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This Is War: Ben Kweller
I head towards the door with Mac and Patty. I go to open the door, but Mac beats me to it. He opens it for me and I shake my head as I walk past him. Patty follows me and I gently scratch the bandage on my arm before sitting down.
"Hey, Lina." Bozer says.
"Hi, Wilt." I fold my hands.
"How's your arm?"
"It's fine."
"So, does that mean it's over? Murdoc's away for good?"
"We're making sure he stays that way."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I merely nod.
"It's okay if you aren't. You know that, right?" Bozer nods back.
"I know. But I'm fine, Wilt. I promise. But you should know this about me: when I was thirteen, I was sent to a foster home. That's how I met Eli. He was fifteen. And our foster father was an alcoholic, and abusive. And Eli was my protector. He shielded me from everything. Every ugly thing you can imagine. And one day, I found out that our foster father was doing things to him every single night." I swallow. "So I stopped it. I stopped him. I killed him."
"How?"
"I lit him on fire in his sleep." I reveal and I feel Mac look at me. "Neighbors called the cops. Got sent to juvie. Five years."
"Sounds like you were serving our country to me."
"They may have believed that then." I grin in the corner of my mouth. "But laws and whatnot. Could've been a lot worse."
"I'm sorry that happened to you. And Eli. I was just talking to him over at my house before it all went crazy. I had no idea he...he seems so-"
"Put together? Positive? Yeah. That's my brother. Do you have anything to ask me?"
"Not right now."
"Okay." I nod. "But just know I would never harm you. Or do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose. I never meant for you to get mixed up in this." I shake my head.
"Mister Bozer, the purpose of this meeting is to determine if you are a security threat to the United States." Patty sits down and Mac sits on the other side of me.
"Security threat? Me? Security—I'm not even an empty threat. Are you kidding me? Mac, Lina, c'mon, back me up here." Bozer inquires. "What about Evan and McKenna? And Charlotte and Eli?"
"We already went through this with them. McKenna will be joining us as of today and Eli will be working in the infirmary, we could use a good, trained EMT like him, we can only go to the hospital so much here in LA. And because Evan has a son, we offered him a new name and a passport to anywhere in the world, but he chose to stay. So, he will be joining us too. And Charlotte has signed a contract of the Espionage Act before going back to New York, and if she goes against it, she knows very bad things happen. Now that just leaves you."
"Yeah, look, Bozer, it's just standard practice in cases like this to do this-"
"Standard practice?" Bozer cuts Mac off. "And who are you? Yesterday, you was my friend, today it's like I don't even know you."
"Mister Bozer, if you could sit back down." Patty requests. "We'll start by reviewing your employment history."
"You know what?" He sits back down. "I been here long enough. I'm going home, okay? Have your people call my people and, uh, we'll get something on the books." He gets up and opens the door to reveal Aaron, one of our security guards. "Great. John Cena works here, too. Look, I know my rights. Okay? You can't keep me here forever."
"Technically, we can."
"Can I talk to you outside?" I get up and Patty and Mac follow me outside. I give a nod to Aaron and he heads inside before I close the door. "Look, I know we have a job to do. And while we are doing that job, we can't treat Wilt like he's some suspect."
"Unfortunately, Lina, he's been exposed to confidential intelligence, which makes him a national security threat. Just like McKenna, and Evan."
"No, that's not the same thing. McKenna and Evan have been running this game with me for years. Long before I met any of you. Wilt is Mac's friend. And he's mine. I wouldn't have been able to stop Murdoc without him. I'd rather quit the Phoenix today than see him treated like he did something wrong. I saw it unfold once before and I don't wanna see it happen ever again. So you have a choice, I don't." I walk past her.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Good morning." Eli says as I open my eyes.
"Where's-"
"Mac and everyone else are okay. We all agreed to let you sleep. You needed it."
"Thanks." I pull the blanket off me and slowly sit up, then rubbing my eyes.
"How's your arm?"
"Itches like a bitch." I pull up my t-shirt sleeve and he unravels the dirty bandage off of it.
"Maybe now this will stop the itching." Eli applies ointment to my stitched cut.
"You're the EMT, it better work." I tell him and he scoffs, now wrapping my arm in a new bandage. "You don't have to do this, you know? Work here because I do. You don't have to go through all of this because I put up with it."
"I'm aware. But like I said, I've been apart from you for too long."
"That's not true." I pull my t-shirt sleeve down.
"I never visited you in juvie."
"Because you were in therapy, for obvious reasons, Eli." I toss my hoodie onto the counter, not feeling like wearing it today.
"And because I was ashamed."
"Of what? Of not telling me?"
