This was the first time she'd woken up since the start of the mission
without that feeling that today was going to be trying. They'd completed
their mission, they had the code key, and they had the documents. They
just didn't _have_ them. The code key and computer documents were sitting
on the bottom of the lake in the cadet training grounds.
A quick glance at the ceiling and the sunlight strewn across it was in
order, and once done, she grabbed a fistful of duvet cover and pressed it
to her cheek, rolling over and using it as a pillow. The soft cotton
stroked her skin for a little while, until Jack, in his sleep, chose to
remind her of his presence, by reacting to the lack of duvet cover and
tugged it away.
Nina scowled as her jaw hit the mattress until she climbed into a sitting
position and looked across the bed. A naked back lay beside her, a
shoulder muscle spasmed - shocking her for a moment, and then settled into
sleep again. Jack's pale tan skin was covered with tiny sparkling hairs;
her growing nails had left scattered collections of lines across his skin,
which added to the marks from the brutal beating he'd received the day
before. The urge to reach out and fit her fingers into the grooves was
there but she swatted it away, drawing her knees up around her chest,
concealing her body with the padded duvet cover.
She glanced over at the window. They hadn't thought to close the curtains
last night, it hadn't been a problem in the pitch dark, and now she just
didn't want to pull herself away from the warmth of the duvet and Jack's
presence. She watched him again; he'd fallen asleep on his stomach, facing
in the opposite direction. The tattoo on the arm furthest away from her
was barbed wire, she was curious as to why he had no military tattoos, but
he was asleep, and it wasn't fair to wake him just to ask. A hand reached
out and touched it, before she realised she was even curious as to how it
felt.
Jack yawned, letting out an appreciative sigh as Nina continued her
ministrations on his forearm. "Good morning." She whispered, when she
realised she'd woken him.
He rolled over, settling himself so he gave her the same amount of space
she'd had earlier. He watched her for a moment and then sat up against the
headboard, preoccupying himself with the covers around his hips. He didn't
avert his vision from her, letting her settle next to him against the
headboard.
"Do we even really need to talk about this?" She asked him. She had a
clear idea of the next few weeks for them in her mind. He'd avoid her;
she'd avoid him - at least as far as casual banter went. When it came to
work situations they'd act as professional as possible. But she knew now -
she was sure he trusted her now, that he would let her in.finally.something
she'd been hoping would happen ever since she'd started with him.
"Depends on what you think should happen next." He stated. A hand rose from the duvet cover and he racked it across his face. Averting his face and covering it - he was usually exhausted before he showed such obvious signs of weakness. Apparently not here, she'd worn him out in a few minutes.
There was dead silence for a few minutes. It itched them both. They could sit in companiable silence, but they both needed to have something to do, something to reflect on. Here they only had each other. They'd spent nearly 2 weeks sleeping in this bed together, and it had never been this awkward. Not even on the first night when all this crap hadn't even been there.
Nina ran hands through her hair, smoothing it into something respectable. It had settled into layers during the night, depending on how much it had been jostled, pressed and stroked. She felt awkward with the action as she imagined his hands in her hair; she began the action languidly and hurried to finish it. She waited for Jack to speak.
Jack rasped a hand around his neck and tapped a thumb to the pressure point on the side of his neck, below his ear, below his jaw line. It didn't work. His entire body was trained to accept that that single action would relieve pain. He'd depended on psychological training like that to get him through tough situations before. He was too diverted here. He waited for Nina to speak.
Frustrated, Nina let out a sigh and threw off the covers, crawling out of bed and grabbing a towelling robe she'd worn before, it was strewn over her suitcase, and directly underneath it was her shower kit. She grabbed it and turned to Jack, intending to tell him she was going for a shower, but the words refused to come, and angry with him - she plodded into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Jack winced as he heard the door rebound; it bounced off the door jam and back on itself. He heard the taps squeak, and the sound of running water, and then the pounding of water. She was having a shower.
