Sabina wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up in this situation. Well, she knew how, but she just couldn't quite believe it. Once the Delta unit had been distracted by the small explosion which seemed to have happened above their heads, Gregorovitch had dragged her out the gate and into a small side street.
He had a tight grip on her upper arm and she tried to tug it out of his grasp but it was too strong. He didn't seem impressed with her efforts either, in fact he didn't even seem to notice.
"I can walk." she said irritably.
"I'm aware of that Miss Pleasure," Gregorovtich sighed, stuffing a key into the lock of the trunk. "but as I said, it will look much better for you if you don't look like you're here voluntarily." The lid popped open and he pulled her round, holding out his hand.
"Give me your phone."
She did as he asked and he took it, weighing it for a moment in his palm. Then, without warning he threw it over a high garden hedge. She wanted to protest but stopped when she saw his face. He pointed to the trunk.
"Get in," he said offhandedly.
She gaped at him. "Excuse me?"
"In," he repeated, "Now."
She opened her mouth to argue.
"This is not up for negotiation. Get in, or you will spend the entire trip locked in there."
She looked up at him. As soon as their eyes met the fight went out of her. She wasn't going to win this one. She was going to end up in the trunk and it was either on his terms or her own. It didn't mean that she had to like it though.
"Fine." she said tersely, climbing in.
"I will let you out once we are out of San Francisco."
She nodded and a second later the lid was slammed down upon her. She hoped that this wasn't a trick. What if he just left her in here to suffocate? What if he never let her out?
The car rocked slightly as the drivers door was opened and shut. She breathed a sigh of relief. The engine started up and a second later she was thrown against the back of the trunk as they pulled away.
As they drove and she relaxed, she couldn't help wondering whether Alex had ever been in this situation. She didn't actually know much of what he'd been through when she thought about it. She knew all about Damien Cray and the attack on her dad of course, and she knew that his housekeeper had been killed in Egypt but other than that she only knew scarce details.
The journey seemed to take forever. As far as she could tell they weren't speeding. Maybe the military unit hadn't been able to follow them. From the little that she knew about Gregorovitch, he seemed frighteningly capable. She amused herself with picking at a sharp plastic edge at the side of the trunk, bracing herself on the roof with her arms as they swung around the bends. Eventually they rolled to a stop and a minute later they were still stationary, they must have pulled over. The drivers door slammed and her hands flew to her hair. She wanted to look less like the flustered sweaty red mess than she almost definitely did.
The lid opened and she cringed from the light.
"We're out of the city." He said curtly, motioning for her to get out. He did not offer his hand to help. She clambered out, trying to maintain a little dignity. By the bemused expression on his face, it wasn't working. She looked around and saw they were parked on a dust track by a small deserted field.
Once she was out she looked up at him expectantly. "So what now?" she asked.
He looked her up and down and she flushed under his penetrating gaze. It was like being assessed by someone she was trying to impress. She didn't want to be trying to impress him, but she knew she was.
"Now Miss Pleasure, we get you some new clothes."
She flushed slightly. "Why?"
He looked at her like she was stupid. It made her feel like she was. When she didn't give any indication that she knew what he was on about, he rolled his eyes. It was one of the only displays of emotion that she'd seen. The first had been when he'd found her decoded letter, the second, when she'd insulted the agent trying to help and now this.
"You are in a school uniform Miss Pleasure." he explained as if he was talking to a child, "The logo will give us away immediately, even if they don't just call the police when they see a grown man travelling with a schoolgirl. One who is clearly not his daughter."
Her face grew hot and she knew he could tell. "Oh."
"For now, remove your blazer and tie. We will find you suitable clothing once we are in the first place you direct me to." He headed off to the front of the car. She heard a door open and close.
She did as he said, throwing the blazer and tie into the trunk, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt. Gregorovitch came back round to where she was standing, a long womens wig in one hand, a metal bucket in the other.
"What's that?"
"It was my disguise."
He held the bucket out and she looked at it, confused. He looked pointedly at the clothes in the trunk. Oh. She scooped them back out and placed them in the bucket. He placed the wig on top of her clothes and spun round, climbing over the gate of the field. He looked impossibly graceful and dignified as he did it, she wondered how.
She watched as he set the bucket down and bent over it. He returned a minute later.
"Get in the car."
"We're leaving?"
