Guess who's backkkk!! :D

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Eight weeks ago...

I pinned her down and held both my hands on her throat, not squeezing, but keeping her in place.

"Oh, come on," Cadence grumbled as I let go and helped her up to her feet. "Don't you ever get tired of winning?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, smirking as I watched her rub the shoulder that she fell on. "Never."

Cadence rolled sky blues eyes with a small smile on her face as she retied her light blond hair into a sleek ponytail while we walked off the mats and towards where we put our bottles of water. I felt her put an arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the training room and to our room.

"Do you regret it?" I asked quietly as we made it into our room.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You had a long line-up of software companies that were waiting to be picked by you when you graduated, Reyes. But you came here." I eyed her carefully as she drank her water, taking huge gulps.

Cadence put her water down and reached her arms upwards to stretch. "Boring story. Dad was military, so I guess I felt that I should do this. For him."

I raised an eyebrow at her. She stared at me, defiantly withholding the truth, but soon withered under my questioning gaze.

"Fine, not so for him, more for me." Cadence sighed and looked everywhere around the room to avoid my eyes. "I couldn't protect my sister. If I did this, it could ease my guilt. Somehow, somewhere, what we're doing is protecting someone, keeping them safe." She gave me a sorrow filled smile.

We've known each other since the start of our university lives and I've seen her family and she has also seen mine. We've had dinners at each other's homes, been roommates from the very beginning all the way through our master's degree. Even here, we still are. Other than my parents, Alexander's parents and Alexander, she would know me the best. The interesting thing was that even though I've known her this long and we've gotten to the point where we shared everything, the one thing I don't know about her is what happened to her sister. I asked her once and she completely shut down on me and ignored me for weeks. Understanding that it was a taboo subject with her, I never touched that subject again and respected her wish for that to be never brought up again.

"You could've done security work for the government or military." I gave her a small shrug.

"Why the sudden questions? We're almost done our tour, Simmons. It can't be that you're regretting it now, right?"

I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes for a moment. "We are nameless and faceless people when we put on our gear so that when we get killed, no one will know our identities. Our only job is to take orders, kill or capture anyone that is asked of us, no questions asked. We are never told the background of anyone of we're after. What if they were never bad people?"

Looking over at Cadence, she tilted her head to the side with a puzzled expression on her face. She must be thinking that me contemplating how we're working must be odd because I was one of the two that made it to commander of our base.

Cadence opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, two brisk knocks sounded at our door. Since I was the closest, I opened our door and saw the commander of the other team.

"Wolf." I greeted.

He didn't answer, instead he gave his head a quick tilt to the side and I understood what he meant.

"Let's go, Reyes."

"Hmm?" I heard Cadence from behind me as she walked closer.

"New mission."

*

"Capture Cody Carter and get his laptop. I don't care what happens to the rest." General Powers told the twelve of us in the room with nonchalance.

Zachary Wolf was one of the commanders under General Powers with five team members. I was the other commander with five more team members, Cadence included.

"Together, sir?" I asked our General. The entire time I've been here, my team has never worked with Wolf's. We all lived here during our deployment, saw each other daily and trained together whenever we got the chance, but we never went out to do a mission together.

"Yes. Usually the smaller number the better, but for this mission, a larger number would be needed. Cody Carter is usually surrounded by a large number of heavily armed body guards. Tomorrow, Commander Wolf and Simmons will need to put a plan because our only opening is when Cody will be arriving at his new 'safehouse'. If we lose him, we'll never find him ever again. Cody Carter is just that good at hiding. Intel says he'll be arriving very early in the morning and it would better if we get there and set up long before they get there."

"Yes, sir," We all said.

"Rest up tonight." General Powers finished and we answered with another 'yes sir' before we dispersed back into our rooms.

*

Wolf and I met bright and early the next day in the meeting room to plan, but General Powers suddenly arrived.

"Sir," Wolf and I greeted him as he walked in.

