---Declan's POV---
My head pounded after the torturous debriefing, where Echo, Colt and I had to recount everything in detail, telling the higher ups what happened during the ambush. We were told not to discuss our mission in public, which was the usual but before we left, one of the representatives of the CIA's special divisions pulled me aside and discreetly referred to the letter, telling me to read it in private.
I had shot the man a knowing glance as he looked around before moving away from me after a nod; he knew there was a military leak somewhere but didn't want to alert anyone else, risking that the rat would find out.
"Colt, Echo." I stated before motioning with my head to the chopper that was going to bring us back home, while Mother would remain here until they could pin his exact cause of death; the bullets had ripped several arteries and vessels, amongst the other internal damage they caused.
They caught what I meant and worthlessly followed me. Once we were seated in the chopper, Colt on one side and Echo on the other, I pulled the letter up and removed it from its envelope, surprised that the USB drive dropped out from it. Clearly the medic thought that it had been one of Mother's possessions but we couldn't turn it back in anymore; the chopper was already air born.
I unfolded the letter and was surprised to see that Mother had written it in code. Echo worthlessly took the letter from me and looked it over before reading it aloud.
"Guys,
If you read this, it means that I'm either KIA or MIA, because I wouldn't stay away from my boys any longer than I have to. Sorry to cut your ego's guys, but this time I'm referring to my real boys out there.
I have one last request for you guys that will be my final mission from me to you.
Remember Operation Clean Sweep a few weeks ago? I found evidence that someone in the army is selling INTEL to hostile organizations, immediately endangering our troops. I'm writing this letter now before the chopper is going to bring us to our drop point but I need to write this down for you guys.
My hunch was right and hopefully, today's mission will give me evidence and Intel over the organization that calls itself 'The Dark Sun'. I have a bad feeling though and last time I had that, Echo's head was nearly blown off. If something happens to me, I want you guys to do me a favor. A big one.
I need you guys to go home to my family and protect them. When things go wrong with this mission, it means the Dark Sun has found out about me nosing around and they'll attempt to silence me. But that also means that my kids will be in danger, especially Sage. He's....well, you'll find out on your own.
Thanks you guys and good luck,
Ashton 'Mother' Martinez"
We stayed silent for a moment before Colt looked up from the letter with his hands fisted on his thighs. "So, not only did they set us all up to die, along with team Wolfpack and killing Mother, they're going after his kids too? This thing goes deep, mark my words."
I nodded, looking down at the letter again before sighing for a moment. "All I know is that I'm going to do this for Mother. But if his kids are on a hit list, I doubt that we can protect them long without raising suspicion...unless we make a plan."
Colt nodded slowly, rubbing his thumb over the slight stubble on his cheek before he snapped his fingers and fumbled around with his gear. "Base, this is Colt. How's Wolfpack doing?"
We watched in silence as Colt waited for an answer before the intercom cracked with a reply. "Colt, this is Dr. Philips. I can't give you the information for it is classified but all I can tell you is that team Wolfpack fared far worse than you guys." I shared a loaded look with the others while Colt cursed under his breath and contacted one of the higher ups.
"Sir, this is Colt. Permission to speak sir?" He asked respectfully before he got a stern reply, "Permission granted. State your desire son, we need to find out what went wrong on the mission." Colt took a deep breath and kept his eyes on us as he replied, "Word is that Wolfpack isn't doing so well and since we...lost our commander, I'll take a wild guess that our teams are being frozen until further notice?"
"Affirmative."
"Well sir, I have a request to make in that case." Colt stated, making me raise my eyebrows at him while I mouthed 'What are you doing?'. He smiled reassuringly as he got the go ahead and stated, "Well, I'm guessing we'll follow the protocol and find a safe, neutral spot to wait till the storm has blown over. My request is this; As the Commander's team, its our duty to inform his family of his...status. The survivors of Wolfpack can join us there."
All of us stared at Colt with wide eyes. His plan was good and fact was that the Commander's kids would have more protection and we'd have more eyes and ears on the field to help us out on our mission. We weren't going to let that rat get any other man killed.
"Hmmm, we'll give your request some thought. You raise an interesting point son, but we have other things to discuss now. Follow the procedure and we'll contact you when we have our answer. Base out."
I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning my head against the chopper's walls. "Quick thinking Colt." I murmured tiredly, feeling groggy from the whole ordeal. Colt grunted and muttered, "It's the least I could do for Mother. His kids need the best protection and not to sound cocky, but we're the best of the best."
Echo softly agreed with him before I heard the rustling of paper. "Wonder what's so special about his kids? He mentioned his son by name...Sage...Does any of you guys know how old they are?"
I shook my head without opening my eyes. "All I know is that Sage is the eldest of four. Then there are two teens and one younger child." Peeling one eye open, I looked at Echo and smirked halfheartedly when I noticed he was already searching for Mother's Intel.
Surprisingly, Colt placed his hand over the screen and stopped Echo from getting into the database, shaking his head slightly. "Don't. The rat will be watching us closely and if we go in through an unsecured line, they'll find out that we're trying to get more information about Mother. They'll know something's off..." He trailed off but he said enough.
