RPG SYF:

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra filed her nails into delicate points while Liam staggared around looking for the First aid kit. She held it up, slightly annoyed, and gave him a look that would've frosted over his guns. He sat down obediently at the three legged seat she kicked in his direction. Liam was about to protest her treatment of him when he heard her unzip the bag, and take something out.

Several moments later he bit his lip to prevent the scream from coming out. ...Hydrogen Peroxide, liberally applied to his head and arm.[/i]

"Feel free to voice your opinions Liam. It's theraputic."

"Like the BURNING ON MY BODY?!?!?"

[i]Her laughter was gentle, pleasing, and hardly mocking. With softer movements she manned the tweezers, picking the fibers from the skin and muscle on his arm. Neosporin, applied to the open wound with sterilized hands. Then she turned and unrolled the bandage expertly, winding it around his arm and sealing it off with water proof tape.[/i]

"Keep that dry or I'll wring your neck."

"....sure...sure."

"Come back in two days for that to be changed, and one for this."

[i]She picked the hairs and dirt from the head wound carefully, avoiding the dirty scabs with skill. Then, nothing else for it, she opened them up again, with Liam biting his tongue in protest. Matt glanced in their direction and smiled. She was good.....maybe too good.

The bandage was equally neat and sterile, and covered with tape.[/i]

"You're done...go sleep."

"....eeh, feels better. Got any Valium?"

"Oh you mean this?"

[i]She held up a capsule that looked suspiciously like the Pill. Only it was Darvoset. The cure all knockout pill that could send you into Neverland in less than 30 seconds.[/i][/COLOR]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam received the capsule and glanced at it, eyeing it suspiciously. She?d done a good job, the sting was down to a sunburn feeling, but the capsule he was afraid of. He pocketed it and righted his towel.

?So Zharra, enjoying yourself so far?? He tossed his soiled fatigues into the rubbish bin, followed shortly by his towel. Liam wasn?t one to repack.

?Apart from the falling out of the plane thing?? Her tone was humorous, a sign that she?d enjoyed it.

Liam smirked and pulled the blue bucket hat over his head, covering the bandage completely.

?Let me tell you it?s about to get a whole lot more interesting.? He said, placing his hands behind his head. ?But, I didn?t tell you that. The minute Matt catches on that we?re enjoying this kind of thing, we?ll be shipped off with a psychiatric discharge.?

Zharra smiled, ignoring Liam?s lunatic grin. She began packing up the kit, expertly placing everything where it had to be. She clasped the lid shut and put it back on top of a stack of plastic crates.

?Mind you,? she said, ?seeing that guide of ours run away from you is amusing me greatly.?

Liam?s eyes scanned across to the other side of the camp, ?yeah. Don?t ask me about that, I?ve got no clue what?s going on there.?

?I mean, I?ve read the files, and nothing in them is out of the ordinary.?

Liam glanced at her, ?you?re not talking about the SYF ones are you??

?How did you know?? Zharra smirked and leant back in her chair. ?Jaudiar told me some interesting tales about you.?

Liam feigned half interest and looked away, ?sure, I bet she had some tales to tell.?

?She did, but Ananda had some better ones.?

Liam frowned thinking, [I]?Wonderful, family history. I?m burning, tired, and as a bonus I get to learn more about someone?s family.[/I]?

Liam pulled the capsule out and eyed it. ?So, do I drink this with water while lying down??

Zharra looked slightly put out, but pleased to help, ?yeah. Lying down would be a good idea; it knocks you out pretty quick. Water?ll help it go down too.?

Liam stood, ?right, I will then. Thanks a lot. Mind you, I have the suspicion that I?ll wake up too late to leave on this mission??

Zharra gave a chuckled and Liam left, snatching a plastic cup full of cordial infused water from the stainless steel bench sitting outside the mess tent. He waved jovially to Eve and entered his tent, kicking off his Nike thongs at the door. With his spare hand, he closed the zip before lying down.

?Here goes.? He said, eyeing the pill.

He put the capsule in his mouth, downed the cordial, and lay down. There was a pause as his expression changed to drowsy, and he was out.
[/size]

[Sere Tuscumbia]

[size=1]Eve sat in her tent, fitfully adjusting and re-adjusting her black three-quarter sleeve shirt, hoping to find a way to make it [b]not[/b] hurt. But it didn't matter, the pain never stopped anyway.

She brushed her bangs to the side with one hand absentmindedly, standing up, and Eve felt her throat tighten as she walked (a bit wobbly) to the small black bag on her equally small cot.

No, she told herself. She wouldn't let the tears come. Not now. Holly would have never approved.

Holly . . .

A single tear hit the course fabric of the black bag, making a small dark stain before fading away, and Eve quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand.

Matt popped his head into her tent, and Eve looked up as he spotted her. "'Ey!" he said, and Eve brightened a little at his jovial mood. "You're all ready then?"

"Yeah."

Matt looked around outside the tent for a moment before stepping fully inside. He looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure you're ready for this Eve? I mean, can you go back?"

Eve didn't look at him. There was a pause, then Eve nodded, slowly, deliberately, zipping shut her mostly empty bag. It wasn't like she had much to own in the first place . . .

"I'll do it. It wouldn't be right to back down, run away. Holly would have told me to 'turn my ass around and quit hiding my head in the sand'." Eve took a deep, shuddering breath, and then let it out. "I'll do it for Holly. She deserved better. She deserved [B]more[/B]."

Eve was trembling, but didn't realise it until Matt laid a gentle hand on her arm.

"I know, Eve, I know. Holly would be proud of you, she really would."

