Life didn't flash before his eyes. Life simply stopped.
There was nothing. No sound. No replay of memories.
Just the passing of a second and the thud-thud of a heartbeat that seemed to last for an eternity.
Scott stood very still and could think of not a great deal other than the cold barrel pressing into his skin. It was somehow disappointing. And yet at the same time a completely understandable survival instinct.
"Don't." Mishka warned again and leaned past him, grabbing the weapon that had remained so tantalisingly within his reach.
He obeyed her completely and waited for her to make her next move. When it came, it hit even harder than the gun butt to the back of the head that he had somehow expected.
The gun was removed from his neck and there was a slight sigh. "I'm CIA."
Scott closed his eyes and tried to figure a response. Oh god. Was this good or bad?
"Turn around."
Scott complied and saw the dismay on her face.
"I'm sorry …" She nodded to the now lowered gun in her hand and flicked on the safety. "We're in some pretty crazy shit here and I didn't want my head blown off by some insane reflex."
Scott watched her warily and slowly nodded. She had suddenly changed. Gone was the confidence. Gone was the tough Russian fighter that he had just searched the complex with. And he guessed this was her. The tender hands and the compassion that had accompanied the water.
"I'm sorry." She repeated. "I would have said something before if …" A loud sigh and a shrug of suddenly heavy shoulders. "It's just … I didn't know which part of all this was the truth …"
Scott watched her warily, sarcasm pleading to be released. Who was she to start complaining about truth and confusion and –
"Oh god. This is all such a mess …"
Scott's eyes moved to the guns that still hung in her grasp and frowned as he watched her close her eyes. His heart leapt as he saw his chance and it then did another double-flip as he decided to let the moment pass. Something about her demeanour was just too convincing and he found himself intrigued, despite the nagging in the back of his mind that she could very well be playing a very clever, very dangerous game.
"CIA, huh?" Scott offered quietly, finally finding his voice.
She looked back up at him and shrugged what seemed yet another apology.
"Well …" A smile danced on his lips and he relaxed his stance a little. "I didn't see that one coming."
"Guess that means I'm good at my job."
"Yeah." Scott nodded emphatically and then a frown creased his brow. "So … how …?"
He shook his head and laughed again. "I'm sorry. This is just a lot to take in." He then watched her for a moment and his confusion returned. "I don't suppose you'd have any proof of this … I mean – as you said – we're in some pretty crazy shit here and - "
"No." She replied quietly. "Why would I?"
"Oh … yeah … right … deep cover and all that …" Scott sighed and lifted his hands skyward. "Guess I'll have to just trust you then." He smiled sheepishly. "Not that I've got much of a choice …"
She looked down at the weapons she still held and groaned slightly. "God, I'm sorry!" She holstered her own weapon and laid his on the desk beside her. "That better?"
"Kinda." Scott shrugged.
She saw the doubt in his eyes and suddenly her posture relaxed further. She smiled in understanding, "We're on the same side, y'know."
Scott returned her smile but his head was spinning. Maybe they originated from the same country but he now had so much more to lose. It was a confusing predicament. If she was who she said she was then more help could surely be summoned. But that meant more spooks. More exposure. And he wasn't sure if they really needed help of the oh god we're rumbled kind.
He couldn't think straight. It was all too much and his body was damned tired from all that he had put it through over the past day. John. John would know what to do. Oh god. John!
"I need to get back to my br- … partner." Scott adjusted quickly, still not wanting to give her too much leverage.
"Of course." She stepped aside and indicated his clear path to the door.
Scott stepped cautiously past her and headed towards the stairs, aware of her following a safe distance from him. It was the precise distance that again highlighted years of training and the message was clear; she still wasn't sure about him and there was no way that he could completely relax near her. And it was a distance he now knew she could cross in an instant and his heart was racing as he left the office.
"So, what's your name?" He asked casually as he descended the stairs.
"Eva." She replied easily, "Eva Miller."
"Eva?" Scott echoed, trotting down the last few steps.
"Russian grandmother." She offered.
"Oh." Scott offered casually, keeping his gaze forward and suddenly seeing his chance nearing at the end of the corridor.
"It's why I was chosen for this."
"And what exactly is 'this'?" Scott continued, his heart pounding as he drew her along behind him, waiting for the right moment.
A slight pause.
"Infiltrate the complex." Eva answered carefully, "Keep an eye on progress. Establish any possible threats."
"Uh-huh." Scott responded calmly.
"We had our doubts about Ballensky." She continued, "But we hadn't foreseen the links he had with that freak."
"Freak?" Scott asked suddenly, now seriously intrigued and stepping decisively beyond the chance he had been waiting for. He frowned in confusion and turned the corner at the end of the corridor, retracing their steps back out of the complex.
"Yeah. You're friend, Trangh. Lovely guy."
"He's not my - "
"I know." Eva agreed softly, "Or at least I do now. Must admit, it was kinda disappointing to hear you say that the guy that blew up your satellite was your friend."
Now that was too much. The police investigation in England had corroborated their story and the hijacking of their craft had been fully explained. But they hadn't revealed everything. Thunderbird Five should still be a closely guarded secret.
Scott stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned slowly. "What do you know about that?"
Eva halted, still maintaining the same carefully judged distance from him and shrugged her shoulders. "Only what he bragged about when he came here. I overheard him and Ballensky talking about it. Ballensky and his followers wanted to turn the work here into a weapon and use the EM pulse against a whole host of targets. Your guy was only interested in one thing."
"Us." Scott surmised.
