Assignment - Part 10:
Ambush
Before he even opened his eyes, Brian rolled on his side and reached his hand out. Surprised to find the other side of the bed empty, the hazel eyes fluttered open and looked around, settling finally on the form of another man.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Brian asked, his voice still carrying the remnants of sleep.
Justin, who was in the process of buttoning his shirt, turned his head and smiled. “I have a lunch date with Daphne.”
“A date?” Brian grimaced as he fell backwards on his pillow.
Justin chuckled as he walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge, his hand finding Brian’s, fingers winding themselves through the long ones of his lover. “Not that kind of date,” he replied, settling down Brian’s wild imagination. “Our dates only involve food and talking.”
“No twisted, kinky hetero sex after that?”
Justin shuddered at the very thought. “Thankfully, no.”
“How about twisted, kinky homo sex?” Brian inquired, pulling Justin down.
The blond smiled, but pulled out of Brian’s grasp. “Can’t. I’m meeting her in half an hour.”
“You said it was a lunch date,” Brian pointed out.
Justin bit his lower lip then pointed to an alarm clock on the nightstand.
Brian’s eyes followed Justin’s. He groaned when his brain finally registered how late it was. “Fuck,” the man exclaimed. “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up?” He sat up quickly.
“It’s your day off. Enjoy it,” Justin replied, getting up in the process to finish getting dressed.
Brian thought about it for a second. That sounded like a very good idea. With one added factor. He reached his hand out, grabbing the back of Justin’s shirt and pulled the man down on top of him. “How about you ask Daphne for a rain check?”
Justin laughed as he tried to wiggle out of Brian’s arms once again. “Can’t,” he said apologetically. “I’ve blown her off twice before.”
Reluctantly letting Justin go, Brian collapsed back on his pillow. “Not literally, I hope.”
He snickered when he saw Justin shudder.
Finally, fully dressed, the blond leaned down and planted a kiss on Brian’s lips. The brunet grabbed the back of Justin’s neck to prolong the kiss.
“Behave yourself today,” Justin instructed as he left the loft.
~~~***~~~***~~~
Half an hour later, Justin walked through the doors of a small cafe near Daphne’s apartment.
“It’s about time,” she said after he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I thought you ditched me once again.”
Justin smiled at her obvious pout. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
The young woman returned his smile.
“So, how’s Brian?” she asked as soon as the waiter was done taking their order.
Justin pretended to be surprised by her question. “How would I know?”
Daphne rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that,” she chastised him. “And stop pretending that he didn’t spend the whole night fucking you senseless either.”
Justin, who had just taken a sip of water, spit out the contents of his mouth at the complete openness of his friend. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he finally looked at Daphne, being greeted by her know-it-all smile.
“I think you’re taking the whole fag-hag thing a little too far, Daph.”
“No such thing,” his friend argued. “Now, come on, I want all the little details.”
“There’s not much to tell,” Justin offered.
Daphne just gave him a pointed look.
Justin sighed, realizing that he was not going to walk away from this without revealing some sort of information regarding his and Brian’s – well, whatever it was that they were in.
“It’s fine,” he said as the food was placed before them. Justin picked up his turkey and ham sandwich, took a big bite out of it.
“Fine? ‘Fine’ is the answer you give when somebody asks you ‘how are you?’ but both of you know that that person is not really interested in getting the actual answer. ‘Fine’, however is not the answer you give your best friend when she asks you about your relationship with your gorgeous, to-die-for coworker slash boyfriend.”
Letting out another loud sigh, Justin set his sandwich down and met Daphne’s eyes. “Alright, what do you wanna know?”
The woman grinned at him. “How is it going? Really?”
Justin looked out the window for a few seconds, watching the cars drive past the shop. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “It’s weird. It’s just so completely different. He’s different. From anybody I’ve ever been involved with.”
“Which is not that many,” Daphne pointed out.
“Having relationships in our line of work is not a very good idea,” Justin replied.
“Yet, here you are.”
He let a hint of a smile grace his lips. “Yeah,” he sighed. “It’s different.”
“You mentioned that.”
“No, it’s just…” He shook his head, trying to find the right words to describe what it was that he and Brian had. “There’s no commitment, no promises, no…bullshit, I guess.” Not only were those meaningless in their lives, but neither of the men involved really cared for those. “We’re together when we want to be and if we don’t, then we’re not.”
“And that’s ok with you?”
Justin heard a hint of worry and concern in his friend’s voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Daphne shrugged. “It’s just that…I think you’re the most romantic person I know, Justin. Ever since we were kids.”
