The area was heavily wooded, and the cool air danced around when a light breeze brushed through. The mouth of the cave wasn't obvious until standing right in front of it with the mature ferns guarding it profusely. Inside of the cave was wide and only seven feet tall. Tyson's head almost hit the top. We had our two parts of the cave, my section with my sleeping hammock with a rock nightstand and book. His section was full of papers of his notes about former security and current security precautions. His hammock and makeshift rock chair were full of the papers.
I had a disposable cellphone that my friend in the city had programmed to be undetectable. Hopefully, it still was. Making the phone call made me nervous, but we were promised passage at an entry gate in the morning. Telling Tyson made him smile as he always loved to be in the action and planning was the boring part for him. I swore if there weren't bullets involved today, he would have had a field day. We were both worn out and tired from the day of fighting. We were so close to breaking in and one solider had called the alarm. Killing wasn't my favorite thing to do, but these were also Tyson's old comrades, so he wasn't thrilled with the idea either. However, a secret entry was looking more and more difficult as we had tried today.
Darkness crept up as the cool night air settled in around us. The only light was the candle that Tyson had going for his plans. I don't know when he slept, but he usually fell asleep after me and woke up before I did. Perhaps it was the old life in him that he was so used to. Little sleep, lots of action.
"Hey, you should sleep." I worried about his sleeping habits, or lack thereof.
"I thought you were. You were the one who had to fly around to make sure they didn't follow us today while carrying me, so you need it more than I do right now. I let us down today and I can't do that again. Serenity is going to be prepared. I need to be more prepared." He was always determined to win, but a lot of the times we barely got by.
"It's not any trouble. You carry me enough, figuratively, so I don't mind returning the favor," I smiled as I spoke although he couldn't see.
He didn't respond right away, and so I turned around to face him. He was blushing. Serious to a fault, but not a bad guy. Looking at him, I observed his eyes darting back and forth to me and his papers. Rolling his neck and stretching more often, I was sure he was embarrassed.
"If you go to sleep, I'll stop staring." Taunting him was the best way to get him off task.
I grinned happily as he groaned and turned a brighter shade of red. Even with the dim candlelight it was easily seen. Strength came easy for him, attention from ladies did not. Admirable and yet naïve himself. A part of me wanted to believe I was falling for him, the other part of me knew not to get attached. We weren't lovers, but sometimes we argued like we were married. Sometimes I wondered if another life would find us in a different situation, then I stopped those thoughts. Those moments were what would make me lose sight of my goal. I couldn't afford to lose focus now.
Going after Raj's head of security was a suicide mission that needed to happen. One of us, or both, could end up dead. However, we made the promise that were going to try, hopefully if we failed someone else would be able to pick up where we left off. Even if we made a small wave that turned into a destructive tsunami after we failed, it would be worth it.
Waking up groggy and stiff from all the activity the day before. Stretching ignited a sharp pain in my side. Looking around for Tyson, he wasn't in the cave, so I took the opportunity to see what I was working with. Lifting my shirt, one of my ribs seemed fine until one appeared black and blue and various other colors of yellow and red. Closing my eyes, I felt along the skin fighting the tears as it stung. Pain was nothing but an annoyance to me, years of torture taught me that.
Hearing Tyson return, I quickly brought down my shirt and looked busy as I gathered my small bag of supplies needed for the short journey into the city. Rope, hook, flashlight, and a set of extra clothes. I couldn't wait to wash the ones I had on, somedays were not pleasant to the nose and especially after a fight.
"You ready, Airhead?" His endearing name to me sparked me to stick out my tongue.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Pebble brain," I countered resulting in his brows coming together.
"I'll have you remember that I'm the one who knows that facility better than you in terms of layout. Pebble brain," he repeated it as if of all the names we through back and forth at each other that was the one to make him so mad to leave.
"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, oh mighty strategist. I'll remember that next time I have to save you from one of your own brilliant plans." We hiked in relative silence after one last grumble from him. The crunching of the forest floor sounding around us as we made our way to the city. Just a few hours, but with my ribs it was feeling like an eternity. The pain was throbbing and constant, making me lightheaded and dizzy. I concentrated on his back and used air currents to stay upright. To my luck, he kept looking forward. Disappointment or set back was not something we could afford right now. I kept promising myself that I would rest when we got to town.
Keeping my breathing steady for him not to notice my discomfort was almost impossible. However, this took over a lot of the pain tolerance as it slowly became better. The pain didn't go away by any means, but I learned ways to push it out of my head. Before I knew it, I was seeing the tall cement wall of Raj. Flying over would be the easiest, but they were looking for a flier, so the lovely sewers it was for us. Luckily, not a long trek into but long enough to make it undesirable to leave unless we had to for a few days.