| "Return to the Fold" | |||
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Wednesday 21st May 2008 03.30hrs She was still standing by the couch, bag in her hand, and said "I was just getting dressed." He smiled, "I Just wanted to check and make sure you were fine." He held out a dish, "Though you would like to see it," he asked, but she shook her head, "No, I just wanted it out of me." She slipped off the gown, and redressed, after his seeing her in every state of dress and undress, she had no qualms about dressing in front of him. Though she did have to get his help to get the clothes over the collar; his hands were still and cold, but firm and relinquished their assistance as soon as she shrugged him off. "I would ask you to join me for a coffee, but I don't want anyone else knowing you are here, so I took the liberty," he opened the door and wheeled in a trolley. She could smell the enticing aroma of the coffee, smelling so good, she even took a step towards the temptation before shaking her head, "I can't. I don't want to risk anything setting me back." "Dr Gideon mentioned you feeling light headed, has that cleared up?" she turned to look at him, wincing at the pain the movement caused in her neck. "Yes thanks," she replied, turning her gaze once more towards that steaming pot on the trolley. "In that case a small amount won't harm you, and it is decaffeinated, so won't cause any unwanted side effects." His voice was calm, but she had a bad feeling about it, "No, if it's ok with you, I'll just have some milk." He poured a cup of coffee for himself and for her a mug of milk. The croissants that accompanied the coffee were warm and crispy and somehow she had never tasted them as good as this since she had moved to NY. She bit down into her first one, and finishing it within minutes aware that she was ravenous, "So when are you taking me back to the airport?" she mumbled through the crumbs of her second pastry. He shrugged, "Whenever you want. But I thought you might be more comfortable waiting here in Section." She shook her head, "I can easily wait at the airport, and anyway I though you didn't want anyone else to know I was around?" that brought a glimpse of a smile, "Touch�. Would you believe me if I said I liked having you around?" She had been leaning on the side of the couch, and his words made her spin around. She placed the half-eaten pastry on the plate and replaced the cup on the trolley without her hands shaking too much, "I just want to go; I am not part of this anymore. I wouldn't have come here if I had any other choice; there are just too many bad memories." "Then you need some good ones," he answered, his voice infuriatingly calm. She watched as he used his cellphone and called a number, she couldn't hear what he said, his voice was too quiet. Her fear was that she was going to be kept here rose like bile in the back of her throat and she felt like throwing up. Despite her skills if he had decided to take her back into Section she wasn't going to escape easily; she would be going nowhere. A tap at the door made her jump, she looked over at Michael who had a ghost of a smile hovering about his lips, "try opening it," he prompted. She pushed herself forward, wondering whether Owen was still working for them, she trembled slightly as she opened the door; Birkoff and Walter stood on the doorstep. She couldn't believe her eyes, and from their expressions, neither could they. Michael pulled them into the room, and then stepped outside the door leaving them alone, "You only have about 20 mins before she has to leave, but I know you wouldn't be happy if I had allowed her to leave without saying hello." He shut the door softly. Birkoff peered at her through his glasses, "Saf is it really you?" and Walter was just holding on to her, hugging her and saying "You aren't taking enough care of yourself. Anyways, what exactly are you doing back here?" She was so happy seeing these two again, of all the people she had missed; it had been them; Birkoff's naivety and Walter's words of wisdom. She finally managed to get a word in edgeways, and asked "Is it better? I didn't know what I had set in motion, I swear." Walter spoke, "Shhh Sugar. It's ok. It's not all your fault; under Michael it's hard, but fair. Not like Paul and Madeline. But I wondered where you were, and even if you were still alive especially when your status went black. Birkoff did try and track you down, but even with his hacking, we couldn't find a trace of you." The time went quickly, she asked about the few operatives she had feelings for but it was clear from the expressions on their faces, that they weren't telling the entire truth when they said they didn't know what had happened to them. In the end, she changed the topic to a lighter note; now wasn't the time to destroy friendships. She smiled up at Walter's craggy face, "I don't think we will be able to stay in contact, though I would love to visit and have you come and see me.. but.." "I know," he said sadly, "the powers that be.." "Wouldn't approve," she agreed, "I wish things could be different�." The door re-opened and she couldn't believe they had already had their 20 mins, but a glance at her watch told her that it was so. Michael spoke from the doorway, "Its time to go.." She had just time to hug them one last time, and then she was led out to van access. Despite the early hour, it was clear that some operatives were around, though obviously being kept away from this area. The limo was the same one that had brought her here and Michael opened the door, "Fleeting, but not the last we will see of each other. Please give me a call when you get back." So he wasn't coming back with her, and he was letting her go, she felt puzzled. Instinctively she