Bruised
A/N: So this is the third (and final!) story in this series. The prologue spans between 1 and 3 months post Against the Grain and I think everything will become clear once you read. I feel like I kinda pulled out all the stops for this one, so I really, really hope you enjoy it.
Prologue
Alex groaned, squinting her eyes shut and pressing her temple against the kitchen table. Her head was still spinning and she felt nauseous. She remembered why she didn't drink tequila now.
Fuck. She was so stupid sometimes. What the hell had she been thinking?
She hadn't been thinking. That was the problem. Had she been thinking she might've thought, "hey, maybe sleeping with the person whose place you're crashing at indefinitely isn't the smartest idea you've ever had". Or "wow, doing anything while this drunk probably isn't something you want to consider".
The point had been to not think, though. She'd been thinking about everything for the last month with no end in sight. She just wanted one night – one hour even – where she wouldn't have to think about the deadened weight in the pit of her stomach; where she wouldn't have to wonder when a twin-bed became too much space and to have to miss him to the point where it made her physically ill.
There was also the possibility that on some subconscious level Alex had resided herself to the fact that she might not make it back from this at all and if that was the case she didn't want the last person she'd ever…to be a terrorist. At least now the last person to ever be with her wasn't someone who made the bile rise in her throat and every inch of her skin crawl…
At that instant, Chase walked into the kitchen bare-chested and offering her a slightly awkward smile and it all came flooding back again. Suddenly she had a memory of kissing him smack dab in the middle of the bar and of him being as drunk as she was. She remembered agreeing without constraint when he suggested they leave and the sound of their lips meeting again and again the entire cab ride back to the apartment. She remembered starting to undress clumsily as soon as the front door closed, stumbling to his bedroom and leaving a trail of clothes in their wake. She remembered thinking about how he was almost the right height but that everything else was completely wrong: the pressure was wrong when he cupped her breasts and buried his fingers in her hair; he didn't spend enough time nibbling her neck; the kisses he placed on her mouth used the wrong amount of tongue and never once did he bite her lip. She admitted it probably would've felt nice when he slid between her thighs had she been sober enough to feel anything like that, and when he finally pushed inside her it wasn't bad sex. He certainly knew what he was doing. He found the right angle quickly enough and he hit the right spot and she definitely came…
But his shoulders felt wrong beneath her fingertips and his lips were too hard against hers for a reassuring kiss in the middle of the throws of passion; there wasn't enough give in them to make it soft and feel like they were meant to be there, like he was her other half. It didn't look right when she glanced up and saw cropped blond hair, but the worst was his eyes. Everything was wrong with his eyes…wrong size, wrong shape, wrong color… They were eyes that barely knew her instead of eyes that knew her better than anyone. It was so bad she had to look away when he slid inside her for fear she might breakdown in tears.
And he asked too many questions. She'd obviously been spoiled with…because with him one look and he knew exactly what she was thinking – whether it be in the bedroom or in the field or on the car ride home at night – no matter how trivial, he knew what she was thinking without ever having to ask. Chase asked to make sure she was okay, which was nice, granted, but every time he opened his lips she was reminded that he wasn't who she wanted him to be. It wasn't the voice she'd been aching to hear for the last month. Thank god he hadn't attempted to use any terms of endearment.
She blushed a little when Chase bade her good morning.
"How'd you sleep?"
"Um…good, thank you."
The morning after wasn't right either. Chase had to ask her how she took her coffee and they sat at opposite ends of the table. There was no sidling up behind her with his hot mouth on her neck or trying to coax her to shower with him... With Chase it was uncomfortable, just like with all the others…
"Have you seen Jack?" she blurted out suddenly. Chase winced.
"Yeah uh…I couldn't sleep earlier and I bumped into him…apparently he came back around 3 and the apartment's kinda small and we were…so he left for a bit. He's down at the office now, visiting one of the guys he used to work with."
Alex cringed. Jack had heard them. Fantastic.
Suddenly Chase lifted an eyebrow at her, putting on a sleazy voice he spoke:
"So was it good for you?"
She burst out laughing without meaning to, and Chase laughed back, the tension broken.
"Was Jack pissed?"
"Oh yeah…" Chase snorted. "But Jack finds a way to be pissed off at everything so I wouldn't take it too personally… Plus, I think it was more me than you."
