"Still nothing?"

Alejandro snapped his head up and blinked rapidly, trying to get the fatigue off his body and mind. In the past few days, he barely managed to get any sleep, always ready to burst inside and catch Sin Nombre. Or just waiting for a sign from Belladonna.

Beadie, he remembered. It was such an odd nickname for such a beautiful name. But both of them suited her perfectly.

"No," Alejandro cleared his throat and his dark eyes involuntarily wandered back to the monitor and radio station before him.

Rodolfo let out a defeated sigh and placed a cup of warm coffee in front of his Colonel. Alejandro sent a grateful look to Rudy as he reached for the cup, his tired eyes unfocused as he brought it to his lips.

"You should slow down," Rudy took a seat at the other side of the table, looking over him with a worrisome expression. He rarely saw Alejandro so invested in something that he just forgot to take care of himself.

Just as Rudy said that, Alejandro winced and let out a series of curses, the coffee burning his tongue. Just great, he thought. No sleep, and now no coffee for him.

"I told you," the man across from him sent him a half-smile. Rudy only got a disapproving grunt in response. "But I didn't just mean the coffee, Colonel. When was the last time you ate? Did you even went home since we started this mission?"

He didn't remember and no. Those were Alejandro's answers but he knew better than to say those out loud. Rudy was a great friend and an impeccable second-in-command, but he was very protective, too. Which, in this case, would just come and bite him in the ass.

"I'm fine," Alejandro leaned back in his chair and dragged a hand over his face. His shoulders slumped forward a little and he felt like he could fall asleep in this very chair, but then his eyes went to look at the radio again. "I'm just waiting."

"Soap will be here soon to take it over."

Alejandro opened his mouth to argue like he usually did, but after a second thought, he closed it. They had the same conversation the day before and that time Rudy let it go and let him be, just sitting beside the radio and waiting for any signal from the blonde woman. But from the serious look on Rodolfo's face and solid tone, he knew he wouldn't let it happen again.

And even though he wouldn't admit it for the world, Alejandro was exhausted. He needed a little break.

"Fine," Alejandro agreed, but his tone held the stubbornness that was ready to argue again. Rudy decided to ignore it as he took a careful sip from his own coffee, feeling satisfied with the response.

A few minutes of silence settled between them, Alejandro lacking the spare energy for small talk this late (this early?), and Rudy just didn't feel the need to fill up the silence. They had this beautiful relationship that was comfortable with the silence and sometimes it even felt good. The Vaqueros were usually loud, always chatting, joking, or just blasting music in their free time.

Alejandro wished his biggest problem right now was that the Vaqueros held another party at the base.

"How are you feeling, really?" Rodolfo asked softly, taking a second to analyze his friend. The dark circles under his eyes and the stubble that started to grow into a beard spoke loudly enough.

"Fine," Alejandro adjusted in his seat, trying to relax. He supported his head with his hand propped against the table, suddenly feeling the tiredness catching up with him. He forced a small smile on his lips. "Don't worry about me, Rudy."

"Somebody has to."

Maybe he was right, maybe not. But Alejandro didn't have the time to think his answer through as the office door burst open, revealing a yawning John MacTavish. His hair was a little messed up, missing its usual neatness and his jeans hung low on his hips, the belt he usually wore missing as well. Alejandro couldn't help but smile.

At least I'm not the only one who looks miserable.

"Lads," he greeted, his smile bright despite looking like he just woke up.

"Hermano," Alejandro smiled back at him, Rudy only nodding his way.

"It's the ass crack of dawn but I'm ready to roll," Soap rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck, hyping himself up. The Vaqueros shared a look, both of them struggling to hide their smiles. His enthusiasm would leave soon enough.

"Good," Alejandro got up from his seat and winced as the muscles strained from sitting for so long.

He decided to ignore the ways a few of his joints cracked and the disapproving look he got from Rudy. He picked the coffee up Rudy had brought, somehow containing the heat of Hell in a single cup, and pretended like it didn't burn his hand as he circled the table.

"See you in 5 hours, hermanos. I'll be on the couch if something happens," he patted Soap's shoulder as he passed him and nodded towards Rudy, a smug grin on his face.

