Kilmer checked the clip in his gun and replaced it in the shoulder
holster. Grabbing an old jacket, he locked up the van. He doubled checked
everything and kept repeating "gray goose martini" over and over in his
mind. He was absolutely paranoid that he would forget it. He silently
filed into the line of people wanting to get into a club.
"I've never seen you around here before." A woman standing in front of him turned around and cocked her head to the side. "You've ever been?" Her voice was thick with a Russian accent and spoken only in slightly broken English. She pulled her coat, a long white silk one, back as she placed her hands on her hips.
"No, I've never been." He matched her accent, smiling at her.
"I'm alright."
"Oh you're married." The girl stepped back a ways and stared at him. "I'm so sorry. You could have had this."
"Yeah." He looked away and urged to people to move faster. As he did, the line started to move faster. He pushed his way through and ran down the spiral staircase. He knew he was racing against the clock and it would be only a matter of minutes before the guards came to find 'Mr. Ross.' His heart pounded madly in his chest as he fought against the crowds. The music was loud and overwhelming, replacing his own thoughts with the lyrics of the song. Gray goose martini. He was so tempted to scream, "Everybody freeze! CIA!" But that was a death warrant. Suicide. He fought his way towards the bar, stepping over men and women alike, passed out from too much alcohol or drugs. Finally, he made his way towards the bar.
A beautiful woman bartender looked towards him and smiled through her teeth, "What can I do for you tonight?"
He never spoke so loudly in his life, "Dry gray goose martini."
"Music a little loud for you, Mr....?" the bartender grinned and started to mix the drink in front of him. Her blue eyes watched him nod and scanned his face.
"Ross. Jonathan Ross." He yelled again and started to look around the bar. How would he know what these people would look like? There were so many people there and there were so many things that could go wrong with this. He wished these men would appear and he could get this over with.
"Well, here you go, Jonathan. One dry goose martini."
And oh, how prayers are answered! "Good evening, Mr. Ross." A man from behind Kilmer spoke rather gruffly.
"Good evening." Kilmer turned with his martini in hand and downed it quickly.
"I'm assuming you know what this is about." The man crossed his arms over his black t-shirt and looked Kilmer up and down suspiciously.
"Of course. You think I'm an idiot!" Kilmer barked and threw his glass down on the bar, almost shattering it in the process.
The man turned on his heels and started down towards the basement. As soon as they passed the dance floor, they entered a white sterile looking hallway, "You know," the man started in accented English, "they told me you were from America and here you are with Russian accent." The man turned with his knife raised and pushed Kilmer up against the wall. Kilmer stood in shock and felt his head be knocked back against concrete.
"What do you think you're doing? You honestly think that I would sit in that horrible place as myself? What are you on? Geez man, let go of me!" Kilmer pushed against the guard's arm to give him some breathing room against the glittering silver knife. "Let go of me!"
"I don't understand you. Crazy American!" The guard removed the knife and stepped back. "Anything else I should know about you?"
"Let me be the judge of that." Kilmer replied as he straightened his clothes out. "Let's get going, alright? G-d man." He waited for the guard to stop gapping at him and to turn towards the room where his two peers were being beaten as they stood there.
"Yes, sir." The guard relented and started to walk down the hallway at a fast pace. Kilmer begged their feet to go faster and he was lost again in the thoughts that were circling through the music that still echoed through the sterile hallway. "This is it."
Kilmer stopped about a yard behind him and looked towards the door, "I'll meet you at the assignment rendezvous point at the assigned time-not a moment sooner, got it? If I see as much as one other person, I'll kill anyone that crosses my path. Be sure to get that message loud and clear across alright?"
"Yes, sir." And with that, the guard disappeared down the long hallway.
Kilmer kicked the door open and found two guards standing over the bodies of his colleagues, "Nice you of to start with party without me." He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the two bodies and back at the guards, who had their weapons drawn at him, "Get out." Neither one of them moved. "Get out!" The two guards looked at each other and then back at Kilmer, "I have my orders to kill anyone that gives me trouble. Do you want to mess with my boss?"
"Mess with the Covenant? What are you crazy?" One of the guards yelped. And so, they bolted out of the room like bats out of hell.
