Summary: Lucas' return to MI5 goes anything but as planned, with Kachimov determined both to not loose his prize to Harry and to destroy Section D to please his bosses, the whole team soon get dragged into a desperate game of survival.
Background: Adam is still alive, Jo has come back onto the grid ('cause I like her), Connie, Malcolm and Ben are around and Ros is known to be alive. Hope you enjoy! This chap features Lucas, Harry and Adam.
Hit the ground running: 1 Escape Gone Awry
It was 3:00. It was always 3:00 here. The clock was broken, had been ever since he'd smashed it to stop the ticking, before trying to use the glass to end everything.
He hadn't realised at the time that the lack of knowing what time it was would be what really drove him into this deadened state of mind. There was no way to observe how time was passing. He was left in isolation, there were no windows, no real light sources other then the window on the door. He had never been given a routine of meals, they had never taken away the clock.
He knew it was all a cleverly designed plan by Kachimov. If there was no routine, no certainty in his life, then he could never rest for fear of another interrogation. He couldn't remember the last time he had properly slept. Possibly for as many years as he had been in here. He didn't know by now how many it had been.
Most of the time it dragged so slowly by that he was sure he must have been there forever, sometimes it that he had dreamed all of the horrific events and that any day now he would be released. The latter didn't happen much anymore.
Truthfully without Arkady he would have gone mad a long time ago. Other then his interrogators the man was the only thing in the world that would talk to him. And certainly the only one who would have conversations.
How long had it been? Too long, that was for sure. Too long to expect a rescue now. What value was he to MI5? Even if he hadn't given up any intelligence, which it still ashamed him to remember he had. But during those first few months of torture, he had broken for a brief time of torture. Anything he knew when he was captured was of no use to anyone now. Occasionally he would get interrogated again, people who were desperate for some information, and apparently he was still a prize capture even after all this endless time.
Lucas smiled in melancholy, after so long, he wasn't sure he could have ever been a prize with the distinct lack of interest to get him back.
He knew he was thinking all of Kachimov's favourite phrases, but after all this time, he couldn't help it. He knew Kachimov was trying to turn him, but even now he couldn't quite let that happen.
The sound of locks on his door being opened stirred him from his thoughts with the usual dulled flare of fear. Through the barred window he could see Kachimov's balding head. His temporary panic withdrew, and he sat up slowly to welcome the man. Hopefully they would talk, for half an hour, maybe a whole one or two if he was lucky. His craving for human contact of any kind was always high. But he hadn't had company of any sort for a few weeks now, which was a long time for Kachimov to stay away.
"Long time no see." He greeted pleasantly when the door opened. Arkady smiled, but underneath his projected warmth there was some sort of tension.
"Lucas! How have you been? I apologise for my long absence but there was much preparation that needed to be done." Lucas frowned slightly in confusion.
"Preparation for what?" Arkady laughed slightly.
"Now come come Lucas, I do not wish to spoil the surprise, I am only saddened that I will not have as long with you as I hoped to."
In an instant Lucas was tense, his MI5 training kicking in, the one thing that had never left him in this place as he had listened, hoping to catch some snippet of information about anything, maybe then he would be valuable enough to be recovered.
"What's going on?" He couldn't help the slight panic in his voice, for years it had been the same, and now two burly guards he didn't recognise were coming towards him, Arkady was getting out a pair of handcuffs. Not unusual, whenever he was interrogated this would happen, but this time there was something different.
"Relax Lucas, do not make things more difficult for yourself yes?" He barely resisted as the thickset men hauled him to his feet, even as he swayed slightly the adrenalin begun kicking in. This couldn't be good, where was he being taken? Had he finally run out of uses for the Russians? He'd thought of and even tried ending his life more times then he liked to think about, had thought he was prepared for death, would welcome it. But now that it was coming, he realised he wasn't ready at all.
Once he was cuffed Kachimov pulled a syringe out of his cloak, already filed with liquid.
