Scotland Escapade

By Rita

Sitting on the sofa sipping from the glass of wine she smiled. Michael had taken her out to dinner and they ended up at his apartment listening to the soft strains of a Scarletti concerto. Rita was very relaxed as she swirled her wine in the glass watching the light refract through it. It was so good to just rest. This downtime was turning out very well. Michael had promised her a special dessert. He was in the kitchen preparing it. Hearing the clang of metal bowls with a utensil filled her with a warm feeling. She could not recall at time when a man had cooked her dessert.

"Michael, do you need any help?" She called out as she took another sip of wine.

"That is not necessary, Rita." Was the quick response she received.

"As long as you can handle it, Michael." She teased.

"What? Don’t you trust my skills?" He politely inquired.

"Of course I do." Rita affirmed she just had some doubts about desert. Then it began to rain. The water softly pelted on the windows. It was good they were in for the night.

"Then be patient." Michael chided from the kitchen.

"I can smell that chocolate, Michael."

Michael knew that Rita was an avid chocoholic. It was her weakness. Michael laughed from the kitchen. "Be patient." he repeated.

"Patience is not exactly one of my virtues when it comes to dessert." She let him know. Then resigning herself to wait, while the intoxicating scent of chocolate perfumed the air.

Michael stepped out of the kitchen wiping his hands with a dishtowel. Putting the towel over his shoulder as he walked to the CD player. He stopped the music and inserted another cd in the player. "It will take a couple of minutes for it to finish. Perhaps this will work as a lesson in patience for you." Then Julia Fordham’s clear very deep and sultry voice was heard from the speaker as she sang of a longing for love.

Michael approached her to dance. Rita put her glass down and rose easily from the coach directly into his arms. As they fell into step with the melody he pulled her closer.

Rita leaned in and whispered in his ear, "A lesson in patience?" She inquired. Michael took his time in responding. As he trailed one hand down her back drawing unseen patterns in her skin. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as she moved in closer to rest her head on his shoulder. His left arm held her close with his right he took her hand into his. He raised the hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it.

Then the phone trilled. The dancers caught in mid step froze. They stood holding each other for a brief moment before breaking apart. A deep sigh of regret escaped her body. Michael held on to her hand. "Yours or mine?" Rita said as she rolled her eyes.

"Mine." Michael answered confidently. "Remember you changed the ringer on yours to play fleur de Lys."

He walked to his phone and picked it up. "Yes." He said as he answered the phone.

Rita watched as he spoke on the phone lamenting the loss of another evening. It was a terse yet rapid conversation. When he finally hung up she looked at him questioningly dreading his next words.

"We have a mission." He said without preamble.

"Don’t we always."

"Yes, but this one is a vital importance. Operations has been kidnapped."

Rita’s eyes went round with surprise. "What? Doesn’t he travel with his bodyguards? And I can’t believe the old man left Section long enough to get kidnapped!" Rita mind was in shock and just processing the ramifications of this. "Oh boy. Wait till North hears this and there will be no holding her back." Rita felt a pang of concern for her friend.

Michael did not say anything. Although Rita thought he looked like he had something to say. Michael looked at her in return, knowing his next statement was not going to be taken well. "North was with him. They took an impromptu vacation."

Rita’s heart filled with fear. Knowing that North would be used to gain information from Operations by any means. Yet the man who did not crack in Vietnam not once would he crack for North. "Do the kidnappers know exactly who it is they have in their grasp?"

Michael knew there was no easy way to say this. "Yes."

"Where are they?"

"Scotland. Birkoff is calling the rest of my team. They are being held in the highlands."

He walked back into the room and they left together. When they arrived at Section the team was waiting for them in van access. Brenna, Curlly, DragonLady, Avillion, Nabiki, Roy and Sherry sat there. Everyone was speaking in hushed tones. It was a very subdued group that sat wondering how this could happen.

Avillion was the first to see Michael and Rita boarding the van. "It’s about time the two of you showed up!" Avillion exclaimed.

"Hey I didn’t tell them to get kidnapped. We came as soon as we heard. We skipped desert." Rita said quickly.

At that statement all the girls burst into laughter. "Rita are you sure you didn’t have any dessert?" Sherry inquired as she made her implication felt.

