THE ASSASSIN - AU/CC/Adult - Epilogue - 11/6/16

[begonia9508]

Wow! At least, they have a roof over their heads, even if only for the night!
But Maria should look that she can make that compression bandage again because without Bane, she will be shortly dead!

Thanks EVE

[Alien_Friend]

Oh my goodness. This just keeps getting scarier and scarier and more and more intense. I sure hope no one is at the cabin. At least they managed to shake off the guys after them that were in the Black Hawk. I sure hope the tracker was indeed disarmed and that Tess and Kyle are okay.

Terrific stuff ladies. Never a dull moment. I am loving every single word of it.

Eagerly awaiting more.

[Double Trouble]

Earth2Mama: This will definitely put Maria’s mettle to the test!

Roswelllostcause: Thanks for reading!

Eva: That’s high on the list, lol. It looks like the two of them are now necessary to each other’s survival and they’re going to have to work together.

keepsmiling7: Lol, don’t give up on her.

sarammlover: Yes, they do. How? He’s one stubborn cuss. Lol, Maria’s not giving in on that one, is she? Thanks for the compliment!

begonia9508: They have shelter and that’s one thing they couldn’t do without in those temperatures.

They’re going to have to heavily rely on each other now.

Alien_Friend: Thanks girl! We try to keep the moments dull-free.

Let’s check with M&M and Michael’s condition…



Part 17

He had no clue how she had managed to drag his body over the ground they’d covered, but when the uninjured side of his body rested against the wooden outer wall of the cabin she had found, he forced every bit of strength in his body to cooperate. Only a few more minutes and he would be out – until then he’d do his best to give her the instructions she would need to survive.

Fumbling with a pocket knife from his pants, he concentrated on opening the front door with one of the attached tools. As soon as the lock clicked, he pushed the door open and dragged himself inside. His eyes moved over the living area of the cabin. There was a couch and he crashed onto it weakly, groaning when the jerky movement caused pain and sweat broke out on his forehead. “Maria, come over here.”

She pushed the door closed, her eyes quickly moving over the room as she hurried to his side.

“You need to take care of the branch now. Find the alcohol, bandages, needle and thread,” he frowned while he tried to list everything off, “there’s a knife with a broad blade strapped to my right boot, and a lighter.”

“Um... what?” She frowned. It sounded like medieval surgery. Having to get the branch out of his side was bad enough, but what did she know about sewing up a wound? They didn’t even have any kind of anesthetic and she could only imagine how much it was going to hurt.

“Fuck, don’t ask questions, just do it. Most of it you’ll find in our packs. The rest you’ll hopefully find in the cabin.” He dropped his head against the backrest weakly. “Get the superglue as well.”

Her eyes widened. “Superglue?” she questioned as she set about gathering the other things he’d asked for.

“You heard right,” he muttered.

“What’re you gonna do with it?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Me? Nothin’.”

She had to grit her teeth. Why did he have to be so obtuse? “What do you want me to get it for then?”

He coughed, holding his side. “Would you just hurry up? What’s with the fuckin’ questions?”

“I get what all the other things are for,” she said as she dumped them on the ugly but sturdy coffee table in front of him, “I just don’t know what the glue’s for.”

He took her hand and dragged her onto the couch next to him. “Disinfect your hands and everything you’re gonna be usin’ with the alcohol, then disinfect the wound before you pull the branch out.” He breathed through a wave of pain and focused again. “There’s a lantern. Use the lighter to light it, then heat the blade of the knife. Press it into the wound when it’s burning hot – from both sides to stop the bleeding. Then you use the needle and thread to sew the wound shut. Use the superglue for the areas that aren’t damaged too deep. It’ll save time and it’s effective.”

“All we need now’s some duct tape and we’d have an episode of MacGyver,” she muttered under her breath.

He snorted. “There are antibiotics in the pack. They’re soluble with water. Get one of the hypodermics Kyle packed and inject the cocktail directly into a vein every four hours.”

“What if I miss the vein?”

“Then it probably won’t be very effective,” he muttered drily. He tore his shirt off of him, then leaned back to grab the cell from his pants. “Valkyrie will call within the next 48 hours. She’s your chance to survive it if I don’t make it.”

“Cell phones have GPS. Can the bad guys find us with that?”

“This one’s a burner. Should be safe.” He unwrapped the bandage from his body slowly, then looked at the coffee table and decided it would be a good place for her to do the surgery. “Make a fire when you’re done. Keep the door locked, lights out.”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat. You can do this, Maria. You have to or he’s gonna die.

“Okay,” he mimicked her tone and moved everything to the ratty couch and lay down on the table. “Good luck, Deluca.”

“Shouldn’t there be something in here to give you for the pain? Or to at least to numb the area before we get started?”

“Blondie, I’m as good as out,” he muttered.

“Well, how am I gonna know if I do this right? What if I totally screw it up?”

“You won’t.” He looked at her, his dark eyes intense. “I’m dead without any treatment, so all you can do is save my life an’ if it doesn’t work out then you don’t blame yourself.” He rested his head back on the table. “Now get started and focus.”

She grabbed the alcohol and poured it over her hands and the poor selection of instruments at her disposal before dousing it into the wound. She wrapped her right hand around the branch and whispered a quick prayer heavenward that she could do this without killing him before she closed her eyes and pulled as hard as she dared.

She forced down her gag reflex at the sucking sound that accompanied the branch coming loose from his body. She dropped it on the floor and grabbed a towel she’d found, praying it was clean as she wedged it under him and poured more alcohol over the wound. The towel, soaked with a mix of alcohol and his blood was pressed to his side as she quickly lit the lantern she’d grabbed from the tiny kitchen area and she extended the wick so the fire would burn higher. She held the blade of the knife in the fire as he’d instructed, hoping she was doing it right.

