#mandy macfie

[revnah1406]

Operation Kingslayer: 3/?

OCs:

Hannah "Sparrow" Clayton - @revnah1406

Alyssa "Aly" Martinez - @alypink

Mandy Macfie - @alidravana

Charlotte "Jade" le Jardin - @sleepyconfusedpotato

Captain Arjun Dhingra - @welldonekhushi

Annabelle "Gremlin" Pham - @applbottmjeens

Damien Whitlock - @kaitaiga

Captain Lachlan Jones - @kaitaiga

(so many OCs! 👀 I would thank specially to all my mutuals and people who participate in this fic to help me with the writing and their ocs! thank you so much guys. I love you so much <3)

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Warning!: This chapter contains specific violence, and a detailed description of torture methods. Non-accurate medical procedures.

(All locations and places that appear in this Fic are fictitious and based on the Ghost Recon Wildlands video game)

NOTE!: The events of Op Kingslayer take place before MW3, so there are no Spoilers. This chapter was written before the Call of Duty MW3 campaign was released. Despite the little relevance it has, you may find differences between the fic and the campaign.

<- previous chapter

The bullets flew like an intense rain of fire. The team could barely hold the position. Arjun was shot in the leg and little by little his vision began to blur due to blood loss.

"Mandy! Where the fuck are you?! We need an emergency evac now!" Aly exclaimed over the comms.

"I'm trying to! But I'm taking heavy fire! I can't get close!" Mandy responded over the radio, from her tone of voice she seemed to have problems too.

"Shit. We have to get away from here as soon as possible"

How had they ended up in a situation like this? Well the story is a bit long, but long story short, the team finally found El Yayo. He seemed to be a reasonable man and someone who could be negotiated with. After all, he was just an old coca grower trying to survive under the feet of an empire. Rodolfo Yana didn’t like the idea that his grandson Gonzalo was on his way to a federal prison in the United States. But in the end he came to his senses knowing that it was the safest place for him, away from El Sueño. He also didn’t overlook the fact that his grandson had been tortured. Jade did a great fucking job, despite the torture, Gonzalo Yana was still alive and even though he was missing some nails there would be no permanent physical damage.

Bowman managed to negotiate with El Yayo, assuring him immunity and protection from the CIA, if he collaborated with them, of course. And this is how they managed to end the first pillar: Production. Now it's the next one's turn: Influence.

El Yayo didn’t seem to have great friendships with the rest of the leaders of the Santa Blanca Cartel. But he managed to give information about the head of the pillar of Influence.

His name was Gustavo Serrano, better known as El Cardenal (The Cardinal) . He was the preacher of the Santa Blanca Cartel, the greatest devotee of La Santa Muerte. He was also one of El Sueño's closest advisors. Gustavo Serrano was in charge of the propaganda and philanthropy strategy of El Sueño, and he is the one who gives the sermons on the radio and in the churches of Santa Blanca. As responsible for its public image, he encouraged El Sueño to participate in charitable events and develop educational and humanitarian activities for NGOs.

And if they managed to catch El Cardenall and make him talk. Maybe they got a direct pass to El Sueño. The interesting thing about El Cardenall is that deep down he was a good guy. He tried to do charity work to help Bolivians, build schools and churches, but neither the church nor the politicians were going to help him. He was aware of the damage caused by the cartel, but he believed that all the good he could do would outweigh the bad...

In summary, El Cardenal wasn’t really a cocaine drug trafficker, just someone who wanted to spread the word of God and La Santa Muerte. And in a way, maybe the team underestimated him a little bit.

How did they find it? Well, that was a masterpiece on Aly's part. Thanks to the information Sparrow got from that cocaine lab. Aly found a large network of trafficking in people and especially children, which extended throughout South America. Aly made this information public on social networks, using fake profiles. Staining the history of the Santa Blanca cartel.

All this scandal forced El Cardenal to come out of hiding and hold a mass in the Church of Santa Blanca in the Malca region. To explain to the people that child trafficking was pure lies and false rumors.

The team thought they had El Cardenal by the balls. That they could capture that bastard before he said mass but everything went wrong too quickly. In the blink of an eye the church and the entire city of Malca had been filled with Narcos armed to the teeth ready to shoot down anyone who looked suspicious. El Cardenl was nowhere to be found and their chances of making it out alive were significantly reduced.

"Shit Aly! Keep your head down!" Sparrow forced Aly to lower her head. Before a burst of gunfire could hit her. Alyssa was too busy looking for possible escape routes and getting to the extraction point without being gunned down.

Sparrow didn’t hesitate to counterattack by shooting in that direction. The entire team was behind a barricade of ruins and debris caused by the explosions and grenades. Jade and Sparrow held the position, shooting any mercenary or narco who got too close or dared to stick their head out for more than two seconds.

Arjun gave orders while putting pressure on the leg. The captain grunted as he tried to get up but fell back to the ground. His leg didn't respond.

"Sir, you should stop moving. You will bleed to death if you continue like this!" Sparrow looked away for a moment to look at his captain.

"Keep your eyes on the firefight, Sergeant." Arjun ordered groaning. He was in a terrible mood at that moment. He had his reasons, he was about to captureEl Cardenal, he was a few meters away, everything seemed to be going perfectly, until a sniper bullet pierced his leg. And that's when the chaos began.

Aly hurriedly approached Arjun to try to make a tourniquet around Arjun's leg.

"Shit! They're surrounding us!" Jade exclaimed when she saw more armed vehicles appearing behind them. "Fuck!"

"Jade! Take care of those vehicles. Sparrow hold position!" Arjun ordered grabbing a grenade from his vest and throwing it right under one of the cars.

"Shit..." Hannah turned away for a moment. All that was chaos. It was practically impossible for them to come out alive. At least all of them.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his pupils dilated taking in everything that was happening. Jade shooting at any enemy that moved, sweat sticking her red locks to her forehead. It was clear that she was exhausted. They had been like this for hours, and since they arrived in Bolivia they didn’t have a single day of rest. Aly seemed to be on the edge. On the verge of collapsing, no matter how much she searched on her mobile device and maps for escape routes, she couldn't find anything. She tried to contact Mandy but there was no response. And if that was enough, she also had to help Arjun with that injury. Damn, Arjun. He was bleeding to death. The blood coming from his leg was beginning to create a worryingly large puddle.

Hannah had to do something. If She didn't do anything…they would all die.

"Fuck..." Sparrow closed her eyes trying to think.

"Hey sergeant." Arjun called her after a few minutes of silence. "Can I ask you something?"

Sparrow opened her eyes. She realized that she was sitting on the edge of a cliff near the safe house. It was night, the full moon was shining in all its splendor high in the sky. Everything was silent except for the crickets and insects around. Sparrow looked down at the abyss that the cliff provided, a drop of several dozen meters, full of rocks, stones and dirt.

They had returned from detonating a cocaine warehouse and now they had to rest, at least a couple of hours. But Sparrow couldn't sleep and decided to go out for some air. Apparently the captain soon noticed her absence and went in search of her. When he found her, they were both sitting there, looking at the moon and having deep conversations, about their dreams, ideals or simply things from the past.

"What is it about sir?" Sparrow asked, confused.

Arjun looked at his sergeant for a few seconds.

"What do you think is the hardest decision you've ever made?" He asked with his eyes fixed on the landscape.

Sparrow thought for a bit and then smiled sadly.

"Cut the rope."

Arjun looked at her without understanding what she was talking about.

"Cut the rope?"

Sparrow nodded. "It's the hardest decision for any climber." She sighed as she swung her boots that were hanging from the cliff. "When you have to climb, it’s better to do it with someone. If something happens to you, your partner can help you and save your life. Normally when climbing, both have to be connected with a rope. If one of them slips and falls, the other will be able to hold it. But…” She paused and looked at the moon. "Imagine that when your partner falls, he hits his head on the ice or rock and is unconscious and very badly injured. His body is hanging from the rope that you are holding and you aren’t able to lift him up. If your partner were conscious and in good shape you could both do it. But being alone? No, impossible. Then you stay there, with your half-dead partner hanging from a rope that you are holding. You won't be able to hold it forever, you will end up getting tired and you will both die, both of you falling. into the void or dead from the cold. So the decision is... Will you cut the rope? Would you cut it to save yourself? You know that if you don't cut it you will both die. But if you cut it you will kill your partner."

Arjun thought for a few moments and nodded. He seemed to understand the situation. Being alone up there, with your friend's life and yours in your hands.

"Did you cut the rope?" Arjun asked.

Hannah pursed her lips and looked at her boots. She unconsciously stroked the scars on her face.

"On K2... Before the avalanche hit me and my brother. I cut the rope. If the avalanche was going to hit me, I didn't want my brother to be swept away too. I didn't think about it much. I cut the rope to sacrifice myself and save my brother. Let's say that... I was the injured companion and my brother was the one holding the rope. And I made the decision for him. I accepted my fate and decided to die alone on that mountain."

"I understand."

There was another long silence.

"Sir," Sparrow looked at her captain this time decisively, "if it’s necessary. For the good of the entire team. Don’t hesitate, and cut the rope."

Arjun didn't know what to answer. He was very capable of giving his life for the team, but… sacrificing one member of the team to save the rest? He didn't know if he was capable of giving an order like that.

Sparrow opened her eyes decisively. She knew what she had to do. She took out her sniper rifle and handed it to Aly, who was clearly very confused.

"Hannah what...?"

"Jade, I need you to do me a favor!"

Just then, the redhead took cover behind the wall while reloading.

"What is it about?!" She asked, shooting again.

"I have to get to that armored truck!" she pointed to a vehicle that had a turret attached to the roof of the truck. "I need you to cover my back. I'll use the turret to divert their attention!"

"Hannah…what are you talking about?!" Jade asked worriedly. What was she up to? Whatever it was, it was suicide.

"Aly. Have you found an escape route?"

Aly checked the maps once again "huh… yes, from the south-east we can reach the forest and lose them off among the trees." She said pointing to a road on the map, not sure if that was the most appropriate route, but there was no time to confirm it.

Arjun sat up leaning his back against the wall.

"Sergeant. What are you up to…?" Arjun didn't like what Sparrow was trying to do.

"I'm going to cause a distraction. I'll use the turret to take out most of the enemies and–"

"No." Arjun interrupted her. He had a dead serious expression. "And leave you behind? Have you gone crazy?!"

"Sir, it's the only way for you to get out of here alive."

"There has to be another one. Hannah, we can't leave you here alone. They'll kill you!" Aly grabbed Sparrow's shoulder as she shook her head repeatedly.

It broke Hannah's heart to see her friend like this. But that wasn't going to make her back down, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to move them forward.

"I can't let you die here Aly…" Sparrow put his hand on Alyssa's.

"Sparrow." 

Arjun grabbed Sparrow by one of the straps of her vest and pulled it until Sparrow looked him in the eyes.

"Listen to me soldier, open those fucking ears because I'm not going to repeat it again." The tone of voice Arjun used and his piercing eyes were able to make Sparrow break out in a sweat. Oh, the captain was pissed. "Follow my fucking orders. Hold your position and don't even think about doing anything crazy of yours." Arjun couldn't believe that Sparrow would take such a drastic decision. "Can't you trust your fucking team?! Are you that selfish?!"

"Fuck the orders!" Sparrow couldn't bear to watch his captain bleeding out on that floor for another minute.

Sparrow swallowed and grabbed Arjun's wrist, which was holding her tightly by her vest. She showed determination and hid the nervousness caused by her angry superior. "It's not about selfishness or distrust. I trust this team can get out of here alive without me, I trust you can kill that bald son of a bitch."

She tightened her grip making Arjun divert his attention to Hannah's hand.

"Captain…"

Arjun looked his sergeant in the eyes again.

"You have to cut the rope."

Arjun gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, the mere thought of leaving Sparrow behind made his chest ache. "No. I'm not going to do that."

"You have to do it. We have to sacrifice something to save something even greater."

"Hannah..." Jade interjected. She had a worried and serious expression. What her friend was saying was completely crazy. Jade shook her head.

Sparrow rested his hand on the former MI6 agent's shoulder, "I need you to cover my back so I can reach that vehicle."

Jade frowned and shook her head determinedly, "I'm not going to send you to the gates of hell, Han."

"You have to do it. I'm not going to die, not today. I won't give those sons of bitches that pleasure. I'll just be a little late."

Jade sighed and looked away. She knew Sparrow was a tough nut to crack.

"Don't even think about dying halfway, Sparrow."

"With you covering my back? I doubt it."

Both women shook hands, like two Spartans ready for war. Jade nodded determinedly.

Aly took out a small locator from one of her vest pockets and placed it inside Sparrow's vest. She hit Hannah's chest with her fist and took a deep breath.

"I'm going to find you."

"I know you will, you always do."

Sparrow looked at her captain determinedly.

"I await orders sir."

Arjun looked at his team. Even though he didn't say it out loud, he was proud of that team. He looked at Sparrow, she had that determined look, ready for anything. Arjun understood, he had to cut the rope. But he no longer feared for his sergeant.

"If you die I'm going to go down to hell and drag you here. And I won't be merciful."

Sparrow chuckled and patted Arjun's shoulder.

"You'll have to get out of here alive first, sir."

"Do you think I'm that weak, Sergeant?"

Sparrow laughed and shook her head.

"Negative, sir."

Arjun sighed and nodded.

"Jade, get ready. Aly, help me up. Sparrow, on my signal."

Jade and Sparrow nodded. Aly helped Arjun up while he grabbed his rifle.

Everyone was in position. Ready and waiting for the captain's signal. Arjun threw a flashbang grenade and waited for it to detonate.

"NOW!"

Sparrow jumped over the barricade with agility, Jade hurried to take cover and shoot any enemy that had not been affected by the flashbang.

Hannah ran with all her might, shooting anyone who got in her way. Jade's bullets flew near her, but never hit her. The narcos fell on Sparrow's feet.

The sergeant reached the armored vehicle, jumped on the hood and then onto the roof of the truck. She stood behind the turret.

"In position! Come on, get out of here!"

Sparrow used the turret against the enemies. Shooting at anyone in sight, no one was able to get close to where the team was.

"Let's go!" Jade exclaimed, giving the signal to Aly to help Arjun get up and run away from there.

The plan worked. The Narcos turned their attention to Sparrow. She devastated anyone who got in her way.

The team managed to flee and move away to a safe distance, eventually entering the forest. Between Jade and Aly they managed to carry Arjun.

"I have your visual!" Mandy's voice sounded over the communicator while the noise of a helicopter was heard nearby.

"Macfie! Are you okay?! What's your status?" Aly responded worriedly.

"The helicopter has received some damage but will hold up for extraction. Sparrow may have to take a look at the engine."

A silence fell on the team. Jade and Aly looked at each other, Arjun simply closed his eyes in frustration and tried to bear the pain in his leg.

"There is a clearing about a kilometer to the east of our position." Arjun spoke over the communications, "Wait for us there."

"Roger."

Jade suddenly stopped, causing the rest of the team to do so as well. She looked back, her eyes lost as the wind swayed her red locks.

"What happened?" Aly asked.

"There aren’t more gunshots..."

____________

"Shit." Arjun exclaimed through gritted teeth as Mandy finished removing the bullet from his leg.

"You've been very lucky, sir. You're going to limp for a few days but it won't be a big problem. I'll bring the painkillers from the medicine cabinet." Mandy reported after stitching up the wound.

"It's not the first time I've been shot. I'll be fine." Arjun sat on the side of the helicopter.

The team was trying to recover in the clearing where they had agreed to meet. The helicopter had suffered serious damage but appeared to still be able to fly. Mandy knew how to pilot gracefully through all that hell.

Jade had gone out to explore the surroundings, to make sure they hadn't been followed. While Aly tried to use the computer to locate Sparrow.

"Mierda. There's no signal..." Aly cursed after trying several times. "We need to move places. I can't find Sparrow here."

"She'll be fine. She can handle herself well." Mandy commented.

