Have a Little Faith - Short Affair 21st Dec

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Prompt word: Faith
Prompt colour: Gold
Word count: 630

Have A Little Faith

The snow was falling thicker now, blanketing the little airfield in a carpet of white. Waverly stood on the steps of the plane, his hands cupped around his pipe, gazing off towards the horizon where he could just see the remains of the gold-tinged flames licking the sky through the snow and the fog.

Behind him, Harrigan, his pilot, shifted uneasily. "We really need to leave now, sir," he said, for the fourth time. "This filthy weather is only going to get worse. Soon, I won't be able to take off at all."

And they would be at the mercy of THRUSH reinforcements, whenever they arrived - although the thought did occur that if they couldn't take off, THRUSH wouldn't be able to land, leaving them in an uncomfortable stalemate. Still, he understood Harrigan's point. "We can wait another five minutes."

"Sir, it's been almost forty minutes already," Harrigan protested. "If Solo and Kuryakin made it out of there, they would have been back by now."

He turned his head slightly, fixing Harrigan with a chastising look. "We can wait another five mintues," he repeated.

It was Christmas Eve. He didn't want to write off his best agents until he absolutely had to. They had pleasantly surprised him by surviving the unsurvivable before, and even though right now their chances looked bleak, he had the utmost confidence they could surprise him again, if he gave them the chance. Another five minutes. That wasn't really too much to give - even though he was well aware that the rest of Section I would be most put out at him risking his neck like this.

His presence at the negotiations that had started this affair had been absolutely necessary, and he had chosen to remain even after they were sabotaged and he had sent Solo and Kuryakin to shut down the facility. Which, by the explosion of forty minutes ago, they had managed with their usual flash of drama. Standard procedure might say that he, as the most valuable asset, should have taken the plane and left immediately for safety, but one of the advantages of being the man at the top, was that he could choose to ignore standard procedure when he deemed it necessary.

"It's Christmas," he said, as much to himself as to Harrigan. "Show a little Christmas spirit."

"Yes, sir," the pilot said. There was a second's pause. "Do you really think they'll show?"

He took a long, deep puff on his pipe. "Have faith," he said.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine cut through the dark and the snow. Calmly, he placed his pipe carefully balanced on the railing, and drew his gun. He hoped it would be Solo and Kuryakin, but he hadn't survived this long by relying on assumption.

After a moment, a snowmobile pulled into view, the huddled shape of two men visible on it. He stayed standing until they stumbled close enough to the plane for him to see their faces. Solo and Kurykain. And though his eyes, still as sharp as ever, picked out the odd bruise or smear of blood, they appeared substantvely unharmed.

"Well, I'll be damned," Harrigan muttered.

"Go and get this aircraft ready to take off, if you don't mind," Waverly told him. "We don't want to risk being stuck here over Christmas, now, do we?"

"Yes, sir," Harrigan said at once, hurrying towards the cockpit.

And now Waverly was left alone to greet his agents. He smiled at them. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said, glancing at his watch. "And might I add, Merry Christmas."

They smiled tiredly back.

Sometimes faith was rewarded.

Comments

[meneleth.livejournal.com]

And a Merry Christmas to you!