Just Like Life Chapter 1: Prologue, an uc: undercover fanfic

Title: Just Like Life

Author: Gypsy

Comments: Sure. Flames and Kisses are welcome all the same.

gypsybaby1@attbi.com

Spoilers: None.

Archive: Please ask first.

Rating: R due scenes of violence, language and sensuality.

Disclaimers: The characters from UC: Undercover and Third Watch involved the property of NBC Entertainment and their creators. No copyright infringement is intended. Original characters, however, are the property of the author. So this means you can't sue me!! Unless you want my car payment, collection of river rocks, unique goblets and my clones... who only mind me... some of the time…

Summary: A FBI agent must face her demons from the past AND help Frank and the team take down a nationwide drug and prostitution ring - leading the Agent into a face to face showdown that will determine her future in the Department of Justice.

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November 1999

Aja wasn't sure how long she'd been running. But she knew three things as she kept moving: 1 - She was being followed. 2 - She was really beginning to hurt. Her legs felt like they were on fire and if she didn't stop soon, they'd turn to rubber and she'd hit the pavement hard. 3 - The sonofabitch she was chasing was most likely going to be eating through a straw for the next month and a half after she caught him. The first and last reasons kept her moving. She was lit by a fueling desire to beat the shit out of the man who shot and killed the cop she was partnered with on this assignment… and she didn't know who it was that was chasing her down. If she stopped, her own rotten luck would make sure that it was the wrong person and not backup that was hot on her heels. Heels… she had to have been insane when she put her boots on tonight. Of course, she wasn't expecting to wind up in a long and hard foot chase when she got dressed.

Radio… she should have grabbed a NYPD hand radio when she bolted out of the club. If she had she could have had this bastard caught by now and in custody so she could waltz her scantily clad ass into her boss' office and wrap up this case. No one ever said that being a part of the Department of Justice's FBI ranks was 99% paperwork. Oh yeah, the life of an undercover agent was all fun and games - until you're made. With the fiasco tonight, she was made - managed to out herself right in front of Herrera and his men. It was a good thing she didn't live here in New York… well, at least she wouldn't be anymore once tonight was over with. This was her last bust undercover as local police. When she got back from her vacation in Rio, she would be thrown into the FBI Training Academy as part of their teaching staff. Why in the name of God did she agree to a two-year tour of teaching in Quantico?

She saw her quarry turn and dart into an alley just a few yards ahead of her. Peachy… if it turned out to be a dead end alley, then she could most likely get the drop on him. Bad luck of it all would be whoever it was that was chasing her would be able to corner her in that alley as well. It was a risk she was willing to take. At least she was armed. Aja gripped the police issue Beretta in her left hand as she ran around the corner into the alley. As she made the turn, she felt her feet slide out from under her briefly, causing her to stumble and crunch into the brick wall. "God damned high heeled boots…" she growled under her breath as she took off running again.

"FREEZE!!" she shouted as she ran down the dark alley. "GOD DAMN IT I SAID TO FUCKING FREEZE!!" The end was in sight, she could see the 12 foot high chain-link fence at the end of the alley… what she couldn't see was the perp she was chasing. She skidded to a stop, stumbling and bouncing up against the chain link fence. Grasping the cold chain link in her hands, Aja snarled viciously and kicked at the fencing. "GOD DAMN IT!!" she screamed. Behind her the footsteps slowed down, then multiplied. Sweat slicked her palms as she took some deep breaths to try and calm herself. She wasn't alone and there was more than one. 'Oh God,' she thought. 'Jesus fucking Christ I'm a dead woman…'

"Laura, Laura, Laura…tch,"

Slowly she turned around, her short black hair damp with sweat and sticking to her cheeks. Right in front of her was Vadim, one of the front men for Herrera. He was a nearly skeletal man with sallow skin and watery blue eyes that harbored an intense hatred for the police. It was hatred she'd seen surface more than once. Everything was a set up - the shooting, the club, the foot chase… she was set up, somehow she'd been found out before she'd outed herself. It all crystallized in one brilliant moment as Vadim smiled a tight, forced smile at her.

"Laura, my sweet." He slowly approached her and traced a finger down her cheek. "I grew to trust you Laura. That is saying a lot really. But you are a cop. A filthy pig and a liar. So tell me - what is your real name?"