Our general handed us a large piece of paper and upon opening it, I realized it was a map of three houses surrounded by trees. The houses were a few elevations lower than the rest of the trees which made the forest a perfect spot for me to set up my rifle.

"Be ready by eighteen hundred, a plane will be taking all of you near the vicinity, then you'll be driving for a few miles. Find a way to get there undetected and capture the target."

"Yes, sir," I answered and Wolf followed.

When General Powers left, our team members slowly filed into the room.

"I say we hide our ride and hike the rest of the way there through the woods. Driving on those empty dirt tracks draws too much attention and we'll be leaving visible marks on the ground," Wolf began.

"Will we be doing this separately or mixing up the two teams?" Jake Harper, a burly man from Wolf's team brought up the question in the silent room, a question that everyone was probably thinking about asking.

I crossed my arms over my chest and eyed everyone around the room carefully. "Hiking in smaller groups will reduce our possibility of getting seen. We'll meet at a designated place before mixing up the teams and breaching the houses together all at once."

Wolf pointed at the edge of the forest, the area where the houses were facing. "We'll all meet here and set up."

"Do you have a marksman on you team?" I looked over at Wolf.

His eyebrows drew closer together. "Yes. Bennett." I took a glance at Jacob Bennet.

"Since we need as much people as we can for the infiltration, just him and I, we'll set up on two opposite sides and clear a path for you guys to get in. There will be guards around the houses and we'll take them out so both your team and mine can go in. We'll also stand watch until you guys all enter into the house then we'll pack up and go down to join all of you."

I could see nods around the room.

"I'll take our teams down and await your signal then." Wolf commented and I answered in a nod. "Me and three others will enter the house that our target goes into and the rest splits three and three into the other houses." Wolf looked at Bennett and me. "Both of you can join which ever house you want."

"If they didn't set up guards around the perimeter, Wolf, you take your whole team into the house that our target enters and my team will split into two for the other two houses." I eyed the map carefully, trying find the best place to hide our trucks and safest route to get our designated place.

"Sounds good."

Wolf and I started this conversation, but soon everyone pitched in their ideas on how to proceed. It wasn't long until our General came in to tell us it was time to go.

"Before we leave," I started as everyone put their attention back on me, "I know this is the first time we're working together, and I'm more excited than worried. We've got your back and I know you've got ours. We're going to come back alive after this mission and the one after. Then the next, and again. When our time is up, we'll go home together."

The corner of my lips tilted upwards into a small smirk. "Let's do this."

*

The sun wasn't up yet and just like General Powers informed us, Cody Carter arrived with four SUVs full of armed men. We decided to wait for them to settle down so that we could take them out and slip into the houses to take them out without them noticing. Like this, we can avoid heavily armed fire against us and get Cody Carter before he ghosts again.

Around half an hour passed when we decided to get moving. Wolf and his team and the rest of my team went down the hill, but still hid in the forest. Since there were a number of guards surrounding the houses, Bennett and I set up our sniper rifles. Bennett went near the back of the houses while I aimed my rifle towards the front of the houses.

We counted sixteen men that got off the four vehicles, including our target. There were four men guarding the front and three guarding the back. Two entered one house, three another, and the middle house where Cody entered, he had four guards with him.

"In position." I heard Wolf's voice through our comms, meaning that it was time to start our plan.

I waited patiently for each one of the men to walk in the shadows before taking them out with a single shot. Soon, all four guards at the front were dead.

"Front. Clear." I spoke quietly, but firmly, informing everyone.

A few seconds later I heard Bennett reply that the back was clear as well, and this meant that our teams were going to enter into the houses.

I watched their backs as they entered, making sure there wasn't anyone else. As everyone disappeared from view, I was about to pack up and join them when I heard a twig snap behind me. Purely on reflex without thinking twice, I turned with my rifle ready to fire in my hands.

