Ali was almost to the bottom when the rope began to sway. What was happening? She looked up towards where a small figure still stood at the opening of the hole. Kyle was there, but what was he doing, she was too far away to be able to tell. In the next moment she felt the rope give as she fell the last few feet into the pit. That son of a bitch! And to think I even felt anything for that lousy man when I shared my tent. Uhg! I should have known he'd try and trap me down here.

Alice was furious. She was trapped in this tomb now with six men she was sure she couldn't handle on her own while Kyle was, wait, why would he trap her in here and stay out there? If anything he would want to finish this mission all for himself. Something wasn't right. She cupped her gloved hands around her mouth as she yelled up to the exit, "Kyle?" She waited, there was no response. She yelled again, "KYLE!" Damn, something bad was happening. Ali needed to find another way out of th is tomb.

She turned around and smacked into one of the thugs. Shit. He looked down at her with an evil grin as he grabbed onto her wrist, "All that yelling isn't a good way to be sneaky you know," he said with an accent. "I thought the boss killed you already."

In the next instant Ali twisted her arm away from the man and kicked him as hard as she could in the stomach. He doubled over allowing for her to bring her knee up hard into his face. When the oaf of a man fell over she quickly pulled out her pistol that had a silencer on the end, aimed it, and finished him. Five thugs left, and none in sight. Maybe this would be easier than she thought.

Ali placed the gun back in it's holster and brushed herself off as she picked a tunnel and dissapeared into the darkness.

OOC: WOOTS page 3. Just in case you missed it I had Kyle drop his rope and grappling hook down to you before he had his encounter

IC: Kyle groaned and tried to rub the back of his head but found his hands along with the rest of him tied to a tree. He felt something cold and wet across his face, he could only guess it was blood from where he was hit. Looking around he appeared to be alone. "What the hell!" he mumbles and tries to pull himself free. He was spread eagle against the tree, his hands and feet stretched out. With those ropes being the only things tying him to the tree he knew it would be easy to free himself. The big problem was getting something to break the first rope. He tugged and pulled against the ropes hoping one of them wasnt tired tight enough.

((:sweat: Must have missed the grappling part, I couldn't find it when I read back over either... lol must be one of those weeks -shrugs-))

Making her way down a long tunnel, Ali heard muffled voices ahead. Sneaking quietly around the corner she realized the other five men were all in the room. She was on the second level, looking down at them, and in the center of the room was a large pile of gold, jewels and other rare and expensive artifacts that seemed to cause the room to be a shiny golden color.

Pushing her blonde hair out of her face, she kept her back against the wall as she hurridly ducked behind a statue at the edge of the floor near where the men were talking. They were joking about the riches and how great their lives were about to become. Poor fools.

Assessing the situation, Ali knew that if she began to shoot them they would quickly spot her before she could eliminate them all and she would be in trouble. Her eyes scanned the large room as something across the room caught her eye. Bingo! There was another, much much smaller opening in the ceiling with a single rope hanging from it, surely leading into the jungle above.

She needed to stay on track with the mission, but she also needed to find Kyle. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut, and she did owe him her life after all. Sneaking quietly around the edge of the second level she prayed that she would not be spotted. If they caught her while she was climbing up the rope they would surely shoot her.

The next few minutes seemed like an eternity as she finally found herself standing in front of the rope. Unfortunately it was about three feet out from the edge of the second story. Guaging it, Ali ran and leaped off the edge of the rock grabbing onto the rope. Since she was on the second level already, she was already halfway there, thankfully, because the commotion caused the thugs to become aware of her presence.

They ran towards the rope as Ali climbed as fast as she could, reaching the exit and pulling herself through the tiny opening. She quickly pulled the knife from her boot and cut the rope as bullets began to ping off of the rock below her.

