Time Sensitive Target

Part 30 - Tarmac

Paige's head rattled as pockets of turbulence rocked the chinook, she closed her eyes to steady the dull ache surfacing behind her eyes. Home. She was going home. Not directly, of course, and she was perhaps a little relieved at that. She would travel to Coronado Naval Base in San Diego with the rest of DEVGRU after landing at Camp Justice, Kadhimiya. And then, after what Paige presumed would be some assessments and statements, she could return home. What a strange vague concept home was to her now. What waited there for her? A meeting with Jas' parents? Her old job, her studies, faux friends whom she was sure would latch on to her tragic escapade with all the thrill of fresh and interesting scandal? With a gnaw of anxiety Paige realised she was dreading all of it.

She tried to picture her flat. Had she left a mug on the kitchen side, still with dregs of now definitely mouldy tea? No, she'd cleaned meticulously before she had left for Greece. Was there a magazine left on the table? A book still overturned saving the part she had been reading? Would she have to close her front door and embrace the familiar smells and sounds in the little haven of normality, terrified by how unfamiliar and uncomfortable it felt? And then what; the following day she would just return to classes, walk around the supermarket amongst other ordinary people, and resume everyday life? No, it didn't seem right.

She wanted desperately to talk to someone about it. Despite having studied psychology for years she was not the type to share her woes, but nobody else could understand how she felt other than the people she had been with for the past... Paige realised she didn't actually know how long it had been, or how long she'd been away from home.

Ant turned to her awkwardly, helmet, bulky fatigues and harness hindering his ability to move freely in his seat. He gave her a curt nod with a hint of question. Are you ok? It was meant to say. He couldn't have said it into his mic without the rest of the men hearing, so he had been checking in on Paige with occasional expressions. Paige nodded back in response, wondering if he was the only person she could confide in. She understood with some reluctance that he may not have had a choice but to stand down when Jase began his interrogation, and she couldn't resent him for following orders. Still, he had promised her she was safe. She felt smaller than ever when she processed that thought, he promised he would keep me safe. What a naive concept: that you could put your life and wellbeing in somebody else's hands. Paige had always looked after herself, she had lived her life that way. Why did she foolishly allow herself to believe a group of men would protect her? It was almost laughable.

Jase had purposefully sat in the furthest corner of the chopper, away from Paige and the complex guilt that compressed his chest each time he thought of her. And that was all the time. He was meant to be able to switch off and yet at times it felt suffocating. He too was anxiously dwelling on what life held for him after this entire ill fated ordeal. How would his superiors take his resignation? What would he do in a life outside of the military? It had been his whole world- all encompassing, 'the suck'. They didn't use the term just because the circumstances they often found themselves in truly sucked, it was because that realm was a vacuum that shifted their entire perception of reality. No soldier emerged as the same person, and at the level Jase and other special ops reached, that vacuum was a supermassive black hole.

Dusk was settling as the convoy landed on Iraqi soil, the sensation of tarmac underfoot a welcome change to everyone but Paige, who surveyed her surroundings pensively.

"Straight over there," Ant called over the cacophony of waning chopper blades and jet engines, pointing to a cargo plane on the runway. They weren't lingering, the snake of bergen laden troopers headed straight for the cavernous opened belly of the plane, Paige struggling to keep up with their eager pace. When she'd heard 'plane', she had stupidly pictured reclining seats and an in-flight magazine. The various straps and harnesses that awaited her in the uncomfortably upright seats were no different to the helicopter, not that it mattered greatly. As she strapped herself in Paige did award herself one thing to look forward to: a comfortable bed to hopefully provide a decent night's rest.

                                           *

Jase glanced at the hatch of the plane, willing it to open and unleash rays of San Diego sun upon them. But what else would be waiting, he wasn't sure. He'd said nothing to anyone, not even Sonny, but he knew there was still the possibility Paige could be seized upon their arrival. He hoped he could get the first word with Lorres to smooth everything over before the brass had a chance to overthink.

Whilst the plane's engines whined to an inaudible hum, high pitched hydraulics echoed through the hold as the rear end lowered to the sweltering concrete of the taxiway. Paige winced as summer sun hit her eyes, a distinctly different smell filling her nostrils. Holiday, it smells like holiday. It was a funny scent, some concoction of heat and sea, and jet fuel and adventure. It was strange for Paige to breathe it in and remember that sense of orgastic hope and thrill of somewhere new, with none of the emotions actually greeting her.

"We linger back," Ant leaned in to her as they shucked their harnesses, eyes fixed on the distant figures waiting for them to emerge.

Jase could see Lorres, tall and authoritative, lean suited body held stoically with impatience. She must have been itching to have an actual in depth conversation about what had been going on. What with the lack of comms and the secrecy shrouding the operation, there had been very little to discuss. As Jase's boots clanged against the metal of the ramp Lorres approached, recognising his commanding figure at once.

"Master Chief, back home at last," Lorres addressed him, a hint of a smile playing on her mouth. Though they didn't work for the same team so to speak, they'd worked in conjunction with one another so often that she'd become an extension of their military family. The Special Activities Centre was a highly secretive division of the CIA, and Lorres was one of only a hundred or so SOG agents across the states.

"It's been a long op," Jase squinted in the sunlight, embracing the familiarity of the heat and sea breeze.

"Full debrief at 1400, I need to see you beforehand," Lorres glanced towards the gaping plane, watching Ant and Paige reluctantly make their way on to American soil.

"Yeah we need to talk, now," Jase forced himself not to react too strongly, but the sight of Lorres studying Paige so carefully made him prickly.

"No time like the present. Meet me in the op room, I'll make sure Paige is taken care of first," Lorres sucked in a shallow breath and stepped away from Jase's towering shadow, ensuring she could be plainly seen as the welcome wagon for the two Brits so very far from home.

"Paige," Lorres extended an elegant hand and clutched Paige's uncertain one with a reassuring squeeze. "Agent Lorres. How was the flight? We'll get you something to eat and drink and a shower as soon as a doctor's had a look at you, ok?" Lorres didn't wait for Paige's open mouth to form a response, ushering her towards two young female officers stationed next to a small truck. "Anthony, good to finally meet you. You have something of a reputation on your side of the Atlantic, I hear?" Lorres threw her head back as she spoke at Ant's brooding figure, ignoring the expression of deep irritation on his face.

"I need to be in contact with my people ASAP," Ant dismissed her false friendliness.

"Of course, I can give you a room to use-"

"Wherever she goes, I go," Ant interjected, glaring down at the special agent.

"Of course," Lorres smiled curtly, briefly placing a cool hand on Paige's shoulder. "I'll leave you with these officers, they'll take you to the hospital wing. After they've finished we'll meet back up."

Paige nodded vacantly at Lorres, her brain a muddled whirlpool of unintelligible thoughts since she had woken back at the black site. From that moment forward it had been nothing but a frenzy of hasty preparations, travelling across continents and this surreal walk she had taken over the asphalt, accosted with dozens of sights, sounds and smells until the effect was dizzyingly disorienting. Knowing Ant was behind her, she climbed into the truck, understanding even in her bewildered state that she was now well and truly in the CIA's clutches, and had to hope she was no longer of any interest to them.