LEO
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06/06/2002 - 11pm
La Castellana Safe House
Colombia
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I haven't slept a wink.

Everyone is bustling around in the room, going through their final counts of ammo and discussing the plan with each other. Looking over at Nova, I watch as she's strapping a pistol to her thigh over her cargos. With a scoff, I approach her.

"What's this?" I question, snatching it out of the holster on her thigh to look at it.

"Something I'll shoot you with if you do that again." She snarls as she grabs it back off of me. I chuckle slightly and shake my head.

"Of course I know what it is. It just looks ancient. I think you need an upgrade." I grin provokingly at her. She just rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh.

"This pistol has a bigger kill streak than you could even fathom, Leo." She replies bluntly, turning away to slide the rest of her equipment into her vest. I raise my eyebrows. "Oh? And how'd you figure that out?"

"It used to be my Dad's." She replies irritatedly this time. I'm definitely pissing her off. "And why did your dad carry around a Smith and Wesson? Was he a nutcase like you are?" I quip.

She turns to face me again with a completely unimpressed expression. "Just an ex-veteran. You think I'm a nutcase? Imagine you'd met my brother." She chuckles as she mutters under her breath, I don't think she meant for me to hear that last part.

What's the deal with her brother?

"What do you mean by that?" I ask with genuine curiosity, staring to load my gear into my vest.

She shoots me a frustrated look, supposedly because I heard her mumbling.

"I'm not giving you a rundown of my family history just before we're going on a mission, Leo." She shakes her head.

My shoulders just shrug in response. "Alright, well, when we're done with this mission. Can I get the rundown then?" My arms fold across my chest as I raise my eyebrows in anticipation of her answer.

I don't know why I'm bothering asking this. I suppose I just want to know if there's a reason deep down as to why she's such a bitch.

She narrows her eyes at me.

"No," she mutters, "you are, in fact, quite literally the last person I'd speak to about my past."

So there is something deeper going on.

"Im sure I can guess. Mommy issues? You haven't mentioned her yet, and you don't seem like a mothers idea of a daughter." I snicker, but the gaze that I am met with is cold and unforgiving. Her face immediately twists into the definition of anger itself.

Maybe I crossed a line.

"Don't fucking ask me anything about my past again, got that?" She hisses warningly after a few seconds.

Instead of jabbing back at her as usual, I just nod slightly and look away as she storms off. Maybe her mom is dead or something? Something I didn't even consider before I opened my mouth.

If it was anyone else I'd apologise immediately; because it's Nova, however, silence is the best apology I can bring myself give her.

====
1am

The drive to Comuna 13 is tense. Everyone is completely silent apart from the odd noise of guns clanking around. The van stops for Mulvey to get out at her designated spot, an old high rise car park.

She checks her comms are connected up properly before picking up her sniper rifle and leaving. The van continues until the old warehouse is just a little ahead of us. Marcus halts us to a stop behind some trees and turns around to look at us from the drivers seat.

"Keep me updated on your whereabouts. I'm flying in the chopper at 2:30am at the location we confirmed. If you need a getaway quicker than that, radio me." He instructs us, we all nod and file out of the van.

Banksy and Lowe immediately head West and deeper into the line of trees. I pull down my thermo-binoculars and get an eye of that's happening through the smashed-out windows in the distance.

The Southeast side looks clear as planned. With an affirmative nod, we push forward; moving like phantoms as we slip between the overgrown blades of grass. Nova mutters the plan to everyone again, confirming they know what they're doing.

"They aren't stupid. You don't have to remind them for the 80th time." I mumble. Even through these thermos' I can see her pissed off expression.

"God forbid I want to make sure everyone's on board." She snarls. The missions gravity is only being intensified by her presence. She's such a fucking thorn in my side.

One by one, we stealthily slide over the windowsill before flushing ourselves against the walls. I glance over at Nova as she raises her gloved hand for a second to halt us before peering around the corner. Once satisfied, she flicks her finger forward.

Nolan, Oliver and Price stealthily move across to the opposite side of the wall as we disperse into smaller units. I glance at Nova and exchange a small, irritated nod with her before pushing forwards with Devlin.

The other group make their way through a different route, us three sticking together. We continue pushing forwards, light on our feet. We crouch down in an alcove for a second. Up ahead, there's some distance voices echoing in an area that is significantly more lit up than where we are right now.

"He's probably in there." Nova whispers, gesturing towards the faint sounds of chatter.

"State the obvious." I mumble, stepping out of the alcove. Suddenly, I'm grabbed at the back of my vest by Nova and yanked back into the cover as she presses me against the wall.

A pissed off expression flashes across my face. As I go to speak, she reaches up and clamps her hand right over my mouth and mouths at me, 'shut the fuck up.'

I have no idea what this is about. A second before I'm about to shove this pain in my ass off of me, two insurgents walk past us; engaging in their own conversation.

So that's why she pulled that little stunt. Once they're clear of the alcove, she releases her deathly grip from over my lips.