"Proud," Eve echoed in a hollow voice, then buckled her pack and turned to Matt, a bright smile on her face. "Mingle 'til dinner, then?"

Matt saw through the smile, but spared Eve and decided to play along. "Mingle," he chuckled, patting her arm and heading out. "And Eve," Matt looked over his shoulder at her as he held the tent flap up, "I know how much you're going to hate it, but sooner or later you're going to have to talk to Liam. Yes, he may be a trigger-happy psycho, but he's one of the best agents we have and being able to work with him is important."

Eve nodded, her face set, and she waited a moment before following Matt out.

She passed Liam on the way to the camp, and he waved before slipping into his tent.

Eve froze. She couldn't help it. Forcing herself to relax, Eve finished the walk and quickly headed for some shade. Just because she had spent tons of time out in the Colombian air didn't mean she didn't hate the heat.

*/-/*

Yes, I'm playing the part of Eve, it's all been planned out and such, blah, blah, blah. Have any complaints? No? Good, I wasn't going to listen to them anyway. And if you're wondering, my sign-up is currently residing in my myOtaku journal, and will be staying there a long, long time. Feel free to check it out.

--Sere[/size]

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue][i]With simple padding steps, Zharra made her way to the shade, where Eve, their guide, was currently reposing on the sad. She was holding her glasses frosted wine, kept cool in her pack thanks to new technology and simple inventiveness. She held one out to Eve, who sniffed it, then sipped it experimentally. Zharra sat next to her and took a slow drink, running it over her tongue.[/i]

"Thanks....what is it?"

"Zinfandel. 1969. ....from Nappa Valley in California."

"It's very good. .....how did you keep it cold?"

"Mmmm, that would be telling now wouldn't it? By the way, thanks for being our guide."

"No problem. It's a break from the monotony."

"Good then. Glad for the shade."

"I'll be gladder when we get a move on."

[i]Eve looked slightly restless to Zharra, who's eyes never missed much. She set down her empty glass and took Eve's as well.[/i]

"Patience is a virtue ..... ...that I was never able to quite grasp."

[i]The two chuckled and Zharra stood.[/i][/color]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Rubbing the back of her neck, Rae sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the tree behind her. The bark cut into her bare shoulders -- she'd taken her camouflage shirt off, leaving her Singlet top and the bandage -- but she'd learnt not to pay attention to the minor details like that. She was warm -- not too warm -- and comfortable; relatively so, at least. Soon she'd be fed, and then after that, she could sleep. It was simple. Easy as pie.

Then why were her nerves strung so tightly?

Stupid question. She knew why. She just wasn't willing to admit it, even to herself.

The mission had gone wrong from the first. It didn't bode well, at all. In fact, it boded very badly. Perhaps it was just paranoia, but something that started badly could never end well.

And then there was the team. They were all qualified, sure. And they were all capable of the mission, Rae knew. That wasn't where her reservations lay. It was in that fact that, in a group of [i]eight[/i] there were sects! Sure, in a mission, it was natural for an agent to have an affinity with another agent, over someone else. However, when you were friends to the exclusion of other people, it meant excluding part of the team. It weakened the team, and that was never a good thing. But how to change that? Kat and Malania, at least, would never voluntarily be partnered with someone else. Rae herself was happy to be partnered with anyone -- although she preferred Liam, because she'd known him for so long, and they hadn't worked together on the same mission in about two years.

As for the others -- she wasn't sure.

But she needed to do something. Otherwise...actually, Rae preferred not to think about otherwise. She just knew it'd be bad.

Eve wandered over to Rae -- probably under orders to mingle from Matt; he did that to any newcomers to the group. Rae looked her up and down, noticing the slightly tender way that Eve walked. An old -- or [i]new[/i] -- injury, perhaps?

Her brown-red hair was cut short -- about chin length -- and seemed to flick out naturally. She had a straight nose; it obviously hadn't been broken. That in itself had screamed inexperience, although wasn't necessarily true. Most girls seemed to escape from a broken nose, for some reason. Possibly because they weren't as often in hand to hand combat. Men seemed to rush in a jump onto the enemy, then proceed to beat them to a pulp. Girls seemed to be quite happy to shoot said enemy from a mile off.

"Hey," smiled Rae. "I haven't spoken to you yet, have I?"

"No, you were too busy getting your ass kicked."

Rae sat up quickly, ever ready to defend her reputation, when she realised that Eve was joking. She grinned and poked her tongue out, then looked to her bandaged shoulder. "I did, didn't I? It's not exactly my fault, though. The past came back to bite me in the ass."

Rae rubbed her eyes, then noticed Matt waving to her. "Sorry," she said to Eve, not looking at her, "family calls." It didn't occur to her how odd that could seem, because when she looked at Eve, her face was drawn.

"Yeah, what do you want?" She slapped him gently, then winced, hearing her fingers crack.

"The SAS guys just reported to me via radio. It seems one of our agents has a bug planted on them; you're the most logical person."

Rae swore. "How much do you think they've gotten?"

"Not a lot. There was an outgoing file just before the guy was killed. I think there might have been just enough to 'prove' that you were Jehane."

"How does that work?"

"Well, from the times I've been given, the SAS killed the man just after your conversation with Liam -- the soft drink one."

"And..?"

"Well," he hesitated, then grinned slightly. "If you take it that you [i]are[/i] Jehane -- knowing what a bloodthirsty bitch she is -- and that you 'ordered' the guards to 'take care of him', then complained of getting sticky stuff all over you...it could be construed."

Rae nodded, absently rubbing her temples. "Okay, yeah. It could."

"We need you to find the bug, even if it is disabled. It can always be re-enabled by another party. Do you want some help?"

