How I Met Your Mother Ch. 05

76 Burrow Street
3:42 am

Instinct told her to run, but her body refused. She knew she had to master her gut reaction in order to carry out her mission. This was the first time she'd actually gone out into the field without any sort of safety net. This was it – just her, no backup, no support team lurking five minutes behind her. No pressure of course, Tom had said when he briefed her, just get in, retrieve the hostage before the deadline and get out.

Skulking in the shadows, Leah swept the amplified listening device around, trying to pick out something, anything she could use. At that moment the headphones crackled, just as two men passed by the side entrance of the warehouse. One was carrying a large crate and the other was talking to him. Although the conversation was virtually inaudible, Leah managed to hear one very important fact.

"...Yep, she's up in the top floor. You know, in the office...?" Leah's mind translated the words the device picked up from their native Serbian as the other man nodded. That was all she needed to know before she broke from her cover, intent on scaling the wall of the warehouse with a grappling hook in hand.

On the roof was a large metal vent, no doubt used for air conditioning in this late spring weather. It was just large enough for her to climb into and soon she found herself crawling through various corridors, twisting and turning tunnels, searching for a place to climb out and begin her search for the hostage. This better be worth all of this trouble, she silently mused, before arriving at an air vent. Leah pressed her face up against the dusty cover to see what was going on below.

Three men were standing around something in the centre of the room. Leah craned her neck to see what exactly it was, soon finding it to be the hostage – Hilary Tompkins, wife of the British Ambassador. She had been kidnapped two days ago in broad daylight, her two bodyguards executed before her eyes. She was strapped to a chair with a gag placed in her mouth to muffle her hopeless screams. One of the men pulled a knife and began walking towards her, ever so slowly as if to increase the suspense. The woman's green eyes grew as wide as saucers and were filled with furious tears. A mixture and anger and apprehension balled up in Leah's stomach.

Suddenly another henchman poked his head in the door, causing the man with the knife to stop and look over. They exchanged a few words before the first man flicked the knife closed and all three went out of the room, closing the door behind them. Leah could see the hostage breathed a sigh of relief – something in Leah's mind suddenly clicked over – now was the time to get her out of there.

With a swift kick, the vent came crashing down, scaring the woman again. But this time it was her saviour. Leah dropped to the ground and hurried over, wanting to escape before her captors returned. She wasn't worried about dealing with a number of them – her concerns lay in what might happen to Mrs Tompkins in such a situation. With a flick of her wrist, Leah unclasped as small knife from the back of her belt and cut through the ropes restraining the woman. Leah removed the gag and helped the older woman to her feet. Immediately she noticed that Hilary was favouring one ankle over the other.

"Oh, thank the Heavens above! I thought it was all over...thank you for saving me..." Leah clamped her hand across Hilary's mouth.

"We're not out of the woods yet," came Leah's rushed reply. "We still need to get you out of here." She released her grip as Hilary conveyed an understanding at their predicament. "How many men have you seen?"

"Five, possibly six," Hilary replied. "But I think..."

The door to the room opened again, the man took a moment to register what he saw before he began to call for help. Leah's arm flashed, hurling the compact knife at him as she pushed Hilary to the ground. The blade struck him in the throat as Leah heard the sound of more footsteps approaching.

She rolled across the floor, reaching the fallen man just as his colleague reached the doorway. He barely had time to comprehend what was going on when Leah grabbed his hand that held his pistol in it. She twisted his wrist sharply; the sound of a bone breaking filled the room before she was able to snatch the pistol from his grip. In a split second she had turned it on him, firing one round into his skull at close range. Hilary got to her feet again as the second captor fell to the floor. Leah looked over at her as she relieved the first henchman of his own firearm.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, yes I think so."

"Good," Leah replied, then looked down at the watch on her wrist. "Because we need to get to the roof quickly." She gestured for Hilary to join her at the door. "That gunshot will have gotten their attention." Leah handed Hilary the second gun as they made their way towards what Leah reasoned was the fire exit. She could hear voices and the sound of feet striking metal steps in the middle distance. "You know how to use one of those?"

