Chapter 3:

I stood off to the side watching Jack work on Yuri's arm but wasn't really seeing it. I was so close to getting shot I don't know how I'm even functioning right now. The ripping sound made me jump and I looked to see Jack ripping Yuri's right sleeve off so that he could tie it around Yuri's injured arm.

"What are you doing?" John asked but took off his jacket to wrap around Yuri, "Here, take this to keep warm."

Jack got to his feet and messaged his temples in frustration, "What was that John. Five minutes? You were here all of five minutes and you blew a three year op."

"What do you want me to do?" John asked throwing his arms up in the air.

"Unbelievable! Unbelievable!" Jack said as he paced, "I'm so burned. I have no fucking friends in this town anymore."

"What about your friends at Langley? Just give them a call." John tried to reason.

Jack held out his hand, "Give me your phone." I thought he was actually going to take Johns advice until he dropped it on the ground and then proceeded to stomp on it. Kicking it away, he turned to me ignoring John, "Do you have a phone too?" He asked.

I went to reach for it but realised I didn't have it with me. In fact I didn't have my entire bag with me. It was left up in the safe house that was first invaded and then blown up. It's safe to say that the bag and all the contents in it were completely destroyed.

"Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no, no…" I started to pace as I ran my hands through my chestnut locks.

"What? What's wrong?" Jack asked, placing his hands on my shoulder to stop my pacing.

"My bag, it was left in the safe house. My passport was in there, my money, my hotel key, everything!" I shouted in frustration, "Even my journal!"

Jack took his hands from my shoulder and stepped back, "After all that, that's what you're upset about? Your journal?" He asked disbelievingly.

"It was important to me!" I snapped, sending a glare his way.

He shrugged, "Get a new one. There are more important things to worry about right now."

"You don't understand! All my notes were in there! Everything from all my travels, to everything that happened here so far." I started speaking at such a fast pace and began walking back and forth frantically again. I was sure all my words were jumbled together, "I finally found something worth writing about and I lose it all! I'm on a deadline! I only have a year to write something that's worth publishing or my parents are going to force me into medical school. I can't go to medical school! I can't be a doctor! I would crack under the pressure of saving someone's life and I can't just sit there and listen to other people's problems when I could care less to hear to them in first place! You'd think that a twenty-five year old wouldn't have to listen to their parents about these kinds of life choices but you obviously haven't met my father. I bet you've heard of him though. Oh I bet you have. Not to mention I just almost died! I could have been shot! I don't think-"

"Oh my god! Shut up!" Jack snapped, causing me to jump but effectively shut my mouth. I'm not going to lie, I felt a little embarrassed by my rant.

"Hey, hey. Be nice Jack. She's stressed out alright." John said and shook his head, "You have a lot to learn about women."

"Oh like you know so much about women." Jack rolled his eyes, "She can deal with her problems later and I'll happily listen when this shit has been dealt with. For now, lets just get back on track." He turned to me with his intense gaze, "Alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah, sorry." Did he really just say he would listen? Did he even realise what he said? I looked to John who looked to have the same expression.

"Can I see your gun?" Jack asked his father, who handed it over. Jack cocked the gun before hooking it into the back of his pants. Apparently his last gun fell out or something. "Do you have any money?" Jack asked his dad.

"It's American." John said, taking out his wallet and giving his son the money.

Jack may not see it but his father was there for him. He was willing to do anything for him and you could see it in the way he handed over his phone, gun, and money without question. It made me wonder when Jack would see it for himself.

"He needs medical attention. We need to get him to a hospital or clinic or something." John said to Jack about Yuri. It didn't look like Jack was listening though. He was thinking and his eyes were wide. "Jack, your mission is bleeding out over there." John spoke again.

Jack nodded and walked passed John, "The mission continues. We go to the hotel." He helped Yuri to his feet and directed him down the ally. "Come on." He said to me when he realised I wasn't moving.

I slowly followed behind them until we came to a cheap motel that didn't need a credit card. We were going to stay here for the night and scope out the hotel in the morning. Yuri called his daughter using the payphone across the street, telling her that he would phone her in the morning with a time to meet. He then went to wash up in the bathroom while John volunteered to go get us all something to eat. It wasn't until he spoke that I realised how hungry I was.

