THE ASSASSIN - AU/CC/Adult - Epilogue - 11/6/16

[sarammlover]

OMG they are compeletly sadistic...the doctor and janus. yikes! michael adn company need to move NOW. AHH!~!

[Double Trouble]

90slovechild: We missed your review when we posted last week so we wanted to correct that oversight! We’re following the muse so keep those fingers crossed! We’ll be following our team as they embark on their mission beginning today.

Roswelllostcause: We’re back!

keepsmiling7: Lol, think so?

Eva: Alex has one of those personalities that would make him a great friend.

Yep, they’re a lot stronger than they’ve been given credit for.

sarammlover: They sure are. Our team will be moving out today!



Part 60

The sun was just coming up, bathing the room in the foggy light of dawn, when Michael sat on the bed, pulling his boots on. It wasn’t the first time he had gone through this routine – pulling his clothes and gear on before heading out on a mission – but it felt a whole lot of different this time.

Normally he would’ve been alone; just him and his thoughts. His gaze shifted over his shoulder and landed on the woman sleeping behind him. Her face was shadowed by his body, one bare leg laid over the blanket, giving a hint to her delicious body under it. Would Tess be able to keep her safe if their mission failed?

Michael forced his gaze back towards the nightstand. He grabbed the wristwatch lying there and pulled it on tight. They had to make sure that at least one of them returned. Val would be able to move on without him.

Out in the hallway, he could hear her hushed voice already. Whitman and she had gotten up half an hour ago, getting ready and preparing the truck for their departure. In 15 minutes they were supposed to leave and he knew that he couldn’t allow himself to look back from then on. Maria would remain behind and his mission was to bring the Circle down – not to get back to her!

“Michael?”

Her raspy, sleepy voice sank into him, pulling a strange feeling from his chest; a feeling that made his departure uneasy and also regretful.

“What’s up?” he muttered, trying to keep his thoughts focused where he needed them.

She blinked owlishly as she looked around the room. “Is it time?”

“Next few minutes.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked as she pushed herself into a sitting position and ran a hand through her hair.

He glanced at her, momentarily frozen as he watched her. There were creases on one side of her face from being pressed against the pillow, her hair was mussed up – a combination of sleep and the many times he’d run his fingers through it, and in spite of the alert look in her eyes her features still showed all the signs of having just woken up. And she was absolutely gorgeous. He shook himself and turned back around, reaching down to jerk the hem of his pants down over his boots.

“Didn’t see any reason for you to get up just so you could look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want me to come up with some way to fix this without takin’ the fight to them,” he growled. If he was being completely honest with himself he hadn’t woken her because he needed the distance. He needed to be able to maintain that wall he’d built around himself years ago because he couldn’t risk having her on his mind when he went into the fight. He had to be the ruthless assassin he’d been trained to be; cold, calculating and merciless.

“I might wish that was possible but I’m not so naïve that I think this’s gonna magically fix itself.” She shook her head. “I know you’re doin’ what has to be done.” No, she didn’t want him to do what he was about to do but as much as she hated it she knew they were in a position where there were no other options.

“Yeah, it has to be done,” he repeated her words and got up, taking the jacket from the chair and pulling it on over the bulletproof vest.

She nodded, unable to speak as she watched him gearing up to go out and face off against the Circle. It scared her, knowing what he was going into – and she was sure she would never be able to imagine the reality of that situation having never been involved in something like that. But there was also something else mingled in with that fear, something far more primal as she watched him getting ready. “You think you’ll be back tonight?” she asked finally.

“I’m not gonna make any promises, Maria.”

“No, I know that, and I’m not asking for one.” She shrugged when he pinned her with that unblinking stare. “I just wanted to know when you think you’ll be back. There are no guarantees and I’m well aware of that.”

“I’m not gonna give you a time because if something goes wrong and we’re late, you’ll start to worry.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “You think I’m not gonna be worrying every minute you’re gone anyway?”

He was ready to burst, but he kept it together. “You’d be worse if that time came and went without a sign.”

“Okay,” she relented, knowing in his own way he was trying to protect her.

Bane looked at his watch. “It’s about time to go.” He didn’t want to leave her here all by herself, but he had to.

She recalled what Tess had told her the night before. He couldn’t be distracted by her or anything else. “I’ll be okay here. Just be careful, Michael.”

He snorted lightly. “I’ll be deadly.”

“I’m sure you will.” She had no doubts about that.

He grabbed his gun from the table and holstered it on his way to the door, planning to leave quickly but his eyes were drawn back to her. Was this the last time he’d take a look at her? “You’re strong. No matter what happens. You WON’T give up.”

“No, no, I won’t give up.” She’d come too far for that and she wasn’t a quitter. She shifted up onto her knees, mindless of the sheet as it slipped away. “Michael...” She didn’t want to say goodbye, it was too final. She could see that he was doing his best to put distance between them and even though she understood why he was doing it, it hurt.

His eyes slipped over her body briefly. “Blondie,” he grumbled deeply and took one huge step towards her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing her bare skin against his geared up body.

