Salam.
So it seems Paired may just become my longest book.
A chapter more until it surpasses Hidden.
Anyways so the mission is underway 😌
Best of luck to them.
*****************************************
Karim saw as everyone successfully crossed through the checkpoint. He, his dad and the soldier who seemed to be in charge were the only people left. The previous person checking the documents had been changed to another man who looked a bit rough.
Karim was next. He stepped forward and handed over his documents.
"Ehsan Ali." The man mentioned his fake name.
"That's me."
"Hmm." The man looked at him for a long time before looking back at his documents.
"Ehsan...My brother's name is Ehsan."
"That's nice to know." Karim smiled tightly.
"He's dead."
"I'm sorry." Karim apologized.
"Don't. I killed him." The man grinned.
Karim kept a stoic face as the man handed him his documents.
"You can pass. Next."
Karim walked past him and released a breath of relief. Now for the one person who could destroy this mission.
Tawfiq stepped forward and handed him his documents.
"Furqaan Jabbir." The man mentioned and arched a brow.
Tawfiq only nodded in confirmation.
He looked at the documents for a while before looking at Tawfiq carefully.
"You can pass."
Well that was easy and fast.
The leader of the troop also passed through simply. It seemed they knew each other. They had to be acquainted from the glare they gave each other.
Finally they were through. What was all the fuss about then? It was simpler than Karim imagined.
However his internal jubilation was cut short. All his thoughts were stopped when the man who had checked their documents stopped them.
"Stop!"
Karim could hear everyone's breath hitch. He had celebrated too early. Had the man recognized them? They were surrounded and even if they tried to make a run for it, they might not make it that far.
"You. Furqaan." He pointed at Tawfiq.
Tawfiq turned to him slowly and raised his head.
"Is there a problem?"
"Take of your cap." He ordered.
Without hesitating, Tawfiq took of his military cap.
"You look familiar." The man rubbed his beard.
"I can't quite place it but you look like someone I've seen before."
Karim looked around him. All the security officers there had their weapons in hand whiles theirs had already been sent to the base. They were doomed.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I'm sure of it. I can't put my mind on where."
"Yes. You have." Karim said out of the blue.
He could feel everyone's gaze on him.
Karim thought for a second before moving forward to his father and taking off his cap too.
"Yes you have. This is my older brother. I'm told we could pass off as twins. Even though we don't share a father." Karim explained.
The man looked at both of them. They actually looked alike. They looked more like father and son to him than half-brothers. For two people who didn't share a father, they had an uncanny resemblance.
Maybe that's why he thought he recognized him. But still...
Karim saw him about to say another word but their leader stopped him.
"We've been here longer than necessary, Manaf. Pryce won't be happy with your treatment of us."
Jonathan Pryce.
The UN General Secretary.
"Ah. The Secretary. We're grateful to him for taking down some of those big sanctions against us by that tyrant." Manaf said to them but there was no sincerity in his voice. Not an iota of it.
Tyrant.
Tawfiq.
As an agreement to prevent harm to the soldiers there for peacekeeping, some sanctions had to be revoked. Tawfiq was against it anyways. It would only make their ego grow. But he wasn't exactly considered since he had decided not to send his troops.
"You and your men can go, Azaan. But remember, we're watching you. And remember your limits."
"We will. We'll be on our way then Manaf." Azaan nodded and turned to walk away.
The breath everyone was holding was released.
They had escaped the first bullet.
Would they be able to escape the next one?
~
"Dear God! I thought our cover was blown." Dean exclaimed.
"I used to think your dad was smart. But you are just another whole thing. I guess I could say love does change people." Dean stated and looked at Bella.
"Not for me though. I used to be so innocent. T, you remember those days." Dean sighed as he watched Tawfiq enter the tent.
Bella cocked her head at him.
"Innocent? Tawfiq do you remember this one ever being innocent?"
"Nope. He's never been innocent." Tawfiq sat down on one of the chairs by Karim.
They were all in a medium sized tent trying to draw out a plan of action. All the other soldiers knew they were on a mission of their own so a tent had been risen just for them.
"Uncle Dean looks innocent to me." Karim joined in.
Dean wiped a fake tear.
"Are you sure you're not my long lost son that T kidnapped?" Dean exaggerated.
Everyone looked between Dean, Tawfiq and Karim.
"Unless you somehow had a son with Tawfiq then no." Zain chuckled.
[Not important A/N but I just want to point out because it hit me.
If Paired ever becomes a movie now, Ryan Reynolds is definitely going to be Dean😭😭❤️❤️ Who else do y'all think could play the role of Dean?? Suggestions? Okay let's continue👀😂]
"Science is broad. I might have had a child with Tawfiq for all you know. And that child is definitely Karim. He takes after me so much." Dean exhaled happily.
"Please let's ignore Dean and get back to work."
"Y'all can't ignore me. I'm the party of our group. Y'all a bunch of old ladies and old men...Ouch." Dean held the back of his head.
Bella eyed him.
"Please ignore me and let's get back to work." Dean voiced out.