He didn't reply. She looked over to the field and saw smoke rising from the bucket. For a moment she lamented the loss of her uniform but knew it was for the best, he did have a point, the uniform did make them stick out.
She opened the passenger door and slid into the seat. Gregorovitch was already seated behind the wheel. "So, where first?" he asked her, not turning to look at her.
Sabina had already planned her answer when she'd been locked in the boot. "Head towards Vegas."
This caused him to turn his head slightly in her direction but he didn't say anything, merely turned the key over and eased off the handbrake.
Alex made it inside, helped by Joseph and several people dressed in white who had come running out the house. Evidently they were all Anatolievich's medical staff. Alex didn't like to think of the implications of why they were so readily on hand. He was led to a room he'd not been in before which walls were painted a bright white colour, matching the floor and the medical bed in the centre of the room. Either Anatolievich had been anticipating him being injured, or a lot of people ended up needing medical care in Anatolievich's house.
"Lie back, son." smiled one of the men dressed in white. Alex did as he was told. "We're going to give you a strong anesthetic now, so we can see to your arm, okay?"
He nodded and he felt the push of a needle in his right arm. Alex was glad they were telling him what they were doing before they did it. He didn't like not knowing what was being done to him. When he'd found out MI6 had been feeding him the tablets since he'd come to America he'd felt sick. A sudden thought struck him. The side effects they'd warned him about, the withdrawal, it wasn't happening. He'd skipped two doses and he was fine. He grinned, but it suddenly fell off his face.
He'd felt sick and feverish when he'd tried to escape, he'd been in so much pain he hadn't really thought about it. That had to have been the withdrawal effects, but why was he alright now? His kidnappers couldn't have known unless-
Everything slotted into place and at the same time a chill ran down his spine. They couldn't have known, not unless they'd been told by people who knew. Not unless they were connected to MI6. He'd wondered how he'd been fed the pills before the mission and now he knew. The only constant factor between the two locations was Miss Sadie. She'd been at his school, in a perfect position to poison him without him knowing. They'd just upped his dosage for the mission from once a day to three.
So MI6 had orchestrated the whole thing. There were no Scorpia admirers, not here at least. It was just MI6 using him as a puppet again. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried not to cry. Why him? Why did everything seem to fall to him to sort out? Why couldn't things just go back to normal?
He felt a hand on his shoulder; Joseph. "Don't worry kid, you're doing well."
Alex opened his eyes again, he'd been so caught up in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed what was happening to his body. His foot had been bandaged, and was now presumably free of glass, cream had been massaged into his split knuckles and thet tips of his fingers too were covered in white fabric. The cut on his right arm had been bandaged and his left was currently being placed into a proper sling. Joseph seemed to realise that he hadn't been paying attention.
"They said your arm was a nasty fracture but that it should heal okay if it's left alone." He said the last bit pointedly. Alex grinned. He felt numb all over, his lips, sides and legs all tingly.
"You're pretty doped up right now." Joseph clarified for him, "Just try get some sleep kid, you've been through a lot."
Alex tried to nod, but his neck wouldn't work. Instead he settled for melting into the soft bed, at least that was what it felt like he was doing. He closed his eyes, and didn't even have to think about falling asleep before he passed out.
He woke to a dim light flooding through the window. He wasn't in his room, nor was he in the medical suite where he'd fallen asleep. His muscles felt slightly numb still so he remained where he was, using his eyes rather than his head to look around. The room was plain. A light oak floor, pale green walls and very well matched curtains and drapes. After several minutes of taking in the room, eventually he felt able to move his body and reached out for the decanter of water which he'd spotted on the side table. His fingers fumbled the class, made difficult by the bandages, but eventually he managed to grasp it without aggravating his injuries too much. He didn't bother with the glass beside it and instead balanced the decanter on his breast bone, tilting it towards his mouth using his chest. He took a long draught and only a little spilled over his chin. He lay there for a while, cool glass resting on his chest, fading in and out of consciousness.
The door opened and Alex, half asleep jerked upright, spilling more water onto his neck and pyjama top.
"Oh." he cursed, lifting the decanter and reaching to put it on the side table, but another hand got there first, taking it from him.
"You're awake." Anatolievich breathed, relief evident in his voice, "I've just got back."
Alex didn't want to ask 'From where?'. Putting bodies in the ground he suspected. He settled for smiling. Anatolievich smiled back, searching Alex's face for something.
