Chapter 17: A Brief Moment in Washington

Ella stirred next to Alex in her seat as the plane touched down at Reagan Airport in DC. The two of them were traveling by plane back to Washington to figure out the next steps of their mission plan. Ella's dad had been pissed enough to not fly them home via private jet, yet also calm enough to still pay for first class.

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked her.

"Kinda loopy from the pain meds, I'm not gonna lie," Ella smiled lazily. Alex smiled back, happy she was in high spirits. Ella had slept for a majority of the plane ride, and Alex figured she would need it before having to see her family again.

Alex helped Ella up, and got her onto a pair of crutches. She had refused a wheelchair after leaving the hospital, wanting to get right back onto her feet. After Ella got out of the hospital, the two of them had stayed in a hotel for two days. It was a relaxing two days, for Alex, at least, who wasn't recovering from surgery. The two of them watched TV and Ella taught him some more Arabic phrases. Alex realized that Ella was a better language teacher while her brain was filled with Oxy than Ian Rider ever was stone-cold sober.

What Ella was not good at, however, was being a patient. She had refused every bit of help that Alex offered, preferring to do things by herself which was frustrating, to say the least. Alex sighed as Ella selected to carry her backpack, filled with new clothes purchased after she left the hospital, the added weight messing with her crutches.

Slowly but surely, the two of them made their way to the gate, and Ella scowled. "My dad is pissed." She paused for a moment, popping a pill from the bottle in her pocket.

"How can you tell?"

"Well, rather than showing up himself, he sent my least favorite company driver," she grumbled, nodding at a skinny man wearing a red University of Maryland quarter-zip and khakis. He had military cut brown hair and appeared to be tall. He was sitting with his legs spread out on one of the chairs about 100 feet from the door Alex and Ella had just emerged from. At the sound of her voice, the driver got up.

"Ella, how nice to see you," the driver said, pulling Ella into a hug. She began trying to squirm out of it immediately but was unsuccessful due to only having one functional foot. He held on for a long while before finally letting Ella go. "Follow me, kids," the driver said, walking ahead.

Alex hung back with Ella. "That hug was weird," he observed, "I take it that's why you don't like this guy?" he asked as she began hobbling forwards with her crutches.

"Yeah–he always holds on way too tight for way too long. And doesn't ask first. And he just always finds a reason to put his hands on me. He's done it for like 4 years and I hate it."

"So let me get this straight–your dad is mad at you over something I'm admittedly not clear on so he is making you ride in a car with some creep who has been harassing you since you were 14?"

Ella nods. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Fuck that," Alex exclaimed, "We're getting an Uber. No way you're getting in a car with him."

"Alex I really appreciate the sentiments but we can't take a fucking Uber to headquarters. Or my house. None of us are allowed."

"Okay that's reasonable," Alex conceded, "But there has to be another way."

"I would take the Metro, but I don't think I'll be able to walk from the stop to my house right now," Ella winced.

"Yes, please stay off the ankle."

"I could try and call my family," Ella continues, "But my dad probably has the lines tapped. No need to piss him off further."

"Yeah," Alex agreed, "Plus, that is a wholly unsatisfying solution."

Alex and Ella met eyes. "You mean…" she started.

"Let's commandeer a vehicle," Alex smiled at her, "There's nothing like the smell of revenge in the morning."

The two of them finally made it to the CIA car– a silver Ford Escape with tinted windows. The driver held open the left back door and ushered Ella in. She obliged, managing to climb in even with the cast, and Alex noticed the driver's hand on the small of her back. He shook his head. Alex just about lost his mind in a rage when the driver began buckling her into her seat, his right hand directly on her chest. He waited, biding his time. The driver wasn't watching him, and Alex had slipped into the driver's seat unnoticed through the passenger door. Alex cleared his throat.

Registering his signal, Ella lashed out with her crutch, hitting the driver squarely in the balls. He cried out in pain and fell backwards into the parking lot. Ella slammed the door shut and heard the click of the doors locking from Alex.

"Drive, drive, drive!" she exclaimed. Alex gunned the engine making the car lurch forwards about 50 feet. Thankfully the VIP parking lot was mostly empty.

"Um, Ella," Alex started, "I forgot to consider that I can't drive in America–you yanks drive on the wrong side of the road."

"We'll unpack that statement later," Ella shook her head. She looked back to see the driver still writhing in pain on the pavement, "Help me to the driver's seat. I can get us to headquarters."

"Even with a foot in a cast?" Alex questioned.

"Even with," Ella promised, and Alex helped her to the front of the vehicle.

She began driving, slowly at first, and everything was okay. Quickly though, Alex noticed them picking up speed and drifting off to the left. Ella noticed the first time and corrected herself slowly. Not one minute later, they began drifting again, this time towards a guard rail.

"Ella!" Alex exclaimed, grabbing the wheel and swerving them back onto the road, "What the hell?"

"Alex," Ella mumbled, "Hold on." Ella managed to drive them another 30 feet and pulled over. She was breathing heavily. "Alex, I'm so sorry."

"What is it? Is it hard to drive with your cast?" He looked concerned.

"More like I am really fucked up on pain pills right now," Ella mumbled, "I kind of, uh, took an additional dose once I saw who our driver was…and two other additional doses while we were on the plane." Alex's eyes widened. "I'm fine, but I maybe shouldn't drive. I'm sorry. I forgot about the pills until they hit me like a truck once I got behind the wheel.

"So you're telling me that you took four doses of Oxy and then decided to drive us home?"

"Well you said you couldn't drive," Ella challenged.

"Any reason you took so much?"

"Not your business," she scowled, "But you really do need to drive. I can tell you how to get to my house–it's closer than HQ–only 10 minutes away in Alexandria."

"Hell no, neither of us are driving," Alex declared, "We will not be dying in a car crash today."

Ella looked over at him with glassy eyes. "Fine, I'll call someone," Ella dialed a number on her phone, and the person on the line picked up immediately, "Chris, I just dropped you a pin. I'm by the airport and I need you to drive and pick me up." Ella hung up instantly. "He'll be here in 10."

"He…?" Alex questioned.

"My brother," Ella clarified. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes.

"Seriously though Ella, why'd you take all of those pills?" Alex asked her again, breaking their silence.

"I told you, none of your damn business."

"You kind of made it my damn business once you chose to drive under the influence with me in the car."

"Listen," Ella growled, "You're not my husband or my dad or anything, and we're not even on a mission right now, so leave me be. I said I was sorry, what more do you want?"

"I want to know if you're going to be a liability. I don't need to know everything, but if your pill habits almost kill me, then I feel like I should know about it.

"What I do in my off-time is no one's damn business but my own," she roared.

"Ella, we were literally en route to headquarters. Stop acting like we're not on a mission right now," Alex said, exasperated.

"Well now we're going to my house, and it's not like I've never been high there before!" she screamed.

Alex froze. "Woah. Okay, Ella, let's take a step back. I didn't mean for this to escalate–I just wanted us to maybe talk this out."

"Yeah well we're way past that point," Ella yelled back, "All I want is to be left the hell alone!"

Alex paused for a second. "Okay," he conceded, "I'll leave you the hell alone. I really thought we had something–a real special friendship–but I guess I was wrong. I'll be going back to London as soon as I can and you'll never have to see me again."

"Good. Some friend you are judging me all the time." Ella turned away from him and pulled out another pill. "To forget you," she looked him right in the eyes and dry swallowed it.

Been sitting on this one for awhile...next chapter so soon.