Chapter Twelve: Normandie- Operation Cobra (Part III)
…"Emily, wait…" Aiden feels like it's now or never, he's been waiting to do this for weeks and even if he actually wanted to it after all this mess was over, you never know what could happen…you can hope things will be fine but the truth is life changes in an instant. "I…I wanted to do this after we, you know finish all this. But the thing is, we can't know what will happen there and, if something bad happens…I know we haven't dated a long time but I already feel like I've known you my whole life….Emily Thorne, Amanda Clarke, I don't care who you are, you're perfect for me…you're fun, smart, strong and so beautiful. All I know is that I love you more than I thought I was capable of, and that I can't imagine my life without you…I want us to live happily ever after and I also think you already know where this is going, so I'll go straight to the point…"He shakes his head, when he's nervous he can't stop talking. It's been ages since the last time something like this happened to him and he honestly thought he was over it, but apparently this is a whole new level of nervousness… "Ems, will you marry me?" Aiden shows her a small, red velvet box. He takes out a simple, elegant, platinum ring and anxiously waits for her answer. The diamond shines when the last traces of sunlight hit it and it feels like the world has stopped, for both of them…
Emily doesn't know what to say, or do…she looks at Aiden, and she can see where this is coming from. They can't know for sure this whole thing is going to end well, sure they can hope it will…but if something happens. He said it, life changes in an instant…but this, this is something she can be sure how is going to end; If the worst happens at least they will have this last chapter of happiness, this last moment just for them. "Yes" She answers smiling and in one second Aiden puts the ring on her finger.
"I know every man say the same, but you just made me the happiest guy on earth" He laughs and holds her, "How do you feel?"
Emily laughs with him, "Happier than ever" she says honestly. "What a perfect way to start one of the most important nights of our life"
"Our life, I like how it sounds" He says, "Do you want to share the news?" The only thing to make this day even better is his sister's blessing.
Emily looks at him, confused at first but then she remembers her (soon to be) sister in law. "Oh, Colleen… of course!" Once again, they don't know what comes next…so she will make the best of this family moment.
"I'll go get her" Aiden says quickly, and leaves his fiancé alone in their room.
Emily can't stop looking at her ring, her engagement ring! It's unbelievable, she can't wait to tell everyone…Nolan, Amanda, Jack, Declan, Charlotte, she knows all her friends will be happy for them, maybe Daniel will be an issue but she honestly doesn't care. All that matters is that, if everything goes well, she will get married with the love of her life. The sound of her cell phone interrupts her thoughts, "Padma…is everything ok?"
"They believe Helen is missing, they realized she wasn't here…and they sent a replacement"
"What?" A replacement? Emily quickly wonders how many people work for The Initiative. "Are you safe? Or they suspect about you? Did they realize Colleen is gone too?"
"Yes, don't worry about me. We had breakfast this morning and he bought all I said…apparently Colleen was a piece of Helen's personal plans, because he didn't ask about her or something like that"
"Ok…then, how can we recognize him?" She has to know, it's not just some tiny detail she can't afford to miss.
Padma sighs, she's sure he was a little kid when The Initiative caught him, "He's young, tall and thin. Brown hair, matching eyes… he doesn't show any kind of emotion, he's like a robot, and that makes me think he works for them since he was a like kid… maybe they were training him in case something like this happened"
"That's so sad…" What else can she say? It breaks her heart, but that's not important…at the end of the day he always will be loyal to The Initiative. "Thank you for the update Padma, we'll be there soon". She hangs up, and sees Colleen on the door, Aiden shows up seconds later.
He stands beside Emily and takes her hand, "We…we have something to tell you" He waits for Colleen reaction, but the only thing she does is take a step closer to them. "We are engaged!" There, he said it.
Colleen literally jumps to hug them, "Congratulations!" She really means it, on the little time she has been around them she realized they belonged together, the way they look at each other or the way they talk about each other shows her the deep feelings they have for the other. "I think I can't be happier right now" she giggles and hugs them again, "I mean, seriously guys I've been living with you for like a minute and I already knew you too belong together".
Emily fights the tears and hugs her too, "Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to us"
Colleen smiles, "Oh my god, we will be sisters in law!" She feels like she can't ask for a better one.
Aiden smile grows even more watching them, and he hates to be the one that finishes it. "Emm…girls?" He waits until he has their attention, "I hate to be the one finishing this, but…"
"We have to go" Emily completes his sentence, "Emm… Colleen before we go, if…if we don't come back in twelve hours, here's all the information you need…" She gives her a paper with her address, bank account number and Nolan and Takeda's personal number.
Colleen immediately understands what Emily's talking about, "I understand" She takes a deep breath… "I'm sure everything will be alright".
"We hope…" Aiden says softly, "Remember, twelve hours…I don't want you in danger again" He hugs her.
"Twelve hours…" Colleen hugs him tighter, "I love you" she says, "Both of you" She adds Emily to the hug.
~·~
Padma looks at the USB in her hands, the fake Carrion… she's nervous as ever. According to Nolan all she has to do is put the device on the computer and it will send all the evidence they have against Americon Initiative, from the David Clarke's trial to the kidnap of Colleen…to the FBI, anonymously. Emily and Aiden will be there if something goes wrong.
The conference room is empty; she puts the files in front of every seat…so many important names are here today, so many people inside this web of lies and blood…just to get more power, more money.