"No, I'll be fine."

She headed off to her tent, already letting down her hair.



Rae wandered out about half an hour later, wearing a puzzled frown. She headed over to Matt. "I've doubled checked everything Matt -- it wasn't there. Perhaps it was on Liam?"

"It could be, but...was there any time when that was possible?"

She thought back to the scene. "No, there wasn't."

Rae frowned, trying to remember. A metaphorical light bulb went off in her head. "It's in the bandage." She groaned. "Better yet, it's probably in the wound."

Rae called out to Zharra. "Hey! I need your help. There's a bug in my shoulder!"[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra motioned her over, and Rae leapt towards Zharra's domicile, which was fast becoming the official First Aid tent. All it needed was the big Red Cross. Or maybe a red Crescent. Zharra gave her a look that hovered between concern and amusement. She unzipped the pack and opened the metal box next to it with her earring. Rae watched her interestedly, until she took out a scalpel.[/i]

".....hold still Rae...this might sting a tad bit."

[i]With an expert slit, she removed the bandages and peeled them away, tossed them to the ground, and stepped on them. Whoever had patched her up had been very careless.

Rae winced as Zharra took out tweezers, sterilized after Liam, and began peeling back the flesh that had already started to scab. She muttered to herself in Gaelic as she worked, which wasn't all together that bad....just a little odd.[/i]

"Can't you just...anestheise me?"

"Sorry honey, I'm saving that for real cases. ....this is just a flesh wound....and.... Oh god."

[i]Something was burrowing into her flesh at a rapid rate, given its exposure to sunlight. With a sure hand, Zharra stabbed down with the tweezers and yanked something metal out of Rae's shoulder. Those watching looked on with interest. This was getting good..... While Rae screamed aloud, Zharra gave a shout of triumph and held the bug over her head.[/i]

"GOTCHA!"

"AGH!"

"...what the?"

[i]Zharra flipped out an Altoid box and droped the bug into it carefully, then tossed it at Matt.[/i]

"Voila. .....she is clear."[/COLOR]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Rae winced, shuddering at the pain. "Couldn't you have cleared me in a less painful way? Please? I mean...what did I ever do to you?

"No, don't answer that. There's probably something there that I don't know about."

Zharra grinned. Rae cowered and moved over to the corner. "Um, Rae, darling, unless you want an infection, I'm going to have to bandage that up."

Rae started sidling to the door. "That's okay. I can deal with that. Infections are fine, and you know, they're not as bad as they're made out to..."

"If you get an infection, then you'll have to come [i]back[/i] here and get the infection treated. We don't have time to help you nicely, so you'll be treated with mother's fire -- which is about a hundred times as painful as what I just did."

Rae looked hunted, staring around at the group of observers, her escape route rapidly dwindling. Sighing, she relented. "Okay, patch me up."

"It's just a bandaging. How bad can it be?" Rae asked. Seconds later, Rae found out. Zharra had to cleanse to wound. Rae could have cried.[/size]

[Raiha]

[color=royalblue][i]For the sadistical chuckle emmitting from Zharra's lips, she was actually being incredibly gentle. With delicate fingers, she rubbed the area with a mint scented topical, dulling her nerves for a little while, then set down the small jar and picked up a spool. Using the bio degradable threads from Singapore, she threaded a smaller needle and sewed the muscles back together, starting from the bottom and working her way upwards. Rae bit her lips, preventing any further exclimations from her lips. The topical only went so far....but it did smell nice in contrast to the blood.

Zharra leaned over and smeared the wound with hydrogen peroxide, then cleaned it again with Polysporin.[/i]

"Better?"

"....it's burning."

[i]Zharra rubbed her good shoulder gently and went back to her sewing. With careful movements, she sealed the inscision with a delicate butterfly pattern. If she had to scar, she could at least disguise it. When it was healed, it would resemble a henna tattoo. Not a bad deal, all in all. Rae watched her through the mirror Bailey had hung earlier.[/i]

"....it's not so bad."

"Tell me that in six months."

"Alright then I will."

[i]The older of the two slapped on the bandage, then sealed it with the ever present waterproof tape. Rae moved her arm experimentally, the stitches bending with the skin. Zharra smiled at her and cleaned up the kit.[/i]

"You're free."

".....thank god."

"Keep it dry, come back in a few days. The stiches will have disolved by then.....but I want to make sure nothing gets to it."

"Knowing you, it'll be fine."

[i]Zharra blushed prettily at Matt's comment and put away her things.[/i][/color]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam grunted and rolled over as Matt called out to him.

'No, I take my contacts with a drop of arsenic..' Liam muttered sleepily.

Matt kicked him, harder this time. Still no response. He sighed and drew his Colt automatic that he had secreted inside a hidden holster in his baggy cargo pants.

He cocked it.

Liam was already sitting up with his shoe pointed at Matt, half asleep.

'Wait...' Liam yawned while inspecting his shoe '?where'd the trigger go?'

Matt grabbed Liam by his collar and hefted him out of the tent. Liam staggered clumsily to his feet and slid his thongs on, plodding after Matt.

?So?? Liam yawned and shook his head. The tablet was still working. ?Why am I awake again??

Matt caught Liam before he fell over. ?The Commander is on the videophone; he wants a full report of the events. He has the SAS one, but he needs your half of the story.?

Liam glanced through slitted eyes at him. ?What abou?abou?abou- he sneezed- what about Rae? She wasn?t asleep.?

Matt pulled back the canvas door on the tent. ?Rae was otherwise indisposed. Besides, I couldn?t resist waking you up.?

Liam dropped into the seat Matt offered him and stared blearily at the little screen next to the collapsible satellite dish.