She glanced up at him, taking in the closed eyes and the thankfully steady breathing. She turned the knife over, trying to evenly heat both sides of the blade. Once she was certain if was as hot as she could get it she took a deep breath and with her left hand she moved the towel aside and swallowed hard before pressing the blade to the wound as he’d instructed. She had no idea how she managed to keep her stomach from revolting as the smell of burning flesh assaulted her senses as she cauterized the wound.

When she pulled the knife away she moved the lantern closer to inspect the wound and her throat convulsed. She didn’t know if what she was looking at was good or bad but the worst of the bleeding did seem to have stopped. Her gaze dropped to the needle and thread he’d told her to collect and she cleared her throat as she set the knife aside and picked up the small spool. She ran a finger over it, wondering if it had been packed for this type of situation. It didn’t feel like regular thread.

She threaded it through the needle and to be safe she poured alcohol over the needle and the thread as well. She ran the back of her wrist over her forehead as she stared at the wound for a moment, trying to figure out where to begin… how to begin. He’d said to use the glue to seal the wound in the shallow areas so she started where it was the deepest. She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath before piercing his skin and pulling the needle through. She felt sick to her stomach as she set about pushing the needle through the opposite side and pulling the gaping wound closed.

She repeated the motion over and over until the deepest areas had been closed then she tied the thread off and snipped it close to the skin. She cleaned the wound again and patted it dry before picking the small tube of glue up. She made a face and uncapped it, leaning in close and using it to seal the shallow edges of the wound. She closed it up and set it aside, giving it a few minutes to be sure it was dry before she gave the wound one last dousing with the alcohol and then bandaged it up.

Lastly she pawed through the pack looking for the antibiotics and unhooked the canteen from the pack’s frame. She hoped and prayed she was mixing it properly as she prepared the injection before cleaning his arm with alcohol and trying to pin down the vein. It was creepy the way the vein seemed to roll when she pricked his skin with the needle. She tried her damnedest to hold the vein still and after a moment she felt the needle sink into the vein. Or at least she hoped that’s where it went and she wasn’t wasting the antibiotic.

When everything was said and done, she sank down on the floor, looking at the passed out man on the table in front of her. What would she do if they got attacked? She had no clue how to use a gun and his unconscious body was way too heavy for her to move very far. I’m such a helpless person, she thought and the realization made her eyes water. “God, Michael. You need to pull through this!”

There was no response from him. Not now and not for the whole 30 minutes she sat there just staring at him. Only when the cold crept into her skin did she remember the other tasks he had given her.

Make a fire. Lock the door, lights off. Yeah, she could do that.

Getting up from the hard floor, she pulled a blanket from the couch and wrapped him up in it before leaving the cabin to find wood could throw into the fireplace.

*****

Alex chewed on his thumbnail unconsciously as he stared at the back entry of the small clinic they had been staking out for the past hour. It appeared to be staffed by two people at the moment, most likely due to the time. The place was in a bad neighborhood and honestly he was surprised that it wasn’t busier. In the time they’d been sitting there only a couple of people had come in and none of them had looked like hardened criminals.

He turned his head to glance at the woman beside him. She had insisted she was fine but he wasn’t so sure. He’d had no idea what he was doing when he’d tried to get to the tracker and he knew he’d caused her a great deal of pain with his medically unskilled hands. He was amazed she was still upright after all of that. She’d pushed for him to continue at first, but when she’d nearly blacked out at one point she’d given in and allowed him to quit.

They’d moved on, putting another hundred miles between them and their last location before looking for a medical facility to seek treatment. Dawn was breaking and he knew they couldn’t have much more time to waste sitting there watching people come and go. He sat up straighter when the front door opened and one of the staff exited the building. The woman turned to lock the door before getting into a car and driving off.

“Now we go in,” she said, pushing herself more upright behind the steering wheel. “They’re shutting down for the next couple of hours before the next shift comes on.”

“Alright,” he agreed and followed her. His nerves were showing by the awkward shaking of his hands so he tried to hide them from her. “And what exactly are we gonna do? Force the doctor inside to get rid of your tracker?’

She shot a look at him. “Would you like another go at it?”

“Hell, no. But what if he tells you no?”

She un-holstered the Sig and held it out. “Did you say no?”

“Uh, well...” He couldn’t believe he had gone from innocent college student to criminal all in one night. Alright, maybe not a totally innocent student, but other than a little bit of hacking...

“Alright then, let’s go.”

“Ladies first,” he muttered and followed her when she opened the back door without any effort at all.

Valkyrie snorted and checked the next door, shaking her head at the simple lock and making quick work of picking it. She pushed it open and led the way inside, her hand flexing around the grip on the Sig and her eyes scanning the dim interior of what appeared to be the clinic’s storage area. A sound drew her attention and she turned to search for its origin. There were two doors, both leading out into separate hallways.

She checked both and then chose the first, moving out into the one that was darker. The doctor handling the closing duties was probably in the process of shutting down operations and making sure everything was ready for the next shift. She held her weapon higher as she crept along the corridor, the sound of rustling material letting her know she was getting close. She peered around the edge of a doorway and spotted the doctor, his back to her as he sorted through a locking cabinet full of medicine bottles.

“What’s up, Doc?”

The man whirled around, dropping the bottles he had been cataloguing so his hands could grip the edge of the cabinet at his lower back. His eyes dropped to the gun in the woman’s hand and he swallowed hard. “We don’t have anything of value for you to take,” he insisted, hating the way his voice trembled at the threat the couple posed. It was a lie. The medical supplies and the medicine alone were worth thousands of dollars and possibly more on the streets.

