Three

Their first evening in the city passes without incident and Aaron breathes a sigh of relief when the sense of being watched does not return. He is almost certain he felt eyes on him at the market earlier, but he reasons that if an asset or other agent had found them they would have attacked while they were alone in the small room. They shop in the market and Aaron pretends to be the long-suffering husband waiting for his wife to finish trying on new clothes, though he is too focused on constantly checking out their surroundings to actually feel bored about just sitting around. The last thing he wants is for them to be caught unawares, especially since he can see Marta finally start to loosen up; he does not want to chase that smile away. Soon enough it will be stomped out of her as they pick-up and leave for the next busy town.

They eat in a restaurant for the first time since they have been together at a small, hole-in-the-wall place near their room and he watches as Marta tries and he knows she is forcing herself to get over her aversion of trying unfamiliar foods. So, he tempts her with morsels while she jokes, "I'm more of a fast food and frozen dinners kind of girl." It is something he already knows but does not want to disturb her with his knowledge of her eating habits.

"It is entirely the lab's fault," she explains as he offers her a bite of the steamed bun filled with Asian style pork.

"The lab made you crave greasy burgers and too salty frenched fries," he asks incredulously.

"No," she laughs, too, it does seem ridiculous when she thinks about it. "No, I was always getting called to the lab at such odd times and when I was there I had so much work to do. I didn't have time to cook real food."

Aaron picks up a piece of squid and pops it into his mouth after dipping it in an aneurism-inducing hot sauce. Marta frowns, "What is that," she asks as he swirls a piece of seafood in the sauce.

He debates whether or not to tell her but realizes by the disgusted look on her face she really doesn't want to know. So, he tells her so.

"I just hate to eat anything I can't pronounce," she sniffs and pokes a finger into the sauce and puts it in her mouth before he can stop her. She whimpers and he has to restrain himself from laughing as she puts a hand on her head as if trying to hold the top on. "Oh, my god, my brain just tried to jump out of my skull! What the hell is that," she demands as tears stream from the corners of her dark eyes.

"A mixture of daikon radish and horseradish," he smirks as he scoops up a dollop and pops it into his mouth.

"You," she pokes him in the shoulder as she glares at him, "Are insane and that stuff should come with a warning."

"It does," he laughed. "Here, try another steamed bun," he offers her one of the few items she did not grimace at when he feed it to her.

By the time they return to the room, the sun has set and Marta looks as if she is ready to sleep for at least the next few days. He knows she still isn't sleeping well and jumping through time zones and fighting for her life only make it worse.

Tonight, she seems more relaxed than she has since she walked away from the massacre in the lab and he thinks she just might be able to sleep through the night for once. There is no debate over the singular queen bed in the room; neither one of them is going to argue for sleeping alone. So, Marta falls asleep curled around Aaron's body and does not wake until he stirs the next morning.

After they both take tepid showers in the room's tiny bathroom, Aaron suggests heading back into town and trying to find an Internet café or somewhere they can access the world wide web long enough to see if they are still making the news or not. He doubts that any local channels in the area are running reports about him and Marta, which was one of the reasons he felt comfortable enough to go somewhere where they'd be surrounded by people. It is highly unlikely that any of these people will have seen their faces on TV.

They find a coffee shop with a few computers that allow patrons access if they pay for the minute and order coffee and a bowl of xoi to share, though Aaron can tell that Marta might be reaching her limit for trying nontraditional foods; especially for breakfast.

Marta sits beside him, sipping on her coffee while he gets the Internet up and running. Aaron decides to bite the bullet and go straight to CNN; he's not sure if he and Marta will have made the national news yet, even though Pamela Landy, Jason Bourne and Treadstone are making the rounds. Pretty soon the powers-that-be, i.e. Eric Byer would run out of people to throw to the wolves.

The front page loads and beneath a video is the headline Woman Arrested in Connection with Terrorist Attacks. Aaron does not recognize the woman but he is relieved the first picture to load is not himself or the Doc.