“Yeah, well, things change. People grow up. I grew up.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I don’t have some ridiculous notion about relationships and marriages and all that other bullshit.”
Daphne hmmm’ed at that revelation. “You did not so long ago. Up until you met Brian, if I’m not mistaken.”
“You are,” Justin snapped.
“Am I? So, you’re going to tell me that you wouldn’t rather Brian was monogamous?”
Justin looked away, unable to lie to his best friend.
“Thought so.”
The blond’s gaze settled on the woman’s face. “It’s not important to me. At least not as important as it once would have been. We have fun. The two of us together. That’s all that counts right now. And neither one of us is looking for anything more than that.”
Daphne studied his face carefully and Justin did his best not to let his true feelings show. It seemed, though, that it was too late for that.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Justin opened his mouth to object, but the words didn’t reach his lips. He looked away instead.
“Oh, my God,” Daphne exclaimed.
“It’s not a big deal,” Justin said quietly.
“Are you kidding me? Of course it is,” she argued excitedly. “Ever since your parents got divorced, all I’ve ever heard was how you were not going to let anyone do to you what your father did to your mother, that you would never fall in love.”
Justin inhaled sharply, scowling at his friend for throwing his words back in his face. “I was right about that. Loving somebody means giving up control and opening yourself up to a very real possibility that the other person would use it to hurt you.”
“But isn’t it worth it?”
Justin stared out the window, pondering the question. He had no answer for her. Whether it was worth it or not, still remained to be seen.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“I was surprised to get your call,” Lindsay said as the two parents watched Gus play in the sand box with two other kids. It was a surprisingly warm winter day and Pittsburgh residents took the opportunity to soak in the warm weather before another cold front hit.
“I had some free time,” Brian responded, his eyes not leaving his son’s form less than ten feet away.
“I’m glad. Gus misses you,” Lindsay told him.
Brian breathed in and looked over at her. “Trying the guilt trip shit on me again?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Lindsay joked, holding her hands up in mock defeat. “Just stating a fact.”
Brian returned his attention to his son, frowning. “Do you ever wonder if you made the right decision? Having him, I mean.” It was the thought that had been haunting him for a while now, ever since his fight with Justin at the gym. The doubt deepened when he found out about Justin’s father, forcing Brian to not only think about his own relationship with his father, but also about the one he had with his son.
“Oh, I can’t imagine my life without him,” Lindsay replied. “I love him more than anything. And I know you do too.”
Brian looked at her. He wouldn’t deny it. He loved his son – something that he didn’t think would be possible only a few years ago. But when Lindsay had asked him to donate the sperm, Brian did not even stop to think about the consequences of bringing a child into their world.
“What about everything else? Our job. Our life. You have no idea how that’s going to affect him,” he told her, looking away once again. “Don’t you think it’s selfish to make that decision?”
“Selfish? No. Maybe naïve,” Lindsay said. “I hoped - still do - that somehow everything will turn out just fine.” She smiled softly. “Besides, nobody really knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, or the day after that. It’s not very different from us.”
“Most people don’t have to deal with life and death every day,” Brian pointed out.
“I guess,” Lindsay said quietly. She turned to him. “What brought this on?”
Brian shrugged. “Nothing. Just wondering.”
It was obvious that his friend did not believe him. “Does it have anything to do with a certain CIA agent?”
The brunet glanced over at her and rolled his eyes. “Why would it?”
“You tell me,” she smiled. “You two seem to be spending an awful lot of time together.”
“And how exactly would that be any of your business?”
Lindsay didn’t respond, instead answering a question with her own. “Are you two getting close?”
Brian clenched his jaw and looked away. “I don’t get ‘close’ with people, Linds. You of all people should know that.”
The woman shook her head. “Well, I really hope you know what you’re doing, Brian.”
“And why’s that?” He turned to her, a challenging look directed her way.
“You know why. In our line of work you have to be careful.”
Brian grimaced and looked away.
“I’m not the only one who’s noticed, Brian,” Lindsay continued. “Others have, too. The connection, the bond between the two of you.”
The brunet exhaled sharply. “Even if it’s true, what does it matter?”
“Don’t play stupid, Brian. You know exactly why it matters.”
Brian snickered bitterly. “So, what do you want me to do? Lie and hide like a fucking coward for the rest of my fucking life like you and Melanie?”
“If you wanna get ahead, yes,” she told him.
Unfortunately, Brian knew that she was right. But there was one thing Lindsay did not take into consideration. “I don’t care about that.” It was true. Unlike Lindsay, Brian did not crave moving up the ladder in the CIA. Of course, it would have been nice to get paid more and have more say in the decision making, but he was a man of action and preferred being out in the field.
