| "A Girl for a Boy" | |
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Outside Petrenko's Dacha, July 10, 2008, 2333 hours "Lets go," he said to Bella (he had made a decision to call and think of her as Bella) as he cut her legs free. He helped her up, his strong arms taking her weight and making sure she did not lose her balance. He still felt guilty and anxious about what had happened and was trying to make up for it now. When he had gotten back to Secondary and found her still unconscious on the ground he had been proud of himself. The meet had been timed perfectly, and all he had to do then was wait for her to wake up. That didn't happen. As time moved on he had grown more and more aware that something was wrong. He had checked her pulse and found that she was still alive. So why hadn't she woken up? He had followed the instructions in the medical kit to the letter, and she should definitely have woken up by now. After a few frantic calls to the Myech members, and then Sergei, he had found himself talking to one of the RGZS's medical staff. The man had explained to him that some people reacted badly to drugs, and the only thing he could do was to wait for her to regain consciousness and then give her plenty of water. As soon as she had started stirring he had gone and gotten water, apologising to her for what had happened as he handed the liquid over to her. She hadn't responded, choosing silence over any words. She hadn't spoken to him for a while now and he wished there was some way to show her that he hadn't meant for her to be out for that length of time. He realized that it would take some time and decided to worry about it later. For now he had to make sure she got to the meet looking alive, which could be a lot harder than he wanted it to be if she was still feeling the effects of the drug. If he could just get her to the meet and make the exchange� no, it just wasn't in him to think like that. The woman he would be guiding through the woods in a minute was now partly his responsibility, whether he liked it or not. In fact, whether Trouble liked it or not. He was now charged with ensuring this woman's safety by his own mind. His conscience had a funny way of surprising him at the most inopportune moments with requests that would tax his abilities, both physical and mental, to the limit. He let her lead, following very close behind her to be ready in case she fell, whispering instructions to her as they went. She didn't reply to his words at all, simply acknowledging each direction with a slight nod of the head or nothing at all. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to make amends for what had happened. He hoped he would, otherwise he would have a new demon that he himself had created: guilt. Amazingly Bella didn't fall or even stumble as they made their way to the meeting area. He kept a close eye on her but did not speak. If she wanted to talk then she would make the first move; he wasn't going to force her into conversation. They continued along a little further, pausing once for a few seconds rest, but then pressed on. He wanted to get this over and done with, get it out of the way as quickly as possible so that he could go away and work things out in his mind. The whole event had unsettled him, thrown his mind into chaos, and he wanted, no, he needed time to put everything back in its place. His team had been sent into a situation that should never have happened, and the ultimate price could have been paid had it not been for some quick thinking and some cool heads. Maybe Georgiev really wasn't to blame for how the situation began, but Nikolai wasn't sure that the former Spetsnaz man did everything he could to resolve it. Enough, his mind told him as they reached the meeting area. He motioned for her to stop and she did. "Are we there yet?" she asked him. She sounded just like a child in a car on a long journey. "Yes, we are here," he replied, grateful that she had chosen to speak but not wanting to believe that she had forgiven him. It was too early for that, and thinking otherwise would only make matters worse. "Good," she replied tiredly. "You ok?" he asked. He suddenly thought that he had pushed her too hard, that the walk had taken too much out of her after her bad reaction to the drug. I should have carried her, he thought to himself, chastising himself for having inflicted more suffering on the poor woman. Sometimes he could really fuck things up. "I guess," she replied, sounding like she wasn't. "I just want to get back to my people." "I understand that. Being caught by the `enemy' isn't fun, unless you have a way out," he told her, remembering back to his detention at the hands of Fat Bastard. She was about to say something when Trouble appeared with Viper. He had a small smirk on his face which told Nikolai something. They approached him and stopped a few feet away. Trouble pulled a knife out and cut the ties on Viper's hands. He copied the action and freed Bella, smiling slightly as he did so, in a way he was trying to apologise to her for what had happened. He didn't know if she caught his meaning as she slowly made her way over to her teammate. Trouble said something to her, then motioned for him to join her a discrete distance away. "Wait here," he said to Viper, then walked over to Trouble, and the pair of them made their way a short distance from the other two. She