"What are you going to do?" His heart was beating faster as he tried in vain to jerk away from his captors. In all his years in the prison Kachimov had never once initiated torture himself of any kind, purposefully being a benevolent character.
"Calm down Lucas, I wish also that this was not necessary, but it will make everything easier." He cringed slightly as he felt the needle going into his arm, more out of fear of what was to come then pain.
"There now, that was not so bad was it?" Before his eyes Kachimov's smile begun to tilt, a vertigo-like dizziness begun to warp his mind as the room darkened and started to spin.
"What did you give me?" His words were slurred, and Kachimov looked almost sad through the haze.
"I am sorry to be loosing you Lucas." Spots appeared in his vision as his legs buckled with sudden fatigue. The rough arms supporting him stopped him from falling to the floor, the darkness claimed his mind as he struggled fruitlessly to stay awake.
"It's taking effect a bit too quickly." One of the guards muttered.
"Well he hasn't been given even as much food as he usually gets these past three weeks. Our gracious bosses don't want him to be any unnecessary trouble." The foggy words were the last thing he heard.
::
"Why do you think they're agreeing to this spy swap?" Adam Carter questioned.
"Maybe they have a pressing need for their man Boklov. Either way the return package is such a prize we don't need to worry about much." Harry certainly seemed excited, in his own specially stoic way of course, but Adam had known him long enough to be able to tell.
"Who are we getting back?" Harry's mouth twitched slightly.
"A man we misplaced in Moscow some time ago." Adam was sure he would have heard about something like that going down.
"How long ago?" Harry's slightly melancholic smirk gave him some hint to the answer.
"Eight years."
"Eight!" The answer was still a shock. He glanced over at Harry, there was a rare expression in the older man's eyes, guilt. Adam almost didn't dare to bring it up, but thought he had to state the obvious.
"Are you prepared that what he was before wont be what you get back?" Harry cast him a slightly patronising glance, but it held a hint of annoyance as well.
"Alright, alright! Sorry I brought it up." He mumbled good-naturedly. The senior officer allowed an amused smile before climbing into the passenger seat of the car they had reached.
::
A repetitive jarring movement gradually rocked him awake. Wherever he was it was pitch black and moving.
Lucas groaned, finding his whole body was aching and cramped. His head still foggy with whatever drug Arkady had given him, and throbbed as if he'd been knocked physically out rather then drugged.
Just as he came to the realisation that he must be in the boot of a car, the movement jerked to a stop. He could hear muffled bangs of doors.
Lucas tried to will his numb head to process faster. If he was being killed, this seemed an elaborate and unnecessary way to accomplish that. Kachimov had said that somebody didn't want him to cause trouble. So was he being moved somewhere? And if so where?
His thoughts were once again interrupted by the clicking of the boot lid.
Desperately hoping for some clue of where he was, he turned his head to where he thought the lid was open.
Instead of being greeted by useful scenery, he was blinded by light so bright it seemed impossible.
Screwing his eyes tightly shut he heard Kachimov chuckle, but the noise was soon drowned out by the unearthly roar of a huge engine. Wishing his hands were free so he could protect his ears, Lucas wondered how he could have forgotten how loud a plane was, what it sounded like.
The sensory overload along with his only half awake mind made him cower slightly.
'Make it stop!' He thought desperately. The light seemed to penetrate through his eyelids, the noise of his surroundings were merged into an unintelligible booming in his head.
"Are you sure its wise to give him another shot?"
"We can't have him panicking and alerting people to his presence, it is not our problem if he is a little woozy later." Lucas recognised the voice of Kachimov, and was almost relieved when he felt the prick of a needle in his arm, welcoming the reassuring darkness again.
::
The swap was taking place in neutral territory, a disused construction site quite some way into the country, surrounded by forest.
"These aren't exactly ideal conditions Harry." Adam muttered. There were millions of places to launch an ambush from. Harry turned back to Bolkov.
"If this doesn't go according to plan, it will be the shortest walk you ever took." The man gave no reaction.
