Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis

by Danny R Negron

  She sees Jason's finger pushing one of the buttons on the console. The high pitched shriek startles her and she immediately looks at Gina's reaction. Gina is now struggling with all of her might to break free of the straps. The noise becomes so unbearable that she cocks her head backwards and bites her lower lip. Rikki places her hand over her mouth and whimpers. Cameron tightens his grip on her shoulder and tells her, “Easy, now.”

  Jason releases the button. He presses a different button and speaks into the microphone, “This is a test.”

  Gina lowers her head and cries in desperation. Rikki uncovers her mouth. She is speechless. She never imagined something so terrifying. Gina utters in a low voice, “Rikki.”

  The sound of a folder dropping on the floor is heard followed by sheets of paper spreading everywhere. Cameron glances at Rikki's horrified face and asks her, “Lieutenant?”

  He sees a tear roll down her cheek and decides that he needs to get her out of there. Cameron lifts her up and says, “Okay, soldier. Let's get a coffee.”

  Cameron takes Rikki out of the room while holding her arms. She suddenly tries to break free and says, “I have to help her.”

  He wrestles with her and tries to calm her down by saying, “Lieutenant. Lieutenant!”

  Rikki doesn't reply and keeps trying to break free of his grip. She yells, “Let me go!”

  Cameron shakes her and says firmly, “Rikki!” This makes her look at him. He tells her, “I know it must be hard for you but you need to pull yourself together.”

  She leans back on the wall and covers her face with both of her hands. Rikki is embarrassed at the scene she just made in front of everyone in the hallway. She wipes the tears from her eyes and says to Cameron, “I'm so sorry.”

  He places his hand on her shoulder and says, “Come on. Let's get a coffee, Lieutenant.” While walking away, Rikki turns her head and whispers, “Gina.”

  Gina's eyes are now darting back and forth. She tells herself, “I'm being punished.” She begins to breathe faster and faster. After a few minutes, she confesses, “I ran away and I deserve this.”

  A large screen appears from above and lowers down. Gina curiously looks at the screen and asks, “What's this?”

  The screen turns on and a picture of her father appears. She exposes her teeth like a ferocious animal and whispers, “You bastard.”

  The next picture shows him holding a five year old, red haired girl in his arms. Gina is now confused at what is being shown to her. The next picture shows a woman kissing her father's cheek. She says, “No. What have you done?”

  The next picture shows her father kissing the little girl's forehead. This makes her feel completely rejected. The love that she so deeply craved from him was being given to that little girl. Gina opens her eyes wide and, once again, breathes faster and faster. The screen turns off and proceeds to move upward until it disappears into the ceiling. Gina opens her palms and asks while crying, “Am I a bad girl, daddy?”

  She then says, “Mommy. I ran away.” Her eyes are now moving in every direction and she begins to hyperventilate. After a few minutes of this, she loses consciousness.

  Jason Wong is resting his chin on his folded hands as he looks at a destroyed Gina Stewart. He whispers, “You did good, Gina. That's enough for now.”

  Jason turns off the monitor and sits back in his chair. He lights a cigarette and inhales deeply. As he exhales, he says to himself, “I hate this part of my job.”

  The following morning, Cameron Wilcox arrives at Rikki's home and honks the horn. The front door opens and she steps outside. Rikki smiles at him and closes the door. She's wearing a long sleeved, turtleneck sweater and checkered shorts with boots. Her hair is straightened and untied making her look extraordinarily beautiful. Rikki opens the passenger door and steps inside while saying, “Good morning, Agent Wilcox. Thanks for doing me this favor.”

  “No problem, Lieutenant. She can use the support.”

  As he drives away from her home, he notices that she's holding a brown paper bag and asks, “Can't stand airline food?”

  “Huh? Oh, this?” She begins to blush and explains, “Just a little goodbye gift.”

  He shakes his head and laughs as he says, “Awww. Very sweet of you, Lieutenant.”

  “Shut up and drive.”

  Inside of the CIA building, Gina stares at her breakfast and tries to use her fork to pick up her scrambled eggs. Her hand starts trembling and the fork starts tapping on the plate. She changes her mind and places the fork next to it. Gina touches her lips and whispers, “That's not good.”

