Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 1: Introduction

P.S.: I have no idea what I am writing or where this story is going. 

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"IshKi, what's your 20?"

Static on the other end.

"IshKi - position status."

Then –

"Damnit Ishan! Ye ladka sunta kyu nai hai?"

Rohit's voice boomed through the intercoms, followed by a string of cuss words no one wanted to repeat.

"Alright everyone, converge toward rendezvous. Let's go let's go let's go."

Footsteps echoed in a dimly lit hallway, where several masked men ran in formation, disabling cameras and positioning themselves in secure locations quickly. Rohit entered a room at the end of the hallway with two others, while two gunmen stood vigil at the doorway. When they finally found the switch, it revealed two men at the far end of the room - one was writhing on the ground while the other was pressing his foot into his neck with a gun trained on his forehead.

"Agent, stand down."

In response, the man pressed his foot deep into the other man's neck, earning a scream.

"Agent, I said, STAND DOWN."

The man removed his foot but kept his gun trained on the man below him. He looked up at his audience, and Rohit flinched at the picture he made.

The man was covered in blood from head to toe; his clothes, once white, were stained red, his eyes hinted at the devil within, and his smile made you flinch. 

"Relax guys, I was just about to....chat with our friend."

Rohit sighed, feeling his hair turning white as he spoke.

"How many times have I told you not to barge in without backup? You could have been killed!"

"I was perfectly fine, and this idiot would have gotten away if we waited."

"Why do you never–"

"Can we do this later, when there's not a wanted terrorist on the ground?" ViKo grumbled from the side.

Ishan picked up the man in question by his collar and handed him off to the men at the door.

When he turned around, it was to Rohit's pointed look at his clothes.

"Go home. Clean up. You look like death."

"But–"

"Nope. Captain's orders."

Ishan looked ready for another fight, but saw the irritated look on his captain's face and walked out.

Rohit surveyed the room, noticing several men littered around the room, some lying face down while others held onto their injured limbs.

Jesus, he thought, no wonder Ishan looked like he was on a murderous rampage. There were at least 10 men around, and he quickly ordered everyone to pick them up and dispose of them.

Someone stood beside him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Rohit looked at ViKo, a.k.a. Virat, his partner and friend, and leveled him with a look.

"I think these boys are going to give me premature grey hair."

"Premature? Hate to break it to you Cap, but you're old."

"Hey!"

He punched Virat on the shoulders, earning a chuckle, which lightened the mood considerably.

He continued.

"I think this next assignment will be good for us. It'll be...peaceful, a happy change from...whatever this is."

This, was said with a look around the room, littered with bodies and blood.

"You think he'll agree?"

"Well, there's this super secret annoying nagging supersonic missile we have...."

Virat's shoulders shook with silent laughter.

"Stop calling me that! Just for that, you're the one briefing the team this time."

Rohit smirked and exited the room, Virat in tow.

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When Ishan was called to the conference room, he knew something was up. For starters, agents were never scheduled for simultaneous missions, and his last one had gone on for months, so why was he called in now?

Most surprising was the presence of both Rohit and Virat. Agents RoSha and ViKo were seldom seen together during briefings, which meant something serious was up. Ishan sat up straight when they entered the room; no use antagonizing Rohit bhai when he was already pissed with Ishan's antics yesterday, but what was he to do? The arms dealer would have gotten away if he didn't act fast.

Rohit cleared his throat and Ishan stood alert.

"Next mission."

Virat came forward then.

"Mr. Shatri recommended us to our newest client; apparently, he was impressed with our security during his last Holland visit. It's an industrialist friend of his who wants protection for his entire family. Individual, comm. setup - the whole nine yards."

It was Yuzi who spoke.

"Isn't the ground team supposed to handle this sort of stuff?"

A look passed between Virat and Rohit, which put Ishan on edge. Those two colluding on something never went well.

"It is, but the client is high target, which means a mix of ground team and...specialists."

A horrible feeling welled up within Ishan.

They weren't talking about him, were they? They knew Ishan loved his solo missions, and now he was supposed to babysit a bunch of privileged idiots?

Virat must have seen something on his face, because he continued.

"We will begin next week - me and Rohit will check for parameter plans and setups, Ishan, Yuzi, Yash, and Rinks will be on individual duty..."

Ishan exploded.

"Individual duty? C'mon bhai, you know I suck at it - do you not remember our last client complaint?"

"Ishan, you put him in a headlock."

"He wanted to learn self-defense!"

"You choked him to unconsciousness."

"Exactly, I am a bad teacher and a bad bodyguard!"

Rohit spoke then.

"I know you are Mr. James Bond, the resident hotshot, but this is a good opportunity for you to prove that you can adapt to any situation. You've caught moving targets, how about keeping an immovable one safe? Or are you too scared you'll fail?"

Ishan guffawed at the obvious goading Rohit bhai was doing, but he was not falling prey to it.

Rohit threw a file on the table. Ishan refused to take the bait. Rohit tried something else.

"Gabru and Miya will be on cam duty."

Ishan scrambled to pick up the file, earning laughs from everyone around.

Virat was impressed at how easily Rohit had manipulated Ishan, who missed having his best friends around.

He looked at Ishan, who had his nose deep in the file.

Mr. Gill, he thought as he perused the file, I hope you are ready for whatever thunder awaits you.