RUDRA'S PANIC ATTACK

" Abdul, right? " Roll asked taking a seat beside the middle-aged man who looked a little bit confused but still nodded yes.

" Since when had you started this shop? " Siddhant asked next calmly trying not to terrify the man who already is looking a bit pale because of interrogations.

" It's been a decade, Sir Ji, but why are you asking all this, did I do any mistake " Abdul queries rolling his eyes in between Siddhant and Roli.

" Ah no, nothing, you haven't done anything wrong it's just we want your help that's it " Roli replies opening up the file she was holding.

Abdul, who was first scared thinking if he did any mistake was now confused more thinking what kind of help do they want from him, he whispered " help? What kind of... Do you want me to make shoes for you? " he eyes both of their shoes and they were in very good condition so he thought maybe they are here to give a new order.

" uh, not for order but we are here to ask you something about the shoes you made a few days which was larger than the actual size by 2 numbers " 

As soon as Siddhant said those words Abdul shivered in fear remembering that creepy man who was giving much of negative vibes and not to say his appearance was like a devil, his hoarse and cold voice was enough for anyone to shudder...

Seeing Abdul's face turning white they knew he remembered him, Roli looked at Sid with hopeful eyes thinking finally they would get a strong lead to reach Snappy. Siddhant kept a comforting hand on Abdul mumbling " don't fear we are with you, tell us everything, you can help us to reach him, so please tell us"

Abdul was still in fear so holding Sid's hand he started while Roli was recording his confession in the tape.

" He was looking very frightening, had his face covered behind the hoodie, his every part was covered with the clothes but still I got to see his right hand which was full of burn marks " 

' Right hand, burn marks... Rudra? Ahh, Siddhant no please don't think about Ru, my Ru is not Snappy, he can't be ' Siddhant shrugged the thought and again concentrated on what Abdul was saying.

" He asked me to make the shoes for him but when I said it will be too big to increase the number, he glared at me removing the hoodie, his eyes were so red and the intensity in it scares me moreover when he said that he would finish me if I didn't do as he asked so I did "

" would you be able to recognize him if he comes in front of you " Roli asked crossing her fingers having a hope that it may be a good chance to reach Snappy if he can recognize him...

Taking some time in thinking he replied  " yes madam, I can never forget that face... "

" great then, so Abdul can you describe his features and help us in making his sketch " She asked again.

" yes madam, I can "

Siddhant's heart was in little peace but feared to think what if he is Rudra and he desperately wants this confirmation so he took the lead and said " Uhh, Ms. Roli you go I will just come taking him with me "

Roli nodded then went out dialing Asthana to update him about the progress, Siddhant turned to Abdul fishing out his mobile, opening his gallery picking out Rudra's photo he inquired " Is that person him "

Abdul took a while to see but then answers " No, sir Ji it's not him"

" Are you sure? " 

" Haa, Sir Ji, it's not him he was someone else " Abdul clarified again with confidence in his voice cause he was sure that this person is not him.

" Thanks " Siddhant mouthed with a sigh having relief that his Ru is clean.

Four hours flew by and they were still trying to draw the sketch but were not getting the desired result...

" Are you sure you remember that face " Asthana raises a question after being tired of waiting and the result was nil.

" it takes time officer Asthana so have patience, so yeah Abdul let's start again from the beginning," says the Sketch artist Smith who works for IB.

" He is the one, Sir Ji... He is the one " Abdul shouted seeing the face on the canvas. 

Every eye twinkles knowing finally they are going to see who that Snappy is but seeing the face Siddhant's eyes went wide in shock. He murmured " Avinash!!! "

All looked at Siddhant, who was standing with a pale face, Roli was trying to read his face while Asthana asked " you know him? "

" How is this possible? It's not possible,  it can't be him, I'm sure you might have misunderstood him, Abdul " Siddhant lets out, his voice was shivering and eyes turned misty. 

Abdul nodded no saying he was right in recognizing the person. Asthana asked again " look, Mr. Bhardwaj that we will decide if he is that person or not but for now just answer my questions... Do you know him? "

" Yes, I know him "

" Fine then let's go and take him in our custody " orders the chief who was a silent spectator by now.