"I...I think so..."

"That will do for now." Leah said as she opened the door for her companion. Once she was out Leah tried her best to secure the fire exit. Shaking her head in defeat as Hilary struggled to climb the stairs both women heard something approaching through the air. Reaching the roof once more, the blinding lights of something swooped down towards the pair of them. The downdraft from the rotors enabled Hilary to identify that the vehicle was a helicopter.

"Get in!" Leah shouted, making sure she could be heard over the rotor blades. Hilary hobbled as best as she could, a pair of arms grabbing her at the last minute and hauling her into the passenger cabin. Leah joined her a minute later, banging the side of the helicopter to tell the pilot to move as quickly as possible. The sound of small arms fire whizzing past the vehicle as they disappeared into the night only added to the sense of urgency Leah felt.

"Nice job rookie!" The complement came from the other occupant of the helicopter cabin who was wrapping a thermal blanket around Hilary Tompkins' shoulders. Leah looked over at her blonde haired companion. "I told you that you would be fine."

"Thanks for that Alison," she said as she leaned back in the seat, a sense of satisfaction flooding her body.

Leah woke with a start. The dream had been so vivid it felt like it was yesterday, when she knew the events that had been playing out in her mind had taken place nearly thirteen years ago. A first time for everything, she thought as she rolled over in bed and pressed herself into Andrew's body.

He mumbled something in his sleep as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her body, holding her against his cool skin – he never bothered with a t-shirt or pyjamas at night, just his boxer shorts. Whatever it was he was dreaming about was a mystery to her.Probably something that he'll twist and tease into the next book he works on.Resting against his shoulder, content with her thoughts, Leah closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

****

"So, now that the kids are at school, what's on the agenda today?" Andrew asked as he plodded towards the bed in a pair of faded denim jeans and a discoloured blue shirt. There were two cups of tea in his hands.

"I have to go into the office to sort out some paperwork," Leah said as she sat up in bed, taking the cup from his out-stretched left hand. "Sign a few things, get my final payslip and pension statement, then I thought I'd swing by the clinic and see Alison – if all goes well she should be clear for visitors from today." She took a sip from it and felt the scalding hot liquid drip down her throat. Leah closed her eyes for a moment – there was something special about the way Andrew made a cup of tea – something that made her think of weekends in the summer spent at her grandmother's house in the country during her childhood. "After that, that's it for me – I thought we might take the kids to the park later when I pick them up from school. Cassie's ballet lesson isn't until seven tonight. Is there anything you need me to get on the way back?"

"No, not that I can think of – we might need some milk but we can get that later," Andrew said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "I need to get the next few chapters ofQuarantinefinished before the end of the day, but the park sounds like a good idea." He moved around slightly, eventually leaning back so he was reclining on the bed next to his wife.

"I read the last bit you'd written," Leah said, placing her mug on the bedside table and placing her head on Andrew's chest. "You didn't kill Jenny the Toad Princess after all."

"Well, you know me, big softy at heart! It creates more of a family dynamic between the principle characters with her in it. Besides, I wouldn't say it was an entirely blood-free resolution to the situation – Bob the Mechanic got torn to pieces when the group saved her,"

"Yeah, but he was a prick so I didn't feel bad about him dying," Leah replied. Andrew began to stroke Leah's hair. "Mmm...that's nice..." No words were exchanged for a few minutes as Leah found herself starting to drift off to sleep again. The shrill ringing of the phone startled her.

"Bollocks," Andrew said as he slid out from under her. "I'll bet that's Diane."

"I'd better start getting ready," Leah added, looking over at the alarm clock. "Traffic will be a bitch otherwise."

"Say hello to Alison for me while you're there." Andrew said as he trundled downstairs to answer the phone.

****

By the time she reached the office it was nearly half past ten. Once the car was parked in the secure car park, Leah waved her security pass through the scanner before she walked through the large x-ray machine situated in the basement. The machine had always unnerved her – she had worried the daily routine of being bombarded by radiation might have some untold effect on her body.

