Right, so as I said, I accidentally deleted this in November 2012 so this is being uploaded again and I kinda forgot what my author's notes said...sorry to spoil your entertainment. So! Let me give it a try: Here's chapter two!! I'm so excited for it!...yeah, sorry. Anyway. I'll just let you read.

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Two



♣ Josh ♣



“Stupid rain,” I muttered, wiping my face dry for the umpteenth time.



Janice Smythe, one of the agents Delta had sent to help me, gave me a sideways glance from where she lay on her stomach next to me. “Anyone would think we were in England,” she commented, and I grinned. I liked this twenty-seven-year-old agent, even though I had thought she was sort of strict when we had first met.



We were lying on top of large hill bumping out of the flat countryside of the part of France we were in. Below, in back of us, we had set up a temporary camp as we set our sights on what lay ahead: a rickety-looking red barn and white farmhouse, lying about six hundred meters away from where we were, partially surrounded by a small cluster of apple trees. It looked cute enough, but that wasn’t the reason why I was lying with a sniper’s rifle in front of me and Janice as a spotter by my side. This little farmhouse was where Decrioux – or Cloying, which apparently was his true name – was stationed.



And where Pierre was.



Our plan was to get him out, but as we had only been here a couple hours, we didn’t really have any ideas at that point. Janice and I were stationed as lookouts while Wulf, the leader of this group, tried to figure out a game plan. October was almost halfway gone, and we had chased Cloying over what felt like nearly all of France, him slipping past us more than once. I just hoped that Pierre was still alive, that Cloying hadn’t gotten fed up with him yet.



Janice sighed, running her hand through her long dark ponytail. I drummed my fingers on the barrel of the rifle in front of me, gazing down at the barn house and feeling frustrated. “This is what I hate most,” I said to her, feeling her eyes on me. “You know, without a plan and just stuck here–”



“–waiting,” she finished, nodding. “Well, at least this will be one of my last assignments.”



I looked at her. “Why?”



“Jealous?” She smiled, propping herself up on one elbow to waggle her left hand at me. A small gold ring glistened on her finger. I stared at it as her hazel eyes laughed at my shock.



“What – wow – congrats!” I stammered, distracted from the barn now as I examined the ring. “Who’s the lucky fellow?”



Her smile grew even wider, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushing slightly as she said in an unnaturally dreamy voice, “Hans.”



It took me a moment to realize who she was talking about, and then I couldn’t help making an eww face. “Wulf?”



Janice laughed, patting my hand and raising her binoculars to her eyes again to study the barn. “He’s not as bad as you think, Josh,” she said, her ponytail falling over her shoulder as she cocked an eyebrow in my direction.



I rolled my eyes. “At least someone around here knows my name,” I muttered, propelling myself to my knees as I began to stretch out my arms. The rain was still falling, splashing across my face as I raised it to the sky. Sighing, I raked my fingers through my hair, which was a curly, tangled mess after several weeks of no combing and little showering.



“So, what are your plans?” I asked Janice, settling myself back down on my stomach and resting my chin on my hand. She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes still on the barn, and then she let the binoculars fall around her neck again as she looked over at me with those wide hazel eyes.



“I’m not sure. I mean, there aren’t really many options for spies, are there? I won’t be working for Delta anymore – married women aren’t allowed, after all – but I don’t know if Hans…” She sighed again. “He probably won’t be able to stay away from the adrenaline, I’m thinking. And I don’t know if I want my children growing up with a father who’s away on dangerous missions all the time.”



I looked away, feeling awkward. I had never really thought about marriage, but now I realize how difficult it could be in the future. “I’m sorry,” I said in a low voice, and she smiled at me.



“You’re sweet, Josh. Some girl has to have her eye on you – ahh, look, now I’ve made you blush. Who is your sweetheart? That girl who you rescued from the manor – Astrid?”



“Heck, no.” I grinned at the thought. “No, her heart belongs to someone else…although, at this stage, I’m not really sure who.”



