The Fall

Chapter Six

A cold hand shook Peter awake, very harshly. Peter sat up quickly, ready for action. Had those triad guys come back? Did Janet need him to fight? Did they need to run-

Janet kept shaking him, even after he sat up. Once his vision focused, Peter relized that she was deathly pale and clutching her stomach.

"T-The bandages broke again, I- lightheaded-"

She looked as though she might collapse at any moment. Peter was quickly on his feet and got her to lay down where he'd been a moment ago.

"I forgot.... you were shot," he said, removing her hand from the injury. "How'd you manage to get the bullet out?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she got out. "The first aid stuff is in my- my room."

"But-" Peter was about to say something stupid ("you said I can't go in there!") but decided to shut up. He nodded and hurried to the medicine cabinet. A few moments later,  he was back with the nessecary supplies.

"I almost died," Janet finally spoke after being silent as Peter tried to clean her wound. Peter looked up, alarmed. "What?"

Janet nodded, not meeting his gaze.

"After I shot you with the poison dart, I collapsed. The bleeding... I was going to die if I just laid there. But I almost let it happen."

Peter said nothing, surprised that she'd open up about such a matter.

"I have no life outside the Triad... they took everything I had. What was the point?"

"What made you get up?" Peter finally asked, finishing up and taping on a wad of gauze.

Janet turned her head and looked at him seriously. Then, she smiled.

"Someone has to feed my cat, right?"

Peter smiled, chuckling, and sat down on the floor. "True, true...hey, what exactly was that dart you shot at me?"

Janet suddenly burst into laughter. "That's right, I shot you!"

Peter scowled a little. "Really! I didn't see whatever it was on your wrist before-"

"Oh, yes, you did," Janet smiled and held out a hand so he could help her up. "Let me show you."

Peter helped her up and followed her cautiously back into her room. She went to her desk and turned on the lamp, revealing a small workspace with tools.

"Here," she opened a drawer and took out a bulky watch. "Remember this?"

Peter did not but he nodded slowly.

Janet laughed. "Anyway, this is my... dart watch!!!"

"A what?"

"It's a watch that shoots darts. Let's go outside."

And that's how Peter ended up in the lawn, Janet teaching him how to fire deadly darts from a makeshift gadget.

"Just flick your wrist. But don't point it at me!"

She grabbed his arm and helped him aim at the target. Peter could help but smile a bit to himself.

"Like that?"

"Like that."

~

JANET SANDRA _ _ _ _
Age 21
Brown Hair, Blue Eyes
5'9"
127 lbs
Place of birth: unknown
Family:
Brother, James Andrew _ _ _ _ (D)
Allegiance: formerly Chinese Triad, Shanghai. Currently:unknown
Extremely accute memory
Important asset
Wanted for treason (CIA), burglary (PSA), espionage (CIA), and murder (PSA).
Kill count: 25 (5 Triad, 20 Civilian)
Unpredictable, prone to sudden panic, dangerous.

"It's done. Quite an impressive dossier," Rita alerted Number One and Travis.  Travis looked over her shoulder. They'd used the information from the Triad database to make a more complete file on their current target.

"Nice," he said. "I wish we had a better picture."

Rita shrugged. "The CIA wil send us a good mugshot,  right?"

The thought of Janet going to jail was not entirely pleasant to Travis... then again, if the database was correct... she deserved whatever the CIA decided to do. Janet was both a traitor and a murderer, two things that Travis hated more than anything.

In all his years of being a spy, he'd only killed those who were trying to kill him. This may have been the case for Janet and the five triad operatives, probably in the helicopter... but the 20 civilians...

They'd been government officials and their families. Innocent people. What would drive a person to kill the innocent... orders? No, it required a special kind of hatred. It seemed like the Janet that Travis knew long ago was gone forever.

"Travis...?"

Number One was saying his name. "Oh, huh?"

"This must be hard for you. You knew her long ago, after all."

Travis shook his head. "I knew someone... but not her."

"What are we gonna tell Peter?" Rita suddenly asked. "He seems to be in no danger with her, but how are we going to tell him about her, um, past?"

"I will handle it." Travis assured her. "On the ride to Japan, I'll tell him. The boat trip will take a few days, that will give him time to accept it."

"She can't know about the plans for after," Number One warned. "If she doesn't figure it out on her own... if she knows, she'll escape or refuse to cooperate. We don't want that."

Travis nodded, yawning. It was early in the morning and he'd been up all night. "Imma turn in."

"Turn into what?" Rita teased.

Travis smiled and waved off the comment before standing up and moving to leave the room. "Sweet dreams. Wake me up if something happens."

The door closed behind him, and he walked down the dark hall to his room.