Hi everyone. This is a short little thing, probably only a couple of chapters, that I'm playing with. I don't want to get into a complex plot or anything, but wanted to play in this world a little bit since there isn't a lot out yet on Aaron/Marta. Also, be warned that Aaron doesn't actually make a physical appearance in the first chapter, but will be arriving in the next. He and Marta are my main focus. Oh, and a few other characters from the Bourne world will likely pop up in small ways.
Thanks for reading. :)
The Bourne Convergence
Ch. 1
Dr. Samantha Reid typed the last digit into the antiquated desktop computer before her. It was at least ten years old but it ran, which meant that it was a valued piece of equipment in the remote regions of Africa where she found herself currently residing. She rubbed a hand across her forhead, futily trying to wipe away the heat that constantly touched her skin. She glanced at the clock, growing worried by the late hour. Midnight was approaching, which meant that he was late.
He was never late.
She rose from the worn wooden chair at her makeshift desk - an old fibreglass table from decades past - rubbing the stiffness from her neck as best she could. Worrying was not going to change the situation. She had a village to finish innoculating, and a new lease on life to carry out because she was Dr. Samantha Reid and she belonged here.
A loud kthonk along the outer wall drew her attention, and she froze, listening intently for any sign of...life. The only thing she heard was the pounding of her fear as it pumped against her ribs.
"Abebi?" she called out carefully, desperate for the familiar lilt of her assistant's high pitched tenor.
Thick silence reached out to greet her, threading itself around her throat and beginning to squeeze. She moved across the wide, tented area that served as her clinic. It was never what she had imagined while attending Harvard or Oxford, but it was medicine and for that she was truly grateful. Science was where all the answers of the universe could be found. She walked slowly to the doorway, easing open the cheap plywood and staring into the blackness of the surrounding night. There was nothing to see, nothing out of the ordinary. In the distance were the subdued voices of villagers as they gathered in their modest dwellings. Most were settled, slumbering away because the dawn would be here soon enough, but a few could be heard whispering.
She frowned, feeling ridiculous that at this stage in her turbulent life a little noise would freak her out! She returned to her office, wanting to double check her data entries and then head home for a few winks of solid sleep herself.
She wouldn't worry about him, he was fine. He was always fine.
kthonk
Samantha stood again, quickly turning off the monitor light that provided a perfect sillouette for anyone paying close attention. She went to the corner of the room, considering her best options for vacating. This was beginning to feel very, very wrong. Her heart was picking up speed and she didn't like it. She stayed close to the wall, listening while she moved, but the sound was gone for the second time and it was wreaking considerable havoc over her calm.
Maybe they stayed too long?
kthonk
Working off of instinct, she went to the storage area on the opposite side of the room and used a nearby pair of shears to slice through the thick canvas of the covering tent. In moments she was outside, feeling exposed, even as the darkness welcomed her. What the hell was she thinking working this late? She followed the tent slowly, inching toward the corner, both needing and fearing the source of the noise that was sending her into panic. How many times did he warn her to stay close to people, to hide in plain sight, to BLEND?
Idiot! she scolded inwardly, realizing too late that alone in the desert with a computer and microscope was the exact opposite of belonging. These people were farmers. Moron!
She blew out a hurried breath, adding frustration to the miriad of emotions that were swamping her. Gripping the edge of the dusty material with shaky fingers, she peered around the corner and finally let herself breathe when there was nothing there to meet her. Only blackness and silence and no boogeymen at all. She stood straight, smiling softly in relief.
Dr. Reid turned again, wanting to go home and flop onto her cot and forget all about this little embarassment that she would definitely be keeping to herself. She got half a gasp out of her red lips, before a pair of sharp blue eyes shot straight through her. A scream rose from somewhere deep, but quickly died as nothing more than a pathetic squeak, when another form came barelling out of nowhere. She watched, stricken, as the blue eyed man battled it out with a uniform, African Army. Judging by the very large knife being waved around, neither was uninterested in conversation. The tussle continued, fast and deadly, until the soldier was sailing through the wall of the clinic and snapping her out of her frozen state.
The things blue eyes could do, she's seen them before.
He was fast, too fast, and then his large hand was over her mouth in a tight grip. They were both squatting in the red-tinged dirt of the desert, so out of place in this simple part of the world.
"Do you want to live?" he voiced, momentarily jettisoning her backwards in time, to another place with another man who was astoundingly late now more than ever.
She couldn't answer, not with an iron clasp over her mouth, so she nodded, fighting to keep her tears from falling. A finger pointed beyond the front of the tent entryway, where she watched in horror as several military jeeps came to a dramatic hault. Men with guns and camoflage tumbled out, taking up flanks along their obvious leader. She recognized him immediately. It was Eric Byer.
"Dr. Shearing," the mystery hero whispered against her ear, ruffling the dark tresses of her hair, "I suggest you follow me." He released her and moved further into the shadows. She glanced one last time at the devil who was forever hounding her, once again shattering her life - such as it was. She couldn't stay here.
Marta followed her companion, wondering a lot of things: how did they find her, who was this dark man with cold eyes, and where the hell was Aaron? The last sent ice through her veins, trying not to logic that there was a chance he was gone for good.
He was never, ever late.
She bit her lip, continuing forward with as much speed and stealth as she could muster.
...you can do it, you're a warrior...
She never really believed that when he said it, but even less now, in the dark with a mystery someone and no safety net in sight. She didn't hesitate when the man pulled up in a stolen and hotwired jeep, joining him and going wherever he wanted to take her. She didn't waver when they fled from the village that she spent the past 7 months making into a home. Dr. Samantha Reid was dead in the water. Dr. Marta Shearing was once again in the wind.
There were so many unexplained things now, but only one that truly mattered. Would she see him again? If he was out there, she knew she would. ...and he is out there... She believed that, despite the rational thought that was trying to snuff the last of her childish, science-less faith.
Hurry up, Cross! she thought in frustration, holding onto the cold metal of the jeep door as the road began to get truly bumpy...bumpier than usual.
The irony was not lost on her.