A/N: Sorry for the lack of updatage. I've had a lot of tests 'n stuff these past few weeks. I do hope to get this back on track though. This chapter doesn't have much action in it, but I hope it does keep you interested. Well, have fun reading, and thanks to Lady Croft and Bluefire for the reviews.
Gabe woke up on an aircraft bunk. Immediately he realized that it was time for another round of pain medication. Luckily, Aramov hadn't broken anything, but he still had a lot of cuts and bruises.
"How do you feel?" a familiar voice with a touch of concern asked him. He looked up and saw Lian, looking back at him over her laptop.
"Let's just say I wish she had run me over with a semi instead," he replied, stretching, then wincing as he flexed his abused muscles.
"I'm sorry. I should've gotten there sooner."
"After what I said to you, I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't shown up at all."
"I'm sorry for that, too," she said, obviously referring to their argument. How long ago was that? he wondered, suddenly realizing that he'd lost complete track of time. "I know better than to snap like that," she continued, eyes cast downward, "I just didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"I know," he soothed, getting up and sitting beside her. "I should've done a better job explaining my reasons, too. I was just tired, and I know that's no excuse."
"Of course it is. You hadn't slept in three days, that can wear anyone down. I was tired, too."
"We've never bickered like that before, Lian. What does it mean?"
"That we're human," she replied, looking up at him again. "No one gets along all the time. I'd say we've had a pretty unusual track record so far." She smiled. "Truce?"
"Truce," he repeated, smiling back at her, his first smile in days. Or what he thought was days. "One more question."
"What's that?"
"Just what the hell are you wearing?" he asked, running a critical eye over her attire. In the fifteen years he had known her, Gabe had never seen Lian in anything that short.
She laughed, somewhat nervously. "Oh, I 'borrowed' some clothes to help me blend in a little at the complex. I didn't have time to retrieve my own clothes afterward."
"Oh."
"I take it you don't approve?" she asked mock-innocently, with a mischievous smile.
"No… no, of course not. It's just I… um… nevermind." Now it was his turn to look down at the floor.
Lian laughed and placed her hand on his arm. "I'm glad you're back."
"I just wish that all of us were coming back."
Lian's smile faded. "Hey," she gave his arm a light squeeze, "We'll find her."
"But will we find her soon enough?" Gabe asked glumly.
"You don't think that Teresa is just going to let them kill her, do you? She'll put up a fight. And we have a trail to follow now. We'll find her," she repeated.
"I should've gone alone."
"Don't be ridiculous. Who would keep you out of trouble?" Lian gave him another smile, but it seemed a little hollow.
Gabe gave her an equally hollow glare.
"Don't look at me like that, Logan," she said, a little harshly, "I'm not going to let you beat yourself up over this. She knew the risks, and she went with you anyway. There was nothing you could do to stop her," her words echoed the ones from Teresa's "funeral," when Gabe had held himself responsible for Teresa's near-fatal injuries.
All Gabe could do was nod. In response, Lian rested her head on his shoulder. She was worried about Teresa, too. Not really knowing what else to do, he ran his fingers through her glossy black hair. Suddenly, she sat back up. "Try to get some rest," she told him, "You look like hell." And with that she walked towards the rear of the plane, leaving her computer on the chair.
Aramov was not happy, but at least she wasn't downright pissed, Li reflected while she held ice to the welt that had already begun to form on her head. Her superior was reading some files—that was a good sign. Aramov never read anything when she was angry. She would be prowling around the aircraft looking for someone to kill. And Li knew that she probably would've become Aramov's first victim.
Li had overseen a lot of missions in her short life, but she had never failed one. Losing Logan was a blow to her honor; she would have to make sure that she personally took him out when he inevitably came to rescue his friend Lipan.
Him and his bitch of a partner.
Making sure Aramov wasn't looking at her, she allowed herself to smile. Yes, she had to kill them both.
Aramov decided that she would wait until they got back to base before heads would start to roll. And roll they would. There was no way in hell that Xing would've gotten into the complex, and out, with Logan, unless someone seriously screwed up.
She also decided that it wasn't Li. The girl was used to planning petty raids and staging political intrigue. She was trained well in martial arts, but Aramov doubted that she had ever fought against anyone who was a match for her.
And Xing, damn her, was a match for just about anyone.
The only reason that Aramov was able to keep some semblance of calm was that their primary objective was accomplished. They had Lipan. Watching her suffer and die would be consolation for not killing Logan. In fact, she thought smiling, seeing one of his friends die might cause him even more pain than what she could physically inflict upon him.