She raised an eyebrow at my cryptic comment, continuing to look at me for an answer. Wiping the rain off the barrel of the gun, I avoided her eyes as I tried to think up something to say. Who was my sweetheart? Sadie Gallagher? I had kissed the kid once, and she was just that – a kid. She probably didn’t even think about me anymore. Plus, with the whole Charlie thing…And then, with one of those painful jolts that had hit me several times in the past few weeks, I remembered that he was gone.



“I’m…not really sure,” I confessed, and Janice looked sympathetic.



“Ahh…unrequited love, no?” She waggled her eyebrows and I jabbed her playfully with my elbow. Laughing, she situated herself so that she was looking at the barn again, her finger twisting her ponytail in a vague circle. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, feeling a little jealous of Wulf. Not that I was in love with Janice – no, I was jealous that he had managed to fall in love with so perfect a girl. I just hoped I could find someone like her someday.



We stayed on the hill for another two hours, my eyes threatening to close as my head continued to droop further and further downwards. The rain had long since soaked through me, but still it continued to fall, noiselessly turning the world into a dull grey landscape. Janice was resting her chin on the ground, completely pressed against it as she gazed at the barn. I didn’t know how she could lie so still; I was either going to fall asleep or go psycho with all the lying around.



A noise from behind caused us both to get to our knees and look in that direction, to see Clark Davis, another agent with us, coming towards us. “I’m here to relieve you two,” he said, dropping to his heels beside us and throwing his bag down. Janice began to pack up her things with a look of relief on her face, but I frowned at the agent.



“Only you?”



He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “That’s what Wulf says, and who can argue when he’s pack leader?”



Scowling to myself, I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and began to move away from the hilltop in a crawl. Once I had made it over the crest, I rose to my feet, slipping and sliding on the muddy grass as I walked down the hill towards the pitched tents that was our camp. Janice came behind me, grabbing my arm as I nearly face-planted into a mud pool at the bottom. I nodded my thanks, brushing her hand off as I strode towards a dark green tent to the right.



Wulf was standing in front of it, speaking with an irritated expression on his face to a slim, golden-haired agent. Given how wide Georgia Madden’s eyes were, I would probably have been quite annoyed myself. As it was, I didn’t need any seduction from the female agent to get my temper rising as I stomped my way through the rain and mud and grass towards the “pack leader.”



“And that’s final,” he was saying to Georgia, who put her red lips into a pout that would have made any other man change his mind faster than lightning. Wulf, however, merely sent her an impatient look before turning to look at me. His face then took on that world-weary expression that I had become quite accustomed to seeing over the past few weeks. It practically screamed you’re wasting my time, kid.



“What is it now?” he said in a bad-tempered voice before I even spoke. “You lot are like a bunch of children, squabbling about what he said and she said.”



“I’m here to complain about something someone said,” I agreed, stopping in front of him and putting on my most aggravated look, which wasn’t hard. “The guy who was relieving Janice and I – there was only one of them, yes. So even after all this you still don’t trust me enough to let me have freaking guard duty by myself?”



“Listen to him.” Wulf’s voice was amused. “Can’t even say a swear word.”



I glowered at him, several coming to mind, but Janice laid a hand on Wulf’s arm, giving him a warning look. “Hans, be nice to him.” Her voice was low, and even though I knew she was on my side, it still sounded pretty patronizing. “He’s been through just as much as you have, okay? Maybe you should trust him.”



“I agree,” Georgia Madden put in staunchly. “He’s a good boy, aren’t you, Joshie?” Her eyelashes fluttered as her lips parted in a smile that had definitely earned her the highest markings in seduction.



I grimaced. “Just ‘Josh’ is good, thanks.”



“Right…” She tipped one eyelid in a wink. “The girlfriend. I remember.”



Wulf raised his eyes to the sky, but I noticed he didn’t remove Janice’s hand from his arm. “Madden – scram. Go, I don’t know, apply your mascara or something.” As the twenty-year-old agent flounced away with another one of her infamous pouts, he turned back to me with a weary look as he moved his hand over damp, short dark hair.



“Look, kid–”



“Josh,” I cut in through gritted teeth.



