After a solid 20 minutes of driving and getting a little lost, Jynx parked the car outside of the safe house. Karma opened the door and climbed out of the car by himself. His muscles were already sore. His neck and back popped as he leaned his weight on the vehicle's door. Jynx shouted at him with disapproval, "Stop! You are going to overdo it and I am going to have to carry you."
Karma said, "Relax, this isn't my first fight. It's just the first time I lost one." Despite his words, Jynx still took his arm and helped him to the building. Jynx returned to the Land Cruiser to get the files and their personal bags. Karma climbed the stairwell. Slowly. It was a long grueling process but eventually he made it to the safe house. Jynx unlocked the door and held it open for him. Upon entering the purple living room Karma walked over to the couch. He pointed to the files and said, "Call Freeman. The files..."
Jynx dropped everything on the kitchen table and returned to Karma. Then she replied, "You want me to make phone calls while you stand here bleeding." Jynx unzipped his coveralls and looked over his chest.
"What are you doing?"
Jynx looked him over as she said, "I have 5 and a half years of medical schooling. Trust me, I know what I am doing." Jynx noticed that he had some red marks but there were no cuts. She pulled his coveralls down to his waist and looked at his back. His clothes saved his body from a lot of the damage. Jynx walked away and said, "Those are soaked, take them off while I get the first aid kit." Karma didn't argue with her. He kicked off his boots and removed his wet clothes.
Jynx found the first aid kit and brought it over to him. She pointed to the couch and said, "Sit." Again, Karma didn't argue. He only sat down on the couch in his boxers only. Oddly enough he didn't feel uncomfortable being undressed around her. Jynx kneeled down in front of him to look at the cuts on his hands. She reached up and touched his face. He only had one cut on his left cheek. His right eye was a little swollen. Jynx pulled out some bandages and started to unravel them. Then she finally said, "You look terrible."
Karma retorted, "You should see the other guy." He used jokes as a form of pain killer. However, the pain he was feeling was less physical and more mental. As Jynx wrapped the cut in his hands, Karma closed his fingers on hers. He held her hand and looked into her eyes. She didn't resist, nor did she say anything. They just sat there holding hands and looking at each other for a moment. Karma was the first to speak. He said, "I'm sorry."
Jynx squinted and asked, "For what?"
Karma replied, "Being a bad teacher. Trying to turn you into a cold heartless spy like me."
Jynx put a large bandage on his face, then she shook her head and said, "You're not heartless. You are just good at hiding it. You play the big tough guy and tell everyone to put the mission first." Jynx finished wrapping up Karma's hands then she said, "By the way, I think it is about time we had THE talk." She gave him a funny look as she said it.
Karma smiled, "Oh? THE talk?"
Jynx nodded and said, "Yes. You see, agents shouldn't be afraid to get emotionally attached to other agents. Allies make you stronger. Teamwork is extremely important. An enemy that you can't defeat alone CAN be defeated... if you work as a team."
Karma smiled. Jynx had turned his speech around on him. Now she was putting him in his place. He knew he deserved it. Then he said, "You're right. I believe you."
Jynx sarcastically corrected him, "No, no, no, this is the part where you disagree. You tell me that I am wrong. Then I say, "It's okay, I understand, this is the hardest lesson to learn as a spy..."
She sure had a lot of fire in her. And a lot of words… Karma knew what he had to do. Mid-sentence he grabbed her coveralls and pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. Jynx's face carried a look of shock but only for a second. Maybe she wasn't expecting him to make such a bold move. But after the initial shock she put her arms around him and kissed him back.
After a few seconds, Jynx pulled away with a huge smile on her face. Then she teased him, "I think you're broken. You may have taken too many blows to the head. You have forgotten about your non-stop professional mindset."
With a smile, Karma reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Then he said, "If I am broken... don't fix me." Jynx smiled and leaned in to kiss him. With his free hand, Karma unzipped her coveralls. She kicked off her boots, removed her clothes, and straddled him as he sat on the couch. All the sexual tension exploded between them. Suddenly the rest of the world melted away. Everything was gone. The KGB, the Exstrusis Program, Agent Death, even the whole Cold War... didn't exist anymore. It was just them. Jynx stood up and pulled him off the couch. They embraced again before she led him to the bedroom. No words needed to be exchanged anymore.
