Hello!

I know I haven't been active for more than 4 months. But the university life is just sooo exhausting. Yesterday was the last day of the winter semester and the only thing I'd like to do for the next two weeks is... Yes! I want to sleep... Sadly, I can't because there are so many things that need to be done (it's Christmas time again, yay!). But before that I made myself a promise - to update this story.

It's getting a little twisted. Blame it on me.

So, again, I'd be more than happy if you shared your opinion on the chapter(s). It would be easier to decide for me which way to go then. Tell me what you like, what you hate, I take everything. Reviews are very welcome.

Well, now I'll leave to it.

And before I forget - Merry Christmas to everyone!

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Chapter 4: Once a Fighter, Always a Fighter

4 years ago

A young woman had been lying motionless in the military hospital bed for a few days. The only proof of her being in the world of living was never ending beeping of various machines that had been helping her to get through the injuries she suffered almost a week ago. The doctors' prognosis was not looking bright, she died twice on the operating table, after all. Despite the hopeless hope, it looked like she decided to fight the fortune. Maybe it was not her time yet, as the medical team managed to bring her back from dead the second time and keep her here for all those days.

On the ninth day she was woken from medically induced coma, as the results had shown that her condition was getting better step by step. Kind of a miraculous case, the hospital staff thought, although they knew that wounded people who entered their premises were fighters, and sometimes they fought the death itself and came back victorious.

She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. A man and a woman in white coats were standing by her right side. Their lips were moving, but she did not hear a word. The man came closer as they heard that the machine started to beep much faster than before.

"... breathe, okay? Just take a deep breath. Slowly. In and out." He motioned.

"Don't worry, you're safe. Can you hear me? You'll be okay." Said the other one.

After a while she calmed down and got her breathing under control. Both her vision and hearing became clearer after that. She took a moment to look around her and observe everything a little further. First thing she noticed were light green walls. The hate for the color, she had associated with hospitals, was immense. She sighed, feeling tired even from a small exploration like that.

She turned toward the two doctors. The man had a visible scar on his forehead, suggesting he was in a battle or two. Though the petite redhead by his side didn't look like she was a soldier. But looks could be deceiving, as strangers would not say that she was in a military herself.

"Hey there." The man greeted the now calm woman that had woken up minutes ago. Knowing he got the full attention of the patient, he continued. "You gave us quite a scare back in the OR, but you fought bravely. Now, I don't want to tire you with twenty questions, so let's do only two. Would that be okay with you?" He politely smiled.

She looked at him, knowing what kinds of questions he was about to shoot at her. 'Shoot. I think there was enough of that recently.' The wave of the last encounter with flying bullets still hadn't fully hit her. But she recalled bits and pieces. The noise, bullets flying around her, pain... Trying to hide her emotions she smirked, looking the good-looking doctor right in the eye. "Well, I think it makes it only one more question now." Both doctors laughed, and the still smiling man sighed after a moment, admitting her win.

"Okay, that's only fair. It's great to hear you still can speak sarcasm. But you're not gonna fool me. I've had patients like you who were hiding behind the witty puns. Be honest with me, alright?"

"Yes, sir." She said in a serious voice, or at least she tried to make it sound serious. She even would have saluted him, proving she felt alright, but her body had a different opinion, as her arm wouldn't move a bit. It was only then that she noticed it was in the white cast. Now the reality had finally caught up with her. Looking at her arm, she suddenly remembered what happened to it. One by one she had remembered injuries she had suffered as she was looking all over her body.

She didn't have time to realize that the tears started gathering up in her eyes as another wave hit her. Her brothers and sister who had been by her side for years were now absent and she only could guess where they were. The only thoughts that had crossed her mind were that she failed them. The pain inside had been growing faster now, but thankfully, the female doctor pulled her attention back to them.

The doctors, noticing that she's in a stress, decided to give her space, and not to bother her with questions as it was obvious what she had been going through at that moment. No words needed to be spoken to see that she was in miserable state.

The redhead spoke up. "Your friends were here by your side every day for a week. They got pulled out in the morning, but don't worry, they will come back." She tried to give the patient's mind a little break by saying that she's not alone. And it had the effect she hoped for as the pair of glassy blue eyes landed on her.

"They are alive?" She asked confused. She thought that...

"Very much alive, yes." The redhead nodded and both doctors noticed the relief in the lying woman's features. "Anyway, Lieutenant Rayfield says hello and that she'll be back soon to, and I quote, kick your lazy butt out of the bed." She smiled sheepishly after delivering the message.

