| "Poker Face" | ||
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June 9, 2008 JFK Airport, New York 1759 hours Jordan shrugged out of her sweater as she sat down on the plane. She drummed her fingers lightly on her stomach to a song that was stuck in her head. `I wanna take you on a roller coaster�' beat steadily in her head. Damn for all, she couldn't remember the artist though. It has been on the radio when she had driven to the Safehouse some hours earlier. Bella sat down opposite to her, which she was glad about. Their little chat on the ride over to the airfield was intriguing, perhaps she wasn't that bad. After all, Bella had gone through the same hell she had. More or less at least, she wasn't too sure about Bella's experience in Section, but her guess was on the money that it wasn't pleasant. They were soon in the air and were heading to Russia. It was still light outside, but wouldn't be for much longer. Getting restless, she glanced over at Bella who was staring out her small square window, with her pad of paper resting on her lap and her pencil held lightly in her fingers. She got out of her seat and slid into the empty one right besides Bella. She slid into the seat besides her so she wouldn't have to yell over the plane engines. She peered over Bella's shoulder and was amazed at what she saw. It was a pants suit, or something like that. The top half of the sketch depicted something that flowed down to ankle length making the whole outfit look much like a dress. It was both very stylish and practical. "Hey, that looks awesome. What colour are you thinking for that?" she asked. "I work a lot in red and black, so I start any design with one of those I mind and work from there," Bella replied, looking away from the window at her. "Oh ya, that'll be perfect. Or at least I think it would be. To be perfectly honest, I'm not the greatest at coordinating outfits and what not. Never been, but then I'm more of a pants kind of gal." "I do have some casual designs too. You are welcome to drop by sometime and have a look at them." "Ya? That'll be great." "Perhaps we'll do it sometime this week if that works for you?" "Sure does, at least right now." "Planning is hard in this line, makes the fashion shows a little more stressful never knowing if I can see it through or not." "But 'tis the life I suppose." "Ya..." She fell silent, occupied by thoughts of her life, and how she wished it were different. "Pardon?" she asked Bella a few moments later when she realized Bella had spoken. "Oh, I was just wondering how long you been here, I mean, in SIA?" "Since February, but it seems like a life time. Section feels like such a long time ago. I'm sure it doesn't feel like that to you now, but I'm sure it will." Bella nodded; meanwhile Jordan wasn't too sure about what she had just told her. Section didn't really feel like a long time ago. Hell, Madeline's death was still fresh in her head. She wondered if Bella knew anything about that, but she had no idea. She blew her hair out of her eyes and said, "You've gotta come over for dinner sometime, meet Baz, he's the other member of Alpha and since you are an honorary member for this mission...does that sound okay?" She hoped it was okay with the rest of the gang, but she didn't really see a problem with that. "I think I can manage that," Bella replied with a warm, friendly smile. "Great, well, I'm gonna grab a cat nap before we land." "Sleep well." She uncurled her legs and took the few shorts steps to her seat. Within minutes she was asleep with her black sweater wrapped around her upper body. June 10, 2008 SIA Army Plane Somewhere over the Atlantic She woke a few hours later, feeling more or less rested. She glanced at her watch; the digital numbers read 12:05. They still had a ways to go, but not much longer. She walked over to Saf, to see what she was up too, as she wasn't sleeping. "Hey," she whispered, not wanting to wake the others who were sleeping. Saf looked up at her and smiled. "Hi." "How are you doing?" she asked. She hadn't seen Saf since Michael took her back to Section. She looked skinnier, but still smiled. She wondered if the smile was genuine, or if it was just a mask. She knew everyone did it from time to time, if not all the time. Saf shrugged, "Alright I guess. As good as I can be right now." "Okay, that's good to know, but you know�we are practically neighbors..." She didn't feel the need to finish her sentence, since Saf was already nodding, understanding that she would be available anytime, day or night. "Of course Jordy." "Great, are you gonna come pick up those books you ordered? They are in now." "Oh ya, sure. I didn't know they had arrived." Jordan fell silent, thinking about Vanessa once again. She was supposed to have phoned the girl that night, but her being called in, messed up that. She hoped that Vanessa wasn't going to get suspicious of her sudden disappearance. She started to feel rather anxious and tense. "Jordan?" Saf's voice penetrated into her thoughts. "Yes?" she replied, looking straight at Saf. She didn't notice anything did she? "I asked when did you want me to come pick them up?" "Oh," she replied. "Whenever really, just say, within the week or so." She looked at Saf again, trying to decide. Maybe Saf didn't notice and thought it was pre-mission jitters. Everyone got that. "Sounds good. You okay?" "Me? Ya, fine. Just a little dopey still from sleeping," she replied, trying to keep her face free of the turmoil she was experiencing. "Okay, why don't you go grab some coffee then?" "Good idea. You want some?" "No thanks." She rose and grabbed the coffee thermos from the back of the plane. She passed Simon on the way, was busy with his computer. Didn't he ever sleep? She walked back to her seat slowly so she wouldn't upset the cup of coffee in her hands. She sat down and blew into the cup. When the steam wasn't quite so dense, she took a few sips, hating the bitter taste of it. She hated it, and no matter how much sugar and milk she put in it, it still tasted, well, like coffee. 9 miles Southwest of Savvinskaya Sloboda 0255 hours Jordan walked towards her point after leaving Saf, backtracking closer to Paige. The others had left the trail earlier on, splitting up as per the mission plan and going to their first mark. Bella being the first, she was positioned near their egress point and Jaime was now up in a tree, watching from above. Paige, Saf, and herself were up closer, approaching the Dacha. Through the thick dark trees, she couldn't really see anything, except for a few feet in front of her. The area where she has been with Saf was less dense. She stopped, her first mark. "Alpha three in position" she spoke over the comms. They were now all in position and Jaime became their eyes, since he had a better perspective of the area. The Dacha was very quiet, no movement outdoors. That was strange, shouldn't there be more movement? Jordan shook her head slightly to no one but herself. She didn't know. With all quiet, they began their play. Saf begin to move forward, and she moved forward as well. The others moved forward as well, with Jaime watching them from above. She was confident in Jaime's eyes. The trees were thinning out now as they approached. "I've got company," Saf's voice came calmly over the comms. Jordan stopped, peering through the trees towards Saf, but couldn't see much of anything. "Alpha three come up on me north west." Saf spoke over the comm to her. She moved northwest and began walking straight for Saf. She saw movement to her right and saw a figure walking towards Saf, but the figure didn't know they were there�yet. "I've got a visual on the bogey," she said. He, she assumed it was a he by his steps, was on the move again. He has stopped for a moment and peered into the forest in Saf's direction. He continued walking. "Engaging," Saf said. "Engaging," Jordan spoke out, moving fast towards the figure. They couldn't shoot at him, since gunfire would cause them to loose the element of surprise. She crept closer towards him. A twig snapped under her shoe. Shit. The figure stopped and turned towards her. She dived down into the brush, hoping she hasn't been spotted. A minute or so passed before she rose into a squat and looked to her left. He wasn't there. She scanned the trees left and right, where'd he go? She looked over at Saf, who indicated that she couldn't see him either. She crept closer, trying to see if she could spot him. No luck. Fuck, she couldn't believe this. "Lost the bogey," she relayed over the comms. Where the hell did he go? He couldn't have just disappeared. Return |
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