Chapter 25

It's getting near the end now!!!

Chapter 25:

"So my old friend, we meet again." Raj tells his visitor tiredly, leaning back in his chair, almost all of his strength gone. The room is cold, and Raj is already chilled to the bone.
He's exhausted and worried about Naina, nobody has given him any news about her yet. He trusts Huda to look after her, but he won't be able to relax until he knows she's out of danger.

Raj's visitor sits down on the seat opposite, examining his friend with a look that is almost… regretful.

"What's wrong, Chauhan Saheb?" Raj asks, "You're upset that I got caught, or that I wasn't the one that was shot?"

Abhimanyu's face changes, "Raj, you know that I never wanted any of this to happen. I was given a duty, and I carried it out. What happened wasn't my fault."

"Forget all that," Raj tells him, "Is there any news about Naina? Is she alright?"

Abhimanyu nods, "I received a call from one of the officers half an hour ago, Naina is now conscious and recovering from surgery."

"Thank god…" Raj whispers, a tear falling from his eye which he hastily wipes away. "If anything had happened to her…"

"Then what? Are you really surprised, Raj, weren't you the one who got her into this mess in the first place?"

Raj glares at Abhimanyu angrily, "Do you want to know the truth, Abhi? The truth is that you're the one who got her into this mess. If you hadn't been spying on us for headquarters then she would've got the box like she was meant to and none of this would've happened."

Abhimanyu is shocked by Raj's accusations, this isn't his fault. It isn't. All he's done has been a good soldier, following orders. It's not because of him that Navin's little sister is injured, it's not…

"You hid the evidence for her to find before we arrested you, didn't you?" Abhimanyu asks him, wanting to know for sure what he has suspected all along.

"Yes," Raj admits, "She was meant to find it and then get it to the right people. I thought she might even be able to make a plan to trap the boss but it didn't work out that way."

"Who is the boss?" Abhi asks him, wanting to know the answer

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Raj says, "And I'm certainly not going to say it here."

Then he becomes serious, "Abhi, I don't know if I can get out of this alive. Promise me something, try to save Naina. No matter what it takes, if you can arrange a deal for me then I'll confess to everything… but she should be safe."

"You would do that much for her…" Abhimanyu says thoughtfully, finally beginning to make a realisation. He has to know, he has to find out for sure, and so he asks "Raj, why did Naina do all this? Why did she sacrifice everything she had worked so hard for? She became best cadet, and then… got a bad name for herself as a traitor by rescuing you."

"Because she loves me." Raj replies simply, "She shouldn't, but she does."

Abhimanyu's head spins with this information. He had always suspected that Raj might have feelings for Naina, but he had never known the truth.

"And you?" he asks Raj.

"More than anything," Raj tells him with such pure sincerity in his voice that it hurts Abhi to hear it, "More than my life."

Looking at the expression on Abhimanyu's face, Raj smiles. It's not a happy smile, but more of a wry one as if Raj is smiling at his own bad luck. "What, Chauhan Saheb? This information has changed your opinion? You're feeling bad about separating two lovers?"

"You both did all of this because you loved each other," Abhi starts to see the humour in the situation, "You sacrificed your freedom because you loved her, and she sacrificed her reputation and career because she loved you." He laughs slightly, "I don't think I've ever met anybody more self-sacrificing than you two."

Raj shrugs, even he has to admit it's quite melodramatic.

Abhimanyu notices the ring on Raj's finger and it shakes him. "Are you and Naina…?" he asks.

"We got engaged." Raj tells him, "There was nothing to stop us anymore."

Abhimanyu stares at his friend, trying to find any trace of regret or fear on Raj's face. Instead his old friend is calm, not bothered in the least by being back in jail.

"I always thought that you were wrong," Abhimanyu tells him, "I thought that you were betraying your duty, just trying to make up for your own guilt in killing Navin. To be honest, I was happy when you were caught, I thought that it was time you faced justice, if not for betraying Navin then at least for this crime."

Raj laughs bitterly, "When there was no justice in Navin's case then why would there be any for me? Don't be so nave, Chauhan Saheb. And as for me betraying Navin, I've never done that. Maybe you should think of your own actions before you start accusing me."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"When we were so close to proving Navin innocent, you were the one that stopped us from doing so." Raj tells him, "If anyone has betrayed Navin then it's you."

"I only did my duty," Abhimanyu tells Raj, wanting to defend his actions. "Duty was important to Navin too, he would've understood."

"Navin's first duty was always to the truth, otherwise he'd still be alive today."

Suddenly Abhimanyu realises that he has no more arguments, no more justifications for his actions.

His last remaining friend sits in front of him, once again imprisoned. His dead friend's sister is lying in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound. Could all this really have been avoided if he'd chosen to side with them rather than headquarters? Was his belief in the justice of the system really so nave?

Raj sees the emotions passing over Abhimanyu's face and guesses what he's thinking.

"It's never too late, Abhi." He tells him gently, "You can still choose to side with the truth."

"Raj, I…"

"Just do what I say, Abhi. Arrange a deal for me, I'll do whatever they want, but Naina should be set free."

Abhimanyu just stares at him, he wants to reach out, grab Raj's hand. He wants to hug his friend and tell him he's sorry. He wants to take it all back and start again.

"But Raj, you…"

"My life isn't important, Abhi. Naina's is. Save her for me, save her for Navin."

Abhimanyu stares at his friend in horror, knowing that Raj has already given up any hope of saving his own life.

"Will you ever forgive me?" He asks him.