“Nice try, but we already know what you’ve got and we know exactly what we want.” She tipped her head to one side to study the doctor, deciding if he would be a threat. He didn’t seem like a guy who knew anything about self protection though.

“I don’t know what you want, but please, we don’t keep cash here and these medicines and supplies mean the difference between life and death for the people in this neighborhood.” He fumbled in his pockets and froze in the process of pulling his wallet out when she shifted and he found himself nose to barrel with her gun. “I just thought maybe if I gave you the money I have...”

“I don’t want your money.” She nodded to his hands and waited until he brought them back up. “You know about removing foreign objects from the human body? Let’s say close to the spine?”

“You’ve been shot?” His eyes moved over her and he shook his head. She wouldn’t be standing upright if she’d been shot close to the spine.

“No, but she has something in her that needs to be removed,” Alex spoke up.

“Well, we should have a look then.” He nodded at the gun she held. “That really isn’t necessary. I’m used to dealing with no-questions-asked cases down here.”

She nodded, lowering the weapon but not putting it away. “We’ll pay in cash. There won’t be a file and no paperwork.”

“Of course.” He was legally obligated to report gunshot wounds, but she claimed her injury wasn’t of that nature.

Valkyrie nodded and handed the gun over to Alex. “You watch him.” Looking back at the doctor she pulled the zipper of her leather suit down, revealing her naked body beneath.

Watch him, Alex thought with an internal snort. How the hell was he supposed to keep his eyes on the doctor when perfection had been bared before him? He cleared his throat and nodded when she shot a look at him and he quickly brought the gun up to aim it at the doctor. “Got it.”

She walked over to a metal exam table and turned her back to the man. “It’s small, right where you can see the incision. But it’s deep and tissue’s grown over it.”

The doctor stepped forward and had a look at the poorly made incision which had obviously been made by an amateur. “I guess you prefer a light numbing only?”

“No.” She didn’t trust him not to knock her out. “Just get it out.”

He inhaled deeply. “Okay, but this is gonna hurt, Miss...”

“I’m well aware of the pain involved, Doctor. Just get on with it.”

“Okay, sit down on the table and lean forward,” he said and went to get the instruments he would need to remove whatever was inside of her.

Alex kept a safe distance from the doctor just in case he decided to try anything, but his eyes were trained on every move the man made.

“What is it? Some sort of weapon?” He held his hands up when she growled at him. “Just asking if I need to watch what I’m doing.”

“It’s nothing dangerous. Just get it out and if you break it in the process, it doesn’t matter.”

The doctor nodded and began to lengthen the incision. “I really wish you’d allow me to use an anesthetic.” He could only imagine the pain associated with what he was doing without the aid of a numbing agent.

Her hands gripped the edge of the table tightly. She forced her breathing to remain even and deep, pressing her lips together tightly.

“Just hurry up,” Alex told him impatiently. They had been off the road for too long already and they had no idea how long they had before they would be attacked again. Maybe someone was already on their heels.

“Whatever this is, it’s in a very delicate place, and if I rush I could cause more damage at best and paralyze her at worse.” He shot a brief reproachful look at the man holding the gun on him. “I’m gonna assume neither of you wants that.” He carefully spread the tissue and his eyes widened at the small device. He couldn’t tell what it was but it appeared to be intact, which suggested that it had been implanted intentionally.

They let the doctor work in silence for a while and she could feel every touch of the scalpel and other tools he used to extract the tracker from her back.

“There you go,” he muttered after a moment and took the tweezers to pull the tracker out. A sound beyond the room caught their attention and Alex stiffened. “Is anyone supposed to come in at this hour?”

“No,” the doctor frowned. “Maybe someone forget something. I can go and make sure no one sees you.”

“No,” Valkyrie said. “Alex, lock the door and Doc, hurry up. I’ll go and check it out.”

“It’s gonna take a few minutes to close the wound,” the doctor said even as he was working on cleaning the wound and preparing to close it.

Her gaze wandered over the room. There was only one door, no windows. Whoever was here had only one option. “Gimme the gun from the pack,” she told Alex and held her hand out. “Then move to stand next to the door. On the left.”

The doctor swallowed hard and tried to keep his attention focused on the task at hand rather than the fact that there were two armed individuals lying in wait for whoever was on the other side of the door. What if it was one of his associates? Or one of the local kids who had a habit of breaking in? They were a nuisance but they didn’t deserve to take a bullet for their actions.

Suddenly there was a pull on the door. The handle moved up and down a few times and then it stilled again. The only sound in the room was the clicking of the release of the gun’s safety in her hand. “Doc? How long?”

His gaze shot to the door and he swallowed hard. “Not long enough for me to finish before whoever’s on the other side of that door gets inside.”

“You’re gonna have to take a break then,” she told him and hopped from the table, wincing at the pain and feeling blood running down her back. She moved to the door and gestured for Alex to step up behind her.

There was a hardly an audible sound from the other side. A lock pick was pushed into the door’s lock until it released. She held her breath, waiting for the person on the other side to step inside.

Pressed against the wall, she lowered her heartbeat with a special breathing technique, her senses all fully aware. When the door was opened the intruder didn’t stand a chance against her quick reaction. Her hand wrapped around a wrist and she pulled on it, making the man stumble and crash to the floor when her leg offered a barricade against his shin. She was on him, twisting his arm to a painful level.

The man beneath her was armed to his teeth, no doubt set on them but she asked the doctor anyway. “Do you know him?”

