Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
A/N: Finally ff net lets me upload again! Sorry for the delay!
Ever since she had overslept the return of the men from the job in Sacramento a couple of months ago, hadn't even noticed that they had set up something resembling a small field hospital in the kitchen and, to top thing off, had not prevented Ash from seeing his father badly hurt, Ilsa slept very lightly. There was no way she would snore away like that ever again while around her troops of notorious ex-/current criminals walked to and fro.
Guerrero had played a significant part in developing this new sleeping habit – for weeks he had broken into her apartment almost every night, wreaking havoc one way or the other. Some mornings she had just had to deal with an empty fridge (not that it contained much anyway), others she had woken up and found herself chained to the bedpost. After the thing he did to her shampoo and shower lotion, she had learned her lesson.
Thus the slight scraping sound, though barely audible and light as butterfly's wing beat, nevertheless woke her up. For a moment she just lay still, eyes closed, concentrating on breathing evenly and listening, just like Guerrero had taught her. When she was sure no one was with her in the room she slowly opened her eyes. The noise was coming from the lobby. Carmine, sleeping at the door to the guestroom, apparently didn't hear a thing, but that wasn't saying much, she had seen him sleep through hand grenade attacks.
Ilsa took the flashlight from the nightstand and, at second thought, the gun Chance had given her for protection, from the drawer. Dim moonlight was seeping in from the windows, enough for her to make her way without running into furniture, so she didn't switch the flashlight on. Barefooted she padded towards the lobby, making sure to stay close to the wall and using shadows as cover. The scratching and scraping that had woken her grew louder as she approached the elevator.
What kind of a noise was that? The alert system hadn't gone off, that calmed her a little, but still this was unsettling. It sounded as if something was trapped inside the elevator car. A mouse maybe? But judging from the sounds it had to be more than one…
Deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, Ilsa released the gun's safety catch and aimed at the sliding door with one hand while activating the button that would open the elevator with the other. The engine made the familiar dinging sound, the doors slid aside…
…and thousands and thousands of pitch black beetles poured out of the car like one huge crawling, creeping wave. It swept over the office floor and washed against her feet, her bare skin immediately covered with insects, scraping and scratching at it…
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Ilsa fired into the elevator, emptying the whole round, but the beetles kept coming and coming, started climbing up her legs, sneaked into her underwear…
Bring me home, a voice suddenly breathed in her ear. Bring me home. I want to go home.
And there, among the waves and waves of beetles, was a woman, middle-aged, dark hair, white cotton dress, exotic golden jewelry around her neck and wrists.
Bring me home.
"Ilsa? Ilsa?"
Ilsa's eyes flew open and she realized she was staring at Ash, standing at her bed in his pajamas, hair tousled from sleep. Carmine, panting, was at his side. When she dizzily shook her head to chase the remnants of the nightmare she had apparently just had out of the way, the dog rose on its hind legs and licked across her face.
"Was it that bad?", she asked the boy.
Ash nodded slowly, apparently worried. "Can I get you something? A glass of water?"
"A phone."
… … …
The weapon smuggler had been very friendly and generous, but Ames had nevertheless declined his offer to use his bathroom at her heart's delight. Pity, actually, since he had a swimming-pool sized Jacuzzi tub in it, a white marble shower, a flat screen TV embedded in the mirror in front of the Jacuzzi… the bathroom in the shabby hotel they were spending the night (was this Ilsa's revenge for having to stay at home again, babysitting Ash?) had, well, a shower head, coming out of the wall.
At least the water was hot. The pressure varied, one second it shot out with enormous force, the next it was reduced to a soft trickle. Aside from that the water pipe made very strange noises, like it was gurgling and groaning. Ah well, she wasn't planning to spend ages here, just a quick once-over, to get rid of the sweat and dust.
The pipe made another heavy groaning sound, the water supply faltered, came to a complete halt, another groan and whoosh, it shot out again, hotter and with more force than ever before.
And thicker…
Thicker?
Ames reached to touch her shoulder blade where some of the water seemed to stick. Her fingers brushed against something cold and slick and … squirming. She looked down to the ground – there were worms at her feet. Black, thick, squirming worms. And some of them were sucking at her skin.
Her scream sent Chance dropping everything and crashing first through her hotel room's and then the bathroom's door. Ames was so horrified, she was frozen to the spot, could do nothing but lash out at the creatures, trying madly to get rid of them.
"Ames, Ames, calm down!" Chance grabbed her towel, threw it around her and pulled her away from the still pouring water.
"The locals calls them Resbaladizos. They sometimes infest water tanks. Don't worry, they're harmless."
"GET THEM OFF!"
Chance plucked a particularly fat worm off her shoulders, then started working his way downwards, quickly disposing of the animals by throwing them back in the shower. Ames discarded the towel, not caring that she was standing naked in front of Chance now. He was fast and effective, his eyes focused on the ugly creatures and in no time at all he had them removed, but they had left bloody sucking marks on her, only superficial, but still… Ames was shaking all over.
"What if one is caught in my hair?"
"Come on." Chance gently steered her into the actual hotel room. He would have carried her, but with his shoulder this was out of the question. With a gentle touch to her neck he made her sit down on the bed, handed her a fresh towel and took her comb. Ames was still shaking visibly. He wrapped his arm around her, drew her to his chest and began combing her hair.
Slowly her breathing evened out and her shivers subsided. The worms were gone, she was safe now. Ames hesitated for a moment, then leaned against him. Despite the heat and the stuffy air in the badly ventilated room, the warmth of his body felt comforting, soothing. The steady movement of the comb chased the images of the ugly worms away, created a rhythm that finally helped her drift off to sleep.
Chance held her in his arms for a long moment, lost in thought. Then he cautiously lowered her to the bed and got up. Now he was shaking. She looked so young when she was sleeping.
Vulnerable.
Suddenly determined, he turned around and exited the room, walking fast, his jaw set.
… … …
In Winston's room Guerrero and Winston were arguing.
"No", Chance could hear Winston say. "We're not going to tell him. You know how he is. Can't resist a damsel in distress even if she's been dead for a thousand years. Since when do you believe in that supernatural shit anyway? Ilsa just had a bad dream."
"Dude, have you seen his shoulder? His leg? He needs some sort of R&R and at the office he won't get it. In Egypt on the other hand, all we have to do is put the old chick back where she belongs. No threat whatsoever, just breaking into a tomb without any kind of security system except some hieroglyphs on the wall. Maybe we'll have to bribe a guard in the valley of the kings, but that'll be it. Closest thing to a vacation he'll accept."
"Ilsa dreamt we should bring the mummy home?"
Both Guerrero and Winston wheeled around in surprise. Damn, he had a badly injured shoulder and a torn up leg, how the hell did he manage to move that silently?
"Well then how could I deny a queen a wish?"
Now Guerrero and Winston were even more surprised.
"There's one thing, though…", Chance continued.
… … …
The next morning when Ames woke up, Winston informed her that she would bring the sample for John Gray to San Francisco while he, Guerrero and Chance would escort the mummy home.
"You're going without me?", she asked, but what she was actually thinking was "He's going without me?"
She called Ken to pick her up from the airport.