Chapter Text
IRAQ 2003
“So you’re Agent J, huh?”
Rachel King stared intently at the agent before her, unimpressed.
Her day took a turn once she received the letter from the Guardian Unit of Nations. Leadership of her team was now to henceforth be relinquished partially from her control to accommodate a new member- one with significantly higher rank than her, no less. Without any warning, she was expected to relay all her options to them before making any decisions. Any of their suggestions, however, may as well be orders.
Sent from the Commander himself, G.U.N.’s highest ranking and most respected official- who was implied to be the most powerful person in the military next to the President, that is- meant that she had no choice but to accept her orders without complaint. And of course, she had much to complain about.
She worked hard to get where she was, and now her power’s been usurped by someone a decade younger than she was!
Or, at least, that’s what she imagined it being- a usurpation! Treason! How dare this person decide to walk into her life from the depths of nowhere and take command from her?
Among the papers she received from the Commander, she was also given a brief description of the agent before her. And by brief, she meant only half a page long.
“Your age is described to be in your 20s, yet you have over a decade of experience before you’ve even hit 30. Impressive” she muttered to herself, glancing down at the paper with both hands gripping the edge of her desk. She leered pessimistically at the parchment before her so vehemently that it may as well have combusted into flames. She was most definitely not impressed, but she wouldn’t say that out loud. However, maybe she would have considered it, if the person hadn’t been trying to seize control of her team.
Not purposefully, she considered, but it didn’t matter. She was still pissed!
“Come forward” she commanded with a single finger curled towards her. The agent stepped forward carefully, their black combat boots quietly hitting the ground before stopping half a foot away from the desk Rachel stood behind.
“Listen up. I don’t care who you are or where you came from, but this is my team. People answer to me and me only,” she began, putting her hand up to stop any comment from the agent that would mention her words defying the details of the letter.
“I know my team’s needs better than the back of my hand, so if you want to act like you know them even a smidge better than I do…” she leaned closer as she lowered her voice simultaneously. “We’re going to have a problem,” she muttered threateningly, peering upwards towards the agent’s face to gauge a reaction.
Unfortunately, if there was one, she couldn’t see it. Their expression was hidden conveniently behind the dark rubber of a gas mask, the goggles tinted to hide their eyes as if they were sunglasses. A clearly oversized camo jacket hid any signs of their figure, its hood pulled to cover their hair. Even their pants were loose enough that they probably didn’t need to unlace their boots to step out of them. And their voice-
The agent only nodded. Throughout their whole meeting, they hadn’t spoken a single word to her, only responding with nods or shakes of their head. It was beginning to frustrate her with how little she knew of this person- someone who she was forced to share command with.
Rachel sighed.
“If you understand, then get going. I have work to do for my team. If you want to be useful, I’d suggest you do it elsewhere” she said curtly before nodding to the marine standing at the entrance of her makeshift office.
Nick Kay nodded back, taking a glance at the Agent’s retreating figure as it passed by him.
He took one look at Rachel’s face and sighed before letting a small smile grace his features.
“Bad day, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
Agent J used this opportunity to make herself scarce. She clearly had no intention of taking over Rachel King’s command, but she kept that sentiment to herself.
Looking over her toolbelt, she pulled out a red portable device from one of the pockets. The screen glowed green behind a set of black grid lines, only a single red dot illuminating the far right corner. Tomorrow, Rachel’s team was set to find Saddam’s chemical weapon’s silo, where that red dot happened to be, and she was ordered to observe Caelus’ progress during that time.
But that was clearly only a coverup. Tomorrow, as soon as she had the opportunity to slip away, she would. She had her own mission to accomplish, and she was prepared to risk her life to complete it.
CAMP SLAYER
Stepping outside of Saddam’s palace, Jason Kolchek stood with his hands behind his back as he waited for Lieutenant Colonel King to arrive. The colonel would be holding a presentation during the briefing before their mission, and he was in charge of greeting him at his arrival.
He glanced to his left, silently assessing the agent next to him. He hadn’t seen or heard much about them, but he knew they were experienced.
Jason considered himself to be slightly different from most First Lieutenants, as most would agree. For one, he had been a regular civilian only 2 years prior to now. Back then, he never would have predicted he’d be standing in Iraq leading a team of his own, yet here he was, in the blazing heat, ready to introduce himself as a junior commissioned officer in charge of his own platoon.