The man shook his head mutely. In all the time he’d been working at the clinic he’d never once found himself in a situation like this.

She nodded, holding the gun to the intruder’s temple. “Who sent you?”

“Gotta admit, in all the times I’ve imagined you on top of me this wasn’t one of the scenarios, Valkyrie,” the man rasped.

She smirked. “Now you can say it’s the last scenario.”

“We shouldn’t take care of him here,” Alex spoke up. “The good doctor has an obligation to save lives and he shouldn’t be made an accessory.” He couldn’t believe he was even saying these things.

“He’s already seen too much.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the doctor, noting the way he tried to keep his eyes averted. “He can identify us.”

“I won’t be party to killing an innocent man.” He stared at her, his gaze challenging. “And even knowing your line of work, I can’t imagine you doing that either.”

She pulled her right arm back and slammed the butt of the gun into the back of the assassin’s head, knocking him unconscious. “Tie him up, we’ll have to take him with us.” She pointed the Sig at the doctor. “You have a job to finish.”

The man nodded. “Alright, alright. Come over and sit down again.”

Alex searched the drawers and cabinets to find something to tie the guy up and finally found something suitable. He looked at the gun in his hand and started to tuck it into his waistband and then thought better of it. Safety on or not, there was no way he was pointing a gun at his dick. He set it on the counter and pulled the assassin’s arms behind his back, looping the tape around the man’s wrists over and over until he was satisfied he couldn’t move. He stood up again and retrieved the gun, stepping back and watching the doctor as he worked on Valkyrie.

“We’re almost done. Do you want me to give you some painkillers for later?”

“Something without side effects. No drowsiness, no nausea, and none of that no operating heavy machinery while under the influence shit. If you don’t have anything like that, don’t bother,” she muttered as she pulled her clothes back on.

He went to the locked medicine cabinet and searched around for some pills until he found them and placed a bottle in her hands.

“What’s the most secure area in the clinic?” she asked as she shoved them in her pocket after a cursory glance at them.

“Probably the room where we do our x-rays.”

“Let’s go then.” She nodded at Alex. “Keep an eye on our friend.”

“What-”

“Trust me,” she dismissed him, following the nervous doctor into the suggested room. “Cell phone?” she asked.

“Um, yes, yes, of course.” He fumbled in the pocket of his pants and pulled it out, nearly dropping it thanks to his major case of nerves. He’d worked in a rough area of the city for several years, but never once had he found himself facing a gun.

She let her hands wander over his pockets anyway to make sure there wasn’t a second one then gestured for him to stand at the far end. “The next shift starts in a little over an hour. Guess they’ll find you then.” She turned to leave, but stopped. “If you tell anyone we’ve been here, I will come back for you.”

He nodded. “Who are you?” It was a stupid question, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“You really don’t wanna know.”

“You’re gonna kill that man, aren’t you?”

“He came here to kill us,” she told him coldly. “He wouldn’t have blinked twice and he wouldn’t have let you walk away from this, Doc.”

She was right, he decided, he didn’t want to know. “You’ll want to make sure that wound stays clean. There are antibiotics, fresh bandaging supplies, and antiseptic wash in a cabinet in the supply room.” He pulled his keys off of his belt and held them out to her after selecting one of them. “That one will unlock the cabinet. Take what you need. If that wound becomes infected it’ll spread quickly and as close as it is to your spinal column, the effects could become disastrous in very little time.”

She took it from him and nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling a wad of cash out. “Here, keep the change,” she said with a wink.

His eyes widened at the amount of cash she had just shoved into his hands, picturing the supplies he could purchase with it. “Th-thank you,” he stuttered out.

“One good turn deserves another.” She walked out into the hallway. “Be safe, Doc.” With that she pushed the door closed and went back to get the things he had suggested before rejoining Alex and their new friend.

“We get rid of him, toss the tracker for a false trace, find food, and then shelter. In that order.”

“Are we still heading to the safe house you mentioned or are we headin’ to another location?” Alex asked as he helped her pull the groggy assassin to his feet. He had cleaned up while she was out with the doctor and the tracker was now sealed up in a small plastic bag marked with the biohazard symbol. They stepped out through the back door and he glanced at her as she looked around before motioning to the waiting car. Luckily they were in the type of neighborhood where people didn’t ask question and no matter what happened no one ever saw anything.

“Probably another. It’s not far away and since he showed up here we have to assume there are more coming and they’re close.” She opened the trunk of their car and shoved the man inside. “We need to contact Bane, but first we get rid of him.”

[begonia9508]

Oh my! What's a suspense in this part! I just hope that the doc will found a great excuse for nor remembering what's happened...

Thanks EVE

[Roswelllostcause]

Great part! Hopefully now no one else will be able to trace any of them now.

[Earth2Mama]

So now thr Valkyrie has her chip out and is looking to make contact with Bane. Only thing is bane is passed out cold. I wonder how long Maria will be able to handle this before she truly cracks under the strain? Or Alex even.

[keepsmiling7]

super glue.......who would have thought??
Thanks,
Carolyn

[Eva]

Whoaw, Maria! Girl, you were brave! I admire your strength although I know from experience that a rough situation can bring the best in you above. Well done!

And actually, the same goes for Alex! The way he gritted his teeth and goes along with Valkyrie/Isabel surprises me more than I can say.

[sarammlover]

I truly almost threw up myself reading all the stuff Maria had to do. I have a weak stomach for blood and injuries so that was way graphic! HA! I am glad Maria was able to do it. I hope Michael gets better and heals quickly. She is going to need him desperately.

Alex and Isabel....OWIE!!!! I can't believe she didn't even let the Doc use a numbing agent on her back. That must have fucking HURT SO BAD!!