“Yeah, whatever. Look – it’s not a matter of trust, okay?” He shook his head as I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “No, I’m serious. Just stop and really look at yourself for a moment through my eyes. You’re a seventeen-year-old kid who has been in a foreign country for more than a month. You’re in great need of a shower, your hair is a mess and getting a bit too long for the field, I might add. You’re also soaking wet.”



“Yeah, but these all apply to you, too! And it’s raining. Do you expect me to stay dry?” I objected, and he shrugged, looking at Janice for support. She smiled at me.



“Josh, he’s right. You look exhausted. Just sleep for a couple hours, all right?”



“While you get everything sorted out, I suppose?” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice, but Wulf seemed to miss it. He grabbed my shoulders, steering me in the direction of the tent in which I had been sleeping. I dug my heels into the ground stubbornly, but he shoved me in the back so that I was forced to stumble forward. Dimly I could hear Janice laughing behind me.



“You’ve gotten about two hours of sleep in as many days,” said Wulf, continuing his lecture as he pushed me forward. “I’m not trying to sound like your mama here, chief, but you look terrible. You have massive shadows under your eyes, and you’re so pale that I can count each freckle on your nose.”



Momentarily stymied, I squinted down at my nose in an attempt to see it before I realized he was pulling my leg. “I don’t have freckles!” I protested, and he laughed, the first time I had heard him do so in days.



“See, kid, I told you that you were tired. Forgot how you looked, didn’t you?” He gave me one final shove through the open tent door and paused with his hand on the zipper. “I promise we’ll let you know when we’re going to the barn, okay? I just might not let you go in.”



Swearing, I moved for the tent door, tripping over a bag, but Wulf had already zipped it up and was now walking away, still laughing. I watched his silhouette take Janice’s arm through the canvas as I plopped myself down on the floor, moving my bag underneath my head as a pillow. As much as I hated to admit it, Wulf was right: I was bushed. And so, even though I was soaking wet, I allowed my eyes to droop closed as the rain continued to patter on the roof of the tent.







It was the ceasing of that pattering that woke me. I struggled to sit up, my neck sore from sleeping awkwardly on the bag although I should have been used to it after several weeks of doing so. It took me a moment to realize that the rain had stopped, as I was in that disoriented haze that most people enter after taking a power nap. Glancing at my wrist because I wasn’t even sure of the day anymore, I saw that it had been more than three hours since I had fallen asleep.



This galvanized me into action. Surely by now they had to have come up with some sort of plan. Springing to my feet – forgetting that tents are generally built with low roofs – I was greeted with a head of canvas. Staggering slightly, I picked up my bag, slinging it over my shoulder as I began to unzip the door of the tent. Although the rain had stopped, the ground was rather worse for wear, and my worn-down Nike sneakers beat a forlorn path over to where I could see Wulf standing with the other agents.



“Nice of you to join the party,” he greeted as I walked up to them, stifling a yawn.



“Yeah, nice to see you, too,” I replied. “Sorry to interrupt your powwow, but do you have a plan yet?”



Wulf beckoned me forward; I caught some of the other agents giving me dirty looks as he handed me a piece of loose-leaf paper. I knew they resented me for being so young and working with them, but most of them were under thirty, so I didn’t think they could be judging. Georgia, however, gave me a wide smile, and Janice winked at me as I unfolded the piece of paper.



“Map of the surrounding area,” Wulf explained. “This is where we are – here’s the hill – and that’s the barn. Don’t judge,” as I raised an eyebrow, “I’m not much of an artist. Now, we know that there aren’t many men inside that barn, so getting your friend out shouldn’t be that difficult…however, Cloying isn’t in there, and – no offense – that’s a little more worrisome.”



“Wait.” I frowned. “How exactly do you know all this? Do you have scouts I don’t know about?”



Wulf shrugged. “Depends on how you look at it. The scouting bit, you didn’t know about. The scouts themselves, you do know.” He hooked a finger at two of the other agents, James Hannigan and Clark Davis. They were the two that had been throwing me the dirty looks, and now they looked pretty smug. Gritting my teeth, I glanced at Janice, who grimaced sympathetically at me.