"Oh yeah. Talk about obsessed. That was why Ballensky had to neutralise him. Damn psycho went crazy! And he's got some sort of mind control gadgetry or something." Eva swept aside a lock of dirty blonde fringe and revealed the small black device attached to her forehead.
Scott suddenly smiled and shook his head. "Shit!" He gasped in disbelief, "He really was a prisoner!"
"Well … yeah."
"Shit!" Scott exclaimed a little louder and clutched his hands to his heads in disbelief. "And I let him go!"
Eva stared at him in disbelief. "What …?"
"I let him go." Scott repeated, hardly able to comprehend the full implications of it himself.
"But … why …?"
"You had John and he used it to …" He groaned and suddenly saw the irony. "Oh god … I was trying to protect him …"
Eva watched him warily and swallowed hard.
"It was you." Scott muttered quietly. "You were protecting me." He watched her nod in agreement and his shoulders fell. "And you believed our story."
"His ID was flawless." Eva shrugged, "I managed to convince Ballensky not to harm you. Told him how much more trouble would descend on him if he harmed a Thunderbird
but … there wasn't a lot I could do for a civilian …"
The air seemed thick around them suddenly and Scott could feel nausea from hunger and exhaustion threatening. He searched her face, trying to find some sign that this really was her now and that she was telling the truth.
"Why?" Scott husked after a moment. "Why help me?"
"You were my exit."
Scott's frown deepened. "Your exit …?"
Eva nodded. "My contact gave me a heads up about the planned strike this morning. The civilians would be evacuated but I was trapped, too close to Ballensky to somehow slip away and risk him suspecting something." She sighed heavily. "And that was that. I was expendable." She shuddered at the memory. "But then I got this weird message that an International Rescue operative was en route." Eva nodded towards Scott and a small smile pulled at her mouth. "It was kind of funny to think that the only way the government could get me out was to call you guys."
Scott watched the amusement that danced on her face but it only added fuel to the sickening dread that had been growing.
"You can imagine my disappointment when Ballensky's men then apparently capture the mole that The Hood had been working with and his guide." Eva continued with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't want to believe it at first but you didn't waiver. And I've seen that torture device of his in use."
Scott flinched at the memory and then closed his eyes, seeing the truth finally unfolding before him. And then her words suddenly sank in. "Mole …?" He echoed cautiously.
Eva frowned and watched him with renewed caution. "It was how he originally found you."
Scott could feel the world spinning dizzily around him and for a moment it seemed so tempting to just sink into the blackness and escape it all. But this new information slammed into him hard and he saw her in a new light. CIA or not, she had inside information on his family. She had spent time with The Hood.
Eva had relaxed slightly. Their conversation had distracted her for the merest of moments and the lessening distance had gone unnoticed. Unnoticed to all but him.
He saw the chance and this time he took it. At once crossing the corridor and preventing her from unholstering the weapon she had instinctively begun to reach for. And then he was against her, slamming her into the wall and pressing his arm into her neck.
"Enough!" Scott growled furiously, the threat to his family his only and overriding concern.
Eva struggled at first, kicking out at him and grabbing at the arm that pinned her but then his other hand was at her waist and the weapon was yanked free. She sank against the wall in submission and watched the fury in his eyes as she heard the safety being clicked off and the barrel was pressed into her temple.
"Now …" Scott breathed angrily, leaning closer to her. "Tell me Eva or Mishka or whoever the hell you are. How were you really planning on getting out of here?"
"Please!" She husked, gasping for air. "It's the truth!"
"Which story?" Scott demanded angrily.
"I'm Eva!" She whimpered, pulling again at his elbow and trying to free the pressure on her throat. "Agent Miller. CIA. I'm … I'm on your side!"
Scott searched her face and glared into her frightened green eyes, wishing that somehow he could read her mind. And then an idea came to him. He moved the barrel of the gun a little higher, nudging at the device that sat amid her hairline. The skin lifted with the edge and drew another whimper from his captive.
"Please!" Eva husked.
Scott tapped the gun hard against the device and saw the pain that crossed her face.
"No!" Eva pleaded weakly, "You can't! He'll see! He'll know!"
"Oh, he's long gone by now." Scott countered evenly, "Isn't he?"
"I don't know!" Eva replied faintly, "Please! I only know that if you take that off then …" She closed her eyes and tears rolled down her reddening face.
Scott thought back to the effect that suddenly exposing his captors had caused. He watched her face crumple as she began to sob in fear and he stepped back from her, releasing his grip and sighing in dismay.
Eva clutched at her bruised throat and slid down the wall to come to a heavy slump on the floor. "Please …" She was crying now, her shoulders trembling. "I'm telling you the truth …"
Scott watched her for a moment, confusion and guilt knotting his brow. All this was giving him a headache. And suddenly he could understand why John sometimes just needed quiet and a dark room.
John. The thought brought Scott speedily back to his senses and he bent down to grab Eva's arm, ignoring her whimper of protest as he dragged her to her feet. "Let's go."
Scott marched her quickly back through the complex, ignoring her quiet sobs of protest. She staggered unsteadily beside him and he tried to disregard the obvious pain in her occasional rasping coughs. If it was another act then he couldn't let himself fall into her trap. If it wasn't, then she really was an ally. And he had really hurt her.
They emerged into the brightness of the now storm free morning and Scott quickly scoped the area for any threat before continuing out towards the silos.
And that's when he saw them. Two trucks. The same military-like insignia of the security force painted amid the camouflage canvas.
Scott ducked behind the corner of a warehouse, pulling Eva back with him. His heart raced as he peered around the edge and watched in horror as the guards headed inside the open huge open doors of the missile silo.
tbc …