Brin slowly opened her eyes. This room was too bright, too stuffy...great, a hospital room. She shook her head. She hated hospitals. Everyone she'd ever known to love had died in the hospital on the same night. Brin quickly looked around, taking in her surroundings, before her gaze settled on one particular boy.
She couldn't help grinning. Alex was sitting in one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs, leaning forward; his arms and head resting lightly on the side ofthe bed. He was sound asleep. Brin leaned back in her bed and tried to fall back asleep, but the pain was starting to come back to her, along with all the memories of the last night. Brin shook her head, shifting uncomfortably in the soft bed. Alex stirred at her side but didn't wake.
She'd been out numbered the night before, it'd been an unfair fight. An unfair fight that she'd lost. What kind of agent does that make her? "A human one," Brin answered out loud. She was fed up. She, like Alex, hadn't been too keen on the idea of this whole spy ordeal, but the CIA had talked her into it, and she had devoted herself to it. But you can't win them all. "But there's penalties for those who fall," she murmured quietly.
Alex shifted again. He was uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to leave her side. "Alex..." Brin mumbled, rubbing the side of his head lightly. "Alex..."
Alex was awake at the touch of her hand. He'd taught himself to sleep lightly ages ago. But when he looked round and only found Brin staring down at him, his eyes began to sag once again. "You're awake," he pointed out tiredly. Brin nodded soberly. "You were quite banged up last night...Your boss was terrified you wouldn't make it."
There was a long silence. "Why wouldn't I make it?" she finally asked when Alex didn't continue.
"You're on the handicap list, Brin," Alex stated quietly. "A few broken ribs, a concusion, back injuries, sprained wrist...they kicked your ass, man..."
Brin shook her head. "That's impossible. I didn't feel any of this pain last night..."
Alex straightened up then shrugged. "You passed out...the concusion. All the kicking resulted in the broken ribs. They assume your wrist was already sprained by that time. And they found welts covering the length of your back. What happened out there? Why'd they want to get you so bad?"
"Did you get hurt?" Brin asked, side stepping his question. Alex shook his head no, but a glint of red out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Brin reached out and snatched up Alex's right hand. Alex tried to pull away but Brin held firm. "What's this?"
"Somebody had a knife...it's nothing," Alex asked relunctantly.
"What else did they do to you?" Brin asked, all of a sudden feeling guilty. "How did you escape?" Alex didn't answer. "Tell me," Brin demanded, louder this time.
"I had phoned the CIA before I left," Alex replied quietly. "They showed up when soon enough..."
There was another long silence. "Let me see your back," Brin finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Alex was quiet for a moment. "Let me see your back," she repeated, louder this time. Kano, the one that had primarily pursued her last night, had revealed to her that he enjoyed whipping 'squirming little kids' right before he took the whip to her back.
Alex rose to his feet. "I should be going..." Brin hurried to her feet as well, but soon regretted moving so fast. She bent over slightly, gripping her side, as though that somehow would make the new pain of her still broken ribs disappear. "You're not suppose to be up," Alex pointed out.
"We're suppose to be partners," Brin snapped bitterly. "You and I, remember, two halves of one coin. But you can't be a partner, you look down on me, don't you Alex?" She took a step forward. "Fine. You win. Without a partner I'm uselss. So I quit." She looked around the room and quickly found her back of clothes. She quickly got dressed, ignoring Alex's prescence.
"Brin..." Alex began quietly.
Brin whirled on him. "I quit!" She shouted in his face. The burden had been too much for her to carry for so long, and now it was weighing her down. It was forcing her down to the ground. "I quit!" she repeated loudly. "I quit, goddamnit!"
"C'mon Brin..." Alex tried again. He inched forward until he was inches from Brin. "You don't mean --"
"I do mean it."
Alex didn't know what to do so he did the only thing that seemed to be natural in this sort of situation...he threw his arms around her. She let him hug her for the better part of a minute before rejecting the attempt. She shoved him away bitterly. "Stop it..." He tried to hug her again so she hit him hard in the chest. It was very professional, just an open palm hit. Alex recoiled slightly.
This stopped Brin in her tracks. She quickly, bitterly, pulled Alex's shit up, revealing his unattended to chest and receiving a low hiss from the boy. "Oh my god," she muttered, more like herself now. Alex's chest was covered in long, deep welts. Just looking at them, she knew they must have captured him before beating him. They must have beat him more, beat him harder.
Alex shoved Brin aside after she'd seen enough of his chest and walked past her, hurrying out of the room. Before she could stop herself, Brin was hurrying after him, ignoring the nudging pain in her chest, and the killer headache in her head. She finally fell into step beside Alex, breathing heavily. "Why are you so bitter?" she demanded loudly, struggling to keep up with Alex as he speed walked down the hospital hall. He didn't reply. He didn't acknowledge her. Brin came to a halt as Alex kept on walk. She shook her head and disappeared around the nearest corner. Alex didn't seem to notice.