*
Karma woke up lying on his back. His right arm was sore as he moved it around under the blanket. His left arm could not move at all. Not because it was sore, but because there was a naked woman laying on it. Jynx was fast asleep cuddled up next to him. Despite it being mid-day, they had exhausted each other and fallen asleep together. Karma reached over with his free hand and touched her face.
For a moment Karma realized how terrible he was. He was supposed to be teaching her how to be an effective agent. Instead, they are engaging in sexual activities. This wasn't part of the plan. Was there a plan anymore? Had he gone off the rails again? Karma was the worst teacher ever.
As he caressed her face she began to stir. She opened her eyes and lifted her head. Jynx smiled and said, "You're awake." She reached across his chest and held him with one arm. Still resting her head on his arm, she looked at him with the most curious face. "What's your real name?"
Karma continued to caress her face and sweep her hair behind her ear. There was no reason to hold back anymore. "Daniel," he said simply. "Daniel Carpenter."
Jynx's eyes lit up. "Daniel! Awww, I was way off." She rubbed her head to his shoulder, then after a few more seconds she followed up with, "I'm Liz."
"Liz?!" Karma exclaimed. "Oh man, I really thought you were a Barbara."
"You did not." Jynx smiled and sat up a little bit. "There is no way you thought I was a Barbara."
Karma just smiled then he asked, "If you are a Liz then the more important question is, are you an Elizabeth or Eliza?"
Jynx coyly pulled the blanket over her mouth and said, "I will never tell!"
"Yes, you will!" Karma wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. She resisted and laughed at the same time. Then he said, "No, no, we don't have secrets anymore. Tell me."
Jynx playfully struggled against him, saying, "No! I will never tell you! I will take it to my grave!" As they wrestled, Jynx accidentally pushed the sore muscles on Karma's right arm. He groaned and let go of her. Jynx instantly felt bad. "I am sorry I forgot. How are you feeling?"
Karma thought about it for a second then said, "Pretty rough. I feel like I was hit by a train then revived... and hit by another train."
Jynx really liked his response. She toyed with him by saying, "Oh wow, was I the revival part? or was I the second train?" Jynx climbed up to his face and gave him a kiss.
"That wasn't my attempt at giving you a smooth line, I can give you a smooth line if you want it." Karma promised.
"Oh, do it." Jynx laid down on his chest and said, "Impress me, Spymaster. Show me what you got."
Karma cleared his throat as Jynx waited patiently. Karma raised an eyebrow and said, "The love of a good woman can make a man question... everything..." But that was all he had time to say. Jynx stopped him mid-sentence as she straddled him and kissed him hard. She didn't let up. She giggled. Karma loved the sound of her laugh. It was intoxicating. She was ready to go another round. Within seconds he was ready too. Karma thought to himself, the rest of the quote was really good, but I guess I will have to tell her later...
*
For the third time today, Karma woke up in the safe house. He had not been asleep for very long. His muscles were still sore. All this physical activity was certainly nice, but not the best way to recover. He rolled over to look at Jynx but this time she was gone. Karma swung his legs off the bed as he stood up. Her clothes were still on the floor nearby. He looked into the bright orange bathroom, but the light was off. Where was she? He called out for her, "Jynx?" He stood up and walked to pick up his boxers. They were still wet and cold. He left them on the floor and walked into the living room. There he could hear a mechanical humming. That's not good. He came around the corner to see Jynx feeding papers into a machine. His heart sank. No, she wouldn't.
Just then she saw him and said, "Hey, you're up!" Karma walked over to see the fax machine in the cabinet. He was so relieved. For a split second he thought she was shredding the documents. Jynx saw his reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"
Karma shook off his worries as he said, "Oh nothing, I heard the noise... I... I just didn't know there was a fax machine here." He looked at her choice of attire. She was wearing one of his shirts. She smiled and turned back to the fax machine to feed in the next page. Karma hugged her from behind as he asked, "Nice shirt. You must have talked to Freeman."
"Yes, actually he called us while you were sleeping." Jynx showed him the numbers on her hand. "The call sign you gave me is almost completely rubbed off. I wonder how that happened?"
Karma smiled because he knew the answer to that question, so did she. But he replied, "That is a mystery to me."
Jynx fed the next page into the machine and said, "Freeman was freaking out because he saw on the NEWS that there was a shooting in Prague. So naturally he knew you were involved. He also feared the worst because it was very unlike you to not report after a mission."
