Kids Who Kill
July 7, 2008 chopper Bella rode the chopper; it was the second and much more agreeable in conditions. She felt very comfortable in the rich surroundings. She was sketching in her book, but only half heartedly, most of her line was designed and ready for show this was just, well either the last for the season or perhaps…with a few modifications…if could be the beginning of the next season. She looked at her work critically, considering her options. A pen stroke here…one there…and maybe just a small one…Declan came and sat next to her. "I assume the paranoia comes with the job?" He muttered quietly to her as he sat without invitation. She smiled at him lightly. "You could say that." She knew he had been referring to the sheer amount of guns they seemed to be taking on this mission, for four teenagers. She had briefly pondered the situation herself, but as she had killed her first man at 17, she knew that perhaps this wasn't paranoia, and more being prepared. Declan had said something about SWAT earlier, surely he knew teenagers could be…not nice. "SWAT. Isn't that a branch of the police?" he nodded, "Yeah, an elite one, special training and all. Get called in for hostage situations, bank robberies, real dangerous events. Get to drop in from choppers, some sharp shooting involved, although I didn't do much of that, lots of yelling. which comes right after the sneaking." He spoke fondly of his old job, which gave her the distinct impression he hadn't left voluntarily. "You speak fondly of it. Miss it?" It was one of her rare kind moments, one she expected he'd squash with some smart assed comment. "Not sure yet, haven't really got to do much in this show yet. But yeah, I think so, the team and the environment. This job may be similar in content but the atmosphere of it is very different." His answer had been sincere, this had surprised her. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments. When she spoke she returned to the earlier conversation. "Surely with you last job you discovered that teenagers can be just as dangerous, if not more so, with a weapon." He looked at her sharply, "Well yeah but…we were there to neutralise the threat, not kill them." Bella smiled at him, he was being amusing to her now. "And if you were paying attention we're not there to kill these kids either. We're bringing them in, that's all." Declan felt silly now, she could tell by the way he looked away. "Yes, they made sure you heard that." Silly he might feel but his cheek was still present, as always. "Yes, they did, I think my last mission made an impression." Declan laughed a little at that, then the humour died away. "I get the feeling that there's a lot more killing in this job than my last one. I can handle killing bad guys, what worries me…are there many children targets?" And that was the crux of it. He was worried that these teenagers were the lucky ones and that they were among the few that got to live. Bella smiled and looked back at her sketch pad, then back at her fellow Irishman. "I have never been involved in a deliberate hit against anyone below the age of about twenty-five." And that was a fact. Most people didn't become dangerous international terrorists until they'd had quite a few years practice. He smiled at her, a `thank you' in his eyes which quickly disappeared as he pursued another thought. "I learnt about dangerous youngsters on the job, but if you don't come across them, where does your wisdom come from." "Common sense, a gun is dangerous in anyone's hands." She tried the simple line first. He looked at her closely for a second then shook his head. "nope". Such a simple assertion, but he was right, he did he know that, ah whatever. After some thought she decided to tell the truth, it didn't hurt anyone, she wasn't ashamed of it, so what the hey. "First time I killed a man I was…seventeen, I believe. Same age as these kids." And there it was the simple truth, she watched him to see his reaction, would he get up and leave, would he not believe her, would he tell his own story of kids who kill. Nope, he sat there, processed the information and when he did next make a sound it was simply "huh". The chopper landed and they piled out, they had finally reached their destination and they got to get on with the job. Bella didn't really fancy herself as a delivery service so this job was irritating to her. It was wet, very wet. Return