"Oh my God," Marta practically chokes on her coffee, nearly knocking the cup over in her hurry to put it down, and grab the mouse. She doesn't seem to care that the several patrons in the shop have turned to stare at her. "Oh my God," she says again and Aaron looks at the screen, trying to see whatever it is that she is seeing. "That's my sister," Marta presses her hand to her mouth, but her words are still too loud in the busy cafe.

Aaron's eyes go wide and then he is squinting at the woman on the computer screen. He can see the resemblance between them now that he is looking; she is tall, with Marta's dark hair and lips. She is pretty but in a plain forgettable way she does not have that something that Marta exuded which Aaron felt in the depths of his being. It was plain by studying the woman as she was drug past the camera that Byer was holding to his usual interrogation ritual: deprivation of all basic human needs and humiliation. Aaron is sad to realize the woman's mental fortitude is failing and her face betrays her fear. Not that Aaron can blame her, given the fact that she's standing in the company of Eric Byer with her hands cuffed behind her back, apparently being accused of participating in a terrorist plot.

Before he knows what she is about Marta clicks the play button and this is not a wise decision they are too exposed. The image on the screen jumps to one of a CNN correspondent, who is standing in front of the building where this press conference is behind held.

"Gemma Shearing, a forty year old woman currently residing in Montreal has just been arrested, for allegedly conspiring against the American people. This latest in a long string of recent terrorist related arrests is thought to be related to the virus stolen from Sterlsyn Morlanta by Dr. Marta Shearing, the sole survivor of a tragic workplace shooting which left six dead along with the shooter, Dr. Donald Foite, who committed suicide at the scene.

"Shearing is the older sister of this woman," a photograph of Marta replaced the face of the reporter, "Dr. Marta Shearing, who it was believed died in a house fire just days after surviving the events at her lab is now thought to be alive and is wanted in connection with the deaths of the federal agents, whose bodies were recovered from her Maryland home."

Aaron tensed when his own picture is suddenly staring back at him; glancing over his shoulder he quickly X'd out of the window and closes the laptop with a snap. There are two people glancing in their direction, but he can't tell if they've been paying close attention to what is on the screen. Suddenly, Aaron feels exposed and the hair on the back of his neck rises and he knows, without seeing them, that someone is watching him.

"What…I was…" Marta sputters, surprised by his sudden behavior. "I want to watch that!" She protests, and her voice is a little too loud for Aaron's liking. He resists the urge to jerk her from her seat and drag her from the crowded café because that will just make them more noticeable. Marta is visibly upset and attracting more than enough attention, which is the last thing he wants at the moment.

He suddenly feels like they're very exposed, like the very act of watching that news report has somehow brought the wolves' right to their door. Standing to his feet Aaron stuffs the laptop into his pack and then takes Marta's arm pulling her up as well. "We need to go now." He does not explain and he hopes she waits until they have distance from the shop before she comes unhinged. He pulls her close to him as they leave the coffee shop, as though that little gesture can make what they've just seen go away. She is thankfully silent until they are outside, but it does not last long enough for them to escape and Aaron's tension ratchets up a couple notches as Marta struggles to pull free from his grasp.

It makes his temper flair that she would choose now to balk against him, now, when they were in danger, because Aaron can feel the eyes on them even now. Someone inside that coffee shop knows who they are; Aaron is sure of that. Letting his eyes study the people visible through the window he tenses as a man near the back of the room ducks into the kitchen. Letting her pull out of his embrace-like hold Aaron takes her upper arm and begins pulling her toward the room.

She pulls away from him when they are only a handful of steps from the coffee shop and Aaron does not hesitate to reach for her and tightening his grip until it is bruising-ly tight. He hates that he is probably hurting her, but figures better a few finger shaped bruises than a bullet, from the asset, through the head.

She is fighting him on every step and he cannot understand her sudden irrational behavior. Even in Maryland she had verbally balked but she had understood the very real danger they were in. Now, she is acting erratically and though she was not screaming at him, Aaron thinks her actions speak louder than words to get them noticed as they walk quickly down the street. She was going to get them killed and her lack of trust rankled.

