Behind Enemy Lines

Chapter Four

Days Are Numbered

Day Seventeen.

Division Headquarters, Amanda's Private Office. 2:15 PM.

A small cup of tea was placed on the mahogany desk in Amanda's office, but this tea wasn't for another recruit it was for Michael. She gave him a small smile before moving to her desk chair and sipped her own small glass of earl grey. She crossed one leg over the other casually, her hands smoothing over her navy blue dress over her lap after she placed the cup down on its saucer. She then reached out for the thin file on her desk; she opened it slowly before turning it for Michael to see. Her polished nails traced over the matte profile image of Katherine Quinn before sliding it in Michael's directions. "It seems that Ms. Quinn has not been attending her lessons. Personally, I haven't seen her since last Wednesday." Amanda voiced sounding much like a principal.

Michael pushed the cooling tea to the side as he glanced over the file as he took it in his hands. His hazel eyes scanned over it slowly taking in her vague description of her past and her record of her past two weeks at Division. She was very punctual when it came to checking into her room for the night, and for her showers and meals prior. On the other hand, Katherine rarely attended her lessons or checked in time in the main training room. Michael sighed slowly as he closed the file, placing it back on the desk and stood. "I will have to discuss this with her." Michael spoke slowly as he buttoned up his sports jacket casually. Katherine was putting herself at great risk by not attending her training. If she didn't get her act together, her days would soon be numbered.

Division Headquarters, Katherine's Room. 2:30 PM.

The warmth of her cot swallowed Katherine whole. The florescent likes above buzzed and they lit the room with their new blinding light. They had been on since five in the morning and not once did Katherine think about leaving her bed. Usually she would leave to get breakfast before slipping back into her room, but today she just didn't feel right. She pulled the covers over her face in attempt to block out the light in attempt to fall back to sleep once again. Knock. Knock. Knock. Katherine let out an exasperated sigh as she peered out from underneath the covers and looked towards the door. What could be so important that they would actually come looking for her? It seemed that it would be easy enough to lose track of a recruit inside Division walls, but Katherine underestimated them greatly.

When Katherine did not answer to his knocking Michael's face fell into an annoyed expression. His hand grasped the cold metal handle and pushed the door open slowly. His impassive eyes scanned the dull room before they landed on the bed. The slim figure of Katherine could be seen from under the thin blanket draped over her form. "Don't you have some where to be?" Michael's rough yet casual tone filled the quiet room as she slowly moved towards the cot.

"Don't you?" Katherine countered as she pushed the blanket away from her face slowly to look up at Michael with her large blue eyes. Her cheeks no longer seemed to protrude and the craters where her eyes once sat were no longer dark. Katherine no longer looked like the addict they had dragged in on day one, but a real woman. It would be a waste to have her come this far for nothing. Michael cleared his throat signalling that she had crossed the line with her words. He was also caught off guard by her attire of her tight black spandex shorts and white tank-top that hugged her torso. He brought his hand up to the collar of his crisp white dress shirt and pulled it away from his neck with two fingers. "Is there something you need Michael?" Katherine asked slowly as she noticed how on edge he seemed. Katherine reached her arms up, stretching her stiff back as her eyes continued to watch him with her well rested eyes.

Michael's face hardened as he took her grey sweater from the chair and tossed it in her direction. She caught it in her hand swiftly before looking at him with a raised eye brow. "Put it on," he told her before undoing the button on his blazer to loosen up his sleeves. "You've got a lesson to attend," He told her sternly as he readied to open the door for her to leave. "Demolitions training, at 2:45." He reminded her calmly.

Katherine smiles slowly and shook her head as she zipped up the loose sweater. "I don't think I do, I'd rather get a snack," She paused casually to think of what she was in the mood for. "Maybe an apple; an orange would suffice."

Michael rolled his eyes slowly before turning back to face Katherine. "You are aware of what could happen to you if you don't start cooperating don't you?" He asked slowly as he stepped towards her. He leaned down and propped himself up with the head of the bed looking straight into Katherine's eyes. Their faces were inches from each other; his hot breath could be felt on her face and his stare coming from his hard brown eyes was intimidating.

