24******

Xander lay against the wall of the shack on the east side. It was the side that was first touched by the breeze of evening off the ocean, slightly cooler and the driest side of the shack, too. X didn't know what had woken him, but suddenly he was lying there, tense and straining to hear any sound.

Then he realized in surprise that he wasn't hearing anything. Only the soft hiss of waves on the beach. No pirates moving outside. No one chatting, laughing, bitching. Nor the soft sough of someone inhaling his smoke. Not even the scrabbling of the coconut crabs in the brush.

Something was happening... or about to. He rolled silently to his feet and moved to one of the wider cracks in his prison walls. Nothing visible. He tried another. Still couldn't see anything or anybody. That was weird. Where were their guards?

He moved to the door of the shack. Pushing on it gently with his shoulder, he discovered it was still bolted. It squeaked a bit, but not loudly. He still winced; it was so quiet out there. Then he did hear sand being scuffled and a solid thump. Sounded like a body hitting the ground.

He backed away from the door and promptly tripped over Titian. He hit the ground hard with an "ooof!" But she screamed, and then all hell broke loose.

X rolled over and hissed at the girl. "Jesus f'ing Christ, T! Shut up!" She stopped screaming, but continued to whimper in abject terror.

Now Bobby was awake and he whispered, "What the fuck is going on?"

Xander shushed him and muttered quietly. "I have no damn idea. Keep her quiet, will ya?" He scrambled to his feet again, just in time to hear the stutter of automatic weapons firing wildly. Voices began to call back and forth. Pirates, sounding scared, confused and angry.

He moved quickly to one side of the door. If the attack was what he suspected, the first person through that door would be the closest pirate coming to execute them. So he figured to try and slow him down. He motioned to Bobby for them to move back to the far side of the building.

Peeking through a crack, he managed to catch a glimpse of two men moving swiftly over the sand, hunched low and all in black. They weren't headed in his direction though. They hurried toward the larger building where the pirates had their weapons cache.

Scowling, he wondered, was this a rescue or something else? He was deciding whether or not to make some noise when he heard someone rattling the lock and chain on the door. He froze in place, readying himself. Offence or defense? Being who he was, defense was second choice. As soon as the door swung open, he charged.

Slamming shoulder first into the man outlined in the moonlight, he yelled loudly, "Banzai!" Why he chose that, he wasn't sure. But he figured just the noise might startle his opponent for long enough to give him an advantage.

The last thing the SEALS expected was for one of the captives to come barreling out of the shack bellowing at the top of their lungs. Taken totally by surprise, Mike went down with a loud thump. His breath whooshed out in a wheezing grunt and he landed flat on his back.

Even as X rolled off, he realized the guy he had just rammed to the ground was wearing a wetsuit. And somebody else hauled him to his feet, whispering harshly, "Fuck, X! You wanna be rescued or not?" Still behind him, the second black-outfitted man slashed his bonds, releasing his hands for the first time in days.

He couldn't help the quiet moan of pain as his arms swung forward and blood rushed back into his hands. Mike wasn't doing much better, still on his butt and gasping for air. They just looked at each other for a minute, Mike frowning and X guiltily.

Shane stepped around to the front of Xander and smacked him on the back of his head. "Are you nuts? Or just suicidal? What the fuck is wrong with you?" He pulled X back closer to the side of the building. "The others inside okay to move?" He was still whispering.

Xander nodded yes and grinned a bit sheepishly. "Nice ta see ya again, fellas. Sorry, Mikey." The big, black SEAL lifted a hand in acceptance, still wheezing a bit.

Frank and Sam had already slipped inside and X could hear them speaking quietly and somebody shushed Titian before she even got started. The damned kid could get hysterical at the drop of a hat. And she was loud, no sense of self-preservation at all.

Frank reappeared in the doorway. "We might have a problem, Boss. The kids are pretty weak. They'll make it to the beach, but I don't think either of them can swim. It's gonna slow us down if we hafta piggy-back them."

Shane scowled and looked back at X. He was still shaking his arms and flexing his hands, rubbing his wrists and forearms to help his circulation. "I'll be fine. They've be tied up a lot longer than me. And, Shane? Thanks, man."

Shane snorted and motioned to his team, "Gather 'em up and let's go." He glanced over his shoulder at the stop and go firefight taking place at the other end of the compound. "I think we've worn out our welcome here."