hugged him, and after a moment he hugged her back. "Thank you for all your help Michael." She started to say, but he put his finger to her lips and leaned in towards her his mouth close to her ear, "At some point in time, a favour will be asked. All I ask is that you give your assistance freely and willingly regardless of the situation or circumstances you find yourself in." She nodded automatically not even rationalising why he would ask her, she felt confused, but knowing that he wouldn't discuss it with her there and then she stepped into the limo and he closed the door between them. The last sight she had was of him standing there watching the limo drive up the ramps towards the dawn sky. 05.40hrs She arrived at the airport and checked in, and had just enough time to do some duty free shopping. She picked up some fruit teas for Jordan along with a selection of jam, for Paige she picked out a candle and some French coffee and for Gray to try and square things with him, some Godiva chocolates; she owed it to him to at least try and show him that she wasn't all bad. The flight back was full so she couldn't sprawl across the seats, but despite the pain from her neck she slept most of the way home, only waking when instructed to do so by the steward prior to landing. She had stiffened up and now her neck was feeling tender so she was glad to only have a carry on bag and some duty free items to carry to the taxi ranks. 09.10hrs En-route from the airport, she dialled her home machine and listened to the messages, she had three all from Paige, the last one was a replication of the others, "Saf, where are you? It's now 8.30am and I have been waiting for you. Give me a call." She felt guilty, she should have made time to phone Paige yesterday and postpone the pool sessions, but she knew the real reason she hadn't was to ensure that Paige didn't find out about the trip in advance. She dialled Paige's cellphone number, and after a few rings it was answered, "I'm sorry about the pool this morning," she had to hang on to the strap as the taxi weaved through the traffic, "Hey buddy, I would rather get there later today if it means I am still alive," the driver nodded, but it didn't impact on his driving skills or rather his lack of them. "Sorry about that, I am in a cab with a lunatic driver trying to kill me." She spoke before she realised what she had said, "Cab, why are you in a cab?" Paige asked. "Would you believe it if I said I didn't feel like driving this morning," she asked. "Not a chance," was Paige's sarcastic response. "Give me an hour or so, and I will come over." She pleaded, hoping for a break. It would allow her to get changed and remove the collar; she could wear a high neck pullover to disguise the dressing, that way she would be able to keep it quiet for today at least while she thought of a plausible explanation. "Ok." And Paige had hung up on her. She was suspicious, Paige was being too accepting; Saf got the feeling that she was up to something and that it involved her. 09.45hrs The taxi pulled away leaving Saf's wallet feeling a lot lighter, but it had been worth it. She still felt exhausted, despite sleeping on the plane, she had no idea of what time zone she was in and her neck felt like the stitches Dr Gideon had put in were pulling apart. She just wanted to get in and crash out in her own bed. She walked up the pathway and taking her keys out she put them in the outer door. As she did a shadow fell over her hand and she turned quickly, her reactions slowed by tiredness, and saw Paige, who had obviously been waiting for her. Now she knew why Paige had been so acquiescent. She had no choice but to accept, it was too late to cover up now. "Come on in." she said, leading the way in. Throwing her bag onto one of the couches, she put the plastic duty free bag on the counter. Paige stood looking at her, "Hmm, pale, dark circles under eyes, neck collar. Want to tell me what you have been up to and where?" Saf hesitated, and then shrugged carelessly, "You would find out sooner or later. But please don't mention it I had to promise not to tell anyone as part of the agreement. I managed to `persuade' Gray to make them remove the tracker. I told him I wouldn't live with it in, and for some reason he agreed." She put the kettle on automatically to make a brew, Paige loved her coffee and she found she could now bear to have it around her and yet not drink it. "Knowing your powers of persuasion, I don't think Gray had much of a choice." Paige grimaced. "It wasn't easy; the bastards had screwed it in with titanium dead head screws. Gideon took an age to drill out each screw, and managed to avoid damaging the nerves. But he wasn't keen, tried to convince me of the dangers," She said simply, "and despite Michael's reassurances, I never believed that it was innocent, I had to get it taken out." "So you went back to Section?" she asked Saf nodded, poured a large cup of black coffee for Paige and took out the teabag from her own cup. "It was still the same, cold, cheerless and grey. I didn't know whether they would let me go, and I thought for a moment, that was their plan. But he did and here I am." She took her mug of tea and opened the door to the balcony, leaning on the doorframe looking out over the bay, "You don't realise when you have something good, until you are faced with the possibility of losing it." Paige had moved to the couch, and in her hurry to sit down, had knocked Saf's carry bag onto the floor, the items spilled out and when Saf turned at her sound of apology, Paige was holding her grey box in her hands, "What's this?" Saf had known there could be no secrets between them, but she hadn't expected to open this box for the first time in a year in front of anyone. It had been