Best Laid Plans III - The Goblet Of Truth
by Ticklefish
"He's snoring again."
"Not as badly as you."
"Don't start that again."
Chris smiled to himself and shifted into a new position. It had been a long journey and Jill had been cuddled up to him for pretty much all of it. He didn't mind, didn't mind in the slightest bit, but the seats in the train weren't the most comfortable in the world.
As if reading his mind, Jill lithely slid off his legs and came to a standing position in the carriage. She placed her palms in the small of her back and stretched her body upwards, standing on tip-toes for a second. As she did so, Chris noted how her bosom moved perfectly with the rest of her body and marvelled. She truly was amazing.
Jill then pushed her hands out in front of her, stretching her arms and fingers. She caught sight of the watch on her wrist and started with surprise.
"Woah, it's later than we thought. We're only about forty-five minutes away. Although you still haven't told me exactly where we're going."
Chris nodded and looked serious.
"That's because I wasn't sure you'd like it." he said.
Jill cocked her head quizzically.
"We're going to see an old friend of mine," Chris continued, "I knew him in the Air Force before he got kicked out. He..er..owes me a few favors."
"Why, exactly?"
"It's complicated. But the important thing is, he's set up shop on the Czech border as a private pilot. He can sneak us out of the country without any problems."
"And you trust him?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"Really?"
Chris looked uncomfortable.
"Well..more or less. He can be a bit odd at times but..no, I trust him."
Jill perched on the edge of the seat opposite him and scratched the back of her neck.
"I don't see why you'd think I wouldn't like that. Unless..there's something you're not telling me.."
Chris stayed silent.
"Where precisely is he going to be taking us to, Chris?"
"Back to the States, of course" Chris said, a blank look on his face.
Jill leant back in the chair and cast her eyes at the ceiling.
"That's insane," she said after a while, "Border Control is far too tight. They'll have us before we even set foot on the ground. And then the BSAA will have us and we'll be screwed."
"Not if we're careful. Roger knows what he's doing."
"Roger? You're entrusting us to a pilot called Roger? Chris, tell me this is a bad joke.."
"It's not a joke, Jill." he replied, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Roger has a lot of experience getting things from one place to the other without getting a lot of attention."
Jill looked at him with a frown.
"'Things'?" she pronounced the word carefully. "What kind of..'things', exactly?"
"Y'know, this and that. Things that need moving."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Chris, what kind of things?"
Chris looked uncomfortable.
"Oh, just things. Letters, packages..people..that sort of thing."
"Drugs? Guns?" Jill pressed.
"Well.."
"He's not a 'private pilot' at all, is he? Your friend is an actual, freaking smuggler. Isn't he?"
"I can't believe you. We're in enough trouble as it is and you want us to start hanging around with a criminal!"
"He's not a criminal."
"Oh no? What else do you want to call a gunrunner? C'mon, Chris! We've fought people like that! How can you expect us to now work with one? Jesus.."
Chris felt his temper rising. He couldn't see what Jill's problem was.
"He's not a gunrunner either, Jill. He actually is a private pilot."
"Don't be naive, Chris. Do you not even remember our time in Racoon? We took down smugglers all the time. They're criminals, pure and simple."
"I'm not naive."
"No? Well then, think of something else that isn't so stupid."
"What else can we do? We don't have much money, you're the only one who even speaks German and we've got that thing to deal with," he pointed at the slumbering form on the other side of the carriage, "we have to go back and get this whole thing sorted out."
"Just how the hell do you think we can get it sorted out? We helped found that damn organisation and they've turned on us in a flash. The instant they see us, they'll slam us in jail."
"But we didn't do anything." Chris tried.
"Do you honestly think that matters to them? They certainly believed we stole the money easily enough. Hell, maybe we should have done."
Chris frowned.
"You don't mean that."
"No? Why not? It'd certainly make things easier. And they deserve it. They'd fire us anyway if they found out about us."
"I.." he started but Jill kept going.
"Huh, they wouldn't fire you. They like you, you're a 'hero'. But they'd be more than happy to get rid of me."
"That's not true."
"You think? You don't see how they looked at me when I came back. Oh sure, they said they were glad to see me, they said they were glad I wasn't dead, that I was 'better'," she spat the word, "but you could see it in their eyes. They were all scared of me, of what I'd done. They allthought I was a freak!"
With that, she slammed the side of her fist into the side of the carriage, rattling the window. Chris was a little stunned. Jill had never told him about any of this, she had always seemed a bit tense since she had been rescued but he had no idea she had felt this way.
"You're not a freak, darling." he said softly.
"That's why they partnered me off with your sister as soon as they possibly could. They were worried if I spent any time with you and that tart of yours, I'd go back to my old ways and start killing people again."
Chris quite liked Sheva, she'd always been very dedicated although she'd gone downhill recently, but he let the 'tart' comment go. There was no point mentioning it now, Jill seemed angry enough.
"I'm sure that's not true."
"Yeah, right.."
They were silent for a while. Chris had no idea what to say, he didn't want to make things worse but didn't know how to make things better.
Eventually Jill made an exasperated noise and shifted in her chair until she was against the window, staring out at the scenery. Her breath fogged the glass.
"You know what, let's use the stupid smuggler. Why not, let's just abandon our morals completely. Whatever."
"Jill.." Chris began and reached out to touch her.
She moved away from his hand.
"Don't, Chris. Just don't."
They spent the rest of the journey in silence, broken only by the snoring from the figure on the other side.
Chris spent his time feeling annoyed and trying to think what to do or what to say. Neither noticed the hand-sized dent in the metal underneath the window frame.