Gaumukh valley
20 kms away from Mount Abu military camp.

The gun firing was ear deafening.
It was a dark moonless night...

The check post was under attack.
And captain rajeev once more tried to catch the wireless signal.

"We are under attack
We need back up....
I repeat we are under attack , we have an injured soldier."

It was a regular patrolling of the valley which was pointed out by naina
When they suspected a troop and interrogated them
Which resulted in a hand to hand combact.... Soon getting out of hand ...

They did managed to overpower them as they were only three...
But not before having a sharp blow in his head by one of them ... Which he tried to fight back....
But now they are stuck up in bad weather and broke jeep.
With three unconscious potential smugglers under their arrest.

Rajeev saw a jeep driving towards them....
Soon the jeep halted and he still haven't noticed who is driving the jeep.
Another military van followed the jeep with some military men marching towards the targeted men tied up in a corner.

Rajeev was sitting beside an injured soldier captain Arif junaid..... Trying to hold her bullet hole with a cloth...

"Take him inside the jeep.... We will take him to the hospital...."
And now he saw her .....

She was already helping captain junaid to get inside the jeep.

"Those men"
He tried to ask her about the arrangement of the arrest.

"Captain alekh will take care of that
Are you also hurt"
She asked

"No I am good"
He replied as they managed to make captain junaid rest inside the back of the jeep

Naina immediately took the driving seat without wasting much time.
As rajeev came for the passanger seat.

He was getting dizzy with blows in his head.
Plus he tried to keep a regular check on junaid....
Replaying all that happened couple of hrs back....

And among all this he can't help make a mental note that what a terrific driver she is .... The speed and control is so impressive.

It started getting black out as he heard the last words from her before completely passing out

"Captain rajeev are you ok
Captain rajeev answer me ...
Rajveer sir".........

He did heard that last error before passing out in his jeep.

-------------------------

The suspects did turned out brain washed sleeping cells of a terrorist organisation..... Smuggling the local weed of the area

The operation was a smooth success.
And all had started with Naina's keen observation and smart moves.

-------------------------

She was shaken after that operation
That face unconscious once again in front of her....
She had frozen in fear.....
It was the hard-core training that helped her to overpower her emotions and act in the crisis.....

It has been two days
She never went back to check on him in the hospital.

She got absorbed in her paper work, filing the report of the incident.
Doing background check on the smugglers.
Reporting her seniors
And took the opportunity to fly back to Jaipur to present the details of the operation with a task force.

Her image in the army is of a workaholic robot.
She can work 24 hrs without sleep.
It's the only escape she knows to spare herself with that constant pain in her chest.
Her grief takes a back seat only when she is drowned in her work

No matter how hard it is
But she has to report back to Mount Abu
It's midnight already as she gave the entry password at the gate.

And was heading towards her room.... When she felt someone approaching her from her peripheral vision.

She turned towards the figure expecting it to be alekh, only to find her voice going down the throat as it was him

All the suffering ,agony, regret surfacing on her face
Her disappointment reflecting in her eyes
As she manage to cover her sob

And all of this couldn't escape his eyes , which are observing her keenly.
She is broken, damaged beyond repair

He concluded in that second
When he saw her eyes clinging to him as if he is her last hope
But next moment she is pulling herself back with all the strength.

Resisting with all her potential to reach out for that comfort which comes around with that face....

"So you are back"
He broke the ice

"Yeah"
She managed to answer

"I just wanted to thank you
You saved us .
You came to me when i was a damsel in distress"
He joked hoping atleast a smile on that blank face.

"You don't need to thank me
I was doing my duty"
She replied and turned towards the direction of her room.

"Let me walk you to your room"
He got along with her
While she is not ready to share the same air with him.

"Please don't bother "
She said as she kept walking

"Listen
I need to thank you properly
Allow me to ask you out for a drink may be"
He proposed with all the respect
Being careful not to add the hint of flirt in it , for some reason.

"I don't drink"
She replied

"Ugghhh
Then coffee may be
I swear I will pay"
He tried to made her smile again.

"I don't think I can spare time for it
I am flooded with work .
And that's my room
Good night"

She took a flight from the situation
Leaving him disappointed

She locked the door behind her to take a deep cold sigh.