One Night

Chapter Eight
There were just some days when it didn’t pay to get out of bed and Yohji was currently having one of those. No matter how well you plan and prepare for a mission, there were just too many variables that could make it go to hell in a hand basket in moments. That was certainly the case with their current mission.

They’d gotten to the warehouse two hours before the pick-up was scheduled. Things appeared to be going well as Omi hacked into their surveillance cameras while he, Aya and Ken began to take out the guards under Omi’s guidance.

The mission proceeded smoothly until Omi’s voice came over the comms, concern evident in his speech. “The truck for the embryos is here early and we still have about half of the guards to take care of as well as the doctor. I have the tracer on me, but I can’t leave this location right now.”

Aya spoke next, “I’m heading down to the dock. Since we don’t have time to get the GPS locator on the vehicle, I’ll try to get in the back of the truck and you can track my cell phone signal.”

Not willing to let Aya go alone, Yohji broke in. “I’ll be right there. You can’t go without backup.”

“I could go instead,” He heard Ken say, anticipation in his voice.

“Siberian, it makes sense for Balinese to go. We don’t want to pair up two short range weapons,” Omi pointed out, as usual very effective at settling the dispute.

“Balinese, I’m not waiting. If you aren’t here by the time the truck is ready to leave, I’m going without you. Abyssinian, out.”

Yohji wasted no time finishing up the targets he found along the way to the loading dock as Omi guided him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found Aya crouched down behind some boxes, not yet having the opportunity to get near the truck.

“The driver keeps pacing around while waiting for them to finish loading. There’s no way to get inside without him seeing us,” Aya whispered when Yohji joined him.

“What do you suggest?” Yohji asked, knowing that Aya would have a plan.

“It seems that there is only one person placing the cargo in the truck. If the driver doesn’t leave us an opening, you’ll have to distract him long enough for me to get on board.” Aya’s eyes never stopped scanning the loading area.

“Bullshit. You are not going by yourself.”

“You can follow…”

“No. Too many things could go wrong. You know standard protocol states that we don’t go single. It’s too dangerous. Worst case scenario is that we tail the truck visually.” Yohji held Aya’s gaze, neither of them willing to break the stalemate.

“Fine. If we aren’t on after the next load, we’ll go to your car and get ready to follow,” Aya conceded as he turned his head and broke off their staring contest, not appearing happy that he’d had to give in. Yohji nodded while Aya informed Omi of what was going on and their alternate plan.

Just when they thought they’d have to go with the backup plan, the driver called out to the person loading that he was going to take a leak before the long drive. As both men left the loading dock, Aya and Yohji rushed to get in the back of the truck and hide amongst the cargo.

“Bombay, we’re safely on the truck. Once you and Siberian finish here, you can follow in Balinese’s car,” Aya spoke through the comm.

Yohji broke in, “Make sure *you’re* the one driving. I’ve seen the way Siberian rides his bike.”

Aya glared at him for the comment and Yohji settled back with a grunt. It was his fucking car Aya was passing around so nonchalantly. If it was the other man’s Porsche, he was damned sure Aya’d have said the same thing.

When they heard someone returning, they both quieted and remained silent until the truck was completely loaded and the door shut. They heard the rumble of the engine as the truck was started, followed by the motion of it moving.

Yohji couldn’t see a damn thing but heard Aya next to him say, “Bombay, we’re leaving. As soon as you and Siberian are finished at the warehouse, follow us.” There was a pause and Aya said a little louder, “Bombay, do you read me? …Shit.” Yohji saw the light Aya’s cell phone glow in the darkness followed by another curse.

“What’s wrong?” Yohji questioned with a growing feeling of dread.

“We can’t get a signal in or out. Seems the metal surrounding us is interfering with our transmissions. We’re not going to be able to contact Bombay until we get out of here,” Aya said, frustration evident in his tone of voice.

Yohji realized that if Omi and Ken couldn’t track them, it would be up to him and Aya to take out the lab and anyone guarding the place. Feeling justified with his insistence in not letting Aya go alone, he decided it wasn’t worth his life right now to point that fact out. Not knowing how long it would be until they reached their destination, Yohji asked, “How do you want to proceed once we get there?”

Aya was silent for several minutes. Yohji knew he was probably working out the logistics and considerations for completing the rest of the mission with only the two of them. Aya finally replied in a quiet voice, “I think it best if we’re ready to attack the moment they open the door of the truck. If there are too many people in the loading dock, we could get trapped in here. The element of surprise is going to work best in this situation because of all the unknown factors.”

“Whatever you say, you’re the boss.” Yohji felt that Aya’s plan was a sound one. He didn’t relish the thought of getting stuck in this tin box if the guards were armed with guns or automatic rifles. He’d been nicked one time too many, and didn’t want to put up with a bullet wound again. Thinking back to last night with Aya, Yohji wasn’t in the mood to be put out of commission any time soon with their sex life finally going somewhere.

