Bound by Blood, Forged in Fire

Strength of the Pack

The ride back to the base was silent, once there they let the agents take custody of the prisoners. Jace secured his gear in his quarters, save for his pistol which he kept at his hip, and went to meet with the DOJ team and LT Holloway. Once there he took a seat around the table, they were discussing the prisoners and their potential new allegiances.

"Miguel Domingues, a former FARC lieutenant," said Ziva, kicking things off. "He was detained by Colombian authorities but escaped and has been off the grid ever since."

"Diego Navarro, a Los Zetas hitman responsible for nineteen confirmed kills but was exiled after he killed an associate over money," said McGee. "He's also former Mexican Special Forces."

" Angelo Belen, former Brazilian Special Forces and member of the First Capital Command," said Tony. "He ran out on them after they discovered that he was leaking information to rival cartels."

"Former Kaibiles have been allegedly linked to the Los Zetas as hired help," said Jace, seeing the connection between the group and the team that killed his friends.

"So former cartel bosses decide to band together and create an empire of their own," said the older Gibbs. "Guess they didn't get the memo that Rome wasn't built in a day."

"Why did they think they could take on the American Armed Forces?" asked Ziva. "They may be former military but their group is still in its infancy."

"They must have accelerated their timetable when they heard we were in their territory," said Holloway.

Jace stared at the screens of the security of the prisoners in their respective cells. He took note of their demeanor, they were stone-cold calm, unfazed by their predicament. This was all going to change.

"That was a big mistake," said Jace.

Julian had just bid the Western SEALs goodbye, with the prisoners at the Camp no one wanted any form of unauthorized retaliation taking place, so the recall of the other operators was followed through. Jace had checked with his team, they understood that none of them were to go anywhere near the prisoners without authorization.

. . .

So far all they knew was that there were currently three factions operating in South America, manned by seasoned criminals and guerillas. They've been on the hunt for months and only came up with results that only hindered the syndicate's activity. The intelligence suggested that the syndicate's main headquarters was in Brazil, they managed to rapidly fund their expeditions by aiding acts of terrorism and taking hostages for ransom. From what they gathered the heads of the organization were due to meet sometime in two weeks, however, until they got more intel they couldn't proceed with the HVT raid. If they couldn't conduct the raid within that timeframe, then the operation would go to another unit.

Jace had spent most of his time working out his frustrations on a punching bag. He had just finished a session after he unwrapped his hand he noticed the bruising forming on his hands. He was in pieces, Kathleen was due to go into labor in five weeks, he still hadn't managed to get justice for his friends, and now his temper was starting to get the best of him. He couldn't go home like this, couldn't go into the field with his head in scrambles.

He sensed a presence behind him and turned.

"Ziva."

"I talked to your dad," said the Israeli, taking a seat. "He has concerns and, frankly, I do too."

"I just feel stuck, like I'm failing my team," Jace didn't hold anything back, doing so would be futile. "We've got nothing and if we don't make any progressed the Op is tanked."

"None of this is on you, Jules."

Ziva was one of the few people allowed to call him that, aside from Kathleen. The first was his mother and sister, they were in his thoughts often