?Liam, Matt informed me of recent events,? the Commander?s voice was slightly hazy from the static, but was still almost phone quality. ?I believe you disobeyed a direct order??

Liam had dropped off. Matt noticed and shook Liam awake, giving the Commander an apologetic look.

?What, what?? Liam looked back at the screen. ?Right. Um, yeah, I did. So shoot me. Can I sleep now??

The Commander stared stonily back through the low-res screen. Liam yawned and leant forward on the desk, placing his tired face centimetres from the camera.

?Fine, I?ll start from the beginning.?

Liam recounted the tale from beginning to end, but he cared to leave out his vindictive escapade with his Desert Eagles. Once or twice he nodded off and completely forgot where he was, but he finally got the story blurted out in the end.

The screen winked off, signalling that the conversation was truly over. Liam hadn?t received any reprimand, not that it mattered because he really didn?t know whether the conversation had taken place or not.

Matt escorted him from the tent and started him on his way back.

Liam brushed him off and drunkenly tottered past the mess tent, and bumped into someone. He looked up and into the eyes of a surprised Colombian.

?Who?re you?? Liam said sleepily.

?I am one of the partners in this?dig, I believe you call it.? He spoke with a heavy accent, and had two men standing beside him.

Matt walked over just as Liam collapsed onto the ground, snoring.

?I?m terribly sorry, Jack?s one of our diggers. He suffers from narcolepsy.? Matt caught the Colombian?s confused look. He hurriedly explained, ?he?s prone to suddenly fall asleep, which is a problem when he forgets to take his medication when he?s digging.?

Matt forced a laugh and the Colombian joined in.

?So who?re you?? The man asked.

?I?m Roger, I?m in charge of the rookies.?

?Ah, I see?are they all as inept as this one here?? He eyed the dozing Liam, who rolled over in the dust and curled into a foetal position.

?No, they?re quite good.? He took the Colombian?s arm and led him through the tents. ?Here, let me show you some of the artefacts, and maybe we can get you something to eat.?

?No, no, the artefacts are all I am interested in. We can stay only a little while you see.? He smiled, revealing some gold teeth.

?Very good then, now just this way please.? Matt, now Roger, looked over his shoulder at the others and mouthed ?be good!?
[/size]

[The Unholy Newt]

[size=1][color=dark-blue]ooc: Sorry I haven't posted in ages. Haven't had the time or inspiration.[center]___________________________________[/center]

Bradley decided now that people had a chance to socialise and do what they want, that he would catch up on some sleep. He was buggered from their jungle trek, plus he hadn't gotten much sleep while he was with Zharra.

He made his way over to his tent and collapsed onto the stretcher. He lay on his back and stared at the roof of the tent for a while. After about five minutes or so he realised that he wasn't going to sleep and got up again.

He walked out into the center of the camp to find someone to talk to. He saw the guide . . . Eve, standing by herself. He walked over to her and offered his hand.

'Hi. I'm Bradley,' he introduced himself.

'Eve,' she replied, with a small smile.

Bradley noticed when she looked at him that her right eye didn't focus on him, but instead looked off elswhere. (ooc: I wasn't sure what kind of blindness you had in your eye, so I guessed). She also seemed somewhat distant, as if if she could she wouldn't be out here with the rest of the agents.

[center]___________________________________[/center]

ooc: Sorry for the short post. I feel especially bad since everyone else's are so long. I'll make up for it later. Promise.

~TUN[/size][/color]

[Sere Tuscumbia]

[size=1]OOC: Nah, she's just . . . you know, [b]blind[/b]. Both her right eye and her left eye focus on the same thing (because your eyes work in conjunction with each ozzer) but she just doesn't see anything out of her right eye. Which, (yes, I know) leads to a lack of depth perception, but Eve's lived (and dealt, and trained) with being partially blind for almost 9 years, so she's been able to make up for it. Also, her blind eye isn't that noticeable, because she tries to hide it beneath her hair.

And hey, we all could just make really short posts for a while to make you feel better. ^_^

Mine'll be short anyway, I'm running short on time.

*/-/*

Eve was silent for a moment, then wrapped her arms around her stomach as if she was hugging herself, and laughed a little. "I'm sorry," she said, looking at Bradley. "It's -- it's just hard." She waved a hand at the various crowds. "It's hard being here. Doing this." She looked down at the ground and shook her head.

Bradley shifted from foot to foot, slightly uncomfortable but still willing to talk. "Why's it . . . hard?" he asked, hesitating a little. He didn't want to barge in and scare Eve away.

Eve smiled a little, a sarcastic, "the-would-could-be-damned-now-but-I-can't-feel-enough-to-care" smile, and replied, "Because it hurts. I . . . I lost someone. The only person I had ever cared about in a long time. They're gone, and it's hard."

"A . . . family member?"

Eve looked up at the light shifting through the branches of the tree above her. "I guess, in a way. I haven't had any real family in a long time, but Hall could have been called my family . . . " She looked down at the sand again, and laughed softly. "I'm sorry, again. You must think I'm terribly strange."

"No, no. I'm sure it's very normal to be a bit reclused."

"Yeah, sure." Eve spotted Matt weaving through the tents, talking animatedly to someone following behind him, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! They're here [b]already[/b]?! Ohmygosh!" She started to run off, but then turned towards Bradley. "Oh, I'm sorry to cut you off so soon, but Matt wanted me to talk to the Colombians! I'll see you later!" She waved a little and then turned and continued running in Matt's direction, only allowing herself to wince with each step when Bradley could no longer see her.