Regardless of rank, he was a born leader- and a damn good one at that. His leadership status was second only to Rachel, which might explain why Secret Agent J seemed to always be in his vicinity during their time around Camp Slayer.
“Must get pretty hot in that getup, huh?” he noted, nodding towards Agent J’s oversized attire.
He only got a nod in return, but he didn’t mind. They seemed focused enough for his standards, and an hour before their mission, he’d expect nothing less from his team.
He straightened as he spotted helicopters in the distance, and from his peripheral, he could see Agent J straighten as well, if only slightly. He was only mildly surprised to see them walk back into the palace, leaving him to greet their company on his own.
He was ready once the Lieutenant Colonel showed up, giving him a firm salute with his right hand once he was close enough.
“Colonel, good trip?” he asked, casually.
“Not particularly,” the Colonel replied, holding a briefcase in one hand as he regarded Jason.
Jason ignored it and continued, offering his hand out to shake.
“Welcome to Camp Slayer. You’re early…”
Walking through the halls of Saddam’s palace, Jason led the Colonel and his assistant towards the briefing room. In his peripheral vision, he could see Agent J strolling along behind them. He wasn’t sure when they’d passed by them, but he put those thoughts away for now.
As far as he knew, they were only there to watch, observe, and take command only when necessary. He didn’t know much about G.U.N., but he trusted that the worldwide military only hired the best of the best and had their best interests in mind.
He kept walking, briefly regarding Merwin and his “lack of social skills” as he himself put it. He leisurely walked up to Joey Gomez sitting behind a desk, which got him to raise his eyebrows.
“Damn Joey. They got you sitting behind a desk? You want me to make a call?” Jason offered.
The other man disregarded the trio, and Jason silently watched Joey slowly realize his mistake. Joey cursed under his breath before standing to give the Lieutenant Colonel a salute.
Jason turned away with a smile, holding up the paper Eric had given him at the entrance. He had been surprised to be told someone else would not only be “sharing” Rachel’s command, but that the Lieutenant Colonel was firmly taking over it.
If Rachel had been pissed yesterday at Agent J’s arrival, he had no idea how she’d take this news today.
“I’m telling you, when the Queen Bitch finds out about this, she’s gonna flip her shit,” he joked, showing off Eric’s letter with his right hand.
He eyed Agent J in the corner of the room, who was quietly regarding them behind their mask. Still, he knew they had to be thinking the same thing, and his smirk only grew wider. His eyes glanced back at Eric once he spoke.
“Rachel and I… We know each other,” Eric mumbled meekly. He glanced at Clarice for a moment. “She’ll understand all’s fair in love and war.”
“Sir?” Jason questioned, his eyebrows furrowing. He could see Clarice glancing back and forth between them before speaking up.
“The ‘Queen Bitch’ you’re referring to is his wife,” she explained, her eyes moving to gauge each of their reactions.
Jason could only hold his hands up in surrender as the Lieutenant Colonel passed him by. He rolled his eyes when Clarice quipped back at him while chewing her gum.
“Nice work, hotshot,” she said, smiling smugly as she passed him. He shook his head, trailing after them as Agent J turned back around to follow.
They had turned to look at the wall during their conversation. Behind that damn mask, they were probably laughing at him with how their shoulders shook. He was quick to rectify his mistake, ignoring the agent walking behind him to catch up to Eric.
“Sir, I am so sorry. Rachel never said she was married,” he explained, stopping next to the Colonel as he hung his head. He heard footsteps pass by him, and he assumed Agent J had entered the room.
“If it helps, we like to think of it as a term of endearment,” he said, trying to correct his mistake, but the Colonel only passed by him. He could see Agent J shake their head at him once he looked up, and he had half a mind to go over to them and ask what was so damn funny but decided against it. He had more important things to do and walked off to help Clarice set up instead.
“I hope the bandwidth can cope with the data,” she said to him as he regarded her. He took a moment to think to himself and realized he had no idea what the fuck she was talking about.
“I’ll leave the techy stuff to you,” he decided. To which she responded with a flirty, “And I’ll leave the heavy lifting to you,” as she eyed his tattoos.
“We got a deal, lady,” he agreed, observing the pictures that appeared on her laptop. Clarice looked up at the high ceiling above her, taking a moment to admire the architecture.
“What is this place, anyway? It looks like an old ballroom,” she assessed. “That’s exactly what it is. I guess Saddam liked to get down on the dancefloor,” Jason jokingly replied, looking around as well.
