London, England
"It's over."
"It is not over!" The volume and ferocity of that statement coming out of me surprised the hell out of me, but it just was part of me. "You'd better get those key files out of there now, then start working on backing up the building. I want everybody diverted to the vault, now!"
"What about you?"
"It's not about me," I said, shaking my head. "Acceptable loss…"
"Unacceptable…" Michael started, but I cut him off. "Get down there while we still have a chance!"
At this point, I was pacing the room, and Leticia had smartly gone and started downloading any files she could get her hands on. In the worst case scenario, what we could get away with now might be all that remained of the Counterterrorism Center. As I continued to rattle off any orders that came to mind, I went back to my panel and began doing the same thing. I just listened to them, the sound of these people trying to be heroes, trying to live for something that mattered, and somehow it shook me to my core.
*Lend me your fire so I can burn
Save all my ashes for my return
Not with a scream but with a sigh
Keep your head down low and your hands
Held high*
It was killing Jack to stay silent. Back home, he, Mason and Vaughn were now only three of a complete huddle of people who had come to hang on this operation. He knew the rule about radio silence since I'd just said it to Michael, but he wanted to help me any way he could. Yet, if he did, and someone was listening, he could compromise all I had worked for. For better or for worse, for death or for life, I had to stand on my own.
Both our portable devices were still downloading, and in the chaos of comm noise I looked over at Leticia. "In case I never get to say this," I said, "you're the best friend I could have asked for, and all this aside, thank you for standing by me. For everything you've done."
*You've got to admit it's over
I've got to admit it's over now
You've got to admit it's over
And I've got to admit it's over*
In the vault, the men I'd come to consider 'my team' were doing their best. Lex, Weiss and Oliver were all working the technology, while Tony and Michael just had to find some sort of emergency stop, if such a thing existed. They knew that with every passing second more data was just fading away, and that was absolutely unacceptable to all of us. If that happened, Nina won, no matter where she was or what state she was currently in.
Oliver's glance then shot up at Tony and Michael. "We've got a security violation. Heading our direction."
"We've got it under control," Tony said, as he and Michael drew their weapons. He knew what that meant. Nina's team had come for their files. Well, he had some bad news for them.
*You've got to admit it's over
I've got to admit it's over now
You've got to admit it's over
And I've got to admit it's over*
Tony and Michael exited the vault's main chamber and followed Oliver's directions as they navigated the sub-basement's corridors. It took them about a minute and a half to exchange gunfire. Needless to say, they knew we needed somebody alive. However, defending their lives and ours was also a pretty strong motivation.
Oliver, Lex and Weiss kept working, but the desperation in Lex and Weiss's eyes was clear. They were running out of time and options. Oliver, as usual, showed no emotion at all. Maybe it was easier for him to stand what would admittedly be a hard defeat if he didn't emotionally invest in the fight like the rest of us had.
In the sit room, I sat down hard on the floor. There's no worse feeling than knowing the rest of your life is happening and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. I closed my eyes and hoped that in my seventeen years I had earned some mercy and some justice from on high.
"Hey," Leticia said, "At least you finally got to play with the cool stuff."
I laughed slightly. "Yeah," I said. "At least I did something, right?" But I was having a hard time convincing myself. I always have a hard time when it matters.
*The war is over
The boys are over
The game is over
The fame is over*
There had been nothing over the communications line for quite some time. At CTU, everyone was starting to give under the pressure. Jack hadn't slept in a day, but in his eyes he feared for my safety and the safety of my entire team. He'd asked me to take this operation, to handle Nina and Chappelle's murder, when he could have given it to anyone. He saw something in me, and he hoped he didn't burn it out before its time.
"What chance do they have?" he asked Mason suddenly.
Mason shook his head. "I don't know."
Tony and Michael came bursting back into the vault's main chamber, without anyone in custody. They hadn't managed to get anyone alive, as they said, and Lex's face fell. He didn't know what else to do. "There's a stop code," Tony said suddenly, and began feeding a sequence of commands to Oliver as he holstered his weapon. He wouldn't need it anymore.
