I have little to do at work today so I wrote a blurb as to how I imagine Nadya was introduced to the mission. I did take some liberties with Giger's character, but wrote him more reserved since I didn't know his personality.
Nadya punched the callback button on her phone as soon as she got into the cab. Someone picked up on the second ring and a without pleasantries simply stated, “You are bound for Bosnia.” The voice was a rich baritone and held command without trying.
“What makes you think I want to go to Bosnia?” Nadya pushed back.
She could feel the smirk in his voice, “You’re already in a car bound for the airport, aren’t you?” Okay, he had her there so she said nothing, and he continued with little pause, “Donald Caroll is your orchestrator. Pay is standard. There will be someone waiting for you when your flight gets in.”
“Who will be waiting for me?” Nadya asked, knowing full well he probably wasn’t going to tell her.
“You’ll know,” was all he said before hanging up without another word.
Well, no surprise there, Nadya thought to herself before settling in to the back of the cab. She closed her eyes while fiddling with the key on her necklace, a habit she picked up while she was thinking. Nadya wondered what awaited her in Bosnia, though the name Caroll did ring a very distant and rusty bell in her mind. It gave her an inkling of indication that this job will be more on the up and up. She sighed before putting in her earbuds and queuing up her favorite audio book. No sense thinking about it now, it will all be revealed soon enough.
Nadya grabbed her bag from the carousel and adjusted the strap on her backpack before surveying the throng of people in front of her. She knew she was looking for someone specific, but she did not know whom. She wished she was given more straightforward information, and less cloak and dagger. Wouldn’t it be much easier to say
Joe Smith will meet you at the baggage carousel at 1630 with a red carnation in his lapel?
Nadya leaned up against a pillar casually and pulled out her phone as if checking to see if her ride is here, all the while keeping an eye out for someone she knew. It wasn’t long before she found her target, a familiar face in a sea of people. It was Brad Battle: US special forces, and sniper extraordinaire. She circled around and approached the man who hadn’t yet seen her from behind before slipping an arm around his and giving him a dazzling smile.
“Hi honey, did you miss me?” She asked brightly, giving him a little squeeze.
Brad didn’t even flinch. “Ayres,” he regarded her cooly, “moves like that can get you killed.”
Nadya rolled her eyes, “Oh come on Brad, as if you weren’t expecting it. Here, help me with my bag, and then to the bar. I’ve been cooped up in a plane for six hours stuck behind a screaming baby and my nerves are shot.”
Nadya didn’t wait to see if he was following before she walked up to the small ramshackle bar and ordered a bourbon. She paused a moment, knowing what was going to happen. It always happened. Every. Single. Time.
“Not vodka?” Battle asks with an arched brow as he joined her. Ding! There it was. Nadya never cared for the stuff, often preferring,
The Englishman’s Drink as her Baba would disdainfully call it. Nadya responded with a smile that was all teeth and a voice that was saccharine sweet. “Shall we go somewhere else? I don’t think that they serve McDonald’s here.”
Battle gave a ghost of a smile and inclined his head as if saying
Touche! Nadya grabbed her drink and selected a small cafe table away from most of the crowd. Battle joined her. They made small talk for awhile in order to reconnect and feel one another out and soon both of them found out that little has changed since their last op. They had worked together a few times with good results, and soon they eased into that comfortable space between acquaintance and team member.
“Has Carroll told you anything?” Nadya eventually asked.
“Yes,” Battle replied simply but didn’t go into any further details. She knew he wouldn’t, as she expected. She may not have had any formal government training, but she knew better than to blatantly ask questions in the open.
Maybe that’s why she didn’t mind working with him; he didn’t seem to hold it against her that she didn’t once have a 3-letter acronym attached to her name that meant she was a part of a much bigger picture than just herself. Operatives from other jobs treated her like a wild card that was dealt with by exercising extreme control. She wasn’t part of the club, and so they treated her as such. Brad was wary but more willing to seek out and pinpoint her own strengths. So what if she didn’t entirely know the ins and outs of foreign and domestic affairs, he just pointed her at the target and let her get to work. She knew Brad didn’t quite understand her but in the past he had given Nadya the breathing room she needed to do her job, and that was just fine by her. For Nadya, Brad was predictable, much like other people in his line of work. Everything was curated from his dress, to his mannerisms, even his haircut; she had seen it all before. Governments were a religion in their own right, but their disciples were predictable and therefore safe.
“Seems like it is a small event if it is just the two of us,”Nadya replied in a soft voice, but kept things light and pleasant just in case anyone were to listen in, it would merely seem like a couple making plans for the weekend.
Battle merely looked at her, and an unspoken conversation took place, something that Nadya found it easy to do with him. It wasn’t just the two of them.
Nadya arched an eyebrow, “Who?” she asked.
“duBois,” Battle replied simply.
Nadya cross her arms over her chest and gave a
Tsk! of disapproval. Freaky Felix is what she called him in her head. It wasn’t like the man wasn’t charming, but his charm was slick as oil. It just felt wrong sliding across her synapses. That man didn’t undress women with his eyes, instead he seemed to dissect them. Granted he has always been professional and well behaved, but still, he set her on edge. Nadya blew out a breath.
“Okay,” she nodded as if convincing herself of something, “I can work with that. It won’t be a problem.”
Battle gave his own small nod but still remained silent. The seconds ticked by before Nadya caught on.
“Who else?” She asked, clearly guarded.
To that question, Battle said nothing, but gave her a look.
The look; one that was full of knowing. He could see the moment Nadya caught on right before she groaned and buried her head in her arms on top of the table.
“Do you want out?” he merely asked as if he wasn’t witnessing a grown woman having some sort of dignified internal temper tantrum.
“Is there hazard pay?” She mumbled back, her face never leaving the safety of her arms.
This tore a bark of laughter from Battle as he adjusted his questioning tactics. He grew somber, and easily slipped into the role of a team lead before he asked, “Can I count on you?”
The question was obviously loaded, and meant way more than face value. Battle was met with silence for a long while, and deciding that was his answer, he got up to leave.
“Nuh-uh,” Nadya sat straight up and kicked the chair across from her with enough force so that it slid out from under the table. “Sit,” she commanded as she motioned with two fingers to the waitstaff for another drink. Battle made no motion to move, his standing there was question enough.
“I am not saying yes until I’m good and drunk, and you’re going to help me” Nadya answered with a tone of finality.
Battle paused for a moment and then sat with a wry expression, watching as the server set down another Bourbon in front of her, and one in front of him as well, “I have called a meeting with the rest of the team this evening. You have four hours, Ayres.”
Nadya picked up her glass in a mock salute before taking a drink, “Sir, yes, Sir!”