“Do you think if his dance partner stepped on his foot, it would be an instant ‘off with her head’?” she quipped, turning away from her screen to send a smile up at the man before her.
Jason gave a short chuckle at that. “It wouldn’t surprise me.” Clarice didn’t skip a beat and took her shot.
“Maybe when we’re done, I’ll let you spin me around a little,” she flirted, keeping her eyes on her screen this time. Jason took a moment to consider that one.
“As long as you don’t step on my foot.”
Agent J didn’t intend to spend her morning watching over First Lieutenant Jason Kolchek. She initially decided to meet with Rachel King before that, but noticed the same marine from yesterday had entered King’s office before her.
Sergeant Nick Kay. She regarded him from afar, deciding she’d wait for him to leave before entering herself. When a good amount of time had passed, she attempted to peek into Rachel’s office out of curiosity.
She quickly speed walked her way out of there when she saw the two having a heated, intimate moment together. She realized this was definitely against the rules, but ignored it. It wasn’t any of her business what people did in their personal time- though, it wasn’t really the time at all, was it?
She walked back into the ballroom and leaned against the wall, sighing quietly to herself. It was hot as hell in Iraq. Thankfully, her clothes were insulated- a special kind of garment only G.U.N.’s top technological advancements and budget could afford.
Still, it was hard to move with so many layers on top of her, she thought to herself. She’d have to ditch the clothing during the mission at some point, when she had the chance to sneak away and look for the emerald.
Looking around the room, she could hear someone giving out orders to the other occupants.
Jason Kolchek. Without Rachel King, she recognized him as the leader, watching him joke with his teammates while performing his duties. He’d spoken to everyone else in the room, but seemed to intentionally skip her, giving quick glances instead.
To his defense, he wasn’t the only one curious about the secret agent quietly leaning against the wall, observing them. She chose to ignore it. Her rank was higher than the rest, but that didn’t mean she’d intentionally involve herself unnecessarily.
She watched Jason leave the room soon after, mentioning to one of his men about his meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Eric King. She followed, seeing no one else follow after him. It was blazing hot outside, but she decided she’d keep him company for a bit- at least until Mrs. King was ready to take command once again, she reasoned.
When Rachel King entered the room, it was hard for most people not to immediately look her way as she strode in.
She walked up to Eric King, glancing indifferently at Agent J standing off to the side.
“Colonel King,” she started, giving him a reserved smile as he straightened from his hunched position over his laptop.
“Mrs. King,” he greeted in return, shifting his hands behind his back as he regarded her behind his sunglasses.
It seemed as if everyone in the room was listening, Agent J thought to herself. She tried not to cross her arms over her chest, not wanting to seem aggressive against Rachel’s worsening mood.
“Eric, this is my team. And if you want to brief them… You clear it with me first,” Rachel spoke firmly, asserting her position.
Agent J stiffened once Eric mentioned he’d be taking over Rachel’s team as commanding officer. She stepped forward, realizing she’d be sharing command with Eric now, instead.
Rachel looked shocked, to say the least. She uncrossed her arms and stared, aghast. She looked between Eric and Agent J, who had walked up next to him. Jason came forward as well, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket.
“This is from SOC Central,” he began, handing Rachel the document. “It confirms that Lieutenant Colonel King has assumed control of this operation.” He glanced at Agent J, standing quietly next to the Colonel.
“Along with Agent J,” he finished, crossing his arms as Rachel read over the text.
Eric looked down at the Agent next to him. “You must be Agent J,” he said, more as a statement than a question. The agent in question seemed to regard him from the side, nodding once. He nodded to himself in return, before looking over to Clarice.
“Dr. Stokes. Please prepare the presentation.”
“Now listen up. There’s been a change of leadership,” Eric began, looking over the room as he briefed his team. He looked over to Rachel, standing off to the side of him with her hands behind her back as she faced the small group.
“But Rachel’s operational expertise and local knowledge is just as valuable as ever. She’ll be flying with us, and I want you all to show her the same respect,” he continued. He turned to look at Agent J next, standing amongst the crowd with their hands to their sides.
“Agent J is also in charge of leading this mission, and if they give you any orders during it, they are to be followed absolutely. Any questions?” he finished, turning towards the crowd.
Merwin was quick to express his excitement, but Jason seemed cautious about the hideout’s inhabitants.
