**| Sean's POV |**
When everything went to shit...again, we were sprinting, rushing to get to them. But we were too slow. North already did a superhero move and Silas was already introducing the man to his fist. I moved passed Silas knowing the others would stop him. Hopefully not until a few more hits though.
North was on the ground with Sang next to him, crawling to her feet.
I slid down onto my knees, ignoring the scraping pain as I began assessing North.
"I'm fine," he grunted, his eyes pressed closed as he held his right hand to his side.
"Let me look," I said, not believing him. The man could be gutted and would still say he's fine while trying to shove his innards back into his stomach.
He grunted and shifted. I helped him sit up, propping him against the cabin's wall. When I got him comfortable, I grabbed his hand and moved it, looking at the wound. It was bleeding a lot but when I moved closer, my shoulders slumped in relief.
The wound looked like a deep gash, telling me the bullet only grazed his side. I could fix this. This was fixable. We would be okay.
I unhooked the bag I had strapped to my bag and put it next to me. It held all the medical supplies I had on hand with me. I silently thanked Kota for getting it as I opened the bag and pulled what I needed out. I purged all my crazy emotions and focused on each task I had to do, forcing my hands to still. I was a doctor, I couldn't allow the fear to prevent me from doing my job.
I cleaned the wound, trying to slow down the bleeding before I could even stitch the wound closed.
"I'm so sorry," Sang said, kneeling down next to North as I finally managed to get the wound to stop bleeding.
"Don't" North grunted, trying to focus on Sang. Pain clouded his dark eyes but he seemed determined to keep her in his sights. I would too if the situation were reversed. And Sang was beautiful to look at. Besides, I couldn't fault her for anything. Not right now. She was genuinely concerned about North and his well being. How could I hate someone like that?
We would still get all our answers, but not until after I got North up and running again.
"I'm going to numb the area," I warned North.
He didn't say anything and so I grabbed a sterile needle and filled it with what I needed to take his pain away. I turned to Silas as I waited for the numbness to kick in completely.
He was standing with Gabriel and Owen acting as watch dogs in case he decided to go berserk like that again.
I glanced at his knuckles and sighed. His hands were bloody and I was pretty sure it was from Sander and not because his hands were hurt. I'd still need to check just to make sure.
"You're next," I said to Silas with narrowed eyes, leaving no room for argument. He didn't say anything as Gabriel led him over to a porch swing to settle down on while they waited.
"How is he?" Owen asked and I focused on him.
He looked like he aged a few years from this, his hair a mess, his eyes tired and scared. This mission was playing on Owen's biggest fear of losing someone and the couple of days, especially the last couple hours really hadn't helped.
"Grazed him," I answered and I could see the small amount of relief he allowed me to see before his mask was in place and he went over to the unconscious man.
I did not pity Sander. He better hope he stayed out for the count for a few more hours because if he woke up right now, Owen would deal with him, and then I would deal with him in a way only a doctor would be able to do.
Doctors really did make the best torturers. While I was a lover and hated violence, the man tried to kill North.
That wasn't acceptable.
I turned back to the task in front of me: stitches.
I did it with ease of a professional, closing the sliced skin, using eleven stitches. He wasn't going to be able to move around well because of the location, but no doubt he would ignore everything I was about to tell him
And he did. Because the moment I finished talking about taking care of himself and what could open the stitches again, he was on his feet, ready for action, if a little wobbly and shaky.
Rustling from the woods caught everyone's attention and we all turned as one unit as North shifted to stand in front of Sang.
A moment later, the rest of our team popped out with the German bird team following behind.
Amala let out a long whistle as she took in the scene. "Looks like we missed the party," she said until she focused on Sang, who's body stilled.
"So this is Sang," Amala's eyes scanned over Sang and then she looked away, clearly not impressed. She should be. Sang knew how to take down men twice her size in a cage fight to the death. I briefly wondered what a match between the two women would be like.