"Oh, but you're wet. I apologise, I shouldn't have just barged in like that." The russian apologised, setting the decanter down on the side table, "here, let me help you out of your wet shirt."
Alex wanted to protest but his mouth still felt tingly from the anesthetic and Anatolievich's hands were already undoing his top button. He didn't try to resist and let the man unbutton his shirt. Once the last was undone, Anatolievich's eyes flicked up to meet his and he met them innocently; brown gazing helplessly into deep blue.
Anatolievich's eyes darted down his face to glance at Alex's lips. His tongue darted out and wet his own as he withdrew slightly.
"Can you get your arm out your right sleeve for me, Alexander?" Anatolievich asked. It was if he was speaking to a child. He was, Alex's mind added.
He nodded and slipped his arm free of the material and learnt forward as Anatolievich pushed the shirt round his body to work on the left. Alex's face was pushed much closer to Anatolievich's neck than he liked and he took a deep breath as he calmed himself. Anatolievich smelt like bleach. Ignoring the implications, Alex smiled up at the man as he removed Alex's left sleeve, made difficult by the sling. Eventually Alex was shirtless and he pulled the covers up to his neck to preserve his modesty. He didn't like people seeing the scar from his bullet wound.
Anatolievich neatly folded the shirt and set it on the edge of the bed, sitting down next to it. This action made the covers Alex had pulled up to cover his chest slip down several inches and he lamented the loss as the cool air fanned out over his nipples. He was soon distracted however, by Anatolievich's hand which had come to rest on his leg.
"How are you, Alexander?" he asked gently. His voice was full of concern so genuine Alex was caught off guard.
He opened his mouth to say 'I'm fine' but thought better of it.
"I don't know." he said honestly, "I didn't realise they were so serious. I didn't think-"
"That they would hurt you?" Anatolievich finished for him. He sounded resigned, "the world is cruel Alexander, especially to undeserving children."
Alex almost laughed at the irony. This was coming from a man who exploited immigrant workers, bedded vulnerable and unwilling children and made a living out of forcing women into prostituion and their husbands into carrying out murders. Instead, he said, "It hurt so much." He didn't even have to try to make his voice sound meek and broken.
A second later Anatolievich was moving up the bed and Alex's heart jumped but the man simply enveloped him in a tight hug. He couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged him like this; like they'd never let go. He shook the thought from his mind roughly. This man was evil, he'd killed a young CIA agent barely out of the academy, he'd kill Alex too if he found out who he was. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an age and after a while Alex felt himself relaxing into the embrace, wrapping his good arm around Anatolievich's. Eventually they broke apart and Alex realised that the man's shirt was wet from his tears.
"Sorry." he mumbled as Anatolievich inspected it.
"Don't apologise Alexander," he said, running a warm hand through Alex's long hair, tucking a couple of strands behind his right ear, "it will dry."
Alex tried to force a smile onto his face, but it was a pathetic attempt, his lip was wobbling too much. Thoughts were getting jumbled in his brain, he had so many questions.
"What happened?" he asked finally, "To the people who-" he trailed off, knowing Anatolievich would know who he meant.
The man's hand didn't stop playing with his hair and Alex was half pleased, it felt nice.
"The men I killed." Anatolievich said bluntly, "you saw them as we left I believe."
Alex nodded, he couldn't get the image of the three men slowly garotting themselves out of his mind. "And the women?" he asked, curious. He was careful not to call Miss Sadie by name.
"You don't need to worry about her Alexander." Anatolievich said, meeting his eyes. "You'll never see her again."
Anatolievich spoke as if there had only been one woman. He wondered if it had been Miss Sadie or the medic that had escaped.
"Thank you." Alex said, though he felt sick thanking the man for butchering those people, even if they had hurt him. Impulsively he reached up to the hand in his hair and took it in his hand, bringing it down to the bedclothes, playing with the fingers one by one. They were long and delicate like his own; pianist fingers Ian would call them. They sat there in silence for several minutes, not moving apart from their fingers.
"Do you feel well enough for a game of chess Alexander?" Anatolievich inquired.
Alex smiled.
"Okay."
He didn't take his eyes off their hands. He wanted to rip his away, though at the same time the physical contact was gentle and sweet and he didn't want it to end. He was fascinated by the conflict in his brain.