Here was Rudy, thinking he was so smart by dragging Soap here to take his place. But Alejandro already had the perfect plan and nobody could take that away from him.

╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤╝

On her third night there, Beadie tried to go outside.

She waited for all the girls to fall asleep, watching out for Isabel especially. She knew the brown-haired woman had already started to get suspicious of her. Isabel started to follow her around more, trying to keep her in her eyesight which Beadie didn't like one bit.

It made it so much harder to get out and try to find some poisonous plants. On her way here she already saw a few plants that could work, some that nobody would suspect they could be used to kill someone. But she had to act fast because it looked like they would have to give another show for some important men the next day.

Her fury fueled her to act upon her stupidity. She never thought she was so bold but extreme situations called for extreme actions.

Beadie's bare feet touched the cold marble as she made her way down the hall, keeping low and her eyes wide awake. Wherever she heard a noise she went the opposite way, somehow dodging the guards perfectly. She went through this exact route during the day, memorizing each turn and door to perfection, noting when the guards would switch.

She had a good plan. That didn't mean that her heart didn't beat like it would burst from her chest or her palms didn't sweat like crazy. A lot of things could go wrong if she wasn't careful.

Only when her feet touched the grass outside did she notice she left her little radio inside. She cursed herself internally because probably this was her only chance to report back to her team and maybe even go and talk to someone, but she was in a hurry and fucked it up. Just great.

Beadie inhaled deeply, letting the air fill her lungs and holding it there for a few seconds before letting it out. The night air was warm but still a big relief after the scorching hot sun. The night air stretched out above her head, sprinkled with an army of stars. There were some cicadas and crickets creating the melody of the night, a light breeze bringing their music towards the blonde woman.

It was truly beautiful outside. She loved being in nature, she went hiking with her father a lot when she was a teenager. After days of getting locked up in a room and forced to entertain rich and disgusting men, she forgot how much of a blessing was to just go outside freely.

Some Spanish words barked out snapped her out of it, forcing her to move along. Beadie whipped her head around, making sure that nobody could see her as she pressed her body up against the outer walls. She waited for a few seconds, checking if the voices would come from closer.

A few longer grass strands brushed against her feet, causing her to pull her feet away violently, quickly brushing her calves. Her sudden panic quickly vanished once she made sure it wasn't some bugs or spiders trying to eat her alive.

"Okay... Think..." Beadie whispered to herself as she looked around, her blue eyes franticly trying to find something useful.

But there were only weeds and unkept grass. Some bushes on the side of the hill eventually stretching upwards on the side of the mountain. Cursing under her breath, Beadie hurried towards the back of the building, sticking to the shadows. She only had a few minutes till the guards would switch, cutting her right off. Ten minutes, tops.

So, Beadie skipped over some bigger rocks, the hard terrain poking her feet unforgivingly as she searched for anything that could work as poison. She even thought about just trying to find the kitchen and search for some rat poison while she was outside, her eyes hurting from how much she forced them to find something, anything. She would kill for a pair of slippers right now.

Just as she was ready to give up on her plan, her eyes caught sight of something white in the dark. Small white flowers. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what it was.

Hemlock.

A whole bush of them, really.

Hemlocks were beautiful in her opinion. With its delicate white flowers and small green leaves, it had an innocent vibe to it, it looked like your usual filler flower in bouquets. But if you were someone who had to write a whole fifty-page-long essay about poisonous flowers like Beadie in college, you knew better.

Because hemlock was a highly poisonous flower. Every part of it was toxic to humans and animals as well, which in her case came really handy. Symptoms usually appear twenty minutes to three hours after ingestion, which was a great time frame. Once she got the poison in their drinks, they could just play it off as they drank too much.

And once they drop dead on the floor, no one will suspect Belladonna Lennox.

Taking Biology and Chemistry classes finally paid up.

Making a run for it, Beadie pulled her silk belt off that schinced her dress at her waist, and carefully started to pick the flowers, careful not to touch her skin. She didn't want to risk any side effects so she was sticking only touching the hemlock with a rag.