"Yeah, we probably should have called him when we got back to the safe house." Karma went to look at his watch only to remind himself that he lost it. "We kind of lost track of time didn't we."
"It's okay, I explained everything." Jynx fed the next page as she said, "I told him about the documents and that I couldn't read them. So, he told me about the fax machine." Jynx sighed, "He gave me the fax number to HQ, and I have been standing here feeding the papers into it for at least an hour." She lifted her arms over her head and tweaked her neck to the side attempting to stretch her muscles. She let out a sigh of relief and said, "There are so many more than I originally thought."
Karma took the stack of papers from her hand and said, "I can take care of the rest of them for you."
Jynx turned quickly and took them back, saying, "No, Freeman said you are in recovery mode. I told him about how you went 12 rounds in a boxing match with the Hitman. I might have exaggerated, I might not have, I don't know I was in shock the whole time. Naturally, you survived and were resting in the other room."
Jynx turned around to face the fax machine as Karma grabbed her shirt and pulled it up a bit. He said, "Resting? Is that what you call it?"
Jynx smiled and turned back to him as she said, "Well... There was a little bit of resting." She gave him a kiss and returned to putting papers into the fax machine. She continued, "Freeman said he would call us when they get all this paperwork organized. I have a feeling it's going to take them a long time. You will have plenty of time to sleep."
Jynx continues to load paper by paper into the fax machine. She said, "Do what you need to do. Shower? Hungry? I don't think you have eaten anything since this morning."
"Dehydrated and hungry." Karma retreated to the sink and filled up a glass of water. He drank the glass as he walked over to Jynx's personal bag and took out a pair of candy bars. He ate one while he rooted through his personal bag for some clothes.
Karma went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. While waiting for the water to warm up, Karma looked in the mirror. With a bit of pain, Karma removed the bandages from his face and hands. He looked in the mirror to check the damage. This was the first time since the fight that he had looked in the mirror. The cut on his cheek was shallow but extended from his jaw to the middle of his ear. He must have landed on a shard of glass. It was definitely going to make a scar. With that he climbed into the shower. The warm water felt good. After a few minutes Jynx came into the bathroom, took off his shirt, and joined him in the warm water.
She started to rub his shoulder and said, "Are you still broken?"
Karma enjoyed the massage but turned so she could see the cut on his face. Then he said, "You didn't tell me how bad it looked. It's bad."
Jynx reassured him, "It will heal over. You won't even see it after a while."
Karma was not reassured. He responded, "I can only imagine trying to get through customs with a huge scar on my face. If I can't get through customs, I can't do my job. At least I can be the villain of a movie. I can get my own evil lair in the mountains."
Jynx could sense his frustration. He was using jokes to hide his pain again. She leaned in and gave him a kiss to comfort him. Then she asked, "What a minute, was that a Bond reference? You don't follow your own rules anymore?"
"Breaking the rules is the new normal for me. If you remember, I also had a rule about never getting emotionally attached to fellow agents. Then my fellow agent saved my life…" He pulled her in under the water and said, "…and here we are."
Jynx smiled as they embraced, then she responded, "That was a terrible rule anyways." Within seconds they were lost in each other's eyes. Karma had to remind himself that he didn't die and go to heaven. She put soap in his hair and washed him up. He did the same for her. This was teamwork on a more intimate level.
They finished showering and got dressed. Karma put on some sweatpants as Jynx applied some new bandages to Karma's wounds. He noticed how cheery she was. He had to ask, "Do you enjoy bandaging me up? Or am I reading too much into that smile of yours?"
"Yeah, a little bit..." Jynx confessed, "I do enjoy taking care of you. After all, you have been taking care of me for a long while now. It's only fair that I fix you up after you saved me from getting shot by that Hitman."
"I saved you?!" Karma corrected her, "Did I suffer a concussion or something? I think you have that backwards."
Jynx finished up wrapping the bandage on his hand then said, "Not at all. He was going to shoot me, and you stopped him. You saved me. I saved you." Jynx kissed his bandaged hand and finished by saying, "We saved each other. As they used to say back in the day, that is a life debt. We are indebted to each other."
Karma nodded and said, "True, I hate to break it to you, but I think we have gone a little beyond the standard student/teacher relationship."
"Yeah, just a little. Maybe I should be the teacher?"
"Maybe you should."
