"Bottom Line is"

"Bottom line is, even if you see them coming you're not ready for the
big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. So
what are we helpless? Puppets? No. the big moments are going to come
you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts, that's
when you find out who you are."
Whistler – Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Season 2 Ep. 21 `becoming Part
1'

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After Briefing.
The briefing was over but Bella stayed in her seat. She stared at
the table, allowing her mind to not accept what was going on,
allowing herself a brief time to shut down. If she did it now, she
wouldn't need to do it later, at a time when she needed to function.
"And you would be Bella." The Irish accent intruded in her mind
blank. She looked up at the new guy, and then gathered up her
papers, standing and holding her hand out to shake. She dropped her
papers again all over the floor. Instead of responding with a
flounder like many would have she simple maintained eye contact with
Declan smiled as if to say `of course, why not.'
"Aye and you would be Declan."
He nodded in response and shook her hand firmly.
"Pleased to meet you." His voice held laughter and he smiled at
her. She responded in kind and felt the first stirring of
embarrassment.
"Charmed I'm sure." She released his hand and began to kneel to
gather her stuff, but he moved faster than her, gathering most of
them for her. She met his eyes as he handed the sketchbook back
slowly smiling at her. She took it and thanked him quietly and
returned to standing.
"I'm not usually this clumsy, just a bit sleep deprived at the
moment."
"Mission stress?"
"The target and I have a history, one that I was more than prepared
to leave there."
He nodded as if he understood. "It would explain why only you can
get near him. Amy I ask…"
"No, you may not."
She walked out of the room before she could hear anything but a
murmur from him. She knew that she had left abruptly, possibly even
been rude, but she didn't know him and he had no right to ask
questions he didn't need to know the answer to. She headed for the
locker room to change for mission.

En Route.
Bella sat with her face in her notepad, scribbling something, nothing
specific, just the motion made her feel a bit better. She was trying
to hide from what she was feeling, making sure the people around her
didn't know was the easy part, but fooling herself…nah that wasn't so
easy. But she would do it. She flipped the book closed and put her
head back against the side of the van, closing her eyes.

She sat, eyes closed, trying to make her mind and shoulders relax.
She went over the mission in her mind, no need to look at files for
this one. There was movement in the van as they went and next thing
she knew she could sense the presence of someone next to her.
"Catching some shut eye?"
She kept her eyes closed, didn't move except to speak.
"Not anymore."
He chuckled a little. "Look, I seem to have upset you."
"No, not upset."
"Ah. Ok I'll try another topic."
"You do that."
"Paige seems, hostile, protested my presence right in front of me,
which I will have to admit, not good for the ego."
She smiled, "You'll find Paige doesn't give a toss about your ego.
Do your job, do it well she'll come around."
"I can do that. I was just wondering why."
Her smile faded and she took some time to respond, she knew that
their voices were low enough not to be overheard, Paige was driving
and Simon was talking to her.
Bella turned her head and opened her eyes looking at Declan, "We lost
a team member last mission, she blames herself. Mostly she finds it
hard to trust anyone."
He nodded, seemed to become thoughtful for a moment, and then
suddenly smiled, "Well I'll win her over, no one resists good old
Irish charm."
Bella raised her eyebrow at him. He laughed.
"Ok well some people can but she won't."
"Awfully sure of yourself." Her observation was stated mildly but she
found the self confidence grating…perhaps because she recognised it.
"Well wouldn't you be?" He was making reference to his looks, his
dark eyes and easy smile. She smiled and retuned to her shut eye
position. He waited for a bit before piping up again.
"So what about yourself? So you find it hard to trust people."
"Not at all. I just don't do it."
He seemed surprised, "no one, not even you team members?"
"Trusting someone with you life is easy, trusting them with anything
else is what I don't do?"
"Ah."
He fell silent.

The rest of the trip was quiet and when the van stood there was a
little rifling around and the two other agents left. They were to
check the place out make sure she was safe. As far as she was
concerned they weren't needed. She was as safe as she ever was in
this mans presence. He had betrayed her yes, but he'd never have
done it to her face. And to think she had idolised him once.

9pm
Simon looked up form his computer for just long enough to let her
know that it was time to go. She took a deep breath and in one
swift, smooth, confident movement she got out of the van and walk,
head high, shoulders squared to the meeting spot. She walked, and
then she saw him, standing, just as she has expected, he hadn't
changed in physical appearance, she wanted to falter but something in
her kept her step steady. She stopped in front of him and smiled.