I hope they get out safely.

Great update!!!

[Double Trouble]

begonia9508: Lol, chances are good he’ll do his best to forget that incident!

Roswelllostcause: Thanks! Let’s hope not!

Earth2Mama: Well, so far they’re holding up under the pressure and rolling with the punches.

keepsmiling7: Lol, it has so many uses!

Eva: Maria does have a tendency to find that well of strength under extreme circumstances. It’s a tough situation but she’s doing her best.

Yeah, they’re both in tough situations that are similar but also very different at the same time.

sarammlover: Lol, sorry ‘bout that. Better Maria than us, right? If it was either of us it’d be a major cookie tossing fest, lol.

Yeah, there’s no way we’d have gone that route. Painkillers were invented for a reason.

Thanks!




Part 18

Maria remained vigilant as the hours dragged by and one day turned into two. She had pulled the thin mattress off of the single bed and positioned it as close to the fireplace as she dared before dragging Michael’s unconscious frame over to it. That alone should’ve woken the man up but other than the single grunt he’d issued when his booted feet struck the floor he hadn’t made a sound. She would wake him every few hours to force a few swallows of water down his throat but he hadn’t once fully woken up. She’d changed the bandages a few times, thankful to see less blood each time. She’d repeated the stitching process on the wound in his back when she’d gone to move him and noticed the blood on his shirt. She’d cleaned the wounds, holding the lantern close to study the stitched areas for any signs of redness or swelling, before coating them with the antiseptic and covering them once more. The poor man’s arm was badly bruised from all of her attempts to get the antibiotic injections into his veins and he’d probably yell at her for that when he regained consciousness.

She didn’t know what they were going to do. He needed to eat and stay hydrated but their supplies were limited. There were some food items in one of the packs, mostly those dehydrated all-in-one meals that just required the addition of hot water to fix, but she had no idea how to use the camp stove that seemed to be the cabin’s only cooking source. She suspected there was a way to cook over the fire in the fireplace based on the metal rod with a hook that ran over the fire, but she had no idea what to do with it. She had been so grateful to find the half dozen sandwiches Michael’s friend had packed.

She swallowed hard as she thought about the couple that had helped them. Were they still alive? Were they stranded somewhere, badly injured and trapped inside the plane? Had they been able to radio for help? What if they weren’t found in time? What if they were found and it was by some of the people that had been sent to kill her? It wasn’t just her they wanted to kill now though, was it? Michael was on that list because he had failed in his mission to kill her. Her gaze moved to his shadowed features and she frowned at the beads of perspiration dotting his forehead.

She grabbed the damp cloth she’d been using to keep his skin cool and shook her head. It had to be below freezing inside the cabin and her goal was to keep him from getting too hot. How absurd was that? She hadn’t wanted to waste the little drinking water they had in the two canteens so she’d found a couple of old pots and filled them with snow from just outside the door, sitting them next to the roaring fire and waiting for it to melt.

One she’d used while the water was still warm from the heat, cleaning him up as well as she could in an attempt to get rid of the blood that seemed to be all over him. The other she’d set aside to cool and used it to keep him cool. As she ran the cloth over his face she registered the lack of heat. Was that good or bad? Did it mean the wound was infected? No, if it was infected he’d be burning up with fever, right? Hell, she wasn’t a nurse, how was she supposed to know?

For most of the night she’d lain next to him, pressed as close as possible in an effort to keep both of them from freezing to death. She’d read somewhere that the quickest, most effective way to get warm and stay warm under conditions like these was for people to be as close as humanly possible. The author of that article had suggested naked skin to skin contact… well, she wasn’t certain how reliable that information was and she wasn’t cold enough to find out. Besides, for all she knew it hadn’t been an actual article and she could’ve read that in some tacky romance novel she’d gotten her hands on in her teens. Her eyes moved over the man who had saved her life more than once the past couple of days and heat suffused her skin at the thought of touching him like that.

To distract herself she looked around the small cabin. There was nothing luxurious about it and considering how far away from civilization they were she had a feeling it was probably used by hunters. It would explain the limited supplies, the camp stove that served as the only means of cooking, and the lack of indoor plumbing. She made a face. The hunters must not use it in the winter. Personally, she wouldn’t use it in the summer either. She was a huge fan of indoor plumbing, heating and air conditioning, refrigerators, electricity and so on. Their little hideout had none of those features.

She glanced at the cell phone lying on the floor next to them. The battery was getting low and without the benefit of electricity they had no way to charge it. Her heart had nearly stopped in her chest when the thing had started to chirp in the middle of the night but when the screen lit up with a single V she’d answered it. She’d spoken to Alex briefly, his familiar caring voice making her want to curl up in a little ball and cry.

He’d insisted they keep the call short because he had no way of knowing if the line had been compromised. His assassin was also passed out, recovering from the removal of the tracking device, but she’d instructed him to make the call to let Michael know what was going on. He hadn’t been able to tell her where they were and as much as she’d wanted to tell him what had happened she had done nothing more than tell him she was safe at the moment. Neither of them knew how safe the lines were or in her case, if Michael’s tracker was still active. He’d promised to call again as soon as Valkyrie deemed it safe or necessary.

Thinking about it now it made her smile. Alex had to be getting a kick out of all the intrigue now that he’d had a little time to get used to the idea. And being paired with an assassin that was hands-down centerfold material? The guy had to be having a majorly good time outside of the danger. Although, given his penchant for trying crazy things like skydiving and bungee jumping, he might just be getting a kick out of the adrenaline that went with all the danger too.