"No. Of not killing that bastard myself." He closes his kit.
"Eli." I place my hand on his shoulder. "You were just a kid."
"So were you. And when you found out, you ended it on the same night. But me? I just...I just took it."
"Because he threatened to kill me if you didn't." I tear up. "You took months of that and I didn't even know about it. You were protecting me. And I was just returning the favor." I feel the small bandage on my cheek and the cut on my lip.
"No, I'm the man. You're the woman. I'm supposed to protect you. In the most non-misogynistic way possible."
"I know what you mean." I chuckle. "But you didn't need to protect me."
"Yes, I did. After what that piece of shit did to you and dad-"
"Eli." I shake my head. "It's over."
"So why don't you tell Mac?" He raises his eyebrows.
"What's the point? All it's gonna do is tear him apart. And he's been through enough. He almost died yesterday because of me. Wilt, Jack and Charlotte too."
"Okay, I support whatever you decide. But ask yourself this: can you really live with the fact that you'll be lying to him for possibly the rest of your life?"
"If it keeps him alive, I have no problem with that." I rasp out and he hugs me. "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." I hug him back.
"I know. Me too." Eli squeezes me.
"I missed you a lot, big brother." I lean my cheek on his shoulder and stare at the floor with glassy eyes.
"I missed you a lot too, little sister. But I'm here. Everything is gonna be okay." He rubs my back.
"Is it? Cause everything hurts. And that bastard isn't even in there on the right charge."
"One, everything hurting is completely normal. And two, he will. From everything you've told me about him, he'll try again and we'll be ready. We'll take him down. I promise."
"So do I." A tear drips off my eyelash and hits the floor.
"But be careful, Amanda. Please." He whispers in my ear.
"I will." I pull away. "I love you." I nod.
"I love you too." He cups my neck and I hold his wrist before getting off the stretcher. "You forgetting something?"
He raises his eyebrows and I do ten pushups with a little discomfort. He crosses his arms as I stand back up. I now grip the bar with both of my hands and do pull-ups. I do the last two one handed.
"Happy now?" I let go and land on my feet.
"Very." He nods.
"Yeah, yeah. Goodbye." I leave and then turn.
"Have sweet dreams?" Evan crosses his arms, standing with the others.
"About your mom, yeah." I nod and scratch my neck.
"All good?" Riley leans off the wall.
"Never was bad." I look at my bandaged arm and then my brother through the glass. I watch him adjust his lab coat and then sit down.
"Am I hurting you?" Fifteen year old Eli cleans the wound on my knee.
"You could never hurt me, Eli. All you've done is taken care of me since I got here." Thirteen year old me sniffles.
"Big brothers look out for their little sisters. Always. No matter how old they are."
"He's so mean. I don't understand."
"Him and alcohol don't mix, that's all you need to know."
"No, I wanna know more. Why does he do this?"
"Amanda-"
"No, Eli. Please, stop protecting me. I wanna know why."
"I just told you why. You're lucky this is all he did. Or I would've freaking killed him."
"Then he would've killed you. Your eye." Thirteen year old me looks at his black eye.
"It's nothing. I'll be okay. Rather it be me than you." Fifteen year old Eli places a bandaid on my knee.
"How do you know all this doctor stuff?"
"I watched a lot of medical dramas growing up. Always found it interesting. When I'm all grown up and out of this place, I'm gonna be a doctor."
"Yeah. I see it." Thirteen year old me nods.
"Thank you." He chuckles.
"I'll even be your first patient."
"Let's hope that never happens." He gently elevates my leg. "Just keep it elevated. And it should heal in a few days. About a week, maybe a little more before it becomes a scar."
"Thanks, Eli." I cry. "I don't know what I would do without you. Sometimes I...I dream about him hurting me. Like...Like killing me."
"Hey, hey." He pulls me into him. "I would never let that happen. Never. I'm here. Everything is gonna be okay." He rubs my back.
"I love you, Eli." I lean my cheek on his shoulder.
"I love you too, Amanda." He cups my neck and I hold his wrist.
"Hey." Riley's voice snaps me out of it and I turn as her hand lands on my shoulder. "Where'd you go?"
"I'm here." I rasp out before turning back to look at Eli.
"You think he can fix your face?" Evan breaks the silence, snapping me out of it again.
"Says the one with a fake perm." I scoff and the others chuckle.
"That's not true at all, I'll have you know, jerk." He kicks my leg.
"Could've fooled me, prick." I smack his arm.
"Both of us." McKenna raises her eyebrows.
"Thanks for bringing him here." I look at her and Evan.
