Part Thirty Six
by SassyJ

For what seemed an eternity, Sydney stared down the barrel of the gun. The Viper's triumph was obvious, *I've lost*, suddenly it almost seemed easier to cave in, to let him kill her. Then Lloyd and Nigel stepped in between her and their enemy. Lloyd got right in the Viper's face, while Nigel pulled her aside, protecting her with his body.

The Viper's delighted laugh split the tension. "How melodramatic." Lloyd was weak and exhausted, and when the blow came he didn't have the speed of reaction or the strength to parry it. The butt of the pistol connected with his temple and he crumpled to the ground at the Viper's feet. Nigel and Sydney moved to help, but the assassin gestured them back.

"I'll take care of Mr Lloyd, Dr Fox. You really should concern yourself with Ichriem," the voice lowered to a sibilant hiss, "Find Ichriem for me, and perhaps I will let you and your companions live."

Nigel looked him straight in the eye. "Oh, of course, you will. That's what all this has been about, the kidnappings, the beatings, " he looked down at the semi-conscious Lloyd at their feet, "all so you can let us live. Even a child could see through that." He turned to Sydney, "We've seen his face, so he has to kill us!" Scared as he was, Nigel managed a withering contempt that neither Sydney nor Claudia had thought him capable of.

For a micro-second the Viper wavered. It wasn't anything you could point to definitely, but Sydney noticed. Perhaps Nigel was the key, if she could save Nigel and Claudia then may be this wasn't all in vain after all. The tiny kernel of hope began to grow within her.


Two hours later and hope was beginning to fade again. The Viper had pushed them all to the back of the plane, away from the door, so that he could watch them all. Any hopes that the man would let sleep overtake him quickly disappeared. The assassin was still alert, cool and watchful.

Sydney busied herself with her most immediate worry. The health and well-being of the two men in her life. Nigel was still exhausted, his moment of defiance had taken a lot out of him. He was stretched out on the floor next to her and she took time to ensure that he was comfortable and could get some rest.

Then she turned her attention to Lloyd. The agent was in a very bad state, the Viper had produced a set of handcuffs from somewhere, and in a gesture of cruelty that made Sydney sick to think of it, secured the injured man's wrists behind his back. Ignoring the bandages around Lloyd's wrists, the Viper had closed the cuffs viciously tight.

"Derek?" Very carefully, Sydney tried to ease him into a more comfortable position, from the awkward sitting position he'd adopted. For a brief second their eyes met, then he collapsed against her. She stared hard at the Viper, she didn't care about her pride, all that mattered was the injured man leaning so heavily against her.

"Please. Just let him go, he can't do you any harm." For a second, she thought he was going to deny her, then the assassin shrugged, reaching down into a pocket, he flipped a key at her. Retrieving it, Sydney scrabbled at the locks, steadying her fingers and then freeing Lloyd's hands. Gently she peeled the dressings back, Lloyd had recovered slightly as his hands were freed and he held onto his pain as the wounds were revealed. It was a mess. The wrist wounds had started to bleed again, and the flesh surrounding the wounds was swollen and hot to the touch.

Sydney glanced up in surprise as Claudia detached herself from the side of the plane where she'd been since the takeoff and moved to help Sydney patch up the agent's arms. "Derek, we're going to have to clean these up." Syd's tone was almost flat, for an instant their eyes met and then slid away again, even now they weren't ready to acknowledge their vulnerability to each other. He nodded, "yeah."

The monosyllabic answer was enough. Sydney didn't need complications, so she took care of the simple things. As yet, she had no answer for their plight; for the first time in her life, she was facing ruin with no answer, no plan; for a woman used to winning this was unsettling. She was doubting her own capabilities. There was pain in her heart, a pain absorbing her whole being, *Nigel and Claudia*, she'd dragged them in. They had no right being in this, risking everything to back her up. She had no right asking it of them. She was feeling a failure. Syd straightened her back, the tightening of her healing wound reminded her why they were here. *My fault*.

She took the cloth that Claudia handed her, dabbing at the wounds on the back of Derek's right wrist, the gashes were deep and looked nasty. The spy stiffened at her touch, somehow she continued to the next cut, but the pain she was causing him despite his best efforts to tough it out was searing through her. She paused at the third cut, deep and oozing, her fingers were trembling. Desperately, she tried to clench her fist, to steady her nerves.

The cloth was gently removed from her grasp, and Lloyd's right hand pushed into hers. Claudia took over, as though she was born to it. Syd's slender hand trembled beneath the spy's strong square one, and the short blunt fingers closed gently round it. Their eyes met and it was as though the circuit was complete. Whatever love she felt for Nigel, this was a very different emotion coursing through her. *Love*, Syd turned the idea over in her mind, her eyes never wavered from his. She tried to read his expression, despite the intensity of his gaze she couldn't. Disappointed she was about to look away, when the curtain dropped, and everything she both hoped and feared blazed out.

Lloyd knew they were probably going to die, he tried to hold on, not burden her with feelings that she could never return, he knew what she thought of him. But the pain of his injured arms overwhelmed his control. Nothing the Viper could throw at him could break him, but Sydney could reduce him to marshmallow with just one look. The irony made him smile, a feared assassin had no more effect than a bluebottle on a hot summer's day, but a beautiful, headstrong, intelligent, talented woman, and he was a basket case. Suddenly he threw caution and common sense to the winds. He loved this woman, he had no right to love her, no right to desire her, but he did. And he didn't have the faintest idea what he was going to do about it.


Nigel Bailey lay on his side, apparently dozing. His mind was racing. Through half opened eyes he could see the bizarre triangle clearly. Claudia as nursemaid *now there's a turn up for the books*, Sydney as the nervous lover, and Lloyd. Jealousy coursed through Nigel's veins, he could see the spy's expression clearly, and he had no doubt of Lloyd's feelings. Then a strange and grudging respect took over. He could empathise with the agent, it was clear that Lloyd was not going to act upon the naked emotion that Nigel could see.

A momentary glance at the Viper told him that the assassin hadn't seen the passionate exchange. *Good, the gentleman has quite enough leverage as it is. Nigel coolly considered his options, *their options*. The Viper wanted Ichriem, once he had it, they were dead.

Nigel considered what they had. Themselves, each other. There were six of them, and only one Viper. For the first time in his life, Nigel Bailey's thoughts had murderous intent. He knew they only had a few short hours left, the plane was near its destination and once there they had to be ready. So Nigel lay quietly listening to the drone of the engines and formulating plans in his head.

End of Part Thirty Six

Go to Part Thirty Seven.


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