Without bothering to thank her, we continue moving forwards; following the path of the insurgents who paced past us. They head towards the open area. Nova speaks something in a hushed tone through her comms, facial expression showing she's satisfied with the response.

"Nolan has rigged the place with explosives, we have 20 minutes to get this done." She whispers to us.

20 minutes? Fuck me. If we don't secure Ramirez in the next 1,200 seconds, our own asses are going to blow up with the rest of this place.

Maintaining a composed expression, I glance down at my watch. 1:20am. We have to be out and away from the area at 1:40. I've done worse.

Giving her a small, nonchalant nod, we push forwards. We're now right next to the loading area. Devlin glances around the corner and then puts up 9 of his fingers to us. He then stops and makes a 'T' shape with his hands. He's got his eyes on the target.

"Don't fuck this up." I mutter against Nova's ear. She tilts her head slightly to turn around and look at me with an annoyed glare.

"Fuck off." She hisses in a hushed tone. Looking around the group, we all nod in unison once again before turning the corner, sending off a few shots to make the cartel members scatter.

The plan works as they all swivel their heads in shock, running for their guns. As soon as they're trying to prepare themselves, we sprint over to them and take the advantage.

Killing the rest of the members isn't part of the mission, but it's something that will be done if absolutely necessary. I grab ahold of one's shirt, throwing him aside to see if he's Ramirez. Not him.

Before I can act again, chaos erupts as we try to locate Ramirez. The rest of our unit joins and assists us, as well as seemingly more Cartel members. Gunfire starts spraying rapidly.

My eyes spot one trying to load up his rifle; taking the butt of my own, I knock him out cold.

Spinning around, I notice that the rest of our team is mainly tasked on disarming the insurgents rather than killing them.

I watch as Nova shoots one in their kneecap to throw them off foot. I glance at her furiously.

"The fuck are you doing? You idiot! We aren't meant to be killing the gang members, just disarming them!" I yell at her.

"How about you concentrate and let me do my own fucking job! When was the last time you heard about someone dying from a shot to their goddamn knee!?" She hisses.

Our bickering is definitely interfering with the task, despite the fact we've got the upper hand.

A few of us are getting skimmed by stay bullets, but nothing serious. At this moment, for some godforsaken reason, my mind decides to launch me back into my mission with Carlos.

Everything falls still for a second as the vision of his splattered brains fills the forefront of my mind.

I can hear someone yelling my name as I snap out of my trance; seeing a Ka-Bar gripped in an insurgents hand, right in front of me as he's about to bring it down.

Before I get a chance to react, he's tackled away from me and into the ground with force.

My gaze follows them and locks on Nova; who has tackled, and is now in a violent fight with that particular man. I instantly recognise him as the target, Paolo Ramirez.

Despite our mutual hatred, there is a grudging acknowledgement of her skills. She's so fast; for every hit he's getting on her, she's getting double on him. She whacks him across the face with the butt of her gun, maybe a little too hard considering we want him alive.

"You aren't meant to try and kill him!" I hiss. She ignores me, as despite the sickening crack as the rifle broke his nose, he doesn't back down.

He does have a significant height and strength advantage over her, despite her skills. He reaches for a pistol that's discarded off to the side but she manages to kick it away. She's trying to restrain him, and glares at me furiously.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Stop just standing there you useless piece of shit, act like a goddamn captain!" She seethes at me, still in her intense fight.

Surprisingly taking notice of her words, I lock myself back into my operation headspace as I watch another insurgent reloading his gun. I pull out my own and shoot him through the hand, causing him to yell out a profanity and drop his weapon.

I'm apprehended by another member with who I engage in a knife fight with, since we've managed to disarm most of their guns.

I can feel the sweat dripping down the sides of my head as I shove him up against an old forklift, whacking his face against it.

Whipping back around I watch as in a sickening motion, Ramirez's hand hooks a large shard of scrap metal and buries it deep into the side of Nova's thigh just as she's speaking through her comms.

"Fuck!"

Her yell rips through the air, a completely pained expression on her face at this unexpected move.

Ramirez takes the opportunity to roll on top of her and rips off her helmet. He bashes it across her face, going in for a second hit. Before he manages, she snaps out of her momentary daze and grips his arm, wrestling it away.

Just by instinct, not because I wanted to help Nova in particular, I run and dive on top of Ramirez. He instantly rolls off of her as I rip her helmet from his hands and bash it into his own face a few times, not with enough force to kill him.

Nova takes the opportunity to try and stand up, grimacing from the agony of the metal.

She makes her way over as I flip Ramirez onto his front. She works on forcefully binding his hands behind his back. I glance around, most cartel members are either knocked out cold or have fled.

My eyes meet my watch. 1;36. We've got four minutes to get out of here before the explosives detonate.

Nova wraps a rag around Ramirez's head as Devlin and Nolan approach us hastily. I wonkily shove Nova's helmet back onto her head, to which she scowls and readjusts it.

"Come on! We've 'gotta move!" Devlin yells, taking Ramirez's bound arms and yanking him up and off of the ground, leading him to the exit point with Nolan. I jump up myself and get ready to retreat, turning around to Nova who is visibly struggling.

