The clock had forgotten to tick, time had frozen on its track. Swara kept staring the breathtakingly handsome man who was nothing less than a maze. Raven black hair, clean shaven face, fair skin with slight hint of tan, chiselled jawline- such a treat for soaring eyes! A killer smirk on his lips and a pair of intense caramel eyes with flecks of amber in them were the only red flag signs other than this absolute chocolate hero image he seems to project.

"Who are you? What are you? You are saying, you're not Dr Oberoi . Are you even Sanskar?" Swara was perplexed to find herself caught in a web of lies.

"Oh yes. I'm very much Sanskar, just not Oberoi." he answered. "Let me introduce myself properly. Hi! I'm Sanskar Singh Rathore, special agent of anti- terrorism unit of Interpol. In my professional world they call me SSR.' He smiled.

Swara got alarmed. She kept her finger on his lips and whispered. "Careful! What if someone can hear us?"

Feeling her touch Sanskar stiffened for a moment. Then he replied. "Don't worry. I've arranged a good slumber for everyone in the camp, excluding us of course."

She was surprised. How did he manage to make the impossible possible?

He stated how he had entered the kitchen on the pretext of getting water and mixed some strong sedatives in two of the cooked dishes. For him and Swara he skipped those two items. They were not suspicious as he had been cooperative all day and Swara already was under constant watch.

"That's why you asked me to wait." Some thoughts occured to her suddenly. Her voice became pained.

"When you people had known about their plan, why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you stop us or inform at least? Agar yeh kartein to Uncle aj jinda hota." (If you had, then Uncle would've been alive today.)

"Do you think we didn't try? Swara, chief was injured only two days before the flight. You both were being followed since they got to know about your flight. I called you as soon as we got to know about their plan." He looked at her hazel orbs which were threatening to pour any moment.His voice was full of concern. "You both had to face a lot of hurdles to reach the airport, remember?"

"But we still boarded the flight. Kash!Kash hum nahi aa paate!" (I wish! I wish we failed to come!) She had collapsed on the ground. She was sobbing violently covering her face.

Sanskar sat down and hugged her. "Ssshhh... They were desperate to bring you here. If not this flight, they could have kidnapped you from anywhere. I'm the one to be blamed for everything.I couldn't not save Dr Mathur,I failed. I was supposed to shield you two and carry out the plan."

"No, you're not. No one expected to jump him bare handed in front of the guns. No one could guess how much affection he had for me. Not you, not them, not even me! If I knew I would have called him Baba, not uncle!"

She wiped her tears, and shifted from his embrace. A tinge of red flickered on her cheeks noticing how close they were. She lowered her gaze and asked. "What's your plan now? How will you give anesthesia tomorrow? You clearly are not supposed to do this. Should we escape now?"

He didn't answer her questions, instead asked. "Swara, how much do you hate these terrorists?"

"This hatred is so much that it's burning in my veins." She hissed.

"Do you want to annihilate their existence from earth? Do you want to avenge your Baba's death?"

"More than anything I've ever wanted in my life!"

"Can I expect you to leave all your fears behind and be my counterpart in this battle?" he spread his right palm towards her and she rested hers on it.

"I promise. How can I help you?" She seemed determined.

"Here's your first task. Try to save the chief."

***********************************

Next morning the whole camp was awake by huge ruckus . Laksh was shouting at someone,

'ARJUN!!! VIKASH!! HOW DARE YOU??' He roared,' HOW COULD YOU SLEEP? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GUARD ALL NIGHT!!' suddenly his voice was panic stricken,'Ragini! Check the prisoners! NOW!'

She entered the tent to find Swasan in deep slumber. 'Such careless morons!'She thought, 'Lost a perfect chance to escape! Why? 'Cause they were sleeping!'

'Hey you!!' She barked, 'Get up now! Bahut hogaya neend!(Enough of your sleep) It's time to work!'

**********************************

'Do we have to operate in a tent?'Swara asked Agni after breakfast.

' No, we have a storeroom for keeping arms. Dr Oberoi suggested us to convert that one in your OT.'

