TW- Gore. Fighting.

LEO
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09/02/2003
Panay, The Philippines
Passi City
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I've held my fair share of women in life.

But the feeling of holding Nova Shields after thinking she was dead is something I can't even describe. Having my arms around her, knowing that she's alright.

Knowing that she was just as fucking worried about me.

We break apart after a moment, and she gives me a bittersweet, pretty smile.

"Hendrix, what's your condition? Happy to see you're alive and not in the grave." North appears beside me, resting an aging hand up and on my shoulder. The relief is clear in his voice.

"I've been worse," I grin, pacing to help the others unchain the remaining hostages.

Ali stares at the team with grateful eyes. The whole squad works rapidly, it definitely won't be long until Altashih ruins our process of freeing everybody.

"Thank you, oh thank you." I hear Divya crying as Nova releases the chains from her wrists. She gives Divya a half smile before swiftly moving onto Ali's binds.

I can't help but watch her expression drop into a pit of sadness as she looks at him. She must realise how young he really is.

"You've handled everything like a champ," I speak to Ali as Nova helps him to his feet, he stumbles slightly. I guess he hasn't stood up properly in weeks, probably 'just been dragged around.

He nods slowly, he's still terrified. He's well within his right, we aren't out of the woods.

"Here, kid. I want you to wear this," Nova's usual rough tone softens as I notice her unbuckling her vest.

I take a firm hold of her wrist before the clasps come undone. "What the fuck are you doing?"

She narrows her eyes. "My job, you clown."

"Your job isn't to get yourself killed." I hiss, shaking my head.

"The job is to get these people out alive!"

As much as I hate to admit it, I suppose she's right. Half of the job is risking our lives.

I just really don't want her to die.

"We've got spares on the chopper, I just want him to get out safely." She whispers, sliding the vest off and putting it over Ali's head. A little similar how I did with her that day.

"Okay, fine. Just get yourself out of here, please," I sigh, releasing my grip on her arm.

"When the job is done, I will." She speaks affirmatively, cocking her gun.

To my surprise, it's the Smith and Wesson.

"Where'd you find that?" I raise my eyebrows, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"In your bag,"

"Going through my stuff, hm?" I snicker, laughter is a good escape from the horrors to come.

"You'll find out why when we're back at base."

"Oh? Well-"

I fight the urge to yell at her to take back that damn vest so she actually makes it back to base alive, she's too stubborn to even argue with.

If I say to much she'll probably end up shooting me first.

So I halt my sentence and remain silent.

She passes a gun to me as everybody assembles. North is ordering something into the comms, nodding in satisfaction before speaking up.

"Right, we need to retreat. We're covered from the lower floor. I'll take the lead with Banksy and Mulvey, the rest of you guard from behind." He instructs.

I cock the rifle Nova gave me, taking a long deep breath. The pain of my hand is completely muted by adrenaline.

North immediately moves forward and out of the room, checking briefly before jogging out with the hostages in tow.

Divya and Rohit both have their arms wrapped around Ali in a protective stance as they move.

Once the last hostage has passed, the rest of us push behind them as a shield.

The farmhouse is eerily quiet, previous booms of gunfire having died out. I haven't seen the corridors before since I've always had a fucking bag over my head when I've been moved around.

It's completely dishevelled, run down. I guess terrorists aren't exactly good housekeepers.

She runs alongside me, the seriousness and concentration engrained deep in her hardened features.

I have no fucking idea where we're going, so I follow her closely. That's when I notice the back of her shoulder is splattered in blood, a large split in her shirt where a gash is cut into the skin.

"What the fuck happened here?" I hiss, grabbing her arm and slowing her for a second.

"Nothing, it's fine. 'Was an accident. It's not deep," she reassured, urging me to keep moving forward.

"It doesn't look like nothing," I mumble, speeding my steps again.

She ignores my comment as we near a staircase, completely unscathed. This seems to be going all too smoothly considering the degree of the operation.

I glance down the mezzanine, noticing the rest of our team down below.

They really did it.

We really did it.

I breathe a sigh of relief that I've been holding since the moment I got captured, the hostages beginning to file down the steps behind the leaders. I step down to follow, until I notice Nova is striding off down the hallway in the opposite fucking direction.

"Shields, what in God's name are you doing?" I hiss, retreating back up the steps and running after her.

"Please just get out of here, I have something I need to do." She snaps.

"Now is not the time to try and be a fucking hero, Nova!" I grip her arm, "get down those fucking stairs!"

"I made a promise, get off!" She seethes, yanking her arm away and flying off.

I run right behind her.

"What promise?"

"I promised Abe I'd go back and untie him, he told me how to find you all," she sighs over her shoulder, still holding a vigilant eye as she keeps her barrel poised at the ready.

She reaches a doorway and leans next to it, preparing to enter by the looks of things.

Abe's alive?

"I thought he was dead," I murmur, she shakes her head.

"We found him before we found the rest of you. Believe me, he looked almost dead." She shrugs, clearly accidentally since she winces from the movement.