The pinpricks of headlights appeared in the distance.
"Here we go." Harry muttered. Adam took a breath. Something about swaps always made him edgy, there were so many things that could go wrong.
::
Someone was shaking him from the darkness. Lucas groaned slightly.
"This will never work! They wont follow the plan if they see him in this state!"
"Calm yourself Dmitri!" So Kachimov was still around. At least he wasn't in the boot this time, and he was starting to get used to being drugged as soon as he woke up.
He had woken briefly as he was being loaded into the backseat of a car. But the period before he had been drugged was so brief he had no idea where he was.
His head throbbed painfully and he could feel waves of nausea gripping him. He didn't think he could move even if he wanted to.
"I told you not to drug him so many times! They will know this is a setup!"
"You are not helping Dmitri!" The shaking started again, swiftly followed by a sharp slap. "This is no time to be sleeping Lucas!" Kachimov sounded anxious, which in turn made him feel slightly panicked. Arkady was always in control, this felt wrong.
"Come on Lucas, open your eyes now." Back to the gentler, more in-control side. With some effort Lucas forced his heavy eyelids to flutter open. It was dark, but there was a pair of piercing headlights in the distance that drove daggers into his skull.
Almost as soon as he had screwed his eyes shut however, he felt some material being tugged over his head.
"That's better am I right? Now listen carefully to me Lucas." He did not like the hood, and begun trying to struggle slightly, but the movement of his head caused a fresh wave of dizziness and nausea to swamp him.
"Relax, Lucas, are you listening to me?" A firm hand was gripping his shoulder, partly he expected to stop him falling over. The bag was even more disorientating then the bright lights. His hearing was muffled and the air was stale, he was blind to whatever was going on and he was barely able to move anyway. Despite his best efforts he slumped back against the seat, trying to draw deep breaths. He hated feeling this vulnerable. He received another shake and remembered he had been asked a question. Slowly he nodded to show he was listening.
"Good. Now, if you behave here then maybe you can get something you have wanted for eight long years." Lucas' breathing stilled, Arkady noticed.
"That's right Lucas, if you behave, you can go home." Impossible hope washed over him, and he gasped. Home, England! Could he really leave?
"Do I have your word Lucas?"
"Yes! Yes." He stumbled over the muffled words, almost laughing with relief. He could go home, finally, after all these years! And even if it was a trick, he was too far-gone to care.
"Excellent! Now, we are conducting a little business deal here, you play your part and you will be unharmed, then after there is cleanup, we can send you home." Through the bliss that had encapsulated him, he felt the stirrings of suspicion, of worry. "There may be some loud noises but do not panic, do not run and you will not be hurt."
So there would be guns, he felt his smile slipping slightly, what was going on? Some sort of swap? But a fake swap, where Kachimov kept everything and the losers died. But who what was he being swapped for, and to who?
"Are you ready?" The car slowed gently to a stop. Despite his misgivings, he nodded. What did he care if some other Russian organisation got killed? He could have everything he'd dreamed of for eight years.
Doors begun opening, and hands begun to drag him upright and out of the car, he felt the change to cold air as arms held him up. His legs could barely take his weight and he could swear the world was spinning. But his excitement was almost painful, along with the almost unbearable tension. 'Just one last game, just one more' he coaxed his brain, and felt someone pulling off the hood.
Headlights made him squint again, but now adrenalin was kicking in, and his eyes adjusted rapidly. Into both the best and most terrifying scene he could imagine.
There, not twenty meters away, was Harry Pierce, pushing another man into walking towards them. It was Harry the Russians were tricking, him they were going to kill! Hope died, and was replaced by every instinct he'd ever possessed screaming at him to stop this. No matter how much he wanted to go home, it was never worth the price of Harry's life, or the agent who stood beside him. His exchange started moving forwards, he could practically see guns being aimed in his head.
"Harry no! It's a trap!" The shouted words blurted out without a second thought, praying with all his strength that they would listen to him.