Arjun was still deep in thought, debating whether they could have found a better solution.

"You guys made quite a mess back there huh?" An unknown voice appeared.

Without thinking twice the team raised their weapons in the direction of that voice.

The unknown man raised his hands.

"If I were you I wouldn't pull the trigger."

Suddenly a bunch of Bolivian guerrillas came out of the bushes. Surrounding the helicopter, aiming their rifles at them.

"If you know how to count... you will know that you are at a clear disadvantage." The man lowered his hands.

Aly frowned.

"Eres Pac Katari ¿verdad?" (You're Pac Katari, right?)

Aly recognized the man Laswell mentioned at the bar and then Bowman at the first briefing. Aly had found little information about him. He knew how to hide his tracks very well.

"Veo que has hecho tu trabajo, chica.." (I see you've done your job, kid) The man began to walk towards them. "Then you'll know we're on the same side."

Suddenly all the guerrillas turned around, upset, looking towards the tree line. Pointing in all directions, shouting orders but not really knowing where to aim.

A red dot appeared on Pac Katari's back. There was a sniper, somewhere hidden in the trees, aiming for the heart of the leader of the rebel forces.

"I decide if we are on the same side." Arjun spoke seriously.

Pac Katari turned to see the red dot that was now pointed at his chest. He laughed lightly.

"If your sniper shoots, my men will kill you all"

"If my sniper shoots. We'll cut off the head of a snake." Arjun corrected him with a stone attitude. He wasn’t going to let himself be trampled on by an amateur guerrilla fighter.

"That snake can be a very good ally if you let it live"

"What can a snake offer but bites and poison?"

"It can offer information. Valuable."

Arjun pondered for a moment. He couldn't trust that man, not even a little bit. But as much as it angered him to admit it, they needed help, the team was at a dead end.

"What is it about?"

"First order your sniper to stop aiming."

"No." Arjun responded quickly and firmly.

Pac Katari sighed in defeat.

"It’s hard for you to trust huh? And I respect that. Bowman already told me about you." He slowly put his hand in his pocket, which upset the entire team who adjusted their grip on their weapons. "It's okay. I'm just going to take out my cell phone." The man reported.

Pac Katari took out a cell phone and showed a photo. Because of the distance they couldn't see very well what it was about. Arjun looked at Aly for a second and nodded.

Aly approached slowly, lowering her gun but still holding it. When she arrived next to the guerrilla, she looked at the photo he showed her. Aly frowned, feeling a whirlwind of emotions rise from the pit of her stomach.

"What is it about Alyssa?" Arjun asked, when he saw how his partner's expression changed drastically.

"It's about Sparrow." Aly didn't look away from the photograph.

"Your Sergeant is alive." Pac Katari informed, looking at Arjun with a serious expression.

The photograph showed Sparrow kneeling, with her hands raised. Surrounded by drug traffickers who pointed their weapons at her. But that wasn’t the most worrying thing.

"She has been captured by El Cardenall and… El Sueño." Aly couldn't believe it. The man they were looking for, the man they had to put a bullet in his head... they had him so close... And now that piece of shit had Sparrow hostage, pointing at her head with a gun. El Cardenal seemed to have a victorious smile on his lips.

"Vishta..." (shit...) Arjun cursed in Marathi.

"I propose a deal, Captain." Pac Katari spoke again "We both have the same goal: End the Santa Blanca cartel. We can help each other."

The captain thought for a moment. Weighing the options, the pros and cons, the risks and benefits.

"You have the strength and the skills. I have the knowledge and the necessary men." Pac Katari continued.

"We have to go after her, sir." Mandy spoke.

"I know."

"What do we do?"

"We need a plan. And more soldiers..." Arjun's mood only worsened. He tried to handle the situation as best he could, take care of his subordinates and achieve the objective. "We have to contact 141."

Arjun sighed and with the help of Mandy got up.

"I'll tell you what we'll do." Arjun spoke in an authoritative tone. Straightening his back and lifting his chin. Showing who was in charge. "You will have our services. We will help you in your fight against the cartel. In exchange we want resources, ammunition, radios, vehicles, information and protection." Arjun approached Pac Katari, imposing his height. "If you show me even the slightest suspicion of treason. I'll have my sniper pull the trigger while you sleep." Arjun threatened in a chilling tone.

"In exchange for El Sueño’s head? I can offer you much more." Paco Katari offered his hand.

Arjun looked at the hand for a few seconds and then looked towards the tree line. But not in the direction where the sniper's red dot came from, but in the direction of one of the guerrillas' flanks.

"That's enough! You can stop aiming."

Noises were heard in the bushes, a dark figure emerged from the trees. The frightened guerrillas turned towards the silhouette.

Jade came out of the trees still carrying the sniper. And with a look that was capable of making any guerrilla who was nearby retreat.

"Do you have more than one sniper?" Pac Katari asked

Arjun looked over his shoulder at him, "no."

That's right, Jade used the laser sight of her weapon as a decoy to make them believe she was hiding behind them. But she was really aiming from one of the flanks. Waiting for Arjun's signal to open fire if the situation got complicated. The guerrillas wouldn’t know where they would be attacked.

The snake had fallen into the jaws of the lion without knowing it.

Jade approached Aly and Mandy. She nodded to both of them in greeting.

"The perimeter is secured too. How are things going around here?"

"It seems they are negotiating the terms of a deal." Aly mentioned.

"Arjun’s angry." Mandy added.

"We all are." Jade sighed.

Arjun spoke for a few more minutes, with the leader of the rebel forces. Until he decided to return to his team.

"And?" Mandy asked.

"We have a deal."

___________

"Be careful with that! Can't you see that the blades are delicate?!" Mandy was trying to keep an eye on the guerrillas who were in charge of fixing the damage to the helicopter. "Jesus Christ... Sparrow would have fixed the helo in half the time..." Mandy murmured, placing both hands on her hips.

She sighed and looked around. The place where they were was incredible. She would never think that a place like that could be the base of operations for the rebel forces.

It was like a small town inside a mountain. A huge cave that had no roof, a huge hole where there were supposed to be huge rocks. It was like a hollow mountain with a huge hole through which sunlight came in, allowing vegetation and trees to grow inside. There were small wooden houses and cabins on the stones, walkways and bridges that connected them to each other. A stream crossed the cave and came out like a waterfall that fell who knows where.

It was the perfect lair.

Mandy still remembered how bad it was to get the helicopter down there. The hole was big but if a helicopter blade hit the rock, it could be fatal. But Mandy was too good to make a mistake like that.

She heard footsteps. She turned and saw Arjun approaching.

"How's your leg?" Mandy asked as she saw him limp towards her.

"It hurts like hell. But I can walk."

"It's an unusual place isn't it?" Mandy commented as the captain reached her side.

"It is. Although it’s a very good place to hide, I have to admit. There are families here, everyone helps each other. They are better organized than I thought." Arjun sighed.

"Mhm..." Mandy nodded. "How are things going there?"

"You don't want to know... Alyssa is angry."

Mandy raised her eyebrows "then I was right to stay out here."

"You're right…"

While inside one of the largest cabins, the one that was used to organize the operations of the rebel forces. Aly walked from one side to the other, nervous, furious.

"Aly, love. I understand your situation but–" Price tried to stay calm.

"But what, John?!" Aly put both her hands on her hips looking at the screen where the video call was running.

Price pursed his lips and shook his head, pacing the briefing room. When his wife got like that it was difficult to reason with her.

"It was her decision. She assumed the consequences, she knew she was going to be alone in this." Price was beginning to lose patience. He had been arguing with his wife for a long time, he wasn’t able to make her understand his situation. Price had water up to his neck, flooded with shit. He already had enough problems, and now Aly added one more.

 "Are you really telling me this?!" Aly approached the computer, placing both hands on the table, she was about to tear off a piece of the furniture with just her nails.

"I can't be in two places at once."

"Sparrow is your sergeant. She is part of the 141." Aly emphasized the last word.

Price sighed and looked away. He knew where that speech was going to go.

On the other hand, Jade was behind Aly, with her arms crossed listening to the conversation. She shared a look with Ghost who was in the same situation with Price. Listening and observing.

Jade showed a small smile of compassion towards Ghost. It was an awkward moment for both of them. Jade didn't even know when the atmosphere had gotten so heated. Simon nodded slightly without moving from his spot, also not really knowing what to do. But intervening was the last option. They both knew their difference of opinions. Ghost was in favor of Price, the 141 had too many problems currently. Hannah wasn't an idiot, she knew what she had gotten herself into and what the consequences were. But Jade thought differently, she wasn't going to abandon her friend. They were going to find her, no matter what, with or without Price's help.

"Jonathan Price! Look at me when I talk to you!" Aly caught his attention again.

Price pursed his lips and took a deep breath. Reconnecting his gaze with Aly.

"I know you didn't choose Sparrow personally. She's not as close to you as Soap, Gaz or Ghost. But she's still your sergeant, she's still one of your subordinates." Aly continued talking, trying to control her anger. She still couldn't believe that Price had refused to help. That really made her angry and disappointed. "You were able to do all that for Laswell. When you found out that Kate had been kidnapped you were able to burn the entire world to save her."

"Aly..." Price sighed.

"Don't start John. You know damn well I'm right." Aly struggled to maintain her composure, a lump beginning to form in her throat. Anger had turned into helplessness. For having to crawl like that and ask for help because she felt like she wasn't capable of protecting her team. That she couldn't protect her friend. "You were able to do all that for Laswell and now you're going to stand by while they slowly kill Sparrow in a chair?"

Price listened to Aly's voice gradually break. And that broke his soul. He knew that both women were very close, they had been through a lot of shit together. Hell, Sparrow had helped Aly with the pregnancy, and even when Price was on mission, Sparrow had stayed with Aly to help raise Lily. Even when Hannah was still recovering from injuries from her accident in the mountains and couldn't go with the 141, she was there, helping Alyssa take care of her daughter.

"My hands are tied, Aly…" Price had a tired, even helpless expression. John wanted to do something, if it were up to him they would already be on their way to Bolivia. But the situation was different from when Laswell was kidnapped, very different.

Aly could see it, she knew that what Price was going through was also hard, very hard. But Aly had to try anything to save Hannah. She wouldn't forgive him if he didn't do anything about it. She shared a look with Jade. Charlotte had a look of concern for her friend. Aly looked mentally exhausted. Jade was too, but she had to stay strong. For Aly, for the team.

"If your hands are tied then find someone who has their hands free." Aly looked back at the screen.

Price knew who she was talking about.

"They are a bit far away. It will take them a while to get to Bolivia."

"You're old friends right? He'll listen to you."

He finally sighed.

"I'll make a call." Price nodded, not very convinced. That was a big favor to ask without warning.

"Good. We'll keep in touch, over." Aly hung up the call without even saying goodbye.

The room fell silent. Price sighed. He was cornered, Makarov, Shepherd, Sparrow… Every time he felt like he had less hair on his head. He felt Ghost's silent gaze on his back. He knew Ghost would support him in this, he wasn't so sure about the rest.

"I need a fucking smoke." Price murmured, patting Ghost's shoulder and ready to leave the base.

When the fresh air from outside hit his face he felt like he could breathe again. He hated arguing with Aly, he always had. He would probably have to sleep on the couch for a while.

He took out a cigar and placed it between his lips, lit it and took a long drag. Feeling the nicotine run through his veins. He watched the place, how the world revolved around him, ignoring what was happening.

"I sense that the conversation hasn't gone very well." Laswell's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"You sense well."

"You told her no." Kate stated.

"With the bloody mess we have here… I think it would be worse for them if we go there. We can't risk their mission anymore, we can't bring our shit to them."

"You haven't told her then."

"I didn't want to worry her anymore. She's had enough with Sparrow." Price responded by taking another drag of the cigar.

Laswell sighed, took out a cigarette, and Price offered her the lighter. She nodded in thanks, taking a drag as well.

"I got her into this." Laswell shook the cigarette lightly to knock the ash onto the floor.

"You didn't force her. It was her decision." Price justified. "Sparrow is all grown up."

"Now you defend her? A month ago you flatly refused to give up Sparrow for this operation." Laswell raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Price smoked a little more "You know how Sparrow is, she would have gone even if I forbade him."

"That's true."

There was silence. Finally Price grunted and threw the cigar to the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Laswell asked.

"Place a call to Australia. You take care of calling Sergeant Pham."

Aly was right. Hannah was his soldier, he had known her since Task Force 141 was formed years ago, and she may not have been one of his chosen ones but they went through hell and back on more than one occasion. So he wasn't going to sit idly by and do nothing. If his hands were tied, he'd find someone with his hands free who could break that bastard of El Sueños' nose. That was personal.

"I don't think Anna is up to it John."

"It's Sparrow who's tied to a damn chair. She'll accept it."

______________

The curtains were drawn. There was almost no sunlight coming in. It was noon and she still hadn't gotten out of bed. So that? She didn't want to face the world, and the world wasn't going to care one bit about what she was going through. The world could go on fucking spinning without her. Fuck the world. She could also roll over in bed. Trying not to let her thoughts flood her with another existential crisis, she spent the day sleeping so she didn't have to think and even then, she found herself terribly tired.

The overwhelming silence of her room was interrupted by the buzzing vibration of her phone. Damn she thought she had turned it off. She lifted her face from the pillow and checked who the hell was calling her.

Her eyes tried to adjust to the brightness of the screen when she could finally read the name that appeared.

"What?" She was confused, why was she calling her? In the end she picked up the call and put the cell phone to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Anna?" Laswell's voice came over the phone's small speaker.

"That's me..." Annabelle sighed and rolled over on the bed, staying in the middle looking at the ceiling.

She didn't seem to want to talk much. Where was her endless energy? That pyromaniac gremlin attitude. Where was it? Probably under all that mountain of dirty and used tissues.

"It's urgent. I need you to get equipped and prepare. I'll send you the plane ticket and the exact coordinates." Laswell began to explain.

"Wait wait. Just a moment" Anna frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What are you talking about?"

A sigh was heard from Laswell. She seemed tired, was it something very serious?

"It's about Sparrow."

"Birdie? But wasn't she on a super secret mission in Bolivia with Jade and the rest?"

There was a pause.

"She has been kidnapped. The team lost contact with her more than 24 hours ago."

"What?!" Anna sat up suddenly. "Are you sure about that?!"

Suddenly a feeling of worry washed over her. One of her closest friends was in danger, and she was there. Rolling around in bed non-stop.

"We have visual evidence. She has been seen as a hostage." Laswell explained.

"Shit, biride..." Anna rubbed her face with her free hand.

"I know. But there's no time to waste. The team needs reinforcements, and the 141 is up to their necks in shit, so you're joining the 2nd Commando Regiment, as soon as possible."

"With the Aussies?" Anna asked, "Has Price called his old friend again?"

"He's in it. You know it's hard for him to ask that man for favors. They're like brothers."

Anna nodded as if Laswell could see her. Then she sighed.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Great. I'll send you the details and exact coordinates. I'll also keep you informed about the team and reinforcements."

The conversation lasted a little longer. Anna asked about the task force. Especially for Gaz, his brother of another blood. She really missed them but her situation was complicated.

In the end she said goodbye to Laswell and hung up the call, remaining silent in that dark room. Then she looked to the side. Towards one of the corners of the room. The luggage bag, with all her gear and clothes completely disorganized and lying around.

Anna groaned and got out of bed.

"Fuck, Hannah..."

_________

Laughter filled his ears. His two daughters were playing and prancing in the park. Enjoying that weekend with his father. Not every weekend they could spend it with him.

Ava, the eldest daughter, about thirteen years old, was chasing Mia, her eight-year-old little sister. It wasn’t cold that afternoon in Perth, the sun warmed the grass and there were no clouds in the sky.

Even the stoic Captain Lachlan Jones smiled as he watched his daughters play and laugh. Those small moments are what he treasured most, those moments of calm. It was like entering a paradise inside a bubble, to recharge his batteries and return to hell later. But Lachlan didn't want to think about that. He was sitting on a bench enjoying the sun while supervising his girls.