stopped and turned to face him. "What did you do to her?" she asked in an unhappy tone. They guilt surfaced briefly before he forced it away. If she got the wrong idea then� well, he didn't want to think about what the possible consequences could be. "It was a mild sedative," he replied, "I didn't hurt her." A sigh. "Your guy wouldn't accept any food or water, so�" "We'll take care of him," he said with a nod. "We'll be coming in tomorrow night 0300 hours for Petrenko." "There will be a set of guards but nothing you won't be able to handle," he told her, getting a slightly raised eyebrow as a reaction. "You won't be there?" He shook his head to indicate that he wouldn't. This wasn't the place to explain the reasons behind that, and besides, he didn't know if he could fully trust her yet. Anyway, even he didn't have the full answer yet. "We'll try not to kill all of them," she said, causing him to tilt his head, wondering how much she meant that. "Anyway, we did good, both of them are safe.. for the most part." His eyes followed her gesture and arrived on the forms of Viper and Bella. Viper was behaving for once, though he could see where his eyes were looking. Bella was sat down and resting against a tree, not looking too healthy. "She's still a little off, but should be fine," he said with more than a little hope. "Lucky for you. Listen, we took two devices off your guy, these little sequin transmitter type thingies. They're in a plastic bag in his back pocket. He doesn't know it but they are there." "Thanks," he replied, wondering what it could mean. Was this the next brick in the wall of trust? He didn't know, but it was a good omen. "I just figured you guys wouldn't want us to have them and considering the whole meet thing and not coming alone�you know, act of good faith on my part." That caught him. "Your part?" "You don't think `They' know I gave them back do you?" "And a thief as well," he said with a grin. Yeah, another brick had been put in place. A shrug. "I've been known to thief things once in awhile. Still, it's the right thing to do." "I appreciate it," he told her, and he did. Maybe they could get a house out of this. "Alright, well, I guess this is goodbye until the next time." She extended her hand to him. "It's been good working with you," he responded, taking her offered hand and shaking it. She kept a hold of his hand. "I'd still like to have that beer someday, maybe chat a little bit." He felt a little uneasy until she released his hand. He shrugged and said, "I'd like that too." "Take care of yourself, Moonlighter." "I will, you do the same, Trouble." He nodded at her and then walked back to Viper. No words were exchanged as he led off into the woods towards the dacha with Viper in tow. They moved about a hundred meters away from the others before speaking. "So what was that all about?" Viper asked. "One second," he responded, then clipped Viper round the ear. "What the fuck was that for?" he asked. "That's for getting caught," he replied with a grin. "Stupid boy." "Hey," Viper said, also grinning, "I can't help it. I mean, a couple of sexy chicks want to get their hands on my body� they really wanted me and I couldn't fight back." "Yeah right. Keep on dreaming." "It is true," Viper persisted. "You know the chicks just want me." "Ok, first off they are not chicks. They are ladies. And secondly, you are definitely going to have to work on your technique. I'll teach you a few things if you want." "Like what? What would you know?" The playful challenge earned Viper another clip round the head. "You remember the lady you were just staring at?" "The one you exchanged for me?" "Yeah. Well, while you were off doing God knows what, which was probably nothing more than being tied to a tree, me and the young lady had a an engaging and stimulating conversation about the new Kirov ballet that opened in Moscow last week. She asked me if I would like to accompany her to it, but I had to decline because of work." Viper laughed. "Ok boss, whatever you say." The two men grinned. A few more steps, then Viper asked, "So what was that all about then? You didn't answer me before." "Well," he said, thinking about how he was going to explain it. "Ok, short version is that they are basically the American equivalent of us. They want Petrenko dead, and we want him alive. A cock-up lead to us facing off against each other, and now me and Trouble, that's the one who brought you to the exchange, have had to sort things out ourselves. We are pulling out tomorrow. They will then take out Petrenko." "What?!" "It's settled. Sergei knows what he is doing, and an explanation will be waiting for us when we get back." Viper didn't look happy, but he would have to get used to it. They eventually reached Secondary. Viper continued on towards the dacha while Nikolai got into his usual position on the ground. Once he was satisfied that everything was as it should be he contacted the other members and explained what had happened, and what their course of action was going to be. He could sense the unease that his team felt but could do nothing about it now. All the questions would have to wait until they were back at The Base, and even then, he knew, not all of the answers would be there. There was always something going on, and there were always questions left unanswered. Return |
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