Chapter X

Retribution

"Paz in position, over." The words buzzed through the Bluetooth in Bourne's ear. They both had them in, and were going to use them to communicate their positions and targets. A solid, elaborate plan hadn't been laid out; they were going to be working on the fly. That didn't mean that Jason Bourne hadn't come up with an idea on how to lead them to the slaughter. It meant that once bodies started piling, he would simply be killing until he found Nicky and got her out alive. Once that was done, he would ask for her forgiveness and give her the choice of leaving him or not. That seemed fair.

"Hold and wait for signal," Bourne replied, loading a silenced Glock and securing his pack. He counted to five after the last of the five men entered the apartment, and then walked in after them. He kicked down the door and fired one shot at the man who had just walked in, striking him in the head. The other four spun around from what they were doing to attack him but they were already part of David and Jason's body count. He caught one man by the hand to stop his shot and struck him in the gut. As he flinched Bourne lifted him by the strike and slammed him down on the table. It broke beneath his weight and Bourne was already moving towards the next man.

He leaned away as the man jabbed at him and caught his arm. Spinning himself around, Bourne pulled the man's arm onto his shoulder, breaking it. He followed through by kicking him in the knee and then shoving him backwards into another. Bourne faced the man right ahead of him and forced his body weight into him. Grabbing him by the wrist Bourne used the other's gun to shoot the man he'd smashed into the table. He elbowed the man he was grappling with and raised his own gun to the two behind him. Two thwacks accompanied one man dropping dead.

An uppercut slammed the man Bourne was grappling with in the jaw along with a painful nerve strike to the shoulder. Bourne spun around him and threw his arm around his neck, putting him as a human shield between him and the last man. Out of desperation the man fired, hitting only his comrade. A single bullet to the forehead ended the frantic shooting. Bourne let the man in his arms drop to the ground and began to get to work. He took handgun clips from the dead and slung an assault rifle over his shoulder. It had practically no use for assassination, but Jason and David weren't planning quiet killing; they were planning to take apart the mafia for taking her.

There was one final thing to do. Reloading his handgun, Bourne headed to the apartment heater. He pulled a homemade bomb out of the pack and turned on the receiver. Bourne moved to leave the room. As he left he scattered aerosol cans all over the floor. Bourne left the apartment putting the automatic in his pack and the handgun under his shirt. A mafia man reached the apartment just as Bourne was getting out. A knee to the stomach made the man flinch giving Bourne the opportunity to smash him in the head with the pack. He dropped unconscious. Bourne pulled out the handgun and fired twice.

He waited until he was a safe distance before pulling a signal sender out of his pocket. Not looking back David Webb pressed the send button. The bomb exploded, blowing the heater and aerosol cans across the floor. The apartment exploded. Jason counted the kills as vengeance for Nicky. David said the score wasn't settled. They both agreed on that.

*****

The explosion to the north of the mansion didn't shock Paz at all; he had been expecting it. Actually he had been waiting patiently for it ever since he had set up his scope rifle on top of a rooftop that was nigh impossible to get to. He was comfortably wedged in a corner, almost perfectly concealed while providing a wide view of the courtyard in front of the mansion. Two things separated the mansion from the rest of the town: a courtyard and a large iron fence. There was only one gate to it, and this is where Paz came in.

As soon as he heard the explosion, he looked down the scope, content to wait. Waiting for somebody to break cover or be targeted was the easiest part for Paz, other than killing. It bothered him a little that it still came so easily after being free of Black Briar and seeing a psychologist now. Wasn't it supposed to get easier to not kill? Paz would eventually learn the same lesson as Bourne: it was always easy to kill. The only thing that changed was the shame that came from killing another person who had no chance. From that came guilt and conscience. But the killing part stayed easy; they were trained to kill quickly and easily.

A man broke through the front doors, and Paz put aside all thoughts of morality. He was helping Bourne recover his life; that was good enough. Now was time to focus. Before the target was halfway to the gate, over a dozen men were following him towards the gate, doubtless on their way to see the disturbance at their safe house. Paz had their armament and number memorized as soon as he saw them: seventeen men in total all with assault rifles. The CIA should look into where they got them sometime. Then just as quickly he sighted down the first man, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger.

The man who had originally gone out had been reaching for the gate switch when an inch and a half bullet entered his brain. He jerked back with the shot as a bloody spurt shot briefly from his forehead. Paz couldn't even hear the bullet thanks to the rifle's silencer; he could hear the other sixteen's frantic shouts of panic as they for a second gaped at the body. Paz didn't join in their awe of his silent clean kill. He already had the second in his sights. With just as much feeling he squeezed the trigger again. The man who fell this time was closer towards the middle of the group.

