Gabe looked down at Lian's unconscious form sleeping on his chest. She looked more peaceful than he had ever seen her, and he hated the thought of soon having to interrupt that peace and bring her back into the real world. He considered letting her sleep for another hour when the cold rock underneath him started to shake.
The earthquake wasn't violent, but it was enough to wake up his partner. She had always been a light sleeper. Gabe kept still, hoping she'd go back to sleep, but she stirred and turned to face him.
"What the hell…"
"Earthquake," he answered her unfinished question.
"Oh. Great," Lian said with a cautious look around her.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I just got my ass kicked by a big fucking rock."
Gabe laughed and unconsciously brushed her hair out of her face. Almost reluctantly, he let go of her and she rolled off of him. Gabe sat up and began to stretch. The cold rock floor had ceased to be anything resembling comfortable hours ago. He finally rose to his feet and offered a hand to Lian, who was still sprawled on the ground. She took it and slowly rose to her feet. Gabe placed his other hand on her good shoulder to steady her.
"I would let you sleep, but we've gotta move and with this terrain I can't carry you," he said, releasing her when he was certain she had her balance.
"Thank God for small favors," Lian replied with a smile, raising her left arm experimentally. She winced in pain, but was able to fully extend it above her head. Gabe didn't even want to think about how much that hurt. She gingerly tested her left leg by gradually putting more and more of her weight on it.
"How does it feel?" he asked.
"Not too bad. I can probably run. Thanks for taking care of me," she added with a warm, gentle smile.
"Any time. Just help me pack this stuff back up and we'll get out of here."
"Right."
First came the headache. Then the cough and the body chills. After six hours of being infected with Syphon Filter, Teresa had a lot more respect for her best friend. How did Lian live through this? she asked herself as she forced herself to get up and stretch. There was no way Teresa was going to let Aramov see her as a helpless invalid on the floor. No way in hell.
If Lian could kick this bitch, so can I, Teresa repeated in her head over and over again, hoping her body would catch on and somehow her optimism would make her feel better. It wasn't working.
Who am I kidding? Teresa gave up and leaned up against the wall, allowing her legs to collapse underneath her as she sank to the floor. Always back on this goddamn floor…
Teresa was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of the lock unfastening. The twenty-four hours weren't up yet, so that pretty much left this unexpected visit to be another social call from Aramov.
Sure enough, the Russian assassin walked through the door. Her presence would've taken all the life out of the room, if there had been any there to begin with.
"So how's my favorite patient?" Aramov asked in her thick accent. Teresa was really starting to get sick of the sound of her voice.
"Look, Aramov, I'm really not in the mood, so just cut the crap, okay?"
"I just thought I'd see how you were progressing."
"God, you make it sound like I'm pregnant."
"You are, in a way, my dear," Aramov flashed a cruel smile. "Your body is manufacturing billions of little organisms as we speak. You will die, but your 'offspring,' so to speak, will live on."
"What do you want them for anyway? There's gotta be a better way to make money than this. Why don't you just open up a coffee shop or something?"
"What does money compare to the ultimate power to decide who lives and dies?"
"Oh, great, so you want to play God."
"Goddess."
"Whatever. You're fuckin' sick, ya know that?"
"No, girl," Aramov hissed, still smiling. "You are." At that, she turned and left the cell.
"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, you psychopathic bitch!" Teresa yelled after her with the last of her strength, then curled up into a ball and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Lian could sense Gabe's eyes on her as he followed her through the cavern. Her irritation was starting to win over the warmth she felt from his concern for her. She was not a porcelain doll and was not about to let any man treat her like one.
"Let's take fifteen, okay?" Gabe called to her, more of a statement than a question. Reluctantly, Lian stopped and turned to face her partner, who was already sitting on a bench-shaped rock. He left room for her beside him, but Lian chose to ignore it and chose a spot across from him. She wasn't hungry, but Gabe pulled out one of those damn ration bars and started to eat.
"You really should eat something," he said between bites.
"No thanks, I think I'll keep all of my teeth." Lian replied as she pulled out her ACD and checked the map. They were about two thirds of the way through. The last portion would be the easiest to travel. ARC Industries had begun clearing a path through the cavern, probably in case they needed a secret way out. They hadn't finished by the time they abandoned the facility, but they had already done enough work to make Gabe and Lian's lives easier.
