Suddenly, his breath was directly on the back of her neck as his large hands clamped down hard on her shoulders. "I've never seen anyone in this organization turn down an extra chunk of money, Maura," his voice was low and right next to her ear, stirring the fine hairs on the back of her neck. "Such a response is so out of the expected that it makes me question your intentions. What exactly are you after here?"
Maura held still, angry and confused that her first impulse had been to rub her cheek against the hand holding her in place. "There's no game, Mr. Pine. I got greedy at my last position and spent a long, unpleasant amount of time in prison for it. Becoming greedy here puts me in the New Jersey landfill. In pieces. I'd rather keep my head down and do my work, Sir. Much safer that way." For a moment, she was worried her boss would drag her out of her chair and shoot her on the spot. Mercifully, his grip suddenly loosened and he laughed.
"The cautious Miss MacLaren. Very well, finish your widget and be on your way."
After he left, Maura moved her shaking hand to pull out her burner phone, looking at the coded message she'd sent to Yagura with the identity of the traitor. It had been hours since she'd sent it, and there was no reply, no word on whether Yagura got the message and had time to do anything about it. By the time she got back to the houseboat, nightmare scenarios of her fellow agent caught and being tortured were all she could think about. Just as she was finally ready to give up and go to bed, he called back. "Yagura, I thought you were dead! I didn't even know if you got the message."
Grinning, the spiteful bastard took a drag from his cigarette and let her wait as he blew the smoke out. "Relax Maura, Jesus! You act like this is your first assignment or something. It's done."
Maura bit back a snarl. Yagura had fifteen years more experience in the field than she had, and he loved reminding her of it. "Done? What did you do? What did Kennedy say?" She paced, infuriated that she was allowing him to get to her.
"Kennedy didn't offer an opinion, other than to confirm the order from HQ." Yaguara took another long drag. "Oh, dump this burner, they're sending us new ones tomorrow."
"Fine," Maura sighed. Giving up her pride, she asked, "What happened to the target?"
Eyeing himself in his mirror and flexing, Yagura grinned as he made his tattoos bounce. Finally taking pity on her, he answered. "He was a Naicho operative, we just got an identification from Japan.”
Maura gasped, "Why did he take such a stupid risk? For God's sake, HQ knew I was placed in the code room!"
"Yep, you're the one that made the code that killed him. You're fucking lethal, nerd girl!" Yagura broke out in a hearty and inappropriate chuckle.
"He's dead?" Suddenly, her dinner was about to make a reappearance. "You couldn't get him out? What if they got something out of the poor man?"
He shook his head, shucking off his jeans to admire the rest of his tattoos. "They didn't get him. I couldn't get him out of the building, so I made it look like a suicide."
Maura felt the blood drain from her face.
Listening to the silence on the other end of the crackling connection, Yagura laughed. "Fuck, you're such a child. What did you think I was going to do? We're all expendable, MacLaren." He turned and shouted out his balcony door, "We're all fucking expendable!"
Shakily hanging up, Maura wrapped her blanket around herself like an embrace, rocking back and forth.
Chapter 3: Call Me Sir
In which Maura kicks some ass. Sort of.
By next week, the bruising and swelling faded enough for Maura to teach her self-defense class at the YWCA. She'd thought long and hard about agreeing to run a class, worried about any possible spillover from the Corporation. In the end, seeing the women show up every week made her committed to holding class as long as they would come. There were over twenty-five women, all ages and nationalities. The only thing most had in common was being beaten by their loved ones or sexually assaulted.
"Hey, Maura!" She smiled at the bellow, knowing Andre was walking in. The gigantic lump of man cheerfully volunteered to let the class beat the crap out of him with only limited padding.
"Andre! How are you?" She started fastening straps on his body padding.
"All good sister. And you?" he grinned, turning around with arms out so she could put his shoulder pads in place.
Thinking about the Murder Triplets stalking the halls of the Corporation in a rage all week, she shuddered briefly. They had not taken the traitor's so-called suicide well. "No worries here. Now, look. Please go into the manager's office and get a coffee or something. I don't want to bring you in until I've had a chance to get everyone ready. All right?"
"If only it was a beer..." he teased as he left the gym. Watching the class fill never failed to make Maura happy. These women came back every week, taking the bus from their second job, walking from home or the women's shelter because they couldn't afford a car. But they showed up.
"Welcome everyone!" she called out, clapping her hands for attention. "Let's warm up, shall we?" The laughter and huffing and puffing echoed through the chilly room as Maura deftly led them through the beginning steps for Krav Maga. She was actually trained to black belt status as well in Aikido and Jujitsu, but she always used Krav Maga with her students. The basic moves were easy to learn, but lethal when done properly.
After she was sure everyone was ready to go, Maura sat, the women circling around her. "Ladies, we've been talking about this step for a few weeks now. Your practice and dedication are amazing. But we need practical experience to make sure you're ready. For anything. Am I right?" Watching the frisson of anxiety pass through her class, she waited until they were calm again. "Good. I want everyone to meet my friend Andre." There were scattered movements of fear from the circle, and Maura deliberately stood to give Andre a hug. He was so large that he simply lifted her off the ground with one arm to return the hug, the other hand waving shyly at the class. "Now, Andre is a friend who volunteered to be our punching bag, you get to kick, punch, any of the moves that disarm your attacker and let you get away."
Looking at him, she had to admit she understood the group's anxiety. The ridiculous creature was gigantic- 6"4 and well over 250 pounds, missing teeth from his brief, bare-knuckles boxing career. "Andre, maybe you could tell the group why you volunteered?" she urged gently.
His large grin faded as Andre looked at the women, suddenly serious. "My Mom, she found a new man when Dad left us. This one, he was an asshole- oh, shit, sorry ladies!" After the laughter faded, he continued, "I was at school when they called me into the office. He'd beat my Mom to death. He always threatened to, but she said he didn’t mean it." Suddenly looking tired, Andre slowly rubbed the top of his shaved head. "I was eight, and I couldn't save my Mom. But I'll do anything it takes to help you save yourself."
Maura's heart swelled, and her class sat up straighter. "Okay, ladies, here it is. I'm going to try the first set of moves on Andre here, then go through the steps up to level ten. I want you to watch the increasing intensity. It's important to realize that even if the first move doesn't stop your opponent, you don't give up, all right?" She and Andre circled each other on the mat until she called, "Go!" He charged at her like a matador's bull, and Maura moved back, sliding her foot between his and tripping him. Andre went down like a sack of flour, but he was up and charging again within seconds.
"Remember, just taking him down once may not be enough to stop him!" Ducking his swing, she rolled her slim body under his knees and took him out again. The exercise went on between the two for another five minutes, until Andre accidentally clocked Maura when her back was turned to speak to the group. There was a collective gasp when she fell to the floor, blood spattering from her nose.
