OOM: Posta Mita

[latino_menace]

He knew that when he left the bar, there'd be no space to get used to being back again. He's literally walked through one door and out another, into the darkness of a Mexican night in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people. It takes a great effort not to look behind him, back into the barn where his brother's corpse lies. He knows it'd be the last look he ever got at Hector but he resists the urge, just stalks straight to the waiting SUV, rubbing a hand down his jaw as he tries to predict how this is going to go. He wants to focus but...shit, he's home. Or as near as. Less than an hour and this'll be over.

Bauer gets into the car behind him. He ignores him, but it's hard not to say anything and even harder not to just take his gun and shoot him in the face right now. But there's no point taking the risk when he still might need him before this deal is done...so he does nothing as the car pulls away, just wonders whether Mary Anne is in place and hopes this all ends the way it should, rather than the way he was once told it will.

Comments

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne timed her arrival to give herself about an hour to recon and pick a site. She settles on a ridge a klick out from the mine. There are definitely men in the area--Amador's, she thinks, not Delta--but there is a spot where their patrols are sloppy and that's where she sets up shop.

Her bike is left on the far side of the road, camouflaged with scrub; it'll be easier to pick up from there when she has to descend to the road to get the virus.

(don't ask what it does or what it's for ruinous woman)

She has a good vantage point of the road, and trip mines staked 20 yards out to the right, left and behind her. All that's left now is to wait.

[latino_menace]

It's a short drive to the mine and it passes in silence. He resists the temptation to scan the hills, looking for Mary Anne - for one thing, it'd be pointless. He knows she won't let herself be seen from the road.

Just an hour, that's all this will take.

He watches the road instead, Earth road that he hasn't seen in a long long time. It's cold out there but it feels the same, and there are three SUV's full of his men following him, all ready to do exactly what he says. And that feels good. It feels right.

There are a lot of things that could go wrong with this. But fuck it, he's here now. Just do it. After they've arrived and Bauer has pointed out the obvious to him - that he needs to get his men into position before Amador arrives - it's all he can do not to roll his eyes. A curt, 'I know,' settles it and he busies himself with a map, telling people where to go, instructing them what to do...all the while, he's trying to figure out how far away Mary Anne is and if he's going to be sending his guys at her. It's unlikely there'd be a way to tell the difference between them and Amador's men, but it can't be helped. She's probably a distance away but it's hard to know for sure.

[song_tra_bong]

It's a still enough night and they're far enough away from the rest of civilization that she can just hear the SUVs.

She presses herself lower in the dirt, thinking about the timeline.

(soon soon soon)

[latino_menace]

They wait. Can't do anything until Amador gets here. Myers is kicking up trouble...or would be, if he didn't already know that she's right, that CTU is out there waiting for him. Still, he plays along. Philipe and Pablo get sent off to check if they're being watched; he's surprised when they both check in and say the coast is clear. They're probably incompetent or maybe the guy out there watching is hiding. It doesn't matter.

He spends his time surruptiously keeping an eye on Bauer - the man does a good impression of someone who doesn't care that he's going to die soon. He must know that's what'll happen.

(soon soon soon)

It's only been ten minutes since he got here and this is driving him nuts inside. He wants it to be done. In order to calm himself and feel like he's doing something, he picks up the phone and dials Mary Anne.

...only after its ringing does he think to hope she has it set to 'silence'. But she would. She's professional, he knows that.

[song_tra_bong]

She's also a professional who doesn't typically work with phones, but that same reason is why she played with it a bit before setting out and made sure the ringer was off. She has the phone hidden from other observers by the curve of her arm, kept up close to her face.

The screen lights up in silence, even that small light briefly blinding her. She stabs the 'talk' button with a finger.

"Hey."

[latino_menace]

'Hey. Where are you?'

He speaks Portuguese in case any of the men around can overhear, not that they'd ask him about it anyway.

'You see anyone around?'

[song_tra_bong]

"About a klick out from the mine, up on the ridge," she murmurs back.

"Saw a few people when I set up shop, but they're away from me now. Don't look like Delta; must be Amador's. How're things on your end?"

[latino_menace]

'We're in place. Just waiting for Amador now. He should be here any time.'

He stops abruptly because Jack's calling his name.

'Hold on.'

Amador's arriving; he can hear the sound of his Jeep. Jack has eyes on him through their scope and he turns away again, speaking quietly.

'He's here, coming from the west. Looks like he's in a silver Jeep. I don't know if he'll leave the same way or not...I've got to go.'

He has to talk to Nina and Jack's coming over. The woman knows what she has to do but he clarifies, as she stands up and is uncuffed, by saying to her bodyguard;

'Any sign of trouble, kill her first.'