"I'm pretty sure I'm the one who ordered that fifth round of shots."
"Yes, but I have a habit of violating the women in Jack's life."
Alex raised an eyebrow, deciding not to argue being clumped as a 'woman in Jack's life'.
"Who else?"
"Well…" Chase shrugged. "Just Kim, but that was a pretty critical one."
Alex laughed morbidly. Chase managed to form a loose fist with his right hand. It still frustrated him that he wasn't what he used to be. Especially now when all he had was his job and he couldn't even do the job he wanted to.
"Jack said they thought Michelle was dead for a while." He changed the subject so suddenly Alex started before answering.
"Uh…yeah."
"And that you pulled her out."
"I guess."
"And now they're back at CTU?"
Alex scowled. "They weren't supposed to be. Tony was helping out for a few weeks while Michelle recovered and then she wanted to come back for a bit and it just…I told them to get the hell out before I left."
Chase snorted. "Yeah…easier said than done."
She was wary when she asked her next question.
"You were with Jack in Mexico?"
"For part of it. The other part I was doing some stuff at CTU for the mission. Tony's brother was running Field Ops at the time."
Her expression changed again and he stared at her knowingly. It was the first time Chase had ever mentioned Rick to her. She'd been banking on the fact that he didn't know Rick even existed, and now he gave the impression that he knew about it all.
"Nice guy…smart guy…it was one of those things that if we couldn't have Jack we were glad to have him. He was pretty young at the time too…" suddenly Chase let out a laugh. "Also exactly the kind of guy you took the bar if you wanted to pick up…before Kim, I mean. I dunno what the hell he did but it always worked. The only thing was if there was someone you were both interested in you knew who she was going home with…"
There was an awkward silence before Alex finally broke it.
"He trained me." She said quietly. "At Langley."
"Jack said he might've been the reason you left."
"Jack should mind his own fucking business."
Chase sighed impatiently, wondering if Alex's abrasive defense would ease up before she left.
"Was he screwing with you?"
"Yeah…" Alex snorted. "I gave up everything to come and get myself killed with Jack because Rick Almeida hurt my feelings…"
"It was just a question."
"I gave you an answer."
Chase sighed again, rising from his chair and crossing the room to a stack of papers on the kitchen counter. He pulled out a chocolate brown envelope and tossed it in front of Alex. She stared at him curiously for a second before pulling out whatever was inside. The writing was in fancy calligraphy on a piece of cream-colored paper. The backing was also chocolate brown.
The words were simple: none of the flowery 'Mr and Mrs. So-in-so request the pleasure of your company in the joining in holy matrimony of their daughter…' stuff you usually saw. It was simple. Names and a date and a church.
The name was what really stuck out though.
Kimberly Bauer.
"What happened?"
Chase took a long sip of his coffee, obviously considering the question.
"When she thought Jack was dead she withdrew. Her mom died years before…I dunno if Jack told you…"
"Tony did."
Chase took another sip from his coffee. "She wasn't the same. We'd been together for years and she just stopped telling me things. She went to counseling and I started to notice changes…with her therapist."
Alex made a face.
"She wasn't cheating on me. Kim would never have done that but… she told him everything and told me nothing and it just made me feel obsolete."
Alex could've told you within five minutes of meeting him that feeling obsolete was what Chase hated more than anything; she could tell from the way he constantly clenched his right hand to test it's strength, as if hoping one day it might be back to fighting form.
"Anyway uh…" He shrugged again. "My daughter's mother was in a bad place when I left CTU and ended up giving her to me. Right around the time Kim started therapy Angie's mom sued for sole custody. She'd married some big shot lawyer and had…" he snorted, "had a 'suitable' environment for her. After that Kim and I just fell apart. I think part of the reason we lasted as long as we did was because of Angie."
"You miss her?" she hadn't meant to come across as insensitive. It just came out.
"Yeah. It's weird to go from having someone around everyday of your life to being alone again. It's why I took the job here. I needed a change."
Alex managed a reassuring smile that she couldn't really mean. It sounded awful. Bad things happened to everyone at CTU. It was a curse.
"Now you?"
"What?"
Chase smirked a little, leaning back against the island. "I spilled…now it's your turn."