"Lina-"
"I know." I rasp out. "You didn't know Murdoc was...I know. Neither did I. Until after. But you still brought him here. For me."
"He's our brother too. Family stays together. No matter what. You taught us that." Evan nods.
"C'mon." McKenna wraps her arm around my neck and we walk down the hallway.
"So, brother too, huh?" Jack walks with me and the others.
"Yeah. Why? You wanna take him out on a date?" I turn to him and the others chuckle.
"Ha ha. Funny."
"So why does Thornton gotta go all DEFCON One? I was a civilian once. I found out about you guys. None of this happened to me." Riley inquires.
"Oh, no, you're different. Patty let you in on our little secret, because you have a specific skill set. We can use. We're using you." Jack tells her. "And you, McKenna. And you, Evan. And Eli."
"Yeah, whatever, Jack. So, you're saying just because Bozer can't hack the Pentagon his only options are witness protection or a black site?"
"I'm not gonna let it come to that." Mac says as we enter the main room.
"No, no, wait. Hold on, don't tell me." He rubs his temple and I roll my eyes. "Let me guess what it is this time. Uh...Chinese separatist, city of Madrid, with the candlestick."
"I thought we agreed not to use any Clue references during our briefings." Patty tells him.
"I would never agree to something like that. Milton Bradley was an American hero."
"What kind of trouble are we looking at?" Evan crosses his arms.
"Actually, we're gonna stop the trouble before it begins.
Larger agencies like the CIA, NSA are busy reacting to Isis and Al Qaeda, Phoenix will use its off-the-books invisibility to be proactive, going after the next Isis before it becomes Isis." Patty informs. "Which brings us to...Latvian terror cell, Dieva Roka." She pulls up photos on the screen and I gently adjust my t-shirt sleeve over my bandaged arm.
"Responsible for three attacks in Latvia in the last month?" McKenna raises her eyebrows and I cross my arms, feeling Mac's eyes on me for some reason.
"They currently have fewer than fifty members, but they're stepping up recruitment in a big way."
"So, I'm guessing this is our chance to stop the cancer before it spreads." Riley gets up.
"Exactly." Patty nods. "And this is how we're gonna do it. Janis Lapa, architect of the organization. Janis knows all the group's members, future plans and he just popped up in Riga after months being off the grid.
We froze all his assets, but his mother died last month, so-"
"Hit him where it hurts." I quirk up.
"Exactly. In eighteen hours, Janis has an appointment at the Latvian National Bank to collect his inheritance in person, and when he does..."
"We'll be there to collect him." I nod before turning.
"Another day, another terrorist wannabe wiped out. By yours truly." Evan follows me.
"Good work." Patty says.
"What?" I turn back.
"Everything that transpired in the last twenty four hours was no joke. I've never had an agent dodge a psychotic killer's bullets with their bare hands or throw them out of not one, but two windows before."
"Maybe it's because I don't consider myself as an agent. Maybe you don't either." I shrug before leaving.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"The bank manager sold us out." Mac, Jack and Evan run over to me, Riley and McKenna.
"Where's Janis?" Riley questions.
"He made us." Jack pants.
"And ran. We need to split up." Evan turns.
"Okay, McKenna, you're with Evan. Riley, you're with Jack and Mac. Go, go!" I squeeze Riley's arm and we all part ways. I pick up my pace and speed down the block. "God, I hate alarms." I exhale as the alarm starts getting more distant. I stop as a gunshot goes off. I get behind a post and grip my gun in my holster, then chuckling. I turn and see Mac running my way. "You have a hole in your arm. What the hell are you doing?" I pull him towards me as more gunshots go off.
"Hanging out, you?" Mac heaves and I hit his chest with my fist.
"Someone ring the dinner bell."
"Yeah. Yeah, kind of figured that." Evan comes through my ear piece.
"Where you guys at?" Jack asks.
"Uh...I don't know. Some kind of loading dock?" I look at the crates.
"Well, just have him keep trying to kill you, and we'll follow the sound of the shots." McKenna tells me.
"Okay, we'll try not to die before you get here."
"That's the spirit."
"Rah, rah, rah." I pull Mac away as more gunshots go off, almost hitting him.
I now lean off the post. I run back around and tumble across the ground, dodging more bullets. I get to my feet and hit a crate. I keep my grip on my gun in my holster. I wait a few seconds before peeking my head up. I grab a barrel from beside me and start climbing up the crate. Gunshots go off again and I feel them hit the barrel.
I keep my head down and my eyes half shut as I start running. I chuck the barrel at Janis. It hits him in the shoulder and he stumbles back. I now leap and tackle him in midair. We hit the ground and he goes to push me off, but I wrap my hand around his throat, making him choke on his breath.