*/-/*

Bleh. I had to finish this quick. I'm absolutely trashed. *yawn* To bed, to bed, to bed. (to quote Lady Macbeth ^-^) 'Night, ya'll.

--Sere[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]She had undone her hair, braided it losely over her left shoulder and cleaned herself up. Her living quarters were as spotless as humanly possible, given the current situations, and Bailey seemed to be doing well. Matt was still holding the box with the bug, cut off from all electrical and networking connctions....and would be hard pressed to send any more files out.

Zharra smiled grimly as she worked with her hair. There was no way in hell she was going to let another one elude her grasp. Even if it meant slicing a few muscles along the way.[/i]

"...stupid cunts."

".....Zharra?"

"Hmm?"

[i]She looked up. Bradley. She smiled slightly. They were on duty, this wouldn't be to painful.[/i]

"How are you Bradley?"

"Fine, all things considered. ...you were great with the bug."

"I try....thanks."[/COLOR]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

Liam snapped up, back to his half awake state. It appeared that he had just been left lying where he had collapsed. Very slowly he rose to his feet and dusted his backside off. He yawned, stretching, and almost collapsed again from the blood rush.

There wasn?t anyone around that he knew, so he yawned and made his way back to his tent. From the hours he had spent wandering around asleep, he wasn?t sure when the drowsiness would leave him. The closed folds of the tent greeted him, so he collapsed through and fell asleep.

Two surprised Russians eyed the teenager that just landed between them.

?Vot the??

A Yarygin was cocked and used to roll Liam onto his back. He grunted and looked through his bleary eyes at the shiny pistol that was pointed at him.

?What?re you doing in me tent?? He asked while rolling flat on his back.

Malania looked at Katarina, the Yarygin vanished. ?We could quite easily ask you the same question Liam.?

Liam yawned while his cognitive thoughts assembled themselves. Unfortunately his ?humorous? side, always on the lookout for a witty one-liner, threw up a card first.

?Because how often is it that you?re flanked by two hot Russian chicks?? He grinned and put an arm around each of them.
Katarina?s eyebrow went up. Liam looked at her, and then his head dropped back as he dozed off again.

?Is he drunk?? Malania asked after pushing his arm off.

?That vould be likely.?

?I?ll have a pineapple, yes, purple one?? Liam rolled over and into Malania.

?This is new side of him,? she said, heavy on the sarcasm before pushing him into the middle again.

Liam blinked, and sat up again. He looked around, a little disorientated, and noticed Katarina and Malania.

?What?re you doing in my tent?? He asked again, completely forgetting that he?d already had this conversation before.

?Basking in you reflected glory.? Malania said dryly.

Liam looked at her quizzically just as she brought her palms together, giving a mighty slap to his temples. Liam?s eyes rolled back as he fell sideways onto Katarina. She frowned and pushed him into the middle.

?Crazy Australian.? She said hotly.
[/size]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]Matt left Eve; she seemed to be doing well enough. Besides which, he had to speak to Rae. He found her sitting by herself, reading something which may or may not be a romance novel. He stared suspiciously at the slim bound cover.

"Fantasising again?"

She glanced up and closed the book, then flashed him the cover. [u]Selected Essays by Edgar Allen Poe[/u]. She smiled snidely and flicked her book open again, slowly flexing her shoulder to test the stitches.

"What's up?" She asked, her eyes still scanning the page.

"The Columbians are here." Her watched her, wondering if she could really read and carry on a conversation at once. Not many people could.

"And you want me to schmooze?" She smiled up at him, grinning from ear to ear. He knew then that she'd been faking.

"No. Completely the opposite. I want you to stay as far away from them as possible. We've already had Jenna come back to haunt us, and I'd rather the Columbians not think that we're harbouring a Drug Lord's daughter."

Rae nodded, her lips pursed in thought. "How well out of site?" She thought of the tunnels -- there was probably one around here. Even if there wasn't, she could probably return to the SAS core.

"I'm not sure yet. Try not to cal attention to yourself. If you feel you need to leave completely, regroup with the SAS and track us down later."

"I'll stay here for now. I mean...even if they thought I was Jenna, it isn't true, now, is it? It'll be fine. We'll just use the old saying that 'Everyone has an identical twin somewhere', and I'll act like a ditzy..erm..brunette."

She smiled at Matt, opening her book, then slipped of the paper cover. [u]The Millionaire's Mistress[/u] stared back at him.

Matt snorted and walked away.[/size]

[The Harlequin]

[font=gothic][color=indigo]Katarina: You only missed his eardrums by an inch....

Malania: I knew what I was doing.

Katarina: That iz what aggravated me...

[i]Malania started, then shook her head. Katarina grabbed Liam's rather short, but still holdworthy, hair, and stood up, yanking him partially upright. No blood, at least. She threw an arm under his, and dragged him outside, gesturing for Malania to fix the tent. She looked around, Matt was busy talking to a bunch of suspected nutcases, probably these "Columbians" she'd heard so much about. Wasn't it some focking American film club anyway? Given that anything more than a five second conversation with Matt would probably have her throwing Liam's still inert form at him, and the one of the newcomers who had caught site of her was already smirking, which would preferably have Katarina starting a riot, she lugged him over to Rae. She caught site of the book...and the discarded cover, and shook her head.[/i]

Katarina: Now who did you steal that off?

Rae: Hmmm?

[i]She'd barely looked up, and probably for good reason, so Katarina dropped Liam beside her. That got her attention. She took in his inert form, and idiot grin, her eyes narrowing for an instant before a brightly malicious smile crossed her face.[/i]

Rae: Really wore him out, didn't you?

