He smoothed a hand slowly over the paper, fresh from the ream tucked in the fine leather case at the gilt corner of his massive mahogany desk, quietly enjoying the delicate texture of the expensive stationary against his rough fingertips. His piercing dark eyes darted from the blank sheet to the ebony-plated pen loosely gripped in his other hand, to the monogrammed silver cufflink at his wrist. His fitted suit was the finest black silk, his maroon satin shirt unbuttoned once at the collar. His cool gaze scanned the five words printed in small, elegant brown script across the top of the cream-colored page.

-From the desk of B.C.E.

Those three simple letters were the most anybody knew of his name, he'd seen to that himself. It was too risky to let anything else become public, not that he had much reason to worry. The imbeciles he'd been forced to hire could hardly polish their own shoes, let alone do their jobs. He forced his attention back on the paper before him, hurriedly scratching out one of his few coherent thoughts before it slipped away.

'Aside from a few unavoidable hiccups, things have gone just as I expected. The experiments are proceeding as planned, and my agents are still ignorant of the deeper truth. I hope won't be much longer before I find what I've been looking for, though I will admit to not being entirely sure what that is, or why I've felt so pushed to search for it, but I know I'll recognize it when I see it. If it's something that can even be seen.

But whether it can or not doesn't change my goals. I am going to turn this sad little world on its head, just as it did to me all those years ago, and I'm not going to let anything stop me. No matter what happens, I will not allow myself to fail again. This will be my last chance.'

He let the pen clatter on the desk as he turned to gaze at the picture gracing the paneled wall, framed in worked silver, hung between small porcelain pots of her favorite blue hydrangeas. A beautiful young woman with long, loose waves of golden hair smiled brightly back at him, her big blue eyes sparkling with the happiness and love they had shared. Her pale, slim arms were wrapped so lovingly around her heavy stomach. It was the last photo he'd taken of her, before she'd been so cruelly torn from him. Soon, the experiments would give him everything he needed to get her back, and it would be like they had never been apart. He would make sure of that.

I'll see you soon, sweetheart, I promise. He smiled sadly, running his fingers lightly over the polished glass that protected her. Please, wait for me!