| Subject: Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapters 7 & 8 |
Author:
Jaron
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Date Posted: 20:06:31 12/12/01 Wed
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "Sometimes the Dragons Are Real" on 18:37:45 12/12/01 Wed
Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapter 7
Nikita felt the plane start to bank to the left and heard the pilot on the intercom tell
Michael that Section had just diverted them to the military airbase in Fort Worth,
Texas. Nikita frowned and looked over at the other operatives to see their reactions.
Without exception, each one of the six men sighed heavily and then settled back in
their seats at the news. The diversion to an airbase could only mean one thing:
another mission. And so, they all settled in to get some much needed sleep. All
were exhausted from the mission in Chile and if they had to perform on another right
on the heels of this last one, they would need all the rest that they could get. A
couple of hours sleep was better than no sleep at all.
Not following their example, Nikita instead stood and started to move toward Michael
who had seated himself at the communications table on the far side of the military
transport. Apparently he was receiving incoming intel on the new mission. As Nikita
moved toward Michael, she saw him listening intently. He raised his hand to his face
to pinch the bridge of his nose and then rub his fingers across his mouth and chin as
she had seen him do before. This gesture of Michael’s meant only one thing. He was
hearing bad news, news that he obviously didn’t want to hear.
“Michael, what is it?” Nikita said urgently. “What is going on?”
Michael’s next gesture surprised and alarmed her at the same time. He reached out
and took her hand and squeezed it as he looked into her eyes. She saw terror in the
green depths. and something rarely seen in Michael’s eyes...fear.
Nikita gave Michael’s hand a squeeze back and sat down next to him to listen to
Madeline continue the mission briefing.
“So Walter will meet you there with the mission profile. Make changes if you think
they are necessary. And Michael, I am sorry about this. I hope everything works out
for the best.” Madeline finished speaking and severed the connection with Michael.
Michael turned away from the communications console and buried his face in his
hands. Nikita put her hands on his shoulders and whispered his name. He pulled
away, but not before she felt him trembling.
“It’s Rene and Grace.” he said, pain apparent in his voice. He raised his head and
looked at her. She tried to school her features to look puzzled at his statement. She
wasn’t supposed to know who Rene and Grace were. “It’s okay, I know you know
about them. Grace told me. They were in a bank today when three men decided to
rob the bank. They are trapped inside with several others. The men are threatening
to start throwing bodies out the door.”
“God, Michael, what can I do? Are we going in? I’ll do whatever it takes. The others
will too. We will get them out safe and sound. What’s the plan?”
Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapter 8
Nikita finally stopped talking, and he was glad to hear her take a breath. Still, he was
somewhat heartened to hear her being supportive of him, but he felt terribly
frightened for Rene and Grace. This was an explosive situation and he knew that
anything could happen. All of the worst-case scenarios had already run through his
mind and he felt exhausted. He knew himself well and he WAS exhausted, but how
he was feeling was not important right now. Getting Rene and Grace out of that bank
was what was important, and so Michael pushed the feelings of terror, exhaustion
and hopelessness to the back of his brain as he started to think of every possible plan
to get what he wanted: Rene and Grace.
Nikita gasped in pain, and Michael let go of her hand realizing that he was squeezing
it almost to the point of breaking. “I’m sorry, Nikita,” he said apologetically, “I didn’t
mean to hurt you!”
‘Don’t worry about it, Michael,” she said smiling and taking his hand in hers. “You
are allowed an emotion or two.”
“No, I’m not. I can’t afford it now. I have to focus. We have two hours until we land
in Fort Worth. We have a lot of work to do.” he said as he pulled his hand from hers
and hunched over his computer. “Why don’t you get some rest. You look exhausted,”
he told her before looking back to the computer and starting to read the information
that had been downloaded.
“Michael, you have had the same amount of rest that I have had, so if I need the rest,
then so do you. You can’t afford to go into this without any sleep. You owe it to
Rene, Grace and all of those other people trapped in that bank.” Nikita had grabbed
Michael’s chin and pulled him towards her as she looked straight into his eyes as she
spoke. “Come on, sleep for an hour and then you can work on this. I’ll ask the pilot
to call us in an hour. Until then, you sleep. Okay?”
She walked up to the cockpit and talked briefly with the pilots before turning and
walking back to where Michael was sitting bent over with his face in his hands, elbows
propped on his knees. She took one of his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet.
She led him over to the center section of five-across passenger seats and sat down.
She told him to lay down and put his feet up. He complied and she pulled him down
so that her lap became his pillow. He looked up at her and said in a quiet voice,
“Thank you. Wake me in an hour,” and he closed his eyes. Nikita gazed down at
Michael’s face and combed her fingers through his hair until she heard his breathing
change and she knew he was asleep. Only then did she feel herself drift off.
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