Kilmer turned and watched both of them leave before kneeling down next to the two bodies. He reached into his rear pocket and pulled a knife to cut the plastic bands. "Located Mountaineer and Boy Scout, Tiger-eye."
"Copy, Silver Fox." Madison replied.
He started to check out each of their conditions, starting with Sydney. "Mountaineer has multiple lacerations, possible broken clavicle, definite fractured left ankle and severe blood loss."
"Copy, Silver Fox." Madison repeated again as she furiously typed the information into their master computer. She knew she would have to obtain information and supplies by the time Kilmer got back with Sydney and Vaughn to treat their injuries. The clock was ticking and they were off to the races. "What's Boy Scout's status?"
"He's definitely in worse shape. We're looking at broken ribs, tib- fib fracture on his left side, major contusions and lacerations to face and all extremities," he rolled Vaughn over slightly to his back as he continued to evaluate, "oh shit." He swore as he found a large laceration about seven inches long along his rib cage.
"Talk to me, Silver Fox."
"We're looking at a possibly collapsed lung." He pressed his ear up to Vaughn's mouth to see if he was breathing, "Tiger-eye, he's barely moving air."
"If you just get them out of there, we repair all their injuries. Call one of the guards back and instruct them to bring them to your van- when you get there, knock the guard out. You are working on limited time. You need to move-now!" Madison jumped up from her computer on the kitchen table and to a nearby closet. She started to rummage around for medical supplies. She found piles of white flannel blankets and pre-packaged medical kits. She rushed to the living room and made up one couch into a triage center, setting down three or four blankets with a full medical kit on the coffee table. She then bolted to the guest bedroom and stripped the sheets off in such a furious manner that she almost upset the headset off her head. She continued to make up the bed and hope that Kilmer would get out of there safely. "What's your ETA, Silver Fox?"
"Approximately 15-20 minutes."
She started to fumble around with a medical kit and found an eyedropper full of a yellowish liquid. She rushed into the living room and found Layla sitting playing with a stuffed bear sitting by her feet. Madison hunkered down and placed the eyedropper into her daughter's mouth. "I know. I know." She hushed as her baby girl started to fuss at the vile tasting liquid. "But we need to keep you quiet while all the fuss is going on. I know, I'm so sorry baby."
Kilmer pushed out into the hallway. There, just as he expected, was one of the guards. "You!"
"Yes, sir?" The guard came towards him and stood at full stance.
"I need to take these two out of here. There's going to be too much blood and too much noise for us to stay down here." Kilmer retorted and he opened the door to the room. The guard obeyed his order and lifted Vaughn's body practically effortlessly. Kilmer followed by lifting Sydney's delicate form into his arms and adjusted it slightly. "Follow me." They burst from the room and down the sterile hallway. His mind was racing with how exactly he was going to pull this off. They would have to get to the street level and right before they emerged into the public's view, the guard would have to be knocked out without injuring Vaughn or Sydney further. Together, the two men fought to walk against the music, avoiding the bass line becoming their heartbeats. But the guard had no idea what was going on. As far as he knew, this was Jonathan Ross, the hit man hired by the Covenant.
Kilmer's plan was successful and didn't even encounter another guard on the way. They reached a back entrance and just as he had planned, Kilmer knocked the man out cold as soon as he opened the door to expose them to the cold night air. He booked it to the van with Sydney still in his arms and brought the car around to pick of Vaughn. It was a risky maneuver, sure, but he was only gone about thirty seconds. "Tiger-eye, Silver Fox on its way home." He pressed down hard on the gas petal and set shooting off back towards home, catching glances every now and then to the emptied back seat where Vaughn and Sydney were lying, almost dying. He had no idea what was going on in the bar when the real Jonathan Ross showed up with his girlfriend in toe.
END FLASHBACK
"But I don't understand." Vaughn stared up at Sydney as she concluded with the story of their rescue. Things were adding up. "Kilmer told you that the man he was imitating was named Jonathan Ross and he was Covenant?"
She nodded her head in agreement with the confusion. "It's that much of a coincidence that their names are the same." She knew exactly what he was thinking and started to pray that he wouldn't get excited about this. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
The wheels in his head started to turn and he wasn't liking the answers that he was getting, "That means that Lauren and he-"
"I know." Sydney rubbed her hands along his muscular arms, trying to soothe him. If he started to be all riled up, then he would be jumping out of that bed faster than she could sedate him.