Alex stared at him, obviously preparing to flat out refuse to talk about it. He'd been coping for almost two years and she hadn't even hit two months yet…
Maybe it was the fact that she'd had sex with the man, maybe she was touched by his own admission or maybe she wanted someone she could talk to that wasn't Jack. Either way, she gave him the briefest account she could of what had happened her last day at CTU.
Chase winced. "So you uh…had…"
"We were sleeping together."
He lifted his head slightly.
"That's all I get?"
Alex's breath rattled in her throat.
"That's all there was. Some things went down and they wanted to arrest him and I cut a deal. I figured this has to be better for us both."
"You gave up your entire life for someone you were sleeping with?"
Alex ran her fingers over her mug.
"He's…he was my best friend. He saved my ass a million times and he was only in the situation because of me." She shrugged offhandedly, lowering her eyes to her hands.
"Didn't really seem like a choice."
"Mi-cheeelllleeeee!" Tony yelled as soon as he pushed in the front door, arms full of grocery bags. No answer.
Frowning, he dropped the bags in the kitchen and climbed the staircase, hollering for her again as he poked his head into their bedroom. Too late it occurred to him that she might be napping. They'd been up late last night…and the night before that…and that night before that… And so far, nothing. The lack of sleep wasn't really taking its toll on them, (they'd been compiling old contacts from their security company from before, but they still hadn't decided on a permanent place of residence yet or felt any compelling desire to go back to work), but the persistent negative results were. He knew Michelle was worrying, even though it hadn't been that long.
"Bathroom!" she called. There was a hint of nervousness in her voice and Tony's heart started to race. She was at it again.
"Anything?" he called back, anxious now too but trying to keep her from hearing it.
Her face gave it away as soon as the bathroom door swung open less than thirty seconds later. Her eyes lowered to the floor and she shrugged and shook her head. Tony exhaled solemnly and sank down to the bed, holding out a hand. Michelle took a few deep breaths before stepping close enough for him to pull her between his legs.
His arms circled her hips and he kissed her quickly a few times through her shirt. Her hands moved to his hair and she sighed.
"It's only been two months, Michelle." He reminded her soothingly. "This stuff takes time, right?"
She nodded listlessly.
"Honey, it's not your fault."
"I know…" the tone of her voice suggested otherwise.
She gulped. "I know I just…" he felt her fingers tighten briefly in his hair. "I guess I'm just worried we waited too long…"
"Hey…" he tugged her down against his leg and eased her face towards him. "Listen to me…we'll make this happen alright? It might not be the way we thought but it'll happen…okay?"
"We're not using that money, Tony." She warned quietly. "It's not our money…I don't care what Alex said. Using that money would mean we're…"
"We're not giving up on her. And we can cross that bridge when we come to it, alright? Once we figure out what's going on with the company we'll have money to…"
She pressed her face into his chest to silence him. Tony sighed and kissed her hair. He knew she felt like it was her failure even if it was completely unjustified.
"But like I said…we're not there yet…" he caressed her cheek gently.
She lifted her head, wet eyes meeting his, and pressed her mouth to his softly.
"I love you, Tony." She breathed against his lips, her fingers caressing his arm.
"No matter what happens with this…even if it ends up just being you and me…"
"Stop." He lambasted firmly. She shook her head.
"I just mean…worst case scenario it keeps being just us and…and I'm really okay with that. You're all I need."
His eyes stung at the sincerity of her words and he kissed her back, pushing his tongue against her lips insistently until they parted. He groaned a little and she did too.
"Me too, sweetheart."
The couple in front of them made her want to vomit a little bit in her mouth; they were obnoxiously cute. They held hands as they strolled, fingers laced through each other's, and stole kisses at street corners. She would laugh delightfully and he would smile down at her, nuzzling his mouth against her cheek and pulling her close for warmth in the crisp October air.
It never occurred to Alex how excited she'd been at the prospect of being in an actual relationship with him. During the car ride back to CTU that late night/early morning two months ago she couldn't have described how happy she'd been to cuddle up against him in the backseat; Tony could look around and see them share a quick kiss or see his hand brush her hair off her neck and it was okay – expected even. She'd never been one for public displays (despised them a little, actually), but those few moments they got were bliss. She'd never shared a kiss with him anywhere they might get seen or left work with his arm curled around her. Alex had taken what she could get and was glad for it and convinced herself it was enough, but she'd wanted him. She'd wanted all of him and it was losing him that finally made her realize it.
"So this thing with Almeida…?"