"Padma, have you heard something from Helen?" Mr. Trask scares her, again.
"Mr. Trask, no…no, I haven't" She continues with the files, "But as soon as I do I will let you know sir"
He starts walking towards her, "Good. People will arrive at 9:30… I want everything ready at least half an hour before"
"Yes sir" Padma looks down, and he leaves. She waits until he's out of sight to breathe again…every time she sees him it feels like he knows it all, like he can see trough her with his dead eyes. Her grandmother would've called him a demon.
Moments later, everything is ready in the conference room and she goes upstairs to change…but she loses the track of time and before she knows it, she's late. Thankfully no one has arrived yet so she takes her place in the lobby and wait for the ten most powerful members of The Initiative.
"Good Night, Mr. Dale. Welcome again, the conference room is at the end of the hall" Padma gives the instructions to their guests like a robot…her mind is far away, like an outsider watching a movie of her own life. She just hopes this movie will have a nice ending. "Good Night, Mr. Weisser…."
~·~
"When Padma told us about this secret 'room' I was thinking of something…you know, bigger" Emily says laughing, they are hiding in some kind of old, mini-walking closet.
Aiden laughs too, "Oh I like it, this way I have you right beside me the whole time" At least they can have the laptop in there but it feels crowded.
They start their job when the first member appears, and soon all the seats are taken. A tall, young man walks inside…with Padma right behind him. "That should be Mr. Trask" Emily says. "Who?" Aiden asks, and Emily looks at him like saying I-hate-when-I-tell-you-something-and-you-forget-about-it. "Helen's replacement" She says simply. Aiden just nods and keeps watching.
Mr. Trask takes the Carrion and shows it to everyone. "Good night to all of you, our plan can finally begin" All of them stare at him, waiting for more… "Like you can read in the files in front of you, the head of this project Helen Crowley, is missing…but don't worry; she gave us everything we need. The USB I showed to you before, it's the most powerful code on the planet: Carrion, developed by Nolcorp"
"We thought it didn't exist!" "How was that possible?!" "What happened to Helen?" "Are you sure we can trust her?"…
Padma steps in, "Gentlemen, please calm down. I was the one who stole the Carrion from Nolan Ross…he doesn't even know the program is gone. Sadly, we don't know where Helen is now…but if we have any news all the members will be informed" She stands behind Mr. Trask again.
"Thanks Miss Lahari. As you can see, everything is under control, and we will proceed with our project like nothing happened …Padma, can you show them please?" She goes to the computer and nods, the device is in. "That, gentlemen…is the key to dominate the entire world" He points to the black screen and everyone begin to celebrate.
Padma jumps when she hears her cell phone, Nolan was supposed to text her when the information arrived inside the FBI web…and she forgot to put it in silence. "Padma? I thought this was a no cell phone kind of meeting…give it to me" Trask says…
*You did it…evidence is out*
Aiden turns off the laptop immediately, "We have to go, they will kill her" Emily nods and follows him. When they hear Padma screams, they go out. "Let her go" Aiden says, with an angry voice… "You heard him, let her go" Emily won't stand behind him. Guns are aiming everywhere and the silence in the room is nerve-wracking.
Emily takes a deep breath and screams "Padma, go now!" She shoots Trask in the arm, and the ten guys try to catch her, but Aiden shoots all of them…they aren't dead, but for now they're useless, he keeps fighting with some of them while Emily tries to keep Trask down.
"Who are you?" He asks, and she smiles "Amanda Clarke" but quickly her smiles changes showing her pain, the robot shot her in the stomach… "Good bye, Amanda. You will see your fath…"but he can't finish the sentence, the bullet went straight to his head.
Aiden didn't realize she was alone pinning down that fucker, and now she's bleeding to death. He will never regret shooting Trask in the head; he deserved it just like Dimitri. "Hang in there baby, hang in there…everything will be fine" He says softly, touching her face.
Emily takes his hand, "It hurts…it hurts so much" She's crying, "Promise me you will take care of Nolan and Amanda…I'm so tired"
"No, Emily I won't…don't try to say goodbye, don't say goodbye…not yet" He's begging her, "I won't leave without you" Aiden holds her tight, applying all the pressure he can to the wound, but soon Emily closes her eyes.
The paramedics arrive, but Aiden don't let Emily go. "Sir, sir please…we're here to help" She can't leave him, he doesn't know what to do…but in the end, he lets her go. Kissing her forehead he watches how the paramedics work on her. Suddenly, there's someone hugging him…at first he doesn't who she is but then he realizes is his sister. "Everything will be fine, everything will be fine…" She tells him over and over again like a mantra.
Padma looks inside the room and see Aiden crying on Colleen's shoulder, she knows she made the right choice bringing her here; her heart breaks into a million pieces, because of her, because of her stupid, little mistake… She hopes Emily will come out of this; Emily has to do it… if she doesn't…she will never forgive herself.
*Nolan, something terrible happened to Emily…come here ASAP*
~E&A~
Heeeeeeeeeeeeey ! hope you like this one. Ok, so like the last one…this also has a code name from the landings. 'Operation Cobra' it's the name the First United States Army gave to an offensive launched a few days after Operation Neptune….Operation Cobra was decisive in the allied victory in the Normandy campaign. Next is coming soon !
Kisses, Camy.