The Protector: Hakan & Nisan

Chapter 1

He rushed into the dank, dirty room only a few seconds ahead of her captors, startling her as she pressed further back into the corner, crouched low on the floor, expecting the worst after the last few brutal days. Shouting could be heard not too far behind him but sill he paused when he saw her there, backed into the corner, looking up at him like a scared, wounded animal, her big eyes puddles of dark chocolate overwhelming her pale, bruised face.

Hakan felt something primal and familiar stir within him when their eyes collided, catching him completely off guard, suspending him momentarily in time as if their lives weren't in imminent danger. It was as if two halves of one whole collided the instant their eyes met, something so familiar, so right, and something very, very dangerous. Later Hakan would attribute the flood of feelings and the alarm bells going off in his head to the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the door being blown open behind him with a shotgun.

It took the booming blast of the shotgun to shake him out of his trance but he turned immediately to face the danger, standing directly in front of her, sheltering her from the perpetrator, every protective instinct born and bred into him in full effect. He flinched as another shot rang out and a bullet slammed into the center of his chest. It may not have been able to kill him because of his protective talismanic shirt but it sure as hell still hurt.

As the bullet bounced off of him, Hakan had temporary advantage over the dumbstruck gunman. It was all he needed. He advanced quickly, rather easily ripping the shotgun out of the man's hands and jabbing the butt of the gun hard enough against his skull to crumple him to the floor.

They had a small window of time then before the other captors came for them. Hakan swung back around to the small woman, pressed into the corner, eyes somehow even wider and more scared than a moment before. He reached out a hand but she could only stare up at him, shaking like a leaf and speechless. His heart squeezed.

"Nisan." He knew her name. "I won't hurt you," he promised quietly, somehow knowing exactly what to say.

She looked at his outstretched hand and then back up into his golden eyes. She must have trusted something she saw there because she reached out and put her much smaller hand in his.

An electric current ran through Hakan upon contact and once again he paused in surprise, even as she rose to her feet, their hands now interlocked. "I'm ready," she said quietly, bravely. It was her promise back to him. Or a warning, he would later come to believe.

Prompted back into motion, he turned and lead the way out of the room, out through the dark tunnels and out of the building. She held onto him for dear life.

They made their way silently across the sleeping, sprawling city of Istanbul that night.  They stayed in the dirty shadows that draped itself over the revered but impoverished city which so desperately clung to its historic nobility.  They moved quickly and purposefully, Hakan singularly focused on the mission of making it back to headquarters before sunrise. Only a few times over the course of their three-hour journey did he allow himself to slow down and glance over his shoulder at Nisan.  Neither of them spoke. She was still holding tight to his hand and her dark eyes remained wide and scared.  Her palpable fear haunted him as they chased the shadows.  He could only imagine what she'd been through.  He knew he'd never have the courage to ask.

When they finally crossed the threshold of his temporary home, an abandoned, rundown hostel that had seen better days, the small ragtag team that had assembled in support of his cause rushed forward to help, overwhelming Nisan, making her pull back and retreat into the one safe place she'd found in all the recent madness, this man who'd been her rescuer, her protector. She didn't even know his name but instinctively she knew she was safe with him.  She pressed her back into his chest now, pulling away from the others.

Another electric current ran through Hakan as Nisan leaned into him.  He stilled, trying to process the uncomfortable feelings shooting through his body. As gently as possible he rested his hands on her shoulders. She initially flinched at his touch, making his heart squeeze again, and then she visibly relaxed as he said gently into her ear, "We're all here to help you. You are safe now." He felt compelled to vow, "No one is going to hurt you ever again."

She turned slightly to look up at him. She did not speak but her dark eyes held the one question she desperately needed an answer to. Even you? they asked him.  

Neither of them were sure of the answer.

Suddenly she closed her eyes as exhaustion swept over her. She hadn't eaten, hadn't slept in days and even then it had only been a few hours here and there. She'd been an obscure scientist working on immunizations in the local hospital lab just last week when she'd suddenly been plucked unceremoniously from her safe world and forced into that dark dungeon, made to create some sort of virus for an unnamed terrorist group that showed her little human decency.

The trauma of the last few days had left a physical and emotional toll for all to see. The adrenaline from her fight or flight response had propelled her forward upon being rescued but it suddenly gave way to the overwhelming exhaustion now that she was finally safe. She sagged against Hakan and asked meekly, "May I have some water?"

Zeynep, his right hand "man" and best friend, was horrified and shooed one of the others along to get a glass of water. "You didn't stop for water, for food?" she asked Hakan accusingly. "She's clearly dehydrated, starving and exhausted."

A flood of guilt made Hakan stutter in sudden realization that he was little better than one of her captors, dragging her around the city carelessly, thoughtlessly, "I-I didn't know. I didn't think. I just wanted to get her back here to safety." He just wanted to get away from her, truth be told.  He felt like a complete bastard.

Zeynep shot him a dirty look and took the glass of water that suddenly appeared, gently holding it to Nisan's lips for her to drink. She patiently waited for her to finish the full glass and then she put her arm around her shoulders and began leading her away. "We'll prepare some soup for you while you rest in the guest bedroom."

Nisan looked over her shoulder at Hakan, alarmed that she was leaving his side, somehow making him feel even guiltier than he had a moment before. She seemed to trust him the most in her upside down world and though he felt the overwhelming urge to protect her, he also inexplicably felt the need to distance himself from her as well. He was at war with himself and confused by it all. Still, he gave her an encouraging nod and promised, "I'll be right here."

It was all the reassurance she seemed to need. She let Zeynep steer her away down the hall to the guest bedroom.

He felt irrationally irritated then. "Get her some soup," he snapped at the others as he headed down another hallway to the showers. He needed to cool off and gain his equilibrium. What the hell was wrong with him? He'd had every possible emotion course through him upon meeting this woman, annihilating all rational thought.

It was overwhelming, uncomfortable and eerie. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, alluring and repelling all at the same time. There was something there he couldn't deny, and it felt different than what he'd experienced with Zeynep or even Leyla. It was...otherworldly.

He quickly stripped off his dirty clothes, his talismanic shirt, and stepped into the ice cold spray of the shower, letting it hit his face hard and punishingly first, then he dipped his head and let the stream of water pour over his short, dark brown hair and roll down his muscled back. 

He braced his hands on the wet wall before him and told himself to stay away. The something there seemed very, very dangerous.