When they were tired of playing he would buy them each an ice cream. And maybe for him too.

"Oi! Come on dad! Come play with us!" Ava called to her father, waving her hand in the air.

Lachlan's smile widened a little more and he raised his hand, signaling that he'd better stay on the bench.

Mia complained when she saw that her father wasn’t paying attention to them.

"Don't be a grumpy old fart! Come on! Come play with us!" Ava insisted even more.

Lachlan sighed and stood up. He couldn't say no to his daughters. Both girls laughed excitedly and happily, but just as Lachlan stood up his phone started ringing.

Ava's smile faded a little as she watched her Father pick up the call and start talking to someone.

"Who's calling Dad?" Mia asked.

"Dunno..." Ava frowned trying to listen to the conversation but her father was too far away to hear.

She saw Lachlan shake his head several times, sigh, pinch the bridge of his nose, and frown. Ava didn't like where this was going.

Lachlan's expression showed discontent. But after a long conversation and arguing he ended up agreeing. He had given in to something and neither Mia nor Ava had any idea what it was. But they wouldn’t like it. 

He approached his daughters with a serious expression.

"What's up, dad?" Ava asked worriedly.

Lachlan thought for a moment what to say.

"Dad’s got work." He said it in the softest tone possible.

Suddenly the expression of both girls changed to one of disappointment.

"But how come? you promised we'd spend the weekend together!" Ava complained.

Lachlan pursed his lips and nodded. He knelt in front of his daughters so he could be at their height.

"I know love... and I'm so sorry." Lachlan tucked one of her locks of hair behind Ava's ear. "I promise to make it up to you when I get back."

Both girls were insisting to their father for a long time. But Lachlan could no longer change his mind. He had accepted. He couldn't turn back anymore.

Lachlan ended up taking his two daughters to his ex-wife's house. Both girls complained non-stop about their father's work and the little time he spent with them.

Lachlan sighed as he drove. His head was starting to hurt. His daughters had a lot of perseverance and too much energy.

"If you keep quiet I'll convince your mother to buy you ice cream when you get home."

"Chocolate ice cream?" Ava asked.

"Yes…"

Mia and Ava looked at each other for a few seconds, silently discussing whether it was a good offer.

"Deal."

They ended up arriving at Lachlan's ex-wife's house.

An incredibly beautiful woman answered the door, tall, with long blonde hair. With a lioness gaze on her face.

The woman looked at the girls and then at Lachlan.

"Has something happened?" She asked, confused.

Both girls went inside the house.

"Ask dad!"

The woman looked at her daughters and then at Lachlan. She tried to understand what was happening but soon discovered it in her ex-husband's eyes. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"You’ve been called in, yeah?"

Lachlan nodded slightly.

"Sorry. It's an emergency that—"

The blonde woman raised a hand stopping the captain's excuses.

"You don't have to tell me anything. It's not my heart you’re breaking, it’s theirs." The woman had a stoic attitude like her ex-partner.

Lachlan glanced at his daughters who were already sitting on the living room couch with long faces. He snorted a little sadly, but didn't show it.

"I know…" Lachlan replied. "Breaks mine too."

They both looked at each other for a few long seconds. Without saying anything. Expressions that said nothing but that hid deeply buried feelings, and that for the good of both of them, should remain that way.

Damn, that was the most beautiful woman Lachlan had ever seen. No matter how hard he tried, that look always managed to awaken his stone heart. He still loved her, that was clear. But he didn't want to complicate things more for her.

So he put on his cap and cleared his throat a little.

"I'd better go."

"Yes. You have work to do. As always."

Lachlan pursed his lips and hid his gaze behind his cap. He turned to leave, but his ex-wife's voice stopped him.

"Just…" she hesitated for a moment whether to say it or not, "be careful. And… come back in one piece."

Lachlan didn't know what to say. He was mesmerized by her eyes.

"Our daughters need a father. I can't do all the work alone." The woman looked away.

Lachlan gave a small smile and nodded.

"Yeah, ‘course."

The woman nodded, and also smiled slightly. Almost imperceptible, but Lachlan knew it was there.

In the end Lachlan left. Leaving his family behind once again, so he could do his duty. For a few seconds his heart sank, it always hurt him to leave everything, to stop being a father and become the captain from B Company of the 2nd Commando Regiment again.

But as soon as he got into his car, his stoic personality returned. He grabbed his phone and called someone.

A phone rang on the other side of Australia.

A young man was fixing the engine of one of the farm's tractors. It seemed to make strange noises. He had his hands inside the engine when he heard his phone ringing somewhere in the garage.

"Fuuuck me, the fuck is it?" Damien growled morosely. The tractor was giving him problems.

He got out of the tractor and walked to the work table, where his cell phone was. He kicked some tools that were laying on the floor while he wiped the motor oil from his hands with a dirty rag. He slung the rag over his shoulder and answered the phone.

"Yeah? What?"

"Whitlock." His captain's voice was heard on the other end of the line.

"Boss?" Damien asked, confused. Lachlan didn't usually call unless it was extremely important.

"Listen, I know we just got back from a mission but…" Lachlan began to tell his sergeant the situation.

Damien walked out of the garage listening to what Lachlan had to say, breathing in fresh air, looking out over the farm and the fields. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. A chicken that had probably escaped from the coop was pacing and pecking around Damien's boots.

Then Damien frowned.

"Hey? Didya just say that Hannah has been kidnapped? Sparrow? The Sparrow we know? Our bird? From 141?"

"Deadset."

"Fuck me dead…." Damien massaged his forehead. "She always ends up gettin’ into trouble like this, her and her reckless decisions."

"Well, reminds me of a certain someone, ay..?" Lachlan responded wryly. Knowing perfectly well that Damien was just like Sparrow or even worse.

Damien chuckled. "Bugger off! You're exaggeratin’, sir."

Then he sighed and his expression became serious again. He looked at the ground, at the chicken that was walking around without a care in the world. Damien and Sparrow were close friends, damn, almost like siblings. Since what happened to his best friend Daniel, Sparrow has been the closest thing to a best friend that he had, Alyssa was too, but Sparrow was the one who followed him in all his craziness. Aly was there to scold them every time. 

He touched his shoulder where he had the gunshot wound. An old scar from a couple of years ago. That afternoon in Afghanistan, the ambush, the sniper. Daniel died in front of him, trying to heal Damien's wound. And he could do nothing but be dragged away from him. It was incredible how quickly your life slipped through your fingers. One second you're alive and the next you have a bullet inside your brain.

Damien remembered how much the death of his best friend hurt. Damn he still hadn't even recovered yet, despite the years. And to think that the same thing could happen with Sparrow made him sick to his stomach. Hell, maybe he wouldn't be able to get back up from a second hit.

Damien clicked his tongue. He had returned home just less than a week ago. And now he had to return to the battlefield. But for Sparrow he would go to hell and back. She would do the same for him.

"When we headin’ off?" Damien asked.

"Now. Grab your shit, we're goin’ ‘gainst the clock."

"Rog.".

_______________

"Anna." Lachlan called her. "Your turn."

The woman nodded and stood in front of the armored door. She placed the explosive charge and activated it.

"We're going to blow up this fucking building." Anna murmured with a smile on her face.

"Oi, this is gonna upset all the fucking drug dealers in the building and for miles around." Damien whispered, looking down the dark hallway they had come down.

"I didn't think you were a coward Damo." Anna raised an eyebrow and smiled as she finished preparing the explosive charge.

"I’d like to get back to the HQ in one piece." Damien counterattacked, narrowing his eyes.

"And you will! You just have to trust me. And this beauty right here." Anna finished off the explosive.

"They’re gonna catch us with our pants down and they’re gonna leave us like strainers if you lot don't shut up." Lachlan scolded them both. Damien and Anna had been arguing like siblings since they started the mission. And both the sergeants were starting to get on Lachlan's nerves.

Arjun sighed, trying to stay calm. This whole situation tenses his muscles and stresses him out too much. Arjun could swear he was starting to lose his hair because of the stress. He just wanted to get Sparrow out of there alive. Hell, he didn't even know if Sparrow was still alive. But he would soon find out.

The team had infiltrated what appeared to be a military base of operations for the Santa Blanca Cartel. A huge base located in a valley between mountains. It was literally the devil’s cave.

After the call with Price, Aly managed to find Sparrow's locator. The coordinates indicated a fixed location. It seemed like they had Sparrow held somewhere. Thanks to the help of the Bolivian rebel forces, they found the place. It looked like a damn impregnable fortress. Only someone with suicidal instincts would want to go in there. But luckily, reinforcements arrived a few days later. Lachlan, along with Damien and Anna, joined the team.

They managed to enter with the help of the guerrillas. They created a distraction by causing an explosion close enough to the base for the narcos to direct their gaze there. Giving the team the perfect opportunity to sneak inside the base. Arjun, Lachlan and Damien were in charge of eliminating the Narcos and guards inside the base in a stealthy manner. Checking all the floors, room by room, looking for Sparrow. Anna had the same job as the rest, but she was also in charge of placing explosive charges at key points in the building's structure, so that when the time came for extraction they could demolish the building and hit the Santa Blanca cartel right in the balls. Show those bastards what happens when you mess with the wrong team.

Finally they reached the underground levels. Aly reported that there was a shielded room without cameras. The team wasted no more time, suspecting that they might be holding Sparrow there.

"Alright. Everything is ready." Anna announced, proud of her work.

"Right. Sort yourselves out!" Lachlan announced, placing himself with his back to the wall next to the door. "Damien, you make first entrance."

"Bet your fucking arse I will." 

The team stood on both sides, with their backs against the wall.

"On my signal, Pham." Lachlan ordered. There were a few seconds of tension. Lachlan assured that everyone was ready. He glanced at Arjun who nodded. "Now!'

Anna pressed the detonator. A strong wave of heat hit everyone but not enough to hurt them. Damien wasted no time, with his rifle raised he entered, pointing in all directions. Arjun followed him and then Anna and Lachlan.

They checked the entire room and realized that no one was there. The room looked like a dark warehouse lit by a single, sad light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"Clear." Damien muttered.

"Where are you Han…?" Anna murmured.

"Well… She's definitely been here." Lachlan kicked a corpse, turning it over. He had severe bruises, a broken nose and a broken glass stuck in his neck.

"There are three more," Anna announced, looking around the room.

Arjun turned over another dead body of a narco. He had a broken arm and neck.

"It was Sparrow's job." Arjun recognized his sergeant's fighting pattern.

"Damn... did our bird do that?" Damien looked at the other bodies.

"We call her Sparrow but she charges like a fucking bull..." Anna muttered.

Arjun was starting to get impatient, finding those corpses was a good sign. Sparrow was alive and had the strength to fight, but it also meant that she was moving, and they had to get to her before someone more dangerous did it first.

"Arjun." Lachlan called him.

The captain approached the other captain.

"What is it?" Arjun asked.

"Have a gander at that." Lachlan pointed his chin at a work table full of torture tools, some of which were bloody. There was a battery with cables and clips and a cattle prod.

"Fuckin’ hell…" Damien approached the table.

"Mh?" Arjun turned to Damien with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a cattle prod. It's an electric wand. Some farmers use it to push cattle and make cows move forward. Not me of course. If that thing is used on a person you can cause significant damage." Damien muttered with a frown. He touched the object carefully. "It's still hot..."

"They used it recently. Sons of bitches..." Lachlan growled.

Arjun tightened his grip on the rifle. The knuckles turned pale and the veins on his arms began to stand out more than usual.

"She has been tortured here. There is no doubt about that." Arjun muttered.

"I don't see the chair." Anna asked, looking around.

"They didn't use a chair." Arjun pointed to some chains hanging from the ceiling. Blood was dripping from them. "They hung her like a fucking animal ready to be skinned."

Lachlan looked around.

"Look at the size of those chains. How did she get free of those?" Anna approached, amazed.

"Those corpses are still bleeding. She shouldn’t be far." Lachlan reported.

Arjun was still immersed in his own thoughts when suddenly something lying in a corner caught his attention. He approached and crouched in front.

"What is that?" Anna approached curiously.

Arjun was holding Sparrow's bulletproof vest, now bloody and with empty pockets. It had the locator still attached. Arjun took a deep breath trying to stay calm. He tore off the patch and stared at it. That patch with the skull of a king and a sword piercing the skull, the word "Kingslayer" was embroidered at the bottom. The patch was stained with blood of course. That sight of his sergeant's patch covered in blood only altered his calm and professionalism. At that moment Arjun was like a ticking bomb. If he found El Sueño right now...

Arjun grabbed the radio button and contacted Aly and Jade.

While the rest of the team had checked the entire building, Aly and Jade went up to the upper floors, looking for the control room. Where Aly could have full access to the cameras and electrical systems. Jade escorted Aly there, stealthily finishing off whoever crossed their path.

"Alyssa. We have news." Arjun's voice was heard over the Comms.

"Go ahead captain." Aly replied. It was difficult for her to hide her nervousness. She just wanted to find Sparrow and get out there.

"We have found the torture room but there is no sign of Sparrow. The guards are dead, and judging by the wounds Sparrow has recently escaped."

Aly sighed. Sparrow was alive, that was a huge relief.

"We will notify the rebels to establish a search perimeter."

Jade spread a map on the table. They both looked at it for a few moments. And they agreed where the perimeter should be established. Jade nodded.

Aly looked at the map, Sparrow could be anywhere. She sighed in defeat, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder. Aly looked up to see Jade giving her a comforting smile.

"We'll find Hannah. Don't worry."

Aly tried to smile and nodded.

"Thank you Jade."

The redhead nodded.

"I will inform the rebel forces." Jade announced, and quickly contacted Pac Katari.

Aly nodded, and looked back at the cameras.

"¿Dónde chingados estás Han?" (Where the fuck are you Han) Aly murmured worriedly.

After chatting with Pac Katari, Jade returned to Aly.

"The rebels report that the Narcos have heard the explosion and are on high alert. They are clearing the entire building."

"Understood. We will meet you as soon as possible." Arjun announced. "Alyssa, it's time to turn off the lights again. We'll take care of those bastards."

"I'm working on it" Aly was in charge of turning off all the electrical systems, thus the alarms and communication antennas of the drug traffickers were completely unusable. They couldn't call in reinforcements. "All systems disabled."

"Roger that Aly." Arjun replied. "Keep us informed of your situation at all times. Understood?"

Suddenly she heard something. It was almost imperceptible, it came from outside, on the other side of the door. It was as if…

"Alyssa?" Arjun asked Aly again after not receiving a response. Aly seemed to ignore him.

Aly frowned and looked at Jade.

"Have you heard that?"

Jade looked at her confused.

"Hear what?"

They both remained silent, listening. It was heard again, it was a sharp, fast, melodic sound.

"I think it comes from outside, from the forest." Jade tried to guess.

"No, no..." Aly paid more attention. Closing her eyes and listening as much as she could.

She waited a little and then heard it again for the third time.

"It's like…" Jade frowned.

"Like a..." then Aly's eyes widened. "a whistle."

As soon as Aly discovered it, she didn't hesitate to run to the door and throw it open.

"ah?! H-hey! Aly wait!" Jade tried to stop her. 

It was too dangerous to start running through the hallways! The building was full of guards! What was happening to her now?!

Jade followed her trying to catch up.

"Aly!" Jade tried to follow her, making sure no one was following them.

Oh my God. Had she perhaps gone crazy?

A group of three drug traffickers appeared from another hallway. Jade growled and pointed her gun. She shot all three between the eyes.

Screw discretion.

Aly stopped at an intersection of hallways, listened again.

"Come on, come on..." she murmured, panting.

"Aly, my god, what's going on?!" Jade finally caught up to her.

"It has to be around here." Aly looked in all directions.

Jade heard the voices of the drug traffickers who began to get closer and closer. Judging by the sound of the boots, there were many of them.

"¡Vamos cabrones! ¡Tienen que estar por aquí cerca!"