She smiled down at them, "I'll be back later boys, don't wait up!" and with a wink, she was gone, running through the jungle towards the camp and other entrance. When she arrived, she found the camp a mess. The tent had been slashed apart, the trunk was emptied, and her guide lay dead among the mess. She said a short prayer and hoped that Kyle was ok as she looked around for clues to his whereabouts.

A few feet ahead there appeared to be a small path of broken leaves and stomped grass and brush. There... they must have gone through there. But who were 'they'? Ali didn't know what to think as she wairly headed down the narrow path.

As Kyle tried to free himself he heard heavy footsteps and pretended to still be knocked out. Some of the men who had helped grab him came through the thick, waste high plants and made themselves comfortable. He watched them for a few minutes but they werent doing or saying anything.

"whats the point to this?" he said pulling against the ropes. "You dont belong here American!" one of the men says as they both get up and comes over to him, riffles gripped tightly in their hands and pointed at him. "Gun? Really? What am I going to do? Im tied to a tree here." They mumble something to each other in their native language and then hit Kyle in the gut with the butt or one of the riffles. Kyle chocks and hunches over as much as he can still tied to the tree.

Ali was walking through the jungle when she heard voices. Was that Kyle? Who were the other voices? She walked forward in time to see Kyle, tied to a tree, and two rebels standing before him. One of the men hit Kyle with his gun. Ali frowned deeply as she ducked behind a tree. Her eyes darted around in search of any more rebels that might be in the immediate area, but found none.

"Let's just kill him now and get it over with," she heard one of the men say. She needed to act now. If she pulled her pistol and shot at them she would risk hitting Kyle, but she didn't have any other choice. Pulling her pistol up, she stepped out from behind the tree. Being someone who would never shoot a man in the back, Ali shouted, "Hey assholes." When they turned around she opened fire, one bullet pinging the tree next to Kyle's head before the men fell.

Damn, she'd forgotten to replace the silencer. Too late now. She ran to Kyle, stepping over the bodies, making a mental note to take their weapons. "Kyle are you alright?" she asked as she pulled a knife from her boot and cut the ropes free. She had saved his life now, "We're even," she said with a smile.

He grins at her. "Were we keeping track love?" He quickly unarms the now dead men and then grabs her hand and starts running for cover before backup started to show up.

"I dont think HQ really knows the half of whats going on here." he whispers and tries to catch his breath once he thinks theyre far enough away and have found a good hiding spot. "The men that grabbed me...They werent the same as the men in the pit." he looks around making sure no ones trying to track them down. "They looked like natives. We might be over our heads here..."

His eyes widen an idea occurs to him and he looks at Ali. "Ive only known of HQ giving false orders one other time...it wasnt good. They did it because the agent had become a liability. The agent was killed before the mission was completed...the entire point of the mission was to terminate an agent who kept going off mission...Do you remember? I think it was about five years ago. Everyone was talking about it because it was the first time anyone had actually been killed due to faulty mission specs." he whispered trying not to attract any unwanted attention.

Kyle picked up the weapons and grabbed Ali's hand and began to run. Confused, Ali ran too. What were they running from? Hadn't she killed the men? When they stopped and Kyle explained himself Ali shook her head in disbelief. "You don't think they're trying to get rid of us do you? Why would HQ want to get rid of their two best agents?" She was still shaking her head when her cell phone buzzed. Pulling it out of her pocket she read a text message, from a friends of hers at HQ. The message said "Beware of Kyle." It was simple, and to the point.

Ali closed the phone and dropped it back into her pocket. Clearly HQ had learned that Kyle and Ali were working together and surviving out there, now they were trying to pit them against eachother. Unfortunately, Ali didn't realize that as she was now skeptical of everything Kyle had said, thinking he was lying to her, trying to scare her away from the mission. Well, it wasn't going to work. She was going to go back into that tomb and finish those guys off and end this mission once and for all, and go home.