"Oh Sherry you know I am the first one to announce if dessert was good or not."

Rita went and sat down next to DragonLady as Michael sat down behind her and sat at the computer. "So how is everyone else taking it?"

"You wouldn’t believe it. First off everyone wanted to come. Then Madeline came in a put a stop to it but quick."

Brenna added in "Madeline is far from happy right now."

"Well, I didn’t expect her to do cartwheels although that would be interesting." Rita commented.

Curlly laughed, "The day I actually see that is the day I give up cheesecake."

"Oh please Curlly, as if you would ever do such a thing." Sherry said.

Curlly smiled, "That is how confident I am in that never happening."

Rita turned to see how Michael was doing. He was reading the mission profile that Madeline her self had prepared. She saw a look of bemusement cross his face. She leaned over and asked what was bothering him.

"They have asked for a ransom." Michael said quietly. That statement was an effective silencer on the group. All of them gave Michael their complete attention.

"Then they are not going after information. That is good." Nabiki said.

"How much?" Roy inquired.

Michael looked at him, "Its not how much. It is what they are asking for."

"What do they want?" Rita was getting impatient to know.

"The stone of scone." Michael said simply.

A chorus of responses erupted all at once from the group.

"What?" Avillion thought perhaps she had misheard.

"What the hell is that?" DragonLady said.

"Bad pastry?" Curlly wondered out loud.

Michael put on his Section professorial hat and began the educational lecture. "It is the rock on which traditionally the Scottish kings were crowned until it was stolen by the English. The stone now resides beneath the throne in Westminster Abbey."

They all sat in shock and outrage. Michael waited sitting through the eye of the storm for he knew it would be gale force winds occurring real soon. They could not believe that Operations and North had been kidnapped over a stone.

"Are we dealing with a bunch of historical crazies?"

"This is nuts."

"Glory!" Curlly exclaimed.

Michael held his hand up to attempt to silence them. "Ladies their request no matter how ludicrous must be taken seriously."

"We are not breaking into Westminster Abbey!"

"Yes, we are." Michael said calmly. "Team 2 is going to break into the Abbey but we are not taking the stone. While that is going on Team1 will be retrieving North and Operations from the kidnappers. They are being held in Castle Cuddle in the highlands."

"That is a good idea. What are the teams Michael?" Sherry had been sitting there thoughtfully thinking.

Michael smiled at Sherry. "I will be leading Team 1 with Nabiki, Roy, Avillion and Rita. You will be leading Team 2 with Brenna, DragonLady and curlly." He said this as they arrived at the airport. The team was getting out of the van and two private planes were waiting in the tarmac to whisk them off to their appropriate destinations. "The details are on your pads study them in route."

Michael’s team landed in Scotland where they took transportation to the woods outside the castle. There was an abandoned cottage nearby that they discovered through a scan of the area that they commandeered for their purposes.

Michael, Roy and the girls prepped for the mission. Michael checked on the status of Sherry’s team through Birkoff who would be coordinating for both teams.

"So how are we getting in? It’s a castle with a shear rock face. I saw the pics." Rita asked concerned.

"Well, ladies you will be playing lost tourists. Roy and I will be scaling the castle."

"Aren’t you going to stick out like sore thumbs?" Asked Curlly.

"Not if we are dressed appropriately. " Roy said slyly.

At that Rita’s face took on a dreamy look. Then she spoke softly. "Does that mean you are wearing a kilt, Michael?"

Michael shifted uncomfortably. "Yes."

At that a wide smile broke out on Rita’s face. "I’ll help you get dressed."

"No kidding." Avillion piped in.

"We all knew you would." Nabiki said.

Rita just sat there smiling nothing was going to disturb the image in her head that was about to become reality. Then she commented, "Like your not going to help Roy at all?" When she looked up she saw them sitting cozily in front of the fire Roy’s arm was wrapped around Nabiki.

**********

Meanwhile at the Savoy Hotel in London the girl were settling in. Prepping for their mission as well. DragonLady was bouncing on the bed in the suite. "Wow! They put us in a nice hotel."

"All right the plan is simple." Sherry began the to outline the plan. "Curlly you will be running tactical from the van and coordinate with Birkoff." Curlly nodded. "We have to make the theft last as long as possible so that Michael and his team can rescue North and Operations."

