Chapter One- Freedom
Six weeks later
The hum of the mustang's engines soothed her; the feeling of raw power under her derrière was enticing. She had the radio blasting Drowning Pool as she sped along the deserted highway. The top was down, and the wind caressed her hair. It fanned out behind her as she sped along. But what really made the ride enjoyable was the half empty bottle of Tequila in between her thighs.
Ah yes, Patron Silver really did take the pain away.
Once again she became lost in thought
And wished she hadn't.
Damn it she hadn't said his name out loud in weeks.
Damn it, she wouldn't do it now, half sober. Driving like a maniac down the long and winding road.
The roar of the Mustang's engine revived her to her senses. She had been doing it again, daydreaming. She found that she did that a lot. She couldn't tell if it was a result of the Commander's latest attempt to wipe her mind clean in that damn Brain Wave scanner of his. Or if it was simply,Just the result of too much good tequila.
She suspected it was a little bit of both.
She checked the gas gage, relieved to see that she was still good there.
She was in Arizona.
On route 67.
On her way back from the north rim of the Grand Canyon, heading back into Perdonia.
It was a little traveled part of the massive canyon, and she had on a whim decided that a road trip was in order. She had been in Arizona for three days now.
Four days ago she had been sitting in LaGuardia Airport waiting on her flight out to Texas.
Bored she had taken out a map of the United States.
Closing her eyes she had let her finger fall on her next destination.
Arizona.
After a brief layover in Amarillo where she had wiped out the bank account she had under an alias. She had purchased a one way ticket to, well, here.
Although why she had actually followed through and came, she wasn't sure.
Nearing the end of the highway she pulled into the lone gas station. She looked at the "shack" that passed for a store, its signage proclaiming its name in bold letters.
"HI NEIGHBOR "
"Well that's original" she murmured sarcastically to herself.
Tucking the bottle of Patron under the seat she got out of the rental car and made her way across the lot to the restrooms.
Going in she almost wished she had just found a bush on the side of the road. It was disgusting!
If anyone looked at her right now they would never recognize her as a wanted Terrorist. She looked nothing like herself.
Her former self, that is.
Standing there in the bathroom looking into the disease encrusted mirror was not Anastasia Cisarovna.
Gone was the long black hair, in its place was a shorter style, feathered softly around her face. And blonde.
She was blonde now.
Gone were the glasses. Her naturally blue eyes enhanced by blue-green tinted contacts gave her eyes a Smokey ocean look.
The accent was forgotten as well. She had adopted an almost southern twang to her speech. She had practiced saying ya'll till she thought she would puke. But she had mastered it.
"Stop it Ana." She muttered to herself. Staring into the mirror would was not beneficial. Every time she looked into one she thought back to that damn Hotel mirror in the foothills of The Scottish Highlands.
Disgusted with herself she washed her hands.
No standing there in that bathroom in Arizona was not the Baroness.
She was dead, at least for the time being.
She was now known as Caroline Smith.
"Carly Smith" to those she designed to speak with on a more personal level.
She was stuck up there in the middle of nowhere, and she loved it!
The one place on this earth Cobra, or the Joes, or anyone else for that matter would never think to look for her.
She finished washing her hands, keeping the paper towel from the dispenser to turn the water off and open the bathroom door. Grimacing in disgust she dropped it on the ground by her cowboy boots and sauntered towards the jet black car. Her hips swaying, making her Daisy Dukes look so appealing to the two cars and the truck pulling in to the station. She got two honks and a wolf whistle before she made it to the driver's door. It was getting dark, and she wanted to make it back to Jacob's Lake Inn, in Perdonia before it got too late. She was still very skittish.
Even though she was in disguise, the fear of being discovered made her trips outside few.
Hard to break old habits.
She knew Cobra was searching for her, and eventually they would probably figure out where she was. But by that time she would be long gone. The chase would begin again.
Cobra Commander didn't deal well with defectors.
And she would die before she would ever return to an organization run by that mad man.
To say he was insane was a gross understatement. Over the years he had got progressively worse, until all that was left was the psychopathic shell of a man.
It wouldn't be long before the organization either crumbled, or someone overthrew him.
She had always thought she would be there to see it happen.
But not anymore.
It was almost scary how quiet her mind had been after she left. Before there had always been the static.
And voices, like a crowded high school lunchroom. Her mind had never been free, had never been hers.
There was always someone with more control than herself.
She wanted the green dress, but bought the blue.
She loved diamonds, but had worn the pearls.
She had wanted to walk away, but instead had shot someone in the head.
It wasn't over, she knew that. A person did not go through what she had and then poof, be magically cured. But here, away from Mind Bender and the Commander, some of their control had faltered.
When she had returned from Scotland, the Commander had been furious.
She had left for two weeks without his "August permission."
To dare to actually do something, God forbid, without his knowledge.
He had punished her.
Severely.
Sending her through the scanner, again. Just to cause her some pain. But curiously, this time, Mind Bender had failed to hook up the key electrodes.
Had failed to turn the damn thing fully on.
The Commander had looked through the Lexan glass on the other side, and seeing the flashing lights. Had cackled in glorious triumph. Not even considering that the Good Doctor might have actually disobeyed a direct order.
Mind Bender had winked at her as the lights flashed.
Winked at her!
She was still disturbed by that. Either the man knew Commander's days were numbered, and he wanted to be in good with what he assumed would be the winning team.
Or he wanted something. And this was just the little bit of blackmail he needed.
Ana was at least grateful that the commander had stopped there. She didn't think she could ever go through what he had done to her the last time she was "punished."
The scars of that experience were branded on her soul.
And that time, she was punished for protecting the very man who had driven her out here.
To the damn Desert!
She slapped herself, swerving slightly on the road way as she did so.
She had to STOP this. It did her no good to rehash old scars.
No good at all!
Spying the road to the inn, she gratefully turned up it.
A hot shower, some dinner, and the rest of the Patron were what she needed.
Perhaps she would be able to get some rest; perhaps it would help keep the demon's at bay.
Perhaps not.
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Ok, so I am nervous about this. I started so many drafts of this first chapter. So many ideas floating around. Please be honest. Read and Review, tell me what you really think!