X growled at him. "I gotta errand, first. One a those dicks owes me... "

"No." Shane said it quietly, but it was said with steel in his voice. Xander looked at him, startled.

"I promised your woman I'd get you back safe. I'm not gonna let you make me a liar. Now move." And he angrily shoved Xander toward the beach. Surprising them both, he went.

The SEALs moved the captives quickly and quietly to the brush and everyone paused there, kneeling to keep a low profile. While Frank and Sam retrieved their gear, Shane explained in a whisper how they planned to take them over the reef and out to the waiting Zodiacs to safety.

He didn't give the girl a chance to complain when she seemed ready to. Just told her to relax; they would help her as needed. But gave her no other option except to go along. When he turned to Bobby, the surfer simply gave him a thumb's up silently. Shane patted his upper arm and nodded.

Sam tapped his shoulder and he looked at everyone to be sure they were ready. Then, holding his hand with fingers stiff and straight, he motioned everyone forward. They crept as quickly and quietly as they could toward the outer shore.

The SEALs moved as fast as they could to avoid being spotted. Out here on the pink sand they were completely exposed and their black wetsuits made them stand out all the more. Shane jumped when his earpiece crackled and the sweet tones of Red's voice sounded in his ear.

"Hurry, Sweetie. There's a couple of bad guys headed your way. To your right, moving fast." He cursed under his breath and motioned Sam and Frank to to his right flank. Using only hand signals, he let them know two hostiles approached.

Xander realized they were going to have company as soon as Sam had let go of the girl. He grabbed her closer arm and kept moving as fast as he could drag her. It wasn't easy to run in the soft sand and stay hunched over. She kept losing her balance and falling to her knees.

He finally got pissed and just slung her over one shoulder. The water was so close now. He heard the faint whistle of a thrown blade and automatically ducked, saving both their lives. It must have hit its mark; there was a yell and a short stutter of rifle fire. Bullets sprayed sand way too close for comfort.

Risking a quick glance over his shoulder, X saw one gunman down and the other standing still.
His rifle coming up to fire on them, he staggered when a black wraith suddenly reared up out of the sand almost at his feet and pushed the weapon's barrel straight up. It's other hand made a short jabbing motion at his throat and he gurgled before he, too, fell.

Xander stood up and ran for his life. In only a few steps, he was splashing through the waves. He couldn't really see well enough to watch and cut his legs on a couple of coral heads, but kept going anyway. He'd take his chances with the sharks, thank you.

Shane turned away from the pirate he'd just put down to check on the others. X and the girl were already in the water, good. The boy was close behind and even as he watched, dove into the surf, Mike right beside him. He turned a little more and his heart almost stopped. One of his guys was down.

In seconds he was there. It was Sam; he'd caught a stray bullet in the thigh. "I'm okay, Boss. Just get me up."

"Fuck! We don't have time for this. C'mon, Frank." Shane caught his wounded man under one arm and Frank took his other side. They ran down the beach, just dragging Sam when he couldn't keep his feet under him.

Splashing into the water, they kept right on going. The younger SEAL never made a sound, even with the salt water flushing his injury. Shane knew it would sting something awful. They'd fix it in the Zodiac.

X and the kids were already aboard, when the SEALs got to the boat. Shane told the pilot he'd have an extra passenger. He just nodded and grabbed the waterproof first aid kit. "How bad?" was the only thing he said. Sam complained, but shut up when Shane gave him a look.

The pilot wrapped his leg quickly and turned the boat into the ocean. They were gone in a flash.

Shane and the rest of his team moved back closer to the reef, but stayed in the water. They could see several other black shapes moving down the beach now. No more noises or muzzle flashes, so he guessed Bravo team was finished, too.

Men started splashing into the sea and swimming in his direction. Behind him he could hear the low growl of the second Zodiac moving in to collect the two teams. Things had gone pretty well, considering.

Both teams were in the water, past the reef and either in or clinging to the sides of the Zodiac as it headed for deeper water when there was a flash and seconds later an almost subsonic whump. Everyone turned to look back at the pillar of fire and smoke now rising from the islet they had just left.

They could see a number of dark human-shaped forms scrambling away from the inferno in several directions. They ducked and wove as secondary explosions tossed pieces of building and contents into the air. Several of the divers cheered, but not loudly. Sound carried very well over water.