
She collapsed back into the bed.
�Listen, now that I�m semi-awake, I need to run some errands. Were you planning on coming by tonight?�
�No, not unless you
wanted me to.�
�No, that�s alright. I have a feeling I�ll be turning in early
this evening. Sleeping pills have a
notorious history of staying in my system longer than they�re supposed to. Is there a car around here that I can use, or do I
need to call a cab?�
�There�s a sedan out
front for you to use. A few of the
interns dropped it off this morning.
Compliments of the firm, of course.�
�Of course. Then I guess we�ll be seeing you
tomorrow? What time do you have us
scheduled for?�
�Three. Is that good for you?�
�I don�t see why it
wouldn�t be. We haven�t been arolonglong
enough to have any previous engagements.�
Although I should get the kids in
to see a pediatrician and a dentist.
�Listen, I�ll talk to you tomorrow then.�
�Sounds good,
Trouble. Catch you then.�
�Bye.�
�Bye.�
Tess laid in her bed after hanging up with Logan,
watching Sands. He was still sitting on
the edge of the bed, still facing her.
Despite the fact that he had no eyes, she had to fight to keep from
squirming under his non-existent gaze.
She could tell he suspected something about her, but didn�t know what,
and didn�t really want to know. The
silence was too much. �Did you need
something, or did your legs just become unable to support you any longer?�
�What makes you
think I didn�t just miss the sound of your delightfully hoarse voice?�
If a little torment
was all he had in mind at the moment, then Tess had things to do until he was
ready to get serious. Like grocery
shopping. �Do you mind?�
�Mind what? Your voice?
I thought I�d already said that I ��
�You know I wanted
you to leave the room. I�d like to get
ready for the day.�
�Be my guest.� Sands noticed that Tess didn�t move. �I thought you wanted to get dressed or
something.�

�I also wanted you to leave.� He
didn�t move, and Tess was getting the impression that he wasn�t going to
move. Tess sighed. There was one way to get rid of him � pure
irritation.Unfortunately, it would give
him one more thing to wonder about her.
But she thought she could live with that.

You, my dearest Teresa, are much too trusting and more na�ve than your
age deserves.
And you�re too suspicious. �How sweet and soothing is this hour of calm!
I thank thee, night! for thou has chased away these horrid bodements
which, amidst the throng, I could not dissipate; and with the blessing of thy
benign and quiet influence now will I to my couch, although to rest is almost
wronging such a night as this.�

�What?�

�Be obscure clearly.�

�If you�re trying to get rid of me, it�s not going to work, ni�a.�

�Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz. I said come back tomorrow.�

It was clear that Tess was going to be difficult about this. She was clearly not in the mood to be
intimidated. Sands would have to try
again when he would have the upper hand in the conversation. Tonight, perhaps. He got up from the bed. �Truly great madness cannot be achieved
without intelligence.�

�Are you saying that you don�t trust me, se�or?� He was leaving. Finally.

�Do you trust me?�
Tess was silent. Sands held back
a cynical laugh. �I think we trust each
other only too well, chiquita. We�ll both
be better off if you keep that in mind.�
Sands left.

He has a point.

Tess got out of her bed. She knew
he had a point, but some part of her was shouting denials at the truth of the
statement. I know he has a point, but without trust there�s no healing. He has to trust me more than he�s
saying. Otherwise he wouldn�t be here.
And
you want him to trust you? The
voice was expressing disapproval. Fine. Let�s say he trusts you. What happens if he finds out your last name,
Teresa? What do you think he�d do
then? What do you think finding out that the woman
who he�s come to trust, the word was filled with mockery, was
not just raised by and in the cartel, but is the illegitimate child of the man
who took his eyes. Think that trust will
stand? Or will he kill you? Tess didn�t want to answer because she knew
what the answer was. That wasn�t a rhetorical
question, Teresa.
Tessa was surprised to find herself pacing the floor.
This wasn�t one of her normal nervous habits. Why are
you forcing the issue?
Because
I want to make sure that you won�t do anything stupid. Like get too attached to a man who�d rather
see you dead than alive. Help him so
we�ll be free, but don�t lose your head.
Answer the question.
She didn�t want to answer the
question. It hurt too much. He�d
kill me. But he�s not going to find out.
Now
whose wisdom is consumed in confidence?
Anything is possible. Help him
then get away from him. He�d only
destroy you even if he didn�t kill you eventually.
Like you?
You don�t want any competition, is that it?
You�re
mine until I decide I want to share you.
No!
I�m not yours. If anything,
you�re mine. I�m the one who�s in control.
Then
why am I still here?