Her hands came up to frame his face and she searched his eyes before initiating the kiss. Maybe he didn’t want to hear the words, maybe she was scared to say them out loud, but she didn’t hesitate to put all of her feelings into the kiss.

He kissed her back passionately, getting lost in it for a second and forcing his hands to be still.

“Let’s roll, Bane,” Val called from the other side of the door.

Maria pulled back reluctantly. “I know you have to go,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he forced his voice to remain even and then straightened up, letting his arm slip from her and taking a step back. “Tess has plan B, you’ll be safe.”

Be strong, she ordered herself and forced a smile as she reached for the sheet and pulled it over herself. “Kick some ass out there.”

He had to smirk. “That much I can promise.”

She nodded. There was really nothing else to say and begging him to stay wasn’t an option. She forced herself to stay still when he wrapped his hand around the doorknob and turned it. A moment later he was gone and she had to remind herself to breathe.

Val glanced at him from across the hallway impatiently. “Ready?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yep, just making sure everything’s ready.”

“In the bedroom?”

“That’s where my gear was,” he muttered, holding back the smirk that wanted to surface.

“Alex is waiting in the car. Kyle an’ Tess are in the kitchen.”

“There a reason you’re givin’ me a rundown of everyone’s locations?” he asked, just to annoy her.

Val just rolled her eyes. “We should get the fuck outta here.”

“Then let’s go.” He forced his gaze to remain straight ahead, knowing from this point on he couldn’t afford to look back. “We’ve got a job to do.”

“After you.”

He shook his head and headed for the kitchen. “Let’s roll out, Valenti.”

Tess glanced up to meet her man’s eyes, knowing it was time to say goodbye. “Can you guys give us a sec alone?”

“That all it takes for you, Harding?” Val smirked at them, making her way to the door.

She rolled her eyes but she was too busy putting the right words together for Kyle to bother.

“No matter what happens, it’s gonna be okay,” he said, his tone insistent as his eyes traveled over her face.

She gave him a soft snort. “Liar.”

He shook his head. “I’m serious, Tess. I have every intention of comin’ back to you, but if somethin’ happens and I can’t...” he reached up to cup her cheek in one calloused palm. “If that happens you keep goin’.”

“I will. You know I will.” It wouldn’t be a life worth living, but she would never give up.

He knew what she was thinking as surely as if he could read her mind. “Y’know,” he said softly as he lifted her chin to meet her gaze, “I couldn’t ask for more than what we have together.”

“Yes, I know.” She tried to smile at him. “I am awesome.”

He chuckled quietly as his thumb traced over her lips. There was so much about her that he admired and her courage and bravery was only the tip of the iceberg. “Yeah, you are.”

“You’re gonna kick their asses and come back.”

“That’s what I’m gonna do.” His hand slipped around to tangle in her hair and his expression was serious as he shut everything else out and focused on her. “Got too much to come back to,” he whispered against her lips.

She kissed him back, intense and quick. “I love you, Kyle.”

He nodded, knowing it was time to go. “Love you too,” he said and gave her one more kiss before backing away from her. He winked when he reached the doorway. “Keep my side of the bed warm, woman, ‘cause I’m gonna be dog ass tired when I get back.”

“No problem,” she answered, feeling uneasy.

He wanted to cross the room, pull her into his arms and never leave, but he had a job to do. And he knew better than to make a promise when he couldn’t know for certain he could keep it. She wasn’t comfortable with him taking part in this mission, but she respected his need to be a part of it; she understood it in a way most women would never be able to. He met her gaze again, holding it for several long moments, and hoping like hell this wouldn’t be the last time he saw her. He nodded once more and turned to leave. Best to get out the door without drawing it out.

Tess waited until he was out of hearing range before she took in a deep breath, which allowed a sob to well up. She would never have cried in front of him because it would have only set his mind off. But now that she heard the engine of the truck starting, there wasn’t any point in not letting out what she truly felt and she knew it wouldn’t be as choking anymore once it was out.

Maria paused in the hallway, stepping back out of sight before the other woman could hear her. She didn’t want to intrude on what was obviously a private moment, wasn’t sure if her company would be welcome in that moment. Her relationship with Michael was new compared to the time Tess had been with Kyle but she didn’t know if the pain of separation was any different.

*****

The heavily armored vehicles bounced over the unforgiving terrain and Michael reached up to wrap his hand around the roll bar. He was sure his organs were in danger of being permanently rearranged. He’d been over rough terrain before but this was ridiculous. He shot a quick look at the man in the drivers’ seat, not surprised to see Brody’s blank features as he stared at the stretch of landscape before them.

“Been out here many times?”

Brody checked his mirrors, making sure everyone was accounted for. “Enough,” he grunted. His orders had brought him to the compounds plenty of times. It was one of the perks of being the Circle’s most trusted assassin. He’d never questioned his orders, never felt any reason to. He reached up to press the palm of his hand over the wide bandage that covered the incision where that fucking tracker had been seated.

Death Valley was a good place to hide a compound. Who the fuck would ever look for it out in the middle of the hottest spot on the planet? Thankfully it was the middle of winter so the temperatures were nowhere near the red zone. Thinking of that heat made his skin prickle as he recalled the many times he’d been out here and felt the sun practically blistering his flesh where it touched him.

