Second Chances Part 4 - The Holly and the Ivy

Second Chances Part 4 - The Holly and the Ivy by Bethhawke.


Medusa casually walked towards the lab. Her ID had got her this far but now she had to rely on luck. Only the highest level of staff were allowed in the lab and she could guess why. After putting together the prototype laser they needed to test its effectiveness and for that they needed human guinea pigs, ones who would not be missed. The question was not whether they would die but how quickly death occurred and how to prevent it if one of their own accidentally got shot. Now that the tests were complete they were going to start mass production of the weapon and she wanted to get the prototype to Archangel before they started. What she needed was the test results and then she could leave and make her rendezvous with whoever Archangel had sent to pick her up. She just hoped that her message had got through.


Two men dressed in white coats were walking towards her, and another man was close behind her. She wasn't worried about the two, they were discussing what to have for dinner and were obviously on a break. The one behind her was a problem though. When she reached the next door it was going to be obvious that she didn't have clearance to go any further. Medusa slowed down and made a point of looking at her watch, hoping that the man would pass her and if she was really lucky he might even hold the door for her.
It wasn't her lucky day, as she slowed the man did pass her then he turned to face her.
“Do you have clearance for this area?” he demanded in German.
Medusa considered her options, she recognised him now as one of the professors who worked in the lab and knew that he would never let her in.
“I got lost. I have a meeting and I am late. Can you direct me to.....” she glanced behind her then turned suddenly placing a judo kick at his neck. He fell to the ground but had been expecting trouble and was prepared. His legs came out, kicking at her ankles and knocking her down, her outstretched arm hitting the ground with a thud.
He scrambled on hands and knees towards the lab door, reaching in his jacket for his gun. He never had a chance to draw it. Medusa pointed the laser at him and shot him through the head. He slumped to the ground, a trickle of blood sliding down his face, but not before his hand pressed the alarm by the door.
Loud bells sounded and Medusa knew she only had a few minutes to get the documents and escape.
Checking her watch she set the small explosive device that she had ready in case of an emergency like this. She had two minutes before it exploded so acting quickly she slipped the professor's door pass out of his lab coat pocket and unlocked the door.
At the far end of the lab there was a desk and on the desk next to a computer was a file and two discs. She grabbed them, not having time to check if they were what she wanted and looked at her watch. She had been quicker then she thought so she opened the disc drive. Sure enough there was another disc in there and she grabbed that too, pocketing them all. Another glance at her watch and her heart nearly stopped. The time hadn't changed, she had no idea how long she had been in the lab and the bomb was next to the door.


Moving as fast as she could she covered the distance to the door in record time, then had to swipe the pass to exit. Time was moving in slow motion now as she opened the door and glanced down the long corridor. She could hear the military boots pounding the floor even over the sound of the alarms and it would only be seconds before they rounded the corner and saw her and the dead professor.
It only took her a second to process this information and then the more immediate danger became evident. Running in the opposite direction to the approaching footsteps she just got to a bend in the corridor when the bomb exploded, much too close for comfort. Throwing herself to the ground, arms instinctively covering her head, she felt dust and rubble landing on her. From the screams behind her it was clear that the men had been closer to the bomb than she had and she glanced behind her. She wished she hadn't as the sight of the bodies, broken and bloodied swam in front of her eyes as a wave of nausea and dizziness threatened to overcome her. The bomb had been meant as a diversion, she had not intended to injure or kill anyone with it. She had been working in the complex for a couple of years and had come to know and like some of her colleagues. Deceiving them was one thing, blowing them up was another.

Swiping away the tears from her eyes she pulled herself up using the wall to support herself and assessed her injuries. Apart from the fact that she could no longer hear the alarm bells clearly, and the dust in her eyes was making them sting she didn't have much more than grazes on her hands and knees.
Now she just had to get out of he building and make her way to the rendezvous site. She had her diversion and all personnel seemed to be running towards the lab so as casually as she could Medusa left the building. The guard on duty at the gate didn't present a problem as he was directing the fire truck from the other side of the complex and using the professor's key she unlocked the pedestrian gate and slipped through undetected.

