Time Sensitive Target

Part 18 - Eruption

Sunlight beat against my forehead, forming small beads of perspiration at my hairline. I was enjoying the solitude, knowing it was likely to be disturbed soon. Every passing second swelled with the promise of interruption, yet I felt strangely relaxed. My head rested on the makeshift pillow- a carefully folded jumper, arms positioned in just the right place so it didn't feel lumpy as I slept. I stared at the peeling paintwork of the ceiling, crater like cracks in the plaster adorning the surface. For the most part I'd managed to abandon the sense of urgency to go home, but this small fragment of normality; relaxing in bed with sunlight dancing on my skin, made me long for a familiar world. 

I stretched cautiously and roused myself from my lazy recline when I heard hearty laughter echoing from the main room. I felt more rested, at least physically. I couldn't commit to the feeling mentally; the uneasiness with Jase weighed on my mind so much I'd started obsessing over small details. 

Was he looking for anything specific? Did he suspect me of something? Would they think I'd bonded with my captor, that I would hide information from them to protect him? What could I remember? Was I missing something?

I trudged towards the large bowl of water on top of a counter and splashed a cupped handful over my face. I glanced up to greet my reflection, staring back at me as a now vaguely familiar figure. I was still bruised and battered, but the raw swelling and oozing wounds had subsided. The deep purple welts had faded to soft yellow and brown so I looked mucky rather than on the brink of death. I threw on my clothes and walked softly through the white hallway, avoiding any thick chunks of plaster littering the fractured tiles. 

A hard body nearly collided with mine as Sonny paced around the corner. His large hands grasped my shoulders before I could rebound against him and lose my footing. 

"Sorry," he said softly, and cleared his throat. 

"It's okay," I replied, studying the damaged terracotta coloured tile beneath my feet until I realised I should make my exit as quickly as possible. 

"Ok," he nodded, releasing me from his steadying grip and stepping aside. Nerves churned in my stomach, I would have stayed rooted to the ground in fear if the thought hadn't occurred to me that I now had the ability to flee. Before he had a chance to ask me anything I escaped around the corner, avoiding the boisterous chatter in the main room and headed for the courtyard. 

                                                                                                *

Rob eased the 60kg weights back on to the rack and heaved his body upright, allowing a few steadying breaths to revive his body. The sun was punishingly hot today, which didn't improve anybody's mood. Ant began to loosen a ring from the lift bar as Paige tread towards them, sunlight hitting her porcelain mottled skin. 

"Hey," she offered shyly, attempting the beginnings of a smile. It never ceased to amaze Ant how determined she was to push herself back to normality. 

"Good morning," he stepped forward and greeted her warmly, faking animation he wasn't really in the mood for. "How did you sleep?" 

"Well, thank you," Paige replied. She wasn't sure where to begin. She sensed there was a strong division between the two forces undoubtedly exacerbated by her presence, and she didn't want to muddy the waters any more than they already were. 

"Do you want to try pressing some weights?" Rob smiled broadly as he wiped sweat from his forehead. 

"I wanted to ask you... I don't know if you think I should be doing anything to- I don't know if I can help... But the- there are things I could have seen, maybe heard, I don't know. So much happened I can't even say if I- I don't know. But what I mean is... should I be trying to remember? And chat with Jase or one of the others?" Paige shuffled her feet in the grainy dirt. Normally she would have avoided direct eye contact, but with her inability to fully articulate what she needed to ask she knew she had to say it with her eyes. Ant's piercing blue gaze met hers, and his silence was all the verification she needed. Rob was soundlessly relieved. Neither of the two men wanted to have to ask Paige to delve into her flashbacks and hunt for snippets of information, but they also didn't need unnecessary confrontation with the Americans. 

Ant gave an audibly relieved sigh, a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding on to. He took a step closer to Paige, careful to not be intrusively close. Studying her worried expression, he wanted so badly to tell her it would all be alright. 

"I think... you shouldn't pressure yourself to search through your memories to find something that may or may not be there. That's too much to ask of someone, especially when they've been through what you have. But if we all sat down together, and they have specific questions to ask then with the right prompting maybe something will come to mind. If it doesn't, then it doesn't," Ant spoke as nurturingly as he could. He wanted to add "If you don't want to, then you don't have to", but he knew it wasn't as cut and dry as that. The Americans could submit a formal request to him, but it would only delay them further and he would have no legal ground to refuse them. Paige took a moment to digest Ant's words, visibly calmed by his response. She wanted to help if she could, but truly she had no idea how to go about it. 

"Ok," she nodded slowly. "Thank you, I feel better. I think I was just worried, call me crazy but when he asked me he seemed a bit... suspicious, so I suppose I was worried that I needed to be careful about making sure everything was documented or recorded or I don't know... just to make sure I'm not unknowingly putting myself in any kind of... situation," Paige felt herself babbling slightly, fluttering nerves in her chest overriding the ability to fully construct a sentence.

"You won't be under any light of suspi-" Rob started kindly, before Ant held his hand in the air in a halting command, his body rigid with the slow and steady frothing of anger. 

"Wait- did you say he asked you?" Ant forgot he was addressing Paige for a moment as he nearly spat the question out loud. Paige stepped back instinctively, wanting to draw her hands up in front of her body to make a physical barrier. 

"A couple of days ago, but he wasn-" 

Ant spun on his heel and stormed towards the small cell block with no further words, or thoughts. He wanted to pummel Jase's skull into the dirt. 

"Ant!" Rob hollered, quickly on his friend's tail. Paige instinctively followed, feeling the weight of responsibility for his outburst. She also knew the men would be less likely to kill one another if she was there to witness, she was banking on Ant's protectiveness to prevent anything irreparable from happening. 

"Ant!" She called out helplessly. 

Ant launched himself towards the metal door, kicking it in with what seemed like no effort at all.  Paige could only hear obscured sounds from the inside of the building before Jase's visibly soaked figure emerged, stalked menacingly by Ant. 

"Came to us first-" Paige could hear Ant in snippets as he lunged his hands at Jase's damp torso to shove him back, Sonny suddenly hurtling himself across the courtyard from behind her before Rob also thrust himself into the fray. 

"If she has nothing to hide let her tell us herself!" Jase was held back by Sonny's immovable frame, Ant now restrained by a struggling Rob. 

"Please I-" Paige absently approached the spectacle to implore them, but a glint in the light caught her eye through the open doorway to the cell block. Stark halogen lighting lit a familiar scene. It was... Hackney. There was no mistaking him, even as he was. Paige stood dumbly, rooted to the spot. He was dripping wet, a sodden cloth beside him, a bucket upturned and abandoned next to his bound ankles. A crushing haze of nausea hit her to the pit of her stomach. The world seemed to collapse inwards around her, everything else a blur against the focus of the room visible beyond the doorway. Nothing else existed. She couldn't hear anything, she couldn't feel anything.

Jase was the first to break the scuffle as he faltered towards Paige's petrified figure. He knew what the image would be to her. Sonny was steadfast, assuming it was an attempt to breach his obstruction until he followed his leader's distressed gaze. Jase only spent a fraction of a moment deliberating breaking through and whisking Paige away before he submitted to the situation and stopped himself, feeling the damp fabric of his t-shirt sticking to his chest as it rose and fell with adrenaline. It wasn't for him to save her from this, he told himself. She had seen him in the same role al-Raheem had filled, how could she ever look at him as anything but a threat after this? 

"Get her out of here!" Jase roared with a ferocity that echoed across the yard.