What ever Bella threatened him with with her eyes definitely had power.
"Thank you for your cooperation, brother."
Dean clicked his tongue and crossed his hands over his chest.
Tawfiq unrolled a piece of paper lying on the center table.
It was a map. Not very detailed and complete but nonetheless a map.
"Who made this? A 5 year old?" Bella frowned.
"Sierra could even do a better job. What's this supposed to mean?" Dean questioned.
"The Major gave this to me. This is as far as their knowledge goes. Even though they're allowed in the country, they're not allowed past some areas. According to him, it was part of the agreement signed with the UN. I feel it's because they're hiding something there."
"Maybe." Michael thought.
"Anyways, he said if we need a detailed one, we have to venture out of their limit zone and get one from their informant there." Tawfiq continued.
"The blue X's are for abandoned areas with most of the buildings abandoned and a few demolished. The red ones are areas with high bombing and shooting activities. Most of the buildings are either broken down or on the verge of collapsing. The green ones have a few buildings in bad shape but most are fine and it seems to be in good shape. At least way better than the others."
"That's definitely where the controllers of the city would be."
"That's what the Major thinks too. They can't tell who's a rebel and who's a civilian anymore. And their informant is finding it harder and harder each day to send them any information without being caught."
"Then we need to get to the informant ourselves." Layla suggested.
"He lives in the red zone. And it's currently bombing season as the Major said."
"So he could already be dead." Karim muttered.
"Let's hope not. He's the only person the Major says we can trust in this whole country. He's the only way we can get an actual map of the city and not just colored X's"
"Who's this informant anyway and why is he helping the army?" Michael questioned.
"From what I was told, his mother is from Saudi Arabia and his dad is from here. He was an activist before the war. Condemned the government his whole life before the war started. Now he's hoping to end it." Tawfiq explained.
"I see. Why don't we just inform MI6 or the CIA so we can use their satellites to get an aerial map? It would save us so much time. And it's safer." Michael gave his opinion.
"That will mean involving more intelligence and we seriously don't know who to trust anymore. Besides the informant can tell us where and where to avoid and which areas have suspicious activities going on."
"Ergo where Yasmine and Hamid are keeping Zaira." Zain ended.
Michael nodded in understanding.
"So we have to find a way to get to the red zone without getting killed by a bomb, inhaling poisonous chemical weapons gas, being shot dead by drones and not getting squashed by falling buildings. All whiles making sure we aren't spotted by rebels or maybe just T here." Dean smiled and nodded. " That seems easy enough. Like a quest in a game. What's missing? We've already got a princess to save from the villain." Dean chuckled.
"Dragons and Zombies." Tawfiq joked.
"We could cover that up with the rebels. Just like a game but no do overs. If you die that's it." Dean said a bit seriously.
"So no one should die at least." Dean looked around the table.
Nobody would die on his watch. No One.
"Okay. So our first plan of action is getting to the Arabian informant. The red zone is a bit far from here." Tawfiq pointed out on the map.
"So many bombings will mess with our radios. It will be difficult to communicate incase we have to split up. Besides, Mike and I might find it difficult to overlay information from where we'll get our station." Zain pointed out.
Zain and Michael wouldn't be involved in direct combat. Their job was to use their computer skills to help them out. And as long as they would be a bit far from them, radio connection would turn weak naturally but the bombings would just mess everything up right from the beginning.
"He's right. I'm highly positive that the radio towers in that zone are all gone by now." Mike added.
"If not radio waves then what about satellites? They're more powerful than the towers and they can't be affected by bombings." Layla suggested.
"If that's the case then we can use our satellite." Tawfiq suggested.
"It has to be right over this country's head." Zain informed them.
"If I'm to give you the control codes, do you think you can move it right overhead of us?"
Zain nodded.
"We could. But it won't escape your people's radar. They'll know someone's controlling their satellite."
"I'll let Salim handle that."
Everything was set now.
"We should use this path. Right here. It's shorter." Bella showed a path.
Dean crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
"We've got everything planned out. Now, how are we supposed to know who the informant is? Do we have a picture? And even if we do, are we supposed to stop everyone we see and have a look at their faces? That's gonna raises a lot of suspicion." Dean stressed on the lot.
Everyone looked at Tawfiq. Dean was actually right. How do you find one man in a town where everyone could be in hiding or covered up to avoid inhaling any more smog?
Tawfiq rubbed his forehead. He had asked the Major for a picture of their informant at least. Unfortunately they didn't have a single picture of him.
"We don't have a picture." Tawfiq stated.
"I guess we could hold up a sign saying 'Looking for Arabian Government Informant.' then." Dean chuckled which earned a glare from Bella.
Dean joked with every situation no matter how serious it was, he'd find a way to make a joke.
One time on a job, he had made Bella laugh so hard at a joke that they were spotted by the enemy earlier than they had wanted.
But sometimes, he was the only person who could make you forget that what was going on wasn't life threatening.
"This is serious, Dean." Bella reprimanded.
"Doesn't mean we should frown our way to death, babe." Dean shrugged.
