A/N: I only borrowed Fariba Davoodi Mohajer. I borrowed the name and her profession. I don't mean any harm and have no intention to disregard what she does! I have the highest respect for this person, but there's no way to tell how she might react to the situation my story places her in. Just to prevent any trouble. I don't mean to disrespect any person existent I'm using in my story!!!
I appreciated every review!
Standard disclaimer applies!
Chapter 28
"Do you have any stuff here?"
"No, they took everything."
"Okay. Stay between the four of us at all times."
"Why?" Couldn't she just do what I told her?
"We are wearing Kevlar, you're not. Do you know when the next shift of guard arrives?"
That was when we heard cars approaching. Damn. Because of the limited time we had we hadn't been able to learn their schedule so we had no idea when shift change was.
"Now."
"Shit. Everyone. Shift change NOW!"
Ranger came over the ear piece. "Moxie take point at the railing, Lil cover her. Brown, Santos try to get down here. Get the hostage out. We'll meet back at the packs."
I made a quick decision. We didn't want to know them about who we were yet, so we had to avoid getting into a close up fight. Distraction! That should help us for now.
"NO! They'll know who we are. We need a distraction. Lester, take this goodie. Try to get out and at least 150 yards away from the building. Push the button and come back to the building but don't enter." Lester snuck away to divert the attention of the guards.
"Try to stay put, Lester has it covered. 2 minutes tops."
Ranger was back. "How's the hostage?"
"She seems alright. I'll take a closer look later."
We waited in silence. Lester told us he had the bomb planted. I had it set to 45 seconds.
"Hurry back Lester."
"I'm back."
A few seconds later "KABOOM".
Ranger took the lead again. "Give them a few seconds and then come down. We've got the two down here down."
I turned around to Fariba and asked her whispering "Can you walk?"
"I'm not sure."
"You been here the whole time?" This time she just nodded.
"Shit. Lil, help her."
Tank came over the line. "Come down now. Carry her. Be quiet."
Lil picked Fariba up. She didn't like it. "Ms Mohajer, I suggest you do as we tell you. We put our lives on the line to get you out of here, so a little cooperation would be nice. We are your last chance in getting out relatively unharmed." She nodded and went along with it.
We crept down the stairs, trying to make little to no noise, hoping not to alert them to our presence.
We snuck out of the building, covering as much area as possible, trying to get away without problems. I was running on a high level of adrenaline, just like everyone else. That was what had us all hooked on jobs like this. The pressure to get the hostage out unharmed, to bring the whole team back, but also the thrill of the chase. The thrill to be better than the enemy, to use the skills you trained so hard for. To be sneaky and sometimes unorthodox, always with the goal in mind. Concentrating so hard that there was no space to thing about family or friends, everything you left back at home when you went on the mission. All that mattered was the there and then. All traces of tiredness were gone, we were high alert, ready to react in the fraction of a second, react before you think.
"Moxie, Lil, head straight to the camp, Brown, Santos go north. We'll cover your retreat. MOVE!"
Our camp was approximately two miles to the east. We went as silent as possible, Lil still carrying Fariba. When we were on the way back Fariba spoke for the first time since we got her out of the little room.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Moxie and the guy carrying you is Lil. There are four more. You'll meet them at the camp. Just try not to annoy them and obey."
"Why should I?"
"You want to experience what they do to the women here? Just say so and we'll leave you here. You want to go home unharmed? Trust us and do what we tell you to. We leave you here, you'll undergo the procedure. You chose to trust us, we'll guard you with our lives. Enough?"
She nodded.
"Great. Now let's get back to the camp, I need to take a look at your injuries." There was a tiny little bit of sarcasm sneaking into my voice, but I couldn't help it.
"But you can't do that." She was whining. Okay, she had had a couple of rough days, but she was getting on my nerves. Lil was quiet, letting me show her the borderlines.
"It's either me or one of the guys. Your decision. We're both trained medics. We need you to be able to walk or it will take forever to get you out if the guy have to constantly carry you."
We made the rest of the walk in silence. Although we only had whispered before, you could never be careful enough in a situation like this.
We made it back to the camp at 4am. When we came back I told Fariba to rest until the rest of the team was there. I couldn't examine her yet, it was too dark to see anything. Lil took watch and I wanted to stretched out for a nap as well.
