CHAPTER 10
Panting, Lexa stopped, chewing herself out for not catching up with the Russian. "What kind of agent are you?" she demanded of herself, irritation easily evident in her voice, "You worthless, useless, stupid…"
"Hey, hey, hey," Dom admonished. "There's no need for verbal abuse."
Spinning around madly, gun drawn instinctively, Lexa flashed a warning in her ruthless cold blue eyes not to come any closer. "Who are you?" she demanded warily.
"My name is Dominic Santini and I'm here to take you back to the US before the Soviets start World War III over here."
"You don't look like FIRM, and they already sent that arrogant, mercenary, self-pitying, egotistic jerk pilot Hawke to get me out."
"Don't talk about my friend like that," Dom warned firmly, letting in be known to her that such insults were not going to be accepted.
"You're his friend?" she asked incredulously as if no one in their right mind would willingly come within fifty feet of him.
"Yes, I am. Now could we get out of here before the entire Russian army is after us?"
"I didn't catch him," Lexa objected, "have to find him."
"If you didn't catch up with him, that gives us yet another reason to get out of their country. Now I have to go pick up String and Cait back at the warehouse, and if you'd like to keep your life, I suggest you come with me."
"But…"
"No buts. Our job was to get you and whatever you took back to the states, that's it. So I suggest you haul yourself back over to that helicopter before I have to do it for you."
"The forceful type, eh?"
"If I have to be. Now, are you going or not?"
"Yeah I'm going," she answered, still moving none too quickly. "So how did you end up with that arrogant pilot 'friend' of yours? He never seemed the type to have many friends to me. All he cared about was bringing his missing brother back no matter what it cost him or anyone around him."
"I raised them after their parents drowned in a boating accident," Dominic replied, still not sure of just how much he could trust this agent. String made it obvious he didn't really want anything to do with her, and he had already realized she could be a real pain if she wanted to be.
"Ah, yes. I think he did mention you at some point. You must be a good friend to have made it past all that armor plating he's caged himself in. Before he left to go after his brother, he said something about regretting not being able to tell you goodbye if he didn't come back." Lexa shrugged, changing the subject as abruptly as it had come about. "Where is he anyway? I would have figured he would have shown up by now if he was coming."
"Like I said, we're meeting them at the warehouse."
"Oh yeah, nearly forgot. You've got a good first aid kit in that there chopper of yours, don't you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I think he might have gotten grazed in that gunfight back there."
"He what?!" Dom demanded, temper flaring. "And you left him?!"
"That girl seemed to be taking pretty good care of him - red head, slender build, and nice shot too. I'm guessing she would be the third man in your party, or in this case woman."
\A/
"Almost there," Caitlin encouraged, urging Hawke on. If he was trying to pretend he wasn't as bad off as he looked, he was doing a lousy job, or so she hoped. If he was doing a good job, then it was amazing he was still on his feet, wavering or not. "Only a couple more."
As she helped him towards the last flight, she couldn't help but worry one of those rounds had hit something important. She was no doctor, but there was no denying he had already lost a lot of blood. The strips of material she had tied around his midsection to slow the bleeding had already been soaked through and his hand which constantly clung to his side, probably in pure agony, now came away with plenty more of the sticky red substance. Crossing the street and climbing thirteen flights of stairs couldn't be helping matters any, but still it remained a point of concern.
"Cait, I'm not sure I can make it," he panted, lungs burning as he struggled to draw in each breath.
"We're almost there."
"You told me to tell you if it started to hurt more, and has been for a while, a whole hell of a lot more," he grimaced.
"You're not quitting on me are me you, soldier?"
"I'm no soldier anymore, Cait, haven't been for a while."
"You telling me you don't have what it takes anymore?" she challenged. "Rumor has it you caught a good a good one in the shoulder back in 'Nam, and near bled out 'cause you insisted you look for your brother first instead of getting medical treatment, wouldn't have figured you for a quitter."
"Never said I was, but I'm not nineteen anymore either."
"Loosing it as you get old, Stringfellow?" she taunted.
"Not quite ready to retire yet," he countered. He knew what she was up to, and while he'd still like to have slapped her for the shots she was calling on him, he was grateful all the same.
"Oh? Not quite ready, huh?"
"No, I figure I should have another ten to fifteen years bare minimum."