“They were only the scouts because Hansie is a sexist pig,” Georgia Madden put in, drawing her perfect eyebrows together. “Notice what sex they both are?”



Wulf glared at her. “Grow up, Madden. That goes for you, too, kid, in case you were feeling left out. I’m sorry that I didn’t inform you of everything, okay? Now…where was I? Right, the scouts. Okay, so we know that there are probably around ten men inside the barn, possibly less, and LaPointe, of course. I think the six of us are more than a match for them, especially since we have the element of surprise on our side.”



“That’s me,” Georgia interrupted again with a beaming smile. “I’m the element of surprise.”



“You’re something, all right,” Janice murmured.



“Umm…” I looked warily at Wulf. “What exactly is she doing?”



Georgia cut across Wulf’s muttered response. “I’m going to be knocking on their door, looking all cute and stuff, and, you know…use some of the ‘s’ stuff, and then while they’re distracted, you guys will be going around the back and doing your manly stuff.”



I goggled at her. “Uh…no offense…” I struggled to find a nice way to say what I had in mind. “But I can see maybe ten things going wrong with that plan in, like, thirty seconds of it starting. For one, they’re going to realize that you’re a fake.” She gave me an offended look, but I plowed on. “Two, I wasn’t aware there was a back. Three, why don’t we use–”



Wulf interrupted. “Maybe you have a better plan, kid? I mean, we’ve only been looking at this thing for hours while you were sleeping.”



“Hey, you’re the one who told me to sleep,” I pointed out, spreading my hands in defense. “But I was going to make a suggestion.” I waited until he nodded. “You see the little thing on top of the barn, like where the rooster wind vane usually goes?” A frown crossed his face, comprehension dawning. “I say that some of us scale the walls to get to that thing, quietly, and then attack from within, since that thing goes down into the barn.”



“Please, spare us the technical terms,” Clark Davis said with sarcasm. “What ‘thing’ are you talking about?”



“No, keep talking,” Wulf said, holding up a hand to silence Davis and frowning at me thoughtfully. “I see what you’re getting at. We could enter through the cupola, or in your terms, ‘the little thing on top of the barn.’ And maybe Madden could still do her thing below, just for extra distraction?”



I shrugged. “If she’s that excited for it.”



“She is.” Wulf rolled his eyes. “All right then, troops. We’re all agreed? Good. Now, if we could talk about the layout of this plan, kid…”







It seemed to take hours for us to come to a decision, but with Wulf as a leader, most opposition was shot down rapidly. In reality, we were prepared to lay siege on the barn by around five in the evening, although we didn’t plan to attack until seven, when the dark had fully settled in. Now that it was the middle of October, a chill had begun to set in, and even though I had mostly dried from the rainstorm earlier, I was beginning to wish I had more than a hoodie as I waited for Wulf’s signal about two hundred meters away from our attack spot.



With me were Janice and James Hannigan, the latter looking a little annoyed to have been assigned in my team. As using the top of the barn had been my idea, Wulf had let me lead the team – with Janice’s help – much to my surprise. I hadn’t thought he had trusted me that much. We were standing together in a group, holding our guns and shuffling our feet to keep away the cold that was coming fast.



I glanced at my watch, trying to avoid the resentful looks of the male agent with me. 6:57. Within another three minutes, Wulf would give the sign over the com devices we all wore, Georgie would make her way up to the door and do her thing, and we would prepare to enter. I was experiencing the usual last-minute nerves before I entered a building to attack, and it wasn’t very pleasant. Every shadow that moved and every little noise from within the barn was giving me a heart attack.



“It’s okay,” Janice murmured to me, and though I knew she only wanted the best for me, I was a little irritated about how she felt she had to be a mother to me. I was fine and would be; it was just my nerves that were acting up.



6:59.



“All right, y’all,” came Wulf’s voice out of the blue, and we all froze to listen to it as it issued from behind our earlobes. “Madden, begin to move up towards the barn. Remember, you’re lost and seeking help. I hope this works,” he added in an undertone. “Janice, take your team in closer and prepare to move in.”