Nina pulls a face and stalks out without saying anything; Ramon goes to stand by their vantage point by the window. He gets his phone out again and sends Mary Anne a text;

Myers has gone to do the deal. Should be about ten minutes.

And then, there's nothing else he can do. It's out of his hands.

[song_tra_bong]

Ten minutes.





Mary Anne is usually not the most patient of women, but this is an ambush.

For an ambush, she makes an exception.

[latino_menace]

It may just be the longet ten minutes of his life. He gets the scope off Jack and watches what's going on - five minutes until the virus is verified as real, another few while the money is transferred. He's watching for something in particular...there. While Nina is talking to the bank, the man has his back to her. A moment later and he's handing the small case to the woman - he must have switched it when he had his back turned away.

Nina's on her way back and Amador is leaving. Ramon dials quickly, walking outside.

'He's leaving, heading north. I'm pretty sure he's got the virus on him. See you in a few minutes.'

[song_tra_bong]

"See you."

It's not long before she hears the car, and then it round the curve in the road. She looks through the scope at a clear, beautiful shot at Amador.

A slow squeeze of the trigger.

Amador's driver has just enough time to realize that his boss's brain is pasted all over the window before a second bullet passes through his skull. Thanks to the silencer, the men up on the ridge with her won't even know there's anything wrong until--


The son-of-a-bitch jerked the wheel before she killed him. That's the only explanation, because the Jeep turns hard--too hard--and oh goddamn it, it's going to roll. It is rolling and she's leaving the rifle behind, sliding down the slope before the damn car stops, hoping she can find the virus before Amador's men cut her down.

And hoping that the goddamn thing doesn't break and kill them all.

[latino_menace]

Nina arrives back and Ramon's there to meet her. She hands the case over without fuss and he makes a show of checking its contents, not handling it too carefully because he knows its a fake.

'Good job,' he tells her, with a smirk, and puts the vial away, leaves the case on the hood of the SUV they're standing next to. If he thought it were real, he knows he wouldn't let go of it but as it is, it can stay there and hopefully it'll take the car - and a few extra Delta men with it - up with it when it goes.

'Ramon, we need to go.'

Ah yes. That pressing matter to deal with.

'Go, Jack? I don't need you any more.'

He wishes he had longer to savour this moment. Years he's spent wanting this, having it eat at him like a worm. He pulls his gun and would laugh at the man's pathetic cry ('...we had a deal!') if he wasn't on a schedule.

He raises the gun and is squeezing the trigger when ohfuckshit pain rips through his chest and shoulder, blood splattering forward and with a yell, he realises that he'd forgotten about the man watching. Jack dives to the side and suddenly there are guns going off everywhere, lights from a chopper lighting up the area, his men running to take cover behind the cars and return fire. Men are shouting, Myers has made a run for it and Jack's embroiled in a fight with a couple of his guys, he can't get a clean shot and it's difficult to see through the pain.

He does the only thing he can do...run. The fake virus will be going up soon and he hopes, as he darts between two buildings, clutching his shoulder, that Mary Anne is on the way back because shit, Delta are everywhere.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne makes it to the car and kicks in the remains of the passenger side window, crawling most of the way inside as she rifles through Amador's pockets. Her hand closes on the vial just as the first of the bullets zings past her.

The vial goes into her pocket and she draws her gun, using the Jeep as cover as Amador's men start to line the top of the ridge. One of them finds a trip mine and she smiles.

She's trying to figure out how to get to the bike without catching too many bullets, when another chorus of gunfire starts up--aimed at Amador's men.

"God bless Delta," she murmurs, tucking her gun away as she makes a break for the bike. She has somewhere else to be.

[latino_menace]

Ramon heads north, towards the river. He knows its not far and it might be important - if Mary Anne can't find him, he'll need a landmark. And he knows they're after him too; even though he's leaving the worst of the gun battle behind the furher he goes, he can hear voices calling out not too far away. Maybe they think they've got the virus and have turned their attention to him, maybe Jack is just unwilling to let him go. Either way, fuck, he has to keep going but it hurts like a sonofabitch - and if he's not mistaken, that chopper is turning his way.

[song_tra_bong]

Mary Anne manages a slight head start before Delta realizes that she doesn't belong to them and start taking pot shots at her. She ignores them and cranks up the throttle, trying to put as much distance between her and them as possible. All things being equal, she'd love to pick a fight, but she doesn't have the time.

Follow the gunfire he told her and she does, her path zigzagging steadily north. Unfortunately, this ends up putting her in the middle of what looks like a firefight between Ramon's guys, more Delta, and God only knows who else. She steers with one hand and fires haphazardly as she goes, clearing herself a path.

The chopper illuminates her way, pointing out a lone figure she'd know anywhere.

"RAMON!"