"What's the matter? Having trouble breathing?" I taunt before yanking him up.
I shove him against the crate and keep one hand on his arms behind his back. I now undo Mac's belt with my other hand and pluck it from the loop. I use the belt to tie Janis's hands together. I then turn back to meet Mac's stare on me.
"Looks like you didn't need us after all." Jack runs over with McKenna.
"Never said I did in the first place." Hair falls in front of my face.
"Hm, funny." He picks up a phone. "Yeah, guys, we got a problem."
"What?" McKenna questions.
"He just sent out an S.O.S...to every contact in his phone. In a few minutes, this area is gonna be swarming with terrorists."
"Good." I rasp out. "Go find Riley and Evan." I roughly lead Janis with me.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Seriously?" Jack drives as someone honks while me and Mac sit in the back with Janis. "What is the speed limit in this country? Like, six miles an hour? Let's go!"
"Riley, how much longer until we get to the air strip?" I lean forward, feeling Mac's eyes on me for some reason.
"Three miles." Riley looks at her tablet.
"You guys will never make it." Janis inquires.
"Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Yanni." Jack retorts.
"My name is Janis."
"Oh, wait a minute, let me think...mm, no, I don't care."
"A cop took one of our guys three weeks ago. You know what we did to him?"
"Is there any way to keep you from telling us?" McKenna rolls her eyes as she sits in front of us, along with Evan.
"No, McKenna, that's okay." I turn to Janis. "Tell me what you did."
"Happily." Janis looks me up and down. "Let us just say his memorial was a closed casket service." He nods and I nod back before leaning closer to him.
"Was your mother's?" I whisper and his grin drops. I see his face shift.
"You are going to burn, my friend. All of you. But you, I'm gonna take my sweet time with you." He grins.
"You're about to take the lives of hundreds. All because your mother was a whore?" I smirk and he growls, lunging at me, but I elbow him in the nose. He yelps and his head whips back, with blood leaking from his nose in the process.
"Oh! Damn, Lina!" Jack laughs.
"Shut up." I spit at Janis.
"Let's go!" He hocks the horn and I turn away from Janis. "Some of us have to get to the airport!"
"I'd lay off the horn, Jack. Those are his terrorist buddies searching cars." Evan speaks up.
"Hey! C'mon! How about a little courtesy reverse?" Jack drives us a back a bit.
"Guys, we've been made." Mac informs. "Now's the time to bail."
"Let's go. Go!" Evan opens the door and we all head out of the car.
"C'mon, c'mon." Riley helps me and Mac get Janis out and we all start running down the block as gunshots go off.
"Shit." He takes out his gun and starts firing until we reach an apartment complex, now running down a case of stairs.
"Hey, hey, stop! Stop!" I stop by a post and everyone else does as well. I peek my head out and see a truck pass us.
"Did we lose them?" Riley keeps her hand on Evan's arm.
"Uh...how do you say, no in Latvian?" I turn back and Janis says something to me in Latvian.
"Something tells me that's not how you say, no, Jar Jar. Shut up." Jack pushes him.
"They boxed us in." McKenna exhales.
"And they set up a perimeter." I sigh. "Can you use their phones to track them? His cell phone should've given us all their numbers."
"Been trying, but Janis's text blast ordered all of his contacts to ditch their phones and it looks like they obeyed orders." Riley types on her tablet and Janis laughs.
"Hey." Jack holds up a finger and Evan whacks Janis across the jaw with his gun, making him grunt. "Hey, I like that. That's more effective. Nice one, Evan." He high fives Evan. "We need a bird's-eye view. Can you bring up a satellite image?"
"Not unless you wanna wait thirty minutes for a satellite to pass over."
"Down." I pull Mac and Riley with the others against a dumpster as I hear a door open.
"Or we could make a satellite of our own." Mac steps out. "Stay with him." He runs inside the restaurant.
"What?" Jack furrows his eyebrows.
"Jack, I need your cell phone." He runs back over with tinfoil and a can.
"Dude, I don't have an international plan."
"Jack, c'mon." Riley rolls her eyes.
"Just use the damn sat phone." Jack tells her.
"Sat phone's too heavy." Mac says.
"Just give him your phone, Jack." Riley huffs.
"Give him yours." Jack shoots back.
"Well, I would if I had it on me. I didn't bring it!"
"Oh, that's convenient."
"You know what? I figured you'd be okay with it since I was using the cell phone to save your life." Mac nods.
"Well, what kind of techie doesn't bring a phone?" Jack takes out his phone.
"So what's the plan?" I crane my neck.