"How am I supposed to sleep?"
"Wait a second, there's a sleeping bag for you. You can clean up in the morning and we should get you into other clothes as well." Her traditional clothing wasn't the best choice to run through a jungle, trying to escape a cruel fate.
"What do you mean?"
"You should wear pants and a shirt. Makes walking a lot easier."
"But I can't..."
Before she could get any further I interrupted her. "You have to. Now stop arguing and sleep." I had pulled out the sleeping bag for her and pointed her where she should lay down.
"But what if they come after me?"
"Lil is keeping watch until the rest of the team arrives. We all take turns keeping watch at night. You are safe. I know you've had a couple of rough days. We'll talk about it in the morning, but now you should sleep."
That seemed to be enough to reassure her and she finally settled down to sleep, but somehow I couldn't sleep.
I got up again and sat dow next to Lil.
"How come you know exactly how to calm her down, how to reassure her?"
"How much do you know about me?"
"I know that you were a bounty hunter. That's how you met Ranger. You met the guys on a job and they took turns bodyguarding you later on. And you've been working for RangeMan." He thought a moment. "Oh. And you know TK because he is the one who trained you."
"Alright. How much do you want to know?"
"As much as you're comfortable telling me."
"You are right. I met Ranger when I started bounty hunting. I had no idea how to do it and Vinnie had given me Joe Morelli as my first skip, a vice cop on the run. Connie, that's Vinnie's office manager called Ranger and called in a favor. He was to show me the ropes. He helped me in some really tight situations and got shot helping me with one of my skips. The skip had managed to grab my gun. Pretty embarrassing." I had to chuckle. In hindsight my escapades were kind of funny.
"You got him shot and he continued helping you?"
"Yes. Even later when I was in an on-off relationship with my first skip, he always came to help me. He was the one who would first show up at the scene when one of my cars had blown up to make sure I was okay. He provided me with muscle when I needed help taking a skip down. I sometimes worked for him, doing distractions, but the first job I ever did with him and the team was a redecorating job."
"Tell me about that job." He seemed curious, but genuinely interested in what I had to say.
"I had no idea what he meant with that. I thought we would go somewhere to paint a wall or something. He picked me up that morning and Les, Tank and Bobby were crammed in the backseat. All four guys were wearing black, armed to the teeth. I was wearing blue jeans, a tee and a flannel. When we arrived at the scene Ranger introduced me and asked if I had thought to bring my gun. I hadn't which was normal. I was afraid of my gun until I went to get training. Anyway the banter went back and forth. I told them I didn't like getting shot. And I was kinda afraid we would do something illegal, because I don't like getting arrested. Les called me no fun back then." I was lost in my memories and it took me a moment before I could continue.
"I was stalked on a regular basis. My apartment was fire bombed, I found one of my now best friends, a former ho on my fire escape, raped and cut, I found dead people in my apartment, got sent pieces of people, I was kidnapped and shot at. I was even shoved into a coffin and I was at the scene when my Grandma blew up a funeral home. And Ranger was there for me every time to pick up the pieces. He would come, take me in the comfort of his embrace and everything would be alright again. When I was low on money and behind with my rent he would throw a job my way and give me a car. I have no idea how many cars where blown up by my crazy skips. But it were a lot. Hell, he even gave a Boxter. There was a bomb in it and after it blew up there fell a garbage truck on it."
"You mean to tell me that Ranger supported you the whole time?"
"Yeah. When I had a contract on my head issued by the Slayers I went to stay at his apartment in his absence. I didn't ask, he hadn't even told me about it, but he never said anything about it when he came back."
"Run that by me again. How did you find out?"
"My POS car went to car heaven and he had told Tank to give me his personal truck should the need arise. GPS brought me back to his office. I snuck in and out, hoping nobody would see me. I felt safe in his apartment, without him even being there."
"Okay, he helped you when you were in trouble, but how did you know how to calm our girl down?"
"Have you been kidnapped like this?"
Lil nodded, but didn't elaborate.