I sigh and position my gun. She goes to kick at the door but I halt her, moving in front. I'm not letting her go first.

She opens her mouth but closes it again as I shake my head, not allowing any protest.

My finger holding a firm grip around the trigger, I kick the door as it swings on on its hinges. There's no movement from inside, we share a glance as we edge into the room.

She moves in front of me this time, and now I notice that her helmet is cracked right down the fucking centre.

Is she being fucking serious? That is absolutely no damn protection for her skull.

"Shields, I'm going to beg you. Please get out of here, I'll find Abe." I whisper, her head swivelling to face me. 

"No."

"Look at your goddamn helmet!" I bark, closing the door behind us.

"You're making the job longer by stopping me every three fucking seconds!" She hisses furiously, I can see the anger flaming in her eyes.

I can't help the irritated growl that rises in my throat as I stand behind, keeping her covered.

She's so fucking stubborn.

But really, I think I love that about her; the determination.

She glides towards a smaller door in the room, crouching down to pull it open.

And just like she said, Abe is curled up inside. He's crying into the rag covering his mouth as she drags him out by his collar, slicing the cloth with a knife.

"Don't fucking make me regret freeing you," she speaks coldly, picking the locks around his wrists.

He shakes his head desperately, "I'm grateful. Thank you."

His eyes are wide and he looks terrified, his mouth opening and closing as though he wants to say something else.

Nova glances over at me as she hauls him to his feet, giving me a small nod.

That tiny nod is filled with meaning.

It means it's all over.

I can't contain the small smile that tugs at the corner of my lips as I take a step towards them.

You know you have those moments in life, those moments in which you truly make an awful decision. One that could determine everything?

That small step was mine.

I watch as her expression twists the second the door swings open from behind me, crashing into the back half of my body and sending me staggering forwards.

Just as I'm about to face the issue, I feel something crash across my skull, sending me pummelling to the goddamn ground because of my already weakened state.

I can't hear anything apart from a ring blasting in my eardrums as I struggle to come out of my daze.

Gunshots are echoing in the background, the deafening sound dominating my ears.

"Run!" I hear Nova shriek.

I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again, pushing myself up to see her stuck in a hand to hand combat.

A fight with Jed Nolan.

Abe is nowhere to be seen.

She swipes a blade at Jed, both of their guns are on the floor discarded. He barely dodges as it just about scrapes the side of his neck, tearing the skin slightly.

She goes in for the kill but he sees it coming, grabbing her arm and forcing her backwards into the wall.

He rips the helmet right off of her head and bashes it across her face, knocking her out cold.

I've never shoved myself to my feet faster. Still fighting the dizziness, I launch myself at him.

He doesn't see me coming, bastard probably thought I was still out of it.

The butt of my gun connects with the side of his head as he careens off into another wall. I try to swiftly reload, but he wrestles the barrel away from his direction and slams it into the wall beside him.

The trigger jams.

I throw myself at Nova's unconscious form, dislodging the knife from her hand as I position myself in front of her.

"Fucking bastard." I bite out, teeth grinding together.

He pulls out a knife from the back of his belt and poises it with a sinister grin.

The lunacy is ridden deep in his eyes, something I never would have noticed until his true intentions were revealed.

He darts for me. I slide myself to the side, slashing his forearm. He grimaces, it doesn't stop him.

He turns, catching me on the side of my shoulder. I hiss under my breath, wrestling his hand that was coming back for a second stab.

"You ain't getting out of here alive, Hendrix." He chuckles, until I smash his hand against the wall which causes him to drop the weapon.

That shut him the fuck up.

"Maybe not, but you aren't either." I growl as I pummel my knee into his stomach. He doubles for a second, giving me the opportunity to reach for the gun and attempt to unjam it.

Adrenaline running through me like the sweat down my back, the trigger frees. He throws himself on top of me, knees in my chest as he brings down the knife.

I swish my head in the nick of time, it lodges into a wooden floor panel beside me.

I reach up my hand and yank it from its resting place, driving it's aim towards the side of Jed's waist. There's a crack, a moment of resistance from some sort of body armour until it sinks into his skin.

"Fuck!" He yells, handing me the opportunity to shove him off.

He pulls the knife out of himself, crimson only reaching about three inches up the blade. His vest halted the full damn thing.

I raise my gun and press the trigger, bullet lodging in an inch of his vest that just about shields his exposed skin.

This prick must have kept his fighting abilities undercover, just how he kept his real identity.

I'm struggling.

Our bodies collide once again in a fit of rage, a flurry of blades as my gun gets launched to the opposite side of the room.

Nova should've woken up by now. Why hasn't she woken up? What if he fucking cracked her skull?

"Bastard," he grunts as we battle it out. Blood is thumping in my ears as I grab his hair, smashing his head down against an old cabinet.

He crumples to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

My attention diverts towards Nova as I take a step in her direction, until I feel two severe pains shoot through my calf.

I can't help as my legs buckle, seeing the blood pooling around the bottom of my foot. Jed jumps to his feet and grabs his knife, kicking me so my back buries against the floorboards.