“Make no mistake, those people are feral. I take it we’re getting air support?” he asked, prudently.
Merwin expressed his disagreement clearly, but easily took the chance to make a pass at Joey’s mom in the same sentence. They high fived for some reason.
“Alright, that’s enough Merwin. Sir, what’s your call?” Jason redirected, focusing on the Colonel.
Eric turned to Agent J. “I’ll put in a request for air support to be on standby,” he decided, nodding back at the agent when they gave him a nod.
With Rachel’s agreement, Eric gave some final pieces of encouragement before dismissing his team.
“Be ready in one hour. Dismissed!”
“It’s just for popping smoke. That’s all.”
Jason looked carefully at the Lieutenant Colonel in front of him, who was holding a white phosphorus round tightly in his grasp.
“These are unauthorized. If we break weapons conventions, then we’re just as bad as Saddam. I won’t allow them on this mission,” Eric ordered, staring disapprovingly down at the white cylinder in his palm.
He noticed Agent J move from their position against the wall, walking towards the trio as they considered the WP. The agent stood in front of the table of cylinders to look them over as they discussed, picking one up gingerly with a gloved hand. Eric nodded his head in return to theirs, acknowledging their approval.
Nick immediately reacted, scoffing as he turned to face Eric fully. It was clear he disagreed with their decision.
“This is bullshit. We need all the help we can get!” he stated sternly, stepping forward to stand in front of the Colonel. Eric was quick to face him head on, stepping forward to close the distance between them.
“Sergeant Kay, there seems to be some confusion!” he started, staring coldly at Nick behind his sunglasses. “That was an order. Not a talking point.”
Jason stepped in, placing a hand on Nick’s chest to hold him back before he could argue. “Loud and clear, Colonel. We won’t be taking them on the mission,” he reassured, glancing behind Eric to see Agent J walking away.
“We all cool?” Jason asked carefully. Eric smiled politely before replying. “Yeah. I am,” he muttered, letting his smile drop as he looked at Nick.
“Let’s get to the helos,” he ordered, picking up his suitcase and exiting the premises. Rachel and Agent J followed quickly behind him, passing Nick and Jason on the way out.
Jason turned his head, feeling Nick’s eyes on him. “What?” he asked, curiously, shaking his head when Nick only responded with the same question.
“You want to ask me something. I can tell by that look on your face,” he noted, looking back at the exit door when Nick gestured to it with the tilt of his head.
“What do you think of him?” Nick questioned, staring at his friend to gauge his reaction.
“I take it you’re talking ‘bout the skipper?” Jason started, pursing his lips in thought. “Nice guy. But around here, nice don’t cut it,” he finished, turning to give his friend a smile. He cocked his head forward. “What do you think of him?”
Nick only continued to stare blankly at the door.
“Like he’s got something else on his mind.”
“No shots fired, sir. No casualties. The farm is secure, and we’re processing captives.”
It wasn’t long after Jason Kolchek had disembarked the helo that he had the farm locked down and secure. Marines supervised the shepherds who had exited their huts and were now laying on the ground, hands behind their heads. The rest of his team had raided and searched the buildings, keeping the other shepherds in check before bringing in the Colonel and company.
Jason gave the Colonel a sitrep as he walked up alongside him, Agent J flanking them alongside the women. He accepted the Colonel’s compliments to his clean work and assured him they would carry out a full search to find Saddam’s weapon silo.
Rachel stepped into the hut ahead of them, regarding Merwin briefly to ensure the others were ready for questioning before immediately heading into the first room to interrogate the shepherds. She watched as another marine patted the men down, Jason and Agent J stepping into her peripheral to guard the door. The latter kept a pistol tucked into their holster, hands to their sides as they observed the scene. Regardless, Rachel trusted- although was vehemently against doing so- that they would be able to hold their own should the situation called for intervention. She knelt down beside a shepherd, who was shivering on his knees with his hands on his head. Rachel proceeded with her questioning in Arabic, but when she received no answer, Jason stepped up.
“I’ll make him talk,” he offered, already stepping away from the doorway and towards the pair. Rachel disregarded him and continued, noticing the shepherd turn to look behind him once. Jason turned to the wall on his left, eyeing an array of wooden ornaments hanging from the ceiling and scattered atop a table.
“The hell is that?” he muttered to himself. “Some kind of effigy. Possibly Pagan,” Rachel responded, keeping her eyes on the shepherd as she questioned him.
