After Grace hung up with Nolan, she melted against the wall, her body suddenly weak. The weight of everything threatened to crush her, but she knew she had to focus.

First, she needed Howard on her side.

She exhaled slowly, straightened herself, and walked back into the meeting room. "I've just received new information." She said to the four people around the table.

"And what would that be?" Director Chang asked.

"Someone just restarted the EMP timers,"

The directors exchanged serious glances.

"And I don't have time to continue all of this," Grace stated, "The EMP could go off at any moment. Are you going to do this my way or not?"

"We can't just do that, Miss Evans," Augustus said.

"Okay," Grace said, giving an exhausted sigh. "Whatever. Then we're going to do it our way or die in the process. You can have fun mowing down Colossus while we actually try to succeed in this operation."

Director McFarland sat up in her seat. "You can't simply—"

"Just shut up," Grace interrupted, lifting a hand to silence her. "I've done nothing but comply all these years and for once I know that I'm right. We've been doing this ourselves for this long, might as well keep going."

"You're going to be arrested for this," Chang said measuredly.

Grace looked over at Howard, who was remaining quiet. "I doubt that."

Everyone turned to look at Howard, who was growing redder by the second. "I made a deal with Miss Evans and Nolan Clay," he said flatly, "That I would not arrest them until they returned to America...after the EMPs are destroyed."

Everyone was shocked by Howard's actions, which gave Grace unashamed satisfaction.

"Well..." Director Chang said slowly. "Miss Fairfax might be right about focusing on the EMPs. We could launch an immediate attack once we figure out the EMP's location."

"Thank you," Grace breathed.

"But we cannot allow you or any of your accomplices to participate." Director Augustus clarified.

Grace frowned. "We'll see about that." She gathered her things and took a step backwards. "Thank you for your time."



Twelve Hours Later:



There was quiet in the stifling air...a sense of waiting floating through the current of the atmosphere.

Nolan made circular motions across his DMR with an oiled rag, watching the metal shine in the late evening light. It truly was the most beautiful gun in his opinion. He hadn't used one since his former gun, Flo, was destroyed along with the terrorist ship ten years ago.

He was standing on the seventh floor of a Scotiabank building, overlooking London. The Prime Minister had ordered a silent evacuation of everyone on the premises...a feat that was achieved with record speed and precision. Nolan had to admit that he was impressed, though he wasn't sure how many people were left behind. He still spotted a few people that refused to leave wandering the streets.

The silence had left an eerie feel to the world, especially since he knew a whole military was stuffed inside every building and underground tunnel, with Black Hawks patrolling the area. British and American troops had converged together and were lying in wait for the enemy's next move to decipher when they would attack.

Nolan gazed at the orange sky before closing his eyes. In the next few moments, he would be thrust into a battle he never expected to be part of.

Nolan was prepared to die, but he couldn't bear the thought of living through another night like the one ten years ago.

He felt a gentle hand fold around his and turned to see Grace coming up beside him. Her face was expressionless, yet carried a tentative quirk to her brow.

"You ready to do this?" Nolan asked softly, turning his attention to the clouds beginning to pile up on the horizon.

"This is the right thing," Grace replied. "War is a messy business, but this time...we're right."

Nolan glanced behind him and saw Toby coming to the window as well. His bright blue eyes were now dark and flat, his mouth a hard line. Nolan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What about you, Fairfax?"

Toby nodded once. "I called my fiancée and Maddie. I told them we were heading home tomorrow...so they wouldn't worry."

They were all scanning the horizon, when out of nowhere, a helicopter rose from a hangar near the Buckingham Palace and open fired on a U.S. Black Hawk nearby. The Black Hawk burst into flames and went spiraling downward.

Below, a squadron of troops exited the building and marched down the street at a swift pace.

Nolan, Grace, and Toby didn't flinch or react, but their hearts went cold with the realization that they had entered a battle like they'd never seen before. There was no escape this time.