Her watch beeped, signaling the hour. Still another forty-five minutes before they landed. Aramov closed the file and her eyes, thinking of who was going to be made an example. The dumbshits guarding Warehouse 1: yes, they definitely had to go. Xing just waltzed by them…
The plane shuddered slightly in turbulence, but it was enough to wake Lian up. She sat up from her rather uncomfortable resting place, but didn't observe the low ceiling before it was too late. Swearing, she rolled off the shelf, not wanting to take any more chances with the ceiling. The cargo hold was called a cargo hold for a reason: it was meant to hold cargo, not people. The cargo hold? What the hell was she doing in the cargo hold?
Lian stretched as her mind went through her conversation with Gabe. As usual, any close contact with him was enough to freak her out, and she had hidden down in the cargo hold to figure things out. And, of course, thinking about her life was so damn interesting that she had fallen asleep in the process.
Her muscles screamed in protest at their mistreatment as she climbed up the ladder and through the crawlspace that would lead back to the cabin. She would've rather been alone, but she couldn't avoid Gabe forever. He would be wondering where she was, and she really did enjoy his company, whether she admitted it or not.
Lian exited the crawlway and stood to her full height. Oh, yeah. Definitely one of those caffeine and aspirin sort of days. Rubbing her neck, she headed towards the front of the cabin where she had last seen her partner.
He hadn't moved, but he had grabbed her computer and had his back to her. She looked over his shoulder at the screen and smiled. He was playing solitaire. Good to know that some things never changed. Gabe always played solitaire when he was tired of working.
"Hey," she greeted him. Gabe jumped at the sound of her voice. Apparently he hadn't heard her come up behind him. "What?" she teased, "I couldn't possibly have snuck up on you, could I?"
"Of course not," he replied with mock-seriousness. "I wasn't expecting you to say something so soon."
She smiled at his excuse. This was more of the Gabe she knew, not the sad, self-blaming man she had comforted earlier. "Uh huh. Right."
"Yeah, so where the hell did you run off to?" he asked, returning her smile.
Her mind raced to come up with a good excuse. Damn, she should've come up with one earlier. "I wanted to stretch, but I didn't want to bother you," she answered after a negligible pause. "You're supposed to be sleeping," she added, to change the subject.
"I've been sleeping for… however long I was out."
"Six hours," Lian supplied.
"Yeah, six hours. I'm not tired."
"Oh really," she said, sitting beside him. "You certainly look tired." She studied his face. He was really doing a good job to hide his exhaustion, but she knew him better than that. Gabe never told anyone he was tired until he was fifteen minutes short of falling into a coma.
"And you certainly don't look well-stretched," he replied, gesturing to the neck she was still rubbing.
"Well, the ceiling is a little low back there."
"Uh huh. Right."
"Don't give me that. You're the one who's supposed to be getting lots of rest. Now take some aspirin and lay down. And get me some too while you're at it."
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," he replied with a salute. Gabe grabbed the med kit that contained the pain killers, took two, and passed the bottle to Lian, who only took one.
They sat in silence. Lian closed her eyes and leaned back, but after a while sensed that Gabe was watching her. Quickly growing uncomfortable from his attention, she opened her eyes and broke the silence.
"So how many games have you played?" she asked, looking at his hand of solitaire.
"Oh, I don't know, about ten. Okay, maybe closer to thirty," he responded with a quiet laugh.
"And how many of those have you won?"
"Two," he admitted after a pause.
"Two?" Lian laughed. "Only two?"
"The damn thing cheats, I swear!"
"Hey, my computer does not cheat. You just suck."
"I do not! How could I possibly suck? You know how much I play this damn game."
"Uh huh. Right."
"Hey, I bet you can't win the first one."
"Maybe not, but I can definitely beat two out of thirty!"
"Alright, prove it."
"No. I have better things to do than play solitaire."
"Like what?"
"Like… umm… getting a heat pack for my neck," she replied and got up to search the med kit. There wasn't one in there, so she headed towards the back of the cabin where more supplies were stored. She was rummaging through a box when Gabe came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Just relax, okay?" he said, obviously feeling her tense. Gabe began to gently rub his fingers into the base of her neck. What the hell was up with this? First she rests her head on his shoulder, and now she's getting neck massages? What was next, hugs? She wasn't even going to go there, but she decided not to pull away. She couldn't run from him, and whatever he was doing to her neck did feel pretty good.