“I thought it was my team,” I interjected with a frown.



“Times change, kid.” No trace of apology in his voice. “Wait for the signal, remember – and don’t do anything stupid.” I had a strong feeling that was directed at me, a feeling that intensified as he added, “I don’t want to responsible for the deaths of any of you young ‘uns.”



Janice shot me a smile as I muttered a swear word.



“What was that, kid?”



“Nothing…”



“All right, then, radio silence.”



We all shut up as I heard the sounds of an old, beat-up car that we had acquired in town about fifteen miles away approaching. Georgie was in it, acting the part of the damsel in distress who had been driving for hours and was looking for a place to stop for gas. We had put just enough fuel in to get her the ten miles she needed to drive, so that if they looked at the fuel gauge, it would be realistic.



A slight drizzle had begun again – I was seriously beginning to wonder if we were in England – and it added nicely to the plight of Georgie as we watched the old car sputter to a halt about a hundred meters away from the old barn. Georgie emerged from it, dressed in a red raincoat and fancy-looking boots, her hair down and splashing over her shoulders. She tugged at the hood of the car, glanced inside, and then seemed to give up, looking around her for another option.



She pulled something out of her pocket, most likely her phone, and pressed some buttons, holding it up to her ear before bringing it back down with an annoyed expression on her face. She then seemed to spot the barn, looking at it with hesitation. After a few minutes, she appeared to come to a decision and began approaching the farmhouse with an apprehensive look on her gorgeous face. It took her a few minutes to reach the door, and when she did, it took her a further thirty seconds to look like she was trying to get her nerve up and knock on it with trepidation.



“Let’s hope she remembers to speak French,” Janice murmured to me, shifting slightly in the mud. I grinned as Wulf hissed another warning about maintaining radio silence. As we watched, the door to the farmhouse slowly swung open, and Georgie stepped back with a frightened look on her face. She said something in French, her high voice penetrating through the com unit behind her own ear into ours. I looked at Janice for a translation – I really hated French – but she placed a finger against her mouth, indicating silence.



More French issued through my ear, this time sounding slightly relieved and a little shy, with just the faintest touch of suggestion. I grinned slightly, watching as Georgie rather timidly stepped closer to the doorway. Janice touched my arm briefly, inclining her head towards the barn: time to go. Nodding, I slipped my hand into my pocket, pulling out my gun and checking to see that it was fully loaded and cocked as I began to follow her lead towards the barn. Hannigan followed, looking a tad bit annoyed at having to be the third party.



Moving as noiselessly but swiftly as possible, we crept across the expanse between the hill and the barn, staying low. I was thankful that the timing was such that the moon was new, so that the only light came from the farmhouse and the faint glimmer of the stars. A cool breeze bit at my face and hands as I moved against it, my fingers curling over the handle of the gun in an attempt to stay warm. The cool metal of a second and third gun slid against my waist and in a shoulder holster under my shirt.



About fifty meters away from the barn, we dropped to the ground, remaining silent as we scoped out the area. Then, as Janice nodded us forward, we began the long army crawl to where we would scale the walls of the barn. Moving on my elbows through the damp, muddy grass and blinking rainwater out of my eyes, I found myself desperately hoping that this idea wouldn’t turn out to be as terrible as I was beginning to think it truly was. The noises from inside the farmhouse, where Georgie was working her magic, weren’t very consoling, except that they served to convince me that at least half of the men were most likely in there.



The rain, too, was a plus. No guard would want to stand outside in it, and though we weren’t sure exactly how disciplined they were, I would be willing to be that they would be lounging inside until they saw a superior coming towards them. We didn’t see any guards as we approached the dark side of the barn, moving more slowly as we grew nearer. I sent Janice a quizzical look, and she shrugged as she paused, raising a pair of binoculars to her eyes as she rested her elbows on the ground.



Wiping my face, I cast my own eyes around the grounds, puzzled at the lack of activity. Once Janice had replaced the binoculars in her pocket and zipped it closed, she gestured to us again and we continued our advancement, sliding to the right side of the barn and ducking into the shadow. There, we rose to our feet, crouching slightly close to the wall as Janice pressed a finger to her ear.