"How are you holding up?" Gabe asked. He had finished his ration bar and had resumed studying her again.
"I'm fine," Lian replied, her tone harsh to warn him that she had just about had it with his concern.
He ignored the warning that she knew he understood. "You still haven't eaten anything."
"I said I'm fine," she retorted, looking up at him with a glare. "Now if you're done, then let's go." She shut off her ACD, put it away, and got up to resume their trip.
Gabe grabbed her arm to stop her. "Something bothering you?" he asked.
"No, but if you ask me how I'm doing one more time you're going to find out just how badly I can kick your ass. Got it?"
"Okay, okay." He let go of her arm and backed off. "Sorry for caring," he muttered, turning his back to her.
"I don't need your concern," Lian replied, softening her voice and impulsively grabbing his hand. Gabe turned back around and closed the distance between them.
"I know, but you have it anyways." He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead before turning away again to continue down their path. Lian stood frozen for a few moments before following him, wondering just what the hell that was all about.
No one spoke for hours. Gabe didn't know what to say that wouldn't get his head bitten off. He hadn't even turned around to look at Lian, assured she was there only by her quiet footsteps behind him.
Why had he kissed her? He had decided when she was recovering from Syphon Filter that he would not try to pursue a romantic relationship with Lian, in spite of his feelings for her. It was because of him that she had nearly gotten killed, becoming any closer would only make her a more tempting target. Besides, she had never done or said anything that led him to believe that she felt the same way.
Over the past year he'd thought that he'd gotten over her, but working closely with her again made him realize that he'd only been ignoring his feelings. Now he couldn't anymore and he was in trouble. Damn.
A stumbling sound interrupted his thoughts. He turned around now to face Lian, who was definitely looking a little worse for wear. Cursing himself for letting her let him forget her condition, he ran back to where she was standing with her arm on the cave wall. Suddenly not caring whether she killed him or not, he picked her up and set her down against a rock. The hand that had gripped her left thigh was covered with blood.
"I think I tore my stitches open," she said, wincing with pain.
"Ya think?" he replied sarcastically, taking off his pack to get the med kit while she took off her pants again. He pulled out more gauze and held it against the deep cut in her leg which was bleeding profusely. Four hours of rigorous walking was more than the wound could bear. "You're a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?" he said, his frustration with her getting the better of him. "When were you planning to tell me you were bleeding?"
"I…I didn't want to slow you down," she replied weakly. How much blood had she lost?
"How would that have mattered if you bled to death back here?" His anger melted away and he took her hand.
She didn't answer his question. "Look," she said, "We've wasted too much time already. You're gonna have to go on without me."
"Lian, no, I'm…"
Lian raised her fingers to his lips to silence him. "We're out of time, Gabe. You have to go. You can come back for me once Teresa is safe."
"I'm not just going to leave you here. There's no reason to believe that they've even infected her yet…"
"Please, don't argue. I just know…" Gabe looked into her eyes and for a split second he felt what she did: an intense, unexplainable wave of urgency and the sense that Teresa was suffering somewhere. He spent enough time around women to trust their intuition, but he had never stopped to think about what they felt when they "just knew."
Slowly, he nodded in understanding. He took the hand that he held and replaced his hand that held the gauze with it. Not quite ready to let her go, Gabe placed his clean hand on her good shoulder. "I'll be back for you, I promise."
"I know." Suddenly, Lian grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Gabe too shocked to respond until she pulled away, looking up at him questioningly. His brain finally caught on, and he kissed her back, enjoying the warm, simple feeling of her lips on his, the pleasure that he'd never allowed himself.
After a time he reluctantly pulled away. He had to go and they both knew it. With one last look into her eyes he squeezed her shoulder, and then took off down the path.
Dr. Elsa Weissinger walked into the mess hall, known during the compound's days as a civilian research facility as a break room, as casually as she could. The terrorists who were in the room eyed her lustfully, but she paid them no mind. Not one would dare touch her and risk Aramov's wrath. Elsa walked over to the coffee pot. Luckily, it was almost empty. She drained the remnants of the coffee into her mug, and then set about making a fresh pot like the girl scout she was. Yeah, right. Using her back to shield her movements, she slipped some of S-221 into the coffee pot. It would be more than enough to contaminate the entire batch.