"When Bozer and I were kids, he was making a movie, and said he needed an aerial shot to sell the scope of the scene. So, we took his dad's video camera and hooked it up to a homemade hot air balloon, sent it into the sky." Mac starts building it and I watch with a faint grin.
"Did it work?"
"I imagine it did. We never saw the camera again, but I'm sure the footage looked great. Second time's the charm and all, right?"
"Not even close." I shake my head and he scoffs.
"Hey, I thought it is second time." Jack tells me.
"It's third time's a charm, Jack." McKenna corrects.
"Whatever. Same difference."
"Okay." I whisper and cross my arms, continuing to watch Mac do this thing.
"Do we have picture?" Mac holds up the homemade satellite and I throw up a peace sign behind his head.
"We sure do." Riley scoffs and I pull my hand down as Mac turns his head.
"You gonna let it go?" I place my hands behind my back and Mac lets the homemade satellite go.
"How are you supposed to steer it?" McKenna looks up in the air.
"You don't." Mac replies.
"Seriously? You're getting me a new phone, homie." Jack points at him.
"Uh...okay, they're blocking the street behind us but the one in front of us is clear." Riley looks at her tablet.
"Alright, let's go." I push Janis forward.
"You're wasting your time, gorgeous. You're all gonna die." Janis tells me.
"Heard that before, and won. Try something else." I push him forward again.
"I got him." Jack grabs Janis and I start running with the others.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Riley stops us. "Okay, we're clear to the left, but there's a patrol up ahead, I think."
"You think or you know? It's kind of important." Jack pants.
"Well, she's right. It's just hard to tell because it's so high up." I look at the map on the screen.
"Uh, it just popped, I think." Mac frowns.
"Okay, so no more Frogger?" Jack sighs.
"I got an extra phone. You wanna dig through the trash, try again or..." Riley trails off.
"You said you didn't have your phone."
"I know."
"Oh, no." Evan turns his head.
"Guys, start running now! Start running!" I turn and everyone follows me.
"I don't think we're gonna be able to run all the way to the airstrip." Riley tells me.
"No, but we might be able to run all the way to America."
"Lina, what?"
"The Embassy?" Jack looks at the sign on the gate.
"No, Build-A-Bear." I tell him.
"Oh, those Marines are in for one hell of a walk-in!"
"Yeah and they don't know who we are." I take out my phone and dial Patty. "Call the Latvian embassy now!
We're coming in hot, and we have a bit of a misunderstanding." I hang up.
"Drop your weapon! Drop your weapon!" A Marine raises his gun at us.
"Don't shoot, we're Americans!" Jack holds up his gun.
"Stop where you are! Drop your weapon! Drop it or I will open fire! Halt, now!"
"We work for the U.S. government!" Mac shouts.
"Terrorists are chasing us, they're trying to kill us!" Evan grabs Riley's arm.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"I just got the most interesting call from the Director of National Intelligence. Who exactly are you people?" Miss Quentin walks with us.
"Well, that's probably classified, but he's the front man for Dieva Roka." I tell her.
"He's your prisoner?"
"Yeah." I see the pin on her jacket. "Nice pin."
"Oh, thank you." She looks down at it. "The David Clarke trial taught us not just to talk about doing better, but to actually do better."
"Get down! Get down!" A man shouts and I duck with Mac as a grenade goes off.
"Dammit. Can't we just have good first day?" Evan runs with us and we hide behind a car.
"They're attacking the embassy?" Riley gapes.
"How many Marines you got here?" Jack asks.
"Um, uh, you're looking at 'em." Miss Quentin tells him.
"I wish I was looking at more of 'em." I get up and fire my gun. "Get inside! Go! Now, now! Cover each other. Now! Go!" I keep firing and the others move out from the car.
I now walk backwards and fire my gun again, along with Jack, McKenna and Evan. We keep going and get closer to the building. I lead the others in front and they head up the steps. I then turn as I'm tackled to the ground by a dark skinned man. He grunts, meaning he's wounded.
"Hey, hey!" I sit up with him.
"Get down!" The Marine stands me up and takes me to cover behind a car.
"You're hit." I look at his arm.
"Just a scratch." He raises his gun and fires.
"Why did you do that?" I now raise my gun and fire.
"Do what?"
"Take a bullet for me just now. You don't even know me!"
"Of course I know who you are, Amanda!" He keeps firing his gun. "I was your dad's main prison guard before I joined the Corps."
"Zion?" I raise my eyebrows.
"So you know?"
"My dad wrote about you in his journals. He said you were the only in that place who believed him. Thank you."