Vaughn reached for her hand and held it tightly in his, "Sydney." He breathed with terror filling him from the inside out. "This whole thing was a set-up. It had to have been. Look at this. They start having an affair together," he started to set up his story with a bitter taste rising in his mouth.
"Vaughn, don't do this now."
"Sydney."
"Really, don't."
He reached up with his other hand and pulled her closer, "Sydney." He breathed and stared up into her eyes with the worse type of fear that she had ever seen in his beautiful green eyes. "You need to watch her around Kilmer and Madison and Layla. Watch her every move or get her out of here or both. Watch her, Syd. Swear to me! Promise me!" He whispered and pulled her closer so that he barely had to utter a word, just move his lips.
"I promise. I promise." She gripped his hand tightly. His eyes adjusted slightly as his brain registered the information. His breathing calm slightly. She took her other hand and brushed her hand along his jaw line. "I give you my word that everything will work out."
"If something happens to me-"
"Vaughn." She pleaded softly.
"If something happens to me, make sure that something happens to Lauren too. Put the screws on tight, Syd."
"I will." She kept her hand on the side of his face and gazed into his eyes lovingly. "I will do anything for you, Vaughn. I love you." She pressed her lips against his forehead and then pulled away. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll be in to check on you." She pulled her body back and tried to get to her feet. But her shaky body refused to obey. She couldn't let Vaughn know that there was a man out there with Lauren, who refused to utter his name to the rest of the world. She had a gut instinct that it was that man, that it was Jonathan but she had no proof. Besides, her body was too weak and her head too heavy to think very logically. She started to cough violently and as she brought her hand up to her mouth, she felt something smooth and slick come from the bottom of her throat.
Vaughn's eyes had fluttered shut, "I'm so sorry, Syd. I'm tired. So tired." He drifted out of consciousness as Sydney continued to cough up blood. She pulled her hand always from her mouth and was horrified at the sight seeping over her hands.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group of people were sitting in the living room, exchanging blank glances at each other. Kilmer had regained his spot on the couch next to Madison, with their hands firmly clasped near each other. Layla had awoken from her nap somewhere in the middle of this and was an extremely groggy and annoyed that her mother had just drugged her. Kilmer had taken his parental duties and rocked her back and forth to childe her cries. Lauren stood with her back to the room by the fire, attempting to warm her hands by the fire. But there was a fourth person in the room and he had barely said two words his entire stay in the safe house. When Lauren had been whisked in from wherever she came from, he was standing right behind her. That was another thing. She had come in nearly record time, claiming that she was in Zurich in a meeting.
"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name before all of this chaos." Madison spoke up suddenly, directing her attention to the man standing near the window and examining the decrepit curtains.
The man looked away from the decrepit looking curtains and looked towards Madison, "I'm sorry. I'm Jonathan Ross. I work with Lauren at the NSC." He came forward and shook Madison's hand firmly. He turned to shake Kilmer's with a firm shake.
"Robert Kilmer." Kilmer shook Jonathan's hand firmly and watched him sit down next Lauren. Feeling slightly cynical, he adjusted Layla's weight in his arms causing her to pipe up. "Hey uh, Maddie, you want to help me get put Layla down? She's getting fussy again. If you two will excuse us?" Kilmer looked to the two other agents in the room. Kilmer got to his feet and patted Layla's bottom lovingly. "Maddie?" He walked into the spare bedroom with his girlfriend and partner at his heels. He watched her anxiously shut the door behind her. "Lock it." She shot him a quizzical look but obeyed. He waited for a moment while she dead bolted the door and turned back to him, "Jonathan Ross? There's no way in hell that this is a coincidence. We need to disarm him immediately. We have a Covenant hit- man in our mists."
"I'll go let Sydney know what's going on." She turned to leave but she felt an arm on her shoulder.
"You don't think that Lauren-"
"I'm going to ask Sydney if she knows anything. Hopefully, she'll have some intel. for us. Be careful around them, okay? Put Layla down and lock the door. Don't give them any intel about the house. Let's get the office on the phone. We can do this, Kilmer."
