To Hell and Back // Alex Keller.

Questions running in her head.

The darkness of the night took the city into its arms as soon as the sun hid away over the horizon. Air got colder, as the warmth of the passing day disappeared under the shining stars over the dark stay. Thin clouds swam across the sky as if trying to hide the light of the stars and the full Moon away from the curious eyes of the people. But, the bright lights of the moon still managed to escape the captivity of the clouds and enter every single room it could through the thin glass of the windows.

A short glass stood on the hardwood surface of the dining table, while the ice cube melted into the drink. Lonely drops formed over the foggy walls of the glass, sprinting down towards the button as if in a marathon. The city was quiet in the late hour of the night. A few windows kept the warm light inside the houses, where the night sleep was not yet welcomed.

The cold drink touched Kelly's lips, as the bitter drink started working its magic on ending the busy day. Taking a deep breath, a redhead closed her eyes for a moment, still feeling the citrusy taste of alcohol. The gaze of hazel eyes fell onto the dark screen of the phone as if a woman was waiting for another message, or anything coming from the unknown phone number. For the last hours, her eyes ran over the countless files Liam once created, or had anything to do with. Nothing in paragraphs of texts, reports, and pages had answers to the questions inside of Miller's head. Empty glass found its place on the table when the loud ringing of incoming video calls echoed through the quiet apartment.

"How's the progress with Keller?" Price was never a man of small talk. Conversations about the weather, neighbour's kids, or flowers in the garden were the last thing on the captain's mind. The early morning sun played with the face of the man, running over the perfectly trimmed facial hair, and kissing the deep wrinkles on the forehead. The thick smoke of the cigar flew toward the camera as if it tried to reach the woman on the other side of the call.

"Not much. You could find a more talkative man for me to deal with." A hint of a smile was planted on the edge of Kelly's lips, as her mind came back from the mystery of brother's past to the man. Miller had trouble admitting that the officer occupied a bigger portion of her thoughts. There was something magnetic in the unknown mystery Alex seemed to be to a woman. She took a moment to respond, before looking back at the screen at Price.

"Do me a favour and don't give up on him yet, dove." John finally found a comfortable position in his old officer chair on the early morning of Saturday. The base was quiet, as some soldiers left to enjoy the comfort of their beds. But, the captain had no other home except for the SAS base. The pile of paperwork sat on the other edge of the table and waited to be finally touched by the man.

"Wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon, Price." The taste of alcohol sat on the edge of Miller's tongue when the liquor finally brought a feeling of ease to her mind. With each passing day, getting Keller to trust her and finally talk turned into Kelly's personal challenge. 

The picture of tattoos all over Alex's arms stayed in the woman's mind ever since they met for the first time. Taking a deep breath, Kelly came back into the room out of her thoughts, trying to brush everything away. Price knew that eventually when all the charges were dropped and Keller got used to his prosthetics, the officer would be back in the field. Somewhere deep inside, Kelly knew that too. The army teaches soldiers to never get attached to their teammates but to work in the team as one. Did Miller learn all the lessons during three years In forces? Oh, no.

"John?" The woman's voice stopped the captain from ending the call, as the clock was ticking and the day was running. On the other side of the ocean, Price thought about all tasks for the day, and how long the weekend full of paperwork will be. But, the man had to deal with everything at the base before coming back to the battleground.

"Tell me, dove." John's voice was calm and soothing. He always sounded like an old friend, who is always there in the hardest times. Everything about this man was harsh, taught, and hard. But not the way Price treated people around him.

"Do you know what Liam did after leaving the army?" Kelly felt a concerned look of the man on her face through the screen of the laptop. There was no one else she could seek advice from, or speak about it. As the wave of nervousness took over the woman's mind, she painfully bit her lower lip, until the taste of metal got to the tip of Miller's tongue, 

"He was a private contractor for Shadow Company. Probably got deployed, but all their missions are heavily classified. Why are you asking, Kelly?" John placed the cigar aside. Tobacco smell travelled all over the office, leaving its taste on everything it could touch. Concern was written all over the captain's face, as the rough fingers of his hand ran over the short hairs of the beard. Just for a moment, a question from a redhead brought both of them to the day of Liam's funeral. A dark, cloudy day in the middle of nowhere. Closed coffin with the body of someone who was once known and loved. The waterfall of tears that ran down Kelly's cheeks was a long time dry now, but the pain was still hiding somewhere inside of woman's chest.

"I might have gotten a letter from a dove with no back address." There was nothing much Kelly could say, or explain. There was nothing she knew herself. Work always stayed somewhere outside of their relationship with her brother. Everything he did was always classified, and there was no point in asking the details, or even about the place the man was deployed to. And now, looking at the message on the screen, Miller wondered if she ever knew her brother at all.

"What did it say?" Price leaned forward, closer to the laptop, letting the camera notice the small details of his facial features. His dark blue eyes ran over the text in the message, as the eyebrows frowned, writing the reaction to the text on the man's face.

"If you know about any of his enemies, Price, it's the right fucking time for you to tell me all about it." The darkness of a small apartment in the quiet town did not seem as peaceful as it was before. Lonely light of the moon entered into the living room through the open window, while the warm light ran over Kelly's face. Her voice didn't sound scared, not cracking even once.

For a moment, Price was speechless as the two made eye contact through the screen of the video call. Silence wrapped between them though the distance made Kelly jump to her conclusions. The only person who knew what Liam was up to was himself. There was no one else who could help her dig further and get all the answers to the questions that were holding redhead's mind occupied.

Miller was used to being left on her own with the difficult situation. But was she really on her own now?

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE! Hope you have a great one! Also, I hope you are enjoying the ride, and please never hesitate to let me know what you think about the story. Looks like I'm back on track and done with my hockey coma lol. Looooove you all