She used a dry cloth to pat Michael’s face dry and pulled the covers tighter around them. The covers smelled musty and probably hadn’t been washed since they’d been brought to the cabin, but she did her best to ignore that thought. She didn’t want to think about who had slept under them – or God only knew what else. Ungh, so not going there. She sighed tiredly and rested her head against Michael’s chest and closed her eyes.

What little sunlight there was had begun to fade when she opened her eyes again and somewhere in her foggy brain she registered the sounds of movement. It took a few minutes before her thoughts caught up with her brain and she cracked one eye open in time to see Michael lift his left arm carefully. She didn’t need to look at him to know his annoyed huff of breath meant he’d discovered his wristwatch was busted.

“Move,” he grunted, carefully holding his arm against his side and slowly getting up when she did as ordered. “Boots.”

She frowned at him and pointed over by the door where she’d set them after dragging him to the mattress. His coat hung on one of the racks above them – the rack that looked suspiciously like deer antlers. He shoved his feet in his boots, pulled his coat on without bothering with his shirt, and pulled the door open to step outside. After a moment of shock she shoved herself to her feet and ran after him, pausing on the threshold of the open door, her mouth open to speak, but the words freezing in her throat when he pinned her with a stare.

“Get back inside before you freeze,” he barked and continued on his way.

“Where’re you going? You can’t – “

“I’ve gotta piss, do you mind?” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer.

Maria made a face and backed into the cabin before shutting the door. She was sitting on the crudely built hearth going through one of the packs when he came back inside. He shoved the door closed and locked it before leaning back against it, breathing hard.

“You didn’t have to go all the way into the woods.” He didn’t exactly strike her as someone who was all that concerned with modesty.

“I didn’t.” He looked at her like she was crazy. “Do you really think I’m about to survive that jump just to expose my dick to these subzero winds?” He snorted when she looked away to continue digging through the pack. He wasn’t about to admit it but he kinda liked the way she blushed. “Didn’t you see that tiny building out back?”

“The woodshed?” she asked with a frown.

“The wood…?” Bane shook his head at her. “That’s what’s commonly referred to as an outhouse, Blondie. What the hell have you been usin’ for a john while I’ve been out?”

“I...,” mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing came out because of embarrassment first and then it was anger and then it turned again into despair. “You know, you could be a little nicer to me. I’ve taken care of your bloody weak ass for the last 40 hours or so. I thought you might never wake up again. I was cold and I didn’t know what to do in case someone showed up at the door.”

He snorted and shook his head as he moved around the one-room cabin slowly, taking inventory of its contents. “Well, I’m still alive so you must’ve done somethin’ right.”

She was so glad he was, but in that moment she wanted to kill him. If only her hands weren’t trembling so badly.

He grabbed one of the cast iron pots, pulling the lid off and dropping it on the counter where it landed with a loud clatter. “Good enough,” he decided after glancing inside. “Go get some snow to put in here.”

“Why don’t you go get it yourself?” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her knees.

He tipped his head back and drew in a deep breath, his hand clenching painfully around the handle of the pot. “Because I’d like to not tear the stitches out and have you sew this wound shut again, so if you don’t mind, get off your skinny ass and get the fuckin’ snow like I asked.”

Maria sprang up and ripped the pot out of his hands. “I wish you would’ve just gone ahead and done your job when all this started and killed me. Then at least I wouldn’t have to put up with your attitude and I wouldn’t have to sit around and wait for my death.”

He couldn’t stop the amused snort that escaped when she suddenly realized just how heavy the pot was and she nearly fell over head-first because of its weight. “I have no intention of killin’ you, Blondie,” he murmured as his gaze traveled over her slowly. And there went that blush again. He’d bet the house in Oahu she blushed all over.

She narrowed his eyes at him, gripping the pot handle tighter and walking over to the door. “Maybe not anymore. It doesn’t mean I’m not gonna get killed in the end. I mean, let’s face it, BANE. Once you’ve got the answers about your past, you’re gonna move on. I’m not naïve enough to think you’re gonna watch over me for the rest of our lives. I’m just extra weight and I don’t know anything about self protection or survival. Once you leave, I’m as good as dead.”

He crossed the room, beating her to the door and slamming his fist against it. The motion cost him but he had her immediate attention. Something in him recoiled at her use of his assassin’s moniker but he refused to give it any thought. Just as he shoved down the odd sensation he felt when she spoke so callously of her own death. “When this’s over and done with they’ll be dead or in prison. There’ll be no reason for them to come after you.”

Maria looked at him warily and while she wanted to believe what he said she had too many doubts, and even if he was right and they found a way to put them in prison... it didn’t mean they’d be able to eliminate every single person in the network. Someone would remain, they always did. And she wouldn’t have anywhere to go. Her uncle was probably involved in this mess, her friends weren’t really her friends in the end, and he... well, he sure as hell wasn’t a friend either. She didn’t know what she had expected of him when he woke up again. Maybe a little kindness? A little bit of comfort after the hell she’d been through?

Now she wanted to laugh at that thought. He was an assassin! It was ridiculous to believe he’d behave like that. Nodding stoically, she placed her hand back on the doorknob, waiting to see if he’d let her open the door.

He watched her for a moment, easily reading the disbelief in her eyes. That bothered him and he didn’t know why. “Just go get the damn snow.” Why should he give a damn if she didn’t believe him? He didn’t, he assured himself. It was just the meds screwing with his system, knocking chemicals out of balance. That was it, just a little neurological imbalance that would clear up as soon as the drugs were out of his system.

She slipped outside when he dropped his arm and she shivered when the wind got caught under her jacket. How the hell would they ever get out of here again? Dropping the pot to the ground, she filled it with her already ice cold hands and then lifted it up to carry it back into the cabin.