"We have to get out of here. We can't hold them off for long. I'm low on ammunition too." Jade stood in front of Aly, with an expression of complete concern for her friend. "Aly, what are you looking for?"

"I just need a little more time, I just..."

"We have the narcos breathing down our necks. We have to get out of here and return with the rest of the team."

Another whistle was heard.

Aly turned her head towards the sound as if she was an owl. And without saying anything else she started running again.

"Aly!" Jade followed her again.

They both walked through the hallways. Shots could be heard coming from the lower floors. The team had come into contact with the enemy. Over the radio, Arjun and Lachlan could be heard shouting orders between gunshots. But shots could also be heard coming from further ahead, right where they were heading and that worried Jade.

Aly opened an emergency door that led to a narrower, darker hallway. It was illuminated by red emergency lights. Jade reached her.

"We have to lock the door, now." Jade grabbed the ax and emergency fire hose on a nearby wall and managed to bar the door. "We have an army of Narcos on the other side. And if we don't hurry they're going to—..." Jade's words were interrupted by pained moans coming from the dark hallway.

Aly and Jade stared into the complete darkness, dimly illuminated by the red emergency bulb. Listening to someone dying of pain. That situation seemed like it had become a horror movie. Jade pulled out the gun slowly, Aly did the same, loading the gun trying not to make too much noise.

Suddenly they saw something moving on the ground. Something was crawling in the distance. It didn't have a specific shape. Until he got close enough to the red light and they realized he was a drug trafficker who was crawling because his legs didn't work. He was bleeding to death, but still he was fighting with all his might to run away from something.

"Perra asquerosa, maldita zorra…¡El Sueño te encontrará y va a hacerse un abrigo de piel contigo!" (You filthy bitch, you fucking slut...El Sueño will find you and make a fur coat out of you!) The drug trafficker cursed whoever he was fleeing from.

Suddenly a whistle was heard, which sounded much darker thanks to the echo generated by the narrow hallway.

The drug dealer raised his head and looked back. That was his fatal mistake, as a deafening gunshot was heard and a bullet flew down the hallway until it pierced the man's skull. The corpse remained motionless, staining the floor.

Jade and Aly's breathing was heavy. They didn't expect something like that. Footsteps were heard, a pair of heavy boots approaching them.

"Do you think..." Jade finally understood, but she still remained alert, holding the gun.

"She's here." Aly smiled. Her hands were shaking, from the adrenaline, from the tension, from fatigue. Everything had accumulated at that moment.

She put her fingers to her lips, took a breath, and whistled too. She whistled, creating a short little melody, just two notes, but it was enough to make the footsteps stop for a second.

Aly stood expectantly, waiting, waiting for an answer.

The silence became endless until finally, from the depths of that dark hallway, the song of a sparrow was heard. Incredibly sharp and fast.

Aly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with tears. Her lower lip was trembling and her heart was pumping rapidly.

At last.

A dark silhouette appeared, tall and large. That person had one hand supported, they seemed to be limping. The silhouette whistled again, another sparrow.

Aly couldn't stand it anymore, and started running towards that silhouette. She ran and ran until her body collided with the other, she didn't care. She hugged them tightly, hiding her face in the other person's chest. Aly ended up collapsing, tears streaming down her cheeks as a pair of arms wrapped around them lovingly. A heavy hand rested on her hair and stroked it lightly.

"I told you I would find you." Aly murmured, resting her forehead on her chest.

The chest vibrated with a light laugh. Aly looked up, seeing a smiling Sparrow.

"And I never doubted you" Hannah widened her smile.

Aly smiled too and wiped away her tears.

"You are an idiot." Aly joked between sobs.

"Well someone has to be." Sparrow responded with a chuckle.

They hugged for a few more seconds until it was time to separate. Sparrow watched Jade slowly approach.

"Hannah…" 

Sparrow smiled.

"I'm glad to see you well Jade."

"Oh, shut up." Jade hugged her too, tightly. "You made us very worried. We thought we had lost you."

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting." Sparrow reciprocated the hug.

"Don't say that."

They both separated.

"Jesus, Sparrow, you don't look good." Jade commented worriedly. "My God, you're bleeding."

Despite Sparrow's tired smile, her body was covered in bruises and she limped on one leg.

Aly lifted Hannah's shirt and opened her eyes in horror.

"You have been shot."

"Yeah, one of the guards managed to catch me when I tried to run away."

She had a gunshot wound to her lower abdomen, and it was spitting out dark blood, slowly but constantly. On the sides of her torso there were burns, small and surrounded by reddened skin. Surely from when the torturers used the cattle prod.

Jade took one of Sparrow's hands. The wrists were mangled, covered in bruises, marks and dried blood.

"How many nails have they pulled out?" Jade asked, looking at Sparrow's hands in terror.

"Four... It wasn't enough to make me talk." Sparrow looked exhausted, swaying from side to side, it was as if she would collapse at any moment.

"We have to get out of here. Now." Jade ordered.

Aly had Sparrow put one of her arms over her shoulders.

"Let's get you out of here Han."

"I'll inform the rest." Jade pressed the button on her radio. "Captain. We have found Sparrow. I repeat, we have found Sparrow."

"What?! Are you serious?" Lachlan replied. Although his voice sounded distorted by the gunshots. They seemed to be in quite a bind. "Take her out of the building and we will meet at the extraction point."

"And leave you alone with that army of Narcos?!" Jade exclaimed.

"It's an order. Getting Sparrow to safety is a priority. Dami—..." Interference cut off Lachlan's words.

Jade was going to answer but suddenly knocks and gunshots were heard on the other side of the door. Someone was trying to open it.

"Get ready." Jade ordered, taking out her karambit and gun. "That door isn't going to hold up much longer. Aly." Jade called to her partner.

"I know." Aly pulled out her gun with one hand and held Sparrow with the other.

"Let me help." Sparrow took a step forward but Aly stopped her.

"Are you crazy? Have you even seen yourself?! You've been tortured for days Hannah, you're bleeding to death and you can barely stand."

"I can still fight, I didn't get here by pure luck. Let me do it."

"Aly is right." Jade answered, she had returned to her serious attitude, ready to murder whoever came her way. "You're in no condition to engage in combat. Besides... We already trusted you once, now it's your turn to trust us."

Sparrow tried to reproach again but Jade's look was enough to silence her. Sparrow sighed.

"Then kick those sons of bitches' arses for me."

Jade smiled and nodded.

"Aly?" 

"ready.."

Jade leaned her back against the wall of the door. She adjusted her grip on the gun and knife. Aly did the same and pointed towards the door.

They waited, the gunshots and screams continued until suddenly everything was silent. The three looked at each other. The atmosphere was tense again. A heavy silence that squeezed everyone's lungs. Suddenly there were loud, heavy knocks on the door. Someone was trying to knock the door down.

Everyone was on alert until the door finally gave way and burst open. Jade didn’t hesitate to stick the barrel of her gun into the temple of the person who had just burst in. She was about to pull the trigger when she suddenly recognized the blonde mullet.

"Whitlock?!" Jade asked, confused.

"Fuckin' hell, Jade!" Damien exclaimed.

"Damien!" Aly sighed in relief and lowered the gun. "Shouldn't you be with the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, well, the captains sent me to look for you as soon as you didn't respond to Arjun."

"Damien fucking Whitlock… What in the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Sparrow exclaimed with a frown. Then she looked at Aly. "Seriously?!"

"We couldn't rescue you alone. We needed reinforcements." Aly shrugged.

"And of all people... it had to be him?!" Sparrow pointed at Damien.

"Oi! Drop that shitty attitude and show some appreciation that I even bothered to show up!" Damien took a step forward, clearly pissed.

Sparrow removed her arm from Aly's shoulders and straightened her back so that she was level with Damien. Holding her abdomen because of the wound.

"Appreciation? I don't owe you anything! I didn't ask you to come! I could get out of here all by myself!" Sparrow took another step forward.

They were like two dogs ready to fight and tear each other's throats out.

“Guys please…” Aly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Clearly tired of both of their attitudes.

Jade simply watched the two of them as if she were watching a tennis match. What was happening here?

"You know, I was so comfortable back home, enjoying my days off when suddenly I get a fucking call that a certain little bird needs to be rescued on the other fucking side of the world."

"And they really thought you were the best one? You're always getting in the way of people with your huge butt!"

"And you can barely even walk with those huge duck feet!"

They spent a few tense seconds looking into each other's eyes, being only a few centimeters away. But in the end they both couldn't help it and a smile escaped their lips.

"C’mon, come ‘ere..."

They hugged each other tightly and patted each other on the back. The two chuckled.

"Don't scare me like that again..." Damien murmured, patting Hannah's head.

Sparrow snorted, trying to hold back a smile. She was really happy to have Damien there, she was able to trust him with her life without even thinking about it. She just liked to annoy him, and he liked to do that too.

"Sorry Damo." She rested her forehead on her friend's shoulder.

Aly sighed in relief and smiled. They always behave like this. Like two siblings who hate and love each other at the same time.

"What has happened?" Jade asked.

"Eventually you get used to it." Aly shrugged.

Damien and Sparrow chuckled. But suddenly Hannah's expression changed completely, she had turned completely pale and seemed dizzy again.

"Oh bloody hell…"

"Hannah!" Aly tried to reach her before she collapsed but Damien was faster and reached her first.

"Sparrow, what's wrong with you?!" Damien held Sparrow as best he could.

Hannah was slowly losing consciousness.

"She's losing too much blood. We need to get her out of here and have Mandy take a look at her." Jade ordered.

Suddenly interference was heard on the radio again.

"We have a visual of El Cardenal!" Lachlan's voice came over the radio amidst the gunshots and noises of the gunfight. "He's running away! Third floor! Right next to the east windows! We can't reach him with the mess here. You're going to have to take care of it!"

"Third floor? That's two floors down, we won't reach it. Much less carrying Sparrow."

"You go... I'll stay..." Sparrow muttered barely.

"I would rather die than leave you here." Damien answered with a completely serious look.

Jade was thoughtful the whole time.

"Take care of Hannah. I'll take care of El Cardenal." She put the gun back in its holster.

"You won't have time, there are too many stairs." Damien shook his head.

"I'm not going down the stairs." Jade answered determinedly, checking the harness that surrounded her thighs and hips. She took down a rappel rope from across her chest and tied one end to the harness and the other to a pair of carabiners.

Hannah looked up and chuckled weakly as she understood.

"Sometimes I think you're crazier than me..." Sparrow replied. "Just make sure the knots are tight."

Jade smiled and rested her hand on Sparrow's shoulder.

"You worry about staying alive, Han."

"I'll try not to disappoint you." Hannah laughed weakly.

Jade snorted, trying not to laugh in a situation like that, and looked at Alyssa and Damien.

"I leave her in your charge."

"Good luck, Jade." Aly nodded.

Jade nodded back and left. She started running down the hallways they had come through before. In one hand she held the gun and in the other the rappelling rope. She encountered several enemies who didn’t even have time to raise their weapons. Jade didn’t hesitate to shoot them in the head the moment they appeared in her field of vision. A very big guy stood in her way, trying to stop her. But with a quick pirouette she managed to throw him to the ground, rested her knee on his neck and shot him point-blank in the temple. Evidently the shooting had attracted more drug traffickers, so Jade hurried and ran.

She ended up reaching the end of the hallway, which opened onto some huge windows. Jade listened to the Narcos hot on her heels. She slid nimbly along the floor until she reached one of the concrete columns that supported the ceiling. She had arrived at the right place. She wrapped the rope around the column and secured it with the carabiner. As best she could, she measured the rope and did the calculations in her head. Was it a suicide? Yes. But there was no time to think about it. If she thought twice, El Cardenal would escape from under her nose.

The drug traffickers arrived, the bullets began to fly near her, threatening to pierce her body at any moment. Jade didn't waste any more time, she got up and ran towards the windows, without stopping for a second. She covered her face with her forearms and hit the glass. It went through the window, breaking the entire glass. The small pieces flew through the air, they remained suspended in the air, like Jade, for a few milliseconds, as if everything were in slow motion. But gravity soon did its work, the weight of the world hitting the pit of her stomach as she began to fall. She descended until the rope was completely taut, and like a pendulum the rope made Jade go from falling in the air to about to hit the windows two floors below.

Jade frowned as soon as she saw El Cardeanl near the windows. With her boots first, she burst into the building again, breaking the windows and taking El Cardenal with her. The sole of her boot impacted his cheek.

They both rolled on the ground. Jade got up as best she could, shook her head trying to get rid of the dizziness. From the corner of her eye she saw Gustavo Serrano, El Cardenal himself, who had already managed to recover from the kick that Charlotte had given him in the face. Jade pulled out the gun as soon as she realized it. But El Cardenal pulled out another gun and also pointed it at Jade.

"Mr. Serrano. Drop the weapon." Jade ordered firmly. "If you don't I will be forced to pull the trigger."

The man didn't say anything, he lowered the gun but instead of letting it go, he raised it higher.

"Sir." Jade threatened again.

Now the barrel of his gun rested on his own temple.

"Santa Muerte will come for all of us sooner or later." El Cardenal spoke in a sinister tone. "We are all sinners. Responsible for our actions. Only La Santa Muerte can bring us before the Lord."

"Drop the gun. You don't want to do this." Jade shifted her weight from one leg to the other nervously. They needed El Cardinal alive. And that son of a bitch was willing to take his own life without even blinking.

Where did she have to aim? To the leg? No, even if she fired, that wouldn't stop him from pulling the trigger. To the hand? It was too close to the head.

Shit…!

"Sacrifices must be made for the common good. To preserve what is good and what is pure."

The Cardinal closed his eyes and looked at the ceiling. And he pulled the trigger.

"¡NO!" 

But the bullet never went through Gustavo Serrano's head. In fact, a punch hit El Cardenal directly on the cheek, causing the bullet to deflect and hit a wall. Gustavo Serrano rolled on the ground from the impact.

Jade looked at the newcomer. Arjun shook his hand trying to relax his fingers.

"Captain…"

Jade realized that Arjun's eyes radiated anger, contempt and even madness.

Arjun had had enough of that fucking game. Could that man really take his own life after what he did to his sergeant? No, he did not deserve such a merciful fate. He deserved to suffer, just as he had made Sparrow suffer.

El Cardenal rubbed his sore jaw from the blow. He grunted and tried to get to his feet. But Arjun didn't let him. He kicked him in the mouth with his boot, causing him to fall to the ground again.

"Santa Muerte is not interested in you yet.Motherfucker." Arjun growled. "Do you think you can torture one of my soldiers for days and not suffer the consequences?"

"Sacrifices are necessary to—..."

Arjun hit him again.

"Sacrifices?! You are fucking genocidal. You bring hell to the innocent. You cheat, steal and kill for your own benefit without giving a shit. And you want to talk to me about sacrifice?!"

Arjun hit him again and again. Leaving the gloves soaked in blood. He didn't care about anything anymore. The chains, the torture tools, the cattle prod, Sparrow's Operation Kingslayer patch so stained with blood that the colors could no longer be distinguished. Just imagining that they had used all this on his sergeant made his blood boil. Arjun only saw red. Blood was splashing on his face, he didn't hear anything, his ears were ringing.

"Arjun!" Jade untied the rope still tied to her harness. "It's enough!"

Jade tried to grab Arjun by the shoulders but she didn't have enough strength to push him away.

"We need him alive!" Jade tried again. "Come on!" Jade's blood ran cold as she saw El Cardenal's disfigured face, all swollen and full of blood. He had to hurry or Arjun would beat him to death.

Suddenly another pair of larger, stronger arms appeared and between the two of them they pushed Arjun away from Gustavo Serrano.

"Arjun! Calm down, mate!" Lachlan pulled Arjun along while Jade went to inspect El Cardenal's condition.

"Let me go Jones! This bastard has to pay!" Arjun exclaimed terribly angrily.

Lachlan placed his body between Gustavo Serrano and the other captain, and put his hand on Arjun's chest.