"We've just entered a war in our own home." Kilmer responded as he placed Layla down in her crib.
"I've never seen you around here before." A woman standing in front of him turned around and cocked her head to the side. "You've ever been?" Her voice was thick with a Russian accent and spoken only in slightly broken English. She pulled her coat, a long white silk one, back as she placed her hands on her hips.
"No, I've never been." He matched her accent, smiling at her.
"I'm alright."
"Oh you're married." The girl stepped back a ways and stared at him. "I'm so sorry. You could have had this."
"Yeah." He looked away and urged to people to move faster. As he did, the line started to move faster. He pushed his way through and ran down the spiral staircase. He knew he was racing against the clock and it would be only a matter of minutes before the guards came to find 'Mr. Ross.' His heart pounded madly in his chest as he fought against the crowds. The music was loud and overwhelming, replacing his own thoughts with the lyrics of the song. Gray goose martini. He was so tempted to scream, "Everybody freeze! CIA!" But that was a death warrant. Suicide. He fought his way towards the bar, stepping over men and women alike, passed out from too much alcohol or drugs. Finally, he made his way towards the bar.
A beautiful woman bartender looked towards him and smiled through her teeth, "What can I do for you tonight?"
He never spoke so loudly in his life, "Dry gray goose martini."
"Music a little loud for you, Mr....?" the bartender grinned and started to mix the drink in front of him. Her blue eyes watched him nod and scanned his face.
"Ross. Jonathan Ross." He yelled again and started to look around the bar. How would he know what these people would look like? There were so many people there and there were so many things that could go wrong with this. He wished these men would appear and he could get this over with.
"Well, here you go, Jonathan. One dry goose martini."
And oh, how prayers are answered! "Good evening, Mr. Ross." A man from behind Kilmer spoke rather gruffly.
"Good evening." Kilmer turned with his martini in hand and downed it quickly.
"I'm assuming you know what this is about." The man crossed his arms over his black t-shirt and looked Kilmer up and down suspiciously.
"Of course. You think I'm an idiot!" Kilmer barked and threw his glass down on the bar, almost shattering it in the process.
The man turned on his heels and started down towards the basement. As soon as they passed the dance floor, they entered a white sterile looking hallway, "You know," the man started in accented English, "they told me you were from America and here you are with Russian accent." The man turned with his knife raised and pushed Kilmer up against the wall. Kilmer stood in shock and felt his head be knocked back against concrete.
"What do you think you're doing? You honestly think that I would sit in that horrible place as myself? What are you on? Geez man, let go of me!" Kilmer pushed against the guard's arm to give him some breathing room against the glittering silver knife. "Let go of me!"
"I don't understand you. Crazy American!" The guard removed the knife and stepped back. "Anything else I should know about you?"
"Let me be the judge of that." Kilmer replied as he straightened his clothes out. "Let's get going, alright? G-d man." He waited for the guard to stop gapping at him and to turn towards the room where his two peers were being beaten as they stood there.
"Yes, sir." The guard relented and started to walk down the hallway at a fast pace. Kilmer begged their feet to go faster and he was lost again in the thoughts that were circling through the music that still echoed through the sterile hallway. "This is it."
Kilmer stopped about a yard behind him and looked towards the door, "I'll meet you at the assignment rendezvous point at the assigned time-not a moment sooner, got it? If I see as much as one other person, I'll kill anyone that crosses my path. Be sure to get that message loud and clear across alright?"
"Yes, sir." And with that, the guard disappeared down the long hallway.
Kilmer kicked the door open and found two guards standing over the bodies of his colleagues, "Nice you of to start with party without me." He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the two bodies and back at the guards, who had their weapons drawn at him, "Get out." Neither one of them moved. "Get out!" The two guards looked at each other and then back at Kilmer, "I have my orders to kill anyone that gives me trouble. Do you want to mess with my boss?"
"Mess with the Covenant? What are you crazy?" One of the guards yelped. And so, they bolted out of the room like bats out of hell.
Kilmer turned and watched both of them leave before kneeling down next to the two bodies. He reached into his rear pocket and pulled a knife to cut the plastic bands. "Located Mountaineer and Boy Scout, Tiger-eye."