Her sister is in danger and he knew that would create an emotional response in Marta; hell he had used the very same response back in that hotel when he told Marta contacting her sister would make her a target. He had not shared that Byer would most-likely make it personal by going after the woman anyway, because he needed Marta's head in the game. Honestly, Aaron hoped the bastard would want to avoid the extra complication Marta's sister would bring to the mix, but it looked like Byer was intent to use the woman against her sister and Aaron would not let him succeed.

Marta is shaking with fear and rage, but at least she is finally not pulling against his hold as they make their way back to the room, but he does not slow down because he feels like they are wearing targets on their backs. The man back there might have been an employee, but Aaron does not think so because he recognized something in the way the man moved that makes Aaron paranoid.

Once they are back to the room Aaron opens the door and shoves her in before checking the hallway again and closing the door behind them. She does not wait until the door is closed before she is demanding, "I need to see the rest of that report." Marta's eyes are wild and Aaron thinks Byer's really knew where to strike. Frankly, Aaron thought, until the Doc Aaron never had anyone or anything that mattered enough to elicit this type of emotion; that is probably why the greens and blues were so necessary in the program.

"That's my sister, she's in danger. I…I need to help her...I…we have to do something."

Marta looks fierce; as if she could just get on the next plane and walk right up to Eric Byer and claw his eyes out like a she-cat. Aaron takes her hand; it has calmed her before, he tries to guide her to the bed. Marta follows but he can still feel resistance from her. "I understand," he murmurs, soothingly, but he really doesn't. "But it's not safe to stay here anymore. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible." He's still trying to shake the feeling that they're being watched, trying to assure himself that he really is just being paranoid. Because if there was someone out there watching them, they would be dead already, not cowering in their room.

Aaron moves to the window and lifts the curtain away just enough to see the street below; he doesn't see anyone, but just because there's no one there doesn't mean they can stay. Loitering and debating until they are out of options. Anyone at the coffee shop could have seen their pictures on the screen; the local police force could be getting pictures e-mailed their way at this very moment. Aaron is starting to feel foolish for coming here at all. After Manila, coming into Vietnam was pretty much the only logical choice and maybe that was the problem: Aaron was following his training. He froze becoming very still. All assets went through the same training and every damned one of them would have made the trek to Vietnam after Manila.

"Pack," he growls, whirling around as he grabs up their packs and tosses Marta's onto the bed beside her. Anyone would be able to deduce their current location. And, on top of everything, there is now the new problem of Marta's sister to deal with. Gemma Shearing is a problem Aaron doesn't feel equipped to handle.

Aaron starts filling his pack with the supplies they purchased yesterday at the market. He could not believe that he let himself slip into a false sense of security, to imagine them staying here for a few days, finally getting to breathe. Looking up as he stuffs a shirt into the pack Aaron finds Marta just watching him, making no move to gather her things together. Her eyes betray the fact that her mind is a million miles away and it doesn't take a genius to guess exactly what she is thinking of. "Marta…"

His voice seems to snap her back to the present and she focuses on him, her brow knitting, "Aaron…They have my sister." She says this as though he wasn't sitting next to her watching that report. Maybe she hopes saying the words will somehow make it easier for him to understand or maybe she thinks he does understand; either way she is still standing motionless or Aaron can feel his skin crawl with annoyance.

"I know." Aaron says gently, putting the backpack down on the bed and stepping toward her. "I'm sorry."

"What are we going to do?" Marta questions, her eyes round and pleading as she looks up at him. She is begging him to solve this problem the way he has been able to solve every other problem they have faced together. She trusts him he can see it in her dark eyes and having someone's trust is foreign to Aaron; it's a burden he's not sure he can live up to.

Aaron sighs, "Right now, Doc, we have to get out of here. We can't stay here any longer, it's not safe. Once we have a place to lay low that isn't compromised we can talk about your sister."

Marta nods and he thinks she understands, but her next words contradict this. "We've got to get to Washington." She says this simply, like it's a given. She says it as if they have no other choice. Aaron's face must betray how horrible that idea is because Marta's brow furrows and her eyes narrow, "We have to go. They have my sister."

