Fine. I update now, although I planned it for tomorrow (but of course strictly only because you lot reviewed and eased on my soul).
Thanks for everybody who have given me the gift of his/her opinion, and sorry for not answering everybody until now, I decided you would be happier to read the update than the reply. Special thanks for AR-bookworm, whose review was the longest I have ever read. It kinda made me feel guilty about letting you get crazy (it makes two of us then...). And don't forget about my wonderful beta, Valar Morghulis, who's working so hard despite the fact it's holiday for him. He's being lost somewhere trying to correct my bubbling. Feel pity and respect for him.
Anyway, I'm not quite sure about this chapter, so tell me what you think about it. I didn't feel like writing another camp scene, I don't know why. Oh yeah, I'm sorry about the locality, I seem to be obsessed with palaces and castles (...) and as well apologies for the mess with the doors. I don't really know why I was so interested in their future... *frowning*
Chapter 11 - Ball
Five days later
The night was cold. The wind caressed the leaves of the old oaks in the park embracing the building with a quiet whispering. In the house – more of a castle, Wolf thought – a party was kept. The host was a certain Samuel Paige. He must have had enough money to pay the glow: waiters whirled around in suits even at the back entrance the soldiers kept under surveillance.
The windows had heavy velvet curtains in front of them, but the light glimmered through from the celebration. The whole weekend-house looked like a Victorian styled castle – not the one Wolf would prefer. The cars of the guests stood on the roadway, the – elegantly black and white, penguin-designed – chauffeurs and guards made sure none of the luxurious vehicles got a scratch on the – hearse-evocating – black polish.
Wolf took down the infrared binoculars. Everything was ordinary, the same that had been for hours. He didn't know what was supposed to happen on the posh party, but it looked like the heads misjudged the situation. If only he had known why he had been lying here for hours!
They had been briefed to keep the house under surveillance and wait until "the situation shows up". They were only the backup, so they said. They had been waiting for hours now, since the first guests arrived. Nothing looked suspicious. Maybe this is some sort of test, he thought. Still, he couldn't understand why they were sent here. Why here and why they. S Unit came for the mission as well and this was even weirder considering they had been told they didn't get another mission till finishing the refreshing training, as well as K Unit.
Something was very wrong here and as always, MI6 was the one arranging the assignment. Just like their past bad luck with the two training with them: one was barely more than a kid, the other female. They had arrived suddenly – they had gone suddenly. It had happened yesterday evening: when his unit had gone back to their hut after dinner, their stuff had already disappeared. Just like the other time. Wolf didn't mind, it even eased a bit on his soul. He felt sorry for the young boy and although he would have never admitted it, he was afraid of him.
Especially after that little scene in front of the offices.
Most men just laughed on it, but he knew a bit about Cub to guess the unbelievable things the attacker said about him may be true. He didn't dare to consider the possibility though: that man was an assassin and if he feared Cub, if he was afraid enough to release the girl and go to prison or worse after just mentioning the possibility of Cub hunting him down… He had been right keeping his unit away of him.
He wondered once more where they could disappear… then just shrugged mentally. It was not his business.
He lifted his binoculars again. A voice cut into the silence and had he not been SAS, he would have jumped. Stupid headphones. He listened carefully. Shot heard from the western tower. The SAS jumped. Otherwise they wouldn't have been so easy to activate but their mystical orders were unnerving.
Wolf looked around. Black shapes lifted from the ground, moving with threatening professionalism. This is it, he thought. This is why I'm at SAS. The men moved quietly and quickly, each knowing his own task. All planned, all going smoothly. They looked like shadows appearing from hell and Wolf could feel the effect of the drug he was addicted: adrenaline rushed in his veins, his vision becoming sharper, excitement washing through him.
The guards didn't pay much attention to what was happening; they felt completely at safe. Tough guns aren't enough to do the job, Wolf grinned, they need a man to use them. He hit one standing further from the castle with the brain of his gun. His victim collapsed soundlessly to the ground. Always watch your back.