“What about Justin? What does he care about?”
To that he had no answer. He and Justin did not talk about that – their aspirations, their dreams. And until now, Brian didn’t even realize that he had no idea what Justin wanted to do with the rest of his life. Until now, Brian hadn’t realized that he actually cared.
He swore silently when he heard his beeper go off in the pocket of his black leather jacket. “So much for my day off.”
~~~***~~~***~~~
“What’s going on?” Brian asked as soon as he walked in the room, taking a seat next to Justin who was already there.
The blond smiled at him as stealthily as possible and Brian found himself returning the smile. Glancing briefly at the other people in the room, Brian let his gaze linger on the man Justin had introduced him to a few days before. Jack Rowling. He hadn’t been able to find anything out of the ordinary about the man, but he was still suspicious of him.
Now, however was not the time to think about it. Brian pulled his chair closer to the desk and then turned his attention to Melanie who stood at the head of the table.
“New intel on Kissilyev,” the woman replied. She picked up the remote control and turned on the screen. A picture of a house came on the screen.
“What’s this?” Justin asked.
Melanie turned to him. “We believe this is where Kissilyev is hiding.”
“Where is it?” the blond asked again.
“Here.”
“Here?” Justin asked, his confusion mirroring everybody else’s in the room. “As in…”
“As in, he’s here in the country. More specifically, in New York.”
“Are you shitting me?” Brian blurted out in disbelief.
Melanie shot a glance at him, letting him know that she did not appreciate the type of language he had used, but she shook her head. “No. We believe he’s been there for about two weeks now.”
It seemed too easy. The man they had been looking for all over the world for months, even years, was now conveniently living a few hundred miles away.
“When do we leave?” Justin asked Melanie.
“The plane leaves in forty-five minutes,” the woman instructed him.
Justin nodded and got up to leave. It wasn’t even a question that he would be the one leading the team.
Brian watched everybody else pile out of the room to get ready, then turned his attention to the one person left.
“You’ll be overlooking the operation from Tactical,” Melanie said.
Brian nodded and followed his boss out of the conference room.
Twenty minutes later he stood in the hall leading to the back elevators that took the agents directly to the van access. He watched as one by one the members of Justin’s team walked out of the locker room and passed him by.
Brian frowned when he saw Jack, dressed in battle gear walk past him.
“You’re on the team too?” Brian heard himself ask.
Jack stopped and smiled at him. “Yeah. My first one since I got here,” he said, excitedly. “It’ll be great working with Justin again.”
“I’m sure,” Brian mumbled as the other man walked away from him. He felt the same uneasy feeling from the first meeting with Jack return. He didn’t, however, get much time to dwell on it.
Justin was the last one out of the locker room. The blond smiled when he spotted Brian waiting for him.
“This is so cheesy,” he said as he stopped in front of Brian.
“What?” the brunet asked, unable to hold back a smile.
“It’s like one of those old war movies my mom loves to watch. A girlfriend waving her man off to war.”
He chuckled when Brian rolled his eyes at the analogy. “Is that right?”
Justin did not get the chance to respond, Brian grabbing the front of his uniform and dragging him through a door leading out to a staircase. Closing the door, Brian pressed Justin against it and slammed his mouth against the blond’s.
When he pulled away, both of them breathless, he was greeted by another bright smile.
“I don’t think that part was in the movies,” Justin snickered, his laughter being stifled by yet another mind-blowing kiss.
“I’m pretty sure that what I’ve got in mind definitely wasn’t in the movies,” Brian murmured. “At least, not the ones your mom would watch.”
“Really? And what might that be?” Justin asked, a sly smile plastered on his face.
“Let’s just say, you’ll get a hero’s welcome,” Brian replied before planting another kiss on his lover’s mouth.
“Mmmm, I like the sound of that,” Justin replied. “I guess I should go then.”
Brian reluctantly let go of him and took a step back. “The faster you get the guy, the faster you get me,” he said, his grin full of promise.
“Hmmm,” Justin licked his lips. “If that’s not incentive enough, I don’t know what is.” He took a step forward, giving Brian one last kiss before disappearing behind the door.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“Delta team, hold your position,” Justin heard as they surrounded the house. Justin gave a silent command to the rest of his team to wait. About thirty seconds later he got the confirmation that there were people inside the house, more than likely the man they were looking for.
Giving his team the sign to move in, Justin ran up to the house. Along with two other members of the team, he forced the front door open while the rest of the team went through other entrances and windows.
