Chapter Nine: Pawns in the hand of the champ
Sheldon Sands pulled the blankets up around him, shivering in what would have been warm air if he were well. The after effects of the drug the mad doctor had given him were still lingering in his system, holding on until their last possible moment. He buried himself deeper into the bed when he heard the door open, mumbling for the person to leave before they got a bullet lodged between their eyes.
The steps that followed the closing of the door were soft and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Bethany leaned closer. "How ya fealling?"
"Go away."
"That bad, huh?"
"I don't need to be watched over like a child."
Bethany chuckled as she sat down on the bed next to him, toying with his long dark hair. "What if I want to watch over you?" she purred.
"Not interested."
"You never were."
"I know how to spot a bitch."
"Not from what your new friends tell me. What, you told her everything?"
Over the past while that he'd been with Ramirez and El Sands had told them the main points of what had happened to him. He didn't want fact and fiction to become intertwined when they were involved. What the reason was for that, he couldn't say. He told them about Barillo's seductive daughter and how she'd used him and then thrown him away. They warned you about girls ripping your heart out, but they never mentioned your eyes.
"That's not funny, Beth, and you know it. I'll blow your brains out if you don't leave."
The dark haired lady leaned over him from her sitting position and noticed him tense under her smothering presence. "I'd think you'd be used to it, Sheldon," she purred. "A year you've been here and certainly you had to have someone helping you. Lost and blind... Why didn't you come running home?"
"It's not like the CIA came looking for me."
"But we did. I was sent to contact you last November."
"Real nice job you did of it," Sands growled as he shoved her back, sending her tumbling off the bed in a huff. "Go away."
She glared, even if he couldn't see it. "You know we're taking you back. You'd do better to have friends taking you back than enemies, Sheldon."
"I don't have friends."
"Ah. Then what are the two men that have been taking care of you?"
"Pawns. Just like everyone else I meet."
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It was the next day before Sands returned to the living room. He looked better than he had been. Colour had returned to his cheeks and his normal grace was back. "What are you staring at?" he growled when he was sure that at least three if not all four sets of eyes in the room were trained on him.
"I've made arrangements for us to go back to DC," Bryan said quietly. "We'll leave this after noon, if you're up to it."
"No."
"Then tomorrow, but that's the latest."
"I'm not going with you."
"What?"
Sands pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it, inhaling the smoke. "Because I've spent a year trying to get the cartel back for what they did to me and I'm not going back until I get what I stayed for."
Bryan sat staring for a moment and heard Bethany stand, walking to another room. "Sands... We don't have that option."
"Well make it."
"I can't do that, Sands. You know that."
"Tell 'em I slipped through your fingers one more time. Leave me down here for good. I don't care. I just want their heads."
Bryan turned to Ramirez and El, then back to Sands. "You're nuts, Sheldon. Certifiable. I understand you've been though a lot, but damn it, I've got to take you back." He stood in his place and started toward the slightly shorter agent. "When Richardson was asked to step down, I stepped up, do you get that? I'm your commanding officer now and you will come with us."
Sands snubbed out his cigarette and stood strait again. He flicked the other man off and turned, muttering a few choice words plenty loud to be heard, and started off.
A gun cocked behind him. "Don't do this, Sands. I really don't want to kill you."
Sands stopped where he was and sighed. He was next to the taller man before anyone knew what happened and had the gun wrenched from his hand. "Don't ever try to tell me what to do again as long as we're down here, got it, Russell? You have no idea what kind of hell I've been through. They ripped out my eyes, shithead, not that you'd know what that felt like." He pulled off his glasses, forcing the other man to see what he was talking about for the second time since they'd come. "I will not leave until I've had my revenge or died trying, savvy?"
Bryan watched Sands storm off and he sighed, turning back to Ramirez. "I assume you were going to help him?"
"I think El had some idea to, but I certainly didn't. I've done enough for him."
Bryan nodded. "I can give him a week at most." He paused, looking closely at the mariachi now. "Why do they call you El?"