She smiled at him, "My mom, wondering if I can come home for dinner this Sunday," she lied. "Anyway, I think you're being paranoid Kyle," she said, taking a step back from him, no longer trusting him the way she had before. "I'm going to finish the mission, there aren't many guys left down there. If you're scared, you can stay here," she said as she made her way passed him and headed through the jungle, back towards the tomb.

Ali wait!" he whispered as she jumped up and headed back to the pit. He stood and looked back the way they had came he could make out the figures of several of the men who had originally jumped him. He quickly runs after Alice.

He catches up with her just as she reaches the small clearing that surrounds the pit. He quickly grabs her and pulls her back into the trees and clams his as he pushes her back up against a tree. "Dont believe me thats fine. But neither of us got this far by being stupid. Think about it. HQ has never sent two agents to one location before and though you and I have crossed paths several times in the past we got the same orders this time!" He whispers and forces her back against the tree as she tries to free herself.

"This time Im not here just to give you a hard time. Im here because I got the same orders you got. To climb down into that pit and stop about a dozen looters from robbing whatever treasures are down there." He manages to force her feet down as she starts to kick at him. "Did you see any treausers or anything worth looting down there?" he says finally letting go getting tired of fighting her. "And did you bother to count how many men weve seen running around down there? My orders said it was a small group, a dozen men tops. Last time I was down there I counted upwards of 20! Why would they send just one or even both of us to take down a group they either dont know or havent told us how many people are apart of it?" he says jumping in her way every time she tries to get by him. "Think! Really think if you being here makes since!" he yells trying to get through to her.

Ignoring Kyle as he yelled after her she made her way through the jungle until she was at the clearing before the entry spot. Before she could step out into the open Kyle grabbed her and pushed her against a tree. She scowled at him, "Let go of me," she said. She thought back to the text message she had recieved. He was trying to trick her right now wasn't he? She picked her leg up and with a swift motion, kicked at his stomach, "Get away from me Kyle, I know what you're up to!" she said.

Finally he let her go, as she hopped away from the tree, putting distance between herself and Kyle. He was yelling at her now as she narrowed her eyes at him. What he was saying did make sense... but that's what he was trying to do, Kyle was smart, Ali knew that. "I'm not going to fall for your games, I know what you're trying to do Kyle and you're not going to fool me anymore, HQ told me to watch out for you." With that statement Ali turned to walk away from him.

Feeling annoyed and stupid at the fact that she had ever trusted Kyle in the first place Ali made her way to the opening as she threw the rope that was lying nearby back into the pit, giving it a good tug to make sure it was secure. She looked back over her shoulder at Kyle and shook her head. It's such a shame when a good agent goes bad. Ali held tightly onto the rope and swung into the pit, she guessed she was in this alone now.

Feed up with her attitude and the fact that shes let her self so easily be swayed by HQ he starts to leave her to her fate but stops and looks back at her as she climbs back down into the pit. "Youre going to get us both killed..." he mumbles and quickly makes his way back to the pit and the rope.

He looks down into the hole she hasnt made it that far. He finds the tree the rope is tied to and makes sure its tied down and secured. He quickly goes back to the hole and heads down on the rope either though Alice was still making her way down. He was sure it would hold them both. He swore and mumbled to himself under his breath as he lowered himself down below the ground. It only took him a few minutes to catch up with her. "You think what you want but if I was really out to get you then Id let you die on your own." he said to her he made it down to her.

When Ali reached the floor she looked up to see Kyle right behind her. Frowning, she stepped out of his way. "I thought you might say something like that," she said. "You know we've never been close, or even friendly towards eachother before this, so it's hard not to believe headquarters over you," Ali said as she looked around the large room.

There were so many different paths that could be taken, which one was it that she had gone down earlier? This one, no, it was that one. Ali was still frowning, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in a frustrated manner. Looking back to Kyle for a moment she watched him intently, thinking. Honestly, she didn't know what to think. HQ was telling her one thing, and Kyle was telling her another. HQ had never lied to her before, and Kyle, well they'd butted heads all the time. It only made sense that HQ was telling her the truth and that Kyle was trying to play her for a fool.