"I thought we were done with this." She retorted coolly; it wasn't a question.
Chase licked his lips. "I think you're still holding out on me."
"You're so intuitive." She said, voice rife with sarcasm. Chase knew better than to be offended. Instead his hand closed around her elbow and he held her back.
Alex saw it in his eyes that he wasn't letting go until she either spilled her guts or made him…and she really didn't feel right beating up someone with only one good hand.
She shuddered internally when his serious eyes angled down towards hers. He stepped so unabashedly into her personal space and it always made her uneasy.
"He…" she shrugged, backing away to give herself some air. "The day everything happened he said…he loved me or something."
"Or something?"
Alex glared at him.
"He said he loved me." She stated crisply.
"What'd you say?"
"Nothing."
"Ouch…"
"Shut up. I just slept with Christensen and I was freaking out…it wasn't the best timing."
Actually, the timing had been perfect. The circumstances had been anything but perfect, but the words had been the absolute only thing she'd wanted to hear in that moment. She just hadn't registered that until it was too late.
"Whatever." Chase brushed her off. "So you never told him?"
She ripped herself from his grasp and started walking again.
"Al…c'mon…you know you'll feel better if you talk to me…"
"There's nothing else to talk about…" she grumbled, quickening her pace.
Chase caught up easily and spun her to face him, staring her down. He was really the only person she'd had to talk to these last few months. Jack was around but he didn't talk much and Alex wasn't willing to open up to someone who wasn't going to open up to her. Besides, everything with Jack had been a little strained since he'd walked in on them early that morning almost a month ago. She hoped things might ease up a bit once they got away from Chase.
"After…I had gone down to Medical earlier that day and I…I took a pregnancy test. Michelle thought I should." She explained quietly.
"And you…you were?" she could tell he hadn't been expecting that.
"I found out after I signed the confession."
"So…what'd you do?"
The glare was back.
"I don't think I look very pregnant right now, but maybe that's just me." She snapped bitterly. Chase looked at her apologetically and ran his fingers across her back.
"I'm sorry."
She wiped her cheeks gruffly.
"I made a choice. It…it was the right one. I don't regret it."
Chase made a face that said he didn't entirely agree.
"It wasn't a choice you should've had to make - "
"Well I did." she snapped. "Telling me it wasn't fair doesn't make me feel better."
"Okay, okay, sorry." His palm circled her shoulders gently and they started to walk again.
"You miss him?"
She snorted to mask the pain in her voice and grumbled under her breath as she started to pull away again:
"Only when I have to breathe."
It was early November when Tony received a phone call he hadn't exactly been expecting, but had kind of been hoping for. Jack had confirmed, they were to have a progress report for Warrington by the fifteenth and were moving in upon receiving that. He'd be calling every few weeks to update Tony on the circumstances and, Tony suspected, to assure him everyone was fine.
Tony had believed him, but it didn't make him feel any better. She shouldn't be getting ready to move into Cheng's military encampment on the border with Siberia, she should be home. She should be gearing up to go to Boston where Rachel and Lisa resided for Thanksgiving and getting ready to do the whole "Hi, I'm Rick's girlfriend" thing. She should've been having weekly dinner-double-date things with him and Michelle, a notion he'd always kind of scoffed at but probably would've enjoyed in this case, not gearing up the possibility that she might get herself killed. This shouldn't be happening.
So to say he was relieved to hear her voice on the other end of the line when he picked up his encrypted cell was an understatement; he'd been hoping for it every time that phone rang.
"Miss me?" she said easily as soon as he answered roughly.
He exhaled softly and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Hey Al."
"Hey…" the sarcasm disappeared and she sighed. "How's it going?"
"Fine…how are - ?"
"How's Michelle?"
"Fine…good. We're compiling a bunch of contacts we had from before but we're not sure where we want to work out of right now…we're kinda hoping some things might change soon…"
"You should leave LA."
"Yeah. I know." Tony clawed at the side of his cheek. "But how are - "
"How's everyone else?" she avoided saying his name.
"How are you?" Tony cut her off. "Everyone else is fine. It's you I'm worried about."
Her tone changed and she shrugged.
"I'm alright. I kinda like London…too much rain though. I never would've figured I'd miss that about L.A."
"Chase's been okay?"