[i]Katarina flicked an eyebrow, and knelt down beside him, turning his head so the rapidly darkening bruise was evident.[/i]

Katarina: In Russia, ve call it ze Widow's Kiss, after your Black Vidow spider.

[i]Rae stared first at her, then at Liam, not believing her ears. She'd heard the Russians played strange games when it came to that kind of thing, but she somehow doubt Liam had been up for it. Katarina shook her head with a bark of laughter, and turned away.[/i]

Katarina: I didn't know vich vas his tent, by ze way. Of course, neither did he...

[i]She heard a long suffering sigh from Rae, who was in no real position to move him, and allowed a more rakish burst of laughter to come through. She wandered back over to her tent, which was now in a much better condition. Malania looked up, slightly amused.[/i]

Malania: You found his tent quickly.

[i]A soft burst of cursing from Rae dispelled that notion.[/i]

Malania: She's hardly in a position to move him, you know.

Katarina: Vat's what I thought.

Malania: You're nasty when you're annoyed.

Katarina: Hey, at least he had fun. After all, he got to spend time with two hot Russian chicks. Do you have any idea what we'd be worth on the flesh market?

Malania: That depends on how often you decided to stick with the accent. It's not neccessary, is it?

Katarina: Actually, it is, for a few reasons. Firstly, most of the time it manages to convey whatever kind of contempt I'm attempting to convey, secondly it keeps me in touch with the Mother Country-[i]She was momentarily interrupted by Malania's indignant retort, but continued unswayed[/i]-, it dissuades conversation with me from most other people, and of course it adds to my appeal as a hot Russian chick.

Malania: Hey, I'm getting by fine without it.

Katarina: Vat vould be vat iz annoying me about it...

[i]Malania groaned, and threw Katarina inside the tent, hoping she hit one of the poles, even if she would have to put it back up...again.[/font][/color][/i]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[size=1]She pursed her lips and took in Liam's idiotic grin. She lifted his hand and let it drop. It seemed that, for a while at least, he was totally immobile.

Rae's lips twitched as she started to think of ways to use this to her advantage. They broke into a full blown smile as she had an idea. She ran into Kat and Malania's tent, stopping quickly. "Do you have any hair ties...ribbons...make-up...anything?" She asked, grinning maliciously.

She had no reason to be angry at Liam, which, considering she wasn't angry at Liam, was convenient. However, she was never one to let a great opportunity to slip her by.

She collected the girl's make up and hair ties, wishing they had some ribbons. Perhaps Zharra...

She'd get to that later.

For now, though, she got to work in front of Liam's limp form. "Perhaps some blusher for his cheeks, and
eyeliner...eye shadow," She whispered, grinning.

Having finished applying said make-up, Rae then proceeded to do his hair. It wasn't long enough to plait -- much to her dismay -- but it was long enough to clump together in little tufts. She did, using some gel to keep them spiked up.

Rae used her romance novel as the finishing touch. She slipped it into his hands, then called over Bradley to get one of the techie's camera. It would be something to remember, at the very least.[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra entered Rae's tent, hands over her eyes, half afraid of what she would see. Rae was overcome with a fit of the silent giggles, and clamped her hand over her mouth. Cautitously she spread her fingers and peeped out at Liam's new look. Stifling the urge to break out into fits of uproarious laughter, she leaned down and applied some of her dark red lipstick.

Rae snorted, choked, and stuffed her fist into her mouth. Bradley walked in just in time to catch some pictures of Zharra giving Liam a full scale manicure. Bright pink nail polish.....applied with an extra coat of clear gloss.[/i]

".....perfect."

[i]She was purring now.....enjoying herself beyond all reason. Liam would kill them when he woke up. Which would be awhile. The Darvoset she gave him was extrra strong,.......she chuckled inwardly and finished up, blowing on them softly.[/i]

"Voila, Liam. Pretty in Pink."

"....I think I'm gonna bust a rib."[/COLOR]

[BabyGirl]

[size=1]Beh, sorry I've taken so long :P[/size]

[color=purple]Curiously watching the surveying Colombians from a safe distance, Bailey's fingers tapped along the keys of her PowerBook. She, like the others who weren't adapted to such a climate, had taken refuge in the shade and pulled all of her hair up and away from her neck. She stayed outside in the hopes of catching a small bit of breeze.

Bailey had yet to introduce herself to Eve, but she decided it was best to wait. Eve had looked a bit assulted by all of the friendly attention she was getting, and Bailey didn't want to paramount her distress. She'd find a quieter moment when her overt friendliness wouldn't come off as too abrasive.

She paused to re-read the paragraphs she had typed so far. It had been a good idea to keep a log-slash-journal of her time in the field, and Bailey was happy she had started it. Though she nearly felt the uncomfortable weight of anti-sociality every time she told her thoughts to a little silver laptop instead of a real person, Bailey shrugged it off. She just didn't want to dump any doubts on everyone else around her.

"Whas'sat?"

Bailey looked up slowly, as if absorbed in her work, "Hm?"

"What is it that you type about?"

She had seen the Colombian coming and had prepared, "Oh," she smiled innocently, "recent archeological findings. Data about each piece and its history. Would you like to see?"

"Eh." He grunted slightly and eyed her, an automatic weapon slung over one shoulder, "No."

Bailey thickened her French accent and enjoyed the momentary role play, "Are you sure?"

"Yeh." His accent was so thick that she hardly understood him, but Bailey smiled into her laptop as he turned to walk away. He must have figured she was a harmless little scientist, and that thought made her smile even wider.

When she heard delighted laughter coming from one of the near by tents, Bailey snapped her PowerBook shut and brushed off the seat of her pants. When she ducked inside the tent, she was greeted by several faces gone red with amusement and one very feminine looking Liam.

