"Curl up tight Oscar!" she barked as she swung the hamper at the two men. In a neat arc it hurtled into them - flinging the first man right over the hamper. Then – to Jaime's horror - the second one dropped like a two hundred pound rock on the hamper, the flimsy structure buckling around him. There was a pained "Oofffff" from inside.
Swiftly she grabbed both men by the backs of their sweaters and hurled them into the nearest wall. That trick always worked well for her. They crumpled to the floor, no longer a threat to anyone.
"Shouldn't play with guns." she muttered irritably.
She grabbed the hamper and made for the exit, the damaged vehicle dragging on the carpet. She could hear shouting from way down the hall. Slamming the door shut behind them, she shoved the handle hard toward the latch to jam the lock.
"Are you all right?" she gasped, as she bent the hamper into a shape so that Oscar could get out – if he was able. "I'm so sorry! You were the only thing handy. I never figured I'd knock him right on to you. Is your back okay?"
She pulled the sheet away and he sat up, peevish expression in place.
"That was unpleasant." he grumbled.
Anxious to get out and not thinking clearly, Oscar stood up and attempted to step out. The hamper shot out from under him in one direction and he shot off in the other, head and shoulders leading – straight into the wall. It was like something out of a slapstick comedy, his face smearing against the flocked wallpaper as he slowly and painfully sank downward.
"Oh!" Jaime yelped, rushing to him.
Thankfully he was conscious, and he rose to his hands and knees with an incredulous shake of the head, and then, unsteadily, he got to his feet. If he'd looked peevish a moment before, he now looked peevish and embarrassed.
"I should have been holding you steady! I'm so sorry." she said ruefully, smoothing his hair and straightening his tie. "With friends like me…"
"No, it was me." he replied, through gritted teeth.
"Are you all right?" Are you ready to go?" She gently brushed the remnants of flocking from his cheek.
He nodded gamely, though he would have preferred to yell and swear and then sit down for a quiet sulk. A searing pain ran from his neck to the middle of his back, and his head was throbbing.
Jaime turned and bounded up the first flight, Oscar following behind, taking stairs two by two.
She didn't see what hit her at the top of the second flight. Oscar did - before the whole human tangle came at him. It was Dr. Prochazka. He had burst through the third floor exit door, hurling himself onto Jaime's back. Caught unawares, she fell backwards to the landing and straight into Oscar, who buffeted their collision with the wall. Clamped to her back like a vicious monkey, the small man growled, digging his fingers into Jaime's left eye, tightening his other arm around her neck.
"No no no!" he gurgled frantically, "You will not get away!"
She panicked – she couldn't help it –he was pressing one eye into the back of her skull, and choking her hard. She staggered and spun around the landing, pulling at Prochazka's fingers, for that instant having forgotten her super strength altogether. Oscar picked himself up from the floor, and saw that Prochazka was now fumbling for his gun.
"Jaime, hold still!" Oscar barked. Thankfully she listened, and Oscar aimed a hard punch at Prochazka's head, and then another and another. The little man wobbled, flailed, and dropped from Jaime's back.
From above they could hear a helicopter landing on the roof, and from below, multiple footsteps running up the stairs. Oscar retrieved Prochazka's pistol, glancing at the unconscious man for only a moment before deciding he would have to leave him where he lay.
Jaime was leaning against the wall with one hand pressed to her eye and the other around her throat, her heart wild and her breath heavy. He took her firmly by the elbow, murmured a few encouraging words, and ushered her up the stairs as fast as he could make her go.
She had almost recovered by the time they burst through the exit door, and she was never happier to see a helicopter in her life. They bolted to it, throwing themselves in just as three men poured out the door behind them. Lifting into the air through the staccato sound of gunfire, they were suddenly safe - up in the clear blue sky, their pursuers watching helplessly below.
Oscar picked himself up and staggered to the cockpit, where he bellowed into the datacom for some minutes before returning to sit beside Jaime. She, being safety obsessed in aircraft, had immediately strapped herself in to one of the four seats in the cargo area.
"Are you all right? Is your eye all right?" Even sitting right next to her, he was forced to put his face close to hers and speak loudly to be heard over the engine. Jaime was delighted to have him near. She was so vastly relieved; he was such a companionable man; they were a pretty decent team really – it was a happy moment.
"I'm still seeing stars, but I think I'm okay. That wasn't a pretty escape, but I'll take it." She slapped him on the knee, and grinned.
He grinned in return. "Did you see who jumped you? It was Prochazka."
"You're kidding!" she gasped. "That little creep is strong!"
"Considering the way he flew at you, I'd say you were right - he can definitely walk."
"Is he going to get away?"
"I hope not - Russ is sending the team in now. I had them waiting at the ranger station twenty miles down a fire road in case we needed them."
"You know, I kind of liked Prochazka," Jaime confessed, threading her arm through Oscar's and leaning into him, "until he tried to poke my eye out, that is. I bought that whole story about his brother. In fact that's what convinced me that we should give him a chance in that second meeting."
"I bought it too – more than you did, obviously. I should have listened to you." He scratched the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "I was a liability back there – I'm sorry."
"Hey, you were not! I'd be a one eyed lady living in Siberia if it weren't for you. And besides…nobody's perfect." Jaime added, her lips twitching into an involuntary smile - envisioning Oscar unfortunate encounter with the laundry hamper and the hotel wall.
"If I'd listened to you in the first place…" He stopped and frowned at her. "I can see that smirk, you know."
"I'm not smirking." She bit her lip and forced the corners of her mouth down.
"It was bad, wasn't it?" A little amusement sparkled in his eyes.
Now laughing outright, she replied, "Spectacular."
"Well," He leaned closer into her, grinning widely, and said in a loud conspiratorial whisper, "I know I can count on your discretion."
It was probably partly relief, but they started laughing, and the more they laughed, the harder they laughed, until tears rolled down their cheeks and Jaime felt her throat constrict.
The merriment ended quite suddenly when a high-pitched whine rose up from the steady dark drone of the engine. Immediately the pilot barked, "Seatbelts!"
Just as Oscar reached around behind him, the bird made a sickening swoop, pitching him forward.
And then it began to spin.