4“We’re here,” he said as he pulled over, getting as close to a rocky formation as he could to give them some cover.

“Where’s here?”

He pulled a pair of night vision binoculars out and handed them over, rattling off the coordinates and waiting while Bane pulled the compound into view.

“Fuck, if you didn’t know it was there you’d never see it.”

He shrugged and stuck one hand out the window, signaling the others to disembark and shoving his door open when they did. Movements were near silent as they stepped out, gathering their equipment and preparing for the hike that would take them to the location Whitman needed to access so they could get inside. He led the way and just as soon as they were less than a hundred meters from their destination, he motioned for everyone to stop.

“Padre.”

Michael frowned when Brody called a halt to their hike and moved away from them as he conferred with the short Hispanic man.

“That’s Spanish for Father,” Val muttered.

“Yeah, what the fuck?” His eyes narrowed when Padre rested a hand on Brody’s shoulder, both of them bowing their heads as he spoke fluently in his native language. After a few moments Padre made the sign of the cross and the men stepped apart. “Brody?”

“You do what you need to do and I’ll do whatever the fuck I need to do.” He nodded at his companion and Padre returned to his original position, his sharp eyes missing nothing as he searched the terrain around them.

Javier “Padre” Vasquez had been his spotter for years. The man had been a priest before his refusal to allow the Cartel to use his church had resulted in a massacre one quite Sunday morning. He’d been spared as a reminder of what his refusal had cost him and he’d nearly lost his life when he’d attempted to go after them for retribution. His life had been spared when Brody had crossed his path, his mission to take out the head of that organization, and he’d devoted his life to the man since that day. Padre rarely spoke, and he had lost his faith, but because Brody clung to the prayers for safety he graciously gave them before every mission.

“The access panel Whitman needs is gonna be right there,” he said with a nod and pointed at an area that was barely visible as the clouds shifted and gave way to the moonlight.

Alex looked at the direction, feeling so out of place, it was ridiculous.

“You can do this, Alex,” Val said quietly. She had felt him tense up as they left the vehicles and it had worsened as they gathered around Brody.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” he agreed.

“Yes, you will.” She gave him a nudge when Brody called for them to move out. “Let’s go.”

He nodded and straightened the straps of his backpack. “Let’s take them down.”

She smirked at his bravado. It didn’t take long for them to reach the area Brody had pointed out and the others fell back as she and Alex approached the panel. The damn thing wasn’t hidden very well and all of her senses were on high alert as she constantly scanned the area while he unpacked what he needed.

“This’s gonna take a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” she said, her voice tight. “I don’t like this. It’s too open.”

“Means the enemy can’t hide either though, right?”

“Not necessarily.” She rolled her shoulders as she scanned the desert around them. It was a deceptive word. The word desert conjured up images of miles and miles of flat sandy areas, but that wasn’t the case here. There were plenty of locations for snipers to have taken up residence and they were sitting ducks standing out in the open like they were.

Alex concentrated on his task, kneeling in front of the panel with a pocketknife in one hand to open the metal box around it as soon as all of his gear was out.

Val glanced at him on occasion, noting what he was doing and knowing he was their best chance at getting inside. A lot was riding on his ability to get into the system and get hold of the kill switch information. Hell, everything was riding on it. If they failed tonight it was all over. They’d never have another chance to come at the Circle this way and they’d lose the one advantage they had.

“Okay, this should be easier than I thought,” Alex muttered as he glanced at the panel and grabbed his laptop.

“Why?” She was immediately suspicious. She expected things to be harder than anticipated, not easier. Fuck, what if this was a trap?

“Oh, they use one of the systems I developed with some others.” He chuckled.

She relaxed fractionally. “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises,” she muttered under her breath.

“I’m just clever.”

“And modest too.” She smirked. She wondered how she’d gone from being annoyed by how much he talked to finding it somehow soothing. It was ridiculous.

“Alright,” he muttered and went to hack... his own system. Funny. “It’s almost un-hackable if ya don’t know the backdoor.”

“Can this system be integrated with another system? Or does it operate independently?”

“Independent.”

“Well, that works in our favor.” Her eyes dropped to the screen of his laptop when she heard a quiet clicking sound. “What’s that?”

“It means: BINGO.”

“We’re in?” She nodded when he flashed a cocky grin at her. He quickly packed his gear up and she motioned to Bane since Brody would wait for the damn notification to come from him.

“All set?” Bane asked when they joined them.

“We’re in,” Alex said as he slipped his arms through the straps of his backpack. “At least as far as the first step goes.”

“Then let’s move,” Brody said.

The men he had chosen fell in behind him and Michael waited, watching them as he waited for the last man to pass him. He didn’t like having people he didn’t know at his back, not even in this situation where they were supposed to be there to see the mission carried out.

Padre brought up the rear and he came to a standstill when he reached the man that had contacted Brody. He motioned wordlessly for Bane to move ahead of him. “Go ahead.”

He shook his head, his dark gaze not giving an inch. “I watch his back,” he said, with a curt nod at Whitman. “I can’t do that if I’m worried about you putting a bullet in the back of my head.” Only seconds had passed but he wouldn’t give in on this.