her only private place at Section, they had searched her apartment on a regular basis, and once she had realised this she had found another means of securing her most private things. She realised Paige was staring at her, "Open it," she replied answering the other's question. She watched as Paige opened the box, and removed the contents one by one. As she did, she relayed a commentary, "The silver pendant, is the only reminder of my life before Section, the pictures inside are my parents and sister and it used to contain Sean's until he betrayed me. I had it on me when they brought me into Section, and when I wasn't co-operating with them, Michael had a little `chat' with me. Next thing I knew he had given it back to me, after that I kept it hidden, safe from prying eyes." Paige put it down carefully on the table and removed a small black object, "That's a portable XSB device, codename Wildfire; I uploaded all the details on the virus, from Hu, that you re-engineered. It includes the molecular structure and the histology as well as the notes on the track of events onto the disk. I don't know why I kept it, just that it reminded me never to give in to Section or they would kill you if they didn't kill you anyway." Paige removed a black velvet pouch, tied with ribbon, "Open it," Saf prompted, and Paige untied the ribbon and tipped the contents into her hand, "About 30 flawless South African diamonds, of the highest calibre. After Section deliberately exposed me to the virus, or allowed it to happen, I decided that I couldn't survive there, but to escape meant I needed money, and they watched your bank accounts." She allowed herself a smile of satisfaction, "So I used Section's information to get me these, I traded information on green listed personnel to Rene, and in return he provided my feels in those. There's about one million pounds worth in that pouch, I would have had more, but I had to be careful. Too many dead green listees would have alerted Madeline or Operations." "That sounds so cold-blooded," Paige said, "but you never mentioned this to me." "I was just doing what they were trading lives, and the less people that knew what I was doing the better. Until we had enough, there was no point in trying to escape. Not after the attempt with the virus on Section, which I am sure Michael knew was linked to us. So I just kept on putting it together, slowly building a fund with which we could live on." Her voice was sad, "still they will come in handy just in case this group turns out to be the same sort of psychopaths." "You think they are?" Paige asked. "I don't know what they are; I just don't trust anyone, other than us, a great deal at the moment." She replied. Paige replaced the glittering stones back into the pouch and retied the string, and removed the next item. A notebook, Saf sighed deeply. "That contains details of section codes and building structures as well as the sniffers I designed. Anything I could use to gain a foothold into their intelligence, I kept. I don't suppose it will be of much use here, but�." "You'll keep it anyway.." Paige smiled. The rest of the contents were just a few mementos, the bullet that had been removed from her after her first mission after training; a splinter from her leg after the NY mission. A shell she had taken from the beach off Belize. A sliver of stone from Stratus mansion, she had gouged it from the walls of her tiny prison. Even the wedding band that she had worn during the mission as Marc's wife. She was certain he was now dead. When she had asked Walter about him, he had shrugged but he had avoided her eyes, deep down she had known; whether he had been given a choice like her, she had no idea. She would always hold his memory dear to her, he has been a man of honour, and there were few of them in the world. One of the items Paige had picked out was a silver coin, a small silver threepenny piece. It had taken her a while to track one down in an antiques stall at Clignancourt market. She smiled as she saw it again, the memories of why she had brought it came flooding back in her mind, "That is to remind me that it often takes less than 30 pieces of silver to betray someone. I keep it to ensure that I don't make the same mistake in the future." The last item was another notebook, this was well used and Paige was just about to open it, when Saf stopped her; taking it from her and holding it to her chest, "my journal" she said softly, watching the quizzical look that Paige gave her, "Not everyone has a memory like yours Paige, I kept writing it to help stop me going crazy during my training years, I kept it concealed from Madeline, though I think that Michael knew I kept one." She turned to stare out of the window, the memories of those days preying on her mind, "I don't think I want anyone to read it. I am not certain I want to read about my rebirth as a paid killer." Saf smiled, it hadn't been a happy trip down memory lane for her, and talking about some of these things was more than painful, but at least sharing it with someone else meant she could finally get some sort of peace. Paige returned the items to the box, carefully as though they were precious. Saf passed her the journal she had been holding tightly, and watched as it returned to its resting-place. Her life had once been contained in that box, but now, the only things she really needed to keep was the virus structure, the notebook on the sniffers, the pendant and the diamonds; the rest was unnecessary, holding her from moving forward. "Enough doom and gloom, anything been happening?" she asked Paige, determined to put the past behind her, as much as she could do, the future had to be better, brighter, freer. Return |
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