Jason curiously pulled the small bundle of sticks from its string hanging off the ceiling. He turned it in his hand slowly, tapping the tip repeatedly with his thumb. He cursed to himself when he accidentally pressed too hard, a drop of blood spilling from his fingertip and onto the floor. He hurriedly placed the object back on the desk before turning back around, feeling Agent J’s eyes on him. Their head was tilted downwards to look at the blood stain he left behind, a small pool of blood splattered on the ground where he pricked himself. It was a bad omen, undoubtedly.
“I’ve had enough of this. Corporal, keep an eye on the captives,” Rachel ordered, striding through the door towards the next room. “You heard her, marine,” Jason responded before following her lead, Agent J giving him some distance before trailing after him, giving the blood stain one last glance.
In the next room, Rachel noticed a firearm leaning against the wall, a single captive kneeling on the floor with his hands tied behind his back before a marine.
“This man was armed, Ma’am,” he informed her. “Everyone in this country is armed,” she replied shortly before kneeling before the shepherd.
Agent J stood at the entrance, gazing around the room as Rachel interrogated him. Jason stood by her, eyeing the firearm against the wall. He was quick to react when the shepherd had suddenly spit in Rachel’s face, lifting his rifle to strike him in the back of the neck with the blunt side of it. The shepherd fell face first into the floor before Jason gripped the rope tying his hands together and lifted him back into a kneeling position.
Rachel scowled at him. “Stand down, Lieutenant,” she ordered, adjusting her position on the floor.
“It’s the only language these people understand,” Jason attempted to justify, resituating his rifle back to its default position in his hands.
“I’ve got this under control,” Rachel asserted before standing up, staring down at him. “Are there any more captives?”
Jason seemed to hang his head low, his cap covering his eyes as he responded. “Yeah. In the other hut,” he started. He turned towards the doorway where Agent J was standing, quietly assessing the scene and not yet choosing to unholster their pistol.
“Follow me,” he instructed, nodding to the agent but not meeting their gaze as he stood on the opposite side of the door, waiting for Rachel to follow. She walked past them and out the door quickly, wiping her face with her sleeve as her mood soured considerably. Agent J followed after her this time, close on her heels as the field operative rushed towards the next hut.
Seeing those two together, Jason took the opportunity to talk to his fellow teammates outside in the sun. Joey wasn’t holding up well, claiming Merwin telling him to look back at the helo as they disembarked had brought upon them “bad juju.” Jason didn’t buy it, saying he didn’t believe in curses- the tooth fairy and Santa Claus included, for that matter. Joey disapproved, and he moved on.
Nick Kay stood outside the next hut, Rachel and Agent J seeming to have already gone inside ahead of him. Nick crossed his arms carefully, his rifle pointed downwards as he regarded Jason.
“There ain’t shit here,” he noted, bitterly. Jason cocked his head to the side, analyzing his friend’s disgruntled expression. “You got something to say, Sergeant?”
“Look at the ground. What’d you see? Jack shit! If there was a silo, where’s all the tracks? No, man, this is a fishing expedition. His precious Caelus has got it all wrong!” Nick spoke sarcastically, gesturing towards the unmarked ground beneath them and their surroundings.
Jason noticed Agent J’s figure turn to observe them in the hallway behind Nick, seeming to have perked up at the mention of Caelus. The agent was sent to observe its results, after all. Jason was quick to rectify his friend’s behavior.
“We follow orders, Sergeant. This search is far from over,” he assured him, seeing Agent J tilt their head in the direction of the captives. His gaze fell back upon Nick as he spoke. “Aye aye, Sir,” the other man muttered quietly before turning away from him.
Jason stepped past him, noticing the agent had disappeared but choosing to investigate the rooms closest to him before progressing. He alerted his team of gas masks on top of a corner table. There were enough to fill a basket the size of a load of laundry, and he examined them carefully before leaving to find the agent and field officer.
They were standing side by side in front of a small group of shepherds by the time he got there, Rachel stepping forward to speak to them assertively. They all noticed one of them turn to look at a piece of carpet on the floor, and Jason was quick to kneel and move it out of the way, revealing a hidden door.
Another masked marine stepped up to cock his gun towards it as Jason gripped the handle, Rachel turning to look expectantly at it, as well. Agent J kept their gaze on the shepherds, placing a hand on their pistol in case one of them took advantage of the distraction.