  She rests her head on her pillow and gazes at the window while whispering, “Stupid girl.”

  Jason arrives and taps on her door. He says, “Gina. You have a visitor.” She remains in the same position and does not reply. He tells Rikki, “Go ahead.”

  Rikki walks inside Gina's room and is saddened by her condition. She says softly, “Hey, Gina.”

  Gina is surprised and swiftly turns around. Rikki uses her hand to brush her smooth hair away from her face and gives her that warm smile from yesterday. Rikki tells her nervously, “My flight leaves in three hours and I just wanted to make sure that you're okay.”

  Gina and Rikki share a moment of silence as they look into each other's eyes. Gina finally says, “Thank you.” While still mesmerized by Gina, she says in a low voice, “You're welcome.”

  Gina looks down and notices that Rikki has a very tight grip on her paper bag. She asks, “What's that?”

  Rikki snaps out of it and extends her hands. She replies, “It's for you. I made them myself. Tada!”

  She closes her eyes and is overcome with a sensation of embarrassment for sounding so childish. Gina takes the bag and bows at her. Rikki now feels quite awkward and says while pointing her thumb at the doorway, “Enjoy them. Agent Wilcox is waiting for me so I have to go.”

  She turns around to walk away thinking to herself that she made a complete fool of herself. Rikki feels a hand holding her wrist very tightly. She turns her head to look at a teary eyed Gina say, “Please. Don't go.”

  Rikki whispers, “Gina.”

  “Stay with me for a while.”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  Gina sits up on her bed while Rikki sits on the chair beside her. Gina tells her, “I'm sorry, Rikki. I hope I don't make you miss your flight.”

  “I'll stay here as long as you want. Maybe...I can reschedule.”

  Gina shakes her head and says, “No. I don't want to ruin your life too.”

  Rikki stands up and says in a firm voice, “I'll be right back.”

  Gina watches her leave and she whispers, “Thank you.”

  After a few minutes, Rikki returns and says, “See...I did it. They need me more than I need them. I can leave tomorrow morning.”

  Gina smiles and says, “I'm waiting for bad news.”

  Rikki slowly sits down and asks, “Huh? What do you mean?”

  After a brief pause, Gina tells her, “I just feel like this is too good to be true.” She begins crying and asks, “I'm scared. Can you hold me?”

  Rikki removes her boots and lies down on the bed next to Gina. She extends her arms and Gina immediately hugs her tightly. Rikki gently rubs her back and whispers, “It's okay now.”

  Gina confesses to her, “I don't normally do this with strangers. I'm sorry.”

  “Don't apologize, Gina. I'm here for you.”

  Jason enters the room and just as he is about to call for Gina, Rikki gives him a very angry stare. He raises his hands, as if surrendering, and exits. She continues rubbing Gina's back and says, “I've never done this for anyone. Not even Don.”

  “Is he your boyfriend?”

  Rikki takes a moment to think about him. She replies, “I guess you can call him that. I don't know.” Gina looks up at her and asks, “You don't know?”

  “He can be mean sometimes.”

  She notices that Gina hasn't touched her food and says, “You should eat that, you know. Y
ou'll need your strength for the rest of the training.”

  Gina reaches into her paper bag and takes out a chocolate chip cookie. She takes a bite and says, “I'll eat this.” Gina raises it to Rikki's mouth and she also takes a bite. While chewing, Rikki says, “Yeah, why not.”

  Hours later, Rikki is observing Gina preparing herself for the next phase of her training. She has already passed the physical fitness exam and is now waiting for her trainer. Gina is dressed in a standard CIA martial arts uniform and is getting warmed up. Jason Wong enters the gym and says loudly, “Let's get this show on the road, Gina.”

  He arrives next to Rikki and nods while saying, “Lieutenant.”

  Rikki grins and replies, “I do hate you after that.”

  Jason laughs and walks up to Gina to commence the exercises. He explains to her, “We're going to be forgetting about your shinai for now. Today, we're going to be focusing on five techniques.”

  Jason raises his fist and extends his fingers one at a time while saying, “Punching, kicking, throws, choking and grappling.” He says jokingly to Rikki, “And don't you give her any ideas when we get to the kicking part.”