'Sanskar, in that case it isn't sterile, am I correct?' Swara asked again.

' Well, I made some arrangements to solve this problem yesterday but... It won't be 100% sterile like our hospitals.'

She looked thoughtful, ' We have heavy risk of infection then.' She turned at Agni again. 'You've to make absolutely sure that no one would step in when surgery will start.'

'NO WAY! WHAT DO YOU THINK US? FOOLS? IT'S CHIEF'S LIFE IN QUESTION !'He shouted

'Exactly! It's chief life in question. The case is old already, two bullet injuries and fall from a high rise building. All you had given were some tranquilizers, painkillers and two bottles of blood. If he goes in shock due to wound infection, I wouldn't be able to do anything.'

' Thik hai !(All right). Just keep in mind. Don't try to act over smart. '

'Do we have options really?'

*********************************

Ragini was watching that insolent Swara and her blood was boiling. It was not that Ragini was all well behaving and warm in nature herself.

But since Sanskar treated her like a piece of dirt for that fiancée of his, she was seething in anger for two reasons. One, She was insulted by a hostage, that good for nothing Sankar taunted her in front of all. And second, it was an agonizing reminder that she had never received such care and love by any man. Her beauty couldn't make up for the darkness and rough demeanour she carried along her.

Not only two reasons to be honest, she was jealous because Dr Swara Bose was the hottest topic of the camp right now. What a bright career she had, gold medallist in graduation, gutsy enough to choose a challenging field and had been doing great . Even those rough and tough guys went gaga over her beauty and elegance.

Her gaze shifted to someone and became soft. There was Laksh, sitting on a wooden box. She went beside him and kept a hand on his shoulder. 'Are you okay?'

'Rags, Papa will be alright na?'his face reflected worry.

'Haan Laksh, ek bar operation ho jane do. Main khud unka dekhval karungi. Tum pareshan mat ho.'(Just let the operation get done once, I myself will look after him.Don't be tensed!" she assured.

'Thanks. God knows what are they doing inside.they asked to keep at least 10 feet distance from OT. Kuch ulta sidha kiya to jaan se maar dunga!'
(Dare they mess up and I'll rip off their lives! )

'I don't think so. Tum ne kal dekha na?(Didn't you notice yesterday?)They care for each other too much to take such risk.'

Laksh nodded and became silent.

Ragini was watching him intently and said inwardly ,'Koi aur na sahi,(though not anyone else) I wish you would have cared a little bit for me!'

*********************************

Swasan were in operation theatre now. Preparation of anaesthesia was going on while Swara recalled the informations she came to know last night.

.......................................................

Flashback:

'What! I have to save him ? The plan is to destroy them, isn't it? Even if I try, I can't manage anaesthesia and operation single handedly. You're not a doctor, how will you help me then?' She fired bundles of questions at Sanskar.

'We, the agents of ATU have to be trained in many things to work undercover. Biomedical field is one of them. Anaesthesia, I'll manage that easily . And the chief needs to survive. His new found life will bring annihilation of Black wolves!'

'Black wolves! You mean....' Her eyes widened

'You seem to be aware what's happening around the world. Not bad!' He looked genuinely impressed.

' The name comes on media on every now and then. A bunch of psychopaths with very dark past decided once, that no one has right to be happy. No one should have name, love, family, wealth or peace. They formed an ally and hatched devious plans.They did every kind of illegal businesses and spread their network. They caused bomb blasts, hostage situations, mass shooting, planned fire accidents in different cities in recent years . That's all I know. What's the big deal here? 'She rolled her eyes.

' Not many people, especially a busy professional like you don't take time to read or watch crime news and can describe it so well.' His admiration intensified.

' Enough! I'll burst if I hear any more of your praises!These Black wolves, they work though sleeper cells na? Then how will you reach for the masterminds?'

' Do you know what is the name of the injured chief?'He asked

Swara nodded to indicate as no.

