"Subject is in sight. Headed south." The comms unit in my ear laced through my thoughts as I sat and waited in the night. 

However, it did little to distract me from the abrupt pain in my left side, just under my ribs. It took all of my willpower not to gasp loudly and give away my position. I quickly tried to massage the area, already damning my soulmate to the pits of hell for always being clumsy at the worst possible time. 

"Agent 61, did you read me? South side, position now!"  I straightened up and headed where I needed to intercept our target, ignoring the throbbing. I crept along the dark compound, sweeping the area with my eyes and trying to move swiftly without snapping any twigs. I clenched my teeth as I felt a different jolt of pain from my upper thigh on the same side. You bastard, what the hell are you doing.

Even though I couldn't afford it, my pace slowed. My thigh was making it difficult to move smoothly and if I started making noise, the whole operation would have been pointless. Silently struggling, I kept moving toward where I needed to be. When I was about 15 feet away, I saw the target round the far corner. 

"Subject in sight," I whispered into the comms as I continued toward my position, "25 feet from the pick-up." I heard the other operatives ready themselves to complete the most dangerous part of the mission: knocking the target unconscious and taking both him and the flash drive in his pocket to headquarters. 

Finally the target was close enough that I could start the attack. Jumping out from my hiding spot, I aimed for the man's neck, hoping to quickly knock him out. He blocked my arm and sent a punch my way, which I avoided and countered with a jab toward his solar plexus. The man blocked again and sent up his knee to try to hit my stomach. I leaned away and grabbed his knee and dragged it with me. The man, now unbalanced, fell with me and we tumbled to the ground. It made quite a thump and I cursed internally before scrambling to get the upper hand. The man quickly realized I was winning and took a deep breath, most likely to yell. I successfully jabbed his solar plexus this time and covered his mouth with my hand, attempting to stop him from thrashing and making noise. I grit my teeth as I struggled, starting to gain control and inching toward wrapping the man in a chokehold. 

I had just managed to put pressure on his neck when I felt intense pain bloom from my right shoulder, momentarilly distracting me and ultimately giving up my control. The man saw his opening and dislodged me, took a breath or two, and started shouting. Within seconds, alarms were blaring, and he gripped my arm, trying to keep me in place. 

The mission was compromised, so I threw all bits of stealth out the window. I slid my hidden knife from my sleeve and drove it into his arm. He howled and released me and I whirled to my feet and was gone through the brush before he could recover. 

"Mission... is compromised... Move Out, NOW..." I huffed as I ran through the trees, though I knew everybody on the team heard the chaos and had watched me blow my cover. I reached the team leader and he hauled me onto his ATV before setting off toward our getaway car. 

The rest of the team had the car running and were already tracking our pursuers by the time we arrived. We all moved in sync to reload supplies into the car and get ourselves out. Not long after, our car sped away down the abandoned gravel road as the first of the compound's guards emerged from the forest. We hit the main road and I could feel the silent, judging stares of my team as they cleaned devices and changed clothes. I hung my head because, once again, I had failed. I thought of my soulmate.

Thank you, you unhelpful, clutzy, dream-wrecking sonofa.