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Date Posted: 06:27:12 02/14/09 Sat
Author: taurus2124
Author Host/IP: CPE-124-188-4-245.nsw.bigpond.net.au / 124.188.4.245
Subject: Chapter 195
In reply to: taurus2124 's message, "The Rising Dragons - continued" on 00:39:04 01/31/09 Sat

Chapter 195

Operations turned his eyes towards Walter, Section One’s munitions expert, who had stood and listened to the exchange between him and the mission’s team leader Jasmine Kwong. He watched him cooling his heels. His mind was full of thoughts of the history between the two of them. Walter and he went back a long way. They had a tacit understanding. There were some things that were sacrosanct between them and of which they never spoke especially their experiences of the Vietnam War. However, judging by his stance, Walter was a little off kilter as he waited not knowing what his leader may say.

Even though he was Walter’s superior, Operations knew that Walter could be as cantankerous as he, thus he expected some retort from his wily operative with what he had to say next. “Well Walter, how was everything?”

“Fine,” was his succinct reply.

“Good. You performed well so I believe.”

“Thank you.”

Operations looked Walter in the eye then said, “There is no need to debrief this evening. Jasmine’s report will be sufficient at the moment. You can debrief in the morning.”

Walter gave Operations the once over weighing up his directive with some suspicion. He’d never expected to hear those words come out of his leader’s mouth. “Really?” he intonated in surprise in reply to his superior’s words.

Operations gave a wry smile and looked at his second in command before continuing. “Really ... I want to let you know how much we ... Madeline and I ... appreciate your hard work on this mission. And so does Oversight, we've commended you to them many times.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been a long time since Walter had been out in the field so Operations thought that a little latitude was appropriate this one time. Madeline caught his eye and gave him her look. Suddenly it dawned on him. He nodded and raised an eyebrow in remembrance of another conversation about Walter that came to mind. Operations soon had clarity on what had transpired between them as well as his reaction to Madeline’s unusual gesture.

“Walter is older than most, works alone, 18hrs a day, and has very few outlets. An exception to our usual approach might be appropriate.”

“Alright, I'll stop by and pat him on the back.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Walter was a fiery individual when roused about something and he obviously thought that there was some sort of catch to his leader’s words. “What's this all about?”

His question brought Operations out of his thoughts. He gave him a sly glance and replied. “We just wanted to say you performed well on the mission, and to say thank you for the good work. We are aware of the role you played at the monastery.”

Taken a-back Walter took the defensive. “Don't patronize me. All of a sudden out of the clear blue sky, you say thanks for the good work! What do you want me to do ... wag my tail? If you want something from me, just come out and say it.”

Caught on the back foot by Walter’s obvious distrust of the gesture, Operations became somewhat defensive and dismissive at the same time. His straightened his back and glared at him. “Look! ... We just wanted to give you some extra time before you debrief.”

Offended that his superiors thought he would be treated any differently from the other operatives on the mission made Walter feel ill at ease. “I don't need extra time. I've been doing this job since before you came to Section, and I can probably do your job too.”

Smirking, Operations was impressed by his bravado but he was also most annoyed at his recalcitrance. “Really?”

“Really.”

“One of these days Walter, you're going to carry this cranky old man act a little too far.”

“Oh, what then, you won't commend me to Oversight?” he flippantly replied.

Operations was becoming more exasperated by the minute. This conversation was going nowhere. A clearly aggrieved Section leader was gradually losing patience with him. “Why did I bother?” was his retort.

They both shared a look ... Operations’ face was steaming with frustration while Walter’s showed his stubbornness to accept the gesture of more time.

Madeline watched the exchange between the two old war horses and smiled. “That's a good question,” she interjected.

Realising that they were not alone, the two men looked at her.

Placating the situation Madeline then stepped in with her more level headed assessment of the situation. “Walter.”

Nodding her way he replied, “Yes.”

“You performed well on behalf of the Section without complaint, without incident on this retrieval mission.”

Walter laughed. “What are you going to do, pin a medal on me?”

Madeline smiled at his nerve. “No ... but we want you to have some downtime before you write your debrief. Get some rest ... and under the circumstances, we know that you are anxious to see how Nikita and Michael are fairing in Medical as too are we ... Your debrief can wait until the morning Walter.”

