CHAPTER 6:
James pulled up in the front driveway of the place where Fiona had camped out with all her computers. It was an old, abandoned house, thirty miles out of Pyongyang. Fiona had decided that she would be better off working there alone where no one would find her than at the A.N. HQ. The house hadn't been lived in since the first conflict. It was out in the countryside where old farm buildings still remained. James had also hoped to get Intel while he was here on who really was their main enemy. He mainly wanted to get his wounded partner patched up in the process.
"Come on." James said, pulling open the door as he helped Jen out of the Humvee. She was still holding the spot where the bullet had gone in. She was in such pain that she actually really needed the help to walk. She put her arm over James' shoulders and put some of her weight on him. It seemed to help the pain a little. He continued helping her to the front door, kicking it open. They ambled inside.
"Who the hell-?" Fiona shouted from around the corner after hearing foot steps in the house. She wasn't expecting anyone and she couldn't be too careful if any North Koreans decided to come inside. She pulled out her M9 pistol that she kept on her at all times. She aimed it around the wall and peered around it. Then she realised it was Jen and James, and she holstered the gun. She looked at James, making sure he was all right, and then she looked at Jen's pained face.
"What happened to you?" Fiona asked, walking over, staring down at Jen's blood covered hands.
"A bullet grazed me while we had brief skirmish with some enemy forces." She answered in a tense voice.
"Oh, go head into the living room, I'll be back to help you shortly." Fiona instructed. Jennifer began her walk to the back of the house, and when James tried to help her, she snatched her arm back. She muttered, "I can help myself."
"What the hell is her damn problem?" James asked as she disappeared from sight, exiting the front hallway through an old creaky door.
"She is pissed that she has a partner, and such a young one as you. She's used to working alone. And she's used to being alone outside of work too." Fiona told James. She figured that he should know some personal details about Jen. Maybe then, he'd understand the way she acted.
"Oh…I see…alone?" James asked curiously. He didn't take Mui to be a woman who would be single very often.
"Not really…She has been working with me for a while, but I'm not out there in the field with her. I recommended her for the Song Initiative the first time around. I've only been with ExOps for about four years off and on. She's been with then for eleven years off and on." Fiona explained. She walked back into the kitchen where she had stuff set up. She sat down at her computer. "When you work in this kind of business, you don't get much of a social life outside of it." She logged off her computer and then got up. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out several medical supplies including bandages, alcohol wipes, and an array of stainless steel medical tools. "I'll be back. There's fresh coffee brewing if you want some." Fiona pointed towards the counter. She walked past James, heading to the living room to patch up Jennifer.
Fiona had had learned basic medical procedures, especially after working freelance with Jen. She figured learning it would be beneficial, and sure enough, after Jen got shot in the ass in Venezuela, it proved its worth. Fiona walked into the living room, closing the door behind her. Jen was lying on the couch. Fiona set down her stuff on the table and flipped on the lamp.
"So…a graze wound eh?"
"Yeah…owwww…" Jen moaned as she lifted up her shirt so Fiona could see it. She looked down at it; it looked bad for all the blood settling around it. Fiona took one of her alcohol wipes and gently cleaned it away so she could see what she was in for. Jen just closed her eyes, gripping onto the couch cushions with all her might. Fiona saw that the bullet had indeed ricocheted off of something before lodging in Jen's side.
"It's more than just a graze. It's in there."
"Oh…please for the love of God, just get it out."
"I'm getting there. This is going to hurt. And I'm sorry; I've got nothing to dull the pain other than an ibuprofen."
"I'll take it." Fiona handed her a pill. Jen dry swallowed it, the horrid taste lingering on her tongue.
"Okay, here goes." Fiona started investigating the gun shot wound. She took out a tool to look around inside. After a few moments of prodding around, she found the end of the bullet. "There you are you little bugger." She reached down and grabbed her tweezers. This was the part that hurt the most. Jen knew it too. Fiona started slowly removing the bullet fragment out of Jen's body.
"Bloody Hell!" She screamed. "Just pull it out faster would you?"
"I can't do that!"
"Give it here." Jen growled. She grabbed the tweezers out of Fiona's hand and pulled them as hard and fast as she could. The bullet fragment popped out of her side like a cork. Then, the pain really started.
James had just taken his first sip of his coffee when he heard Jen bellow in pain. He cringed. He had taken a bullet once and knew it was not a pleasant experience getting it removed, more so with no proper pain killers. He then proceeded to hear Jen swear endlessly.
"All right, I'll leave! Stitch yourself up then!" Fiona backed out of the door into the kitchen. Jen was screaming bloody murder at Fiona. Fiona slammed the door just as something crashed into it. "Jeez…the things I do for this woman!" Fiona panted. She turned round. James had a wide-eyed look on his face. Fiona shook her head as she poured more coffee for herself.
"What happened?"
"Well…I was pulling it out, when she took it into her own hands and yanked it out. Then when I was trying to stitch her up, she couldn't handle the pain and started losing it. She can do the rest on her own." Fiona sighed, turning her computer back on.
"Anyway, have you found anymore intelligence on how these North Koreans still have Song's guns?" James asked from across the table.
"Well…there's this other guy, a partner to Song, who has been here since the North Koreans started fighting back again."
"Coincidence, I think not." James added. Fiona nodded, putting back a stray piece of her red hair behind her ear. She pulled up more information on this new villain. "His name is Johann Von Schrader. His grandfather was a German commander during World War II."
"I know about the Von Schraders. Our grandfathers got into it back then when Von Schrader wanted to use a Dirty Bomb on London."
"I knew who your grandfather was, but what happened exactly?" Fiona asked inquisitively.
"Von Schrader took machine gun fire to the face by my granddad, and the Dirty Bomb was destroyed."
"Well…" Fiona paused. "It's really obvious that he is supplying the North Korean troops as well as commanding them for Song. So what are you gonna do?"
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." James replied, finishing his coffee. He stood up, stretching his back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Fiona asked, staring at him above her computer.
"It's quiet, too quiet. I'm going to check on Mui."
James walked into the living room quietly where Jennifer was lying down on the couch. He saw that she was resting, wearing nothing on her torso but her bra. He ambled over to her just to see if she really was sleeping, and sure enough, she was. He looked down and saw a bottle of ibuprofen, with the lid off. He figured it had obviously kicked in and started to help with the pain. He looked down at her stomach. It was wrapped in a white bandage with a small amount of blood on it over the wound. He hoped she had been able to sufficiently patch herself up. He sat down on the coffee table, watching her sleep. "She looks so peaceful." James whispered to himself. "A sleeping beauty." He scooted forward and leaned down over her. She had such luscious lips and James felt himself enticed by them, leaning farther and farther down. Eventually he pressed his lips to hers. A second after he made contact with her, he felt a gun being pressed to the right side of his head. He opened his eyes in alarm and came face to face with an angry Jennifer Mui. "Oh shit…"