"I understand your pain, Dhingra. But right now we need him alive. He is the right hand of El Sueño. We cannot waste this opportunity." Lachlan spoke calmly while still looking Arjun in the eyes.

"You've seen the torture room. What he's done to Sparrow…" Arjun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No… he already lost a very close friend, and he still blamed himself for it. He had to be a better leader, he had to protect his people. It had to be better.

"I would have done the same in your situation. I am capable of burning the entire world for my own people. But you know perfectly well that this is not what Sparrow wants."

Arjun sighed and shook his head. He should have been the one to sacrifice himself for the team. Unconsciously he held his leg with that bullet wound, it hurt like hell but he could walk. He just had to ignore it. A punishment for his actions.

"What is the status of Serrano?" Arjun asked.

Jade checked El Cardenal’s pulse and pupils.

"He's unconscious. He's barely breathing but he's still alive."

"Okay, I'll deal with him later." Arjun came closer. "And Sparrow?"

Jade looked at Arjun with a worried expression.

"She is alive but needs immediate medical attention. She has been shot in the stomach and some of the wounds appear serious." Jade reported standing up and holstering her gun. "Damien and Aly are with her."

"Good. They have to go immediately to the extraction point."

The burden on his shoulders eased a little. Still, Arjun couldn't relax until the entire team was safe and sound at the base.

Hurried footsteps were heard and Anna appeared.

"The explosive charges are already placed and activated." Anna reported. "Fuck me! That's El Cardinal?! What the hell happened to him?!"

"Divine justice." Arjun replied seriously without looking at her.

"Alright guys. Time to go" Lachlan informed. "I’ll carry Gustavo Serrano."

Jade nodded.

"Aly. Sparrow needs to be moved to the extraction point as soon as possible. The charges are already placed and active." Jade reported over the radio.

"Understood. We're on our way. Damien is holding Sparrow. She doesn't seem very happy." Aly answered.

Anna laughed.

"Typical Sparrow."

"Come on guys, time moves on. We have to move." Lachlan ordered, carrying Gustavo Serrano's unconscious body on his shoulders.

The team made their way through the different floors of the base. Shooting all the guards and drug traffickers who stood in his way. And finally they managed to leave the building.

"To the truck! I'm driving!" Arjun ordered, after killing the drug dealer who was driving the said vehicle.

They all went up. They left El Cardenal lying in the back seats of the truck next to Lachlan. Jade took over as co-pilot and Anna jumped into the bed truck that had a turret attached.

"Oh fuck...!" Anna cursed as she saw more Santa Blanca Cartel vehicles approaching along the roads. "More reinforcements are coming!"

"Shit!" Lachlan stuck his head out of the truck window. "We have to hurry! The explosive charges will soon explode! Pham! How much time do we have left?!"

"A minute at most!" Anna responded.

El Cardenal raised his head in confusion. It seemed that he was beginning to come to his senses. Lachlan noticed and with the butt of his rifle hit him in the back of the head again.

"Sweet dreams you piece of shit." Lachlan groaned "Where the fuck is the rest?!"

"I think I see them! Shit they have a fucking army behind them..."

"Use the turret!" Arjun ordered, starting the car.

"A pleasure!" Anna grabbed the turret with both hands and began shooting at any Narco that threatened those who were just arriving.

Damien ran out of the building carrying an unconscious Sparrow fireman's lift style, Aly ran next to him, protecting Damien as best she could.

Anna motioned for them to run in that direction.

They both jumped into the bed truck. Damien left Sparrow on the floor of the truck and joined in the firefight. Aly put pressure on Sparrow's wound. Hannah complained weakly but barely had the strength to speak.

Anna made sure everyone was in the truck. She hit the rear windshield of the truck to warn Arjun.

Arjun didn’t hesitate to step on the accelerator and speed away from there. Just then there was a series of explosions inside the building, the entire area had been filled with dust and dirt. And shortly after in one last explosion the building collapsed, like a titan that had been defeated.

Mesmerized, Anna watched the building fall. That always left a strange feeling.

"Anna, help me with this!" Aly asked, breaking Anna out of her thoughts.

Anna knelt down along with Aly.

"Sparrow doesn't look very good." Anna mentioned, worried, seeing her friend's state.

"The wound must be packed. We have to reduce the bleeding as soon as possible."

Sparrow opened her eyes and realized that Anna was there.

"I've been calling you for several days…" Hannah murmured weakly. "You didn't answer."

Anna smiled sadly, and cupped Sparrow's cheek.

"I didn't want to bore you with my dramas, birdie."

"Looks like I'll have to do this more often so I can talk to you." Sparrow smiled and closed her eyes.

Anna chuckled and shook her head.

"Don't even think about doing this again, idiot."

Aly smiled listening to the conversation between both women, but then returned her gaze to the wound.

"Anna keep Sparrow awake, don't let her fall asleep for a second." Aly ordered, ripping off a sleeve of her shirt and then tore it into strips.

"Hey hey. Hannah! wake up!" Anna lightly patted Sparrow's face. But she didn't respond. "Shit she’s not opening her eyes."

"Hit her harder."

"What? Really?"

"You heard me. Slap her like some asshole grabbed your ass without permission. Hannah's a big girl. She can take it.”

Anna smirked. 

"Very well. You asked for it."

Anna raised her hand and slapped Hannah's cheek with all her might.

"Fucking hell!" Hannah's eyes snapped open.

"That's my girl! Now keep your eyes open Sparrow!" Anna exclaimed, patting Hannah's chest.

Aly began to insert the pieces of cloth into the bullet wound as a plug to reduce the bleeding. Hannah complained again.

"Guys…" Damien interrupted them. He grabbed the switch on his radio. "We got visitors. Enemy vehicles approaching. There’s heaps of ‘em."

Several armed cars appeared behind the truck, chasing them at full speed.

"Roger. Let's try to throw them off." Arjun responded over the radio.

He turned the wheel and drove down a road that wound through a very narrow valley. A dangerous road that was on the edge of a cliff between two mountains that looked like giants that wanted to pounce on them.

"Okay guys. Get ready to engage!" Lachlan ordered as he pulled his body out the car window and pointed his gun.

Jade did the same.

"Pham to the turret. Now." The Australian captain indicated.

"Rog!" She looked at Aly. "Can I leave her in your care?"

"I'll keep her awake as long as I can. Go." Aly nodded at the turret.

Anna nodded and moved right behind the turret.

"Let's teach those pieces of shit when to fucking give up!"

"Fuck yeah!" Damien responded, placing one knee on the floor of the truck and aiming his rifle.

The first enemy trucks appeared on the road. Chasing the truck at full speed.

"Contact!" Jade screamed as the drug traffickers began shooting from their vehicles.

The team soon responded with fire and heavy artillery. Making sure to keep the narcos at bay and that they won't get too close. The road was already dangerous enough without now adding a shootout.

One of the trucks from the Santa Blanca cartel came too close, becoming parallel to the team's vehicle. Arjun looked towards the window realizing that a narco was pointing a gun at him.

"Back off Captain!" Jade exclaimed.

Arjun obeyed and leaned his body back giving Jade room to shoot the driver and co-driver of the truck. Arjun swerved to the side and pushed the other truck over the cliff, causing it to fall into the void.

"They're called traffic laws for a reason, idiots!" Arjun groaned as he watched the truck crash into the bottom of the valley.

Suddenly his attention shifted to his ears. The engine of a helicopter could be heard approaching from a distance.

"Is it Mandy?!" Jade asked, trying to make her voice heard over the gunshots.

A second helicopter was heard approaching and suddenly a rocket hit the road a few meters ahead. Arjun had to make an effort to prevent the truck from overturning.

"I do not think so!" Arjun replied.

"Shit...! Anna! Grab the RPG!" Jade screamed, sticking her head out of the window.

One of the armed helicopters launched another rocket that hit the mountain wall, causing huge rocks to start falling onto the road. Arjun could dodge them with difficulty.

"Hurry up Gremlin! We have to shoot down those helicopters." Jade exclaimed watching the rocks fall dangerously close to the vehicle. Some rocks crushed the drug traffickers' trucks that were still chasing them.

Anna grabbed the RPG, dug her knee into the ground.

And she placed the rocket launcher on her shoulder.

"I only have one shot!" Anna grunted in annoyance.

"Then make sure you don't miss. And take one of those helicopters to fucking hell." Damien said as he shot at one last enemy truck.

"Fuck it." Anna pulled the trigger and the rocket was launched at full speed, hitting the tail of one of the helicopters, causing it to lose control and crash into the mountain wall in a large explosion.

"Way to go Grem!" Damien shook Anna's shoulder euphorically.

"I wouldn't celebrate victory this early, Damien. There's another helicopter to shoot down." Lachlan spoke on the radio.

"We'll use the turret." Damien grabbed the weapon with both hands and pointed it at the cockpit of the remaining helicopter. "If we hit the pilot—..."

But a rocket appeared out of nowhere, flying through the sky at high speed that collided with the remaining helicopter.

"What the fuck?!"

Some interference was heard over the Comms.

"Sorry I'm late guys." Mandy's voice appeared.

A third helicopter appeared flying between the valley walls. This one had the Operation Kingslayer symbol painted on the front.

"Mandy! You don't know how happy I am to hear your voice!" Jade exclaimed in relief over the radio.

"I'm sorry for the delay, these bastards haven't left me alone for a single moment." Mandy answered.

"How's your new toy treating you?" Arjun asked.

The helicopter that Mandy previously used had received too much damage in the last few missions. And now with the new additions to the team they needed something bigger and more armed. Luckily Pac Katari got a new helicopter for Mandy.

"Wonderful, sir. I think I'm growing fond of it." Mandy joked.

For the first time in days Arjun chuckled lightly.

"Good to know Macfie" then returned to his serious demeanor. "Proceed to extraction point B. Sparrow needs immediate medical attention."

"Roger that captain." 

Finally the team managed to escape from the cartel and those facilities. As soon as they reached the extraction point, Arjun and Damien took Sparrow to the helicopter while the rest boarded.

"Aly I need you here with me. We have to find a safe route to return to the base." Mandy asked as she sat back down in the pilot's seat.

"Hannah needs help." Aly informed.

"I know."

"You're the team medic Mandy." Aly responded worriedly.

"I have to pilot the helicopter too, I will give instructions so that you can treat Sparrow's injuries or at least hold on until we get to the base." Mandy justified, understanding her friend's anxiety and concern.

"Alyssa." Arjun called her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sparrow is going to be fine. We will do everything in our power to save her."

Aly looked at Sparrow, who was lying on the floor of the helicopter while the rest of the team tried to tend to her. She then returned her gaze to Arjun.

"Take care of finding a safe route so we can all get home." Arjun spoke softly and understandingly. "Clayton will be fine."

Aly sighed and nodded. She sat next to Mandy and with the help of the maps and her laptop she began to search for routes in the satellite images.

"I have a route."

"Good. Let's take off." Mandy answered using the controls to lift the helicopter into the air again and fly in the direction Aly was pointing.

While in the back of the Helicopter they tried to make sure Sparrow was still alive.

"Jade, I need you to put pressure here." Lachlan was giving orders. "Damien, get the first aid kit."

Both attended and obeyed orders.

Arjun knelt next to Lachlan.

"Macfie. We need instructions on how to remove the bullet." Arjun said.

"The bullet is quite close to the liver. You have to be very careful. The blood is red at the moment. That's a good sign, it means it hasn't damaged the liver yet." Mandy explained. "But if the blood comes out black. Sparrow's countdown will have slowed down significantly."

"Why?" Damien asked worriedly.

Mandy was silent for a while, thinking about how to explain it.

"The liver is in a way responsible for purifying the blood, as are the kidneys. But the liver extracts toxins and residual substances from the blood. If the liver is affected, these toxins may go into the bloodstream again in high quantities and poison her own blood." Mandy explained. "We don't know how close the bullet is to the liver, but what we do know for sure is that if Sparrow keeps moving and the wound gets bigger, it will eventually hit the organ."

"We have to remove the bullet as soon as possible." Arjun summarized.

"But if we do, we run the risk of Sparrow bleeding to death." Aly added.

"That's why we need to have a blood transfusion ready in case things get complicated. Jade, Sparrow and you share a blood group. O negative is quite unusual, you're the only one who can give her blood."

"Understood." Jade nodded.

"We have to make two groups. One will be in charge of the blood transfusion and the other will be in charge of removing the bullet and cauterization."

"The sergeants and Jade will handle the transfusion. Me and Captain Jones will handle the extraction. Understood?" Arjun ordered and everyone nodded.

Without wasting any more time, following Mandy's instructions while she piloted. One group was tasked with preparing the intravenous lines and injecting serum into Sparrow's veins. While the other group was in charge of preparing the scalpel and forceps to extract the bullet.

Meanwhile, Sparrow was barely unconscious. Blood stained the floor of the helicopter. Her vision was blurry and sounds sounded like she was underwater. For a moment she locked eyes with Aly, who was unable to look away. She had a terrified and worried expression. Sparrow wanted to raise her hand, tell her that everything was okay, and that she would get through this, like she always had. But she didn't have the strength to do it.

"Starting with the incision." Lachlan reported after lifting Sparrow's shirt enough to show the gunshot wound. It didn't look good...

He brought the scalpel closer and made a cut along the wound. Sparrow grunted and shook hard in pain.

"Hold her!" Arjun exclaimed, grabbing Sparrow by the shoulders and pinning her to the ground.

Damien did the same, pinning her legs.

"I proceed to remove the bullet."

The moment Lachlan pushed the forceps into the wound, Sparrow began to thrash about in pain again, grunting, screaming, and trying to twist her body.

"Fuck Sparrow!" Damien exclaimed, trying to keep the sergeant still.

"The head! Hold her head!" Arjun exclaimed as he saw Sparrow unconsciously hitting her head on the floor of the helicopter.

Anna quickly knelt in front of Hannah and held her head with both hands preventing her from hitting the ground once again.

"Shhh everything's going to be fine Han, it's almost out. Hold on, just a little longer." Anna tried to calm Sparrow by caressing her cheeks with her thumbs even though her hands were shaking and she was having trouble hiding her fear.

Sparrow's life was slipping through her fingers and she could only tell her that everything would be okay.

"Shit, the bullet slips too much." Lachlan was having trouble removing the bullet.

"There is too much blood." Jade murmured worriedly.

"HANNAH!" Aly jumped out of the seat and tried to get closer, she was on the verge of hysteria as she heard Sparrow's screams and grunts of pain.

"Aly no!" Damien quickly stood up and stopped her by grabbing her torso.

"Damo! She—!"

"She's not going to die!" Damien looked Aly in the eyes. He was just as scared as she was. The hands holding Aly were shaking. The thought of losing another friend in front of his eyes terrified him. It made his legs fail and he didn't know how to respond. But he had to stay strong.

Sparrow screamed as Lachlan pushed the forceps deeper into the wound.

Anna closed her eyes tightly fighting not to let the tears fall and rested her forehead against Sparrow's.

"I'm sorry birdie... I'm so sorry"

Aly tried to go to Sparrow but Damien stopped her again. Alyssa could only collapse in the sergeant's arms as she watched her friend suffer.

"The bullet is out!" Lachlan reported as soon as the bullet came out.

"We have to stop the bleeding and cauterize the wound. Now!" Mandy ordered from the pilot's seat.

"Shit she's bleeding to death."

"Hannah, don't fall asleep!"

"Jade the blood transfusion!"

"We're losing her!"

________________

The intermittent but constant beep was the first thing she heard, followed by the light passing through her eyelids. A feeling of dizziness and nausea hit her like a wave. The last thing to wake up were the pain receptors, absolutely her entire body hurt.

For a moment she thought she had returned to K2.

She opened her eyes with an enormous effort. The light bothered her terribly, she had to blink and keep her eyes squinted for a while. The first thing she saw was her body covered in bandages and lying on a medical bed.

