Like you were never gone

Chapter 3

The party was at its peak when Samar's phone rang. He could barely hear the ring over the music, so he stepped out of the house to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Agent Pathan we have an urgent mission. Meet me at the store ASAP."

The voice spoke before the call was disconnected.

Pathan looked back at the party, at her and made a decision. He went back in, and grabbed his coat. He walked over to Meera who was talking to one of the guests,

"Hey we're out of snacks. I'll just grab a few and be back in 20 mins."

"Can no one else get it?" Meera asked confused.

"Nah I'll do it. It'll be quick." He kissed her on the forehead before leaving.

-----

At the grocery store, Pathan walked though the grocery aisle. On the other side was his long time friend and colleague Rohan Sharma.

"I have a mission for you." Rohan spoke, just low enough that only Pathan could hear it.

"I have kept all the details on the drive with the cashier. You know what to do. Sorry I couldn't come to the party." Pathan noded curtly and watched as Rohan left.

Although they were friends during and after work hours, their emergency meetings were always held the same way. No curtsy, no greetings, straight to business. Pathan put some items in his bag and paid for it at the counter. Along with the change, the cashier handed him a key. Pathan understood it's purpose. He bagged the items and walked towards the stores locker room.

Once inside, he immediately found the locker and its contents. It was a file on one of their agents. The girl was sent undercover to track a potential target named "Victor Sams". However she had been MIA for 2 days now. It was an extraction mission. He had to leave tomorrow night, find her and bring her back.

Pathan took the file and went home.

----

Later at night when the guests had gone and they were lying in bed, Samar told Meera he had to leave for a mission for a few days. He didn't give her the specifics and she didn't ask. She knew he'd always come back to her. But that didn't stop her from worrying, and he could sense that. He kissed her forehead, reassuring her before going back to sleep.

Next day, Pathan with his team, went on the mission to retrieve Agent Preet. Pathan knew her from training. She was his junior, he had mentored her for a while so bringing her back home safe was a priority for him.
Preet's last known location was in Sudan. They had gathered enough intel to know exactly where she was at the moment.

And that is how pathan and his team found themselves outside and under-construction building. On their infra-red they could see the place was littered with armed men. Somehow, they managed to enter the building without making noise. They found Preet tied to a metal chair, lying unconscious. Her face and body were bruised and bloodied.

Pathan made a bee-line towards her and released her hands and legs. The foreign movement woke her up.

"Uh.. who-" preet managed to speak up.

"Hey! Shh shh.. it's me. It's me pathan. We're here to get you out." Pathan said in a hushed voice.

"Pa- pathan! You came. I knew you would." Preet replied with a loopy smile.

"C'mon. We have to leave." Pathan got her standing and directed her to follow him.

By now, the guards had got a whiff of the operation. There were shots heard from everywhere.

"Pathan I have to tell you something!" Preet yelled over the commotion.

"Not now! We get to the helicopter and then you tell me." He yelled back.

"No listen! This is important!" She fired back.

Just as he was about to reply, bullets started raining over them. He handed his gun to preet and took out another from his belt. Together, they made their way towards the helicopter. But just as they were about to step in, Preet collapsed,

"Ah! I can't - my head!" She held her head with both her hands.

"Hey what's happening?" Pathan picked her up and ran the last few yards.

He deposited preet on the helicopter floor. His team was ready to take off. Preet continued to scream in agony. They had no clue what was wrong with her. Pathan was holding her in his lap, her eyes had turned glassy.

"Pathan- I, I have to tell you something. Victor sa- Sams, he- kno-" she struggled to speak.

"Yeah, Pree-" but before he could complete his statement, he saw her eyes crack like glass.

Some weird form of hemorrhaging. Pathan was far from giving up. He tried to resuscitate her with CPR. But it was of no use. She was gone. They carried her body home.

Once at the HQ, they did an autopsy and found out that a pillow sized explosive charge was placed in her brain. And when she got way from the detonator, it exploded, causing the hemmorhage. Victor Sams was still at large and knowing he had caused this and could cause even more damage filled pathan with rage.

-----

That evening, Samar returned home defeated. Meera heard the door close and came into the foyer.

"Hey. How did it go?"
She asked lightly, but she could sense he was distracted. He was looking at her as if in a trance.

"Hey. Sorry. Yeah it was fine." He lied, trying to brush it off.

Meera went ahead and gave him a hug. Which he returned like a baby. Like he needed it.