Andrew had done his best to explain to her that it was a completely benign process – going as far as to rest his head on top of the microwave while he was cooking rice one night to prove his point. Considering his family history with all things tumour related Leah had to concede that he'd made his point in the most forceful way possible.

After a short elevator ride up two floors she made her way towards a small conference room reserved for the more complex inter-departmental meetings and for a secondary purpose that she was undertaking today.

The induction talk for new recruits.

Part of her agreement with Tom regarding the immediate effect of her resignation was that he wanted her to speak to some of the new field operatives who had been recently recruited. None of them had actually undertaken any operational work yet and had been employed as analysts up to this point, so Leah already knew some of them.

However, today she would be addressing them from the opposite side of the fence. She had wrestled with how to approach this, however Andrew had suggested to her that she speak from the gut. Leah wasn't sure how this was going to go down, as she usually hated public speaking. Upon entering the room, she saw Rob Harris standing at the head of the room, talking to the assembled team members. The butterflies in her stomach quadrupled.

"...And here she is," Rob said, gesturing towards Leah. Sixteen pairs of eyes turned to look at her. "For those of you who don't know her, this is Leah Hargreaves, one of our field operative team leaders and intelligence analysts."

"Formeroperative." Leah stressed as she walked to the front of the auditorium. "I stopped working for the department with effect from three weeks ago – I'm simply doing this as a favour to Tom Benedict before I vanish off the face of the earth." She turned to face the assemble masses. They all seemed so young – some of them looked like they had come straight out of university.Then again,she thought,so did I. She recognised three faces – Will, Gavin and Emma had all worked for her in Tom's department.

"I...I don't know what you're expecting me to say," Leah began. "However I'm just going to be brutally honest with you all." She paused. "In three years time, forty percent of you will not be involved in field work." She let it sink in. "In five years time, eighty percent of you will not be involved in field work – you'll have either decided to return to an analysts role or you'll have left, if you're lucky."

"And if we're unlucky?" A woman with short auburn hair in the front row asked.

"You'll be dead." Leah replied, fixing her with her gaze. "Now, this job is nothing like it is in the movies or on television. It's dirty, it's unpleasant and although there are times when it's rewarding, the sense of loss you come to feel from seeing people around you die can become overwhelming." Leah walked around the impromptu stage slightly, looking at the floor for a minute as she searched for some inspiration. "Stress related illnesses are common place, along with things like depression and alcoholism."

"If you have any doubts about taking up this post, any questions in your mind about whether this is the path you want to take, then I suggest you get up and leave this room right now." Leah watched them for a moment – there were several hesitant expressions in the audience now. "There's no shame in admitting to yourself that this isn't the thing for you. It takes a special person – a strong person – to cope with this type of work."

"Why?" The auburn haired woman in the front row asked. "We all know the risks that come with this job, we wouldn't be here if we didn't." Leah nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Clare."

"Okay Clare," Leah said. "What are you? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?"

"Twenty-two." Clare answered.

"And are you in a relationship with someone at the minute?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Clare asked. Leah smiled at her.

"Just answer the question."

"Well, sort of..."

"Sort of," Leah repeated. The young woman had already irritated her and she decided she wasn't going to hold back. "Well, that's good enough for now. I want you to think about the fact that every night when you go home to your special someone you will have to lie to them about your day; that when you get a phone call at two in the morning you'll have to explain to them why you need to grab a pre-packed suitcase full of clothes and disappear to an unspecified foreign country where you won't be able to contact them for an unknown length of time." Leah could feel the bile starting to churn in her stomach.

Did I really hate this job this much towards the end?

"And think about how your parents are going to react when they are told that their child has died, probably in some random traffic accident or pointless mugging, all alone in a foreign country – because they're never going to know what happened to you. Shit, they probably aren't going to have a body to bury if it happens when you're overseas." Leah looked at Clare – she could see that her words were having an impact on some; Will and Gavin both seemed to be having second thoughts.

