Chapter Text
NOTE: I did a lot of searching on google maps to find the perfect house for Dernova’s hideout. If you want to, you can go to maps.google.com and zoom in on the northern end of Plataria, Greece, which is right on the west coast, and far north almost to Albania. Look for the flag for the Inn called Plataria Rooms. If you go to satellite view and look just to the North and West of that Inn, you’ll see the house I chose. It’s two separate buildings and has an orange roof. I’m only using the west building and pretending the one on the east side isn’t there. Using the map, you can see the roads I’m talking about and picture it better if you want to. Unfortunately, google maps doesn’t have street names labeled so I can’t give you those (neither does mapquest.com). Also, if you follow E55 to the southeast you’ll see the Margariti Airfield the team flies into.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t own this house, and I have no idea who does. My apologies if anyone objects to me using it for my baddie’s residence. I chose it simply for its beauty and location. Also, I do NOT have blueprints for the real house, so the interior is purely made up by me.
The End? Or The Beginning?
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“No. I’m telling you, Sam. There’s no way we’ll get all the way up that hill without being seen if we go straight up from the south, not with those three houses across the street. There’s not enough tree cover in the yards and if they have motion activated lights outside, we’re blown. If we come in from the east, hugging the tree line on the road, we can get right to the corner of the property.” Desi argues.
“But, then that leaves the west side wide open for escape.” Sam counters.
Along with the two women currently debating, Riley, Bozer, Leanna, Jack and Mac are all standing around a touchscreen table, on which is a satellite image of the northern area of Plataria. Circled in red is the house currently occupied by their target, Sapozhnika Dernova.
“We can’t split the team. I don’t want ya’ll spread that thin. Leaves only one option.” Jack says.
“We need another team.” Says Sam, nodding her head.
“From what I’m lookin’ at and with what we may be up against? We need three more teams.”
“Whoa, wait. Five teams, Jack?” Mac says. “Are you serious?”
Jack laughs softly, shaking his head. “I’m already gettin’ tired of agreeing with your old man, darlin’. But if we really want this locked up tight with no chance of her gettin’ away? Yup, five teams. And we need a helicopter for one of them.”
Sam nods her head. “That would do it. One team coming in from each direction; north, south east and west, with a sniper in the chopper to take out stragglers. Still, there’s no way the south team gets near without being seen.”
“Yeah. They’ll have to go last. Check this.” He steps up to highlight roads on the map by tracing them with his finger. “The north team is gonna take the longest to get in position. The only way to get in behind the house without drivin’ right past it is to take this long, windy-ass road north from E55, goin’ past this hotel over here to the east. What the hell’s this called? Liodentro Olea? Whatever. The west team will come down this side road off E55 from Plataria Beach. The east and south teams can go up this road to the east of the Plataria Rooms Inn that loops around and becomes the road the target is on. They’ll stop pretty much directly north of the Inn and the east team can move up on foot while the south team holds in the van.
“We get the north, east and west teams in place, right on the property lines. Then, all three teams move forward at the same time. Hopefully, we can take out at least a few guards before they even realize we’re there. The south team holds until the alarm is raised, then they drive that TAC van straight up the driveway and right through the front gate. So we come at them from every direction at the same time. If we strike in the middle of the night, there should be the fewest people there.”
Sam picks up the thread. “A Black Hawk can make the flight from the Airfield to the house in...what? Three minutes? Maybe four? If they take off as soon as we get in position, they should be arriving right about the time Dernova’s crew realizes we’re there and the south team is driving through the gate.”
“That’s a lot of manpower.” Desi says. “If we’re going with six person teams for the south, east and west, plus ten for the north. That’s already twenty-eight. Plus however many you’re thinking of putting on the chopper, plus Mac and Riley to start with. The Phoenix jet won’t fit even half that many.”
Jack nods. “Yeah. We’re gonna need a ride, and the Black Hawk. I’m pretty sure the Army will chip in. They’re still pretty pissed.”
“Because she got hold of Mac on their watch.” Leanna says.