"Marta, you know-"

"I don't care," her voice is brittle as her eyes fill with tears and fury. "That is my sister. I can't just leave her in the hands of those…those people." Marta protests. "They could kill her. She hasn't done anything wrong; the only reason Byer has her at all is because of me." She is pacing erratically now as she continues on with her tirade, "I haven't contacted her…You said she would be safe if I cut ties!" She stomps her foot when she adds, "I walked away once to keep her safe you can't as me to turn my back on her now!"

Aaron feels guilt clawing at his belly because that is exactly what he was prepared to ask her to do. But that guilt only lasts a moment. Things have always been simple in Aaron's world: survive at any costs. Marta has made them more complicated but only marginally so. His mantra is no longer protect yourself but is now protect Marta. While he was in the program, he was taught to ignore anything that might get in the way of the goal, including human emotions and collateral damage. That lesson is one he has never forgotten. Right now, the only goal that matters to him is to keep Marta safe and if that means they have to ignore everything else that is being thrown at them, so be it that included Marta's sister. He would not fail in this goal, "It's a trap." Aaron says dumbly, as though Marta has somehow missed that obvious point. "They're using her to draw you out."

Marta shakes her head, "I don't care," her voice is pleading, desperate. "If they want me, they can have me. But I'm not going to let my sister die because I was a coward." She is resolved he can see it in every line of her body. She would give her life for her sister without as much as a backward glance. It is unsettling for him to realize that she would probably trade him for her sister if it came down to the brass tacks.

Now it is Aaron's turn to shake his head. "No, I'm not going to let you turn yourself in." His voice and body language has subtly shifted and he finds it strange that she does not realize the distance creeping in between them. Perhaps, it was always there.

"I didn't ask your permission." Marta says sharply and Aaron blinks in surprise. "You can't honestly expect me just to walk away from her, to let those monsters hold her hostage. This is my sister!"

Aaron gives her a shrewd look and crosses his arms over his chest. The distance is wider now, a chasm, between them when he states flat out, "Well, you can't honestly just expect me to let you go." Marta crosses her arms over her chest this time and the chasm is seconds away from becoming an abyss. "And you are an idiot if you think just because you walk right up to Byer with a fucking bow around your neck he is going to actually let your sister go." He snorts and flicks his eyes over her angry figure. "These are the same people that murdered an entire team of defenseless scientists because Jason Bourne is playing merry heart with their programs!" Shaking his head he continues quietly, almost afraid of voicing the truth, "You know that is not how these people work Marta! He will thank you kindly for making his job easy and then just kill you both."

"Fine," Marta retorts petulantly and Aaron rolls his eyes at her. "At least I'll know that I did something to try and help her!"

"What," he demanded, "Filled her last moments with the knowledge she was used to hurt her sister. You're being stubborn and you aren't thinking clearly." Aaron points out.

Marta throws up her hands in defeat. "How am I supposed to think? My sister is in danger, Aaron, because of me." She presses her hand to her heart and the emotion in her eyes is palpable. "Because of me and if she dies, it will be my fault." She closes her eyes and it is a relief not to see the blatant pain in her gaze. Aaron has never really had to deal with tearful women before and it makes him feel out of control. Uncrossing his arms Aaron moves toward her but she murmurs brokenly, pleadingly, "She's all I have left."

For some reason, that statement from her lips stings, but Aaron tries not to dwell on it. He takes another step toward her, wanting to pull her into his arms and prove her wrong and that he is here. He has the insane need to taste her, he feels it more strongly than he ever has before and he doesn't know if it is because she is breaking his heart or because he has never seen her look so beautiful. "Marta, I'm sorry-"

"No, that's not good enough." Marta's eyes open again and the tears are gone, replaced by anger and determination. "I have to do something. My sister would never abandon me if I needed her. I'm not going to leave her."

Aaron wants to put his first through the wall. He wants to shatter the lamp and break the mirror above the bathroom sink. But that won't solve the problem, it won't make things better. He wishes he could have just five minutes alone with Byer, because he seriously thinks he could tear the man apart. He should have prepared her; it wasn't as if Aaron did not know this was coming. He always knew that Outcome would never let the two of them just walk away into the sunset. Byer set the trap with the choicest morsel and then sat back waiting for Marta to try and grab it from under his nose and when she did Byer would win, because he would not just be getting Marta, he would be getting Aaron Cross, too.