With Yuri in the bathroom and John out to get some food, Jack and I were alone in the small motel room that was mostly taken up by two queen beds and a foldout couch. I sat down on the couch while jack paced in front of one of the beds, thinking. I watched him until he suddenly stopped and turned to me. I looked away immediately but it wasn't long until my eyes found their way back to his.

"How are you doing? You okay?" He asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

I shrugged, "As fine as I can be all things considering."

He sat down on the side of the bed that was across from me and leaned his elbows on his knees, "I told you. I told you that you didn't know what you were getting into."

I scoffed and crossed my arms, leaning back into the couch, "Is this really going to be an 'I told you so' moment?"

"That's not what I-" He started to say but I cut him off, leaning forward again and levelling my gaze with his.

"I don't think even you realised all this was going to happen. I bet you thought all this was going to run smoothly."

He narrowed his eyes at my comment, "I'm trying to be nice here."

"Really?" I asked, "Because you've done nothing but treat me like crap and tell me to shut up since you met me."

"Maybe because I wasn't supposed to meet you." He snapped and stood up, staring me down, "You shouldn't have ever got in that van and you shouldn't have involved yourself in this. I shouldn't have to be responsible for you."

I didn't like being looked down on so I stood up too, "No one said you had to. We're strangers Jack. Meer acquaintances. My safety is not your concern. I'm a big girl Jack, I can take care of myself."

He let out a puff of air as he laughed incredulously, "You can take care of yourself?! I saved your life today and in the process you completely checked out. Face it kid, you'd be dead right now if it weren't for me."

I could feel the anger bubble up within me and had enough. I tossed my arms in the air in frustration, "I'm not that much younger than you! What are you? Twenty-nine? Thirty? I'm not a child alright! And the fact that you would insult me by saying as much just proves how much of an asshole you are!" I shouted and started toward the door, "I'll solve all your problems regarding me right now. I'm leaving." I opened the door and glanced back with intense fury, "I'd much rather take my chances out there with evil Russian people than stick around and be belittled by you."

Once I slammed the door shut I heard him growl in his own frustration before I heard a small slam and crash. He's lucky this motel wasn't that busy. If he was trying to keep a low profile, that was not the way to go about it.

I lied when I said I would rather risk the evil Russian people than stay here with him. It was the complete opposite in fact, since being around him was when I felt safest. He made me so angry though that I just couldn't let him get away with treating me like that. I sighed as I leaned up against the building and tilted my head toward the sky, wondering what I was going to do now. I had no identification and no money. I had just become homeless on the streets of Russia. I suppose I could go to the embassy but what would I tell them? I couldn't tell them the truth.

"Haven?" John asked.

I turned my head and looked at him as he stopped beside me. He was holding a large paper bag no doubt filled with food. It smelled really good to and just made my stomach rumble. John was such a nice man and I wondered how Jack turned out so hard. John has been nothing but nice to me since meeting me and even defended me against Jacks harsh words a few times.

"It's not safe out here you know." He said, shifting the bag in his arms to get a better grip.

"Jack and I got into a fight. I told him I was leaving."

He sighed and shook his head, "What did he do now?"

I told him the whole thing and then tilted my head back against the wall, "I wasn't going to let him treat me like that."

"So are you leaving?" He asked.

"I have no where else to go. I can't go back to my hotel without showing some ID in order to get another key to my room. Everything I had with me was blown up at the safe house. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of going back in there though. The fight was about me being able to take care of myself and I can't do that. I'd much rather not see his smug face, thank you very much."

John chuckled, "How about this. I'll go in there and have a talk with him to help things cool down a little. You come in when you're ready and nothing will be mentioned."

I raised an eyebrow, "You're sure about that?"

"No, but it's worth a shot."

I nodded, "Alright. I'll be in, in a bit."

I watched him walked down a few doors and enter the motel room before looking back up to the night sky. I didn't even know what to make of the situation I put myself in. I guess there is some merit to the saying 'be careful what you wish for'. I got what I wished for and now I'm wondering if it was all worth it.