Bailey's jaw dropped in temporary humor shock before her laughter joined the chorus.[/color]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

?Milko??

Liam?s outburst and lolly reference brought silence to the tent as the occupants held their breath. He grunted and rolled over onto his side, flattening the hair on the left side of his head.

?This is too much,? Zharra said, stifling another giggle.

?Tell me about it,? Bradley shook his head in silent laughter. ?I?ve never seen this side of him before.?

?Question,? Bailey asked, suddenly realising the implications of when Liam woke up. ?What?s he going to do when he?s woken up and realises pink,? she giggled, ?is not his colour??

Rae burst out laughing. ?I?m just thinking,? she gasped, ?what?re the SAS going to think of him when he realises he can?t get the nail polish off??

A wave of snorts and giggles rippled through the group. Liam stirred and blearily sat up, clutching the bruises on the sides of his head. He groaned and rubbed vigorously, putting his face in his hands, and then suddenly noticed the people sitting on his legs, crowded inside his little two-man tent.

Liam looked through the gaps in his fingers and asked, ?well, seeing as you?re all here, does one of you happen to have any Panadol on you??

Blank stares gazed back, everyone was too busy trying not to laugh at the moody gormless youth in drag.

Liam mistook the silence for a lack of understanding.

?Fine,? he said, ?anyone have any Herron?? Still no response, ?don?t tell me Rae and Bradley have been infected by American culture.? Someone at the back let out a little snort before being jabbed harshly in the ribs. ?Right then,? he said angrily, ?unless someone gives me?aspirin,? he spat the word with contempt, ?right now, I will pitch you all out into the mud. Understood??

?Yes ma?am.? Bradley said gruffly with a salute.

Simultaneously everyone in the tent burst out laughing, leaving Liam feeling completely bewildered. Rae rolled around on her back laughing; Liam winced as her pelvis grated into his knees.

The noise was really getting to him now, he raised his hands and covered his ears, and a stray finger noticed something wrong with his hair. He pulled out one of the ribbons and observed it between thumb and forefinger, and noticed the nail polish.

Silence hit the tent as a shiver of dark realisation rippled through the group. Rae slowly rose back up to a seated position, carefully passing the camera behind her back and out of the tent. Bradley coughed; Liam threw the ribbon at him, hitting him squarely between the eyes.

?Someone care to tell me what?s going on?? He muttered coldly, all traces of drug-infused drowsiness vanishing.

No one responded.

?I shall be wanting that camera in my possession very shortly, Rae.? He continued in the same cold voice.

Rae silently cursed, he noticed, he always noticed. Ah well, it was a digital one, so the desk jockeys would have been bound to save a copy for themselves?

Liam snicked out a knife from his boots. Everyone made a slight, involuntary shift backward. He spun it around his fingers, playing up the brief spell he held them in, before he stabbed it through the side of the tent, ripping it open and stepping out into the camp.

Behind him, the tent collapsed, thanks to the guide rope he cut as he passed.

?That went down rather well.? Bradley said with a mouth full of canvas. He coughed as he realised the implications of what he said.

The group picked it up, albeit slowly.

?Feel free to shoot me for that one,? he apologised sheepishly.

Over the other side and rapidly heading for the showers, Liam ran a hand through his hair, removing all the ribbons in one fell swoop, and spiking his hair in an alarming manner.

A combination of a painful headache and the annoyance of being caught with his guard down caused his ?happy-go-lucky? nature to vanish in an instant. He wiped the lipstick off on the back of his hand and scratched at the nail polish.

It didn?t come off.

?Hey, Liam, good?? Matt faltered, noticing the glittery pink accosting Liam?s nails. ?I?say?? The question died in his throat as Liam gave him a dark look. ?The Colombian?s left, they took some of the ?artefacts? with them, by the time they?ve dated them, we?ll have already taken control.?

?That?s wonderful. I?m sure the promise of a mission will prevent your sister?s further childish pursuits.?

Matt watched Liam go, waiting until he was out of earshot. Liam vanished into the shower block to remove the glitter from his hair. He waited a moment longer, and howled with laughter.

?Oh god,? he said to Callum, who came up with a print out of the photo, ?email that to every SYF branch on the planet. Don?t forget a print out for me, lord knows I need a laugh every now and again.?
[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]The shower did minimal aid to the glitter, and he moaned inwardly. It was at this point that he realized water was slapping down on his head, and the wound had slightly opened itself once more. The blood slithered down the side of his face, dripping down onto the stainless steel of the shower floor. He groaned inwardly and stuffed his shirt against it, rinsed, and got out. Boxers and a shirt pressed against his head, fist in his pocket to hide the lovely pink shade Zharra had so liberally applied.

With heavy steps he made his way to her "office," where she and Bailey were drinking mixed wine, which was mostly just water.[/i]

"What now? Need another topcoat?"

"Not. Funny."

[i]She looked up, finally, and saw the wound on his head. With a stifiled curse, she leaned over and ripped the shirt away. The partially dried blood started up again and Zharra cussed him out in four different languages, including Portugese and French before she slamed his shoulders down into the seat and took out a shot of Fibrin.[/i]

"What are you- AGH!"

[i]With an expert move she slid the needle around into his wound, penetrating more than one layer of flesh, and slowly depressed the top of the syringe.[/i]

"If it wasn't for Rae...I'd rip your guts out right now!"[/COLOR]

[The Unholy Newt]

[size=1][color=darkblue]Bradley managed to crawl his way out of the canvas and somehow manage to keep his ribcage from exploding as he supressed his laughter.

He felt content in the knowledge that concealed in his pocket was a nice little snapshot of Liam that he hadn't managed to confiscate.

