Chapter Nine

"Buffy," Steve said in a brusque, angry voice that he fought to keep even, for her benefit, "I need you to go back to the cars, break into the front of one - any of them - get on the radio and let Oscar know what's happened. Tell him to send a Medivac for Jaime and a meat wagon for whatever pieces of New Destiny are left when I'm finished with them. Hurry!"

Steve - out in the open and completely visible - strode over to the guard shack and crushed the boulder that blocked the door with one furious kick. He grabbed the first person he saw and used him as a battering ram to take down the other four before anyone could fire off a single shot. He pinned the man to the wall, slamming him back and forth like a rag doll as he made his demands.

"Where's your boss?" Slam. "And where is my wife?" Slam.

"I...I don't know."

Slam. "Wrong answer. Try again." Slam. One of the men on the ground began to stir, and Steve swung his leg to the side and sent a chair careening at him like a guided missile. He gave his captive a slight toss, catching him by the throat.

"Can't...breathe...," the man gasped.

"So sorry about that." SLAM! "Where is she?"

"Van...they're...in the...van."

"What van?" Steve demanded.

Outside the shack, gravel spitting in every direction and the continuous blaring of a horn were Steve's answer. One man's arm rose toward the gate-release button, and Steve tossed his 'rag doll' in that direction, knocking the arm away before the button was pressed. No one else dared to try.

Steve dove from the doorway onto the hood of the moving van, gripping the side mirror with his left hand and punching through the windshield with his right. The driver slammed on the brakes, but Steve held on with vice-like determination and propelled himself into the front seat, landing almost in the startled driver's lap. In one fluid motion, he kicked open the driver's door and shoved him out onto the gravel.

"If you're smart, you'll stay down," Steve called to him as he shut off the engine. He heard the sound of metal being wrenched and torn and was gearing up for more of a fight when he heard Buffy's voice from behind the van. Damn - she was fast!

"Steve! She's back here! We got her!"

Steve rounded the back of the van, where Buffy was tossing one of the back doors to the ground. "Guess I pulled a little too hard," she said with a grin.

Steve didn't see Jaime at first. Then a burlap sack in one corner moved slightly, and he saw the shock of blonde hair sticking out of the top. As quickly as possible, he tore open the bag to take his wife in his arms. He took off her blindfold and was relieved to see she was conscious and alert (but also sorry that she'd been awake and thus had been enduring even more trouble). Very gently, he removed the tape from her mouth as Buffy, beside them now, broke Jaime's handcuffs off of her wrists.

"Sweetheart, are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Steve asked, pulling her closer as he felt how shaky she was and how desperately she clung to him.

"I think I'm ok," Jaime answered in a small, weak voice. "I fell asleep back in the cell, and woke up here...missed all the in-between."

"Medivac's coming," Buffy told them, "and I'm supposed to tell you that Rudy's on board."

Steve looked up at Buffy. "Thank you - for all your help. I really underestimated you, and I'm sorry."

"Common mistake; I'm sorta used to it."

Steve carried his wife from the van and set her down in a small patch of grass beside the guard shack. Buffy followed, staring at the tiny pieces of what used to be a boulder.

"Steve...that rock...how did you -?"

"Buffy, can I ask one more favor from you?"

"Yeah?"

"Poke your head in the guard house there and make sure my new friends are still nice and comfy on the floor."

"Gotcha." She returned a few moments later, smiling. "I told them if anyone moved and you had to go back in there, you'd be cracking skulls. They believed me, too. Oh, and - way to dodge my question. Again."

"Only temporarily," Steve assured Buffy while he tenderly rubbed his wife's back. "Once you're fully and officially hired, I promise -"

"If that ever happens."

"Why wouldn't it?" Steve asked. "You did a great job. Hell, I'll vouch for you."

"Thanks. But I'm pretty sure Mister Goldman is gonna be angry."

Jaime raised her head from Steve's shoulder. "Mister Goldman?"

"What'd you do?" Steve asked.

"When I called him from your house, he told me to go back to his office, and not to come here. I...sorta didn't listen."

Steve laughed. "Then it's official; you are definitely one of us! Buffy, Oscar's biggest concern - after our safety, of course - is results. Sometimes Jaime & I have been known to take very...uh...unusual paths to achieve those results. Oscar will usually sound off pretty fiercely - right before he congratulates you for a job well done."

Jaime looked up again and smiled weakly. "Keep calling him Mister Goldman and you'll probably get a promotion."

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