Padre narrowed his eyes at him. “You wouldn’t be here if that was my intention.”

He supposed that was true. Now that he had proof that Brody worked with a spotter he knew for sure that day they’d met he’d been in this man’s crosshairs. If they’d wanted him dead he wouldn’t have walked away from that meeting. He still didn’t like having someone he didn’t know or trust at his back but he couldn’t afford to waste time either. There was no sign that the other man was going to give in. His eyes were... dead, for lack of a better word. There was no life there at all. “Fine,” he bit out finally and hurried to catch up with the others. Fuckin’ bastard! He could take him out if he wanted to, regardless of where he stood. Yeah, that made him feel a little bit better. It was true, after all.

“Chill, Bane,” Brody said when he had watched the interaction. “He’ll save your life as well as mine.”

“Easy for you to say,” he muttered. He could feel the hairs at the back of his neck standing up.

“You’re gonna have to trust him just like I have to trust you, Val and the hacker.”

Something was causing his internal alarms to go off and they were screaming at him. They were outnumbered. He didn’t know any of the men Brody had drafted for this mission. Hell, he didn’t even know Brody beyond his reputation and that one meeting. It had taken hours for them to reach their destination and he couldn’t say he knew him any better than he had before. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“I agree, man. Let’s do this.”

Val nudged Alex and nodded at him to slow down, letting some of the others pass them and ignoring the disparaging look they shot at him, thinking he was slowing them down. “Hang back a second, Alex.” She waited until Bane caught up with them before speaking again. “I’ve got that feelin’ that tells me something’s about to go wrong,” she muttered. “What about you?”

“Yeah, same.”

“Hey, what’s up with the last minute meeting back here?” Kyle asked as he backtracked to find out what was holding them up.

“Something’s off,” Val said, looking around.

“This whole thing’s off.” His gaze bounced off the walls of the tunnel they were currently making their way through. “But yeah, I know what you mean.” There were no signs of cameras but they all knew that didn’t mean they weren’t there. “We’re getting close to the entry point. You still think out best bet’s to split up once we’re inside?”

“We don’t have much of a choice.” They knew that as of 13 hours ago Parker and Evans were still breathing. He and Val had both received the reports when two of their locations had been compromised, evidence that they were still alive. The night before they’d split up he and Val had come up with the plan; if anyone was going to get caught it was most likely the two bodyguards.

They’d kept at him for hours, making sure he memorized the two locations, forced him to practice revealing the information until he legitimately sounded reluctant to speak the words that identified the two places. They knew if both locations became compromised it would indicate that the Circle had them and that they were alive.

That was 13 hours ago though. There was no telling if they were in the compound they were about to breach or if they were still alive. There would be repercussions for sending the Circle’s people to their deaths and it wouldn’t have taken long for Baxter to figure out they’d been set up and then he’d turn Janus loose on them with express orders to punish them and extract the information. If he couldn’t get anything they’d be deemed useless and their lives would be over.

“Let’s get goin’ then.”

Bane nodded, but his mind stayed on high alert and his hand was glued to his gun.

The only sound as they made their way to the entry point was the quiet thump of boots on the ground. There was no conversation and the group moved like a well-oiled machine. When they reached their destination Brody held a fisted hand up, a silent order for the men to stop. He motioned for Alex to join him and when he did, pointed at the access pad with an iris scanner.

“Can you bypass that?” he hissed.

“Sure,” the other man said and went to work quickly.

Brody’s right eyebrow lifted in surprise and he glanced back, looking for Padre and cocking his head slightly in question. He relaxed when his spotter nodded and he went back to staring at every move Whitman made.

“Alright,” Alex muttered to himself and hit a few buttons until the silent huff let them know the door was open.

They had gone over the blueprints for the compound, memorizing every square inch of it. “Bane, you and Valenti take the corridor to the cells. Val, you and Whitman are with me. We’ll take the server room. Padre, Xavier, split the men into two teams and you take the remaining corridors. You know what the higher-ups that we want in our hands if they’re here look like and you know what the two civilians look like. No one else leaves the compound alive.”

Bane glanced at Val. “Good luck, keep his ass safe.”

She nodded sharply. “Same goes,” she said with a nod at Kyle. “Your life won’t be worth one red cent if you go back to Harding without him.”

“‘Him’ is capable of watching his own ass,” Kyle muttered and gave Michael a shove.

“Don’t screw this up, Whitman,” Bane muttered and then went ahead.

“Yeah, thanks, you stay safe too,” he said and rolled his eyes. “Asshole.” He glanced at Val when she snorted. “What?”

“You should be used by that now.” She glanced up and nodded when Brody gave her a sign. “You stay between me an’ him.”

“No problem. I played tag with a bullet once and lost, not interested in going a second round.”

She couldn’t promise him that. If someone detected them – and it would happen – shots would be fired and bullets would fly, there was just no way around it.