He looked around and saw that everyone had already made their way out of the tent ages ago. That was Bradley's major fault, he had absolutely no sense of direction. He heard a scream coming from Zharra's/Medical tent. It sounded like Liam, [i]this should be entertaining[/i] Bradley thought. Watching Liam in pain was always good fun.

He made his way into the tent just as Zharra stabbed a massive needle in Liam's arm and he yowled in pain.[/size]

ooc: Sorry I haven't posted in ages. I finally got enough time on the net to post.

~TUN[/color]

[liamc2]

[size=1]

?Right, that?s it, I am seriously out of here.? Liam brushed her away and stood up.

?You?re bleeding still,? Zharra pointed out, ?if you?re not careful, you?re going to become anaemic!?

Liam snatched up one of the treated bandages and slapped it onto the scratch.

?There,? he said, ?problem solved. If you?ll excuse me, I?m going to get changed into something military.?

?Liam?I?ve got to give you some Hep B and C shots, not to mention some Curare in case of malaria.? She sighed and pulled out an assortment of needles. ?We?re in the jungle and you?ve got an open would, trust me. It doesn?t help.?

?I?m fine Zharra.? He pointed to his arm. ?I?ve already had them, and more. I?m not thick.?

?Don?t forget those bruises on the side of your head,? she said, looking meaningfully at his temples.

?Oh, so [I]that?s[/I] why I?ve got this headache. No worries, I?ll take a Panadol.?

Zharra was slightly flustered, but she held it together and snapped the plastic case shut after resignedly throwing the needles inside. She folded her arms and sat back in her seat, looking daggers at him.

?Fine then,? she said dismissively. ?It?s not as though I care if you get HIV or something. You can die a horribly painful death for all I care.?

?That?s all I ask.? Liam said, smirking as he bowed slightly and left.
Bradley caught Zharra?s fist before she leapt off her chair to assault him with all the spit and venom she could muster.

?I wouldn?t.? He said warningly.

?Why? Can you give me a good reason??

??I haven?t got one. But I do have a quite lame one. If you kill him, you?ll be out of the SYF, in more ways than one.? He grinned at her, ?and I?d never see you again.?

Liam grunted and rubbed the bruises on the sides of his head. So his temples were purple, he had a white bandage on his forehead and his nails were pink. Oh and he was wondering around wearing nothing but a towel.

Wow, all he needed to do now was claim he was Napoleon and he?d be set.

His random shuffling brought him to the supply tent, which really consisted of spare fatigues stored inside crates marked ?Generator Cables.? He fished around and pulled out something in his size and wandered into the toilets to get changed.

After a few minutes of attaching Velcro Kevlar over his shorts and Singlet, he finally put on the fatigues, only to find that they were a size too small. He muttered something incoherent before trotting back to the box, retrieving the proper sizes and throwing them on, making himself looking incredibly huge thanks to the bulky armour.

Satisfied, he selected a new helmet and dropped it onto his head, skilfully covering the bandage completely.

?It appears GI Joe has issues,? Matt said, eyeing the still present nail polish.

Liam pulled his P90 from the adjacent crate. ?Yeah,? he said while slotting in the cartridge, ?Government issues.?
[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra cupped her hands around her mouth and howled in a very loud voice.[/i]

"I suppose then that you want the PINK NAIL POLISH ON and not the ESPROYL ALCOHOL TO REMOVE IT!"

[i]Everyone in the camp heard it, quite a few heads turned to look at both Liam and Zharra, both of which were flaming red with embarassment and anger.[/i]

"I CAN JUST BOND THE PINK TO YOUR NAILS PERMANANTLY!"

[i]His mouth hung open as she held a vial up with an odd foreign label on it. He took a few steps forward and she held it back and gave him a look. The type of look that demanded restitution.[/i][/COLOR]

[Lady Asphyxia]

[SIZE=1]Rae sighed and scratched her neck. It was rather hot today. And she was amazingly tired. The archeological dig seemed to be going very well, what with the artifacts and then reading and the Liam becoming a girl.

Wow, was she bored. When the Colombians left, she'd be glad for the time alone because they'd have to hurry, but as it was, she was just wasting time. She wanted to do something. She wanted to go and...well, she had no ideawhat she wanted to do, but there was nothing to do here.

Smirking, Rae slipped off the log that she'd been using as a seat and meandered into the bush, toward the tunnels. She wanted to investigate them; see where they lead.

She came up behind Liam as he was arguing with Zharra and tapped him on the back. He whirled around and she smiled at him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Much as I hate to ask you Pinky Lee, I need to get out of this camp, and I'm damned bored and Callum's off doing something so you wanna go investigate the tunnels with me?" She said it all in one big breath, eyes wide with the question.

He looked at her, then back at Zharra, before looking back at her. "Sure," he shrugged.

They walked along silently, and Rae was almost gleeful until Liam commented, "You know, I'm not going to let you get away with the Pinky Lee comment." She grinned sheepishly.

"I know. But I'm hoping the mission will distract you."[/size]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue][i]Zharra waited until they were out of visual range/hearing range, then roared with unrestrained laughter. Bailey snorted and choked and gasped for air. Here was an excellent actress, one deserving of a gold medal or two. The tears of rage were an especially nice touch.

She put away the vial which was actually filled with eucalyptus oil, and zipped up the last case open from earlier.[/i]

"I swear....Liam is going to drop dead one of these days, and it won't be my fault."

"Are you sure dear?"

"Positive!"

[i]Bailey chuckled throatily and smiled again. The two women sat on their cots and waited for something interesting to happen.[/i][/COLOR]