She flushed a little at the question, grateful he couldn't see her. She knew what he meant – he was referring to the tension between Chase and Jack – but she also didn't think he'd banked on what had happened between her and Chase. It was nothing. In the end they were just becoming friends with the smallest amounts of underlying sexual tension. And even if it had happened, it had only happened once.
"Yeah. Chase's been great actually."
"He and Jack…?"
"Haven't killed each other." Alex assured him with a laugh. "Jack hasn't been around much actually. He's taking care of some stuff or something…I dunno where he goes."
Tony snorted. "Yeah…Jack'll do that…"
"We're flying out tonight. The mission's a go. We're meeting up with some marines in Tokyo." She bit her lip. "I…I just wanted…I just wanted to talk to someone before I left."
"I'm glad you did." Tony ran his fingers through his hair. "Be careful, alright? I'd kinda like to get you home in one piece…"
"Tony…"
"Trust me, okay? I've got your back on this one…"
"And the last thing you need is to get in trouble with Warrington or Hammond." Alex insisted firmly. "Honestly Tony, I'm fine. Don't stir shit up just for - "
"I'm not leaving you out there." He declared firmly. "We'll figure this out. I promise. Just hang in there for me…don't let Jack get you killed first."
Alex laughed, her chest tight and her eyes prickling.
"I'll try." She breathed. "Say hi to Michelle for me…and Bill."
"Yeah, okay." Tony rubbed his cheek awkwardly. He noticed she'd evaded even mentioning his brother's name. Not that he blamed her.
"I uh…I better go."
"Alright, take care of yourself, y'hear me?"
"Yeah." She smiled on her end. "You too."
The phone clicked and Tony hung his head in defeat. No matter what she said, he wasn't leaving her out there to get her head blown off because Warrington was on a power trip and Jack wanted revenge. Wearily, Tony picked up the phone again and started dialing. Maybe Karen would have something on Warrington by now.
Alex ripped off her torn ski mask and stared at the man in front of her. He was bleeding at the nose and had dried blood below his lip. He looked as sweaty and tired as she felt and his eyes clouded with worry as her gloved hand lifted her 9mm, pointing it directly at his chest.
"On your knees." The voice didn't even sound like her. It sounded cold and calculated without a trace of emotion in it. She'd killed before, many times, but never like this. Never with an unarmed man in front of her.
Behind her Jack entered the room with two of the marines. All panting heavily. This building was thought to contain the blueprints for Cheng's hideout – including the underground rooms that were a refurbished military base from World War II. The man in front of her was an engineer who'd both designed the computer infrastructure and held the access codes to the base.
Well. He had held the access codes to the base. A few seconds of coercion from Jack had persuaded him to give up the information. Jack was effective, no question there, but he was so different from what she was used to. Rick had always done what was necessary but with Jack…she found herself sometimes questioning his motives. Sometimes he got this look in his eyes that suggested he might not be as objective as he seemed to have everyone else convinced he was.
But dare to even suggest to Jack that you thought he might not be being entirely objective and he'd have your back against the wall faster than you could say when. She learned that the hard way.
"Floor's empty." Jack declared. "The encryption keys he gave for the computer system are a match for the infrastructure according to Thomson, but we won't know if the access codes are any good until we get there."
Alex nodded that she'd heard him and used one hand to adjust the collar of her black, ribbed turtleneck. Her eyes moved to the engineer's and she quickly realized her blunder. Jack had told he at least three times not to look them in the eye. If it had to be done it had to be done and seeing something you didn't need to see only made it harder.
The engineer cowered before her now as Jack ordered the marines back to the vehicle. The less people who saw this the better.
"Alex…" Jack's hoarse voice was close to her ear. She hadn't realized he'd stepped up behind her. Alex bit her lip.
"We have to?" she choked out, feeling like she might be violently ill now. She honestly hoped she never got used to this.
"He can identify me and we can't afford to drag along the extra weight." Jack spoke quietly but the man started pleading with protest in a language she couldn't understand. Begging for his life. Alex squeezed her eyes shut. She hated when they begged.
"What if the codes are wrong?" he suggested.
"That's a chance we'll have to take."
Alex's teeth dug into her lower lip and she gulped hard.
"If you can't do it tell me now." Jack's voice lost any of its softness and indignation rose within her.
"I'm fine," she hissed back. Jack didn't seem convinced. She adjusted her turtleneck again and took a step towards the man.