He covered his mouth with his face and let out a growl. He judged from her demeanour that she was angry with him, and he wanted to know why. She'd said to him last night that this was as much her thing as his. He hadn't pressurised her or forced her into it. Maybe she had a different idea for the now then? Maybe she thought he wanted to stop this? Pretend it never happened? He wasn't stupid. He hadn't risked this and expected to forget all the repercussions. He tossed off the duvet and slid onto the floor. He didn't bother with gathering a towel or any strewn clothing. He padded into the bathroom and pushed the door shut.
Jack didn't bother calling her name, he could see her tiny form behind the shower curtain, and besides, she called his - just checking he'd shut the door, as though it would have been someone else. Wordlessly, still, he pulled open the shower, spilling water on the carpet. The door was only open for a few seconds, and to her credit Nina didn't shriek.
"What do you think you're doing?" She criticized, wrapping her arms around her torso in front of her breasts.
He grabbed her wrists and separated them from her body, pinning them to her side and backing her into the wall. "I think we need to talk about this. This isn't over." He slipped his hands down to her hands, encountering no resistance. He saw her swallow, the cartilage around her throat contracting and expanding as she pushed a bulbous of saliva down her throat.
"Oh?" He could have sworn her heard her question.
He shook his head in response, diving to one side of her nose to tease her lips and then the other side. It was when he tried it again that she wrenched herself free and grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his neck and a leg around his waist and pulling him closer to hell.
-24-
The car slid to a stop on the dry earth, Nina's car window was pressed close against the tree leaves, in order to keep the car out of the passage of light from the flood lamps above. It was their parking spot from a few nights ago, when they were caught in the base, but a short, surreptitious sweep of the exterior entrances to the base revealed no other entrances.
Jack climbed out of his door and left it open, heading to the boot. He popped the trunk and began to strip his shirt off, undoing the waistband of his trousers to pull the shirt out, and then dropping his clothing into the trunk. He was left in his swimming trunks and shoes, the latter of which he tossed on the top. It was a simple matter of skills. He was a better swimmer than Nina, who emerged around the back of the car, having clamboured over the gear stick and stuck the door with minimal force. She rested against the side of the car as she spoke.
"It's going to be cold."
Jack nodded, he wasn't used to Nina wondering about him in a protective manner, she'd never known about his 'conferences' before, or if she had, she hadn't made her concerns obvious to him. He pulled a snorkel and set of watertight night-vision goggles out of the trunk, turning the goggles on and checking them, and then blowing forcefully down the snorkel. Nina turned to him again, stretching out a hand.
Jack handed her the car keys, his goggles and snorkel, and gave the boot a resounding shove. It shut, and he retrieved his goggles and snorkel. Nina kept the car keys, rotating them in her hand and focusing on the black material. He clenched one side of his jaw and turned, heading into the forest.
He didn't turn back to see if she hid herself well, he didn't want to worry about her - his focus right now had to be the on the 'Transparent Dancer' which he had to retrieve from the bottom of the lake. None of their interrogation had been on the painting, so he had no reason to expect they were missing it yet - after all, they'd only just inventoried that room, and from the looks of things, hadn't quite finished. With any luck no one had trawled the lake.
He sneaked through a tiny shovelled hole in the fence and concentrated on making himself inconspicuous to training cadets - if any were out tonight. He would have loved a pair of infrared goggles, which would have provided him the ability to see body heat, and hence dogs and people - but he could only carry one, and so he'd gone with the night-vision goggles, which would let him see the painting at the bottom of the lake.
He sprinted between trees, blending himself in as best as he could into the shrubbery, and eventually arriving at the edge of the large pond that he'd tossed their rucksacks into. He need his for the painting, Nina's was just a luxury.
He slipped on the goggles and tugged the snorkel down over his face. He took a deep breath and jumped into the water, hoping that it would give him enough oxygen to at least make a proximal sighting of the bags, god knows people made enough noise surfacing from water.
-24-
A twig cracked behind her and she tensed, her eyes darted around her, watching the slight movements of lizards, the endless hum of mosquitoes. She was stood directly underneath a tree full of cicadas, and the sound was beginning to get deafening. She moved away from it, only to hear the sound liven up again. They'd most likely gotten used to her standing there. She didn't bother moving back, just moved to another, quieter tree. A bird flew into one of the upper branches, and a long gust of cold Atlantic air blew across her shoulders. She sniffed, and glanced over at the hole in the fence that Jack had crawled through minutes earlier. Then she looked back at their rental car. So far there was no sound that hugely alarmed her.like an alarm, but she was still on edge.