Aja jerked her head back from his touch and brought the gun up under his chin. "Back off Vadim. If you try anything-"

"If you think that you can pull the trigger, then go right ahead - AJA. That is your real name, isn't it Aja Cage of the New York City Police Department. You don't have it in you. You're still an innocent." He curled his bony fingers around her wrist and pulled the gun down from his chin.

Aja stifled a gasp as he jerked the gun from her hand, then shifted and pressed it up under her chin. She felt the bite of the muzzle sight into the soft part of her jaw and she had to close her eyes to keep the tears from coming. If she cried now, it was a sign of weakness and what Vadim wanted. Inside she prayed he'd just pull the trigger and get it over with. For the love of sanity she prayed he'd kill her instead of torture her.

"How shall I do this? Hmm, Aja?" He leaned forward against her, pressing her into the harsh chain link fencing as he whispered into her ear. "Shall I just pull the trigger and get your brains and blood all over my clean suit? Perhaps I should give you to the men behind me and let them do what they see fit?"

"Get.." she squeaked out over the muzzle of the gun in her jaw. "Get it over with you son of a bitch."

"Tch, Aja. Such language for a beautiful woman." Vadim stepped back and backhanded her across her face, from her right ear down towards the tip of her nose. "You should never swear. It's positively vulgar coming from such sweet lips." He reached down to where Aja was doubled over and clutching the right side of her face. The sight of blood seeping between her fingers brought a smile to his face. He looked down at the gun in his right hand and saw the blood coating the jagged metal of the hammer.

Aja felt his fingers curl into her hair and firmly pull her upright by her hair. The tears of pain trickling down her cheek stung the open slice on her face from Vadim's backhand. She could feel the blood pouring down her skin, the stinging pain told her that it was cut down to the bone and would leave a scar if she were to get out of this alive. As Vadim pulled her up and looked down at her with loathing in his eyes, she glared back defiantly at him. 'Get it over with already!' she silently challenged him.

Vadim looked down at the gaping and jagged slice that spanned Aja's right cheekbone. Blood was dripping onto her collarbone and he could see a fleck of whitish bone through all the blood and flesh. "Hmm, I think not Aja. You do not die this night. You, my sweet, get to live to see the morning and many days beyond that." He leaned down again to whisper in her ear. "Look in the mirror each day and remember this night… and the lesson, Aja. Never, ever, lie to me"

Aja's head snapped back as Vadim stepped away. There had to be more to it than just leaving her with this soon to be hideous scar across her face. Her whiskey colored eyes widened as she saw him turn and leave the alley… but the men remained. So this was what he meant by learning the lesson. She was going to get the shit beat out of her. At least they wouldn't rape her… that wasn't Vadim's style.

The first punch landed in her stomach, doubling her over as another came down across the bridge of her nose. More blows rained down on her stomach and ribs, her kidneys and her lower back. She was kicked in the back of the knees, bringing her to kneeling in some form in the middle of the group of men. Her lip had long since split and she felt her face swelling up to match the sharp pain in her right side. They'd broken her ribs, she knew it as she felt that same pain shoot through her again. Long before they'd even begun to slow down, Aja was praying for unconsciousness. This was the price she paid for her job. This was the price she paid to protect the people of New York. Not once did she feel anger about it, nor did she feel betrayed by the people either. She did it to protect them, to keep them from suffering this same pain and humiliation.

The last punch knocked her to the ground onto all fours. She felt the refuse of the alley under her hands, thick and slimy garbage that smelled of rotting food and stale alcohol. As she landed on her hands and knees, she felt a piece of glass slice into her palm. One last kick was landed into the soft and swollen part of her abdomen that pitched her over onto her back. The unconsciousness that she'd prayed for when the beating first started came slowly while she watched the men stand over her. For a few minutes she tried to breathe, but the pain from her ribs drew the breaths into short pants.

The last thing Aja remembered was someone lifting her up and a voice whispering in her ear to be quiet and rest. "Help is not coming," the man's voice said as he brushed her hair out of the bloody mess of her face. "You will be lucky if you die before he is done with you."

you always wanted people to remember you

to leave your mark on society

well don't you know your wish is coming true today

another victim dies tonight

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