“Hans, we’re here, where are you? Over.”



I smiled slightly at the technical terms. Charlie, Astrid, and I had never been ones to use them, but here with Wulf, I assumed that they were mandatory.



“We’re ready to force the doors in,” came Wulf’s voice in a whisper. “Do your thing on the roof, and once we start to hear the action we’ll come bursting in. Do you copy? Over.”



“Roger,” Janice replied. “We’re going in. Over.”



“Good. And – Janice –” There was an obvious hesitation in Wulf’s voice.



“Save it for later,” she said softly, a smile flitting across her face. “We’ll be fine. Over and out.” She turned to us, glaring at me as I smirked at her before saying, “All right, it’s our time to shine, lads. Let’s do this.”



“I hope it works,” I muttered as she placed a hand on the rungs of the ladder on the side of the barn. She glanced at me and then turned back to the ladder in front of her; it led to the roof, where we would enter the barn through the cupola – the boxlike thing on which the weather vane usually perched.



As Janice began to scramble up the ladder, Hannigan was facing outwards in one-eighty surveillance. I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before beginning to clamber up the rungs myself. He shot me an annoyed look, and I smirked to myself as I reached the roof, pulling myself up and then keeping watch while Hannigan began to climb. Once we were all crouched on the slightly unstable shingles, Janice explained to us in a whisper what we were going to do, and then began to move towards the cupola in a crawl.



This time, I was last as we pulled ourselves through the trapdoor on the floor of the cupola and onto the expansive hayloft it opened to. Dropping silently to the wooden boards, I held my gun in front of me, my eyes flickering around to look for guards and Janice headed towards the ladder that went to the floor. It was my job to watch her back, and Hannigan’s to forge on ahead and watch her front.



A flicker of movement to my left. I fired a shot without thinking; too much thought in this assignment would most likely kill me. Even if it was Pierre, the shot wouldn’t kill him, because Wulf had been adamant about using tranquilizer guns instead of normal bullets. The tranq gun in my hand, therefore, would hardly kill anyone, but the two others I had on me definitely would. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to pull them out.



The figure crumpled to the ground, and I warily moved in a three-sixty circle, gun at ready, before peering over the edge of the hayloft to look for other guards. Something moved from the corner of the barn, and again the dart spat from my gun with hardly a second thought, the man sinking to the floor with a slight gasp. I winced, knowing that this had most likely alerted other guards. Throwing caution to the wind, I hurried down the ladder after Janice, pressing my com device and murmuring, “All right, Wulf, come in now – but quietly.”



I didn’t want to alert the men in the farmhouse, but knowledge told me that it would happen anyway. I darted towards the door, shooting at another dark figure as I did so, but this time I wasn’t so quick. A bullet flashed by my ear, crunching into the wood of the door behind me as I ducked instinctively. I lashed out with my foot, feeling it crush against someone’s chest, and then flattened myself against the door as a fist came crashing towards me. Jerking the gun from my waist, I fired once – a real bullet – and with a muffled cry, the man fell to the floor.



I couldn’t see where Janice and Hannigan had gotten to, but I was beginning to realize that this barn was a heck of a lot larger than I had thought it was. In fact, it looked like it had been modernized into a large building wit several separate rooms, one of which contained Pierre. A hall led down the center, branching off in different directions, and I felt a plunge of despair as I realized we were a lot less prepared for this than I had thought.



There came a noise from the door in back of me, and I retreated into the corner in which my assailant had been, holding my gun at the ready as the door slid open just a crack, and a man stepped in. Immediately his gun swung towards me, and I plunged my hand into the pocket of my hoodie, pulling out my flashlight and beaming it in the man’s face rapidly. It was enough to make him swear, and in that instant, I knew it was Wulf.



The flashlight disappeared back into my pocket as the thirty-year-old gave me an annoyed look before hissing, “Where’re the others?”



I sidled closer, seeing Clark Davis standing guard behind him. “They’re somewhere in here. No idea where – this place is huge. We underestimated it. They’re renovated it to make it some sort of office area or something.”