I sighed and pushed away from the wall. There is no turning back now, so I may as well make myself useful. I went to the small lobby of the motel and asked for a first aid kit. Yuri was going to need that bullet wound properly looked out before it get's infected. The last thing Jack needed was a septic witness on his hands.

Going back to the motel room I brought up my fist to knock but hesitated. I hoped John was right because I really didn't want to see Jack's smug face for 'crawling back' to him. I was just about to reconsider leaving and chancing the streets when the door opened. I was so caught off guard that the shock must have shown on my face. I know it was definitely mirrored back by Jack who didn't seem to expect me standing on the other side of the door.

Jack recovered quickly and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket, pulling me inside the room and shutting the door, "There you are. What took you so long? What's that?" He eyed the white box in my hand. It didn't have a label on it.

"A first-aid kit." I said quietly and turned to Yuri, "I thought your wound deserved some proper care. You're no good to Jack if you get sick with infection." I ignored the look Jack shared with John and kept my gaze on Yuri.

"Eat first." Yuri told me, gesturing to the food that was set out on one of the little end tables, "You must be hungry."

"Are you sure? If that round was made of iron, then infection could already be setting in." I said as I set down the first-aid box.

"If infection is already starting to set in. Taking a few minutes to eat won't make a difference." Jack cut in before John and Yuri could say anything.

"Well actually that's not completely tr-"

"Just eat." Jack sighed, running his hands over his face in exhaustion.

I looked to John and he just nodded at me with a lopsided smile. So that's what I did. I sat down with the three men and we all began eating. It wasn't anything that I've had before and when I asked John about it, he said he didn't know what everything was either but that it was Russian food. That's when Yuri came into the conversation. It was the first conversation I've had with him since I met him and he seemed like a pleasant person to talk to. There was still something about him that kept me at a polite distance but hearing him speak about the Russian culture was fascinating and made me want my journal so I could write some of this stuff down.

Once we all ate I grabbed the first-aid kit and sat beside Yuri on the couch. He took off his shirt so I could see his arm and I examined it the best I could before speaking. The bullet didn't go clean through and it was in their deep. It would have to be taken out before I could do anything else. So I looked in the kit for a set of tweezers and some gauze.

"I'm going to need someone to hold his arm so I can get the bullet out." I said, looking at no one particular and was surprised when Jack came over to hold Yuri's arm in place, "Okay Yuri. This is going to hurt but I'm going to need you to try to relax the best you can. It's going to be hard but you really have to try."

Yuri nodded and I started. One thing the box didn't come with were gloves so I had no choice but to use bare hands. It was gross but I ignored it the best I could. I used the gauze to wipe up some of the blood and then stuck the tweezers in. Yuri was grunting and groaning and even yelled in Russian a few times but he held himself together pretty well. Jack had a solid grip on his arm, so I didn't have to worry about nicking any main arteries or veins that would make him bleed out. I'm surprised even the bullet missed them.

When the tweezers hit the bullet I carefully and slowly pulled it out, getting the gauze ready to cover his wound from the rushing blood. When the bullet was finally pulled out I covered the wound with the gauze and held it there for a bit as I dropped the bullet in a plastic cup on the end table beside me.

I gave Jack a small smile, "Thank you. You can let go now." He did so but didn't move. He watched me work avidly.

When the blood flow lessened a bit I took the gauze away and started cleaning up the wound. I poured rubbing alcohol on it, not caring that it ran down his arm and onto the couch cushions. I used the antiseptic wipes afterward. There were a few bridges I used to close the wound.

"They're not as effective as stitches but they'll do for now." I told Yuri and I wiped up the excess blood once again before wrapping the wound up tightly. "All done. I'll change the bandage in the morning before we leave but you'll live until then." I smiled and stood up.

"Thank you Haven. I am grateful."

"Don't thank me yet. If it looks like it's infected tomorrow I'm using the iodine swabs and it won't be fun." I told him and turned to head into the bathroom but Jack was there blocking my way, "If it's alright. I'm going to wash up."

He looked like he was going to say something so I waited for him to speak. He didn't end up saying anything though and stepped aside to let me pass. I didn't know if I felt relieved or disappointed.