---Sage's POV---
I faintly remembered the pulsing pain in my arms, sinews and tissues screaming in pain as Grey had grabbed a knife with a murderous glint in his eyes. They found out about the tracker shortly after the dog had mauled both Timothy and me. And all simply because the handler had a scanner on his waist and it went off when he bowed over me, clipping his dog back on a leash.
That's when I found myself being dragged down the hallway and tossed at Grey's feet before the soldier had slammed the scanner down on the desk. Grey had been furious but his state of mind had taken a turn for the worse when the lights went off.
Everyone had scrambled for a weapon, clicking on flashlights while Sgt.Grey had grabbed the knife and proceeded to cut the tracker out in the dim light. I had thought that those slow minutes in the darkness, being blinded by flashlights aimed at my face and the knife carving through my flesh, were my last minutes on Earth. There was no doubt in my mind that Grey would kill me if the back up had finally found me.
My heart had throbbed in my throat when the door was kicked open with a bang and I could've cried as I laid eyes on the heavily decked out soldiers that rushed in and took everyone out in the room.
I could see the fear in my man's eyes before my head was yanked backwards and I closed my eyes, sending a little prayer to the gods above that somehow, I was going to make it out alive. When Grey jerked and released me, I could feel my lip wobble on the sob that threatened to creep out.
Declan had unceremoniously tossed his gun aside as soon as I started to fall down and grabbed me in his arms, trembling all over his body. I wasn't able to do anything but cling onto him like he was my lifeline, the buoy that managed to keep me afloat.
And now here I was, burying my face against Declan's shoulder as he refused to put me down, much to the annoyance of the CASEVAC team. They couldn't really assess my injuries and treat them appropriately without Declan setting me down on the bed. It was only after the pilot threatened to stay put until I was strapped down that Declan finally placed me down and let the team take care of me.
Off course, he was watching them like a hawk.
"Sir, can you tell me your name and what date it is?"
I sighed tiredly and managed to pry my swollen eye open to look at the appointed medic. "My name is Sage Martinez, I have no clue what day it is but I can tell you that I have a concussion, a possible fracture of the radius and ulna, bruising on the mandibula and possible cracking. And I also have a tear in the delta muscle." Silence followed my little rant before I blinked tiredly and kept a tight hold on Declan's hand.
"Anything else?" I could see that despite the situation, Declan's eyes danced with a twitch of amusement as one of the soldiers that rescued me guffawed and slapped him on the back. "Damn, no wonder you were so keen to rescue him. Damn...got anymore where that came from?" The man joked goodheartedly before winking in my direction.
"Sure, " Josh said as he nodded and took a seat beside the bed, ignoring the disgruntled mutters of the medic's team as he sat down and retrieved a rather sharp looking knife from his boot. "He has two other siblings, one brother and a sister. The boy's claimed Killjoy."
"Oh?" Killjoy grinned under his beard as he slowly leaned forwards, glancing at Josh's hands before smirking widely. "There's no ring around your finger to support that claim. Afraid from some honest competition?"
Josh scoffed as he leaned back and strapped himself in the seat. Everyone was taking a seat while the medics fluttered around me, checking my wounds and keeping me stabile until they got me in a hospital. "Scared for Davy? Nah, that boy would chop your balls up and feed them to you if you tried."
They all laughed and Declan leaned closer as they placed an oxygen mask over my face, placing a kiss on my forehead. I had seen his little nod to the lead medic and rolled my eyes as I felt a small prick in my elbow before everything started to feel woozy.
"Just close your eyes love and sleep. We'll be home before you know it." Declan whispered soothingly, grasping my hand in a firm grip. I gave him a weak smile, wanting to say that I didn't want to fall asleep now that I was finally save in his arms again. But the soft rubbing of his thumb over my knuckles and the slight sedatives coursing through my veins were enough to push my consciousness to the side and douse me in a quiet slumber.
The murmur of soft voices was the first thing that my mind detected, shortly after the heavy sensation in my limbs. My eyelids seemed to be cemented shut, so I simply rested for the time being, wondering how long I'd been off the world.
I inhaled deeply, my nose instantly prickling with the sharp medicinal scent that was typical for a hospital and I managed a small groan that sounded muffled and slurred. Fingers curled around my hand and squeezed gently while I could barely managed to twitch in response.
"He's still sedated, I doubt he'll wake up anytime soon Declan." Josh's voice suddenly spoke up as heavy boots thumped against the floor before a chair screeched over the floor. I could hear him sitting down and sighing slightly. "Even if he is waking up now, it'll take a few hours before he has a clear mind. You heard the doctors too."
The fingers squeezed again before I felt the bed I was on dip slightly, a tickling sensation running over my arm before I felt something warm and soft press against my cheek. My fingers twitched again as I realized Declan pecked a gentle kiss on my cheek but there wasn't anything I could really do to respond.
"I know you can hear me Sage, I just need you to relax and heal. Soon enough you can complain about the bad quality of the hospital food here, amongst other things." He chuckled as I managed to scrunch my nose in distaste, feeling slightly more aware of my surroundings. When Josh asked me if I really was awake, I twitched my fingers a few times in Declan's hold to verify I really was awake before I heard Josh's boots going to the door and then back to my bed.
"Sage, I really need you to listen to me." He hushed softly, his voice barely audible. My eyelids fluttered and I fought to pry them open before I groaned at the bright light. "Shhh, just listen. We now know the identity of the leaders of the Black Sun, and so do you. You've encrypted their names in the documents you left for us. Do you remember?"
