Look out for the <>!

I rolled over on the couch, falling to the floor. The jolt caused me to wake immediately. I shot up and looked around at the empty room. I felt my heart sink when I didn't see Kale around. He was either gone already or still asleep. "Ow," I said and rubbed my hip that hit the floor the hardest. That was probably the worst night of sleep I had gotten since I was in Ukraine sleeping on a gurney. Next time I will not sleep on the couch, I don't know how Sherlock does it. I rather sleep on the floor honestly.

I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water then I walked to the door of my room. It was killing me, I had to know if he was still here. I slowly cracked the door open. I peeked my head in to see Kale, sprawled out on the queen sized bed. He looked childlike.

He was still here, this was almost to good to be true. I smiled to myself and walked in to get my clothes for the day. I had been wearing the same outfit for over 24 hours and it was time for a change. 

"Good morning Sunshine," Kale said, half awake.

His voice made me jump. I thought I was quiet.  I didn't want to wake him. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah, I had been up ever since I heard a crash. What was that do you know?" He asked as he ran his hand through his hair.

 I smiled sheepishly. "Me."

 "Fell off the couch?"

I nodded. I sat down on the corner of the bed. I gently put my hand on his leg and he flinched. I frowned and moved my hand. What happened to him over there because I knew I didn't hurt him when I did that. He maybe be more damaged then I am after coming back from Russia.

"So what are the plans for today?"

"I don't know yet," I shrugged then looked at the clothes in my lap. "First I need to shower and change." I got up from the bed and smiled at him. It was nice to have him here. It felt natural. "I have yogurt of breakfast if you want."

 "That sounds great," he said right before I left the room.

I quickly took a shower, changed into my clothes, and brushed my teeth. My hair looked somewhat ok so I just left it as is. I got out of the bathroom to see Kale eating yogurt at the table that had too many burn marks to count. "This is the good stuff." He said and held up the cup. "But it doesn't look like you have much else here to eat, as much as I would like yogurt for lunch and dinner... I rather not."

I smiled, he was right, we needed more food in the house. "I'll go out today."

"I can come."

If he got caught here, they were still looking for him. Maybe it would be safe for him to lay low for a little longer. "Don't you need to worry about being undercover for a little bit longer?"

Kale shrugged. "I'll be ok, they are not EVERYWHERE and unlike most other people that know them, I am not terrified of them."

"Maybe that is why you look like this." I gestured to him, poking a little bit of fun at him.

He smiled slightly. I had a point. "Do you have some Tylenol?"

"Yeah, the bottle is on the sink counter."

We both hurried and got ready the rest of the way then we walked to the closest supermarket in the area. With a cart in hand, Kale and I started to walk up the aisles of food. 

All too quickly Kale found the junk food and with at least three packages in hand, he came up to me with a smile. "I want some Jammy dodgers."

I looked at what he had in his hand with a smile. "I think you want everything sweet in this store," I said to him as I looked at my small shopping list again. 

"I haven't had any British sweets in forever," he begged as he held the box up so it coved his face completely. "Please?"

 I sighed loudly and put them in the cart. "Sure."

 "YES! So what's on the list next?"

 "I need ground beef, I want to make hamburgers at some point this week."

Kale nodded with a smile. "Sounds great to me. I'll go find it," he said and walked off to find the meat.

I smiled as I watched him walk away. He had a slight limp but he seemed to be fairly ok after the beating he took yesterday. At least he told me he was ok, and I believed him.

For once in a long time I felt normal. I felt like I had a normal life with a normal boyfriend and a normal shopping and I liked the calm feeling of it all. I wondered if this is how John felt with Marry, normal. I wondered if they liked this feeling as much as I did.

I looked at my shopping list to see that I still had milk to get. I walked over to the dairy aisle and opened the door to get milk. The blast of cold from behind the door hit me like a ton of bricks and made me shiver.

"Are you alone?" A man asked me. I looked around and I saw that I was in a bullet laden tent. I was in the Ukraine war front again. I was promised that this was the last time I would be on the war front. This was the first time I had come back since Marina died. It felt different being here without her. I felt alone and not really sure what to do, even though I had been here so many times before. I kept looking over my shoulder like a new solider. Without Marina, I didn't know who to trust.

Ivan told me that this would be the last time that I would have to come here. In front of me was the last bit of information that we could get before all the information ran dry. It was clear that the group was catching on to us. I knew that it was only time until they found out we where getting all the information then come kill Ivan and I off. 