The long Jack was the better the chances were of him finding the bag. But the better the chances of him getting caught. She gritted her teeth as her watch changed to 3:22am, the second hand making its way round the two as she finally charted the time on her watch. She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head.
She tapped a foot on the dry ground for a few seconds until she realised it made a noise, and took in as quiet an exhausted breath as she could manage. After a few more seconds of watching the fence she turned back to the car, and suddenly became preoccupied with a dry piece of skin on the corner of her jaw. The tech agents had neglected to pack nail scissors for her, and the length was increasing. In the back of her mind she wondered about breaking the skin.
Just as a watched pot never boils, so a watched fence hole is never jumped through - Nina heard her name being whispered as the sound of cracking twigs disturbed her already sensitive nervous stimulation system, and she ran to the car, only footsteps ahead of Jack, but she managed to flick the lock just as he tried the back door. Jack clamboured in the back, just as she settled into the drivers seat and reversed back onto the gravel leading to the Autovia.
"Depends on what you think should happen next." He stated. A hand rose from the duvet cover and he racked it across his face. Averting his face and covering it - he was usually exhausted before he showed such obvious signs of weakness. Apparently not here, she'd worn him out in a few minutes.
There was dead silence for a few minutes. It itched them both. They could sit in companiable silence, but they both needed to have something to do, something to reflect on. Here they only had each other. They'd spent nearly 2 weeks sleeping in this bed together, and it had never been this awkward. Not even on the first night when all this crap hadn't even been there.
Nina ran hands through her hair, smoothing it into something respectable. It had settled into layers during the night, depending on how much it had been jostled, pressed and stroked. She felt awkward with the action as she imagined his hands in her hair; she began the action languidly and hurried to finish it. She waited for Jack to speak.
Jack rasped a hand around his neck and tapped a thumb to the pressure point on the side of his neck, below his ear, below his jaw line. It didn't work. His entire body was trained to accept that that single action would relieve pain. He'd depended on psychological training like that to get him through tough situations before. He was too diverted here. He waited for Nina to speak.
Frustrated, Nina let out a sigh and threw off the covers, crawling out of bed and grabbing a towelling robe she'd worn before, it was strewn over her suitcase, and directly underneath it was her shower kit. She grabbed it and turned to Jack, intending to tell him she was going for a shower, but the words refused to come, and angry with him - she plodded into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Jack winced as he heard the door rebound; it bounced off the door jam and back on itself. He heard the taps squeak, and the sound of running water, and then the pounding of water. She was having a shower.
He covered his mouth with his face and let out a growl. He judged from her demeanour that she was angry with him, and he wanted to know why. She'd said to him last night that this was as much her thing as his. He hadn't pressurised her or forced her into it. Maybe she had a different idea for the now then? Maybe she thought he wanted to stop this? Pretend it never happened? He wasn't stupid. He hadn't risked this and expected to forget all the repercussions. He tossed off the duvet and slid onto the floor. He didn't bother with gathering a towel or any strewn clothing. He padded into the bathroom and pushed the door shut.
Jack didn't bother calling her name, he could see her tiny form behind the shower curtain, and besides, she called his - just checking he'd shut the door, as though it would have been someone else. Wordlessly, still, he pulled open the shower, spilling water on the carpet. The door was only open for a few seconds, and to her credit Nina didn't shriek.
"What do you think you're doing?" She criticized, wrapping her arms around her torso in front of her breasts.
He grabbed her wrists and separated them from her body, pinning them to her side and backing her into the wall. "I think we need to talk about this. This isn't over." He slipped his hands down to her hands, encountering no resistance. He saw her swallow, the cartilage around her throat contracting and expanding as she pushed a bulbous of saliva down her throat.
"Oh?" He could have sworn her heard her question.
He shook his head in response, diving to one side of her nose to tease her lips and then the other side. It was when he tried it again that she wrenched herself free and grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his neck and a leg around his waist and pulling him closer to hell.