"With all the running around we were doing for you, I thought you'd be taller," Helmine said as they came up to the porch.
"What the fuck happened?" Nathan asked, taking in the wounded North.
"North thought he was Superman and tried to act like a hero," I said, letting some of my anger and disapproval drip into the words. North stiffened but didn't say anything.
Sang shook her head and backed away. "You guys are with the gang. I've seen you hanging around them."
"Only so we could gather intel on them," Elli said. "You need to calm down. We aren't going to hurt you. We just want answers."
Sang pressed her lips together as old pains haunted her big green eyes. I felt myself wanting to help her but knowing I couldn't. Not right now anyways.
"We need to wrap this up and then debrief everyone," Amala said, still eyeing Sang. "And to get those children to safety."
"No," Sang stepped forward. "I won't let you near the door. You can't use these kids."
Helmine's expression darkened as she stepped closer to Sang. "You mean like how you destroyed any chances you had to real happiness."
"I mean I can't let you return those children. I don't care about me. I know what I've done."
"They deserve to be with their families," Helmine gritted out.
"They deserve to live!" Sang snapped back.
And then before any of us knew what happened, Helmine attacked Sang.
She tackled Sang to the ground and punched her in the gut. Sang grunted as everyone began yelling.
Helmine's team created a barrier, blocking North, who was ready to pull Helmine off Sang, and Silas who was beside North, ready to go into battle. Every time they moved, the two girls moved with them. Bulldozing through them would be a bad idea and only make the situation worse, and North was too hurt to really do anything.
Nathan looked confused, he didn't know who to help. Helmine was out of line, attacking. Owen just watched, his expressive calculating. He was working something out in that big brain of his.
Kota looked worried, Luke was wide-eyed, and Gabriel was about to freak out.
There was a loud hitting sound and Helmine fell backwards.
They both jumped to their feet ready to go through round two.
I probably would have let them too. Seemed to me they both needed to work something out with each other and there was no way I was jumping between two women.
Well, until I spotted two adorable little heads, one a little girl crying, as they watched from the doorway.
They didn't need to see this violence. I shifted and caught Nathan's attention, jerking my head to the kids.
He frowned when he saw them and then his expression darkened. He stepped forward to the Amala and Elli.
"Move," he said.
"No," Amala said. "Helmine needs this and Sang deserves what she gets."
I cocked an eyebrow. "Looks to me Sang is winning," I said.
And I was right, she had landed a few hard hits to Helmine, whose nose and lip were bleeding while Sang only looked a little ruffled.
"The kids are watching," I said.
When the two women glanced at the door, we made our move, slipping past them.
I wrapped my arm around Sang at the same time Nathan did with Helmine and we pulled the two apart.
Sang stilled in my arm, not bothering to fight me. She seemed to have only fought because she was defending herself. Nathan wasn't as lucky. Helmine turned on him, aiming to hurt him. Only all his training in martial arts kept him safe from her advances as he restrained her.
For the love of pie!
"Enough!" I snapped and handed Sang over to North before he ripped her from my arms.
Helmine turned to me with hateful eyes. "You have no clue what that bitch has done!"
"Enough, Helmine," Amala said in a warning.
"No, she's right, we don't know. But we will find out," Owen said, finally stepping in. "In a way that is acceptable for an Academy member. Not in a brawl." His voice was steel now as he glared at the bird team. "What just happened isn't how we work and you know it."
Helmine's cheeks tinted red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Good.
We all turned to Sang who stood slightly behind North, only a little ruffled.
When we focused on her, she shifted so she was next to North and then gave us all a challenging look.
I wanted to smile at her spunk, surrounded by people who didn't trust her.
"Great!" I clapped my hands together and let out a small chuckle at the people I got to jump. "We aren't bad guys and I'm beginning to think you aren't either. Time for some Q and A. Right, Miss Sang?"
She nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.
Finally!