Cassandra quickly crossed the room. Kneeling down beside the girl, she pulled out her knife.

When she grabbed the rope at the girls ankles she saw the lace trim on her socks peeking out from under her jeans. Suddenly the memories of the mission in Georgia came flooding back, and she wondered how Katie was doing. Shaking off these memories she returned to the task at hand, and cut the ropes binding Nadia’s ankles. Turning her over, she freed her hands. A quick observation of the collar and chain revealed there was no easy way to remove it. Cassandra decided to try a different approach. She pulled as hard as she could and managed to pull the anchor out of the decaying wall. She helped the girl to her feet, and she fell into her.

“Can you walk?” asked Cassandra. Unable to speak with the gag still in her mouth, Nadia shook her head no and pointed to her feet. Cassandra understood and picked the small child up. “I guess I’ll have to carry you then.” By now they could hear the russian thugs on the stairs outside the room. “Sergei, you take point. We’ve gotta go now or never.”

“Follow me,” replied Sergei as Cassandra pulled a makeshift flashbang grenade out of her vest.

“Now!” shouted Cassandra, and Sergei opened the door allowing Cassandra to throw the grenade out onto the staircase. As soon as they heard the explosion, they opened the door to find the thugs that were on the landing when the grenade went off were now very disoriented. One of them started to point is gun in Cassandra’s direction, but she managed to put a round between his eyes before he could even raise his weapon. She lobbed another flashbang down the stairs ahead of them creating even more chaos in her path. Sergei charged down the stairs taking out many of the goons before he reached the ground floor. Suddenly Cassandra heard gunfire very close to her head only to realize that Nadia had pulled the extra pistol from her vest and fired over her shoulder at a guy that was chasing them down the stairs.

“Nice shot,” said Cassandra as they were running through the front door.

“Thanks!” smiled Nadia through her gag.

“Sergei go get the car!” she shouted.

“Way ahead of you,” he shouted in reply. The girls were half way to the car when Sergei pulled up. Cassandra jumped in the back with Nadia still in her arms.

“Drive!” she commanded as a bullet pierced the trunk of the rental car. Sergei slammed on the gas. The tires let out a screech as the car shot off like a rocket down the road and away from the chaos behind them. Cassandra sat in the back of the car holding Nadia for several minutes before she realized the girl was still gagged. Gently she turned her around and untied the gag.

“Thank you,” croaked Nadia.

“You poor girl, your throat must be dry as the Sahara,” replied Cassandra as she pulled her canteen out of her pack and handed it to Nadia. That’s when she noticed how bad the rope marks on the girls wrists were. “How are your feet?” she asked as she remembered why she had to carry the girl.

“Not good,” replied Nadia.

“Let me see,” Cassandra said while patting her lap. Nadia slowly slid across the seat and put her feet up in Cassandra’s lap. Cassandra gently slid one of Nadia’s sneakers off and began to softly massage her foot. Nadia enjoying this immensely, closed her eyes and relaxed for the first time since this whole ordeal began. When her foot started to feel normal again, she wiggled her other one to signal Cassandra to switch feet. Cassandra slowly slid Nadia’s other shoe off and began rubbing that foot. A few minutes later, she realizing Nadia had fallen asleep, she lifted the girls foot and gently kissed the top of it. “Sweet dreams little one,” she whispered as she caressed the girl’s foot. Slowly, Cassandra also nodded off to sleep.

When she awoke a few hours later, she realized they were pulling in to her apartment complex. She looked over at the sleeping child who’s feet were still in her lap. The peaceful look on Nadia’s face made it hard for Cassandra to will herself to wake the child. Finally she gently shook the girl’s leg. “Wake up sweetie,” she said soothingly. “We’re here.”

“Where are we?” Nadia asked as she yawned.

“We’re at my apartment,” replied Cassandra as she picked up one of the girl’s sneakers and slid it back on her foot. “I have a nice large bed you can sleep in once we get you upstairs,” she continued as she placed the girl’s other sneaker on her other foot. Cassandra helped the girl out of the car, and held her hand as they walked up to the apartment. Noticing the lights were on, Cassandra opened the door and shouted, “Honey! We’re home!”

“Honey?” asked Zoey sarcastically.

“Well you could be,” Cassandra teased as she poked Zoey in the side, causing her to squeal.

“Don’t do that,” Zoey said slapping Cassandra’s hand away. “Is this her?” she asked when she noticed Nadia still standing by the door.

“Yes,” replied Cassandra as she pulled Nadia over next to her. “Zoey, this is Nadia. Nadia, this is my good friend Zoey.” Nadia smiled at Zoey as she hid behind Cassandra. “You’re awfully shy for a girl that shot somebody tonight.”

“She shot somebody?” asked an incredulous Zoey.

“Yeah. A skill she picked up from her father no doubt. He’s ex KGB.”

Zoey shook her head in response. “What am I going to do with you people?”