Anatolievich's other hand came up to Alex's chin, tilting it upward to force eye contact between them. "Please look at me when you speak to me, Alexander." Anatolievich said calmly, though something in his voice was harder than steel.
Alex nodded, "Sorry." he apologised, making sure to look into Anatolievich's eyes as he spoke.
"It's no matter." Anatolievich said, patting Alex's hands and rising from the bed. "I shall go find Amaliya and ask her to bring up the chess board." he stated matter-of-factly, striding to the door. As he stepped through, he turned back to look at Alex, "And there will be a surprise for you after supper too."
He grinned, shutting the door behind him and Alex burrowed into the sheets as best he could with his sling. His rational thoughts were getting tangled with his emotions and becoming irrational. How could he have enjoyed Anatolievich's touch? He shuddered at the thought of the man's hands in his hair, his fingers playing with his own. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to blot out the memory of their hug. It had been so warm and comforting, yet so wrong and grotesque. He knew he shouldn't enjoy the touch so much, but he knew that when it was offered he wouldn't protest and knew that he'd keep seeking it out more and more. What was wrong with him?
He listened as Anatolievich's footsteps on their stairs died away and stared at the ceiling, wishing that he could just go home.
Edward was going out of his mind with worry. First Alex, now Sabina. There was a Delta Force man sitting in his living room and the man couldn't tell him where his little girl was. Edward had come to the conclusion that he was a fumbling idiot, his daughter had been kidnapped from school and the man had let it happen. He'd taken Liz upstairs when they'd received word from the school of Sabina's disappearance, she'd looked as grey and as ashen as she had when Alex had gone missing.
It was now early morning, the street lamps had been switched on and he could see the light rain falling though he couldn't hear it. He hadn't seen Brad since the previous morning. It seemed crazy that it had been only yesterday. They had had no contact from the CIA or anyone remotely official. All he had was the man in his living room. There was a loud knock at the front door and Edward resided the urge to cry, they'd had no end of visitors since Sabina had been taken, mostly nosey neighbours.
He strode to the door, not bothering to look through the peephole, ready to tell Mrs Anderson from two doors down to shove off and mind her own business and flung it open. He gaped at the sight that greeted him. A group of men, all dressed in combat gear were gathered around the front door, rain pattering down on their heads. Edward was too stunned to speak.
"May we come in?" asked the man at the front. Judging his accent he was british. He was shorter than most of the others, black with a crooked nose.
"Er-" said Edward intelligently, trying to recover his senses, "is this about-"
The man nodded, "Probably."
Edward stood back, holding the door open to let them pass. They filed in one by one, and he saw that he'd been mistaken. They weren't all men. The last to step inside was a woman, who shook her long ginger hair out, spraying the rest of the soldiers and Edward with rain water. They grumbled in annoyance but seemed like they didn't want to complain in front of Edward, instead throwing her dirty looks and stripping off their own outer layers. Obviously they meant to stay.
"Can I get you tea?"
Edward looked up in surprise, Liz had made her way down the stairs in her dressing gown, makeup smudged but looking determined.
"That would be wonderful." One of the soldiers said, pulling off his boots. He was british too. Some of the other men made sounds of agreement.
"I don't suppose you've got any hot cocoa ma'am?" asked another, this one was american for sure.
"I'll see what I can do." Liz squeezed passed the men into the kitchen and Edward heard the kettle being filled with water.
"Who are you?" asked Edward eventually.
"Delta Force, B-Squadron." Came a voice from behind him. The bumbling idiot he'd had to deal with for the past few hours had come to stand in the door frame. He nodded at one of the men. "Ghost."
"Calico."
It was immediately obvious that these men didn't get on.
"Why don't we all go into the living room." Edward suggested, "there are so many of you, I can hardly keep track."
He entered the room, brushing past Calico and made a beeline for the whiskey cabinet, pouring a generous helping into a tumbler.
The rest of the men, plus the red haired woman sat down on whatever surface they could find.
"So, you're all Delta Force?" Edward asked, breaking the silence, "but no, some of you are brits."
The man who had spoken at the door nodded. "We're SAS, over here on a special international relations exercise, but we've teamed up with B-Squadron on a mission. This is Eagle, Hawk, Bear and Snake." he said pointing to each of his unit in turn, "and I'm Wolf."
He held his hand out to Edward and he shook it. The man's grip was strong.
Edward nodded, it sounded plausible. "And what's this mission? And where is my daughter?"