Tess didn�t have an answer for that.

The next day came sooner than Tess
expected it to. Sometime after a short
afternoon of shopping, reading, napping, and generally trying to evade Sands,
the kids had come home and dinner had been served. She supposed it was the return of the kids
that had been Tessa�s biggest ally in keeping Sands at an arms length. Despite his earlier words about trust, or
perhaps because of them, he�d been . . . .
Well, watching was the wrong word, and lurking implied that he�d been
trying to stay inconspicuous. Which he wasn�t;
he�d been openly invading her privacy.
But again, privacy wasn�t the word she was looking for. She�d stayed in the living room reading ever
since coming back from getting groceries.
She would have gone into her bedroom but was afraid that she�d fall too
deeply asleep if she was anywhere near a bed, so she�d settled for the
overstuffed armchair from the night before.
Not that it helped her stay awake, but it did keep her periods of
unconsciousness to brief catnaps.

Sands, when he wasn�t lounging on the couch across from her, was outside
standing in the sun, smoking. He spent a
lot of time doing that � although part of it was while standing in the doorway,
his profile turned to her. For an hour
or so, Tess had found it hard to concentrate, worried that he was going to try
something, but when he didn�t, she relaxed enough to actually read her
book. Books. Books and magazines � she was having a hard
time focusing.

She�d managed to get through National Geographic, People, and Newsweek
before Sands asked her something. �Did
you really think you�d get it past me?�

�Get what past you?� She hoped
Sands was talking about something relatively innocent.

Sands didn�t let his reaction to the blandness in her voice get to
him. She was up to something. The first time he�d heard that particular
tone was the day they�d met; the only time that bland voice came out anymore
was when she was nervous or trying to avoid answering something. �These freakin� diet cigarettes.�

�Oh.� Again, Sands hid his
reaction; she sounded relieved that he hadn�t asked something else. �I really didn�t think about it. As a doctor I don�t really approve of smoking
at all. I�m afraid buying those was an
impulse. A compromise between two
evils.� That, and growing up around a cartel quickly breaks you of any desire to get
addicted to anything.

�What are the two evils?�

�The first would be you and the second would be buying cigarettes in the
first place.� Sands tilted his head in
acknowledgement, but otherwise declined to comment. Tess decided to start in on the book she�d
picked up. It was about vampires.

�You�re quiet.�

�What?� He�d managed to startle
her. Again. And he probably hadn�t even been trying since
he was lounging on the couch, arms behind his head, and she hadn�t even noticed
him come back into the room. Her book
was getting really interesting, although the writing style was a bit . . .
eclectic. It was really requiring all
her attention to make heads or tales of it.

�You�re not humming, or tapping, or moving around, or playing
anything. I�m not sure I�ve ever seen .
. . heard you so quiet.�

How much attention had he been paying her if he�d managed to pick on
some of her more subtle distractions? Or
were they not as subtle as she thought?
Or had they grown less subtle?
�I�m just . . . really interested in this book,� she got up. �Would you like me to turn on the radio? Or the TV?�

Sands simply shrugged. �I
wouldn�t want to impose, ni�a.�

Since when? �It won�t bother me. I�m used to drowning things out. It helps me focus.� She decided to turn on the TV, quickly
changing the channel to CNN. �Is news
alright with you? I thought perhaps �� Her voice trailed
off. Don�t
say anything unless you can improve the silence.

�Like I said, whatever.� Actually he wouldn�t mieariearing some of the
news.