"Hurry up, goddamnit!" I growl. She pushes herself up to her feet, which is when I get a glimpse of the glinting metal still sticking out of her thigh.

"Just go ahead, I'll get out in time." She hisses, waving me away with her hands as she quickly ties a gun strap around the top of her thigh.

I'm so, so tempted to just leave her here.

If I do, I won't have to deal with our animosity for any future missions. There's no way she'll get out in time, her death could just be ruled as 'accidental'. An unfortunate loss on the mission.

I nod and begin to walk away, before what feels like a magnetic force lodges me in place.

My head swivels back around to face her. She's walking, but slowly and clearly in immense agony as only one of her legs is useful right now.

Goddamnit.

I sprint back to her, wrapping one of her arms around my shoulder; one of my arms around her waist.

"You're a fucking liability, you know that?" I hiss, taking on most of her weight to assist her in walking. I'm speeding right now, practically dragging half of her along with me.

"Charming as ever, Leo," she mumbles, putting all of her effort into her left leg as we draw closer to our escape route.

We reach the window, me climbing out first before waiting for Nova. She raises her strong leg and uses her arms to level herself as she pulls herself through. I can see the pained expression in her face as the metal twists.

"You need to pull that damn thing out!" I growl, helping her down from the window and letting her lean her weight against me again.

"It's all jagged, Hendrix! If I just yank it out there'll be nothing plugging the goddamn blood!" She seethes as we move hastily into the forest.

She does have a point, I didn't consider the fact that it's not a straight, carefully formed blade. I mimic her voice under my breath. But, she's holding us back. I'm not blaming her, it's just inconvenient.

I hesitate for a minute. "For fucks sake. Come here." Letting go of her momentarily, I hook one of my arms around her back, crouching slightly to put the other under her knees, and scoop her up. She curses under her breath.

"What the hell are you doing?" She spits, but still curls her arm across my shoulders.

"Being efficient," I say, adjusting her weight.
Just as we get into the deeper line of trees, there's a loud explosion from behind us as the warehouse detonates on cue.

I stop for a second to look back at the flaming building.

"That would've been you if I hadn't helped your stupid-fucking self," I mumble. She scoffs slightly.

"Don't play the Good Samaritan, Leo. I watched you walk away for a good few seconds." She utters as we turn and continue heading through the trees.

"Well, you're not wrong. Leaving you in there was definitely an option." I confirm with her. "That's 'gonna hurt like a bitch when it gets pulled out."

"Oh really? Thanks for pointing that out." She seethes through her gritted teeth. I can't help suppress the chuckle that escapes my lips.

We continue in silence for a while until the lights of the chopper seep through the trees. The doors are open, it seems like everyone's been anticipating our arrival.

"About fucking time! We thought you two had gotten blown up!" Nolan chimes out from where he's sat on the landing skid. He's in a good mood, somehow; probably from seeing that we're alive in the flesh instead of chargrilled.

"Get Rosa or Elijah ready, or both." I order as we're approaching.

His expression twists to seriousness as he retreats back into the chopper. Rosa appears at the door, holding all of her supplies at the ready.

I hesitantly hoist Nova up slightly so she can climb in; with a little too much force as the metal left sticking out of her leg catches against the ledge, repositioning the the part that's lodged in her thigh. She bites her lip in agony before glaring at me.

"What the fuck, Leo?" She seethes, climbing the rest of the way in with the help of Rosa.

"My bad." I mumble under my breath. Surprisingly, I actually do feel a little bad. That had to of hurt like hell.

I climb in after her and shut the doors behind us, giving Marcus a nod to signal he can lift off. A few other bandaged up members of the squad sit inside, most of them having been skimmed by bullets. Ramirez is tied down on the back end, Lowe watching over him cautiously.

Elijah gestures for Nova to lay back and grabs a pair of scissors, cutting the fabric of her cargos away so they can figure out how deep it is lodged in. Him and Rosa share a concerned expression, Nova instantly looks between them.

"What's the issue?" She hisses, clearly in immense pain as the adrenaline has worn off.

"We need to get that out and stitched immediately, risks of infection. Giving you a dose of morphine could make it dangerous if you go into hemorrhagic shock. We're going to have to extract it without, well, painkillers." Rosa explains quietly.

I witness the colour drain from Nova's face as she blinked a few times. Everyone else in the chopper looks away, grimacing at the idea.

I watch Nova take a few deep breaths to prepare herself. "Right, okay. Just get it out."

Elijah and Rosa share another glance and nod to each other. Rosa grabs a professional tourniquet, unlike the gun strap Nova had been using. She secured it as tight as possible around the top of her thigh.

After a few seconds, Elijah positions his hand as best as possible on the tip of the metal, using his other to hold her leg in place.

I can't help but watch this whole ordeal, unlike everyone else who is facing the complete opposite direction.

Rosa does a final check of her vitals before nodding to Elijah, who glances at Nova. "Are you ready?" He asks her in a soft tone.

She nods immediately and shoves a rag into her mouth. With a deep breath, Elijah starts methodically pulling the shard out.