The teams have been divided up to investigate Perfect Match. Back in the bin.
"What happened ?" asked Aneisha, knocking her head to stop her ears ringing.
"Stun grenade," muttered Dan. Only Keri heard.
"Dan says it was a stun grenade," she said, sounding puzzled.
"Oh ! Nice one Dan," said Oscar. He looked at the state of Dan and wondered how he had managed it. A loud klaxon alarm sounded. "We need to get out of here," he said.
Carrie touched her earpiece. "Rose and Tom, the people in the control room are stunned, but someone has set off an alarm. We need to get out of here quickly. If you want to gather any more intelligence you need to be quick Okay ?" she said quickly.
"Got that Carrie," said Rose's voice. "Do you need any help finding your way out ?" she asked.
Carrie looked at the others and they all nodded. "Yes thanks," she said. She looked across at Oscar and Keri lifting Dan up off the floor. "Maybe not too many stairs if you can manage it," she said.
"How are we going to get him out ?" asked Keri. "He's exhausted." Carrie pointed to the rubbish trolley. "Oh do we have to ?" asked Keri.
"I don't see any other option right now," said Oscar. "Come on." They carried Dan over to the trolley.
"Just a sec," said Aneisha and she grabbed a big sack full of shredded paper from the corner of the room. "Might as well make it a bit more comfortable," she said, emptying the sack into the bin and spreading it out.
They all lifted up Dan, trying not to jolt his leg and lowered him gently into the bin. They had to curl him up a little to make him fit.
"You Okay Dan ?" asked Oscar. Dan nodded slightly. "Right, let's get moving," said Oscar.
Aneisha had to smother a small smile. Dan looked so much like a hamster curled up in its nest. She didn't think he would like her to say so though. She guessed the team's action man would just be feeling stupid and useless. No, not a good time for the hamster analogy. Ilya grabbed the trolley and pushed it out of the doors with the others running alongside, in front and behind.
Dan lay in the trolley feeling stupid and useless. Damn his stupid leg ! There was no point in making a bigger nuisance of himself, so he closed his eyes and willed it all to come to an end. He could feel the vibrations of the wheels coming up through the trolley, but thanks to Aneisha's hamster bedding it wasn't too uncomfortable. In a bit of a daze, Dan started to drift off to sleep. He was brought back to his senses when the shouting started.
"Oi ! There are the intruders ! Get them !" shouted a loud voice. "They're wanted for interrogation ! Keep some alive !" shouted another voice. Then gunshots rang out round the corridor. A bullet shot through the sides of the trolley, luckily above where Dan lay.
"Dan ! Are you Okay ?" shouted Aneisha's anxious voice above the din, as the trolley was shoved more quickly.
"Yeah, I'm Okay," Dan said, as loudly as he could manage. Suddenly the trolley slammed into a solid object and stopped. The jolt went right through Dan, and he gripped his sore leg in pain. There was a sound of fighting going on. He was frustrated at not being able to help. Although he wanted nothing more than to try to help, he knew that he could so easily be used as a hostage by the Perfect Match guards. Instead he lay quietly and listened anxiously to what was going on around him.
"Carrie !" shouted Oscar anxiously. "Look out !" he shouted. There was the sound of hits and kicks, grunts and groans of pain. "Ilya ! On your left !" yelled Oscar. He seemed to be standing the closest to the trolley. Everyone else's shouts were less distinct in the general hubub. "We need to break out of this," Oscar said. "I can see more of them coming guys," he added.
Unable to lie in silence, not knowing what was going on, any longer Dan pulled himself up a little and put his eye to the bullet hole in the side of the trolley. By moving his head he could get a reasonable view of what was going on outside. He saw Aneisha fighting one of the guards. She was holding her own, but starting to tire. Carrie seemed to be fighting two men at once and pretty successfully. She was obviously the fighter of the team. He couldn't see Oscar, Keri and Ilya. He rolled over so he could use the other bullet hole. This one gave him a scene of Oscar fighting against two guards, Keri knocking the stuffing out of a guy and occasional views of Ilya's legs kicking another guard. Worst of all, he could see a cluster of angry looking men running down the corridor towards them all, and they weren't MI9. A brief adrenaline rush finally made it to his brain and he reached into his pocket and pulled out his final stun grenade. Checking through the bullet hole again he tossed the grenade as hard as he could, praying it would go over the tops of everyone's heads. "Stun !" he yelled, stuffing his fingers in his ears. He hoped the others would hear.