No one was visible so I waited for a moment, but upon seeing glint of metal, I quickly got behind a tree. I placed my rifle on the ground and got my handgun because I knew someone was a few feet away from me. The moment I poked my head out, I was under fire and the powerful sound of gun firing rang through the forest.

Whoever was attacking must have been in the forest before we got here because every armed man counted were either guarding the front of the houses or inside one.

The moment the man peeked out from behind his tree, I planted a bullet straight through his skull.

"Right house, clear." I heard and I quickly went to pick up my rifle.

"Left house, clear."

"Middle house, clear. Target and laptop secure."

"Good job. Head back to the vehicles and exfil plane will pick meet you up there." This time, I heard our general's voice. It was odd that he tuned in to our mission today because he usually never does.

I looked down and saw everyone walking back towards the forest with a dark blond-haired man standing near the back of my teammates wearing black gear.

Picking up my rifle, I unscrewed my silencer and saw an unbelievable scene unfold before me.

Cody seemed to have gotten his zip ties off and slipped a knife off the thigh of one of our teammates and stabbed them. Everyone around him raised their guns and aimed at him.

As I looked closer, terror flooded through me as I realized it was Cadence who took a knife to her gut.

Cody used Cadence as a shield by holding her in front of him.

I quickly re-setup my rifle and quickly looked through the scope.

"Does anyone have a shot?" I demanded, trying to figure out a way to take Cody out.

"Negative." I heard Wolf grunt, absolutely pissed off that this happened.

"Don't. Move!" The muffled voice of Cody seeped through the comms and I could clearly tell that he was unstable and anything could potentially set him off.

Cody dragged a bleeding, half-conscious Cadence backwards, waving her gun around in his hand.

"What's happening?" General Powers' voice quickly asked upon hearing the sudden commotion through our comms.

"BACK OFF!" Cody hysterically screamed, but no one moved a muscle. Everyone's guns were still aimed directly at Cody.

"Can someone take Cody out?" I asked once more.

"Negative. If anyone fires, it's going to end up going through Reyes first." Wolf hissed through clenched teeth.

"What happening?!" General Powers shouted, becoming absolutely aggravated from the lack of knowledge.

"Target stabbed Reyes and no one has a shot to take him out. Reyes is bleeding out fast."

Cody was almost at the porch of the middle house when he stopped and dropped the gun, then fished out what seemed to be a lighter. His mouth was moving, but he wasn't shouting loud enough for me to hear.

"He's also saying that he's going to set this whole place on fire."

Someone was updating General Powers of our situation, but my mind was too focused on Cadence to try and decipher who was talking.

"So?" I heard our general ask.

"The middle house is filled with explosives, sir."

"So is the left."

"The right one also, sir."

"Target is saying that once the first house blows, the next two are also going to go up in flames. Target is saying at least ten kilometers of destruction."

After that comment, General Powers became quiet.

"Everyone, fall back." I kept my voice firm as I ordered.

"What the hell are you saying, Simmons," Wolf sneered with venom.

"You're aggravating him. Fall back and get out of sight. If he drops that lighter, we're all dead." I didn't even bother to cover up my fury. "The only advantage we have right now is that he doesn't know I'm here."

"Do what Simmons says. Head back to the vehicles." General Powers backed me up and commanded through our comms.

"Sir..."

"Get out of sight!" This was the first time I ever heard our general so worried and panicked.

From the scope, I could see that everyone was slowly taking steps backwards, back into the trees.

"Simmons," I heard General Powers sigh, "There are a few villages less than eight kilometers away. A few thousands of adults and kids in total. Do you have a shot?"

Carefully, I eyed Cody once more. "No, sir. He covered himself with Cadence's body"

"T-take the s-shot." Cadence's voice was shaky and laced with pain.

I gritted my teeth and ignored Cadence's absurd suggestion.

"Commander Simmons, take the shot."

"Sir, I told you, I don't have a shot. If I shoot, I could possibly take her life as well." I ended off, swallowing a large lump in my throat.