  Rikki asks with an innocent expression, “Why would you even think that, Agent Wong?”

  Jason continues his training by telling Gina, “Since you have already mastered the arts of physical and mental balance when facing an opponent, we'll skip to how to perfectly position your body when using only your fists.”

  Gina raises her hand as if she were in school to ask Jason a question. He shakes his head while smiling and asks, “What is it, Gina?”

  “To be honest, I can't throw a punch to save my life, sir.”

  “I'll help you with that. Now...pretend you're holding a shinai and go into your battle stance.”

  Gina does this and gets into position. Jason steps up next to her and adjusts her fists and arms into a boxing pose. He explains, “You're a righty. So you're going to use keep your left arm extended and use that as your defense. You're going to keep your other fist several inches from your face.”

  Jason steps back and continues, “Gravity is key here, Gina. The majority of people use too much momentum when throwing a punch. Let me show you. Throw a punch at me.”

  Gina hesitates and looks at Rikki nervously. Rikki grins at her and says, “It's only an exercise, Gina. Don't worry.”

  Gina moves toward Jason and throws a punch at him. He uses his left fist to block the attack, pulls on her sleeve making her lose her balance and, in a split second, his fist is an inch away from her left eye. Jason explains, “Now in all fairness, I am stronger than you so making you lose your balance was easy. I wouldn't recommend this on a guy because it just won't work.”

  Gina steps back and asks, “So what do I do?”

  “This is where timing comes into play, Gina. If the guy's a righty, his first punch will be with his right fist. Likewise, if he's a lefty, he'll come at you throwing a left punch. The trick is anticipating his move right before he executes and then moving in for the counterattack.”

  Jason goes into his boxing pose and Gina goes into the same pose as well. He makes his way toward her and says, “I'm a righty, Gina.”

  As soon as he throws his punch, Gina blocks it and throws her punch a second afterward. To her surprise, Jason ducks, grabs her wrist and throws her over his shoulder. Gina flips over, hits the mat and glances at Jason as he laughs. She pounds her fists on the mat and angrily yells, “Hey!”

  Jason helps her up and says, “Sorry. I didn't want a black eye. You did good, Gina.”

  She smiles and says, “Really?”

  Rikki is more concerned than glad of her new friend's progress. The torture that she was made to experience yesterday was a way to break her. Now, Jason is making himself seem like someone she needs approval from. After several hand to hand fights, Jason grins and says holding his shoulder, “You anticipated my dodge and managed to hit my shoulder. Very good, Gina.”

  She smiles and says, “I did good.”

  “One more and we'll take a break.”

  Gina nods and goes into her battle stance. Jason moves in closer and fakes a punch which doesn't even make her flinch. She's a quick learner, indeed. At this point, he will need to have leverage in order to win. Jason performs a leg sweep toward Gina's left leg. This causes her to lift it to evade the attack and she gasps as she sees his fist coming straight at her chin. She successfully blocks the uppercut with her open left palm but his momentum pushes her backwards. Gina then feels the sharp pain of his elbow hitting her stomach. The wind gets completely knocked out of her and she collapses to the ground gasping for air.

  Rikki becomes angered at Jason and says loudly, “Agent Wong! You didn't have to hit her that hard!”

  Jason turns her head to look at her and replies, “She needs to be prepared for any kind of attack, Lieutenant. Even the cheating kind.”

  Gina slowly stands up and says in a raspy voice, “Again.”

  Jason is proud of his student's determination. His grin disappears as he sees a different look in her eyes. It is almost as if her eyes were piercing his soul...the eyes of a killer. Jason replies, “That's good. Get pissed off.” They both go into their battle stance. Gina says in Japanese, “This will hurt. A lot.”

  Jason patiently moves closer inch by inch. Gina's cold stare is disturbing him. Has he pushed her too far? He decides to try a double jab using both fists and a knee thrust. He's hoping she will block the first jab, duck to evade the second and will have no time to avoid the impact of his knee. Gina's movements are blindingly fast as she ducks to avoid the first jab. While Jason is throwing his second punch, his nose gets hit by the back of her heel causing blood to gush out. As he covers it with both hands, Gina punches his stomach hard causing him to lower his head and spit out saliva. She grabs his head and flips him over. Jason lands on his back hard and yells, “That's what I'm talking about!”