"Isabella." His voice was deep and smooth, a little like Bella's.
He was easy and confident, he had a gun in his hand but he was in no
ready state to use it. Paige would not like that.
"Lachlan." She nodded her greeting
"I'm glad you came."
"You knew I would."
"Yes. Yes I did. Who are your friends?" He had seen them? Or
something, it didn't really matter he knew they were there. She
dropped her head, smiling a little, and then she raised her own
unarmed hand and waved them in, no need for them to hide.
She looked up at him, looking closely. Small talk. This almost felt
comfortable. Her smile faded. There was a time when he never would
have to ask who they were, he would have known. He had known
everything about her life.
"Associates. How have you been?" For some reason she really wanted
to know.
"Ah you know, a little bit of this a little bit of that. A lot has
changed. I've been busy." He seemed so proud
"I noticed, you've been up to all sorts of mischief."
He nodded and an awkward silence began to form in the air until he
broke it.
"So…I guess my invitation will fall on deaf ears. Looks like you
have yourself and organisation to call friends." He seemed a little
bitter. Had he really been hoping she would join him?
"What makes you think that changes anything. There is no way I'd
join you?" She was getting irritated, this was too civil, too nice,
and she wanted to be angry with him. He smiled a little, he had
sensed it. Damn him.
"What makes you think..?"
Fuck him. "Quit the bullshit Lachie. I know you. I know how you
think now, the way your demented little brain ticks. You sent me
that little invitation of your to get me here so that you could ask
me to join you. You were going to tell me just enough so that if I
turned you down you'd have to shoot me. But you were banking on me
being eager to rejoin you in our past escapades." Her voice was
raised a little, her words heated.
He smiles. "Ok you know me."
Awkward silence. She was calming down, not wanting to let him get to
her too much.
Paige and Declan were standing nearby now, ready…for anything.
So…is that a no?"
She looked at him stunned. And then burst into laughter. It was
genuine. He knew how to play her, he always had. She had the psych
major and he knew how to play her. Her laughter died off and she
looked at him, really looked at him. This time it was her who broke
the silence.
"Lachie I have to know. Why?"
He smiles, his eyes hard, not an ounce of shame. "You said you knew
me. You tell me."
She shook her head and waited.
"I wasn't going to waste away in prison for something I didn't do
alone. If I went down, we all went down. Including you. Anyway,
you got away. I got free. What does it matter?"
Was he serious? Yes.
"Bastard." Silence. Sigh. "Well Lachie. All those years you saved
yourself in prison…you may as well have gone because now…I'm taking
you in. Now, the people I used to work with would have tortured you
until you told them what they wanted to know. But these guys…I don't
know. I sure hope they don't, I'd like to have a go at it."
He looked into her eyes and recoiled a bit. She smiled.
"Yes look at the person you made. Look at me now. You knew me
once. Maybe I would have joined you then. Hell I went out of my way
to do so. Now? I will destroy you." She was serious and he knew it.
"I won't go in quietly."
"I was hoping you wouldn't." She signalled to the others to move
forward, they were to restrain him and out of consideration to her
they had let her take the lead.
"Lachie, don't fight them, we only have to take you in alive, they
said nothing about broken." She turned her back on him and headed
away. She suddenly needed to be out of there.
There was fast movement behind her, she began to turn but not quickly
enough. The bullet caught her in the shoulder before she heard the
shot. She spun round with its momentum and then fell to her knees.
The pain ripped through her shoulder a second later. She closed her
eyes and dealt with it as much as she could. There was no sound in
her world for a minute. When she could deal with what was going on
in the room she was hoping that they hadn't shot him. She looked
up. She was down on one knee; her head had been bent over the arm
that was supporting her injured shoulder. She slowly stood up, and
as her ears began to work again she heard a lot of yelling. Declan
and Paige were ordering Lachie to put his weapon down. He was doing
the same to them whilst still pointing his weapon at Bella.
A few deep breaths later she raised her own weapon and shot into the
night sky. There was silence once the echoing stopped.
"That…was uncivilised." She looked at him. "Put the weapon down
Lachie. You can shoot me but then you WILL die. If you play nice
you may survive." Her own gun was hanging at her side. His weapon
began to lower.
"There we go. You know you opened up an old wound there don't you."
He nodded. "I remember. And I also remember you almost bled to
death the first time. Are you going to waste anymore time here?"
He had a point. His gun was lowered. He had done what he'd wanted,
opened up as many wounds as he could. Paige moved in, apparently not
waiting for the go ahead anymore. She punched him in the ribs and
knocked him over the head with the butt if her rifle. He staggered a
bit, dropped his gun and Declan moved in, grabbing his hands and
pulling them behind him. Paige secured his hands with a cable tie
and pulled him to his feet. Lachie was incapacitated and unarmed.
Harmless.

Once again Bella moved to leave, she was feeling sore, grumpy and a
little shaken up. As she began to walk out she heard Paige and
Declan pulling the man from her past along as well. Something in her
mind just piped up, she couldn't do this. Whether it was pity…not
likely, or revenge…probably, she couldn't do this. But he was safe
now, no danger at all.

SO..?

She turned suddenly, raised her weapon and shot him in the head.