"Are you threatening me?" Katherine swallowed hard as she returned the stare right back at him, her eyes cold and hard like crystal. Her words were almost enough to make Michael smirk, threatening her was exactly what he was doing. He had never met a recruit who didn't squirm at the thought of being cancelled. Even he felt a little uneasy when he thought about their bodies being melted away by acid at the hand of one of Division's many cleaners. Katherine groaned slightly as she pushed Michael's hand from her bed in a childish manner. "Get out of my room," She ordered childishly, "Get out, now!" Michael cocked his head to the side slightly, her eyes narrowing as he grew closer. "What are you-" Michael's quick actions cut off Katherine's words, his hands grabbed her wrists and pulled her up into a standing position. "Let go of me." Her voice developed a sharp edge as she pulled out of his strong grasp.

Michael look down at Katherine, his six-foot frame complete with strong shoulders, easily towering her five-foot six. Her hands moved to push on his chest when he approached her again, but she was unsuccessful. Michael's hands rested at each side of her waist before lifting her up with ease and resting her other his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Shock took over Katherine's face as he moved towards the room's door. He ignored her demands of being put down as his hand rested on her back keeping her in place. Katherine's fits pounded against his strong back but it had no effect on him, Michael actually found it quite amusing but hid it well behind his mask that he always wore. When the two of them were far enough away from the room that he knew she wouldn't try to retreat, Michael lowered her to the ground and backed her up against the cement wall. It was cold against her pale skin but she remained there looking up at Michael with an unpleased glare. She went to speak but Michael was quick to cut her off; "Now, I'm not going to let you screw this up. Too many recruits let this pass by; this doesn't have to end in death for you Katherine. This is not the end." Katherine nodded slowly before looking towards the ground at her feet. "Now we've got to get to class, we're late."

Division Headquarters, Demolitions Training. 2:58 PM.

Michael stood up on the walkway overlooking the demolitions lesson with his arms crossed over his chest and had a bored expression on his face. He had over seen this same exercise more time than he could count. The recruit would get under the SUV where a mock bomb would be set on a countdown waiting to be disarmed. He heard the buzzer that represented the detonation of the bomb when they failed to clip the right wires or put in the right code, to many times. He sighed slightly as it filled the air again for the eleventh time that lesson. Only three of the recruits managed to successfully get the job done, and only one remained. His hope for not hearing the dreaded sound of failure was slim, the final recruit was Katherine.

Katherine stepped forward from the group as she pulled her hair back into a tight pony-tail at the crown of her head. Her eyes scanned over the SUV casually taking in the colour make and model as she removed the thing sweater Michael had told her to put on back in her room. She tossed it to the side before approaching the back-end of the vehicle. She glanced over at Michael and he nodded casually as he reset the clock on the bomb. "Whenever you're ready," Michael voiced in a husky tone and Katherine nodded. She lowered herself to the ground before pulling herself underneath it. Her white tank top rolled up in the back, her skin making contact with the cold marble floor causing a shiver to roll up her spine. Her eyes quickly went to the countdown, sixty seconds to go. Michael had changed the time to destination throughout the lesson and it seemed that he gave her one of the shortest. She cussed under her breath slowly as she reached down to pull the wire snipers from her waistband.

Forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven...

She counted down with the clock as she pulled the cover of the bomb off. She kept her breathing and hands steady as she looked over the array of wires present; red, blue and yellow.

Forty, thirty-nine, thirty-eight...

Katherine followed the wires from the clock to where they ended up before bringing the cutters to the blue wire. With little hesitation she clipped the wire and let her eyes dart towards the clock. She smiled slowly when the neon red numbers stopped at thirty-six and the buzzer did not sound. She had passed. She tucked the wire cutters between her skin and the waist of her pants before rolling out from underneath the vehicle. She moved to her he sweater and places the cutters back in the tool box making sure Michael saw. The last thing she needs is him banging on her door again, accusing her of stealing a possible weapon. "I have to say that I am not impressed." Michael voiced as he made his way out onto the main floor. "If you were in the field, the majority of you and your teams would be dead because you failed to complete a simple task. And to those of you who completed the exercise, job well done." Michael finished, his eyes falling on Ms. Quinn with a subtle nod before dismissing the lesson. Job well done.