" No, you can't go " Siddhant chips in coming out of his thoughts 

Asthana was already frustrated by waiting this long and when now finally they got the face to catch Siddhant is stopping them this made him more irritated, already he wasn't on good terms with Siddhant and now he is trying to save this person so he says loudly " Why shouldn't we Mr. Bhardwaj, can we know why are you trying to save this culprit "

" First thing Mr. Alok he is not the culprit and secondly I am stopping you not to save him but because you can't reach him, you can't keep him in your custody, you can't arrest him because this person Avinash Goyel is dead, yes He died a year ago and I was present in his funeral too" Siddhant completed gritting his teeth while tears silently rolled down his cheeks as he remembered about Avinash.

This was a blow for everyone knowing that for getting this sketch drawn they waited for hours only to know he is already dead, but if he is dead then how come he is seen now...

" Are you sure?" Chief asked.

" of course Chief, if you are still not believing then can enquire about Avinash Goyel's accident case attended by Dr. Bhavesh Kirloskar of May last year " Sid replied wiping his tears.

Chief nodded and signaled one of the officers to get the information confirmed, Roli who was silent all these while stated " if it's true that he is dead then this indicates only one thing that Snappy very cleverly used the face mask with this face on but the question is why him? Why did he choose the dead person, well if it was only to mislead us then why only Avinash why not anyone else, why specifically him? "

All were in a fix, none had any clue why would he ... After a lot of thinking Roli turned to Abdul asking " was there anything else that you found on him which could be helpful in his identity "

" There was a tattoo on his neck, right side " Abdul confesses taking some time.

Asthana asked " can you tell about it more or if possible can you draw it here "

Abdul nodes then draw the tattoo on the canvas in a corner which again freezes Siddhant...

The tattoo was the same as which Rudra has on his neck that too right side... Sid's breath hitched thinking why all proofs are indicating towards Rudra... and him knowing about Avinash was not a big deal and again the doubt towards Rudra was getting stronger in his head moreover Rudra's behavior is always confusing him, whatever happens, he has to confront Rudra as soon as possible before anyone gets a grip on him while enquiring about Avinash...

Chief: ok, so let's end this day... The next day the first thing we have to do is to search for the person who makes such face masks and next to the tattoo artist if we can and also I want every single detail of this guy, Avinash on the table...

He instructed everyone and left the place soon others too left and when Siddhant was leaving he went near Roli and mumbled before leaving " I guess you too know him, he is Avinash Goyel aka Imani, an A-level officer in RAW, you can get his details from there... you have the access right Ms. Kite... You know exactly how Imani died "

Siddhant left but Roli was frozen at her place... She couldn't conclude how did Siddhant know about her code name 'kite' which was only known to the members of her team and no one else... RAW has always been very secretive of all the people who work undercover, except their particular team member none knows about each other and as she was a B-level officer so she definitely doesn't know about who Imani really is, yeah she has worked under Imani but never met only has followed his orders and not to mention Imani died last year in the process of searching for the most important person of their troupe - Sir Griffin, who went missing 3 years back during his mission. 

" But how did Siddhant know about us... Is he also a RAW agent? " Roli asks herself having so many questions thinking who Siddhant is to have this secretive info about her, who others don't know not a single person in IB knows about it then how Siddhant...

BHARDWAJ MANSION

Reaching home Siddhant directly went to Rudra's room to enquire about the tattoo and everything which relates him to this case and not to forget Rudra's bracelet was found at the crime spot.

Siddhant entered Rudra's room after finding the door open and not to be surprised it was empty, Ru was not there in fact nowadays he is coming late in the night... Chances of him meeting was low but still, Sid came in thinking to dig through his room expecting any clue, he was searching everywhere and when he was rummaging through his wardrobe he noticed something hidden in the absolute corner, with confusion all over his face he took that box out and open to see what is in it and seeing the thing inside he went numb in shock. It was shoes that too with the size of 11 which is not Rudra's size to be precise.

The memory of them finding Snappy's shoes clouded his mind and seeing the same size here in his house with Rudra before he could do anything with those Rudra entered the room and froze at his place looking at Sid who was standing having the box in his hand.