My teeth were painfully gritting together as I thought back to that moment where Mother had stumbled, the shock and pain clear in his eyes. And yet, when his eyes had connected with mine...for a split second, there was a glimpse of determination in his eyes. It was as if he knew he was going to die that day, his letter was proof of that.
With a soft growl stuck in my throat, I allowed my head to roll back and sleep for the time being. I had to be alert and awake when we were going to bring Mother's family the bad news.
-----
Colt softly hit the brakes of his Audi R8 and stopped in front of a rather large house. I drove next to his window and let the engine of my bike run while Echo rolled his window down.
"Guess Mother forgot to mention he was living in the upper class." He said, eying the large building while Colt scoffed slightly. "You're exaggerating but I have to say, I didn't imagine this to be his house. I always thought he lived in a penthouse or something but then again, I never thought his kids were young enough to still live with him."
A snort escaped me as I shook my head. "Its not because you're the eternal bachelor that we live like you Colt." I teased, pulling a charming grin on my face when Colt scowled my way. He rolled his eyes but chuckled amused and shook his fringe out of his eyes.
"Let's go and tell them, before the neighbors get antsy." Echo interjected Colt's undoubtedly smart comment as he eyed the elderly woman, who was peering through the sliver in her curtains she was holding open.
The purrs of Colt's engine stopped when he parked on the driveway while I stepped of the bike and pulled my gloves off, keeping an eye on Mother's house...Well, I guess it was Sage's now. Poor kids.
My heart felt heavy as I led the others towards the front door, slowly taking the whole house in. It seemed a normal house for a family with kids; a large garden with a weathered swing, a swinging chair on the front porch, a few discarded toys in the grass...
I sighed heavily and knocked on the white door, glancing at the peephole while Colt and Echo took position behind my back. The door opened and I swallowed instinctively when my mouth watered at the sight.
You see; part of being a Seal, or simply being in the army, is keeping your sexual preferences behind closed walls. The army didn't hate gay soldiers and didn't stop them from enlisting, but it was a commonly known rule. The "Don't ask, don't tell" had been shut down only recently but still...
I doubt it would make things easier if I dropped the bomb on the guys and told them I was gay. I doubted that they would treat me any differently than before but I knew of several of the troops that weren't so open minded.
Back to the vision that was standing in the doorway, looking from Colt to Echo and back to me as he raised an impeccable eyebrow in a questioning way. My eyes scanned his whole posture, from the short, soft looking brown hair, the barely there stubble and the hazel eyes that seemed to hold a certain knowledge.
I couldn't stop my eyes from lingering on his bare abs when I realized that this man had opened the door whilst he was opening his white dress shirt, which was hanging loosely from his shoulders right now. It allowed us a glimpse of his defined chest and abdomen, as well as the sliver of his briefs that were playing peekaboo with his dark jeans.
A subtle shift from Colt made me jolt my head back up as I quickly realized two things; one, I had been shamelessly ogling the man in front of me, following his happy trail down to his crotch with my eyes and two, both Colt and Echo had noticed and were silently snickering behind my back.
The young man in front of me cleared his throat as he glanced back at me before eying the two behind me with wary eyes. "Yes, can I help you?" He asked politely while keeping one hand on the door, as if he was ready to close it when we'd proof to be a threat or bothersome salesmen.
I swallowed thickly, the mood instantly changing as I verified, "This is the house of Ashton Martinez and his family?" My simple question had an instant reaction to the kid. His brown eyes widened slightly in horror and shock before he looked at us as if he saw us in a different light.
"Neptune?" He asked with a shaky voice. When I nodded slowly, he wordlessly opened the door for us and staggered to the side, biting on his lower lip with a distant look in his tearful eyes.
He already knew the implications of having the teammates of your father knocking on your door.
"I hate this part of the job." Echo muttered hoarsely as we slid past the boy, who was probably the eldest son. "I-I..." The boy shook his head, clearing his throat as he sniffed slightly before taking a deep breath and standing up tall, squaring his shoulders as he stepped into a room. Colt slipped in behind him and signaled behind his back that there was another person in the room.
Walking in the living room, I took the soft colored room and leather couches in from my peripheral vision, since my eyes, brain and groin all seemed to be transfixed on the young man's behind.
"Who was it Sage? Don't tell me it was Suzanna again! I'm going to tear Davy a new one if I have one more of his ex lovers at the door, begging for a crumb of his- Oh!" The teenaged brunette stopped mid sentence when she lifted her eyes from the magazine she had been reading and discovered us standing behind her brother.
I glanced at Sage from the corner of my eyes as he shook his head and swallowed, turning towards us. "Forgive me for not introducing myself, I-I'm still a bit...overwhelmed." He apologized, choosing his words wisely as he looked back at his sister.
"No worries." I smiled politely, sticking one hand out to point at everyone as I said, "I'm Declan, over there is Josh and drooling over your computer is Richard." Echo turned around at his real name and scoffed slightly while Colt nodded almost invisibly, showing me that he understood that we shouldn't use our code names unless it was urgent.