Harry did a double take as the guard holding him pushed him forwards, releasing his grip with a cry.
"Duck and cover!" He bellowed at them, and thankfully the younger agent reacted, grabbing onto Harry and pushing him down below the car out of shot. There was a strangled roar of rage from behind him, and Lucas turned as he stumbled, his legs beginning to give out from under him. The guard's gun was aimed at him.
Pain seared through his stomach almost before he heard the shot. With a cry he fell to the ground, grit scratching his face. Vertigo swamped him and he was surrounded by nothing but disorientation and pain.
"No! I told you not to shoot him!" Kachimov was screaming, gunshots begun to ring out and he heard the two men behind him scrabbling for cover, the car engine starting.
::
"Harry no! It's a trap!" Lucas' hoarse voice pierced him, and for crucial seconds he failed to comprehend, one second the man had looked dazed and disorientated, the next petrified. Bolkov begun to run towards his home side and Lucas was pushed away from the Russian guard, who had a gun.
"Duck and Cover!" Harry felt Adam grab him and drag him under the safety of the car, out of sight for snipers. There was a single gunshot and a cry of pain.
"Damn!" Adam cursed beside him, still holing onto his jacket. Harry looked up from the ground at Kachimov's angered shouts, and saw Lucas crumpled on the ground, shifting dizzily in pain.
"No," he pleaded.
Then the shots really begun to rain down, hitting the metal work of the car.
"We have to get out of here!" Adam stated obviously.
"We can't leave Lucas!" Harry demanded, knowing very well it was only due to his old protégé's warning and Adam's swift reaction that he was still here.
Adam shot him a look as though to remind Harry who he was talking to. Harry could almost have smiled, of course Adam wouldn't have left Lucas, he would never have forgiven himself.
"They must be up on the old building, that rubble will provide cover, get Lucas, I'll get the car to you!" Adam nodded and tensed for action. Harry was loath to send him out there, but he was probably the primary target.
Adam rolled out from under the car and kept rolling until he hit the low wall a meter from the car. Crouching he mapped out a path in seconds. The old scaffolding and debris provided excellent cover and he half wondered if the Russians had planned this setup in haste.
He drew alongside the hostage who was thankfully not being shot at, the Russian's had driven off with their man Boklov, and Adam heard their own car start in the background. He would have to cross open ground to reach the fallen spy but most of the fire was concentrated on the car anyway.
"Lucas!" The man looked up dazedly at his yell, he didn't look good. "We're getting out of here!" The man looked around to see the car heading towards them before turning back to him.
"Leave me I'm not worth it!" Adam was slightly taken aback, but the man had a pained expression on his face that had nothing to do with a gunshot. Adam realised that if he or especially Harry died here, the old agent would probably never forgive himself. But neither would Adam if he left this man here to die or face another eight years of Russian prison.
"Not a chance!" Their eyes caught and Lucas seemed to swiftly accept who the more stubborn of the two of them was, he nodded shortly.
Adam took several deep breaths before springing from his ready position. Reaching Lucas he dragged him up off the ground, earning a groan from the other, and stumbled back to the cover. The prison diet for eight years meant thankfully he didn't weigh very much, because he could barely support himself.
He pulled the lax body against the cover of the wall just as Harry screeched up alongside them, popping the locks on the doors.
With another breath the spook hauled the other man up again and dashed for the doors. He threw the door open and dragged himself and Lucas in, who managed to slam the door shut behind him.
With an almost victorious screech of tyres Harry drove towards the main road, shots harmlessly hitting the ground behind them.
::Okay, so I'm not sure if this is any good or not! (to me it seems a bit strange hehe). This is my first spook fic and I may have gotten the characters wrong, if so please let me know, also I've never really seen any Adam other then 701 so if you have any useful tips please let me know! Also I don't really know where this story is going, long short or anywhere in between, so if you guys have any good crisis ideas id lurve to hear them! xD okay I'll leave now! ;)