"You know I already have." Raj tells him, "But I'm warning you, Naina might be a little more difficult." He smiles, but there are tears in his eyes threatening to spill out, "I love her so much, Abhi. Don't let anything happen to her, I'll die happily if I know she's safe."

"I promise you, Raj." Abhimanyu tells him, "I'll do whatever I can."

His time up, he leaves the cell, but the chill doesn't leave him even when he goes home and stands under a hot shower.

Will he be able to do it? Will he be able to fight for the truth?

Abhimanyu prays that there's a way to make it all right again, to make up for his mistakes.

**

The hospital protests moving her so soon, but in the morning Naina is transferred to Delhi by ambulance. A doctor travels with her in the back, as do Huda and Priya. Naina looks better today but she's been sedated for the journey on Colonel Bakshi's orders.

She seems to be asleep, only occasionally murmuring a word. Most of the time, that word is 'Raj'.

Huda stays silent throughout the ride, the key heavy in his pocket. Priya thinks that he's silent due to worry for Naina, but in reality Huda is busy planning. There are only a few things missing now that he still has to figure out, everything else has fallen into place.

They arrive in Delhi in the early afternoon, and after Huda sees that Naina has been safely transferred to her ward, he and Priya leave. He knows that he should be getting some sleep, but there are several things he needs to do before that. The first one is seeing Pooja. It's a Sunday and Pooja has sent him an sms that she'll be waiting for them at the hostel.

Huda and Priya take a taxi to the hospital, he's so tired that he doesn't trust himself to drive without an accident. When they arrive he sees that Pooja is already sitting on the front steps, waiting for them. If he knows Pooja well, then he guesses that she's probably be sitting there for hours now.

As soon as Pooja sees them, she runs forward and throws her arms around Huda, beginning to sob. All of this time she's had nobody to comfort her, nobody to talk to about this. Huda pats Pooja's head gently, knowing that she needs to let her fear and grief out.

"Ali and Yudi wanted to come, but they can't leave Alekh there alone." Pooja finally tells him, "And Naina… can I see her?"

"I don't know," Huda tells her, "They might not let anybody in to see her."

Letting go of Huda, Pooja hugs Priya instead, still crying. "It's okay," Priya tells Pooja, "It will all work out somehow."

Huda is amazed at Priya's words, he begins to think that maybe this is going to be easier than he had thought. Looking at Pooja crying, Huda suddenly remembers something. He can't believe that he hadn't thought of it until now. Pooja has the skills that Huda needs, she will also have to take part in his plan.

"If this is going to work out the way it should, then I need both of your help." He tells them quietly.

Pooja stops crying and starts paying attention. She knows that tone of voice, and she knows it means that Huda has a plan. "Tell us," she says, "This Punjaben is with you, no matter what you need her to do. If it saves our friends, I'll do anything."

"Excellent," Huda tells her, "But not here, we need to go somewhere more private where we can't be overheard."

They head to a nearby park, and sit in a secluded spot away from anybody that might want to listen to their conversation.

When Huda has finished outlining his plan, Pooja nods once, signalling that she's ready to do as he's asked.

Priya stares at him with an expression on her face which is half amazement and half fear.

"Huda… I don't know, I don't know if I can do this. If I get caught?" She hasn't mentioned what it is that has caused her so much amazement, she can't believe that Huda trusts her this much. The knowledge fills her with happiness, and she's not even sure why.

"Priya," Huda tells her, taking both of her hands with his. "I can't force you to do this, there are risks. But you're the only one of us who can accomplish this. You're the only one who won't be under suspicion."

Priya thinks about all the possible outcomes, but the image that comes to her mind again is of Raj and Naina huddled together on the road. All she can think about is Naina telling her how much Huda trusts her, and that he's going to need her support.

Her voice trembling, Priya finally speaks. "I'll do it."

Smiling, relief visible on his face, Huda holds out the key and Priya takes it quickly, putting it into her bag. There's no going back now.

"Excellent," Huda tells them, "Then you both know what you have to do and when you have to do it."

They both nod.

Huda gets up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Priya asks him, worried that he's kept some dangerous task for himself.

"To put the final piece of the plan into place." Huda tells them and leaves.

Checking to make sure he's not being followed, he makes his way to an apartment he's never been to before. Knocking on the door, he waits until it is opened.

There is no surprise evident on Abhimanyu's face when he sees Huda.

"I had suspected that you might come to see me." Abhimanyu tells him. "Tell me what it is that you want." It looks to Huda like he's been crying.

"I'd prefer you to let me in first, Sir." Huda tells him, and Abhimanyu steps back to let him inside.

"We transferred Naina to the hospital here." Huda informs him, "She's looking much better."

"I just came from seeing Raj…" Abhimanyu tells him, "He was…" he can't finish speaking, but Huda understands. He realises that all of his work has already been done for him.

"What if there's a way to make it right again?" he asks Abhimanyu, "What if you could undo all of the mistakes?"

Abhimanyu looks up at him with surprise, and also with a trace of hope in his eyes.

"Tell me." He commands.


**

Two hours later…

Checking to see that nobody is following her, Priya approaches one locker among a long row. Nobody would ever guess that this is where evidence against some of the highest officials in the Indian government and military is hidden. Quickly, Priya pulls the plastic folder out and stuffs it inside her backpack before anybody can see.

Part one of her role is now over, part two still remains.

On the other side of town, Abhimanyu dials a familiar number. It rings twice before the person on the other end picks up.

"Sir, it's Abhimanyu. I visited Raj this afternoon. He wants to make a deal."

Hearing the reply, Abhimanyu smiles.

He hopes that he can do what Huda said.

He will make everything right again. He will fix all his the mistakes.