She made another effort and looked around. It looked like a field hospital, a huge tent with several medical beds. There were other wounded people, nurses and doctors walking around. People she didn't know.

Where the fuck was she?

She looked to the side. There was a small table, on the furniture there was a glass of water and a couple of pills, there was also a patch. Her patch. It had been washed, no longer completely stained with blood, the colors could now be distinguished, but there were still traces of red in certain areas.

Her ears became accustomed to the noise, she could hear more and more things. It was even starting to get overwhelming. She heard a breathing, deep, calm. She looked the other way and found Jade, she was sleeping, her arms and head resting on Sparrow's lap.

Hannah didn't know how she couldn't notice Jade's weight on her. Maybe her body, despite the pain, was still numb.

As best she could, she stretched out her arm towards Jade, her hand trembling exaggeratedly. It seemed as if Jade had stayed there, for hours, waiting.

"I wouldn't wake her up if I were you." A familiar voice was heard. "More than half a liter of her blood runs through your veins, she’s absolutely buggered."

Hannah finally looked up and realized she had a visitor.

"Damo...?" Sparrow's voice sounded dry. Her throat hurt, she even coughed a little.

"Hey hey." Damien stood up from the chair he was sitting in and carefully brought the glass to her. "Drink up, c’mon."

Hannah obeyed and drank some water as best she could. She felt that her body absorbed that water like a sponge. How long had she gone without drinking water? And without eating?

"That's it. Slowly. It has cost us a lot to keep you alive, we don't want you to die now from choking on some water." Damien joked lightly.

Hannah nodded when she had drunk enough water. Damien put the glass away and sat back down.

"What the hell happened?" Hannah asked, resting her head on the pillow again.

"Well... I asked a mutual friend to have a little chat with the devil and tell him that your time hasn't come yet." Damien smiled.

Hannah tried to smile too.

"Did you tell Daniel to kick me out of hell?"

"I reckon Dan would’ve dragged me into hell if he realized I let you die." Damien answered.

Hannah chuckled but it made her ribs hurt more.

"I have to admit, using the defibrillator was fun but scary at the same time," a female voice said.

"Gremlin." Sparrow stretched out a hand and Anna didn't hesitate to grab it.

"Hey birdie." Anna smiled sadly.

"It's nice to see you again." Hannah replied weakly, "I wish circumstances were different."

"Shut up." Anna rolled her eyes and ended up hugging Sparrow without much force.

They separated and looked each other in the eyes. They knew each other well, they had been through many missions together, Las Almas was no exception. And Hannah could still see in Anna's eyes that what happened there still affected her deeply. There were cracks in those cheerful eyes. And although Hannah couldn't quite figure out what it was, she knew something was broken.

Anna sat in a chair next to Damien.

"You look like shit." Anna joked.

"If you ask me, I reckon she even looks better than before." Damien answered.

They both laughed and bumped fists. Hannah just rolled her eyes.

"How nice it is to have you as friends..." she said ironically.

"The best you will find." Anna smiled.

Sparrow shook his head and looked back at Jade. She was still fast asleep. Sparrow took one of her red locks and tucked it behind Jade's ear. And to think that she had only been saved because she and Jade coincidentally shared a blood type...

Death really liked to play with her.

She would have to treat Jade to breakfast or something as a thank you for saving her life. She would have to ask Ghost what food she likes.

"How long has it been?"

"Since you came back to life? About ten hours." Anna checked her watch.

"You had a good nap." Damien crossed his arms and leaned his back against the back of the chair.

"I think we all need a good nap after this." Anna stretched her arms and yawned. "Or a fucking coma. Sleeping for a few days wouldn't be bad."

"I vote for an alcohol coma." Damien answered.

Anna laughed.

"Amen brother."

Hannah watched them in silence. Happy to see them there. They were able to cross half the world just for her. She had a lot to thank them for.

She noticed that they were both wearing Operation Kingslayer patches on their vests as well.

"So you've joined the crew." Hannah pointed to the patches.

"Well considering the fucking disaster we've encountered we couldn't let you do it yourselves." Anna shrugged.

"Lachlan has spoken to Arjun. The Regiment will stay in Bolivia for a while." Damien rested both hands on the straps of his vest.

"Just you two?"

"That's all ya need." Damien smiled confidently.

"And Arjun?" Hannah asked, looking around. Wondering where her captain was.

"Taking care of El Cardenal." Damien answered. "He hasn't woken up yet."

"Woken up?"

"Oh yes. When Arjun finally saw Gustavo Serrano, he gave him the beating of his life in your honor." Damien explained.

"He looked so hot." Anna bit her lower lip.

"Annabelle Katherine Delgado Pham what in the actual fuck is wrong with you?" Damien raised an eyebrow. 

"What? It's true. And you can't deny it." Anna crossed her arms.

Hannah laughed but said nothing. She just watched them talk and argue. She had really missed them.

Footsteps were heard approaching. The three looked up. Mandy and Aly walked over.

"It seems that sleeping beauty has woken up." Mandy joked.

Sparrow smiled.

"How many beers do I owe you for saving my ass again Mandy?" Sparrow asked.

"Well, enough already." Mandy walked over and quickly hugged Sparrow. "I'm glad you woke up. How are you feeling?"

"Like hammered shit." 

"You look like one too." Mandy laughed.

"Ha! told ya." Damien added and earned a furtive glance from Sparrow.

Mandy rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Sparrow. "You're going to stay in bed for a few days. You're out of danger but you're still pretty weak. It'll take you a few weeks to recover. But you'll get out of it."

"Under your care I have no doubt that I will recover Doc." Hannah smiled.

Mandy did the same and patted Sparrow's shoulder.

"Rest for now. I'll inform the captains and the 141 that you've woken up."

Hannah nodded and Mandy walked out of the tent.

Sparrow turned his head and saw Aly.

"Hey…o-oh–! Wow! Haha! ouch!" Sparrow was surprised when Aly rushed into her arms. "Aly, you're going to wake Jade up. Hahaha."

Aly ignored her and hugged her tighter. Sparrow sighed smiling and returned the hug as well. Not caring about the pain that the hug caused her.

"If you scare me like this again, I'm going to tie you to a chair." Aly muttered.

Sparrow chuckled.

"Sorry."

Aly pulled away from Hannah, she had a sad smile on her face. Dark circles rested under her red, puffy eyes. Hannah felt bad for scaring her so much.

"It would have been too hard to tell Lily that she would never see her favorite aunt again."

"Hang on!" Damien intervened. "I thought I was her favorite uncle!"

"Know your place Damo." Sparrow gave him the middle finger.

Damien did the same.

Anna just laughed and shook her head. Knowing perfectly well that she was the favorite. Or maybe they all were? Lily would never confess.

Aly laughed. Their expressions seemed more relaxed than before. At least everyone had returned safely, and that eased her heart.

"Can I have a moment alone with Sparrow?"

Everyone turned their heads towards where that deep, masculine voice came from.

Arjun came closer with his hands inside his pockets. He seemed serious and not in a very good mood.

Everyone looked at each other debating what to do. In the end they got up and left except Jade, who was still sleeping peacefully, she had donated more blood to Sparrow than was allowed and that had left her completely exhausted, not to mention everything she had gone through during the mission.

"I'll come back to check on you later." Aly said goodbye, kissing Sparrow's head. "Now I have to go talk to John."

"Is Price in trouble?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.

Aly sighed, she didn't seem very happy with her husband.

"I'll tell you later."

Aly left with the rest, leaving Arjun, Jade and Sparrow alone.

"Hasn't she woken up yet?" Arjun asked, looking at Jade.

"No." 

Arjun took a jacket from a chair and placed it on Jade's shoulders.

"She's been up all night with you. She wanted to make sure you were okay and the rest of the team was rested. So she stood guard." Arjun sighed and grabbed a chair and sat next to the medical bed. "She cares too much about the team and not about herself."

Sparrow nodded.

"They told me that you beat up El Cardenal for me." Sparrow tried to joke, trying to relax the atmosphere between the two of them.

"I did what had to be done Sergeant." Arjun replied, "I wasn't going to let someone else die for me. At least… not again."

Sparrow tried to decipher Arjun's eyes, there was something hidden, a story that had never been told. A deep pain that had not yet been released. But Sparrow didn't ask, it wasn't her place, at least not for now.

"I wasn't able..." Arjun had his eyes fixed on some point. "I wasn't able to cut the rope. I couldn't leave you there, pretend everything was fine and continue with the mission."

Sparrow thought for a bit about what to say.

"It was crazy, maybe one of the craziest things that I ever did." Sparrow nodded a few times. "That's why I'm glad you didn't cut the rope."

Arjun looked into her eyes for a few seconds.

"It took us too long to rescue you."

"You did what you had to do sir."

"As captain it is my duty to protect my team."

"And you have done it. We are all here, we are all alive and we have achieved our objective. We have El Cardenal and valuable information."

"I doubt Gustavo Serrano wants to talk." Arjun shook his head.

"No, El Cardenal won’t speak."

"We're still going to try. My way this time." Arjun leaned forward, resting both his elbows on his legs. "You mentioned that we have obtained valuable information. Do you have anything?"

Sparrow was slow to respond but nodded.

"Did you see him? El Sueño?" Arjun raised his head.

Sparrow nodded again.

"He spoke to you?"

"Yes but he didn't say anything important. Just threats and attempts to buy my loyalty."

"He didn't get it."

"Of course not. He can shove his money up his ass. But I learned to listen, to pretend I was unconscious at the right time."

"Did you get another name?"

"That's right."

Arjun thought a little. They hadn’t yet lost track ofEl Sueño. They still had a chance to hunt him down, and now that they had the Bolivian rebel forces they could hit harder. But for now, they had to rest and keep a low profile. At least until things calmed down a bit.

"This war isn’t over yet." Arjun stood up and patted Sparrow's shoulder. "But for now rest. We'll take care of the rest."

Arjun left, he left the tent, once again finding the base of the Bolivian rebel forces. In the distance he saw Lachlan talking to Pac Katari. Lachlan realized that Arjun had left the tent, and raised a hand indicating Paco Katari to wait a moment and walked until he reached Arjun.

"How's your sergeant?"

"She's awake, she'll be fine." Arjun replied. "Do we have any news?

"Gustavo Serrano has woken up."

Arjun sighed and cracked his neck.

"Good. There's work to do."

___________

EXTRA!

drawing made by the beautiful @alypink. I'm crying so much!! I'm in love with this drawing!! T^T <333

[alidravana]

For @onlycodcanjudgeme 's tell us more about your OCs, this is Mandy!

Staff Sergeant Mandy Macfie, she/her, lesbian

Her sketch was drawn by the amazing @samithemunchkin !

Mandy is Canadian, works as a pararescue, amazing pilot (helicopters). Her and Roach are best friends, known each other for over 8 years, Mandy having dated (past tense) Roach's sister.

She makes an appearance in Your Hands, My Ghosts and Where the Shadow Ends (and will be appearing in more fics in the future).

[revnah1406]

So this was sitting on my wips list for quite a long time. And It's been a while since the last time I brought Op Kingslayer content. I don't know if I'm going to finish it hahahaha! But I thought it would be nice to show you what the team looks like in their mission in Bolivia. <3

I'll bring more content soon! And I hope the next chapter too! Also new OCs will join the team! What is going to happen? *Dramatic music intensifies*

OCs:

Hannah "Sparrow" Clayton - @revnah1406

Alyssa "Aly" M. - @alypink

Captain Arjun - @welldonekhushi

Mandy Macfie - @alidravana

Charlotte "Jade" le Jardin - @sleepyconfusedpotato

[revnah1406]

Operation Kingslayer: 2/?

Warning!: This chapter contains specific violence, and a detailed description of torture methods.

(All locations and places that appear in this Fic are fictitious and based on the Ghost Recon Wildlands video game)

OCs:

Hannah "Sparrow" Clayton - @revnah1406

Alyssa "Aly" M. - @alypink

Captain Arjun - @welldonekhushi

Mandy Macfie - @alidravana

Charlotte "Jade" le Jardin - @sleepyconfusedpotato

(I'll bring more OCs soon!)

- Operation Kingslayer's playlist here! 👀✨

<- Previous chapter Next CHapter ->

___________________

Ch: 2/?

The sound of the helicopter's blades was the only thing that could be heard in the dark Bolivian sky. Inside the chopper, Jade observed the landscape that was presented below her feet, several meters below. Dark mountains full of forest and jungle, deep valleys, and huge swamps.

"Bolivia is a country with a great diversity of landscapes. Surely we will have to visit many of them during our stay here" Aly's voice was heard through Jade's headphones.

She looked at her partner who was sitting next to her and nodded. "I have a feeling we won't just have to fight the cartel" Jade commented looking into the deep forests of huge trees.

"Wolves, jaguars, piranhas, giant snakes and a huge number of alligators…" Sparrow who was sitting in front of Jade sighed also looking in the same direction as her. "Let's just say it's not going to be a walk in the park"

"Have you been to the Bolivian Andes, Sparrow?" Aly asked.

"No... I don't know this region of the Andes... But I was in Chile with my older brother and in Argentina by myself, where I climbed Aconcagua a few years ago..." answered Hannah.

"We're getting closer, the meeting point is a few clicks away" Mandy's voice came over the radio. She was flying the helicopter at a low altitude, avoiding the skyward glances of hostile onlookers.

"Copy that, Macfie," Arjun replied.

As everyone left that bar ready to take down a second drug cartel, Laswell made one last call to Canada. They were going to need a reliable pilot, Nikolai and Isobel Williams were too busy working with Farah and 141. So their only option was Mandy Macfie. They had worked with her on many occasions. Mandy had saved the team's lives on more than one occasion, always arriving at the most opportune moment to perform an emergency extraction.

"Prepare your belongings. Bowman will be waiting for us at the indicated safe house, but we better not trust ourselves, we don't know what we'll find, so keep your weapons up and the trigger ready. We will enter through different points, Sparrow and I will enter through the main entrance announcing our arrival. Jade and Aly, you'll be in the back in case the situation becomes compromised."

Everyone nodded to Captain Arjun's instructions. They began to organize and load all the belongings. They were going to be alone in Bolivia against an entire cartel. The only thing they could take was what would fit in their backpacks and tactical vests. Ammunition, provisions, first-aid kit, weapons... Everyone carried at least two long weapons that they carried on both sides of the backpack, a sniper rifle and an assault rifle. In addition to their pistols and the knives of preference for each one.

What would define their life, their home and their survival would be carried on their back or in their vests. Unlike the Las Almas Cartel whose headquarters were in Las Almas city, the Santa Blanca Cartel was spread throughout Bolivia. Having bases and headquarters in various regions and provinces of the country. They didn’t have external support for the moment either, it was the five of them against an empire. So they would have to move fast and carry light luggage.

"I have visual on the landing zone," Mandy announced.

"Copy! We'll get off the chopper in two" said Arjun.

Jade nodded as she finished packing her Karambits into the small of her back, Sparrow screwed the silencer onto the barrel of her sniper rifle, and Aly finished checking that the mini surveillance drone's hardware was in good order.

"We're ready," Hannah said determinedly.

Arjun nodded "Okay, get ready to act. Keep your radios on at all times."

Mandy landed the chopper in a clearing on top of a hill a few hundred yards from the safe house, everyone waiting for the chopper's engine to go silent, watching outside for any possible threats. The forest was quiet, the night was dark, only the silhouettes and shadows of the trees could be seen.

"Come on." Arjun ordered getting out of the helicopter followed by Aly.

Before leaving, Sparrow stuck her head in through the cockpit door.

"Thanks for the ride." Sparrow bumped fists with Mandy.

Macfie smiled and nodded again. "Always a pleasure, Sergeant."

Jade also appeared who offered Mandy a pistol.

"Stand by until we make sure everything is calm. If you hear shots, prepare the engines"

Mandy nodded and accepted the gun. She checked the bullet cabin, making sure it was loaded.

"You have to be alert, for the moment the entire territory of Bolivia is considered hostile. If you hear something or see something that we haven't reported, shoot" Jade advised.