Aaron clinches his fists, trying to fight down the anger and helplessness that is coursing through his veins like a virus, threatening to unmake him. He cannot lose Marta; he will not let her give herself up any more than he can keep her from trying to turn herself in, foolishly, to save her sister. However, much she would hate him for what he was about to say Aaron said the words anyway. Better her hatred than her blood on his hands at least she would be alive. "Marta, no," Aaron swallows, forcing himself to meet her eyes. "I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger."

"You can't tell me what I can and can't do, Aaron." Marta informs him defiantly. "I don't know why we're even still arguing about this."

Aaron throws up his hands in frustration, "Because I won't let them kill you!" He shouts. He doesn't mean to raise his voice at her but she's not bringing out the best in him right now. "This is stupid!"

"I don't care! Why don't you understand that?" Marta shouts back at him. "She's my family I'm sorry that you don't have someone in your life that cares whether you ever come home or not! But I do care if my sister rots in some prison because of me."

It is strange the pain in his chest and Aaron thinks that it is not unlike being shot. It all comes home to him in that moment. All the time he spent flirting and baiting her he was nothing except a number; a useful tool to be poked, prodded, scraped and bled. Five, she doesn't call him that any more, but maybe she should have. It was a terribly simple realization that if Byer had not sent someone to kill her she would have never even known his name. She only knew it now because he was useful. They weren't in the lab any more, but she still knew just where to scrape to make him bleed.

Marta's eyes are wide and her hand is covering her mouth. She must not have meant to reveal his value in this little team they were forced to be. The words already hang between them and he doesn't know if she can see his thoughts written on his face and regrets her words or just the timing of the revelation. Marta takes a step toward him but Aaron moves away from her and the tentative hand reaching for his.

"Aaron," She reaches for him again but he turns away from her to pack her things

"Five," he murmurs, feeling a little childish, as he thrusts a couple bottles of water into her pack, "You wouldn't want to humanize the experiment."

"I don't know why I said that. I don't…" She sounds miserable and even as hurt as he is by the realization that he is still just a thing in her eyes. He wants to make her feel better. I…I'm sorry."

"It is fine," Aaron says and ten minutes earlier he might have added an affectionate Doc but now his voice is colder and more clipped than he has ever spoken to her, before.

He sounds unfamiliar even to himself as he assures her in a deadly tone, "I'll get your sister, but I have to plan and map it all out." He throws her pack at her feet and pulls his own onto his back. Moving to the door Aaron checks the clip in his gun and then pushes it into the back of his jeans. "We have to move," he orders as he opens the door and checks the hall and then turns back toward her. She has not moved to even pick up her pack, "Now, Dr. Shearing!"

Marta doesn't move for a moment and he thinks she is about to fight him some more, but why? He already told her he would get her sister what could she possibly find to argue about now? His shoulders are tense and he can see the way she eyes him warily. His hands clinch into fists when she swallows and her eyes meet his. There are tears in her eyes and it doesn't register that they may be for him. The abyss is no longer yawning it is gulping the distance spread between them.

"I didn't mean it." She says weakly.

Kenneth Kitsom was an old hand at being dismissed; tenderness always had a price and people always looked out for number one. For Aaron Cross it was understood that he had a purpose and little else, but that small part of him that was still Kenneth Kitsom, deep down, it was almost Pavlovian the way he panted after any crumb she would give him.

."It doesn't matter." He knows the coldness in his eyes, the hardness of his face disturbs her, but she has drawn a line. As petulant as that makes him he cannot change is protective instincts. "Get your things we have wasted enough time here."

They don't bother to check-out they just head into the crowded streets outside. Aaron does not reach for her hand this time and his strides are quick. When she gets tangled with a small cluster of people he turns and waits impatiently for her to catch up. Aaron leads her back to the wharf and commandeers a small boat. Marta trips as she climbs aboard and he catches her arm helping her get her footing and then he releases her and pilots them out of Vietnam.