The girl smiled at us, her bright green eyes distinctly different from her older brother as she sat up straighter in her seat and smiled, pushing the magazine to the side as she greeted all of us.
"And I'm Laura. So, We know who you are but why are you guys here? I doubt that Sage's fellow students are this hot, otherwise I'm going for a medical education as well." She finished with a smirk towards her brother, who rolled his eyes heavily before asking, "Do you know where Davy is?"
Laura frowned slightly, her lips pulling to a flat line in distaste. "Probably searching for his next conquest. It's Saturday for a reason, you know? Most of us like to hang out, do nothing in the weekend, unlike some..." She trailed of, looking pointedly at her older brother.
Sage sighed slightly, although I could see a soft smile on his lips before he turned serious again. "Call him and tell him to come home. It's urgent." He added when Laura went to open her mouth to protest. She sighed but nodded and walked out of the room with a smile towards us.
"Um, I think its best if we wait for your mother to get home. You can tell the whole family that way." Josh replied, frowning slightly while he brushed his golden brown fringe out of his eyes.
Sage's mouth tightened and his eyes turned icily before he snorted, "Than you can wait for a very long time sir." He managed not to spit his words out but the tone made it clear that he had a thing or two to say on the matter at hand. I frowned and shared a look with the others but before I could comment, tiny feet came thundering down the stairs and a red blur jumped towards Sage.
"Easy Declan." Josh whispered behind me when my hand had jerked towards the moving object to stop it, an unconscious reaction after what happened today. The girl that was now glued to Sage's legs, resting her head against his abs, seemed to be no older than five years old. Her blackish brown hair was pulled in a ponytail, softly curling at her temples.
"Sage! You're home! I didn't hear you come in, when did you get here? I thought the bell was you but you always have the keys with you unless you forgot them at school? Did you forget your keys at school? Can you get them back? I'm hungry too so can we get some pizza on the way?" She rambled rapidly, waiting for an answer as she tilted her head back, looking at her big brother.
My throat tightened at the sadness growing in Sage's eyes as he shook his head and I could hear a feint curse coming from Richard. Its like he said before; this part of the job was the hardest and I didn't realize that we had to inform a small kid that her daddy wouldn't be coming home any time soon.
"Ellie, Ellie! I can't answer if you keep spewing more questions baby girl." Sage smiled down at the girl, who huffed and hugged him tighter. "Than answer the questions silly." She grinned, making Sage roll his eyes again.
"A few hours ago, no I didn't lost them and I could get them back if I did. No way are we eating fast food again Ellie, you got to pick yesterday." He said in a stern tone, although he grinned widely as his sister pulled her arms back and threw them up.
"Fine! But don't pick something icky!" She complained, running towards the door where Laura came back in, followed by a frowning teenage boy with copper curls bouncing each step he took. His eyes quickly scanned each of us before a impish smile curled his lips up.
"Damn big bro, didn't know to had it in you to organize a strip party but I'm glad you did." Richard snorted at the comment while Josh pulled his lips in a lopsided smirk, eying the kid with renewed interest. Looks like I wasn't the only one keeping quiet.
"Davy, please, for once in your life, zip it! You're embarrassing to have as a twin brother!" Laura cried out, shoving him to the side with burning red cheeks. Davy flashed a toothy grin at her before looking at Sage and raised his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay, jokes are not appreciated. But why are these guys here?" Davy said, which pulled all the attention back to Sage, who was having difficulties with trying to find the right words. Eventually he frowned slightly and managed to sit down while Ellie crawled into his lap with curious eyes.
"Yeah, why are they here? Who are they?" she asked, her blue eyes widening in curiosity while Sage swallowed a couple of times. I wanted to help him but Josh quickly placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed once, letting me know that I shouldn't interfere.
"Remember when we talked about why dad was out there, fighting the bad guys?" Sage started, looking from Ellie to his brother and sister, who were both frozen where they stood, Davy shaking his head in denial as the truth started to slip in at those words.
Ellie nodded her head slightly, looking back with confusion on her face as Laura sank down in one of the seats and hid her face, her shoulders shaking with silent tears. "Yeah, daddy's protecting the good people, like the angels in his stories. He and three other angels always go out to safe the world!" She chirped, looking up at Sage for reassurance.
My throat thickened even more when I realized that Mother...Ashton had talked about us through his stories. Sage nodded once and blinked the tear away before he said, "Well, dad always believed in God and Angels, and when they saw how good a job he was doing with defending people, they asked him to become a real angel, so he could defend even more people."
"Oh...." The child was quiet for a moment while I shared a look with Josh and Richard, all of us feeling their pain as our own before Ellie spoke up with a sad voice.
"Daddy isn't coming home again, is he?" Sage swallowed harshly and pulled her in a hug, whispering the answer softly in the room as he looked at the rest of his family with silent tears falling from his face.
"No."
So, a new chapter for you guys ;) I've never lost someone on the frontlines so I don't now how it feels like but I hope it came through.
Comments and votes are appreciated :)