“At least she chose a quiet place for a pick-up,” commented Marella, talking just to try to stop her teeth chattering.
“Yeah,” agreed Hawke a little testily, “a little too quiet for my liking. Where can she be hiding out? If the pick-up was so urgent she should have been here by now.”
“Give her time Hawke, she'll get here if she can. I just hope nothing has gone wrong,” Marella looked worried for her cousin and not for the first time Hawke was regretting bringing her.
Suddenly Dom called to them from inside Airwolf, “I'm registering an explosion couple of miles from here.”
“That could be her,” Marella said excitedly, “it wouldn't be the first time she's used an explosion as a diversion.”
Hawke ran towards Airwolf, “Help me get the net off. If she's followed we may need to get away quickly.”
Hawke and Marella removed the camouflage net and stored it away while Dom continued to scan the area.
“One life sign moving towards us quickly from the east. Get ready everyone!” Dom shrugged off his jacket and put on his helmet.
Hawke and Marella drew their guns and pointed them towards the direction Dom had indicated. The snow was falling heavily now and lay thick on the ground muffling any noise but they still heard her coming.
“Over there,” Hawke said quietly to Marella, pointing in the direction of the noise.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, a woman came crashing out of the trees and stopped abruptly when she saw the helicopter. Drawing a weapon she shouted out in German.
“She says to lower our weapons or she will shoot,” Marella translated for Hawke's benefit.
“I kinda got that,” he replied tersely, “talk to her, that's what you're here for.”
“Adriana, lower your weapon. We're all friends. We've come to take you home.”
She didn't appear to hear her and advanced slowly, “Adriana, it's me, Marella. Lower your weapon now!” Marella lowered the hood of her coat so the her face was visible but Adriana showed no sign of recognition.
Hawke was getting worried, “Marella get inside. I don't want you injured.”
Marella slowly moved around Airwolf and opened the door, shielding herself behind it. Hawke did the same with his door and called out to Adriana, “Adriana. Medusa. We are friends. You must recognise Marella,” he was beginning to wonder if she had been drugged or mind washed. He knew from experience what some drugs could do to you. He had once shot Dom believing him to be the enemy.
He tried again, “Medusa, Archangel sent us. You're safe now, lower your weapon and get inside.”
He bravely took a step towards her and then cried out in agony as his right arm was struck by what felt like pure heat. He dropped his gun and fell to the ground clutching his arm. Marella ran to him, regardless of her own safety, and found herself face-to-face with Adriana. Marella raised her arms in surrender but Adriana didn't shoot.
“Marella? Is that you?” she asked, clearly confused.
“Yes it's me,” she drew her cousin into a quick hug then turned her attention to Hawke, “What have you done to him?”
Adriana continued to look at her confused, “What?”
Marella took in her appearance and suddenly realised that Adriana couldn't hear her and was probably having trouble seeing, “You got too close to the explosion, didn't you?” she shouted to her cousin, “what did you shoot him with?”
Adriana handed her weapon to Marella who immediately recognised it was the prototype laser.
“What do I do?” she shouted, “How do I treat him?”
Medusa suddenly realised her situation, “He's the pilot?” she shouted unable to control the level of her voice “Shit!”
“Yes! How do I treat him?”
“Snow, lots of it. Cover his arm, we have to stop the burning inside.”
They lay Hawke on his side on the ground and covered his arm with snow. As the cold started to ease the pain he came around, “What the hell was that?” he demanded, his eyes clouded with pain.
Dom, who had been watching anxiously from his engineering position while scanning the area, took a moment to check on his friend.
“Dom, I'll be okay. Keep scanning in case she was followed.” Dom climbed back into Airwolf and continued to scan.
“I'm sorry,” Medusa told Hawke, “I thought you were one of them.”
“I gathered that, unless you make a habit of shooting friends,” he replied sarcastically, “what does that thing do?”
“It's a type of laser. It burns you from inside. If you don't stop the burning then it will eventually kill you. The treatment is simple, just stop the heat.” She piled more snow onto the wound.
“Yeah, and I die from hypothermia in the meantime,” he grumbled.
“He has a point,” Marella said, “he's soaked through and it's below zero out here. We need to get him warm, while still cooling down his arm.”
Hawke lifted his head painfully, “Fill the water storage containers with snow. If we keep the temperature in Airwolf low then we can stop it melting.”
“Good idea,” Marella ran to get the containers and filled them with snow, “Dom, help me get him inside and find a dry flight suit. Lower Airwolf's temperature to just below freezing. We can keep our coats on to keep warm, but the snow needs to stay frozen.”
Once they had him inside and Dom had helped him to dry off and change into his dry clothing, Hawke tried to get into the pilot's seat.
“Hey, you're in no state to fly,” Dom protested.
“I'll be fine,” Hawke argued.
“No way Hawke,” Marella intervened, “Dom will fly, I'll take engineering and you'll sit next to me so I can continue to treat your arm. Adriana can sit up front.”
“No need. I can fly,” Hawke was determined to fly so Marella removed the snow from his arm. Within a minute the pain reached unbearable levels again and he felt his sight receding.
“Okay, you win,” he grudgingly gave in, realising that he couldn't put them all in danger.
“Glad you see it my way,” Marella said, packing snow back onto his arm, “now let's get out of here before someone realises that Adriana has got away with their new toy.”