Being Different

Under the Knife - Part 1

A/N: Damien's decision...

Darius POV

"Is everyone all set?" I spoke into the intercom, questioning my passengers, as I manned the luxury jet that we were in. It was going to be a quiet visit to Mumbai, to make sure my boy was okay and to provide him with the emotional support with our presence there. Akachi knew about it but I pressed upon the man not to mention a word of it to Damien.

"We're strapped in, Captain" Bry responded, grinning as he checked the triplets' seatbelts, as well as Bron's, Mick's and ARTURO's just to be sure that they were all strapped in safely. Both Sparky and Beamer were strapped in too! Bron had insisted on taking the dogs along for the flight, so everything had to be catered for correctly.

I was about to taxi towards the runway, when I heard a click behind us, and I ground the bird to a halt. I jostled with my seatbelt as the others looked around frantically, wondering where the sound had come from.

"RANDY!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? Didn't I tell you that you are not allowed to come on this trip? GET OFF...NOW!!!" I shouted at him, watching him flinch at my scathing words.

Everyone on board glared at the poor boy, who had apparently hidden himself away within the small baggage compartment behind the seats. I shook my head in exasperation at his bull-headedness, uncoupled my seatbelt, and ushered him unceremoniously towards the air-tight door, unlocking it, as I marched him back onto the tarmac, where Marcus was waiting to bring the boy back to the inner sanctum of the compound.

"PLEASE...Please let me come with you..." He pleaded, sinking down to his knees in tears, holding onto the tails of my jacket.

"I allow you to come with us to do what...hurt my boy all over again? Randy, you did a very stupid thing by lying to him and keeping something as important as Terri's pregnancy a secret. You being there, during a very crucial and dangerous surgery could upset his already fragile, emotional state. I cannot...NO....I WILL NOT allow you to jeopardize my son's life over your foolishness, Randy. Now go back to the mansion, and seriously think of the consequences that have stemmed from your actions!" I sternly reprimanded the boy.

I watched as he trudged off, sadly into the arms of Marcus. The man had to hold back the boy from doing something stupid like trying to get on board the plane again. He pushed Randy into the car and drove off the tarmac, clearing it for our takeoff.

I re-entered the cockpit, buckling on my seatbelt as I re-positioned the commlink of my headset, asking permission to taxi the runway. My co-pilot was no one other than Bry. We were given the go-ahead from the control tower, and, as soon as the wheels retracted back into the hull of the aircraft during lift-off, we were in the air.

I was aware of my heart pounding after that previous altercation with Randy. I felt utter disappointment in the boy whom I thought was going to be a good agent, even though he had a temper, and for having had a rough childhood of horrific abuse at the hands of that tyrant, Egon. I felt sorry for him, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Bry noticed my agitation, and shifted in the seat beside me, gently squeezing my arm in order to soothe my somewhat frazzled nerves, as I maneuvered us into a holding pattern, having locked in the destination coordinates before putting her on auto-pilot. It was going to be quite a long flight.

The luxurious craft provided us with more than substantial amenities since this was a private plane, and there was enough room for the boys, Bry and myself to bed down for the night while she cruised on alert.

I thanked my aviation training for being able to fly commercial or civil aircraft, as well as our supersonic military jets. I placed her on stealth-mode, so that she could fly undetected, out of radar in certain no-fly zones.

As we all retired for the evening, Marcus kept tabs on Randy, keeping me up-to-date with the boy's whereabouts. The last thing I needed was to worry about another soon-to-be fledgling operative (if I relented and gave him back the opportunity to continue his training and sit for his exams) from traipsing around, unsupervised. I had enough to worry about...

The Compound Café:

Randy POV

"This is all the money I have on me right now. Are you absolutely sure you can get me on a flight to Mumbai? I need to get there within these two days. My babe's having a major operation, and I really need to be there!" I thrust the money to the young agent's hands.

"Sure thing, kid. Thanks for the additional pocket money. It'll go down well with the low-lives I owe gambling debts to..." The guy patted his pocket, full of my hard-earned part-time job money which I had saved up. I tried to convince myself that it was worth it.

This creep threw me a sleazy smile that made me shudder right down to the soles of my feet, but the only thing I knew was that I needed to get on board a plane asap. I was determined to show Damien that I really cared about him and I was going to hold his hand all the way through this, and I could not care less what this jerk thought about me. But if he was expecting me to suck him off as a favour, all he was getting was a knuckle sandwich and a kick right where the sun doesn't shine!

Two hours later, as I sat there, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the asshole to get back, he sauntered through the door back into the café, and slapped a brown paper envelope smack down onto the table right in front of me.

I gingerly opened it and YES! There was the plane ticket, in my name on a commercial flight, later this evening. I hastily got up without even bothering to thank the man, and left quickly back to my quarters. I had to find a way to shrug off the dogs that the General left me with, always constantly on my tail.

Trainees' Barracks:

Randy POV

I snuck out the back door of the café, only to spot that familiar, unmarked vehicle right outside. Damn! How in the hell was I going to do this? I stretched, casually travelling down the stone path which turned into the section where our trainee agent quarters were, and went in, making sure to close the gate behind me, but not before sticking a piece of my chewed gum on the catch, keeping it open.

I raced up the stairs, taking two at a time. I had to pack light and I had to pack quickly. Now all I had to do was to pretend to go to sleep. I switched off the night light by my nightstand, waiting for total silence as an indicator of all the other trainees being asleep, then I slowly pushed open the window.

Luckily, both Damien and I had been stationed on the far side of the mini barracks, close to the North gate. Getting out of that without any detection was going to be the hardest thing, but I knew that I had to make amends with Damien.

All this time, I had been silently kicking myself for being such a dumbass, risking my love for him by not being truthful. It wasn't easy being truthful about the affair I had with my tutor. She was literally my teacher, and I had succumbed to her advances because I needed to feel loved.

I blamed all that on the way my father had cruelly treated my mother to the point of her death. I had already wanted to kill the bastard then, but I was too young, plus, he was beating me too.

Here was Terri, willing to listen to me and give me the time of day, making me feel wanted and needed. I was just a kid, but, was it love? Was it really love? I shook off these miserable thoughts that had plagued my mind at this moment. I could not afford to slip up with so much at stake.

As I ran across the open grass towards the main North gate, such thoughts were running through my muddled brain, as the clock was ticking. Stealth training was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I caught sight of two figures walking straight at me and froze. Shit! It looked like I had been caught! I was really going to get the flak from the General now!!!