He checked through his spy hole again and watched in satisfaction as the grenade exploded in the middle of the incoming group of guards. There was a flash, an almighty bang, and like skittles the men scattered on the floor. "Strike !" shouted Oscar. Dan grinned.
"There's someone in the trolley !" yelled a new voice. "Get them !"
"Oh no you don't !" said Oscar. Dan could hear him struggling with someone, followed by a grunt of pain. Before he could react he felt hands grabbing his arms and pulling him up from the trolley.
"Hey, look what I caught !" shouted a voice behind him. "What happened to your trousers mate ?" laughed the rough voice. "Aw ! He's got a sore leg. Let me help you with that," said the man with fake sincerity before yanking him backwards and dragging him over the edge of the trolley, scraping the wounded leg against the side. The shock of the pain left Dan too breathless to shout out and his world went dark.
Keri watched Dan being roughly dragged from the trolley and saw him slump into unconsciousness. Fury filled her. She smashed her fist into the face of the guard she was fighting, knocking him out with that single hit. She marched across the floor towards the man holding Dan, helping Oscar to his feet on the way, but not stopping. Her eyes were burning with anger and they were fixed on the thug laughing at her unconscious friend. She pointed at the man. "You ! Put ! Him ! Down ! Now ! So I can kill you quickly !" she screamed. She faintly heard Aneisha's voice calling out her name behind her, but the red mist was down and this guy was going to pay for what he just did.
The guy holding Dan looked up at her and the satisfied leer on his face froze when he saw Keri's face. Her pointing finger looked a lot like a gun pointing at his head. Shocked by her intensity he dropped Dan to the floor and took a step back. Realising his mistake the man then lurched forward to grab Dan's limp body and use it as a hostage against this raging fury in front of him. He was too late. Keri launched at him, a blur of flying fists and feet. Keri kicked and punched and chopped at the man. She barely saw where her blows landed. They all hit their target. The man was forced steadily back until he was up against the wall. She was still hitting him when an arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her back.
"Keri, he's out cold. You need to stop now," said Ilya's voice. "It's Okay. You did it. Stop now," he said quietly. The fury washed out of her and she almost passed out as the super human strength it had given her vanished. She looked on stunned as the guard she had attacked slipped down the wall to the floor. His face was bloody and bruised. Ilya's arms held her up as she too sagged with exhaustion and shock at what she had just done. Just how much of a clone of the Mastermind was she ? Was she a killing machine at heart ? Tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"Keri ?" It was Aneisha, looking at her with concern. "It's Okay Keri. The SWAT team have arrived," said Aneisha gently. "Come on, sit down for a minute. You need a break," she said. Aneisha guided her over to the wall next to Dan and they sat down together, leaning against the wall. She finally noticed the MI9 agents swarming around them.
They watched as Ilya guided a pair of medics over to Dan. He also motioned towards Keri and one of the medics looked up at her and smiled reassuringly. "We'll just check over your friend first agents," said the man. "You look like you've had a full day," he said gently.
"Is he alright ?" Keri managed to ask.
The two medics checked Dan over thoroughly before wrapping him in a silvery blanket with a monitor stuck on his finger. "He'll be fine once he's had rest," said the medic. He insisted on checking Keri next. "You're exhausted too," said the man. "Stay where you are. We'll get you both evacuated as soon as we are able," he explained, before moving off with his colleague ,checking the injuries of other MI9 agents.
"God Aneisha ! What did I do ?" whimpered Keri.
Aneisha grimaced. "Well, I guess you went a little bit crazy there," she said looking sympathetically at Keri. "You like him don't you ?" she asked, so quietly, that Keri barely heard her, nodding towards Dan.
"Of course I like him. He's our friend isn't he ?" said Keri.
"No, I mean like, like," said Aneisha, nodding at Keri.
"Oh ! Like, like," said Keri vaguely. "I guess," she said in a whisper.