Her phone buzzed again, this time it was a phone call. Pulling it from her pocket, she put the phone to her ear without saying a word. It was headquarters. A deep man's voice came through the speaker, it was the boss himself. He spoke to her in a slow and demanding kind of tone, "Alice," he said, "Kyle has gone rouge. He has become a danger to you and our company. You must eliminate him, for the sake of our country, and your own sake. He is a danger. If you don't complete this task, you will also be terminated." And then there was a short click, and silence.

Ali replaced the phone in her pocket as she stared into Kyle's eyes, slowly drawing her weapon, pointing it at his heart. She stood there as she began to shake. What was she doing? She didn't want to kill Kyle, in fact, she had a hard time admitting it, but despite their differences, she had always kind of liked Kyle. They could relate, and besides HQ, he was the only person in her life who knew what she really did everyday, who knew who she really was. She was breathing quickly as she waged a war with herself. It's you or him Ali, just pull the trigger, she told herself. Now! DO IT!

He couldnt help looking disappointed when she pulled her weapon on him. "Let me make this easy for you..." he said calmly placing a steady hand on the quivering gun and pressed it firmly against his chest and aimed it at his heart. "But know that if I really wanted you died I could have let you drowned before...Think Alice why is HQ so determined that Im the bad guy here of all places and how is it they know enough to send you the messages that are making you doubt me." He couldnt help holding his breath while he waited for her to make up her mind.

Ali's heart was beating to the point she thought her chest might explode. When Kyle moved to put the gun at his own chest, Ali's eyes widened. Was he telling the truth? Maybe headquarters knew she couldn't do this mission without Kyle, and maybe they were trying to have her take care of him, then the rebels would easily take care of her. No, he was toying with her, that's what Kyle wanted her to think.

Before Ali could make a decision the large room filled with the sound of footsteps. Rebels were filtering out of the tunnels and surrounding them now and they looked really unhappy. "There they are!" one shouted, "Let's kill them!" she heard another shout, "No, let's tourture them first!" Ali's thoughts were racing now as the barrel of her gun still pointed to Kyle's chest.

He sighed. "Can we agree to disagree on this for now and just try to get out of this alive." he whispered as he looked around at the armed men who now surrounded them both.

Lowering her gun Ali turned to face the rebels, but they were everywhere. In a way, she was glad they had shown up, she thought back to the time she had been drowning in the tomb and Kyle had breathed life into her, cutting her free and saving her from a watery death. She was so confused, and didn't know what to think or do. She couldn't kill Kyle, could she? Never the less, now wasn't the time to be debating it. The rebels were closing in. "What do we do?" she whispered back.

He grabs her hand and kind of pulls her behind him to hide her gun. "Im not sure what you think weve done but were just sight seekers weve obviously stumbled into something we shouldnt. Please just let us climb out of here we swear we wont say anything." he says looking at the man who spoke first. Kyle knew it was a weak lie but he hoped it might work.

Stuffing the pistol into the back of Kyle's pants and quickly pulling his shirt down to hide it since her short shirt and pants didn't leave much room for concealing, Ali peeked around him to the man he was speaking too, as she smiled, "Yes, just sight seers, you must have us confused with someone else," she said nervously.

The man spoke up with his heavy accent, "Oh, sight seekers, ok, go ahead and climb on out then!" he said before letting out a deep laugh, "Do you think we are stupid!?" he shouted. "We have strict orders to terminate the two of you, Ali, and Kyle, and that is what we intend to do."

Ali's eyes widened. Kyle had been telling her the truth. She did a mental head slap, stupid stupid... what a fool she had been believing headquarters. She could have killed Kyle just then, thankfully she hadn't. But now it seemed they were in much worse trouble. "Kyle," she said quietly, "There are too many of them..." Her voice was quiet but nervous. "We don't stand a chance," she said, as she looked around the room. Her heart was still racing, she didn't know what to do now, as she stood behind Kyle watching as the men closed in on them.

