She Laughs
Disclaimer: Ajedrez isn't mine. Neither is Sands.
Rating: R for language and violence.
Summary: A peek into Agent Ajedrez's head
Note: This is not related to my other OUATIM story, After the Dust Has Cleared. This is just a little story that popped into my head and wouldn't let me go until I had written it.
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Can you dig it?
She laughs when she first meets him. This is one of the vaunted United States CIA agents? It is too funny. His name is Sheldon, for Christ's sake!
When she leads him to her bed, though, she isn't laughing. She hates being a whore, even if it is for her father's sake. She comforts herself by thinking that it will all be over with in five minutes, and she can go on about her business.
She has pegged him as the kind of man who thinks only of his own pleasure, who always fucks, but never makes love. But he surprises her. He takes sex very seriously, and he tries hard to please her. She's already as ready as she's ever going to be, though, and she is so amused by his efforts that she laughs out loud. He jerks his head up, a hurt, puzzled frown on his face. "What? What's so funny?"
No man likes to be laughed at, especially in bed. Ajedrez, also known as Rosa Barillo, can't stop laughing.
Later, when she goes down on him for the first time, he makes a noise, like an "Ooh," and she cracks up. "Ooh, ooh, ooh," she teases him. She calls him her monkey.
When he tells her his plan though, she does not laugh. Well, a surprised chuckle is pulled from her, but she mostly she just sits and stares at him. The nerve of him. He actually thinks he can take down her father!
He closes the door and says sullenly, "I want my key back."
She uncurls her finger from the trigger of her gun, and drops her head. Finally! She was beginning to think he was never going to trust her.
But he has, and he has told her everything. Now she knows the plan. And she has to give him credit. Sands is damn good at what he does, and for the first time she wonders if he is everything he seems to be. Maybe those stupid T-shirts, his geekiness in bed, are all just a cover. Maybe she is not the only one living two lives.
Then she dismisses that theory. He is smart, but not that smart.
She talks to her father, who wants Sands killed. She intervenes, says she has a much better idea.
The look on Sands' face when he realizes he has been betrayed is priceless. She doesn't laugh – much – on the outside; but on the inside, where it counts, she is howling with glee. "You really didn't see it coming, did you?" she asks.
Her man pulls the needle from his neck. Sands doesn't fight, or try to go out in a blaze of glory. She can almost respect him for that. "You bitch," he says. "I'm going to fucking kill you."
She waggles the gun at him. "Tsk tsk. Such language."
The drugs take hold fast. He slumps, and one of her men catches him so he doesn't fall to the floor. She stands up. "Bring him. Hurry."
She makes sure she is the first thing he sees when he wakes up. She also wants to be the last thing he sees, but she supposes that honor will go to Dr. Guevara and his pretty tools. "Sorry, baby. I told you I didn't want any part of your schemes."
He is surprisingly calm for someone pumped full of drugs and strapped to a table while in the presence of the most ruthless drug lord in all of Mexico. She changes her mind about him a little. Maybe he isn't such a geek, after all.
But when Dr. Guevara starts in, his brave front disappears, like she had known it would. He screams, and the sound is music to her ears.
She laughs when they let him up, and he staggers and stumbles about. It's just too funny, watching him when he's like this. She really can't wait to see him set loose on the street, and what he will do then.
Unfortunately, there is something else she must do first. She pulls on her AFN jacket and reaches for her gun. "I'll meet you inside," she says, and gives her father a kiss.
The men are still laughing as they shove Sands toward the door. She shakes her head, a smile lingering on her lips, and then leaves.
She is all business, next. There are certain things that must be done to ensure this day goes well, and she has no intention of failing her father. All her life she has looked up to him, and he is proud of her. After today, he will never let her leave his side again. Soon the cartel will be hers.
But she has a bad feeling about things. She is not too surprised when they find Marquez dead. She runs to the window to look out, hoping she can maybe see the General's killer fleeing across the plaza.
Instead she sees Sands, lying on the ground.
She grins. "I'll be right back," she says.
She walks outside, trying hard to control her mirth. "You fucking little monkey," she says. He always hates it when she calls him that. She pushes his sunglasses onto his face. "Get up."
She pulls him to his feet. He leans heavily against her, clutching his wounded arm. He is in pain, and the blood on his face is incredibly sexy. She has never wanted him as badly as she does now.
But he is acting like she isn't even there, and that pisses her off. She jams the muzzle of her gun under his jaw, just to remind him that she is in charge, that he better pay attention. After all, he is only alive now because she wanted him that way.
She kisses him, and tastes his blood, and a little jolt goes through her. She decides she will lead him off the street, back to the compound. Her father will be pissed, but that's too damn bad. She wants to keep Sands. She has never had a pet before.
He is still trying to pretend she isn't there. She smiles. "See anything you like?"
She hears the shot, but she doesn't connect it with anything to do with her until the pain rips through her. She steps back from him, horrified, still not understanding. Even when she sees her own blood on her hand, she doesn't get it.
Her body is not her own to command anymore. She starts to fall.
From far away, she hears Sands say softly, "No."
She hits the ground, hard. She can't move. A moment later, she hears Sands drop to his knees.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this, she thinks. It's not fair.
She isn't laughing, when she dies.
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END