The man's eyes left his face and it was obvious that he felt guilty. He opened his mouth to speak but another of the men got there first. An American this time.
"We're working on it Mr Pleasure." he said sincerely, "We can't tell you everything, but we need to know what you know. I'm Ghost by the way, one of the Delta lot." he took his turn to point out his men, "this is Rex, Gun, Apache and Charge."
Edward shook his offered hand too.
Calico scoffed. "He's not going to know anything important. You have the files on the mission. Why don't you let Z unit take charge of this? All you've done is arrive too late to a kidnapping!"
"And all you've done is fail to stop said kidnapping." butted in Apache. "Z unit is practically incompetant, there's a reason we were chosen to work with the brits, we're the best."
Edward could see the beginnings of a shouting match forming and he quickly cut in. "If Z unit are incompetant, why did you let them look after my daughter?"
There was silence.
"An oversight on my part," said Ghost, "I thought that the threat towards your daughter was minimal and that Z unit would be capable of sorting the situation out, I see now that that wasn't the case. I'll not make that mistake again, rest assured."
Edward pressed his lips into a thin line. "So where is my daughter? Has Gregorovitch got her?" he demanded, and then more quietly, "Is she still alive?"
There were a few grimaces from the men and then the british man spoke. "We believe that Gregorovitch has taken your daughter with him as leverage."
"Again?" Edward sighed, putting his hands over his face.
There was an immediate change of feeling in the room.
"Again?" asked Wolf.
Edward removed his hands. "Last year, Damien Cray kidnapped my daughter as leverage over Alex and MI6. She was there on Air Force One when Gregorovitch was shot."
Ghost and Wolf exchanged a look. "The unnamed civilian on the report." Wolf murmured and Ghost nodded in agreement.
"So your daughter knows Gregorovitch then?" asked Calico.
Edward looked up at the man, he didn't like his accusatory tone. He could see why he didn't get on with Ghost. "I wouldn't say she knows him, no." he said calmly, "she was kidnapped, held to ransom and almost killed by him. They don't exactly go play darts together every sunday."
He glared at the man and it was Ghost who broke the tension.
"So what do you know about the situation?" he asked, leaning forward, "Even the smallest detail could help."
Edward leaned back in his chair and Liz came in holding a tray full of steaming drinks. She set it down on the table, and then sat on the armrest of Edward's chair. She wasn't going anywhere this time.
"This morning we had a visit from Sir David Friend, he told us Alex is in Florida. After that we had a visit from a Lieutenant Stanley, he told us a russian man was after Alex and that Alex was, more specifically, in Miami. That's it."
"And was your daughter present when he told you this?" asked Bear.
Edward nodded, "She was, and her friend Brad from school. Brad Coaches. He was here as well. He goes to school with Sabina, he was there when.." he trailed off.
Ghost nodded. "Calico." the man looked round, "go find this kid Brad, I want to talk to him."
Edward put his hands up hurriedly, "There's no need for that I'm sure, he's just a kid. He's got nothing to do with it. He was really only here because he's got a crush on Al."
Calico and Ghost exchanged a look and Calico left the room.
One of the men knocked his knee into the other, "Someone's got a crush on Cub." he said quietly, grinning.
"Cub?" Liz asked.
Wolf nodded, "Eagle, Snake and I knew Alex before this all started." he explained, "He was with us when we went through SAS selection last year. Cub is his call sign."
Edward blinked. He'd had no idea MI6 had but Alex through that, he also didn't miss the way Wolf had said 'is' as if Alex was still part of their unit.. "So Gregorovitch." he said, leaning forward to take a mug of tea, gesturing for the rest of them to do the same, "what does he want with Alex?"
"Honestly?" Ghost said, leaning forward to take a mug of cocoa, "we don't know. No one knows."
"Great." said Edward sarcastically, "so he probably either wants to murder or kidnap my son?"
There was silence. "That's about the size of it."
Edward put his head in his hands once again. Alex had just gotten out!
"Do you think your daughter will have told Gregorovitch where Alex is?" asked Wolf plainly.
Edward thought about it. "Not if she thought Gregorovitch wanted to hurt him."
"What about if Gregorovitch hurt her?" asked Eagle. Liz let out a whimper and Bear hit the man who had spoken round the head.
"Sorry." she said, "Eagle here tends to speak before thinking."