"Copy that, be careful out there."

They both went outside, Arjun and Aly standing guard, pointing their rifles at the tree line and the house.

"Ready to board," Sparrow announced, grabbing her weapon as well and touching her captain's shoulder indicating that she was right behind him.

The moment Jade's boots came down from the helicopter and touched the ground, they all started moving towards the safe house. It looked like a hunting cabin in the middle of the woods. It was made of logs and stone, had a front porch, and small windows. There seemed to be a dim light inside.

They all moved in formation, muffling their footsteps on the ground. When they got to a close distance Arjun waved for Aly and Jade to part ways. Both women surrounded the house, avoiding the windows and watching the corners, always with their weapons raised. They reached the back door and waited for the other two members of the team.

Arjun and Sparrow approached the porch. Hannah peeked out of one of the windows, looking inside. It looked like a hunting cabin inside too, everything had a very rustic feel to it. It was in the dark, the only source of light was a lamp on the table, it seemed to illuminate some documents and plans.

"There's no one… but I have visuals of possible useful intel" she said through the radio attached to her vest.

"Get ready, on my signal we board" Arjun ordered, moving to the side of the door. "Sparrow, do the honors."

Hannah returned to her captain, stood in front of the door, waiting for the order.

Arjun pushed the button of his radio. “now”

Hannah kicked the door hard, Arjun came in raising his rifle pointing in all directions.

By the second team. Jade slowly opened the door, signaling for Aly to wait and watch her back. Aly nodded and stood in the doorway, eyeing potential blind spots in the cabin's interior layout.

Arjun was the first to enter, pointing in all directions, watching his steps. Sparrow followed, gun raised. They found no one in the room.

"Hall clear" Arjun reported

"Captain." Sparrow called to him.

Arjun turned to the sergeant. Sparrow was looking at a huge proofing board on the wall just above the fireplace. There were photographs, maps with marked places, transcripts of telephone conversations, coordinates, newspaper clippings…

"Looks like Bowman has been doing her job…" Sparrow muttered.

"This will make things easier." He answered.

Arjun walked over to the table where a study lamp illuminated some plans for unfamiliar installations. He was going to comment something else but a slight sound was heard, perhaps it would have gone unnoticed by someone normal. But as soon as he heard it, he raised his rifle in that direction.

Sparrow was quick to react when she saw her captain raise his weapon.

A woman was at the door leading to the corridor. She appeared to be in her forties, with blue eyes and blond hair. She was pointing a pistol at both soldiers.

"I suggest you get out of here or the consequences will be fatal." The woman threatened.

"You are in no position to make demands, ma’am. Put the gun down." Hannah ordered.

Arjun aimed between the woman's eyes, he discovered the small detonator that she was hiding in the other hand.

"You underestimate me" The woman smiled confidently.

A karambit poked out from behind the woman and rested its curved point on her throat.

"You underestimate us" Arjun replied as Jade slowly pushed the knife towards the woman's throat, without saying a single word.

There was the sound of a loaded rifle, behind Jade and the Woman. Aly was taking aim from a distance, in the darkness of the hallway.

The woman smiled wryly and raised her hands slowly in surrender.

"Alright, you got me. We don't have to figure out how this situation will be resolved."

"Are you Karen Bowman?" Arjun asked without lowering the gun.

The woman looked at him, studied his stoic expression, and finished by nodding slowly.

"You must be the ones Kate sent me."

Arjun gave a slight nod, ordering Sparrow to lower her weapon. Hannah compiled but the guard kept her up. Jade put the knife away and Aly stopped aiming, moving closer until she was next to her partner.

"I didn't expect you so early." Bowman commented, putting the gun in the waistband of her jeans.

Arjun bowed his head "We go where we are called"

Bowman nodded "is it just you four?"

"For now...we have a pilot too." Arjun mentioned.

Aly switched on her comlink "Mandy, it's all clear, we've found Bowman."

"Roger, I'm on my way." Mandy replied.

"So…" Bowman paced the room, examining each of the members. "Laswell believes that you can take down the Santa Blanca cartel…"

"That's why we're here, right?" Sparrow raised her chin but kept a serious expression.

Karen raised her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly. "It remains to be seen what you are capable of"

Jade started flipping through the evidence board.

"This is from the previous task force?" She asked, looking at all the information.

"That's right. Months of research." Bowman sighed "I'd better bring you guys up to speed. The sooner we start, the sooner we can take down these sons of bitches."

"Entering the house" Mandy's voice came over the comms.

"Copy, Macfie. You may proceed inside" Arjun replied.

The pilot entered the safehouse. Sparrow gave her a slight nod in greeting. Mandy moved closer to her, scanning Bowman and the situation with her eyes.

"I have a feeling it wasn't the best welcome." she whispered.

"You have a good feeling" Hannah replied.

They both returned their concentration to the CIA agent. The team surrounded the table while Bowman went to the proofing board and tore off a few photos.

"The Santa Blanca empire is supported by four main pillars."

Bowman posted a photo of a man who looked like a Christian bishop, with a huge golden Cross hanging from his neck and a serious expression, then a second photo of a somewhat ostentatious-looking young man smirking into the camera.

"The First Pillar: Influence." Bowman began to explain "Santa Blanca’s trying to win the love of the Bolivian people, they fill their brains with false promises and lies." She pointed to the man dressed as a bishop promising the locals the entrance to paradise and the eternal and divine forgiveness of God if they collaborated with the Cartel. The drug traffickers are great devout Christians, but above all they have a special fondness reserved for "La Niña Blanca."

"La Santa Muerte…" Aly murmured.

Bowman agreed.

"This is one of the first ways they have to win over their followers. The other is by following in the footsteps of Pablo Escobar, building houses for the poorest neighborhoods, giving aid to families... in short... creating a good image of the cartel. Everything to sweep the shit under the rug and avoid prying eyes."

The CIA agent put another photo on the table. It showed El Sueño shaking hands with a man who was dressed as a military general.

"The second pillar is Security. El Sueño has been in charge of reducing the military and police forces of all Bolivia based on bribery. So do not expect support from the government or the army."

"What about the rebels?" Arjun asked.

"The rebels are a large group of Bolivian guerrillas who have been fighting the cartel for years. Pac Katari is their leader, I know him well, but you will need a good victory if you want to earn his respect and trust. He will not welcome you with open arms at first. I advise you to make yourselves heard, that the voice spread among the Bolivian people, and that your deeds reach their ears. Only then may you get rebel support."

"So…if we do their job, we will get their attention?" Sparrow rested both hands on the straps of her vest.

"The rebels are also in charge of helping those most in need in Bolivia. If you locate stores of supplies, weapons, ammunition, fuel... mark them with location beacons. So that the rebels can find them, it is also a good way to announce that you are their allies." Bowman replied.

"And the other two pillars?" Jade asked.

Karen nodded and placed another photo on the table, this one showing a very beautiful woman with a little girl by her side. The photo appeared to be taken from inside a car. The woman and the girl were walking through a wealthy neighborhood surrounded by bodyguards.

"The third pillar: Smuggling. This woman is the mastermind of all smuggling operations. You could not imagine what she is capable of inventing to be able to get cocaine across the borders. She manages to send and export to more than sixty percent of the entire globe. They didn't earn the title of one of the biggest cartels in the world just like that."

Bowman took two more photos. It showed a very old man, wrinkled, graying hair, brown skin, and sun-spotted. And in the other, a young man in his early thirties with features similar to those of the older man.

"And finally, the fourth pillar and the base of the entire Cartel: Production. Bolivia has been a great producer of the coca plant, for cultural and medicinal uses, but it was illegal. Although with the arrival of Santa Blanca it has become massive The cultivated fields are full of forced laborers."

"Labor slaves." Mandy gritted her teeth.

Bowman nodded again.

"The trafficking and kidnapping of people is an open secret. Santa Blanca claims to ensure jobs for all Bolivians but they only force them to work until they die. The cartel blames the rebels for the Bolivian deaths, trying to give them a bad name."

Bowman put her fists on the table.

"If we can knock down one of these pillars, we can shake the cartel and make Santa Blanca weaker."

Arjun looked at his team for a few seconds, then looked back at the CIA agent.

"Where do we start?" Arjun asked decisively.

Bowman dragged two photos to the center of the table with her fingers.

"We'll start with Production." Bowman began to explain.

Aly took the photograph of the older man and looked at it carefully.

"He is Rodolfo Yana. But everyone knows him as "El Yayo", unlike the rest, he is Bolivian, he is about seventy-three years old, but don't let his age confuse you. He is the main cocaine producer for Santa Blanca. Before El Yayo was a coca union leader but his ambition brought him to work with Santa Blanca. He is willing to work with the Cartel in order to protect his people and their customs. Thanks to Santa Blanca, Coca crops are legal and they are protected. Many say that he is a traitor, others define him as a true survivor."

Aly passed the photo to Jade, who stared at it for a while.

"This is our first objective?" Jade seemed somewhat confused, she didn't expect to have to go after someone so old.

Bowman agreed.

"El Yayo is a great defender of culture and traditions. At first, El Yayo got stable and well-paid work for many cocaleros in Bolivia. People treated him as a savior for giving work to so many people. But the demand for Cocaine for part of Santa Blanca just grew and grew. Good paying jobs turned into forced labor." Bowman sighed "El Yayo is a man who prefers to make agreements than use violence. So maybe we can negotiate with him…"

"How did we get to him?" Arjun asked.

Bowman put the second photograph next to the one of El Yayo.

"This is his grandson, Gonzalo Yana, he is about 25 years old, they call him El Emissario. He is the manager and head of production of cocaine. His grandfather knows how to grow coca, and he knows how to process it. He is actually a spoiled child. He is arrogant, carefree and does whatever he wants, hoping that his grandfather or other underbosses will bail him out. Don't be distracted by his behavior, Gonzalo is a genius when it comes to processing coke. With the knowledge inherited from El Yayo and his master's degree in chemistry is capable of processing the purest cocaine on the entire market."

"How did we find him?" Jade crossed her arms.

"To get to El Yayo, you first have to find his grandson. It will be our trick to find him." Karen explained, "We had Gonzalo caught by the balls a few months ago, but he fled the country like the coward that he is. Luckily we know that he returned to Bolivia a few days ago, knowing that the old task force has been taken off the game board." and taking into account that he cannot leave the production of Cocaine unattended. El Emisario or The Emissary believes that he is now safe and that he can return to business without problem." Bowman paused. "Now we just have to find it. We know it's in Ocoro, but going door to door into every cocaine lab in the region would be a waste of time. The cat would never catch the mouse."

"I can check all the radio and phone stations and channels in the area. Maybe I can intercept something." Aly suggested.

"That's why I love you, Aly." Sparrow joked. 

"Might be a good start. Let's get to work then" Arjun said, beginning Operation Kingslayer.

"Let's go for that bastard"

___________

The helicopter was flying over the Ocoro region. The night was moonless, it was the perfect time to act. Sparrow loaded her assault rifle. Arjun was at her side readying his gun as well.

"Okay, let's go over the plan. Aly, you're going to overwatch from a high point with the help of the surveillance drone. Keep the sniper rifle ready, I'm sure we'll need it. You'll be the one preparing our entrance."

"Got it" Aly was sitting in the cockpit together with Mandy. She had the exact coordinates on her laptop. Thanks to hacking and intercepting the radio channels in the Ocoro area, she was able to listen to a conversation with Gonzalo Yana and was able to triangulate his exact location.

"Sparrow and I will board through the first floor, while Jade will enter through the roof. We will take Gonzalo Yana out through the roof"

"Roger." Jade responded by assuring that the blade of her knives was properly sharpened.

"Okay, we'll look for Gonzalo Yana, remember that we need him alive. If the rest show resistance, you have full permission to shoot."

"We are arriving." Mandy's voice blared over everyone's comms.

"Understood! Everyone get ready"

When they reached the agreed point, they all prepared to slide down the rope. Sparrow leaned back into the cockpit.

"We are ready."

Mandy nodded. "Go carefully."

Sparrow gave Mandy a fist bump and patted Aly on the shoulder.

"Be our eyes, Aly." Sparrow smiled confidently.

Aly smiled and nodded.

"I'll watch your back"

"Sparrow let's go!" Arjun was ready to go down the rope.

"Copy, Captain!" She turned to her two companions "take care of yourselves, my ladies." the sergeant said goodbye.

Jade, Arjun and Sparrow slid down the rope.

When they all reached the ground Mandy piloted the helicopter to get Aly into the most suitable position to observe the facility from a distance but also to be close enough for her to connect to the main network and work her magic.

The team wasted no time, and began moving in formation. Taking care not to make noise.

The Ocoro region was a rural area. Mountainous, with small forests and numerous cultivated fields. The team walked a little further until there was an old industrial warehouse between the trees. There were huge outdoor spotlights illuminating the darkness of the night and a wall enclosing the restricted area.

They reached a high position to be able to observe the facilities well. The darkness covered them and prevented them from being seen.

"What do we have here…" Sparrow muttered, taking out the binoculars. "There are few entrances. Four floors, I suspect they will have a few more floors in the basement." The sergeant began to explain "Small windows and concrete walls… it's like a fucking fortress."

"Containment measures? Guards?" Jade asked. Who began to enlist her gear  to be able to make her entrance. Putting the silencer on her pistol and securing her bulletproof vest.

"There are a couple of machine guns stationed at the main entrance, snipers on the roof and in the watchtowers. Heavy armored guards at each corner, they wear ballistic helmets, we won't be able to take them out with one shot."

"leave them to me"

"Alyssa what is your status?" Arjun spoke into the comm.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"In position and waiting."

Aly was about 300m away, in an elevated position and perfect for providing overwatch. She was lying on the grass with the sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, peering through the rifle's telescopic sight. Next to her was the drone ready to be sent and the laptop that showed on the screen the synchronization with the central electrical system had been completed.

"Do you have visual on the target?" Arjun asked.

Aly looked through the windows of the building. Until she finally found a lighted window on the top floor.

"I have visual on Gonzalo Yana. Fourth floor, last room on the right."

Sparrow pointed the binoculars in the same direction.

"Affirmative. I see that bastard." Sparrow confirmed.

"Alright. Whenever you want Alyssa." The captain spoke.

Aly looked away from the scope for a moment and focused on her laptop, typing for a couple of minutes.

"Starting attack in three, two, one…" Aly hit the button "Lights off. All security systems disabled"

And suddenly, all the lights that illuminated the facilities went out. Everything was left in complete darkness. The guards outside were confused and kept alert for a long time. Until one of them mentioned that it was a simple blackout, and that it was normal in this region.

The team waited until the guards calmed down and went about their business, waiting for someone to fix the electrical system.

"Jade." Arjun whispered.

The named one nodded, clutching her pistol with the silencer attached in one hand and a karambit in the other.

"Good luck" Sparrow spoke "We'll be waiting"

Jade smiled and patted Hannah's shoulder before walking off down the hill. Stealthily approaching the entrance of the facility.

When she reached it, she put her back to the wall and waited silently for the guard to get close enough. She adjusted her grip on the handle of the knife, and when the guard was at appropriate distance, Jade clamped a hand over his mouth and buried the knife in his neck, between his shoulder pads and helmet. Carefully she dragged the body to a safe place so they wouldn't find it. But as soon as she put the body on the ground, another guard appeared walking casually without noticing what was happening around him. But he would end up noticing if he kept advancing in the direction of Jade. She wasted no time, grabbing one of the knives from the dead guard's tactical vest and throwing it with such precision at the guard that the knife sliced ​​through the air to slam into the second guard's face. The man fell backwards like a sack full of stones.

Jade sighed quietly in relief. Wasting no more time, she hid the second body next to the other and continued advancing. Jade melted into the shadows, using only her knife.

She would stab a guard in the neck and with two silent shots finish off the second. The bullets were always perfectly accurate, one in the bulletproof vest and one in the face. It ended with the vast majority of narcos who were standing guard abroad. She took care of those who were positioned behind the fixed machine guns and those who guarded all the entrances. And nobody noticed what was happening.