Tears streamed down his cheeks and his pleadings came like rapid fire now. He was starting to panic. It was more humane to do it quickly instead of letting him agonize over the inevitable.
She heard Jack's own weapon cock behind her and tensed. Jack Bauer wasn't doing her dirty work for her so he could second guess her every moment from thereon in.
Without another thought she pulled the trigger and the man's body slumped dead to the floor.
Rick had called a few minutes before to say he needed to talk to them. Michelle had answered the phone and thought he'd sounded off. Her mind immediately went to Alex, wondering if the beans had somehow been spilled.
Which was why she was surprised to see Rick not looking furious or devastated when she pulled back the door, but distraught. Something was obviously bothering him.
"Are you okay?" She asked, touching his arm gently. He nodded gruffly, looking tired too. He looked like Tony always had when he came home from long days at the office with a haggard expression on his face. Something had usually gone wrong.
"Where's Tony?"
"Tony's here…" Tony answered for himself as he entered the room, eyes focused intently on his brother. "What's goin' on?"
Rick shrugged his suit jacket off his shoulders and kicked his shoes to the side. Michelle might've laughed at that had the mood been a little more appropriate. Number one on Rick's list of complaints of what being a CTU Director entailed wasn't dealing with Division and District and the horrendous amount of paperwork, it was spending more time in suits than he did in jeans.
Rick's hand pressed into her back, urging them both into the den. Michelle obliged and Tony followed, sinking down on the couch beside his wife as Rick paced aimlessly across the floor.
"A transport vehicle was ambushed today and the prisoner escaped." He didn't mince words and Michelle's eyes widened slightly. Tony's jaw set into a scowl.
"Who was the prisoner?"
Rick winced, running both hands through his hair and keeping his eyes on the floor.
"Mandy."
Tony felt Michelle's muscles reflexively beside him.
"What?" after a minute she finally found her voice. "Where was the transport?"
"From Federal." Rick winced apologetically. "We've had people on it all afternoon. No one has any idea where she went. If she was smart she'd have hopped a plane out of the country by now."
"But there's a chance…" Michelle squinted her eyes shut tightly.
"There's always a chance, Michelle." Rick sighed apologetically.
"Do you think…she's that vindictive?" Michelle probed, a hint of anxiety in her words.
"No." Tony answered immediately, leaning back on the couch now with a scowl of frustration on his face. He folded his arms.
"I don't think she'd compromise her freedom to try and find us…but uh…" he rubbed his cheek. "I wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley either."
Rick nodded his agreement as Tony's brow creased further.
"How did they know she was being transported?"
Rick flinched. He'd been thinking along the same lines, but had only confessed that to Bill. Someone was dirty, they just didn't know who.
"She had some serious reinforcements and they knew exactly where she would be at that exact moment in time…"
"So you think it was someone inside DOD?"
Rick bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah…and only level six clearance and above had access to transfer documents. Trying to find anything out will send up about a hundred red flags to whoever it was. Bill's trying to get the FBI involved and still keep it under the radar."
Michelle swore softly under her breath and Tony squeezed her knee.
"Anyway, I just wanted to give you the head's up guys. They're plastering her picture at every major agency. If she's still in the country we'll get her before she tries anything."
Tony bit his lip and inclined his head slightly. If her escape was being assisted from the inside they wouldn't get their hands on her until they found the mole. The question was why was her escape being assisted from the inside.
"Yeah thanks…" Tony rose, pushing the thoughts out of his head. There wasn't anything he could do now but be even more vigilant than usual and hope the woman had enough common sense to skip out of the country. He clasped his brother on the shoulder.
"You look like crap…stay for dinner, alright?"
Rick looked like he was about to argue but Tony's expression softened slightly and he lowered his voice.
"Seriously…you're running on empty. When was the last time you ate anything decent somewhere besides your desk?"
Rick's jaw shifted and he nodded.
"Yeah…alright, thanks."
When Tony had disappeared to do something in the kitchen Rick slid onto the couch beside Michelle.
"You okay?" he touched her back and she snapped out of the daze she'd been in. Her eyes focused on the wall in front of her and she pursed her lips together.
"Yeah…" she swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'm fine."
This time the ski mask was ripped from her face by someone other than herself. Blond hair whirled out of control in the bitter wind and she spared a quick glance at the rest of her team. Two members were already dead – Forbes and Davis from the looks of those who remained – and the other three were in the same position as her, on their knees staring into the face of their ambushers.