The woman on the bad would have laughed if it wasn't so painfully hard, so she stayed with smiling this time. "We should let you rest for now. We'll be back later." The redhead finished, before turning on her heel and leaving the patient's room.

"Welcome back to the land of living, Captain Moore." The scarred doctor added right before he followed the young female and left her alone with her thoughts. Not long after they had disappeared her mind quieted down as she fell asleep again.

When she woke up the next time, she saw a silhouette sitting by the side of her hospital bad. But it was not who she expected it to be. She was looking for a woman but the person, who had been unwaveringly staring at her, was a man. He was older and bald, and it took her a while to recognize him. She had heard about him more than she had ever wished to know. But the question that came to Nick was, what the hell was he doing there? But only thing she could do was to stare back at him as she had nothing to say to him.

"It's good to see you alive, kid." He acknowledged her presence. "I must admit I had the feeling you weren't gonna pull through but guess I was wrong." He paused for a second to wait if she wanted to join the conversation. "I can't imagine what you've been going through. It's a miracle that-"

"I'm sorry, Commander White, but is there a reason behind your visit?" She quietly interrupted him, not seeing a reason why he should have continued in this meaningless speech. She was never a type who craved for words of sympathy. And whether it would have been a doctor or even president, she wasn't in a mood for this.

"So, you know who I am?" Commander White asked curiously. He looked interested in what she had heard.

"I've heard about you a word or two. I'd say your reputation precedes you." She answered plainly. And then an idea came up in her mind and as it did she cursed under her breath. "I think I figured it out. You got me out of there, didn't you? That's why you are sitting here... waiting for a 'thank you', maybe?" Getting more irritated by his unwelcome presence, she blurted out. The words that came out might have sounded a little hostile and they both noticed it. Hopefully he though it's because she's tired of talking, but in reality, she just wanted him to leave. Not to get into another unwanted conversation, she played it on the exhaustion. And it was not an act, she still hadn't been her old healthy self. "Nothing personal, sir, but maybe it's for the best that you leave." Though she said it was nothing personal, her discomfort hidden behind his presence was indeed personal.

"My men were asking about you and I just came to see for myself how you're doing. And as I see you're getting better, so that's a good sign. They'll be relieved to know you we'll be back on your feet in no time." After explaining his reason behind the visit, he stood up, his eyes not leaving her. "You know, you remind me of someone I knew long time ago." He smiled at the memories that flooded his head. "Get well soon, Captain." He wished her best and went to leave the room.

She hesitated for a moment, but despite everything that was going on, before he reached the door, the sincere "thank you, Commander" came out of her mouth.

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Present

"Oh, how did we get here, Joe?" She asked herself, expecting no answer, as she was standing in the middle of the living room of Commander White's house.

It was late morning when she received the message containing Joe's home address. She replied with simple "thank you" and five minutes later she had already been sitting in the rental car driving through the city streets. Thanks to the typical midday traffic, she made it in less than half an hour. She left the car one block away from the house, as she did not want to raise any suspicion. She walked on foot down the street, taking in the local atmosphere. It looked like a quiet neighborhood, and probably people here knew each other well, or in Joe's case, they knew what he wanted them to know.

One second, she was walking, and the next, there was no sign of her being on the street, as she disappeared in between the trees that had been surrounding the house with the number she had been looking for. For her surprise, the door leading to backyard were not locked. She shrugged and stepped into the house. From outside it did not seem to be big, but inside was spacious. Quite cozy house, yet it has been missing the personal touch. For an uninterested eye, there was no indication to who could have been possibly living in here. No distinct photographs, everything was tidied up. The though of Joe retiring from Navy and becoming the stay-at-home-commander sounded so absurd that it made her smile.

After clearing the whole house, not finding any clue on Joe's whereabouts, she found herself standing in the middle of the living room, wondering what was her next step going to be.

The truth was, nothing came to her mind after she had recalled the last communication with the missing man. She had called him four days before her arrival to the Islands for the first time in years. There was nothing that would have proved something was wrong. Even not so long ago, he sent her the name of the bar where they were supposed to meet. And since then, there had been no sign of his presence. "Should I be surprised, though?" The question that came out, after remembering their not so long history, left a bitter taste on her tongue.

Only moments after she had drowned in the past, there could be heard footsteps. By the sound of the creaking wood that was coming from behind the front door, she assumed she had a visitor, and as always, her guts were telling her that it was not the person she had been looking for.

The movement on the porch died down, only to be replaced by three knocks on the wooden door. The knocking continued after a few seconds. She did not pay any attention to the stranger at the door, thinking, that he would leave after receiving no answer from inside. But the words that followed the knocking made her stop in her searching and look the way, where the unknown person had been standing.

