Obviously if I owned the show, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction about it.
It was supposed to be a routine mission.
At 0600 hours, Burke Snr. intercepted a stray MSS transmission detailing their own mission; a small contingent was currently aboard the CNS Kunming heading for yet another province, this one managed to escape the brunt of the red flu. MSS apparently wished to remedy this, and they were currently in route to one of the major villages in the area, with four missiles chock full of disease steroids. However, they were currently refueling at Xiachuan, which just so happened to be around the inlet Nathan James was parked in. But the cherry on top was that Peng's right hand man, the Tiger himself, was seeing to this run personally. It was the perfect trifecta. Take out a destroyer, the missiles, and the Tiger in one fell swoop. It was a risk, but a calculated one, with the odds working themselves out immensely in their favor.
A calculated risk. Boy were they bad at math.
It was decided that Captain Chandler should lead Vulture team with Sasha and Cruz, while Green would head up Bravo with Wolf and Burke. Vulture team would locate, secure, and deactivate the missiles, while Bravo sabotaged the refueling system. Then they would find the Tiger, and get the hell out of there. If all went as planned, they would be in and out under the cover of darkness, with no one the wiser.
Suffice to say, that did not happen.
"Bravo team arriving at refueling station, advising radio silence Vulture," Green's voice crackled over the radio. Chandler huffed as they approached the ramp onto the CNS Kunming. So far everything was going fine, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was all going to go sideways. Glancing over his shoulder at Sasha, he could see she felt the same. Her small frame was taught, eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. She met his gaze and gave a small shrug, as if to say this is your ballpark Chandler.
"Roger that Bravo, radio silence from this point on." Chandler replied, his stomach twisting with unease. Taking a breath, he motioned for Sasha and Cruz to follow him aboard. Slowly they made their way across the deck, avoiding the few sentries that were dispersed throughout the ship. Besides them, and the occasional crew member, the ship seemed to be practically empty. That's not right, he thought, and his stomach twisted even further.
"Tom." He turned at Sasha's whisper as she nodded at a door; the armory. The only place secure enough to store four large, heavily weaponized missiles. Easily one of, if not the most important room on a ship. The room that could stand in the way of keeping or losing command of the entire vessel.
It was left completely undefended.
Tom was certain his stomach now resembled some kind of contortionist.
Cruz had little difficulty with the door, and the three filed in. The room was small, with an area in front of the cage that held the weapons, about five feet from the door. Cruz stayed at the door as lookout, while Sasha picked the lock on the cage. The room was dark, as the only source of light was inside the cage.
"Sir!" Green's panicked voice crackled in his ear.
"Green, what happened to radio silence-" Tom's curt reply was cut once again by the young Lieutenant's panicked shouts.
"Sir, there is no one here, no engineering team, no equipment." Tom sucked in a breath as Sasha finished with the lock. He pressed his hand to his ear a they entered into the cage.
"What are saying?" Tom asked.
"I'm saying I don't think they ever left the ship sir. They're not here for fuel."
At that moment, Sasha flipped on the lights inside the cage and revealed... nothing. The entire armory had been emptied. Her bewildered expression was lost on him as everything clicked in his mind; the lack of crew, the unguarded door, and now Green's revelation.
"It's a trap."
Sasha's eyes widened and they quickly turned to alert Cruz, only to see that the young officer had a gun to his head, held by one of the five MSS soldiers that surrounded them, weapons trained on Sasha and Tom. The ship whirred to life around them; they could hear the engines turning on and picking up speed, pulling them away from the station and their only hope of rescue.
The man holding Cruz shouted something in Chinese. "He wants us to lay down our weapons," Sasha translated. By the look on her face, this guy was not messing around. With a sigh of defeat, they laid down their weapons, and kicked them over to the soldiers. Cruz's captor nodded in approval, and then gave an order to one of his men. He approached them, and began to frisk Chandler. After removing his spare pistol and tactical knife, he moved on to Sasha. Tom watched as the man ran his hands over her body, and anger swelled in his chest. He's certainly enjoying himself, Tom thought begrudgingly. The man was now checking her front torso, and decided that now was the perfect moment to cop a feel. Sasha responded in kind with a swift headbutt to the face. The man cried out in pain, and then began yelling insults, as his hand flew out and struck her across the face, with enough force to send her to floor.
"HEY," Tom shouted, surging forward toward the man. The cocking of one too many pistols stopped his rampage dead in its tracks, but he maintained a protective stance in front of Sasha, who had managed to clamber to her feet in defiance, with the help of his arm as a climbing pole.
"Enough," said a voice from behind the fray. Two of the men parted for the newcomer, which was none other than the Tiger himself. Living up to his name, he looked like the cat who caught the canary (which in this case he kind of did.) "Captain Chandler," he nodded politely, despite their current situation. His expression turned disdainful when he turned to Sasha. "Ambassador," he said coldly, "so good of you to respond to our invitation." His smirk returned, "Peng will be pleased we have found you, so, if you please, step back and get comfortable." He walked forward slowly, relishing Sasha and Tom's retreat into the cage. With resounding click he swung the gate close, effectively turning the cage into their prison. "You will remain here until we return to the capital, where you will tell us everything we want to know about the rebellion, Takehaya, and the United States government." With that he turned ans walked to Cruz, examining him with detached eyes. "You, however, have no information of value. Therefore, you are not worth keeping." With a flick of his hand as he left the room, the man holding Cruz forced him to his knees.
"NO!" Tom yelled, his blood running cold, "STOP NO!" Cruz just looked at him calmly.
"Tell my family I love them." he whispered, "You tell them Captain." He held Tom's eyes as his executioner cocked his pistol.
"We will," Sasha whispered, responding in Tom's stead. Tom nodded in agreement, not believing the scene unfolding in front of him.
Cruz sighed, shut his eyes, and lifted his chin in one last act of defiance. "Do your worst."
The shot rang out, and Cruz was gone.
Okay so I don't really know about this one. It was just and idea I had rattling around in my head, and I decided to let it out. I don't know how long it will be, but it will definitely have a lot of Sasha/Chandler. Also, I wrote this at 1 am, and I stink at description and tactical mission-y stuff, but that's done now, so bear with me. Hope you like it!