“True, but probably even more important to them?” Mac says. “...is the fact that she escaped from their prison and killed two of their men in the process. We’ll have to get with Oversight and ask him to make the requests.”
“I don’t think he’ll object. He wants her caught just as much, if not more than you two.” Bozer says pointing at Mac then Jack.
“I find that hard to believe, Boze.” Jack says darkly.
“Well, think about it. She cost him pretty much everything. She attacked and killed most of his team; then attacked and infected his three-year-old son with a disease so rare they don’t even really know what the hell it is; caused the death of his wife; stalked him until he had to leave his son and go into hiding for almost 20 years; then she goes after his son again as an adult and nearly tortures him to death.”
Jack’s eyebrows shoot upwards. “Okay, okay, when you put it that way. I guess I see your point. Ya know, it’s bad enough I’ve had to agree with him a few times recently. Now you’re tryin’ to make me feel sorry for the guy? What’d I ever do to you, man?”
Everyone chuckles at Jack’s indignation, Mac a little half-heartedly.
“Okay, how about you guys keep hashing out the details and I’ll go talk to my dad so he can reach out to the military and get that started. I’m sure there’ll be some red tape to cut through.” He pauses a moment, half turned toward the door. “If everybody is in agreement that this is how you want to do this? Five teams?”
Desi shrugs. “Matty said Jack’s the boss, so if this is his choice, then that’s what we do.”
“Hold up now. I may be leading the mission, but I ain’t so arrogant that I can’t take suggestions. You’re all here for a reason: I trust you to have my back. That includes the planning of this thing. Your idea could be better than mine, safer, more likely to succeed, or just more efficient. I want this bitch in a bullet proof box before April says ‘hello’ to May. So, if someone else has an idea, then please, by all means speak up.”
“Easy cowboy, I never said it was a bad idea. Actually, I think it’s awesome and we’re going to kick some ass. And no, I can’t think of anything better... if we can get it approved and get the Army’s support.”
Jack looks around to the others who simply nod their heads. “Okay then, you’re up darlin’. Go sweet talk your dad for us.”
Mac smiles. “I don’t think sweet talking is the route I’ll go.”
“Well,” Sam says, stepping away from the table. “We can’t really start planning more details until we know if this is going to fly with Oversight. If he’s onboard, then I won’t worry about the military. Oversight will find a way to convince them or someone else to help with what we need. Mostly it’s the idea of dedicating over thirty operatives to this one assignment that I worry about him approving. We should stop for the day, relax a bit, and get some good sleep. Come back at it tomorrow after we have Oversight’s answer.”
Jack nods. “That’s a good idea. We’ve got a lot accomplished. If Oversight approves this plan Mac, we’ll either need a way to rent or borrow enough vehicles for everyone once we land in Greece, including any prisoners we may have afterwards, or we’ll need a C-17 to take us and four of our TAC vans.”
Mac syncs his tablet with the smart table to copy the map with Jack’s routes highlighted. “Okay, got it. I’ll go talk to him now and find you after.”
Mac heads up to his dad’s office. The door is open and James is sitting behind his desk reading something on the screen. Mac knocks lightly on the door frame.
“Hey, Angus. Come on in.”
Mac steps forward into the room. “We’ve got a rough plan for your approval.”
“Only a rough plan?”
“Well, we don’t want to waste time planning too much detail until we get the personnel and equipment approved. We’re going to need a lift.”
“A lift?”
“Yeah, forty people and four TAC vans are not going to fit on the jet.” Mac puts his tablet on his father’s desk facing for him.
“What?”
“Yeah. Three six-person teams, a ten-person team, me and Riley until Albania, plus 4 or 6 on a helicopter, which we’ll also need to borrow. That’s 34-36 agents, plus however many prisoners we have on the way back. We don’t have to have the TAC vans, but we’ll need vehicles to get everyone from the airfield to four different strike points at the target location. One of which will need a ram bar on the front to break down the gate on the driveway, so our own TAC vans would be easier, but that means a C-17 from the Air Force. Hopefully the Army still wants Dernova as badly as we do and they’ll help out, or maybe we can get the helicopter from the Air Force as well. If they don’t want their helicopter pilot being part of the raid, we can have Leanna do it, but we’ll need to know that.”