Ramirez chuckled. "As in 'the.'"
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"Russell's given him a week. Yeah, I know that can be a lot of time, but not if you act now. No... He's certainly not in the best state of mind, and I can make sure he's in less, but it'll cost you. What, it costs to sell out your former friends. Doesn't it down here? Got to go. Someone's coming. Call ya later. Adios."
"What are you doing out here, Beth?"
Bethany turned to see Bryan in the moonlight. "About to take a smoke, got a problem with that?"
"Not one bit. Just thought you might want your cigarettes for that," her superior said slowly as he tossed a crumbled cart of cigarettes her direction. "Good night, Beth."
She swallowed, watching him leave. "Good night, Bryan."
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A/N: So who's Bethany selling Sands out to? Is she selling Sands out or is it something else? Hmm... Who knows.... Oh wait, I do! ::evil laugh:: Sorry about this taking a while to come out and then being short. I'm struggling with a bit of writer's block on this. I've got a bunch of scenes for this in my head, but they're harder to piece together than I expected them to be. Oh well. :)
Empath89: Hmmm... I don't know (well yes I do, but I can't tell you) I don't like Bethany, I can tell you that much. She's not a nice person, but neither is Sands and we all love him :)
Charm65: Yes... Friends... Such a loose term when we're talking about Sands' acquaintances...
Lunascorpio: You'll have to wait and see! I can't tell you or I'll spoil it !
Sly-chan: everyone puts friends in quotations... No one seems to believe Sands CAN have friends... Aww, poor Sands.... ::huggles Sands and then avoids getting shot:: What do you mean by "a bit thick"?
LAVieSansAmour: Glad to see you back! Did you have a good trip? Ahh... So lucky to go to the Caribbean....
VanillaFluffy: "You're not paranoid if they really are after you" That's my motto for life. Lol! My boyfriend thinks I'm paranoid, which I probably am. I double lock every door in my house and jump at the slightest creak. But ah well... We'll see if Bethany's heard anything about the blind gunfighter. She seem to know more than she's letting on....
Sheldon Sands pulled the blankets up around him, shivering in what would have been warm air if he were well. The after effects of the drug the mad doctor had given him were still lingering in his system, holding on until their last possible moment. He buried himself deeper into the bed when he heard the door open, mumbling for the person to leave before they got a bullet lodged between their eyes.
The steps that followed the closing of the door were soft and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Bethany leaned closer. "How ya fealling?"
"Go away."
"That bad, huh?"
"I don't need to be watched over like a child."
Bethany chuckled as she sat down on the bed next to him, toying with his long dark hair. "What if I want to watch over you?" she purred.
"Not interested."
"You never were."
"I know how to spot a bitch."
"Not from what your new friends tell me. What, you told her everything?"
Over the past while that he'd been with Ramirez and El Sands had told them the main points of what had happened to him. He didn't want fact and fiction to become intertwined when they were involved. What the reason was for that, he couldn't say. He told them about Barillo's seductive daughter and how she'd used him and then thrown him away. They warned you about girls ripping your heart out, but they never mentioned your eyes.
"That's not funny, Beth, and you know it. I'll blow your brains out if you don't leave."
The dark haired lady leaned over him from her sitting position and noticed him tense under her smothering presence. "I'd think you'd be used to it, Sheldon," she purred. "A year you've been here and certainly you had to have someone helping you. Lost and blind... Why didn't you come running home?"
"It's not like the CIA came looking for me."
"But we did. I was sent to contact you last November."
"Real nice job you did of it," Sands growled as he shoved her back, sending her tumbling off the bed in a huff. "Go away."
She glared, even if he couldn't see it. "You know we're taking you back. You'd do better to have friends taking you back than enemies, Sheldon."
"I don't have friends."
"Ah. Then what are the two men that have been taking care of you?"
"Pawns. Just like everyone else I meet."
-----------------------------------
It was the next day before Sands returned to the living room. He looked better than he had been. Colour had returned to his cheeks and his normal grace was back. "What are you staring at?" he growled when he was sure that at least three if not all four sets of eyes in the room were trained on him.