Once you had been outside, there was the momentary thought that it was comfortably warm inside, she thought when she bumped the door shut with her hip again. She knew in a few minutes she’d change her mind about that and would start to freeze again.

He looked up from stoking the fire, watching her with a critical eye as she carried the heavy pot across the room. “Where the hell are your gloves?” he demanded when he saw the reddened skin of her hands.

“You bled all over them when I dragged your heavy ass here,” she growled.

He sighed heavily and reached for the pot, taking it from her and setting it on the hearth. “Get over here and sit down. Don’t do that,” he snapped when she started to hold her hands out over the fire. “You can do more damage to the tissue warmin’ ‘em up too quickly.”

She had been fine doing just that while he had been out, but she felt too exhausted to fight over it, so she just pressed her lips together and sat down.

“Here, give them to me.” He took her left hand and pressed it high against his side, holding it in place with his arm while he pressed the other between his hands and started to gently rub them together. “Look, I know this shit isn’t what you were expectin’ but you’ve gotta keep it together. You’ve got a chance to get your life back...” he cleared his throat. “Well, maybe not the life you had before since your uncle’s a criminal and he’ll go down with the rest of the organization, but you’ve got a decent chance at surviving this.”

She nodded dumbly and watched him knead her hands to warm them up again, wincing slightly when she saw the red, blue and green bruises on his arm, caused by the countless injections she had given him. That had to hurt just as bad as his side.

He had no idea if it was true or not. He also didn’t know why he was bothering to try and reassure her other than he had to keep her focused on surviving before she just gave up and he had to haul her ass around. The odds were stacked against them and if the tracker wasn’t dead they were just a couple of sitting ducks out here. “Did Valkyrie call?”

“Alex called on her order while she was out as well. They removed the tracker from her.”

He frowned. “How long ago was that?”

“In the middle of the night, so maybe 14-15 hours ago.”

He frowned. “What was her condition?”

“She was okay, just recharging.”

“Where’s that phone?”

She glanced around and found it on the floor next to the mattress. “Here.”

He caught the phone and checked the charge. It was running low. He reached down to check the pockets of his pants, locating the extra batteries still sealed in their protective casing. “Alright, we’ll wait until the last minute before switching out the battery. Did he have anything useful to report besides the tracker bein’ removed?”

“No, and we kept the conversation very brief.”

No contact for 14-15 hours, he mused. It didn’t necessarily mean her location had been compromised. It was highly likely she was just recovering from the tracker’s removal. He knew Valkyrie. She wouldn’t have stayed in the same area after having it taken out. She would’ve kept on the move.

Well, thank God he thought about the assassin’s safety, she thought in annoyance as she moved to sit more upright since her back was hurting from the weird sleeping positions as well as their crash landing to the ground.

“Do you have any injuries from the jump?” he asked, noting the stiffness in her movements.

“Just a few bruises.” She hadn’t even been aware of it first while the adrenalin had pumped through her body. Only after taking care of him she had noted her own aching body, but it was minimal in comparison to his wounds.

“You sure? Maybe I should take a look.”

“I’m good.” The thought of a man like him having a look at her body was both... disturbing and exciting at the same time. She had never revealed her body in front of the male of the species. Damn, her uncle hadn’t even let her go to a local pool to show off.

He shifted back to look at her, one eyebrow lifted in speculation. “That’s too bad. Nudity has a way of heatin’ things up.” Her cheeks flooded crimson and he chuckled to himself when she looked away again.

He’d probably already had a lot of women and she doubted her naked body would be anything special to him. “No, thank you. Other than a few bruises on my back, there’s nothing to see.”

He shrugged and got up to rummage through the cabinets again, pulling down the sealed container with tin plates, cups and utensils inside. He’d heated the snow until it melted and now the water was hot enough to use. He made a couple cups of coffee and mixed up a couple of the MREs before setting them on the coffee table and gesturing to them. “Take your pick.”

“What is the difference?”

He pointed at the one on the right. “Stew.” And then the one on the left. “Lasagna.” Two different names and the damn things probably tasted the same or pretty close.

Her mouth watered. “To be honest, I don’t even care. I’m so hungry right now I could eat my shoes. Since you’re the one with the major injury, you can decide.”

He shrugged and grabbed the stew. He just wanted something to eat. At the moment his sentiments echoed hers, but he wasn’t in the mood for shoes. “Hope you like your coffee black, there’s no sugar.”

“Any chance of vanilla flavor?” she teased.

He snorted. “Not unless Valenti stuck it in that pack and I missed it.”

“Yeah, thought so,” she shrugged and dug into her meal hungrily.

“They’re not so bad when you’re this hungry.”

“True. Neither is black coffee.”

“It’s better with a shot of bourbon, but this’ll do in a pinch.”

She nodded although she really had no clue. Other than a few beers, she hadn’t drunk much yet.

They ate for a while without speaking, the silence a comfortable one and although he had been an ass after waking up, she was glad he was conscious again because he knew what to do and she didn’t. “Are you feelin’ okay?”

“I’ll feel better once I’ve got somethin’ on my stomach. You did a good job patchin’ me up. The wound’s not infected and the stitches are holdin’. We’ll need to hole up here for a few days, give it time to really start closin’ before we move outta here.”

“Okay.” She gestured towards his arm. “I’m sorry about that.”

He glanced down at it and shrugged. “The muscles aren’t sore so you must’ve hit the vein.”

“I hope I never have to do that again,” she shuddered.

“I think we’re outta the woods on that one.”