He does have the strength advantage since I've been practically starved for over a week.

The blade is pressed up against my throat within a second. I hiss, hands hooking the floor and praying for a saviour weapon to be within reach.

Nothing.

"I don't really want to kill you like this, I had better ideas." He sighs, wicked grin forming.

I don't reply, my hand reaches the side of his vest in an attempt to pull him off of me.

The blade only gets leaned further against my windpipe.

His own tainted blood from where Nova nicked his neck is dripping down and splattering onto my face.

The door creaks and I swivel my attention, trying to turn my head without accidentally slitting my own throat on the knife.

All I can see is a pair of black boots pacing the room until they stop besides where I'm restrained, the black mask hiding what I know is a murderous expression.

"Nolan, I thought we agreed to let me do it?" His southern drawl chuckles.

Nova's discarded comms is going insane on the ground, crackling every few seconds as somebody tries to reach us.

Las paces over and crushes it under the sole of his shoe, twisting his toes to ensure it's completely fucking useless.

They've got a severe advantage.

It's two against one.

I'm a dead man.

Jed brings the handle of the knife down to the bridge of my nose with a crack, groan creeping out of my mouth as the blood runs down both of my cheeks.

"I'll let you have this kill, since I know it's personal," Las murmurs, passing something over to Jed.

A machete. The machete.

"You don't have to do this," I mumble, trying to remain defiant despite the fact I'm laying in my grave.

"I've always wanted to do this. You were on the mission that killed my brother, Hendrix." He shrugs nonchalantly, spinning the machete into position and discarding the knife. "Nothing sweeter than revenge."

"Because your brother was a bastard who'd killed innocent people, just like the shit you've been involved in," I hiss. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, clearly."

He grunts in fury, glancing up at Las.

"You can finish him off," Las instructs, placing a hand on his masked chin as Jed hauls my head forward by a tuft of hair.

The cold metal of the blade is pressed against the side of my neck as Jed plays out a few swings as though I'm a training dummy. The blade brushes the hairs as he practices the perfect slice, mimicking the moment he is going to detach my head from the rest of the body.

I can't get out of this.

This isn't how I expected to go out.

And honestly, I'm terrified.

"It's been interesting, Leo." Jed chuckles as the blade leaves my neck, prepared to deliver the real slash.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

For a moment, the world freezes.

My death doesn't arrive.

A gunshot does. Rings out loud and clear. There's a splash of hot warmth on my face as my eyes fly open, vision blurred by something.

Jed is no longer on top of me, but his brains are all over my face.

I wipe my eyes of the gore, shoving his corpse away as it crumples to the side.

There's an eerie silence in the room as my vision grows clearer, revealing my saving grace. Nova Shields, who is quite literally my shield.

She's leaning up on one hand, a faint line of smoke trickling from the S&W in her other. I swear there's a tiny grin on her face.

Jed said it himself, there's nothing sweeter than revenge.

She instantly pushes herself to her feet, facing Las. I do the same, blood still pooling down my leg.

I can't even feel the pain anymore.

Las is stood hauntingly still, arms folded across his chest with no weapon wrapped amongst them; not yet saying a damn word.

I quickly pace over to Nova, tilting her chin to check the gash across her forehead. She reaches for me at the exact same time, wiping Jed's blood from my face to check it isn't my own.

"Nice shot, Novella."

What the fuck?

Both of our expressions drop as our heads spin. I take a step back to process what the fuck he just said, Nova moves closer.

"How the fuck do you know my name? You bastard." She hisses after a moment, cocking her pistol at the ready.

He grins.

I watch the colour drain from her face the second he takes off the mask.

That's why the story sounded familiar.

Las.

Nicholas.

The dark hair, the green eyes, the tanned skin, the resemblance.

Seeing them like this, it's as though I'm watching her stare into a mirror.

I slowly stride forward, taking her arm and pulling her back towards me.

"Nicholas," She mumbles, disbelief and shock laced all the way throughout that one name.

He unfolds his arms, raising his hands as though to show he's free of weapons. "Shall we have a talk?" He speaks nonchalantly, taking a step forward.

I can feel Nova shaking like a leaf under my grasp.

How can anybody ever fucking comprehend something like this?

Your lunatic brother, gone without a trace for nineteen years, is a ringleader in the biggest fucking threat of your career.

She'd never escaped him.

"Go near her and I'll fucking tear you apart." I growl, edging her standstill form to behind me.

"And what do you know?" He chuckles,

"You'd be surprised," I hiss, taking a protective stance.

The tension in the room can not possibly be any thicker. Every breath shakes the walls, every slight shift in movement a charged volt of electricity rippling through the atoms.

I'm battling the urge to blow his brains out, but despite the fact he's a horrendous human being, he's unfortunately still her brother.

And I'm guessing she wants answers.

"Leo," she speaks shakily from behind me after a silence.

I grunt in acknowledgment, gaze not wavering from the bastard in front of me.

"I'll talk," she whispers.