"Give me the code key," Oliver said. "In half a minute, it eats the key files."
*The game is over
The deal is over
The game is over, underground
The chase is over
The scream is over
The dream is over*
My knuckles were white as I begged the silence to end and tell me anything worth saying. Lex's voice was the first to come across, sober and capable. "Get them out of there."
Leticia and I stared at each other, still not knowing if we were to be defined by success or failure. Then my partner spoke again: "Our plane stops in D.C. I'll personally hand these files to Jackson Haisley, they'll be replaced by the morning."
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. We had actually done it. The good guys had won. Lex went on to say he would start to back up what data had been lost, and Tony would phone the CC director, but I wasn't listening to that. It hit me that I had finally, truthfully, done something maybe not to save the world, but at least to save my part of it. I hauled myself to my feet, taking my best friend with me, feeling my pulse slow down from the edge of breakdown.
Moments later the locks unlocked themselves as the system that controlled them came back online. About a minute after that, the door swung open, and I'll tell you, I've never been happier to see Tony in my life. Not to mention the look on Michael's face. And I'd never been prouder to switch frequencies, tap over to CTU and say, "Heads up – mission successful."
Over the cheers I could hear on the other end, Jack's voice came through loud and clear. "Congratulations, Brittany. Come on home and get that promotion you just earned."
A small smile crept across my face. "Yes, sir." Then I looked at Leticia and I thought everything would be all right as I said, "Hell of a way to go out, isn't it?"
Heathrow International Airport
London, England
The Next EveningTwo cars pulled up in the carpark, and seven people emerged. Five of us were being given a hero's escort back home. Standing in the parking lot shouldering my carryon bag, I couldn't believe that everything came down to this. Planes streaked past in the sky, and I'd be on one of them, and that'd be the end of it, or so it goes.
I smiled to myself nonetheless. It had been a good go. Then I started walking.
*While a dying world redefines
The reasons we strive to exist
We feign control, but we're bound to learn
The meaning of moments like this*
As we crossed the parking lot toward the international terminal, I looked across at my partner. Lex looked tired, worn out, but in good spirits – you could see the sleep-deprivation lines under his eyes, but he had that perpetual smirk on his face. We made eye contact as a breeze slipped between us.
"What do you think?" I said, able to see my breath in the London cold.
"What do I think?" he echoed me. "I think we came, we saw, and we won." He smiled, knowing me too well. "Stop asking."
I smirked. "All right."
*'Cause in the peaceful lull, the quiet spell
Seduced by the promise of bliss
We soon forget that nothing's happened yet
We're living for moments like this*
As we stepped from the cold and quiet of outside to the
artificial warmth and the noise of Heathrow's international terminal, I took a
moment to survey these people who had come so far with me in these passing few
days. There was Tony with a sense of relief in his eyes, but still the
strongest soldier I'd ever known. Weiss was playing with his yo-yo absently and
he looked happy to be going home. My gaze slid last to Leticia, my best friend
and now my not-quite-so-secret-anymore comrade in arms. We shared a private
little smile. Oliver was Oliver, nothing to be said about that, and there was
Michael, but I couldn't look at him, not yet.
*When the clouds catch fire
And the oceans pitch
We'll wait for the moments like this*
We made it to our gate without that much trouble, considering how much trouble we could've been in if we weren't government agents and we were carrying as much gear and weaponry as we had on our persons. Slinging down our luggage, we stretched our muscles on London soil one last time and stood there trying to figure out what you say at the end of a situation like this.
Lex paused. "I am going to go home and get some serious sleep."
Leticia nodded. "Right there with you … well, obviously not, but you know."
Tony and I looked at each other. "We'll file the report on the plane," he said, and I exhaled. "Yeah, then I'm going to watch Enigma another two and a half times."
Lex smirked. "Sounds like you."
"You're all insane," Weiss said, still preoccupied with his yo-yo.