"Copy, Silver Fox." Madison replied.
He started to check out each of their conditions, starting with Sydney. "Mountaineer has multiple lacerations, possible broken clavicle, definite fractured left ankle and severe blood loss."
"Copy, Silver Fox." Madison repeated again as she furiously typed the information into their master computer. She knew she would have to obtain information and supplies by the time Kilmer got back with Sydney and Vaughn to treat their injuries. The clock was ticking and they were off to the races. "What's Boy Scout's status?"
"He's definitely in worse shape. We're looking at broken ribs, tib- fib fracture on his left side, major contusions and lacerations to face and all extremities," he rolled Vaughn over slightly to his back as he continued to evaluate, "oh shit." He swore as he found a large laceration about seven inches long along his rib cage.
"Talk to me, Silver Fox."
"We're looking at a possibly collapsed lung." He pressed his ear up to Vaughn's mouth to see if he was breathing, "Tiger-eye, he's barely moving air."
"If you just get them out of there, we repair all their injuries. Call one of the guards back and instruct them to bring them to your van- when you get there, knock the guard out. You are working on limited time. You need to move-now!" Madison jumped up from her computer on the kitchen table and to a nearby closet. She started to rummage around for medical supplies. She found piles of white flannel blankets and pre-packaged medical kits. She rushed to the living room and made up one couch into a triage center, setting down three or four blankets with a full medical kit on the coffee table. She then bolted to the guest bedroom and stripped the sheets off in such a furious manner that she almost upset the headset off her head. She continued to make up the bed and hope that Kilmer would get out of there safely. "What's your ETA, Silver Fox?"
"Approximately 15-20 minutes."
She started to fumble around with a medical kit and found an eyedropper full of a yellowish liquid. She rushed into the living room and found Layla sitting playing with a stuffed bear sitting by her feet. Madison hunkered down and placed the eyedropper into her daughter's mouth. "I know. I know." She hushed as her baby girl started to fuss at the vile tasting liquid. "But we need to keep you quiet while all the fuss is going on. I know, I'm so sorry baby."
Kilmer pushed out into the hallway. There, just as he expected, was one of the guards. "You!"
"Yes, sir?" The guard came towards him and stood at full stance.
"I need to take these two out of here. There's going to be too much blood and too much noise for us to stay down here." Kilmer retorted and he opened the door to the room. The guard obeyed his order and lifted Vaughn's body practically effortlessly. Kilmer followed by lifting Sydney's delicate form into his arms and adjusted it slightly. "Follow me." They burst from the room and down the sterile hallway. His mind was racing with how exactly he was going to pull this off. They would have to get to the street level and right before they emerged into the public's view, the guard would have to be knocked out without injuring Vaughn or Sydney further. Together, the two men fought to walk against the music, avoiding the bass line becoming their heartbeats. But the guard had no idea what was going on. As far as he knew, this was Jonathan Ross, the hit man hired by the Covenant.
Kilmer's plan was successful and didn't even encounter another guard on the way. They reached a back entrance and just as he had planned, Kilmer knocked the man out cold as soon as he opened the door to expose them to the cold night air. He booked it to the van with Sydney still in his arms and brought the car around to pick of Vaughn. It was a risky maneuver, sure, but he was only gone about thirty seconds. "Tiger-eye, Silver Fox on its way home." He pressed down hard on the gas petal and set shooting off back towards home, catching glances every now and then to the emptied back seat where Vaughn and Sydney were lying, almost dying. He had no idea what was going on in the bar when the real Jonathan Ross showed up with his girlfriend in toe.
END FLASHBACK
"But I don't understand." Vaughn stared up at Sydney as she concluded with the story of their rescue. Things were adding up. "Kilmer told you that the man he was imitating was named Jonathan Ross and he was Covenant?"
She nodded her head in agreement with the confusion. "It's that much of a coincidence that their names are the same." She knew exactly what he was thinking and started to pray that he wouldn't get excited about this. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
The wheels in his head started to turn and he wasn't liking the answers that he was getting, "That means that Lauren and he-"
"I know." Sydney rubbed her hands along his muscular arms, trying to soothe him. If he started to be all riled up, then he would be jumping out of that bed faster than she could sedate him.