He nodded, understanding what she didn’t say, and he fell into step behind Brody. He kept pace, wondering if maybe he shouldn’t have asked Padre to say a prayer over him. The man in front of him paused on occasion to check corridors, but they stayed on the move. He was sure it was the adrenaline coursing through his veins that kept his fear in check even as he wondered how much longer it would be before they reached the server room. On the blueprints it had seemed so much closer.

Brody stopped abruptly and held a fist up wordlessly, causing Alex to almost run into his back. The jerking motion caused a wire in his hand to slip, but Val reached out to catch it before it could make contact with the ground and generate the smallest amount of noise. She gave him a disapproving look before checking on Brody, who brought one hand slowly to his second weapon.

“Sorry,” he mouthed silently and gave himself a mental kick for being so damn clumsy.

Brody held his breath as he used a mirror to look around the corner. He held his hand up, two fingers extended to let her know how many of the enemy was heading their way.

[Earth2Mama]

All caught up!

Can't believe I missed 17 parts ... but I think I get the jist of what I've missed.

Brody is now an alley and has joined the team.

Alex & Val are still going strong.

Michael and Maria have now joined the "club".

Liz and Max have been captured by the other side & he may have betrayed the gang to save Liz's life.

The team, minus Tess & Maria, have gone after them.


Can't wait to see what happens next!

[keepsmiling7]

I hate that Max and Liz have been captured........but I find it hard they would betray the gang. Max will final another way to save Liz........I hope.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[Roswelllostcause]

I just know that something is about to go wrong!

[Eva]

This is creepy! No, this is beyond creepy! I'm sitting on the edge of my seat now, knowing that it can go both ways. And either way it will be going, it won't be a walk in the park.

[sarammlover]

This makes me really uneasy that they ALL are suspicious....GO WITH YOUR GUT!!! I want them to get Max and Liz out but I also want them to be returned alive to Tess and Maria! Take the bad guys out!~ UGH! SO crazy!!!

[Double Trouble]

Earth2Mama: Welcome back!

There’s a lot that’s happened and there’s a lot more coming up!

keepsmiling7: They’re not in a good place but they haven’t betrayed anyone. They’re doing their part and trying to buy time.

Roswelllostcause: Chances are good they won’t make it out of this without something going wrong.

Eva: Nope, it’s definitely not gonna be a walk in the park.

sarammlover: Yep, that’s good advice. They have their mission objective and they’re pushing ahead with it.



Part 61

Val nodded and her hand wrapped around the handle of her combat knife. It was the more efficient method of making a silent kill, but it would only work if they could get close enough. She waited for him to let her know if a close contact kill was going to work or if they were going to have to take them out using guns equipped with silencers.

Brody took a step backwards and leaned his head in her direction. “Their weapons are still in their holsters. We can be quicker than they can.”

She nodded, letting him know she was ready.

Brody went to unsheathe his own knife then looked at Whitman. “Valkyrie and I move forward next to each other, you stay behind us.”

Alex nodded. He’d killed with a gun; he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to take a life in the manner they were about to use.

“Ready?” Brody waited for the nod from the female assassin and then they moved quickly, turning the corner without so much as a sound and staring right into the surprised faces of the two men in front of them.

He saw one of them reaching for his gun, but his hand shot out to keep his arm from moving at the same time as the knife in his other hand was rammed into the sensitive spot on his temple.

Val saw the disdain on the second man’s face, a look that said he was insulted that he’d been left to deal with a woman, and she enjoyed it for a split second before she landed a kick to the center of his chest. He stumbled back, making a grab for the wall in an attempt to keep himself upright. Before he could draw in a breath she spun him around and drove the blade of her knife upwards into his back.

Alex watched as both enemies went down silently and was shocked at how little it affected him in that moment.

“Let’s move,” Brody hissed.

They were on the move again and he was trying his damnedest to memorize the confusing pattern. It had seemed so straight-forward on the blueprints. Luckily Brody seemed to know the route like the back of his hand, but if something happened to the man he didn’t want to be stuck running in circles.

They stopped at a door as they heard heavy footfalls at the end of the corridor. “We’ve got company.”

“Can you tell how many?” Val asked as she strained to separate the different strikes of boots on concrete.

“Four or five I’d say.”

They were fast losing the advantage of surprise. She drew her gun and quickly attached the sound suppresser, all the while focusing on controlling her breathing and preparing to take out multiple targets. She had to be fast and precise, there could be no hesitation. She gave a sharp nod to let him know she was ready.

Brody moved in front of Alex and pointed at the corner. “This should be interesting.”

Val snorted quietly. Interesting was the word of the day. “How much farther to the server room?” They were running into more resistance so they had to be getting close.

“We’re in front of it,” Brody nodded at the door.

Just as she’d suspected. The bastard had led them through a maze to get them to this point. Maybe because he knew the layout better, maybe because he didn’t trust them, or maybe just because he was leading them into a trap they’d never see coming. She filed those thoughts away and watched as Alex went to work on the access panel. It didn’t take long before he had the door open and she shoved him inside just as the footsteps neared the corner.

“You go to work and you keep going and you don’t open this door until you hear me knocking in the rhythm we agreed to.” Val closed the door again and looked at Brody.

