The Curvy Seal

The Hiding Hole

Ryan was on the tarmac as soon as the plane was stopped. He ran into the small airport, got his passport stamped and started to look for the library closest to the sea.

He walked to the water taxi station, and then set on foot down the most crowded place. Knowing he would do that if he thought someone might be following him. Looking for any wifi or library signals to indicate that he could make a call out on a device.

He spotted one library 3 streets down and went in. There was a cop already there, and he was taking a video tape from a worker. Ryan walked past them, keeping his head down, and walked around. He chose a spot he could see the entrance and also the back of the space.

A couple windows were broken, a computer was damaged three seats down. He moved to stand near it and noticed a pillar blocked the back door.

That's the one mistake. That's how she didn't notice them getting into the building. He looked around, and casually looked out the window she had jumped through. She landed in a bale of hay that seemed more like a dump for feces.

 He looked around and knew she must have veered right instead of just going straight.

He went back down the 10 or so steps and went right as well. She wouldn't have gone left since that was the way they came, and straight just gave them a longer vision of which way she would go.

He kept up, looking for little holes that she either could have hidden in or an alley she could have scooted down easily.

He didn't find anything like that. At least not until 3 miles away, a couple of turns with the crowd to keep a cover. Ryan found an alley that led into a couple abandon buildings. He went into one, listening for any movement, or breathing. And then he explored looking for any signs of her or a struggle.

The third one he went in he noticed a strange sound. He went up the crumbled stairs slowly and drew his knife. He saw blonde hair and then in a second it was gone.

Something hit him in the face and he fell back down the stairs. He was aware of feet hitting pavement outside and the sound of it heading away from him. But he was so delirious from whatever hit him and  then the fall he couldn't even see straight.

"This is what I get for taking one last job. A paranoid SEAL who just threw me down the stairs and ran off without even checking who I was." He grumbled when his eyesight went back. Ryan sat up and rubbed the top of his head and pulled his hand away, thankful there was no blood.

He took another moment before getting up and checking all his bones. He went back up the stairs, looked out the window she had jumped out of.

"She likes jumping out of windows." He sighed and looked down. It would be hard on his ankles but he had to get her home. He leaned out some more and then used his arms to get him closer before just dropping down.

He jogged down the way he would if he was trying to get away, a left at first opportunity, then a right at the next and then found a small alley that had 6 men attacking who he knew to be Chelsea Mitchell.

"Six big men taking on one little girl is quite unequal." Ryan called out gaining everyone's attention. Chelsea was smart enough to use the distraction and flipped the guy she had been facing hard and then kicked his neck hard and then he swooped in.

Chelsea knew he was American and blew out a breath. Good, a Samaritan who knew some moves would help just a bit. She felt a punch on her back and she made a quick move to grab the hand and missed. She turned to the guy coming at her and deflected the knife before jabbing his sternum hard enough to make him loose his breath.

Ryan noticed how she was holding her own and yet, some kind of protective instinct came over him. He recalled calling her little, but there was nothing little about her. She had big arms, not as big as his, her thighs were athletic and her hips wide. She was Ryan's kind of woman. Toned yet curved.

Which is why he felt so protective. She was a woman. Trained or not she was just as vulnerable as he was and he would do everything in his power to make sure that she was not going to get hurt just like he would have made sure of that if she was a man.

He felt her bump into him and he was glad they were finally back to back. He didn't dodge anything but instead deflected, using the guys velocity against him. He used little power in every punch as he let the guy basically ram into his fist.

He reached for his knife but realized that he must have dropped it when he fell down the stairs and didn't pick it up.

He cursed and heard other people coming. Looking over it was the same kind of men. He looked behind him and noticed that she had taken down one more guy while the other guy was starting to wake up.

The guys just showing up pulling out AK-47's and they both stopped.

"Chelsea Mitchel just so you know... what ever you threw at me hurt real bad." He got out just before they were told to put their hands up.

"You're the guy my father sent after me?" She asked when someone pulled out ropes and started to tie their hands up.

"Yup." Ryan sighed before flinching when he felt the rope burn. He wouldn't bring up the fact that if she hadn't hit him, or run away, they wouldn't be being taken right now.

Before they could say anything else they were bagged and being pushed around. Ryan just hoped to some kind of god that they would be placed together, and he wouldn't have to find her again.