"You have a shot."

"What are you saying, sir."

"If he sets off the explosives, all your team members are going to be demolished. There will be civilians that are going to be caught in the explosion. This entire forest is going to erupt in flames, Simmons." General Powers reasoned, trying to make me see that what he was suggesting was the best choice.

"She is a member of our team!" I shouted back. "I won't shoot unless I know for sure that she will survive one hundred percent."

"You have to decide now, Simmons," General Powers hurried me.

"I know, Sir."

"G-go for it." I heard Cadence voice once more, a lot weaker than it was a moment ago, barely a whisper. "D-dying anyways, Vi."

"Fu*k. You promised me, Cadence. You fu*king promised me..." I couldn't finish as my voice cracked near the end. She didn't need me to repeat it, she knew what I was talking about. From the moment we decided to enter this specialized unit, we understood that the risk was a lot higher than other posts. We promised each other that we were going to go back home together, limping or crawling.

I could hear her gasping for breath and our comms made it sound as if she was suffering right beside me. My heartrate started to pick up and my throat closed up tight. "Do it or else I will never forgive you."

"If I fire now, you'll be dead," I stated the truth gravely to Cadence, not even trying to soften it by saying there was a chance she could survive.

"Commander Simmons, decision now, please."

"No," I answered back fiercely, keeping my eye on my main target Cody, and waited for a shot that was not going to go through Cadence's body. What made the shot harder was that Cody was just half a head taller than Cadence and they were around the same size so there wasn't much for me to aim at.

"General, I see vehicles that don't look like ours. Could be our target's backup." Wolf slipped in the comment and my heartrate spiked. This meant that the time for me to make a decision shrunk greatly.

"Do it." Cadence gasped in pain.

I ignored Cadence and focused on my aim.

Come on, move Cody, move... Suddenly, Cody turned to the right side, leaving his right exposed to me. I quickly centered my aim one last time then pressed the trigger. However, what I didn't take into account was that Cody would turn back to his original position at the last second.

The bullet went straight through Cadence then Cody. Both of them collapsed to the ground and I quickly ran down the hill towards Cadence, not caring that the enemy was approaching closer.

When I got there, Cody was still alive and I quickly put a bullet through his head before kneeling next to Cadence, cradling her head in my arms.

I yanked my comms out and couldn't stop the tears that were spilling down my cheeks.

"Y-you did g-good V-vita." Her lips formed a small smile and it ripped my heart in two.

"I'm so s-sorry, Cadence." I quickly placed my hands on her bullet wound, but on the inside, I knew that there wasn't must I could do unless I could summon a team of surgeons to save her right now.

"T-take care of m-my mom and n-nephew. They're all I have l-left." Cadence's gaze was becoming unfocused and she started to close her eyes.

"This wasn't supposed to happen... dammit... not by my bullet... you... you and me... we..." I successfully bit back a sob that threatened to slip through my lips but was unable to stop my steady stream of tears.

Suddenly, the sounds of bullets firing filled the air and I quickly ripped my eyes away from Cadence to look around.

"G-get out of here." Cadence was slowly fading away, almost unconscious by now. "S-surv-vive."

From one side, my teammates were firing while from the other, the newly arrived guards. I got my gun out and aimed towards the new batch of enemies that just arrived. With a blank mask on my face I pulled the trigger, mercilessly taking them out one by one. Once they noticed me, half of them turned their gun towards me.

"I want her alive." I heard someone from their side yell.

From the gentle cradle of my arms, I heard Cadence cough and saw blood leaking through her lips.

"Cadence..." My eyes widened as she couldn't stop coughing.

Within my few seconds of distraction, someone wearing a pair of black boots was able to stand right next to me. Before I could fire, I felt a hard hit to my head and the world quickly faded to black.

****

End of chapter 20, going into Vita's past.

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Till next time,

InvincibleBunny