"It's just a shame cancer kicked his ass right after you cleared his name."
"How do you know about that?"
"Your dad and I always kept in contact." He covers me as another grenade goes off. "Until the day he died. He sent me letters, photos of you. Met my son too. And now I wish we met under better circumstances."
"Yeah, me too." I look at the pin on his shirt before firing my gun and so does he.
"How's your sister? And your brother? Eli, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, they're good."
"That's good. And Mac? I saw him before. Does he know?"
"No. No, he doesn't." I get back down and shakily exhale.
"Hey." Zion grips my shoulder. "Your dad was probably hiding it well, but, he wanted the absolute best for you. He wanted nothing more than to see you happy. To see you happy with him. With Mac. I know about Murdoc. I know he helped Conrad launder the money for Americon Initiative. And I know you took him down, but you have a feeling he won't be in that cell for long, do you?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Yes. Yes, it does."
"No, it doesn't. Because after Murdoc, I realized that once I tell Mac, about me, all it will do is tear him apart. And he's been through so much, ever since he was five years old. And I will not hurt him. Not like that. I could never."
"And you think lying to him for the rest of your life is easier?"
"If it keeps him safe, yeah." I nod with teary eyes, then looking around. "You hear that?"
"What?" Zion looks around.
"The Marines aren't shooting in bursts. They're firing in single shots."
"They're running out of ammo. They're trying to conserve. Once they dry up, that front gate's gonna fall."
"Yeah." I exhale. "We need to find a way to fortify it, get you and the other Marines inside." I look at the truck from a few feet away.
"We can use that truck to strike through the gate." Zion tells me.
"Yeah, sounds like a great plan. Except we'll hit the ground within one step."
"I don't know about that." He turns his head and I follow his gaze to see Mac, Evan and Jack blocking the gate with the truck and some homemade shields. "Ah." He holds his arm and I see the Marines head inside with Mac, Evan and Jack.
"Zion, you're losing a lot of blood. Hold on." I take off my holster and set it down. I now remove my hoodie, leaving myself in a t-shirt. I tie my hoodie around his wounded arm.
"You need to go. Get inside. I'll be fine."
"No."
"Amanda, please. You need to get inside!"
"No!" I shout. "I am not leaving you, Zion. Now, lean back, relax, and leave the hard part to me." I take his gun from him and raise it. I step out and start firing, but I see a car speed in. I curse under my breath and duck, dodging flying bullets. An explosion then goes off and I close my eyes.
"How many?" Zion places his hand on my knee.
"I'm counting twenty guys." I fire my gun at the Latvian men. I then look up as a grenade is thrown towards an open window. "Mac." I whisper in realization and I get up.
I squint one eye and fire a bullet at the grenade. An explosion goes off away from the window and I duck once again. My chest heaves up and down and I stare at the ground, now in a push-up position. I then nod to myself and close my eyes. I open them after a few seconds and get up with a clenched jaw. I raise Zion's gun and start firing.
I keep going before one of my bullets takes down a Latvian man. He hits the ground and I duck as rapid gunfire goes off in my direction. I roll my hoodie sleeves up to my elbows and continue firing my gun. I now look up at the sound of an explosion. I see something being shot from the opened window, making the Latvian men scatter away.
"Almond Roca on the run, son!" Jack laughs and I lowly chuckle.
"Wait, wait." I whisper to myself as the Latvian men run to their trucks. "This—This is too easy." I get back behind the truck. "Zion-"
"I know. They're coming back with reinforcements." Zion nods and after a while, gunfire goes off. "And it looks like they're here."
"They're at the front door." I peak my head out to see the soldiers shooting at the door. "They're gonna breach."
"When they all go in, you go in."
"No, Zion. I won't leave you."
"You're not." He chuckles.
"No. Zion-"
"Just like your father, stubborn." He laughs. "I'm gonna see you in ten minutes anyway. I'll be waiting right here. Now go." He takes my handgun and I stand up as the soldiers break down the front door.
I quietly step out from behind the car and make my way towards the embassy. I walk up the stairs and raise my gun, looking around with a heaving chest. I spot the soldiers and I whistle. They all turn and I shoot down two soldiers before ducking. I tumble across the floor, hoping to some God that I don't get shot to death right here. I keep going and I get to my feet before an explosion goes off.
We all go flying back and I land on my stomach. I look up as things from the second floor start falling down, stopping the other soldiers from getting to me. I close my eyes in relief and start making my way up. I raise my gun back up and walk down a hallway. I look through every room, every nook and every cranny just to make sure. I keep going and I enter a room, making everyone scream.
"Woah, woah. It's okay. It's okay." I lower my gun.