"Just the three of us going in that seems to few." Brenna said worried that there was not enough coverage.

"Don’t worry there will be three other teams from the subsection here making a net to capture the persons assigned to watch our theft of the stone." Sherry replied as she consulted her panel.

"When do we leave?" Brenna asked.

"In an hour, get ready." Sherry replied.

*******

Tightening the belt at the side of his kilt Rita put her hands at the side of his hips and tugged on it to make sure it was secure. Then she stood back, smiled and admired the view. She made the motion for Michael to turn around which he did with his arms out.

"Do I meet with your approval?" He inquired when he faced her again.

"Oh yes most certainly. I need a picture. By the way be careful when you are in there your voice no matter how much I love it will give you away."

"Don’t worry Rita." He said as he caressed her cheek.

"Its really too bad were on a mission." She said with a sigh. He said as he leaned in to kiss her.

"You guys had better get a move on." Came the cry from Avillion in the other room.

******

The girls took a rented car a little hatchback that was going to conveniently breakdown at the castle.

"Oops the radiator has overheated." Rita said sarcastically as she watched the steam escape from the car.

"You really should be more careful with your car, Rita." Nabiki said jokingly as they made their way up he hill to the castle.

Two guards dressed in kilts no less stopped them. "Ladies may we help you?" He said in a Scottish brogue.

"Hi! Our car broke down and we can’t get it to start." Rita said charmingly.

"Our vacation in Scotland has not started well." Avillion said. "Boy this looks like a great castle."

"That is truly unfortunate, lass." The guard commented.

"Yes do you think we can see the inside perhaps until we can get someone to repair our car?" Nabiki said to the guard as she smiled at him.

"Oh yes please. That would save our day." Rita added.

The guards went back to discuss among themselves. They came back. "Come on ladies but you have to realize that parts of the castle are off limits."

"Oh of course." Rita said. As she bent down to tie her shoe as the other walked ahead. Whispering into her comm. unit, "We are in."

"Take out the guards in the first floor when you get in." Michael said as he was climbing up the castle wall with Roy on another rope at the other end of the wall. "We are almost at the top."

The girls came into the main hall pretending awe at the splendor of the castle. When in reality they were counting guards, they nodded to each other and split into three directions. They quietly took out the guards on the first level. The guards never knew what hit them.

Michael reached the top of the castle while he and Roy took out the two guards on the top level. He activated the comm. unit and said, "Birkoff, how is Sherry doing?"

"She is in Westminster killing time."

"Did you capture the watcher?" Michael asked as he looked down the stairs.

"Not yet we have not sighted him yet."

"Fine tell me when you have him." He cut off communications and proceeded downstairs. Hand gesturing to Roy to follow him.

Meanwhile the girls were working their way up to the second floor. They had searched the first floor and no sign of Operations and North. Rita looked around the corner. There she saw a room that had four guards standing outside of it. She touched her comm. unit. "I think I found them."

"Maintain position until I get there. Roy and Nabiki move in to provide back up. Avillion secure the egress. " Michael ordered.

She pulled a heat-sensing unit from her bag. The four bodies on the out side registered and there were only two bodies inside. Good she thought this will be easy.

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around ready to shoot. When she saw it was Michael. He pointed to two of the guards that he would take out and Rita would take out the other two. They both shoot simultaneously the guards were being lax in their duty.

They walked into the room and there were North and Operations tied up and gagged. Rita and Michael moved to untie the pair. "North I guess you need another vacation after this?" Rita said wryly as she moved to hug her.

"You could say that." North said. "But next time we are traveling with bodyguards."

Nabiki and Roy laughed from the door as they moved to hug North.

Rita found herself back at Michael’s apartment. He promised her dessert since he had refused to tell her what he was preparing before they were interrupted. She had to let herself in since he was in the kitchen. He told her just to sit down and wait.

"Michael is this going to take much longer?"

"I told you, you needed a lesson in patience." He said as he stepped out dressed in a kilt holding a chocolate soufflé.

Rita sat up straight in surprise. "Ooh la la. Thank you Michael for the lesson in patience. I am ready for dessert." She knew she had an interesting evening ahead of her.