Maladies of the Flesh, A Rainbow Six Story

Part 1: Familiar Faces

Los Angeles, California

Jesse's POV

I sit on my surfboard, searching for a decent wave. Upon finding one, I lay flat against my board, and start paddling out towards it. I get my feet underneath me as the wave starts to crest underneath my board. After a moment, I gain my balance, and start absolutely shredding the wave, ripping it off the top a few times before jumping backwards off my board, flipping off Vince as I fall. I float under the water for a long moment, enjoying the scene of serenity under the waves, before kicking up to the surface. I swim over to my board, and tow it in behind me, a wide grin on my face. I drop my board on the beach, and lean against it, brushing my hair out of my eyes. 

Vince: "You ever stop showing off man?"

I turn and laugh at my brother:

Jesse: "Nah, not really. You would think that you'd know that by now."

Vince punches me playfully on the shoulder, a sarcastic grin on his face:

Vince: "You're the one with the stupid gene, remember?"

I smile back at him:

Jesse: "Yeah...But at least I didn't pull the only ugly gene in the family."

Vince laughs, and stares out at the sea. For all the jabs we take at one another, we still love each other. Vince is my twin brother, although we're not perfect, "you can never tell us apart" twins. Vince's hair is cut shorter than mine is, and dyed with streaks of black. His eyes are a light shade of green, and he has a small scar running along his arm from when we were kids. My hair is longer, and all blonde, my eyes a shade of blue resembling the ocean, and I have a razor thin scar running across my right eye. I look a little farther down the beach to find a red-haired girl staring openly at Vince. I nudge him a little, and flick my eyes in the direction of the girl. A small smile crosses his face as the girl starts to walk towards us. I chuckle as I pull my board out of the sand, and walk up the beach to the house I share with Vince. I lay my surfboard on the deck, and head inside. I grab a shirt from my room, and as I slip it on I hear the doorbell ring loudly. I walk over to the door, and tap the screen next to it, pulling up the camera feeds around the house. I enlarge the camera over the door, and find a few familiar faces gazing back at me through the camera. I tap the screen off, and throw the door open:

Jesse: "Jordan! Miles! Jack! It's been too long boys!"

Miles steps forward and gives me a long bro hug, as do Jordan and Jack.

Miles: "Far too long dude."

Jordan: "How have you been Jesse?"

Jack: "Hello Jesse."

I step aside, letting them in, but stopping Jordan with a joking smile:

Jesse: "You're not going to blow my house up again are you?"

Jack and Miles erupt into laughter, while Jordan rolls his eyes at me:

Jordan: "It was an accident! Let it go man!"

I laugh, and let him in, happy to see them all again. I grab a few beers from the fridge, along with my butterfly knife, and relax on the couch with my old friends, idly flipping my knife around.

Jack: "So, where's Vince?"

Jesse: "Flirting with some redhead on the beach."

My friends all look at each other, then burst into laughter in unison, Jordan falling out of his chair. I look around, confused:

Jesse: "What?"

Miles finally gets his shit together long enough to spit out a few words:

Miles: "Oh man. That redhead? She's one of us. She went around back when you didn't answer the door the first time to see if she could find you guys."

Jordan: "Oh man, if Vince tries anything, he's gonna come back without any balls!"

I laugh along with them, tears pouring down our faces. I hear the back door click shut, and immediately start gesturing for everybody to shut up, listening carefully. Vincent comes around the corner with a grin, the redhead following behind him. He walks over to us, embracing the FBI SWAT members happily:

Vince: "Hello boys. Been a while."

Jack: "Yes it has."

Jordan: "Good to see you again man."

Miles: "We missed you V."

The redhead leans against the wall, watching this with a curious look on her face. I nod at her:

Jesse: "Yo. You want a beer?"

The girl considers this for a moment, before nodding her head slightly.

Jesse: "Jordan."

Jordan looks up as I smoothly toss him my knife, whistling in appreciation when he effortlessly snags it out of the air. I cross the room to the fridge, pulling out a beer, then walk back to her, handing it to her:

Jesse: "Don't believe I caught your name."

???: "Eliza 'Ash' Cohen."

Ash takes the beer from me, and shakes my hand:

Jesse: "Jesse 'Wraith' Blackwolf."

She nods slightly:

Ash: "Vincent's brother."

Jesse: "Yeah."

I gesture towards everyone else:

Jesse: "You should join us. Promise we don't bite, although Jordan might blow something up again."

From across the room I hear:

Jordan: "It was one goddamn time! Let it go already!"

Ash chuckles softly, and walks with me across the room, sitting near Vince. Jordan gives a soft whistle, and without looking, I catch my knife as he throws it to me, continuing the spin Jordan had given it before he threw it. I sit down next to Miles, and take a sip of my beer, before speaking the words on everyone's mind:

Jesse: "So. Not that I'm not happy to see you guys again, but why are you here? It's clearly not a social call, or you wouldn't have brought Ash. What's up?"

Jack leans forward, sighing:

Jack: "We were sent here to recruit you guys."

Ash pulls out a file, and tosses it onto the table. Vince grabs the file and flips through it, his eyes going wide, before tossing it to me. I skim through the file, my face not betraying my thoughts. It's all just standard service contracts. At least, until I flip to the last page, and find the insignia in the corner. I look up at Jordan:

Jesse: "Rainbow?"

Jordan nods, a grin plastered on his face:

Jordan: "Yeah man. Six wants the two of you to join."

Miles gives me an encouraging smile:

Miles: "Come on dude, it'll be just like old times."

Jack: "What do you say man?"

Jordan: "Come on, it's the opportunity of a lifetime."

I stay silent, considering the chance I'm being given. Jordan's right, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. I look to Vince:

Jesse: "V? What do you think?"

Vince mirrors my reaction, and stays quiet, thinking about this choice we've been given. Ash watches him closely, curious as to what he'll say. He runs a hand through his hair, and sighs heavily:

Vince: "I say we do it."

Even though she doesn't say anything, I can tell that Ash is more than happy with his answer. I glance around at my oldest of friends, and know that I could never turn this down. I nod:

Jesse: "We're in."

Ash looks like she's trying to suppress a joyful squeal. Vince turns to her:

Vince: "When do we leave?"

Ash: "In an hour."