"I've been in this situation way too often. I know that it's hard to feel safe again. You feel threatened and unsure, of yourself, but also about what will happen next. You are frightened. You feel like you can never feel safe again. I had Ranger to fall back on, or Joe. Whoever. I would indulge in a sugar party, you know worship Ben and Jerry's and than I would most likely bounce back. I have the safety net foe occasions like this. Fariba however doesn't. She doesn't know us. We could be another group of kidnappers as well as the people who will bring her to safety. I think me being here helps her. You guys are scary. She doesn't know what happens to her. When you army guys get into a situation where you are taking hostage you have an idea how to deal with it. You got the training for it. Fariba didn't undergo the training. I just know how she feels and what she needs. And I think you carrying her has helped her, too. There's nothing as reassuring as a man carrying you away from trouble."
Lil looked thoughtful, mulling over what I just told him, trying to comprehend what I had said.
Before he could say anything I could see Bobby ans Lester approach in the distance. It was nearly 5am and they looked beat. A few minutes later they were next to us.
"Any trouble?"
"Nah, took us longer than expected because we made some traps getting here, leading them on. Great idea to create a distraction with the bomb." Lester told me.
"Hey, I'm Ms Distraction. What did you expect? Has been a while since anything blew up around me. I'm still driving the first company car I got when I came back."
"Moxie, did you already take a look at her?"
"Nope, told her we would later when we can see anything. I'm pretty sure I'll have to do it, though. She was pretty reluctant to agree."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"No. You guys catch a nap." Lil wasn't too talkative apparently.
"Moxie, you entertaining him with the story of your life?" Lester wanted to know.
"Yeah, but he doesn't know yet that I'll ask him just as many questions."
"You are evil."
They settled down to sleep. It had been a hard night for all of us, but we had been able to go straight back.
"Lil, you wanna catch a nap as well?"
He nodded and went to his sleeping bag.
I was sitting alone in the dark, hearing the animals around me. The birds cheeping, bigger animals walking around and the whisper of the trees. The sound of the leaves swirling in the soft morning breeze. It was peaceful and serene. I could see the sun begin to rise, the sky's colors changing.
I felt good sitting there, waiting for Ranger and Tank to come back. One year ago I would have been frightened to death, but now I felt at ease. It was a great feeling.
Around six Ranger and Tank came back. They looked a little rough, but nothing too bad.
"Trouble?"
"Some stupid shrub with thorns." Tank answered me.
"And guard wise?"
"Your bomb surprised them. They have discovered that Fariba isn't there anymore, but they've got no idea who took her."
"Okay. Why don't you guys take a nap?"
Tank nodded and headed to join the others. Ranger settled down behind me, his legs outstretched next to mine, his chin resting on my shoulder. I leaned back into him, assured by his presence.
"Proud of you, Babe."
I nodded. His praise meant so much to me.
"How's Fariba?"
"Nothing too bad. I'll take a look at her when she wakes up. Probably a little underweight and dehydrated but other than that only superficial. She's pretty weak though. Lil carried her the whole way."
"I heard what you told Lil about your history. Did I mean that much to you?" He seemed slightly unsure of himself.
"Yeah. Every time I was in trouble I called you. When you came and hugged me I felt safe, no matter what was going on around us. You were my rock all the time. I never felt completely safe with Joe."
After that we sat in silence watching the sun rise and the jungle wake up. Bobby was the first to join us.
"Breakfast?"
"Let's wait for the others."
One after another the rest of the guys woke up and I finally left Ranger's embrace to wake Fariba up.
"Time to get up. We need to discuss how we'll get you out of here."
She came awake quite slowly, but I gave her the time, knowing where she was coming from.
"What about the others?"
"Already up. Tank's making breakfast at the moment. Let's go down to the river so you can clean up and we can get you into fresh clothes."
She nodded and followed me. Fortunately we had the same size so she could wear my stuff. Expecting it I had packed two extra sets and a toiletry kit for her. Never hurts to be prepared. I had taken Bobby's kit with us to get cleaned up. The place I took her guaranteed her some privacy and I took the chance to examine her. I bandaged the raw places on her wrists and ankles and put some ointment on it, but other than that she was unharmed. At least physically. I gave her a set of clothes and told her to put them on. She was quite uncomfortable in my clothes, but she had no choice.
We went back to the rest of the team. Tank had breakfast ready and we settled down to eat.
After a while I was getting curious. I was nearly full and wanted to know what had happened. "So, may I call you Fariba...?" She nodded. "What happened?"