“Good.” She smiled and sat back after finishing her meal. “Well, I know nurse or doctor will never be my career choice.”

“Probably a wise one, although you did a decent job when the situation called for it. That’s more important than a career in medicine.”

“Thanks, glad I could do something so save your life for once.”

He shrugged. “I’m gonna have to go back for the ‘chute. If our position was radioed in it’ll lead them right to the drop zone and from there they’ll be able to follow our tracks.”

“It snowed a lot.”

“Enough to cover our tracks?”

“I don’t know. I’d say at least a foot.”

“That’s not enough.” He also wasn’t strong enough to go back for the parachute just yet. It wouldn’t do any good to go out to retrieve it until he was because he’d likely end up in worse shape than he was in now. He’d give it another twelve hours, no more. It would be too big a risk to wait any longer.

“I could go back, ya know.” She didn’t really want to, but he had to recover.

“No.”

“Then let me come with you.”

“It’ll have to be done tonight. We’d be too easy a target during the day.”

“I’m good with that.” Going out in the cold sounded like a bad idea, but at least they would have something to do other than just sitting around.

“It’ll give us the advantage in the event our location was transmitted before Valenti and Harding knocked those assholes outta the sky.”

“It’ll be hard to find the place,” she said but then looked at him. “Well, probably not for you, Sherlock.”

“No, not for me.” Sherlock, he snorted silently.

“How do you do that?” She shook her head and got up to carry the dishes over to the small kitchen.

“I’ll follow our tracks,” he deadpanned.

“You mean you’ll follow your blood tracks?” She chuckled at the thought of it.

“If it’s snowed a foot it’s already covered any trace of blood but our footprints will still be visible.”

“Do you think they could still find our tracks with dogs or somethin’?”

“Dogs would be able to pick the scent up with no problem,” he said with a nod.

She leaned her back against the edge of the counter, wincing when it touched the bruise lower on her back where she had hit a thick branch during their descent. “That sucks. Let’s hope they don’t have dogs then, huh?”

“Dogs will be the least of our worries if they pinpoint our location, Blondie.” He motioned for her to come back over to where he was sitting. “Get some rest. You’re gonna need it to hike back out to the landing zone.”

She emptied the rest of her coffee and then walked back to lower herself onto the mattress in front of the fireplace. The heat felt nice against her face but her back was cold. What a sucky combination.

He rolled his eyes and gave her an unsubtle nudge. She tensed when he stretched out beside her and pulled her down so that her back was pressed against his front. “You need to relax,” he muttered.

Easily said, she thought, trying to follow his lead, but her body was just too aware of him. Plus she didn’t want to hurt his side. Plus his hand on her hip felt hot. Plus the buckle of his belt was poking into a sensitive place on her back.

“You stay tense, you’re gonna stay cold,” he rasped against her ear.

Maria closed her eyes and forced the air out of her lungs when his hot breath touched her neck. Relax, she told herself over and over again.

He rolled his eyes. It was easy to see she was making a concentrated effort but it wasn’t working for her. He shifted and placed his big hand on her thigh, rolling his eyes when she just about jumped out of her skin. He wondered what she’d do if he let it slip down just a bit further.

“I wasn’t...” she started, but felt stupid and embarrassed.

“Blondie, you’ve been with guys before so this can’t be that difficult. I’m not just waitin’ to jump your bones the second you let your guard down.”

She sighed, dropping her forehead against the mattress. “I wasn’t… I’ve never been...” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I know it’s not about that, but I can’t help it.”

His eyes widened. Okay, the dossier he’d read on her had shown a marked lack of social life where young men were concerned, but... never? “You’ve never...? Well, why not? Guys your age must be stupid.”

She gave him a shrug with her upper shoulder, feeling ashamed and not understanding why. Most women her age were experienced, but not all of them.

“That’s unusual.” She was attractive, she had a great body, and intimidating senators aside, some young stud had to have had her on his radar. “You into girls?” That’d make sense, he reasoned.

“What?” she gasped and turned to face him, the movement again causing pain in her back when she rolled onto it. “Ow. What? Of course not!”

“Okay, your inexperience has been duly noted,” he muttered as he slid his hand up under her shirt to feel her back. He’d noticed the winces that crossed her features any time it came into contact with anything. “You’ll wanna duly note that rubbing against a guy is a good way to get things below the belt started. Injured or not, my dick’s in perfectly good working order, so be still.”

“I wasn’t rubbing!” Gosh, his hand on her skin felt good. Too good!

“Call it what you wanna call it, but keep the movement down there to a minimum.” He pressed against her lower back and nodded when she inhaled sharply. “That area’s pretty tender and it’s gonna be a couple days before it starts to let up.”

“I’m okay.” It didn’t feel good, but she was sure people had suffered worse injuries.

“Yeah, you’ll live.” He gave her ass a light slap and he grinned unrepentantly before giving it a squeeze. “Guess we’ll have to keep the activities light for now.” He didn’t know why he teased her other than to see the blush flood her features.

“Glad you’re back to being so full of shit,” she muttered, although the thought of them doing anything heated her whole body. She had never crossed the kissing and light touching line and considering the turn of her life... she probably never would.

He moved in closer, crowding her and paying for it when the stitches in his side reminded him he needed to stay still. “It’s a shame you’ve never been introduced to sex,” he murmured, his lips so close to hers he could practically feel them. It was unusual behavior for him, teasing a woman. He was completely content with the occasional wham-bam-thank-me-later-ma’am encounters he usually had. It had to be the drugs, that’s all it was.

“Yeah, well,” she cleared her throat, “I guess you’ve had enough for both of us.”

“There’s no such thing as enough,” he disagreed.