[latino_menace]

He stops, leaning against a large rock to catch his breath when he hears her shout, trying to pinpoint where it comes from. He can't see anything because of the light shining on him but he hears his name shouted again - this time from Jack, fifty yards away and advancing with a gun pointed at his head.

'Ramon, it's over. We have the virus.'

The man would continue but Ramon's laughing and shaking his head, pressing a bloody hand to his shoulder. He ignores Jack's yelling and Edmunds' mutinous expression, looking to the side to see if she's coming. The rock behind him is large enough to give him cover but he'll have to be damn quick and he doesn't have hope that they'll let him just get away.

[song_tra_bong]

"No, honey. You really don't."

The bike skids to a halt between Jack and Ramon; Mary Anne alternates training her gun on Jack and Edmunds.

She doesn't dare turn her head to look at Ramon.

"Let's get out of here."

[latino_menace]

Ramon can't resist flashing a grin at Jack, internally laughing at the look on their faces. Priceless. Not as good as seeing the man dead but in this situation, right now, it'll do.

He wastes no more time and climbs on the back of the bike, clenching his teeth against the shot of agony up his arm as he grasps her waist.

'Go,' he says. 'Go.'

[song_tra_bong]

The bike is harder to steer with two people on board. She tucks her gun away and revs the engine.



Over the sound of the bike, of the helicopter, she hears a gun shot.

carrier signal lost please stand by



system restart

[latino_menace]

'...Jesus!'

It's a fucking good job she'd revved the engine and got the bike going because when her head snaps back and he realises she's taken a bullet in the forehead, it's instinct to make a grab for the handlebars, arms around her to both keep her on it and steer the damn thing.

Bauer's shouting and they're wobbling precariously; he has to put his foot down more than once to stop them going over. But he's able, just, to keep the throttle open and accelerate - maybe the uneven movement of the bike is helping because as they head over a ridge, away from Jack, Ramon knows he's lucky to have not taken a bullet or six in the back there. Of course, it's still fucked up - his foot is only just able to reach the gears and he can't see for shit because the fucking chopper is still tailing him. Not to mention the agony that makes it difficult to breathe, especially on ground this uneven, and the dead weight of Mary Anne leaning back against his chest.

'Come on Mary Anne, come on come on I know you're not dead, fucking hell I don't know how long you take to wake up but we need to get back to the bar...'

The muttering is constant, a distancing from how much this hurts and how close he is to being dead but fuck it, adrenaline is high and all he can do is keep going, no matter how long it takes. He realises that her comment to Bauer might be what's keeping him alive here - by now, they'll know that the vial Nina received was fake. Maybe, hopefully, Jack will have realised that Mary Anne's the one carrying it and have instructed the chopper not to open fire. If they even suspect she's got it, they wont be taking any chances.

[song_tra_bong]

it's not time yet you have to wake up you have to wake up wake up wake up wake UP


Mary Anne gasps as if surfacing from deep under water, jerking convulsively and shaking the bike again. There's blood in her eyes and her hair and ohgodIwasdead--

"I'm here, I'm here, just...just hang on."

Her hands close over his. The sound of the chopper and the guns and the shouting fade out, and the bike skids to a halt

at the edge of the lake by the bar.

"That...that went well."

[latino_menace]

'Mmmm.'

Fuck. Fuck.

He lets his arms drop back and for a moment, just breathes. She's right, really. They're back, and alive, and have what they went for. Well...

'Tell me you have it.'

First things first.

'And, are you alright?'

[song_tra_bong]

"Back pocket."

She twists around enough to face him.

"I...I'm doing okay." Much to her own surprise.

She gets her first look at his shoulder and swears. "What the fuck? Are you okay?"

[latino_menace]

Back pocket? Shit, he's glad he didn't dump the bike. He finds it with his left hand because his whole right arm feels like lead.

And there it is. It looks so innocuous for something so completely deadly.

'I've got a doctor on retainer here. Should find him.'

Just as soon as he secures this thing and, y'know, finds the energy to get off the bike.

[song_tra_bong]

"Yeah."

She grins, shaky from nerves and adrenaline both. "Think they shit themselves wondering where we went?"

[latino_menace]

'Definitely.'

He grins too, imagining their reaction. Come to think of it, he's going to have to consider how to get back again soon, walking into the middle of all that. Or maybe it's different since Bar didn't bring him back? He shakes the thought off - not going to worry about that now - and hauls himself off the bike, wiping blood off his hand onto his pants because the dripping off his fingers is getting annoying.

'Come on. I have to secure this thing and then I need a drink.'

He wonders if that bullet is still in her head. How the fuck does that even work? He'll ask her when there's less to do.

[song_tra_bong]

She follows him, dropping the kick-stand on the bike.

"A drink sounds good."

And a shower.


And a week-long nap.