"She's hiding something," Ed murmured to Greg, who nodded in agreement.
"She thinks she's protecting us," Greg told Ed, observing the two people sat in the briefing room.
Spike approached them then, ever-present laptop tucked under one arm.
"Guys, I got something," he informed the two older men.
"Whatcha got Spikey?" Greg inquired.
Spike opened the silver laptop, and pulled up security tapes of the briefing room.
"We have their whole conversation recorded, except there's no audio. Can either of you read lips?"
Ed nodded in response, and motioned for Spike to start the tape.
"They're blackmailing her," Ed relayed to the other men.
"With what?" Greg wanted to know.
"Apparently, this has something to do with a mission they were sent on years ago in Kandahar. They have pictures,…..videos, of her in comprising positions. They also have similar videos of various teammates as well."
A moment of silence passed between the three men as they contemplated this.
"Should we tell them we know?" Spike wondered. Ed shook his head.
"Nah. Let's let them sweat a little first."
*In the room*
"Zion, you gotta tell them the truth," Sam insisted.
"No Sam! I won't let them be hurt!"
"You could lose your job over this," he reminded her.
"What other choice do I have?"
Sam sat back, frustrated. Zion had a point. If the videos and the pictures were released, the SRU's rep would forever be ruined. Tainted.
"I'm not just doing this for myself, you know. I'd do anything to protect them too," Zion spoke lowly. Comfortingly, Sam rubbed her arm.
"No matter the case, no matter what happens, I'm not gonna leave you. I'll stick by you forever," he reassured her. Zion sighed and nodded.
"Just….oh damn it all," she muttered with a healthy amount of frustration. "I just thought when we left Afghanistan behind, we were leaving it behind. For good. I never thought the past would come back. Probably a little naïve of me though," she revealed ruefully.
"I know. Secretly, I hoped the same. But nothing's ever that easy. Especially for us."
Zion rubbed her hands over her face.
"What're we gonna do now?" She wondered.
"We wait, and we see what the verdict is, who's handling this, etc," Sam confidently stated.
"I hate hiding this from them," she muttered.
Xxxxxxx
In a darkened warehouse that stank of decaying fish and rotting garbage, a young man pulled up an encrypted video, and grinned maliciously.
"For every action, there's a consequence. You fucked with the wrong people, and now you're gonna pay. You're gonna pay dearly, Zion Adamson," he swore, though no one was around to hear his oath.
He slid out a file and flipped it open, eyes scanning familiar information. The man had studied this particular file many times over, to the point where he could recite it from memory. Obsession was a dangerous thing, but nothing was safe where blood was shed.
His eyes, sable colored eyes, flicked over to the silver picture frame.
"I'll avenge you, I swear it," he breathed, gaze affixed on the age-worn photograph.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please keep reviewing and favoriting and following! Also, bonus points to anyone who caught the story reference. ? Kisses! ? ﾟﾘﾘ