OOM: The Rescue

[geeky_agent]

She stepped through the half-open door, her movements cautious and precise. The darkness fell like a veil around her and made it difficult to seperate ground from sky.

Once outside, Chris looked for Tony and had to follow the sound of his voice to find him. He was standing over a map and talking on the satphone, he glanced up for a second before his attention was directed to the map again.

"The mine is right across from us," she told the men behind her. There was no need to point it out to them, it was impossible to miss.

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[kayip.livejournal.com]

He doesn't hesitate to murmur, "I will", before starting down the tunnel, trying to make out any human smell or the sign of a door along the wall.

There isn't much immediately. The small space and darkness start to bother him a little, but he doesn't show it.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Sharpe's boots are, somehow, near-silent on the floor as he follows.

He doesn't speak, not seeing any need to.

[kayip.livejournal.com]

He pauses abruptly once they're farther, smelling something human, rather close by...

And there's a door on the right side. He silently leans closer, and sniffs the air again.

Then shakes his head with certainty. Not him. Very carefully, he walks past it.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Sharpe glances curiously at the door as they pass, but... if the boy says that's not the one, he's prepared to believe it.

Onward, then.

[kayip.livejournal.com]

Behrooz continues, a little more slowly, sometimes sniffing at the doors if they pass, sometimes going past altogether. But he's not getting anything of Jack's scent.

A little ways, and he notices another tunnel intersects up ahead. He can't smell anyone, though there are dim footsteps from the tunnel heading left. He pauses and strains his eyes in that direction, but it's a ways off.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Sharpe stops abruptly behind him, peering over his shoulder.

"What is it?"

[kayip.livejournal.com]

"I'm not-" But he cuts off abruptly, moving closer, leaning in the direction of the footsteps.

And now voices. He doesn't know any form of Chinese, there's definitely no English -

- are they getting louder?

He backs up, foot scraping on the ground, he's not used to being the one that hides - "They're coming this way."

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

A glance around shows there's nowhere to hide except back the way they came.

"How many, do you think?"

[kayip.livejournal.com]

Three distinctive voices, but too many footfalls, there's metal and residue and four separate - did a door open -

"Four - I -" Lamplight starts to crawl forward, ahead of the approaching men, but he turns away for a second -

"I thought I -" But when he abruptly swivels and raises his gun, it's too late. At least it seems the man coming up behind them hadn't expected Behrooz to turn, and the shot hurried - goes off, closer to the stomach. It's pure instinct that causes Behrooz to return fire at all and he's stumbling against the wall without really noticing if he hit.

It definitely won't help them stay hidden, though.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Sharpe swears under his breath in several languages, and doesn't stop as he turns to face the men who are now approaching at a run, pistol drawn.

He glances at Behrooz, just long enough to check he's still alive, and that the man who shot him's down, before there's no more time.

[kayip.livejournal.com]

He missed.

That's kind of a strange thing to think.

But there isn't much else when he's trying to climb out of thoughts muddled mostly with pain and the sudden, rather clear scent of blood. He grasps at the wall very hard and tries to look in the direction of the other men, the light stinging his eyes.

"I'm - all -"

But he stops speaking, realizing it doesn't matter all that much.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

Three men come racing down the tunnel. Only three, and he's faced far worse odds than that and come out alive.

He aims the pistol, fast but accurate, and fires before any of them have a chance to realize their danger. One.

The sword, drawn smooth and quick with practise, slicing into a neck and almost taking the man's head off. Two.

The third, staring at him wide-eyed, gets a vicious smile and shares the benefit of a quick death with his colleagues. Three.

And then it's back to the fallen boy, helping him up hastily.

"Come on, lad. Let's get you out of here."

[kayip.livejournal.com]

He doesn't really protest this. Though, it's not clear he's thinking much about it, either. His eyes seem rather distracted by the blood, though it's really the smell that's starting to overpower him. It's just to be left there.

He does nod dimly to this, after a moment.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

"Can you walk?" he asks Behrooz hastily, supporting him so much as to be almost carrying him.

The question's intended as much to keep the boy alert as anything.

[kayip.livejournal.com]

Behrooz pauses, then makes a valiant attempt at walking.

But there's some wheezing, and it seems he can walk, but only if he's cluthing at the wall. He doubles over a little, but never tries to touch the wound. Or look at it, for that matter.

Keeping focused on his surroundings is almost enough to distract from the pain.

[and-far-away.livejournal.com]

That's good. Sharpe could carry him, but not without some difficulty.

Supporting him as they walk, as fast as Behrooz can manage, is much easier.