"I've made arrangements for us to go back to DC," Bryan said quietly. "We'll leave this after noon, if you're up to it."
"No."
"Then tomorrow, but that's the latest."
"I'm not going with you."
"What?"
Sands pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket and lit it, inhaling the smoke. "Because I've spent a year trying to get the cartel back for what they did to me and I'm not going back until I get what I stayed for."
Bryan sat staring for a moment and heard Bethany stand, walking to another room. "Sands... We don't have that option."
"Well make it."
"I can't do that, Sands. You know that."
"Tell 'em I slipped through your fingers one more time. Leave me down here for good. I don't care. I just want their heads."
Bryan turned to Ramirez and El, then back to Sands. "You're nuts, Sheldon. Certifiable. I understand you've been though a lot, but damn it, I've got to take you back." He stood in his place and started toward the slightly shorter agent. "When Richardson was asked to step down, I stepped up, do you get that? I'm your commanding officer now and you will come with us."
Sands snubbed out his cigarette and stood strait again. He flicked the other man off and turned, muttering a few choice words plenty loud to be heard, and started off.
A gun cocked behind him. "Don't do this, Sands. I really don't want to kill you."
Sands stopped where he was and sighed. He was next to the taller man before anyone knew what happened and had the gun wrenched from his hand. "Don't ever try to tell me what to do again as long as we're down here, got it, Russell? You have no idea what kind of hell I've been through. They ripped out my eyes, shithead, not that you'd know what that felt like." He pulled off his glasses, forcing the other man to see what he was talking about for the second time since they'd come. "I will not leave until I've had my revenge or died trying, savvy?"
Bryan watched Sands storm off and he sighed, turning back to Ramirez. "I assume you were going to help him?"
"I think El had some idea to, but I certainly didn't. I've done enough for him."
Bryan nodded. "I can give him a week at most." He paused, looking closely at the mariachi now. "Why do they call you El?"
Ramirez chuckled. "As in 'the.'"
---------------------------
"Russell's given him a week. Yeah, I know that can be a lot of time, but not if you act now. No... He's certainly not in the best state of mind, and I can make sure he's in less, but it'll cost you. What, it costs to sell out your former friends. Doesn't it down here? Got to go. Someone's coming. Call ya later. Adios."
"What are you doing out here, Beth?"
Bethany turned to see Bryan in the moonlight. "About to take a smoke, got a problem with that?"
"Not one bit. Just thought you might want your cigarettes for that," her superior said slowly as he tossed a crumbled cart of cigarettes her direction. "Good night, Beth."
She swallowed, watching him leave. "Good night, Bryan."
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A/N: So who's Bethany selling Sands out to? Is she selling Sands out or is it something else? Hmm... Who knows.... Oh wait, I do! ::evil laugh:: Sorry about this taking a while to come out and then being short. I'm struggling with a bit of writer's block on this. I've got a bunch of scenes for this in my head, but they're harder to piece together than I expected them to be. Oh well. :)
Empath89: Hmmm... I don't know (well yes I do, but I can't tell you) I don't like Bethany, I can tell you that much. She's not a nice person, but neither is Sands and we all love him :)
Charm65: Yes... Friends... Such a loose term when we're talking about Sands' acquaintances...
Lunascorpio: You'll have to wait and see! I can't tell you or I'll spoil it !
Sly-chan: everyone puts friends in quotations... No one seems to believe Sands CAN have friends... Aww, poor Sands.... ::huggles Sands and then avoids getting shot:: What do you mean by "a bit thick"?
LAVieSansAmour: Glad to see you back! Did you have a good trip? Ahh... So lucky to go to the Caribbean....
VanillaFluffy: "You're not paranoid if they really are after you" That's my motto for life. Lol! My boyfriend thinks I'm paranoid, which I probably am. I double lock every door in my house and jump at the slightest creak. But ah well... We'll see if Bethany's heard anything about the blind gunfighter. She seem to know more than she's letting on....