Wulf winced. “I know, kid, trust me. Let’s find LaPointe and get out of here. Remember – only tranq guns, got it?”



We split up, though I didn’t want to, Davis staying at the door to stand watch as Wulf and I advanced towards the other rooms in the massive barn. I carefully pushed open each door, gun first, but they all seemed as empty of people as the air was of noise. The stillness crackled in my ears – surely I should have been able to hear at least my fellow agents moving around? But we had been trained for silence, and silence it was.



And so the sudden crash at the doors came as a shock to me. I jumped nearly a foot, pressing myself against the walls as I heard shouts, from Davis most likely. A gun shot rang out, returned by several more, and I remained still, my eyes flickering around for any movement near me. It seemed that the men from the farmhouse had arrived, which meant that Georgie had failed. I could only hope that she was alive still.



I had to move quickly. Wulf had said there were about ten men. I had already disposed of three, so I had to assume there were at least seven left. A bullet flashed by my ear, sending me crashing to the floor for cover as I whipped my gun up to return the favor. A figure ducked around a corner, and I cursed, knowing that I had missed. I continued as rapidly as I could, not even sure of exactly where I was anymore. Still able to hear gunshots elsewhere in the barn, I pushed open a door to come face-to-face with Janice.



“Wulf?” she asked in a breathless voice, pointing her gun at the floor.



“He’s in here.” I led her back into the darkness of the barn, grasping her wrist as I talked. “Something went wrong – all the men are in here now. How many have you gotten?”



“Two.”



So five left, then. If the tranquilizer darts were as effective as Wulf had promised they were. Janice and I turned another corner – surely I had been there before – and before I knew what was happening, she was crying out in a low voice, her body jerking away from me as the bullet came hurtling out of the darkness. In an automatic reaction, I fired in the direction it had come from, rewarded with a grunt of pain and the sound of a body thudding to the ground.



I hunkered down next to Janice, but she was already pulling herself to her feet, one hand clutching at her shoulder. “I’m fine,” she gritted out through clenched teeth, sweat beading her face. “It’s nothing, keep moving!”



It was pretty obvious to me that she was hurt more than she was letting on, but I didn’t stop to argue. She staggered after me as I moved rapidly through the barn, the red from her shoulder spreading and her face growing so white that it gleamed in the darkness. I threw her a worried look that she didn’t see – and then came crashing to a dead halt as a peculiar smell hit my senses.



“Smoke,” Janice gasped, grabbing my shoulder in an attempt to stay upright.



They had lit the barn on fire.



“Crap!”



I looked around desperately. Where had we come in? My sense of direction was almost completely shattered, and we hadn’t even found Pierre yet. Janice’s breath was coming in heaving pants, and I had to guide her down the hall of the barn as the smell of smoke grew nearer. And suddenly the night seemed lit up as the flames appeared before my eyes, climbing their way up the walls and towards the roof – and towards us.



“Come on, Janice!” I begged, moving as quickly as I dared. Twisting my head into my shoulder so that it pressed the com device, I shouted, “Wulf! Where are you?”



The flames were bearing down on us now – we must have been closer to the door than I thought, because the men had obviously set fire to them – and now it looked like there would be no way out. It was impossible for us make it to the cupola through that blaze. We would have to crash our way through the back wall. Janice was stumbling more and more as we moved slower and slower.



“Wulf!” I nearly screamed into the com.



“No need to yell, kid, I’m right here.”



I whirled on the spot to see Wulf staggering towards us from the left. His face lit up with concern as he saw Janice and immediately he came forward, gathering her in his arms. “Are you all right?” he asked her, anxiety written all over his features as she seemed to wilt in his arms. “Oh my gosh, you’ve been shot…” He looked up at me, eyes looking panicked for the first time in the months I had known him.



“You need to get her out of here,” I told him, shifting from foot to foot in my impatience to keep moving. “Forget the assignment, get her some help.”



“I know where LaPointe is,” he said to me, even as he was inspecting Janice’s shoulder. “Hannigan saw him – but one of the men shot him before he could say anything.” He paused briefly, pain flashing across his face. “He was a good man.”