“I know I said I want this locked up tight, but you don’t think this is overkill?” Oversight asks with a chuckle.
Mac sounds almost angry when he responds. “No.”
James immediately stops smiling and looks at his son.
“This isn’t just about making sure she doesn’t get away, Dad. We’re pretty sure she’s not the only one in that house infected with the vampire virus, but we have no idea how many there are. Hedeon could be the only other one, but we can’t assume that. She could have infected every single one. For safety’s sake we have to assume she has, and if that is the case? That’s quite a formidable army. Satellite thermals have shown anywhere from ten to as many as thirty people in that house. Fewer at night, so we’d go then, but even ten infected people would be a lot to handle if they don’t hold back to avoid discovery.”
“Have you figured out what to tell the team members that don’t know about the virus?”
“PCP.”
“Ah, yes. Perfect. That would explain most everything they would see.” He takes a breath handing the tablet back to his son. “I don’t think I’ll have a problem convincing the military to help, the Army has already offered once. And I’ll join the helicopter team.”
“You’re going on the raid?”
“I think it’s past time that I faced her. Don’t worry, I’m not going to step on your caveman’s toes. He’s still leading the op.”
Mac sighs. “You know, it would be nice if the two of you at least tried to get along. You’re stuck with each other after all.”
“For now.” James says only partially under his breath.
“What the hell do you mean by that ?”
“I just mean that you never know if something is going to last.”
Mac closes his eyes, willing himself to be calm. “Let me put it to you this way, Dad. My friendship with Jack is the single most important relationship I’ve ever had in my entire life. There’s no way in hell I’d risk it if I wasn’t very, very sure about us. He and I have already had this discussion. Neither of us have any intention of ever looking for someone else. We haven’t made it official yet, but at this point, the wedding is just a formality. We’ve already made our promises of forever.”
Mac isn’t sure he’s ever seen his father’s eyebrows go quite as high as they did at the mention of the word ‘wedding’. If things weren’t so tense it would’ve been extremely funny.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Angus.”
“No, I’m n…”
“WHY DALTON?! For crying out loud, Angus. Of all the people in all the world, male or female, why in god’s name would you ever choose Dalton ?”
Mac shrugs. “Because I love him. Simple as that. And I’ve made my choice, Dad. Now you have to make yours. Can you be okay with it or not?”
“Angus…”
“I don’t want an answer, Dad.
Show
me your answer. Show me by how you treat him, and
us
.”
Mac turns and heads for the door, stopping as he reaches it. “I’ll let the team know we can continue planning.” With that, he leaves his father to ponder.
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The war room is packed, the furniture has been moved into the hall to make room for everyone. Almost 40 people are crammed inside. Matty stands on a makeshift stage to be seen by everyone. “Alright everybody, shut up so we can get this over with and have some breathing room.”
The few small conversations immediately stop and all eyes turn to her. “As you can see, this mission is one of the largest we’ve ever undertaken. And there’s a reason for that...it’s personal. This is our target.” She presses a button and the screen comes alive, showing the image of a beautiful woman with long, jet black hair.
“This woman’s name is Sapozhnika Dernova. She’s an international serial killer and she has attacked three of our own. While our agents all managed to survive, most of her victims weren't so lucky. She’s wanted in multiple countries for dozens of murders. And we’ve found her. She’s in the town of Plataria, Greece, which is on the west coast of the country, not far from the border of Albania.” The screen shows a map of the area.
“There will be five teams for this offensive. Four on the ground and one in the air. You’ll get individual assignments on the flight. The three six-person ground teams, led by Agents Martin, Nguyen and Cage will approach from the south, east and west. The ten-person team, led by Agent Dalton will come in from the north. Another six person team, led by Oversight, will be in the helicopter and will provide air support and surveillance and will approach once the element of surprise has been exhausted. We’ve had spotters in the area for several days and there are almost a dozen people that are regularly in the house. And at times, more than twice that many. There are far fewer people at night and presumably some of them are sleeping, so we’ll be hitting the house at about 2am local time.