"Are you trying to scare us?" Clare challenged her –she's the cocky one in the group,Leah reasoned,the alpha female whose wounded pride is driving her on to fight back.

"No, I'm not trying to scare you." Leah replied softly. "I'm trying to help you make an informed decision." She looked straight at Clare again. "However I suspect you're too stubborn to see what I'm trying to tell you until it's too late." Leah addressed the rest of the group. "This job can be worth it if you're strong enough." She looked down at the floor. "I guess that's all I have to say." Leah looked over at Rob. "Thank you."

"No, thank you Leah," he said, shaking her hand. "Say hi to Andrew and the kids for me."

"So, that's it?" Clare blurted out.

"Clare, shut up." Emma hissed.

"No," Clare knocked her away. "You come in here and deliver the "you're not cut out for this line of work" speech and then just walk out?"

"Miss Fletcher, that's enough..." Rob interjected.

"Rob, it's okay." Leah said, addressing Clare. "Yeah, that's it. I come in here, tell you the truth and you have to make up your own mind. You can either take what I've told you and use it, or you can ignore it, walk into this with your eyes closed and wind up in a body bag six months down the line. Your choice."

"Bullshit!" Clare spat.

"Bullshit? Bullshit?" Leah laughed. "I'll tell you what's bullshit – your attitude. I've worked with people like you before and every time something gets fucked up along the way or someone dies, because people like you think that the rules don't apply to them." She shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry if I upset you with some of my comments – maybe they were insensitive, but if you don't have a thick skin, I suggest that you leave."

"Like you're doing?" Clare goaded her. Leah's smile was rueful.

"Okay," she said. "Get up."

"What?"

"Get up – out of your seat." Leah repeated herself. "Come on, you know you want to – I'll give you a free shot at me if it makes you feel any better." Everyone else in the auditorium looked at each other, then at the two women. Leah's challenge was a direct threat to Clare's perceived dominance of the group. Leah watched her as she carefully rose to her feet and approached Leah on the stage. Rob took a step back, shaking his head. Clare suddenly appeared to be nervous as Leah beckoned for her to come closer. "Come on, you're about a decade younger than me and I've had two kids, you should be able to take me, right? Go on, give it your best shot."

Everyone seemed to be holding his or her collective breath as Clare darted forward and drove her fist towards Leah's face in a palm-strike. Quicker than Clare could react though, Leah twisted to her right and dodged the blow, catching the younger woman's arm. Before Clare could counter the manoeuvre, Leah swept her legs out from under her and she crashed to the stage. Leah then dropped down, placing her knee against Clare's throat while retaining her grip on her arm.

"Gavin; what was the first thing I told you about working in the field." Leah called out as she looked into Clare's eyes. The woman was struggling beneath Leah's hold, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she realised she was struggling to breathe.

"Never allow your emotional state of mind to cloud your judgement."

"Very Vulcan, but close enough," Leah commented to the group, and then she addressed Clare. "Now, your first mistake was to allow me to get under your skin. By winding you up you lose focus, allowing me to get the upper hand. Your second mistake was to hesitate. You should have tried to slug me when I was too busy taunting you. Finally, you seriously over-estimated your abilities with your strike pattern – you practically telegraphed the move to me with your stance." Clare's lips were starting to turn blue and her eyes were beginning to roll into the back of her head. She lifted her knee up and released the hold. Clare immediately gulped down several deep breaths of oxygen. As she rolled over she saw Leah's hand reaching down to her. As she helped her back to her feet, Leah patted the younger woman on the back.

"Still, no permanent damage done," Leah said as she walked out of the auditorium.

****

London
2005

"We've received a report that Yassef Tariq has been working out of the Turkish Embassy in Madrid as some sort of low level courier," Tom addressed the team sitting in his office. Alison and Leah looked at each other, exchanging a puzzled expression as their fellow operatives – Surinder Rajak and Howard Metzelars – were looking through the pages of notes that they had been handed upon arrival.