Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

Leads

The troops powered through and linked up with one of the Green Berets, Sergeant First Class Tyler Bryant one of the ODA's Weapons Sergeant. Bryant was fair-skinned with brown hair and matching eyes. He aimed his M4 towards the advancing enemy troops. Half of the ODA was engaged with the hostiles with the Marines.

"Chief, we've lost communication with the Rangers," shouted the soldier.

"They got ambushed," responded the sailor. "Where are the others?"

"The DEA agents and the rest of the ODA are guarding the prisoners in the central vector of the compound," said Bryant.

Suddenly the Marines surged forward in a wedge formation and were met with heavy resistance. Julian signaled the rest of his platoon to advance on the hostiles while the others went to find the rest of their comrades. Jace engaged multiple enemy combatants with Reese, Wesson, and Holloway on both sides. Wesson breached the door and the others cleared the room, neutralizing two hostiles. The trio made their way through the hallway, they heard the voices of the ODA members and DEA agents in the next room. The SEALs entered the room, they found the DEA operators and the rest of the soldiers guarding the prisoners.

"Sir, casualties?" asked Wesson.

"Four with gunshot wounds, flesh through-and-through," answered the Captain, slinging his damaged rifle over his shoulder. It had been hit three times by enemy fire and he down to the last two magazines for his Beretta. "No fatalities."

Julian and Wesson tended to the injured, one DEA agent with a round to the thigh, two Green Berets, one of whom had been grazed on the right side of his neck, and one of the prisoners was rendered unconscious in the chaos.

"We couldn't evacuate soon enough so we laid up a defensive position," said Patterson, briefing the sailors. "We held things down when more fighters piled up against us, about two companies' worth."

"More Narcos?" asked Holloway.

"Hard to tell, these guys traffic drugs for Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and a handful of other militants," said a DEA agent.

Suddenly militants made their way through the halls, the operators took defensive positions. Everything went silent, then a small metallic sphere was thrown through the door.

"Grenade!"

Julian used his body to cover the wounded Green Beret and DEA agent he was treating. He was thrown over them by the force of the blast, Patterson fired against the intruders but was hit twice in the leg and everyone else returned fire. Jace recovered from his daze and engaged two combatants with his rifle only to be shot three times in the abdominal and chest area of his vest, he also received rounds to both arms. The sailor was pushed onto the wall, unable to properly hold his rifle, he went for his Sig and continued to fire back. Jace received a shot to the upper portion of his right leg, forcing him in a kneeling position but continued to fire back. When he put the last militant down the room started to go dark, he could hear the voices of his comrades but couldn't respond. Soon enough he began to close his eyes.

. . .

Jace woke up to the voices of his father, Ziva, and Reese. They were conversing amongst themselves about his test results. He didn't have a concussion, the damage to his arms and legs were limited to flesh wounds, moderate blood loss, & his rib cage was mildly bruised. Ziva was the first to notice that he was awake.

"He's up!"

"Good thing you opted for a helmet over a Boonie," said Reese. "Now I know why you like to carry them around."

"How are the guys?" asked Jace.

"They'll live," said the older Gibbs. "Thanks to you."

"The operation, will it continue?"

"Despite the attack, the brass agreed that we're on the right track," said Reese. "We seized over $10 million worth of guns and drugs."

"And the prisoners are en route to Guantanamo Bay as we speak," said Ziva.

Just then Commander Blackwell walked in, after formalities he sat in the chair at the foot of the bed.

"You did good Chief," said the C.O. "After last night we've opted to put you on medical leave, your overdue for leave anyway."

"I can't remember a time he took a vacation, sir."

"You can use that time to pick out a best man," said Ziva. "Kathleen says that everything is ready but that you haven't made a decision yet."

"Well, everything else is easy when the other half's been planning every detail ever since I pulled the ring out."

"Oh please do continue to rub in the fact you've struck gold when you met the perfect woman," said David, more disappointed at the loss of his wingman than jealous.

Gibbs only smiled at this, it reminded him of when he met Shannon. He would be traveling back home with Jace to help and spend time with his future daughter-in-law. He was happy that his son's life was going in a positive direction.