Sleeper Agent (closed)

[BeachBum25]

He held her in his arms. He was not going to let her go. It would take some time for her to understand what had happened, and what was going on.

When she sat up, he held her.... not too tightly, but enough to let her know that she was not going to be released. He felt her surrender to him, and he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"Relax Nicole. It will become evident in due time that this is not a dream, nor is it another simulation. This is all very, very real."

 

[zydrate]

Blood.

She was sick and tired of seeing blood. Especially her own. The next morning, Nicole had woken up, still wrapped in Paul's arms, "I'll be right back," she whispered as she pried herself away. Now she was in the bathroom, looking at her wound. It had finally clotted up and scabbed over. The area was tender and it made her head hurt like hell..but as they say, if you could feel pain, then that meant your were alive.

Her clothes still had blood on it but since she didn't have any thing to change into, she had no choice but to wear them for a while longer.

Memories of last night came back to her and she just shook her head. What the hell. She remembered everything that had happened and if she told Paul any of it, then he would be...well, pissed off for starters. Nicole knew they were probably looking for her because of what she knew. No, it was best to pretend she didn't remember for now...

 

[BeachBum25]

Paul got up and followed Nicole toward the bathroom. He did not go in. He gave her some space. He wasn't sure how she would react. He wasn't sure if she would tell him the truth about what she did and did not remember. There was no telling how much of the brainwashing was still having an effect on her.

He walked away and headed for the kitchen. He had no idea why he was going there. There was no way there was anything there. It had been years since anyone lived here. He paid someone to come a couple times a month to check on the place and make sure everything was okay.

He hopped up and sat on the kitchen counter. For the first time he was able to think about the information he got last night. He could not believe that the woman who had been sent to kill him..... who had tried to kill him.... .was actually his wife. Now some of the strange feelings he had earlier abou ther made sense.

 

[zydrate]

A few hours had passed and Nicole tried her best to ignore her husband. She only did so because she betrayed him. The pictures she remembered seeing the other night …fuck, she didn’t look like that anymore. She had stared at herself this morning in the bathroom mirror and wondered what Paul thought of her. Did he see her as Nicole, his wife? Or Alison, the woman who tried to kill him all this time?

Nicole had found a quiet spot on a rope swing in the backyard and had been sitting there for almost an hour, lost in her thoughts. It was chilly out but she didn’t feel the cold…hell, she didn’t feel anything right now. Why was that?

Well, OK, maybe she did feel something. She felt that she wasn’t right for Paul anymore…

Speaking of, she felt him approach her and she realized he had made plenty of noise…probably not to startle her. She kept her gaze on the distance and decided to speak first, “I’m leaving…it’s not safe for you when I’m around.” This wasn’t something she had really thought about and knew he would resist…maybe? “Before you try to argue, you know what I’m saying is true. You’ve been put through enough. I’m not the same person I was…things have changed…”

 

[BeachBum25]

"Things changed a long time ago. In fact, things have changed continually since you have been gone. I am not going to try to talk you out of anything. All I ask is that you think everything through. You don't have anywhere to go. You don't have anyone to go to."

He turned and walked away from her. He knew that this was just as hard on her as it was on him. He did not want to put pressure on her. He just wanted her to know that he would be there for her.

 

[zydrate]

They had come to a sort of silent truce earlier that day. Paul had gone into town and gotten some things for them to use to make dinner. Now, they found themselves in each other's arms in the bedroom, just laying in bed, holding each other...where Nicole had told Paul everything she remembered.

She knew she had to talk to him. It had been hard on them both...she was sure of it. Especially him, seeing as how he had gone through a time where he thought his wife was dead. Nicole told him of the assignment. She wasn't supposed to tell him she was going on assignment because their handler had told her not to say anything. Those exact details still weren't clear to this day.

In all truths, the assignment should have been easy. A pick and drop. But she had run into trouble and conisdered calling her husband for backup when she was involved in an accident. She remembered being shot and then drugged...anything and everything one could think of happened to her. It was a miracle she had survived. She remembered them saying she had flat-lined but they brought her back...

And then, the simulations. Subjecting her mind to various scenarios of what she had to do...

The killings...the murders...

If she didn't, they'd work on 'correctional procedures' until she did.

What made her not fight was the implant. That damn implant...

She wasn't sure what Paul thought, but with her head on his chest, she could hear his heart rate increase and she felt his hate because she hated all that happened to her also. Nicole laid in his arms until she fell asleep. Where this would take them from here, she wasn't sure... hopefully morning would bring some answers...

 

[BeachBum25]

Paul did not sleep. He laid there with her in his arms and stared at the ceiling. He felt her breathing relax and he knew she had fallen asleep. He had no idea what was going on or what he should do. Yes, this was his wife, but......

His mind raced. So many things ran through his head. The one thing that continued to go through his head was why she had gone on her own on that assignment. He wondered if her plan all along was to defect. Maybe everything about this implant was just a ruse. Maybe she had been planning all along to kill him. Maybe she still was.

 

[zydrate]

The next day, Nicole continued to keep her distance from Paul. She knew that even though she had told him all she could remember, he wasn't acting any different...

Not that she blamed him, if she had been in his shoes, she would be doubtful also. He was playing it smart.

Well, nothing was going to be solved over night and she knew things wouldn't be the same as before with them. The tension was high and she couldn't take it anymore...she knew where he kept the keys to the car and she had looked at a few old maps to pass the time..all she had to do now was wait for the right time to leave.

 

[BeachBum25]

He stayed away from her, but he kept his eyes on her. There was no way he could trust her. He had no idea if he would ever again be able to trust her, because he didn't know the real story. Maybe she didn't either, but......

He moved to the bedroom, and he sat in a chair facing the door. He wanted to see her if she came through the door after him. After sitting there for a few hours, he fell asleep. Something needed to happen. The boredom had literally put him to sleep.

 

[zydrate]

Nicole bided her time…and it finally paid off. She was able to get the keys to the vehicle and as she drove off, she realized as she hit the main road some time later, he had them hidden extremely well.

Leaving him hadn’t hurt as much as she thought it would…probably because she knew he didn’t believe her. His demeanor was so cold, she didn’t think he’d ever come to believe her so it was best if she left. Where she would go? Who knew? Lay low for a while on her own…find the rest of these guys who did this to her…who destroyed her life.

Over the next few months, she managed to find herself in and around Europe and Asia. There were times she thought back to Paul but quickly brush any thoughts of him aside. She didn’t have any ill will against him…she just hoped that he put his life back together after all they had been through…

 

[BeachBum25]

When Paul woke up and realized that Nicole was gone, he cursed at himself and headed outside. How long had he been asleep? Who knew just how far she had gone by then?

He spent a couple of days searching for her, but he knew it was no use. He went back to work at the Agency, and he would, periodically, use some of the resources there to try and track her down. He got some intel on her, but it was sporadic. There were reports of her in Karachi, Cairo, Berlin, Paris, and Bruges, however, there was not enough to have him head off to try and find her.