Bella sighed. There was no way of changing him. But she didn't want him to change too.
"The Major said finding him would be highly impossible since we can't just go round asking." Tawfiq paused. "So he says the informant will find us." He ended.
"How's he supposed to know we're looking for him?" Layla questioned with an arched brow.
"The Major said he'll know if he sees us."
"We're going to die before we meet whoever this informant is, won't we?" Layla palmed her face.
"No one's dying, Layla. Stop being such a party pooper." Dean rolled his eyes at him.
"Not everyone can make a joke about life or death situation. If the informant doesn't find us quickly, we might be spotted by the rebels. And that'd be sure death." Layla blankly pointed out.
Karim just looked in between Layla and Dean.
Layla was raw, upfront and serious whiles Dean was more of on the jovial side and optimistic most at times.
Maybe growing up differently made them different in many ways.
"Let's just put our hope in the informant. If you say the rebels can spot us then he can also spot us just as quickly. We just have to hope he spots us first." Karim said to everyone.
"Hope is fleeting, Karim. Hope isn't as powerful as you think. Hope might just be what kills us." Layla pointed out.
Being a pessimist was what she was. She liked to think of all the bad of things so it wouldn't shock her when it actually happened.
"Excuse me, I'd like to go and make what could be my last phone call. I suggest you all do same." Layla stood up and exited the tent. All her girls followed her without a word.
Layla was a big pessimist. Everyone knew that. But she was right. This could be her last call. No matter how good she was, going up against unknown enemies of a whole country was just too big of a job.
"My sister is such a poor believer. But she is right. Please go ahead and make what could be your last call." Dean smiled and bowed like he was asking for Bella's hand to dance.
Bella chuckled and shook her head but took his hand nonetheless and they also stepped outside the tent.
"I think I'll do just that too." Zain stood up. Halima would start overthinking if he didn't get in touch.
"Me too. We could get the computers ready after our phone call." Michael said to Zain.
"Yeah." They both walked out.
Karim just watched as everyone walked out to make what was supposed to be their last phone call. A huge sense of guilt washed over him. His hands began to shake uncontrollably without him realizing. If anyone died it would be his fault. He was putting everyone in this position. What if Zaira was already dead? They'd end up dying alongside her for nothing. Yasmine and Hamid would get away and they'd never find them too. Why were they helping him again? It wasn't like Zaira was everyone's favorite person. They all didn't really like her so why save her? Why do all this?
He was taking them away from their families to save Zaira. He was even leaving Samia. He didn't like this at all.
That's why he wanted to go alone in the beginning. Now he felt like anything that happened would be his fault.
Karim felt a hand over his wrist to stop his shaking.
"Hey. Hey. Calm down." Tawfiq urged him.
"Breathe, Karim." Tawfiq added.
Karim didn't realize he had been holding his breath. He started to breathe after taking in deep breaths through his mouth.
"Are you okay?" Tawfiq let go of his wrist.
Karim nodded.
"You feel guilty, don't you? It will pass, don't worry." Tawfiq advised.
"How do you know?" Karim asked.
"I feel guilty all the time. But I've learnt to deal with it. It's part of being a leader. In case you've forgotten you're the leader of this mission. You've just decided not to speak much but you still are." Tawfiq reminded him.
"They shouldn't have come along. I shouldn't have asked them to. The idea sounded good then but now reality is kicking in. This is all my fault. I've ripped them away from their family. Even you. You're here because of me. And if anything happens to you, it'll be my fault. Mom would be in so much pain because of me." Karim stated flatly.
"Listen, Karim. This isn't the time to carry all the blame. You asked them to come and they all came willingly. No one here is saying they regret helping you. They just want to make a phone call for goodness sake. And maybe it could be their last but maybe not. Everyone needs to make their last call at one point in time. That's why we're working together. To make sure it isn't." Tawfiq explained to him.
"So put that guilt pent up in you somewhere for a while at least until after the mission. Right now, we need to follow suit and call your mother and siblings. If I do die, at least I'd have heard their voices." Tawfiq stood up.
"Imagine I die and you take over in a month. The Emirates is doomed." Tawfiq laughed.
"You won't die. And I can take care of the country." Karim muttered.
"A bit. Maybe you could. At least better than Maruf anyway. I don't know how he'll change when he grows up but if he doesn't then I have a feeling that boy will sell the country off for a PlayStation." Tawfiq said.
The twins didn't care one bit about becoming king. One time, Tawfiq had asked Maruf what he'd do if he had to become the next king because Karim couldn't. He had outright said he'd let Rauf do it. Rauf had frowned and said he wouldn't either. After going back and forth they decided they'd let Naima be King or one of their sisters. They both hated the idea as much as Tawfiq did before. But luckily they weren't next in line yet.
"He actually would." Karim chuckled and followed his father out of the tent.
He and his father hadn't been comfortable around each other for a while so this felt refreshing. Talking to his dad was nice.
That was why he prayed earnestly that nothing would happen to him or to anyone.
But who knew which prayer was answered?
_____________________________
Double update??
Yepppp
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