She gathered the amount that could kill this whole base if she wanted to. Beadie carefully wrapped the silk around the hemlock, making sure that nothing was sticking out and everything was covered away from prying eyes before she slipped it into her dress, carefully adjusting it to sit under her boobs. Now she just had to hope it wasn't bulging and she wouldn't lose it during her break-in back to the base.

Her heart started hammering against her ribcage as she made her way back inside, always looking behind her shoulder and stopping at every single little sound. Beadie was paranoid and stupid, but she still hoped for the best.

She managed to sneak past the two guards who smoked on the ground level, standing on the threshold that looked at the small fountain in the inner garden. They paid no mind to the blonde woman sneaking past them, wrapped securely between the shadows.

Beadie successfully made it to the first floor through the narrow staircase she sneaked down previously. Now, there was only a door and a ten-foot-long hallway standing between her and the room she was sharing with all those girls. Safety.

The danger breathing down her neck and her paranoia caused her to be sloppy. Because as Beadie pushed open the door that led out from the stairs, she didn't expect someone to already be there, waiting.

The second she stepped into the hallway, a blunt force slammed against her head with such force her teeth slammed together, biting her tongue. With a yelp, Beadie fell on the cold marble floor, a dull pain already radiating on the left side of her face like fire, nothing compared to the piercing pain she felt in her wrist that just broke her fall and hips. The taste of copper filled her mouth and her eyes watered so much that she couldn't even register fast enough what happened.

"Stay down, bitch!" the Spanish words soaked with venom flew towards her. "The fuck are you doing out here, huh? What were you thinking, sneaking off, huh? Oh, the boss will be delighted to hear from this."

She only glanced at his feet, noticing the shoes the guards usually wore. But she recognized his voice. He was the one guard who yelled at them on their first day, escorting them down to the men downstairs. Since then, she learned that there was an underground level where most of the dirty business happened. Including the escort girls.

The guard said something on the radio he was carrying around, probably tipping off the other guards, but her face was hurting too much for her to pay attention to his words. She reached a hand to her face, wincing when her delicate fingers brushed her cheek. She had to clench her jaw tight not to lash out. She was pretty sure she could take him while he was alone.

"What the fuck is this?"

Both Beadie's and the guard's heads snapped toward the voice, surprised to see someone standing there. The blonde swallowed and glanced up at the guard, his hand clutching the radio so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"S-she was sneaking around," the guard stammered, gesturing towards Beadie, who was still on the ground. The way he moved he almost slammed his rifle against her again. Beadie sent him a dirty look, hoping he would just drop dead.

"Oh, yeah?" the woman stepped forward, drawing an eyebrow as she looked at them.

Beadie never saw her here before. Her short brown hair and warm complexion would fit between all these girls well, and she had a great body. But instead of their usual rags called dresses, she wore a tank top and cargo pants, which was odd.

"Yes, I just caught her coming-"

"And that means you should smack her with your gun?" the woman cut him off, her tone cold and calculated. "For damaging the property, you'll face heavy consequences."

Beadie tried not to show any emotions as she looked at the woman. Hearing from other men that she was nothing but another item was not surprising. But it stung differently when another woman said that.

"I-I'm sorry, Valeria. It won't happen again," the guard stepped closer to the other woman.

"I'm sure."

With that, the woman named Valeria kicked him in the knees, and the man went down on the floor with a yelp. She smacked him in the mouth with the back of her hand, the sound echoing down the hallway.

"Get up," Valeria glanced at Beadie, her frown and cold voice permanent. "Go to your room. If I catch you again outside I won't be so nice."

"Yes, ma'am," Beadie tilted her head down, avoiding eye contact. She only sent one last look to the guard kneeling on the ground before she got up to her feet and hurried down the hall toward their room.

Once she reached the door, a pained yell chased after her fleeting form. It was followed by some Spanish curses from Valeria, and even though the urge was big, Beadie didn't dare to look back.

"Stop whining." Valeria sneered, her dark voice melting together with the shadows that hid in the corners. "You're lucky to only lose two fingers, cabrón. You hit one of them again, I'll cut your fucking neck. Now clean up after yourself and get the fuck out of my face."

Beadie never hurried inside a room so fast in her life.

____________________________

valeria >>>>

i rest my case