Elsa wished she could come up with a more direct way to contaminate Aramov, but she couldn't risk being discovered before she and Teresa got Eva to safety, and they were out of time. She would just have to trust the Russian bitch's moderate addiction to caffeine and hope for the best.
Just as casually as she had entered, Dr. Weissinger exited the mess hall to head back to her lab. It was almost time.
Everyone in the command center tensed when Mara Aramov entered the room, but Wan Li relaxed a little when she saw the cup of coffee in her CO's hand. Aramov was much harder to piss off when she had a healthy dose of caffeine in her bloodstream than when she didn't. Still, Li thought when the assassin's cold eyes met hers, that wasn't saying much.
"Wan," she barked, "The good doctor is about to check on Lipan's condition. Let her finish the examination, then kill her. The medics can handle everything from here and I get the distinct feeling that the bitch is up to something." Aramov took another sip of coffee.
"Yes, ma'am. What about the girl?" Li asked.
"We'll keep her. She's nearly old enough to begin training." Aramov flashed her a vicious smile.
Li nodded and left the command center to head towards the labs, feeling a sudden wave of pity for the girl who was going to be raised as an assassin. Aramov lacked any sort of patience for the girl's "training" to be very pleasant. Aramov, Li thought, probably killed her dog trying to teach it to roll over. Still, it was better than just killing her, or leaving her to starve.
Li shook her thoughts about the girl out of her head to focus on the task at hand. Weissinger was weak, but she was no fool. Li would have to keep her eyes open and be prepared for trouble.
Elsa looked up from her computer terminal, trying to conceal her nervousness. Wan Li was here, and that could only mean one thing: Elsa had outlived her usefulness. Elsa took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. Fear would only get her killed, and Eva needed her.
"Where is Lipan?" Wan asked. Her voice lacked emotion, but fortunately that also meant it lacked the cold malice of Aramov's voice.
"The guard is bringing her up now," Elsa replied, somewhat surprised that her own voice was calm and even.
The other woman nodded. Elsa absently wondered how old she was.
She didn't have much time to reflect. A few minutes later the guard led a pale, weak version of Teresa Lipan into the room. The American girl looked horrible, but she was still able to walk unassisted. Once more, guilt rushed through Elsa. She had done this to her.
"Sit down," she ordered, her voice as emotionless as Wan's. Elsa fingered the two needles in the pocket of her lab coat. They were strong sedatives, and should incapacitate Wan and the guard instantly. The problem was injecting them into them both before they figured out what was happening. Inconspicuously, she pulled one out and handed it to Teresa.
Everything happened at once. With speed that Elsa did not think the infected woman would still be capable of, Teresa charged the guard, who went down with an empty needle still in his arm before he ever knew what hit him. Elsa went for Wan, but the Chinese girl was faster. She pulled a silenced pistol out of her jacket, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
Elsa felt a sharp stab of pain, then numbness as her body's natural pain killers kicked in. She still moved towards Wan, but her step faltered and she crashed to the floor.
Teresa didn't waste any time. She kicked the gun out of Wan's hand, who returned the favor by kicking her in the stomach. It was an all-out fight, each woman kicking, punching, and blocking faster than Elsa's untrained eyes could comprehend. She could see, however, that Teresa was losing.
Then she saw her chance. Wan was completely focused on Teresa and ignoring Elsa. She picked up the needle and pounced with her last ounce of strength.
All three women were knocked to the floor, but Elsa had the advantage of surprise. The needle pierced Wan's flesh. In seconds, she stopped struggling.
Elsa collapsed as the pain reached her again. She was even paler than Teresa now, who was trying to figure out where she had been shot. Blood was everywhere.
"Here." Elsa handed her two more needles. "Adrenaline and the vaccine. Take them." Teresa nodded. "Take…" Elsa gasped in pain, "Take care of Eva for me."
"I will, I promise," Teresa replied. Elsa believed her. Knowing that her baby girl would be okay, Elsa smiled and closed her eyes. Everything would be alright.
A/N: I'm sorry! I had to kill her off. I'm also sorry for the lack of updatage. Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth. I had to start over twice. Anywho, this story is almost finished, and I already have some ideas for a sequel. Thanks to my regulars (you guys know who you are by now) for your reviews.