As the men realized where the sniper's shots were coming from, they took cover behind stone ledges while two ran back for the mansion doors. Two bullets caught them as they reached the steps. They flung themselves forward onto the steps and lay there, blood pooling. Searching for a fifth target, Paz decided he might need to take more intensive therapy; this was almost too thrilling.

*****

Vincent De Luca didn't move when his men mobilized to meet the unknown threat. Instead, he reached inside his desk and slipped a six-shot revolver into his pocket. With calm only available after years, he turned to his right hand man, who stood nervously but reassured at the same time. The man was erratic: brilliant, but erratic. He was also loyal. So Vincent remained calm. "I hope to intent to tell me why there is an attack on my mansion."

"It's okay, boss. This is all part of my plan."

Here erratic habits emerged; his man didn't always remember to tell Vincent what he was doing. He stood up and walked to him, one hand on the revolver. One could never be too careful. "Care to explain?" he asked.

"I've lured Bourne here. We have enough men to deal with him."

"Bourne? Jason Bourne? You lured him here? Son of a bitch, why didn't you lure him somewhere else? Don't you remember who he is?" Vincent was always aware of the deaths of his father and uncle. He wanted Bourne to pay, but Bourne was dangerous as well.

"Yes, boss. I'm using himself against him. That's what I did in Paris, and I used his weakness to lure him here," his man explained. That was slightly assuring. Vincent's man usually knew what he was doing.

"What weakness? You never told me what you did in Paris. And what happened to that Nicky girl?"

"I kidnapped her, boss. She's locked up under guard in here. I'm using her to lure Bourne into making a mistake. Then we'll kill him and eventually her."

Vincent nodded slowly, and then punched his right hand man as hard as he could. The force knocked the lean man to the ground. Vincent pulled out the revolver and stuck it in his face. "You fucker. Do you know what you've just done? You're not luring just any man; you're luring Jason Bourne. And this isn't a trap anymore. You're an idiot. You just took the mother bear's cub; you killed the wolf pack's alpha male; you stole Bourne's lover, his mate, from him. And he's gonna make us all burn in hell and then kill us."

His man paled as he realized how much peril they were in. Vincent put the revolver away; this was his first mistake. He let the other man get up. Vincent was a tough man; he'd killed his fair share of deadly opponents. "I might be able to salvage this. Pull up the mansion cameras on the computer. Now."

*****

Paz counted nine as he got off another head shot. This shot was dirty, spraying over the man next to him. The man was poorly trained; he leaped up in fear and surprise at the blood. Paz took the opportunity to shoot him as well. That emptied his magazine. He switched the rate of fire and put in a different ammo type. Taking precise aim, he fired a quick burst of automatic bullets at a group of men. They didn't break cover, like he expected, but it also served to keep them down. Bourne had to be there soon. He fired a second burst across the courtyard in a line. As he did, he spotted Bourne at the fence behind the men. He began to keep the men distracted.

Bourne took the automatic out of his pack and climbed up and over the fence. He took aim as he walked and fired. Automatic fire ripped into unsuspecting men, killing them while they were still preoccupied with the sniper. Only two were still alive to turn towards Bourne. Paz took them both out with a burst. Bourne emptied the assault rifle and turned off the tape recorder. He marched towards the gate, pulling out his handgun and abandoning the now empty pack. The gate opened as Bourne hit the switch. "We're in. Move on my position."

"Copy. Reforming," Paz replied, getting his silenced Glock. It had been somewhat easier to learn Paz had been a Navy Seal before Black Briar. With Bourne's Army experience, it gave them something to work with now that they weren't working alone. Military commands were starting to slip into their conversations. He really needed that psychologist. Paz considered the rifle. It still had plenty of ammo for automatic fire, but he had no time to put it away or take it with him. He objected to leave it for the moment; nobody except an asset or agent could spot the rifle or even get to it. He grabbed the roof ledge and began his descent.

Bourne had already gone inside. He had his gun held out in front of him, ready to fire. A man darted around the corner and Bourne pulled the trigger. The man dropped quickly. Passing by him, Bourne came to a split. He turned on the tape recorder then threw it down the hall and hid inside a door. Automatic fire filled the hall and two men ran past him, guns at the ready. Bourne opened up the door and walked behind him as they stared confused at the tape recorder. He put a gun to one and fired.