“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say, what with the inferno blazing towards us and everything. “Where is Pierre? I’ll find him.”



Wulf pointed to my right. “The second room that way – I’m afraid it’s a bit into the fire, though, and LaPointe’s tied up, apparently. There was a man standing guard over him, but I’m assuming he’s deserted now that they’ve set the barn on fire.” He hesitated, looking at the fainting Janice in his arms. “How bad is it?”



“Shot through the shoulder,” I said briefly. “She needs help. Listen, I’ll go and find Pierre, and you get Janice out of here.”



Wulf shook his head. “No can do, kid.” His voice was tense. “As leader of this assignment, there’s no way I can let you go back into the fire.”



“A fire that’s growing as we speak!” My voice rose to a shout in frustration. “You have to let me! Janice will die if she doesn’t get help, Wulf, you know that. You need to get her out of here. Trust me enough to go after Pierre, damn it!”



He looked at me, some emotion piercing his eyes. “It’s not a matter of trust,” he began, and I swore loudly. “No, I’m serious. I don’t want you…to get hurt.”



That made me pause. But for only a moment. “I’ll be fine, Wulf, I swear. If I die, you can court martial me to your heart’s content. But please just get Janice out of here while you still can.”



Wulf looked from her to me, his face twisted in indecision, and then he scooped her up in his arms, bridal style, and gave me one last long look. “You’d better be pretty careful then, you hear me, kid?”



“Yessir,” I responded, already turning to go before remembering something. “Oh, and, Wulf – congrats.”



For a split second, he looked confused, and then a smile that made him look ten years younger lit up his face. “Thanks…Josh.”



He had already disappeared towards the back of the barn, away from the fire, and I was already moving straight into it before his words sank in: It was the first time he had called me by my real name. With a grin unfurling on my face in spite of the fact that I could feel the heat of the flames even more intensely now, I broke into a jog, darting towards the door of the room Wulf had pointed out. My shoulder collided with the door painfully and I cried out involuntarily before brutally shoving it in. Ignoring the throb stabbing through it, I stumbled into the room, gun at ready.



Pierre lay in the corner, bound and gagged, his eyes going wide as he caught sight of me. He had obviously been struggling to get out as he felt the fire growing near. I stuffed my gun in my pockets, hurrying towards him. I could see flames beginning to lick the walls of the room, and I crouched next to him, pulling a knife out of my pocket hurriedly and beginning to slash through his bonds. Ripping the gag out of his mouth, I tugged him to his feet, putting my arm around him as he staggered.



“Josh?” he rasped, his voice hoarse from lack of use.



“Move!” I snapped, pushing him towards the door.



He was collapsing, the blood flow to his legs completely stopped from his tight bonds. Uttering every swear word in my vocabulary, I lifted him from underneath his arms, dragging him from the room and listening to him curse in his own words. I knew I was hurting him – who knew what Cloying had done to him? – but it was the only way we were going to make it out of that barn. My own shoulder was aching where it had collided with the door and now was being overexerted dragging him.



Already the fire was coming uncomfortably close. I staggered under the weight of Pierre as I moved towards the back of the barn. It was so close – I could see it – and yet there was a blackness tingeing the corners of my eyes as I struggled along. Pierre seemed to have passed out, from smoke inhalation or pain or sheer exhaustion. I was coming close: I could feel my lungs burning as sparks began to fly at my hair, and my legs were as sore as if I had been running a marathon.



“Almost – there!” I wheezed, pulling Pierre with all my strength as colors began to dance before my eyes.



I had reached the back wall, but there was no way for me to get out. In a moment of blind panic, I kicked it, hearing the weakened wood beginning to splinter as I did so. Encouraged, I slammed my entire body against it, groaning as pain shot through me and splotches formed across my vision. But I did it again, and again, until I was rewarded with the sensation of falling, falling through the cracking wood into the coolness of the night, with the fire and Pierre still behind me and the blackness crashing through me until all I could feel was the damp grass on my face –



– and then nothing.