He motioned to a shadowed recess across the hall from where he stood. “I’ll take that side, you stay over here. We can catch them from both sides as soon as they come around that corner.” He moved without waiting for her to comment.

“Sure,” she muttered and pressed against the wall.

The first man rounded the corner and Brody waited until the others were in their sight before he moved. His left arm came around the man’s throat as he spun him around, holding him against his body and using him as a human shield as he began to fire at the others.

Val used their moment of shock against them and started to fire from the other side, careful not to aim at Brody at the same time.

One by one their bodies jerked in a sickening dance as bullets tore through them. Several bullets impacted with his vest after tearing through the body of the man he was holding and when it was over he threw the lifeless body to the ground. He glanced at Val, carefully hiding his surprise when he saw her check the bodies and, finding one alive, stood back to take aim and fire. The man she’d just shot jerked once then fell still as death claimed him.

“Good job,” she told him and wiped spots of blood from her face.

He nodded. “We’ll have more company before long. They didn’t have suppressors on their weapons.”

She nodded and went to bang on the door.

Alex rolled his eyes. No, there was nothing subtle about her, was there? He chuckled and reached for the switch to release the locking mechanism so she could come inside.

“How far are you?”

“I’m in the process of accessing the assassin databases, saving everything else to the external. There are two files for the codes to the kill switches.”

“Will you be able to follow the plan?” Brody asked, staying close to the door.

“So far, so good.” He looked at Val. “I should be able to crack the encryption and upload the virus I’ve been working on. It’ll overload the system and prevent them from accessing the codes remotely and that’ll give me time to rewrite the program once we’re outta here so they won’t have a chance in hell of activating them at a later date.”

He looked at Val. “Where’d you find this guy?”

“Need to know, Brody.” And he didn’t need to know. If he wanted a hacker that was even half as good as Alex, he’d have to go find his own.

Brody glanced at his watch. “Radio Bane, it’s time to check in.”

*****

The corridors were eerily silent as Kyle moved through them one by one, his eyes sweeping back and forth as he followed Michael’s lead. He felt a chill sweep through him when they reached a row of cells and it took a moment to realize it wasn’t just the memories that automatically jumped to the front of his mind; the temperature in the rooms was freezing. He shoved the nightmarish memories back into the box and pushed it down as far as he could as he shook himself.

“We’ve got a body.” A body and a lot of blood smeared on the glass wall and spread out in a pool beneath it. Michael’s eyes moved over the control panel, trying to work out the operational sequence. Having figured it out, he punched the buttons and one of the walls slid aside, granting access.

He looked up when his companion spoke and he turned, keeping his back to Michael so the other man could get into the cell and check on the prisoner.

He approached the body, kneeling beside it and drawing in a breath as he reached out to grab its shoulder and roll it over. He was relieved when he saw the man’s face and realized it didn’t belong to Evans. He tipped his head to one side as he studied the man’s face. “I’ve seen him before. This guy’s part of the Circle.”

“So who killed him?”

“Maybe he slipped.” Michael wiped his hand on his clothes. It wasn’t unheard of for the Circle to take their own out if there was suspicion of betrayal or disloyalty.

“Slipped and what, let a prisoner get the upper hand?”

“Either that or he was the prisoner.”

“Could be.” His eyes moved from the blood on the wall to the body on the floor. “Lotta blood and it’s not all his.” His jaw was working overtime, chewing the hell out of his gum to keep his thoughts away from the past. He nodded at the next cell down. “Got high volume blood loss over there too but no body to be seen.” He turned in a circle, scanning the floors and walls. “No blood trail so whoever was in there probably didn’t walk out.”

“Fuckin’ mess,” Michael muttered and went around the room looking for any clues but finding nothing.

“There could be more cells. The compound’s large enough to house more than one holding area for prisoners.”

“We don’t have time to search the whole fuckin’ place.”

Everything in him rebelled at the thought of leaving anyone at the mercy of these barbarians. “No, we – “ Movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and he plowed into Michael, knocking him backwards and shoving him down behind the desk that faced the cells just as bullets sprayed the area. There were too many to count judging by the number of boots striking the concrete. He checked his magazine and slammed it back into place as he glanced at Michael. “Just like old times, huh?” His heart was racing and adrenaline flooded his veins.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Bane grunted and checked his weapon before leaning around the other end of the desk to fire in the directions the men were coming from. “At least ten, maybe more.”

“Let ‘em come.” He took up his position at the opposite end and made sure his extra mags were easily accessible. He’d never had the opportunity to get so much as a shot off at his captors but it was easy enough to picture them as he opened fire on the enemy.

The room turned into a loud firing zone, with blood and bullets everywhere, but Bane blocked it all out and zoned in on his targets only. He took in every moving object and aimed at them, not even wincing and hardly noticing when a bullet grazed his upper arm.

Kyle released the spent mag and slammed a new one into place, the whole process taking less than a heartbeat. Bodies were dropping like crazy and more kept coming. “Sonofabitch,” he snarled, jerking back when a bullet slammed into the desk beside him and pieces of wood became small projectiles that peppered the side of his face and narrowly missed his eyes. “You’re gonna pay for that one.” It didn’t matter who had fired that shot and it wasn’t like there was any way to know. He sprayed the doorway and spared a quick glance at Michael. “How’s your ammo holdin’ out?” he barked.