“For starters we’re going to put this one to bed,” replied Cassandra as she tousled Nadia’s hair. She led the girl into her bedroom and started digging through her dresser drawers. “Ah, here it is,” she said as she pulled an oversized Hello Kitty t-shirt out of the drawer and handed it to Nadia. “You can sleep in that,” she said as she pointed Nadia to the bathroom. A few moments later she emerged. The shirt fit her like a dress as it came down to her knees revealing her lower legs and her feet still encased in frilly socks. She looked a perfect picture of girlishness. Cassandra pulled the covers back on her perfectly made bed, a habit that was ingrained in her from her first day in the military, and motioned for Nadia to climb in. She walked over to her dresser and got down a teddy bear for Nadia to sleep with. She bent over and kissed her on the forehead, only to find that she couldn’t stand up, for Nadia had wrapped her arms around her neck.

“Don’t leave me,” the girl plead.

“I’m just going to be in the next room.”

“No. Please, I’ve been alone too long. They kept me tied up in that, that room, alone, in the dark, for days,” she sobbed. “Don’t leave me.” The pleading look in those piercing blue eyes just melted Cassandra’s heart. She could only imagine what it would be like to go through something so bad at such a young age. Being chained to the wall like an animal, bound hand and foot, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder knowing that he would only cause her suffering, had to be the most horrific experience a child could ever endure, short of actually experiencing the things said bidder would do to her that is.

“Okay okay. I’ll stay. Can I change first?”

Nadia slowly nodded and let go of Cassandra’s neck. Cassandra walked to the bedroom door and motioned Zoey to come over. “Can you sit with her while I get ready for bed?” she whispered. “She’s afraid to be alone.”

“Sure,” she responded as she walked over and sat on the bed. Neither of them spoke while Cassandra changed. A few minutes later Cassandra emerged in a knee length Hello Kitty nightgown that was very similar to the shirt she had loaned to Nadia, and a pair of frilly socks that were also similar to the ones Nadia wore.

“Thanks for sitting with her.”

“Anytime,” replied Zoey as she headed for the door. “Want me to get the lights?”
“Yes Please,” said Cassandra as she slid into bed next to Nadia who quickly latched on to her. Cassandra held the girl close as they both drifted off to sleep.

“I think Nadia have, how you say, schoolgirl crush yes? On your friend there,” said Sergei as Zoey emerged from the bedroom.

“What makes you say that?”

“I see it in her eyes when she think nobody looking. I think one day they make cute couple.”

“I think she’s way too young for Cassandra.”

“She not young as looks,” chuckled Sergei. “She is eighteen.”

“No way! That’s not possible.”

“She has disease, makes her age slowly. Also she can not have the babies.”

“But she acts as young as she looks.”

“Nickolai, her father, he baby her. He also train her to be secret agent,” he chuckled. “She very dangerous like Cassandra. Nickolai taught her well, but her mother died when she was little, so she had no one to teach her to be lady. I think Nickolai confuse her.”

“That explains a lot and nothing at the same time.”

“My english is not so good yes?”

“Not so good,” giggled Zoey. “But I’ve heard worse. It’s getting early. I need to get some sleep. I’ve been up all night worried about you guys, and I have a class this afternoon.”

“I sleep on couch. Have good night. Don’t let bed bugs bite,” chuckled Sergei.

“Sweet dreams,” said Zoey as she disappeared into her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

That afternoon Cassandra awoke to find something cold and hard jabbing her in the ribcage. Further examination revealed that is was the chain from Nadia’s collar, which they had somehow forgotten to remove. A moment later, she realized that Nadia was awake and smiling at her.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” said the little girl using the edge of the blanket to wipe the drool from Cassandra’s face before kissing her square on the lips. Cassandra was caught off guard both by the fact that this little girl was kissing her, and by how much she enjoyed it. Before she had a chance to react, Nadia jumped up and dashed off to the bathroom. A few moments later she was standing in the doorway, her red hair was a mess, and the Hello Kitty shirt was hanging off of one shoulder. Even her socks were a mess, one of them being scrunched down, and the other pulled all the way up, but even in this state of disarray, she was stunningly beautiful. Those bright blue eyes were intoxicating to Cassandra. She had never felt this way before. Nadia strolled over to the bed, and straddled Cassandra, handing her the chain still attached to her collar. Before she knew what she was doing, Cassandra pulled her in for another kiss. When it was over, she pushed the little minx off of her, and shook her head trying to gather her thoughts.

“Nadia,” began Cassandra, “ I’m way too old for you.”

“I’m not that young,” she giggled. “I have a disease called Turners Syndrome. My body ages too slowly. I’m really eighteen.”

“There’s a disease that makes you look that much younger than you are? Sounds like you’ve hit the genetic jackpot.”

“Well like everything in life, there is a balance. Bad to go with the good.”

“Like what?”

“For one, I can’t have babies. There are a whole lot of other symptoms I don’t have yet, but I could still get them,” she replied sadly.

“I’m so sorry,” replied Cassandra as she pulled Nadia in for a hug before passionately kissing her, this time without the guilt.

To Be Continued...