Rajveer wore his uniform as he got ready to leave. Naina came inside. 

"Aapka saara saaman jeep mein rakhva diya hai meine...aap apna charger mat bhuliye...aur.." she stopped as Rajveer was looking at her, intently.

"Subh se mere saamna nahi aayi tum ?"

Naina looked up. She had kept herself busy as she knew for sure, she would break down if she was near him. In one quick motion, she went forward, kissing him strongly as she had never before.

"Naina...Naina...nahi...no crying...tum ne waada kiya tha mujhse.." he said kissing her repeatedly..."ki tum mujhe...aasuon ke saath vida nahi karogi."

Naina nodded. ' Mujhe apna vaada yaad hai...lekin aapko bhi apna vaada yaad rakhna padega...ki aap bohot careful rahenge...aur sahi salamat vapis aayenge...aur agar koi raasta hai contact karne ka..mujhe nahi...apne team ko hi sahi...toh aap zarur karenge...mujhe bas ek signal de dijiye ki aap sahi salamt hai..hmm ?"

"Bilkul...chalo neeche chalte hai...ek bache ko toh samjha diya...dusre ko bhi samhalna hai."

Naina smiled and they walked downstairs hand in hand.

One look at Rajveer changed Naveen's mood who was happily playing till then. He knew whenever his dad put on his uniform, he would go away for days.

"Papa..kaha jaa rahe hai ?"

"Bas thoda kaam se ja raha hu, Naveen."

"Nahiii" he bellowed, running to him and started whining. "Papa ..no..."

Rajveer picked him up to hug him. He wondered to himself if he had ever imagined having a family to not let him go, in his earlier mission days. Life had definitely given more than he ever wished for.

"Arre...mein kuch dinon ke liye jaa raha hu...aapka 4 th bdaay hai na next month..toh mein bohot acha gift laane jaa raha hu."

After much coaxing and cajoling, Rajveer was finally able to get out of the house. As he stepped in his jeep, he turned around to have one last look at his home--his family. He waved a bye and quickly sat inside afraid that he wouldn't be able to leave.

**************

Rajveer, under the name of Parvez and Col Bisht as his Abdul chacha reached Mirzapur. They contacted the Indian authorities and quickly set up their work. Months passed. They did a few odd jobs for the Quereshi family...but were never noticed by him. 

Rajveer stood standing one night, looking at the moon. " Happy Birthday beta...Papa loves you a lot and misses you soo much."

Naina on the other hand, helped Naveen blow out his candles. " Mummy, papa ne bola ki woh birthday tak aajayenge. "

"Haan toh...papa ne bohot acha gift bheja..dekha tumne ? nahi ? bahar rakha hai..jao.dekho." She sighed as he ran to look outside. She wondered how many day she would be able to distract Naveen like this. " Jaldi aajayiye Rajveer...aapke bete ko aur mujhe aapki bohot yaad aati hai."

***

"Sir." said Rajveer, one day. " It has been 7 months. Aise nahi chalega...hum kitna bhi acha kaam kare...yeh log humein ghar bula ke apne business nahi dikhayenge. We have to do something big...to get noticed by them."

"Koi idea hai aapke paas, Major ?"

"Yes sir"

The next day, Quereshi saab's daughters were in the market when a  group of goons, descended from a jeep. They came near them and started to pull them, trying to get them into the jeep, while the others fired guns into the air to get the public to stay away. The girls started screaming.

Rajveer and Col Bisht...who were standing nearby, immediately swung into action, beating them up. As they saved the girls, Quershi's men also came to help them. They finally took the girls home.

Quereshi saab was the head of the household, a respected and feared political leader and army person. He was the source of all the illegal activities in the area.

"Kya naam bataya aapne apna ?" he asked.

"Ji Parvez."

"Hmm...Parvez...bohot bahaduri dikhaya hai tumne aaj...kaha se ho. "

"Ji...raoul se."

"Yaha kya kar rahe ho bhai. "

"Ji bas...Kaam dhunde aaya...Mirzapur dekha toh apna laga...isiliye ab yahi rehne ka faisla kar liya. "

"Acha ? kaam kya karte ho ?"

"Ji sab kuch...ek baar bol ke toh dekhiye."

"Hmm...tumne humare betiyon ko bachaya...yeh lo inam. " he said giving him some cash. 

"Wasim...pata chala woh log kaun hai ?" he asked his son.

"Nahi Abu..hum theek se dekh nahi paaye. "

" Naurangpur ke gang ke the." said Rajveer.

All fell quiet. " Tumhe yeh baat kaise pata ?" asked Wasim.

"Ek ke haath pe unke zhande ka nishaan tha...aur sab ke paas se chandan ka gandh aa raha tha...aur mujhe aapko batane ki zarurat nahi..ki Naurangpur kis cheez ke liye jaani jaati hai."

"Kamina...Salman.." yelled Quereshi, standing up. " Humein pata tha...humse...saamne se ladne ki aukat nahi hai...toh isilye peeth peeche war kiya. " he turned to Rajveer.  " Tum ne kaha sab kuch kar sakte ho ? toh jao...mere aadmi ke saath jao...aur use le aao." he ordered.

"Kuch kahe saab ? ye karne se kuch nahi hoga...aapko Salman chahiye na...mein akele le aaunga."

"Pagal ho kya...pata hai ki kitna khatarnak hai woh...aur kitne aadmi hai uske paas " asked Wasim.

"Aadmi toh humare paas bhi hai..leki aaj tak usse hara nahi paaye...usse akal se harana hoga....mein aisa paithra phekunga...ki woh khud mere jaal mein phasega...aur yaha aayega."

"Kya karoge ?" asked Quereshi. 

" Aap bas dekhiye." said Rajveer, smiling.

*********

As Rajveer promised, he got Salman for Quereshi. He also managed to get inside Quereshi's team and charm him with his wit and intelligence. Soon he was Quereshi's right hand, much to the irritation of his son, Wasim. 

Rajveer and Col. Bisht were sitting outside. " I sent the signal to ur team along with the information." said Col. Bisht. " We have to think about her next move...arms ke baare mein toh pata chal gaya..par actual explosives..."

"I know Sir...QUereshi ab tak mujhe qoh nahi dikha raha...pata nahi chal raha kyun...kuch karna padega." he said.

"Hmm." said Col Bisht , as lunch arrived. " Chaliye....kha lijiye. "

"Nahi Sir, mein aaj nahi kha sakta ."

"kyun, aaj kya hai."

"Aaj karvachauth hai Sir...Naina ne mere liye vrat rakha hoga...woh bhuki hai...toh mein kaise kha sakta hoon."

"Major....well I am a lifelong bachelor...toh mein nahi samajhta...but carry on...waise aap bohot miss ar rahe honge na usse."

"Bohot Si....ye pehli baar hai...ki hum itne waqt ke liye alag hue...mere bete ko bhi miss karta hu...bada hogaya hoga...air, aapko pata hai...kitna shaitaan hai woh..ek bar...."

Col . Bisht watched him, as Rajveer went on and on about Naveen and Naina. For the 1s time, in months, he saw Rajveer smile genuinely. The Colonel felt bad about forcing him on this mission. He just hoped that this would all end well and they could go back home soon.