I had warmed Ivan about my concerns but he didn't seem to process that his life was in danger. I could tell he was hurting from Marina's death. He loved her and he missed her. I didn't know how long he could keep a brave face before he took up drinking to forget her. When that happens, I would lose him, then I would be on my own completely. I shook my head, I didn't even want to think about that. 

"Yes I am alone," I said as I pulled my coat closer to me as I tried to keep warm. I had been working for a few of Russia's generals and I had been quickly moving ranks. But I was getting word of someone that was moving through the ranks that was a mole. I knew it was me and I feared for me life. I hadn't had a full night sleep in weeks.

"We have a mole in our small group," he said as he got out a knife that he had in his pocket. He started to play with it, flipping it around in his hands. He had such precision it made me shiver. He could kill me now if he wanted to. I knew I was looking at death.

I mentally prepared myself for the worse. I had to be read to attack at a seconds notice. This was why they wanted me here, they finally found me out. A part of me was happy, this meant I would be able to go home to London, if I even got that far. A part of me was sad. I would have to leave everything I had grown familiar with and go back to something that completely different because I was different.

<>

"Who is it? Do you know?" I asked him as if I didn't know who he was talking about. I stuffed my hands in my pocket and gripped my gun firmly. Just wait. Calm down. Be ready.

"I don't know his name but he's from London. He works with the British Government. He has been spying on us for months out of Russia." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and released my gun although I kept my hands in my pockets. They were on my trail but they still didn't know it was me. "I want you to finish up your rotation here then I want you to go back to Russia. Your next assignment is to find out who this man is." He showed a photo of a blurry man with a beard in the shadow of a street corner.

I nodded as I took the photo. I squinted, in hopes that I could see it better, with no luck. "You can count on me," I said, having no intention on solving this mystery.

"This is the mole. It is the only photo we have on record. We want you to find him and kill him."

"Aurora, are you ok?" Kale's voice said from beside me. He gripped my hand and lightly shook me. How long had I been standing here in front of the milk?

I shook my head as I looked at him. Kale was the mole, he always was. Kale's cover was blown long before mine was but yet he stayed in Russia. "You were the mole." 

He frowned but didn't say anything because he knew I was right.

"They wanted me to find you and kill you. I am sure you know that, but you stayed. why?" I asked, trying to make sense of his actions.

"Do we really have to talk about it here?" he asked me as he looked around at the store.

I nodded. "Yes, we do. I want to know. Why did you stay? You knew that they were trying to find you."

He sighed. "When I told Mycroft they were looking into me, he forced me to stay. He said that it was because I had such a high position, but that wasn't the whole truth."

"That's it? Mycroft told you to stay? Since when did you listen to him?" I asked, knowing that Kale never listened to anyone except himself. If Kale's life was in danger, he wouldn't think twice about running. 

He frowned, as if there was something that I wasn't getting. "I didn't have a choice."

I frowned back at him. There was something he was not telling me. I pushed the cart forward, wanting to end this conversation before I snapped at him. "We need some cereal."

"I'll get it."

He messed up with the conversation. I didn't want to be mad but I was. I wanted him to be open with me. Why did he listen to Mycroft? What was Mycroft holding over his head?

<><><><><><>

"I know you're still mad at me," Kale said as he put some stuff in the fridge after we got back from the store.

"You're not wrong," I said with my back towards him as I put some pasta away. I was still angry and I made sure he knew it.

"I just wanted to say that what I told you was the truth. I don't know what else to say."

"I want you to tell me everything Kale."

He frowned for a second. "There are some questions I can't answer."

"Why because Mycroft told you so?"

"I don't want to talk about that man." he snapped back at me.

I was about to say something sharp but shut my mouth when I saw how sad he looked. What ever happened, he really couldn't talk about it. I sighed. If he couldn't talk about it there had to be a good reason and I should be ok with that. "Ok, I'll drop it," I said softly as I put the last of the grocery's into the cupboard.

There was a good 30 minutes more of silence. I sat on the couch and picked up a book. I tried to act like I was reading it and that it was interesting, even though my mind was running so fast I couldn't concentrate on the story.

"Do you want to do something for dinner tonight?" Kale asked as he sat down in a chair.

I looked up at him and nodded, already to fix the bridge between us. "I think I need to cancel with miss Hudson then."

sorry this is a bit late! my computer broke, (long story) but now it's working again (YAY)! so during this time I was not able to write or post. I hope you enjoyed it all the same! and Have a Merry Christmas (late) and happy new years!!!!!

Darla