Having mulled over his decision long enough, and with an annoyed reluctance Operations ordered, “Look Walter! ... Just have it on my desk first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you,” he complied without looking at them.

With that, Operations turned on his heel and walked away with Madeline in step beside him. Shocked, Walter stood and watched them leave. He’d been left cooling his heels after his confrontation with his superior and was ruing the wisdom of his responses to Operations’ offer of more time. He was lucky he hadn’t been put into abeyance or sent to the farm for insubordination towards his leader. But as Madeline had indicated, his major thoughts were concerned with Michael and Nikita and he wanted to know how they were faring. He’d take the opportunity to check on them, then he would write his debrief later.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Birkoff had tried to remain inconspicuous from his leaders and had stayed in the background while the exchange between the two men had taken place. He’d been shaking in his boots listening to the heated conversation back and forth. They were oblivious to anyone else who may be watching and he was worried that Operations and Madeline may penalise him in some way for eavesdropping. Birkoff had felt like applauding though. Walter had come back from this mission a changed man. How it was possible that he could stand up to Operations so … and all because he wanted to give him extra time to debrief? What was wrong with him?

As soon as Madeline and Operations had disappeared from sight though, Birkoff rushed up to Walter. “Hey man, good to see you”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied although his stomach was still churning up over the conversation with Operations.

“That was pretty rough.”

“Yeah ... Not great.”

“But you're okay?”

Walter grinned at Birkoff. He was grateful for his friend’s support and concern. Obviously Birkoff was really worried about what had just taken place between him and Operations. “I told you I’m fine.”

The two friends shared a look before Birkoff asked about the mission. “So how'd it go?”

“It was okay.”

“It's good to see you again. It’s so good to have you back.”

Walter saw Birkoff take a step forward towards him with his arms raised slightly as if he was about to give him a hug. Birkoff stopped himself and stepped back thinking twice about showing his feelings for Walter so openly.

Diffusing the awkward moment Walter replied, “Thanks Amigo ... It’s good to be back.”

He then asked how things had gone in his absence. “Well how about you Birkoff? Did you have a good time while I was away?”

In his excitement to tell Walter everything that had happened in Section since he’d been gone, Birkoff couldn’t get the words out quick enough. “The guy they replaced you with was a real loser.”

He rattled on oblivious to Walter’s apparent inattentiveness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Walter’s thoughts were elsewhere. Taking a deep breath, he debated whether to follow the team to return his equipment to Munitions first or go to Medical to check up on Michael and Nikita. He was only listening with one ear to his friend and answered nonchalantly. “Hmm? Yeah?”

What the heck ... he could return his equipment himself later on and mark it off the inventory. He really needed to go and see how his friends were and if they were okay and with any luck, he might just run into a certain somebody.

Birkoff gushed off his answers proud of his efforts to look out for Walter’s interests. “Yeah ... I set off a wall punch in here and made it look like it was his fault.”

Walter heard Birkoff’s voice rattle on but he was miles away. A smile crossed his face but it was not because of Birkoff’s high jinks but more because of his last thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Noticing that Walter seemed a little preoccupied with something else other than his small talk, Birkoff looked at his friend closely. “Walter, you okay? Walter?”

“Sure ... It’s good to know someone was looking out for me,” he replied giving Birkoff his complete attention once more.

“So how were things in the field?”

“It was fantastic.”

“It really wasn’t that bad?” Birkoff asked surprised at Walter’s reply.

“No, it was heaven.” Walter exchanged glances with his friend. “Actually it was better than that because we found Nikita alive.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah. All the dreams I ever had came to life.”

“Wow!”

Walter gave him a keen look. “I haven’t lost any of my skills ... I still have IT Birkoff. You know what I’m saying?”

“That’s great ... that’s excellent Walter ... So what are you gonna do now?”

Walter had already made up his mind to what he would do. “I’m heading to Med-Lab to check up on Michael and Nikita.”

“Can I come too?

“Sure.”

He then turned and made his way to Medical with a silent Birkoff at his side.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Play on text from … TOP, CAM, OBT and BTP

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