He wasn’t surprised when they were met by heavy resistance, expecting Kissilyev to have armed guards. Without much effort Justin took out three guards as he moved through the house, searching for one man and one man only.
Few minutes later he got the confirmation from the rest of his team that the terrorist himself was nowhere to be found.
Justin swore silently as he walked through the long hall leading to the dining room. He instructed his team to search every corner of the house, even though he was sure that they would not find anything or anybody. Even if the intel was correct and Kissilyev had used the house, he was long gone by now.
“Base Camp, this is Picasso. Come in.”
Right away he heard Brian’s voice responding.
“Target’s not acquired,” he informed him. “He’s gone.”
There was a pause on the other side of the radio. “Copy that, Picasso.” He heard almost as much disappointment in Brian’s voice as he himself was experiencing in that moment.
There was nothing for them here. Sighing loudly, Justin decided to give his team the order to head out. He didn’t get to give it though, because suddenly they heard helicopters hover over the house and watched as dozens of men surrounded the house. They were ambushed. Kissilyev knew they were coming.
Grabbing his gun quickly, Justin hid behind a staircase as he watched four men head his way. He could hear gunshots from other parts of the house and the outside. He fired at the men, but only got one of them. Three others returned fire as even more of them moved toward him.
“Heavy fire, heavy fire,” he repeated in his earpiece. “We’re surrounded.”
He could hear Brian swearing and the panic in his lover’s voice, but right now he had to focus on getting himself and the rest of his team out of there. Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to go through the front, Justin began moving toward the kitchen, hoping that some members of his team would meet him there.
Unfortunately, what he found there were bodies. Two of his men were lying in the pool of their own blood. He checked both of their necks for a pulse. There was none.
Gripping his gun tightly, Justin began moving through the kitchen, but stopped right away. There were men heading his way from both sides. His only way out was a door leading down to the basement.
“Is there an exit point in the basement?” he asked, hoping Brian had a layout of the house handy. He was already moving toward the door before Brian responded since it was his only option.
“Yes,” he soon heard Brian’s answer. “A closet in the north-east corner of the room. It should have a door leading to the back yard.”
“A closet?” Justin asked as he moved as quietly as he could down the stairs.
“The layout was different when it was first built,” Brian explained.
Justin didn’t question him, knowing that Brian was only giving him the information he knew.
Once he was down in the basement, Justin stopped to listen to what was going on outside. He didn’t hear footsteps, so he figured that the men pursuing him had moved on to other areas of the house.
“They knew,” he said as he moved through the large, darkened basement. “How the fuck did they know?”
“I don’t know,” Brian replied. “We didn’t even see them on the radar.”
“Did anybody else survive?”
“Yes,” he heard behind him.
Turning around, Justin smiled. “Jack. Thank God, I thought…” His voice trailed off when his mind finally registered what he was seeing in front of him. Jack was holding a gun – pointed at him.
Justin felt his blood turn cold, his fingers gripping the handle of the gun tightly as out of the corner of his eye he saw six other men surround him.
“You.” He didn’t have to wonder any longer how they knew that the CIA was going to be in the house and when. “Why?”
Jack shrugged. “Why not? The pay’s a hell of a lot better, that’s for damn sure.”
Justin couldn’t believe it. While he and Jack were not the best of friends, they were close during their time on the Farm. He was excited when he found out that Jack was being transferred to Pittsburgh. Now, of course, he knew the reason behind that move.
“Justin! Justin!” He heard Brian’s panicked voice in his earpiece wanting to know what was going on.
Jack took a couple of steps toward him. He took the gun from Justin first. The blond didn’t fight it. There was no point. Even if he could take Jack out, there were six other men with their guns ready to fire at him at any moment.
“Justin!” He heard once again.
Jack offered him a cold, emotionless smile as he reached out and took the earpiece off Justin’s ear and dropped it on the floor.
“You won’t be needing that anymore,” he said as he ground it into the floor with his boot.
“You’re the one who provided the wrong intel.” It wasn’t a question. There was only one question Justin had left. Why he was still alive. “Kissilyev’s not in the country, is he?”
“Oh, he is,” Jack replied. “And he’s dying to meet you.”
Justin felt a prick in his neck and a few seconds later he felt warm and dizzy. He felt himself falling and then…nothing.
~~~***~~~***~~~
“Justin! JUSTIN!” Brian called again and again. Even though he knew there would be no answer, he still tried. He heard the beginning of the conversation between Justin and Jack – enough to know who was the cause for the ambush at the house.
Taking his earpiece off, Brian flung it across the room.
Go to Part 11