"Let's go," Nolan said, slinging his DMR over his shoulder. "Time to give those Russians the hell they've paid us."

~~~~~~~~~~

Howard could do whatever he wanted.

And Nolan was going to do the same.

They were going to find that EMP and they were going to make sure Dimyan Egor was dead.

The helicopter had gone down about fifty yards from where it was shot near the royal palace.

Grace took the East side, Toby the West, and Nolan, North.

I can't imagine them being so bold as to setting up camp inside Buckingham Palace, Nolan thought, but then again, the chopper had come from this area.

The palace was as long as it was tall and just as majestic as Nolan had seen in pictures, but he didn't pay much attention as he scaled the black metal fence and dropped inside the giant courtyard.

Perhaps this was all for nothing, but Nolan had a suspicion, a sinking feeling in his gut that knew something was off.

Shots rang out somewhere in the distance, as well as the powerful hum of more helicopters rising into the air.

"Nolan," Toby said urgently. "I think we're ahead of the attack."

Nolan crept closer to the palace, keeping an eye all around him, but particularly on the various windows of the palace. "What do you mean?"

"The military's advancing towards the palace now, but there's a hoard of Colossus soldiers combating them."

"You have eyes on them?"

"I'm looking at it all right now. They're about half a mile away—got Black Hawks, snipers, you name it."

"Well, at least we're in the right place," Nolan whispered, trying to sound calm, although the situation was less than good.

They'd arrived at the main battle ground before the army had advanced. "Grace?"

"Yes sir,"

"Where are you?"

"Heading your way—I'm coming through the back entrance after I rendezvous with Toby."

Nolan gritted his teeth. "Alright...I'm going in."

"By yourself?!" Toby and Grace cried at the same time.

"It'll be fine, just get here as soon as you can. We don't have much time."

"We'll need backup," Toby said.

"Yeah, well, unfortunately our backup is a little backed up, Toby. Unless you'd like to tell the military to fight harder, we can get the upper hand right now. Keep me updated."

Nolan lowered the volume and dashed across the courtyard, taking cover behind a bush of white hydrangeas.

He peered through the scope of his DMR to view the windows of the palace. Some were open, but there wasn't a gun barrel pointing at him through any of them...odd.

After surveying the area for a few more moments, he decided to make a dash for it.

Slinging his gun over his shoulder, he sprinted across the tiled ground and up the steps of the palace, pressing himself against a pillar and taking a breath.

Raising his gun, he quietly entered the royal palace. The lush red carpet that spread out before him was untouched. Not a footprint marked the spotless surface.

But there was still that discomfort in the pit of his stomach, a knowing that he couldn't shake.

He made his way further in.

The first room was clear, but when he entered the dining hall, he spotted what he'd been looking for.

A group of seven men in black police armor and dark masks stood at the end of the exquisite dining area.

Nolan moved behind the door before they spotted him.

"We must rendezvous below before Egor blows our heads off," one man said, followed by a few snickers.

Nolan peeked around the corner and watched as they each filled a bag with priceless silverware, goblets, and even the crystals dangling off a candelabra.

Nolan shook his head, half in amusement.

After they'd plundered all they could, they left through the back entrance, which was Nolan's que to follow.

"We're definitely in the right place," Nolan whispered into his mic.

"You see Colossus?" Toby asked.

"Yeah. Is there an underground to the palace?"

"There are rumors about there being tunnels linking to other parts of London," Grace said. "But I don't know if it's true."

"I'll keep that in mind,"

Just as Nolan was about to exit the dining hall, a group of Colossus soldiers entered from the door he was about to use.

He dove behind a mahogany buffet table and listened as footsteps echoed through the room.

"We'll cover this room, Zulu Squad goes to the East wing,"

Crap, Nolan thought. These guys weren't planning on leaving any time soon.

Taking a measured breath, he turned and rested his gun on the wooden surface.

Not wanting to rethink his decision, he fired fourteen shots for each of the fourteen men.

They all tried to raise their guns in defense, but were mowed down before they could fire a bullet.

Nolan hurried forward, finished off whoever hadn't been killed the first time, and made it out of the dining hall.

Downstairs, downstairs...he kept repeating in his mind, not knowing a thing about the layout of the palace.

He needed a map.

A stairway going down came into view, but so did the heads of a Colossus group.

Reeling backwards, Nolan raced down a lengthy hallway. Shouts sounded from the other end.

He was forced to go up to the second floor.

Thankfully, it was clear, but now he was even more separated from his target.

"Nolan!" Grace gasped, her voice crackling through the earpiece as if she were running.

"Grace, are you okay?"

"We've got incoming—Colossus decided to retreat and they're coming back to the palace,"

Static filled Nolan's ear.

"Is Toby with you?"

A few seconds passed before she came back on. "We got separated—they're everywhere, Nolan. You need to get out of there."

"Yeah, not happening, I don't really have a choice."

"Gotta go." Her end went silent, filling Nolan with dread.

He had to get downstairs.

The floor he was on was quiet for now, so he searched each room that might be of use.

Instead, he found an emergency compartment at the end of the hall, so he slammed his elbow into the glass and fished out a tightly folded piece of paper and scurried into the nearest room.

It looked like an office, but probably had enough money poured into it to build a New York skyscraper. The carpet was stately maroon, flecked with gold, and the cabinetry was intricately carved to display angels and other detailed figures.

Nolan spread the map out across the floor, careful to keep behind the desk in case anyone were to burst in.

The map was layered from top to bottom and he counted five floors aboveground...one below.

Now all he had to do was get down there.



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Hello!! It's been a bit. #oops But the GOOD news is that I've completely finished writing WTGL! *angels singing in the distance* So I have all the chapters ready to go! Thank you all so much for your patience and encouragement ^_^

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~ How do you feel about their plan to go it alone? XD

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