"Lina?" Riley gets up.
"Riley." I whisper and we tightly hug.
"Lina!" McKenna runs over with Evan and the four of us embrace.
"Thank fuck." Evan sighs and we laugh.
"Well, I'll be damned." Jack laughs. "Sergeant Lina Petronis in the house!" He pulls me into him. "Oh, man. We thought you got lost in the smoke for a quick second."
"Yeah, so did I." I pull away.
"Lina!" Riley yells and I turn as two soldiers who must've gone with me before the explosion raises their guns.
I beat them to it and raise mine, shooting them both in the head. They hit the floor and I lower my gun. I look down at the terrorists with a clenched jaw and a heaving chest. I sniffle and then pick my head back up. I lock eyes with Mac and I drop my gun in relief.
He rushes over and wraps his arms around me, then picking me up. I lowly chuckle and I hug him back, then closing my eyes. I squeeze him and he returns the action before setting me down. I open my eyes and we stare at each other before hugging again.
"How...How did you get up here?" Mac keeps his hands on my arms.
"When I saw the soldiers breaching the front door, I waited for all of them to get inside. Then I followed. Took down two of them before your DIY grenade made the rest easy for me." I keep my hands on his arms and he laughs before hugging me. "I have to get back to Zion."
"Who?" Jack questions.
"He's the Marine who covered me back there. He's hurt. I won't leave him." I pick up my gun.
"We won't either. We're going back for him, Lina. Promise. Cause it worked, we got them trapped."
"Yeah, but it's not over yet." Mac breaks the window and Evan helps.
McKenna now grabs some rope and I swing my gun to the back to help her. We keep inching the rope down to the window and Jack climbs out first. I lead Evan and McKenna to go next and they climb out using the rope.
"Okay, Riley, everybody out! Let's go! C'mon, c'mon!" I urge and me, Riley and Mac throw more rope out the window.
I help Riley and everyone climb down until it's just me and Mac. He takes my hand and helps me climb out of the window. I tug on the rope and he follows adjust from me. We both hit the ground and start to run around the side of the building. Mac gets to the truck first and then stops with his hands up as two rifles are pointed at him.
I run around the other side of the truck and swing my gun forward. I pick my place kick one of the soldiers in the leg. He falls and I hold up my gun, using it to dodge the bullet fired from the other soldier. I now lower it and his face drops in disbelief. I send him a grin before knocking him out cold with a single punch to the jaw.
"Oh, hell yeah!" Jack runs over with McKenna.
"Are we ready to get the bloody hell out of here?" McKenna heaves.
"Let's do it." He nods.
"You guys go. I gotta—I gotta get Zion." I take off my gun and hand it to McKenna. "Zion!" I run as fast as I can. "Zion!" I reach him and kneel down. "Zion, c'mon. Everyone's okay. You're gonna be okay." I help him up and wrap his arm around my solider. "C'mon, Zion. Stay with me."
"Lina!" Jack drives over to us. "C'mon!" He heads out of the car.
"Let's go. Let's go, everyone into the vehicles." Miss Quentin heads over with the others.
"Had a blast, Jimbo. Get him in there, Marine." Jack now leads Janis to the cop car.
"Zion, c'mon." I lead him to the car.
"Be sure to leave me a postcard from whatever hole we dump you in."
"Ma'am." A guy in a suit and tie heads over. "I saw you shoot that grenade that was headed straight for us." He grips my hand firmly. "Thank you. Thank you." He nods before walking off.
"You—You shot a grenade? That was headed our way?" Jack gapes with Mac next to him.
"Why do you sound surprised?" Zion tells him.
"Ma'am, we got him." A Marine heads out and takes Zion from me.
"Zion!" I run over and we tightly hug.
"Hey, hey." Zion chuckles, hugging me back with one arm, and I close my eyes. "Your dad would be so proud, Amanda." He whispers before pulling away. "I know I am." He hands me my holster.
"Will I ever see you again?"
"I've always known where you lived. I just didn't wanna look like a creep." He jokes. "Maybe it's a good thing we met under these circumstances."
"Yeah." I chuckle and we hug again before he places his hand on the back of my head. "I'll see you soon?"
"Real soon." He nods and we share a grin before the Marine leads him away.
My eyes fill with tears as I watch him fade further away with the Marine. My heart begins to pound against my chest and my ears ring. My stomach then churns and I feel a lump form in my throat. I drop my holster and I turn. I walk a few feet away and then stop. I projectile vomit and I hold my stomach. I cough and gag and watch my tears hit the ground. I sniffle and shakily exhale.