Time passed. Tess read her book
and blocked out the noise of the TV.
Sands listened to a bunch of old coots argue about the war. One sounded distressingly like his dad. �Why are you wearing that hat?�

�What?�

�That cowboy hat. It�s not
exactly sunny in here.� It was going on five o�clock and Tess was expecting the kids to
be back soon. Her book was
fascinating. Only fifty pages in and
already the heroine was faced with saving the life of a vampire (a very big
�no�) or leaving him to die in the hands of the other vampires. It was something the heroine knew she
shouldn�t do, something that would endanger her life
from humans and vampires alike, and that would change her life forever. If she lived that long. Tess could sympathize. It was that thought that made her look up at
her companion, and it was looking at him that made her realize he was wearing a
cowboy hat of all things. It really
didn�t go with the t-shirt that said �Lord of the Onion Rings.�

Sands shrugged, hiding his sudden tenseness when he heard the man who
sounded like his father being addressed as senator. Ah,
shit. �I�ve got a lot of fond
memories of that hat.�

�I�ve got a lot of fond memories of that dog. That�s the line. Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade.�

�Watch a lot of movies, do you?�
If he could keep her talking until the show was over, maybe she wouldn�t
ce wce what he was suspecting.

�I did. In college. Our study group would get together for all
night movie parties. Our senior year, we
actually rented a house off-campus together.�

�You were all close?�

�Yeah, we were. Or close
enough. We all liked each other, which
is more than can be said of some relationships.�

Tess fell quiet and Sands heard a page turn. �What are you reading?�

�A book.� Sands flipped her
off. �It�s a book, it�s called Sunshine, it�s about a world where
humans and �Others� live together, but �Others� and those with Other blood are
. . . considered unhealthy for one�s health.
It takes place in a post third-world-war type setting. Human and Other populations have been
decimated, but Others seem to outrank the humans. And now this perfectly ordinary woman who is only considered special because of her superb
cinnamon rolls, has been kidnapped by vampires and thrown to one like a lamb to
the wolves.�

�Mmm . . . going to have his wicked way with her, is he?�

�No. He hasn�t laid a hand on
her, even though he had the opportunity.
She�s decided to help him escape with her, even though it�s daylight
outside.�

�That would give you sucker ashes.�

�No. She�s got
some latent magic-handler blood, and she can hold the sunlight off him. And she has to because she can�t escape on
her own. She needs his help and he needs
hers. And neither of them like the
alliance.� Sounds familiar.
�What�s wrong? Your life isn�t strange enough, so you seek
peculiarity out elsewhere?�

�You�re welcome to believe that the world is a nice, logical, rational,
safe place . . . You�d be wrong, but that hasn�t stopped anyone else who thinks
the same way. Perhaps I read this
because I can sympathize. Maybe the
stories that talk about women going to charity events and finding mystery lovers
who eventually commit to them body and soul are the stories that are too
foreign for me to believe.� Tess
stopped, wondering if she�d gone too far and if Sands would answer. Sometimes he did when she got philosophical,
and sometimes he didn�t.

She never got the opportunity to find out. The door slammed open and a tidal wave of
youthful enthusiasm rushed in the door.
Tessa rose to answer the raucous clamor and to take Lena
from Tina. She thanked the woman and
ushered the kids upstairs to clean up.
Then she threw dinner on the stove and started to cook. When they sat down to eat, Sands removed
himself from the group again.

I�ll have to make sure he eats
later. He�s skipped too many meals from
pain and painkillers to skimp on food now.
Sands was back outside on the porch, smoking another cigarette. The setting sun cast a golden glow on the
skin of his arms and face, bronzing him where the moon had turned him silver
the night before. Part of Tess
understood the . . . the cleanliness that sunlight could bring. How it could chase away all the shadows in
the mind. But some shadows hid things
that should never be revealed. An echo
ran through her mind, the remnants of a giggle that didn�t belong to her. But the darkness could also swallow things
that should never be forgotten.
The children were
ushered to bed along with a bedtime story.
�And some things
thatuld uld not have been forgotten were lost.
History became legend, legend became myth, and for two and half thousand
years the Ring passed out of all knowledge.
Until when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer. The Ring came to the creature Gollum, who
took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty
Mountains. And there, it consumed him. The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long
life. For five hundred years it poisoned
his mind. And in the gloom of Gollum's
cave, it waited. Darkness crept back
into the forest of the world. Rumoew
ew
of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear, and the Ring of Power
perceived. Its time had now come.�

The sun had set, dusk was a memory, the children were asleep and Sands
back in his room. She was grateful that
Sands had never really had the opportunity to interrogate her as he�d
thread.Two women does not a bevy make, Teresa.

Tess ignored that comment. She
watched as the two women chattered and laughed and worked. She had to admit that even with their energy,
they were being efficient.

Logan
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