He waved another silent attacker to approach the next man, a bit closer to the back entrance. Around him, Wolf could see the others working, every attacked guard falling onto the ground. The leaves on the old oaks shivered in the cold, not like the soldiers who wore bullet-proof vests and full outfit with grenades, smoke-bombs, knives and guns with plenty of reserve cartridges. No wonder Wolf felt himself ridiculous in the middle of a party.
Silence is the best weapon and- he wasn't able to finish this thought, as in that moment, the back door was kicked out, the wooden frame moaning from the violent pressure, while a woman was shrieking in terror. Yeah, speaking about surprise…
The woman's long blonde hair flew behind her, the curls freed from the loose bin as she hurried down the few stairs. She wore a black dress and high heels she was staggering on as she was running towards one of the black cars. All the while shrieking. Her voice was pitchy and Wolf's ears were beginning to hurt, his teeth ground in his mouth. One of the guests, apparently. He looked for the need of aria, when the door was kicked out again and a graceful shape jumped into the air.
He watched astounded as the figure fell back leaving the stairs long behind, moving with the skills of a cat. The shadow grabbed her shoulder and tossed her onto the ground, but then the guards decided they could as well do something and surrounded the attacker who seemed to be a waiter. His white shirt shone in the pale moonlight, his coat lost far behind.
Wolf didn't know what to do. Who was on the evil and who on the good side? Or, considering it was an SO arranged assignment, who was on their side and who the enemy? There wasn't much time to weigh his options. He waved two men to take the woman while the others went for the man. The fighters hadn't even noticed the soldiers until now. She kept screeching while the waiter was deep in his fight. Although he was highly outnumbered, the guards fell onto the ground one by one.
The waiter was struggling to get after the woman, but every time he started after her, he was held back, violent fists punching him. She got to her car already when the two soldiers reached her. The waiter had only three attackers left… he bent down. He aimed a kick somewhere in the mist… two left… One of the SAS men tried to hold back the fighters, but he got a punch and saw it better to keep away.
Wolf watched the waiter in wonder. The man was finally able to catch a moment of distraction of his attacker. Wolf thought he would knock out the man left, but he just continued towards the car and the woman. Wolf frowned. What was so interesting in her? The waiter wiped away the blood from his eyes and glimpsed the soldiers for the first time.
"Get after her!" His yell had a forcing edge and even Wolf turned after the escaping woman. The waiter got another punch at his neck from the last guard, but Wolf didn't care; he was watching her. The blonde woman turned back to the soldiers and with some barely visible movements got free of their clutches. Before the men would have been able to recover, she opened the door of the car.
The waiter whose hoarse voice seemed faintly familiar for Wolf was late running after her; the guest drove away with grinding wheels. The man didn't give up: he went to one of the cars and in barely more than fifteen seconds, the door was pulled open. He looked back for a last time at the soldiers and Wolf recognised him with awe.
The waiter was Cub.
Wolf's mouth fell open, but he didn't have the time for standing there astounded, the radio in his ear buzzed and informed him that another shots were heard from inside the castle's western wing. Not that he wouldn't have heard it. Of course he did. The plan of surprise was blown anyway, so he yelled away for two men to follow the cars while he himself rushed into the castle. The door tumbled down behind him with a loud thud not bearing any more violence.
Cub was here as a waiter, Cub was here as a waiter, his mind kept repeating as he cautiously made his way deeper into the building. And he fucking forced the lock on a car in fifteen seconds. His brain wanted to warn him about something, but he ignored the disturbing feeling. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing. And his line of work didn't let people daydream during an assignment.
The main hall was strangely dark after the light of the servant corridor and kitchen he left behind. Two other men in black appeared at his side and he waved them to split. The party was kept on the first floor; the ballroom's lights had been visible from the forest they had been waiting the past hours.
A dark shadow moved in the corner of the main hall but in front of his gun it happened to be only a nervous waiter with his hands in the air. He was remembered Cub again. The strange feeling got only stronger in his mind. He waved down the men and started to climb all the way up to the first floor. The stairs were made of marble, the covering velvet absorbing the sound of their heavy footsteps.