“I’m good for now, but they’d better not keep comin’ for much longer.” If they ran out of ammo before the stream of enemies stopped, they were gonna have a serious problem. This room only had one escape.

A barrage of gunfire came from the other side of the door and bodies started falling forward through the opening. The men using the desk for cover froze, weapons aimed and ready, when silence suddenly fell over the room.

A hand reached around the doorway and rapped on the frame. “Don’t fire.”

“Padre?” Kyle whispered with a quick glance at Michael. He’d only heard the man speak a few very brief sentences so he couldn’t be one hundred percent it was him.

“That’s him,” Michael agreed and got to his feet. “All clear,” he yelled, letting the man know he could enter without fear of being hit by friendly fire.

“Got a gift for you,” Padre said as he entered the room, shoving a tall man ahead of him.

Jaan Welling looked like he’d gone a few rounds with a heavyweight. He was bloody, bruises were already beginning to show, and his hands were bound behind his back. “You’ll never get away with this,” he snarled as he jerked against the restraints.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll all rot in hell,” Bane said, “but right now it looks like you’re goin’ first, Welling. You fucked with the wrong men!” He used his gun to lift the other man’s chin. “Where are you hiding the civilians?”

His lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “They couldn’t handle Janus’ methods of information extraction. I’m sure you saw the blood in that cell. Even you know that amount of blood loss would be catastrophic, Bane.”

Michael fought with his control. He knew Welling could be telling the truth as well as he could be lying at the moment. “So Janus is here too? Well, thanks for the info. I’ll bet he’s already shitting his shorts. He was never as good at taking as he was at giving, was he?” Wellings’ face twisted for just a second, but it was enough to tell him that he had been right. That son of a bitch was here too.

“And being a traitor is so much better?”

He chuckled. “You tell me, Welling. The only traitors here are the ones who stick with the Circle after knowing their fucked up plans. Baxter’s always been a power hungry asshole, but what do you get outta this, huh?”

“Power.”

He shot a look at Kyle. ”Is he serious?”

“Delusional maybe?” He shrugged. ”Make that definitely.”

“You don’t look like you have much power at the moment.” He stared at Welling for several long moments before he pulled his gun back and rammed it into the man’s face, wiping it of the superior expression. ”Where are the civilians?”

“Why do you think I’d give you any information? You’re gonna kill me whether I tell you anything or not.”

“You’re right,” Bane agreed and without hesitation took aim at the man’s knee. ”Question is, how long you wanna draw it out.” He nodded when his words were met with defiant silence and he pulled the trigger.

Welling yelped in pain. No matter how much he tried to control himself he couldn’t hold the proof of pain back. “Son of a bitch.”

Bane chuckled cruelly. “Did you know my mother? Were you there to smear the Circle’s faces?” He aimed for the other knee. “Where are they?”

Jaan Welling lifted his head to look at the other man’s face. “Maybe I was, Michael Guerin. Maybe I fucked your mother because your father was just a poor excuse of a man.”

The second shot was fired without any further warning and the men struggled to keep him on his feet when his body sank heavily.

“Plenty of ammo left and I can take shots at you for quite a while before you bleed out.”

“Bastard!” he hissed as the pain increased. He didn’t dare look down to see the damage Bane had inflicted on him already. He could only hope to pass out before it got worse.

“I can keep you conscious for every minute of it,” Bane snarled as he got in Welling’s face. ”Tell me what I want to know.”

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, you soulless – “

“Ah,ah,ah,” he said, his voice smooth as glass, “you had a part in making me what I am so if you wanna blame someone...”

“I don’t know!”

Bane shook his head and rammed the butt of his gun into the man’s shattered knee, making him scream in agony.

“Bane,” Padre caught his attention and he saw the man nodding down the corridor.

“You won’t get out of here alive, asshole,” Welling coughed. “Your time is limited.”

Michael nodded and turned to the wounded man again. “Yours is over,” he snarled and then placed the blade of his knife against the man’s throat, slicing it open, careless of the bloody mess he was making.

Jaan Welling fell to his wounded knees when the men let go off him, but he didn’t even feel the pain as his hands tried to cover the wound at his throat. Blood ran past his fingers, spurting out in the rhythm of his fast heartbeat. Yeah, he knew it was over for him.

“Whitman’s almost done,” Kyle said when he heard Val’s voice over the radio. “They have company though.”

Michael stepped out into the hallway, hearing the Circle’s men closing in on their position. His gaze moved over the corridors on the other side.

“They need our help. Let’s go.” Padre waved his men over.

“You go,” Michael agreed. “I’ll try to find the civilians.”

“Bane...”

“You make sure they make it out of here! Don’t wait for me.”

“I’m goin’ with you,” Kyle stepped next to him.

The last thing he wanted was for Kyle to lose his life over a war that wasn’t his to fight but he knew it was pointless to argue with him so he nodded tightly. ”Let’s go.”