Vaughn reached for her hand and held it tightly in his, "Sydney." He breathed with terror filling him from the inside out. "This whole thing was a set-up. It had to have been. Look at this. They start having an affair together," he started to set up his story with a bitter taste rising in his mouth.
"Vaughn, don't do this now."
"Sydney."
"Really, don't."
He reached up with his other hand and pulled her closer, "Sydney." He breathed and stared up into her eyes with the worse type of fear that she had ever seen in his beautiful green eyes. "You need to watch her around Kilmer and Madison and Layla. Watch her every move or get her out of here or both. Watch her, Syd. Swear to me! Promise me!" He whispered and pulled her closer so that he barely had to utter a word, just move his lips.
"I promise. I promise." She gripped his hand tightly. His eyes adjusted slightly as his brain registered the information. His breathing calm slightly. She took her other hand and brushed her hand along his jaw line. "I give you my word that everything will work out."
"If something happens to me-"
"Vaughn." She pleaded softly.
"If something happens to me, make sure that something happens to Lauren too. Put the screws on tight, Syd."
"I will." She kept her hand on the side of his face and gazed into his eyes lovingly. "I will do anything for you, Vaughn. I love you." She pressed her lips against his forehead and then pulled away. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll be in to check on you." She pulled her body back and tried to get to her feet. But her shaky body refused to obey. She couldn't let Vaughn know that there was a man out there with Lauren, who refused to utter his name to the rest of the world. She had a gut instinct that it was that man, that it was Jonathan but she had no proof. Besides, her body was too weak and her head too heavy to think very logically. She started to cough violently and as she brought her hand up to her mouth, she felt something smooth and slick come from the bottom of her throat.
Vaughn's eyes had fluttered shut, "I'm so sorry, Syd. I'm tired. So tired." He drifted out of consciousness as Sydney continued to cough up blood. She pulled her hand always from her mouth and was horrified at the sight seeping over her hands.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group of people were sitting in the living room, exchanging blank glances at each other. Kilmer had regained his spot on the couch next to Madison, with their hands firmly clasped near each other. Layla had awoken from her nap somewhere in the middle of this and was an extremely groggy and annoyed that her mother had just drugged her. Kilmer had taken his parental duties and rocked her back and forth to childe her cries. Lauren stood with her back to the room by the fire, attempting to warm her hands by the fire. But there was a fourth person in the room and he had barely said two words his entire stay in the safe house. When Lauren had been whisked in from wherever she came from, he was standing right behind her. That was another thing. She had come in nearly record time, claiming that she was in Zurich in a meeting.
"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name before all of this chaos." Madison spoke up suddenly, directing her attention to the man standing near the window and examining the decrepit curtains.
The man looked away from the decrepit looking curtains and looked towards Madison, "I'm sorry. I'm Jonathan Ross. I work with Lauren at the NSC." He came forward and shook Madison's hand firmly. He turned to shake Kilmer's with a firm shake.
"Robert Kilmer." Kilmer shook Jonathan's hand firmly and watched him sit down next Lauren. Feeling slightly cynical, he adjusted Layla's weight in his arms causing her to pipe up. "Hey uh, Maddie, you want to help me get put Layla down? She's getting fussy again. If you two will excuse us?" Kilmer looked to the two other agents in the room. Kilmer got to his feet and patted Layla's bottom lovingly. "Maddie?" He walked into the spare bedroom with his girlfriend and partner at his heels. He watched her anxiously shut the door behind her. "Lock it." She shot him a quizzical look but obeyed. He waited for a moment while she dead bolted the door and turned back to him, "Jonathan Ross? There's no way in hell that this is a coincidence. We need to disarm him immediately. We have a Covenant hit- man in our mists."
"I'll go let Sydney know what's going on." She turned to leave but she felt an arm on her shoulder.
"You don't think that Lauren-"
"I'm going to ask Sydney if she knows anything. Hopefully, she'll have some intel. for us. Be careful around them, okay? Put Layla down and lock the door. Don't give them any intel about the house. Let's get the office on the phone. We can do this, Kilmer."
"We've just entered a war in our own home." Kilmer responded as he placed Layla down in her crib.