Siddhant took the opportunity, in long strides he reached the door and closed it behind soundly while Rudra was standing steady, he was too numb to react. Reaching just in front of him Siddhant asked clenching his jaws " can you explain about it "

Rudra just kept his head down without saying anything this increased Siddhant's anger more he asked grabbing his arms shaking him " what the hell are you doing Rudra Bhardwaj, just say before I lose my temper and you know it well that it won't be nice for you so just spit it out and say only truth get it... Now get speaking and say me every single thing which relates to you with Madhav's case "

Rudra flinched hearing Madhav's name, his body shivered in fear which was noticed by Sid, who thought it was because of seeing him angry but he didn't know what storm was going on inside Rudra right now. First of all, he was cursing himself for being so careless regarding the shoe, and over that Madhav's name was creating havoc inside him.

" Speak up " Siddhant shouted again seeing him standing numb. 

Rudra's mind went in shock and for a moment it seized to work, a sharp pain hits his head causing the tremble in his body which was visible to Siddhant clearly. Sweat started to linger on his skin, his lips were quivering. He rubs his head to reduce the pain but it kept on increasing, he was having a panic attack again but that was the first time in front of family, in front of Siddhant to be precise.

Siddhant who was having his eyes on Rudra got tense seeing him reacting this way, he neared to Rudra throwing the box away and asked cupping his face " Ru, what... What is happening with you... Are you, are you ok beta "

Ru didn't say anything he was trembling heavily, tears started to roll down his eyes, he held Sid's hand so tight which were cupping his face, and said in a shaking voice " j..u..s..t g...o .... Goooo "

" Ru, hey, you ok, " Sid asked again with concern wiping the tears.

Rudra pushed his hands off himself then pulled his own hair trying to overcome the pain which was throbbing in his head, he lifts his face showing his tear stricken face to Sid, as time passed his face was turning red and finally at last few drops of blood started to drip out of his nostrils dazing Siddhant.

In a quick movement, Siddhant hold Rudra by the waist giving him ample support to stand, and with other, he took the handkerchief out of his pocket keeping it on Rudra's bleeding nose, he asked frantically " Ru, what's happening, say me how... Let's get you to the doctor first... Come baccha "

" No...no... Leave... Leave me alone " Rudra shouted pushing him away, the bleeding got more faster and the stream reached his lips. He wiped it out with his sleeves and started to behave hysterically. He grabs Sid and started to push him towards the door indicating him to go out. 

" Rudra? " Siddhant was scared confused and tensed seeing Rudra, he wanted to help him, handle him through this pain but Rudra is hell-bent to push him out moreover he himself didn't know what can he do, this never happened before or he never noticed before.

Siddhant came out of his thoughts when Rudra took his hand and kept over his head and murmured " don't tell anyone or else you will regret "

As the words left his mouth Siddhant looked at Rudra and he stumbled seeing the rage in his red eyes, there was a determination in it and it surely was giving negative vibes to him, for the first time he was scared... Of Rudra. The blood was around his lower face, and the upper side was drenched with tears and sweat, eyes were red in fury, a fist was clenched tightly... His whole demeanor changed so vastly from trembling in pain to shivering in rage. Siddhant was truly scared seeing him, he couldn't find his little brother in front of him, this person seems stranger to him.

" didn't I just say to leave " 

Siddhant jerked on the intensity of the shout and he slowly stepped back. Rudra wiped another stream of blood off his face then held Sid's hand and opening the door pushed him out, Siddhant stumbled on his steps, handling himself looked back at Rudra, Rudra came forward then with his thumb he traced Sid's lips while whispering huskily " don't open this mouth ok... I don't want to do anything with you of which I would regret later, you know right I love you"

Siddhant was too numb to react, he stood silently with fear rushing down his spine, he knew something is terribly wrong with his brother, and this change is scaring him to hell.

" you will right " 

Rudra asked again, and Siddhant nodded vigorously feeling Rudra's thumb getting stiffened on the corner of his lips and an unknown fear gripped his heart. Before he could react more Rudra leaned in and pecked his cheek saying in a broken and weak voice " I love you bhaiya, trust me " without waiting for Sid's reply he closed the door at his face leaving him there alone and scared. 