-24-
The car slid to a stop on the dry earth, Nina's car window was pressed close against the tree leaves, in order to keep the car out of the passage of light from the flood lamps above. It was their parking spot from a few nights ago, when they were caught in the base, but a short, surreptitious sweep of the exterior entrances to the base revealed no other entrances.
Jack climbed out of his door and left it open, heading to the boot. He popped the trunk and began to strip his shirt off, undoing the waistband of his trousers to pull the shirt out, and then dropping his clothing into the trunk. He was left in his swimming trunks and shoes, the latter of which he tossed on the top. It was a simple matter of skills. He was a better swimmer than Nina, who emerged around the back of the car, having clamboured over the gear stick and stuck the door with minimal force. She rested against the side of the car as she spoke.
"It's going to be cold."
Jack nodded, he wasn't used to Nina wondering about him in a protective manner, she'd never known about his 'conferences' before, or if she had, she hadn't made her concerns obvious to him. He pulled a snorkel and set of watertight night-vision goggles out of the trunk, turning the goggles on and checking them, and then blowing forcefully down the snorkel. Nina turned to him again, stretching out a hand.
Jack handed her the car keys, his goggles and snorkel, and gave the boot a resounding shove. It shut, and he retrieved his goggles and snorkel. Nina kept the car keys, rotating them in her hand and focusing on the black material. He clenched one side of his jaw and turned, heading into the forest.
He didn't turn back to see if she hid herself well, he didn't want to worry about her - his focus right now had to be the on the 'Transparent Dancer' which he had to retrieve from the bottom of the lake. None of their interrogation had been on the painting, so he had no reason to expect they were missing it yet - after all, they'd only just inventoried that room, and from the looks of things, hadn't quite finished. With any luck no one had trawled the lake.
He sneaked through a tiny shovelled hole in the fence and concentrated on making himself inconspicuous to training cadets - if any were out tonight. He would have loved a pair of infrared goggles, which would have provided him the ability to see body heat, and hence dogs and people - but he could only carry one, and so he'd gone with the night-vision goggles, which would let him see the painting at the bottom of the lake.
He sprinted between trees, blending himself in as best as he could into the shrubbery, and eventually arriving at the edge of the large pond that he'd tossed their rucksacks into. He need his for the painting, Nina's was just a luxury.
He slipped on the goggles and tugged the snorkel down over his face. He took a deep breath and jumped into the water, hoping that it would give him enough oxygen to at least make a proximal sighting of the bags, god knows people made enough noise surfacing from water.
-24-
A twig cracked behind her and she tensed, her eyes darted around her, watching the slight movements of lizards, the endless hum of mosquitoes. She was stood directly underneath a tree full of cicadas, and the sound was beginning to get deafening. She moved away from it, only to hear the sound liven up again. They'd most likely gotten used to her standing there. She didn't bother moving back, just moved to another, quieter tree. A bird flew into one of the upper branches, and a long gust of cold Atlantic air blew across her shoulders. She sniffed, and glanced over at the hole in the fence that Jack had crawled through minutes earlier. Then she looked back at their rental car. So far there was no sound that hugely alarmed her.like an alarm, but she was still on edge.
The long Jack was the better the chances were of him finding the bag. But the better the chances of him getting caught. She gritted her teeth as her watch changed to 3:22am, the second hand making its way round the two as she finally charted the time on her watch. She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head.
She tapped a foot on the dry ground for a few seconds until she realised it made a noise, and took in as quiet an exhausted breath as she could manage. After a few more seconds of watching the fence she turned back to the car, and suddenly became preoccupied with a dry piece of skin on the corner of her jaw. The tech agents had neglected to pack nail scissors for her, and the length was increasing. In the back of her mind she wondered about breaking the skin.
Just as a watched pot never boils, so a watched fence hole is never jumped through - Nina heard her name being whispered as the sound of cracking twigs disturbed her already sensitive nervous stimulation system, and she ran to the car, only footsteps ahead of Jack, but she managed to flick the lock just as he tried the back door. Jack clamboured in the back, just as she settled into the drivers seat and reversed back onto the gravel leading to the Autovia.