"Joe, I know you're there." The man with an accent began. When there was no answer, he continued. "Look Joe, you have all the reasons to keep the door closed, but we could really use your help."

Now she had been fully paying the attention to the man at the front door. He seemed to know Joe, that was not strange. Many people knew him. What alarmed her was the possible meaning behind 'all the reasons to keep the door closed'. Could it be the cause of Joe's sudden disappearance? Who was this guy? But then the line of her thoughts got interrupted again with a deep sight. Finally, he decided to give up...? Or maybe not.

"I apologize for my stupid partner, I really do, I know how irrational he can be, but we got a case and we might use your help." If the man sounded a little more desperate, it would make her open the door. But then his words hit her. He might be a police officer. She backed off, wanting to have nothing do with police right now, as it would not help her cause.

She looked around, deciding if there was a place where she could find something useful to get her closer to knowing about Joe White's whereabouts. Only the cabinets in the kitchen area came to her mind, so after briefly looking into them, searching for anything helpful, she would flee that place, not wanting to lose any more time.

Halfway back from the kitchen she came to an abrupt stop when she heard noise coming from the same place where the unwanted visitor had been standing recently. Red lights lighted up in her head again, and immediately she was on alert, carefully listening to whatever that was going on at the porch. Obviously, he didn't leave. What's more, someone else joined him. "There goes the luck…" She sighed, continuing in her searching, not wasting any second.

"...Irrational? Who is irrational? And what the hell you think you're doing, Danny?" A new voice piped in. New, yet somehow not unknown to her. The unsettling feeling of familiarity sent shivers down her spine and she realized it would be about the right time to sneak out of the house, before anyone else, especially the two strangers, would find out about her illegitimate entry. The last thing she needed right now, were the cops asking the questions about her intentions and she had no interest in answering any of them.

The muffled response, that she couldn't understand, made her shake off the strange feeling and get back to her alert mode.

"When did you learn how to pick locks?" The newcomer asked the other man, Danny, she noticed, was his name, who was determined to unlock the door. "And you say I'm irrational? What is it that you're doing right now? Joe's probably grocery shopping, for all you know." He suggested and from the tone of his voice she had been almost sure that he didn't want to be there.

Clearly not pleased by the ongoing conversation, she looked one last time to the door. But before she could have turned around and go to the back exit, the key lock popped and the door almost immediately opened. Her gaze met with a tall dark-haired man that was standing in the doorway. Seeing an intruder in the house, without hesitation he reached for his weapon, attached to his hip.

Before he got the chance to shout at her to stop moving, she turned on the heel and in the blink of an eye disappeared from his line of sight, managing turn over a cupboard in the process, to slow down the armed man. Knowing he would follow her, she ran, having no need to look back over her shoulder to be sure she was right.

She was heading to the back door and right after it flew open, she was welcomed by a shorter blond-haired man who was running to her. She realized, it must have been the other man from the porch. He must have run around the house which gave him time to arrive with his weapon drawn. As he was approaching, he raised the gun to aim at the running woman.

"Stay where you are!" He shouted, aiming at the target. "Don't move!"

And she listened to him. In a matter of milliseconds, she calculated her options. First was to get caught and lose valuable time. The second one was to get killed and leave her mission unfinished. "Even better." She would not be satisfied with those outcomes, and that quickly made her to make up her mind.

After a second she started to move again, not running away, but stepping closer to the man in front of her. The situation she was in was nowhere near the ideal, and the moment of surprise was limited. But she could go with limited.

As the gun was so close that it was almost touching her chest, she made an effort to disarm the man. The look on his face, when she grabbed his wrist and twisted it the painful way, confirmed that he hadn't been expecting this kind of action, or to be more precise, the strength hidden behind the act. She easily took his weapon and to prevent any other confrontation with the man, with a punch in to the gut, followed by the blow to the back of the head with his own gun, as he had been bent over clutching his abdomen, she knocked him unconscious.

With no other obstacle in her way, she sprinted away as fast as her body and mind allowed her, keeping in mind the other man, who followed her from the front porch. By the time she turned around the corner of the house, he ran out of the back door.

When she was sure after five minutes long marathon that she hadn't been followed anymore, heavily breathing she slowed down to quick walking and made her way to her car, trying not to raise any suspicion.

All the way back to the hotel, she had been thinking about the unexpected turn of events. It was not her intention to hurt anybody, but exaggeratedly, very often desperate times call for desperate measures. Luckily for the knocked out man, she knew how to handle herself in a fight. If she wanted him dead, he would be. She made sure he came out of it alright, although the headache would be killing him later. 'So far so good.'