Siddhant kept standing at the door numb until a message pinged on his phone. He took it out to see.

______________

Reports on Roli R. Diwedi is ready boss, we can meet now.

~ Sneaker

______________

Siddhant read it again then freshening up he moved to meet sneaker, his PI.

" welcome boss " sneaker welcomed Sid asking him to sit.

Siddhant's thought was still wandering around Rudra and to divert it he came here but to be honest he was still shaken for whatever happened a few minutes ago. Shrugging that fear away he concentrated on the Roli for this moment...

" Roli R. Diwedi, is the daughter of the late Suhas Diwedi and Mehak Diwedi, Suhas has served in the police force at the reputed post from Mumbai and Mehak was a housewife. When Roli was 16 they had another child Gautam Diwedi who is now 10. Mr. And Mrs. Diwedi died a year ago in an accident where their house broke into the fire at midnight, their bodies got burn brutally, luckily Roli and Gautam had sneaked out in the night for a movie unknown to the couple which saved them from the tragedy."

Siddhant interrupted in the middle asking " was it really an accident or did someone plan to kill them "

"2nd one I guess, I have a feeling that it was planned murder"

" She knows? " 

" No, she was too devastated to think about the cause or can say it was a foolproof plan for anyone to suspect it " sneaker concluded whereas Sid went into deep thought and asked " do you suspect anyone for it "

Sneaker nodded then lets out " Ronit Sharma " 

" And why do you think so "

" Ronit has an eye on Roli, they were neighbors from childhood and he always used to trouble her, he used to take every chance to get near her and once when he went overboard her brother burned his hand to protect Roli and from then everyone has been so protective to her and any boy including Ronit was kept far away from Roli's reach "

" Is that the reason Gautam was being so protective to her " Siddhant says getting the clarity on his behavior and now it makes sense too. If Gautam has to burn Ronit to protect Roli that means Ronit really did hurt Roli and it won't be shocking if the little boy is scared to let her sister get hurt then his overprotectiveness is obvious.

" Get each and every detail of Ronit Sharma from the time he is on this Earth, I surely want to meet him, now after she is alone I don't think he will sit silently, so I wanna meet him personally before he plots something " saying so he left getting a nod from his sneaker.

Sid came back to his room but instead of moving to his he went to Rudra's room, he pushed the door and to his surprise it was open, he entered and saw Rudra sleeping on the bed curling up like a ball. Reaching to him his eyes falls on the photo frame Ru was holding, it was of them together, Siddhant slowly took it out of his hold and kept it on the table. He looked at his face it was pale and still was having blood spots, He took the jug from the table and with little water wiped his face removing the traces of blood. He took care not to wake him up and making him comfortable he was about to leave but stopped feeling a tug on his hand, he turned to hear Rudra murmuring in sleep " stay, please " Siddhant didn't think twice and slipped inside the blanket holding Ru tight in his embrace whereas Rudra too snuggled more into him trying to find his peace even though the pills he took managed to bring him to sleep. 

___________________

AVINASH GOYEL:Family friend to Bhardwaj's, He was like a big brother to Siddhant, an A-level officer in RAW. Working undercover. Code name Imani. Can be called the right-hand man of Sir Griffin. Sir Griffin was leading one of the missions in which he went missing, people of RAW declared him dead but Imani with a few more didn't agree to this piece of information and was on for searching Sir Griffin but unfortunately, he died. 

SIR GRIFFIN: The most efficient agent of the RAW, he was a kind of role model for the people who work under him, everyone has a lot of respect for him. From the sources and info from RAW, it's known that he is dead but his people are still in search of him as they didn't get his dead body which gives them hope that he may be alive and captured by the enemy.

MS. KITE: She is our Roli 😉. B-level officer in RAW, very efficient and intelligent. Like Imani, she too thinks that Sir Griffin is alive. She has never met him in person but adored his work and was willing to work with him directly but before she could get that opportunity he was declared dead. She was in contact with Imani to help him finding of Sir Griffin but he is dead so now Roli has become the leader for this search operation of Sir Griffin which is not known to anyone, not even RAW itself but Siddhant's sneaker knew about it and haven't told Siddhant yet for a reason.

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