They took extra ammo off of the dead men littering the floor before ducking out and taking the corridor to the right. He could feel Kyle at his back and in spite of his reservations about his friend’s presence he was glad the man watching his back was someone he trusted.

Kyle’s eyes swept a dark hallway to their left and he dropped back when he sensed movement. He nodded sharply when Michael stopped to rest his back against the wall on the opposite side.

Michael drew in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. He communicated with hand signals, letting Kyle know how he wanted to breach the corridor.

He crouched down to peer around the corner, using his night vision scope to search the darkness. He looked at Kyle and shook his head negatively when he wasn’t able to make out any movement.

More hand signals and Kyle cautiously took the lead. As they moved deeper into the darkness he felt cold begin to permeate his skin again.

Light suddenly flooded the corridor and they pressed their backs to the walls facing each other. Kyle’s mouth went dry when he realized they had stumbled on another corridor of cells sectioned off by glass walls. He winced when one of the prisoners started to scream, his voice raw and weak. His eyes moved over the cells, taking in the damage inflicted by the sadist who oversaw the prisoners, and he swallowed hard as he made his way down to the screaming man.

The cell he was in had been left open, but after a moment he realized there was no need to lock the man in. His body was broken and showed signs of extreme abuse. He crouched down beside the man and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. He could see the signs of infection that raged in the man’s fevered body and he knew that even if he survived his injuries, his mind and body would never be the same.

The man collapsed against the floor weakly, his frail body close to death. He was suffering and as he looked up at Kyle with hollow eyes it was apparent he wanted it to end.

“Kill me,” he rasped, begging the stranger to show mercy. ”Please.”

Kyle just stared at him, his own memories so close to the surface again. The man was broken and he knew death sounded merciful and like heaven to him, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Bane checked the hallway one more time and then crouched down next to the man. A quick glance over his body and he knew that he wasn’t to be saved. Taking his gun, he brought it to the man’s head. With a silent nod the prisoner closed his eyes and waited for the end.

Michael didn’t wait. He fired the gun and then got back up. “We need to move, Kyle.”

“Yeah,” he said and got to his feet, trying to shake the memories off. He’d had his low points during his captivity and he’d be a liar if he said he’d never given that option even the briefest consideration. It wasn’t something he liked to think about, but there had been moments when it had seemed hopeless and the pain had been so excruciating he’d entertained those thoughts.

“There was no point letting him suffer any longer.” Michael fisted his friend’s shoulder hard. ”Get your head back in the game, Valenti.”

Kyle nodded and forced the memories down, knowing if he didn’t stay focused he was putting both of them in danger. “Let’s move out.”

“Focus,” Bane pressed again, then let his friend go and moved first.

Kyle followed him. His senses were back on high alert, prepared for anyone who might approach them. “This’s a massacre,” he grunted. “If people knew what their mighty politicians were doing...”

“They’ll find out,” the other man said and kicked the glass door to another cell open. It was empty and the amount of blood was not as significant as in the others. His eyes roamed over the interior and only came to a halt when he detected a dirty yellow shirt in the corner. With two long strides he crossed the room and lifted it up. Definitely female clothing. Bringing it to his nose, he sniffed it.

“Did you just – “

“It’s Parker’s.” He had memorized the scent of her perfume the first time they had met – there was something... annoying about it.

“Then we know they were here.” He moved over to the next cell and stepped inside, glancing down when the hair on his arms stood up. ”You feel that?”

Michael looked around before moving over to the wall that separated the cells. He studied it for a moment before reaching out and letting his fingers ghost over the surface. ”Electrified,” he muttered. ”More than enough voltage to make contact painful.”

“Why?” He didn’t expect an answer. ”It’s bad enough when a mission goes to hell and shit like this goes down, but right here in our own country? What the fuck gives them the right to do this to people?”

“Nothing gives them the right to do the shit they do.” His eyes traced over every inch of the glass walls, searching for some sort of monitoring device. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other before backing out of the cell.

“You got somethin’?” Kyle asked as he followed the other man’s lead.

“There should be surveillance devices in here.” His tone was suspicious and all of his senses suddenly started to scream in warning.

He had just finished the sentence when the glass door next to them started to move and cut the room in half. And then another door moved and locked them in a cage that they couldn’t escape easily.

“What the hell?” Kyle turned in a circle.

“Son of a bitch,” Bane muttered and went to check for exits. There were none. He glanced up when he heard a sound similar to a fan.

“Is that what I think it is?”

Bane lowered his eyes from the ceiling to his friend. “Better start breathing slow and shallow.”

The air was being sucked from the room and it wouldn’t take long before the oxygen had been depleted, leaving them to suffocate. Kyle backed up a few steps, feeling the familiar panic trying to push free from the confines of his chest when he came into contact with the wall. He reached up to jerk on his collar, trying his damnedest to stay focused and keep his finger off of the trigger. Rationally, he knew firing within the walls would only result in wounding them – or killing them quicker. The glass was bulletproof and the bullets would only ricochet.

[Roswelllostcause]

Like I said something bad has happened!

[Earth2Mama]

The crap has hit the fan!

But... where are Liz and Max? Why did they only find Liz's clothing? This is not going to end well, is it?