"I know it's hard for you to hear," Wolf said kindly. "But we do have to consider the possibility that your daughter may have been harmed in some way. Gregorovitch is a wanted man, an assassin. He probably won't have any qualms about hurting her if he thinks she knows where Cub is."
Liz let out another little whimper and Edward put his arm around her. "We should never have taken him in." she whispered.
Edward wanted to feel repulsed and horrified that his wife could think that but he couldn't bring himself to be. Somewhere in the back of his own mind, those thoughts had formed and were pushing themselves to the front, wanting to be heard. The men in the living room gave each other uncomfortable looks. The awkward silence was broken when the door to the living room opened and Calico returned, tugging a skinny, rat faced kid with him. Brad.
"I found him a few streets away." Calico explained, "said he was coming here."
Ghost nodded and moved from his position on the couch to let the kid sit down. He was soaked through. He looked up at Calico, "Take Z unit and go through the security footage from the home cameras around the streets near the school." he ordered, "see if you missed anything the first time round. They can't have just disappeared."
Calico looked like he wanted to argue but left the house once again, shutting the door rather harder than necessary behind him. Ghost crouched down in front of Brad who looked like he was ready to soil his pants.
"Brad right?"
The kid nodded.
"You were at the school when Gregorovitch abducted Sabina?"
He nodded again, more slowly this time, as if unsure.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
Brad looked around at the room and Edward nodded encouragingly at him.
"I was in detention from the start of 5th period and about twenty minutes in Sabina joined me." he began, "we were discussing Alex and then the sub teacher came to tell us to be quiet."
Ghost nodded, trying to look encouraging.
"Sabina turned round and when she saw him, she fell out of her chair. I didn't know what was going on, but then the sub teacher seemed to know who she was. Then she told me to leave."
"And did you?"
Brad nodded.
"Anything else you can tell us?" Ghost asked kindly, "what about the explosion?"
Brad shrugged, "I don't know anything about it, sorry."
It was all too obvious he was lying. Ghost exchanged looks with the rest of the men. "Is there something you want to tell us Brad?" he asked, "I promise you won't get in trouble."
There was a long pause whilst Brad seemed to consider his answer. His hands were twisting in his lap and he kept looking up at Edward and Liz anxiously.
"If Sabina went willingly," he started slowly, "would that change things?"
Ghost blinked. This was not what he had expected.
"What do you know Brad?"
"Would that change things?" he repeated.
"Yes."
"And I won't get in trouble?" he asked desperately, " Or Sabina?"
"You won't be in any trouble." Ghost assured him.
"Then I have something to show you." He reached into his pocket and drew out his phone. He looked up at the adults. "I recorded their conversion."
Liz gave a shuddering gasp and Edward drew her closer to him.
"And Gregorovitch didn't realise?" Ghost asked, sounding impressed. Brad shook his head and held out the phone. "Just listen." he said, and tapped play.
"So Gregorovitch actually said he wants to help Alex?" Edward asked, nonplussed. It was at least the fifth time he'd asked that question.
"Seems like it." Wolf said, cracking his knuckles, scowling at the wall.
"Could it be a ruse?" suggested Hawk
"I don't see how." Apache replied, "how could he have known Sabina would ask that, or that Brad would record the conversation? There are too many unknown factors involved."
"Well, what we do know for sure," said Snake, "is that Sabina is voluntarily with Gregorovitch which means she's safe." He smiled at Liz and Edward, "Well, safe-ish." he added.
"So Sabina is road tripping with a dead assassin all the way to Miami?" Brad asked hesitantly, "and this assassin won't hurt her just because Alex wouldn't forgive him? This is mental."
"Almost as mental as you trying to drop a building on Z unit." muttered Gun.
"Oh, nice work by the way." Apache grinned, he reached over to Brad, "high five."
"It does seem crazy," agreed Hawk, ignoring them, "an international assassin breaks out of prison, blows his cover of literally being dead, all to save one kid he's met a total of what, three times?"
"And what's with the coded letter?" asked Rex, "We didn't hear what one of the words meant, they both just trailed off."
Brad looked up at Edward and then at the rest of the room's occupants. He slowly brought out a slip of paper.
"Is that it?" Ghost asked, eagerly, holding his hand out for it. Brad nodded, but didn't give him the paper.
"Is there any way I can show this to just one of you?" he asked quietly.
