"OOOOF!" gasped the Irishman. The two slammed into each other and began pounding any body part they could reach, rolling around the little tent, knocking over tables, and finally hitting the bar shelves, which fell over with a resounding crash.
Sitting in the broken glass, O'Connell threw a mug at his battered friend. "WHAT HAVE YE' DONE, YE BASTARD! MAURA NEARLY DIES AND NOW THE WHISKEY IS GONE."
Rolling painfully to a sitting position, James shook off the broken glass and put his head in his hands. "I drugged her."
"YA' WHAT?" O’Connell was sifting through the rubble, hoping to find an intact bottle.
James sighed and leaned his head against the shattered bar table. "I drugged Maura with a ketamine derivative. That's why she was too weak to get out of all the cushions. I should have thought of that- how many there were. The suffocation risk."
***
Grabbing an untouched Guinness, O’Connell put it to his throbbing jaw. His gaze was level now as he stared back at his obviously shaken friend. "YA' GONNA- ya' gonna tell me what the fuck is going on here, Pine?"
Staring at his clenched fists, James told his friend about the leaks within the company, and his shock at finding his lover was one of them.
"YA' DIDN'T JUST-" O'Connell sighed, this unaccustomed softness making his throat itch. "Ya dinna kill her. So, why?"
"I tried," James wearily found some ice scattered on the floor and put it into a bar rag, holding it to his eye. "She actually knelt in front of me, not even resisting and looked up at me with those big green eyes of hers. I- I tried but I couldn't. So, I held her hostage for her good behavior by threatening what's left of her family."
"I still DINNA GET- eh, get the ROOFIE?" queried the Irishman.
The eyes that met his were polar blue. "I wanted to punish her. How fucking dare she! I knew her weakness- the thing she's most afraid of. Being helpless and not able to defend herself. So, I made her into my - what did she call it - my flesh doll. Too weak to do anything without me, dependent on me for everything. All Maura had to do was submit-”
“Ya dinna want her to submit,” O’Connell interrupted, “that’s somethin’ given. You wanted to force her. Ya took.”
For the first time that he could remember, Pine couldn’t meet his gaze. Watching him stare at his hands, O'Connell groaned. "An' here I thought you were the smartest man I knew. Ya stupid bastard! Can't you see she cares for you? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, she cares for your cold black heart! Ya dinna keep her alive just to punish her. I’ve been seeing you take care of her, you look after Maura. Ya dinna have to marry her just to keep her alive-”
He raised his bruised hand as James attempted to argue. “Shut up ‘till I’m finished. Maura knows it too, even if you’re an arse to her most o’ the time. Those surveillance photos that Holbrook prints up fer you? That’s her family?”
James sighed and nodded, putting more ice into his improvised ice pack.
Pursing his lips, O’Connell nodded. “You got men on them, don’t ya? Ya know that your nutter partners can go after ‘em, so you’re keepin’ them safe?”
Groaning, he got up and hobbled to an overturned chair, setting it upright and sitting down with a sigh. “You bein’ all humiliated because ya didn’t figure it was her? She was an operative for the British government, what the bloody hell did you think she was supposed to do? And after all of this, the daft thing still doesn’t hate you. Even in our Cambridge days, YOU WERE NEVER IN A SHORTAGE OF PRIME TAIL-" he sighed again, trying to keep his voice down. "But ya never wanted anything other than a shag and a quick 'thank you.’ Have you considered gettin’ your head out of your arse? Here's a brilliant, beautiful girl who knows what an UNMITIGATED BASTARD YE ARE an- an' still wants ya."
Rubbing his forehead, James sighed. "I have a government to overthrow, an insane partner to murder and keeping Kingston from killing my- my Maura. Getting her to look at me without screaming is a bit down on the list right now."
Standing up, the gigantic Irishman stretched until his joints cracked. "So says the bloke who ran seven illegal gaming operations whilst we were in Uni. Figure it the fuck out." O’Connell hobbled out the door, tucking the last intact bottle from the bar underneath his massive arm.
Chapter 24: Dark Things & The Greater Good
In which Maura discovers the nuance of dark things and hard choices.
True to his word, Mr. Sahnoun stayed with Maura the rest of the day, bringing her food and telling her stories. After quietly watching her flopping limbs and weak movements, he came back with a steaming mug of something and offered it to her. "This is just tea, but it's quite... restorative," he said carefully. She looked at the mug for a long time, held steady in his blue-black hands. "It is not a drug," Sahnoun was gentle. "It seems you've had enough of that today."
Maura looked up at him, "Did Pine tell you to bring this?" she asked, a little ashamed of her defensive tone.
Sahnoun's dark face broke into a smile. "No. It is from me.Ubarikiwe mpendwa."Her shaky hand reached for it, and he held it steady as she drank.
He was right, after downing half the mug, Maura felt the strength return to her arms and legs, her thoughts clearer. "The language you're speaking, Mr. Sahnoun. What is it?"
"Swahili, Mrs. Pine." He held the mug to her lips until it was nearly gone and she shook her head, unable to drink any more.
"How do you say 'thank you' in Swahili?"
"Bantu."
Maura smiled gratefully, shakily getting to her feet. "Thenbantu, Mr. Sahnoun. I'm grateful for your kindness."