The other spun around gun at the ready. Bourne slammed the butt of his handgun into the man's temple and kicked him in the groin. As the man sunk to his knees, he looked up and saw Bourne shoot him. Bourne grabbed a radio and headed further down the hall. Three men leaped out of doors at him. Bourne shot one in the leg then struck one in the arm with his gun. He palmed the third in the nose and brought his hand around at the second. He grabbed him by the face and smashed the back of his head into the wall. The third grabbed Bourne's shoulder. Bourne snapped his head back and struck him in the nose again. He brought his knee into the third's stomach and foot back at the second's chest. That left both open as Bourne fired at the second before shooting the third.

A bullet whizzed past him and finished the first. Bourne spun around ready only to find Paz catching up to him. Reloading his gun Bourne and Paz made their way down the hall. When the radio began speaking Paz motioned towards a door. Bourne hid inside as Paz began firing nondescript where they came from. Three men came down the hall. "He's this way!" Paz shouted, and they ran past him. Bourne emerged from the closet as Paz squeezed off a shot. They shot the other two and continued on their way.

The radio buzzed again. "Bring Nicky to my office! Immediately!" Bourne's boiled blood heated further. They thought they could use Nicky to stop him? If they threatened her in anyway…Bourne motioned forward with a hand signal and they began to jog towards the office. Jason Bourne knew where it was; he'd infiltrated the mafia once. David Webb counted their body count. Part of David recoiled a little; Nicky had made it clear in London she was concerned for him when he killed. But if he didn't now, they would likely shoot them on their way out. It was necessary at the moment. But David knew that he would be seeing faces tonight.

Bourne and Paz froze as they reached the corner that would lead them to the office. Both could tell there were several men waiting with assault rifles. Before either could react properly, more men with assault rifles emerged behind them, far enough off that Bourne and Paz couldn't reach them. "Drop them," one of them ordered. Bourne and Paz exchanged stances. They dropped their handguns simultaneously. Jason Bourne calculated, as they led them at a distance inside the office, what to do. He couldn't find much. David Webb began apologizing to Nicky.

*****

Vincent stood in front of Bourne and Paz. Paz, he didn't know, other than he was probably as dangerous as Bourne. He kept a good three feet away so neither could reach him and take him down. Behind him, six men stood with assault rifles at the ready. His right hand man was to his right. Two more men stood just behind Bourne and Paz. Even if they attacked them, he had six more men to shoot them. It was lose-lose situation for the two assassins, something Vincent had spent multiple nights pondering.

But now he had them; his risky gambit had been lucky. Nicky had never been sent to his office. He had calmly watched the cameras which Bourne ignored in favor of killing his men. It had been frightening, even to him, to watch the efficiency and speed with which Bourne killed. Whatever absence Bourne had from the CIA didn't reduce his skills at all.

"Jason Bourne," he finally said, fondling the six-shot revolver in his hands. "We meet finally at last. I am Vincent De Luca. You might know me through my father." Bourne could in a way; Vincent wasn't overweight like his father had been, but was stockier and built. The man was in decent shape. But his face gave him away as family. They had similar eyebrows and noses. Either way, Bourne didn't care much; he only wanted to punish the man for taking Nicky.

"What did you do to her?" Bourne asked softly. Vincent was taken aback a second by the cold, quiet, seething rage in the ex-agent's voice. There was enough power in Bourne's voice to make nearly any man stand down and tremble. But Vincent had been spending the last years waiting patiently for his chance to avenge his family's deaths. He wouldn't be so easily disturbed. Although, in Bourne's defense, chills did run down his spine. For a brief moment he hoped his right hand man hadn't done anything yet.

"You'll have to ask my man," Vincent explained, gesturing towards the man. To a small relief, his right hand man shook his head. The man wasn't completely stupid.

"Why did you want me dead?" Bourne asked this time, the same hidden steel underlying his words. Bourne might be the captive, but he was the predator here.

"You're part of the organization that killed my father and uncle. I want revenge. Nearly all of Treadstone is dead, except for two. Fitting, in a way. I've been waiting for you to be free of the CIA, to be certain you weren't just under cover. And now you aren't." He loaded the revolver. "Two of my family members died because of you. So two shots each for the three of you will do." Vincent raised the revolver at Bourne, still safely out of range. Jason Bourne was frantic for a way out; David Webb was regretful. They both merged on the thought that they had failed Nicky, and that they would love her no matter how terrible their failure and sin.

There was the sound of gunfire.