Gemma has traded in the metal chair and handcuffs for a tiny cell with two guards posted outside at all times. She figures that's a bit of an improvement but she's not feeling very optimistic. She's exhausted and terrified and she can't see any reprieve in sight. The entire world now thinks she's a terrorist. No one would her now.

As she sits on the thin mattress that makes up her bed and one of only two pieces of "furniture" in her current living quarters, Gemma thinks about her sister. She knows Marta better than anyone, she feels like she knows her beyond the capacity of just being her older sister. But she doesn't know what to think anymore. There's grainy camera footage featuring her sister using a fake passport to leave the country. There's footage of her at a laboratory in Manila with the man known as Aaron Cross, a rouge government agent from the same program as Jason Bourne. Gemma doesn't know much about Bourne or have much of an opinion on all these conspiracy theories that have been playing on the news non-stop recently but she knows enough to know that these men are not the type of people Marta would normally associate herself with. But there's no denying the hard proof, the fact that Marta and Aaron have been seen together several times. Her sister's trail goes cold in Manila; no one has seen her or Aaron since they fled the city after leading police on a wild and dangerous chase. Half dozen men are dead. This just doesn't seem like the Marta she knows.

Gemma wonders if this is what Marta has been hiding all these years. Has she been working for these programs, creating genetic super soldiers? Is this what she's never been able to talk about? Maybe there is more to her sister than she ever knew before.

She wonders if Marta knows that she's been arrested…Because of her. Did Marta care? Gemma can't believe that she wouldn't. They're still family and Marta isn't the heartless machine that Byer and the news are now painting her to be. If Marta knew she was here, then she'd try and do something about it. Gemma has to believe that.

Not that that's much consolation now.

Eric Byer stands in front of a wall of video monitors, his attention on the one featuring live footage from Gemma Shearing's cell. He can already tell he's broken her. Her spirit is gone; she seems resolute in the belief that she can't stop whatever is going to happen to her now. That idea makes Byer smile slightly. That means she'll be so much easier to manipulate now. He's starting to suspect that by the end of the week he'll have her believing with all her heart that her precious baby sister is the root of all evil.

Noah Vosen comes up to stand behind the man, watching the monitor over his shoulder. He does not seem as pleased by Gemma's captivity as Byer. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Byer turns to face the man. "You've always trusted me before." He points out.

"Well, you've never pushed me quite like this before." Vosen responds. "I don't like having our names and faces all over this. And you've locked up an innocent woman; you'd better hope no one pulls to hard on that thread."

Byer just scoffs. "We branded her a terrorist; no one is going to want to touch that with a ten-foot-pole." He says. "Trust me, if this doesn't bring in Shearing, then she's already dead somewhere. She's a doctor; she's not a trained agent. She'll be too emotional to ignore this."

Vosen raises an eyebrow. "What do we care about Shearing for? She's not another Jason Bourne running around, fucking stuff up for us."

"No, but Cross is attached to her. He'll never let her come here alone. We'll have them both before you can recite the Pledge of Allegiance." Byer shakes his head. "Cross should have been put down a long time ago. He thinks too much and that makes him a liability." He and Shearing really are the perfect pair: they're both too emotional, unfortunate assholes who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. He'd almost feel bad for them if they weren't making his life a living hell.

"Then we'll look like the good guys again, capturing a group of wanted terrorists." Byer finishes. "People will start to forget the whole Pamela Landy disaster."

Vosen shakes his head, scrubbing a hand across his face. "I could kill that bitch with my own two hands. Women!"

Byer laughs softly. "They always need a man to clean up their messes." Thankfully, he's just the man for the job.

From Vietnam, there are dozens of logical places they can go, so Aaron feels confident that, if there is someone tracking them, they'll soon lose the trail. He and Marta board a plane for Bangladesh, putting two more of his forged passports to good use. Like when they left for Manila, Aaron and Marta sit separately and don't acknowledge one another as they move through the airport and wait for the flight to take off. Marta finds that she misses his little reassurances, smiles or nods to calm her nerves. She wants to take everything back, to go back to the night before when she fell asleep curled against his body with his arm around her. She'd felt so close to him, so protected. Now he couldn't be farther away.