Yohji shifted to get comfortable when his pants became a little tight. He needed to stop thinking like this before he got into trouble. Yohji had a feeling that Aya wouldn’t find it amusing if he suggested a mutual jerk off to pass the time until they arrived at their destination. Guess getting caught with their pants down by the enemy really wasn’t a very good idea.

So Yohji was quite pleasantly surprised when he felt Aya move to sit beside him. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Yohji put his arm around Aya to draw him close. Aya sighed and put his head on Yohji’s shoulder and Yohji leaned his against the top of Aya’s. The two of them seemed content to let the silence prevail while they enjoyed being close together.

The squeal of hydraulic brakes woke Yohji and he realized that he must have dozed off during the drive. Aya moved away slightly to check the time on his phone. “We’ve been driving for almost three hours. I have a feeling we’re almost there. Let’s get into position.”

Using the faint light from each of their cell phones, they carefully made their way to the door and took up a position in each corner. Yohji felt the truck moving again, but at a much slower speed than before. He agreed with Aya’s assessment that they were almost at the lab. Now with the adrenaline kicking in, there was a disturbing mixture of anxiety and apprehension at the thought of Aya being hurt. Yohji forced himself to push that emotion back and focus on the mission once more.

“Watch your eyes,” Yohji heard Aya say. Placing his sunglasses firmly on his face, he knew it wouldn’t be long now.

Yohji had to hold a hand out to steady himself when the truck came to a stop again. This time the engine was cut, indicating they’d finally arrived. Pulling a length of wire from his watch, Yohji stood ready to spring the moment the door opened.

Several minutes passed before Yohji heard someone at the rear of the truck. Suddenly the door flew open and Aya became a blur as he jumped out of the truck, sword swinging. Aya quickly took out a guard standing next to the truck while Yohji got one aiming a gun at his lover. He heard a loud shout and turned to see the driver trying to run from the room as he called for help. Aya made sure the man never drew another breath.

Unfortunately, the noise alerted other guards as several more ran into the room, guns blazing. Yohji ducked for cover and was relieved to notice that Aya had also. The two of them crept among the boxes, waiting for the guards to try and flush them out.

The shooting had stopped and Yohji could just barely make out the sound of quiet footsteps. Pulling more wire out of his watch, Yohji was prepared for a guard to step into view. He sprung when he saw movement and wrapped his wire tight around the victim from behind.

“Watch your back!” A sudden shout from Aya saved Yohji’s life. Keeping hold of the man he’d just killed, Yohji spun and the bullet meant for him was taken by the guard still caught in his wire. He quickly brought the hand up of the guard still holding the gun and squeezed off several rounds, taking down the other guard trying to shoot him.

As he let the dead body fall to the floor Yohji turned back to Aya and his blood went cold as he screamed, “Aya!”

He didn’t have the opportunity to act, but his cry scarcely alerted Aya in time to avoid being knifed in the back as he turned to face the armed guard. Although Aya prevented his spine from being severed, he couldn’t move completely out of harm’s way before being slashed across the stomach. Meanwhile, Yohji picked up the discarded gun and aimed it at Aya’s would be killer, who went down with a hole between his eyes.

Yohji quickly made his way to Aya, all the while looking around to see if there were any new threats. The floor was littered with bodies, but it seemed no one else was left alive except the two of them. With his heart in his throat, Yohji barely managed to ask Aya, “Are you alright?”

Aya hissed a little when he moved the sliced material aside to look. “It’s not very deep. Let’s finish this and get out of here.” Aya straightened up and walked in the other direction. “Take point at the door and I’ll check to make sure that we have everyone.”

Yohji forced himself to walk toward the door while Aya ensured that there was no one else hiding in the small dock area. When Aya returned to his side, Yohji quickly moved through the door, ready to attack while Aya followed. There was no one in the hallway as they cautiously made their way down to the first door, which turned out to be a storage closet, so they continued on to the next.

This door had a small window where they could see a few people inside what seemed to be the laboratory. Yohji looked over to Aya who nodded. This time Aya went through the door first and Yohji followed. Their work here was less life-threatening since these people were unarmed. In the end, Aya took out two techs while Yohji dispatched the remaining three.

Remembering that their orders were to destroy the lab, Yohji looked around and had an idea. “We don’t have the explosives since Bombay’s carrying them, but there seems to be enough flammable material here to take this place down. What do you think?”

Aya scanned the room then walked toward a large drum with flammable warnings painted on the side. “I think this will do the trick. Bring me that towel over there.”

Yohji quickly did as he was asked then watched while Aya set one end of the towel into the barrel, letting the rest trail down the side. “Give me your lighter.”

“Why don’t you get a head start? With that stomach wound, you can’t run as fast as I can.” Yohji suggested, continuing when it looked as if Aya was going to argue. “Besides, we don’t need two people to light this. We’ve got the comms. When you’re clear of the building, I’ll light this and hustle my ass out of here.”

