Against All Odds

Chapter Twelve

Ethan and the rest of the team were getting ready to leave for their latest mission. It was early in the morning and the sky was still pitch black. The team realized that if they were going to pull off stealing the antidote from the pharmaceutical company, they were going to have to do it at night, when the security was cut down to a ghost crew.

As they were gathering their gear together, Jane walked out from one of the factory's rooms, followed by Fyedka, as the boy was rubbing his sore wrists from being tied up for as long as he had been. He looked around at the crew and then stopped his eyes on Ethan, who slowly walked over and stood directly in front of him with a serious look on his face. Fyedka couldn't help, but feel terrified of him.

Ethan spoke up firmly as he said, "Jane convinced me that I can trust you to be set free so that you can look after our friend for us in the other room. We're all needed for this mission, but someone has to be here with him."

Fyedka looked at Jane, then looked back and Ethan in surprise as he replied, "I'm grateful that you trust me enough to cut me loose, but I'm not a doctor. What can I possibly do to help him? Jane told me Dimitri poisoned him. I can't…"

"We're only asking you to help by giving him water to drink and when his fever spikes, we need you to wipe him down with the water and towels we have set beside him," Ethan interrupted. "Zhen just finished changing his bandages, so you shouldn't have to worry about him bleeding out. I need to know right now that Jane is right and that I can really trust you not to find a way to call Dimitri for help because if not, we will throw you back into the trunk of our car, just like we'll be doing with Vasiliy."

"That won't be necessary," Fyedka responded. "I'll help you. Being tied up in that dark room alone gave me a lot of time to think. I am still not so sure about how to feel toward my father, but I do realize I was a fool to trust the wrong person. I owe you all for that."

Ethan nodded and walked away, followed by Benji and Jane. Zhen and Declan stayed behind to finish packing their bags, while Luther walked into the other room where Vasiliy was being held, untied him, dragged him outside to their car, and shoved him into the trunk as Ethan said they were going to. That way, he wouldn't be left there to tempt Fyedka to walk in to confront him.

When he was sure that the three of them were alone, Ethan turned to Benji and spoke up saying, "Did you do what I asked you to do?"

The technician answered, "Yes, I put a sensor down at the bottom of the door that leads out of the factory, which will alert me if the kid decides to leave. I also put up a camera in all of the rooms, so that I'll be able to keep my eye on the kid. If he does anything suspicious, I'll alert you all to the threat and pray that we're able to get back here in time to help Brandt. However, I really think Jane's right about trusting him. He seems sincere to me."

"Benji, remember the time when you trusted that eleven year old girl at the street fair on our mission to Germany a few months ago?" Ethan asked smugly. "She ended up robbing you blind when you took out your wallet to buy her an ice cream cone."

"That's right!" Benji recalled as he became angry. "She stole my wallet right from my hand and ran off. Maybe you're right. I'm not exactly the best judge of character."

Jane replied, "But Benji was right. Fyedka won't let us down. At the very least, he's afraid that if he were to call Dimitri for help, the monster would no sooner kill him in order to eliminate a threat against him and his uncle."

Ethan agreed as the three of them left the factory and drove off in the van toward the pharmaceutical company, while the others followed after them in the car. Fyedka watched as they left and then slowly walked into the room where Will was laying on the floor, with a blanket draped over his body and one of Ethan's jackets under his head. He saw that Brandt was awake as he walked over and took a seat on the ground beside him.

"You've made the right… the right choice to help… us," Will said softly as he smiled at the boy. "Your father… will be happy… happy to have his son back."

"I'm sorry I got you all involved," Fyedka responded. "I should have known. I didn't like or trust Dimitri at all and he was my uncle's closest friend. Jane tells me you and him were once friends?"

Brandt answered solemnly, "I thought so. He was… always smug, but… I still thought he was… good. Finding out I was wrong really… hurt my confidence… in my abilities. I've made… a few big mistakes… since then."

The young man looked down at Brandt and asked, "So how do I make it up to my father? How do I make up for what I have done? I called him a coward to his face and ran away to work with Andrei Vasiliy."

Will rubbed his hand over his forehead and face as he replied, "Keep doing… exactly as you're doing. You… are helping us… to defeat... them. Your father will know…"

Before Brandt could finish, he rolled over to his side and began to cough uncontrollably and when he finally finished, he looked down at his hand he used to cover his mouth and found that was speckled with blood. He had hoped that Fyedka didn't see it as tried to wipe it off on what was left of his now torn shirt, but when he rolled back over onto his back, he saw that the kid knew.

"It looks like… I've got less time… than Dimitri said… I did," Brandt continued as he slowly struggled to sit up and move back up against one of the posts inside the room with Fyedka's help. "I need you… to do me a… a favor."

"What can I do?" the boy asked.

Will replied, "I'm not sure how much… how much time I have, but… I know that I can't… I can't just do nothing… nothing to help the others. I need you… to grab me the bag over there… and place it down… beside me."

Fyedka asked again, "What exactly are you planning on doing? You're in no condition to help anyone. Your fever is getting even worse the longer we sit here and if you try to move anymore, your wound will not only become infected, but it will also start to bleed again. I can't help you much if that happens."

"All I need is the bag for now…," Brandt said. "I want to hear… what my friends are doing."

"They're going to be fine," Fyedka answered as he placed the bag down on the ground beside Will. "You couldn't possibly be of any help to them in your condition."

Brandt slowly dug through the bag until he found an extra com and placed it in his ear. Everything was quiet as he expected it to be, since they had just left the factory only a few minutes ago and were still driving toward their destination. Then, he grabbed Ethan's jacket, slowly and shakily put it on, dug through the bag once again, pulled out a syringe, and put inside one of the jacket's pockets.

Fyedka stared at him as Brandt looked back and responded firmly, "This is just in case… they run into trouble. I have… have to help… help them if they… need me. I have to try. I need you to call me… a ride."