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"You know what happens when you don't let your body heal?" Eli cleans my healing cut on my arm in the infirmary.
"The wound opens back up." I nod.
"Exactly." He starts bandaging my arm.
"Well, on this job, we don't have time to heal, Eli."
"I know. Doesn't mean I can't annoyingly remind you all the time." He tears off the end of the bandage and I scoff. "Other than the gash in your arm, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." I look at my arm and he hugs me, making me return the action.
"I'm gonna get the car. Cause we both know McKenna's slammin' Evan's head on that steering wheel."
"Yeah." I chuckle and he rubs my shoulder before leaving. I look back at my arm and then realize I don't have my holster.
"Missing something?" Mac enters and holds up my holster before handing it over.
"Thanks." I take it and get off the stretcher. I put it around my waist and fix my gun and knife in the pockets.
"How's Zion?"
"He called me earlier. He's doing good, the surgery went well. He can go home to his family in a few days."
"Good."
"C'mon, let me change your bandage."
"You're a doctor now too?"
"Spent half my childhood cleaning Eli's wounds. Muscle memory. Let's go." I walk past him and open a drawer, taking out bandages and ointment. I close the drawer and turn. I set the stuff aside and reach my hands up. I unbutton his flannel and help him take it off so he doesn't hurt himself. I now peel off his old bandage and fold it in half. I grab the tube of ointment and put some on a cotton swab. I cap the tube and set it down. "This might sting." I gently lather the ointment on his stitched wound and he tenses up. "I gave you a warning. What happened?" I look at the scar on the left side of his chest.
"The op where Nikki was supposedly killed four months ago. Falling into the river saved my life."
"Bacteria in the water makes it worse, but I know what you mean." I nod.
"How are you feeling?" He breaks the short silence.
"Fine. Ears are still ringing a little." I set the cotton swab on the folded bandage.
"Shooting a grenade at close range will do that to you."
"Thanks for the fun fact, had no idea." I grab the roll of bandages and carefully wrap it over his wound.
"You know how many lives you saved by doing what you did?"
"Yes, I do." I finish wrapping his arm and then tape the end of the bandage. "And it doesn't have to be a big thing. This is the job." I hand him his shirt and fix my t-shirt sleeve.
"Not the way you do it." Mac puts on his shirt and I help him, then doing the top buttons.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"You attack head on, you don't hesitate. You have no limits, like you said."
"Maybe I was lying when I said that. I've been told I'm hard to read."
"You are, but you try to keep kids out of it best you can."
"Kids? What made you conjure up that deduction?"
"How you were with Hotch's son and JJ sons. And with Riley. Children are the innocents. You wanna keep them protected, at all times. So do I. All of us."
"World doesn't work like that. Took me a while to accept that." I cross my arms.
"Well, you're confident in yourself because you know you can do the job." Mac gets up. "I've never seen you doubt yourself. Since the day you joined us."
"You always flatter your teammates like this?" I narrow my eyes at him.
"You always try to talk your way out of getting complimented?"
"What do you think?"
"I think, you've...you've done it all. Without any hesitation or any thought for yourself. And after all you've done, the risks, the jumps, the climbs, and after today, getting separated from you for six hours during that blood bath, and you still coming out on top to save us, it means the rest of us have to step up our game."
"Is that what you really think? Do you honestly believe I have no doubts in myself?" I rasp out. "My doubts start the moment I wake up. They started since I was a kid. You don't think I was questioning every single thing I've ever done when I was out there with Zion? I didn't even realize I shot that grenade until after. I'm still processing what I had to do, Mac. But I'll be okay. I'll live with it. I'll sleep peacefully knowing I took out a bunch of terrorists and helped my friends. I'll live." I nod. "But I will always have doubt. Because that's what makes us good at what we do. That fear, that doubt, it keeps you alive. If you have no fear, no doubt, no hesitation, then you're dead before you've even started." I place my hands on his shoulders. "So it's okay that you doubt yourself, Mac. It's okay to be afraid. It's okay to hesitate. Cause it doesn't bring you down, it builds you up. More than you'll ever know."
"I just...you beat Janis's bullets with an empty barrel."
"Jealous you didn't think of it first?" I question and he scoffs. "No, that's not it." I shake my head, keeping my hands on his shoulders. "You've just never worked with anybody who plays at your level. Without having to use paper clips and chewing gum. Glad I could change your perspective." I raise my eyebrows and turn, now leaving.
I hope you're proud, dad.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
🖇️🧠🪵🧨💥
this episode was so intense my anxiety was through the roof when i first watched it😭 mac and lina forever🤞🏻
husband and wife doing husband and wife things
wishing i was the board
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