| "Over the Hill, Far Away" | ||
|
Extraction Aistrip. June 12, 2008. 0415 hours. "Alright, we're here!" came the call as the black van skidded to a halt on the tarmac. Three black-clad operatives wielding weapons jumped from the van and took up holding positions, covering the exit for the van's other passengers. "C'mon!" A female voice called into the back of the van impatiently, her voice not easily audible as the plane's engines whined close by. Two more figures jumped out of the back of the van, carrying heavy-looking bags, one with wires clenched in his teeth. The trucks raced towards the van, and more importantly toward the people leaving it to board the plane. The impatient female operative motioned at the vans, calling out for the dark haired male operative to do something about them. "I got `em," Jaime replied as he sighted his rifle. It wasn't his usual sniping rifle, this situation called for something a little less precise and cumbersome. A shot rang out and rubber exploded. The truck swerved out of control and slid to a stop on the side of the road. The second truck slowed, but barrelled on. "Let's go," Saf called to the three operatives holding the line, running toward and jumping into the plane as she did so. The operatives followed, climbing in and getting to relative safety. Jaime stayed at the doorway, weapon at the ready, as did Paige. "They get close, take their legs out." Jaime grinned, "Leg wounds, comin' right up." The plane surged forward as the pilots released the brakes, moving away from the pursuing vehicles. Paige put a couple of rounds into the remaining truck, its windshield collapsing under the barrage of bullets. The truck screeched to a stop, the occupants piling out onto the runway. "Nice shot, watch this," Jaime said to the blonde operative. He sent two rounds into the door windows of the truck, causing the men on that side of the vehicle to duck behind the open door for cover. Taking aim, he placed a shot into the foot of one of the men hiding behind the door. "Show off," Paige said with a smile as she fired a few more shots over the roof of the car to keep them on their toes. The plane picked up speed and Jaime pulled Paige back into the aircraft, closing the door behind him. "No need to yell," he grinned at Simon, who'd been screaming at him to close the door, "we were just having some fun." Simon muttered something Jaime didn't quite catch and he could only smile at her reply. Taking a seat near the door he set it to recline and relaxed. `This isn't such a bad job,' he thought, `just gotta make sure you do it well and come out alive.' He chuckled quietly at Paige's airhostess impression and Bella's dry remark and closed his eyes, getting some rest. He felt the chair next to him move but didn't open his eyes. "You asleep?" Came the question. "Yes," he replied, smiling and opening his eyes to see Paige sitting next to him with a thin black bag in her lap. "Well wake up, you got work to do." The work entailed writing a report. Ok so this was the bad part of the job. Worse was that he was going straight to the training facility at Virginia upon their return to SIA, which meant no debriefing, and... "So, no dinner then?" he asked, already knowing the answer. "Not this time around," Paige replied, biting her lip in that oh so cute way she did. Jaime could only nod. Sometimes it seemed like the world was out to keep them from getting close again. He knew that Section didn't approve of operative liaisons, but this wasn't Section...well, technically he was but Paige wasn't, and he wasn't IN Section at the moment anyway. "I'll give you my cell phone number though," Paige said, "you won't be that far. Maybe we can hook up if you're not busy." "Or you're not working a case file mission, thing, whatever you call these." "Case files. But yeah." She looked to him apologetically. "Sorry." "It's fine. Just, seeing you again, I just wanted to, you know, spend some time alone." "I know. We will though, don't worry," she smiled. "But type first, I'm gonna see if I can't get some sleep." "Good idea, you look exhausted." "Cuz I am," she grinned getting up, "I'll be in the back." Jaime nodded and opened up the laptop. The interface was similar to that used back at Section, and he got the hang of it fairly soon. The report took a great deal longer than he expected it should, mostly because his mind was on Paige, on trying to spend more time with her without having to worry about who he was supposed to shoot, and in turn not getting shot himself. "This sucks," he sighed as he looked at the unfinished report. It was a double-whammy really. Writing reports sucked, as did his situation with Paige. Or non-situation, really. He closed his eyes, rubbing them with the heel of his hand and went back to writing the report. It was a while later, when they were less than an hour out of New York, that Paige came over to him again. She looked less exhausted than before, obviously a result of the sleep she had gotten on the flight. She smiled at Jaime as she sat in the seat next to him. "Hey there," she said quietly, not wishing to disturb the other sleeping operatives. "Hey yourself," he smiled back, "report's all done, it's on the laptop." He nudged the black bag with his toe. "Good, thanks. Should come in handy during debrief. I'm sorry you're going to miss out." "It's not the debrief I'm sorry about missing," he replied. Paige nodded, knowing what he meant, "It sucks that the mission went overtime, I was looking forward to dinner." "Yeah, me too. Listen, we'll catch up some other time, ok? We're not that far away, I'll give you a call when I get some free time and we can get together then if you're free, how's that sound?" "Sounds nice," Paige smiled again, and Jaime's heart warmed to see it. He never liked seeing her unhappy for any reason, "but you don't have my cell phone number, do you?" Jaime frowned, thinking, "Not sure...lemme check." He pulled out his cell phone, the Section standard issue sleek black module. Paige almost started when she saw it; Jaime guessed that sometimes she forgot he was still a Section operative when it came down to it. "Nope, not in here. You're gonna have to give it to me," he grinned wickedly, knowing she'd pick up on the double-entendre he had made of the comment. "Ha, you wish Aussie-boy. Here," she gave him her cell number and he inputted the data into his phone, stowing it back into his jacket pocket. "I'd give you my number but I don't think you'd be comfortable calling a Section phone. You know how they like to listen in on things. I won't be calling you from this phone either, I'll use the office phone or a booth or something, just to make sure, k?" Paige smiled at this, "K." Just then the announcement came over the plane's intercom that they were 10 minutes out of the airport and everyone should strap in for landing. Jaime and Paige clicked their seatbelts into place and looked at each other, a slight smile reflected on their faces. Jaime grinned suddenly, took a quick peek around the plane and leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on Paige's lips. The blonde jumped slightly, but soon adjusted and responded. Breaking the kiss, Jaime grinned again. "Sorry, couldn't help it." "It's SO not a problem," Paige grinned back at him. The two operatives sat back in their chairs and readied themselves for the landing. Both knew that this was the last they were going to see each other for a time, with Jaime flying straight from NY out to Virginia for his cover work at the sniper school. Jaime reached a hand across the armrest, taking Paige's hand in his, squeezing gently as the plane hit the tarmac. "I WILL call you," he promised. Danville airfield, VA. June 12, 2008. 1030 hours. Jaime looked around at the clear blue sky and the puffy white clouds that trundled overhead as he stood on the tarmac of the small airfield. A man in a business suit had started to approach him from a white helicopter until Jaime started to walk over to the stranger. "Mr Warner?" the man asked. Jaime simply nodded. "My name's Murdoch. Welcome to Virginia. Follow me, the chopper is going to take us to our facility." Jaime nodded once more, not even bothering to be heard over the noise of the helicopter's rotors as they neared the vehicle. Boarding the chopper, he closed the mostly-windowed door and buckled in. As the transport lifted off the ground to take him to his new `home', he thought of a cute little blonde back in SIA HQ, and how seeing her again seemed so far away. Return |
||