"Maybe so," Lex replied, "but we made it this far, right?"
*It's in our power
To face the storm with all its fury
Headin' madness, the flash and thunder
Roll behind us with a longing
Headin' sadness, the clouds will break*
As everyone else began the healing and returning process, I finally turned to Oliver and Michael.
I didn't exactly know what to say to Oliver Sampson. He was a master spy and antihero, all right, and a good man. Like I said, he was on par with the skills of Nina, and if they were to brawl, I'd still take Oliver over Nina any day. He was tough, too, impenetrable and more than a little coldly efficient, but I still owed him for his assistance. I probably owed him at least a portion of my life. I finally just extended my hand. "Thank you for everything," I said. "It made a hell of a lot of difference out there."
Oliver's handshake was firm. "Probably less than you think it did," he replied. "Try not to get into too much trouble."
"Yes, sir."
Michael Colefield was, of course, a different story. I looked at him and I felt an emotion I couldn't quantify. Without his empathy and assistance, I probably would've collapsed as team leader and field agent somewhere after the CC shooting and Tony would've had to pick up the team and handle the job. Michael made me get through it, and though I knew there were and would always be scars, sharing them with someone, especially a man like him, made it easier. We smiled thinly at each other.
"Get home safely, all right?" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"I'll do my best," I said. "Michael, you don't know what you've done for me."
"I don't need to know," he said.
We embraced one last time, and he kissed me on the cheek, a bittersweet kiss goodbye. But we stayed like that for a few moments more, knowing we'd found something in each other we'd both sorely needed to see. I think I would've stayed a few moments longer if Leticia hadn't pointed out to me that security officers had taken Professor Berghof into custody.
Michael and I spun round, his arm still around my
shoulders, and I laughed on instinct. Just when you think you've seen it all,
life has a way of surprising you.
*Hold me, whisper gently
This is what we're made for
How we learn who we are
It defines us, ever reminding us
That life never is
More precious than this*
"Well, we'll leave you to it, then," Michael said, taking this as his and Oliver's cue to back out gracefully.
I looked at him one moment more. "All right," I said, more than a little sadly.
I watched them as they disappeared, looking disjointed, two very different men no longer having a mutual cause. I have to give Michael credit. He only looked back at me once. Any more and I think we would have both dissolved. But I'd like to think he left me with the strength to carry on.
Meanwhile, the police were still questioning Professor Berghof and I suppressed another round of adolescent laughter. Leticia came over to stand beside me and watch from across the building. "Hey," she told me, "at least you got to stalk Jack Davenport."
My thoughts went to the Coupling taping I'd specifically stayed the extra day to catch. "I did not stalk Jack Davenport," I said, "I got to meet Jack Davenport. There's a difference."
"Yeah, and I'm surprised you could fit all that stuff in your suitcase. All the audiobooks he read that you bought, the soundtrack to This Life, I think you bought the complete Jack Davenport collection."
I nodded. "I didn't fit it all. Some of it's in your suitcase."
She stared at me, then we started laughing all over again.
It felt really, really good to feel that way. And I felt like I could do
anything. I felt that it was time to go home and do what I now knew I was
capable of. I looked from Lex to Tony to Weiss to Leticia and made the world a
promise to fight for it.
*So hold me, whisper gently
That there's nothing to fear
You'll always be near
To remind me, stand behind me
Although life can be rough
We can never give up*
The plane boarded two hours later. As soon as we dropped into our seats, Leticia gave me a look I think she'd been wanting to give me for the entire duration of our 'vacation' in England.
"So what happened with you and Michael?"
I arched an eyebrow, buckling up. "Nothing happened. What do you think happened?"
"You were in love with him!" she protested.
"I wasn't … so what if I was?"
Now she smirked. "Hey, I think he liked you too."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah."
Pause.
"Hey, there was one thing I'm wondering about," I told her, unable to hide a smirk of my own.
"What?"
"You think this mission will pay for that apartment we wanted?"
She laughed. "You never know."
"That's right," I said, "you never do."