Watching as the men closed off any chance of escape Kyle mentally runs through his options they could either stand here and get gunned down or they could make a run for it and probably get shoot in the back. He then runs through the things he loaded into his cargo pants and wondered if how thoroughly his pockets had been checked when he was jumped earlier his pants were to baggy for him to feel much. "Would you mind checking the pocket on my left leg love?" he whispered to her. He smiled at the odd look she gave him. "Come on." When she finally did she felt two long and hard shafts. She looked at him again and he turned a little to block the view of the men surrounding them. She pulls out two flares. "Maybe we can use them to blind for a minute which might be long enough for us to run for cover." he whispers to her.

Ali felt like she was waiting for death now. How could HQ do this to them? When Kyle instructed her to reach into his pocket, she raised her eyebrow at him. Reaching inside the deep pocket Ali's fingers ran down a long shaft, what the- oh ok, there were two of whatever they were. Pulling them out of the pocket she was holding two flares. Brilliant idea!

Ripping the tops off of them, the flares egnited with a bright red flash. She handed one to Kyle and waited for the signal to run, they only had one chance to make this escape...

Taking one of the flares and doing the best he could to hide what they were about to do he took a deep breath and counted to 3 in his head. "Hey! What are you two doing?!" The leader of the rebels yelled.

"NOW!" Kyle yelled igniting his flare and then throwing it at the leader of the rebels. He waited a breath for Ali to do the same and then grabbed her arm and ran pulling her along behind him. After a minute he let go of her as gun fire rang out. bullets wizzed everywhere as the men shot blind and bullets began to ricochet off the walls of the cave.

He dove behind a large rock that stuck up out of the floor and looked around for Ali.

It all happened so fast, Ali hardly even realized they were running, as bullets pinged off the walls at an alarming rate. She ducked into a tunnel and put her back to the wall, where was Kyle? Damn... Peering around the corner, she spotted him a few feet away. Whispering loudly, "Kyle, in here! Come on!" she motioned for him to join her. They needed to get out of this room and put a lot of distance between themselves and the rebels. They needed to find another way out of this tomb.

He quickly jumped into the tunnel Ali was hiding in bullets still going every where but they were starting to regain their vision now and it was only a matter of minutes before they were found.

Kyle knelled beside Ali trying to catch his breath for a minute. "We're running low on tricks we better find a way out of here fast." He said standing up and feels his way down the tunnel. "I hope this isnt a dead end." he whispers back to her.

Following behind Kyle, Ali hears a small click. "Stop moving," she said quietly. In the next moment there was a large rumble as the opening to the walkway they were in began to close with a large rock door, sealing them off from the goons. Thank goodness. But now they were seemingly trapped in this long hall. Ali began to walk along the edge of the tomb wall feeling for any levers or switches or loose rocks that might open another path. "Try to find another switch or something, we need to get out of here. But be careful, this could be a trap of the tomb," she said.

Pausing for a moment, she added, "I'm sorry Kyle, for doubting you."

He brasses himself as theyre blocked in. "Great!" he mumbles. "Stop! Dont touch anything else. Lets get a light in here. Theres no need to set off another trap in here." he says feeling around in his pockets for a lighter or something.

"I guess I wouldnt of believed me either. But Im sure you can make it up to me when we get out of this." he says grinning at her even though he knows she cant see him in the pitch black tunnel.

Ali paused when Kyle told her stop searching before she foud a trap, but she only listened momentarily before continuing her search. In all honesty, Ali was a very stubborn and hard headed girl. She believed that searching for a switch was the only way out, so that's what she was going to do. Only frowning slightly at his comment, Ali continued feeling along the wall, for something, a switch, a lever, a loose rock... or a button! Ali's fingers felt over a small quarter sized, square rock that protruded out from the wall. Without thinking twice, Ali pressed it.