He entered the ballroom. S Unit was already there, giving orders the frightened guests who were lying on the floor. Another shot cut into the loud yelling. Wolf knew he had to follow it. He took another staircase leading upwards, this one much narrower and apparently less used than the first. He fell into a jog following the sounds of a fight. Some furniture was crushing and breaking and human yells became louder as he reached the door of what he supposed to be a study after hurrying through a branch of corridors and stairs towards the western tower.
He was almost there, when the sounds increased. He rushed over to the thick wooden door and turned the knob. Wolf heard a shriek and a painful screech. The door was locked. He emptied the cartridge into the lock, but all he reached was a little hole around the silver metal. The woman shrieked again, the agonizing sound making a shudder run down his spine. He went off and ran against the wood. It gave a loud cracking noise, but didn't yield.
A window or some glass or crystal was breaking, a male voice cursing loudly. Wolf looked around hastily and found two men running towards him quickly. Unfortunately, two guards. He shoved himself against the wall of the corridor. The guards' bullets gave variety to his decorating the thick door, but nothing else happened. The firing guard fell onto the floor as soldiers arrived following the source of the noise as well as everybody seemed to.
The man inside the study was howling. Wolf used all his desperation to get into the room finally, leaving the left guard for his men. His shoulder sprained, but the frame only cracked a little with a loud noise – not loud enough however to make the shrieking and yelled cursing at the other side of the door inaudible. Wolf helplessly leant against the frame, trying to find a hole he could watch the events through. Fortunately for him, unfortunately for the other targets, the guards' guns were designed to be able to kill even an elephant and one of the bullets went through the devil-made wood.
He froze there for a moment as he absorbed the sight. He was late realizing what had bothered him for so long; Cub never left the side of the girl, never. If he was in the castle, so was she. And she was on the good side (or better say their side); he had known this for sure. The two had something to do with MI6 and this assignment was arranged by them. He should have started searching for her; of course where she was there was the centre of trouble.
In the study, Ama was fighting against certain Samuel Paige owning the castle. Wolf fell back dazed, feeling as if he was going to throw up. Eagle slipped next to him through the cleared corridor, asking something but Wolf didn't hear the words just waved towards the hole. The man unsuspectingly looked through it, but he soon turned away as well. When he recovered, he leant back to the hole again, not wanting to miss a second of what was happening.
He shook his head in disbelief and desperately tried the door much the same way Wolf had. The molested wood indignantly squeaked once. Eagle shoved himself against it again. And again. The man switched his sides, using his other shoulder to push.
And all of a sudden, it yielded. The two plunged into the room with a lot of noise, but the fighting pair didn't notice them. The woman, Ama as they knew her, was covered all in blood. Hopefully not her own – but Wolf didn't see much of a chance for this. Crimson painted her almost entirely naked body and was drying upon the bit of clothes she was wearing. Behind the desk, Wolf could see the rest of her dress torn off her.
She must have played the role of a striptease dancer judging from her rags, but Wolf didn't take much time to analyze the reasons. Because, in her blood-slippery hands, she was clutching a samurai sword. Just like the man did. Wolf felt as if he had become lunatic some time he hadn't paid attention. What he hell were two bloody samurai swords doing here, in a Victorian styled castle?
The man aimed at her heart with the next stab, but she easily got out of the way. Wolf and Eagle watched astounded as the two fenced throughout the room. Wolf knew they should do something, but the fencers' movements were so quick and unforeseeable that menacing the man with a gun would have been worthless. He thought about tripping him, but the chance was equally shared between the two – he could as well make her be killed. He watched helplessly as they continued the dance in the room. There must be a way, there must be a way, he heard his mind, but he couldn't think of one.
SAS was tough and good, but he was not prepared about how to arrange a situation when two were fencing above his head with deadly sharp bloody samurai swords. It was quite new for him. But apparently the situation didn't need Wolf's help of arranging, it suddenly solved itself.
Wolf closed his eyes tiredly after the weak thud. This was definitely not something he had wanted to see during his life.
To be continued…
I'm not over my feedback blues sot that you would review. This chapter was a surprise present for those who wrote me, I'm still mad at the others. Just to let you know.
Who would like to guess what happened at the end? The first who finds out (so the first to read...) I dunno, can ask something. A scene or a chapter from someone's POV or anything you want. Cookies for all the reviewers.