I'll Track You Down

Gear Up

The temperature is fine, a little cold but I've dealt with worse. I slip my pants off revealing the rest of my wetsuit. I then realize that I'll be leaving all my weapons behind.

Shit.

I tread back to my bike and drape my pants over the seat, I hear the sound of my guns clicking together.

"Oh well." I whisper, just then one of Caspian's guards comes behind me and straps a belt across my waist, he leans over my shoulder fiddling with the buckle. "I've got it." I say, the man nods and lets me pull the straps through.

It's weighted, so that I don't float back up onto the surface. The same guard comes over with a vest looking thing in his hands, with the oxygen tank strapped to it.

He tells me to drag it over to the water's edge, I do as I'm told. Caspian sits beside me, his pants and shirt gone as well.

Caspian's suit goes down longer than mine, and it outlines his muscular figure well. The light wind blows some of Caspian's hair out of his face, illuminating his blue eyes making them clear as a precious stone.

I pull my tank behind me, ready to strap into the vest and get this all over with. Caspians guards bring over his tank, and our flippers and mask.

I slip my feet into the rubber, and let my mask hang over my neck. Caspian shoves his flippers next to him and one of them grazes the edge of one of my scars, it peeks out from my suit and I flinch at the contact.

Caspian's eyes jump to my thigh, "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch it."

"Don't even mention it." I expect Caspian to turn his eyes away but they stay glued to the narrow, white, scar. Feeling embarrassed I cover it with my hand, and he moves his eyes to mine.

"Where did that come from?" He asks curiously.

"It was one of my earlier cases, just a stabbing scar, nothing to it. I bet you have some scars of your own, don't you?"

"Not really, do you have others?" I'm surprised by his lack of injuries but even more surprised by his interest in mine.

"Yeah, I have a few gunshot wounds, of course the stabbing incident, but also a few burn marks."

"How'd you get those?" I almost laugh at the memory.

"It's really reckless, I jumped into a burning building to look for survivors. I didn't even know if there were any, or if I could get them out in time."

"Did you?"

"Oh yeah, and I had my fair share of lectures from Decker. But each one is a memory of a success or a reminder that I'm not dead." I laugh, but I know that I'd rather not have any of them, it makes me feel disgusted when I actually look at them, but Caspian doesn't need to know that. "Anyways, shouldn't we be going?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely." Caspians response leaves me on edge.

Does he hate that I have scars? Does it make him think I'm revolting? Or worse does he think I wasn't a good enough assassin to avoid getting them?

It doesn't matter what Caspian thinks, I try to tell myself. I really wish I didn't care about his opinion of me, but it is what it is. And right now I just have to swallow my anxiety and focus on the actual mission at hand.

I pull my hair back into a loose ponytail and slip my arms into the vest. One of Caspian's guards tells me to turn around, so that my back is facing the water. The guard puts my mask on my face and over my nose.

"I'm Vance, and I'll be helping you with the rest of your gear today." He says in an accent I can't place. "Caspian and I will be given waterproof microphones so that you can hear us when we try to talk to you." He says while buckling my vest, I look over at him, he has similar features to Caspian, clean jawline, muscular features, and dark hair.

Vance's brown eyes turn gold in the morning sun, and I can feel his breath rising and falling in his chest as he leans over my shoulder.

"Thank you, Vance." I say, looking up at him staring down at me.

"No problem Kalisa." He says with a wink, Vance walks away to grab his tank and vest, and Caspian takes the chance to scoot next to me.

I avert my eyes to look at the water behind me, I look at my reflection, and see my scar in it. Who am I kidding, of course Caspian thinks it's gross.

It would've been better to not talk about it at all, if only I stayed still when the flipper touched me. Caspian hands me two earbud looking machines to put in my ears.

"It's so you can hear us through the microphones." Caspian says.

"Thanks." I say dryly.

"Are you feeling better, Kali?"

"Yes." I lie, why does he keep worrying about my emotions, there's no reason for him to care.

Besides, I've opted to refrain from telling him how I feel. I watch as two of Caspian's guards sit down in the same position I'm currently in, and lay back into the water, sinking in.

They float for a second or two before signaling Caspian and sinking into the still water.

"Okay Kalisa, here's what you're going to do." Vance's voice echoes in my ears. "You're going to copy exactly what they did, but make sure that you have one hand on your mask so that it doesn't fall off." I give him a thumbs up. "Oh and don't forget to put the regulator in your mouth." I place the breathing tube into my mouth and take in gulps of clear oxygen.

"I'll go first, then you follow, okay Kali?" Caspian's voice says, I nod at him. Caspian wastes no time, he falls backward just as the others did and disappears into the water.