"Why?" Eagle asked, confused.
"It's just-." Brad began, "It-"
"I think it would be best if perhaps just two of you saw it." Edward agreed calmly.
"Why?" Eagle asked again, "What's on it? What does it say?"
Brad didn't say anything, looking up at Edward for help. Edward, in turn looked at Ghost and Wolf, the two leaders of the Units.
"Alright, do you have a room we can use?" asked Wolf, getting to his feet.
"You can go in Al's bedroom." Edward suggested, "it's the first left as you come to the landing."
Ghost got to his feet too and followed Brad and Wolf out of the room. The rest of them sat there in silence. Liz's head was resting on his shoulder and she was so still it was almost as if she was asleep. Edward couldn't imagine what it was like for her to go through this a second time. He himself had been unconscious in hospital when Sabina had disappeared the first time. A couple of minutes later there was a sound like a fist hitting a door and then heavy footsteps coming back down the stairs. They all looked up at the doorway, waiting for them to return. A second later, Wolf came striding backin. He was shaking with anger, face screwed up.
"K-Unit." he said loudly, "we're going to Miami. Now." He strode back out the door and began pulling on his boots. "NOW!"
The rest of the men looked at each other in shock and then scrambled to do as their leader commanded. Ghost and Brad appeared a second later. Brad was looking sad, but Ghost was as pale as his name suggested.
"You heard Wolf." he said, nodding to his men who were all still sitting on various cushions and surfaces, "get your things, we're going to Miami."
"How boss?" asked Apache, "Hawk and I are too tired to fly a chopper back now, besides Russet and Nero will have taken them back already."
"We'll take a car."
"What car?" Apache asked incredulously, "Look, I want to get there as much as you do but-"
Wolf pushed his way past the rest of them, squaring up to Apache. "We're going to Miami, Yank." he spat, "You can drag your heels as much as you want but, we're going. And we're going now."
Apache set his jaw, "I'm not dragging my heels, Wolf." He said the name like it was an insult, "I'm being realistic."
"Wolf," Eagle said calmly, putting a hand on his leader's shoulder, "Apache's right, he-"
"Oh yeah, take his side. Just because you want to fuck-"
"Wolf!"
It was Bear who had shouted. She looked pissed off, eyebrows set in a scowl to rival Wolfs. "Don't take out your anger on Eagle and Apache." she ordered, "I don't know what that code said to get you this riled up, but we'll get there faster if we're not biting each other's heads off for no good reason. Now listen to the man, we don't have a chopper and we don't have a car, we'll have to wait till morning to-"
"Take ours?" Liz suggested, making the both untils turn round to face her. "Please, take our car. Go bring our son and daughter home?"
Bear walked over, putting her hands over hers. The size difference between the two women was almost comical.
"Thank you for your offer." she said, "but we can't all fit."
"So let's split up." Ghost suggested, "Wolf, you take K-Unit to Miami. Go now, take it in turns to drive and you'll be there by tomorrow evening. B-Squadron and I will complete the mission to capture Gregorovitch, we'll meet you there as soon as we've got him in custody. He's headed the same way so it shouldn't be too long."
Even as Ghost was still speaking Wolf was shaking his head. "No," he said, "I'm sorry Apache. And you too, Eagle. I wasn't thinking straight. It's impossible for us to do any good in Miami right now. Our assignment is to capture Gregorovitch, Cub's mission is something to do with this russian Anatol fellow. They're both important, we can't drag Cub out before he's had a chance to do his thing no matter how much I want to." he paused, "We'll just have to work with him to take the bastard down."
"Work with who?" asked Eagle, "Cub or Gregorovitch?"
Wolf grimaced at the room, "Both."
Whoo! Chapter Nineteen!
Who thought we would make it this far? Not me for sure.
And who's ready for some Yassen POV in the next chapter? ME!
I'm still reeling from the show and it's been over a month. Also it's half 2 here and I have a raging headache and I've only just written it so if it's bad and there's mistakes that's why.
Hopefully we'll see some more Alex POV next chapter too, I really miss writing him, oh and we'll have to check in with Rico, see how he's doing.
Things are coming together! Also I can no longer fact check with the book because it's on loan. But I'll try remember stuff as best I can.
Hope you're all staying safe!
Reviews give me life as you know so please comment.
SEE Y'ALL WHEN CHAPTER TWENTY TURNS UP!