Jynx's eyes bulged with joy as she said, "Seriously?" She pulled on his wrist, making him stand up from the couch. "At last, the tables have turned. Maybe I will even teach you how to have fun? Or are you too professional for that?"
Karma replied, "Teach me Spymaster."
When she was done wrapping up his hands, Karma looked around for a clock. He finally found one on the fax machine. It was 7pm. But it felt so much later to him. He looked back at Jynx and said, "On second thought, maybe we can start tomorrow. I am still feeling a bit tired."
She agreed and they both moved to the bedroom to lay down. Karma put his arms around her and laid there exhausted. It had been a long day. Jynx was facing away from him as she said, "As the newly appointed Spymaster instructor, I have a new rule to add to the list. Rule number four - Sleeping with clothes on is prohibited." She laughed and waited to hear Karma's response. But nothing came. "Karma?" No response came. Jynx rolled over to look at him. She whispered, "Daniel?" But once again, no response. Jynx kissed him on the forehead. He was fast asleep. It had been a very long day.
*
Karma woke up with the sun. The light was just now making it through the windows. Jynx was there next to him. She had shed some clothes in the night. She was sleeping in her underwear only. He reached over and pulled her closer to him. Without opening her eyes, she said, "Mmm, is it time to get up?"
Karma closed his eyes again and said, "No, we have all the time we need." There was no need to get up. No reason to ruin this moment. Karma thought about the bumpy road of his past relationships. There were women who loved the thrill of spy life but when it came down to brass tax... it was too much to handle. Short flings. Long-distance heartache. Were they even considered meaningful relationships? Here he was holding a fellow agent in his arms. Someone that actually understood his ways, his job, and his troubles.
It was dangerous. It was amazing. It was a recipe for disaster... and somehow it worked. Oh, the irony. Karma didn't say any of this to her. He just held her. After a few minutes he fell asleep again.
*
Jynx stirred and woke him up. Karma woke up to see the sun was up. It was probably 7 a.m. or later. Jynx was staring at him with a smile. He asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Does it bother you?"
"No." Karma closed his eyes again. Then I opened one eye and said, "Maybe a little."
"Of course, you don't like it when someone is watching you in a vulnerable state." Jynx reached up and touched his nose. "I am going to have to train you out of that." Karma opened his other eye to this. Then she said, "That's right. Last night you said I was the instructor now. So, I am calling the shots."
"I did say that, didn't I?"
"That's right." Jynx reached around him and pulled her face right up to his. They stared at each other for a minute. In one quick motion Karma gave her a kiss then threw the blankets off of himself to stand up. He didn't make it, though. Jynx grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back to bed. "Get back here! I didn't say we were finished. You clearly have discipline problems."
Karma humored her, "Okay boss. What are we doing today?"
"First things first. I am hungry."
"You want to go get some breakfast?"
"No," Jynx smiled and said, "It's not that kind of hunger."
Karma raised an eyebrow at her. Then he removed his sweatpants and said, "I would hate to disappoint." He stepped forward as Jynx pulled his shirt off. She giggled as he tackled her. Despite being different in so many ways, they were compatible, and very compatible in the bedroom. Karma certainly wasn't going to argue.
An hour later... They were lying in bed. Jynx was laying on his chest. She caught her breath and said, "Well, I am no expert. I only have limited medical experience. But I'd say you are fully recovered. Good job."
"Not fully," Karma corrected her, "I am still feeling the soreness a bit."
"Could have fooled me." Jynx climbed up to his face and kissed him. "I have zero complaints."
"Of course, that is the afterglow talking. It's just the dopamine and oxytocin coursing through you. They are natural stimulants that promote bonding between partners."
Jynx smiled and sarcastically said, "Oh, it's so hot when you talk about facts. Is there no end to your seductive powers?"
"Yes, my powers will fade after 48 hours. That's how long they say the afterglow effect can last."
"Did you say 48 hours or minutes?"
"HOURS."
"Darn." Jynx kissed him again then jumped out of bed. She started to put her clothes on and said, "Okay, it is time for the second part of the mission... food."
Karma climbed out of bed as he said, "We have more than just that to do. You might not have noticed but we have been unarmed for the last day and a half. We need to look around this place for a weapon someone might have stashed."
Jynx finished putting on her jeans and shirt and said, "OR... since we are going out for breakfast, we could just go buy one. I am sure you know a guy in town that knows a guy that has guns, right?"
"Not this town. You think I am way more connected than I actually am." Karma finished putting on his clothes and walked over to his personal bag.