I blinked warily and squeezed Declan's hand again. The initial surprise to learn who exactly was operating behind the scenes had staggered me but I'm sure that by now, they had more evidence gathered and they were ready to apprehend all of the culprits.
---Declan's POV---
My nerves were rocketing sky-high when I felt Sage squeeze my hand. He remembered, which also meant that he was likely to be the next target. No doubt the remnants of the Black Sun were going to make sure that the boy who uncovered them was going to draw his last breath.
Not on my watch.
We, meaning my former team, Samuel and Killjoy's team, had already made a fool-proof plan to prevent that and Josh was quick to explain the basics to Sage. He would never be in real danger but he needed to remain as passive as possible.
"Guys, there are eyes on you." Killjoy whispered through the microscopic earpiece that both me and Josh were adorned with. Josh instantly sighed before shaking his head and sitting back down while I squeezed Sage's hand warningly. Hopefully he got the message to act like he was still sedated, instead of in the process of waking up.
"How long do you think its going to take for him to wake up?" Josh asked casually, his legs dangling back and forth. I shrugged my shoulders as I stared at Sage, happy to see that besides the minor frown, he didn't react on our sudden change in conversation.
"Who knows, you know the nurse has given him another shot just a few minutes ago. I guess it'll take a few hours at least." I said while looking at the clock. Josh nodded before rubbing on his stomach as it let out a sudden growl. "Let's get some real food then, I'm sure we'll be back before Sage even wakes up man."
Even though I knew it was all part of the plan, I simply wanted to pull my gun and run out the room, knowing that the bastard who had ordered this on Sage was but hiding somewhere down the hall. Him or his right hand.
But if I did that, the whole operation would be compromised, so I simply nodded and leaned over Sage to kiss his cheek, covering it up that I was removing my gun and placing it underneath the covers in his hands. I could tell he wanted to react on that but he knew off the plan.
In case we were hold up, he now had a way to defend himself.
As we exited the room, we made sure close the door behind us and head towards the direction of the cafeteria, knowing that we were most likely being looked at until we passed the corner.
"Okay, small fry is going after Sage, we got our eyes on the big fish. Loop around and the party is going to start in 2 mikes." Killjoy chortled, barely hiding his amusement. I gave a stern nod at Josh, who instantly sidestepped into another hallway and silently ran back towards Sage's room, with me hot on his heels.
"And in three, two, one..."
At the count of one, Josh and I rushed into the room, startling the fake nurse who was preparing a syringe with unknown fluids. She gasped and stuttered something before Josh had her pressed against the wall. Sage had instantly scrambled backwards, aiming a shaking gun towards the woman with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Its not every day that you find out the bitch that birthed you is the one that got your father killed.
That's right. How Sage was holding up under this information, I didn't know but at the moment, Josh had Miranda shoved against the wall as he handcuffed her, the commotion of her shrieks and foul language gaining quite an audience. Thankfully Samuel had thought ahead and informed the security and staff of the hospital of what was going to happen.
Josh was ironically Mirandizing Miranda, nearly shouting now to be audible over her high pitched screams as he handed her over to the police. I could hear Killjoy on the other side doing the same thing before he respectfully told the President to sit back for a moment. They would explain soon enough why they were bringing his Vice-president in for justice.
My head spun slightly as the raging woman was carried off towards the highest security jail, waiting for a judge to sentence her for the rest of her life in prison. Apparently the woman had a long term affair with the Vice-president, who had always held a grudge that he hadn't been elected.
It had irked him to no end that he was then placed as second, in his eyes a clear statement that he wasn't good enough for the country. He had devised a cunning plan, where The Black Sun would slowly but surely annihilate our troops left and right until the country was brought in an uproar, demanding justice.
The President wouldn't be able to stop it, since his second hand was stabbing him in the back and thus, the Vice-President would take over the reigns. He had spent five years creating and building up the ranks of the Black Sun with people who held grudges against the state or the army.
Miranda came into the picture after Ashton had discovered her adultery and had tossed her out. She off course had details of his suspicion and had briefed them to her lover.
That leaded to the attack that ended Ashton's life, as well as the lives of Samuel's teammates. But the Black Sun has done more to Samuel than any of us could imagine.
"How's Sam handling the situation?" I asked of Josh, winching when he shook his head gravely and sighed. "How do you think he'd handle it? Pretty badly off course; as soon as he knew who and why, he's gone AWOL and went after that Riley guy. Killjoy's guys found Sam with the gun still smoking in his hands."
I sighed, rubbing over my face and groaned. Sam was getting himself in some pretty deep shit and I didn't know if any of us could help him out of him, or that the higher ups would excuse him from his actions.
But if I were to be in his place, I'd done the exact same thing. When that informant started talking, everything was going fine until he mentioned an order that Grey had placed, an order directly coming from the Vice President.
Samuel's persistence and his friendship with Ashton had unintentionally brought him in the spotlights. The Black Sun felt threatened, knowing that if the two were to combine forces, their little plot would soon be unraveled.
So, they hired a hit man...and sent him after Sam's family when he was out on a mission. I've never seen Sam that pissed off, to the point that I felt a bit threatened myself and had taken a few steps back.
"Is it...over? We're safe?" Sage asked tiredly as I pried the gun out of his hands and smiled, claiming his lips passionately before pulling back and making sure he was comfortable.
"Yeah, we're safe. The Black Sun is dead now Sage." I grinned before sitting down beside my man. There was nothing on the world that was going to pry me away from him now.
Please remember, this is a fictional work! Nobody start looking at your President or Vice president strangely now ;) But yeah, I gave you guys quite a bit of information and unraveled the Black Sun...so...what do you think?
THis isn't the end guys ;) there are more chapters to follow after this ;)