The Soldier and The Spy: Tess Danvers- Episode 7

Chapter 1

Fourteen Years Ago

He was strong.

He was a soldier so he had to be, it was literally in the job description and the insignia on the shoulder of his jacket meant he was a Ranger, 3rd Battalion of the 75th Regiment which was an elite unit but he'd been carrying her for an hour now and he hadn't stopped once. He, Jay, had barely even adjusted his grip and the few times he had it had been after she'd either made a noise and he thought she was hurting or after he'd stared too long at her legs and let out an angry huff, moving his hands to make sure he wasn't hurting her. He tried not to look often and bundled the way she was in his jacket it wasn't like there was much he could see but sometimes she caught his jaw clenching and his eyes darkening, though every time they met hers they immediately softened, his mouth pulling up in a kind smile.

It was a nice smile, same with his friend behind them, Mouse, but she couldn't return them.

She couldn't even try to.

Tess had spent the last... she didn't know how long locked inside her head, fighting to keep hold of herself for this very moment, the tiny sliver of hope that she would get to live again but now that it seemed like she would she didn't know how to get out. She didn't know if she wanted to. What was her world going to be after this?

What would she?

That was too much to think about right now so she burrowed deeper into the worn but warm canvas that she swore smelt like chocolate and went back to looking at the soldier who'd given it to her. Jay. Sometimes she got a weird sensation when she looked at him, almost like a gentle tug in her heart but for the last little while she'd felt another, more familiar feeling creeping in. Guilt. He was strong but he'd been carrying her for something like an hour without a break and she'd never been a small girl, though in her current state she probably didn't pose much of a challenge. She certainly hadn't to her captors.

Just like that a heavy feeling sank over her, so real he adjusted his grip and something about that small action, not just a level of care she hadn't received in days but a level of attention she rarely did had her mouth opening.

"This is more than-" That proved to be a bad idea when she went too fast and lost her breath, her whole fucking body wracked with painful spasms but seconds later she was being stretched out, his, Jay's hand under her back supporting her ribcage while the other made sure she stayed covered until she could get it back. "This... is... more... than over... a hill."

At first he just blinked, his friend, Mouse, doing the same but then they both cracked and gave wide smiles, Jay nodding as he looked her over. "You know, it is."

He looked to his partner and after they both gave each other a little nod picked her back up again, making sure to keep her stretched out as he shuffled them over to a nearby tree, which was the only good thing about wherever they were- lots of shade to escape the desert sun. Not that she could feel much, she'd lost enough body fat that she'd been constantly cold for the last few days but the sun hurt her eyes.

"We'll wait here until my unit arrives, okay?" He said softly, mercifully pulling her out of her head. "You want some more water?"

He held it for her again, actually insisted she finish it and even though she felt bad about it Tess did, slowly, so, so slowly starting to feel a bit more like a human when she did. When he kept smiling at her like she was one, when she got another tug at how proud he looked of himself for finding a pair of socks in his pack that he put on her feet as carefully as if they were glass slippers. It faded a little when his face hardened when he saw the state they were in but he just sat next to her, in front of her actually, covering her, cajoling her into eating some dried fruit. He never pressed her to talk, never expected an answer to his quiet comments on the weather or the landscape, never seemed bothered when she didn't smile at his jokes, most of which were aimed at his friend who shot some good ones back. He just sat with her. And when a whistle in the distance had her stiffening he put a hand on her shoulder while Mouse whistled back, his firm stare keeping the rest of his team back when they started coming out of the bushes. And then he picked her up again, shaking his head every time one of them quietly asked if he wanted to take turns.