Blood flowed through her veins as her heart pounded an unsteady beat, drowning out the noise around her. Like rushing water in her ears, it was so loud Nina didn't hear the door open, didn't hear the footsteps approaching.
"Nina." A familiar voice but not the one she'd been expecting. "Drop the gun and put your hands on your head. Now."
The words tumbled forward between halting breaths and the irony of the situation was not lost on her. Almost five years ago, in this same room.
"Kim. What the hell are you doing? You don't want any part of this."
"Shut up," was the immediate reply.
The anger in her voice did nothing to mask the tremor when she spoke. It couldn't hide the tears in her eyes, the way her hands trembled as she held the gun. Nina wondered if she ever held a gun before, ever shot a person. Kim's stance was the same one they taught all CTU agents – two hands on the gun, feet shoulder-width apart to absorb the recoil.
She was so new and so scared.
"Just turn away and walk away," Nina said through teeth tightly clenched so they wouldn't chatter. The room was cold, air-conditioned, and the damp clothes she wore clung to her like a second-skin. The only warmth was from the fresh blood running down her neck.
Breathing was a chore, every word needing a gulp of air to push them out and she already felt winded. Still, she pushed on, her chest hurting from the simple exertion of standing and speaking.
"If you leave now, you won't get hurt."
Nina may even mean that right now.
She could kill her. It'd be easy, even with the gun trained on her, Kim was frightened and inexperienced. One shot to the leg to disable, one shot to head to finish it. But how far would she get before Jack found her? Then what? If Jack didn't kill her then it was back into custody, back to small jail cells and interrogations that lasted days and that would be the rest of her life because she would i never /i escape. There was nowhere and nothing for her beyond this room. Her employers would find her, she was worse than a failure, she was a liability they couldn't afford.
No, this was it. Same as last time, this detour, this room was her downfall.
The alarms continued, louder now it seemed and Nina wondered how long they'd been standing there. Five minutes? Ten? How long would it be till someone found them?
Her arm felt like lead. Muscles burning she raised the gun, heavy in her hand.
"Don't do it, Nina. I swear to God I'll shoot you."
Nina's mouth curved into a hollow smile, the challenge clear in her voice. "You won't kill me."
"Nina. Dammit." Almost a plea but Nina didn't back down, movements as steady as her voice had been as she leveled the gun at Kim.
She clicked the hammer and saw a brief flash of light. As Nina fell to the ground, the sound of a gun firing echoed in her ears.
Then there was nothing.