Jynx followed him and said, "Must be that afterglow you were talking about. So how does a guy like me and a girl like you find weapons?"
Karma checked the contents of his personal bag, grabbing his wallet. He said, "Trust me. This apartment has a few good hiding holes. I am sure we will find... something." As he said this there was a gasp from the hallway. Something was wrong. Karma's hyper awareness was suddenly activated. He dropped everything and ran to the door. Through the peephole he saw 6 or 7 armed men lining up outside the door. Helmets, body armor, and assault rifles from left to the right. It was enough to make even Karma do a double take. How had he been so careless? Without a word he grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and jammed it under the doorknob.
In a low tone he said, "Breach and clear. The balcony quickly." Karma grabbed his and Jynx's personal bags and followed Jynx to the balcony door.
Jynx pulled the shades and unlocked the door. Then she looked back at the front door. Someone was testing the doorknob. Then she asked, "Who's out there?"
Karma grabbed the cardboard box on the ground, opened it, and pulled out a long red rope. Then he said, "The last people you will ever meet." Karma wrapped a rope around her and attached the carabiner clip to Jynx's belt loop on her jeans. Then he weaved the rope through the bars multiple times. He handed her the rope to hold onto and said, "We didn't train for this. Kick off the wall on the way down."
For a moment, Jynx was at a loss for words but then stuttered out, "I can't do this!"
Karma tied off the other end of the rope as the first THUD sounded from the front door. The soldiers were using the battering ram. Karma quickly stood up kissing Jynx. The second THUD hit the door as Karma said, "I am so sorry." With those words out of the way he pushed Jynx back toward the railing and grabbed her legs. With a quick lift of her legs and a scream from Jynx, she flipped over the railing and began to descend the building. The rope made a hissing noise as it was pulled through the bars. Within a few seconds Jynx was on the ground.
Karma looked back at the door. It was beginning to break. The chair wasn't going to hold on forever. He picked up the personal bags and tossed them off the balcony and down to the ground. With a deep breath he jumped over the guardrail and hung onto the bars on the outside. He watched as the front door gave way, throwing chunks of wood at the apartment floor. Time was up. Karma held the rope with both hands and jumped at the second-floor balcony, then with another big leap he jumped down to the ground.
Jynx stood up and disconnected herself from the rope. Karma quickly looked for the personal bags but, in his haste, he could only find Jynx's bag. From the apartment someone shouted, "Oni vyshli iz spiny!"
Karma grabbed Jynx's bag and shouted, "RUN!" They both made a mad dash toward the cover of the nearby trees. Jynx was right on his tail. Within a few seconds shots rang out. Deep, powerful shots. Two bursts of three shots, clearly assault rifle rounds. Karma darted through the bushes until he found a brick wall. The wall was only 4 or 5 feet tall. He tossed the bag over the wall and jumped it. He landed on the sidewalk near the road. Jynx was not far behind him. With a big leap she threw herself over the wall and landed nearby.
Jynx was breathing hard as she said, "They shot at us. Oh my god, they shot at us!"
Karma was breathing hard, but he managed to ask, "Are you okay?" Jynx nodded but she was clearly shaken. He took her hand and picked up her personal bag. He quickly walked down the sidewalk checking for any approaching threats. Jynx followed without a word. Around the corner of a nearby building, Karma stopped and quickly looked over at her for blood on her clothes. After seeing that she was okay he opened her bag and started looking through it. Eventually he said, "Jynx, where are the car keys?"
"She pointed at the bag and said, "Umm, side compartment." Karma found the keys and zipped up her bag. He once again took her by the hand and started walking again. Jynx started to wipe the sweat off her face. Even her clothes were showing sweat stains. They rounded the next corner.
Karma checked the safe house building to see unmarked vehicles parked out front. He said, "That's not the local PD. I think we acquired the attention of a bad crowd." Jynx still did not respond. Reaching the Land Cruiser, Karma got on the driver's side and unlocked the door for Jynx.
Jynx got in the car, looked at Karma and showed her shaky hands to Karma. Then she said, "I think something is wrong with me."
Karma checked her pulse on her wrist, "You're crashing. You just jumped out of a building and got shot at. Now that it's over, your body is recovering from the adrenaline rush. Just relax for a bit, it will pass." Karma started the engine and drove away from the safe house. They weren't going to be staying here anymore.