'Ace members of Black wolves always are named according to their strong sides. No real name is used here. Lower rank members are called by code numbers. The chief was named as Naksh ten years back, as he used to be very good in making strategies of attacks. Over the course of time, he had been soaring higher and higher in position . Now he is called Nakshatra, who decides the course of every attack in this portion of subcontinent, just like the stars decide people's fate according to astrology.'He stopped for a while to breathe, ' This particular star can roam freely in the night sky."

'OMG!!!' Swara was astonished.'That means we really got ourselves into deep pit. Escape from here itself will be tough and you're expecting to follow him in future?'

'And here we'll need your magical hands, Dr Swara Bose. Ever heard of a tracking device?' Sanskar chuckled.' You'll insert one it his body in the morning . The latest model named IPT-306, with nano chip in it. You have to plant a microphone too, that one stays charged for two years.'

'How big?'She queried, now grinning.

'You people prescribe capsules na? Samajh lo ek capsule aur usi size ki ek kagaz ka tukra Chief ki body mein ghus jana chahiye!'He replied jokingly.
(Just assume a capsule and a piece of paper of same size should be entered in the Chief's body.)

'At your service, Dr Sanskar Oberoi!' She took a bow .

' By the way, you fought me a lot over calling by first name. I'm sorry for that. I acted like a despo and crossed my line. They needed to see us like that. So.....'

Swara looked a bit disappointed hearing this. So he was acting justto show them! But why was she feeling bad? She kicked herself mentally for her weird thoughts .

Sanskar continued. 'I can call you Miss Bose and you can call me Mr Rathore or Oberoi when we're alone, if you want to. But in front of them we're only Swara and Sanskar to each other, I'm afraid. '

Swara sighed, ' When I fought with you, I was safe, had Baba to call me Beta. I could chat with my family over Skype or Phone. But bloody thirsty foes are all I can see at this moment. I don't know about yourself. I know you are strong. But you're the only person I can talk to without hating like hell, without losing my mind. I want to think you as a friend Sanskar.'

'Don't look so dejected, Swara. I want my friend cum partner to be an iron maiden!' He patted her cheek.

(End of flashback)

.......................................................

Swara was deeply immersed in her surgery. Sanskar was relatively free except the occasional measurement of blood pressure and pumping oxygen with his hand. He invested this time to perceive more about the girl in front of her. Her features were mostly covered by OT gown, only her eyes could be seen. Only her eyes! Only blind people will say that. Sanskar Singh Rathore possessed rather razor sharp vision of an eagle. He didn't fail to notice the curtains of thick, long, silky lashes guarding her hazel orbs. When she looked up to get something, the guard came down to reveal the cinnamon rims around those circles and flares of golden specks within.

He watched the pair of studded earrings containing multicolored stones she had on her ears, they really suited her. Those were given by him last night, well, to communicate with each other of course. Just like he had a ring on his finger and a practised mannerism to run his fingers through his hair every now and then.

When their Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Prithviraj Shinde gave handed over this mission, Sanskar hadn't envisioned to meet someone like her. Her photos and biodata revealed very little about her. She was much more than Dr Swara Bose, the protégée of late Dr Abhinash Mathur. Sanskar might have known about her education, work place, her family and friends. Still this level headed, determined, smart yet vulnerable girl had so many secrets which he would like to unravel in the upcoming days.

*********************************

Laksh was pacing frantically. Two and half hours had passed, but no sign of the doctors yet. He was not going to wait any longer now. He rushed to get crash, but at that moment Swasan came out from OT removing their face masks.

'How was the surgery? How much time it will take chief to recover?' Ragini asked

'Operation was good...But...' Swara hesitated for a moment,' His fall injuries were infected badly... He can sink any moment.' Her expressions were grave

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY HE CAN SINK?' Laksh eyes were blood shot. He charged towards Swara and strangled her neck, 'DON'T TELL WE DIDN'T WARN YOU BEFORE!' He hissed.'NOW GET READY TO DIE, DR SWARA BOSE!'

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Dear folks, I've decided to post the chapters I've written already more quickly. So that the wattpad version stays up to date. And New readers, please let your friends and followers know about the story.

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