Jason flipped the door open quickly, the other marine stepping forward with his finger on the trigger. The room stilled for a moment at the sight inside the hidden cavity.
“That’s heroin,” Jason informed, gesturing towards the small, rectangular packages stored inside the trap door. Rachel shook her head. “Just keeps getting better by the minute,” she noted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“These people are nothing but common crooks. What the fuck was Eric thinking?” she questioned rhetorically, turning to look back at the shepherds still kneeling on the floor before her.
“I want this place turned inside out,” Jason commanded, noticing Agent J leave the room as Rachel paced, angrily.
Suddenly, the room began to shake.
An explosion went off outside the hut, and Jason could hear the screeching of helicopter blades come to a halt as the floor shook from an enormous crash. Gunshots followed by shouting erupted as Jason rushed outside. He could vaguely hear Joey yell painfully from amongst the chaos- he was injured!
Marines were dropping to the ground, their uniforms covered in blood and their weapons slipping out of their grips. Jason barely dodged the bullets aimed straight for him as he ducked behind a wall, shouting for the others to get down. Nick came forward to stand beside him before they returned fire, aiming for the soldiers hidden among the mountain ridges.
By now, the mountain side was covered in smoke and fire from explosives, both sides unwilling to let up as the Iraqis pushed forward towards the huts. Jason and Nick rushed to hide behind a short, stone wall beside Merwin.
“They’re closing in. We got to get to Joey,” Jason instructed, tilting his head at Corporal Gomez, who was laying on his back in the middle of the field and bleeding out quickly. Merwin was disgruntled, insulting Eric King under his breath for not allowing them to use white phosphorus on their mission. Jason disregarded him, reminding him that orders were orders.
“I’m gonna flank ‘em. Give me some cover and get Joey out of there!” Jason ordered Nick, who nodded his head in response. The sergeant stood to return fire at the enemy, and Jason took this opportunity to vault over the stone wall keeping them safe.
“What the fuck?”
Agent J cursed under her breath, watching as Jason Kolchek jumped over the wall to move closer to enemy territory. She crept behind the stone wall closest to the enemy, sneaking up behind a lone soldier taking aim at Jason. Quickly, she kicked the back of his knee to bring him down, his shot missing and shooting upwards. She struck him with the back of her pistol, knocking him unconscious momentarily before quickly making her way behind another wall. It was difficult to knock people out without severely injuring them, which meant he’d likely wake up and take aim at her soon.
She dug her heels into the ground as it shook, the impact of a grenade round Jason had fired leaving shockwaves all around her. It seemed that the soldier she spared had died in the crossfire. She shook her head, silent.
Spotting Nick running in the middle of the battlefield towards Joey, she readied her pistol, eyes scanning for anyone who decides to interfere. She crept closer towards the pair as Nick ducked behind some machinery, giving them cover. She could hear Nick attempting to console Corporal Gomez, but to no avail. She watched alongside Nick as Joey’s eyes unfocused and blood dripped from his nose, mixing with the blood that spilled from his open mouth.
Nick laid him down gently, gripping something in his hand. Agent J sighed sympathetically before turning to find the First Lieutenant. She spotted him ducking past the space between two stone pillars and followed, crouching behind the makeshift wall and keeping her distance to remain unseen.
A shepherd was at the other end of Jason’s barrel, and Agent J held her breath. He was unarmed. Would Jason shoot?
She cocked her gun as she heard footsteps approaching, keeping her gaze on the shepherd’s retreating figure before aiming her pistol at the Iraqi behind Jason. It seemed Jason had heard the click of the enemy soldier’s gun, and now the both of them seemed to be in desperate need of air as they stayed at a standstill.
She waited. She wasn’t sure why she waited, but she did. What she should have done was shoot the soldier down before Jason took a bullet.
But the soldier had seen Jason spare the shepherd. They both did. Was that enough? Was that why they seemed to be stuck in a limbo?
She released the breath she’d been holding once the Iraqi lowered his gun, raising a hand up as a sign of surrender.
“No more killing,” he conceded. She stood up, stepping forward to reveal herself as Jason turned around slowly. All three of them had lowered their guns, and they faced each other, trying to read each others’ expressions.
Their silent conversation was broken when the ground shook beneath their feet, and they looked down to see the floor crumbling downwards.
There wasn’t much they could do but hope as they fell into the abyss.
Falling…
Falling…
Deeper...
6 flames flickered unsteadily as the darkness crept inwards.