  Rikki has her mouth covered with her hands in utter shock at what she just witnessed. Gina is just standing there staring at her with a soulless expression.

  Moments later in the cafeteria, Rikki sits down across from Gina and places her tray on the table. Gina is saddened over the fact that she lost control of herself during the training earlier. Rikki tries to cheer her up by saying, “I don't think any differently of you, Gina.”

  Gina grins at her and asks, “You're not scared of me?”

  “No. I like you.”

  She can't believe that those words came out of her mouth and blushes as a result. Gina stares into her brown eyes and is finding herself becoming attracted to her. Rikki lowers her head and says, “Sorry.”

  She doesn't understand why she is having these feelings for her. She knows that being with Don is something that she enjoys very much. But with Gina, she has completely opened herself...and she feels scared. Rikki becomes startled when she feels a warm hand touching hers and looks up. She sees that Gina is happy but crying at the same time. Gina wipes the tears from her own eyes and says, “Just my luck. I find someone nice and, in a few days, I'll be on the other side of the world.”

  “Huh?”

  Gina lowers her head and explains, “Agent Wong told me after our training. I'll be going to Japan.”

  Rikki adds in a somber tone, “I kind of figured, Gina. To make things worse, we're not going to be allowed to maintain communication while undercover.”

  Gina raises her head and tells her, “This isn't fair.”

  Rikki takes Gina's hand and, while squeezing it, says, “Let's just make the most out of the day.” This gives Rikki an idea and she tells Gina in a low voice, “Let's get out of here.”

  A few minutes later, Gina is waiting outside of the building. She becomes startled at the sound of a car horn and sees a red convertible Mustang approaching. To her amazement, she realizes that it is Rikki behind the wheel. She applies the brake and shouts at Gina, “Hurry! Get in before my uncle changes his mind!”

  Gina quickly opens the passenger
door and hops inside. She asks, “This is his?”

  Rikki nods and laughs as she hits the gas pedal. Gina unfastens her seat belt and stands up to let the wind flow through her hair. She says loudly, “I must be dreaming!”

  Rikki takes a brief moment to observe Gina's happiness. Her cell phone suddenly begins to ring and, to her dismay, sees that it is Don. She asks Gina, “Can you do me favor?”

  She sits down, fastens her seat belt and replies, “I'm sorry. I got carried away.”

  “No. It's not that.”

  Gina becomes puzzled and asks, “What is it?”

  “Can you take my phone? But don't answer it.”

  Gina takes the phone and awaits further instructions. Rikki continues, “Turn it off and take out the battery.”

  Gina can't help but feel that she is causing her a lot of trouble with her boyfriend. Rikki explains, “I don't want anyone to ruin this day for us. Not even him.”

  Gina proceeds to turn it off and then removes the battery as requested. Rikki asks her, “Can you just hold on to it for now?”

  Gina places the battery in her pocket and says, “I hope you're not doing all of this because you feel sorry for me.”

  Rikki decides to pull over to the side of the road in order to make things clear to Gina. She shifts the gear into park and gives her a serious look. Gina is looking down at her hands and says, “I do thank you.”

  “Look...I'm scared too, Gina. You're not the only one in the world that's been hurt.”

  Gina doesn't believe that a person with so much in her life understands true pain. She says to her, “That's just it, Rikki. You think you know what pain is but you don't.”

  While Rikki bites her nails nervously, a tear rolls down her cheek and she whispers, “This was a mistake.” Gina turns her head away and remains silent. Rikki uses her trembling hand to grab her phone and she says in a shaky voice, “Give me my battery...now.”

  Gina looks at her and says, “No...wait. I don't want to ruin this.”

  Rikki doesn't reply and extends her hand but Gina doesn't do anything. After a minute, Rikki gets agitated and attempts to reach into her jacket pocket. Gina quickly prevents this by grabbing her wrist and says loudly, “Rikki!” Rikki tries to break her grip and screams, “Give it to me!”