Jade was cleaning the blade of her knife on the clothes of the corpse of one of the guards, when she spoke through the comms.

"Aly, the sniper on the watchtower could compromise my position. To the east."

It didn't take long for Aly to aim the sniper rifle where Jade indicated.

"Got him"

As soon as he was in her sights, she held her breath, made some final calculations, and pulled the trigger. The enemy sniper disappeared into the darkness after being shot in the chest.

"Enemy sniper is down." Aly reported on the radio

Jade was able to continue creeping through the darkness around that drug lab until she found an emergency ladder that led to the roof. She climbed them carefully so that her boots did not make noise against the metal of theladder, she knew perfectly well that company would be waiting for her up on the roof.

When she got to the top, she saw two snipers walking around on the roof. Light-footed and keeping low, she took down the first sniper without a problem, but the second one apparently turned around ahead of schedule. Jade had to react quickly, with the pistol pointed at his chest and fired a couple of times. The sniper's bulletproof vest retained both bullets even though both shots nearly sent him to the ground.

The MI6 agent pounced on him when she saw that he was trying to communicate by threadbare. Jade wasted no time in pulling out her knife and making two quick slashes, the guard was able to defend himself by covering his face with both arms. Jade took the opportunity to kick his stomach hard, making him lose his balance and make him drop the sniper rifle to the ground.

The angry guard lunged at her, but Jade was faster and dodged without a problem. They kept up close combat for a while, the sniper throwing hard, heavy blows, while Jade moved nimbly, brandishing her knife, slashing across his arms. She would shift the knife from one hand to the other, changing the position of the curved blade, and every time she found a gap to get through his guard, she would not miss the opportunity to try and stab in the neck. In the end she managed to slip over the side and quickly rolled across the ground and made a quick, deep gash behind the knee. The man fell to his knees because the tendons could no longer support his leg.

Jade wasted no more time, she was tired of playing. With her other hand she drew a second karambit and using all her strength stabbed just below his jaw. The curved blade of the knife pierced the roof of the mouth while the first knife slashed across the throat.

When Jade pulled out the knife the soldier fell to the ground bleeding to death. She wiped at the blood splattered on her face, then hit the button on her communicator.

"I'm in position." He announced looking at the corpse of the guard.

"Roger that, I'll let Macfie know so she can have the helicopter ready for extraction" Aly replied.

While Jade dealt with the guards outside, Sparrow and Arjun moved through the compound, ready to enter through a back door that led to the facility's warehouse.

Arjun cleaned the blade of his knife on the dead guard's clothing while Sparrow stood guard, making sure no one approached them unnoticed. The captain managed to pick the lock on the door and opened it carefully.

"Come on, Sergeant." Arjun whispered.

Sparrow followed him into the facility.

The building was dark as expected. Both soldiers moved through the corridors in silence, Arjun taking the lead while Sparrow brought up the rear. Thanks to the silencers they eliminated any hostile people they encountered.

"Shoot carefully, there are civilians in the laboratories" Arjun said.

"Roger"

They found the stairs and went up to the second and then the third floor, leaving not a single living guard behind. They entered a room that appeared to be a communications room. There were computers, shelves full of documents, and radios with different comms channels. Some guards could be heard talking on the radio.

"First and second floors are the laboratories… The third is the offices?" asked Sparrow, puzzled. "This is not a normal cocaine lab…"

Arjun returned to her when he was sure the room was clear.

"This is a gold mine, we could get information from here." Arjun commented. "Sparrow, make a Backup copy of all the files on the mainframe. Alyssa can process the data later."

"Ok."

"Arjun, Sparrow! The guards have found one of the corpses." Aly announced agitated. "They're starting to go up the stairs!"

"Bloody hell… we should have hidden the corpses better." Sparrow cursed.

"We didn't have time for that, our priority is Gonzalo Yana…" Arjun leaned his back against the wall right next to the window and leaned out slightly to see what was happening outside. The guards seemed to be flustered, looking out the windows of the building and running all in one direction.

"Jade, what's the situation outside?" Arjun asked.

"Everyone is very nervous, they are entering the building." Charlotte replied.

"Understood. Aly, how much time do we have?"

"A minute at most." she answered.

"Fuck…"

"Sir, Gonzalo Yana will escape if we don't hurry." Sparrow nervously said, shifting her weight from her leg.

"I know." Arjun closed his eyes and pondered for a few seconds what to do. They couldn't leave without the information from the central computer, and neither could they leave without Gonzalo Yana. So he only had one option left. Trust his teammate. Arjun knew full well what Sparrow was capable of. It was not their first mission together, he was aware of the skills of the sergeant and that he could entrust the fate of the mission to her.

"Captain." Sparrow eagerly awaited further orders.

Arjun took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Focus on the computer and make sure you extract all the useful data. Client lists, contraband, locations of other labs…everything." Arjun walked towards the door. "Make sure they don't kill you, sergeant."

"And what are you going to do, sir?" Sparrow asked.

"Jade, get ready." Arjun ordered over the comms and then looked at his sergeant "I'm going to get that rat out of his hole." Arjun left the room and without wasting any time ran towards the stairs leading to the top floor.

Sparrow wasted no time too, pulling out an external battery to power the computer and a flash drive from one of her vest pockets, and began backing up all the files.

Gunshots could be heard inside the building, surely Arjun had engaged in combat with the remaining guards on the upper floor. Sparrow ignored her desire to go help her captain and watched as little by little the percentage bar on the computer screen filled up.

"Sparrow on your six!" Aly's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Hannah spun around as she saw a huge soldier lunge at her with a knife. Sparrow had to drop her weapon to use both hands to prevent the knife from plunging into her face.

Sparrow was between the table and the attacker. She used all her strength to get that guy off her. She pushed him away from her and punched him in the nose. The guard swayed slightly, holding the bridge of his now bleeding nose.

"Puta zorra…"

Sparrow wasted no time, as the man lunged at her again, Sparrow raised her fists, punching him again in the face and then in the ribs. She moved swiftly across the room, dodging the knife that the man swung dangerously from side to side. Sparrow had to admit that this man was tough to beat, no matter how hard she hit him, it seemed as if he wasn't affected. Even though his face was covered in blood.

Sparrow took a quick look at the computer, five percent left for the backup to finish. She had to hurry, she had to finish this jerk and get back to Arjun as soon as possible.

"Come on… I can last all day." Sparrow waved a hand, signaling for him to come closer to continue the fight and further anger the guard.

She was walking slowly back towards the window. As the guard ran towards her to punch her in the face, Sparrow dodged quickly, managing to get behind him. As the guard turned back to her, Hannah kicked him in the chest. Causing him to stagger a couple of meters away from her.

The man was ready to attack again, but suddenly, a sniper bullet broke the window glass and went through the guard's head. The man collapsed on the ground lifeless and staining the ground with his own blood.

Sparrow smiled at the corpse at her feet, then looked at the hole in the window.

"What would I be if it wasn't for you Aly?"

Aly watched through the scope of her sniper rifle as Sparrow waved to her from across the room. She smiled, happy to see her friend safe.

"You know it's always a pleasure to watch your back, hermosa"

Sparrow looked away from the window when she heard the notification that the backup had finished. She rushed to grab the flash drive and the battery, then grabbed her weapon and ran to the top floor.

Along the way, she encountered several enemies and didn’t hesitate to shoot. She finished with any obstacle that was found along the way. When it came to dealing with firefights, there was no better soldier than her. She eliminated all the guards until she went up to the fourth floor.

Suddenly Sparrow, between the shots, saw Gonzalo Yana being thrown into the air, out of a room. Arjun came out soon after, his expression completely serious. For a moment Hannah felt sorry for that Narco, when Captain Arjun was angry, he was a scary man.

Gonzalo Yana began to flee in the direction of the stairs that led to the roof. But it seemed like Arjun didn't care, in fact he cared more about taking down the remaining guards in the corridor. Using only his pistol, a knife and a perfect aim, he finished off all the guards. When silence finally reigned in the place again, Sparrow was finally able to get out from behind the wall that she used as cover.

"Are you okay sergeant?" Arjun asked, although he didn't physically show it, he was worried about Sparrow.

"Affirmative sir." Hannah hurried over to him. "What's with that asshole?"

Sparrow was still confused, Arjun had let Gonzalo Yana run away.

"The Rat is cornered. Let's go for him"

Arjun walked up the stairs leading to the roof in no hurry. While they watched the Narco run up them so fast that he almost tripped more than once. Arjun didn't need to chase him, he knew exactly how this was going to end. It was like when a murderer knows that he doesn't have to waste energy running, he knows perfectly well that he will find you, no matter where you hide.

Gonzalo Yana banged open the door leading to the roof, but as soon as he stepped outside. The point of a karambit landed on his neck, so stealthily that the man seemed to him that he had been cornered by a ghost. He was petrified with fear.

Jade held the knife to the target's throat when Arjun and Sparrow appeared on the rooftop shortly after.

"We have the target." Arjun announced through the comms.

"Roger, Macfie is on her way." Aly replied.

"Who are you?!"

"You're not the one asking the questions here, kid" Arjun replied with a sinister tone.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Gonzalo Yana seemed to be on the verge of hysteria.

"Oh, we know that very well… Sparrow, knock him out."

"It will be a pleasure"

___________

When Gonzalo Yana woke up. He found himself tied to a chair in a small room with no windows, just a light bulb hanging from the ceiling above him.

There was a red-haired woman sitting in a chair similar to his. But she wasn't tied down, in fact, she had a grim look on her face, kept silent, deep in her own thoughts.

"We don't have to make this any more complicated than it already is." Arjun's voice was heard behind Gonzalo.

The captain had his back against the wall and his arms folded.

"Don't waste time lying or hiding information from us. It will only make it worse."

"I would rather die than tell you!" Gonzalo Yana seemed to want to hide his fear behind his anger "You are naive! You don't know what you are getting into…"

Arjun ignored the Narco's words, kept calm and kept talking.

"Rodolfo Yana." Arjun mentioned the name of El Yayo. "Where is he?"

It took Gonzalo a few seconds to understand what they were asking of him.

"The old?" He laughed "No, you'll never find him. Listen amigo…you're not aware of how deep this shit hole is. You're just foreigners who think you can come here and remove all the shit and get out of it unscathed. The simple fact: If you touch a single hair on my head, you’ll mark a cross on your back. La Santa Muerte will come for you and will hunt you until the end of your days."

Suddenly Arjun grabbed Gonzalo Yana's hair and pulled his head back, forcing him to look into his eyes. The light from the ceiling made Gonzalo only see a dark silhouette of a man.

"I think you already disappointed me. You already were, not to me but for everybody. Because of your "pathetic" self.. decided to choose this path with your family who had nothing to do but to cause suffering." Said Arjun, in a tone capable of making anyone's skin crawl "we are not what you see... we are not what you think. I could snap your neck right now and end your poor, pathetic life. But no, you have a much bigger purpose.." Arjun brought his face close to Gonzalo's "when we're done with you… you'll wish I'd snapped your neck."

Gonzalo Yana had not realized that he was sweating and trembling the moment Arjun let go of his head.

Arjun walked towards the door, but before leaving, he patted Jade on the shoulder.

"It's all yours" and left the room.

When he stepped outside the safe house, he found Sparrow, Aly, and Mandy waiting outside. Crickets could be heard in the bushes and a cool breeze blew gently.

"There is no turning back." Arjun mentioned. "Jade will get us the information we want."

Aly sighed in concern. "Jade is good at what she does, she's an MI6 agent after all but…this will affect her."

Sparrow nodded, agreeing with her.

"If we hurt Gonzalo Yana…" Mandy had a serious expression like everyone else. "We will send a clear message to El Sueño."

"Sir…I understand this is a covert mission. But we really don't know where we're going. We don't know what El Sueño is capable of." Sparrow spoke. "You saw how many guards there were in just a cocaine lab in the middle of nowhere."

Arjun nodded understandingly. "I'm aware, Sergeant. I'll talk to Laswell, maybe he can pull more strings. But for now, we're the only ones who can stop this madness."

"And what about the Rebel forces?" Aly asked.

"They will be considered hostile until proven otherwise. Although Bowman is an old friend of Laswell's, I don't trust her." Arjun crossed his arms and looked at his boots "We'll figure something out. But for now, we're dealing with this jerk."

Meanwhile, inside the Safe house, Jade and Gonzalo Yana were left alone in the room.

Jade was silent, she was terrifyingly calm. There was no emotion on her face.

"We can do this by hook or by crook." She began to explain. "I just need you to tell me a place and a time."

"If you think I'm going to tell you where my grandfather is. You're so wrong, puta."

Jade spent some time studying the man's body language. He was scared, but he hid it well. His hands were restless despite being tied. He kept his head up and still but his eyes were unable to maintain eye contact with Jade.

"We know that you recently returned to Bolivia, and we know that you have conversations with your grandfather. He is always the one who has to save you, right? You always end up in trouble and make El Sueño angry. But Rodolfo Yana is always there to protect you." Jade explained.

"That doesn't matter…you're not going to get me to talk. It doesn't matter what you do." Gonzalo Yana smiled sideways.

Jade nodded a few times and sighed. She got up from her chair and walked over to him.

"I see you made up your mind."

She rested her hand on Gonzalo's temple and looked at him for a few seconds.

"I will ask you a question. And you must answer honestly." Jade spoke again "Where is Rodolfo Yana?"

"Fuck you, pendeja."

"Wrong answer"

Jade pressed into the space between the eyebrow and the eyeball.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Jade closed her eyes and continued pressing on one of the most painful points in the body, there are many nerves in that area and it causes great pain and discomfort when pressing on it.

The screams echoed through the room, so loud that surely the people outside could hear them.

"Let's try one more time." Jade eased the pressure but didn't pull her hand away. "Where is Rodolfo Yana?"

Gonzalo was breathing heavily, he looked like an animal. But still he said nothing. He kept silent.

Jade, getting no response, pressed again. The screams resounded throughout the place.

The interrogation began to be a game of tug of war, Jade asked questions, and Gonzalo did not answer what she wanted. It seemed a bit like a game of cat and mouse. But this time the Cat played with the mouse until he died from exhaustion.

"Please! I don't know! I don't know!"

"No I don't know's. Just answer my question. It's easy, come on."

The game continued, gradually escalating until Jade decided to use more effective methods. She didn't want to come to this, but he gave her no choice. It was time to pull out nails, Jade started with the toes. She wrapped the toe with a rubber band to reduce the flow of blood, neither too tight nor too loose, she wanted Gonzalo Yana to see the blood but not bleed to death. Then with a toothpick she inserted it between the nail and the finger.

Gonzalo Yana screamed in pain. The nail was separated from the toe. Jade looked at the Narco once more waiting for an answer but he just whimpered. So she ended up ripping it off.

Gonzalo was dying, tossing and turning in his chair. He seemed like an animal dominated by hysteria and fear.

"Please, please! I already told you I don't know!"

"If you so much as breathe another 'I don't know’, I will rip another one of your nails. Think. Remember. We could do this all night." Jade stayed calm. 

The hours passed, until finally the cat caught the mouse. The screams stopped instantly.

Everyone waited outside. Sparrow paced back and forth like a caged lion. Arjun was thoughtful with his arms folded. Aly was trying to clear her mind and ignore what she had been hearing for hours trying to decipher the information Sparrow got from the lab's central computer. And Mandy going through the topographic maps of the area.

The door to the Safe House opened. Jade came out wiping her hands on a bloody rag. She approached Arjun without saying a single word and handed him a piece of paper with the exact location and time where Rodolfo Yana could be.

Then she left, without saying a single word. She entered the forest and disappeared into the darkness and the undergrowth.

"Jade…!" Aly tried to follow her but Mandy stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Sparrow walked over and shook her head. She knew that Jade needed to be alone. She had to collect her thoughts and deal with her internal struggle.

An internal struggle that the whole team had.