“We have two major points of caution here people. First, is this man.” She puts another picture onto the screen behind her. “This is Hedeon Morozov. He is an associate of Dernova’s and is presumed to be on site since the house is owned by his brother. Hedeon is a known user of PCP. This means he will not go down easily and he’ll be very strong. Do NOT attempt to fight him hand to hand. Even if you shoot him, he’s likely to keep going. Also keep in mind, we have no idea if he’s sharing the drug with anyone else in the house, so be cautious of everyone just in case.”
“And if one of ya’ll wouldn’t mind shootin’ that asshole in the head if you find him, I’ll buy you beer when we get back.”
“Jack...” The warning is clear in Matty’s tone.
“What? I’m just sayin’. Dude needs to die. You can be damn sure I’m gonna kill him if I see him.”
Matty glares at him and Jack just shrugs, not apologizing or looking sorry in the slightest.
“Anyway, our second point of caution is Dernova herself. More specifically, it’s possible that she’s either very, very pregnant or has recently delivered a baby. Which means that there may be a newborn on site.”
Bozer jumps in. “Based on thermals from last night. We think we’ve Identified the nursery on the third floor of the house, toward the middle on the north side. And we’re almost positive she’s delivered the baby.” He hits a button and the blueprint of the house comes up on the screen with the room on question highlighted.
Matty continues. “So if we hit at 2am and the baby has been born, that’s where it’s likely to be. Dernova’s room seems to be next door in the northwest corner of the house. Please keep that in mind if your bullets start going through walls and when dealing with Dernova. We don’t want to hurt the baby if there is any possible way to avoid it. He or she is an innocent.”
“And possibly mine.” Jack adds.
The gathered agents stir at Jack’s comment and one speaks up. “Wait, what do you mean yours?”
Matty sighs. “I told you this was personal because she attacked three of our people. Agent Dalton is one of them. It’s a long story, but there’s a possibility that he’s the father of Dernova’s baby.” She waits a beat for everyone to process that information and then proceeds. “Dernova is wanted alive if possible...especially if she’s still pregnant, for obvious reasons.
“Your team leaders will give you specific instructions on the flight to the Margariti Airfield in Greece. From there, most of you will drive to within range of the target and then make your approaches on foot. At the airfield, you’ll also rendezvous with the helicopter and pilot that are being loaned to us by the U.S.Army. Since the Phoenix jet is not nearly big enough for this many people, the Air Force will be providing us with transport from here to Greece. Bozer and I will be running the op from here in this room and keeping an eye on body camera feeds. Agents MacGyver and Davis are already in place in Tirana, Albania and will be monitoring thermal satellite feeds and they’ll relay movements to the ground teams. Any questions?”
When no one says anything James takes over. “So you’ve all heard it directly from me, despite the fact that I’m going on this mission with you, Agent Dalton has far more experience with large scale military tactics and infiltrations, so he will be commanding this operation. Any questions should be addressed to him unless he is somehow incapacitated or off comms. Then and only then will I assume command. Clear?”
A few surprised glances are exchanged, but no one speaks. “Alright, there’s a C-17 waiting for us at the Los Angeles Air Force Base. We have four of our TAC vans already loaded and secured on the plane. You’ll be able to gear up on the flight, but triple check that you’ve got all your gear packed and meet in the garage. Dismissed.”
There’s a roar of ‘Yes, sir’ that would do the Army proud and agents file out the door.
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NOTE: Time for a reality check. First: The Margariti Airfield, really is a field . It’s dirt, which a C-17 is capable of landing on and taking off from. However, the runway is too short. It might be able to do a hard landing there (the dirt may prevent it from stopping fast enough though), but there’s no way it would have enough room to build up the speed necessary to take off. I ignored this because it was the perfect place for the team to land. Second: The C-17 would only be able to fit three full sized TAC vans, not four. Again, oh well. I needed four.