Forever Fighting | ✔️ | [previously Espionage: double-cross]

Chapter 59

It wasn't quite fear in their eyes, they were both trained agents. But there was that underlying layer of worry and caution as they inched their way to the door, wondering who had entered the secretive and seemingly hidden cabin.

"Do you think they'll find this place?" It was a valid question on James' part, but Alex just snorted in reply.

"The chances they find this place are very, very low and if they do, we have the upper hand." She gestured to the room around her. "I mean we have just about every weapon in existence here. I say we stand our ground, there's food here and we can last. They probably don't even know we're here and if they do somehow find this place, of which the chance is extremely low, they won't last a second."

"Yes, but what if they already have weapons, or explosives, or they're going to stay here. Hell what if they know about this place? There are just too many uncertainties. We should gear up and take the offence. It is the best defence."

Alex already knew this was going to turn into a heated argument. "There is more chance one of us will get hurt! I'm all for a fight, you know me," James rolled his eyes and shook his head, still thinking about the, last fight she got into, "but this time maybe it's best to wait it out, play it safe."

Her suggestion shocked James, truly. She was always the one to attack first and attack hard, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. She was like a tornado - couldn't be stopped or discouraged from the path of demolition.

Now he thought about it, they way she was speaking wasn't like her at all. He stepped forwards so quickly and suddenly he gave Alex no time to react as he took her hands, staring into those deep brown eyes. "I get it, I do. You'd be going back up there, where you almost," he swallowed and pushed out the last word with immense effort, "died. You're slightly scared, and rightly so. But you know how to defeat the terminators and bio-enhanced. We have the gear and from what it sounded, there's one of them and two of us. Your emotions are getting the better of you right now and making you lose sight of the fact that even with the weapons, preparation, we're stuck here. There is one exit and where they to come in, they have more shielding and a bigger advantage."

Alex looked at him, completely and utterly shocked. She pulled her hands away abruptly, instantly missing the comfort and warmth then internally scolded herself from doing so. She didn't need anyone to make her feel better, not anymore. And that fear, the fear that, despite making part of her inner self crumble, was making her stronger in other ways. She had allowed her instincts to take control last time, thinking with her fists rather than her head. She needed to fight smarter, not just harder. So, she used that fear as a deterrent to the violent side of her that thirsted for blood and allowed the logical agent to start thinking.

"You're allowed to be scared, it makes you normal."

"No." She shook her head vehemently, taking that fear and giving it less value in her mind, ignoring the feeling but never forgetting what she had now. "Fear turns me into a better agent, something that will never be normal. That fear makes me cautious and less reckless, less indestructible and better at doing my job. You didn't think that I wanted to go and beat up whoever else has discovered this place? Of course I do but I need to consider every option. My parents built this place like a bunker, no explosions can get through this unless they have a nuclear war head pointed at a remote forested area in the Pennines. So yes part of me is scared of facing another one of them in the place I was beaten to a pulp but I have not and will not ever let fear affect my judgement," she practically growled out.

She expected James to step back or lower his head in shame. What she wasn't expecting was for him to start laughing while he took her in, scanning her from head to toe. "I should've known you would take everything differently, you're nothing like other girls. I shouldn't have assumed you would be that scared." He stopped chuckling now, holding his hands up in surrender. "You know the layout and logistics of this place far better than I do but you should know," he leaned in closer now, lips brushing the shell of her ear as he spoke. "I'm and agent too and a more experienced one at that. We're going on offence because the longer we stay holed up in here, the more time there is for back up to arrive and I don't plan on fighting an army on my own, not when I'd have you to watch out for as well." Then he stood straight and took a few steps back, not missing the red staining Alex's cheeks and the little breath she didn't realise she'd been holding come out shaky.