Two men. She'd lost two men.
Alex finally turned to her captor whose eyes searched her lecherously. She recognized him as one of Cheng's right hand men. He was a former serviceman in the Chinese military if she remembered the file correctly. All sorts of tactical matters were left up to him. Fong. That was his name.
How the hell had this happened? One minute they were slipping into the building with the access codes the engineer had provided and the next they were fighting off machine gun fire and being dragged into the courtyard between two of the buildings and forced to their knees.
Jack's team was supposed to be entering from the North side of the encampment and hacking into the computers. She hoped Recon had gotten word back to him that they'd been captured so he could get everyone else out of there. Right now her entire team was as good as dead anyway.
"So which one of you is Evans?" Fong snarled at the four of them in clear English with a slight accent. No one said anything, their eyes on the ground. Beside her Cronin was starting to quiver a little. He was the youngest by eighteen months and had never done on SOF operation before. Top of his class at Quantico, already having seen action in both the Middle East and Africa and now he looked like he was fighting the urge to whimper in protest. Poor kid.
Poor kid who was six months older than her.
"You see one of my colleagues tells me that if we wish to inquire about what you people are doing on my territory we should inquire with Agent Bauer or Agent Evans…and since Bauer ran away like a little girl as soon as the rest of you were captured it makes me think that Agent Evans was probably leading the other half of you."
Fong gave them all a once over, obviously hoping for a tell.
"Perhaps we should just start firing at everyone and see if Evans is willing to step up? A true leader wouldn't let his team get executed because he was to chicken to man up…"
Alex tensed internally when a machine gun was raised level with Cronin's temple. It was obvious he wasn't in charge from the way he cringed for everyone to see and the cold sweat that had accumulated on his brow.
"Breathe…" Alex hissed through her teeth. "It's going to be alright…just breathe…"
Fong stepped forward, revealing a pistol and using it to tilt her chin upwards. She glared at him; her face was starting to go numb and she wondered how long they had until frostbite became a concern.
"And what do we have here?" he drawled casually. Alex's muscles tightened.
"Such a beautiful woman…" his pistol moved down her cheek. "I would hate to have to do anything to that pretty face of yours…"
Her jaw clenched but she said nothing.
"What do you say, my dear? Want to tell us where Bauer is?"
"Go to hell." She growled.
"How about Evans?"
She gritted her teeth and Fong sighed impatiently. Fong's head snapped in the direction of the man holding the gun to Cronin's head.
"Kill him."
"No!"
Fong turned back to Alex looking smug.
"You have something to tell us?"
"I'm Evans." Her voice was quiet, but firm. Fong gave her a once over
"Somehow I don't believe you."
"Well then kill me and you can explain to Cheng how you lost your only source of information because you're a chauvinistic pig!"
Fong stared her down for a few seconds.
"You're either very brave or very stupid."
"I am Evans." She insisted. "The engineer in the building gave me a faulty access code to trigger the alarm: alpha-five-gamma-thirty-eight-delta-fifty-four…" she trailed off, cocking an eyebrow at him.
"Need me to keep going?"
Fong now watched her with curiosity.
"The access codes weren't faulty, Ms. Evans, you just didn't do your homework. The code has to be inputted at exactly the same time on both entrances to the building or it trips an alarm."
Damnit. Damnit. Damnit. How had none of them thought there might be some other technicalities to inputting the codes? Cheng was psychotically careful; he wouldn't have made it that easy.
"None of these guys know anything." She insisted. "Bauer and I made sure of that. You don't need to kill them."
"And you don't know where Bauer is?"
"No."
He gave her a once over again. This would make things interesting.
"We'll see about that." He inclined his head towards a few of his men. "Take her to the Holding cell. I have to call Cheng. Kill the others."
"No!" Alex thrashed against the two sets of arms that had grabbed her. She kicked one man hard in the stomach and he let go so she could spin around and face Fong again.
"You can't! They don't know anything! You don't have to - " machine gun fire cut her as she was still struggling to break loose.
"You son of a bitch!" she snarled at Fong. "You goddamn - "
"Get her out of here." Fong ordered calmly. He watched with amusement as Agent Evans was dragged towards the East building.
Cheng would be pleased. This was definitely going to make things interesting.