Aya must have realized what Yohji said made sense because he nodded once after only a short pause. Then Aya surprised the hell out of Yohji by grabbing the lapels of his jacket to pull him close for a brief, but very passionate kiss. “You better run like hell because if you get hurt, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Yohji could only watch Aya depart the room with a stupid look on his face, finally moving when Aya’s voice came over the comm saying that he was clear of the building. Yohji wasted no time in setting the cloth on fire and retreating from the room. Within moments he was outside in the cold, dark night. He spotted his boyfriend at the edge of a clearing and quickly joined him.

“Should we get out of here?”

Aya shook his head. “Not until we see the place blazing. We need to report that the building was destroyed.”

Yohji nodded and looked around. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. He flipped his cell phone open and breathed a sigh of relief when he had a signal. With the way their luck was going tonight, he wouldn’t have been surprised if that wasn’t working either.

“I already checked the signal. After the place is burning, we’ll contact Bombay and figure out a way for them to retrieve us,” Aya said a bit wearily.

Yohji looked at his lover a bit closer and noticed the lines of pain around his mouth, along with the way he wasn’t standing as straight as usual. Yohji dared to put his arm around Aya’s shoulders and encouraged the other man to lean against him. Breathing a sigh of relief when Aya rested against him, he returned his attention to the building when a loud explosion ripped through the night, followed by several more. Within minutes, the building was engulfed in flames.

Now seemed the right time to get out of there as Aya turned and led them to what appeared to be a parking lot for the employees. He watched Aya try several doors before they found one of the vehicles unlocked. “Can you hot wire this thing so we can get a bit of distance from here?”

Yohji grinned as he replied, “No problem.”

It had been a while since he’d done this type of thing, and the new cars were a bit trickier, but several minutes later they were driving toward the road. “Where to?” Yohji asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Just drive a few miles and then find a place to pull off the road where we won’t be seen. I don’t want to drive around in a stolen vehicle. I’ll tell Bombay to track our signal and come pick us up,” Aya said while dialing his phone.

Yohji listened to the one-sided conversation. “Bombay, Abyssinian here. Balinese and I have completed the second part of the mission.” “Affirmative.” “Confirm.” “We need you to track our signal and pick us up as soon as possible. Bring my car instead of Balinese’s. Need I spell out what will happen if there is so much as a scratch on my car? Abyssinian out.”

A shiver ran down Yohji’s spine when Aya issued the threat about his precious baby. He was amazed that there was something almost normal about Aya and his obsession with his car. He would have teased his lover if Yohji’s own feelings for his Seven were any less fanatical.

“Bombay and Siberian completed the rest of the mission. The doctor was eliminated as well as all the guards, including any off duty ones. All the women have been rescued and taken to safety. Bombay and Siberian will trace our location and pick us up. Bombay will call back as soon as he pinpoints us on the GPS to give us an ETA.” After Aya finished filling Yohji in on the details, he went quiet.

Yohji glanced over to find him grimacing as he shifted in his seat. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just a little uncomfortable,” Aya replied in clipped tones.

At least Aya had admitted that much. Normally the man pretended that nothing affected him. Spotting an old dirt road, Yohji turned off and slowly followed it until it ended at a lake. Yohji cut the engine and said, “Why don’t we climb in the back seat and get comfortable. We were driving for quite a while so they won’t be here any time soon.”

Aya stared at Yohji for a moment before opening his door to climb in the back seat. Yohji decided to look in the trunk for a blanket or something to cover them with since it was a bit cold and he didn’t want to keep the engine running with the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. He almost gave a shout of triumph when he found a wool blanket tucked in the trunk. Yohji went to the passenger door and got into the backseat of the car as Aya was closing his phone. He noted that Aya’s katana was on the rear window ledge while Aya huddled in his seat. Yohji sat next to him and covered them both with the blanket before pulling Aya to his side.

“Stretch out, Aya.” Yohji adjusted them both so he was leaning back in the corner with his legs in the well of the driver’s side and Aya was against the inside of the backseat. He wrapped his arms around Aya and pulled the man’s head against his chest, threading his fingers through silky hair. Closing his eyes for a moment, he savored the feel of Aya in his arms. It had been too close tonight, the fact that he could have lost Aya... Taking a shuddering breath, he forced those thoughts aside. If he allowed them take over, he’d never be able to let Aya go on a mission again. And that would only lead to Yohji losing Aya in a different way.

Looking for a distraction, Yohji kissed the top of Aya’s head and asked, “Was that Omi?”

“Mmm?” Aya seemed to have drifted off and Yohji felt a little bad about disturbing him. It also made Yohji feel good to know that Aya trusted him enough to be able to relax enough while they were still essentially in a dangerous situation. “Oh, yes. It’ll take them about two hours to get here so nothing to do but wait it out.”

“Then get some rest, Aya. I’ll watch over you.” Yohji kissed Aya’s head again as he hugged him close. Yohji realized that he could only live in the now. Tonight had shown him once again that there were too many variables with the life they led to try and anticipate a future. As he watched over the man he loved, Yohji only hoped that he and Aya survived long enough to build a lifetime together.